11-Mar-10: McLaren Pass Scrutineering, Car is Legal

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 11th March 2010.

Firstly, McLaren have passed scrutineering today, with the FIA giving the rear wing the all-clear. Other teams, including Red Bull and Lotus aren’t at all happy about it but as usual McLaren have stuck to the letter of the regulations if not the spirit.

The FIA also announced that they will be re-opening the selection process for a team to replace US F1 in 2011. All the teams that applied this year can have another go, if they so desire. A statement from the governing body also hinted at the fact that it’s not over for US F1 and they may face some penalties for defaulting on their entry this year.

Finally, two quick snippets, Renault have signed up HP as a major sponsor this year – the company previously sponsored Williams, whilst Alain Prost is the first former F1 driver to join the stewarding panel for 2010, taking up a spot amongst the Bahrain stewards. Other stewards at future races will include Johnny Herbert, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Alex Wurz.

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

FIA Formula One World Championship – Entry List

FIA Formula One World Championship – Entry List

No.	Driver	Team	Constructor
1	Jenson Button	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren Mercedes
2	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren Mercedes
3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes Grand Prix	Mercedes Benz GP
4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes Grand Prix	Mercedes Benz GP
5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull Racing Renault
6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull Racing Renault
7	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari
8	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari
9	Rubens Barrichello	AT&T Williams	Williams Cosworth
10	Nico Hülkenberg	AT&T Williams	Williams Cosworth
11	Robert Kubica	Renault F1 Team	Renault
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault F1 Team	Renault
14	Adrian Sutil	Force India F1 Team	Force India Mercedes
15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India F1 Team	Force India Mercedes
16	Sébastien Buemi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	STR Ferrari
17	Jaime Alguersuari	Scuderia Toro Rosso	STR Ferrari
18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus F1 Racing	Lotus Cosworth
19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus F1 Racing	Lotus Cosworth
20	TBA	HRT F1 Team	HRT Cosworth
21	Bruno Senna	HRT F1 Team	HRT Cosworth
22	Pedro de la Rosa	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber Ferrari
23	Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber Ferrari
24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	Virgin Cosworth
25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	Virgin Cosworth

Note: The USF1 Team have indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in 2010.

BMW Sauber – Willy Rampf hands over top slot to James Key

In April the BMW Sauber F1 Team will see a change that has been long in the planning: after ten years as Technical Director in Hinwil, Willy Rampf (56) will hand over to Englishman James Key (38), who takes up his new position on 1st April. Willy Rampf will be leaving the team at the end of April.

“The first time I saw the facilities in Hinwil, I knew straightaway the kind of opportunities open to me there,” says Key. “The wind tunnel, the supercomputer, the machine park and the expertise of the team were extremely persuasive. There is significant potential at Sauber, and with the ever-changing world of F1 I think the team is very well placed at present. I am grateful to my old team for the past 12 years I spent with them, but now I very much look forward to starting my new job. I would like to thank Peter Sauber and the team for this great opportunity.”

After two years as a designer with Lotus, Key launched his Formula One career in 1998 as a data engineer with Jordan, where he went on to become Takuma Sato’s race engineer. After a year in the aerodynamics department he was made head of vehicle dynamics. Soon after the Midland Group took over the team, he was appointed Technical Director in season 2005, at the age of just 33. He retained this position when the team became SpykerF1 and ultimately Force India. Key was in charge of the VJM02 with which the private team took a pole position, a podium place and a fastest race lap in 2009.

James Key was born on 14th January 1972. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nottingham. He is currently preparing his move from Warwick, UK to Switzerland. Key is married with three children.

Team Principal Peter Sauber notes: “Despite his young age, James looks back on more than a decade of experience in Formula One – and the 2009 car in particular proved quite a revelation. James comes from a private team and knows how to work around a limited budget. With us he will enjoy high-level technical opportunities. Willy and James will be devoting April to the handover. I have known about Willy’s plans for some time, of course,” Sauber continues, “and fully understand his decision. He has achieved great things for our team. I had managed to get him on board as race engineer for season 1994. Then in 1998 he temporarily left the team to pursue his Paris-Dakar Rallye dream and ran BMW’s motorcycle involvement – a successful interlude, as we know. In 1999 he returned to the fold with the clear aim of becoming Technical Director. It was practically his first Formula One car that was out on the grid in 2001, and we finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship as a privately-run team. We have Willy to thank for a great deal.”

Willy Rampf said: “When you’re Technical Director of a Formula One team, the job comes first and everything else is subordinate to it. I have done my job with a passion for ten years, but now it’s time to hand over the baton. Peter Sauber gave me the chance to enter this league of motor sport and I greatly value all my years spent working with the team.”

12-Feb-10: Lotus Launch the T127 in London

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 12th February 2010.

Lotus launched their new car today at an afternoon event in London. The T127 is a striking green and yellow, bringing forward the livery from the original Lotus team of the 50s and 60s. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were both present for the launch, as was CTO Mike Gascoyne. Mike said: “We are looking in really good shape. We have to improve the pace of our car and the results from the wind tunnel, but that will come with time.” They are due to star testing in Jerez next week.

