In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone doubts Gene Haas’s F1 team bid will make it into Formula One.
Thanks
Yesterday was one of the busiest days ever on F1 Fanatic. At one point the number of simultaneous visitors to the site was 80% higher than the previous peak recorded last year.
Had those levels of traffic occurred 12 months ago there is no question the old server would have buckled under the strain. But we’ve upgraded to a new server since then – the increased cost of which has so far been largely paid for by F1 Fanatic readers – and it coped superbly. There was no sign of any loss of performance, which hopefully bodes well for the future.
So I would like to once again say thanks to everyone who has contributed to F1 Fanatic either by becoming a subscriber (through which you can also view the site ad-free) or making a donation – and in some cases both! Your support is deeply appreciated.
If you would like to contribute to F1 Fanatic you can find out more information here:
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.
Ecclestone casts doubt on American team joining F1 (Racer)
“The FIA is not introducing a new team, the team is asking for an entry. Somebody has asked, ‘Can we have an entry.’ I doubt they will get in.”
Cosworth reveals 2014 F1 power unit (Racecar Engineering)
“The English company started work on a 2014 engine as long ago as 2010, when the regulations stipulated an I4 layout at the behest of Volkswagen.”
Eric Boullier set to be McLaren team principal after Lotus resignation (The Guardian)
“It is understood, though, that the choice of Boullier would principally have been made by the Bahrain royal family’s Mumtalakat investment company, which owns 50% of the group. Dennis and his business partner Mansour Ojjeh each own 25%. Boullier is well connected in Bahrain, where he has been involved in a number of sponsorship negotiations.”
German court orders Google to block Max Mosley sex party images (the Independent)
“A German court has ruled today that Google must block all access in the country to images of a sadomasochistic orgy involving the former Formula One boss Max Mosley.”
Winter drama changing the face of F1 (Autosport, subscription required)
“Where fans hoped the daft decision to award double points for the season finale would be rescinded, sources advise that Ecclestone brooked no discussion, stating it would be tried this year, full stop.”
F1 2014: Finger Noses (ScarbsF1)
“To make a nose ideally suited to the 2014 rules, it needs to raise as much of the nose shape out of the way of the airflow passing under the raised chassis. However the nose still needs to form the low tip and of the right cross section. While to meet the crash tests the nose shouldn’t be too short or hooked and maintaining the minimum cross section is not as crash-able as nose that tapers outwards towards the chassis.”
Welcome to F1 2014… (Mercedes via YouTube)
Official Launch Video: McLaren Mercedes MP4-29 (McLaren via YouTube)
FIA’s new Logistic and Technical Centre opened in Valleiry (FIA)
As well as providing much-needed office space for logistics and technical personnel, which will allow them to better co-ordinate the federation’s presence at motorsport events worldwide, the facility will also house all the support vehicles and equipment the FIA regularly sends to events. This includes the radio and weather vehicle, two catering trucks and the two technical trucks that attend each Formula One Grand Prix in Europe as well equipment and vehicles used in the World Rally Championship, World Touring Car Championship and in the World Karting Championships.
James Hunt Goes Testing (F1 Speedwriter)
“As the medical men ran over to see what could be done for the driver Niki noticed there didn’t seem to be any damage to the car and when he came closer Teddy Mayer was leaning over the slumped figure in the cockpit. ‘James’, said Teddy, ‘I think you’d better go back to the hotel and sleep it off.'”
