I disagree with absolutely every point you made there haha. Will be an okay season nothing will beat this years though.

Ross Brawn is convinced Michael Schumacher will show a big improvement in form in 2011 - judging by the progress the seven-time champion made at the end of last year.

Schumacher's return to F1 in 2010 did not live up to its pre-season hype, as he failed to finish on the podium and was beaten regularly by team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Speaking in the week that Schumacher celebrated his 42nd birthday, Brawn reckons the onus is now more on him to help Mercedes to produce a better car, rather than expect major progress from his driver.

When asked if he had thought of any birthday present to give Schumacher, Brawn told Gazzetta della Sport: "No, I haven't thought about any particular present for Michael Schumacher, because I already know what he wants from me: a competitive car.

"I'm still optimistic because Michael's performances at the end of last season were encouraging. I'm convinced he will go decidedly better this year."

A lot of Schumacher's early-season problems were blamed on the characteristics of Bridgestone's 2010 tyres – with the narrower fronts not giving the German the confidence he had enjoyed earlier in his career.

Schumacher hopes Pirelli's 2011 rubber will help him, but that is far from guaranteed – with early impressions from the first F1 test with the tyres not proving conclusive.

"It's premature to say that," said Brawn when asked if the Pirelli's would help Schumacher.

"In the Abu Dhabi test we didn't detect big differences compared to the performances obtained with Bridgestones, but it's clear that, by changing supplier, the cars need to be adapted. We'll see a lot of changes during winter testing."

Although Ferrari are keeping the exact details of the launch of their new car under wraps for the time being, the Italian team have confirmed they will unveil their 2011 challenger during the final week of January. The event will take place at the end of the month, before the first official test of the year gets underway at the Spanish circuit of Valencia on February 1.

Ferrari are hoping the as-yet unnamed car, along with their driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, will help them return to the front of the field in 2011. They scored five victories last season, but ended the year third in the constructors’ standings - 102 points behind champions Red Bull.

The team also revealed that the new car passed a series of crash tests before the Christmas break, and confirmed Alonso and Massa will attend their annual ‘Wrooom’ media event at Italy’s Madonna di Campiglio ski resort next week.

Ferrari having a big engineering reshuffle.

Oh also "statistically the greatest driver in F1 history" turned 42 the other day :) Happy Birthday Michael Schumacher! :D

BERLIN (AP) — A former German bank executive has been arrested for allegedly accepting a $50 million kickback in the 2006 sale of a large stake in the Formula One's rights holding company, German prosecutors said Wednesday.

The former risk manager of regional public-sector bank BayernLB was taken into custody on charges of corruption, tax fraud and breach of trust toward his former employer, prosecutors in Munich said in a statement.

Gerhard Gribkowsky was in charge of managing the sale of the bank's F1 stake to London-based buyout group CVC Capital Investment.

But prosecutors say he led the bank to sell it "without evaluation of its current value" which, in turn, earned him "two consultancy contracts totaling $50 million."

The money was paid to firms in Austria that he had set up for that purpose, prosecutors said.

German media on Wednesday widely cited unnamed judicial officials as saying the money had been paid by firms based in Mauritius and the Caribbean, but prosecutors declined to comment or to say who had been the source of the payment.

A spokesman for CVC in Germany, who declined to be named in line with company policy, declined to comment on Gribkowsky's arrest and the bribery allegations.

However, the prosecution statement alleged Gribkowsky failed to pay millions of euros in taxes on the additional income.

BayernLB, or Bayerische Landesbank, held a 48 percent stake in SLEC Holdings, which owned the companies that run the F-1 racing series. At the time, 25 percent were owned by the family trust of Bernie Ecclestone, the longtime commercial head of Formula One, and the remainder was held by other banks.

CVC bought Ecclestone's and the BayernLB's stakes and regrouped them in a firm named Alpha Prema, becoming the Formula One's majority shareholder. The price of the deal has not been disclosed.

Gribkowsky was BayernLB's chief risk officer and a member of the board between 2003 and 2008.

