Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

Williams F17 Driven by Damon Hill

The Williams Formula One team, are this year celebrating 40 years in the business, and this weekend a special tribute to team boss Frank Williams is taking place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

A total of 13 of the teams Formula One cars through the years, will be on display at the Festival ranging from the 1970 model up to the present day.  The 1980 winning World Championship Williams-Cosworth driven by Alan Jones will be included along with 1996 Williams-Renault driven by Damon Hill, which is to be taking part in the Goodwood hill-climb challenge.

A host of past drivers for the team will also be in attendance, including Damon Hill, Alan Jones, David Coulthard and Jacques Laffite as well as the present day drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

On Sunday 5th July, the Williams cars and a selection of drivers, past and present, will gather in the Goodwood F1 Paddock Assembly Area to pay tribute to Frank Williams where Murray Walker is also to say a few words about the man and his achievements throughout his career.

Frank Williams has said;

“It will be great for me, and for all the people that have been a part of Williams, or supported the team over the years, to be there to see a broad selection of our cars, past and present”.

Other Formula One drivers expected to be making an appearance are Jenson Button, who is expected to be one of the drivers competing in the hill-climb.   Lewis Hamilton will be driving the McLaren MP4/4 and the MP 4/23, previous driven by the late, great Ayrton Senna.

Recently retired driver David Coulthard, will be taking out a Red Bull RB5  along with Mark Webber, while Eddie Irvine is expected to put on a show of one of his previous F1 Ferrari cars.  Timo Glock will drive the Toyota TF108 while Marc Gene will take out the Ferrari F2008.

Max The Menace

FIA President Max Mosley, is said to be furious over alleged false statements made by Ferrari President Luca de Montezemelo, after the breakthrough meeting in Paris last week which put an end to the breakaway F1 group.

Mosley sent a letter to Montezemelo and FOTA, demanding a public apology over suggestions that he had been forced out of office and that he would have no seat in the FIA when he steps down from his presidency role in October.

In the letter Mosley wrote;

“We made a deal yesterday in Paris to end the recent difficulties in Formula One. A fundamental part of this was that we would both present a positive and truthful account to the media.

I was therefore astonished to learn that Fota has been briefing the press that Mr [Michel] Boeri [president of the Fia senate] has taken charge of Formula One, something which you know is completely untrue; that I had been forced out of office, also false; and, apparently, that I would have no role in the Fia after October, something which is plain nonsense, if only because of the Fia statutes.

Furthermore, you have suggested to the media I was a ‘dictator’, an accusation which is grossly insulting to the 26 members of the World Motor Sport Council who have discussed and voted all the rules and procedures of Formula One since the 1980s, not to mention the representatives of the FIA’s 122 countries who have democratically endorsed everything I and my World Motor Sport Council colleagues have done during the last 18 years.

There was no need for me to involve myself further in Formula One once we had a settlement. Equally, I had a long-standing plan not to seek re-election in October. It was therefore possible for me to confirm both points to you yesterday.

Given your and Fota’s deliberate attempt to mislead the media, I now consider my options open. At least until October, I am president of the Fia with the full authority of that office. After that it is the Fia member clubs, not you or Fota, who will decide on the future leadership of the Fia.

If you wish the agreement we made to have any chance of survival, you and Fota must immediately rectify your actions. You must correct the false statements which have been made and make no further such statements. You yourself must issue a suitable correction and apology at your press conference this afternoon.”

Still handbags at twenty paces boys and girls, just when we thought that the end was in sight they’re off again for the next round.  All we want to see is good racing but I guess those days are well and truly over!

FIA

It appears that a deal has today been reached amid the crisis surrounding the break-away threat of the Formula One Championship series.

Max Mosley told a news conference today;

“The basic news is that there will be no split.  There will be one championship in 2010 which is I think something we all hoped.

We’ve reached an agreement on a number of items.  In particular we’ve reached agreement on reduction of costs.  We’ve had significant help from the teams.  The objective is to get back to early 1990s levels within two years.

Now the manufacturers, that’s to say FOTA, have committed commercially until 2012… as far as the FIA is concerned the commitment is indefinite.”

The World Motor Sport Council meeting took place this morning in Paris with Mosley confirming that he will be stepping down from his post of President in October when his mandate ends.  Mosley said;

“I will now be able to look at Formula One knowing it’s peaceful and stable and be able to stop, as was always my intention, in October of this year so I won’t present myself for re-election now that we’ve got peace.”

Bernie Ecclestone said after the meeting;

“I’m obviously very, very happy that common sense has prevailed which I’ve always believed it would because the alternative was not good at all.

I’m also, I must say, very, very, very happy that the teams have come to their senses to stop spending large amounts of money.”

The FIA statement stated that;

“There will be no alternative series or championship and the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

As part of this agreement, the teams will, within two years, reduce the costs of competing in the championship to the level of the early 1990s.  The manufacturer teams have agreed to assist new entries for 2010 by providing technical assistance.

