F1 Fanatic round-up: 4/3/2010

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Today we expect to learn more about HRT’s (formerly Campos) plans for F1, including what their car will look like and who, along with Bruno Senna, will be driving it.

Here’s today’s F1 Fanatic round-up:

Links

Exclusive interview with Ken Anderson (Autosport)

The US F1 boss blames the delay over the 2010 teams list and the disappearance of a sponsor for the team’s failure to get into F1: “If you remember last year, that was when all hell broke loose with the FIA, FOTA, cost cap teams versus non-cost cap teams and all that.

“Then everybody who wanted to get into Formula 1, all the new teams, [they] tried to get in with the cost cap regulations… and we didn’t get approved by the FIA until June 12. Then the Concorde Agreement wasn’t signed to absolutely know that we could go forward until July 31. Losing those four months was always going to be difficult to recapture, but we were on schedule right up until mid-January, and that was when some issues arose with sponsors that kind of locked us up.”

The Williams F1 pack-up movie (Williams)

“All Formula One teams take an enormous amount of equipment to every Grand Prix. For the European rounds, the AT&T Williams team packs everything into our race team transporters which are driven to the circuits. However, for the year’s eight long haul "flyaway" races, we have to send everything air freight weeks in advance and that means a lot of careful packing.”

Comment of the day

There was much debate about the Stefan GP / US F1 situation yesterday. Hairs made this observation:

Whatever we think of the "deservedness" of a place swap between USF1 and Stefan GP, neither team has met the conditions of entry, and neither should be on the grid.

This is a low key, but good decision from the FIA. No leaks, no posturing. Take a look at the facts, look at the rules, make a decision, and publish it. This is the way it should always have been done.
Hairs

Site updates

The prize list for the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship is all-but finished. We’re going to have more and better prizes on offer including awards for the top players in every Grand Prix. A full announcement on this year’s competition will be made soon.

The game itself will stay much the same as last year except we’ll be inviting people to predict more finishers in each event than last year and changing the points system to make it harder for large numbers of people to have the same number of points.

I’m very excited about this year’s competition and look forward to share the final details with you all very soon.

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Keke Rosberg, father of Nico, made his F1 race debut at the South African Grand Prix on this day in 1978. He qualified 24th in a Theodore and made it just 15 laps before retiring.

After three seasons in uncompetitive cars he landed a drive at Williams in 1982 and landed the title after an extraordinary season in which he won just one Grand Prix.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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58 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 4/3/2010”

  1. Can we have the forum back? Please

    1. Before the season start if possible. Pretty please (with cherry on top).

  2. Can’t wait for the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship to start! I only join half way last year when I became an F1 Fanatic. I agree to the changing of point system to minimize tied points at the end. I also predict for a big increase of participants. We (F1 Fanatics) are growing and becaming popular everyday Thanks to the full dedication of Keith! :)

    1. “….changing the points system to make it harder for large numbers of people to have the same number of points”
      Hmmm, have you been discussing this with Bernie? Are you going to be giving medals out too?? :-)

  3. Yeh I miss the forum.

  4. Spanish press has announced some days ago, Karun Chandhok wil be the other driver for HRT.
    One never knows with Spanish sport’s press but they announced also the new name of the team and they were right.

  5. Well, I am glad we have an entry list and know who goes racing this year (shame about the BMW Sauber Ferrari though).

    I read the Anderson Interview and I am not sure what to make of their situation. From what he says, the sposor-problem would have been from the Rossiter backers jumping ship.
    But they are reported to have jumped ship after getting serious doubts about the prospects of the team and car. Lopez was signed shortly after, so that should have got things going, but it did not.
    It still feels like a naive bussiness-view and lack of management of this situation, but that is hard to tell from the outside.
    On the other hand, if they have a designed and half-built car, they should be in a good position to get an entry for next year (same goes for StepanGP, but how long will Toyota support this?).
    Let them open the shop for public visits, explain what they have ready there. Just persuade the public, fans and potential sponsors, that this outfit has everything to be ready for 2011.
    I would not be against the FIA granting them an entry then.
    maybe both of them could join forces with Anthony Hamilton this year to get their cars on track with rookie (American) drivers :-)

    1. Anderson is blaming loss of sponsors in January for scuppering the team.

      By the time January rolls around, to be ready for shakedown, testing, and the first race 2 months later then the team should have had 2 chassis made, and all crash tests finished. They didn’t. At that point, a loss of a sponsor should have put their travel and support budget into question, not the building of the cars themselves. Yes, it would have been a big blow to the team’s plans. There’s no way it could have been responsible for the lack of actual racing machinery.

