New site launch coming soon

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Now the F1 season (the Renault saga excepted) is at a close, more or less, it is time for F1-Pitlane to get ready for the new year.

We are moving to a dedicated site which you can find at F1pitlane.net. We’ll also be taking the F1-Pitlane.com domain name as well.

If you click on the site you will see the beta development. We are still experimenting with colour schemes and formats but the front page is 95% finished. Over the next few weeks we’ll finish the remainder of the site too.

One word of warning. The development has been exclusively in Firefox and it doesn’t look so great when displayed in IE 6 (I haven’t tried IE 7). Rest assured by launch date it will look great.

We are also looking for writers, editors and contributors to the site. Anyone is welcome to apply although we won’t compromise of professionalism.

That’s it for now. Expect the new site to be up and running by Christmas.

Thank-you for your patience.

FIA botch fuel decision

Unbelievable. What next?

At the cost of millions of pounds the FIA World Motorsport Council took two days to rule than McLaren’s appeal into the fuel irregularities of BMW and Williams was illegal. Two days? What the hell were they doing?

So what are the implications of the decision?

Well, the public objective of McLaren, namely wanting “rule clarification”,  has been thwarted as by throwing out the appeal the FIA could not adjudicate on whether of not the accused committed an offense. This will put the FIA in a very tricky spot next time this issue raises its ugly head. Are F1 teams now allowed to ignore fuel temperature differences? It would appear so. If any team is punished next season for the same offense then the decision of both the stewards at Interlagos and the FIA will seem hypocritical and laughable.

The other bone of contention is that no one connected with the sport wanted the title decided in court. I don’t think that is precisely correct — that may have been the view a month ago but we are where we are.  What people didn’t want was another FIA dodge, which we got. Forever more this non-ruling will leave a fug of uncertainty surrounding the 2007 championship. One other aspect that was particularly distasteful was the pressure applied to the FIA by F1 ringmasters Max Mosely and Bernie Ecclestone. This is supposed to be an independent court. Butt out. Imagine if in the US at the trial of a serial rapist the President said that he thought the offender deserved to go to death row … the President would likely end up in the slammer too.

One bright point is that Kimi Raikonnen deservedly emerges as World Champion. He was the fastest driver over the year (although possibly not the best) and is a genuinely good bloke. However, all the off track shenanigans will make this title seem slightly false. He’ll just have to go and win another one next year.

Bring on 2008 so we can finally put this fiasco behind us.

Machinations of the F1 circus

What’s the difference between Formula 1 and a circus? A circus has more clowns. And so it goes.

Anyone but the most ardent F1 fan freely admits that his favourite sport is quickly becoming nothing short of a total farce.

Consider this: by the end of the year the last four world championships will have been decided not by who crossed the finish line first, but by the legal wigs in the courts. There is a chance, not a big chance but a chance none the less that each of these championships will change hands because of the legal rancour.

One, the 2007 Constructors title, already has with the trophy sitting in a glass case in Maranello when, a team in Woking actually accrued the most constructor points. In three days time Lewis Hamilton could be handed the Drivers Championship if BMW and Williams are expelled from the Brazilian Grand Prix. In any other race they would have been but it is unlikely the FIA will have the guts to alter the destination of the title, especially when it was won by Bernie’s favourite team.

With Renault-gate picking up momentum there is a chance that the Enstone-based outfit could be disqualified from the 2006 Constructors Championship, as that was when confidential McLaren information first came into their possession. If so that particulary trophy would be headed in the direction of Ferrari. The 2006 Drivers Championship could accompany too as part of the same penalty although the 2007 fudge means that is unlikely.

At this rate I don’t know why F1 bothers holding motor races. Max Mosely is eager to cut costs. Perhaps each team should hire a cabal of lawyers and see who comes on top in the dock?

Today the world awaits the fate of the new rising star of F1, Lewis Hamilton. The odds are that the FIA will agree some fudge that sees the BMW and Williams cars disqualified but not the drivers. That will be good enough for Kimi to retain his title.

Whatever the outcome it won’t be especially satisfactory for the sport.

