Latest F1 news in brief – Thursday (2nd Update)
03/06/14 Updates shown in red below.
03/06/14
-
Can the Red Bull lemon be fixed in time with cars shipping to Melbourne this weekend? 18 hour shifts to fix Red Bull's lemon
- Grosjean lost cool in Lotus garage – footage
- Wolff would quit F1 to start family
- No return to India in 2015 – Ecclestone
- Still no news on Whitmarsh's future
- Dennie vows to win
- Williams reveals livery
- Dennis: No title sponsor for opening race New
- Horner: You don't become idiots overnight New
- Q&A with Sir Frank Williams – Looking Ahead to the 2014 Season New
18 hour shifts to fix Red Bull's lemon
(GMM) Red Bull is "slaving around the clock" to solve its problems ahead of next weekend's season-opening Australian grand prix.
It is emerging that, amid the reigning world champions' obvious problems with engine partner Renault and the new turbo V6 'power unit', the actual basic design of the Adrian Newey-penned RB10 is sound.
Lewis Hamilton calls the car "stunning", and McLaren's Jenson Button thinks it is also fast.
"I was with (Daniel) Ricciardo for several laps and he couldn't pass me on the straights," said the Briton at the end of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
"He passed me on the outside of turn 11, which is high speed — I've never seen anything like that before," Button is quoted by Spain's Marca sports newspaper.
Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said the team's normal development processes are also working well ahead of the new season.
"Our measurements have shown that the new parts we were bringing worked as desired, making the car better," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Bild.
"The fact that it did not look good on the track was due to the engine software," he revealed.
Marko said Red Bull and Renault are working hard together in the remaining days until Melbourne.
"We have so much to do," he told Bild newspaper, "especially the guys responsible for the software who will now slave around the clock on 18 hour shifts.
"But whoever can win together, can also work hard together," Marko added.
Mercedes is the clear early-season title favorite, but the German squad's Toto Wolff is not writing off Red Bull.
"I am sure they will come back," he is quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "The only question is when.
"In our view, hopefully as late as possible," Wolff is also quoted by APA news agency.
Those on the outside, however, are less sure Red Bull can recover quickly.
"I think a Mercedes will win the title," former F1 driver Timo Glock told T-online.
F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is not unhappy his friend Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are struggling, telling Bild newspaper the fans need a new winner to make the sport "exciting" again.
He added: "Red Bull are not going to run away just because they don't win everything again."
Grosjean lost cool in Lotus garage
(GMM) Romain Grosjean wasn't his always-smiling self during one dramatic moment at the Bahrain tests last week.
Footage has emerged of the Frenchman angrily thumping the tool benches in the Lotus garage as he apparently discussed the new Renault-powered E22's obvious problems with an engineer.
The footage can be seen here.
Having sat out the first test at Jerez amid recent financial problems, the extent of Lotus' situation with its troubled 2014 car became clear only in Bahrain.
"Of course," Frenchman Grosjean is quoted by Speed Week, "we are still far away from a good performance.
"We need to understand the brake-by-wire system, the new power unit and charging the batteries and in these areas, it doesn't look so good," he admitted.
"But together with Renault, we will work in the next two weeks until Melbourne to improve."
Asked how he will keep his ever-present smile on his face early in 2014, Grosjean answered: "Think of my son."
Wolff would quit F1 to start family
(GMM) Susie Wolff has revealed that if she ever has children, she will quit motor racing.
The wife of Mercedes boss Toto, 31-year-old Briton Wolff has stepped up her role with the Williams team this year.
She will get two chances to drive the FW36 in the Friday morning practice sessions at grands prix, at Silverstone and Hockenheim in July.
"Competing in a formula one race has always been the ambition," she told the Telegraph, "and as of last week I'm one big step closer.
"I just need the chance. And I'll do everything I can to make it happen."
In the male-dominated world of motor racing, Wolff has struggled at times to be taken seriously.
Some think her burgeoning role at Williams smacks of little more than marketing.
