Nick Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld has been released from his duties as reserve driver for the Mercedes Grand Prix team to join Pirelli, the 2011 F1 tyre supplier as their official driver.

Pirelli’s new testing programme began on Monday at Mugello with further development work days scheduled at Jerez, Monza and at the Paul Ricard circuit.

The team statement read;

“We can confirm that the team is pleased to allow Nick the opportunity to join Pirelli and contribute to their development work for the company’s imminent return to F1” said team principal Brawn.

“Nick is an extremely experienced driver and we are confident that his racing knowledge and technical feedback will prove extremely useful to Pirelli and therefore of benefit to the sport as a whole. Nick has been a real asset to Mercedes since joining our team this year, and we are pleased to see his career progressing”.

Norbert Haug added;

“It was clear from the beginning of our co-operation that Mercedes would release Nick from his obligations as soon as a promising opportunity as an active F1 driver developed.  This is now the case, and there could be no more experienced and knowledgeable driver in the cockpit to steer the tyre development for next season.

We thank Nick for his contribution to our team over the last nine months and wish him well with his new challenge. It would be great to see Nick in a competitive car in next year’s F1 World Championship, and I am sure his leading role in the new tyre development, in addition to his skills, puts Nick in a good position for the remaining seats in 2011.”

Michael Schumacher - Mercedes F1 2010

Michael Schumacher is to have a radically re-vamped Mercedes F1 for the coming Spanish Grand Prix after it was claimed that the car that he has been driving since the opening of the 2010 series had not been designed to his driving style.

A longer wheelbase has been introduced for the newly designed version of the Mercedes which will in fact move the front wheels further forward, which in turn, determine the weight balance of the car that the team had got wrong according to Ross Brawn and improve down-force.

The Mercedes will not be having a new chassis as has been reported but the one previously used during testing after it was reported that the one Schumacher has been racing in was damaged and repaired but was not working to its fully capacity along with a major new aerodynamic revamp.

The host of changes to the former seven-times champions Mercedes is hoped to improve his F1 comeback after scoring just 10 points since his return to the sport in March.

The team-mate of Schumacher, Nico Rosberg has meanwhile finished twice on the podium this season leaving him in second place in the driver standings.

Nico Rosberg

The former Brawn GP team, Mercedes Grand Prix, have confirmed the signing of the 2009 Williams driver Nico Rosberg for the 2010 season.

Although the move has come as no surprise, there is still no clear indication of who his team-mate is likely to be for the year ahead or for how long Rosberg has signed to race for the team.  Michael Schumacher is the latest in a long line of drivers rumoured for the second seat along with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Rosberg said;

“I am really happy to be a part of the Silver Arrows re-launch in 2010 as a driver for Mercedes.  No other brand in Formula 1 can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing. I am very proud that I will now drive for the new Mercedes team and work with Ross Brawn. I am more motivated than ever, and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season in Bahrain.”

Ross Brawn said;

“We are delighted to welcome Nico Rosberg to our Mercedes team and are very much looking forward to working with him.  Nico is a great talent, and with four years of experience in Formula 1 is a driver who will be able to make a valuable contribution to our team right from the outset.

I had the pleasure of working with his father Keke during his Formula 1 career, and it is great to see Nico following in his footsteps. 2009 was Nico’s best season in Formula 1 to-date, and we look forward to seeing his development continue with us at Mercedes next year”.

Jenson Button 2009

The 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button has allegedly signed with the McLaren team to race alongside Lewis Hamilton in an all British line-up for 2010.

Following the news that Kimi Raikkonen will be taking a year out of Formula One after failing to reach a deal with the McLaren team, an announcement for the signing of Button is expected very soon.

Despite still having a year to run on his Ferrari contract, Raikkonen was replaced by the double world champion, Spain’s Fernando Alonso with the Finn driver insisting that he would only race for one of the top teams as he intends to fight for the championship.

According to Ross Brawn, reports that Button has already signed for the team are not helpful as negotiations are said to be continuing.  Button was allegedly unhappy with the offer made by the Brawn Team for the coming season, seeing it as unacceptable after winning the championship.

Ross Brawn 2009

Mercedes will now have their own F1 team in 2010 after it was confirmed that the company have purchased a controlling stake of Brawn GP Team

The team will be known as the Mercedes Grand Prix as the Brawn title disappears and the Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG along with Aabar Investments will now gain control with a 75.1% joint stake.

