[F1] F1 nieuwtjes topic deel 111: waar nieuwtjes niet meer voorkomen.

quote:

Oct.22 (GMM) McLaren is reportedly seeking a new engine partner for its famous formula one team.

The Woking based team has been powered by Mercedes engines since 1995, but the German carmaker now has its own, entirely separate works team.

Indeed, McLaren's current Mercedes relationship will soon end, leaving the Martin Whitmarsh-led team having to become a normal engine 'customer' like Force India.

Honda, the Japanese carmaker who in the past enjoyed a successful F1 partnership with McLaren, has been mentioned as a possible alternative, particularly with the sport's rules switching from V8 to turbo V6s in 2014.

Honda pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season.

"I follow the rules, certainly, and if they present an opportunity then it would be nice to go back (to F1)," Honda's head of research and development Yoshiharu Yamamoto admitted this month.

The Sun newspaper said McLaren is indeed "looking to ditch Mercedes and reunite with Honda".

"There is no way McLaren will stay as a customer for Mercedes engines," a source is quoted as saying.

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 09:15 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Nog meer F1 nieuws dan maar.

'McLaren wil af van Mercedes motor'

[..]

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 10:25 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
Een zakje geld kan denk ik VW wel overtuigen om de Formule 1 in te gaan. McLaren-Porsche.

Klinkt niet gek

twitter:

f1enigma twitterde op maandag 22-10-2012 om 11:08:54 Robin Frijns will test for Red Bull in the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test reageer retweet

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 01:43 schreef k_man het volgende:
En van Burdie.

Het formule 1 nieuwtjes topic... twee pagina en geen enkele post gaat over F1.

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 14:18 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Drie teams hebben tot dusverre de line up voor de Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test bevestigd.

Sauber: Esteban Gutierrez, Robin Frijns
McLaren: Gary Paffet, Oliver Turvey, Kevin Magnusson
Red Bull: Antonio Felix Da Costa, Robin Frijns

quote:

During a constructive meeting, Jean Todt, the FIA President, in co-operation with Bernie Ecclestone, the Commercial Rights Holder, has presented to all F1 Team Principals the new structure of governance, including the new conditions of entry for the Concorde Agreement, starting in 2013.

All the participants in the meeting were encouraged to seek clarification which resulted in a fruitful and helpful debate on how the new structure would operate in 2013 and beyond.

A further important step has been achieved today to secure the future of the F1 World Championship which should lead to a final settlement to be reached between the FIA, the Commercial Rights Holder and the Teams in the coming weeks.

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 14:18 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Drie teams hebben tot dusverre de line up voor de Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test bevestigd.

Sauber: Esteban Gutierrez, Robin Frijns
McLaren: Gary Paffet, Oliver Turvey, Kevin Magnusson
Red Bull: Antonio Felix Da Costa, Robin Frijns

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 20:43 schreef D. het volgende:

[..]

Zenden ze die test nog ergens uit?

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 20:34 schreef nils7 het volgende:
is Frijns trouwens kampioen geworden...?

ah ja

De line up van Sauber ziet er zo voor 2013 prima uit dacht ik zo

quote:

Op dinsdag 23 oktober 2012 09:53 schreef nils7 het volgende:
Oh ja... ik was Nico vergeten, was die al bevestigd dan?

quote:

Renaultsport F1 has revealed its 2014 Formula 1 power unit. The 1.6 litre V6 has already undergone extensive testing at the firms factory in Paris and the results are promising.
“The project plan was initially constructed for a 2013 arrival date, and so the kick-off point was formally way back in September 2010″ explains Rob White, Renault Sport F1′s Deputy Managing Director, “We have now been running development engines of various types since the latter part of last year. First of all we had single cylinder engines running. There are some extremely significant bits of learning needed in order to be ready.
“We also had a multi-cylinder engine for the previous architecture that was running and has run more recently. We have now run a V6 and the programme is more or less in line with our planning. We’ve got new learning to do: everything to do with direct injection, everything to do with turbocharging in these new conditions, a substantially bigger energy recovery system design.”

quote:

Op maandag 22 oktober 2012 14:18 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Drie teams hebben tot dusverre de line up voor de Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test bevestigd.

