Bridgestone – Jenson Button wows Midlands’ motorists

Formula One Championship leader Jenson Button motored into Birmingham yesterday to launch Bridgestone’s Driving Nation roadshow.

Despite the showers, people from Birmingham, Warwickshire, the Black Country and Coventry turned out in force to welcome the world’s current Formula One Championship leader and catch up with his views on all things motoring.

Bridgestone’s Driving Nation Roadshow got up close and personal with motorists, finding out what pressures they are currently facing on the roads, what is driving them mad about motoring today and what they believe the future holds for motoring in the UK.

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button did a live question and answer session in front of the crowd with Bridgestone Motorsport’s, Andy Stobart. They spoke about how the Driving Nation Roadshow will travel the UK spreading the word about greener motoring and canvas motorists’ views on the pressures of driving today.

Andy Dingley, advertising and promotions manager of Bridgestone said:

“It was fantastic to see so many people from all over the West Midlands turn out to visit Bridgestone’s Driving Nation Roadshow. What better way to kick off our campaign than with the driver who quite simply has kept us glued to our TV sets over the last five months and has truly come into his own over this F1 season.

“Bridgestone was very proud that Jenson could come up to Birmingham to launch the Driving Nation Roadshow.”

Members of the public were asked to share their views on various motoring topics, such as the cost of fuel, the condition of the nation’s roads, traffic congestion and car maintenance; as well as divulge their driving confessions. They also got the chance to test their driving skills against Jenson in the Bridgestone F1 simulator.

As sole tyre supplier to this season’s Formula One Championship, Bridgestone is in a unique position, bridging the gap between the racetrack and the road.

Next stop for the Driving Nation is Weymouth on August 4th.

FIA – International Court of Appeal

The following hearing of the International Court of Appeal will take place in Paris:

Hearing
Appeal lodged by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) on behalf of its competitor ING Renault F1 Team against decision N°45 taken by the Panel of the Stewards on 26 July 2009 at the 2009 Grand Prix of Hungary and counting towards the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship

On 26 July 2009, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to suspend the Competitor ING Renault F1 Team (“Renault”) from the next event in the 2009 Formula One World Championship for the following reasons:

- Renault knowingly released car N°7 (Fernando Alonso) from the pit stop position without one of the retaining devices for the wheel-nuts being securely in position;
- being aware of this, Renault failed to take any action to prevent the car from leaving the pit-lane;
- Renault failed to inform the driver of this problem or to advise him to take appropriate action given the circumstances;
- This resulted in a car part detaching at turn 5 and the wheel itself detaching at turn 9.

The FFSA has appealed the Stewards’ decision on behalf of Renault.

When
10.00 hrs
Monday 17 August 2009

Where
FIA Salle du Comité,
8, place de la Concorde,
75008 Paris

Decision
The decision is expected on Tuesday18 August 2009, in the afternoon.

BMW to Exit Formula One at End of 2009 Season

Munich.The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season. Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motor sports series. The landmark decision to restructure BMW Motorsport’s activities was made at the Board of Management’s meeting yesterday.

“Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it’s a resolute step in view of our company’s strategic realignment,” explained Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, we are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us. Mario Theissen has been in charge of our motor sports program since 1999. We have scored a large number of successes in this period, including some in Formula One racing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mario Theissen and his team for this,” said, Reithofer.

Dr. Klaus Draeger, the member of the Board of Management responsible for development, said: “It only took us three years to establish ourselves as a top team with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet expectations in the current season. Nevertheless, our ten years of Formula One experience have had a major impact on our development engineers. We have racing to thank for numerous technological innovations as well as the competitive spirit that drives us to develop mass-produced cars.” Possible redundancies in Munich and Hinwil cannot be quantified at present. Says Draeger: “Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information. We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich. We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement.”

Says BMW Motorsport director Dr. Mario Theissen: “Of course, we, the employees in Hinwil and Munich, would all have liked to continue this ambitious campaign and show that this season was just a hiccup following three successful years. But I can understand why this decision was made from a corporate perspective. We will now focus sharply on the remaining races and demonstrate our fighting spirit and put in a good result as we bid farewell to Formula One racing.”

BMW will continue its programs in a number of motor sports series: BMW will appear on the starting grid in the touring car series and young driver promotion program in Formula BMW. This will be supplemented by BMW’s participation in ALMS, the American Le Mans Series, endurance races and close-to-production customer sports. Furthermore, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will continue its campaigns, with the super bike world championship leading the way.
BMW looks back on a long track record of success in the field of motor sports:
BMW achieved eight Formula One victories from 1982 to 1985 with Brabham. In 1983, BMW won the driver’s championship with Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW). The last win with the legendary turbo engine followed with Benetton in 1986. Ten victories were scored during the partnership with Williams (2000-2005). BMW had a total of 19 grand prix wins and 33 pole positions before the BMW Sauber F1 Team era.

