Who is Toto Wolff calling today?

Can you imagine the number of calls in and out of Brackley in the last 24 hours?    Social media certainly had a good time with it yesterday.

Rosberg's surprise retirement leaves the undisputed number one. team is an odd place:  they. must fill what is arguably the most desirable open seat at a time when all of the sport's stars are (technically) not available.

Of course, F1 contracts have historically shown not to be worth the paper they are printed on and if there is the will and a check there's a way so, who is Toto Wolff calling today?

His easiest call would be to Pascal Wehrlein, he's already under contract to Mercedes.  Moving Pascal up  would mean depending on a Hamilton the team has learned it can only partially do.  You never know when Lewis might skip a tire test because of a "sore foot" or need to go shopping in Malibu.
Certainly Lewis has delivered for the Germans (and the team for him) but Mercedes is not the type of team  happy to put all of its eggs in one basket,

The most obvious choice and the one most would like to see is Alonso.   A talent like his,  in a Mclaren in disarray as it has been in the last eight years, is not good for the sport and, among top drivers, he is the one most likely to have a valid escape clause in his contract.

The downside for Mercedes is that someone has to tell Lewis.  Sure, Hamilton has said he does not care, but then again he has said a lot of things.   Having those two on the team could mean nightmares more than dream team for Wolff.  

For the public?  Pass the popcorn.

Verstappen or Ricciardo?   Not a chance.  A move to Mercedes would not be the smart play for either of them, not with new regulations tailor made to Red Bull's strengths.  

Bottas? Hulkenberg? Why when you have Wehrlein or Ocon?

And then there is Vettel.   Another year with Ferrari and not in a happy place at the moment. Certainly one could imagine a numbers oriented character like Sergio Marchionne not getting especially sentimental if those numbers were right.

A guy like Vettel, four championships, not short of funds, two young daughters,  perhaps the only thing left to prove's that it was not just the car,  does he go for the top team or does he stay on the more difficult road Ferrari is on,  for the satisfaction of seeing it through?

You have to wonder what wheels have been set in motion by Nico's choice.

Stunner: Nico Rosberg retires from racing.

While much of the world's press seemed obsessed with debates overs "worth" as a Champion,  Nico Rosberg had other ideas.

ROsberg's announcement on Facebook:


"“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion. Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target.And now I’ve made it. I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right. My strongest emotion right now is deep gratitude to everybody who supported me to make that dream happen.

“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough. I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation to levels I had never experienced before. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too – it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target. I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting ourchampionship first. 

“When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became World Champion. On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time… and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life. I took my decision on Monday evening. After reflecting for a day, the first people I told were Vivian and Georg (Nolte, from Nico’s management team), followed by Toto.

“The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a toughsituation. But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people,the Silver Arrows.

“Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment. There is time tosavour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me…”

I'm certain  some will figure out how to turn this into a negative for Nico.  Walking away from a great team, a great car, defending a championship and a new contract., it takes a lot of balls.

Ultimate walking away on top move, Nico!

Nico Rosberg: Revenge of the Underdog

Nico Rosberg became a Formula 1 World Champion in Abu Dhabi,  It took him 11 seasons and 206 Grand Prix.

He did it the hard way, beating arguably the fastest driver of the moment, in the same car.

He did it after being beaten by Hamilton three years in a row.


He did it despite being the butt of jokes for his looks in the paddock (remember the Britney license?), being hammered by a lot of the motoring media as unworthy and "dirty",  criticized by the boss of the sport as too boring and painted as an entitled rich kid by his own teammate.  

Nico and Keke Rosberg.

"He grew up with jets and hotels, I slept on couches",  it was a famous dig by Hamilton towards his rival from their earliest days in karting.  Turns out one of this couches was at the Rosberg residence where he was often a guest in earlier, friendlier days.  
There is no doubt the Rosberg name opened doors and opportunities, but it must also be remembered Hamilton had Ron Dennis behind him since age 13 and that, after winning GP2,  he came into F1 at the top with Mclaren while Rosberg arrived at Williams when it was far from a top car.

At Mercedes, Rosberg was consistently faster than a Schumacher indeed past his prime, but still one of the top drivers ever to sit in a car.  Later,  Nico bested Hamilton on race wins in 2013.

In 2014 and 2015,  with the new turbo hybrid engines,  Hamilton beat him badly.
Tough losses, especially in '14.  A lesser driver might have gone the way of a Massa or Barrichello but Rosberg proved to be way more bulldog that Britney.  He may be a 10th off Hamilton's pace over a single lap but even his most rabid detractors have to acknowledge his remarkable consistency and resilience.

