09-Feb-10: Force India Launch the VJM03

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Today is the 9th February 2010 and this is F1 Minute.

Force India launched their brand new car today, although it looks very much like the old one. The online launch featured photos of the new car, plus drivers Liuzzi, Sutil and di Resta. Although neither the car nor the livery have changed significantly, design director Mark Smith said: “There’s a little bit of variety out there but predominantly we are happy. You will always see something on each car that makes you think ‘that’s interesting’ but understanding how they work on your car is the key thing. We haven’t looked at photos and thought ‘we’ve missed something significant’ and we’re excited to get down to Jerez.”

Elsewhere, it’s been a while since we talked about something political, but Jean Todt has been talking about the state of things. Following the Renault scandal, he suggested that team bosses should also have licences, he’s sure that the teams will be ready to race despite cost cutting, he’s not impressed with the scrapping of KERS, and he reckons he’ll only stand for one term.

That’s all for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

FIA – Tribunal de Grande Instance

The President of the FIA has consulted the FIA Senate and the FIA’s lawyers about the decision of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris of 5 January. It was unanimously agreed that an appeal would be prepared.

In his election campaign last summer, FIA President Jean Todt and his team announced that new measures for constructive change, including a disciplinary procedure, would be introduced. Work on this is well advanced. Once in place, this will address the issues in the Court’s judgement. Nonetheless, an appeal is merited.

While the appeal is underway, the Word Motor Sport Council’s decision of 21 September 2009 remains in full effect. However, in view of the uncertainty that this may create for drivers who may be affected by this decision, the FIA President and FIA Senate have decided that, pending the outcome of the FIA’s appeal, Superlicences will continue to be issued to qualifying drivers in the usual way.

The FIA President, the FIA Senate, the World Motor Sport Council, and the FIA’s Member Clubs from all countries will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the continuing integrity and safety of the sport.

F1 Commission

The FIA today hosted the first meeting of the F1 Commission in its new structure since the signing of the 2009 Concorde Agreement. Chaired by Commission President Bernie Ecclestone and with FIA President Jean Todt in attendance, the F1 Commission is made up of key championship stakeholders from F1 teams, promoters, suppliers and sponsors.

The F1 Commission agreed that the Brawn team will be allowed to change its chassis name from Brawn to Mercedes. The team will continue to receive payments based on its historical performance. This has been granted on a one-off exceptional basis due to Mercedes-Benz’s long-term involvement and commitment to Formula One.

The F1 Commission also proposed a number of amendments to the sporting and technical regulations, which will be put to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for final approval tomorrow morning. They include:

- Due to the expanded grid of 13 teams, a new points system for the 2010 season:

Position	Points
1st	25
2nd	20
3rd	15
4th	10
5th	8
6th	6
7th	5
8th	3
9th	2
10th	1

- A strong mandate has been given to the Sporting Working Group, a sub-committee of the F1 Commission made up of the FIA and F1 teams, to develop detailed proposals to improve the show. These will take effect from the 2010 championship.

- The FIA and FOM will further collaborate to enhance the communication and promotion of the championship to the media and its worldwide fanbase.

The next meeting of the Formula One Commission will be held on 10 March in Bahrain.

Quotes Roundup – Week Ending 25th October

The very best from the mouths of those in the know.

Champion Celebrations

The praise pours in for our new champions…

• “It’s car 22 for the second year in a row, two English champions in a row, two Mercedes engines winning in a row and the second time that they champion scored the points he needed by finishing P5 in Brazil.” Norbert Haug, Mercedes
  
• “I grant them the titles because if you only look at what they have been through you realise what an incredible story this is: just one year ago they did think everything is over. I am extremely happy for Ross who I know since such a long time now, he deserves this success.” Michael Schumacher
  
• “I saw him in parc ferme before he came out, I gave him a squeeze and he locked onto me like a limpet. I could not get him off. It was unbelievable. He was screaming and crying: ‘I am world champion’. That is all it was. No other words at all.” John Button, Jenson’s father
  

Jean Todt: FIA President

The elections are over, now it’s time to see what happens…

• “I like action, I like to make things go forward and I am really happy to see that so many countries chose me but everything is yet to be done. The day the election is over, everybody must share the same goals, including those who did not support me. I am not closing the door to anybody.” Jean Todt
• “FOTA is looking forward to supporting him to broaden the appeal of our sport among fans and sponsors while respecting Formula 1’s great heritage to which he has contributed enormously.” John Howett, FOTA vice-chairman
  
• “I’m against who said we must change it at all cost. Not everything needs to be binned. We need constructive change. What was true ten years ago isn’t true anymore now, for both road mobility and for the sport.” Jean Todt
  

Williams Look Ahead

The team prepare for next year…

• “Ross Brawn and the team showed that you can make an engine change on Christmas Eve and still produce a pretty competitive car but I don’t think our design office would thank us for doing that and they will have a little longer than that to design the car around the engine.” Patrick Head
• “Nobody has done any work that I can see to show that there is space to accommodate 14 teams, 28 cars. No one has discussed that, neither the FIA nor anyone else. Look at where we are now in Brazil. You couldn’t possibly get 28 cars and 14 teams here.” Adam Parr, CEO
  
• “We had a very good relationship with Toyota. We made a decision about two months ago that we wanted to go in a different direction and I think the reasons are not for public consumption. We haven’t had any falling out so it’s an amicable parting.” Patrick Head
  

FIA Elects New President

23-Oct-09: Jean Todt Replaces Max as FIA President

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 23rd October 2009.

