F1 off season Gossiip and changes

Just a general topic to discuss Formula 1 in the off season. Gossip and news etc. By the way we need Eddie Jordan on here he is predicting things before they happen these days first Hamilton's move and then Chilton signing with Marussia. Any news you hear guys post away. Oh and happy Christmas and new year to you all.

Vettel to join Marussia to prove he is the best in the world...

Haha that's new for sure.

Some Alonso comments from an interview. "I do not know who will be my main opponent for this season (2013), he who has the best team, with the best year in terms of preparation, luck, testing, all of these factors, will help a driver or team to come on top of others," he said.
"But as for strongest opponent, who is strongest driver? My answer is Hamilton. It was true last year, it will be true this year.

Ciaron Pilbeam, formerly of Red Bull & Mark Webber's race engineer will move to Lotus and become Kimi Raikkonen's race engineer for 2013.

Seen both of these articles interesting reads http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21070418 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21064644

Timo Glock leaves Marussia, presumably opens up a slot for Vitali Petrov. No major surprise really, seeing as Marussia lost nearly £10m in finance after finishing behind Caterham in Brazil. Think they will be in for another embarrasing season ahead and Timo has decided that DTM is a much more attractive place to be racing.

Couldn't disagree with him in his position

appears Brawn is getting the boot from Mercedes seems an odd move tbh

Will happily take him back at Ferrari.

Fernando wrote:appears Brawn is getting the boot from Mercedes seems an odd move tbh

I know he hasn't been able to work his usual magic, but its still a bit of a shock. After all, there aren't many guys with a track record like his.

Looks like new exec Toto Wolff (just in from Williams) wants to replace him with McLaren's Paddy Lowe, of all people.

Kind of ironic, given that the Brawn team was only formed after the personal intervention of Martin Whitmarsh, with the Mercedes board.

Ross Brawn's role at Mercedes under threat

As a Hamilton fan, I'm not sure what to make of all this and all these personnel changes within Mercedes being made by Niki Lauda. I'm beginning to think that there's probably too many 'experienced, knowledgeable heads' within the team and that actually it's not helping. The phrase 'too many cooks in the kitchen' springs to mind.

I mean the team hired Brawn, Costa, Bell, Willis and failed. They then signed the Lotus designer last season and now they have got Toto Wolff and presumably next will be Paddy Lowe. A whole host of changes means that there's something dramatically wrong in my experience. I'm fearing that this season could be another write-off because altering the current staff and leaders off the team going into a new season just doesn't strike me as the right thing to do. Hopefully I'm wrong but I think that too much priority on 2014 is clouding all there decisions and judgments.

While the car regs for 2013 may not have changed much, Pirelli are changing the tyres again, with the aim of increasing grip, while decreasing lap times and wear.

They aim to make soft tyres up to 0.5 sec a lap quicker but increase degradation, so as to force more frequent stops.

Pirelli change tyres for more overtaking & pitstops in 2013

Also, hard compound tyres will be orange rather than the barely-visible silver.



In unrelated, but possibly more significant news, Ross Brawn has said (publicly, at least) that he plans to stay at Mercedes for the foreseeable future. He said he had spoken to Paddy Lowe and that both "knew the situation".

Ross Brawn plans to stay at Mercedes despite restructure plans

This has given rise to rumours of a power struggle within the team, with Brawn on one side and Lauda and Wolff on the other.

Thats going to be one heck of a power struggle

Bernie Ecclestone said in an interview with Austria's Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

Asked about the mid-season and so far unnamed 20th race set aside for a European venue, and also the uncertainty surrounding the venue for the German grand prix, the F1 chief executive admitted: "Frankly, I don't know.

"For the free date, there is interest from France and now also Portugal with the new Algarve track," he said.

"For the German grand prix, it's still open," he said, amid reports either the Nurburgring or Hockenheim could end up hosting the early July event.


