Rosberg Announced As Mercedes Driver

Nico Rosberg was unveiled this morning as Mercedes Benz GP’s first new driver for the 2010 season.

The highly rated German youngster left Williams after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and was connected with the team before Brawn sold out to Mercedes.  When this happened, it became almost 100% certain that Rosberg would join Benz as the manufacturer looked to German drivers.

“I am really happy to be a part of the Silver Arrows re-launch in 2010 as a driver for Mercedes,” said Rosberg.

“No other brand in Formula 1 can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing. I am very proud that I will now drive for the new Mercedes team and work with Ross Brawn.

“I am more motivated than ever and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season at Bahrain in March.”

Speculation is mounting as to who his team mate will be.  With internet (and Eddie Jordan’s) finger pointing at Michael Schumacher, lets not forget Nick Heidfeld the “maybe” man has been linked with the drive, could this re-spark his career?

Photo from BrawnGP

Mercedes Benz Buy Controlling Stake In Brawn GP

Mercedes Benz have announced that they have purchased a controlling 75% stake in the Brawn GP team.

The German automobile giant had been speculated with a move to Ross Brawn’s championship winning team, which it supplied engines too in 2009, since September and today’s announcement seeked to tidy up the paddock thoughts ahead of 2010 preparations.

It is now likely that Brawn, who won both titles in their maiden season, will be re-named Mercedes Benz Grand Prix however Ross Brawn will stay on as Team Principal alognside Norbert Haug of Mercedes Motorsport.

Mercedes Benz will also be pulling out of McLaren with the team having to buy back the 40% shares over 2 years, but remain with the German’s as an engine supplier until 2015.

Jenson Button is now set to go to McLaren to race alongside Lewis Hamilton, the Briton visited the factory earlier this week.  He claims not to be motivated by cash in the move, however his salary is likely to be greater than the £3.5million Brawn offered him.

With Nico Rosberg looking ever more likely to head to the new Mercedes GP team, Nick Heidfeld is a suprise team mate choice, Norberg Haug says he has held various meetings with the perennial underperformer ousted from BMW this season.

“We are speaking with Nick Heidfeld as well,” Haug told DPA.

“Mercedes-Benz supports the idea of signing an experienced and capable German driver. There is however no reason to finalise the driver situation too hastily.”

More news this evening.

Rosberg Confirms Williams Exit

Nico Rosberg has confirmed that he will be leaving the Williams F1 Team at the end of the 2009 season in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport.

The German driver has only ever driven for Williams in his career which started in 2006 at the Bahrain Grand Prix.  Since then, a mix of form has led him to 2009 his strongest season yet with 34.5 points in hand as he goes into the final race.

Rosberg admitted it will be with a heavy heart that he leaves the team, but is looking forward to finding a winning drive.  This could either be with McLaren or Brawn GP.

“I’ve been with the team for five years;” the BBC report Rosberg as saying. “They’re the only team, I’ve worked with, [they] have really supported my career over these years and I’d like to say a very big thank you to them.

“There’s no reason why they can’t be as good as this year, but I’m not sure they can win races at the moment, and I would like to win races,”

Weber Lets Cat Out Of Bag On Williams New Drivers

Michael Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber has well and truly let the cat out of the bag with regards to the Williams F1 Team’s two new drivers for the forthcoming 2010 season in an interview with German newspaper Die Bild am Sonntag.

Weber was discussing his driver Nico Hulkenberg with the tabloid favourite and he told the reporter “I think he [Hulkenberg] will be a match for his new teammate Barrichello,”

That pretty much tells us all we need to know about the Grove outfits two drivers for 2010.  Hulkenberg has been the test driver for two seasons at Williams while pursuing a highly successful career in lower formulas including winning the F3 Euroseries and GP2 world titles.  He also shookdown Williams’ FW31 car for the first time in front of the media before the start of this season.

Rubens Barrichello has been linked with the team but would not give a confirmed answer to even Brazilian media about the switch from Brawn.

It leaves Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima without drives however, but Rosberg could be off to either Brawn GP or McLaren Mercedes.  If he were to go to Brawn, it looks likely Jenson Button would go to McLaren and Rosberg could be joined by any number of drivers, even possibly Kimi Raikkonen if he doesn’t sign with Toyota.

As for Kazuki Nakajima, his best chance is probably with one of the new teams, perhaps Lotus.

