If you’re missing Formula 1 action during the off season here’s video from the Hungarian Grand Prix that will allow you to cram in four times the action in one go.
Starting from top right and moving in a clockwise direction we’ve got Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson. The footage was filmed during qualifying and it’s no surprise to see who was fastest.
[via WTF1]
Another Formula 1 season has come and gone and, as usual, it’s been a hell of a ride. Lews Hamilton’s win in Abu Dhabi secured his second world crown and put the perfect exclamation mark on a season of dominance for Mercedes AMG.
It’s a big job for a sole contributor compiling a season’s worth of F1 images too. Apologies for the delay in getting these images to you, but I’m not scared to admit there’s a sense of relief in posting the last gallery of photos for the year.
Never fear, the lure of F1 is great and I’ll be back again in 2015, hope to see you here.
“The Caterham F1 Team is delighted to announce that it will be racing at the final Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi next week thanks to the support of the fans, who have helped the team raise enough money to make it possible through Crowdcube, the world’s leading investment crowdfunding platform.”
So reads an announcement on the Caterham F1 Team website. At least Bernie will be happy his F1 fans can afford to pay for an F1 team, even if its for one race only.
Caterham’s appearance in Abu Dhabi will be in contrast to the fact the team has made its 230 staff redundant. Apparently that move has been done with the staff’s blessing so that they may commence formal claims, assuming a buyer cannot be found. No wages have been paid at Caterham since 30 September.
Kamui Kobayashi will drive one of the cars in Abu Dhabi, but former teammate Marucs Ericsson, armed with the security of a job in 2015, has told Caterham to bugger off.
So, too, has Andre Lotterer, who drove for Caterham in Spa earlier this year.
That leaves reserve driver Roberto Mehri claiming the drive is his and he has a contract to prove it. Haha, kids these days.
Good luck to Caterham in Abu Dhabi. But really, what a mess!
[Source: Autosport]
The future of the F1 teams we currently know as Marussia and Caterham are bleak, as we know. However the official entry list for the 2015 Formula 1 season shows a pathway does exist for them to carry on, but not as we know them.
Entered on the 2015 list are Manor Grand Prix Racing (née Marussia) and 1Malaysia Racing Team (née Caterham). While both teams are still looking to secure their financial futures their appearance on the official entry list should make things more appealing for prospective buyers.
Meanwhile, Caterham’s immediate future has improved with the team’s administrator saying he expects they will be competing in Abu Dhabi.
“I think I’ve got enough confidence now to say I’d be very surprised if we were not racing in Abu Dhabi,” said Finbarr O’Connell, from administrators Smith & Williamson. “I’m now really hopeful for the future of the team.”
[Source: BBC]
With confirmation that we’ll only have 18 cars on the grid in Austin this weekend much of the chatter around Formula 1 has been to do with the costs of running a team. People are asking: is F1 in crisis?
Every time serious discussion about putting a cap on spending is raised one of the bigger teams, usually Ferrari or Red Bull, threatens to throw its toys out of the cot in disgust. Clearly, F1 doesn’t want to lose one (or more) of its biggest drawcards and we’re left with a perennial problem; the haves keep winning, which in itself is nothing new, but the have nots keep folding.
The introduction of new regulations this year hasn’t helped matters much. In a bid to highlght the issues at the back of the grid Caterham, Force India, Marussia and Sauber have written to FIA President and former Scuderia Ferrari boss, Jean Todt, saying teams now need around $120 million per year just to stay afloat.
Sauber, usually a team able to compete well with limited funds, hasn’t scored a championship point all year and is currently coming tenth out of 11 teams in the constructors’ title race.
The cost breakdown provided to Todt and revealed by Autosport is as follows:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Windtunnel/CFD facilities | $18.5 million |
| Chassis production/manufacturing | $20 million |
| Hybrid power system | $28 million |
| Gearbox and hydraulics | $5 million |
| Electronics | $1.95 million |
| Fuel and lubricants | $1.5 million |
| Tyres | $1.8 million |
| Salaries (not including drivers) | $20 million |
| IT | $3 million |
| HR and professional services | $1.5 million |
| Utilities and factory maintenance | $2 million |
| Travel and trackside facilities | $12 million |
| Freight | $5 million |
| TOTAL | $120.25 million |
As well as driver salaries, other items not included in the above list are: building leases, hospitality, marketing and media. Obviously, teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are spending a lot more than that, while Caterham and Marussia are (or were) spending a lot less.
No form of motorsport, no matter how good it should be, is any good if teams can’t afford to race.
[Source: Autosport+]
Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that both Caterham and Marussia will not be at the United States Grand Prix in Austin next weekend.
News of Caterham’s absence was expected due to the teams current ownership spat. However, while it was known Marussia isn’t exactly flush with cash they were thought to be heading Stateside. Not any more.