Id love it if they went to portugal the track is awesome

The future of the German Grand Prix appears to be hanging in the balance after Bernie Ecclestone revealed on Monday that he had ended negotiations with the Nurburgring over the 2013 event.

The Nurburgring was supposed to host this year's event as part of an alternation plan agreed with Hockenheim, but financial problems at the venue meant there was no guarantee it could fund the race.

Following weeks of talks to try to agree terms, Ecclestone has now indicated that a deal does not look like happening.

Speaking to German publication Spiegel, Ecclestone said: "After due consideration of their proposal we believe it is regrettably not financially acceptable, so we have terminated our negotiations."

The German GP's fate may now rest on Ecclestone sorting out a deal with Hockenheim, which hosted last year's race.

Should that plan not come off, then the Formula 1 calendar could be reduced to just 18 races - with plans for a 20th event having not reached fruition.

Turkey, Austria and Portugal were all linked with that vacant slot - which has been pencilled in for July 21 – but there has been no indication of a venue getting the green light.

If Germany does not take place, then it means there will be just one race – the Hungarian GP on July 28 – between the British GP on June 30 and the Belgian GP on August 25.

That's pretty woeful scheduling if that's the case. I thought there was usually 2 in 2 weeks before the summer break?

A group of Canadian and American investors are pushing to try and secure HRT's entry slot in Formula 1, AUTOSPORT can reveal, but they may have to wait until 2014 before being allowed to join the grid.

Sources have revealed that negotiations to purchase the HRT company and secure an entry are at an advanced stage, and the plan for a team known as Scorpion Racing appears to have the blessing of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

However, AUTOSPORT understands that the FIA believes the 12th entry slot for 2013 was closed off when it was informed at the end of last season that HRT had been liquidated.

Although the governing body is aware of the plans for Scorpion Racing, it does not appear to have any intention of making a special case to allow another team in for 2013 because the entry deadline closed last November
The investors behind Scorpion Racing are hoping to complete due diligence of the buy-out plans in the next few days.

That means the viability of their plans should become clearer by the end of the week.

Scorpion is hoping to run its effort from a facility at Silverstone, using updated HRT F112 cars that will be powered by Cosworth engines and use a Williams gearbox.

AUTOSPORT has learned that discussions have taken place with Ecclestone about the idea, and he indicated to the outfit in a letter last weekend that if its takeover of the HRT assets was complete then it should get an entry to F1.

Ecclestone wrote to the Scorpion Racing investors saying: "Have you bought the HRT company? Because if you have, they [the FIA] would be accepting you."

It is not clear if there is any mechanism for Scorpion to secure a place on the grid if it can convince the FIA that it has the funding and technical capability to compete in 2013.

Would be happy with Scorpion Racing.

Though Mclaren have the dullest livery ever -_-

Always happy to see newcomers try to break into F1 but I hope they have considerably more resources than HRT. They'll need them if they're starting with upgraded 2012 HRTs and Cosworth engines.

Would have thought the November entry deadline is pretty final but would be happy to see them next season. Would actually make more sense for them to hang on, given the engine changes next season. They might as well concentrate on developing a car around the V6 turbo engine IMO.

Marussia on Wednesday finally confirmed reports Luiz Razia has completed the team's 2013 race driver lineup.

Grand Prix Option Prime
Australia Super-soft Medium
Malaysia Medium Hard
China Soft Medium
Bahrain Soft Hard

Glad they haven't changed the 'soft-medium' compounds for the Chinese GP.

Seriously can't wait for the new season now, fully expecting the Chinese Grand Prix to deliver excitement again like in previous years.

Sutil looks like his heading to FI after having a seat fitting and seemingly set to drive @ 2nd test

Was an obvious choice going for the more experienced driver over Bianchi. Incredibly important year ahead for Di Resta. Struggled to beat Sutil in 2011 and was in my opinion outshone by Hulkenberg last year, so it's really now or never for Paul in F1

Hope they manage to spur each other on. Nice to see FI are seemingly opting for experience, rather than the big bucks of pay drivers.

dyrewolfe wrote:Hope they manage to spur each other on. Nice to see FI are seemingly opting for experience, rather than the big bucks of pay drivers.

