FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Ferrari struggling with lack of grip due to design defect in too narrow F14T

Ferrari are enduring yet another below par start to their season, and the popular theory is that the new V6 turbo engine built by the Maranello outfit is down on power and overweight, but it is now emerging that the F14T is also plagued with a major design flaw which is hampering downforce.

Autosprint have clamed that Ferrari’s 2014 challenger “suffers from a congenital defect in the design” which “to put it in a nutshell, is too narrow.”

However there is an additional problem facing Ferrari. Autosprint claim that sources within Maranello have revealed that in the effort to package the F14T as aggressively and effectively as possible, the extreme narrowing of the side-pods has sacrificed downforce.

In other words engineers have failed to optimise the balance between downforce and streamlining the F14T, too much emphasis on the latter being the root of the problem.

The issue is reminiscent to the problems suffered by Sauber last year with their C32, which was tightly packaged, but sacrificed valuable downforce as a result of the narrower sidepods.

This would explain why the F14T is quick to step out of line in medium fast corners, having caught out Fernando Alonso and more often Kimi Raikkonen on a number of occasions this season during race weekends and in testing. It has also proved to be quite a handful in the wet.

In faster corners, where less downforce is required, the handling of the car is much more predictable and thus less tricky for the drivers.

The engine issue, where the too small turbo is a problem and has no quick fix as the V6 power unit freeze is now well and truly implemented, with Mercedes clearly enjoying an advantage in this area. Autosprint suggest that Ferrari are expected to test solutions to the problem, with new wider sidepods on the list of items to be tested during free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.

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Wolff: I am convinced that what McLaren learns is being exchanged with Honda

Toto Wolff suspects that McLaren will pass on knowledge about the Mercedes V6 turbo engine to its 2015 engine supplier Honda.

This year, Mercedes is in the awkward situation of being contractually bound to supply its industry-leading new technology to McLaren, whilst knowing the the British team are already setting up their new works relationship with Honda.

When asked by Auto Motor und Sport how much information about Mercedes has already passed from Woking to Japan, team boss Eric Boullier smiled whilst insisting: “Nothing!”

Indeed, correspondent Tobias Gruner insists Mercedes is “using every means” to prevent Honda from learning from McLaren’s final year with Mercedes.

But Wolff claimed: “I am convinced that what McLaren learns is being exchanged with Honda in the context of what is allowed.”

He said that McLaren’s own telemetry will allow Honda engineers to see information about things like torque, power delivery and drive-ability.

“And also what is needed for cooling, hydraulics, electronics – all these things are of course passed on,” said Wolff.

Wolff said he trusts McLaren – famously fined $100 million by the FIA for the 2007 ‘spygate’ scandal – to stick to what is allowed as it moves from Mercedes to Honda power.

“We have a very clear understanding of what can be disclosed and what cannot, but I am convinced that they acknowledge the partnership and the confidentiality that they enjoy as a client today,” he added.

Wolff also acknowledged that even the transfer of some information will not overcome Honda’s inherent “disadvantage” of only returning to Formula 1 in 2015.

“Honda has a natural disadvantage,” he said, “because they are coming into the sport when everyone else has already been [in the V6 era] for a year,” he said.

At the same time, he also thinks that rivals Ferrari and Renault will be closer to Mercedes next year.

“Our concepts are very different,” said Wolff, “but the others will certainly catch up a lot, because they have information about how our engine runs when they see it on the track.

“Next year the field will automatically be closer,” he added.

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Stanford appointed general manager of Williams heritage

Williams is pleased to announce that Dickie Stanford has been appointed to the position of General Manager for Williams Heritage, a new division of Williams that oversees the maintenance and public demonstration of the team’s historic Formula One cars. Dickie was most recently Race Team Manager for Williams.

Dickie began his long career with Williams in 1985 as a mechanic on Nigel Mansell’s FW10 and worked his way up to Chief Mechanic, before becoming Team Manager in 1995.

He remained in that job for 10 years, before stepping back to spend more time with his family. In 2010 he returned to take up the reins once again as Race and Test Team Manager and helped guide the team through a difficult period.

After seeing the team through a successful winter ahead of the 2014 season, Dickie has now decided to retire from life on the road for a factory based position.

As General Manager of Williams Heritage, Dickie will report to Jonathan Williams and have responsibility for the team of highly experienced Williams mechanics that maintain the team’s historic racing cars at the Williams Grand Prix Collection in Oxfordshire, the largest private collection of Formula One cars in the world.

Dickie will also help manage the regular series of events and promotional activities that the cars take part in each year such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Speaking about Dickie’s new role Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal, said; “A team of our longevity has many historic assets that need to be cherished and preserved for future generations to enjoy. Dickie combines strong mechanical knowledge of our cars from his time as a mechanic, with first class operational and logistical skills honed as Race Team Manager. He is therefore perfectly placed to take on the day-to-day operational running of our historic car programme and provide support to Jonathan in ensuring that Williams’ Heritage programme goes from strength to strength. I would personally like to add my thanks to him for his services to the team during his time as Race Team Manager.”

Dickie added; “I have a lot of passion for the company and its heritage and the opportunity to take charge of our historic car programme is too good to turn down. With the formation of Williams Heritage as a distinct division within Williams, we will be well placed to ensure that our legendary cars continue to be well looked after and can be showcased to Formula One fans for many years to come.”

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Ex-Formula 1 driver Al Pease passes away

Victor “Al” Pease, a motor racing driver from Canada, has passed away.

Born in Darlington, England, Paese participated in three Formula 1 World Championship Grands Prix, making his debut at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix.

He holds the unfortunate distinction of being the only competitor ever to be disqualified from a Formula 1 World Championship race - the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix - for being too slow.

Pease was black-flagged after a series of on-track incidents, the last involving Matra driver Jackie Stewart, in which Matra owner Ken Tyrrell protested to the officials.

Despite the brief duration of his Formula 1 career, Pease was highly successful in domestic Canadian motor sport competitions, and was inducted as a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 1998.

He died on 4 May 2014 at his home in Tennessee.

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Haug predicts hard and exciting battles between Mercedes duo

Former Mercedes Motorsport Chief Norbert Haug is predicting a close duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the remainder of the 2014 Formula 1 season.

Haug’s countryman Rosberg is currently leading the world championship, but his British teammate Hamilton has won the last three races on the trot.

“Nico and Lewis are very close to each other,” Haug, now a commentator for the German touring car series DTM, claimed in an interview with Bild newspaper.

“Each of them has a good chance of dominating the rest of the season,” he added.

The battle between Rosberg and Hamilton is likely to be a focal point of the rest of the 2014 season, given Mercedes’ current dominance over the other top teams.

