F1 Reports

[Ackmann]

Ferrari loses legal bid against FIA

By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, May 20th 2009


Ferrari has lost its legal bid to lodge an injunction against the FIA's plans for a voluntary budget cap in Formula 1.

The Maranello outfit was told by French legal authorities on Wednesday that it did not have a valid reason to block plans for a £40 million voluntary budget cap.

The move means that next week's entry deadline for the 2010 championship will go ahead, leaving current teams a few days to resolve their opposition to the regulations.

Ferrari had gone to the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris because it believed that the FIA's introduction of the regulations had been in breach of a technical veto that the team has over future technical rule changes.

The FIA argued, however, that the veto was no longer valid - and that Ferrari had also not used the available opportunities to impose its right.

It was also suggested to the court that imposing an entry deadline of next week was important to help secure the future of new teams in the sport - who need as much notice as possible so as to get their entries in place.

Ferrari has joined several other teams in saying that it will not lodge an entry to the 2010 world championship unless changes are made to the rules for next year.

[Ackmann]

Interesting Meeting on Briatore's Boat this weekend.

Ecclestone warns Ferrari of legal action

By Jonathan Noble Friday, May 22nd 2009, 09:40 GMT


Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has hinted that Ferrari could face legal action if it walks away from the sport at the end of this year.

Ahead of crunch talks between teams and FIA president Max Mosley in Monaco today, Ecclestone has upped the ante by suggesting that Ferrari would be in breach of contract if it did not enter F1 in 2010.

It comes after a French court ruled this week that agreements in place between Ferrari, Ecclestone and the FIA, which locked the team into F1 until 2012, were valid.

Ecclestone told The Times newspaper that he was in no doubt that Ferrari had a commitment to be in F1.

"We would always respect our contracts," Ecclestone said. "And all the teams that have signed contracts with us would expect us to respect them, and we would expect the same from Ferrari. They are saying they are going to walk, we are saying we hope they respect their contract."

There are also suggestions that Ecclestone has written to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo telling him that television rights money paid to the team, believed to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, may have to be returned if the team breaks its contract.

F1 teams are set to meet on Renault boss Flavio Briatore's yacht in Monaco on Friday afternoon to talk about their response to Mosley's refusal to compromise on plans on a £40 million voluntary budget cap. A meeting with the FIA president is set for later in the day.

[Ackmann]

Monaco GP Report

http://www.velocetoday.com/archives/2756

[Ackmann]

Turkish Gp Race Report

Turkish GP - Sunday - Race Report
The curious case of the unbeatable ButtonJenson Button, Turkish GP 2009
© The Cahier Archive

Jenson Button won his sixth victory of the year in Turkey. His sixth in seven races. This is really an extraordinary achievement and one that has rarely been matched in the history of the sport. If has been done three times in the past: by the great Jim Clark in 1965 and by Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 2004. One can argue about 1952 and 1954 when Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio were both totally dominant - but everyone forgets that the Indianapolis 500 was a round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in those days and one cannot simply ignore that, just because it is an inconvenient! The thing that makes Button's achievement so impressive is that his opposition is right with him. There are no team orders to protect him and he has to pull thousandths of a second out of his hat whenever he needs them. And yet he does it. Over and over. These are not victories that Button is cruising. His car is good - very good - but it is not like the Williams-Renaults of 1992. Button is digging deep and winning in style. The Grands Prix are tense battles which are decided with a tenth here and a tenth there. A slight mistake will destroy a dream of victory. This may not make for great TV coverage, but for those who understand what they are seeing, it is terrific.

And all of this overlooks the fact that Brawn GP is a team which had to change engines in a matter of weeks before the season began, and it did just a couple of tests. The team had to overcome the sense of disruption and fears for the future. To have done what they have done is astonishing - and brilliant.

It is the Cinderella story.

"Today the car was the best it's felt all year," he smiled after the victory. "This is the first race where the car really has been absolutely perfect for me. Definitely this was a victory for all of us at Brawn. To beat these Red Bull guys fair and square was a great victory for us."

As the cars lined up on the grid the Red Bull folk were wary of Button. Sebastian Vettel was on pole, and in theory on the cleaner side of the track, but they knew that the fuel-adjusted lap times gave Button the advantage. All he needed was a good start and a few extra laps with clear air and the job would be done. Vettel would be hunted down and beaten.

