Genii Capital double down on F1 presence

It appears that Genii Capital (Lotus Renault Grand Prix team owners) are moving to demonstrate that they are real serious about F1. Reports in the media are that Genii Capital are set to acquire a majority stake in Group Lotus whom currently have a sponsorship arrangement with the team. Genii's position and participation in F1 was discussed in August (HERE) if they would sell a stake in the F1 to Group Lotus. This was seen as not entirely plausible given Group Lotus's financial position. However, it has turned out that Genii are the ones buying in.

There is no doubt in my mind the joint venture of World Wide Investments Group (WWI) and Genii managing $10 billion USD in investments allows for more strategic thinking as it relates to the automotive sector; an area that has been identified as a target area in this joint venture. Genii's money definitely gives the spend happy CEO of Group Lotus, Dany Bahar the ability to continue the branding exercise he has engaged across multiple motorsport categories across the globe.

 With Team Lotus looking to have the team re-branded as Caterham, it stand to reason that Bahar is going to be very happy as he will be able to properly link the Team Lotus name with the Group Lotus motorsport and manufacturing activities. I am also sure that  Team Lotus owner, Tony Fernandes will be happy as he gets to cash in on selling the Team Lotus name to Group Lotus after beating them in court for the right to use the name. Fernandes can focus on promoting the recently acquired Caterham brand and build off of his other companies. Moreover, the proposed deal will most likely get Proton out from under Group Lotus which makes things work more harmoniously if you are talking about the whole concept of 1Malaysia. All the way around, this arrangement is definitely is more synergistic. If the deal comes off as it is expected to it will be curious to see how the final details shake out.

Nevertheless, one of the sticking points on the F1 side of things is this issue of re-branding Team Lotus as Caterham and LRGP as Team Lotus. For the name changes to be approved, 18 of the 26 members of the F1 Commission must support the move. The commission consists of the teams, Ecclestone, Jean Todt, representatives for sponsors, engine manufacturers and circuits. Nothing is easy in F1 particularly if it is something political. So, Ferrari, Sauber and HRT want to have a formal meeting on the subject. However, this is an example where I think it is just a matter of wanting to deal with future attempted name changes as everyone in the sport is ready to put the Team Lotus vs. Group Lotus name dispute in the past.

What to watch at the Japanese Grand Prix

This weekend brings us to one of my favorite races on the calendar, the Japanese Grand Prix at the fabled Suzuka Circuit, and it is all but certain that Sebastian Vettel secures his second world title in as many years at this race. All Vettel needs is a single point and the title is his; he can roll out of bed with a hangover from the pre-party he should be having for winning the title and get that needed point. So what else is there to look at for this race? There are a couple points of interest for me. One is the scrum between Button, Alonso and Webber and the other are the performances of Sauber, Renault and Mercedes.

The battle for the best of the rest is ultra close; Button, Alonso and Webber are separated by only three points with five races remaining. What are their motivations? Button will definitely have an emotional high of having been contractually secured for the near future by McLaren, Alonso has publicly indicated several times that second place in the championship is worth fighting for, and Webber is intent on winning a grand prix after watching his teammate in similar equipment blitz the field this season. Add to that, being at a circuit that many drivers consider to be their favorite and one of the more challenging should make it doubly fun for them and viewing public. 

In terms of Sauber, Renault and Mercedes, they are at different levels of the championship table so the interest lies in several other details. Both Sauber and Renault have admitted that they have made mistakes revolving around exhausts that have entombed them for the rest of season: Sauber expected the FIA to change the rules around exhausts and blown diffusers, which ultimately did not happen and Renault in the radical design choice of forward exiting exhausts (FEE). I want to see how these teams perform knowing that there is not much they can do to develop the cars while they are still engaged in a constructors fight with each other and Force India. Also, I want to see how Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna perform. Kobayashi is at his home race so I will be interested in seeing how he bounces back after stumbling the last few races. Senna has admitted he feels that he is not fully up to speed after replacing Nick Heidfeld. So, it will be interesting to see how he goes at a real tough track while Renault continue their evaluation of him.  

In regards to Mercedes, they had issues with their exhausts and cooling but I am interested in the emotional level of the team. Do they receive an emotional boost from the very recent acquisitions of Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis as the drivers profess? Moreover, given that Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug have stated Suzuka should be more suited to the Mercedes package and that they are looking for similar performance to that of Spa and Monza, I will be interested in seeing if the drivers can deliver on that. Their performance at Spa and Monza was pretty good: two 5th place finishes for Schumacher, a 6th and retirement for Rosberg. Do they steal a podium? 

So, whether you are watching the front, the midfield or tail-enders, enjoy qualy and the race.

 

McLaren lock up Jenson Button

McLaren have made the long awaited smart choice in re-signing 2009 World Champion Jenson Button to a multi-year contract. Button has certainly earned his spot in the McLaren team after initially making a curious move to the squad in 2010. Many saw the move as a reputation destroyer because he was moving in on Lewis Hamilton's turf. Well safe to say now, Button made complete liars out of those people. 