“Neither of those two teams are going to go to America,” confirmed Ecclestone.
Freight for the teams started its journey from Europe to the United States yesterday and is coordinated by Bernie’s Formula One Management group.
Caterham will miss the Brazilian Grand Prix as well, which will be held on the weekend after Austin, while the team searches for a buyer. For freight reasons alone Marussia won’t be in Sao Paulo either.
Meanwhile, the Sherrifs Office in the UK has been flogging parts via twitter in a bid to raise money to cover debts owed.
Finbarr O’Connell, Caterham’s administrator confirmed there is interest for the team, saying he spoke to, “10 to 15 serious interested parties on the phone today and we are speaking to all those and getting information together for them to examine.”
[Source: Reuters | Thanks to Dave for the tip]
The appointment of adminstrators to Caterham Sports Limited has uncovered a legal stoush between the new and old owners of the Caterham F1 Team and the team’s appearance at the United States Grand Prix is looking increasingly unlikely.
Via the team website Caterham F1’s “buyer” Swedish company Engavest SA has issued a damning statement, which you can read in full after the break. It claims the “seller”, led by Tony Fernandes, has failed to comply with the terms of the sale.
“Since the date of the Agreement, the Seller has refused to comply with its legal obligations to transfer their shares to the Buyer,” the statement reads. “The Buyer has been left in the invidious position of funding the team without having legal title to the team it had bought.
“This is in total contradiction to the Seller’s press release of 3 October 2014 which stated that Mr Fernandes and his Caterham Group had no longer any connection with the Caterham F1 Team.”
Further, the statement adds: “The administrators of Caterham Sports Limited have been appointed on behalf of Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (Exim), a creditor of Mr Fernandes and the Caterham Group. The Buyer has no connection with Exim. Caterham Sports Ltd was a supplier company to the Caterham F1 Team.”
In the most public sign yet that the F1 team’s immediate operating future is in doubt the statement concludes: “The Buyer is now forced to explore all its options including the withdrawal of its management team. Lawyers have been instructed by the Buyer to bring all necessary claims against all parties, including Mr Fernandes who, as an owner, will run the F1 operation.”
Fernandes has described the Caterham F1 Team statement as “garbage” to BBC Sport and said this via twitter: “If you buy something you should pay for it. Quite simple.”
[Source: BBC]
Caterham Sports Limited (CSL), the Leafield-based company who makes F1 cars under contract for 1 Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT), has gone into administration leaving the Caterham F1 Team facing an uncertain future.
With just over a week until the United States Grand Prix in Austin, administrator Smith & Williamson says CSL owes £20m to outside suppliers and around 200 jobs could be under threat.
“I’m trying to enter into an arrangement with 1MRT whereby they (employees) can stay here at the Leafield site,” said Finbarr O’Connell from Smith & Williamson. “If I can reach an agreement with them then hopefully jobs are not at risk.
“If I can’t reach an agreement then all those employees, 1MRT will have to decide what to do with them, but they won’t be at the Leafield site.”
According to the administrator Caterham team manager Manfredi Ravetto has had “positive discussions” with financial backers hoping to ensure the relationship with CSL can carry on.
If an agreement cannot be reached then it’s possible Caterham F1 Team won’t have any cars to race in Austin and Smith & Williamson will begin to liquidate CSL.
Caterham’s future has been rocky since Tony Fernandes sold the F1 team in July. To add to the dramas faced by the team Kamui Kobayashi said he was “seriously troubled” about the safety of his car going into the Russian Grand Prix.
[Source: BBC]
The fun has come and gone from the Sochi sun and the Russian Grand Prix passed by without any idiot from the Formula 1 world threatening to “shirtfront” Putin. Which, in some ways, in just as bad as it would have been if some idiot did engage his mouth before his brain.
Anyway, enough of that, let’s just try and enjoy the images from the race. Hopefully, they’re not quite as dull as the on track action ended up.
Usually we like it when it rains at a grand prix because the images are pretty cool. But the end of this year’s Japanese Grand Prix was not very cool at all.
Forza Jules.
Victory at the Singapore Grand Prix makes it two wins in a row for Lewis Hamilton and with that he has put himself atop the drivers’ championship standings. No wonder he has such a smug look on his face.
At least Lewis has stopped pulling his hair out over the frustration of mechanical failures. Or has he?
You can see all that and more with our gallery of images below, some of which do literally contain the bright lights of Singapore.
We’re a little bit later in the week than usual with our Formula 1 photo smorgasbord, but here we are ready to help you relive Lewis Hamilton’s win at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. How good is that lead image?!
Hopefully you will forgive our lateness, the 120-plus images for you after the break should help with that. And they’re in new 2560x1690px mega sizing too. Oh yeah!
Even more beautiful.
Thanks to Marussia for images of the famed Monza banking right at the end as well.