The manufacturer teams have further agreed to the permanent and continuing role of the FIA as the sport’s governing body.  They have also committed to the commercial agreement to renegotiate and extend the contract before the end of that period.

All teams will adhere to an upgraded version of the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement.”

The official entry list for the 2010 Formula One Championship has now been released which includes the three new teams that have signed to race year, they are the Campos Meta Team, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1.

British Grand Prix 2009

Yesterday saw the final race at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix dominated by the Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel, claiming his second victory of the season after qualifying in pole position.

This week it was announced that eight of the Formula One teams had failed to reach an agreement with the FIA and were planning a breakaway series.  However, Max Mosley seems adamant that a solution is possible and feels that things will soon be back to normal, it’s just a matter of time.

Many of the British fans were hoping that Jenson Button in the Brawn GP car would be taking the chequered flag at his home track, but after qualifying in sixth place on Saturday the 29-year-old blamed the temperatures of the track leaving him with cold tyres and unable to find grip.

As the race got underway, Vettel led the group into the first corner with Button dropping back to ninth after a terrible start.  Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn GP was in second ahead of second Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber and the Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, who qualified in his best ever position of fifth.

Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari was in fifth followed by Nico Rosberg in the second Williams, Jarno Trulli in the Toyota and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.

Button passed Massa on lap 2 as the Ferrari ran wide and on the next lap, Fernando Alonso in the Renault ran wide and forced Lewis Hamilton onto the grass as he rejoined the track.

Adrian Sutil, driving his spare car,  started from the pit lane after a spectacular crash towards the end of the qualifying session on Saturday, when he miraculously walked away from what was left of his Force India.

Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Force India made an impressive move as a battle was taking place in front of him between Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and Alonso, both drivers ran wide leaving a gap wide enough to let Fisichella take full advantage of their error.

Nakajima was the first driver to pit on lap 16, as was expected, while running in fourth place and on the following lap Raikkonen went in for his first stop and made his exit in front of Nakajima.

After the first group of pit stops, Vettel still led the race followed by Webber, Barrichello, Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Trulli, Raikkonen, Button, Nakajima and Fisichella.

On lap 31, Alonso ran wide allowing the British driver Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren to get through.  Nelson Piquet in the second Renault rejoined from his pit-stop in front of the fighting duo as Alonso slipped back past Hamilton at Chapel when the British driver ran wide before passing his team-mate Piquet.

On lap 35, Sebastian Bourdais in the Toro Rosso, ran in the back of  Heikki Kovalainen leaving the McLaren driver with a left rear puncture and a broken front wing.  It appeared that there was some sort of problem with the McLaren which had slowed, leaving no where for Bourdais to go.  On lap 38, Kovalainen returned to the pits once again but this time he retired his car to the garage followed two laps later by Bourdais.

In the second set of pit stops, Button moved ahead of Trulli and Raikkonen up to sixth position as Massa also jumped another place to exit in fourth.

Vettel crossed the line nealy 16 seconds ahead of his team-mate Webber and Barrichello in third.  Massa finished in fourth followed by Rosberg, Button, Trulli, Raikkonen, Timo Glock and Fisichella to complete the top ten drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 60 laps 1hr 22m 49.328s
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 15.1s
3. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes +00m 41.1s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 45.0s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota +00m 45.9s
6. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +00m 46.2s
7. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota +01m 08.3s
8. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +01m 09.6s

all results unofficial

FIA

This weekend the Formula One teams and drivers will be at Silverstone for the Santander British Grand Prix, with many fans attending to see the British reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren, but it could also be a very sad day for the sport.

The latest deadline for the 2010 budget cap agreement is this Friday, 19th June, it appears that the crisis talks between the governing body and the teams are now at a stalemate.

After a failed meeting yesterday, the FIA have today issued a statement confirming that they are not willing to discuss regulations.  The statement read;

“Unfortunately, the FOTA representatives announced that they had no mandate to discuss the FIA’s 2010 financial regulations. Indeed, they were not prepared to discuss regulation at all.”

As a result, the meeting could not achieve its purpose of comparing the FIA’s rules with the FOTA proposals with a view to finding a common position.

In default of a proper dialogue, the FOTA financial proposals were discussed but it became clear that these would not be capable of limiting the expenditure of a team which had the resources to outspend its competitors. Another financial arms race would then be inevitable.

The FIA Financial Regulations therefore remain as published.”

The FOTA are rejecting the agreement for an optional £40million budget cap, aimed at helping smaller teams suffering in the economic crisis and also to assist new team wanting to enter the sport.

Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, BMW Sauber, McLaren and Toro Rosso,  have all threatened to walk away from Formula One and create a break-away group.

There is now only three-days to go and neither party seem any nearer to reaching an agreement.  If the teams fail to sign by the deadline then their names will be removed from the 2010 official entry list and are likely to be replaced by a host of newcomers eagerly waiting in the wings.