Button was nominally beaten by Hamilton in 2010, but in 2011 he sits second in the title fight behind runaway leader Vettel. Button has shown his true value with the three C's: He has been calm, cool, and consistent. With a smooth, Sade-like style, he has maximized his tires and his results while his teammate Lewis Hamilton has struggled mightily this year in the three C's area and failing to capitalize on his speed. What is most notable is that Button has been able to complete many overtakes this season without trouble, where as Hamilton has had some high profile struggles in this area.   

According to McLaren, they view Button as crucial to their future development. For me, most of it is the niceties of complementing a driver that you just signed however certainly there is something to be said about Technical Director, Paddy Lowe's view on Formula1.com, “having a good driver with good feedback is still essential in Formula One. Even though these days we have far more tools to work with offline - more simulation, etc. - we’re still very reliant on the driver’s feedback."

"Having Jenson on board for the years to come is a great step for us as it gives us a very solid base in terms of a driver that we can rely on for feedback through that phases that you described. And Jenson was obviously very experienced for many years before he came to McLaren, so that all contributes.”
Read into that what you will about his opinion on Hamilton's ability in this area, but given the rules package and what Pirelli is being asked to do in terms of tire degradation, you can not have much better than Jenson. He might not be the fastest, he might not be the most talented or naturally gifted, but he will certainly get the most out of the car while bringing it home in one piece.

 

The Risk of Innovation

Tyrrell 019, photo by Sibo

F1 has a lot of nuance to it whether you are talking strategies, driving styles, off track politics, or technical development; and that technical development is mind blowing ; it is an arms race for gaining time. More and more the technical side of F1 has been about aerodynamics. Teams spend vast sums of money to improve car performance in this area. Even items that are not logically geared towards the aerodynamic performance, are in fact geared towards the aerodynamic performance of the car.

Since work on other components like engine development have virtually been eliminated, aerodynamic performance is the be all-end all of F1 performance. Hence, a very large factor in Red Bull's current dominance has been their iconoclast designer and renown  aerodynamist, Adrian Newey.  With engine development frozen, DRS and KERS still in their infancy, spec tires, you have to have top notch aero. This chase has lead to some teams to some interesting concepts, some successful, others not so successful. However, it is the price of looking to be innovative and chase those ever elusive tenths of seconds. We have seen these innovations take root, or be banned from competition or just flop.

Innovation can pay off or it can cost you. When we think of the most recent noteworthy technical innovation, the exhaust blown diffuser, it is not widely talked about that this innovation was pioneered in 1983 by Renault and Jean Claude Migeot. It became the standard in F1, then fell out of favor completely a decade ago with the advent and development of periscope exhausts, before being revived by Adrian Newey in an effort to maximize the downforce generated under the car; the place where most downforce is generated. A huge payoff for Red Bull.  

Then there is the story of Tyrrell (the genesis of the current Mercedes team), a championship winning team with a history of innovation. Tyrrell is probably most remembered for their 6-wheeled F1 car, the P34. However, they had several innovations that have carried over to contemporary F1. Generally speaking, they were all aimed at aerodynamic performance because they were lacking in the areas where the bigger teams dominated: engines and horsepower.

Tyrrell 025, photo by Rainer Nyberg

Before the days of engine freezes and standard engine designs you could overcome some aerodynamic deficiencies via horsepower, and you could be rather competitive this way. However if you did not have a good engine, you had to look towards other avenues to increase your performance...i.e. aerodynamics. In 1990, Tyrell and legendary Harvey Postlethwaite (whom Newey worked for) and Jean Claude Migeot introduce the world of F1 to raised noses, a concept that has been the standard design to varying degrees since 1996. Some of the other innovations from Tyrrell: aerodynamically shaped wishbones (again the concept is standard) in 1996. the notoriously ugly yet effective X wings in 1997 (banned by the FIA in 1998). The payoff was for other teams following the innovations. The Tyrrell name disappeared from F1 after they were purchased by British American Tobacco.

Williams FW26, photo by BMW AG

In 2004, Williams introduced a walrus-nose shaped F1 car, the FW26. This was a different and radical take on the raise nosed concept. The car was an acquired taste visually, but the aim was the same: achieve more airflow to the underside of the car to gain that aerodynamic advantage. However, Williams had what teams like Tyrell did not have, one of the best engines of the V10 era, the P84. Williams and driver Juan Pablo Montoya were favorites for the title. However, the design turned out to be a flop. The concept proved to be more heavy then anticipated, which led to instability and to car setup issues. They went with a more conventional design later in the 2004 which culminated in the team's sole victory at the end of the season. Williams took a risk with a innovative design after nearing winning the driver's championship with Montoya in 2003 and they failed. Williams have never been the same since. 

In late 2005, Renault introduced the Tuned Mass Damper (TMD), a movable weight in the car that helped the car perform better over bumps and keep a consistent contact with the track, improving grip and aerodynamic performance. The development of this technology helped them secure the 2005 title as well as being an important component to their 2006 championship winning car the R26.  This technology was banned in controversial fashion in 2006. However it's performance was subsequently replicated by the J damper, a standard arrangement in F1 introduced by McLaren.  

