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McLaren-Honda and Ferrari set to launch in late January

The McLaren Formula One Team looks set to launch its Honda powered 2015 car at an event at their Woking headquarters on 29 January. According to various international media sources, the new Ferrari will be presented either a day earlier, or a day later.

While McLaren intend hosting an event to unveil their car, Ferrari’s launch is likely to only be a release of multimedia items on the internet, according to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Reports are in that the Ferrari livery will again be red and white with a dash of black carbon and the La Gazzetta report added that sources at Maranello are suggesting that the latest wind tunnel results are “encouraging”.

“There is optimism that much of the aerodynamic deficit has been bridged,” La Gazzetta reported.

“And combined with the political victory on the engine side that will improve performance and economy, there is a feeling of moderate optimism.”

The report went on to say that the project, codenamed ‘666’ will be launched between the 28th and the 30th of January, with the exact date “depending on the assembly of the car”.

Photo Credit: Mclaren-Honda

January 9, 2015
Korean GP officially dropped from 2015 F1 Calendar

The 2015 F1 Calendar has been reduced to 20 races from the proposed 21, following the official removal of the Korean Grand Prix.

The race featured on the first official calendar published at the end of last year, but was still subject to confirmation by the FIA and was apparently added without the knowledge of the Korean GP organisers.

The Korean GP was scheduled to take place just one week before the Spanish GP in Barcelona but there was little doubt that it would be removed.

In December 2014, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said that the Korean GP was on the race calendar for legal reasons.

“[The organisers] would rather it not happen,” Ecclestone said last month. “We have a contract with Korea, we have to put it on the calendar. If we had not done they could have sued us. We let them off for a year on the understanding they would be back.”

The removal of the Korean GP sees the return of a three-week break between the Bahrain Grand Prix (April 19) and the Spanish Grand Prix (May 10).

Here is the updated 2015 F1 Calendar:

Australian GP – Albert Park, March 15
Malaysian GP – Sepang, March 29
Chinese GP – Shanghai, April 12
Bahrain GP – Sakhir, April 19
Spanish GP – Barcelona, May 10
Monaco GP – Monte Carlo, May 24
Canadian GP – Montreal, June 7
Austrian GP – Spielberg, June 21
British GP – Silverstone, July 5
German GP – Nurburgring, July 19
Hungarian GP – Hungaroring, July 26
Belgian GP – Spa-Francorchamps, August 23
Italian GP – Monza, September 6
Singapore GP – Marina Bay, September 20
Japanese GP – Suzuka, September 27
Russian GP – Sochi, October 11
US GP – Austin – October 25
Mexican GP – Mexico City, November 1
Brazilian GP – Interlagos, November 15
Abu Dhabi GP – Yas Marina, November 29

Korean GP Photo Credit: Caterham F1 Team

January 7, 2015
FIA release details of new Super Licence points system from 2016

Formula One governing body, the FIA, has released details of a new Super Licence points system that will make it more difficult for drivers to become eligible for F1 racing.

From 2016 onwards, drivers must have accumulated 40 points over a three-year period in order to be eligible to apply for a super licence to compete in Formula One. Points allocation will be based on which other motorsport series’ they have competed in and the results they achieved.

The changes follow much criticism of Toro Rosso’s new 17 year old recruit, Max Verstappen. In future, drivers will have to be at least 18 years old before being allowed to compete in F1 and will also need to spend at least two years in junior single-seater categories.

Furthermore, all drivers will be required to hola valid road driver’s licence and pass a test on the Formula One sporting regulations. The existing requirement of completing 300 kilometres in a recent F1 car will also remain.

The junior categories eligible for points, in order of weighting, are: a future FIA F2 championship (60 points for winner), GP2 (50), FIA F3 European championship (40), FIA WEC (LMP1 only) (40), IndyCar (40), GP3 (30), Formula Renault 3.5 (30), Japanese Super Formula (20), national FIA-certified F4 championships (10), national F3 championships (10) and Formula Renault (EuroCup, ALPS or NEC) (5).

These new super licence rules would have prevented ten current F1 drivers from making their grand prix debuts in the last five seasons. They include Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo who made his debut in 2011 and scored three race victories last year. Paul di Resta, Marcus Ericsson, Giedo van der Garde and Jean-Eric Vergne are also amongst those who would not have met the requirements to apply for a super licence.

