In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone is reported to be making an offer for the Nurburgring.
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Ecclestone makes bid for historic Nuerburgring (Reuters)
“The 83-year-old Ecclestone himself told two German publications on Wednesday his move was aimed at keeping a Formula One race in Germany in the coming years.”
Red Bull’s Team Manager Backs Ecclestone to Stay on as F1 Boss (Bloomberg)
“Is it right to put so much predominance on one race? Does it undervalue what you’ve done in the rest of the year? I think arguably yes it does.”
Horner: current women drivers can’t ‘cut it’ at top (The Telegraph)
“Susie [Wolff] is a very capable driver. Whether on merit she would make the cut at the moment is difficult to judge. But there are some very talented young girls coming through and it’s only a matter of time.”
Lotus confirm Quantum over (Sky)
“Lopez revealed that Lotus had amassed a total of 114million in debt last year, of which around 80million was owed to Lopez’s company Genii Capital.”
Sir Jackie Stewart voices sadness over death of Jenson Button’s father (The Guardian)
“It would liven things up [if there was a new champion]. It would be refreshing. Four times is a bit greedy.”
Tweets
Thank you all for your lovely messages about my Dad, it's so nice to see he touched so many people…
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) January 15, 2014
Helmet getting ready with the design for this year. No big changes, some details on the side and rear. pic.twitter.com/No7GxSJO38
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) January 15, 2014
Great to see @Jules_Bianchi in the house today, eyeing up the new #MR03. We said "smile" & @Rory_f1 kindly obliged! pic.twitter.com/AHp2hgy6jb
— Marussia F1 Team (@Marussia_F1Team) January 15, 2014
The picture Ferrari put on their website accompanying the story about the new car is of an F2001, so it's not a sign their 2014 car…
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) January 15, 2014
…won't have a weird nose. More F2001 pictures here: http://t.co/aNpqgw3sDR #F1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) January 15, 2014
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
I like @Tim-M’s idea for a name for the new Ferrari best:
If I had a choice, I’d name it the 126 C14, after this Ferrari, since it was their first turbocharged F1 car; also with a V6 engine.
@Tim-M
From the forum
- The 2014 GP3 driver line-up is taking shape
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F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship
F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship third place finisher selected a painting of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber doing battle at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix as his prize. Here is the artwork produced for him by Rob Ijbema. See more of his excellent work here:
The Predictions Championship will be back for the new season.
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On this day in F1
Five years ago today McLaren launched the MP4-24. It proved a disappointment for the team and defending champion Lewis Hamilton, as it was some way off the pace early in the season. However with development it became a race winner and Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix triumph was the first for a car using a Kinetic Energy Recovery System.
- McLaren MP4/24 revealed – pictures and video
- 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix review: Lewis Hamilton takes McLaren back to winning ways
Image © BMW ag
Hamish
16th January 2014, 0:11
I wouldn’t be a JYS interview without a few paragraphs a mumbling tosh would it?
The last 2 paragraphs of that story are absolute utter cr*p.
GeorgeTuk (@georgetuk)
16th January 2014, 8:35
Been that way for years but he loves to talk and make out he is still directly involved in the sport…which he isn’t.
And he is everywhere all of the time.
Baron (@baron)
16th January 2014, 10:01
What exactly did Sir Jackie Stewart say that was crap? Enlighten us.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
16th January 2014, 0:36
Whilst it’s a beautiful painting, the F1 geek inside me was puzzled when I read that statement. Alonso never made it past La Source in the 2012 Belgian GP. The pass being replicated there is from the 2011 race (without the stepped noses)
I’d go further and say that Kimi Raikkonen made a similar move on Michael Schumacher in the 2012 race, but maybe that’s just silly :P
Deej92 (@deej92)
16th January 2014, 0:47
I was thinking exactly the same when I saw the stepped noses.
piet (@piet)
16th January 2014, 6:27
Rob apologised and asked if he should change it, but I think it is a good test to recognise a true f1 fan in my house.
So you passed the test :-) .
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2014, 6:37
LOL @piet congratulations
Tony
16th January 2014, 11:35
I guess the painter was working pretty damn quick so you can forgive him a couple of minor mistakes.
matt90 (@matt90)
16th January 2014, 0:45
I know the Nurburgring has financial problems, but the idea of Ecclestone owning that piece of history worries me. It’s probably a baseless assumption, but I don’t see it remaining the greatest toll road in the world with him in charge.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
16th January 2014, 1:02
Maybe that’s why he wants it.. or maybe this news is being released right now because time is due in the German trial for a decision on whether he gets indicted or not. Ecclestone can basically decide if there is a German GP or not.. and him owning the Nurburgring is a guarantee that the place would stay open, if they take it.