In 2010, McLaren introduced the "F-Duct" on their MP4-25. The design used a small snorkel mounted in front of the driver that channeled air through a duct in the cockpit and towards the rear wing. Changes in the pressure in the duct reduced the aerodynamic drag of the wing allowing for an extra 6 mph on a straight away, a poor man's but very ingenious DRS.  Although a legal component, it was banned for 2011. McLaren had a very competitive package but could not capitalize to a win the title. 

Now to go full circle with exhaust blown diffusers. In 2011, Renault introduced a radical front exit exhaust (FFE) on their R31. Instead of a "traditional" periscope or exiting into the diffuser, the exhaust exited below the sidepod inlets. The aim was to blow exhaust gases under the floor and around the sidepods.Where Red Bull got it right, Renault admits they go it wrong. They admit they could not really develop it as the season progressed and it was too complicated for them to consistently generate downforce at all the tracks. Renault even experimented with going to a more traditional layout (like Williams in 2004) but they could not make that work either. After a very promising 2010 season, they put a lot of effort in 2011 and came up snake eyes from a design point of view. 

Nevertheless all of this gets us to the point. Sometimes you get it right and it changes the way the sport operates and moves it forward. Sometimes you innovations get banned because it is too clever or just plain illegal. Sometimes you just get it wrong and you have a terrible and useless design. However, in it's purist form, isn't that what innovation is all about; taking risks, trying to be quicker, advance the technology? I much rather see teams try something innovative and bump up against the rules or truly make an technological advancement than the push towards standardization.   

Did Red Bull cheat?

There is growing pressure coming down on the soon to be double world constructor champions, Red Bull Racing. The issue, a recent audit by a company called Capgemini found "discrepancies" in relation to Red Bull's 2010 budget as it related to the Resources Restriction Agreement (RRA). What is the RRA? It restricts the Formula One teams in terms of staffing levels, the aerodynamic development allowed in-house, the amount of time allowed for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) work and the amount of money for sub-contractors; all aimed at reducing cost in F1. There are a number of stories dedicated to the issue (Here) and (Here).

F1 had been talking about capping budgets for several years and in 2009 under the Mosley administration the RRA came into force for implementation from 2010-2012 (restructured to run until 2017); and as soon as it did teams were looking to close loopholes, renegotiating what is covered and understand what the penalties would be if the agreement was broken. So, did they cheat? Did they break the agreement? No. It boils down to these basic elements. The same auditors that found discrepancies certified the budget of Red Bull and the 2010 budget was submitted to FOTA, something done on a monthly basis until the close of the fiscal year for the teams (according to Stefano Domenicali is the end of February 2011 for FY2010). That is it.

However, there is something more. Just as everything in F1, you push the limits. The boundaries are defined and you push where there are gray areas. When those gray areas are exposed, you clarify the boundaries. Then you push a little further into more gray areas. That is the way it works whether you are talking about double-decker diffusers, F-ducts, flexi-wings/body parts or resource agreements. F1 is quite rare these days in that the teams make the rules in concert with the FIA. So, if a team crafts a rule or agreement with the other teams and it benefits that team, so be it. Teams knew about the gray area the double diffusers posed before the 2009 season, yet some went forward with the design, others did not. This is different only in the fact that one battle is on the car design side, this one is a battle of team management. 

Moreover, this is not a new story.  Mosley in December 2010 remarked to Auto Motor Und Sport, "Red Bull asked for an [overspending] exception. If that's true, that can only mean they spent more than they were allowed, and now they're asking for the [other] teams' approval. I am interested to know how their opponents are going to react."  Some would say, where there is smoke there is fire. In this instance, it is where there is smoke there is smoke. I do not expect to have a "Crash-gate" type revelation or a Worldcom accounting scandal after almost a full season and a certified Red Bull budget. Again, these teams are dealing with a gray and ever evolving agreement. For example, something not yet completely understood and covered is how to handle the use of outside suppliers and spending on future KERS/power train development; especially as KERS and other future, more efficient powertrains come on-line. This will be the new battleground for F1 supremacy that will yield future race team customers to who can get it right.

All the teams are looking for that extra advantage that comes with being able to draw up the rules. So, keep fighting ladies and gentlemen.

Link:
Will a Budget Cap work?

Will Genii Capital sell the Renault F1 team?

It has been a star crossed year at Lotus Renault Grand Prix. High hopes were basically dashed when Robert Kubica was injured in a near fatal accident, their innovative forward facing exhaust apparently has not yielded the performance they hoped for, speculation about the team's financial problems and their cars catching fire like kindling. Now the battle with their current or limbo-driver Nick Heidfeld, who was demoted for Bruno Senna, is taking the team to court to keep his seat. The team is in a bit of turmoil but say they have been buoyed by the performance of the newly installed Senna for Belgian and Italian Grand Prix. Well, at least while legal issues around Heidfeld's demotion are sorted.