"There are far more deserving cases, male and female, who would merit the chance to drive in an F1 practice session," Simon Arron, editor at Motor Sport magazine, is quoted by London's Times newspaper.
"Whether this is tied into any marketing program, I don't know, but she doesn't have a record which suggests she should be near F1."
Former F1 race winner David Coulthard, however, said Wolff is definitely a top-level driver, having been beaten by her "more than once" in the German touring car series DTM.
"Does she have that last bit of speed to make it as an F1 driver? I absolutely don't know," said Coulthard, a fellow Scot.
"She will have her opportunity and if she delivers, she will continue. If she doesn't she won't — and we'll all have the answer."
For how long Wolff will continue her racing career, however, is not clear.
She admits that when the urge to become a mother overtakes her need for speed, she will quit.
"I will never race again once that (starting a family) happens," said Wolff.
"I want to have kids and I know that when I do have them I have to have finished with this. Because I could never put myself at risk knowing that there is a child at home relying on me.
"At the moment I love my life but I think that there will come a point where the need for a child will be greater than my need to race, so I'm just waiting for that moment," she admitted.
Meanwhile, the correspondent for the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, Heikki Kulta, says he is in London for the launch on Thursday of the new Martini-branded livery of Williams' 2014 car.
No return to India in 2015 – Ecclestone
(GMM) F1 will not be returning to India next year.
The race near New Delhi, having joined the calendar in 2011, is absent from this season's schedule mainly because of the sport's issues with the Indian tax situation.
It was thought the final race of India's initial contract would take place in 2015, but F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is quoted by Reuters: "At the moment, India won't be on for next year for sure.
"Probably 2016. They're gradually getting over all the bureaucracy with the tax position inside the country and the general finance," he added.
Another missing race this year is Korea, and Ecclestone sounds unsure the sport will ever return to unpopular Yeongam.
"Korea? When they get a new government, then maybe," the 83-year-old is quoted by journalist Caroline Reid.
Writing in Racer, Reid also quoted Ecclestone as saying F1's return to Mexico after more than a two-decade absence "is signed for 2015".
Many in the F1 paddock believe New Jersey's chances of staging a street race have now faded, but Ecclestone revealed that organizers "have just written to me".
"Somebody has paid some more money for outstanding bills and they are saying they have got more money coming in. If they do what they have to do, I'm happy," he added.
Ecclestone continued: "We have got a contract on the table with France for a race at Magny Cours.
"To meet the terms of our contract, the organizers will need money and we will want some kind of guarantee that it's not going to be a one-night stand."
He also allayed fears the conflict with Ukraine could affect the inaugural Russian grand prix this year, telling those planning to visit Sochi: "Don't cancel."
Still no news on Whitmarsh's future
(GMM) A week before the F1 circus gathers in Melbourne for the 2014 opener, the fate of McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is still not clear.
Team supremo Ron Dennis has replaced Whitmarsh as McLaren Group chief executive, Eric Boullier is effectively the new team principal, and it is believed 55-year-old Whitmarsh is not in the running to fill the newly-created role as F1 CEO.
Whitmarsh was the chairman of the now-disbanded teams association FOTA, and he has not been mentioned in any of McLaren's pre-season press releases in the run into the 2014 season.
Jonathan Neale is currently listed as McLaren's 'acting CEO', and Whitmarsh's absence is conspicuous as the Woking team lists only Neil Oatley, Tim Goss, Sam Michael, Simon Roberts and David Redding in the management section on its official website.
Still, McLaren is saying nothing about Whitmarsh's status.
"For the moment there's nothing to report," a spokesman said.
"As and when there may be any further developments, we'll let you know."
Dennis vows to win
McLaren supremo Ron Dennis sat down with journalists and insisted he will get the famous British team out of its 2013 slump and back to winning races "much faster than people imagine".
He would not be drawn on the reported coup to remove the apparently departed Martin Whitmarsh, saying only the matter was "between us".
But he said McLaren in its former guise was "unfit. The people were distracted, they had lost focus."
