Bernie Not Offering Silverstone A “Cut Price” Deal On BGP

Bernie Ecclestone has denied rumour that he will offer Silverstone a “cut-price” deal to hold the 2010 British Grand Prix now that Donington’s dreams of hosting the race look in tatters.

Donington have failed to get the funding necessary to continue re-development of the circuit, and are now left with no money, a half finished track and no racing for the forthcoming season with MotoGP relocating for 2010 to Silverstone.

A contract has been offered to the Northamptonshire based circuit, the home F1 for some years, and Ecclestone has told the BRDC that it should accept the proposals rather than fight for a cheaper deal.

“Silverstone have a contract in front of them,” he said. “We’ve no commercial arrangement in place for a British Grand Prix for next year. That is why the race has an asterisk beside it on the 2010 calendar.

“If they can’t make it work then don’t do it. If that happens, there won’t be a British Grand Prix. Simple as that.

“No-one is forcing them to take it. This is business. We have offered them a deal.

“I want a British Grand Prix, of course, but we are not going to do special rates for Britain.”

British Grand Prix 2009: Vettel Storms To Victory In Unstoppable Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel stormed to an epic win, something that his fellow countryman Michael Schumacher, the greatest driver of all time would have been proud of.  Vettel, the young German who takes his 3rd race win of his short career led from start to finish in a fashionable style pulling away from Rubens Barrichello at a rate of 1 second per lap for the first stint.

Race Review

From the start we knew that the Red Bull’s were fast, sporting their brand new aerodynamics created by a brilliant Adrian Newey who had been working around the clock to make the RB5 competitive against the Brawn GP cars, and with Vettel carrying plenty of fuel it looked like the German had it in the bag.  We weren’t going to be proved wrong.

Kimi Raikkonen had the pick of the starts, wedging his Ferrari down the outside into the first corner of Silverstone, using the KERS system to full effect.  His team mate Felipe Massa also had a terrific start getting ahead of championship leader Jenson Button, the plucky Brit only managing an overtake through sheer luck of Massa making a minor error.

For the first stint Mark Webber was stuck behind Rubens Barrichello, until the first stops when he could make it past but would play second fiddle to Vettel who had a pitstop sized gap between himself and 2nd place.

The McLaren’s of last years pole position man and winner just went backwards, and while the battle down the field was very entertaining – so much so we spend a good ten laps or more following it on the FOM wold feed between Alonso, Hamilton and Piquet it certainly was not where the former two wanted to be.  World Champions pretty much propping up the table.

Kimi Raikkonen looked to be on for a good race with him closing the gap to Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello, and indeed after having dealt with Kazuki Nakajima it would be the Finn’s downfall to get stuck behind Jarno Trulli after his stop.

While that was Raikkonen’s loss it most certainly was not for Massa who jumped ahead of that slow pack as he made his way to 4th position.  Nico Rosberg followed in 5th at the end, despite a resurgent Jenson Button who spent the race complaining about the BGP001 [which he described as a monster in Turkey] in 6th place. 

The only mega action incidentally came from the two McLaren’s.  A lighter and faster Lewis Hamilton made a move over Kovalainen who lost a little concentration, he noted Sebastien Bourdais behind him and blocked going into Club corner where the Frenchman slammed into the back of Kovalainen causing massive debris around Club corner just after the crest.  Both men dropped out a lap later, and both blamed each other for a silly error.   Hamilton provided action at the same corner as he pushed the McLaren hard he slipped it onto the grass and spun out, but managed to continue to 16th position.

A quick shout for Giancarlo Fisichella too who finished in 10th place, a valiant performance for the Italian veteran racer.

Classified Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	1.22.49.328
2	M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	+15.188
3	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	+41.175
4	F. Massa	Ferrari	+45.053
5	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+45.915
6	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+46.285
7	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1.08.307
8	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+1.09.622
9	T. Glock	Toyota	+1.09.823
10	G. Fisichella	Force India Merc	+1.11.522
11	K. Nakajima	Williams Toyota	+1.14.023
12	N. Piquet	Renault	+1 lap
13	R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1 lap
14	F. Alonso	Renault	+1 lap
15	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1 lap
16	L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	+1 lap
17	A. Sutil	Force India Merc	+1 lap
18	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap

Fastest Lap: S. Vettel (Red Bull Renault): 1.20.735

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
S. Bourdais	Toro Rosso Ferrari	25	Crash Damage
H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	24	Crash Damage

 

British Grand Prix 2009: Vettel Storms To Pole Position!