Even with this statement of boosted morale in the team, do Genii Capital sell a stake in the Renault team or do they sell it outright? Currently, Genii is the 100% owners in the F1 team and plan to be for "the foreseeable future" in their words. Which to me is "until the right deal comes along". The obvious question is who would be the buyers in a still recovering global economy? The obvious answer would be Group Lotus, who currently have a sponsorship arrangement with the Genii-owned Renault team and an option to purchase a stake in the team by 2012. However, there are questions about Group Lotus's spending habits in terms of new product lines, plastering their name in just about every race series, even though they report they are meeting financial targets. Group Lotus is not in the best financial shape so you must question how much borrowing is going on to finance such activities. Also, will their owners, Malaysian auto-maker Proton, fork over more money for them to have any stake worthwhile. Moreover, a maybe not so major aspect is Proton have to navigate the 1Malaysia program. A participant in that program is Tony Fernandes' Team Lotus F1 program. To what extent do they ignore Fernandes to support Group Lotus in direct F1 competition? The whole Group Lotus vs. Team Lotus naming issue is a completely another story.  I think Group Lotus to spread too thin to make and real investment into LRGP.

Does Renault buy back into the team? They just sold the remaining 25% share in the team to Genii last year and the current arrangement of Renault only providing engines and technical support while reaping the benefits of their name still on the car without incurring the huge costs of running the team is rather advantageous for Renault. It also frees them to focus more in-depth on the technical partnership with other teams, like Red Bull, Team Lotus, and soon Williams in addition to LRGP. So no.I think they are gone for good as full fledged team owners.

Does Brazilian money enter the equation to buy a stake in the team? World Wide Investments Group (WWI) may have some money to play with it. Earlier this month, Genii announced a joint venture with WWI in which the two companies will manage an investment portfolio totaling $10 billion USD. The joint venture's focus: private equity investments in energy, renewables, real estate, information technology, telecommunications, oil, gas and the automotive sector; most of which WWI already engages in.

Why would WWI bother? F1 is a global championship with huge opportunities for branding, investment, cross collaborations in a number of industries: communications, defense, info tech, manufacturing, green technology. Sounds like some synergies right off the top. Also, it creates more competition with Apex-Brasil, an trade and investment agency that views motorsport favorably and currently works with Indycar through 2012.

Moreover, a F1 tie up with Genii will also allow WWI to have an opportunity to create a connection with one of the most famous names in motorsports and one that holds saintly status in Brazil, Senna. With Bruno Senna now in the race seat for LRGP for the time being and potentially for the future with a promising performance in his first grand prix in about a year it makes sense. However, the complication is of course Robert Kubica. There is some mystery as to whether he will be fit enough to ever come back. If he doesn't, then a Vitaly Petrov/Bruno Senna line up works. If he is able to return do they ditch Petrov's sponsorship portfolio or keep themselves out of the F1 ownership business if Senna has no seats? Maybe, as there is still plenty of investment opportunity without a near term Brazilian driver. 

If anything is to happen, you won't hear about it until there is some certainty around Robert Kubica's ability to return to F1. Regardless, I think there is going to be some interesting business deals coming down before 2012 season.

Can we expect 3 car teams in the future?

There are a lot of things to talk about in F1. Sometimes the same topic keeps cropping up from time to time usually because there is someone pushing the agenda whether it is a team, the FIA or FOM (Bernie). Something that has received off and on talk for several years is whether if teams should be allowed to race with three cars. Although the issue is quiet right now, we know that things are always in play. I think the main question is, with the sport in cost control mode, will there be a point in which budgets come to a level where having three cars is not cost prohibitive? I think that we are not to far from it.

Teams running third cars during grand prix weekends is not really new. From 2004 to 2006 teams were allowed to use a third car during the grand prix weekend as long they did not finish in the top four of the previous year's constructor's championship. Although they were not allowed to race it had advantages. Teams were able to evaluate younger talent during the pressure of a grand prix weekend, acquire additional data for race preparation and free test experimental parts. Then as easily as it came into effect, it went away for the 2007 season.

Almost five full season later, the talk is still around about third cars. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is on record that he will continue to push for the top teams be allowed to run three cars. He is also a strong advocate of a return to in season testing; something FIA president, Jean Todt is very much on the same page on. I guess we will see if di Montezemolo keeps the lobbying pressure on.

I will certainly like to see teams have the option to run a third car. In addition to the potential return of in-season testing, having a third car allows for more young driver development, more practical testing opportunities and of course more data for GP's. Also, it is benefit to Pirelli as it will allow them to collect more data. However, that might not be as big a need in the next couple of years. Moreover, the afore mentioned Ferrari seems to be willing to run a third car, McLaren is more than likely to be in a position to run third car, Red Bull Racing own and run four cars (RBR and Toro Rosso). Bigger grids certainly add another dimension and increasing the number of good cars ups the level of competition.

One may ask how does this effect the championship? If third cars return, teams do not have to race a third car every race; they can essentially be wild card entries eligible for driver points only. F1 can utilize a system that was previously used in the World Rally Championship in which teams can nominate two cars for constructor points if they have a third car entered.