"Lewis is raw talent, Nico is hard work twenty four  hours a day, seven days a week" is a quote from Toto Wolff and in the end it's good for the sport to have different personalities, the jet setting social media star and the hard working family man,  both rewarded.   Kudos to Mercedes for trying to give both

Even Bernie made peace with it eventually and Nico didn't hold a grudge.   Perhaps even the Hamfosi can get past their prejudice and admit Nico drove a better season than Lewis this year rather than moan about it in perpetuity.

Bravo Nico,  now bring on 2017!

Rosberg takes final pole of 2015.

You might argue racing left a bit to be desired in 2015 but you cannot deny the 2015 Formula 1 cars are mighty things.

You don't think so?  Ride along with Nico Rosberg as he scores his sixth consecutive pole in Abu Dhabi, adding an exclamation point to Mercedes' almost complete domination this season.

Rosberg was almost 4/10th faster than his teammate, a huge margin considering they are in the same car.

Third place for Raikkonen who needs to end the season on a high and beat the other Finn who many had said should be in his Ferrari seat.

Ferrari needs Kimi to do well after their spectacular fail, telling Vettel to abort his  final lap in Q1 when it was obvious times were dropping like stones.   Anyone can screw up but that sort of thing looked like it had been eradicated from the Scuderia's pit wall.

Guess not,  as Lauda would say,  "it's bullshit!"

Rosberg frustrates Hamilton in Brazil.

In what turned out to be a rather dull race up front, Nico Rosberg capitalized on is Saturday pole performance by dominating Lewis Hamilton who, for his part, lamented overtaking was not possible at Interlagos.

After blaming his mother and a cold for his early morning Zonda crash in Monaco and skipping the traditional post qualifying photo Saturday, today the British instagram star blamed the circuit.

I guess "18 year old" Max Verstappen didn't get the message.





For the second race in row, Mercedes gave both drivers identical strategies.  Toto Wolff confirmed this was to keep the peace within the team.   Indeed  Mercedes has been consistent, always basing strategy on the driver leading and it's interesting there wasn't really that much complaining about it when Hamilton was on a winning streak.

Be that as it may,  F1 needs to stop being a strategist's world championship and get back to being a driver's championship.    Drivers should be the ones making the calls on their tire and brake wear,  those sensors hold be eliminated.   If Hamilton wanted to try a crazy strategy today as he did in Monaco, he should have been allowed to.  

Unfortunately the reality of the prize money for points scheme likely means even Mercedes cannot risk entertaining the fans beyond turn one....

Rosberg crowned champion at the last race.

Winning a world championship at the last race could become a Rosberg family tradition.

It was Kimi Raikkonen who, at the beginning of the season, said  about double points: "it doesn't matter, it's the same for everybody".  But will it matter this week end in Abu Dhabi?

If Nico Rosberg wins the title, not only will it drive Hamilton fans livid with rage but will make the FinnGerman polyglot only the second son of an F1 champion to become champion himself, after Damon Hill.

In 1982, the epically mustachioed Keke Rosberg won the championship in the final race by finishing fifth after having won only one race the whole season.     One win may sound bad but, again in parallel to this year, it represented half the number of victories scored by rivals Didier Pironi and John Watson.

It was also a year marked by an astounding number of retirements: 152 retirements between the 26 point scoring drivers (because I got tired of counting),  over 16 races.

By contrast this year there have been 72 retirements among all 22 drivers over 18 races.  But it's the last possible DNF that might be the key.    If that happens to one of the two Mercedes on Sunday, double points will have made no difference *.



*unless the DNF hits Hamilton and Rosberg finished lower than 5th.

Hamilton and Rosberg crash: who's at fault?

Hamilton and Rosberg touch at Les Combes (via BBC Sport)

Let's have a look at that Hamilton-Rosberg incident for a sec.

Some segments of the motoring media have come down hard on the side of Hamilton while some more sensible, less partisan voices saw it for what it was, two top dogs trying to see who can pee higher on the pole.

No Cup for you!

FIFA have succeeded in the impossible: making F1 rights management seem warm and fuzzy.

Nico Rosberg had a special helmet made celebrating Germany's win in the world cup last week.  He was going to wear it this week end at the German Grand Prix.  

Rosberg management received a letter from FIFA warning the helmet was in violation of copyright because it depicted the World Cup trophy.  

A quick search of Amazon shows you can purchase replicas for as little as $3.95 but the sticker on top of Nico's head was apparently too much for FIFA and the design had to be changed, the cup replaced by stars.  Those are still copyright free apparently.

