Ross Brawn - Head of Brawn GP F1 Team

Rumours have been circulating for sometime about Richard Branson’s sponsorship move with Virgin from the Brawn GP Team to the new Manor Team in 2010, and an alleged email has all but confirmed it to be true.

The ‘Guardian’, has today published the email, sent by Max Mosley’s right-hand man and chief steward Alan Donnelly, stating that the deal was completed weeks ago.

The Formula One teams are said to have already sent a letter of complaint to the World Motorsport Council, concerning Donnelly and questioning a conflict of interest,  Donnelly has insisted however, that he has “no direct involvement”.

The Sheffield-based Manor F1 Team, had already raised suspicion when it was announced that they would be working with former Benetton designer Nick Wirth, head of  Wirth Research.  It was Wirth who founded the Simtek Research company alongside Max Mosley before putting his own F1 Team on the grid in 1994.

Off we go again!

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

Brabham BT30 from 1970

It has been revealed that more teams have lodged paperwork to join the grid for the Formula One Championship in 2010.

As it stands, all ten teams in the current championship have provisionally signed for the following season, subject to a suspension of the budget cap and the rules remaining unchanged for 2010.

The Williams team are the only runners who has signed the agreement without conditions, which saw them given a suspension from FOTA.

Max Mosley, the FIA president, has said;

“We make the rules, We have done for 60 years and we are going to continue to do it.”

One of the new teams emerging as an entrant for next season is the Brabham Grand Prix Team, now owned by German businessman Franz Hilmer.

Another is a Spanish team Epsilon Euskadi, who’s boss Joan Villadelprat, is claiming to have the funding for the next four seasons.

The FIA is to announce the 2010 entry list on June 12th and have said there is room for 13 teams in total, therefore, if the nine teams who have provisional signed for next season decide to pull out, there will be plenty of other teams to take their places on the grid.

Mosley allegedly told the Switzerland Motorsport Aktuell when asked about the stand-off by the rebellious teams;

“What I would say to them is that if they want to write the rules, they should organise their own championship”.

FIA

Today(Friday), was the deadline for all entries to be submitted for the 2010 Formula One Championship, including the Ferrari team who had threatened to walk away from the sport.

However, certain condition have been put forward from FOTA;

“The Concorde Agreement is signed by all parties before 12th June 2009, after which all FOTA teams will commit to competing in Formula One until 2012.  The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance.

The basis of the 2010 regulations will be the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA.”

It was the president of the FIA, Max Mosley, who suggested that the cost cutting measures could be suspended for a year!

If these terms are agreed to where does that leave the new teams that have also signed-up for 2010 on the presumption that there would be a spending budget?

The USF1, Campos, Lola, Litespeed and Prodrive teams have all signed as new entries for the 2010 season.  David Richards has confirmed that he has submitted their entry for the Prodrive Team after receiving backing from sponsors.

Richards said,

“We are very appreciative of the support we have been given in putting together our entry, not least by both the FIA and FOM,” said the ex-F1 team principal. “With the help of Dar Capital, in raising the finance, coupled with our understanding of the latest proposals to assist new teams, we now feel the conditions are right to formally request the FIA for an entry.

“The level of next year’s cost cap has risen substantially since we originally considered entering. However everyone appears committed to major reductions in future years and when one takes into account the transition proposals for new teams we are confident that we now have the opportunity to be both commercially viable and competitive. As we have said all along, we don’t want to be in Formula One just to make up the numbers.”

It is believed that all current teams must provide technical support to all newcomers until the budget cap is reduced in 2011.

The Williams team were suspended from the Formula One Team Association on Wednesday when it was confirmed that they had submitted their entry to the 2010 championship, breaking a united front against the governing body.  The statement from FOTA read;

“Following Monday’s confirmation that the team has submitted its formal entry…the Formula One Teams Association has today decided temporarily to suspend Williams F1 from membership of FOTA,” the team said in a statement.”

Frank Williams, head of the Williams team accepted their decision and said;

“However, as a racing team and a company whose only business is Formula One, with obligations to our partners and our employees, submitting our entry to next year’s Championship was unquestionable.

“In addition, we are legally obliged under our contract with FOM (Formula One Management) and the FIA (International Automobile Federation) to participate in the World Championship until the end of 2012.”

Although no figures have been confirmed as yet for the budget cap for 2010, it is believed to be twice the 40 million pound that the FIA were hoping to introduce.

The ball is now firmly in the court of the FIA, they could of course reject the conditions set by FOTA, which could then see the teams walk away from Formula One, or FOTA could add further conditions, it’s any one’s guess at this stage, however, the official entry list for 2010 is to be published on June 12th.

Up In The Air With Ferrari

This week the Ferrari F1 team went to court in Paris for an injunction to stop the controversial optional £40 million budget cap which is to be introduced in 2010.

Ferrari, Toyota, Renault and the two Red Bull teams have all threatened to walk if the regulations for the 2010 cost cutting budget is not rewritten.