One of the cases against three car teams would be that it would push smaller teams out. I do not agree with this as there would be no reason to force teams to run a third car if they were not able to. Their constructor position in the championship is not effected as three car teams would only be able to nominate two cars for constructor points. A smaller team may get into an arms race with another small team, but that is competition. Another point to consider is that there still would be how to deal with potential cost issues. How do teams go about securing extra engines and tires and is there enough space in the garage area? Do tracks need some modifications?

Keep an eye on Jean Todt. As he pushes through some of FIA environmental initiatives and the global economy recovers, we will see third cars make a comeback to the front burner of F1 discussion, and I think its eventual reinstatement.

Toyota recalls and F1 plans

I know they are out of F1 now but I want to raise a point in regards to the following news. Toyota told its U.S. dealers Tuesday to immediately quit selling the new and used cars and trucks that it recalled on Jan. 21 because their throttles could stick open. Moreover, it will quit building 2010 versions of the models effected until it finds a solution for the throttle problem.

It has suspended U.S. sales of eight models. These models are: 2005-10 Avalaon, 2007-10 Camry, 2009-10 Corolla, 2010 Highlander, 2009-10 Matrix, 2009-10 RAV4, 2008-10 Sequoia and 2007-10 Tundra. Toyota has had 2 recalls related to throttle issues affecting over 6 million cars. This problem may also impact 2 million more European model Toyotas.

It makes you wonder how long they knew of the problem or whether the scope of the issue was not realized until much later. Toyota had made strong commitments to F1 going forward before their eventual pull out in November. As late as early September there was strong support for the program. Perhaps these events give us a little more insight to why Toyota chose not to engage in a series where expenses are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. When they announced their pull out they cited "current severe economic realities". Wonder if that meant that in an economic recession could they afford F1 and a large scale vehicle recall? At the time Toyota was verbally re-pledging its commitment in F1, it was looking to slash the F1 budget by at 40%. Their first recall was in late September dealing with floor mats supposedly hitting the throttle. Again, something to consider.

Coincidentally, Toyota offers a virtual good bye this week to F1 via its website.

http://ms.toyota.co.jp/en/

USF1 launches in Alabama, rookie drivers likely

USF1 will make its debut at Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama. Sporting Director Peter Windsor told the official F1 website that the FIA has granted special dispensation to allow winter testing for USF1 away from the normal European group sessions, which is surely to be a bonus for the start up team as they will be close to their base and their suppliers to take care of any early and immediate teething problems. They will have 3 tests at Barber. The date is not yet pinned down but Windsor says the maiden test will be in early February.

In regards to who will pilot these new machines, Jose Maria Lopez, longed linked to one of the seats, looks very solid. Also, recent reports link former Honda tester James Rossiter to the other. In any event, Windsor has hinted at 2 young drivers for the seats (Lopez are Rossiter are young I guess) rationalizing that in this new era of cost reduction and resource restriction, having fresh young guys not tainted by the baggage of experience is a good thing.

Nevertheless, as I suspected last month in my opinion they are looking for seat warmers as they get their operation off the ground and economic conditions improve. I guess we will see what the actual choices are soon enough.

http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/usf1-driver-selection.html

Who will drive at Renault with Kubica?

With the confirmation that Eric Boullier will be Renault's new team principal, who can we expect to be the 2nd driver and test driver? Boullier has strong ties with Renault's new co-owner Gerard Lopez, having headed Lopez's Gravity Sport Management company since the end of last year. Boullier has publicly announced that the team wants a 2nd driver to be able to challenge Robert Kubica and score regularly throughout 2010 and that drivers that are a part of Gravity Sport will not get special consideration. Well, that is yet to be seen.

Even with this proclamation, I think we can expect at least one of the Gravity drivers in a test driver role. Otherwise, what is the point of being affiliated with a management company that now is part owner of a F1 team. My guess is that it will be Jerome D'Ambrosio given that he was a part of Renault Driver Development program and has a French racing pedigree. Moreover, since the driver market for experience veterans is opened up and they are looking for someone to challenge Kubica, a young driver as tester and someone who knows the F1 ropes as a racer makes sense. So, who does that leave for Renault to choose as their racing driver?

Provided that Nick Heidfeld does indeed get dropped by Sauber, which seems all but confirmed, he might be a good pairing. He is experienced, has worked with Kubica before and did outscore him in 2009.

Fisichella and De la Rosa have both been linked to Sauber, but whether they have the speed to challenge Kubica is a mystery. Not to mention that a Ferrari loan to Renault does not seem likely and that de la Rosa for all his abilities, I am not sure that Renault is looking for increased aid on the car development side.

Christian Klien is always an option unless Sauber is keen to keep him if they go with Fisichella or de la Rosa as short term fixes and Klien can further hone his skills under someone like de la Rosa.

However, for me an interesting possibility now that there is different management at Renault is Sebastien Bourdais. Flavio Briatore and Bourdais did not have the best of relationships and now that factor is removed from the equation. Bourdais's racing credentials are good, has speed, has F1 experience, has not been far removed from F1 and is French. Not to mention, he did not get a fair opportunity with Toro Rosso. Bourdais is not a name being mentioned at the moment, but I think this would be a tailor-made situation for him.