Hulkenberg (L) and Weber (R)

Hamilton Not Concerned By New Team Mate

Lewis Hamilton has told a British newspaper that he is not concerned by who his team mate for 2010 will be, as long as there is harmony within the team.

Hamilton, who spent the entirety of his first season in Formula One arguing with Fernando Alonso (who is now Ferrari bound for next season), has had 2 seasons alongside Heikki Kovalainen which has proved productive for the Briton winning the 2008 title.

With Kovalainen’s place within the team in serious doubt, there is a good chance Lewis will be lining up against another new driver for 2010.  The new man could be Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button or even Kimi Raikkonen.

Even if it was Button, the 2009 champion, Hamilton isn’t too fussed.

“I don’t mind who comes to the team as long as they come in peace and bring peace and want to be productive and move the team forward,” Hamilton told the Daily Mail.

“I’d welcome Jenson as my team-mate,” said Hamilton. “He’s a level-headed and very committed guy. He earned the world championship and he’s done a great job over the years. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

“He will be a tough competitor next year – whether at Brawn or McLaren.”

Hulkenberg Could Get 2010 Williams Seat As They Start Driver Search

Nico Hulkenberg, the highly regarded German racer is being widely tipped for a race seat with the Williams F1 Team for next season after an interview with Sam Michael.

Hulkenberg is already a tester with the team based in Grove, and has completed some running with the 2009 car.  Nico also races in GP2, and could clinch the title at the next round of the season in Monza with a race to spare.

“Nico is someone that is on our list for a drive next year,” said Michael. “But there are lots of drivers knocking on our door.

“It’s a point of discussion internally at the moment and we need to come to a decision in the coming weeks or months. We have a long-term contract and we have to decide whether to engage that or not.”

With Nico Rosberg talking with McLaren about taking over from Heikki Kovalainen [who might be back off to Renault], and Kazuki Nakajima potentially being ousted now Williams will not be using Toyota engines, it’s all to play for on the Williams driver search.

McLaren Waiting To Decide On 2nd Driver

McLaren have annonuced they will bide their time in the driver market as they make their move for a 2nd driver to partner Lewis Hamilton for 2010.

The team have multiple options, but want to wait until Fernando Alonso is confirmed at Ferrari before making a move on any other drivers.

They are also still considering keeping Finn Heikki Kovalainen, based on his race pace improving and becoming more consistent.

“At the moment we have not, and we are not in any conversations with drivers and we will see in the future,” Whitmarsh told the BBC about his team’s driver plans going forward.

“I think in reality there are some changes probably with Fernando at Ferrari. That frees up the driver market and every year there is a number of pivotal points during the season which determine what is going to happen in the driver market.

“This year I think we all know that the Fernando/Ferrari move has a knock-on and that ripples through the other teams.

“Clearly the BMW withdrawal has also had an impact. I think we don’t see a need at the moment to rush into it, we are concentrating on developing the car and making sure we are more competitive, which I hope we will be this weekend.”

There are many drivers who will be free and available, but out of that list we see these potential candidates:

• Kimi Raikkonen – Dislodged by Alonso, drove for the team previously but would he want to return? Word is that he is leaving Formula One altogether

• Jenson Button – Impressive season thus far, could be world champion. Could McLaren deal with 2 Brits together?

• Nico Rosberg – Talented, and McLaren have resources Williams don’t.  His best chance of a title?

• Robert Kubica – No seat now BMW have left, he is being heavily linked with Renault

• Adrian Sutil – Not such a long shot, good friends with Hamilton. He has pace but needs a decent car.

Hungarian GP 2009: Hamilton Takes First Win Of Season

The reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton has taken his first win of the season in a tables turned Grand Prix in Hungary.

Race Review

Fernando Alonso led from the start, having a good getaway from pole position and pulling away from the pack on his light fuel load which would see him pit on lap 12.

Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton had good getaway’s with their KERS enabled cars, squeezing 4 cars abreast the main straight.  Sebastian Vettel was one of the drivers swallowed up by the fatser cars.  Raikkonen forced Hamilton into Vettel as the cars squeezed into turn 1.  There was a lot of positional swapping, but Hamilton made a move around the outside of Mark Webber stick for 2nd place.

During this move, Webber came towards Raikkonen who lost the backend of the Ferrari sliding into Vettel causing damage to the Red Bull car which later led to the German’s retirement although both would continue.  Raikkonen is under investigation for the incident.

