Topic: F1 Comings, Goings, etc.

[MG]

What makes you think so, brother?  I actually heard a rumor yesterday that Mercedes GP is after Sebastien Vettel and not M Schumacher. Red Bull needs an engine. Would PREFER to have the Mercedes "lump". Give us Vettel and we will give you our engine.   

Interesting.........

[Otto Puzzell]

Renault To Stay in Formula 1

PARIS — Renault is expected to formalize the sale of majority ownership of its Formula 1 racing team this week, ensuring that the team will continue competing in the world Grand Prix series.

Confirmation is expected this week of details of acquisition of most of the team by an as-yet-unidentified buyer. Businessman Gerard Lopez and David Richards, leader of the Prodrive racing company, are the rumored front runners.

According to reports, the team will continue to compete under its present identity, despite Renault's descent to minority ownership.

Renault plummeted from the summit of Formula 1 racing over the past three years, coming close to expulsion from the sport after it admitted to charges of race fixing in the 2008 season finale. Flamboyant pit boss Flavio Briatore was banned for life, and veteran engineer Pat Symonds was suspended from participation for five years.

The French automaker's leaders held an emergency meeting in November to discuss the status of its racing team, which has had less than enthusiastic support from CEO Carlos Ghosn. There were questions whether the embattled team would withdraw from the sport.

The status of the team weighed heavily on the driver lineup for 2010, with one of the sport's rising stars, Polish driver Robert Kubica, having signed to drive for Renault in the coming season.

After winning back-to-back championships in 2005-'06 with Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, Renault's fortunes took a turn for the worse when Alonso jumped to McLaren-Mercedes in 2007. The stint was short-lived, however, and Alonso returned to Renault in 2008.

The team had made some gains in regaining competitive form, but revelation of the race fixing that resulted in Alonso's victory in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix tarnished the team's image.

In other F1 news, speculation continues to mount that seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher will come out of a two-year retirement to drive for Mercedes Grand Prix, the reigning champion team previously named Brawn GP. Schumacher teased F1 fans last year when he made an effort to replace the injured Felipe Massa, but could not because of lingering effects of a motorcycle accident.

Inside Line says: With Honda, BMW and Toyota all having abandoned the sport in the past 12 months, retention of the Renault name is a plus for F1. — David Green, Correspondent

[MG]

Probably a lot of things will get clarified before the end of this month, Senor Puzell.  I'm sure Kubica has a "kick out" clause in his contract and is not sitting around wishing and hoping. It also appears that the Schumacher thing IS going to happen. Ferrari said today they would not stand in his way if he wants to do this idiotic thing. That removes the last significant hurdle to his return. Only passing an FIA mandated physical remains.

Stay tuned. Anything can happen in Formula One. And generally does. For instance, Madd Maxx is running around this week saying he could have prevented the withdrawal of BMW and Toyota. Consider this the opening salvo in his personal war to prevent  his going down in history as the biggest bozo ever to bestride the Formula One world. Hell, he made his predecessor, Jean Marie Belestre, look positively normal by comparison.

Maxx? Elvis has left the building. Please sit down. And STFU!   

[Otto Puzzell]

Team Lotus F1 drivers are Trulli, Kovalainen and Fairuz

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Team Lotus F1 has picked veteran Formula One driver Jarno Trulli and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen as drivers for its debut season next year.

Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy was named as the third driver for the new F1 team, which will start its first race in Bahrain next March.

The announcement was made yesterday by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek on behalf of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Also present was team principal and AirAsia group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes.

Trulli, 35, has competed in 216 races since 1997 and was a former Renault and Toyota driver while Kovalainen, 28, made his debut with Renault in 2006 and moved to McLaren in 2008.

Fairuz, 27, previously tested for the Formula One Spyker team in 2007 and has driven in the GP2 series and the A1GP.

Trulli, who will be into his 14th F1 season next year, said he hoped his experience would be a boost to the Lotus F1 team. “There is a lot of ambition from Tony (Fernandes), Mike (Gascoyne, chief technical officer) and Malaysia as a whole,” said the Italian.

Kovalainen meanwhile said he was impressed with the team’s progress when he visited its factory in Norfolk, Britain.

“I am excited to be part of a team that is not only bringing back the Lotus name but doing so with the support and backing of Malaysia, a country I fell in love with when I first raced here in 2007,” he said.

Both drivers believed they would be a force to be reckoned with next year with Trulli declaring: “Together, we are among the most competitive pairings on the grid. We are determined to bring success to Lotus F1 Racing.”

Fairuz said he was honoured to be given a chance to drive for the country and looked forward to working closely with Trulli and Kovalainen.

“I am sure we can do Malaysia proud,” he said.

Fernandes said all three drivers would complement each other very well, adding that they had not decided who would be the test driver.

“It is a fantastic mix of experience, youth and passion.” he said.

Lotus F1 chief executive officer Riad Asmat said the car would be built by the middle of next month with testing expected in mid-February before the first race in March.

Najib in his speech, which was read out by Shabery said it was a historic milestone for Malaysia’s own Lotus F1 racing team.

“I am very impressed with the driver line-up for next year, with its good combination of experience, drive and stamina,” he said.

“This project will not only make the country proud but will be the launch pad towards future growth especially in the high-tech industry,” he added.

I suspect Lotus will pick up where the team with the same name left off in the 1990's. No pressure, boys.

[MG]

Fairuz Fauzy

OMG!  David Hobbs will have a field day with that name!   

[Ultra]

Fernandes accepts Branson's challenge



By Matt Beer    Wednesday, December 16th 2009, 12:33 GMT

Lotus' mock-up of Richard Branson as an Air Asia stewardessLotus chief Tony Fernandes has accepted fellow airline entrepreneur Richard Branson's challenge that whoever's Formula 1 team finishes lowest next season should act as a stewardess on one of the winner's flights.