Tweets
Exclusive behind the scenes pic of Eric Boullier’s leaving present. Something to read before the season starts… pic.twitter.com/j9dAE6eWG6
— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) January 24, 2014
Good day today :) feels great to have completed first full flying lap ever with new STR9 ! Can't wait for more ;-)
— Daniil Kvyat (@Dany_Kvyat) January 24, 2014
All I can say about our nose is that it's a boy and he is already good looking ;) #TOROUNCHAINED #JEV25 #F1
— Jean-Eric Vergne (@JeanEricVergne) January 24, 2014
Had confirmation that it was @NicoHulkenberg who drove the new @clubforce VJM07 at Silverstone today
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) January 24, 2014
New helmet arrived today! Great job by: http://t.co/bdfRf0u5vJ . What do you guys think? #BellHelmets #NR9 pic.twitter.com/DnL2kuGppu
— Marcus Ericsson (@Ericsson_Marcus) January 24, 2014
Found these at the factory ready to be put in the car for next week ;) #BO77AS #77 pic.twitter.com/CYaxtTkJw4
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) January 24, 2014
Chatted with Jenson just now. It's obvious in his voice and written on his face that it's all a struggle right now. I feel for the guy #f1
— Byron Young (@byronf1) January 24, 2014
I never thought F1 cars could look ugly because it's the pinnacle of design and aerodynamic work!But this years cars proved me wrong.Or not?
— Timo Glock (@realTimoGlock) January 24, 2014
https://twitter.com/stcquentinF1/status/426703730390884352
An ex-F1 driver emails to say: "By God, the McLaren is ugly." As most in F1 would say, they tend to look beautiful when they win. Will it?
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) January 24, 2014
The four #F1 cars of 2014 so far. More pictures here: http://t.co/pJPAu8qq06 And tomorrow we'll see @InsideFerrari's. pic.twitter.com/A4a5i6LFCg
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) January 24, 2014
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The problem with this year’s cars in a nutshell.
I remember when I used to use F1 car launches to change my desktop background.
@Deanmachine
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Mouse_Nightshirt, Taimur, Dylan Lopez and Dylan Lopez!
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
Happy birthday to Johnny Cecotto who is 58 today.
Cecotto was the second Venezuelan driver to qualify for an F1 race, following Ettore Chimeri’s single start in 1960. Pastor Maldonado is his only successor to date.
Cecotto had a successful career in motorbike racing before switching to cars. He made his F1 debut with Theodore in 1983 and the following year was Ayrton Senna’s team mate at Toleman.
Unsurprisingly he was eclipsed by Senna’s stunning talent, a ninth place in Canada his only finish before his season was curtailed by a dreadful crash in practice at Brands Hatch which ended his F1 career.
He had a successful subsequent career in touring cars, winning the Italian championship in 1989 and Germany’s Supertourenwagen Cup in 1994 and 1998, all with BMW. He has also helped guide the career of son Johnny Cecotto Jnr.
Image © Jamey Price/James Moy Photography
OmarR-Pepper (@)
25th January 2014, 0:07
That Lotus interpretation of the rules shows me how wide the possible ways to elaborate on the rules are. The rules were clear about just one tip, so they decided to make one longer than the other. Ugly but clever.
Meander (@meander)
25th January 2014, 0:18
Very sneaky. Let’s see if it works…
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 0:30
The regs will be rewritten, probably for 2015. Wonder if the FIA will declare any noses outside the poorly written regs this year?
Sadly the much of the media talk of the start of the F1 season will be ugly noses and double points.
mantresx (@mantresx)
25th January 2014, 0:46
I think it’s great to see some variety for a change, even if it only lasts for a season. The only problem is that we may run out of animals to name the new noses hehe
Chad (@chaddy)
25th January 2014, 1:35
Will Lotus change which side is longer depending on the clockwise/counterclockwise nature of the track?
BJ (@beejis60)
25th January 2014, 9:14
Scarbs said earlier today that he doesn’t think it will make a difference, but only Lotus know at the moment.
James (@jimmyd13)
25th January 2014, 14:23
There must be some form of advantage and if they’re are making new ones for each race anyway they might as well swap them around, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
25th January 2014, 17:05
I think they should impose a larger nose tip and everything would be fine. Those ugly noses occur because they want as much air as possible under the car from there and thus thin nose tip. Larger one would make agressive looks which could be very nice looking…
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
25th January 2014, 0:09
Perhaps we can take some solace in Ecclestone saying double points will be *tried* this year. It is not going to become a permanent fixture just yet, and if it falters, there is always the option of forgetting about it next year.