In the end he did not even have to pull the trigger. Vettel got away in the lead but then he made a mistake and the dream was over. The plan was to try to surprise with a three-stop strategy, but that did not work out.

Button made a decent start from the dirty side of the grid, but his Brawn GP colleague Rubens Barrichello suffered a clutch problem, which left him at chugging speed when what was needed was a very fast car. Rubens pushed buttons and no doubt swore like a trooper but by the time he was back up to speed, he was stuck in traffic.

At Turn 10 on that first lap Vettel ran wide. Button was on him in a flash. And that was that. From the moment Button was ahead it was no longer about containment, but rather about trying to keep up and Vettel must have known that there was not much chance for him to be able to win back what he had lost

"There was a tail wind there, and actually I nearly lost it on the second lap there too," said Vettel. "It was quite tricky.

"But," he added, "it wouldn't have made such a big difference. It was my mistake, but Jenson was just too quick today. There was no holding him after that."

Button was delighted

"It was good to get away second," he explained. "Sebastian covered the inside which surprised me because it's dirty there, and I sat behind for the first half of the lap. Then he ran wide on the exit to Turn 10 and that was my opportunity. It was good that I got him there because otherwise I wouldn't really have had a chance to pass him."

Instead he was able to look at building up a lead. And that is exactly what did did. With a heavier car...

Vettel's three-stop strategy should probably have been changed.

"I knew the win was not going to happen," said Vettel. "It turned out that a three-stop was possibly not as quick as two today.

Button said he was surprised that Red Bull did not change its plan. Vettel did not give up. He fought back running with a very light fuel load in the second stint. The Brawn was running heavier and could do little, but catching is one thing, passing quite another. In the middle of the race, Button had to soak up the pressure.

"I nearly passed him in the last corners," Vettel said.

For Button it was not a nice experience.

"It's never a nice feeling to see another car catching you at a second a lap even though you know the reason is that you have more fuel," Button explained. "I covered the lines, and as soon as Sebastian pitted I pushed hard again and got the lap times down."

And that was that. Button was gone. Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber was even able to catch and pass the German with a two-stop race. When Sebastien pitted for the third time, Webber was left to lead the charge. After that the team tactfully mentioned that it would be best for Vettel not to challenge Webber. Vettel could not stop himself

"I started from pole position, my strategy didn't work, the situation was not what I wanted it to be," he said. "I enjoy driving and would rather have continued to go quick rather than slow down and carry the car home..."

For Webber second place was another solid performance, equalling his career best.

"I knew that I had to hang on as long as possible in the first stint," he explained. "It worked out pretty well and I managed to go a lap longer and save fuel, which helped me gain some time. I knew Sebastian's strategy so there was a chance to get another position. It was just a question which of us would get second. My second stint turned out well for us."

While all this was happening Barrichello was trying to recover from his start, but he was a little too wild for his own good and ended up colliding with the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and spun. Rubens later retired with a gearbox problem. It was Brawn's first mechanical failure of the season.

It was a frustrating day for the Brazilian.

Toyota also ended up doing well, despite the recent traumas at the Monaco GP. The result was that Jarno Trulli finished fourth and Timo Glock was eighth.

"The team deserve a lot of credit for the improvement," Trulli said. The driver too. He made up two places in the first corner, but then dropped to fourth because of a brake problem.

Behind Trulli in fifth place was Nico Rosberg, and that was a decent run for Nico.

[LeManns67]

Classic Madd MAX

Funny article, but like all things funny with a bit of truth.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=38152

[Ackmann]

Mad Max is going to ruin this sport.

Mosley rethinks future over FOTA claims
By Jonathan Noble and Dieter Rencken Thursday, June 25th 2009, 20:41 GMT


Formula 1's future has been thrown into turmoil once again, with FIA president Max Mosley saying he is now keeping his future options open because of what he has called 'deliberate attempts' by teams to mislead the media.

Just 24 hours after Mosley reached a deal with FOTA to end the threat of a breakaway series, he has reacted angrily to what he calls 'false claims' made by the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) about the nature of their agreement.