Strontium (@strontium)
16th January 2014, 16:47
Whatever happens, it means a lower chance of a race there due to not wanting to pay himself money / not making any, just like with the French circuit.
antifia (@antifia)
17th January 2014, 16:06
What sends shivers through my spine the idea of him hiring Herman Tilke to “improve” the place… brrrrr. But on the other hand, if a race would deserve double points, it would be one held in the Green Hell!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
16th January 2014, 0:56
Happy birthday @dave , or “IL Dave”? I saw all the jokes about “La F1” yesterday, so have a nice day!
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2014, 6:38
Happy birthday to Il@dave from me too!
JCost (@jcost)
16th January 2014, 6:44
Happy b’day @dave
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
16th January 2014, 1:27
Congratulations to Vettel and his girlfriend who gave birth to a daughter three days ago (albeit only confirmed by various newspapers and not Vettel’s spokeswoman).
hutch (@hutch)
16th January 2014, 1:46
Nice of her to time it during the off-season
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
16th January 2014, 8:13
Haha, I’m sure it’s all part of the plan. I wonder if they’ll call her Gretl.
Great to have some good news, after all the sad stuff recently.
Robbie
16th January 2014, 13:35
Lol…Gretl…perfect!
David-A (@david-a)
16th January 2014, 2:38
That really shows how Vettel likes to keep his private life private, as opposed to the whole world having to know on Twitter/Facebook/whatever. Wasn’t the pregnancy only confirmed in the news about a month ago? Congratulations to the champ, and his girlfriend.
toiago (@toiago)
16th January 2014, 14:23
Maybe now he’ll soften a little bit, on track I mean.
Chad (@chaddy)
16th January 2014, 1:48
The Horner article title is about as misleading and pointlessly provocative as could be imagined.
matt90 (@matt90)
16th January 2014, 3:40
Agree. His quotes were fairly mild. “Susie is a very capable driver. Whether on merit she would make the cut at the moment is difficult to judge.” It really, really isn’t.
Jack (@jackisthestig)
16th January 2014, 11:18
I haven’t seen too many other DTM backmarkers in their thirties ‘making the cut’ in F1.
Deej92 (@deej92)
16th January 2014, 15:05
^ I couldn’t have put it better.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2014, 6:43
Which one of them @chaddy? Seems both the Bloomberg and The Telegraph go from the same materials, but the Bloomberg one is picked quotes to stir the pot, the other interview is fairly mild as @matt90 mentions.
Who would not agree with
about female racing drivers right now?
matt90 (@matt90)
16th January 2014, 13:10
It’s more the way they frame the quotes, as if suggesting that he’s being dismissive and sexist. It doesn’t explicitly state that any of that, but some of the phrases sound like they’re just trying to stir up trouble rather than give some examples to justify what are actually perfectly reasonable quotes.
karter22 (@karter22)
16th January 2014, 3:36
I can´t help but thinking that Ferrari will come up with somethin similar to that f2001 car. The front wing looks similar to what is going on this season and the nose does look low enough in relationship to the new regs…. Can´t help to think that the cars will go back to 2001 aero solutions and if so… it should play into Ferrari´s lap! I sure hope so!
matt90 (@matt90)
16th January 2014, 3:37
Glad you didn’t give any space to the Daily Mail piece on Schumacher. The article was horrible, unnecessary, and probably wrong.
Kimi4WDC
16th January 2014, 3:59
No wonder there is no sponsors or investors looking at Lotus regardless their performance.
With an attitude like that, why would anyone invest or sponsor the team for the amount that will go to cover Genii debt and them be liable for the rest of the debt. Also considering the “selective” nature of Genii’s repayment policy you can just forget getting anything back.
What a scam scheme.
I sincerely hope that Renault wont buy into their promises and reject the engine deal, just so we can get rid of Lopez’s incompetent management team and open Lotus for take over by someone else.
obviously
16th January 2014, 4:55
I think you are being hugely unfair towards them.
I think they have shown completely opposite, they have shown that they are a real team with a real dedication that is prepared to put it’s own money and risk it all in a hope that in the long run, their good track performance will reward their past efforts and investment.
