RedBull Racing - Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Jenson Button
Sergio Perez
Scuderia Ferrari - Fernando Alonso
Nico Hulkenberg?
Lotus F1 Team - Kimi Raikkonen
Romain Grosjean
Mercedes Benz AMG - Nico Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton
Sahara Force India F1 - Paul Di Resta
Felipe Massa?
Sauber F1 - Kamui Kobayashi
Michael Schumacher?
Scuderia Toro Rosso - Daniel Ricciardo?
Jean Eric Vergne?
Williams Renault F1 - Pastor Maldonado
Valterri Bottas?
Marussia F1 - Timo Glock
Charles Pic? Max Chilton?
Caterham F1 - Heikki Kovalainen
Bruno Senna?
HRT - Pedro Dela Rosa
Dani Clos?
Driver's with question marks yet to be confirmed
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Should McLaren switch their attention to Button?
So with Lewis Hamilton heading to pastures new next season, should McLaren put all their weight behind Jenson Button for the rest of the season? With six race's left this season Jenson is currently in 6th in the Driver's championship 75 points behind leader Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton is in fourth place, 52 points behind Alonso.
If I was the team principal of McLaren I wouldn't like the prospect of losing the 2012 F1 Champion to Mercedes next season and with it the No.1 on the car. Lewis Hamilton is still mathematically in the running for this year's championship.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports Martin Whitmarsh said that despite Hamilton's decision to leave the team McLaren are still 100% behind Lewis in his bid for a second Driver's title, the team however should be concentrating on overhauling RedBull's 36 point advantage in the Constructor's championship as the Woking based squad haven't won this championship since 1998.
From 2013, JB will be the out right team leader at McLaren and in my opinion he will be looking to end his 2012 campaign the way he started it on a high with a win, he will be looking to repeat his 2011 success in Japan next weekend. The Suzuka circuit is a favourite among an awful lot of the driver's on the grid.
Recently JB stated that he was not willing to help Hamilton in his championship bid however having spoke to Martin Whitmarsh his stance may have changed although with Hamilton leaving at the end of the season I don't see the sense in JB helping him.
Jenson has shown that given the car he can dominate at the front SPA this year was a prime example of that.
If I was the team principal of McLaren I wouldn't like the prospect of losing the 2012 F1 Champion to Mercedes next season and with it the No.1 on the car. Lewis Hamilton is still mathematically in the running for this year's championship.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports Martin Whitmarsh said that despite Hamilton's decision to leave the team McLaren are still 100% behind Lewis in his bid for a second Driver's title, the team however should be concentrating on overhauling RedBull's 36 point advantage in the Constructor's championship as the Woking based squad haven't won this championship since 1998.
From 2013, JB will be the out right team leader at McLaren and in my opinion he will be looking to end his 2012 campaign the way he started it on a high with a win, he will be looking to repeat his 2011 success in Japan next weekend. The Suzuka circuit is a favourite among an awful lot of the driver's on the grid.
Recently JB stated that he was not willing to help Hamilton in his championship bid however having spoke to Martin Whitmarsh his stance may have changed although with Hamilton leaving at the end of the season I don't see the sense in JB helping him.
Jenson has shown that given the car he can dominate at the front SPA this year was a prime example of that.
Lotus targeting second
So with only six race's left in 2012 the Lotus team head to Japan next weekend on the back of a frustrating weekend. Despite a hefty points haul where Kimi finished 6th and Romain finished 7th the team had been hoping for more. Kimi said recent that he felt that the team could fall behind the like's of Ferrari, McLaren and RedBull as the season comes to a close if the team can't keep up with the development race.
Next weekend's Japanese GrandPrix will see the Enstone based team bring a heavily updated package for the event that they hope will enable Kimi and Romain to challenge for the win. So far this season the team have picked up eight podium finishes and Kimi has scored points in every race bar one and finds himself in third in the championship just 16 points behind second placed man Sebastian Vettel while Romain sits in 8th place.
Speaking to the the official Formula One website, Eric Boullier believes that to finish second the driver's championship would be a great result for the team in an ideal world. Asked about the team's line-up for 2013, he stated that it will remain pretty much the same and that with Kimi he has a two year contract with "an option' to me that says that Kimi is tied to the team for 2013 and that the team then have an option on him for 2014.