The new super licence regulations also make it more difficult for drivers to make comebacks following a break from the sport. In order to automatically qualify for a superlicence drivers need to have started at least 5 F1 races in the previous year, or at least 15 in the previous 3 years. This means that Michael Schumacher, who returned to F1 after a four-year break, would not have automatically qualified for a new super licence.

January 6, 2015
Williams engineering team shake-up for 2015, Massa gets new engineer

The Williams F1 Team has announced a number of changes to their engineering team ahead of the 2015 season.

This includes recruiting Dave Robson from McLaren to take over as Felipe Massa’s new race engineer.

Robson, who spent several years at McLaren working as Jenson Button’s race engineer, will report to Williams’ Head of Vehicle Performance Rob Smedley who was Massa’s race engineer at Ferrari.

The shake-up sees Massa’s former engineer Andrew Murdoch promoted to the role of Senior Performance Engineer where he will lead the performance group at Williams’ Grove base and work on developing new techniques and processes within the team to ensure that performance improvements are rolled out to both cars throughout the 2015 season.

Murdoch will still be seen on the pit wall as he will remain part of the trackside team, focusing on Valtteri Bottas’s car. Bottas will still be engineered by Jonathan Eddolls.

Carl Gaden who joined the Williams team in 1988 and has served 22 years as their chief mechanic has also been promoted. He will take on the role of Senior Car Systems Engineer and will now be responsible for system reliability. Mark Pattinson, previously Number One Mechanic on Felipe Massa’s car, has been promoted to replace Gaden as Chief Mechanic for the team.

“Off the back of a great 2014 campaign Williams is determined to continue this positive momentum into the new season, and these recent changes show our commitment to that goal,” said chief technical officer Pat Symonds.

“We are proud to be able to promote our existing talent to help strengthen every area within our engineering team and we will continue to invest in new talent where necessary to ensure we have the support and resources to achieve our on-track ambitions throughout 2015 and beyond.

“Our engineering team for the coming season is looking strong and I’m excited to get the new season underway.”

Williams finished the 2014 season in 3rd place in the Constructors’ Championship – their highest finish since 2003.

January 6, 2015
All the F1 2014 Action in this 2014 season review video montage

The fact that the same team pretty much won every race in the 2014 season does not mean that there was no action to be had throughout. 2014 was action packed and the battle for the title went down to the final race. Relive all the best F1 action of the 2014 season in this awesome 2014 season review video montage which is aptly named, ‘ART OF F1 2014 – Season Review’. It’s packed with all the top highlights of the 2014 Formula One season and is brilliantly edited. Enjoy!

January 6, 2015
FIA Concedes 2015 Engine Regulation Loophole

A loophole in the 2015 technical regulations means that teams will be allowed to update their engines during the season.

The loophole only exists because the regulations do not mention when the final engine for 2015 must be homologated as it stated in the 2014 regulations. An FIA spokesperson has said that the FIA was always under the impression that the teams will have homologated their engines before the first race of the season. The FIA have however conceded that the regulations do not stipulate a due date and that teams will be allowed to bring updates to their engines during the season.

Going forward for the 2015 season teams will be allowed 32 development tokens which means that teams will be allowed to bring 32 updates to the engine, but will be limited to 4 engines per car for the season instead of 5. These updates, according to Charlie Whiting in a note sent to the teams, can be carried out at any point during the season.

This is good news for Ferrari, Renault and to some extent Mercedes, who fought hard to prevent the engine updates during the season. Honda on the other hand do not have the benefit of developing their engine during the 2015 season as they are a new manufacturer.

The current regulations do not specifically state when Honda must submit their homologated power unit. The FIA, however, are standing firm by its view that the Japanese manufacturer must submit their homologated power unit by 28 February 2015 as the existing manufacturers were obliged to submit their power units by the same time last year.

McLaren and Honda are not taking this lightly and will meet with the FIA to discuss the situation. Honda feel that the changes that will be brought by teams during the season wont make much of a difference. But we all know that in F1 any small change can make the world of difference.