Todt on his Todd at Ferrari

In a somewhat surprising move, yesterday Ferrari announced that Jean Todt, Team Principal, was kicked upstairs (probably to become CEO) and that Stefano Domenicali would replace the Frenchman as Ferrari boss.

That this move was made on the same day that Honda announced the capture of former Ferrari Technical Director, Ross Brawn, wasn’t coincidence. It is no secret that Brawn wanted to return to F1 as a Team Principal and that Ferrari was his first choice. Unless Ferrari badly misplayed their hand something has gone tragically wrong. Brawn is acknowledged as the smartest brain in the paddock and is a valuable asset to any team.

So why did he shun Ferrari (if he did) and move to Honda?

The smart money is that Ferrari simply didn’t want him so any option of a return to Maranello was merely an illusion. After Ferrari’s spectacular and unexpectedly successful season the Scuderia decided that after a decade of Todt and Brawn it was time for some new blood. This is in sharp contrast to the deal on the table at the start of the year where it was agreed that Todt would take on some luminary position within the Ferrari hierarchy and would be replaced as Principal by Brawn.

However, over the course of the 2007 season it became apparent that relations between the two became frosty. If Todt’s appointment as CEO is confirmed then it is likely he will still exert a lot of control over the team and the Team Principal will become a hatchet man. Brawn refused to work under those conditions.

If that is true then good for Brawn. Good for F1 too. There is little question of how important Brawn was to Ferrari but remember the organisation had the deepest pockets in the sport. Honda is an altogether different challenge, and if Brawn can bring in silverware then he’ll be rightly lauded as one of the finest hands ever to grace the F1 Pitlane.

And Ferrari? Expect Todt to play a role. It is business as usual at Maranello.

Honda appoint Ross Brawn as Team Principal

The Daily Telegraph is this morning reporting that Ross Brawn will shortly be announced as Honda’s new Team Principal.

Brawn’s future has been the subject of much speculation since he left Ferrari last year. Although he hasn’t kept his desire to run an F1 team secret the speculation up to now has been that he’d replace Jean Todt as head of the Scuderia. However, Ferrari’s remarkable double win this year, their first for three years, and Todt’s determination to continue meant that the Ferrari bosses were unable to make the switch they wanted to.

What does it mean for Honda?

Brawn’s record on the track is enviable. At Ferrari he orchestrated an era of dominance by Michael Scuhmacher never before seen in the sport. At Honda expect him to have complete control of both technical and strategic sides of the team — there is no way he’d have jumped on board a sunken ship without that kind of guarantee. Also expect Honda to have pledged significant resources to providing Brawn with a car that can win. It may be too late for Brawn to influence the 2008 car by 2010, if Brawn has anything to do with it, the Japanese-outfit should be back at the top-end of the grid.

For the Scuderia the outlook is more uncertain. There is no doubt they hankered over the return of Brawn to skipper the team into the early part of next decade. The dalliance my not be over yet. If Honda fail to give Brawn the control he craves and demands, and success isn’t forthcoming he may be asked to take over the reigns at Ferrari. And that will be a terribly hard offer to refuse.

2007 Review: Williams

This is the fifth in F1-Pitlane’s multi-part season review of each constructor. Today we look at Willaims who have fallen a long way in the last decade. The question is will they rise again?

The car

A decade ago the Williams team were double world champions led by the irascible Jacques Villeneuve. To say the team has gone through a barren spell is a gross understatement. A partnership with BMW looked at one point to have rekindled the glory days but the German engine supplier wanted a larger say in running the team, which Frank Williams was not prepared to give, so BMW bolted into the grateful arms of Sauber. Last year Williams ran Cosworth engines, when quite frankly, not taking part in any races at all may have been preferable.

This years marks a fresh start as the car is now powered by Toyota engines in a deal that saw Toyota get access to Williams’ seamless shift gearbox. The team performed admirably, proving that the Toyota engine is actually half decent. The biggest achievement was simply getting to the chequered flag. Only three times in 2007 did a Williams retire compared to 11 in 2006.