In its debut season in 2006, the newly established BMW Sauber F1 Team wound up fifth in the constructor’s championship. In 2007, the German-Swiss team came in second after McLaren-Mercedes’ exclusion from the points standings. The 2008 season saw the team in the hunt for the world championship until the end of the season, winding up third. Polish-born Robert Kubica achieved the first and hitherto only GP victory in Canada on June 8, 2008. So far, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has taken one pole position (Kubica in Bahrain in 2008) and 16 podium finishes. The BMW Sauber F1 Team occupies the eighth spot in the manufacturer’s standings in the season presently underway.

Statement by FOTA Secretary General

“With regard to the announcement made today by BMW, FOTA Teams have immediately consulted each other and are ready to assure all the necessary support to the Swiss-based team, whose membership in the association is confirmed, to continue its involvement in the F1 Sport.

It is worth to mention that a professional work has already begun within FOTA, aimed at increasing the involvement of the fans and at improving the F1 show. Among those initiatives, one that could be interesting is the introduction of a third car on the grid. FOTA will seek the opinions of all the most relevant stakeholders in order to exchange ideas and define proposals for the future of Formula One.

FOTA Teams now wish to have the necessary certainty and stability within Formula One in order to focus on those fundamental priorities for the future.”

Simone Perillo

Secretary General

FOTA – Formula One Teams Association

FIA – BMW

The FIA regrets the announcement of BMW’s intended withdrawal from Formula One but is not surprised by it.

It has been clear for some time that motor sport cannot ignore the world economic crisis. Car manufacturers cannot be expected to continue to pour large sums of money into Formula One when their survival depends on redundancies, plant closures and the support of the taxpayer.

This is why the FIA prepared regulations to reduce costs drastically. These measures were needed to alleviate the pressure on manufacturers following Honda’s withdrawal but also to make it possible for new teams to enter.

Had these regulations not been so strongly opposed by a number of team principals, the withdrawal of BMW and further such announcements in the future might have been avoided.

Nevertheless, as a result of a sustained cost-cutting campaign by the FIA, new measures are in the process of being agreed which should make it easier for new teams to enter and enable existing ones to participate on much reduced budgets.

It is no secret that these measures do not go as far as the FIA would have liked but a compromise was needed in the interests of harmony in the sport. Hopefully it will be enough to prevent further withdrawals and provide a solid foundation for Formula One.

As the guardian of the sport, the FIA is committed to ensuring that Formula One remains financially sustainable for all competing teams and it will always act to ensure that this remains the case.

BMW to Exit Formula One at End of 2009 Season.

Munich.The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season. Resources freed up as a result are to be dedicated to the development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability. BMW will continue to be actively involved in other motor sports series. The landmark decision to restructure BMW Motorsport’s activities was made at the Board of Management’s meeting yesterday.

“Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it’s a resolute step in view of our company’s strategic realignment,” explained Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, we are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability. Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us. Mario Theissen has been in charge of our motor sports program since 1999. We have scored a large number of successes in this period, including some in Formula One racing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mario Theissen and his team for this,” said, Reithofer.

Dr. Klaus Draeger, the member of the Board of Management responsible for development, said: “It only took us three years to establish ourselves as a top team with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet expectations in the current season. Nevertheless, our ten years of Formula One experience have had a major impact on our development engineers. We have racing to thank for numerous technological innovations as well as the competitive spirit that drives us to develop mass-produced cars.” Possible redundancies in Munich and Hinwil cannot be quantified at present. Says Draeger: “Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information. We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich. We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement.”

Says BMW Motorsport director Dr. Mario Theissen: “Of course, we, the employees in Hinwil and Munich, would all have liked to continue this ambitious campaign and show that this season was just a hiccup following three successful years. But I can understand why this decision was made from a corporate perspective. We will now focus sharply on the remaining races and demonstrate our fighting spirit and put in a good result as we bid farewell to Formula One racing.”

BMW will continue its programs in a number of motor sports series: BMW will appear on the starting grid in the touring car series and young driver promotion program in Formula BMW. This will be supplemented by BMW’s participation in ALMS, the American Le Mans Series, endurance races and close-to-production customer sports. Furthermore, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will continue its campaigns, with the super bike world championship leading the way.
BMW looks back on a long track record of success in the field of motor sports:
BMW achieved eight Formula One victories from 1982 to 1985 with Brabham. In 1983, BMW won the driver’s championship with Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW). The last win with the legendary turbo engine followed with Benetton in 1986. Ten victories were scored during the partnership with Williams (2000-2005). BMW had a total of 19 grand prix wins and 33 pole positions before the BMW Sauber F1 Team era.

