Latest F1 news in brief – Thursday (Update)
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| Vettel told to not get angry over Red Bull lemon. They will get fixed |
02/27/14
- Ecclestone hits back at 'foolish' rebuke
- 107pc qualifying rule is F1's next hurdle
- Cosworth not ruling out F1 or IndyCar return
- Toro Rosso in dark about 2014 car – Tost
- Di Resta needs 2014 role for F1 return – Coulthard
- Marko tells Vettel to not get 'angry' New
- Troubles for Force India lie ahead? New
- The London Grand Prix by Santander moves one step closer New
Ecclestone hits back at 'foolish' rebuke
(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has hit back after an American motor racing figure called him "foolish".
Eddie Gossage, the president of the Texas motor speedway, this week blasted the F1 chief executive for scheduling this year's US grand prix on the same November date as the major Nascar race in the same state.
"I can't say I was surprised because Bernie Ecclestone does a lot of foolish things," he said.
But 83-year-old Briton Ecclestone has hit back, insisting Gossage and other Nascar officials do not understand the logistical tasks faced by a global sport like formula one.
"We've a small problem they don't have," he told the Press Association. "We have six jumbo jets to move around all our equipment, and we have to find the most sensible way to use them to do that.
"There are issues that can occur, but he and other people do not realize these things.
"The race prior to the one in the US is in Russia, in Sochi. We've never been before, and we have to get out of there and into Austin. That is probably a lot easier than trying to get into Brazil, and then we have to get out of there to go to Abu Dhabi," Ecclestone explained.
"So he (Gossage) is extremely lucky he doesn't have to do what we have to do."
Ecclestone also defended his colleagues at the US grand prix venue in Austin, after Gossage accused them of lacking the "fortitude" to "say no" to the Nascar date clash.
"I've spoken to the people that run the race at COTA (circuit of the Americas) and they believe the Nascar crowd is a different crowd to formula one — different people, different customers," he insisted.
"At the end of the day they (Nascar) run a domestic series in America -– we run a world championship," said Ecclestone.
107pc qualifying rule is F1's next hurdle
(GMM) Formula one's next challenge will be putting together a full grid for the opening races of 2014.
As teams grapple with the technological revolution of the all-new V6 era amid severely tight testing restrictions, it emerged after the recent Bahrain test that many 2014 cars – notably the Red Bull of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel – might struggle simply to qualify for grands prix.
Indeed, according to F1's 107 per cent qualifying rule, only 14 of the sport's 22 cars would have been quick enough to race had Nico Rosberg's best time in Bahrain last week actually been an official pole lap.
"There can be exceptions (to the rule), this is true as we have seen in past seasons," former F1 team owner and boss Gian Carlo Minardi told his website.
"But you must at least have done a time in practice within the 107 per cent. The reality today is that cars are struggling just to do a handful of laps consecutively," said the Italian.
The most stark problems are being suffered by Red Bull and Renault; the title-winning combination in the last four years of the now-historic V8 era.
"We are working day and night," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said in the German press this week. "We stand with Renault to solve the problems."
Former F1 driver Mika Salo tipped Renault to work it out.
"I believe an organization of the size of Renault – a car and engine manufacturer – to sort this problem out very quickly," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.
Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, however, must also take the blame, according to former technical director and now F1 media analyst Gary Anderson.
"They (Red Bull) haven't left any room for maneuver," he is quoted by the Telegraph, accusing Red Bull of being too extreme with the design of the troubled RB10.
But if the might of big-spending world champions Red Bull can ultimately emerge from the crisis, what of a similarly Renault-powered backmarker like Caterham?
Team driver Kamui Kobayashi is openly troubled.
"We are not able to race," the Japanese is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial. "But if we were, I think we should use a GP2 car, as we would be faster.
"At this point, if we were to race … I don't think this is formula one," he added.
Cosworth not ruling out F1 or IndyCar return
(GMM) Cosworth is not ruling out a return to formula one.
As the sport prepared for the all-new and even more expensive turbo V6 era, the independent British outfit found itself without a customer for 2014.
But it emerged last week that Cosworth nonetheless completed an engine design for the new rules, even though it will not be built and raced this year.
America's premier open-wheel category also runs turbo V6 engines, and Cosworth chief executive Hal Reisiger said the marque is "committed" to finding an IndyCar partner.
As for returning to F1, he told NBC Sports that Cosworth only abandoned its 2014 project because "there wasn't a team or teams plural that were willing to sponsor the development".
But Reisiger admitted that if current or subsequent talks with teams came to fruition, "Absolutely we would" want to return to formula one.
"I think that we provide a very cost effective solution for people to be on the grid," he said.
"We'd look forward to the right opportunity if we could find the right collaboration."
Toro Rosso in dark about 2014 car – Tost
(GMM) Team boss Franz Tost has admitted Toro Rosso is in the dark just two weeks before the 2014 season opener.
The crisis suffered by Red Bull is in the spotlight, but sister team Toro Rosso has also been almost completely unable to test its new car amid engine partner Renault's troubles.
Asked to summarize the progress with the new Faenza-built STR9 car, Tost answered: "It is difficult to assess because we have hardly been able to drive.
"Both the performance and the reliability are unknowns."
Much clearer, the Austrian admitted, is the pecking order at the front.
"The Mercedes factory team is clearly in the lead, followed by McLaren and Ferrari," Tost told the German-language Speed Week.