“I hope it will be a close duel between them for a long time,” said Haug.

He denied that he has a favourite: Rosberg, who he worked with at Brackley since 2010, or Hamilton, whose career dates all the way back to his junior years with the Mercedes young driver programme.

“No, I like them both,” said Haug. “I have known Lewis and Nico since they were kids and I’m proud of them both.

“I hope we see many more hard, exciting races as we did recently in Bahrain. But it’s also clear that there is a loser and a winner at the end of every duel.

“Hero and zero [are] never far away in motor sport,” he smiled.

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McLaren set to try Lotus-style double nose in Spain

McLaren could fit a Lotus-style double-pronged nose concept to their 2014 cars during this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

After a notable dip in form for the Woking based team, AFP news agency reports that bosses Eric Boullier and Jonathan Neale have recently overseen a raft of new signings.

Dan Fallows’ aborted move from world champions Red Bull is now the subject of a legal dispute, but Peter Prodromou is definitely joining in 2015.

And AFP claims that other prominent Formula 1 aerodynamicists – Sauber’s Tony Salter and Lotus’ Guillaume Cattelani – have also been signed by McLaren.

“McLaren is composed of brilliant individuals, they have been winning many races and have been fighting for championships,” said Boullier.

“I think it is just to make sure that the same people are working together in one way with strong leadership, strong guidance and at least it will help them to recover their past success,” he added.

Now, international publications Omnicorse and Speed Week report that McLaren’s 2014 car could be set for a dramatic aerodynamic overhaul this weekend in Barcelona.

Earlier, Williams’ Pat Symonds said he suspected other teams would be looking into designing their own versions of the innovative asymmetrical nose used at the front of the 2014 Lotus.

“Lotus have been haemorrhaging employees from all departments over the last few months, so I think all of the teams had an idea of where they were going,” he said.

Omnicorse claim that the solution has been in the wind tunnel at Woking for some time.

“We have also looked at several interpretations [of the double nose],” admitted Symonds, “but some of them simply did not fit with our car.”

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Perez yet to run at optimal level

Even though he finished on the podium in Bahrain last month, Sergio Perez believes his Force India car hasn't reached its full potential yet this season.

While the Mexican finished in third place at Sakhir during the third race of the season, his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg has been the more consistent Force India driver so far this year, having not finished outside the top six in any of the four races so far.

While Perez acknowledged that a single podium position in an unfancied car was already something of an achievement, he admitted that he needs to repeat that performance elsewhere if Force India are to meet their targets.

"On the one hand I'm happy," Perez told crash.net.

"The podium in Bahrain was very important; it helped me get to know the team properly and gave us all something special to celebrate. At the same time I feel there is more to come and that we've yet to achieve our full potential.

"Bahrain has been the only weekend where everything has worked out perfectly. If we can have more weekends like that I think we can get some more great results."

Perez added, though, that several teams are expecting updates at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix and whether Force India will be able to keep up with the chasing pack remains to be seen.

"It's always a race where teams bring new updates so it's going to be interesting to see how everyone will perform there," he continued.

"I love coming back to Europe to race on some of the classic circuits. I enjoy Barcelona and for me it's one of the best circuits on the whole calendar. It's very complete with a mix of everything and some very long, quick corners. It's tough physically, especially on the neck with so many right hand corners, but it's a fun place to drive a Formula One car."

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Toro Rosso's main F1 upgrades to come after Spanish Grand Prix

Scuderia Toro Rosso's upgrade package for the Spanish Grand Prix is only the first in a series of developments for the next four Formula 1 races.

The Red Bull-owned squad will introduce aerodynamic parts this weekend, but it will not be until the Austrian GP in June that the complete package is expected to be on the car.

"We have got four races now of pretty heavy developments coming," technical director James Key told AUTOSPORT.

"We will naturally have aero bits for Barcelona, but then we will have more steps for Monaco, more for Canada and more for Austria.

"So we have an intense run of four races coming up where quite big changes will come onto the car."

While many teams are planning a big hit for Spain, it will take time for Toro Rosso's complete raft of upgrades to have an impact.

As well as aerodynamic changes, there will also be mechanical changes, some of which are aimed at improving the car's performance in slower corners.

But Key is confident that even if the team doesn't make a big step forward relative to the opposition in Spain, it will in the longer term.

"The big package is spread over those races because there is a lot of mechanical stuff in there," said Key.

"So we will have a step for Spain that is not the final product for the European season at all, it will be a third of that I would have said.

"It could be that we relatively aren't quite so strong there, but then we would expect to claw it all back and make some progress after that."

Toro Rosso is also hopeful of gains being made with the Renault engine during the course of the season, with Key certain that there is much more potential to exploit.

"We haven't seen the full potential at all of the power unit," said Key.

"What it is able to do is reasonable, we have just got to get to that level with the software in order to make most use of it.

"We are not anywhere close to the limit at the moment."

[MIKA27]

Barcelona: A Gaudí City

This week’s Grand Prix takes place in Barcelona, a city renowned for the stunning buildings and designs of one architect in particular – Gaudí.

Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) is one of Catalonia’s most notable sons, famous for producing outstanding examples of Modernisme architecture. Although many other countries were experiencing similar movements at this time, in Barcelona it was a way to express, solidify and celebrate Catalan culture.

However, Gaudí also had his own distinctive style, influenced by nature and religion, and seven of his buildings in or near Barcelona are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

1. Parc Güell

Gaudí used to live here, and today the building is home to the Gaudí House Museum. In the garden you can find examples of his mosaic work, like the dragon/lizard fountain and the serpent-like seating on the terrace at the top. Take a wander through pathways surrounded by some seriously sloping columns and around the Doric Temple.

2. Palau Güell

Just off the famous La Rambla, this was Gaudí’s early works. Built for Eusebi Güell, wealthy industrialist, this is now open to the public. Visit to admire the hall, a parabolic pyramid; the most stylish basement you might ever see; several stunning floors; and the roof, home to a myriad of mosaic pyramids.

3. Casa Milà

Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (stone quarry, as it supposedly looks like an open quarry) is today a cultural centre. Guided tours are available throughout the day in several languages, and take you around the roof terrace, the attic, an early 20th-century apartment, the courtyards and the exhibition hall.

4. Casa Vicens

I can’t say this is my favourite of his works, but again, the façade shows his great attention to detail. I don’t believe you can visit the inside of the building, but if you’re on the way to Parc Guëll then it’s worth stopping to see Gaudí’s first significant work.

5. Casa Batlló

This was designed for Josep Batlló, a wealthy man who wanted a house that stood out from the crowd. He certainly got it with one of Gaudí’s masterpieces. The outside looks like a mixture of skulls and bones, and inside is a further feast for the eyes.