Sebastian Vettel stormed to a British Grand Prix pole position, his second in a row this season and will be hoping to convert it into a win.  Team mate Mark Webber held good pace throughout the session and will start 3rd.

Webber is behind Rubens Barrichello, a man who loves this circuit out qualifying Michael Schumacher here 3 times in the Ferrari days.  His team mate, the home favourite and world championship leader Jenson Button only starts 6th after a lacklustre showing.

His British compatriot Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 winner starts a lowly 19th place after a catastrophic qualifying which saw the other McLaren start 13th.

Raikkonen was the best of the Ferrari’s in 9th, with Massa in 11th split by Fernando Alonso in the Renault.

The main action came from Adrian Sutil who appeared to have a brake failure at Abbey, just before Bridge and his Force India smashed into the barriers with half the car missing.  The rear wing ended up over the crash barriers with the marshals.  He emerged unscathed, although at first it looked like he had hurt his back, spinal x-rays showed he was all clear.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3
 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:18.685  1:18.119  1:19.509
 2.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:19.325  1:18.335  1:19.856
 3.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:18.674  1:18.209  1:19.868
 4.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:18.886  1:18.240  1:20.091
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:18.530  1:18.575  1:20.216
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:18.957  1:18.663  1:20.289
 7.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:19.228  1:18.591  1:20.361
 8.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:19.198  1:18.791  1:20.490
 9.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:19.010  1:18.566  1:20.715
10.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:19.167  1:18.761  1:20.741
11.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:19.148  1:18.927
12.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.730  1:19.308
13.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:19.732  1:19.353
14.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:19.555  1:19.392
15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.559  1:19.448
16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.802
17.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:19.898
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.909
19.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:19.917
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:20.236

British Grand Prix 2009: Vettel Fastest In FP1

Sebastian Vettel stormed to top spot in FP1 at Silverstone’s last F1 race for 17 years, proving that the new upgrades were pushing them ahead of Brawn GP.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.400            20
 2.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.682  + 0.282   19
 3.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.227  + 0.827   20
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.242  + 0.842   29
 5.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:20.458  + 1.058   26
 6.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:20.471  + 1.071   23
 7.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:20.585  + 1.185   32
 8.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:20.650  + 1.250   26
 9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:20.815  + 1.415   32
10.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:20.838  + 1.438   25
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:20.913  + 1.513   22
12.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:21.029  + 1.629   22
13.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:21.103  + 1.703   24
14.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:21.179  + 1.779   27
15.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:21.384  + 1.984   23
16.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:21.386  + 1.986   32
17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:21.489  + 2.089   26
18.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:21.525  + 2.125   30
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:21.590  + 2.190   37
20.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:21.801  + 2.401   16

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Donington On Track and Has 17 Year Contract

Donington Park boss Simon Gillet was almost iron fist in his conversation with Autosport this week as he discussed the future of the British Grand Prix and Donington Park’s development into a Formula One ready venue.

Gillet hit out at the British Motorsport Establishment’s criticism of Donington, and also their future as the host of F1.

In direct relation to the claims by media that they would not host the event in 2010, Gillet claimed that was never an option – despite Ecclestone saying they could take one year’s grace.

“Sitting here today, I can’t see any reason for doing that,” said Gillett. “What Bernie Ecclestone has done is given us a safety net. Part of the problem with our financing has been that everyone is out there saying it doesn’t matter if Donington doesn’t make it because Silverstone will pick it up.

“So that’s a distraction for our financiers – they read in the press that Silverstone will get it back so ask why they should go with us. But what Mr Ecclestone did was very carefully say that if Donington is there in 2010, he’ll wait because it’s not going back to Silverstone.

“In doing that, he has made 2010 even more viable because now finance houses understand that it is our contract. To give us one-year breathing space is an absolute show of commitment.”

Gillet confirmed that Donington has an epic 17 year contract, if F1 keeps going that long of course !

“The great thing about the credit crunch is that building is cheaper! So we’re now looking at about £30 million. We’re confident with what we have – and that’s with a 10-year contract.

“Now, with a 17-year contract, we should double that as well. It’s a very solid way of financing. It’s just that we caught the market at the wrong time.

“But now we’re talking to a lot of different funds and individuals about them backing this scheme because people now realise that this current situation is not going to last forever.

“We have a 17-year contract, and everyone knows that we will be out of this within that period.”