      This team was supposedly in the planning stages before the cost cap was even mooted. “we filed our entry in December of 2008” – if that was the case, then why blame the Cost cap/breakaway etc etc? Lack of time from when the “official” nod came through? Virgin had the same timeframe but managed to get two car out. Not pretty, but they got them out. Lotus had even less time, and they managed to get cars out. Again, not pretty, but they’re there.

      Why did USF1 and Campos fail to get everything done? Team management, that’s what. Both teams have been revealed lately as having failed to appoint key staff, living in empty facilites, not getting the bills paid, and most important of all, letting time tick away with not enough getting done. Anderson said before Christmas that it was “impossible to know” when the car was supposed to be at the engine install stage in order to be ready for the first race. Gascoyne, when asked the same question, knew exactly what he had to get done, in what order, in what sort of timeframe to have his car ready. A well managed, and well led team. Money is important, but it’s far from the most important. The lessons of Toyota and USF1 come from opposite ends of the financial scale, but have the same root cause.

      1. Plink Plonk Plunk
        4th March 2010, 13:30

        I have to agree with you Hairs.

        I would also question his blaming “A” sponsor for their no-show this year.

        He said the sponsor didn’t show up “for whatever reason”. Come on, you’ve no idea why? And second, your to blame for having all your eggs in one basket, as it were.

        This must have been some pretty big sponsor to make or brake the entire teams effort. And if thats the case, it’s Andersons fault for allowing such a situation to manifest.

        I think it’s fairly obvious that the sponsor in question backed out due to lack of organization and therfore causing USF1 to be behind schedule. Can hardly blame them in hind sight.

        But like you said, USF1 had more time than Virgin, Campos & Lotus who all managed to show up. It’s just too obvious that USF1 was dissorganized from the get go. Funding would of easily come in had they been organized. To think that USF1 couldn’t have gotten CNN’s sponsorship money had they been better prepaired is hard to swallow.

        I think they’re done for good. Who could possibly take them serious in 2011 & onwards?

      2. Hairs. Excellent summary.

        But don’t you think there mught be another factor ? A not particularly welcome one for these new teams to swallow.

        At the end of your piece you pull in Toyota and USF1 as opposites proving the case. I believe the unwelcome thread running through all three teams is WHERE they decided to build their F1 cars. Yes, Toyota had money to burn but they never got the damn thing right. And why did they never get it right ? The ‘silicon valley’ culture was missing. Being in the hothouse
        region where all the brains, technology and sheer expertise live.

        The two more recent failures prove the point even more forcibly. And re-inforce your point about the management being either incompetent and/or negligent in their total failure to understand how to schedule a car build. Gascoyne’s been on terrifying tight deadlines so often he knew
        just what he had to achieve. And of course he did it.

        Campos and Anderson don’t appear to have had a clue.

        It’s just a theory …..

  6. Ohhh yeahh.. I’m on a roll. Who loves ya, baby? Unnnh… *bow chicka wow wow*…. SHAFT!

    1. Not much danger of you getting COTD with that one, Hairs!

      1. That’s hardly going to stop me strutting about in a leather jacket giving people big winks and doing the classic 70’s “gunshot”, now is it?

        1. Mad as a badger! :P :D

  7. Bows to Hairs, a la Wayne’s World ….We are not worthy, we are not worthy.

    1. Too right. Now taking names for the vacant positions of “footstool” and “beer getter” in my support organisation. Nudity not a requirement, I’m not following Max’s example here.

      1. Sush Meerkat
        4th March 2010, 8:26

        can I touch you please Hairs?

        1. If by “touching” you mean “kneeling on the floor and letting me rest my feet on you”, then please apply with measurements, pictures of intended clothing, and previous experience. I’ll need to know whether you’re soft enough to act as a footstool and if your clothes will clash with the decor.

          1. You’ve thought about this way too much!

          2. I’m just naturally inspired.

          3. Naturally aspired?

          4. Naturally Aspirated.

            I’ve no need for a supercharger.

      2. Are you considering Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor for those roles?

        1. Well the’ve got soft heads but I don’t know about the rest of them. They’re not the sturdiest of potential footstools either, I don’t want a blowup one that’s full of hot air, or one whose flimsy supports might give way at any moment.

  8. from BasCB: It still feels like a naive bussiness-view and lack of management of this situation,

    Indeed. Anderson can put blame wherever he wishes, in his attempt to rationalize this failure, but bottom line is that USF1 had no leadership, no sound management/administration. The failure can be laid squarely at Anderson/Windsor’s door.

    If he did get an entry for 2011, the first money spent out of the budget should be for a solid team manager that can get things done, leaving Anderson the freedom to..well, basically just stay out of the road and not screw it up.