I would be delighted if Kimi can win a race this year it would cap a remarkable comeback season for the Finn. In an ideal world it would be amazing if could take the win in Japan next weekend and if not Japan in Korea the following week.
We will have to wait and see what happens. Kimi loves the Japanese GrandPrix and he performs very well there. So all Lotus have to o is give him a car that will enable him to challenge for the win or the podium. Overtaking in Suzuka is very difficult and the weather is unpredictable so a good qualifying position is crucial so fingers crossed Lotus will be able to get the most out of qualifying.
XIX Entertainment contacted us
Mercedes boss Ross Brawn has confirmed that XIX Entertainment, Lewis Hamilton's Management team made initial contact with the team about the possibility of a drive with the Brackley based team. Speaking to BBC Sport, Brawn said that they knew Hamilton's contract was up at the end of this year and discussion really took off and led to Friday's announcement that the Brit would be replacing 7 time's world champion Michael Schumacher.
Brawn also confirmed that Hamilton joins Mercedes with equal status to Nico Rosberg. He revealed that Lewis never asked for number one status and that the offer of number one was never on the cards.
I find it extremely interesting that Hamilton is joining Mercedes because by the results so far this season McLaren would have been his best bet for the championship, however I understand where he is coming from, he was looking for a new challenge and was extremely impressed with the project that Mercedes are embarking on over the next three years.
If for what ever reason the move doesn't work out the way either party wanted Hamilton can use it as a learning curve. In my opinion, he is taking a massive risk by joining Mercedes. However when you look at it, Mercedes or Brawn as they were known as then have won the both the Driver's and Constructor's championship's more recently then McLaren. The team won both championships with Jenson Button in 2009 whereas McLaren's last Driver's title came back in 2008 with Hamilton and their last Costructor's championship win came in 1998.
It is also very ironic, because as it turns out the likelihood is that Lewis' race engineer at Mercedes will be Andrew Shovlan, who was Jenson's engineer when he won the championship.
It remains to be seen if Hamilton has made the right choice and only time will tell as to whether or not it is the right move. However with XIX Entertainment approaching Merc, it is my opinion that they felt that Lewis would have greater freedom when it came to image and commercial rights. McLaren are traditionally very strict when it comes personal driver endorsements.
It is believed that Hamilton's new Mercedes contract is worth in the region of £15 million a year over three years so on top of commercial sponsorship in my opinion Hamilton could be earning as much as £20 million a year with Mercedes.
Interestingly enough on the day that Hamilton's move to Mercedes and Sergio Perez's move to McLaren were announced the McLaren chairman Ron Dennis was at the Paris Motor Show at the launch of McLaren Automotive's replacement for the McLaren F1 the McLaren P1, therefore removing himself from the hype surrounding Hamilton's move to Mercedes. But as Ron has said himself his main involvement as Chairman of the McLaren Group is now with McLaren Automotive, the company's road car division.
He would have been involved in the discussions with Hamilton however as Martin Whitmarsh is the F1 team principal I suspect that he had the final say in the signing of Sergio Perez as Hamilton's replacement.
As I understand it, Jenson Button was also involved in the decision to sign Sergio Perez from Sauber, as he along with his manageer Richard Goddard is involved in the management of a number of young drivers coming through the lower motorsport categories.
I have no doubt that will hear Ron Dennis' view on Hamilton's move and the signing of Perez as BBC F1's Lee McKenzie interviewed him on stage at the Paris Motor Show.
The 2013 Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham in January which I am hoping to attend is set to be very interesting as I am sure that Mercedes will take it as an opportunity for Lewis to make an appearance at the event.
In any case Thursday at Suzaka will be a very interesting day in particular the driver's press conference and equally the team principal's press conference on Friday. We will have Hamilton, Perez and Schumacher at the press conference so it is going to be very interesting to wtach.
Brawn also confirmed that Hamilton joins Mercedes with equal status to Nico Rosberg. He revealed that Lewis never asked for number one status and that the offer of number one was never on the cards.
I find it extremely interesting that Hamilton is joining Mercedes because by the results so far this season McLaren would have been his best bet for the championship, however I understand where he is coming from, he was looking for a new challenge and was extremely impressed with the project that Mercedes are embarking on over the next three years.
If for what ever reason the move doesn't work out the way either party wanted Hamilton can use it as a learning curve. In my opinion, he is taking a massive risk by joining Mercedes. However when you look at it, Mercedes or Brawn as they were known as then have won the both the Driver's and Constructor's championship's more recently then McLaren. The team won both championships with Jenson Button in 2009 whereas McLaren's last Driver's title came back in 2008 with Hamilton and their last Costructor's championship win came in 1998.