"Williams and Force India have also shown good performance. I have the impression Ferrari has not shown everything yet."
He admitted that, compared to the disastrous opening test at Jerez, troubled Renault began to solve some of its problems last week in Bahrain.
"The systems started to work," said Tost. "Renault has made progress.
"The time window for Melbourne is tight, but if everything works at the last test in Bahrain, there is a real opportunity to catch up to the Mercedes teams," he added.
Di Resta needs 2014 role for F1 return – Coulthard
(GMM) Paul di Resta's hopes of returning to formula one depend on him securing a key role in 2014.
That is the claim of Scottish countryman and former grand prix winner David Coulthard.
Having lost his Force India seat after three consecutive seasons in F1, 27-year-old di Resta has returned to the scene of his 2010 title win driving for Mercedes in the German touring car series DTM.
It is believed the DTM role could involve di Resta becoming the German squad's new F1 reserve driver.
"Mercedes are well aware that (F1) is where I want to be, and I have their full support," he said in January.
"We'll see how it goes, but at the moment there is nothing."
Former McLaren and Red Bull driver Coulthard, now a commentator for British television, believes Mercedes' Toto Wolff is wise enough to give di Resta a key F1 role in 2014.
"He (Wolff) knows Paul and brought him in because he knows he can do a job for Mercedes," Coulthard told The Scotsman newspaper.
"The F1 test-reserve role would be a big chance for Paul. I hope he gets that opportunity.
"If he doesn't, it might be difficult to find his way back into F1, simply because of the political and financial nature of the business," he added.
Marko tells Vettel to not get 'angry'
(GMM) Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko has urged world champion Sebastian Vettel to keep his cool amid the early-season technical crisis.
After two dismal pre-season tests, things began to look a little brighter for the team early on Thursday as the third and final test in Bahrain kicked off.
Daniel Ricciardo's tally nudged over the 30-lap mark in the morning session, and he bettered the best laptime managed by the troubled RB10 throughout last week's four days at the same Sakhir circuit.
"This looks significantly better than last week," said a source in the island Kingdom.
Watching the action carefully will be world champion Vettel, who will only return to the wheel of the Renault-powered car on Saturday and Sunday.
Marko admitted to Germany's Bild newspaper that the reigning quadruple title winner and German is "not amused" that Red Bull is "so far behind" with just four days of track running to go until Melbourne.
"But getting angry won't bring us anything.
"Sebastian is always informed of any developments," Austrian Marko continued, referring to the team and engine partner Renault's scrabble to end the crisis.
"Even ten million euros wouldn't simply solve the problems," Marko admitted. "Renault needs to get a grip on the engine.
"Mercedes is a big step ahead of us, as they have already been able to do long-distance testing with their new car.
"We have worries about Australia and probably beyond," he added.
Troubles for Force India lie ahead?
Vijay Mallya remains in difficulties in India as a result of the huge debts incurred by his disastrous Kingfisher Airlines, which in March last year was reckoned to owe an impressive $2.58 billion. More debt has been added since and creditors have been chasing him round in circles in India to try to get their money. The courts have allowed some of them to grab shares in his other businesses that were pledged, which means that his shareholdings are reducing in the key companies that make up his empire. Mallya is unlikely to ever be poor, but he may not be able to keep funding F1 in the long term. His partner Roy Sahara is in deeper and deeper trouble. Sahara acquired shares in the team after making a series of loans to the team, which were later converted into shares. Sahara himself seems to have little or no interest in F1 and has turned up at only a couple of events. The Indian authorities have been very interested in him of late and the latest news is that an arrest warrant has been issued in India for him after he failed to appear at a hearing. He can now be detained without the opportunity of bail until a hearing on March 4. The warrant was issued by the Supreme Court which is trying to make two of his companies refund $3.2 billion to investors.
To add insult to injury in recent days Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh, who was alleged to have been involved in an Indian Premier League cricket spot-fixing scandal last year, was recorded in a sting operation by media, claiming that Mallya was involved in scams that defrauded bookmakers by players in his Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team agreeing to under-perform deliberately to allow the owner to win various bets. Singh said that the entire series is “100 per cent fixed".
Oh my! Joe Saward
The London Grand Prix by Santander moves one step closer
Two years ago, Santander’s ambitious plans to create a unique London Grand Prix were merely an enthusiastic flight of fancy, albeit heavily grounded in reality. This week, however, new government legislation will make it easier for public streets to be sanctioned for motorsport events, and that means the much-vaunted London Grand Prix once again moves a step closer to reality.
Speaking about the prospect of a London Grand Prix, Jenson Button said:
"When I first saw Santander’s plans for a London Grand Prix, I knew they were ambitious, but fantastic – the thought of a race through the capital’s streets was only a dream when they initiated the project, but this week’s changes to the law bring the idea a step closer to reality.
"When you really picture what it would look like it’s truly mind blowing. You could create such a unique grand prix through the streets of London – the roads are naturally very wide and long, so straight-line speeds would be high, and you could create a real blend of corners and when you combine all of that with the world famous monuments that would feature in the backdrop you can see why it would be an awesome addition to the calendar.
"The dream has taken a step closer this week, and I’d love to see this amazing concept finally happen."
Will it ever happen? Who knows. But, back in 2012, Santander took the opportunity to create the most realistic computer simulation of what a London street race would actually be like – and it’s about as close as you could get before starting to erect Armco barrier!