6. Colònia Guëll – Gaudí Crypt

The idea here was actually to build a church. However, after six years, the Guëll family stopped funding Gaudí’s ambitious project and it was left unfinished. However, it was the first design to bring together all of his architectural innovations.

7. Crypt of La Sagrada Família

It hardly needs an introduction: the Sagrada Família is the most visited attraction in Spain, and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Gaudí devoted himself to the church for the last eleven years of his life, and it remains uncompleted. The current architect hopes the masterpiece might be finished by 2026!

Gaudí is famous for his attention to detail, so I can’t even begin to describe all the things that make each of these buildings so special – they have to be seen to be believed! Whether you like his work or not, there is no doubting his unique talent, and his cultural contribution to Catalonia.

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Grand Prix Preview: Spanish GP

The 2014 Spanish Grand Prix is the fifth round of the 2014 season and the first European race on the calendar.

After a three week break, teams will head to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with major updates for their cars as they look to move up the field.

The track is a challenging one and has a bit of everything, which makes it an ideal venue for testing. However, unlike previous years, teams have not completed any running at the track over the winter, as two of the three pre-season tests took place in Bahrain.

A lap of the challenging 2.9 mile layout starts with the long pit straight, which is where the first DRS zone will be positioned. The run from the grid to turn one is the longest on the 2014 calendar, so a good getaway from the line is crucial.

The first two corners make up a medium-speed chicane. Due to the added speed boost from the DRS, it is the best overtaking spot on the circuit. However, the track is lacking a big braking zone and this makes passing notoriously difficult.

Turn one is a right-hander that then leads on to the full-throttle left of turn two, as drivers try and gain as much speed as possible on the exit. The third corner is undoubtedly the trickiest on the circuit and will be particularly difficult this year with the decreased downforce levels and increased torque.

It is a long right-hander that then leads on to a short straight before turn four. A good car balance here is crucial to eliminate understeer and to save the tyres, as wear is quite high at the Montemelo track. The first sector ends just prior to the braking zone for the fourth corner, which is another long right-hander.

The ultimate line through this turn, named the Repsol Curve, is to brake and take an early apex, before carrying lots of speed through the exit. The circuit then drops downhill for the turn five hairpin, a slow left-hander that can be an overtaking spot in the early stages of a race.

A short flat-out burst, which includes the barely-there turn six kink, follows before the medium-speed, uphill, left-right chicane that makes up turns seven and eight. Drivers would previously cut the second part of the complex but a large kerb has been placed there to prevent this from happening.

Turn nine is a fast, long right-hander that leads on to the back straight, which is where the second DRS zone will be positioned. The approach to the corner is uphill, but due to the downhill exit the apex is blind. Carrying good speed through the ninth bend is hugely important for the following straight and the heavy braking zone for turn 10.

This is where the second sector ends. The 10th corner is a slow left-hand hairpin that then leads on to the flat-out kink of turn 11. The next corner is a long right-hander. The final sector differs from the previous two, as it is full of slow and technical turns, like the turn 14 and 15 chicane that follows the right-hander of the 13th corner.

It was introduced back in 2007 to improve overtaking, but it has so far failed to have much of an impact. Good traction and low-speed grip is needed around the final part of the lap. The pit entry cuts the inside of the final corner, which is a flat-out right-hander that leads back onto the pit straight.

Due to the amount of long corners and the abrasive track surface, tyre wear is usually very high. For example, the majority of the F1 field pitted four times last year. The hard and medium compounds will be taken to the Spanish Grand Prix this year by Pirelli.

Mercedes will undoubtedly remain the team to beat in Spain, even with the large number of updates that will be taken to the track. However, the battle behind looks incredibly exciting, with Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams and McLaren all looking like they are in the fight to be best of the rest.

Sauber will be hoping that its new parts – including a lighter chassis – will help the team move further up the order. Meanwhile Lotus is optimistic that the team can score points. However, it is very difficult to know what to expect, but it should be a very interesting race.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen are the only multiple winners of the race on the grid, with two each. The Spaniard is the home favourite and took the victory last year, after starting from fifth on the grid – only the second time it has been won from outside of the front row.

Qualifying is usually incredibly important at the Spanish Grand Prix. 18 of the 23 F1 races that have taken place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya have been won from pole position. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg look set to battle for their first win at the track, but the big question is, which driver will it be standing on the top stop of the podium?

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Fans reveal state of F1 television coverage worldwide

It’s a measure of how desperate Bernie Ecclestone is to stem F1′s falling TV audiences that he brooked no contradiction while demanding knee-jerk changes to the rules over the winter.

His initiative to award double points for the last race of the season was pilloried by F1 fans, yet remains in the rule book for this year at least.

All manner of gimmicks have been tried over the years as F1 tried to woo TV audiences. But the gross unfairness of double points – which even Ecclestone cannot deny – represented a new low.

Absent from the panic-stricken quest for ratings has been any suggestion that Formula One Management’s approach to F1 broadcasting might also be to blame for the fact that fewer people are watching. For obvious reasons, it’s a subject which won’t get much coverage in F1 television broadcasts.

And yet audiences have inevitably suffered most in countries where F1 had historically enjoyed strong viewing figures until free-to-air F1 broadcasts were replaced by pay-per-view.

In the UK, where an annual F1 subscription now costs over £500 per year, even Lewis Hamilton’s romp to victory in China couldn’t stop viewership falling to its lowest level in seven years.

While countries like Australia, Brazil and India still enjoy free-to-air F1 broadcasts, full-year subscriptions in other countries can run to hundreds, even thousands of pounds.

Is this the shape of things to come or a failed experiment? That depends on whether those running F1 believe the money offered by pay-per-view broadcasters is worth the trade-off of smaller audiences, and accept F1′s global reach will never be quite what it was.

The other aspect of F1′s broadcasting future is the readiness with which it accepts new media. While some sports have taken advantage of the opportunities presented by the sport to sell its coverage directly to fans, FOM has largely avoided doing so.

However some bespoke video content has been created for the current version of the official F1 app, and a new offering has been promised in the near future.

In the meantime many broadcasters have been slow to embrace the opportunities offered by new media. However some offer the means to watch online and via apps.

In countries where pay-per-view subscriptions are the only alternative, some broadcasters permit access to these online services at a reduced price. In Mexico free online broadcasts of every race are available courtesy of Telmex, who backed drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.

Other countries are still yet to catch up with past innovations. Formula One took until 2011 to offer high definition race coverage, but three years later it remains unavailable in some regions. In others standard definition broadcasts are offered as a cheaper alternative.