In a letter that Mosley sent to FOTA chairman Luca di Montezemolo, which first appeared on website www.racefax.com but has now been seen by AUTOSPORT, Mosley makes it clear that he is angry at how FOTA has presented the terms of its deal.

And such is his seriousness with which he is treating the matter, that he has told FOTA that his original plan to step down as FIA president in October is no longer definite.

"Given your and FOTA's deliberate attempt to mislead the media, I now consider my options open," wrote Mosley in the letter. "At least until October, I am president of the FIA with the full authority of that office.

"After that it is the FIA member clubs, not you or FOTA, who will decide on the future leadership of the FIA."

Mosley is furious that FOTA representatives have claimed that FIA Senate president Michel Boeri is now in change of F1, that he himself was forced out of office and that he would have no role in the FIA once he steps down in October.

"We made a deal yesterday in Paris to end the recent difficulties in Formula 1," explained Mosley. "A fundamental part of this was that we would both present a positive and truthful account to the media.

"I was therefore astonished to learn that FOTA has been briefing the press that Mr Boeri has taken charge of Formula 1, something which you know is completely untrue; that I had been forced out of office, also false; and, apparently, that I would have no role in the FIA after October, something which is plain nonsense, if only because of the FIA statutes.

"Furthermore, you have suggested to the media that I was a 'dictator', an accusation which is grossly insulting to the 26 members of the World Motor Sport Council who have discussed and voted all the rules and procedures of Formula 1 since the 1980s, not to mention the representatives of the FIA's 122 countries who have democratically endorsed everything I and my World Motor Sport Council colleagues have done during the last 18 years."

The letter makes it clear that unless FOTA moves to address his complaints, then the deal that was agreed on Wednesday could collapse. The letter was sent prior to Thursday's FOTA press conference in Bologna, where Mosley had hoped an apology would be made - something which was not forthcoming.

Mosley said: "If you wish the agreement we made to have any chance of survival, you and FOTA must immediately rectify your actions. You must correct the false statements which have been made and make no further such statements.

"You yourself must issue a suitable correction and apology at your press conference this afternoon.

"Formula 1 is run entirely by our 25-strong team without any help from me or any other outsider. There was no need for me to involve myself further in Formula 1 once we had a settlement. Equally, I had a long-standing plan not to seek re-election in October. It was therefore possible for me to confirm both points to you yesterday."

[Ackmann]

Looks like Nelson won the battle.

He took down giant Flavio but not necciarily the best for F1. Still good to see bad actions punished.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78668

[Ackmann]

But Flavio and the engineer sound innoscent.

Transcript of Pat Symonds' FIA interview

Tuesday, September 15th 2009, 06:44 GMT


This if the official transcript of the relevant parts of an interview between FIA representatives and Pat Symonds, at the Belgian Grand Prix, discussing the Singapore Grand Prix race-fix allegations and the race morning meeting between himself, Flavio Briatore and Nelson Piquet.

FIA adviser: In your own words Mr. Symonds what do you recall being said to Nelson Piquet Jnr at that meeting? This is shortly before the race.

Symonds: I don't really remember it.

FIA adviser: You don't remember?

Symonds: No.


FIA adviser: Nelson Piquet Jnr says that he was asked by you to cause a deliberate crash. Is that true?

Symonds: Nelson had spoken to me the day before and suggested that. That's all I'd really like to say.

(...)

FIA adviser: Mr Symonds were you aware that there was going to be crash at Lap 14?

Symonds: I don't want to answer that question.

(...)

FIA adviser: There is just one thing that I ought to ask you and put it to you so you can think about it at least. Mr. Piquet Jnr says that having had the initial meeting with you and Flavio Briatore you then met him individually with the map of the circuit. Do you remember that?

Symonds: I won't answer, rather not answer that. I don't recall it but it sounds like Nelson's talked a lot more about it.

FIA adviser: Mr. Piquet Jnr also says at that meeting you pointed out a specific place on the circuit where he was to have the accident and said it was because it was the furthest away from any of the safety or lifting equipment and gave the most likely chance of a safety car being deployed.

Symonds: I don't, I don't want to answer that question.

FIA adviser: [Referring to the pre-race meeting] Was it you that did the talking at that meeting Mr. Symonds?