Robbie
25th January 2014, 13:26
Perhaps you are right. Seems like millions upon millions, including the teams, hope you are. It all comes down to viewership. Some fans have said they are done with F1. I suspect whatever number of fans that might be will be overwhelmed initially by a healthy number viewing out of curiosity over the new regs.
Then it will come down to how the product is on the track…how processional or not…how DRS’y or not…how lottery or not…how ‘gatey’ or not. If one team, particularly RBR, runs away with it and wins with 4 races to go, BE will push for 3 double points races. If 2 or 3 drivers have a shot with one race to go, even without the double points available, then BE’s case for it is weakened.
Ultimately the fans will decide. If they truly can’t stand the manufactured ending to the season, and the diminishing of all the other races’ importance, then the lack of viewership will speak volumes to BE, especially if it means the major reg changes didn’t help the numbers ultimately, but the double points hurt doubly.
cjpdk (@cjpdk)
25th January 2014, 21:14
@prisoner-monkeys Was the same not said about DRS?
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
26th January 2014, 10:02
@prisoner-monkeys Don’t worry. When Vettel snatches the title at the final race from Alonso due to the double points system, the ensuing backlash from fans will be enough to kill double points forever.
Robbie
27th January 2014, 1:33
Lol…pretty much BE’s nightmare, huh…Vettel taking it from FA, or what if it was LH’s to lose and SV took it….Either someone who had the edge already is going to win it, or someone is going to get robbed in 2014.
Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
25th January 2014, 0:14
COTD is priceless! I had exactly the same thought today thinking back to the MP4-26 launch with the incredible U-shaped side pods. The MP4-29 though…oh dear. Interesting stuff from Scarbs as well, that the bigger teams may be investigating a blunt shorter nose that we might see later in the season.
Lets hope that Mercedes and Ferrari have gone against the first four teams and opted for something less…mammalian.
mantresx (@mantresx)
25th January 2014, 0:50
Yeah, hats off to Scarbs, if I’m excited about the new cars, I can’t imagine how he feels right now!
Steven (@steevkay)
25th January 2014, 6:47
Yeah that was a funny COTD. I still have a MP4-23 that I still rotate as my desktop background.
Meander (@meander)
25th January 2014, 0:17
After some consideration, I have decided that, even though I can’t get used to the silly noses (yet?), the cars look pretty stunning so far. I really like the new shapes and liveries so far and can’t wait to see them move.
Meander (@meander)
25th January 2014, 0:20
Btw, I’m liking Ericsson’s helmet as well. Refreshingly retro (paradox?).
Tomsk (@tomsk)
25th January 2014, 0:38
It could have been even better without the huge white band that spoils it.
andae23 (@andae23)
25th January 2014, 7:32
I agree, apart from the noses, the Force India and McLaren look fantastic imo, whereas the Lotus looks OK. Regarding the car shapes, from the side the McLaren looks a bit hunchback, which I quite like for some reason.
SoLiDG (@solidg)
25th January 2014, 11:13
Same here.
I like the downward nose.. except for the nose tips. When they get rid of them you have a great looking f1 car.. and the sound is awesome it seems!
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 0:23
Random thoughts…
• Haas team sceptical about Ecclestone bid to stay in F1
• This is hereby declared the year of the snout.
Which is more embarrassing to the FIA?
• The poorly thought out snout nose regulations?
• Or, the demeaning double points debacle?
Boullier to McLaren. Brawn to __________?
• Honda?
• HaasF1?
• Replace Ecclestone?
Robbie
25th January 2014, 13:41
Haas sceptical about F1’s inability to control costs and knee-jerk double points rules with the threat of even more of that, while at the same time the fox (Ferrari) is in charge of the hen house.
Brawn to Honda? I can see that.
Brawn to Haas? Why would he?