It is also very ironic, because as it turns out the likelihood is that Lewis' race engineer at Mercedes will be Andrew Shovlan, who was Jenson's engineer when he won the championship.
It remains to be seen if Hamilton has made the right choice and only time will tell as to whether or not it is the right move. However with XIX Entertainment approaching Merc, it is my opinion that they felt that Lewis would have greater freedom when it came to image and commercial rights. McLaren are traditionally very strict when it comes personal driver endorsements.
It is believed that Hamilton's new Mercedes contract is worth in the region of £15 million a year over three years so on top of commercial sponsorship in my opinion Hamilton could be earning as much as £20 million a year with Mercedes.
Interestingly enough on the day that Hamilton's move to Mercedes and Sergio Perez's move to McLaren were announced the McLaren chairman Ron Dennis was at the Paris Motor Show at the launch of McLaren Automotive's replacement for the McLaren F1 the McLaren P1, therefore removing himself from the hype surrounding Hamilton's move to Mercedes. But as Ron has said himself his main involvement as Chairman of the McLaren Group is now with McLaren Automotive, the company's road car division.
He would have been involved in the discussions with Hamilton however as Martin Whitmarsh is the F1 team principal I suspect that he had the final say in the signing of Sergio Perez as Hamilton's replacement.
As I understand it, Jenson Button was also involved in the decision to sign Sergio Perez from Sauber, as he along with his manageer Richard Goddard is involved in the management of a number of young drivers coming through the lower motorsport categories.
I have no doubt that will hear Ron Dennis' view on Hamilton's move and the signing of Perez as BBC F1's Lee McKenzie interviewed him on stage at the Paris Motor Show.
The 2013 Autosport International Show at the NEC in Birmingham in January which I am hoping to attend is set to be very interesting as I am sure that Mercedes will take it as an opportunity for Lewis to make an appearance at the event.
In any case Thursday at Suzaka will be a very interesting day in particular the driver's press conference and equally the team principal's press conference on Friday. We will have Hamilton, Perez and Schumacher at the press conference so it is going to be very interesting to wtach.
Confusion over Massa's Ferrari future
It would be appear that there is a lot of confusion surrounding the future of Felipe Massa. Earlier this season it was expected that Massa would be replaced at Ferrari by Sauber's Sergio Perez, however Ferrari president Luca Di Motezemelo shot himself in the foot in my opinion as he said that Sergio who part of Ferari's young driver academy after saying that the young Mexican was not ready to step up to a big team like Ferrari.
The Ferrari president will be rueing that he made those comments as it was announced on Friday that McLaren have signed Sergio to replace Lewis Hamilton from next season. The signing of Perez is in my opinion a major coup for McLaren as Segio has shown so many times this season that he is quick and in Jenson Button they already have an extremely experienced driver who will do a great job in stepping up to the role of team leader.
I fully expect McLaren to be challenging for next year's world championship's as soon as the light's go out in Melbourne on St Patrick's Day.
So with Perez no longer an option for Ferrari, the question is who are they going to get to replace Massa? Well there is always the option of retaining the Brazilian for another year and then trying to swoop for Sebastian Vettel in 2014, however it would appear that the team's mind has more less been made up to let Massa go as during the Summer Mark Webber revealed that he had received an offer from Ferrari for next season, however the Aussie decided to stick with RedBull.
The BBC's Chief F1 writer Andrew Benson revealed yesterday that he believed having spoken to a source extremely close to Ferrari that Massa is out and the young German of Nico Hulkenberg is in, however in the same breathe he said that another equally close source said that Massa is set to continue with the team.
I for one, expect that Ferrari president Luca Di Motezemelo to announce Fernando Alonso's team-mate tomorrow (Monday).
Here is what I believe is going to happen, Nico Hulkenberg is going to replace Massa at Ferrari with Massa moving to Force India while Michael Schumacher will sign a one year deal to replace Sergio Perez at Sauber having driven for Sauber in Sports cars before moving to F1 with Jordan in 1991.
Meanwhile in my opinion, the Lotus pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean will remain the same as I believe that the team would be very foolish to get rid either driver particularly Kimi as he is currently in the title fight with six races to go.
