[F1] F1 nieuwtjes topic deel 131: Onderweg naar Rush

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Mark Webber’s 10-place grid penalty has put a focus on the ‘three strikes’ system, introduced to give some meaning to the previously rather pointless awarding of reprimands.

Webber was unlucky enough to be the only driver to already have two in his 2013 account. So who else has earned one this year and thus has to be a little careful over the remaining six races? Here’s the full list, in alphabetical order.

F Alonso, Stopping on the track (Singapore, Race)

J Bianchi, Failing to stop for the weighbridge (GB, Qualifying)

V Bottas, Failure to slow for yellow flags (Canada, FP1)

P Di Resta, Causing a collision (Italy, Race)

L Hamilton, Failure to enter the pit lane correctly [bollard] (Belgium, FP2)

C Pic, Re-joining the track in an unsafe manner (Belgium, FP2)

K Raikkonen, Below minimum time for SC lap (Monaco, Race)

N Rosberg, Failure to slow for yellow flags (GB, Race)

A Sutil, Driving unnecessarily slowly in the pit entry (Australia, Qual)

In addition Lotus has two reprimands, for an unsafe release in FP2 at Silverstone, and because a team member (actually a Renault engineer) was not wearing a helmet during Romain Grosjean’s stop in Singapore. Although there is no totting up system for teams a repeat of a similar offence could earn a stiffer penalty.

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The FIA says that the new Concorde Agreement has come into force, and that it provides for a boost in funds for the governing body.

The news comes as the World Motor Sport Council gathering kicks off in Dubrovnik and the timing gives Jean Todt a handy PR boost as the election battle begins to ramp up.

A statement said: The agreement reached by the FIA and the Formula 1 Group in July 2013, setting out the framework for implementation of the Concorde Agreement for the period 2013 – 2020, has now come into force, following the approval of the respective governing bodies of the signatory parties.

This agreement provides the FIA with significantly improved financial means to pursue its regulatory missions and to reflect the enhanced role undertaken by the FIA in the Motor Sport. The parties have agreed a strong and stable sporting governance framework which includes the Formula 1 Group, the FIA and the participating teams. The agreement lays down solid foundations for the further development of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Now that the agreement is operative, the parties will move towards the conclusion of a multi-party Concorde agreement.

The last point suggests that dealings with the teams are not yet complete, contrary to what was previously understood.

Jean Todt said: “We can be proud of this agreement, which establishes a more effective framework for the governance of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The FIA looks forward to continuing to fulfill its historic role as the guarantor of both regulation and safety in F1 for many years to come.”

Bernie Ecclestone added: “I am very pleased that the agreement between the FIA and the Formula 1 Group has been concluded.”

Meanwhile presidential candidate David Ward offered the following response: “The final conclusion of the negotiations over the Concorde Agreement is a very positive development for the FIA. This is a solid achievement by Jean Todt and I congratulate him for it. The question now is what will the new resources from Concorde be used for? The answer should be for investment in ‘grass roots’ development of motor sport.

“In my manifesto I have proposed to ‘use all the revenue in excess of regulatory costs of the F1 Championship for investment in motor sport safety, sustainability, solidarity funding of ASN development programmes, and for training of officials and volunteers. Jean Todt has yet to publish a manifesto or explain how he will use the new funds now available to the FIA. Sooner rather than later this should be made clear to the FIA membership.”

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Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has published the calendar for the 2014 world championship following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Croatia on Friday. It features four additions to the 2013 schedule - New Jersey, Austria, Russia and Mexico - with three Grands Prix - Korea, New Jersey and Mexico - listed as provisional.

The New Jersey round will be the second of three races on consecutive weekends, sandwiched between Monaco in late May and Canada in early June. It will take place on a temporary street circuit along the Hudson River in Weehawken and West New York, with the New York City skyline as its backdrop.

The Austrian round in late June will be staged at Spielberg’s Red Bull Ring, formerly known as the A1-Ring, which previously hosted the race between 1997 and 2003. The venue began life as the Osterreichring, home to the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years from its inception in 1970.

An all-new circuit in Sochi, home to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, will be the site of the inaugural Russian Grand Prix at the start of October. At 5.9 kilometres, the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit will be longer than all but two tracks on the current F1 calendar (Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in Great Britain).