The quality and value-for-money of F1 coverage worldwide varies enormously. While that is the case, it is unwise for the sport to change its rules so hastily in an attempt to win greater audiences.

Merely making coverage of its races available at a reasonable price in the first race would be sufficient for many fans.

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The bigger picture…

Formula 1 is an odd and complicated world. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem, and at other times there are vast sprawling conspiracies.

There are some who see CVC Capital Partners, the private equity people who control the company that holds the commercial rights of F1, as prisoners of Bernie Ecclestone who don’t know zip about the sport and don’t care about anything other than the money. Others see them as simple pragmatists who do whatever it takes to make more money. That, after all, is their job. They make decisions based on the risk to them, their customers and their brand. The F1 investment is certainly a bit messier than they like – and will get a lot messier if F1 goes to Russia later this year – but it is also wildly profitable and the suited supermen at CVC Capital Partners (think Sherman McCoy from Bonfire of the Vanities) reckon that the profit is worth the grief. They are probably right.

For those of us who love the sport, they are definitely wrong. They have loaded the business with debt and, frankly, have added no value at all to anything. Bernie Ecclestone must take the blame for that, although being greedy is not a criminal offence.

So why, you might ask, has CVC done nothing to remove Bernie from his position. The truth is that they have, but the world does not really need to know. He is no longer a director of any of the F1 companies and while he may still be CEO, that is not as powerful a role as it appears. My feeling is that CVC has sat back, looked at the legal situation and concluded that they don’t have to remove Mr E because the Germans will almost certainly do it for them. And even if Mr E is deemed not to be guilty, he is still 83 and there is no reason why CVC should reinstate him as a director. I am quite sure that they have a succession plan and that the plan will be actioned just as soon as it needs to be actioned. But not before.

I doubt that they are overly worried about the European Commission either because that can be sorted out quite easily once the culture of the management changes. The FIA’s Jean Todt is not going to be in a position to argue with the EU and the big teams will simply be forced to accept a fairer distribution of wealth, without such things as the Ferrari five percent (two and a half form the prize fund and two and a half from the Formula One group). I doubt that CVC will back down much on their overall share of the take. Whipping the teams into line is simply a question of giving the FIA enough money to allow Jean Todt (or whoever) to fund his schemes. The FIA and the teams could always go off and do their own thing so the skill is to keep them apart. The federation, frankly, does not want the hassle of having to set up its own arms-length commercial division and the teams will fall into line if they are given a gesture of some kind to make them think that they have made progress.

The promoter’s share of the business is ultimately doomed to reduce over time until it reaches a point at which it is no longer a problem, after which it becomes irrelevant. Bernie and CVC worked the sport in their favour but that will not happen again because when it comes to the next Concorde (for want of a better word) negotiation a union of the teams and the FIA will inevitably mean that the rights holder has to compromise.

The smart thing for CVC to do is to make the sport transparent and squeaky clean so that more sponsors arrive.

“Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government,” wrote Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher and social reformer. He was quite right.

What value does secrecy have in F1? It has served as a means of exerting power, but it is now holding the sport back.

There is plenty of money to be made without resorting to TV paywalls and working WITH the teams rather than fighting them will unlock a load more potential. CVC can afford to wait a while longer, generate more business and then go to the markets in a few years time. Or if there is a Murdoch or a Malone out there who wants a private sale, so be it…

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Todt: I did not believe we can control costs with a cap but I told teams to show me how

FIA president Jean Todt insists his hands are tied after Formula 1′s most powerful teams vetoed the move to establish a budget cap starting from the start of the 2015 season.

It has been suggested former FIA president Max Mosley, whose antagonistic approach stands in stark contrast to the low-profile Frenchman Todt, would have found a way to force the teams to embrace the cost-cutting crisis.

But Todt told Autosprint he was powerless to interfere with Formula 1′s clear processes for approving rules.

The first calls in 2014 were for tweaks to this year’s radical rules, featuring controversial fuel saving and quiet turbo V6 engines.

“First, I do not have the power to change the regulations,” he said. “And if I did, perhaps by doing what [Ferrari president Luca] di Montezemolo desired, can you imagine what the reaction would be?

“My job is to ensure the sport is administered in the right way. Then, as we know, discontent was expressed, but as so often happens, those who complain are much louder than those who are satisfied.

“This is a world of competition, where those who do not win usually complain,” Todt smiled. “It has been like that forever. But this year there is a new decision-making body, the Strategy Group.”

Todt wanted the group – comprising top teams Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Lotus and Williams – to follow through with their earlier acceptance of a budget cap for 2015 and beyond.

The group, however, ultimately vetoed the change, to the fury of the embattled smaller teams.

“I am convinced that Formula 1 is far too expensive, and that something should absolutely be done,” said Todt.

“But for us, as the governing body, we have more or less zero influence as to the costs.

“But I feel that we do have a responsibility to intervene in this environment, because the bigger teams are taking the lion’s share of sponsorships.

“I did not believe that we could control costs with a cap,” the former Ferrari boss admitted, “but I told the teams ‘If you show that it is feasible, I’ll be happy to impose a limit’.

“Most of the teams had agreed, but now I do not understand why the six members of the Strategy Group are opposed.

“Am I disappointed? Yes, in a sense I am, because now it will be more difficult to achieve the reduction goal. We will have to do it through the technical and sporting regulations.”

Todt revealed that the FIA has already prepared a “dossier” of various rule-change proposals, that will “reduce the gap between the large and small teams” without affecting the spectators.

“We need to start something already in 2015,” he insisted, “through the Strategy Group and the Formula 1 Commission. Overall we have 18 votes, so if there are nine or more then it will work. Otherwise it will not (pass).”

[MIKA27]

The Big Preview: Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya

The Circuit de Catalunya hosts the fifth round of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship as teams and drivers arrive in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

After four ‘flyaway’ races F1 returns to the comfortable familiarity of trucks and motorhomes for the start of the European season.

Barcelona is famed as a bellwether circuit: cars that race well here are expected to race well in any and all conditions.

The logic behind this is that the Circuit de Catalunya provides a well-rounded examination of every aspect of car design, requiring maximum downforce, strong power delivery, excellent traction and handling.

Particularly interesting is how Pirelli’s Hard and Medium compounds will cope with the conditions. The Circuit de Catalunya has a combination of high-energy corners, an abrasive surface and only one long straight on which tyres can cool.

In warm weather degradation is expected to be high, with the left side of the car particularly vulnerable. While the tyre manufacturer does not predict a repeat of last year’s four-stop strategies, the powerful new cars are nevertheless expected to work tyres hard.

Mercedes arrive at the Spanish Grand Prix in ominous form. With a clean sweep of pole positions and victories, they are very much the team to beat in 2014.