The FIA Presidency elections were held today and there was no waiting around for the result. About midday it was confirmed that Jean Todt had won the vote by 135 to Vatanen’s 49, with 12 non-votes. Todt’s first speech as President announced that he would be appointing commissioners to each world championship, so that he doesn’t have to run every single sport himself. Speculation begins now over who the F1 Commissioner will be. Meanwhile, FOTA chief Luca di Montezemolo said: “I am sure that, under his guidance, the Federation will be rejuvenated and will restore a climate open to dialogue and constructive collaboration with the teams and FOTA, thus ensuring stability of the regulations and the whole environment.”

Meanwhile, Donington Park is looking ever more shaky, as they confirmed their bond scheme has not worked. They are in crisis talks with Bernie, but it’s clear they need a serious investor to bail them out now.

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

FIA Elections

Nominations for the presidency of the FIA close today.

The FIA has received applications from two candidates, Jean Todt and Ari Vatanen.  Each has submitted a list of deputies and vice-presidents representing Sport and Mobility, in accordance with the FIA Statutes.

The presidential candidates and their nominees for Senate president have been invited to a meeting on Tuesday 20 October with the FIA president and the FIA secretariat to finalise arrangements for the election.

These will include agreement on the number of speakers for each candidate, the length of their speeches and those of the two candidates, as well as the order of speaking.

Details of the voting procedures will also be discussed.  The two candidates will each be invited to nominate scrutineers to be selected by the General Assembly.  The entire procedure will be overseen, as usual, by a huissier de justice (a French state-appointed public witness).

The successful candidate will be invited to assume the chairmanship of the meeting as soon as his identity is known.

28-Sep-09: Massa to Return to Karting Imminently

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Today is the 28th September 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

There is Massa news today, as Ferrari boss Stefano Domincali has said the Brazilian may return to karting as early as next week. There was already talk that he would be back behind the wheel, albeit a small one, in November, but Domenicali says: “He is working hard on training and next week he should go into the karting activity.”

Elsewhere, Bahrain are very happy with their opening slot on the 2010 calendar, with CEO of the circuit Martin Whitaker saying: “It’s a great honour to host the first race… Bahrain has earned the title “The Friendly Race” and we are looking forward to extending the traditional warm welcome to everyone in 2010.” Has anyone else heard it called the friendly race?

Anyway, to finish, Jean Todt garnered a lot of support for his presidency campaign over the weekend, but has angered South Africa by pondering whether the country care what is happening in F1.

That’s all for now, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

15-Jul-09: Mosley Reveals Todt as Preferred President

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 14th July.

We’ve heard this before, about thirty times, but Max Mosley has written to the FIA member clubs confirming that he doesn’t want to stand for re-election. However, this time it does seem slightly more final, as Mosley has put forward Jean Todt as his preferred candidate for the presidency in October. In the letter, Max wrote: “If he agrees to stand, I think he would be the ideal person to continue but also to extend the work of the past 16 years. He can be relied on in all areas where the FIA is active. I very much hope you will give him your support.”

Elsewhere, it’s not very often that you find someone in favour of this year’s regulations but Williams technical director Sam Michael has said they are the reason that his team have managed to improve and stay consistent. He said: “Because of the change in the rules, the cars are very different to before… We never really got the FW31 developed under the old regulations to the same level as everybody else.”

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

21-Apr-08: Mosley Intends to Fight But Not Past 2009

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This is F1 Minute for the 21^st April 2008.

Max Mosley has spoken out in his first interview since the News of the World expose, and defended his right to have a private life. He’s said that for every letter he’s had telling him to resign, he’s had seven telling him to stay, and it’s for those people that he intends to fight his corner. He has admitted, though, that if he does survive the vote in June and remains president of the FIA, he won’t seek another term in 2009. The best part of the interview, however, was Mosley referring to his wife’s reaction, saying she was “not best pleased.” The first vocal supporter of Max has spoken out. It’s ex-Ferrari chief Jean Todt, and he says he’s amazed at the reaction to Mosley’s private life.

Elsewhere in the sport, Barrichello has set the date for Turkey to be his record-breaking 257^th Grand Prix start, although there is some discrepancy over the actual number of races he has taken part in. Honda decided a lack of any definitive answer means that Turkey will do as the race to celebrate.

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

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