Especially after the rumours of Vijay Mallya's monetary problems, could of been an easy option to take a pay driver. Even if the issues arent effecting SFI, its a positive move to buy into the experience that Sutil will bring.

Looks like Georgie Thompson has left Sky F1. Apparently her air time (less than the Sky News she left) wasn't as expected and didn't warrant the travelling and wanted a bigger role - Simon Lazenby's. If thats true then personally I'd have given her it (Lazenbys role).

aw thats a pity I watched Sky when BBC wasn't on and she was awesome and not just becuase she's hot ok well because she is hot

I'm sure BBC are kicking themselves right now. Georgie had the knowledge and the required presenting ability to replace Jake Humphrey but they've gone for Suzi Perry instead. Shame she won't be on it this year but I can see why she has left with her appaling role and the fact that Lazenby is a shocking presenter.

Pinkham has been promoted I see.

true I guess had she been available back then BBC might have looked at here, I don't know if BBC will be the same this year Humphreys held that team together well I don't think Suzi will be able to be as good

So who's looking forward to be able to watch Practice live from 2pm tomorrow then

Should be good and expect some upgrades from many of the teams, I'm sure Kravitz will be all over it like a kid in a candy store.

There's already a saga going on about Lotus' engine settings I hear, apparently illegal. I wonder what will be the major story or fiasco this season?......there's always something happening on and off track to keep us interested and it's usually either Red Bull or Lewis Hamilton.

Apparently it's RB and Lotus that doing the engine settings it's not really a surprise most teams will try it over the season it's all about the coanda effect on the cars

It appears Sutil has won the race for the 2nd FI aswell according to SSN

They've gone for Sutil which means that there contract with Mercedes engines will probably be renewed, seeing as if they went with Bianchi, then they would of signed a Ferrari engine deal in 2014 (that was the whole rumour). Glad Sutil is back, quite an enjoyable and exciting driver to watch. One thing is for sure, Di Resta has had an absolute dream testing period compared to his new teammate and therefore I would full expect him to outperform Sutil in the early stages. If Sutil can recreate his speed though from 2011 though and beat Di Resta again then I think it could be 'bye-bye' Paul Di Resta from F1 from 2014.

Personally with the drivers on the marker without a drive for this season im surprised that Di Resta still has a seat on the grid.

Can't wait for the new season now, even Button is reacting to some comments made about the new McLaren being possibly off-pace and unpredicitable. Love it all this.

Button said, '"Utter rubbish. We all have timing screens and we all look at the times and we all look at what people are running in terms of tyres and we all try to guess what fuel they're on. I think it's sort of been the standard thing each winter, we all say we're concentrating on ourselves''.

"When we're doing set-up work, yes, we concentrate on ourselves, but when you're not doing that, you look at the timing screens. Because it is the way it is. At the moment you'd say the Mercedes looks very quick, the Red Bull difficult to read, the Ferrari looks very quick, the Lotus looks very quick. I think I understand their pace more than our pace at the moment! It's been an interesting couple of tests and as always third test we'll have more of a read."

Nice to see a bit of honesty for a change, instead of all the carefully prepared "give nothing away" soundbites.

Lotus are saying their "illegal" engine maps gave virtually no advantage when they tested them. Apparently Kimi didn't like them at all when he tried them.

Also read that both Williams and Caterham will be looking to run modified rear bodywork tomorrow, presumably to avoid any further controversy over that particular issue.


As far as Georgie Thompson's concerned, I couldn't see the point of her being on the show as, during the races at least, all she did was stand opposite Anthony Davidson and ask a few questions, while he highlighted and replayed various things. Not surprised she was unhappy with her role. Maybe she's better suited to being a news anchor?

McLaren's managing director Jonathan Neale has this week sent out a more upbeat message, insisting the drivers have reported that the "handling is good".