Dennis said McLaren will initially have no title sponsor early in 2014, but that will change after "a few races".
"We are negotiating with several companies at the moment and I'm optimistic that it will happen sooner than later."
Driver Jenson Button said Dennis' return to the helm, with Eric Boullier the new team boss and a new factory-based F1 CEO yet to be appointed, will push McLaren to succeed again.
"He (Dennis) is quite an unusual character Ron, I have a lot of respect for what he has done in the sport," he said.
"I think everyone is excited, he is looking forward to this challenge and it gives everyone a lot more confidence within the team," Button added.
Williams reveals livery
(GMM) Thursday was a busy day for formula one in the UK.
Williams held a glitzy launch to reveal its new name, Williams Martini Racing, in honor of its iconic title sponsor, the familiar Italian drinks label.
Drivers Felipe Massa, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Nasr and Susie Wolff showed off their classic white and Martini-striped overalls, while the previously all-blue FW36 is now in memorable Martini livery.
See our home page article for story and photos.
Dennis: No title sponsor for opening race
Ron Dennis has confirmed that McLaren will be without a title sponsor at next weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he expects the gap to be filled in the early stages of the campaign.
The Woking-based team has been on the hunt for a new partner since cutting its ties with telecommunications giants Vodafone at the end of last year, a relationship that spanned a total of seven Formula 1 seasons.
"Our cars will not feature a title sponsor at the first event," Dennis explained, addressing media at the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday. "But it will definitely feature a title sponsor in the next few events."
He likened McLaren and its current position to that of famous football team Manchester United.
"Inevitably, when you have a run of poor results people push the rate card down. But I won't accept that. I know what this company is," said Dennis. "I know what this Grand Prix team can achieve and that requires the correct recognition when it comes to the commercial relationship with the principal sponsor of the team."
Horner: You don't become idiots overnight
Christian Horner insists Red Bull has not suddenly become a bad team despite their well-documented struggles over the winter testing period.
Red Bull look unlikely to be among the frontrunners in Australia and may even have a job on their hands to even finish the race after struggling to complete long stints during pre-season. Horner confirms the team are working hard to rectify the problems ahead of the season opener in just over a week's time.
"You don't become idiots overnight," Horner told the Telegraph. "We've got a very strong group of people here. There's a real determination. You only have to look at the amount of hours going in. It's massive. Some superhuman efforts are going in to get on top of the issues, to try and ensure we're in as good a shape as we can be in Melbourne and build from there. It's a marathon of a grand prix season, rather than a sprint."
While pre-season is often a time of smoke and mirrors across the paddock, Horner is not sugar-coating the problems Red Bull is facing.
"After testing we quite clearly have a car which doesn't have the ultimate pace, and doesn't have the reliability. So they are fairly two fundamental factors that we need to get on top of."
Horner also admits he is unsure whether the team will even make it out of Q1 in Melbourne.
"To be honest with you, we have no real idea. We know we don't have the pace to challenge the Mercedes teams at the moment, but it's very much a case of see where we are in Melbourne. Then we know the scale and magnitude of what we have to climb. We don't even know our starting point at the moment, so it's impossible to make predictions sitting here in Milton Keynes a week prior to the first race. But I have every confidence in the team, and in Renault, that we can make it. Our target is [to catch up] as soon as possible."
"We have enjoyed great success in the last five years, and we've got a very talented group of people. It's exactly the same group of people designing the current car. I don't think we're paying too much attention to what people are saying."
Q&A with Sir Frank Williams – Looking Ahead to the 2014 Season
Q: The team will be racing with a new name and an exciting new look this season. What was it about the MARTINI brand that made you want to form a close partnership?
FW: I firmly believe that a team needs strong synergies with its title partner and we certainly have that with MARTINI. Their heritage in motor racing is well known, with their famous stripes adorning many championship winning race cars in different categories. Like Williams, MARTINI are a family owned business and it is this independent, family run feel that makes Williams stand out and generates a lot of goodwill amongst fans. The excitement amongst fans and the media about this new partnership has been remarkable.