January 5, 2015
Alonso was tired of Ferrari promises, says Flavio Briatore

Fernando Alonso had already decided to leave Ferrari more than a year ago after growing tired of unfulfilled promises made by the Scuderia.

That’s according to Flavio Briatore, who has played a major role in Alonso’s management throughout his Formula One career.

After five years at Maranello, Alonso decided to return to McLaren for 2015 to drive alongside Jenson Button in the team’s new works Honda era.

But according to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, Briatore says that Alonso had already made up his mind to leave Ferrari in 2013.

“It was a gentlemen’s agreement with (Luca di) Montezemolo,” Briatore said. “‘If the (2014) car is not up to it, adios’. All it needed was a handshake.

“Fernando was tired of the usual refrain: ‘You’ll see, the next one will be a winning car’,” Briatore continued.

It was also suggested that Alonso and Briatore had urged Ferrari to use its veto power to stop the move from the old V8 formula to turbo V6s for the 2014 and following seasons.

“The problem in 2013,” Briatore said, “was clearly the aerodynamics, as with regards to the engine we (Ferrari) were right there with the competition.

“So there was this ‘leap in the dark’ taken with the engine.

“He (Alonso) also felt the efforts made in the recruitment of technical staff was insufficient – that Ferrari should be wooing the number 1, not the number 25!” he added.

With Alonso now moving to McLaren, where his 2007 tenure with the team ended in a very unamicable manner, but Briatore said: “Time heals everything.”

Briatore went on to deny that Alonso demanded that his 2015 teammate be Jenson Button as has been rumoured by the media.

“It was an internal matter concerning sponsorships,” Briatore said. “But we are happy because he (Button) is a good guy, smart, clever. He has already worked with Fernando in my team (Renault).”

December 22, 2014
Classic F1 Video: Onboard with Fangio – Modena, Italy 1950 – 250F Maserati

Super awesome classic F1 onboard footage of Juan Manuel Fangio driving the legendary 250F Maserati in Modena, Italy in 1950. Formula One has evolved so much over the years that this footage of Fangio taking the 250F Maserati through its paces is just an incredible thing to watch. You’re likely to watch this Classic F1 video a few times!

December 22, 2014
Stolen Red Bull Trophies Recovered

After more than 60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes, the team have revealed that some of the stolen trophies have been recovered.

The team say that around 20 of the trophies have been recovered from the Horseshoe Lake near Sandhurst after a member of the public spotted them

“It’s good news that some of our trophies have been found and thanks to the police for all their help so far,” said the Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner.

“The fact that some of the trophies were discarded in a lake and damaged shows how senseless this crime was.”

“While the trophies mean an enormous amount to the team, their intrinsic value is low – and the extent of the damage that was caused to the factory by the offenders during the break-in was significant.

“Hopefully we can get the trophies back to our factory where they belong and get replicas made of those that we can’t. Thanks to everyone involved for their help so far.”

December 16, 2014
Fry and Tombazis Get the Axe at Ferrari Amid Restructuring

The Ferrari Formula 1 Team announced on Monday evening 16 December that Pat Fry their Technical Director for the chassis division and car designer Nikolas Tombazis are to leave the team. This comes amid an intense restructuring going on at the Maranello based team.

The newly appointed team principal of Ferrari, Maurizzio Arrivabene has restructured the team to a more flatter organisation structure with a more clearer assignment of responsibilities.

James Allison, who was appointed in 2013, will now take up the role as technical director of the team and will also take the responsibility of track engineering in the interim. Allison will have two people reporting to him. The new Chief Designer Simone Resta who replaces Tombazis, and Mattia Binotto who is the Power Unit Director.

Massimo Rivola will manage all the Formula 1 activities while GT and Corse Clienti racing will be managed by Antonio Coletta.

To sum it all up. There have been 7 departures from the team within the space of 8 months. A president in the form of Luca Di Montezemolo, a driver – Fernando Alonso, two team bosses – Stefano Domenicali and Marco Matticacci, and engine boss – Luca Marmorini, and engineering director – Pat fry, and a chief car designer – Nikolas Tombazis. When one looks at it like this it seems as if the team is in the middle of a crisis but this seems to be all part of Sergio Marchionne’s grand plan to get Ferrari back to the top of Fomrula 1

December 16, 2014