"I don't think we've seen anybody yet do a laptime that we felt we couldn't have done if we'd changed the fuel load," he told British reporters.

"A bit like the beginning of last season," added Neale, "nobody stands out as being head and shoulders above everybody else at the moment and nobody appears to be hanging off the back either."

Was some gossip that Heikki Kovalainen has had a seat at Marussia after Razia's sponsor has failed to provide money > came from Ted on his notebook bit

Shocking if true for Heikki. He got upset, annoyed at the lack of progress at Caterham and even though Marussia appear to have made steps forward, I can't see this being the location a driver of Heikki's ability wants to be at. Also he admitted he didn't want to bring money to Caterham, so why would he go to Marussia and be a pay driver?

A drive in F1 is all you can ask for nowadays, It appears Petrov/Bianchi/Kartikeyan are also in the list at Marussia

Would be a shame to see Heikki in a crap car for another year personally id have used him or Kobayashi to replace either Di Resta/Grosjean

It appears Ted was wrong about Kovalainen, Jules Bianchi has got the seat for the season

Thought as much, just did not makes sense on Heikki's part to join Marussia and bring money to the table. Interesting move though from Jules and shows his determination to get into F1 and get a seat. I think Bianchi will soon make it clear that he's the no.1 in that team and will want to prove to everyone why he's got such support from Ferrari.

That's one place Eddie Jordan comes into his own he finds these things out and quick. Mostly because he just ploughs on in and asks what everyone else hints at laugh out loud

He's got lists of agents and other contacts longer than most when it comes to F1, so it's not surprising that he knows more than everyone else.

I love how Button keeps talking about Hamilton & the progess of Mercedes and claiming there in a strong position. He really can't stop talking about them, sensing that he's nervous about how good this Mercedes team can become this year and in the future. He said Lewis was making a big mistake, well from where I'm sitting that does not seem to the case. If the stories are true amongst the paddock then McLaren are having an issue with their car and I really can't see Perez challenging at all, he's been finding it difficult so I'm expecting a slow start from him.

I can't wait for Hamilton & Button to race each other this season, I will particularly enjoy the first Hamilton overtake on JB. God I'm getting excitied. I still fully expect Vettel to probably stroll to the title but the other battles should be mouthwatering. Two weeks

Fernando wrote:A drive in F1 is all you can ask for nowadays, It appears Petrov/Bianchi/Kartikeyan are also in the list at Marussia

Would be a shame to see Heikki in a crap car for another year personally id have used him or Kobayashi to replace either Di Resta/Grosjean

Nobody should replace Di Resta. He is the man

Olly wrote:Nobody should replace Di Resta. He is the man

Not sure how much you know about F1 but that statement isn't backed up at all by the stats. It's a pivotal year for Paul this year and if he fouls up then I can't see his future being in F1. Sutil's been out the game for a year and had considerably less time in the car than Di Resta during testing, therefore there's no excuses whatsover.

John wrote:

Olly wrote:Nobody should replace Di Resta. He is the man

Not sure how much you know about F1 but that statement isn't backed up at all by the stats. It's a pivotal year for Paul this year and if he fouls up then I can't see his future being in F1. Sutil's been out the game for a year and had considerably less time in the car than Di Resta during testing, therefore there's no excuses whatsover.

I don't do stats. I do the eye test. He is the man. My man Paul is going all the way!

Its set up nicely for the Hamilton fanboys. He beats Button hes doing in an inferior car, he loses and Button has superior machinery.

It will be interesting to see what happens. As a Hamilton fan, it would be nice to see Hamilton beat Button but I'm not expecting much from the Mercedes from the start and I'm sure McLaren will be faster in Australia once the final aero packages are put on the cars. Hamilton is right in keeping expectations low for his team and himself, of course, if he does well then it enhances his reputation straight away.

I just find it fascinating why Button continues to talk about Hamilton and Mercedes, it's like he's genuinely worried that Hamilton could leave McLaren for a supposedly weaker team and actually beat Button.