Sauber: Esteban Gutierrez, Robin Frijns
McLaren: Gary Paffet, Oliver Turvey, Kevin Magnusson
Red Bull: Antonio Felix Da Costa, Robin Frijns

quote:

Oct.24 (GMM) Mercedes is working on a "completely new car" for the 2013 season, Niki Lauda has revealed.

Lauda, the F1 legend and triple world champion, is Mercedes' brand new non-executive chairman -- the main link between the Stuttgart carmaker and the Ross Brawn-led, UK-based team.

With this year's W03, Nico Rosberg won in Shanghai and Michael Schumacher lapped the quickest in qualifying at Monaco, but otherwise the silver machine has often been a disappointment.

With the regulations staying essentially stable next year, ahead of the radical changes for 2014, most teams are working on evolutions of their current cars for next season.

But with Lewis Hamilton arriving from McLaren for 2013, simply evolving the W03 is not going to be Mercedes' approach, Austrian Lauda suggested to the broadcaster RTL.

"We are working on a concept for a completely new car. The current one is simply not fast enough," he said.

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 02:35 schreef Nober het volgende:

[..]

Vet en dan gaat Armstrong daar fietsen en wie hem raakt krijgt extra punten voor het wk?

twitter:

MyCaterhamF1 twitterde op donderdag 25-10-2012 om 10:24:30 Driving schedule will be @GvanderGarde doing days one and two (Tuesday 6th / Wednesday 7th Nov) & @alexanderrossi day three (Thursday 8th) reageer retweet

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 17:36 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
Formule 1 op de campingzender is ook niet alles ...

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 17:37 schreef vosss het volgende:

[..]

Achter de decoder of op SBS en maar een handjevol op de BBC.

Het wordt hoe dan ook huilen met de pet op volgend jaar voor ons

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 17:41 schreef vosss het volgende:
Duitsers zijn sowieso erg, dus dat is voor mij geen optie, hoewel ik prima Duits spreek

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 18:56 schreef Nober het volgende:

[..]

Geen reclameblokken tijdens de race, Plooij weer in de pitstraat en Frijns op pole position wat wil je nog meer?

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 18:56 schreef Nober het volgende:

[..]

Geen reclameblokken tijdens de race, Plooij weer in de pitstraat en Frijns op pole position wat wil je nog meer?

quote:

PARIJS - De Grote Prijs van Frankrijk in de Formule 1 keert zeer waarschijnlijk terug op de agenda van 2013, na daarop vier jaar te hebben ontbroken.

De race zal worden gehouden op het circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. ''Het is voor negentig procent zeker'', zei directeur Stéphane Clair donderdag. ''Er zijn een promotor en nieuwe potentiële investeerders.''

De GP van Frankrijk, in juni of september, komt in de plaats van New York, dat de primeur van een Formule 1-wedstrijd een jaar heeft uitgesteld.

Clair verwacht dat F1-baas Bernie Ecclestone uiterlijk eind november uitsluitsel geeft. Paul Ricard had het circus tot 1990 in huis; daarna werd tot 2008 gereden op het circuit van Magny-Cours.

quote:

Op donderdag 25 oktober 2012 17:41 schreef vosss het volgende:
Duitsers zijn sowieso erg, dus dat is voor mij geen optie, hoewel ik prima Duits spreek

quote:

Ferrari have spent the last few races watching helplessly as a once-commanding championship lead for their driver Fernando Alonso has been turned into a narrow deficit by the revived steamroller that is Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.

Where Red Bull have significantly improved their car, Ferrari have effectively stood still, and they have been quite open about the fact that they are struggling to introduce new aerodynamic developments.

This, they say, is a result of a lack of correlation between the results they are getting from their wind tunnel, a crucial tool where new parts are tested, and the effect when those new parts are put on the car on the track.

That is a major concern - and especially so because it has been going on for two years, with Ferrari intermittently thinking they have got to the bottom of the problem, and then realising again that they haven't.

An F1 car's performance is 80% dictated by aerodynamics. They are developed by a wind tunnel and by using a computer programme known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) .