Although all teams are expected to compete under the same regulations, the teams operating under the budget cap scheme would be given greater technical freedom than the unrestricted budget teams.  Three teams have today said that they would welcome the cost cutting scheme for 2010 onwards, they are Williams, Force India and BMW.

With new teams already taking an interest in competing in the 2010 championship, e.g. Lola and USF1, the Ferrari team believe that the newcomers would reduce F1 to the level of a junior series.

Bernie Ecclestone has stated his concern over the situation and would be surprised if many of the teams submitted their entries before the May 29 deadline for next seasons championship.  He doubts there is an easy solution to the crisis and he is worried.

Kimi Raikkonen has already told reporters his feelings on the Ferrari teams future;

“I’m pretty sure we are going to disappear from Formula One.   They will find something for me to do since they still have a contract with me.  They are racing in many other categories.”

Fernando Alonso, who has been rumoured to be going to the Ferrari team in 2010/2011, has said;

“If everything is not settled, Formula One is finished and the sport will turn into GP2 with a little more pace, but there won’t be any interest in it as an event.  I don’t want to drive for a small team.

If the seven teams go, Formula One disappears.  With unknown drivers, it’s over.  You’ll lose the ten best drivers in the world.”

I for one would relish the introduction of new teams, the sport has become boring with the majority of the races being dominated by three or four teams.  This season it has certainly become a little more interesting with the Brawn GP team being one of the front runners but even that is now becoming dull.

We want to see racing as it was before, with all drivers on a level playing field, and with the best driver winning the race rather than the car with the most money spent on it.

I don’t always agree with Ecclestone, but I do feel that this time he may have got it right, let’s hope he doesn’t back down to Ferrari’s threats and that we get the drama and thrills of watching the Formula One championship returning to it’s roots.

FIA’s Max Mosley said after the meeting that there would be no compromise on the controversial regulation, adding that he doubted that Ferrari would quit F1.

“The idea that they are indispensable is nonsense,” said  Mosley. “It’s a little bit like poor Senna. He was the most important driver in 1994 but when he very sadly got killed Formula One went on. Lotus were very important once, so were Brabham.”

He went on to say that the teams had ‘gone off to reconsider’. Ferrari immediatley hit back at the FIA by seeking a legal injunction in France, to stop the ruling taking effect for the 2010 season.

Mosley has also reiterated that the sport is likely to lose at least two further teams from this seasons contestants if the optional cost cap is not agreed. Teams accepting to operate within the budget cap will enjoy greater technical freedom than those teams preferring to continue with unlimited budgets, in theory making them as competitive, for less money.

Should the low budget cap be agreed, Mosley expects all of the current F1 teams will be on the grid for the 2010 season, but moreover the lower costs will also attract new teams to Formula One of which the FIA will select three. Among the already interested parties  are Lola and David Richards the former Benetton and BAR boss.

“This will demonstrate that with less than 30 million pounds, it is possible to run a Formula One team which is virtually indistinguishable from an unlimited-expenditure team” said Mosley.

“It is likely that without the opportunity to participate under a cost cap, we will lose at least two further teams for the 2010 season, notwithstanding the cost-saving measures which FOTA has already agreed. This would leave us with just 16 cars. However, the FOTA cost savings have been achieved at a pace which suggests that teams can adjust much more quickly than was apparent 12 months ago.”

Mosley has accepted that the £30million budget may need to be revised and has asked the teams to suggest what  they would consider to be the minimum acceptable budget cap by the close of business today.

Ron Dennis

Ron Dennis today handed over the remaining responsibilities with the McLaren Formula One team to Martin Whitmarsh so he can concentrate solely on the McLaren Automotive company.

The 61-year-old announced in January that he would be stepping down from his role as team boss after beginning his career in Formula One at the age of 18.

A press conference was held this morning at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking with Dennis announcing the major reconstruction within the McLaren group.

Dennis said,

“I passed the role of Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Martin Whitmarsh on January 16th, the day of the launch of our new Formula 1 car. That day I was asked many times whether I would attend the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. My answer was “yes”. I duly attended it – albeit not as the person in charge of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. It was, I admit, a strange feeling.

“The next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, I watched on TV in the UK – an activity I found surprisingly easy. I’d expected to be more emotional about it, after an unbroken run of attending so many grands prix for so many years.

“I admit I’m not always easy to get on with. I admit I’ve always fought hard for McLaren in Formula 1. I doubt if Max Mosley or Bernie Ecclestone will be displeased by my decision. But no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision.

“Equally, I was the architect of today’s restructure of the McLaren Group. Again, no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision.

“I feel enormously enthused about the prospects for the McLaren Group and for McLaren Automotive, and have no qualms about leaving Martin to report to the board regarding matters connected with Formula 1.”

For more than two-years McLaren have been working on a programme to develop a range of McLaren sports cars, the first of which is to be launched in 2011.  One of the McLaren companies within the group, the McLaren Automotive, will later this year become an independent group with Ron Dennis as it’s Executive Chairman.