Rosberg's team should send FIFA a bill for the extra  exposure the cup has gotten in the last week.

Nico Rosberg wins the selfie wars.

Selfies while driving Fangio's 1955 Mercedes W196 at Hockenheim? Win.    No word if he will get fined from the FIA for unsafe driving now.

Who stole Nico Rosberg's Helmet?

Who's this person sneaking in the Mercedes AMG F1 pit box at 1:51 AM the saturday before the German GP?

Not sure why, just now but today Nico Rosberg had this to say on his web page:

Hi everyone,
my race helmet got stolen out of the security guarded team´s garage at Nürburgring GP on sunday at 1.51 a.m. Check the FIA picture of the thief. Let us know if any of you see one on ebay or somewhere else. I have never given out an original race helmet. so if you see one then let us know. Thanks.
Nico
The Schuberth helmet was registered with the Number R-NR 074/02-13. The SNELL-Label is ST 270141. FIA label gold: AH04248. FIA Label white: Nr. 134

OK,  check Ebay but I would say, unless it's some sort of misguided social media, viral something or other,  someone walking out of pard ferme with a bright yellow helmet is another pie in the face of FOM's  and FIA security after the Greepeace stunts at Spa,

Mercedes Gets A Helping Hand But Sanctions Are Looming

There is not way around it: even if Monaco is the track that, in theory, puts the least amount of stress on tires and where passing is so difficult Perez with half a front wing gone could keep cars behind at bay for two laps,   implications of the so called "secret" Pirelli test with Mercedes after Barcelona loom large.

Not to take too much away from Nico Rosberg,  he's been consistently fast and Mercedes were strong in  Monaco even last year.  Nico drove a great race despite the two safety cars and the red flag.   But the tire test, conducted using the 2013 W04 chassis just stinks.

Mercedes is not the only team who got a "special" Pirelli test this season,  Ferrari had one after Bahrain but, it was with a 2010 chassis.  The Mercedes test was  with the current 2013 car, in part with development rubber and in part, and crucially with new "Canada spec" revised Pirellis.   For as much as Pirelli and some parts of the  motoring press might call it  a teacup tempest, it's still 1000 km in a current car.      Giorgio Piola had commented Mercedes would run a revised suspension for Monaco and perhaps their improved tire wear comes from that if indeed they used it.  What's unknown is if they used the Pirelli session to test their own new components.




As for the rest of the race, we saw Ferrari struggle badly with Massa's bizarre doppelgänger crashes and Alonso forced to settle for the long game, in the end gaining a few points on Raikkonen and losing a few to Hamilton and Vettel.    



Perez and Sutil were the joker in the Monaco deck.  Perez drove, appropriately I suppose, like someone who has nothing to lose, because he doesn't :   his funding seems secure and Mclaren needs him more than Button for the immediate future.   His tactic of "I'm going, you either move or we both crash"  worked better with "gentleman" Jenson and Alonso than with Raikkonen who ended up with a warning from the FIA.



"Machete" Sutil had a fine race as did Vergne.  Vettel and Webber just cruised along, Vettel catching a lucky break with the first safety car.  Hamilton either sacrificed his race or was sacrificed by the team,  not sure which.

But all this is meaningless if "testgate"  is not resolved properly,   there are rumors of an exclusion for Mercedes from the Canadian GP!

Rosberg explains his position.

Ever wonder how everything that is not a driver's helmet and hands fit inside a tiny Formula One car? Nico Rosberg explains. "Foam is very heavy" pretty much sums up F1.

What's good for Mercedes is good for F1?

Photo: Carlos Lopez

Photo:Roberto Blank

Nico Rosberg is not the highest paid driver never to have scored a pole in Formula 1 anymore but he still is the highest paid driver not to have ever won a race and there lies the key to the 2012 Chinese GP tomorrow.

Thanks in part to clever plumbing the Mercedes W03 is super fast over a single run but so far it has gone nothing but backwards in race conditions. Rosberg not only scored pole but he destroyed the opposition by a half second, a huge gap in F1.

The grid will be unusual and will certainly make for interesting first laps, two Mercs, Kobayashi and Kimi? I might even wake up in the middle of the night to watch.

There was something quite curious in the final Q3 results: P6 through 9, Button, Webber, Perez and Alonso (P10 Grosjean chose not to run Q3)all went slower in Q3 than they did is Q2. That's quite strange, a small difference in air temperature and wind direction change cost some cars well over a half second (Button 2/10ths, Webber 6/10, Perez 7/10. Alonso 7/10)?

