Petrov keeps the Russian cash coming

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Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has helped Vitaly Petrov secure another sponsor.

Links

Putin comes to aid of Russian F1 ace Petrov (The Straits Times)

Vitaly Petrov, Russia’s first and only Formula One driver, is to receive funding from state-run high-tech company Rostekhnologii following a deal brokered by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, local media reported on Tuesday.”

Genii selling Lotus Renault shares? (Joe Saward)

There are reports from highly reliable sources that G??rard Lopez and his partner in GenII Capital Eric Lux, have sold their shares in the Renault F1 Team Ltd company, which was renamed Lotus Renault GP Ltd on December 16. The suggestion is that the Genii Capital shares have been sold to Group Lotus. If this is true then the team should now be 100%-owned by Lotus, as Renault announced on December 8 that it had sold its shares to Genii Capital.

Where it all began for McLaren (Autocar)

“One of the most significant red letter days coming down the track in 2011 is the 40th anniversary of the debut of Rondel Racing. The immaculate F2 operation was founded jointly by Ron Dennis and Neil Trundle and formed the basis of today’s multiple world championship winning McLaren operation that’s become one of the sport’s defining forces over the decades which followed.”

Brawn sure Schumacher will improve (Autosport)

“I’m still optimistic because Michael’s performances at the end of last season were encouraging. I’m convinced he will go decidedly better this year.”

Comment of the day

Nice crystal ball work by Tindrum following the news Ferrari have moved Chris Dyer aside:

‘Ring Ring’
"Hullo"
"G’day Ross, Chris here"
"Chris yes, why don’t we met for a coffee. Perhaps Michael will join us"
"Yes Ross I’d like that"
Tindrum

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On this day in F1

On this day last year the Tribune de Grande Instance overturned the lifetime ban from motorsport the FIA had tried to impose on Flavio Briatore for his role in ‘Crashgate’ at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Image © Renault/LAT

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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60 comments on “Petrov keeps the Russian cash coming”

  1. I Googled the companies Petrov is getting backing from, Russian Technologies and Novatek. The logos should look pretty good on the R31.

    1. You know, if they must persist with this farcical attempt to recreate JPS colours I do hope the damn thing looks good, especially if they have to use the Red Bits.

      1. This is the website of Russian Technologies (Rostekhnologii):

        http://www.rostechnologii.ru/en/

        If that star design is their logo, it will look good on the side of the car. Especially in gold on black. Hell, I’d use it as the logo for my team. If I had a team.

        And this is Novatek:

        http://www.novatek.ru/eng/

        Also looks pretty decent (not as good as Russian Technologies, but still …). I find it odd that they can sponsor the team alongside Total, but then maybe Novatek is just natural gas.

        The point is that the car won’t be a repeat of the R27, R28 or R29 atrocities.

        1. Perhaps if Renault are only an engine supplier then Total will not be so prominent on the car – they might have had to be shown as they were on the mock ups of the new livery for contractual reasons as those images came out in 2010…

      2. if the red bits aren’t there, it will be at least 4x better

        1. Totally (no pun intended).

        2. The more red and less of the black & gold farce, the better.

      3. Do the new sponsors mean no more Lada branding for Lotus Renault? That’s very bad, as Lotus would benefit greatly from having its brand name associated with the greatest manufacturer of Soviet Fiats!

        1. Ahh yes but the smart lawyer would ensure that if petrov is unable to provide decent money that no doubt putin,stalin & co. have signed up to compete again, he would/should a clause to the effect of “If the Federation and governing bodies are unable to provide all the conditions to which the undersigned have committed to, then it is at the discrection of the undersigned as to if they are going to compete in the competition for the duration signed”. Or there abouts! Let’s not forget that todt’s list for who is signed for 2011 included russian members. If they’re not going to compete then I would suggest that have breached contract if not some other law.
          I think all that makes sense?!?!

          1. Ahh yes but the smart lawyer would ensure that if petrov is unable to provide decent money that no doubt putin,stalin & co. have signed up to compete again

            There are two problems with your hypothesis:

            1) Stalin is dead. He has been for some time.

            2) More importantly, Petrov has no financial obligation to Renault. Even if everyone in Russia turned their backs on him, he’d still be racing in 2011.

          2. “Petrov has no financial obligation to Renault. Even if everyone in Russia turned their backs on him, he’d still be racing in 2011.”

            Petrov has no financial obligations?? Petrov is Renault’s little piggy bank. You cannot honestly believe that Petrov got this seat on his 2010 performances. If it wasn’t for being Russian and the money he comes with, he wouldn’t have had a shot at entering the sport.

          3. You cannot honestly believe that Petrov got this seat on his 2010 performances. If it wasn’t for being Russian and the money he comes with, he wouldn’t have had a shot at entering the sport.

            Except that Petrov’s manager said he has no financial obligation to the team. And she said it at the press conference where the deal was announced, with Eric Boullier in attendance. Why would she say it if it was untrue?