So for me, my driver line up for Renault would be Kubica, Bourdias and D'Ambrosio.

Windsor plays the nationality card

USF1 Sporting Director, Peter Windsor seems to be playing up the 'nationalism card' in talking about the team. In his comments there is a lot of juxtaposing of America vs. Europe. Comparisons include: America being more industrious; not understanding the logic of European summer shutdowns; North Carolina winters vs. European ones; advantage of an American work schedule not hampered by F1 demands of the European schedule. With a team name like USF1, I guess that should be expected and Windsor does not shy away from making such comparisons; but moreover he may have some points that are in his favor as it relates directly to the sport.

In Windor's words, "we decided to base our F1 team in Charlotte because it is the epicenter of racing in the United States. This coupled with the fact that most of the technology currently in F1 is a product of the American aerospace industry makes Charlotte the perfect choice." Some examples of USF1's proximity to hi-tech racing suppliers are Crawford Composites, Raceworks, Corvid, McLaren Electronics and Windshear Windtunnel.

So saying the team has access to just as good technical resources as any team based in Europe and don't have to be bothered half the day with the F1 demands of a European based time schedule does at the very least put USF1 on equal footing. In addition, in the era of the Internet and computing, disadvantages of communication and not being up to date with what's going on is no longer a concern that might have existed 15 to 20 years ago.

With American designers and engineers and also engineers from Brawn, Renault and Red Bull on the team they certainly have on paper the talent to get some things done from this side of the pond with a distinct American favor, style and heritage. However, lets not forget they do have an European base at MotorLand Argon in Spain, a country that is the testing hub for Formula One.

De la Rosa to be Sauber racer in 2010

By Motorsport.com/GMM

Pedro de la Rosa is expected to be Kamui Kobayashi's teammate at Sauber in 2010, according to Blick. The Swiss daily newspaper, with close ties to the Peter Sauber-led team, said the news is likely to be confirmed soon barring "an earthquake in Hinwil".

Spaniard de la Rosa, to turn 39 next month, last raced full-time in 2002 with Jaguar. He already lives in Zurich, which is only a short drive from Sauber's team base. He has since been McLaren's main test and reserve driver, and the El Mundo newspaper said recently the British team had given him until the last day of 2009 to decide his F1 role for 2010.

The Swiss weekly NZZ am Sonntag on Sunday quoted Peter Sauber as admitting only that "an experienced man" with "new knowledge for the team" has been signed to partner Kobayashi in 2010. He also all but confirmed that Nick Heidfeld is not the driver in question.

However, as mentioned last week amongst false reports based on a Twitter feed, Pedro de la Rosa was still in the running despite the reporting and that if de la Rosa's name was being mentioned, Heidfeld's chance to remain with Sauber were very slim. It appears Heidfeld will be looking for a job.

http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/sauber-to-announce-second-driver-next.html
http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/no-nick-heidfeld-at-sauber.html

More CFD: New Force India partnership

A few weeks ago Computational Research Laboratories, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, and Force India announced a three-year multi-million dollar partnership deal to offer a fully automated Computational Fluid Dynamics assistance to the design of Force India's future race cars as well improve aerodynamic efficiency in the current racing models.

As a result of this deal, Force India will now have access to 'EKA', India’s fastest supercomputer and one of the most versatile supercomputers in the world. 'EKA' was ranked the 4th fastest in the world in November 2007, marking India’s presence in the Top500 list of supercomputers. However, as of June 2009 it is the 18th fastest, but 2nd fastest in Asia.

Nevertheless, this will be the first time a Formula 1 team will utilize an Indian high performance computing organization for their design activities. Given that Force India is also Indian owned, it makes sense to leverage Indian hi tech companies; giving more exposure to these companies and increasing the profile of F1. India is due to host a Formula One Grand Prix in 2011.

January 1st marks new beginnings all around

As the new year is now upon us, it means drivers that were contractually obligated to their previous teams, sponsors, etc. are now totally free to operate in the open with their new teams. Most notable examples, freshly minted 2009 World Champion Jenson Button and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso can appear in their new team's swag and conduct official business without restrictions.

McLaren wasted no time in given us an official New Year's message from Button:

http://www.mclaren.com/interactive/video/movie.php?show=75

Alonso has reportedly been working rather hard behind the scenes developing the relationships and making several visits to the factory while sampling some Ferrari road cars. However, we have yet to see Fernando officially in Ferrari Red.

Moreover, car launches are due to begin this month. After a failed attempt for all teams to launch their car jointly, teams are looking at a late January time frame in unveiling their 2010 challengers. A far cry from the days where teams launched early and tested like mad in preparation for a new season. However, it still is just one more step that brings us closer to the start of the season.