They are not pulling the plug after one or two years and they are not trying to invest as little as possible, but they have to be sensible too, so they can’t just be happy with the fact that F1 is simply burning the money. Many teams are facing that reality, even the big ones like McLaren.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2014, 6:46
I seriously do not know what you are having a go at there Kimi4WDC. There is not much in that article that warrants anything you say here.
If you mean how “horrible” it is that Kimi has not yet received his complete salary, do you really think he cares all that much about it? Lopez mentions that the money will be transferred, probably when they get the money from Bernie for last season.
Tim M (@tim-m)
16th January 2014, 6:38
Thanks for the COTD! An unexpected surprise.
JCost (@jcost)
16th January 2014, 6:45
Nice move Bernie, too bad German courts are independent…
OllieJ (@olliej)
16th January 2014, 11:43
I bet he’s already got a quote for having sprinklers installed…
rsp123 (@rsp123)
16th January 2014, 13:11
The papers are reporting that Bernie will face trial for bribery in Germany. This puts the Nurburgring purchase (if it ever was on the cards) in a curious light.
How can BE remain in charge of F1 when facing a criminal trial – for a crime of dishonesty? More to the point, how can CVC allow Bernie to front F1 with criminal charges pending against him? Surely he’ll have to step down. Who’ll take over?
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
16th January 2014, 13:47
He has technically stepped down as a director, but is still acting as boss subject to monitoring. For the duration of the trial of course.
And hopefully once they throw his crooked butt in prison where it belongs, F1 can start to get itself back into some sort of reasonable shape.
Robbie
16th January 2014, 13:48
I haven’t followed BE’s legal issues too closely, but I think the short answer to your questions is that he hasn’t been convicted yet. Innocent until proven guilty. It’s not like he is a politician running a country and facing criminal charges, and even with a politician it might be a case of innocent until proven guilty, and be up to the voters at the next election what to do with the bloke.
As to it being a crime of dishonesty…perhaps the rest of the world might think that is terrible, but there are those within F1 who wouldn’t have the cache to deride BE for that…Spygate, Liegate, Crashgate, Ferrari getting special treatment just because…
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
16th January 2014, 14:02
No that’s the wrong way round – you can be a politician and as soon as allegations are made you’re basically obligated to resign. Even if those allegations are proven to be untrue, you don’t get your job back.
But don’t try to convince yourself that what Ecclestone is facing is some kind of misdemeanor. This equates to a potentially corrupt, fraudulent activity which has resulted in literally billions of pounds going to places it wouldn’t have otherwise. He would be complicit in one of the biggest cases of corruption in the 21st century.
Robbie
16th January 2014, 13:59
I don’t mind JYS and the respect I have for him regarding his affect on F1 from a safety aspect, not to mention from his career, trumps anything he says thats a little different from the normal take.
I wouldn’t think that today’s drivers have anywhere near the same mentality relating to the dangers of F1 and to death as they did in the 60’s and 70’s. And I wouldn’t have used the word ‘greedy’ but would have said something like a bit ‘too much’ from the standpoint of viewership and unpredictability in the sport. Greedy implies to me that they should back off and let someone else win, which of course would be ridiculous, and I’m sure JYS would not condone that.
Robbie
16th January 2014, 14:00
The above remark was meant in response to the top 3 responses on this page.
effone
16th January 2014, 16:55
Auto Motor and Sport is reporting that Gene Haas of NASCARs Stewart-Haas Racing team has submitted an entry for F1 to the FIA. The cars would be designed in-house but the initial build would be done by Dallara with Ferrari engines and transmissions. Gunther Steiner (ex Jaguar/Red Bull) would be team manager. There are also less likely bids from Colin Kolles and StefanGP.
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/haas-racing-will-2014-in-die-formel-1-7984603.html
Steven (@steevkay)
16th January 2014, 17:13
Good news, but we’ll have to see once more details are released about 2015. For now, I’ve enough to look forward to about 2014.
I’d love to see F1 back to a point where the grid is full, although maybe not to a point where a team needs to be dropped after qualifying (I think it was more commonplace in the 90s when there were lots of teams…)
Heck, even if the grid isn’t full, it’d be nice to see Caterham/Marussia finally pull it all together and compete for points on occasion.
Neil
16th January 2014, 17:06
“Susie [Wolff] is a very capable driver. Whether on merit she would make the cut at the moment is difficult to judge.”
Well everyone down the pit lane seems to love and respect her, so… why don’t all the rich teams and drivers pitch in and buy her a decent GP2 drive for next year? Then we’d be able to get a passable idea of whether she could cut it, wouldn’t we?
But maybe there’s a reason no one has ever taken a chance with her in GP2 before…