          4. Because Petrov’s manager doesn’t want him known as “Renault’s little piggy bank” as Todfod hilariously put it.

            Good PR on her and the teams part, nothing else.

          5. It’s the same BS as Parr’s “Maldonado is not a paydriver”. As simple as that. I think we should get used to the fact that F1 people will try to stuff us with some ridiculous, cotradictory to the facts information.

          6. Prisoner Monkeys: Are you serious?

            Petrov’s manager could easily be lying. Of course he/she wants us to believe that his client is in F1 because of his talents and not the money.

            And even if the contract in itself doesn’t involve financial obligations, Renault could easily make him a “test driver”, if his sponsors won’t pay.

            Let’s face the facts: Petrov is a terrible driver and he’s in F1 (and especially Renault) only because of the Russian money.

          7. Petrov’s manager could easily be lying. Of course he/she wants us to believe that his client is in F1 because of his talents and not the money.

            Yes, she could be. But she said it at the press conference where the deal was announced and Eric Boulier was there – if she was lying, why didn’t he pull her up on it?

            Sorry, but the notion that Renault are letting Petrov’s manager present him as a non-paying driver in an attempt to secure more funding is foolish. If his contract states that he needs to pay for the drive, it would become immediately apparent to any sponsors they approached. And Renault could be held liable legally if they misled sponsors into thinking Petrov was not a pay driver.

            And even if the contract in itself doesn’t involve financial obligations, Renault could easily make him a “test driver”, if his sponsors won’t pay.

            They can’t do that. They can’t write up a contract that says he is not a pay driver and then refuse to give him a race seat until he finds sponsors. If they did that, they’d be before the Contract Review Board in an instant, and it would only take a couple of minutes for the CRB to find them in breach of their own contract. They would most likely need to repay those sponsors, which would seriously damage their 2011 budget. They’re not that stupid.

          8. Prisoner Monkeys: “They can’t do that”

            Yeah, tell that to Kimi Räikkönen. Of course they can.

        2. Yeah, let’s have a Lotus Renault Lada to replace the BMW Sauber Ferrari in the most ridiculous team name contest ;)

          1. Prisoner Monkeys … LOL
            But it must be true they said so!

            “Pastor Maldonado is not a pay driver”
            and what about Santa and the Easter Bunny.

  2. Joe Saward updated his Lotus buyout story by saying it’s expected to be a less than 50%, therefore not the controlling share of the team!

    1. I think Lopez has modeled his team on the McLaren model, attract sponsers by making your team a focal point for companies to share infomation and contacts. He’s now even sold up part of his company to a manufacturor with large financial muscle, or as the people of Malaysia call it, our taxes and that oil.

      Or rather Joe Saward claims he has.

      1. so lopez has made alot of profit since he bought into renault?

        1. One assumes that he is trying to make money by selling out :)

  3. Hey Keith,
    Thanks for the link to the FAQ, I was finally able to change my email address in the profile section (old one doesn’t exist anymore)

  4. would rondel be considered project 2 (also based in woking) ???

    thank you for the FAQ, but for the life of me, i’m not getting a password reset email. i have triple-checked the spam folder, and there are no blocks or anything in place. i’ll try contacting thru the normal channels to resolve this in a day or two.

    1. There is a bit of a backlog at the moment, it could be related to that. If that still doesn’t work, email me via the contact form.

  5. Imagine if after that Rondel/ McLaren merger 40 years ago, the team kept the name Rondel instead?? Thank God they didn’t

    1. The owners Name is often used in F1 for the team’s names:

      Ross Brawn – Brawn GP
      Frank Williams – Williams
      Enzo Ferrari – Scuderia Ferrari

      It’s just a pity that when Ron and Neil were discussing what to call the new F1 team that Neil didn’t demand it be his name put above the garage door:

      Afterall “Team Trundle” has a certain ring to it!!

      1. the sport will rise like the pheonix from the flames of old! and bout time to the sport has slowly but surly been going the wrong road since 05 and we havnt seen real battles since 06. my point being there is a new hope on the table i think that the great 8 will go back a few years keep the v8′s but go back to the great rule’s three tire wings, sticky tyre’s that suit the car and driver the best, 1 engine per race w.end flat out racing as the great mika would put it (im a ferrari fan but even i knew he was magic!!) all the thing’s that matter then us the fan’s can get back to the good ol days of disliking each other because thats 1 of the thing that sport is… any sport!its about or own we sunday war of word between friends and fow on who is the best team the best driver. these are the things that f1 has been mising i never turned races of in 20 years till last year when the car in front stayed there unless there was a problem! now i only watch the first 10 r 15 mins then the last half hour now i only look 4ward to moto gp! for hard fast exciting racing i have a great filling of butter flys in the tummy as we are about to move into a new and bright age thank god for the chaos theary it give hope to the masses and dispair to the greedy!! sorry for any spellin mistakes pep’s

      2. Imagine the fun when Martin Brundle drove for them :)

    2. They had two other options for the name besides McLaren – Rondel and Project 4 (ergo the chassis designation MP4). But from my understanding, Marlboro brought them over to McLaren with the intention of reviving the team name, ergo the name McLaren existing to this very day.