Ross Brawn is said to be continuing his role as Team Principle with the current management remaining as for the 2009 season.  Brawn said;

“Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months.  From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the constructors’ and drivers’ World Championships, and now accepting Daimler’s and Aabar’s offer to buy our team, which will secure its future.

Both I and my fellow directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances.

We are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula One next year and we will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team.”

Mercedes will continue to supply their engines to the McLaren team until at least 2015 although the 40% share holding will be reacquired by the McLaren Group by 2012.

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!

Jenson Button - Brawn GP Team - Australia 2009

The first Formula One Grand Prix of the season got underway yesterday and what a fantastic result for the brand new Brawn GP team.

As Jenson Button got a great start from the off, Rubens Barrichello didn’t appear to have noticed that the race had started but soon had his sights set on the job ahead.

At the first turn Mark Webber in the Red Bull appeared to turn-in on Barrichello.  The BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Adrain Sutil in the Force India car were also collected in the clash.  Heidfeld came into the pits with a rear right puncture, Webber came in for a for a new front wing while Kovalainen’s car limped around the circuit before he retired from the race.

Britain’s Jenson Button led the 58-lap Melbourne GP from pole position  pulling away from the rest of the pack and continued to make progress until lap 19 when the safety car was deployed after Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima hit the wall on exiting turn 4.

The McLaren of Lewis Hamilton had now moved into 11th place after qualifying in 18th, he benefited from the incident at the first corner and also by being one of the first to pit and refuel, taking on new prime tyres.

Williams driver Nico Rosberg, looked to be in with a podium finish until a very slow pit stop after a problem with the the left front wheel and then the  FW31 developed a problem late on in the race seeing him fall back into seventh place.

On lap 25, Renault driver Nelson Piquet went off into the gravel after locking his brakes and spinning the car leading to his retirement, while his team-mate Fernando Alonso finally finished in sixth place.

Felipe Massa and fellow Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen had a relatively quiet day with neither driver finishing the race and no points for the team.  Massa retired his car on lap 47 after developing a mechanical problem and Raikkonen who had previously made contact with a retaining wall retired after his final pit stop while under the safety car.

Rookie driver Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso finished in seventh place earning his team some valuable points on his first outing, while his team-mate Sebastien Bourdais finished in eighth.

Barrichello didn’t have it quite so easy and was behind Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull and Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber.  Kubica began to put pressure on Vettel as his tyres improved but on lap 55 with only 3 laps left to run, Kubica was alongside Vettel when the two made contact, spinning them both.  Vettel minus a front wing tried to continue but crashed out almost immediately while Kubica did the same a little later, once again deploying the safety car.

After the race it was declared that Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team would be penalised for the crash with  Kubica and he was handed a ten-grid penalty for the next round of the championship in Malaysia next week.  The team were also fined $50,000 after it emerged that members of the team had radioed Vettel and instructing him to continue driving on three-wheels rather than retire his car.

A disappointing day for the Toyota team after third placed man Jarno Trulli had his position put back to twelfth after stewards decided that he illegally overtook Hamilton under the safety car.  The team are appealing the decision after Trulli explained that he had no choice but to overtake as Hamilton had slowed down leaving him to think he had a problem.  Both Toyota drivers had started from the pit lane after being excluded from the afternoon qualifying session where Timo Glock had finished in sixth and Trulli in eighth.

In a post qualifying inspection it was discovered that the TF109 contravened the the FIA technical regulations with their new rear wing.  The wing was deemed to be too flexible and the team agreed to modify the part overnight.   Not a great result for the Toyota team but an added bonus for the McLaren team and Hamilton who is now placed in third place.

Here are the results;

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Button        Brawn GP              (B)  1h34:15.784
 2.  Barrichello   Brawn GP              (B)  +     0.807
 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     1.604
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     2.914
 5.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +     4.435
 6.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +     4.879
 7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     5.722
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     6.004
 9.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     6.298
10.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     6.335
11.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     7.085
12.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     7.374
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    2 laps
15.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    3 laps
16.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:27.706

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    46
Piquet        Renault               (B)    25
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    18
Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    1

Honda F1

You would have to go  a long way back in the history of Formula One to find the kind of excitement and comraderie currently on display in the sport, if there is a positive to come out of the financial crisis, then it seems that F1 have grabbed it with both hands in a bid bring back the halcyon days of motor racing.