Q: 2014 has witnessed some of the most significant regulation changes the sport has seen in recent years. How have the team coped with this challenge?
FW: Work on the FW36 began towards the end of 2012 to make sure we were fully prepared for the new regulations. This winter has been one of the most hectic in recent memory for all teams, but I’m extremely proud of how our team has met the challenge. The new power units are perhaps the biggest change and we have been working closely with Mercedes to understand the power unit and how to package it most effectively in to the car. There have also been other significant changes to the gearbox and aero regulations which will impact the handling and performance of the cars compared to 2013. The development and production of the FW36 has been painstakingly planned and the fact that we were one of the first teams to fire up our new challenger back in January was particularly pleasing.
Q: WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING will be using Mercedes power units for the first time this season. What are your impressions of this new relationship so far?
FW: I know I speak for the entire team in saying how impressed we have been with Mercedes HPP so far, both in terms of the product they have developed and the working relationship between us. As a world-class brand they are pushing hard to make sure they produce the best power unit on the grid, and that relentless drive will be very beneficial to us.
The new V6 power units are very sophisticated pieces of technology that are really pushing hybrid technology to the extremes. As we have seen from testing, the Mercedes power unit is running reliably and efficiently, which will be very important in the first few races of the season as the teams try to fully understand their cars.
Q: The highly experienced Felipe Massa joins the team for the 2014 season. What was it about Felipe that made you want to bring him to WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING?
FW: Felipe has been one of the sport’s leading talents over the past decade and he brings with him a cool head and a wealth of experience, both in terms of developing a car and getting the most out of it during a Grand Prix weekend. He still has a lot of hunger and his passion for racing immediately struck me when we were in talks last year. I love working with pure racers and Felipe is firmly in that category. He also has an easy charm and has settled in very quickly amongst the team.
Q: Valtteri retains his drive for 2014 in what will be his second season in Formula One. What qualities does he bring and how do you think he will complement Felipe?
FW: Valtteri has been part of the Williams family for four years now and from the very beginning we knew that we had a special talent on our hands. He is a typical Finn, cool under pressure with a natural gift for car control. Unfortunately we were not able to give him the sort of car last season that could showcase his true potential, but there were still occasions such as qualifying at the Canadian and United States Grands Prix where he performed remarkably and impressed a lot of people. With a full season under his belt, and what we are confident will be a more competitive package, I’m sure we will see Valtteri produce some strong results. I think our driver line-up complements each other very well and I’m looking forward to seeing them push each other this season.
Q: WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING has now completed three pre-season tests. What are the initial impressions of the FW36?
FW: It’s always dangerous to make predictions for the season based on what has been seen in testing as everyone is running different programs. What I do know is that despite a few inevitable teething problems, the FW36 has performed reliably and clocked up a good number of laps. The regulation changes have forced the teams to take a step in to the unknown this year. Reliability will be paramount in the first few races of the season and we are looking strong in that regard. Performance wise we will only know where we sit when we get to Australia.
Q: 2013 did not bring the sort of results expected of a team like Williams. What changes have been made over the winter to make sure 2014 will be a better season for the team?
FW: The first step was making a number of high profile appointments in our aerodynamics and engineering departments over the winter, to augment existing talent. We have also had a strong winter commercially, bringing on board a number of new partners. Both internally and externally there is a feeling of positive change at Williams. We have shown over the past few months that as a company we are not afraid to embrace change in our goal to get back to winning ways.
Q: 2014 promises to be an exciting and highly unpredictable season. As Team Principal what goals are you setting WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING for 2014 and what results will you be happy with by the time we reach Abu Dhabi in November?
FW: A team like WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING, with our history, facilities, and personnel, should be mixing it up at the sharp end of the grid. 2014’s regulation changes have reset the field to some extent and we need to capitalize on this opportunity. I’m under no illusion that it will take time for our new technical team to make their mark, but I will be looking for us to make a strong improvement from last year and regularly finish in the points at a wide range of circuits.