      1. And wasn’t the merger 30 years ago rather than 40?

    3. Neil Trundle, the del of Rondel, still works in McLaren after all these years.

      Nowadays he is in charge of helping prepare any historic McLaren cars for a Goodwood run or keeping the collection in running order for a stint in the MTC concourse.

      He is the tall, silver-haired guy standing beside his old mucker Ron, before in this case firing up a Bruce McLaren CanAm …

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZHMjdzw0w0

      or Senna’s MP4/4:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htxV1NwfT3g

      1. I suppose he is having just as much fun with the job as Ron has doing his. Quit a lot of us fans might prefer doing Neils over Rons jobs.

        1. I can think of very few jobs I’d rather do. :)

      2. It’s nice to see how many people can’t help but stay and look on as they start that MP4/4 of Senna’s.

  6. @ Tindrum

    Can’t agree more, Chris have been Schumi’s race engineer for all his 5 WC in Ferrari & both will love to get each other in 2011. So why not?

  7. What a shame

    1. What’s a shame? That Petrov has attracted new sponsors to Renault? That Ross Brawn is adamant Schumacher will improve? Or that Genii might be selling their Lotus shares?

    2. That Rondel aren’t a racing team name anymore?,what?

      Tell us man?! THE SUSPENSION IS KILLING ME!.

      1. the suspension is killing me?, man I suck.

        1. You know you’re obsessed with F1 when…

          1. hahaha good point there Icthyes!

    3. Please tell us, what is?

    4. HounslowBusGarage
      5th January 2011, 20:34

      I think it’s a shame, too.

      Whatever it is.

  8. At first sight, I read “Petrov keeps the Russian crash coming” instead of “cash”

  9. Off topic a bit, but has anyone seen the new suggested livery for the MP4-26? Picture here: http://f1designbymia.tumblr.com/post/2607707057/f1-photomontage-of-the-mclaren-mp4-26-i-like

    Yes, I know it has Bridgestone tyres, but I hope they go ahead with the black and red, I think it looks awesome!

    Nathan

    P.S. Sorry for the long link, not used to tiny URL

    1. I hope that stuff is for real because it looks AWESOME!

    2. I thought that was a photoshop last year (or before)!

    3. fwiw, Officially denied on McLaren’s twitter, same livery as before.
      http://twitter.com/TheFifthDriver/status/22670884611293184

      This whole black and red malarkey all got started when someone saw the new black and red merchandise in the McLaren webstore.
      The confusion arises because some people, in this day and age, still somehow think merchandise is related to livery.

      Livery is a stable, consistent projection of a sponsor’s brand-image for publicity purposes.
      Merchandise is a revenue stream that has to constantly change, and change radically, to immediately invalidate all the old gear, and have the suckers queue up to buy this year’s 25quid baseball cap.

      Once you’ve flogged all the silver and red stuff you can, you need to get them buying the black and red clobber, in two years time it’ll be cream and red, and they can buy it all again … and all the while the car’s still gonna be quietly sitting there on the grid in ‘ron dennis chrome’ and ‘vodafone rocket red’, nonethewiser to what mayhem is occurring over at the merch stalls.

      1. Get’s the fans talking I guess, on blogs and forums which is good publicity for Mclaren.

        Everybody knows a Mclaren because of the mirror chrome finish – which works a lot better on a racing car than it does on clothing!

        The black/rocket red clothes look cool.
        The chrome/rocket red cars look cool.

        ——————
        The two tweets from 5th Driver:

        # That’s official, btw! less than a minute ago via web

        # Black livery? Er, no: the same Rocket Red & chrome finish that you’ve grown to love since Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was born in 2007… less than a minute ago via web

      2. This whole black and red malarkey all got started when someone saw the new black and red merchandise in the McLaren webstore.

        I think people read way too much into it, myself.

        1. In fact, they’ll probably come up with some long-winded reason as to why TheFifthDriver is actually only trying to cover up the new livery by denying it.

    4. Unfortunately, that’s a ‘shop of the MP4-24. A brilliant one and I wish the rumours were true. But they’re not.

      1. Yeah, anything other than the chrome would be better honestly. I think silver/chrome should be reserved for Mercedes’ Silver Arrows now that they’re back in F1, much as other teams don’t (in recent years anyhow) paint their whole car red as that is Ferrari’s color. That said though, the black and red is awfully similar to Virgin’s color scheme. Orange would be great, there’s a history with the team, and with Arrows gone it is now a unique color.

        1. It’s an Anglo-German team so how about British racing green and silver?

  10. Thanks Keith for the link to the FAQ’s, I’ve been looking for a way to get a picture next to my name.

  11. Vitaly Petrov:
    Opulence, he haz it.

  12. Gravity Racing International Ltd own 100% of Enstone according to Registry Company House (UK).

Comments are closed.