Lewis Hamilton has been the driver to watch so far this year, winning the last three races – but it is team-mate Nico Rosberg who leads the Championship.

Barcelona, however, is the race at which teams traditionally reveal their first major upgrade of the season. Though 2014 has seen a constant stream of traffic between the factories and the circuit, with upgrades appearing on a daily basis, most teams have circled this race for something more substantial.

While Mercedes may hold too much of an advantage for the moment, down the order there is much potential for movement.

Circuit de Catalunya Data & Notes

• Length of lap 4.655km
• Lap record 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
• Start line/finish line offset 0.126km
• Total number of race laps 66
• Total race distance 307.104km
• Pitlane speed limits 80km/h in practice, qualifying and the race
• The kerb on the approach to Turn One has been renewed and the verge behind it is now laid with asphalt.
• The kerbs on the exit of Turns Nine and 12 have been renewed and the artificial grass behind them extended.
• A 7m wide strip of gravel around the outside of Turn 11 has been replaced with asphalt.
• Two DRS zones will be in use at the Circuit de Catalunya. The first has a detection point 86m before Turn Nine and an activation point 40m after. DRS detection point two is at the Safety Car line, with activation 157m after Turn 16.

Spanish Grand Prix Fast Facts

• The F1 World Championship Spanish Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit de Catalunya every year since the circuit first opened in 1991. The race has also been held at Jerez (1986-’90), Jarama (1968, ’70, ’72, ’74, 1976-’79, 1981), Montjuïc (1969, ’71, ’73, ’75) and the Pedralbes Street Circuit (1951, ’54).
• Barcelona is the most familiar circuit for F1 teams – but for the first time this century, they arrive for the Spanish Grand Prix without pre-season testing data from the Circuit de Catalunya – this being the first time it has not featured as a winter testing venue.
• Jenson Button holds the record for the number of test kilometres completed at this circuit with a mighty 34,706km. The record for most days testing completed, however, belongs to David Coulthard with 118. Pastor Maldonado’s victory for Williams at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix makes the Venezuelan the most recent driver to take a maiden F1 victory. Nico Rosberg joined the list two races earlier, winning the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix and before that it was Mark Webber with victory at the 2009 German Grand Prix.
• While Maldonado may add to his tally, he currently shares with Jochen Mass the distinction of being a winner of the Spanish Grand Prix with only that solitary victory to his name. Mass took victory in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, racing for McLaren at Montjuïc.
• Pole position is a priority at this circuit. On 17 of the 23 occassions the Spanish Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit de Catalunya, the driver starting in pole position has won the race. Damon Hill, Mika Häkkinen, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel have won from P2, Michael Schumacher from P3 and Fernando Alonso last year from P5. Alonso is the only Spanish winner of the F1 World Championship Spanish Grand Prix. Alonso took victory last year for Ferrari, using a four-stop strategy to advance from his third-row grid slot. Alonso, driving for Renault, also won the race in 2006, on that occasion starting from pole position.
• Mercedes’ four straight wins is the most dominant start to the season since Renault managed the same in 2005. They have some way to go before threatening the all-time record of 11, claimed by McLaren in 1988.
• The 2014 Grands Prix of Malaysia, Bahrain and China mark the first time Lewis Hamilton has achieved three consecutive victories. Of the current field, Jenson Button managed a string of four wins in 2009, Fernando Alonso managed four in 2006 and three in 2005, while Sebastian Vettel leads the way with strings of nine (2013), four (2010-11 and 2012) and three in a row on two other occasions in 2011.
• Excluding the returning/new races in Austria and Russia, the Spanish Grand Prix is one of only two current races at which Lewis Hamilton has not stood on the top step. The other is Brazil.

Race Stewards Biographies

• Garry Connelly has been involved in motor sport since the late 1960s. A long-time rally competitor, Connelly was instrumental in bringing the World Rally Championship to Australia in 1988 and served as Chairman of the Organising Committee, Board member and Clerk of Course of Rally Australia until December 2002. He has been an FIA Steward and FIA Observer since 1989, covering the FIA’s World Rally Championship, World Touring Car Championship and Formula One Championship. He is a director of the Australian Institute of Motor Sport Safety and a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
• Farhan Vohra, an economics graduate from Loyola College, Chennai, and a member of the FMSCI, India’s national motor sport authority, is best known to the F1 paddock for his work at Buddh International Circuit, home of the Indian Grand Prix. In 2012 his work at Buddh was recognised when he won the Best Clerk of the Course award at the FIA Gala. Vohra is one of the FMSCI’s senior stewards and alongside his duties at several grands prix for the FIA he has also been a steward for the FIM, motorcycling’s governing body. A long-time competitor, involved in motor sport since the mid-1990s, Vohra started officiating in 2006 after taking a break from active competition.He has since been the Clerk of the Course for all Indian national championships, both racing and karting.
• US racer Danny Sullivan made his F1 debut with Tyrrell at the 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix. He raced just one season in F1, scoring a best result of fifth in Monaco. In 1984, Sullivan returned to the US where he resumed a successful Indy Car career. He is perhaps best known for his ‘spin and win’ victory at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, where he passed leader Mario Andretti, survived a 360 degree spin, and then caught and re-passed Andretti to claim the Borg-Warner Trophy. He won the Indy Car World Series title in 1988. After 17 victories from 170 Indy Car starts he drew a line under his open-wheel career in 1995. He finished third in the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Dauer Porsche 962 in 1994. He made four starts at Le Mans, the most recent being 2004.

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Marko: We expected a lot from Daniel and he has surpassed those expectations

Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko is full of praise for the team’s promoted Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Marko told Speedweek, “We expected a lot from Daniel and he has surpassed those expectations. We are really pleased with how he has settled at Red Bull. Of course we knew he was fast because of data from Toro Rosso and also based on the test drives he did for Red Bull.”

“But then he surprised us by bring quick while having less tire wear than Vettel. This was not something that was immediately evident,” revealed Marko.

Ricciardo had a bittersweet debut for the world champion team at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, where he crossed the finish line second, went on to celebrate on the podium, but hours later was disqualified because his RB10 was ruled to have breached the new regulation governing a maximum rate for the flow of fuel.

The outspoken Austrian, who helped groom Ricciardo through the Red Bull junior ranks into Formula 1, pointed out, “He has been unlucky. Only one more lap, and Daniel would have overtaken third-placed Pérez in Bahrain. Two more laps in Shanghai, and he could have be on the podium ahead of Alonso.”

Marko, who had a famously prickly relationship with the team’s previous Australian driver Mark Webber, says that Ricciardo’s disposition is a big bonus for the team as he “exudes constant good humou, has a giant smile and a lot of positive energy.”

