No 20th race for 2013 calendar – Ecclestone

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In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone says the 2013 calendar will remain at 19 races.

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2013 Grand Prix schedule will remain at 19 races – but Russia set for 2014 bow, says Ecclestone (The National)

“Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed a 20th grand prix will not be added to the Formula One calendar this year, but said he is certain the schedule will return to its full capacity in 2014 after being left “very impressed” by progress in Sochi ahead of next year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix.”

Christian Horner: “We’ve got all the same culprits…” (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“It’s got all the hallmarks of a really competitive year. I think that 2012 was a great year for F1, and I think 2013 has got all those same ingredients, so it could be extremely tight.”

E21 better than expected for Grosjean (ESPN)

“It’s difficult to compare; we’ll say it’s a step forward so in a way it’s a better start.”

Car failure brings Max Chilton’s debut as a Marussia race driver to a premature end (Sky)

“We had something fail at the rear, just before I hit the brakes on the back straight. It’s not ideal for my first day but up until that point everything was going well.”

Marussia MR-02 Technical Analysis (SomersF1)

“Front and rear suspension is a direct carry over from the MR-01 as the team feel they needed to concentrate on bringing additional performance via KERS and concentrating on aerodynamics.”

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Comment of the day

@Stormbreak on Webber’s status at Red Bull:

Every year it’s the same old same old. People keep denying Webber gets equal treatment. If that’s the case, why doesn’t he go to another team, when he’s clearly had the chance to do so? Is he that much of an idiot that he stays at a team where he gets sub0par treatment? Or is he that desperate to stay in F1 that he would stay with a team who won’t treat him well?

Somehow I don’t think Mark is a fool.
@Stormbreak

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On this day in F1

Two years ago today Robert Kubica was seriously injured in a crash during a rally in Italy. There were fears for his life, and his right arm was almost severed in the crash.

Kubica has since made a recovery. He tested a Mercedes DTM car last month and hopes to make an F1 return if his arm heals sufficiently:

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37 comments on “No 20th race for 2013 calendar – Ecclestone”

  1. Every year it’s the same old same old. People keep denying Webber gets equal treatment. If that’s the case, why doesn’t he go to another team, when he’s clearly had the chance to do so? Is he that much of an idiot that he stays at a team where he gets sub0par treatment? Or is he that desperate to stay in F1 that he would stay with a team who won’t treat him well?

    Somehow I don’t think Mark is a fool.

    I suspect that there is a rider in Webber’s contract that would force him to sit out for a year if he were to leave Red Bull, and he knows that at his age, he’d be unlikely to find a seat a year later. Ferrari did it to Kimi Raikkonen and Ross Brawn, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Red Bull are doing it with Mark Webber.

    1. Kimi Raikkonen was a world champion driver with a signed contract in his pocket who preferred to keep his Ferrari salary rather than take a cut and drive elsewhere. Webber is a solid driver on a year by year contract. No way could Red Bull stop him driving for someone else (nor, I think, would they be particularly inclined to try if Mark decided to leave).

  2. “Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed a 20th grand prix will not be added to the Formula One calendar this year, but said he is certain the schedule will return to its full capacity in 2014 after being left “very impressed” by progress in Sochi ahead of next year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix.”

    So where does that leave New Jersey?

    1. Well the current empty slot was for New Jersey, so another round has got to disappear to make room. Maybe Bernie will convince Germany and Belgium to alternate.

    2. After Sandy, New Jersey has other priorities.

      1. I seriously doubt it is going to take eighteen months to clean everything up.

        1. @prisoner-monkeys But will the money still be there? It depends on how much money is needed to rebuilt and repair existing property.

        2. @prisoner-monkeys, As @journeyer mentioned above money is one reason, the other in my opinion is resource. It takes a long time to plan and host a GP, even more so for a street circuit.