Symonds: I'm sure it would have been both of us but I don't know for sure. Sorry that's a contradiction. I would imagine it would be both of us that would be normal. Actually probably more often it's Flavio that does the talking himself. I wouldn't necessarily always agree with what he's saying but the majority.

FIA adviser: Because just to be absolutely clear here what Nelson Piquet Jnr has said is that at that meeting it was you that asked him to have a crash deliberately?

Symonds: I can't answer you.

FIA adviser: Can I say that if Mr. Symonds you'd been put in the position where you were made to ask Mr. Piquet Jnr to crash it's much better, it would be much better for you in the long term to tell these stewards to hear that today?

Symonds: I fully understand that.

FIA adviser: Yes.

Symonds: I have no intention of lying to you. I have not lied to you but I have reserved my position just a little.

FIA adviser: And you're aware that the stewards may draw conclusions from your unwillingness to assist them in relation to what went on in that meeting?

Symonds: I would expect them to. I would absolutely expect that.

FIA adviser: I think I haven't got any further questions.

[LeManns67]

Sounds guilty of something to me. Looks like they all shot themselves in the foot on this one.

[LeManns67]

Cheers to Button and Brawn on their Championships

Brazilian GP - Sunday - Race Report
Jenson intercepts the title
Brawn GP team, Brazilian GP 2009
© The Cahier Archive
After a miserable qualifying on Saturday, it did not seem very likely that the World Championship would be decided in Brazil. The folk in Abu Dhabi were no doubt happy. Bernie Ecclestone was no doubt pondering astronomical TV viewing figures. It all looked as though Rubens Barrichello would win at home and close the gap to Jenson Button... Ah, but that was on paper...

The moment the lights went out at the start, it was clear that there is no such thing as a script in Formula 1 racing. Barrichello and Mark Webber set off at the first corner in a relatively orderly fashion, but behind them things started to get lively. Adrian Sutil tried to insert his Force India between Webber and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari's, which was on the outside line. All seemed well. But then the attention was diverted by another bingle as title hopeful Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull found itself in a McLaren sandwich. Heikki Kovalainen spun, forcing Giancarlo Fisichella to swerve on to the grass.

As they were getting this one sorted out, further down the road Raikkonen tried to go down the inside of Webber at turn four, his KERS giving him a slight edge. Webber defended his line, Kimi ran out of space and had a wheel in the dirt and a right front wing in pieces. This slowed him as they went through the corner. Sutil tried to taker advantage of the situation and went for the inside line, only to have the door slammed firmly in his face, whereupon he was somewhat shocked to find that Jarno Trulli was trying to go around the outside in turn five. The Toyota ran out of room, got on to the kerbs and spun, taking out the Force India as it did so. Trulli smashed into the wall on the left while Sutil went for a twirl on the right and came back on to the circuit just in time to be walloped by Fernando Alonso's Renault, which had nowhere to go. All three were out. The Safety Car was deployed and the TV viewers of the world were given live pictures of an irate Trulli berating Sutil - never a great idea when both men were wearing helmets. It was clear, however, that they had different opinions about the incident.

"Sutil was very slow through Turn Four because he was fighting with Raikkonen," Jarno explained. "He was on the inside so I took the outside line but he kept pushing me wider and wider. In the end I was on the grass and had no control of the car."

Oddly enough, Sutil saw it differently.

"Kimi hit Webber and lost his front wing," he explained. "I was following him through the corner but then suddenly I got hit in the rear and lost control of the car. Trulli was there on the outside trying to go round. It was a really stupid maneouvre as there was no space and I couldn't see him at all. At that point it wasn't worth it and it ended my race far too early.

"Jarno was furious and said it was my mistake but I just told him what had happened to me. But it's over and now he's just got to deal with it."

But the action was not over yet. Up in the pits there were various callers. Kimi needed a new nose and new tyres. Lewis Hamilton popped in too, as did Tonio Liuzzi. As everyone was trying to work out who had hit whom, it became clear that these were strategic pit stops: Hamilton changing his strategy to take advantage of the situation - which would bring great rewards later on - and Liuzzi switching to soft rubber for a lap before returning to the medium tyres during a second stop. This lost him minimal time, gave him a full fuel tank and the tyres he wanted and by mid-race he too had risen up the order although his mid-race stop would drop him back into traffic and he would end the day 12th on the road. It was, nonetheless, worth a try.