The only criticism Marko has for Ricciardo is “at pitstops Daniel loses too much time, he is either too slow or is stopped too long. But he will improve soon.”

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Azerbaijan denies Russia GP substitute reports

Azerbaijan have denied reports it could step in to replace this year’s endangered Russian Grand Prix.

Earlier, Germany’s Welt newspaper said the oil-rich former Soviet state was ready to step in, should the escalating Crimean crisis force the cancellation of the scheduled inaugural Russian Grand Prix later this year.

First, the Russian promoter denied the Sochi race is even in doubt.

“In light of a number of reports, I can declare that a postponement or cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix is not discussed,” Sergey Vorobyov told Championat.

“We are actively preparing for the October 12, 2014 event,” he insisted.

Vorobyov said construction of the circuit remains on schedule, and tickets will go on sale later in May.

“We are working closely with the Formula 1 Management group of companies, the FIA and foreign consultants,” he added. “Regular inspections confirm the effectiveness of our work.

“The Russian Grand Prix will be held on October 12.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s sports minister Azad Rahimov denied Welt’s claim that a city street race in the capital Baku is ready to replace Russia.

“A Grand Prix will take place in Azerbaijan in 2015,” the spokesman told Russia’s Championat. “Can it be in 2014? No, only in 2015.”

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Mercedes announce deal with leading fan manufacturer

Press Release: The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team is delighted to announce a new partnership with world-leading fan and motor provider ebm-papst.

ebm-papst has developed off-board cooling solutions for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W05 racing cars, in addition to working closely with the team to improve the garage working environment at Grand Prix venues through innovative, custom-built heat extraction and cooling solutions which will be introduced later in the 2014 season. This will be of particular value at venues such as Singapore with challenging climatic conditions.

Furthermore, Mercedes AMG Petronas and ebm-papst will work hand-in-hand on future projects to improve the energy efficiency of the team’s operational facilities at Brackley, in addition to holding technical working groups to share expertise and best practice in areas such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), turbine technology and energy efficiency.

By signing with Mercedes AMG Petronas, ebm-papst becomes the first major partner to enter Formula One as a direct consequence of the new efficiency based rules introduced for the 2014 season and beyond.

Winner of the 2013 German Sustainability Award (GSA) in the category “Germany’s most sustainable companies” – one of the most prestigious prizes of its kind in Europe – ebm-papst has been recognised for its outstanding achievements in sustainability.

It is from these very principles that the new era of Formula One finds its roots. As the automotive industry increasingly demands more from less, efficiency and hybrid technologies become all the more relevant. As the pinnacle of automotive technology and performance, the sport has a significant role to play in driving these technologies forward. For Mercedes AMG Petronas, this fresh philosophy and its relevance to the road holds particular importance.

Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, Toto Wolff, commented: “Formula One is the pinnacle of automotive innovation. As such, it has a duty to push the boundaries of technology. The new regulations not only encourage this innovation but also make the sport more relevant to the direction in which the motoring industry is heading.

“Our partnership with ebm-papst not only provides the team with the best solutions available to operate our racing cars but it also demonstrates the significance of new and innovative technologies within the sport. To welcome a new partner as a direct consequence of the new 2014 rules is proof that we are heading in the right direction. Our research and development for the race track is now increasingly relevant not only to our road car activities but also wider fields of technology.”

Rainer Hunsdorfer, CEO of ebm-papst, commented: “We are delighted that Mercedes AMG Petronas has chosen our sustainable technology and that we are able to join Formula One at this important strategic realignment for the sport. For us, this commitment represents an investment in the future. Mercedes AMG Petronas is world class when it comes to the domain of aerodynamic efficiency. I am confident that we will derive mutual benefit from this partnership.”

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Organisers want Gran Premio de Barcelona not Spanish GP

Spanish Grand Prix organisers would like the annual Formula 1 race to be renamed.

Last year, the Barcelona venue – known since it was built in 1991 as the Circuit de Catalunya – underwent a name tweak. It is now officially called the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Now, circuit boss Salvador Servia has told Catalunya Radio that he would like the annual Formula 1 race to be called the Barcelona Grand Prix.

“Evidently, the ‘Barcelona’ brand outsells the ‘Spain’ brand,” he claimed.

“When we say that we would call it Gran Premio de Barcelona, it is because we are selling worldwide and the Barcelona brand helps us a lot,” said Servia.

The existing Spanish Grand Prix contract runs until 2016.

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Mallya: Barcelona pivotal for Force India

Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya believes this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will be a "pivotal moment" in the season for his team.

Force India have been one of the success stories so far this year and are currently in third place in the Constructors' Championship, thanks to the podium finish in Bahrain from Sergio Perez, and the consistent results of Nico Hulkenberg throughout.

Although Mallya is confident that his team will continue to be competitive at Barcelona and throughout the season, he admitted that it is difficult to predict how things will turn out since most teams will be bringing updates to Catalunya.

"It's encouraging that we have performed well across a wide range of circuits, so I'm optimistic that we can maintain our competitive form in Barcelona," Mallya told crash.net.

"China has never been an especially strong track for us, so to come away with ten points was a very good effort.

"We also expect our car to perform better in warmer conditions and there are some upcoming races that will play more to our strengths. At the same time we know that Formula One never stands still and Barcelona is always a pivotal moment in the development race, but I'm optimistic we can keep up our momentum.

"I think we can feel extremely satisfied with our performance during the first four races. We've been in the points in every race, Sergio has been on the podium and Nico has finished no lower than sixth place. We've already scored 70 percent of the total points we scored in 2013 and that puts us in a fantastic position to potentially enjoy our best season to date."

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McLaren need better understanding - Button

Jenson Button believes a better understanding of the car, and not future updates, is needed from McLaren if they are going to make progress this season.

McLaren started the season with a double podium finish in Australia, but since then its performances have been less than memorable, with no points scored at the last two races in Bahrain and China.

While McLaren are confident that they will perform stronger at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, where they expect several upgrades to be installed on the car, Button believes they need to unlock the potential of the car that is present already.

"For us, it's not simply about bringing new parts to the circuit: it's about understanding and unlocking the car's secrets, and using that understanding to take bigger steps with performance," Button told crash.net.

"We're still at the early stages with our car, and, for us, it's less about the components that we fit to it, and more about the bigger picture - finding a useful direction, gaining trust in our measurements and pushing ahead.

"We all know that this team has the capacity to develop a car through a season, so I hope and trust that we'll start to push forwards again soon."

With that in mind, McLaren Racing Director believes they know exactly which areas of the car need to be improved.

"For us, the weekend will be about learning, and hopefully moving on from our disappointing performance in China last month," Boullier said.

