Admin Lineker Posted November 19, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 McLaren says it will not decide its 2015 driver line-up until next month at the earliest. Such a shoddy way to treat JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lusophone Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Is it a shoddy way to treat when, unless somethings changed recently, he hasn't made his mind up what he wants to do either...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 19, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Romain Grosjean has finally been officially confirmed as staying at Lotus for 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 19, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Jules Bianchi is out of his artificial coma but remains unconscious and in critical condition. Jules Bianchi has been transferred to a French hospital and is no longer in an induced coma, the injured French Formula 1 driver's family said in a statement on Wednesday. Seven weeks after Bianchi suffered serious head injuries in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, his family has revealed that there are encouraging signs of progress. Although he remains unconscious and is still in a "critical" condition, he is now breathing unaided and doctors agreed he was able to be moved from hospital in Yokkaichi to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice. The statement said: "Jules is no longer in the artificial coma in which he was placed shortly after the accident, however he is still unconscious. "He is breathing unaided and his vital signs are stable, but his condition is still classified as 'critical'. His treatment now enters a new phase concerned with the improvement of his brain function. "Jules' neurological condition remains stable. Although the situation continues to be serious, and may remain so, it was decided that Jules was sufficiently stable to be repatriated to his native France. "We are relieved, therefore, to confirm that Jules was transferred aeromedically last night from the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, Japan, to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU), where he arrived just a short time ago. "Jules is now in the intensive care unit of Professors Raucoules and Ichai, where his care will also be monitored by Professor Paquis, Head of Neurosurgery Service." Bianchi's family said they were thankful that, after nearly two months in Japan, the next phase of his recovery would be taking place closer to home. "We are thankful that the next phase of Jules' treatment can continue close to home, where he can be surrounded and supported by his wider family and friends," added the statement. "We have nothing but praise for the outstanding care provided by the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center since the accident. "We owe the medical staff there an enormous debt of gratitude for everything they have done for Jules, and also for our family, during what is a very difficult time for us. "In particular, we would like to extend our thanks to Doctors Kamei and Yamamichi, and also to Mr Ogura, all part of the team of personnel caring for Jules in Japan." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 20, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Ferrari have finally announced that Fernando Alonso will leave the team at the end of this season. Elsewhere, Formula 3 European champion Esteban Ocon will drive for Lotus FP1 at Abu Dhabi, as well as sharing testing duties with Charles Pic during the midweek testing next week. Chinese driver Adderly Fong will also be making his practice debut this weekend, driving for Sauber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 20, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Ferrari have now also confirmed Sebastian Vettel has signed a three-year deal with them and will partner Kimi Raikkonen next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 20, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 British driver Will Stevens will make his Formula 1 debut with Caterham in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend. The 23-year-old was part of Caterham's junior scheme before switching allegiance to Marussia last month, but has renewed his Caterham link for his first F1 race. The Formula Renault 3.5 frontrunner's drive alongside team returnee Kamui Kobayashi was confirmed on Thursday morning once his superlicence came through. Stevens had achieved sufficient mileage during previous tests with Caterham to secure the required paperwork. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be getting this opportunity and am very grateful to everyone involved at Caterham F1 team for giving it to me," he said. "I feel ready for the challenge of my F1 debut and look forward to working as part of the team in a race environment after all the work we've done together previously in the tests I've completed and back at Leafield in the sim. "Hopefully this will be something we will be able to carry through to the 2015 season together." Caterham's head of engineering operations Gianluca Pisanello said Stevens' previous work with the team had proved he could handle his short-notice F1 call-up. "We know Will very well through his involvement in the Caterham Racing Academy and more importantly he has done a vast amount of time in our simulator, completing around 10,000km, which has built his experience both of this year's car and with the engineering team that are going to Abu Dhabi," said Pisanello. "In addition, his 2014 test at Silverstone in our current car, where he completed over 500kms, was very successful and his race pace was very good. "As a result, he was one of our best candidates for this race weekend and we are delighted to have secured his services for our return to the F1 grid. "We in fact signed Will last week but have had to wait for confirmation of his superlicence before making our announcement." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katsuya Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 ...that's not what I expected... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 20, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Just a couple of bits from the driver presser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Bottas has split the Merc's in Q2! Set to be a thrilling Q3... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainiac Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 (edited) Massa split the Mercs too. If Rosberg manages to beat Lewis in Q3 & the Williams keep close to them, tomorrow could be extremely interesting... Also, BBC interviewed somebody from Caterham (their team principal? I didn't recognise him) who basically said that Marussia should be DQed from the season for not racing in Abu Dhabi & therefore they should get the $20 million prize fund for finishing in tenth place. Which is of course completely ignoring the fact that a) Marussia have scored points this season, whereas Caterham (and Sauber) have not & b) Caterham haven't been in 2 GPs this season either. I'm not sure if Caterham are just desperate at this stage or if they actually believe this triple they're spouting Edited November 22, 2014 by Rainiac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 That would be the administrator Finnbar O'Connell, who finds himself in the bizarre position of acting team principal this weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainiac Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Ah, that's probably why I didn't recognise him then! Thanks for clearing that up Also, I've just noticed that I originally typed "$20 prize fund". As typos go, I think that's pretty damn good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Rosberg pole from Hamilton from Bottas from Massa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainiac Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Man, for a second there I thought Bottas was going to split the Mercs again. Rosberg on pole at makes things a bit interesting for tomorrow, though I still think the smart money is on Hamilton to wraps things up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 The Mercedes engine has been in the pole-sitting car for every race this season. That's the first time that has happened in decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Sergio Perez will remain with the Force India Formula 1 team in 2015 after announcing a "multi-year contract" with the squad. Just McLaren and Toro Rosso seats to fill now (excluding Marussia and Caterham) BBC F1's wonderful Jenson Button feature looking back at his 15-year career. Formula 1's small teams have been promised that a solution will be found to the sport's costs crisis in the next few weeks. They have also revealed that Bernie Ecclestone has abandoned the idea of third or customer cars. The team bosses of Lotus, Sauber and Force India met with Ecclestone and CVC representative Donald MacKenzie in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to discuss the financial problems the small teams are facing. In a joint press conference held afterwards, the trio said it was encouraging that Ecclestone and CVC had finally understood that action was now needed. Lotus owner Gerard Lopez said: "Both Bernie and CVC realise that they need to take action. We are not going to go into the details of what they are discussing but for sure they are going to go away and look at a number of things. "We now need to face this issue not just as the commercial rights holder, CVC and us - but we know need to include the bigger teams to take up certain responsibility for what is going on right now, come to [the] table and participate in solving those problems. "Both agree that there is an issue now, both agree that we are not beggars, we are reasonable and sensible, and both agree it can be solved." The way forwards appears to be a mixture of a redistribution of the commercial rights income in F1, allied to a push for more cost cuts. Ecclestone and CVC are likely to meet with manufacturer bosses in Abu Dhabi to discuss the ongoing situation with them. And although the top teams have been reluctant in recent weeks to accept that they may have to make sacrifices to help smaller outfits, Lopez believes that they can be convinced to change their mind. "They have every interest in the world of having a stable championship," he said. "The question is if the people at the race track are the ones that need to be looking at this or not." The costs issue will also likely be discussed at next week's meeting of the Strategy Group and F1 Commission, although it is unclear if a solution will come immediately. Ecclestone has suggested in recent weeks the idea of third cars, customer cars or even a two-tier Super GP2 concept to help boost the grid in the event of small teams folding. However, Lopez revealed that Ecclestone and CVC had realised that going down that path would not actually save costs. "One thing we have dismissed is the idea of third cars and customer cars," he said. "We have managed to disprove that financially speaking it is not an improvement. If you have to pay more, then the cost of buying a car is more than building your own one." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainiac Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 I'm glad to hear that they've scrapped the idea of 3 cars per team. It's not good news for Jenson Button though, as it narrows down his potential options even further & in all likelihood will squeeze him out of the sport altogether, which sucks In other news, the FIA are investigating Red Bull for fielding "illegal cars" during Qualifying. Something to do with their front wing being too flexible (looking back, Ricciardo & Vettel's front wings did seem to trailing sparks at parts of qualifying this afternoon, maybe that's why). They'll either have to modify the wings & start from the back of the grid tomorrow or 'race under appeal'. Probably won't affect the result tomorrow too much, but it kinda sucks for Vettel in his last race for the team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 22, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 The Red Bull cars have now officially been excluded from qualifying - however they will be allowed to start the race from the back of the pit lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted November 23, 2014 Author Admin Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Super start from Hamilton; leapfrogging Rosberg off the grid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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