The drivers

If it wasn’t for one young Briton monopolising the pitlane chatter Nico Rosberg, Williams’ number one driver, would be receiving more of the plaudits. His performance in 2007 was astonishing as he comprehensively outraced his team mate Alex Wurz, who became so demotivated that he was forced into retirement before the end of the season.

Rosberg put in some gutsy performances, no more apparent (and controversial) than his efforts in the final GP of the season at Interlagos. He fended off the challenge of the BMWs to finish a gusty fourth. Although Rosberg was easily the better driver it was Wurz who had Williams’ best result of the year with a podium at Montreal.

The outlook

With the marriage of manufacturers to engine suppliers being a feature of F1 over the last 10 years, Williams have been left at the alter without a bride. This means that they are fighting squarely in the midfield and likely don’t have the financial resources to haul themselves back among the contenders.

Saying that their alliance with Toyota holds promise and with the ever stringent regulations engines are becoming a less defining feature of the car. The battleground these days is aerodynamics. That gives some hope but more than hope is required to catch the top three teams. Williams think they are ready to take a big step and have publicly declared their car “revolutionary” — Honda tried that last year and it only hastened their move to the back of the grid. Expect some progress next year but a couple of podiums is as good as it will get.

Did Kimi deserve the title?

2007 has been a strange old season. Amazingly it isn’t over yet what with the impending court case over fuel legality that could see the BMW and Williams cars tossed out of the Brazilian GP and Lewis promoted to fourth, which would see him mug the crown from Raikkonen. For political reasons that is an unlikely outcome. To have one title decided in court is unfortunate, to have two decided in such a manner is downright careless — the FIA will ensure it doesn’t happen.

F1 fans are an emotive bunch and opinion is split sharply among partisan lines: in the red corner are the folks who believe that anyone but McLaren deserves to be champion because (a) McLaren blatantly stole Ferrari’s secrets, (b) Lewis is an arrogant prima dona who should be taken down a peg or two, and (c) Ron Dennis is the bad guy and deserves to live out his remaining days somewhere between hell and pergutory; over in the silver corner are those who feel that Lewis and McLaren have been monumentally screwed over by an overzealous FIA and a tempestous Fernando Alonso.

So who is right?

The bald facts suggest that Kimi is a worthy champion. Winning the driver’s crown is about seeing the chequered flag first and Kimi stood atop the podium six times, twice more than both Lewis and Fernando. Were it not for the gremlins that afflicted his Ferrari in the mid-season then Raikkonen would have taken the title at a canter.

However, that’s not to take anything away from Hamilton, who arguably had an even better season and with a dash more luck would have walked away champion. It could easily have been Hamilton who won six races rather than Raikkonen. A different tyre strategy or dry weather my have resulted in victory. And at Interlagos Hamilton out-qualified everyone bar Massa despite hauling several laps more fuel around the track. Add in Hamilton’s rookie status, which meant he saw many circuits for the first time, and that he was paired with the double World Champion his achievements are even more impressive. Although Hamilton wobbled midway through the season, particularly at Monza and Spa, the way he outpaced Alonso over the last three Grand Prix suggest that he has more raw pace than the Spaniard.

Also we should put Alonso’s achievements in the correct context. To score the same number of points as his team mate and one behind the eventual winner is a monumental feat given the friction between him and his team over the year. Say what you like about McLaren’s equality policy it sure made for exciting racing.

There is little doubt that the top three are the greatest drivers of their era who in 2007 were all at the top of their games. Had Alonso and Raikonnen been team mates then it is likely that Hamilton would have sauntered off with the title. Were if Hamilton and Raikonnen in the same car then Alonso would have won.

What about the allegations of cheating? Does that mean the McLaren drivers should have been kicked out of the championship? The FIA need to show consistency and didn’t. If McLaren were guilty then they shouldn’t be allowed to compete in either the constructors or drivers championship. The facts are murky and obscured by the allegations that the infomation flow wasn’t one way. Why would it be? Nigel Stepney is on record as saying that Ferrari actively canvassed and recieved technical information about McLaren’s set-up. Also there was no evidence that McClaren used any of the information they got from Ferrari to advance their car. On the otherhand there was a smoking gun sticking out of Alonso’s pocket! No-one will ever agree on whether the punishment fitted the crime but what we can aquiesce on is that it dragged F1 through the mud and that is something that all involved with the sport should be ashamed of.