Alonso pitted on lap 12, and there was a problem – his wheel mechanic on the front right failed to secure the over aerodynamic rim.  As such the wheel cover came lose, spun around and pulled the nut out of the centre of the tyre causing it to fly off half way around the lap.  Alonso crawled back to the pits with 3 wheels, did another lap but it was clear that there was some terminal damage to the Renault.

Hamilton then dominated the rest of the race, failing to lose his position at the front.  When Raikkonen and Webber pitted, a problem for the Red Bull crew mated to pulling Webber out into the path of Kimi allowed the Ferrari driver in front, into 2nd position.  It looked as though the Finn might catch Hamilton in the McLaren but it never came to fruition and Webber stuck in for 3 place too.

With Nico Rosberg making 4th place, and a valiant effort from Kazuki Nakajima the Williams team showed improvements too.  Unlike Brawn, Barrichello ended up in 18th position off the start, and Jenson Button never really looked like troubling the top guys with an oversteering Brawn he kept continually complaining about.  It doesn’t seem like the monster car that took him to the top of the points table.  His only salvation would be that Vettel retired half way through the race with a suspension problem.

Jaime Alguersuari completed an uneventful first GP, just cruising around out of trouble managing though to beat his team mate Sebastien Buemi who spun late on into the race.

Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	1.38.23.876
2	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+11.529
3	M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	+16.886
4	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+26.967
5	H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	+34.392
6	T. Glock	Toyota	+35.237
7	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+55.088
8	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1.08.172
9	K. Nakajima	Williams Toyota	+1.08.774
10	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	+1.09.256
11	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.10.612
12	N. Piquet	Renault	+1.11.512
13	R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.14.046
14	G. Fisichella	Force India Merc	+1 lap
15	J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap
16	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap

Fastest Lap: M Webber, Red Bull – 1.21.931

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	30	Suspension
F. Alonso	Renault	16	Tyre Failure
A. Sutil	Force India Merc	2	Water Pressure
F. Massa	Ferrari	DNS	QLF Accident

Hungarian GP 2009: Kovalainen Fastest For McLaren In FP1

Last year’s race winner Heikki Kovalainen was fastest in FP1, slipping ahead of Mark Webber who had led until 6 minutes remaining. A valiant effort from McLaren saw Lewis Hamilton in 3rd.

Williams too looked impressive with 2nd and 5th, Ferrari down in 7th and 8th and Jaime Alguersuari was last on his debut run with the Toro Rosso.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.278            21
 2.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.337  + 0.059   27
 3.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.554  + 0.276   20
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.615  + 0.337   21
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.619  + 0.341   25
 6.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:22.705  + 0.427   17
 7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:22.796  + 0.518   23
 8.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:22.855  + 0.577   25
 9.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:23.001  + 0.723   28
10.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.130  + 0.852   25
11.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.146  + 0.868   24
12.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.154  + 0.876   23
13.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.209  + 0.931   24
14.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:23.234  + 0.956   30
15.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.283  + 1.005   25
16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.484  + 1.206   20
17.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:23.678  + 1.400   22
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.845  + 1.567   18
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:23.998  + 1.720   37
20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.228  + 1.950   42

Turkish GP 2009: Rosberg Fastest In FP1

Free Practice maestro Nico Rosberg set the fastest time at a very green and dirty Istanbul Park today.

The track has suffered a fair bit, with no other racing to speak of, the cars were throwing up great pumes of black dust as they completed installation laps.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:28.952            24
 2.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:29.263  + 0.311   23
 3.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:29.271  + 0.319   26
 4.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:29.337  + 0.385   17
 5.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:29.342  + 0.390   22
 6.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:29.371  + 0.419   21
 7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:29.398  + 0.446   24
 8.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:29.422  + 0.470   24
 9.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.525  + 0.573   24
10.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:29.590  + 0.638   19
11.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:29.747  + 0.795   20
12.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:29.864  + 0.912   21
13.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:29.934  + 0.982   25
14.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:30.132  + 1.180   18
15.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:30.176  + 1.224   21
16.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:30.645  + 1.693   22
17.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:30.689  + 1.737   19
18.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:30.729  + 1.777   22
19.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.838  + 1.886   24
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:30.944  + 1.992   25