Brawn to replace BE? That’s gonna take billions, no? It’s not like he can be unelected, like the head of FIA could. Or am I wrong…can’t say I’m intimate with the reality of how the next ‘BE’ will be determined.
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 16:47
The challenge?
This is my pipe dream, that somebody with real firsthand knowledge of how F1 should be and could be run eventually take over when Bernie is out. Brawn is the one name that comes to mind. Details of how to make it happen are out of my realm. Like I said, this my pipe dream…
Robbie
26th January 2014, 2:23
Fair enough!
Tomsk (@tomsk)
25th January 2014, 0:41
I hope Bottas gets that whole strip of stickers going down the nose of the car! That’d look great.
That piece about Bernie is rubbish. Just a single soundbite and a load of padding, typical of its author attempting to get a reaction from the shrivelled crook’s increasingly eccentric rantings.
SD (@sd)
25th January 2014, 1:11
We humans r always resistant to change. The same with F1 fans; we r always skeptical about new cars and designs. We dint like the new cars in 2009, we dint like them with the stepped noses, we r not liking them now. but what we are not considering is how much thought and effort went into getting that nose right. The focus of an average F1 fan is tending towards how good the cars look and sound, not how the rules have been interpreted to get the maximum out of it. It makes me sad to see there are so many comments about the ugly noses but no one takes about the wings, the diffusers, the engines etc. The opinions and views of an average fan seems to be very shallow and that is not a very good sign.
Ciaran (@ciaran)
25th January 2014, 2:44
@sd Couldn’t agree more. And it gets worse when people complain about innovations, then complain even louder when they get taken away – see the winglets on the 2008 cars as an example. It probably doesn’t help that most COTDs on this site seem to be complaining about something, I’d imagine it doesn’t leave a good impression on many fans.
Kelsier (@kelsier)
25th January 2014, 4:10
The problem people have with the noses is that its just a clumsy formulation in the regulations that made them that way.
Nobody ever thought: “Hey lets make an F1 car with a snout because thats the best way to make F1 cars”.
Mads (@mads)
25th January 2014, 11:43
@sd
I don’t think I have seen ANYONE complain about what the teams are doing. The complains are about the shape of the noses, and that is because the FIA made a rule change and didn’t bother to make sure the cars didn’t end up looking like god knows what. that is the problem.
schooner (@schooner)
25th January 2014, 1:24
The Mercedes sound bite reminded me of Indy car. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I will miss the ear piercing howl of those high revving, naturally aspirated V8s. For anyone who gets the chance, I highly recommend attending an event where there is a good collection of historic F1 cars participating. Listening to (and watching, of course) that amazing collection of V8s, V10s, flat 12s, turbos, etc., on track at the same time … it truly is an internal combustion symphony.
Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
25th January 2014, 1:43
I have to say, it will be bitter-sweet for me to see the day that Ecclestone has to relinquish control of F1. Every time he speaks to the media, it’s about something negative. We only want 10 teams, we’re going to do double-points, Haas F1 isn’t going to happen, etc. It’s annoying to see how much of a negative outlook this guy has. For the leader of a multi-billion dollar company, I’ve never seen anyone so negative!
obviously
25th January 2014, 3:27
If you were a crooked thief who, at the end of his life, realized he can’t take his wealth with him in to the grave, and all you are leaving behind are two horrible brats that won’t amount to anything in their life but vanity and reality shows, and that your ex wife, just as shallow and cold, won’t miss you at all, that’s when you realize you don’t have much to be happy about.
Money is worthless if you don’t have anything worthier in life.
Paul (@frankjaeger)
25th January 2014, 1:51
I, as many others could see the impact John Button’s death has had on his son; It was unusual seeing Jenson so uncollected and absent. I sincerely wish him all the best and hope he stays strong.
On another note, I would like to say Thank You, Keith.