Baring a surprise ruling on the fuel irregularities the history books will conclude that the Flying Finn deservedly won the title on the basis of his six wins. Let’s not forget the desperate position Kimi was in in Fuji where at one point 20 cars separated him from championship leader, Lewis Hamilton. By fighting back to third he was able to keep the gap to 17 points with two races remaining. They say that it is in the face of adversity that true champions are made, so on that basis Kimi is rightfully king.

More reflections on Renault

More information about the circumstances surrounding Renault’s possession of confidential McLaren data has come to light.

The case concerns Phil Mackereth, who defect from McLaren to Renault in September last year. Earlier today Renault issued a statement:

Following the notification of the FIA for the ING Renault F1 Team representatives to appear in front of the World Council, the team wishes to clarify the situation.

On the 6th September 2007 it came to our attention that an engineer (Mr Phil Mackereth) who joined the team from McLaren in Sept 2006 had brought with him some information that was considered to be proprietary to McLaren. This information was contained on old style floppy discs and included copies of some McLaren engineering drawings and some technical spreadsheets.

This information was loaded at the request of Mr Mackereth onto his personal directory on the Renault F1 Team file system. This was done without the knowledge of anyone in authority in the team. As soon as the situation was brought to the attention of the team’s technical management, the following actions were taken:

The information was completely cleansed from the team’s computer systems and a formal investigation was started. We promptly informed McLaren of the situation and immediately after the FIA.

Since then we have constantly and regularly kept McLaren and the FIA informed on all relevant findings.

Mr Mackereth was immediately suspended from his position. The original floppy discs were impounded and sent to our solicitors for return to McLaren.

Our formal investigation showed that early in his employment with Renault Mr Mackereth made some of our engineers aware of parts of this information in the form of a few reduced scale engineering drawings. These drawings covered four basic systems as used by McLaren and were: the internal layout of the fuel tank, the basic layout of the gear clusters, a tuned mass damper and a suspension damper.

Subsequent witness statements from the engineers involved have categorically stated that having been briefly shown these drawings, none of this information was used to influence design decisions relating to the Renault car. In the particular case of the tuned mass damper, these had already been deemed illegal by the FIA and therefore the drawing was of no value.

The suspension damper drawing hinted that the McLaren design might be similarly considered illegal and a subsequent clarification from the FIA confirmed this based upon our crude interpretation of the concept.

ING Renault F1 Team have co-operated fully with McLaren and the FIA in this matter to the extent that the team has invited McLaren’s independent experts to come and assess the team’s computer systems and inspect the cars and the design records, to demonstrate that this unfortunate incident has not in anyway influenced the design of the cars.

ING Renault F1 Team have acted with complete transparency towards McLaren and the FIA, being proactive in solving this matter and we are fully confident in the judgement of the World Council.

Renault’s defence is that the team gained no advantage from having the McLaren data. That may be turn but is a shaky stance. Remember that the FIA couldn’t find a shred of evidence that the MP4-22 was contaminated by Ferrari’s technical data.

The omens don’t look good for the Enstone-based team and a swingeing fine could cause the parent company to pull out of F1. For the good of the sport the FIA must levy a fair (probably hefty) fine, but it would be a shame if that was the deaf knell for the team.

Renault accused of spying

You couldn’t make it up, but someone has.
A couple of months after docking McLaren all their constructors points for stealing Ferrari’s designs the FIA are ready to draw more blood. Renault have now been hauled before the World Motorsport Council to explain how and why they had possession of McLaren’s technical drawings. The charges against Renault appear suspiciously similar to those levelled against McLaren. If true, the Enstone-based outfit will likely suffer a similar punishment. The hearing will take place on December 6th.

This development has significant ramifications for both Renault and the wider sport.