"The root of our underperformance has been comprehensively analysed; we know the areas where our package falls short, and we've taken steps - both short- and long-term - to address those.

"While not all of those will be in evidence in Barcelona this weekend, they mark the start of a fresh push and spirit within the whole organisation."

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Raikkonen will come good - Ferrari

Ferrari are confident that Kimi Raikkonen will start delivering results for the Maranello team sooner rather than later, despite the Finn's mediocre start to the year.

Raikkonen has been outpaced by team-mate Fernando Alonso for the majority of the year, with a seventh place in the season-opener in Australia his best result.

After four races, the 2007 Drivers' Championship winner has only 11 points, while Alonso is third overall behind the Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton with 41 points.

It has been suggested that Raikkonen perhaps isn't as motivated as he should be and though the Finn quickly quashed those claims, undoubtedly he has been below his best so far this year.

Technical Director James Allison, though, remains confident that he will soon prove his class.

"With Fernando we've seen an extraordinary level of performance [this year], scavenging every possible point at every possible opportunity. Kimi is [also] working extremely well with the team, collaborating with the engineers, helping us to drive this car forwards. He has class written all over him and in a very short space of time, I'm sure we will also see the results of that on the track," Allison confirmed.

"Where did we see the real performance level of the car? Bahrain or China?

"It's a mistake to think in those terms, because it wasn't the same car at the two tracks. Between those two races, we improved the car quite substantially, so not only did the track characteristics change, so did our car," he explained.

"We are learning how to get performance out of this new set of regulations and hopefully to make this car more competitive," he continued. "The key to a successful season is to keep improving your car at every race.

"If we can do that, bringing a meaningful amount of performance to every one of those races, we will keep seeing steps forward. And that will define what is the true F14 T, not just one single race," he concluded on the eve of the start of the European season.

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Remember When: 1996 Spanish GP

The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher score his first victory for Ferrari in torrential weather conditions.

After taking back-to-back world titles with Benetton, the German driver decided to make the move to the Prancing Horse for the following season.

It was a tough start, with a mix of podium finishes and retirements as the Williams duo started to edge clear in the drivers’ standings. But at the Circuit de Catalunya, Schumacher proved why he was nicknamed “Regenmeister” (“Rainmaster”) after a stunning display in the wet.

He qualified third on the grid in the dry qualifying session, just under one second down on pole-sitter Damon Hill. The Brit had a poor start and dropped to third behind Jacques Villeneuve and Jean Alesi, but it was far better in comparison to Schumacher’s getaway from the line.

“My start was a disaster,” Michael said after the race. “I went for the clutch, and there was nothing. I nearly stalled, then tried it again. Fortunately, no one went into the back of me.” He dropped down to ninth place by the first corner but made up three positions over the remainder of the opening lap.

He had a clear pace advantage and moved ahead of Gerhard Berger for third on lap four, having already passed Hill and his team-mate Eddie Irvine after both suffered off-track excursions. Alesi dropped behind the Ferrari driver at turn five on lap nine and Schumacher moved into the lead after passing Villeneuve at the same place three laps later.

He rapidly pulled away from the chasing pack and by the time he pitted for the first time on lap 24, the gap to second place was 40 seconds. Schumacher was just in a league of his own.

He pitted for the second and final time on lap 42 and despite an exhaust problem, he eventually took the chequered flag 45 seconds clear of Alesi in second place to take his first win of the season and his first victory at the wheel of a Ferrari.

It really was one of the greatest wet weather drives in the sport’s history. He didn’t have the quickest car – by far – in the dry conditions but proved his incredible pace in the rain to dominate the seventh race of the year.

Villeneuve finished in third, with Heinz-Harald Frenzten being the first lapped driver in fourth. Incredibly, Mika Hakkinen and Pedro Diniz completed the classified finishers and top six after 13 retirements and one driver disqualification.

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Let the upgrade, development war begin

The Spanish Grand Prix always represents a second round of hope and despair for Formula 1 teams. The first race in Australia is riddled with anxiety to see how quick the car is out of the box and then it is down to minimizing damage should you be off the pace for the next three races. When the series takes a 3-week break to get the gear back to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix, a raft of upgrades, updates and uplifting commentary often accompanies the event.

McLaren are hopeful, Ferrari are sure Kimi Raikkonen will get on top of his poor form so far and Mercedes is seeking to take their domination even a step further. This leaves Williams and Force India mumbling things about staying on top as long as they can and how they hope to hang on to a top 5 finish for the season. Sauber has put their C33 chassis on a gluten-free weight loss program in order to find some performance and Toro Rosso has a few aces they’ve secured up their sleeve for the European round of 5-card draw.

For Red Bull, it’s much the same except this return to Europa will see an entirely new chassis for struggling 4-time champion Sebastian Vettel. The German has had to pull over twice to let his teammate pass in the fly-away races and that’s not sitting well. The team released a nice Q&A on their website today with Chief Designer Rob Marshall to explain:

How often do teams upgrade their cars?

RM: The cars are upgraded almost every race, some of the upgrades can be large and some small, such as little tweaks on the front wing, some details of the bodywork or upgrades to the car’s cooling system. The Spanish Grand Prix is probably the first opportunity for teams to bring a big upgrade to the car during the season. The cars have been on the other side of the globe for the first quarter of the year and teams’ R&D departments will have been busy coming up with large upgrade packages to bolt on the car for the first time in Spain. They will often compromise whole body work packages, so the floor, engine cover, front wings and rear wings, potentially new suspension components and various other bits and bobs.

Is the upgrade times planned at the beginning of the season?

RM: There are a couple of races that stand out as being obvious ones for a major upgrade. That’s the first European race for logistics reasons and also the last European race, as it’s the last opportunity we have to bring performance to the car without having to fly it out around the world.

We’ve heard Sebastian will get a new chassis for this race?

RM: Sebastian will get a new chassis for Barcelona, which was scheduled at the start of the season and then the next one will be for Dan at some time around Silverstone.

What does it mean when a driver gets a new chassis?

RM: The chassis is the tub that the driver sits in – it’s basically the survival cell that the engine and suspension bolts to, that’s the bit that’s new. All the external body work is the same.

Is it a benefit?

RM: It shouldn’t be, as the idea is that they are all the same. Drivers don’t always want to change them – they can get attached to a particular chassis and when they are on a good run they like to hang on to it for as long as possible! From our point of view we’d rather give them one or two new chassis during the season that we have been able to check out in the factory using various testing methods.

How often would drivers get a new chassis throughout the year?

RM: Normally we make four or five chassis during the year, maybe six, so it wouldn’t be unusual for each driver to change at least once or twice during the year. Normally they would use at least two.