November will see the return of Mexico to the F1 calendar, at the same venue which staged the country’s last Grand Prix in 1992 - Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The 2014 calendar in full:

16/03 Australia
30/03 Malaysia
06/04 Bahrain
20/04 China
27/04 Korea (provisional)
11/05 Spain
25/05 Monaco
01/06 America, New Jersey (provisional*)
08/06 Canada
22/06 Austria
06/07 Britain
20/07 Germany
27/07 Hungary
24/08 Belgium
07/09 Italy
21/09 Singapore
05/10 Russia
12/10 Japan
26/10 Abu Dhabi
09/11 USA, Austin
16/11 Mexico (provisional*)
30/11 Brazil

* subject to circuit approval

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The World Council has also addressed the tender process for single suppliers to F1 – confirming that it and not Bernie Ecclestone makes the ultimate call. In this new process, the FIA will be confirmed as the body in charge of conducting the tender process. The Commercial Rights Holder will be entitled to run the commercial negotiations with potential suppliers, with a view to the selected single supplier being officially appointed by the WMSC.

In order to cover the transition period and considering the contracts already settled by FOM and the Teams with Pirelli, the WMSC today confirmed that Pirelli may continue to supply tyres to competitors in the FIA F1 World Championship, subject to the requisite technical and safety standards of the FIA being met.

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F1's major teams reportedly oppose moves to appoint a single fuel supplier.

Last week after the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, it emerged that the new Concorde Agreement paves the way for a single supplier of fuel in future.

The FIA will be "in charge of conducting the tender process", the governing body's media statement said, with Bernie Ecclestone "entitled to run the commercial negotiations with potential suppliers".

But according to Germany's Sport Bild on Wednesday, the big teams are not happy about this development.

That's because they all have separate and lucrative deals in place with major oil corporations: Ferrari with Shell, Renault with Total, Mercedes with Petronas, McLaren with Mobil.

But if, for example, Total is selected as F1's sole fuel supplier, that would cost Ferrari its EUR 25 million deal with Shell, Mercedes its 30m Petronas deal, and so on.

The FIA announced last Friday that it has now signed up to the new Concorde Agreement with the commercial rights holder, led by Ecclestone.

And separately, the teams - even Marussia, according to The Times newspaper - all now have financial deals in place with the F1 chief executive.

But before the actual tripartite Concorde Agreement is in force, the teams have to sign up, and Sport Bild said the new fuel issue could be a fly in the ointment.

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Sauber will continue using Ferrari engines next year, the team has announced.

The team said on Friday the deal was for “supply of the complete powertrain, including engine, gearbox and ERS [Energy Recovery System] in a multi-year agreement”.

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: “We are pleased to extend our technical partnership with Ferrari taking Sauber into the new era of engines that starts in 2014.”

“Ferrari has been a long standing partner of the team, first from 1997 to 2005 and then again from 2010 onwards. We are proud to extend our relationship with such a prestigious and renowned brand and look forward to entering the 2014 season with a strong and reliable partner like Ferrari.”

Sauber are the final team to confirm their choice of engine supplier next year.

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Op vrijdag 4 oktober 2013 11:27 schreef Gramulanion het volgende:
Bevestigt

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Op vrijdag 4 oktober 2013 11:47 schreef Peterselieman het volgende:

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Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn is set to leave the German outfit for McLaren at the end of the season, according to Sport Bild (German).

The report suggests Brawn will be replaced by former McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe, who joined Mercedes as an executive director earlier this year.

Brawn previously won seven world titles alongside Michael Schumacher with Benetton and Ferrari, where he worked as technical director and devised race strategies.

In 2009 he followed that success as team principal of his own Brawn team, where British driver Jenson Button led the debutant outfit to world championship success.

The report suggests Brawn is now set to work with McLaren and Japanese engine manufacturer Honda, which will supply engines from the 2015 season, when the British company's ties with Mercedes will end.

Any move would reunite Brawn with former driver Button at the Woking-based outfit from next season, with the team hoping to recover from what has been a disappointing 2013 season thus far.

With technical requirements set to undergo another big change ahead of 2014, as discussed by McLaren sporting director Sam Michael, per Formula1.com, the capture of Brawn would be a major boost for the British outfit.

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh is keen to recruit a top partner for Button, with Fernando Alonso recently mentioned according to the Telegraph's Tom Cary. Added to Brawn's reported arrival, McLaren looks set to make big moves this winter as it seeks to advance from this season's lowly fifth place.

Per Autoweek.com, McLaren announced losses of $5 million for the 2012 season last week, but that will not deter the team from making bold moves as it attempts to return to the top of the sport.

For Mercedes, Brawn's exit would be the latest move in a reshuffle of the team's management, after what has been a disappointing season.

Having showed signs of promise at various stages of the campaign, it has been unable to challenge the supremacy of Red Bull and is now competing with Ferrari for second place in the title race.

Executive director Toto Wolff recently told NBC Sports that the team was "disappointed" with recent results and the hope will be that, despite the loss of Brawn's experience, a change of leadership will bring success to the German manufacturer.