• McLaren will be grateful for the company in the slammer — the spotlight will be off them for a while
• The fact that an accusing finger has been pointed at another team raises questions as to how endemic spying is in the world of F1. Teams have always played close attention to the latest designs employed by rivals, even recruiting squadrons of operatives to take a good, close up look at other cars on the grid
• Renault’s 2008 car will likely be even more compromised than McLaren’s as development is almost complete — next year could be a disaster for Flav and his team if his car is riddled with McLaren bits and pieces
• Given that McLaren had access to top secret Ferrari info is it possible that Renault stole this too? Perhaps the FIA should cast an eye over the F28 for a likeness to the F2008
• There is a sharp irony that McLaren stole stuff from Ferrari only to have their own work nicked by the French!

Spying seems to follow Fernando Alonso around like a bad smell: first McLaren and now Renault. If Alonso were about to put pen to paper with Renault expect him to wait until this latest spy saga has been cleared up. It is unlikely that the Spaniard will want to race for another team accused of thieving state secrets.

It is hard to predict how all this will shake out. The smart money says that Renault will be punished along the lines that McLaren were. The FIA, though, has a bigger question to answer. How can F1 be adequately policed to regain the trust of the fans and sponsors? Or is the sport destined be a corrupt spectacle evermore?

2007 Review: Renault

This is the fourth in F1-Pitlane’s multi-part season review of each constructor. Today we look at Renault who were only going to go one way in 2007. Down.

When Fernando Alonso departed for pastures anew, the Enstone-based outfit were always going to find life tough adjusting. However, many on the grid thought that Heiki Kovalainen would prove, over time, a more than adequate replacement. Those hopes turned out to be false.

The car 

Given the amount of work that Renault had to do in 2006 just to keep up with a rampaging Ferrari team it isn’t surprising that that deflected attention from the development of the R27. What was a surprise was the extent to which Renault fell back to the pack. Not only had Ferrari usurped them but so did McLaren and BMW. They hung on for third in the Constructors Championship.

One of the issues was adapting to the Bridgestone compounds, which Renault struggled with all season. The team also wasn’t helped by some faulty wind tunnel work which hampered development in the early races. Perhaps the only bright note was the  unerring reliability of the car. Kovalainen, for instance, finished every race bar the last, where he crashed.

In fairness to Flavio and his clan the team realised pretty quick that further work on the 2007 car was futile and switched efforts to the 2008 incarnation. Whether this will enough to claw back any of the gap to the top team remains to be seen. One wonders whether Renault would have been this far behind with Alonso in the cockpit — perhaps he does add 6/10 after all.

The organisation

Briatore continues to skipper the ship with a rod of iron and his flamboyant personality transcends the team.  Pat Symmonds heads up all the technical aspects of the team and he does a damn fine job. Given that the team has never traditionally been an F1 leader the successes over the first part of this decade has been nothing short of astonishing.

More pointed questions on Renault as an organisation centre on the commitment of the parent company to F1.  Renault has a history of pulling in and out of the sport and speculation continues that CEO Carlos Ghosn, a renowned cost cutter, could pull the plug. While the team was winning the decision to continue wasn’t too taxing. A couple of losing seasons could decisively shift sentiment.

The drivers

The loss of Alonso was undoubtedly a big blow but Renault were quietly confident that Heiki Kovalainen would be able to partially fill his shoes. That hope was proved forlorn in the first race and Kovalainen was exceptionally ragged leaving the circuit countless times. After the race, which to the surprise of everyone the Finn actually finished, Briatore publicly admonished his protege.

Kovalainen later admitted that he didn’t understand the onus of him to develop the car and accepted that he should spend more time with his engineers to develop the car jointly. The amazing thing was that Kovalainen had success across many formulas and he had graduated to F1 without understand how to work with his engineers — Flavio must have choked on his cornflakes as he heard that.

To Kovalainen’s credit by the mid-season he’d started to assert himself as Renault’s number one driver as Fisichella was consistently outraced and seemingly headed for retirement. The Finn even secured a podium in a monsoon-affected Japanese Grand Prix, and at one point it looked like he might secure an unlikely post-race victory as Lewis Hamilton was caught on handycam driving like a madman.

The outlook

Renault stated developing the F28 early and had a strong track record in F1 so expect next year’s car to be a lot stronger that this year’s. If Briatore can snare Fernando Alonso the future could be very, very bright.