Week In Review. With the teams busily preparing for their trip to Melbourne next week, it seems the main contenders this year seem to be Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and… Williams (yes, that’s right, Williams!). As stated earlier, Williams have confirmed their main title sponsor this year is drinks company- Martini. The sponsorship deal between the Grove team and the Italian drinks firm has been something of an open secret in F1 circles during recent weeks, with images of their FW36 adorned in Martinis famous striped livery published on social media. On Thursday, however, Williams finally had the chance to reveal the new look themselves. A new look for Williams it might be, but Martinis colours have become an evocative image for motorsport fans over the years. The company first became involved in sportscar racing with Porsche in the late 1960s before switching to F1 in the early 1970s. By the mid-1970s, Martini had forged alliances with first the Brabham team and later Lotus, and continued to heavily sponsor sportscars and rallying into the 1980s. The deal comes at an opportune time given the impressive form Williams have shown during pre-season testing. Felipe Massa set the fastest time of all during the final test in Bahrain last week while the Mercedes-powered car has also shown pace and reliability on longer runs. We are thrilled to welcome Martini to the Williams family and officially launch Williams Martini Racing, said Sir Frank Williams. Williams and Martini share a rich history in the world of motorsport, and the values of our two brands and our shared passion for racing make this partnership a natural fit. It will be great to see the distinctive stripes of Martini Racing return to Formula 1 once again in unison with Williams. Ron Dennis is convinced he can return McLaren to winning ways this season after taking charge of the team again over the winter. Dennis installed himself as CEO of the McLaren Group in January, taking responsibility of the Formula One team for the first time since 2009. He returns looking to pick up the pieces after the teams worst season since 1980 and is adamant he can lead McLaren back to winning ways. I believe we will win races this year, he said. How many? I dont know. How soon? I dont know. The focus and commitment Ive given to this part of the company is huge. If everyone matches my passion, commitment and focus, we will most definitely win. The company was a little unfit, it needs to get fit and there is pain to getting fit. Hopefully everybody has got the right mindset to understand what we expect of each other and what I expect of them. It takes time. Youve got to give people time to understand whats expected of them and if they dont get there, they wont be with the company. Ex-team principal Martin Whitmarsh was one of the casualties in the January restructure at McLaren, but Dennis denies a rift triggered the changes in management. There has been no falling out between us whatsoever, he said. We had to make changes and I wanted to lead the changes because I felt it was the right thing for the group. I was supported in that view by the shareholders, so that is why Im doing it. Martin and I will find a common and positive way forward, but its as and when we have that we will communicate it. Jonathan Neale has taken on the role of acting CEO in the meantime, while Eric Boullier has been brought in as racing director. Dennis said there is no rush to fill complete the management structure until the team is convinced it has the right man for the job. That choice of person is critical to the long term future of the company and I will take my time. And ultimately with such an important decision, it will not be mine and mine alone. I would expect to share that with the shareholders and key individuals. It is not at the moment at the top of my must do list. I am comfortable with what we have in place at the moment. Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali shared his thoughts with the journalists about the upcoming season after the final day of testing earlier this week. “The rule changes for this season have been so radical that I’d say to get a consensus you would need further tests before the championship gets underway. In our case, we are taking a lot of data back home, which we will now analyse in depth. Some aspects deserve more attention to achieve the performance level we are looking for, while others maybe just need a bit of fine tuning. Once back in Maranello, we will do all in our power to rectify the things that aren’t working properly yet, so that we can be as well prepared as possible in Melbourne.” Domenicali reckons this will be an unusual season, especially in the early stages. “I believe, we could see big changes from the first race to the second and from the second to the third, with everyone bringing in developments all the time. At first, reliability will be the key, because without it you don’t score points. I also think that some teams that are struggling at the moment will be able to catch up, while teams that currently seem to have a slight advantage could see a plateau in their performance, allowing the others to close the gap. From what we have seen so far, there are two teams out in front, Mercedes and Williams. After them, it could be us.” For Scuderia Ferrari, the remaining days to the first race will be busy. “From our side, we know there is still a mountain of things for our engineers to develop. What I’m interested in and what I have specifically requested is that we define a list of priorities and stick to it. One aspect we will definitely be looking at is the relationship between the turbo engine and the electric energy recovery systems and there’s much to do in this area. On the other hand, we return to Maranello knowing that the figures we saw from the car during the design phase have been correlated at the track and that’s already a good starting point.” Mercedes say they are not taking their performance for granted at the start of the season despite their strong showing in pre-season testing. The team covered more kilometres than any of their rivals with the W05 chassis but experienced gearbox and engine problems on the last two days of testing in Bahrain. Executive director of business Toto Wolff expects the first race of the year in two weeks’ time to be “a reality check for every team on the grid”. “We have experienced ups and downs during these pre-season tests, with two challenging days in particular right at the end,” he said. “The problems we have faced during the last 48 hours would have had a significant impact on a race weekend and reliability is still the biggest obstacle we have to overcome. With that in mind, we will be taking nothing for granted in our preparations for the first race and beyond.” And like sharks circling the blood in the water, rumours about Red Bull’s ongoing association with Renault have been popping up around the websites this week. Many of the reigning world champions problems are undoubtedly down to engine supplier Renault and the French marques struggle with the new V6 power unit rules. So it is no surprise Red Bull, having won every title on offer since 2010 and every grand prix on the trot since last July, is supposedly on the move. But team boss Christian Horner on Thursday played down rumours of a switch to Honda, the incoming works supplier of turbo engines to McLaren next year. It is said Honda is the logical choice for Red Bull, given the fact F1s existing engine suppliers, Mercedes and Ferrari, are arch rivals. But Horner insisted: Theres still a huge amount of trust (between Red Bull and Renault). Were certainly not looking outside the current agreement we have”. Also rumoured to be eyeing greener grass is world champion Sebastian Vettel, despite Red Bull playing down rumours he recently threw a hissy fit when he realised the extent of the teams 2014 problems. But with Red Bull so obviously struggling, the Ferrari rumours were never going to be far down the road. Vettel insists: Im not a guy who runs away when it gets difficult. Thats the case both in my work and privately. Of course there are always those who want to tell you the grass is greener somewhere else, but we shouldnt forget the values of honesty, loyalty, the handshake. This should apply especially when things are not going your way, he added. And talking about hissy fits….. Romain Grosjean wasnt his always-smiling self during one dramatic moment at the Bahrain tests last week. Footage has emerged of the Frenchman angrily thumping the tool benches in the Lotus garage as he apparently discussed the new Renault-powered E22s obvious problems with an engineer. Having sat out the first test at Jerez amid recent financial problems, the extent of Lotus situation with its troubled 2014 car became clear only in Bahrain. Of course, Frenchman Grosjean is quoted by Speed Week, we are still far away from a good performance. We need to understand the brake-by-wire system, the new power unit and charging the batteries and in these areas, it doesnt look so good, he admitted. But together with Renault, we will work in the next two weeks until Melbourne to improve. The footage can be seen at: i.imgur/fTQTEYN.gif This time next week, cars will be on the track at Albert Park. Until then, have fun.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 00:28:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015