BayernLB was not immediately reachable for comment Wednesday.

Renault have joined a growing list of teams set to reveal their 2011 car ahead of the year’s first pre-season test. The wraps will come off the R31 in Valencia on January 31, the day before testing gets underway at the Spanish circuit.

The new Renault will feature a black and gold livery following the team’s recent tie-up with Group Lotus, now the Enstone squad’s title sponsor. The car will be driven by the unchanged driver line-up of Poland’s Robert Kubica and Russia’s Vitaly Petrov.

Sauber, Toro Rosso and Ferrari have all confirmed they will launch their 2011 cars before the Valencia session, which runs from February 1-3 with all 12 teams expected to participate.

Narain Karthikeyan is to make a surprise comeback to Formula One racing after being signed by HRT for the 2011 season. Karthikeyan, who last competed in the sport in 2005 for Jordan, tested for the Williams team in 2006 to 2007 and remains the only Indian driver to have scored world championship points, after finishing fourth at the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

“It’s been a while in the making, but I am extremely happy to be racing again in Formula One in 2011,” said the 33 year-old. “I've always maintained that I have not given up on my desire to return to the pinnacle of world motorsport. I am confident that I still have the pace, the fitness and the will to succeed in Formula One.

“I’m looking forward to racing for Hispania Racing, and to working again with Dr Colin Kolles. We have a long standing and excellent working relationship together. I’m also looking forward to racing at the first ever Indian Grand Prix in October, and I hope that the Indian public will spur me on with their blessings and good wishes.”

Karthikeyan was the lead driver for A1 Team India in A1GP for two seasons from 2007 and won two events. In 2009, he raced for the Kolles Audi Team in the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24-Hour race, becoming the first-ever Indian to compete in the legendary event. The car finished seventh overall.

In 2010 the Chennai-born driver raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the USA, as well as in the Superleague Formula in Europe, where he won a race at Brands Hatch. His win there extended a unique run of luck at the UK circuit, where he is the only driver to win a round in every series in which he has competed.

Before his 19-race Formula One foray in 2005, Karthikeyan had completed spells in Formula Three, Formula Nippon, Formula Vauxhall and the Nissan World Series to name just a few. Highlights include his fourth place in the standing for the 2000 British Formula Three championship and his 1996 Formula Asia title.

“It is a great pleasure for us to have signed Narain as our race driver,” commented HRT team principal Colin Kolles. “I have known Narain for a long time and he can revert to the experiences he gained when he was competing for Jordan Grand Prix and being test and reserve driver for Williams F1.

“Narain has also been driving in other racing series and running in one of the legendary Audi sports cars in the Le Mans Series. I am sure that his experience and speed will be very useful for the team during the season. We are welcoming Narain to our team and we look forward to working closely with him this year.”

HRT endured a difficult debut season in 2010. No pre-season testing and a changing driver line-up, which included Bruno Senna, Karun Chandhok, Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien, saw the team finish the year 11th in the standings, without a single world championship point.

The team have yet to announce who will partner Karthikeyan in 2011, though Kolles has already ruled out Senna.

As he continues to mull over the possibility of resuscitating his 'breakaway' threat, Luca di Montezemolo has contended that F1 could survive under a different name – and insists that the rule-makers must not 'give up everything that made our sport for the sake of costs'.

di Montezemolo has been one of the most fervent opponents to the drive to cut expenditure in the top flight in recent years, and on several occasions has raised the spectre of forming a 'breakaway' series with like-minded rivals – a notion that F1 commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone has rubbished as 'complete nonsense'.

Two years ago, it was Ferrari who led the outcry against then FIA President Max Mosley's controversial budget cap initiative – and with the terms of the governing Concorde Agreement due to be debated this year ahead of a new one being signed in 2012, the Scuderia's ever-outspoken President argues that now is the moment to bring about genuine change and urges that the ball is very much in the teams' court.

Somewhere along the line, a long-term compromise needs to be struck between F1's three principal factions – the FIA, Ecclestone's Formula One Management (FOM) organisation and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), of which di Montezemolo is a founding chairman – but the Italian has hinted that the sport's owners, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, could similarly play a pivotal role.