Did these drivers hedge their best and are doing a rain dance tonight?

The shocker of the session has got to be Vettel not making it into Q3, no smiled ar Red Bull for sure, except for Webber that is. Vettel reverting to a different exhaust configuration? almost sounds like panic or, dare I say it a possible hissy fit?

Now back to Mercedes, their first pole, first front row (Hamilton, P2 in qualifying, has a penalty for a gearbox change) since the days of Fangio. Great headlines, great PR, what a coincidence it came right around the time heavy rumblings from the M-B board about the lack of results. Does it take Oliver Stone to see a connection between the stewards hilarious finding on the legality of the Mercedes F-duct and the understandable desire to keep Mercedes happy?

The 2010 F-Duct was was banned, drivers cannot activate something that changes the balance of the car except for the rear wing DRS element. OK the latest Brawn cleverness is not independent of DRS but surely it's a driver activated device that is NOT just the rear wing element. That i was found to be legal is quite amusing.

That is not to take away from Rosberg's pole lap, pretty close to perfection I'd say.

Bunus points if you are still amazed how at the first corner, F1 cars can turn in at 300+ km/h at full throttle and scrub speed winding around around that Taijitu shaped complex.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time          Gap   
 1.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m35.121s         
2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m35.626s  + 0.505
3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m35.691s  + 0.570
4.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m35.784s  + 0.663
5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m35.898s  + 0.777
6.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m36.191s  + 1.070
7.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.290s  + 1.169
8.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m36.524s  + 1.403
9.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m36.622s  + 1.501
10.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        No time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m35.831s                                   Gap **
11.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m36.031s  + 0.331
12.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m36.255s  + 0.555
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m36.283s  + 0.583
14.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m36.289s  + 0.589
15.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m36.317s  + 0.617
16.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m36.745s  + 1.045
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m36.956s  + 1.256
Q1 cut-off time: 1m36.933s                                    Gap *
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.714s  + 1.516
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m38.463s  + 2.265
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m38.677s  + 2.479
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m39.282s  + 3.084
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m39.717s  + 3.519
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m40.411s  + 4.213
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m41.000s  + 4.802

107% time: 1m42.931s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Timing table via Autosport

Ringmania...

You almost feel bad for Vettel and Webber beige hybrid and all

But where's Adrian? oh right, my bad :)

And the classic...



.

Nico vs Keke

A conspicuously less "Britney" Nico Rosberg out on a frozen lake having some fun with dad Keke, who for some reason ends up seeming slightly "Bad Santa".

But aside from a Nico's new look, the surprise is that, when a Mercedes driver needs a fun car to drift around a lake with, he climbs into....a BMW?
(via Mike Frison).

Oh, he'll never live this one down

The things you do for racing.

Ok, so maybe it's not Scott Speed's "Milk and Cereal" but man...Painful.
I wonder how this goes over in the paddock or if the drivers are all too personality free to make fun of each other. Then again, apparently Weber refers to Rosberg as Britney but I that's another story...





end of post

As Formula 1 turns, episode 1476.

Just a few days away from the first of the 2010 car launches, let's catch up with the latest circus news.

Mercedes: With Nick Heidfeld now officially signed as reserve driver, the German national team is complete and we've enjoyed watching the hilarious PR dance going on pretending Michael Schumacher is not being named #1 driver.

The story they came up with about Schumi being "superstitious about even numbers" has to go down as one of the funniest ever. Why is it even a PR issue to name a seven time world champion, returning to the sport after three seasons, one of the biggest stories in motor sport history, number one over a young guy who has zero wins in 70 starts, is a mystery. Does anyone honestly believe that team will not revolve around Schumacher?

USF1: They finally signed an American driver and by American we mean from Argentina of course. And by signed we mean they will take the check signed by Jose Maria "Pechito" Lopez's sponsors, some say as much as eight million dollars, a deal which has come together with help from prominent Argentinian politician and ex-Peter Windsor managed F1 driver Carlos Reutemann.

Ferrari: Why are they not publishing Massa's test lap times, to protect Massa or to protect Rossi? Why would they protect Rossi?

Lotus: Will return with an all black livery... add gold?





end of post

The Hamilton Paradox.

No, it's not a 1960's spy movie starring Michael Caine but it could be good point of discussion. 

Hamilton got penalized at Spa, most said too harshly, almost all agreed deservedly yet the very controversy that ensued might in some way have helped him. 

With a  few days gone by we look at this with a bit more detachment,  let's review three incidents from the Monza race. 