          Those that would have been involved in the organization of the event at a state level would be used currently in relief and rebuilding efforts. Even if there weren’t delays to passing relief bills, the time dedicated to this would be taken from other projects such as the GP.

          1. That still doesn’t mean that the Grand Prix is absolutely off.

    3. Same question here.

      By the way, when will this guy retire?

      1. Who, Ecclestone?

        Probably never.

        1. @prisoner-monkeys There’s no such thing as never, specially when you’re old. Your body can call for “More time with bed and sofa” without previous warning…

          He can push to the limit à la Mugabe or can be gracious like Mandela and live the seat for young blood.

          1. @jcost I think it’s a bit of a stretch to compare him to Mugabe if he doesn’t retire and Mandela if he does. Whatever you think of Bernie he falls someway short of either extreme!

          2. @jerseyf1 metaphor my friend.

  3. its not just equal equipment its how he is treated by his bosses. and the quotes are then in black and white and webber didnt deny it. infact he backed it up.

    But on the equipment side there was a front wing incident that again wasnt made up it happened.

    The difference with ferrari is they dont lie about during the season, and proved in 07/08 they will support the driver which is quicker. people seem to forget kimi was ferrari’s blue eyed boy but they supported massa as he was quicker.

  4. Two years ago today Robert Kubica was seriously injured in a crash during a rally in Italy

    So sad to remember that day… :S

    1. @fer-no65
      Indeed. I can’t believe that it’s been two years already. I remember reading it online as if it was yesterday. It’s a shame given how confident we were that he was going to return mid-to-late 2011, then this delayed, delayed, and delayed; now we are in 2013 already. :-(

  5. Great COTD.

    1. Indeed. I’m one of those who believe that Vettel is Marko’s favourite because he’s faster than Webber, not because his eyes are greener.

      At Red Bull, VET is #1 driver on merit. But he does get some special treatment, nothing that holds Webber chances to win.

      1. Vettel is Marko’s favourite because Marko runs the Red Bull Young Driver programme and Vettel is it’s only success, so Marko needs him to justify his existence.

        That said, I don’t think the team as a whole strongly favours Vettel (though there is no doubt that Marko does). However, it is notable that Webber is much closer to (and sometimes ahead of) Vettel when the Red Bull is not the fastest car – suggesting that whatever wizardry it is that Newey uses to get the car up the front of the grid, it suits Vettel better. I very much doubt he sits down at his drawing table thinking “now how can I screw Webber over?” though.

        1. @ilanin good point about Vettel being the only success of RB Driver Programme. I’m putting my money on Antonio Felix da Costa, I’d put him in a Toro Rosso in 2014 and give him a Red Bull in 2015 in case his performance is as good as expected at STR. He should be their second success

  6. Good COTD, I agree for the most part. Webber is not given sub-par treatment at Red Bull, or at least he isn’t at the start of the season. For sure, Vettel is sometimes given preferential treatment in the event that a result for Vettel is important for either the constructor/driver’s championship, but this is irrelevant because a) this is pretty standard behaviour from all of the teams and Red Bull is nowhere near as bad as the likes of Ferrari in this arena and b) the exact same treatment would be bestowed upon Webber if he was in the same position.

    Now I don’t particularly like team orders, and I didn’t like what happened in Silverstone in 2011 either. But the sport is a team sport, and if one team doesn’t take advantage of team orders, another (*cough* Ferrarri *cough*) will. If Webber wants to be treated on par with Vettel than he must drive on par with Vettel. If he drives like a number two driver, he will unfortunately be treated as one as the season progresses.

  7. Did Grosjean accidently confirm that the McLaren is indeed very fast?

    “Yes, McLaren were very quick at the end of the day which is good for us to know a little bit about how quick they can go and if we can simulate what they are doing but the feelings are there and the car is good.”

    I might be reading too much into it, but perhaps that sounds like someone saying, ‘Oh boy, we have catching up to do’.