“We need to think about what to do,” the 63-year-old told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport. “It cannot go on as it is now. It cannot be that we give up everything that made our sport for the sake of costs – F1 is about extreme innovation and technology. Do we need the name 'F1'? I believe we could go on with a different one.

“Theoretically-speaking, we can have one of three alternatives. One is that we renew with CVC, but only with better financial conditions. For how many years, we have to discuss, but I am in favour of many years because I don't want to be back every three or four years. So, assume five-to-eight years. Second, we want to ensure that Bernie will remain in a strong position. How long? I hope for a long time. It is not a new choice; it is to continue as it is.

“The next option is that we find a different company [promoter] and start discussions. Third, we can establish our own company. At this point of time we would theoretically offer to Bernie to be chairman; more than honorary chairman – a chairman. We put a very strong marketing-oriented mind, nothing to do with the teams, to manage it and think of new and modern methods for marketing, as they did in the NBA. Only in the first case would we insist on Bernie, because I don't want to discuss with people that I respect but who don't know anything about F1.”

Hailing Ecclestone as central to his vision for the future of F1 due to the Englishman's 'passion [for] racing and not the stock market', di Montezemolo added that one more alteration he would like to see made is to the start time of grands prix, suggesting the sport is missing a trick and potentially sacrificing television viewers the way things are.

“I don't think it's good that in July or August the races begin at 2 o'clock when most people are lying on the beach,” he told German publication Sport Bild. “Football games don't get started until 5 o'clock or later.”

60 Days to go.... less than 2 months :D

yay cant wait
am off to autosport show at the weekend for a much needed motorsport fix

I am really missing F1 this year more than ever before..... I want season NOW!

(oh that sounds cool, I expect some pics :tongue:)

Martin Brundle is to become BBC Sport's lead Formula 1 commentator in 2011, with David Coulthard moving alongside him as co-commentator.

Brundle, who replaces Jonathan Legard, has commentated on 231 grands prix since retiring as an F1 driver in 1996.

Brundle said he was "absolutely delighted and very motivated" by his new role alongside Coulthard.

The Scot, who joined the BBC after retiring from F1 in 2008, said: "F1 is all about challenging yourself."

Ben Gallop, BBC's head of F1, said: "We're always looking for ways to take our F1 coverage to another level - and for 2011 we have an exciting new combination in the commentary box.

"We're keen to make the most of Martin Brundle's wealth of broadcasting experience and his popularity with the audience by giving him the role of lead commentator and putting him alongside David Coulthard, one of the biggest names in British motorsport and a skilled race analyst.

"We want to tap into their combined on-track expertise - together they will provide our viewers with more immediate discussion, analysis and debate as the action happens."

I've never felt more passionate about F1 and I can't wait to get started

Martin Brundle

Coulthard, who won 13 grands prix in a 15-year F1 career, added: "This will be a big challenge for me, but one that I am looking forward to. There is a great team on the BBC F1 show and we're looking forward to the year ahead and to bringing something new to our loyal viewers."

Brundle has commentated on 231 grands prix since he first joined ITV in 1997 after a 13-year F1 career, during which he drove for Tyrrell, Zakspeed, Williams, Brabham, Ligier, Benetton, McLaren and Jordan.

This will be the first time he has been the lead commentator.

Brundle and Coulthard have done screen tests in their new roles and Gallop said: "The results of screen tests have been very impressive and we are convinced this combination will deliver a fantastic commentary for our audience for what promises to be a thrilling 2011 season."

Brundle said: "I'm absolutely delighted and very motivated that BBC Sport has asked me to become the lead Formula 1 commentator alongside David Coulthard.

"We have been friends, rivals and colleagues for 18 years and combined we have driven more than 400 F1 grands prix and attended more than 700.

"I've never felt more passionate about F1 and I can't wait to get started."