Fernandes - the founder of Air Asia - joked at last week's Motor Sport Business Forum that he really wanted his Lotus squad to beat air travel rival Branson's Virgin team in 2010, saying: "Number one we have to be ahead of Branson, otherwise I will retire and kill myself."

At yesterday's Virgin Racing launch, Branson raised the stakes further by suggesting a forfeit for the losing team boss.

"Having come from a music background, I suppose we might be able to choose the music for the funeral," Branson was quoted as saying by Reuters. "But I like Tony a lot so I hope he doesn't have to kill himself.

"At the same obviously we would like to beat him. Maybe we can think of another challenge. He has an airline, we have an airline and if we beat him he can come and work on our airline as a Virgin stewardess.

"We will make sure that the stewardess outfit is perfect. I suspect that he might ask us to reciprocate. I'll have to check how fetching his stewardess outfits are but I'd be game to do it while totally confident of winning."

Now Fernandes has accepted the challenge, with Lotus publishing a mock-up picture on its website featuring Branson in an Air Asia stewardess uniform.

"It's quite fitting, don't you think?" said Fernandes. "Our passengers will be delighted to be served by a Knight of the Realm.

"But, knowing Richard, the real challenge will be to prevent him from asking our guests 'coffee, tea or me?' That would be scary."

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[MG]

Branson has nice legs!   

[MG]

To the surprise of no one, Renault has been sold and once again Dave Richards and ProDrive have been shunned by Formula One.

In the good news department, Kamui Kobayashi has been chosen to drive for Sauber

[Ultra]

Koba will be a fun guy to have on track next year.

[Stephen M]

I can't keep up with all this. I'm going to ignore the silly off-season in its entirety, and tune back in a week before the first race of the new  year.

At which point I will root for either the Leno-Buffet Opel, or the Jonas Brothers Cherry-Seat.

[Ultra]

At which point I will root for either the Leno-Buffet Opel, or the Jonas Brothers Cherry-Seat.

 

[MG]

Every time I hear his name, it makes me want to watch "The Usual Suspects" again!   

[Otto Puzzell]

...or Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

[Allemano]

German Bild.de reports that Schumacher signed a one year contract with Mercedes. Appearently he'll get € 7.000.000 for his comeback.

[faksta]

Nothing compared to his $30M+ salaries some years ago...
I don't even know what to expect from him if it is true.

[MG]

Even a average third baseman makes that in baseball.  One suspects there are huge incentive rewards built in to that contract for points scored and podium finishes, probably on the order of a million for first place. So if he wins all 19 races, that would make his total pay $26,000,000.

Of course, if that happened, we WOULD have to take him out behind the paddock and shoot him!   

[Otto Puzzell]

I've admired his skill for years, but this reminds me of Michael Jordan's basketball comeback. I hope it is not mostly ego-driven on his part. 

[MG]

I hope it is not mostly eg0-driven on his part

Great minds run in great circles, my friend!

It's official: Michael Schumacher to race again



December 23, 2009

For the past four weeks, the name Michael Schumacher has consumed the attention of the world motoring press and race fans everywhere. Would he return to race again in Formula One? Rumors flew. Speculation spiraled up to the fury of a wind tunnel. And now we know.

Yesterday, Schumacher officially announced that he will drive for Mercedes GP in 2010. Mercedes GP is headed by Ross Brawn, the consumate tactician who masterminded Ferrari's decade of dominance with Schumacher as his principle driver.  Schumacher says his goal is nothing less than winning the World Driving Championship. If he does, he will secure his place in history as the greatest racing driver ever. Might there be a little bit of ego involved here?

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One promoter extraordinaire, is grinning like the Cheshire Cat, knowing that Schumacher's return is perhaps the greatest marketing coup in the history of Formula One.  The hubbub about Micheal has focused world attention on the sport like never before. In fact, bookies in London are already offering 5-1 odds that Schumacher will win driving title this year, three months before the first race of the season.

Rumors persist that the decision to return to competition will cost Schumacher his marriage. He is also giving up a very lucrative consulting arrangement with Ferrari. With seven world driving titles to his credit and more money than one man could possilbly spend in two lifetimes, why is he doing this? Only Michael knows, of course, but it seems likely that he wants to craft a fairy tale ending to the Michael Schumacher story. He started by racing sports cars for Mercedes more than 20 years ago. Now, he can come full circle and finish by racing for Mercedes again, but this time with his great friend Ross Brawn at his side. If it comes true, it will be a brilliant ending to a brilliant career.

But in Formula One, ultimately it is all about the car and not the driver. No matter how skillful he is, if the Mercedes cars are not competitive, he will be just another driver plodding around in mid-pack. And that will be intensely embarrassing for him. The history of sports is replete with athletes who have tried to stage a comeback. Will Michael Schumacher's return end in triumph or tears? The final chapter has yet to be written. Which is just how Bernie Ecclestone likes it.

[Allan L]

But what will they use for tyres?

[MG]

Bridgestone has agreed to supply the sport through the end of 2010.

After that?   

It's Hoosier daddy!   

[Ultra]

Kumho is my guess.

[MG]

That IS a good guess. But Formula One being Formula One, what with all the attention that Der Mikel will generate, Bridgestone could change their mind. Or Goodyear could jump back in.

Which raises the whole "spec tire" issue. Part of me likes that there is only one tire manufaturer. The "tire war" era between Bridgestone and Michelin made the tires too important to the detriment of the racing. But once one accepts the notion of spec tires, what stops that person from embracing an entirely spec series, run in Trabants or Austin A40's, for example?   

[Otto Puzzell]

You mean NasCzar?

[MG]

I believe that is NASTSAR, sir!   

No offense intended, faksta.