Can you tell me about any specific upgrades that the team has for Barcelona?

RM:Not yet! All the teams will have updates and we can see what they all are in a few days.

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Swiss conundrums

Sauber heads to Spain with new versions of the as-yet unsuccessful C33, the team having reportedly shaved 15 kgs from the car and produced “a significant aerodynamic update”, including a new engine cover and an upgraded front wing. The team says it will also have better software to enable the drivers to get more power out of the engine and it’s many and varied auxiliary units. Sauber hopes that this will get it back into the midfield fight, and snapping at the heels of the big guys. We shall see. All the teams learned a lot in the early races and so those who can develop fastest will be moving up the ladder and everyone is heading to Spain with new stuff.

Sauber needs a boost. Since BMW (rudely) dropped the team in the dirt in 2009, life has not been easy for Hinwil. Peter Sauber did the right thing and stepped in to save his people but he has since stepped back and let Monisha Kaltenborn run things. Given the state of the world economy since then the team has had to rely on sponsors that came with its drivers, notably the Mexican backing for Sergio Perez and more recently Esteban Gutierrez. As usual corporate Switzerland has been slow to help and things have been tight for the last couple of years, although the team has made sure that it has a number of irons glowing quietly in the fire.

Giedo Van der Garde is lurking in the wings with cash to buy tests and Friday drives and (maybe) plans for the future. The Dutchman is fortunate in that he is married to the daughter of a billionaire and his father-in-law not only likes racing but can also justify spending money in it to promote his businesses. Getting other money out of racing-mad Holland is not easy and Giedo needs to look over his shoulder because Jos Verstappen’s son Max is winning international F3 races already (despite being only 16) and will soon be knocking on the F1 door, aiming to show that genetic engineering of racing drivers is entirely possible (his mother being the highly-talented racer Sophie Kumpen). Giedo is a lovely bloke and a decent racer but is this enough to move Sauber forwards?

Elsewhere Sauber has been trying very hard for more than a year to nail down a major partnership with Russia. A deal was announced but that seems to have fallen by the wayside and talks have shifted to another government-linked Russian firm. All the signs are that this is the conglomerate Rostec, a group of more than 600 companies involved in technology, arms and automobiles. It is owned by the Russian government and run by Sergei Chemezov, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Rostec is looking ahead to spinning off various divisions and has been building its profile with some sponsorships. It is supporting Sergey Sirotkin. A year ago this all sounded pretty sensible, with a Russian GP on the cards, but the Olympics got in the way of deal-making and then almost immediately the country ran into the Ukraine Crisis and now Sauber is walking a tightrope, hoping that it can unlock Russian millions but risking the fall-out if the timing is not right. It does not help that Chemezov is on the list of those sanctioned by the West as a result of the Ukraine situation.

In a perfect world, it might be wise for Sauber to walk away because the Russian deals could impact on other possible arrangements. This was a lesson that Williams learned in its dealings with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The PDVSA money helped (and still does) but the connection did not make it easy to attract other sponsorship as a lot of companies baulked at being associated with that particular government.

Sauber’s third iron in the fire is probably the most exciting as Simona de Silvestro’s star is rising. She has the makings of a money-printing mega-star. All she needs to prove is that she is as good as a Gutierrez or a Sutil. Not easy, but there are good reports filtering out from simulators and tests. She may not yet have the sponsors to cover the Sauber from top to toe but it is likely to happen if she is given the chance to show her pace in the public domain. On paper you could not really ask for a better package right now: she has a history of clean energy sponsorships, was a relatively big name in the USA and, of course, she is a she. One only needs to look at the comparative publicity of her Fiorano test and Sirotkin’s test in Bahrain (remember that?) to see the potential. It is hard to argue against the fact that F1 will probably be better off with a woman racing, clean energy sponsorships and an American angle than it will be with a deal from Russia.

What is not clear is whether the various strategies can run concurrently or whether Sirotkin’s people will scare De Silvestro’s backers to move to another team. It also rather depends on what happens with the Ukraine situation. The West believes (rightly or wrongly) that Russian agents are directing the uprising in Ukraine – where only 17 percent of the population are actually Russian – and that Moscow is stirring up trouble by trying to convince Ukrainians that the government is “fascist”. It is anachronistic thinking but a lot of people in the old Soviet Union yearn for the feeling of security that The State used to offer. The fact that the whole thing was unsustainable seems to get forgotten.

Who knows where this will end? But Sauber is stuck in the middle for now. The problem is that F1 teams cannot live on promises alone and it is time for the Russians to come up with the dough or get out of the bakery…

There is also fuss being made in the Swiss media at the moment about GP2 champion Fabio Leimer having been turned down by Sauber, despite having $14 million in sponsorship. It is an odd story, but in keeping with a recent trend in the newspaper concerned to be negative about all things Sauber. This same newspaper used to be cheerleader number one for the team for many years and the only logical conclusion is that the publication has a problem with the current management of the team and is being negative in the hope that this will change. The problem is that taking potshots at the only team in the country is not likely to sell more newspapers. People want to support their home team and consistently negative articles hurt everyone.

However, I don’t doubt the story and one can understand it if, for example, there is not much enthusiasm for Fabio Leimer at Sauber. It took him four seasons of GP2 to become champion and he won fewer races than rival Sam Bird. Neither has made it to F1.

What is really odd is that Leimer did not find a home for his cash elsewhere because several teams would have bitten his arm off last winter for that kind of cash…

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A setback at Silverstone

The British Racing Drivers’ Club has announced that negotiations with a potential investor over the lease of the circuit land and sale of the Silverstone Circuits Limited business have failed to reach a final agreement. A second lease, agreed with commercial property company MEPC for the industrial and development land around the circuit remains in place

“After intense efforts to secure an acceptable deal, we have not been able to bring negotiations with the second potential investor to a satisfactory conclusion,” said John Grant, Chairman of the BRDC. “The BRDC will now retain full ownership of SCL, whose highly experienced management team will continue to operate, promote and further develop Silverstone as a premier racing destination. With or without another investor, the futures of both Silverstone and the British Grand Prix are secure. The circuit business has enormous potential and MEPC’s development of Silverstone Park – a high-tech business park on land surrounding the circuit – will enhance the circuit’s image and value over the next several years. We are delighted with the progress MEPC is already making. They are proving to be excellent partners and strong believers in our shared vision for Silverstone. We look forward to working with them towards implementing our joint vision for the development of Silverstone as a globally recognised centre for world-class motor sport and advanced technology.”

The BRDC Board has decided to shelve efforts to sell the SCL business. As the authority granted by BRDC members to the board to secure a deal has now expired, no further agreements of this nature will be entered into without first communicating with members.