Coulthard added: "I'm very excited to be joining forces with Martin in this new role of co-commentator. F1 is all about challenging yourself and this will be a big challenge for me, but one that I am looking forward to.

"There is a great team on the BBC F1 show and we're looking forward to the year ahead and to bringing something new to our loyal viewers."

The decision to team Brundle with Coulthard means there is no place for Legard in the BBC F1 commentary set-up.

Gallop added: "We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jonathan for his great work over the last two seasons.

"He is a first-rate journalist and broadcaster who has been a core member of our team, helping to re-establish BBC Sport as the nation's F1 broadcaster. We wish him all the very best for the future."

‘Schumi’ has come back to win - Ross Brawn

Despite of all the poor performances, the Mercedes GP team boss, Ross Brawn has firm faith in Michael Schumacher’s racing skills. He believes that the driver still has the same strength and determination, which is all he needs to bag another championship of his career.

The seven times world champion, Schumacher is statistically the best racer ever in the sport’s history. The driver bagged five consecutive championships, first time ever in the 61-year history of Formula One from 2000 to 2004 under the Ferrari umbrella. However, Fernando Alonso’s determination in 2005 broke the spell, as Alonso stepped on the podium as the winner. The long dominance of the German was dismissed by the Spaniard who made the record of being the youngest champion ever in the sport in 2005. The following season saw him bag the second championship of his career, which forced Schumacher to announce his retirement in early 2007. However, in the last season the restless German announced his return to begin the battle for the title once again.

The surprising news was happily embraced by his fans. The hype of the 42-year-old’s return further mounted as he decided to tie up with the legendary name, Mercedes GP, the team that won both the drivers’ as well as the constructors’ titles only a year back, under the title of ‘Brawn GP’. The experience of Ross Brawn and Mercedes-Benz, coupled with Schumacher’s unmatched driving skills, was expected to do wonders on the track.

However, it was not very late that the fans started losing hope, and the race analysts began discussing Schumacher’s decision of return as a big mistake. The team failed to provide the driver with a competitive car, while he failed to draw the best out of what he was handed. In many races, he was outperformed by his teammate, Nico Rosberg, a far younger and inexperienced racer than the veteran.

The driver’s inability to win any race or even finish on the podium even once called for huge condemnation and criticism from all around. Almost everyone believed that the driver will not be seen on the track next season. All the Formula One experts thought that his stay will further tarnish his legacy.

However, the determined and strong minded man not only announced to continue with the series next season as well but also announced his will to dominate the track once again. Earlier this month, he declared that he has come back to the sport with a three-year project in his mind. He will bag another championship in these three years and will leave, not to come back again.

Although, he has not been able to convince many people in the sport, his team boss, Brawn is undoubtedly convinced by his skill on the grids.

Brawn insisted that the driver’s 4th place finish in Korean GP and 6th slot in Japan is an indicator of a better season ahead. He believes that the driver still has the potential, and all he needs is a competitive car to beat all his rivals. While talking about the upcoming season, he insisted that now the onus is on him. He said that the driver will perform just as well as Mercedes’ car will allow him to, and he is sure to hand him a competitive car in 2011.

He explained saying, "I'm still optimistic because Michael's performances at the end of last season were encouraging. I'm convinced he will go decidedly better this year."

Moreover, the return of Pirelli is also expected to help the driver as all through the last season Schumacher blamed the characteristics of Bridgestone tyres to be unsuitable for his driving style. With the first Grand Prix around the corner, all his fans anticipate seeing the same wonders he has been displaying during his early career.

http://blogs.bettor.com/Schumi-has-c...s-Brawn-a52477

http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/23021/Lotus_1-L.jpg

Dont know if this is the final colour design or not just got it set to me on twitter.

Formula One Management (FOM) is pleased to announce that Formula One racing’s global television audience increased to 527 million individuals over the course of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

In what will be remembered as one of the hardest fought F1 seasons in history, TV audiences across the globe swelled in response to the on-track excitement.

A function of this increased demand was additional coverage in many territories, as live free practice and additional qualifying and race programming were added to schedules around the world. In total over 16,000 hours of coverage were telecast to 187 countries.