I am sure I wouldn’t have been such an avid follower of F1 if it wasn’t for this site. It really has helped cement my interest for the sport.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 2:04
On Cosworth, it seems so wasteful that they have gone to all the resource to develop an engine for Formula One…only for it not to see use. I do hope they find customers (perhaps in the WEC) because they are a great company who of course (in partnership with Ford) created the most successful engine of all time.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th January 2014, 17:20
Yeah, I think Cosworth is looking at supplying it to a WEC team, although who knows, maybe they will be back in F1 not too far from now too. For an engineering company its probably a must to show that they have the capacity to do such an engine, if they want to stay in the picture for F1 and top level motorsports.
Yaya Ishaq (@ferrari_412t)
25th January 2014, 2:17
Getting a bit bored of the negativity surrounding the new cars to be honest. I personally like the sleek and simple designs. Sure the noses look odd but at least different teams have taken different approaches to their application which can’t be a bad thing in terms of variety. I would take these any day in comparison to the stepped noses of 2012.
Can’t wait to see them in action. The sound shouldn’t be a problem either.
David not Coulthard (@)
25th January 2014, 3:45
will we see a Haas-Cosworth (for those who like gossips: The source of the question is one of my brain cells – no reliable sources or anything like that)?
Kelsier (@kelsier)
25th January 2014, 4:05
“I doubt they get in” = I’ll make sure they don’t get in.
Stroked & Blown
25th January 2014, 4:15
Wonder what Seb is going to call this year’s car…
Beth’s horny brother?
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 5:29
The best news of the day is that 2014 F1 cars are beginning to be fired up and put through some of their paces. Soon they will be driven in anger, wheel to wheel. When the lights go off in Melbourne a lot of the doubts and hype will fall away and the racing will be what matters most. At this point there is hope for a season full of expectations and pleasant uncertainties even though now there are more questions than answers. But we know one thing for sure, 2014 will be different.
obviously
25th January 2014, 6:18
Why does everyone moan so much about how they look? Ok, it’s not a dream, but after you see it and have an initial reaction, why not just get over it and forget about it after 5 minutes? It’s not that big deal really.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
25th January 2014, 7:24
I hope that Ecclestone article is a piece of rubbish as I would love to see Haas in F1, they have got the facilities for it. I hope that Ecclestone isn’t still going on about the whole ’10 teams’ idea and that is why ‘he’ is resisting.
Get rid of him…
Jaanus (@)
25th January 2014, 8:05
So I guess we all agree, “Bernie, go home. You are drunk.”
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
25th January 2014, 8:27
Drunk on power…
Patrick (@paeschli)
25th January 2014, 9:44
On COTD: take a picture taken from the back of the car …
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
25th January 2014, 9:48
I suppose I’d be branded a heretic for saying that I actually prefer the sound of the V6 to the old V8. I found that with all the teams fundamentally gearing and mapping the old V8s in the same fashion, the noise was growing rather stale. A new soundtrack, and a fabulous one at that, really does audibly announce the fact that we’re heading into a new era. I am very chuffed…
On a secondary note, I can only doff my cap to you Keith. I have an app on my phone, Newsify, which uses various RSS feeds to give me news, and F1Fanatic was always the first to upload pictures from the launches. F1Fanatic has already established itself as the home of F1 discussion, and now it is the home of F1 news too.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 10:55
@william-brierty I guess I am a heretic too! The lower frequency sound produced by the lower revs and fewer cyclinders make the cars sound less forced (ironically, considering they are forced induction engines) – the V8 cars sounded rather like lynxs trying to be lions, whereas the V6’s are lions.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
25th January 2014, 11:39
@vettel1 –
I love that! And its true, Max. Towards the end of the V8 era, the engineers where so utterly optimizing the engines, that the sound was fairly uniformed across the field. However, with these new engines we will have teams operating their engines with massively different philosophies, or at least initially. The Mercedes has something of a petrol LMP1 car about it, and reminds be of the Toyota TS030 of last year, whereas the Renault of the Caterham is a little less deep in terms of pitch, and much more shrill at higher revs than the Mercedes. That means in 2013 I will be able to pull the same trick I did on the Friday of the 2004 British GP, where I lent up against the inside of the pit wall, facing away from the track (I had a pit pass, I was a guest of McLaren – my friend was a press officer for them) before saying “Ferrari…Toyota…Williams…Jordan…McLaren…BAR…” as they went past, as the McLaren engineers looked at me with utterly astonishment…
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
25th January 2014, 11:41
*That means in 2014
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 12:25
@william-brierty I assume you scored 100% in your little test? ;) What a great F1 party trick though, I may test myself on that one if I manage to get to a Grand Prix this year!