If a wind tunnel is running correctly, it is the best way to develop a car, while CFD is a good tool for understanding airflow around the car.

A wind tunnel is a complicated device used to simulate a complicated phenomenon.

In effect, a racing car is travelling at a speed over the track but the mass of the car is moving slower because it is pushing air in front of it, with the exception of the parts that are producing downforce - such as the front wing, diffuser and rear wing, which energise airflow and make it go faster.

What you're trying to do is minimise the amount of air the car is pushing forward and maximise the speed of the airflow over it, because that creates downforce.
Ferrari's wind tunnel at Maranello

In a wind tunnel, you have air being blown by a fan, the road rolling and the car sitting still. It's a very different environment from the track.

You want the airflow in front of the car - what is called the boundary layer - and the rolling road to be at the same speed.

To do that is an absolute nightmare, and they never will be the same.

Another problem is that the size of the models the teams use has increased over the years - most now use a 60% scale model - but the size of the wind tunnels themselves has not.

That can mean that the airflow coming off the car hits the wall or the roof, which changes the airflow over the car.

The result of all that is that, in reality, the wind tunnel and the track will never completely correlate.

To successfully read the wind tunnel results, therefore, the group of people running it has to understand what is important - you need the people there to see past the raw data and understand what it means.

In short, I don't think the problem Ferrari are trying to fix can be fixed. And they created another problem for themselves by going to use another wind tunnel - Toyota's in Germany, left over from the now defunct Toyota works F1 team.

So they have results from one wind tunnel, different results from another, and more results from CFD and they're standing in the middle scratching their heads.

Shutting down their own wind tunnel, as they are going to do, is the right thing. It takes out of the equation one extra thing that can mess them up.

Before India, they also went off and did some straight-line testing. That is very important - you can do a ride-height map and match that to the wind tunnel, you can see when the diffuser and front wing stall more accurately.

You'll see a lot of stuff that will help you understand the aerodynamic map of the car a bit better but you won't see what happens when the driver turns the steering wheel, and that is the important bit. It defines how fast a car goes around a corner.

It's very difficult to simulate how the airflow works as a car goes around a race track, so you need a group of people who can read the data you do get and understand the off-sets. Otherwise, you are wasting all your time at a race track and you'll never get it sorted.

I still believe Ferrari missed the basics of the aerodynamic package of the car this year - the exhaust outlets still compromise the airflow too much in the important 'coke-bottle' area between the rear tyres.

When they changed it for the Spanish Grand Prix in May, they made it better and said there was another step to come. But they haven't taken that next step. Red Bull, by contrast, have developed their car from being not so good at the start of the year, to one that was better and which they could develop further.

Red Bull have been making small changes all the time. You had to look twice to see the change they made to the rear of the sidepods in Korea, but the effect of it was big enough to justify a completely new rear bodywork package, which is not cheap or easy.

And the small amount of change needed to make the 'coke-bottle' work better, Ferrari could do that tomorrow, and make 10 times that change, but they haven't. So there is a lack of vision there in terms of seeing where they're trying to get to with the car.

And that's the main problem. Ferrari lack a visionary - someone like Red Bull's chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

That doesn't mean they can't build a good car. They have - it started bad and it got better. Since the Spanish Grand Prix it has been there or thereabouts, but never actually the quickest.

Combined with Alonso's consistency it was enough to build a decent championship lead by mid-season. But as Red Bull have come on strong, Alonso has lost his advantage - not helped by being taken off at the first corner in two of the last five races.

But as this year has proven, whether that is enough to beat Red Bull over a full season is another matter.

They might have to take a step backwards to go forwards. They stated ahead of this season that they had taken a deliberately aggressive approach to the design of their car. But I don't understand what that is.

You only design something that is going to be better - stiffer, lighter or produces more downforce.

If it isn't at least one of those three things you can be as aggressive as you like, you're not going to progress.

quote:

Het is te hopen dat de gegevens dan wel kloppen

quote:

Op vrijdag 26 oktober 2012 13:37 schreef vosss het volgende:

[..]