Over in Jerez today, the rain came down once again. Alguersuari posted the fastest time before the bad weather began, and no one could top it, giving Toro Rosso the glory. Pedro de la Rosa was second for Sauber with Sutil third for Force India. Hamilton was slowest of the significant times, finishing 9th and about four seconds off the pace. Once again, though, it was Virgin at the bottom. They had a tough day, with di Grassi only hitting the track two hours before the end of the day, and even then he only completed 8 laps. Testing continues tomorrow, and I’ll bring you an extra F1 Minute of the action then.

Sauber Reorganise Directors for 2010 Season

Peter Sauber takes a less hands on role, and Kovi sends mixed signals.

This is F1 Minute for the 8th January 2010.

With Peter Sauber taking back control of his team from BMW, he has been spending some time sorting out who’s in charge of what. Sauber will be the president of the team, heading up the board of directors, and will also take the role of Team Principal. Apparently, though, he won’t be doing much in the way of operations, instead handing the day to day tasks to Monisha Kaltenborn as managing director. Monisha has been on the board since 2001 and she has been part of the legal team since before then, but will now take a more hands on role. It will be good to see a female getting involved at a top level of F1.

Quickly to finish, Heikki Kovalainen has been talking to Autosport during a seat fitting for his new Lotus team, and says being at McLaren taught him a lot and he is a much better driver in every area since his days at Renault, but at the same time he’s always been a good driver. Mixed signals.

That will do for now, have a great weekend and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.

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08-Jan-10: Sauber Reorganise Directors for 2010 Season

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This is F1 Minute for the 8th January 2010.

With Peter Sauber taking back control of his team from BMW, he has been spending some time sorting out who’s in charge of what. Sauber will be the president of the team, heading up the board of directors, and will also take the role of Team Principal. Apparently, though, he won’t be doing much in the way of operations, instead handing the day to day tasks to Monisha Kaltenborn as managing director. Monisha has been on the board since 2001 and she has been part of the legal team since before then, but will now take a more hands on role. It will be good to see a female getting involved at a top level of F1.

Quickly to finish, Heikki Kovalainen has been talking to Autosport during a seat fitting for his new Lotus team, and says being at McLaren taught him a lot and he is a much better driver in every area since his days at Renault, but at the same time he’s always been a good driver. Mixed signals.

That will do for now, have a great weekend and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.

Lotus F1 Racing One Week Ahead of Schedule

Mike Gascoyne, Lotus F1 Racing Chief Technical Officer, has confirmed this week that the team is a week ahead of schedule on its build process and making excellent progress in all key areas in its efforts to be ready for the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix in March.

Asked for an update, Mike said “We had been looking at firing up our engine for the first time on 12th February, but with the efforts everyone’s been putting in we have now been able to bring that forward to 5th February. This is obviously a great boost for everyone involved in the team, and shows how much hard work has already gone in since we had our entry confirmed on September 12th.

“With the engine fire up date now in the diary, we are also in a position to confirm that we will be on track for the first time at the third official test at Jerez from 17th February, and then at Barcelona from 25th February. We are also aiming to run chassis two for the last two days of that Barcelona test.”

Mike also looked ahead to the forthcoming season and announced that the development programme will see a major update at the Spanish Grand Prix in May. “We have said we are aiming to be ahead of the new teams when we all reach Bahrain, but we would also like to be pretty close to the midfield teams after the first few races of the season. The update we have planned for Spain will see a boost in performance when we reach Barcelona which will give us the chance to start fighting with the slowest of the established teams which, given progress so far, has to be the next goal for us.”

07-Jan-10: Lotus Ready to Test for the Mid-Field

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 7th January 2010.

Autosport is reporting that Lotus are pretty sure they will be on track at the second pre-season test in Jerez in the middle of February, and they’ll take part in the following Barcelona test as well – the last outing before the season gets underway in Bahrain. CTO Mike Gascoyne is happy with how their plans are shaping up, particularly as they are doing better than anticipated, he says: “Being a week ahead of schedule is pretty good considering it is modern F1. To get an entry on September 12 and to be there in good shape is not a bad effort.”

He is sure that picking up experienced drivers like Kovalainen and Trulli will propel Lotus to the mid-field, saying: “…with eight cars going out in Q1, you’ve only got to pick up one or two stragglers to get both cars into Q2 – and immediately you are a midfield team.” He specifically mentions wanting to beat Force India, Toro Rosso and maybe Sauber as well.

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

21-Dec-09: Mercedes Sign Petronas as Title Sponsor

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 21st December 2009.

It is Christmas week, and you would think the news would be dying down a little bit. Um, no. Today, Mercedes GP confirmed they were bringing Petronas back to Formula 1 as their title sponsor. The Malaysian oil company was previously involved with the BMW team and had been rumoured to get involved with Lotus – thanks to the Malaysia connection – but it is Mercedes who will get the branding. There’s even a livery concept floating round the web, released by the team, and it’s… well, it’s grey and green. Hmm.

Elsewhere, F1 organisers in Rome have said they agreed a deal with Bernie that he will help them get a race on the calendar. Apparently the written confirmation says that Bernie will support the GP in Rome, and whilst it’s good to get the FOM boss on your side, they don’t have approval from any of the governments or the FIA. Plans look to be for 2012 at the moment.

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

Lotus Bound

Heikki Kovalainen poses in his new Lotus gear after being confirmed alongside Trulli at the team for 2010. Lotus were keen to point out they want to honour the heritage and the name, but are still a brand new team.

Credit: Lotus F1 Racing

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