Wirth wants to showcase CFD technology

By Mark Glendenning and Pablo Elizalde, Autosport.com

Virgin Racing technical boss Nick Wirth is aiming to showcase the CFD technology outside of Formula 1 by building a successful grand prix car with it. Wirth is designing Virgin's maiden F1 car using CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics - instead of the traditional wind tunnel method used by all Formula 1 teams. He had already used the method in Acura's the American Le Mans Series car.

Now Wirth is hoping to prove CFD can be used outside of racing to improve what he labelled as 'the real world'. "The miracle of the Acura programme has been the technology behind it - the simulator and the CFD," said Wirth.

"What we're actively looking to do right now - I've got an 11-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter, we'd really like to stop the ice caps slipping off Greenland and flooding everybody - we'd like to see applications of this technology help the real world. We didn't live in the real world, Formula 1 is not the real world. We're really determined to showcase this technology on a global stage and then use it in much more useful ways for mankind."

Wirth also highlighted the importance of CFD when reducing the costs of running a Formula 1 team. "It's absolutely critical," he added. "We did it because it's cheaper and faster. If there was unlimited money, I'd just employ loads of people. The point is that you can get more accurate aerodynamic answers for a given amount of money using this technology than any other thing. You can try more endplates, more rear wings and other things then the same money gets you in wind tunnel testing or full-scale testing."

He added: "We've done it - we've built race and championship winning cars since then, so we're very happy. We've also been doing open-wheel work in Formula 3 and IndyCar racing at the same time as the Acuras. We'll be using the same technology, so this isn't new to us."

"Can things go wrong? Absolutely, that's life. Brawn brought out the new front wing development for Jenson Button to run at Suzuka this year and it was a disaster, it didn't work and it screwed his race up. They have a load of aerodynamic technology which says that front wing is good, they put it on the guy trying to win the world championship at a critical race, and it didn't work. What must they be thinking about what they understand about aerodynamics? Everybody has problems and issues."


Check out the blog entry earlier this month on Wirth's Development in the Digital Domain philosophy:

http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/virgin-racings-nick-wirth-development.html

Sauber to announce second driver next week (revised)

By Motorsport.com/GMM

Sauber will announce its second driver for the 2010 season next week. Peter Sauber, the formerly BMW-owned team's boss and founder, wrote on his Twitter page: "Second driver to be announced next week. The team is ready to work. Happy New Year." Japan's Kamui Kobayashi, a refugee of Toyota's former F1 programme, was announced as the Hinwil based team's first race driver for 2010 two weeks ago.

Team incumbent Nick Heidfeld, who was part of Sauber's outfit in collaboration with BMW since 2006, had hoped to secure the second seat at Mercedes GP. Also believed a frontrunner for the second Sauber cockpit is Pedro de la Rosa, and the Belgian Bertrand Baguette is tipped for the reserve role.

If Pedro de la Rosa is in the running he might be bringing some cash that Heidfeld or Klien can not match. However, is it not like de la Rosa is lacking in speed and skills. While at McLaren he did well in a substitute role in 2005 scoring a 5th and when replaced Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006 after the Columbian went to NASCAR. If de la Rosa's name is being mentioned, I think Heidfeld's chance to remain with Sauber are very slim. However, I am still of the opinion that Klien deserves an opportunity.

Turns out this Twitter announcement was a fake. There is no time table on a complete Sauber line-up. However, Pedro de la Rosa's name has been connected with the job, which still leads me to think if Heidfeld has not signed yet he might not be in line for the job.

Take the money and go testing

Stefan Grand Prix chief Zoran Stefanovic is continuing with plans to enter F1 next season after recently visiting the ex-Toyota factory in Germany. Stefanovic is looking to complete a deal to take over the design of the 2010 F1 car Toyota would have used. Although Stefan GP does not have an entry, they aim to be ready. The Toyota entry was given to Peter Sauber, who reacquired his team from BMW in the wake of their withdrawal. According to Stefanovic, the plan is simple, Plan A: F1 in 2010. Plan B: go into F1 in 2011 but test and test a lot in 2010 as not being bound by the Concorde Agreement places no restrictions on them.

What's nice for Stefan GP is that they may acquire the rights to a car designed by Toyota that can instantly make them more than tail-enders. However, as I do not see there being 14 teams on the grid, 2010 is just a dream...unless one of the current teams is not on the grid in March. However, I don't blame Stefanovic for pushing hard on the 2010 entry as they may have a car, facility and the potential of making some money as a potential mid-field runner with the ex-Toyota package. But a 40% increase in teams that finished 2009 is an expansion that I do not think F1 is prepared to support.

So the proper thing to do is go testing and develop the team, package, analyze the competition and prepare for a real onslaught in 2011; and they just might do that. The latest report from Autosport.com says Stefan GP is looking to start a young driver development program to coincide with their testing plans. That says to me that they will take the option of spending 2010 testing; and earning some money while doing it. Stefanovic says, "we will offer teams, who are changing drivers during the season, or even young drivers themselves, the chance to test our car so they can gain experience. It will be purely a commercial operation."

Ralf Schumacher might land at Toro Rosso?