En het lullige is dat je daar eigenlijk pas echt in de praktijk achter komt

quote:

Op vrijdag 26 oktober 2012 10:51 schreef vosss het volgende:
Frijns bij Sauber zou wel tof zijn

quote:

Op vrijdag 26 oktober 2012 15:24 schreef nils7 het volgende:

[..]

Zeker... als ik dat zo zie heeft ie dezelfde staat van dienst als Vettel.

twitter:

LeeMcKenzieF1 twitterde op woensdag 31-10-2012 om 10:07:10 As predicted, Nico Hulkenberg signs for Sauber for 2013 reageer retweet

quote:

Teams moeten fors meer betalen in 2013
2 november 2012

De FIA heeft besloten het inschrijfgeld voor het seizoen 2013 flink omhoog te gooien. Moesten de teams dit jaar nog 306.000 euro betalen om mee te mogen doen, volgend jaar moeten er door sommige teams miljoenen worden neergeteld.

De autosportbond heeft namelijk besloten de hoogte van het inschrijfgeld afhankelijk te maken van het aantal punten dat het team in het jaar ervoor heeft gescoord. Alle teams betalen een basisbedrag van 385.000 euro plus 3.850 euro voor elk gescoord punt. Het team dat kampioen wordt bij de constructeurs, moet nog meer neertellen. Dat team betaalt naast het basisbedrag 4.625 euro per behaald punt.

Dit betekent dat Red Bull meer dan 3 miljoen euro moet ophoesten om in 2013 op de grid te mogen staan, terwijl Caterham, HRT en Marussia voor 385.000 euro klaar zijn.

quote:

Op vrijdag 2 november 2012 15:57 schreef vosss het volgende:

[..]

Juist ja. Alles moet goedkoper, budgetplafond en weet ik het wat, maar de teams moeten de kas wel meer spekken

Ik zie de nodige overeenkomsten met het plan voor het zorgstelsel waar Caterham, HRT en Marussia de teams met een uitkering zijn en Ferrari en Red Bell en consorten de teams met meer dan 70K per jaar

quote:

Op maandag 5 november 2012 11:26 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

[..]

Nee, is een verkapte vorm van belasting.

Achtergrond is dat de FIA ook een deel (3%) van de TV inkomsten en dergelijke wil hebben aangezien ze voor een groot deel ook de regelgeving vaststellen en handhaven.

quote:

Op maandag 5 november 2012 13:28 schreef JohnB52 het volgende:
Zal t vast wel ergens verdiend hebben?

quote:

Op maandag 5 november 2012 13:33 schreef RingBewoner het volgende:

[..]

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Prost

Niet echt dus.

quote:

Op maandag 5 november 2012 14:26 schreef JohnB52 het volgende:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Prost

NL wiki is niet actueel

quote:

De talentvolle coureur uit Maastricht kon bij het beroemde raceteam van wereldkampioen Sebastian Vettel zo instappen in de opleiding.
''Maar ik weet dat ze daar spelletjes spelen. Je mag niets zelf beslissen en als je niet doet wat zij willen, lig je eruit. Ze behandelen je als een hond."
De grootste belofte in de Nederlandse autosport houdt de controle graag in eigen hand. ''Ik heb in mijn carrière altijd mijn eigen keuzes gemaakt en dat wil ik blijven doen.''
''Ik heb mensen nodig om me heen op wie ik kan vertrouwen en waar ik me goed bij voel. Daarom is Red Bull niks voor mij, ook al heb ik meer gewonnen dan Vettel voordat hij in de Formule 1 naam maakte."
Toch stapt het 21-jarige talent donderdag zonder bedenkingen in de snelle Formule 1-bolide van Red Bull. Als kampioen van de World Series van Renault verdiende hij een testrit in de RB6 van het Oostenrijkse topteam op het circuit van Abu Dhabi.
Sauber
Hoezeer de teams Frijns als groot talent beschouwen, bewijst de uitnodiging van Sauber. De Limburgse coureur mag in Abu Dhabi tijdens de zogeheten Young Driver Test ook een dag (komende dinsdag) racen in de Formule 1-bolide van de Zwitserse renstal.
Frijns: ''Ik heb drie jaar achtereen kampioenschappen gewonnen. Eerst de Formule BMW, daarna de Formule Renault 2.0 en dit jaar dan de World Series. De Formule 1 is de logische volgende stap. Er is geen andere optie. Deze tests zijn daarom heel belangrijk voor mij, want ze bepalen mijn toekomst. Ik moet deze week laten zien wat ik kan."
De Limburger wijst erop dat het economisch tij hem niet meezit. ''Ik ben zo ver gekomen omdat ik prestaties heb neergezet. Niet omdat ik geld heb. Ik kan niet even tien of vijftien miljoen euro uit mijn zak schudden. Het is dat ik vorig seizoen voor mijn titel in de Formule Renault 2.0 een half miljoen kreeg, anders had ik dit seizoen niet eens kunnen rijden in de World Series.''
Serieuze kans
Hij mag dan geen sponsorgeld meebrengen en wars zijn van de politieke spelletjes in sommige teams, de drang om furore te maken in de Formule 1 is onveranderd sterk.
''Ik vestig mijn hoop toch vooral op Sauber. Zij zochten al contact met me na de tweede race van dit jaar. Zij willen mij een serieuze kans geven en daadwerkelijk testen, omdat ik resultaten heb geboekt.''
''Sauber is ook een team waarbij je in de punten kunt rijden als je een goede dag hebt. Heel anders dan bij achterhoedeteams als Marussia of HRT. Daar is het keiharde business. Je moet miljoenen meebrengen om er te mogen rijden, maar niemand kijkt ernaar.''

twitter:

RFrijns twitterde op maandag 05-11-2012 om 20:36:46 Fijn dat nu.nl zo een dinge over jouw schrijven wat je niet hebt gezegt. Top jongens! #bedankt reageer retweet

twitter:

RFrijns twitterde op maandag 05-11-2012 om 20:43:00 Mijn excuses naar Nu.nl. Komt van ANP vandaan. Top jongens! reageer retweet

twitter:

OfficialSF1Team twitterde op dinsdag 06-11-2012 om 12:22:12 Robin is getting quicker and quicker - 1.45,113 and still on hard tyres reageer retweet

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 12:45 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
1.44,5 nu voor hem

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 13:03 schreef Fir3fly het volgende:

[..]

Wel erg sloom vergeleken met Felix da Costa, rijdt die op zachte banden ofzo?

twitter:

OfficialSF1Team twitterde op dinsdag 06-11-2012 om 13:29:48 This was a 1.44,317 on the medium compound. Robin admits without a few mistakes he would have been faster. Never mind! It is day 1 for him! reageer retweet

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 13:37 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:

twitter:

OfficialSF1Team twitterde op dinsdag 06-11-2012 om 13:29:48 This was a 1.44,317 on the medium compound. Robin admits without a few mistakes he would have been faster. Never mind! It is day 1 for him! reageer retweet

opvallend dat laatste zinnetje. je kunt het uitleggen als dat hij dichtbij een contract bij Sauber is

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 13:03 schreef Fir3fly het volgende:

[..]

Wel erg sloom vergeleken met Felix da Costa, rijdt die op zachte banden ofzo?

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 13:37 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:

twitter:

OfficialSF1Team twitterde op dinsdag 06-11-2012 om 13:29:48 This was a 1.44,317 on the medium compound. Robin admits without a few mistakes he would have been faster. Never mind! It is day 1 for him! reageer retweet

opvallend dat laatste zinnetje. je kunt het uitleggen als dat hij dichtbij een contract bij Sauber is

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:03 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:
Tijden van vandaag:
[ code verwijderd ]

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:07 schreef JohnB52 het volgende:

[..]

Of hij moet morgen nog n dag...

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:07 schreef nils7 het volgende:

[..]

