F1 Fanatic round-up: 15/1/2010

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I’m at Autosport International again today. Yesterday it proved a useful opportunity to meet new people and tell them about the website. It was encouraging to discover some of them had already heard of it – including David Richards!

Today I’m at the show again and am expecting to see Adrian Newey give a talk and I should be interviewing GP2 driver Oliver Turvey. Keep an eye out for more from the show on the site. In the meantime, here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Malaysian GP boosted by Lotus, Petronas (Autosport)

Sepang CEO Razlan Razali: “The last six months have seen a tremendous development for Malaysian motorsport. We have seen Lotus F1, which is backed by Tony Fernandes as the new Malaysian team. Then Petronas was searching for a new partner. There was a lot of speculation and suddenly out of the blue, it came out with Mercedes. It is a really good development, a world champion team, with the return of Schumacher. So for us, as Malaysians, it cannot get any better than this. It is good for us and the country especially.”

Virtual FW31 launched (Williams)

“iRacing.com will build a virtual version of the 2009 AT&T Williams FW31 and make it available to members of its internet-based global motorsport simulation service.”

Team spirit keeps MTC working through Britain’s big freeze (McLaren)

“Even world champion Jenson Button wasn’t immune from the problems: stuck in his car on the icy, sloping MTC car park, the team loaned him a rock-solid Mercedes-Benz E-Class 320 estate for his journey home.”

Comment of the day

USF1 are getting a lot of stick, but Ant isn’t convinced it’s justified:

No one appears to be questioning Campos, yes they have signed Bruno Senna, but I have heard and seen more from USF1 than Campos.

Peter Windsor knows the media inside out and I am sure that this is all a plan to keep everyone guessing. USF1 are probably laughing at all these comments about not being on the grid.

I am sure that after the initial test, there will be plenty of opportunities to see them test in the future.
Ant

From the forum

Sato113 wants to know who you will support in 2010 – and he’s getting a diverse range of answers so far.

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

It was the Argentinian Grand Prix on this day in 1978. Mario Andretti won from pole position in his Lotus, which became a familiar sight that year as Andretti went on to become champion.

Two years ago today we took a look at McLaren’s standard ECU which was being introduced to F1 at the time. The cars are still using developments of these, so the original article might be worth a look if you missed it first time round.

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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6 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 15/1/2010”

  1. ” It was encouraging to discover some of them had already heard of it – including David Richards!”

    Dude, you’re an online Murray Walker waiting to happen. You’re already showing signs of being a legend in the making! :) People will be talking about you to their kids. ;)

  2. A grand prix in the middle of january?! Who’s idea was that? To replace what little winter testing there used to be, there should be more races in the southern hemisphere and a longer season-maybe they were onto something in the 70s!

  3. I’ve always said the season needs to be longer. It should be at least 23 races with a race every 2 weeks without fail and a break over the holiday period.

    1. I’m not sure that would be such a good idea, how would teams develop next seasons car when they are fighting hard for the championship every other week?

      I think the current number of races is about right, the teams get a well deserved break over the holidays (except usf1 perhaps) and everyone gets to throw wild rumours around about next season.

      1. Yeh I think it would be too long as well. 20 races with 2 weeks between them, some only a week apart if they’re both fly-away races, and a 3-week break in the summer.

        Saying that, a separate short winter series in the southern hemisphere would be nice, run to a different format and spec machinery. Perhaps a multiple Race of Champions series using a spec F1 car?

        1. How bout the test driver championship?
          the teams third driver in the last years car,
          that way the car is already made and the driver gets actual race practice so we wouldnt get another Luca Badoer scenario!!!

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