There was more excitement going on in the pits as both Raikkonen and Kovalainen stopped for repairs. Kimi got a new nose section and new tyres and was off, but McLaren released Heikki a little too quickly, the result being that he took the fuel hose with him and came out just in front of Raikkonen, spraying fuel all over the place. And "whoompf!" Kimi found himself in the middle of a flash fire. He was cool enough to jink to the left and having ascertained that all was well rejoined the fray. Heikki stopped at the Brawn garage where they were kind enough to remove the flailing hose and he then rejoined as well. Up in Race Control fingers were soon busy typing reports and in the minutes that followed McLaren was notified of no fewer than four infractions which Heikki would have to answer for when the race was over. He had a relatively quiet race after that and finished ninth but then the FIA did its investigation and fined him $50,000 for trying to set fire to Raikkonen and gave him a 25-sec penalty, which pushed him back down the order. It did not much matter as he had not scored.

The Trulli-Sutil incident was studied by the FIA Stewards, with Jarno being fined $10,000 for shouting and gesticulating at the German.

Body language can be expensive in Formula 1...

All this was for later, however, as the the racing was soon underway again and Button was the man to watch. No longer hedging his bets, Jenson turned the full force of his talent on Romain Grosjean, who soon gave way after a few lively moves. Having dealt with the oddly-coiffed, border-jumping, Franco-Swiss Renault driver, Button had Oxford-based Japanese Kazuki Nakajima in the gun sight. Not for long. On the seventh lap Button was up to seventh place and homing in on Kamui Kobayashi, who was making his F1 debut (very well) with Toyota. Having qualified 11th Kamui impressed onlookers by being completely unimpressed at having the World Championship leader snapping at his exhaust pipes. He held his ground; made Button work for it.

"He was crazy!" Jenson said later. "I suppose he's just inexperienced, but he moves about a lot in the braking zones, as Nakajima found out. Everyone else was tough but fair but he had to be put in his place."

Stuck behind Kobayashi, Button found his mirrors filled with Nakajima and Vettel.

While this was going on, Barrichello was leading Webber but not making enough of an impression to look like a winner, given their relative fuel loads. Rubens stopped on lap 21 and so the Australian took the lead. Early on Nico Rosberg had been third but at the restart Robert Kubica lined him up nicely and took the position. Robert then chased after Barrichello and Webber and found them slower than he would have thought. He pitted two laps after Barrichello and came out ahead of the Brawn. Webber was still out and Rosberg was then second and Buemi third for a lap before they both stopped. At the same time Button finally nailed Kobayashi with a nice move into Turn 1. This put Jenson into second place and when Webber pitted on lap 26 but was by then so far ahead that he retained his lead while Button pressed on until lap 29 before his stop. That dropped him back to ninth, but as those with more exotic two-stop strategies and even the odd one-stoppers did their thing so Button climbed back to third before his second stop on lap 55. By then he was behind only Webber and Kubica. He dropped back to seventh on that occasion but moved up to sixth when Kovalainen did a late stop and to fifth when Barrichello had a puncture. And that was that. Rubens had been running third but that was not enough to stop Button taking the title and although Vettel was fifth he too was out of the running. The title was Button's to lose. And that is how it stayed all the way to the flag - waved by Felipe Massa.

By an odd turn of events car number 22, powered by a Mercedes engine, finished fifth and made a British driver World Champion - for the second year running. Lewis Hamilton having done exactly that in the mind-boggling finale at Interlagos last year.

Brawn won the World Championship for Constructors at its first attempt, a spectacular achievement.

[Ackmann]

Todt Elected new FIA President. Bye Bye Max!!!!!

Todt elected new president of the FIA

By Jonathan Noble Friday, October 23rd 2009, 11:37 GMT


Jean Todt is the new FIA president after comfortably winning Friday's election in Paris.

The former Ferrari team principal had been up against former world rally Ari Vatanen for the top job within motor racing's governing body.

Todt got 135 votes compared to Vatanen's 49. There were 12 abstentions or invalid votes.

The entire voting procedure was supervised by an external Huissier de Justice, the French state-appointed public witness.

The victory means he will succeed outgoing president Max Mosley, who made it clear from the outset that he wanted Todt to win the vote.