In its debut season in 2006, the newly established BMW Sauber F1 Team wound up fifth in the constructor’s championship. In 2007, the German-Swiss team came in second after McLaren-Mercedes’ exclusion from the points standings. The 2008 season saw the team in the hunt for the world championship until the end of the season, winding up third. Polish-born Robert Kubica achieved the first and hitherto only GP victory in Canada on June 8, 2008. So far, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has taken one pole position (Kubica in Bahrain in 2008) and 16 podium finishes. The BMW Sauber F1 Team occupies the eighth spot in the manufacturer’s standings in the season presently underway.

BMW Exit Stage Left

BMW hold a press conference on Wednesday morning to announce their decision to withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of the season. The company cite many reasons, but have taken into account this year’s slump in results as part of the decision-making process. It is unclear at the moment whether the team will fold or be sold.

Credit: BMW AG

Champagne Supernova

Lewis Hamilton sprays McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh on the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team have made impressive steps to turn around their poor performance from the beginning of the season, and now they’ve had a taste of winning, they want more.

Credit: Bridgestone Motorsport Corporation

28-Jul-09: Haug Believes KERS Could Get a Reprieve

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Welcome to F1 Minute for the 28th July 2009.

Norbert Haug of Mercedes believes that teams could start to rethink their negative opinion on KERS now that Hamilton scored the first victory for a car with the device in. He said now that the system has helped a car to win, it will be mentioned more, and FOTA might take notice. The teams have already agreed not to run it from next year as part of the cost-cutting measures, but Haug says a standard device could help that problem.

Meanwhile, doctors treating Massa have said that his recovery is going very well, and if he continues at this pace, then he may be able to leave hospital within the next 10 days. However, he is quick to point out that it is still very serious, but “the danger is decreasing by the day.”

It seems very likely Ferrari will have a spare seat at Valencia and there is wild speculation that Michael Schumacher could fill it. Within an hour, two stories emerged with his spokesperson saying he’d consider it, and his manager saying he was 200% sure it wouldn’t happen.

That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Toyota – Hungarian Grand Prix Debrief – Q+A with Timo Glock

Are you happy with sixth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix?
I am happy with the result in the end, especially considering I started from 13th. To make up seven places at the Hungaroring is not easy, so finishing in sixth is an encouraging result. It was nice to be back in the top six after a few tricky races and this was actually my best result since the podium in Malaysia.

Was it a surprise to finish the race in the top six?
On Saturday I could not have predicted a result like that but the team, like me and Jarno, never give up and they worked really hard to give us both the chance to finish in the points. Our strategy was excellent but a lot of credit goes to my pit crew as well because they did a great job all through the weekend, especially on Saturday when we needed to make some repairs very quickly. Then in the race my pit stops were perfect, which really makes a difference when you are in a close fight for position. Overall it was good team work from everyone and we got our reward.

Realistically, was sixth the best possible result?
We could definitely have been fifth because we had really strong pace throughout the race and I finished directly behind Heikki Kovalainen. However, as you always expect at this track, there was some traffic and that cost me time at the end of my first two stints. Kimi (Raikkonen) came out of the pits just ahead of me both times and, as he had more fuel than I did, he was slower than me. I was able to go quite a bit quicker but overtaking at the Hungaroring is tricky and I just couldn’t get past. Without that, I am sure I would have been able to get Kovalainen for fifth. I put in some really quick laps towards the end, including the fifth fastest race lap, and caught him but it wasn’t possible to pass.

How did you make up so many positions in the race?
As everyone knows, it is almost impossible to overtake in Hungary so strategy is very important if you are to make up positions. I got a pretty good start and overtook (Rubens) Barrichello so I was 12th at the end of the first lap which meant it was difficult to think about the top six at that point. But we were confident our strategy would help us gain positions during the long first stint; I just had to keep fighting and setting good lap times.

How did the car feel during that first stint?
Obviously we were really heavy at the start of the race and, just like at the Nürburgring, I was one of the last guys to make my first pit stop. It was tricky to start with but I found a good rhythm and my lap times were strong, even though I was heavier than the cars around me. The super soft Bridgestone tyres felt really good and didn’t lose performance, even though I did a lot of laps on them, so the car felt spot on.

Are you happy to have a break now? What will you do?
It will be nice to have some time off but I am a racing driver and I love to drive Formula 1 cars, so I would never say I am happy to be away from them! The main priority for me during the summer break is to just relax and spend time with my family and friends; normally I have very little time to do that. It will be a relief to be away from airports for a little while and I will make sure I will get plenty of rest so I am refreshed for the last part of the season. But I won’t be just putting my feet up the whole time. I have some fitness work planned with my physio so I will stay in good shape and I’ll be really keen to get back in the car for Valencia.

What are your thoughts ahead of the European Grand Prix?
We were strong last year in Valencia so I am hopeful we will be again this time too. Qualifying is an area I want to improve on because that has been a bit frustrating for me in the last couple of races. If we can get the maximum out of the car and tyres over one lap in qualifying, I am sure we will be competitive and that gives us the best chance for the race. As always, my goal is to score as many points as possible; hopefully I can finish higher than my seventh place there last year.

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