Let's start with Hamilton's collision with Webber and his running Glock off the track onto the wet grass at Curva Grande .  I will not argue legality or call for any sort of penalty, these moves may be within the letter of the rules but seemed like petulant acts from a driver who otherwise had a fantastic race slicing though the field in a superior car. 

I was amazed to read that some UK web sites actually blamed Webber for the collision. Call it "rubbing is racing" if you must but to blame the guy getting squeezed off the road seemed a bit excessive. I'm guessing these same people  were virulent against Schumacher's starts for example.  

The Glock incident is possibly more troubling because it was uncalled for and unnecessary .  Hamilton had misread traffic and Glock saw his snowball's chance to get the position back.  He had a decent run off the chicane until Sir Hamilton pushed him onto the grass.  Pointless because the Mclaren was so much faster than the Toyota. What's certain is that after Spa there was no way officials would look at incidents like these and consider them actionable.

With Felipe Massa we saw another effect of the Spa controversy. Massa made a great move on the outside of Nico Rosberg but was up on the curb on the second half of the chicane. It was great driving by the two of them and Massa did a great job holding on to a car which was all out of shape coming out. The pit wall told him to give the position back just in case Mclaren protested. 

But why? Massa did not "cut" the chicane, in fact his left wheels were still on the white paint. What's more that is essentially the same line Hamilton took lap after lap... In the end though the Ferrari pit wall must have figured that it was better not to risk and Massa gave up potentially precious points. So you see, paradoxically, Hamilton has had his penalty reduced already.

Discuss! and as usual direct all hate mail to the Freep.

UPDATE:  The FIA  decided... not to decide and ruled Mclaren's appeal was not admissible,  after ruling that it was.  sigh.

The Hamilton Paradox from Axis of Oversteer.com Video on Vimeo.

Williams F1 unveil 2009 FW-4WD, Nico Rosberg not amused.

Williams F1 have take delivery of their 2009 FW-4WD equipped with the latest (ESA) Electronic Slope Alert, warning of unsafe slopes. This is expected to give Williams F1 a supreme advantage during unexpected off track excursions.

A miffed Nico Rosberg, reached for comment in Montecarlo had no comment.

Williams FW-4WD specifications




British ride-on lawnmower manufacturer, Countax Ltd., launched a new Williams Formula One Team model at this years’ Chelsea Flower Show.

The new Williams FW-4WD is equipped with a 16hp twin cylinder engine, and with 4WD capability, this new mower has been designed to cut and collect grass on slopes up to 30°, and in marshy areas of the garden where greater traction is required.

The four wheel drive ‘4TRAC’ technology has been developed by Countax specifically for its ride-on lawnmowers, with a unique ability to increase and decrease the turning speed of the front wheels to eliminate scuffing. 4TRAC offers ultimate scuff-free slope performance for the perfect lawn. A unique Countax built in safety feature, the Electronic Slope Alert, sounds an alarm to warn the operator before reaching an incline too great for safe mowing.

The Williams FW-4WD sports the latest team colours, and is fitted with a 107cm/42” cutter deck as standard, however alternative cutter decks are available including 97cm/38” mulching deck, and for really tough areas, the 92cm/36” high grass mulching deck will tame any paddock, scrubland or high grass area. Dense weeds, nettles and brambles can all be mulched into small particles, and large areas can be cleared very quickly

All Countax tractors feature the unique Operating Management System, with microprocessor control, which keeps the operator fully informed with a dashboard display of functions including indication of 4WD engaged, and correct RPM for optimum performance. The Williams FW-4WD has the added benefit of electric deck lift, allowing the operator to adjust the cutting height with the touch of a button.

The new Williams FW-4WD ride on mower comes with complimentary cover and security wheel clamp, and is available from all Countax dealers, SRP £5245 inc Vat, 107cm/42” cutter deck and powered grass collector.

Rumors of Alonso and Williams

Well, they do have an open seat, they do have a good engine and it is after all, the great Williams team. However, they do also have a very good driver in Rosberg to complicate issues if, as everyone thinks, Alonso is looking for a team which will give him clear #1 status.

For Williams, having a two time world champion would make the team very attractive to first tier sponsors but I cannot imagine him giving Ron Dennis the cash he must be asking for the Alonso contract....unless... they do a swap with Rosberg.

It is worth noting that Alonso's manager Louis Garcia is saying that Mclaren cannot "sell" Alonso's 2008 contract without mutual consent and that as of now Fernando will drive in what will have to be called "team from hell" next season... ouch, for all involved!