  9. Hairs is absolutely right.

    Sadly, this means that we’ll ‘only’ see 24 cars on the 2010 grid in stead of 26… which, of course, is 4 more than previous seasons.

    1. And more than we’ve seen since 1996 if I remember correctly (not counting the first qualifying session of 1997 of course).

    1. Some thought the diffusers would again be the main talking point but it seemed it is the McLaren rear wing that could be the centre of attention before the first GP.

      1. Well there had to be a fuss over something. Easy tactic: see fastest car, a possible regulation loophole and then complain.If it works then well done but if not then they’ll add it themselves but be annoyed that the team(s) who complained didn’t think of it first.

    2. This might have to do with the “snorkel” in front of the driver feeding air to the rear wing.

      Horner is commenting, that he believes it to be probably legal, but better to clear this upfront than during the season (see last year).

    3. Are you sure that it’s the Daily Telegraph that thinks there might be a problem with McLaren’s rear wing and not some other organisation?

      1. Apparently McLaren have spoken to Ferrari about this and Ferrari seem to be unaware of any problem.

        http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40054

        1. The story came from Christian Horner originally – perhaps he was just making mischief!

          1. “Ferrari sources have confirmed to AUTOSPORT that the team has no intention of taking the matter further, and have ruled out the possibility of it lodging a protest.”

            On the autosport website.

            Seems it’s just Redbull then, don’t Fer and Mac seem chummy these days?

            Hopefully now todts in charge technology developed with the FIA’s knowledge will stay as legal as they initialy said it was.

  10. Ive discovered a Fantasy F1 league app on Facebook.

    http://apps.facebook.com/dream_racing_team/index.php

    If anyones interested I’ll create an F1 Fanatic league.

    1. Ok I’ve created a league. Its called F1 Fanatic and the password is keith (all lower case)

      1. And the league ID is 729

    2. I’ve joined. Maybe advertising it on the application’s discussion board will get a few more people to join up for it. Only 2 of us at the moment..

      1. eh well I nearly joined but I don’t like the rules. Four drivers is too much for that budget.

        To be honnest my attention will be fixed soley on the prediction championship this year.

  11. LADA branding on the Renaults. WOuld Kubica have signed at Renault knowing he would be driving a Lada?

    1. If the Lada was capable of more than last years Renault, then yes I think he would.

      1. I find it weird for car companies to be sponsored by other car companies. Ferrari Sponsored by TATA, Renault sponsored by Lada, a Manor/Wirth Design/Virgin-made car sponsored by Maurussia.

        I would have though the last thing a car company would want to promote is a rival car company. I guess it’s the money.

        1. Ned Flanders
          4th March 2010, 10:44

          I found it a bit strange how FIAT sponsor Yamaha in Moto GP, but I suppose Yamaha only make bikes and FIAT only make cars so there’s not real conflict of interests there.

          1. I find that odd because you would have thought FIAT would sponser Ducati.

            Ah well, Yamaha have forcibly made themselves the Ferrari of motoGP

        2. or BMW Sauber featuring the Ferrari engine…

        3. Fiat is Ferraris parent holding company. Renault is 25% owner of Lada. Tata Group is Ferraris sales outlet in India, Tata Motor and Fiat have an alliance in India. Maurussia ? Must say never heard about them and google gives little useful =)

  12. Renault have officially confirmed the LADA deal.
    From the image on their website, they probably want to get some more backers, as the sidpods are still empty.
    http://renaultf1.com/local/cache-vignettes/L666xH471/arton724-7c388.jpg

  13. Nice vid from Williams, these ‘behind-the-scenes’ clips are always interesting to watch.

    1. so they send 2 chassis to the flyaways… how did Brawn manage to survive with only 3 tubs then?

  14. And finally… the F1 countdown reached the single digit day count :-)

  15. This is the first picture I’ve seen of the HRT, it’s not very clear, but appears to be dark grey with a white stripe:

    http://www.laverdad.es/murcia/20100304/deportes/motor/monoplaza-hispania-racing-esta-201003041629.html

    1. Ned Flanders
      4th March 2010, 16:15

      Looks quite smart, if a bit dull. I was hoping for something more colourful

    2. I would have thought that with the Senna name in the team, there would be more sponsors on the car.

      1. I think they probably thought that too.

    3. Twenty minutes ago this page mentioned “color: negro” – black. I looked again now and this disappeared. So Black or dark grey colour.

      Interesting note about the possibility of Fisi doing a test / shakedown before the first race.
      If the second chassis is still at Dallara, then maybe they really do a shakedown at imola? What does Ferrari say about the limping teams, maybe they were just lobbying to get Fisi a drive?

    4. looks similar to the Virgin F1, looks like it has a more developed front wing with cascades.

  16. Thanks Williams…

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