The interesting one for me is the Ferrari – will it sound anything like the supposed Formula One engine in the LaFerrari chassis we saw? Also, I wonder how engine sound will correlate to performance – hopefully it’s a positive trend!
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
25th January 2014, 13:26
@vettel1 – Yes, 100%, but it was not possible when I tried it at Spa last year. The only decipherable features were the deeper sounding downshifts of the Mercedes-engined cars, the wail of the Ferrari engine at high revs and obviously the RB9 cutting four cylinders. I’ll give it a go this year at the grands prix I’m going to, I bet it’ll be easier…
Yes, Ferrari will be interesting, a) in that they have an illustrious history in engine development with the 2006 V8 in the 248 F1 allowing Ferrari to challenge the mechanically and aerodynamically superior R26, b) in that they are reportedly lagging behind Renault and Mercedes in terms of development and c), Montezemelo said some months back that V6s aren’t in Ferrari’s “culture”. Regarding the LaFerrari, yes, it essentially has two F1 V6s pushed together in it, albeit with a KERS system not an ERS system.
pH (@ph)
25th January 2014, 10:11
I wonder how long it will take before some erotic toy company comes up with F1-related vibrator line.
anonymouscoward (@anonymouscoward)
25th January 2014, 10:17
When i heard Ron was returning i thought that finally Whitmarsh would be removed as team principle, what i didn’t expect was to be replacing him with the team principle i admire less :(
Poul Winther (@poul)
25th January 2014, 10:39
Not much notice of Boullier to McLaren in the comments? Rather surprising as I (personally) find that to be by far the most interesting story above. I am aware it broke sometime yesterday but apparently Dennis has been against a lot of Whitmarsh’s decisions of late.
Several times during the season Dennis advised Whitmarsh to scrap the 2013 contender and return to MP27. He also wanted Perez to stay (solely because of his sponsors) while finding a different seat for Magnussen for 2014. Whitmarsh refused the first point while trying to oblige to the second one which fell apart when Force India walked away from the agreement.
The internal turmoil this close to the season opener sounds like a pretty bad start to me. The fact that Button was already officially welcoming Dennis back almost just hours before Boullier was announced seems like nobody knows what is really going on or what the new intentions are. It will cause a lot of people to feel uncertain and even if it can cause some to increase performance I think the timing is pretty bad right when everything needs to come together for the new season.
Personally I would trust Whitmarsh over Dennis any day and without knowing what else goes on behind the scenes I doubt that the actual replacement of principal will move the team forward. Clearly the design efforts of MP28 were not up to par and if the design team couldn’t even find any real causes; well, that’s where I would have cracked the whip instead!
Now the team suddenly find themselves with a principal who was mainly so successful with Lotus because of a top designer and a top driver that were both above the budget he had available. Is that really going to help? To me it looks like another erratic overreaction from a frustrated Dennis.
Ripples are not going to make the team ship sail any faster.
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
25th January 2014, 10:56
When was Bernie not sceptical about something that didn’t involve filling his pockets?
Obi-Spa Kenobi (@obi-spa-kenobi)
25th January 2014, 16:15
Given the state of things, and a need for F1 to grow its awareness in the US, you would think little Bernie would be more positive at the possibility of a US run team.
matt90 (@matt90)
25th January 2014, 17:34
That wasn’t the case in 2012.