The Ferrari president will be rueing that he made those comments as it was announced on Friday that McLaren have signed Sergio to replace Lewis Hamilton from next season. The signing of Perez is in my opinion a major coup for McLaren as Segio has shown so many times this season that he is quick and in Jenson Button they already have an extremely experienced driver who will do a great job in stepping up to the role of team leader.
I fully expect McLaren to be challenging for next year's world championship's as soon as the light's go out in Melbourne on St Patrick's Day.
So with Perez no longer an option for Ferrari, the question is who are they going to get to replace Massa? Well there is always the option of retaining the Brazilian for another year and then trying to swoop for Sebastian Vettel in 2014, however it would appear that the team's mind has more less been made up to let Massa go as during the Summer Mark Webber revealed that he had received an offer from Ferrari for next season, however the Aussie decided to stick with RedBull.
The BBC's Chief F1 writer Andrew Benson revealed yesterday that he believed having spoken to a source extremely close to Ferrari that Massa is out and the young German of Nico Hulkenberg is in, however in the same breathe he said that another equally close source said that Massa is set to continue with the team.
I for one, expect that Ferrari president Luca Di Motezemelo to announce Fernando Alonso's team-mate tomorrow (Monday).
Here is what I believe is going to happen, Nico Hulkenberg is going to replace Massa at Ferrari with Massa moving to Force India while Michael Schumacher will sign a one year deal to replace Sergio Perez at Sauber having driven for Sauber in Sports cars before moving to F1 with Jordan in 1991.
Meanwhile in my opinion, the Lotus pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean will remain the same as I believe that the team would be very foolish to get rid either driver particularly Kimi as he is currently in the title fight with six races to go.
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Major twist in Hamilton's move to Mercedes
The ink has barely dried on Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes contract and this morning just 24 hours after he announced his move to Mercedes from McLaren for 2013, Formula One website pitpass.com are reporting that Bernie Ecclestone has said that the proposed switch from 2.4 litre V8 engines to 1.6 litre V6 turbo charged power plants scheduled to be introduced from 2014 is to be scrapped.
The news if it is true will come as a hammer blow to Lewis Hamilton as one of the major factors in his move to Mercedesis the fact that the team build their own engine's one of only two team's to do so. The other being Ferrari.
It remains to be seen whether or not there is any truth to this story but if there is I for one believe it would be a good thing for Formula One as nearly every year the FIA bring in radical new rule changes to the sport. For example this year, team's had to run the 'Stepped nose' on their cars. During the World Motorsport Council meeting yesterday it was confirmed that team's will be allowed to hide these noses from next season.
In my opinion there needs to be some consistency in the Technical regulations and designers should not be punished for their innovation. I am of course referring to the fact that the Double DRS device developed by Mercedes has been banned from next season. Formula One is meant to be the pinnacle of motor racing and with all the developments being stifled by what I believe is an over governed and regulated motor racing body the series is in great danger of becoming stale in my opinion.
So we will have to see if this story develops over the coming months
The news if it is true will come as a hammer blow to Lewis Hamilton as one of the major factors in his move to Mercedesis the fact that the team build their own engine's one of only two team's to do so. The other being Ferrari.
It remains to be seen whether or not there is any truth to this story but if there is I for one believe it would be a good thing for Formula One as nearly every year the FIA bring in radical new rule changes to the sport. For example this year, team's had to run the 'Stepped nose' on their cars. During the World Motorsport Council meeting yesterday it was confirmed that team's will be allowed to hide these noses from next season.
In my opinion there needs to be some consistency in the Technical regulations and designers should not be punished for their innovation. I am of course referring to the fact that the Double DRS device developed by Mercedes has been banned from next season. Formula One is meant to be the pinnacle of motor racing and with all the developments being stifled by what I believe is an over governed and regulated motor racing body the series is in great danger of becoming stale in my opinion.
So we will have to see if this story develops over the coming months
Friday, 28 September 2012
Mercedes confirm Niki Lauda appointment
The Mercedes Benz AMG team have officially confirmed that Triple World Champion Niki Lauda has been appointed to the position of Non Executive Chariman of the Mercedes Board of Directors. The news came in the same press release that saw Mercedes confirm Lewis Hamilton as Nico Rosberg's team mate.
Niki Lauda held similar position's at Ferrari and later Jaguar Racing.
Niki Lauda held similar position's at Ferrari and later Jaguar Racing.
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