We might have another Schumacher back on the grid for 2010. Ralf Schumacher, the brother of Michael Schumacher, has refused to deny speculation linking him to a Toro Rosso drive. Ralf, 34, who still officially races with Mercedes in the DTM series, revealed he turned down an offer from one of F1's new teams. Reports said Toro Rosso, Sauber and Renault remained possibilities for a return to the sport for Schumacher.

In 2009, STR had a pair of young drivers, Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari. Buemi has been retained for next season, but the 19 year old Alguersuari's future is less certain. The practice of leaving drivers swinging in the wind is not uncommon for STR. They did the same thing to previous drivers Scott Speed and Sebastien Bourdais. However, in this case the indications is at worst he may be regulated to testing duites again, which in this era does not guarantee he will develop as a driver.

In returning to Schumacher, he knows Toro Rosso's team principal Franz Tost well not only from their days at Williams, but from when Tost managed Ralf's early pre-F1career in the mid 1990's. Tost was also employed by Ralf's former manager Willi Weber to look after the driver when he entered F1 with Jordan in 1997, and subsequently switched to Williams in 1999.

Admittedly the move of retaining a veteran driver for STR would make some sense. They are currently in the process of constructing their very own car for the first time and may need the experience to help develop the car. Clearly, experience is something that Buemi and Alguersuari do not have. However, why that choice would be Ralf Schumacher who has not been in F1 since 2007 and has been an also-ran in the DTM is a mystery. There will be new rules and new tires that Ralf would need to contend with and the fact that he did not cover himself in any glory at the end of his F1 career. First, he quit Toyota, then was curiously overlooked by Toro Rosso and then when testing for Force India, he was the slowest of the drivers they had scheduled. So, is it the relationship or does Ralf actually have anything left for a return to F1. I guess we will see.

No Nick Heidfeld at Sauber

As drivers jockey for position during this off-season's edition of music chairs, one person that I think needs a change of scenery is Nick Heidfeld. As I have said in the past, he has always been a driver that people regard as talented but always lacked a good car. He has demonstrated that he can be quick, consistent and reliable. Nick has done a solid job for BMW-Sauber and his performance in 2009 still confirms that. In years past I would say he needs to go away entirely, but now with an influx of new teams, he would be still useful. I just do not want it to be at Sauber.

I think that Sauber needs to redevelop his team and bring it back to the days of getting young talented drivers and giving them a shot to perform in a competitive team (Nick Heidfeld was actually one of those type of drivers for Sauber). Having Kamui Kobayashi as one driver is perfect. The other choice is someone that I have advocated for in the past and now Bernie Ecclestone would like to see, Christian Klien.

Klien, 26, has been the team's test driver for the past two years as well as performing well as a Peugeot sportscar driver; and now I think with his sportscar experience coupled with spending 3 seasons as a test driver the timing is perfect. Just as Toyota was wise to give Timo Glock a chance after being out of F1 for a period, Sauber would be wise to give Klien a shot.

What about Heidfeld? Well it is interesting to see that his name has not been connected publicly to any other team but Sauber. Maybe a new team that is getting off the ground would find a driver with his experience useful. A team that has done its business so far very quietly. Maybe USF1 is destination that would suit Heidfeld.

http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2008/08/case-against-nick-heidfeld.html

USF1 Driver Selection

With the new and returning Formula One teams confirming and signing drivers, I would like to see the USF1 squad give a real tangible signal of progress. Although they are in talks with Jose Maria Lopez, that seems well short of landing a driver. Sauber have signed Kamui Kobayashi, Virgin and Lotus have their driver pairings, Campos has Bruno Senna and may land Pedro De la Rosa.

What are the available options that would be nice to have at USF1? Well, we know that they are looking to have NASCAR ace, Kyle Busch in 2011 and we know that the team is high on Jonathan Summerton, who has been driving in A1GP, Atlantic Championship and Indy Lights the past few seasons. He is someone they may have 2011, and maybe this year. Nevertheless, since we know that they are not married to having Americans in the seats for 2010 it would seem that finding a pair of drivers should not be a major undertaking. Admittedly, this may be one reason that they have not rushed it. Also, the car is not ready and there is no testing. Some can validly argue that at this point of the team's life they should be focused on securing top talent in the coming years...hence talk of Kyle Busch.

Again all valid points, but in my opinion it is hard to generate some excitement when there is no public face (i.e. a driver) to get galvanized about. There is no sense of momentum, and if we have learned anything about Formula One it is that drivers are not plug and play devices; relationships matter. The rules in place for refueling and the need for improved tire management might be a perfect transfer of skills for a NASCAR driver of Busch's abilities, but of course they need drivers for 2010. Maybe Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson are simply looking for drivers to keep the seat warm until the coming years when they have a season under their belt, economic conditions to improve, a return of a USGP to where they can push for higher quality drivers.

The Skunkworks approach as it relates to reduced bureaucracies, having small groups of highly effective people, the use of outside vendors, and keeping a veil of secrecy is fine for the team structure. But I think they should be more public about who are potential candidates. I would love to hear news that Sebastien Bourdais or Takuma Sato are in the running because the names linked so far to this project have been less than exciting.