Redelijke tijd van Robin aangezien Kamui langzamer was in FP3.

twitter:

OfficialSF1Team twitterde op dinsdag 06-11-2012 om 14:13:08 A happy but exhausted Robin just came out of our car. The engineers say he has done a good job. Read more soon at http://t.co/ygL7BlwX reageer retweet

quote:

“Gosh this was hard work! Not in the beginning but then suddenly I felt it, especially from the brakes. I am really tired now and know I have to go and exercise more. In the morning we started with installation laps so that I could get used to the car and the steering wheel, which isn’t that easy. In the afternoon I found it hard to understand the tyre compounds. I had only driven on Michelin tyres before, and with the Pirelli medium and soft compounds it was difficult for me after only one lap. I had the feeling the more careful I handled them the worse it became. There is obviously a lot to learn. On my fastest lap with the soft tyres I made a mistake, so there was more to come. The team did a great job during the day and I want to thank them for that.”

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:50 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
dat kan beter. Robin zijn eerste reactie:

[..]

Komt uit mijn mailbox

quote:

Sauber has declared Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns's first proper Formula 1 test as "a good day".

The Dutchman got his first taste of a 2012 F1 car and Pirelli's race-spec tyres on the opening day of the young-driver test, having previously driven a 2010 Red Bull RB6 on demo tyres at Moscow Raceway earlier this year.

Frijns, who will drive the 2012 Red Bull RB8 on Thursday as a prize for his FR3.5 title, was fourth fastest of the seven drivers in action on Tuesday.

Sauber's head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara said: "Robin did fine. Physically he coped well and also, for his age, he gave us good feedback.

"The mileage is a lot and the laptime is also good. We started with the hard tyres and did some aero work in the morning before actually working on his laptime.

"Towards the end of the day we gave him an idea of different tyre compounds and went with a set of medium and a set of soft. But we never sent him out with a qualifying fuel level."

Frijns, who could earn himself a long-term deal with Sauber, added that he feels he could have set a faster time.

"There is obviously a lot to learn," said the 21-year-old. "On my fastest lap with soft tyres I made a mistake, so there was more to come.

"In the afternoon I found it hard to understand the tyre compounds. I had only driven on Michelin tyres before, and with the Pirelli compounds it was difficult.

"I had the feeling the more careful I handled them the worse it became."

He also admitted that he had found his first full day of F1 action tiring.

"This was hard work - not in the beginning but then suddenly I felt it, especially from the brakes," he said.

"I am really tired now and know I have to go and exercise more."

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:15 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:

[..]

is denk ik redelijk vergelijkbaar, want Frijns heeft volgens Sauber niet in kwalificatiemodus gereden

quote:

Op dinsdag 6 november 2012 15:50 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:
dat kan beter. Robin zijn eerste reactie:

[..]

Komt uit mijn mailbox

quote:

"I'm pleased with how today went. We were mainly working on aero performance, running sensors and different mechanical configurations on the car in the morning and afternoon sessions and to get the most out of them I had to drive consistently, carefully and not go for outright speed.

"I think the team's happy with what I've done today and physically I feel great after running a good number of laps. After my FP1 session here in Abu Dhabi was cut short it was good to get some really decent time on track and the key thing for me is to keep developing my relationship with the team. There's still a few tweaks we could make to the setup to suit my driving style a bit more but we have tomorrow to work on a few more setup options, as well as continuing to test parts and aero programs."

quote:

Tony Fernandes is to step down as team principal of Caterham before the end of the season so he can focus more on developing his road car business.

The Malaysian entrepreneur had always intended his tenure as F1 team boss to be mid-term, while he worked to find someone suitable to take over from him.

Having just finalised a major tie-up with the Renault group to produce new Alpine sportscars, Fernandes revealed that he and deputy chairman Dato' Kamarudin Meranun have decided that the time is right to appoint a successor.

"On the racing side we have come to the conclusion that it is better if someone else takes over the team principal role to move forward," he said in a joint interview with AUTOSPORT's sister publication Autocar.

"We are definitely better at business than finding tenths of seconds around a lap.

"It was right for us to lead the team initially and set a template of how it should be. That vision is now set and the team is ready to move forward to the midfield."

It is not clear who Fernandes' successor will be, but he revealed it would be someone already working in F1.

"I know who it will be - and can tell you that today as I had confirmation earlier," he said.

"[But] I cannot tell you their name yet. All I can say is that they are from within F1."