The eleventh hour management buyout of the Honda team, led by Ross Brawn will not only ensure a full grid for the start of the 2009 season, but also ensures the future of the team in the UK. Brawn has said that it wasn’t a difficult choice given the circumstances, if the management team had decided not to take it on, there would be no team.

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button is rumoured to have taken a 50% pay cut to drive for the team this season and it is almost certain that many of the team would do the same if they have not already. But money isn’t everything and it was reassuring to hear Button talking like an F1 rookie after testing the 2009 car;

“It feels like 2000 again but with nine years of experience, so it’s the perfect position to be in. We all do feel like kids again and you can see that within the team, the smiles on people’s faces, and that was before we drove the car today. There’s a great atmosphere and it’s brought everyone that much closer together, and it’s a great thing to be part of.”

That is generally how F1 appears right now, every team and driver has enthused about their chances in the coming season and while practise times should not be used to guage progress in race conditions, it is none the less reassuring to see how close the cars have been so far in performance.

The test will obviously start in Australia in just a couple of weeks, when it will be interesting to see whether the new found openess extends into the racing season.

Here’s hoping!

Ross Brawn - Brawn GP Team

Jenson Button was at the wheel of the brand new ‘Brawn GP Team‘ today at the Silverstone circuit giving the Mercedes-engine Honda it’s track debut after the saving of the Honda F1 team.

A statement released today confirmed the continuation of the Honda Formula One team with Ross Brawn as it’s Team Principal.  The statement from Ross Brawn read;

“The past few months have been extremely challenging for the team but today’s announcement is the very pleasing conclusion to the strenuous efforts that have been made to secure it’s future.

Firstly, it is a great shame that having worked with Honda Motor Company for so long we can no longer continue together.  I would like to thank Honda for the fantastic co-0peration and support we have received throughout this process, particularly those members of the senior management who were closely involved with concluding our agreement, and for the faith they have demonstrated in myself and our team.

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay due credit to our staff at Brackley.  The levels of motivation and commitment that I have witnessed at the factory deserve the highest praise.

I am delighted that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will form our race driver line-up for the 2009 season.  The vast experience and knowledge that both drivers bring to our team will prove invaluable as we aim to get up to speed in the shortest possible time to be ready for the first race of the season in Melbourne on the 29th March.  In what will be fourth season together their experience with out team in Brackley, our systems and our engineers, will prove a real asset.

It would be impossible to mention all of the people without whom today’s announcement may not have been possible, however I would like to express particular appreciation for the support we have received from Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de L’Automobile), FOM (Formula One Management), BERR (the UK’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), Bridgestone, our other team partners and our many fans the world over.  The journey ahead will be challenging but exciting and we know we can count on their continued enthusiasm for our team and its ambition.”

Within hours of the statement, the Mercedes-powered BGP 001 was on the track on a private test session with both drivers.  It is believed that the team will travel to Spain after this test to join the other drivers in Barcelona for the four day test session taking place from Monday.

Jenson Button & Rubens Barrichello

The Honda F1 team could be racing in the 2009 season if rumours prove to be true, after it was revealed last week that a management buyout would take place headed by Ross Brawn, which has allegedly been given approval.

After reports that up to 300 of the Brackley based Honda staff were to lose their jobs, Jensen Button has said to have agreed to a 50% pay-cut for the season as the team battle with a drastically reduced budget.

There is still no firm confirmation on the Honda team although it is believed that the Honda Tokyo board has given the green light.  It was suggested that the team may attend the penultimate testing session at Jerez this week, but there was no sight yesterday as the other teams took to the track.

It is thought that an announcement will be forthcoming this week after the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) press conference in Geneva.

The Honda team were also rumoured to have been attending Silverstone later this week before going on to join the other teams in the official test session in Barcelona.

The season gets underway on March 29th in Australia but all the cars need to be in Melbourne a week before the event in preparation for scrutineering on the eve of the first practice.  Not much time for the team given that they have not tested the car powered by an alleged Mercedes engine so far this year.

As for the drivers, there is still no word here either apart from Jenson which is still to be confirmed.  Bruno Senna or Rubens Barrichello?  The young Brazilian rookie, nephew of the great Ayrton, could bring a huge amount of funding to the team but Barrichello has the experience.  My money would be on Barrichello, who is not only the most experienced driver in Formula One but would surely be the best bet for an as yet untested car.