    1. @novotny – I think Grosjean is saying that Lotus will treat Button’s time as a benchmark. He did a 1’18.861, which is not just a good time for a 2013-spec Formula 1 car, but a good time for any Formula 1 car. So now that they know what kind of time the cars are capable of, Lotus have a measurable way of determining their progress. Of course, there is a risk that they will fall into the trap of chasing Button’s laptime and ignoring their test programme.

  8. Love the COTD, love it. Webber, I think, is one of the most sought after drivers each year because he is so reliably good and, as Marko correctly stated, seems to have at least 2 or 3 races each year where he is just untouchable. The guy brings zero drama to a team, is reportedly one of the most amiable and focused, is one of the most experienced, and who can doubt his courage and tenacity? Furthermore, Vettel/Webber make a really strong pairing, thus Red Bull have won the Constructors the past 3 seasons. I don’t buy any of this nonsense that Marko puts out several times each year. I think Mark is very pleased to be at Red Bull and they are pleased to have him, otherwise they would most certainly have parted ways this past year or the year before or the year before that (how far back does this same story line go?). Perhaps it’s just how the dynamics within the team work best. Maybe Mark likes the underdog status, or being the “anti-golden boy” if you will, while Vettel achieves his best performance by being the “golden boy”. Whatever the case, the team (all the players) know what they’re doing. Reference: their trophy cabinet.

  9. Autosport have just confirmed that Bruno Senna has landed a GT drive.

  10. Looks like Formula One has a new sponsor, according to Bloomberg. Emirates Airline, (yes, the one that’s been growing as quickly as rabbits breed over the last decade) have signed a 5 year deal to sponsor Formula One.

    Looks like Formula One has a new sponsor, according to Bloomberg. Emirates Airline, (yes, the one that’s been growing as quickly as rabbits breed over the last decade) have signed a 5 year deal to sponsor Formula One.

    Here, if I typed this correctly

    1. Okay, html is definitely not like riding a bike :(

  11. Force India’s Bob Fernley has admitted that Bianchi and Sutil aren’t the only drivers the team is considering, despite reports from about two weeks ago suggesting that they had narrowed the list of potential drivers down to those two. Kamui Kobayashi is said to be one of the drivers the team is considering, having supposedly secured more sponsorship in the time since admitting it was game over.

    1. Fingers crossed for Kamui! I’d really like to see him on the grid.

    2. Funny, that would actually get me exited about the team again. I consider Sutil to be a B version of Heidfeld, and Bianchi just meh.

  12. Any ideas how this affects the UK coverage? Do BBC get another pick now to make up their quota of 10 or is it seen as tough luck?

    1. The decision not to limit the calendar to nineteen races has only just been made, so it’s unlikely a decision has been taken on how this affects the broadcast scedule. That said, I think that whoever had the Grand Prix of America in their quota will probably lose it.

      1. its not a case of whoever had it. BBC had 10 sky have them all. BBC were down to have the European event that was to be added.

        Would be a shame if they dont get another to take its place. Ideally melbourne, which i dont think they have.

    2. As I understand BBC won’t take a replacement tenth race.

    3. I thought this too. It could possibly breach the BBC broadcast coverage if they are contractually allowed to show “10” races on the BBC. If one of those 10 was never confirmed, then it can’t fall within an ‘in the event of cancellation’ get out clause. If that is the situation there could be a basis for re-negociation, but it all depends on the wording of the BBC’s contract. Bernie is unlikely to have missed out providing for a situation such as this, sadly, it whatever does happen, it probably won’t be in the BBC’s favour.

  13. New Jersey will surely be finished for the 2014 Formula One season. With Mexico, Cape Town pushing for a 2014 berth I am just not sure who is going to go with Bernie saying “20 is the limit”. I am suspecting Montreal and Interlagos to secure their race beyond 2015. Has Japan got a contract for 2014 if not they should extend their contract beyond 2014.

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