Ecclestone: If Donny Isn’t Ready In 2010 We Can Skip A Year

Bernie Ecclestone has committed himself to Formula One at Donington Park once again, suggesting that if the circuit was not ready for the 2010 race date then the British Grand Prix could skip a season and return.

“If the work at Donington is not finished in time, we would be happy to skip a year,” Ecclestone told The Times newspaper.

Bernie said that he would rather skip the season than bring the British GP back to Silverstone.

“I don’t want to lose the British Grand Prix – that’s the last thing we want to do, but we aren’t going to Silverstone for sure,” he added.

Donington should be careful, circuits have dropped off the calendar for “improvements” and never returned.  Like Imola for example…

Donington Park Dismantle Famous Bridge In F1 Preparation

Donington Park today dismantled their famous “Dunlop” tyre bridge in preparation for building work and expansion before the first F1 race there since 1993 in 2010.

The Leicestershire based circuit has had the bridge across the back straight next to the Donington Museum for years and it has become iconic with spectators and drivers alike.

However, it is sited upon the location for the new paddock and garages so has to go.

It is not being sold on, meerly put into storage and rumour has it that it will be utilised somewhere else around the circuit area, possibly across the entrance.

“We’re storing it, and then we’re going to decide where it is going to go,” Simon Gillett, track boss said.

“Maybe [we'll] change the ‘Dunlop’ to ‘Donington’ but in the same typeface. Part of the problem with the Dunlop Bridge is that MotoGP is Michelin, it’s Pirelli for World Superbikes, Bridgestone for F1, so commercially you can’t have it.

“There is the safety point of view because of the width of it, and also the location because the new pits and paddock are going there.

“So there are lots of reasons – it’s current location is wrong, it is not wide enough, and then there are the commercial reasons … we’d be constantly painting over the Dunlop. So it just couldn’t stay. But we’ll find a home for it. It won’t work over the track, but it will be somewhere nearby.”

Dunlop Bridge at the 2008 BTCC round at Donington Park

Donny Planning Decision By New Year

Planners on the local district council surrounding Donington Park have announced they’re confident a complete decision whether plans for the circuit will be allowed will be made by the New Year.

Donington Park has been given the F1 race in Britain from 2010 onwards, and as such needs to make big developments to bring it up to the acceptable standard.

Plans have been drawn up, but they just needed to be allowed by the council.

John Bridges, a cabinet member of North West Leicestershire District Council, told the Press Association: “The prospect of Formula One at Donington Park is something really exciting for the district as a whole. We will though be making sure that the environmental impact of proposed development at the site is properly considered.

“Ever since the announcement of Donington Park as hosts for the British Grand Prix from 2010 we have been working closely with the track owners and their planning consultants to make sure we receive the information needed for the planning application as early as possible.

“I am confident that if we continue working together we will still be able to make a planning decision on the proposals by the end of the year.”

Donny Plans Unveiled

Donington Park’s plans to get the track ready for 2010 have been unveiled, with pictures being published in this week’s Autosport magazine.

The Leicestershire track are going to spend a lot of money completly reconstructing the pit area, bringing it up to International specifications with new garages, a new media centre and race control building.

David Fern, Donington’s spokeman said “There will be a totally new complex will be built with all of the pits fitted out to the latest specifications.”

Also the track is to be lengthened to 4.8km. The bosses joked at Silverstone on Sunday about removing Craner Curves, before reassuring fans that the historic turns WOULD be staying, instead plans would be focussed further around the track.

These plans involve a brand new sweeping curve, something spectacular Fern said. A lap should take 77 seconds, with cars being able to reach speeds of 200mph.

Donington have only held 1 F1 race, the European Grand Prix in 1993, a rain sodden event which was won by Ayrton Senna in the Marlboro Mclaren.

Listen to an Interview with the spokesman for Donington: Interview with David Fern

Rosberg Likely To Start British GP From Pits

Nico Rosberg has told German Television channel Premiere that he is likely to start this afternoon’s British Grand Prix from the pitlane.

The young racer was complaining of problems with his Williams, which were clearly evident from on board camera’s. The FW30 was not comping well with the undulating bumpy tarmac surface at Silverstone.

This meant that he went out in Q1, and upon leaving the cockpit he looked rather unhappy.

“It’s making the car really hard to drive in the corners because it just jumps around all over the place,” Rosberg commented directly after Quali. “We’ve obviously been trying to find a solution throughout the sessions but, so far, nothing has worked”

“I will probably start the race from the pitlane, because we will have to change a lot of things on the car.” Rosberg informed Premiere last night.