There was growth in nine of the 11 largest TV markets, and it was a particularly strong year for Formula One’s European audience, with many of FOM’s broadcast partners reporting their highest race audiences in a number of seasons.

“Whilst 2010 has delivered some great things, 2011 promises even more as Formula One seeks to build upon the foundations laid in our emerging markets and enthral our audiences across the world,” commented Formula One Group CEO, Bernie Ecclestone.

The 2011 season will see Formula One racing televised in HD for the first time, with all FOM’s broadcast partners being offered HD coverage of all sessions. The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship begins in Bahrain on March 13.

Source: F1.com

BBC says Paul di Resta will be getting a drive with Force India. I used to watch him in DTM, good driver.

Hulkenberg set for third-driver role after turning down Virgin Racing.

Article http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/9368179.stm

Driver line-ups

Ferrari - Alonso & Massa
Mercedes - Schumacher & Rosberg
McLaren - Button & Hamilton
Red Bull - Vettel & Webber
Sauber - Kobayashi & Pérez
Toro Rosso - Alguersuari & Buemi
Lotus Renault - Kubica & Petrov
Marussia Virgin Racing - Glock & d'Ambrosio
Williams - Barichello & Maldonado
Team Lotus - Trulli & Kovalainen
HRT - Karthikeyan & ????
Force India - di Resta? & Sutil? (unconfirmed)

So we nearly have our full grid!!!!!! Hulkenburg is an idiot, any race seat is better than none.

THE City of Melbourne signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Australian Grand Prix just days before Lord Mayor Robert Doyle called for the event to be scrapped.

The ink had barely dried on the contract, formalised on January 17, when Mr Doyle criticised the cost of the event to taxpayers, saying it no longer offered value for money and had outlived its welcome.

Concerns about the cost saw the State Government yesterday refuse to guarantee the future of Melbourne's Formula One event after the current contract expired in 2015.

Premier Ted Baillieu admitted the GP might have to go, unless costs could be cut substantially.

If the event were to have a long-term future at Albert Park, Mr Baillieu said the $50 million bill picked up by taxpayers for last year's event -- more than double the losses incurred in 2006 -- would have to be reduced.

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Related Coverage

* Hot Topic: Is the GP out of gas? Herald Sun, 42 minutes ago
* Time we left grand prix behind Herald Sun, 42 minutes ago
* End flagged for Grand Prix Courier Mail, 6 hours ago
* Final lap for Melbourne's Grand Prix? Herald Sun, 1 day ago
* Time to kiss the GP goodbye Herald Sun, 1 day ago

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

Over the past three years, the event has run up losses of about $130 million with attendances hitting a low of 287,000 spectators in 2009.

Mr Baillieu said that the GP had been great for Melbourne and Victoria.

"But we look forward to the Grand Prix performing financially better and we will be looking to make sure that happens," he said.

Stunned GP insiders were yesterday struggling to understand the criticism.

"It's a strange move for the mayor to come out against the event when the contract has only just been signed," one source said. Australian Grand Prix Corporation sales and commercial manager Jeremy Kann confirmed that a deal had been struck.

Cr Doyle did not respond to calls yesterday. But in an article for the Sunday Herald Sun he said "time's up" for the GP.

woooooop raceday ticket for the british gp has just been purchased with my birthday money roll on 10th july

I will be at Oxegen yet again :(

fail! you should do the f1 this year

Im still trying to go to Valencia, I get my Carers grant in March so might try get my ticket then......or might try and go to turkey and a holiday while im at it.....

'Simulator sickness' does not explain Michael Schumacher's disappointing return to Formula One alongside Nico Rosberg in 2010.

That was the gist of a statement issued by Mercedes following reports this week that the seven time World Champion did not work in the team's Brackley simulator last year due to motion sickness.

A source had told Dutch website f1today.nl that while Rosberg's set-up work was "largely done" by the time he got to a Grand Prix, "Michael begins with a basic setting" because of his inability to work effectively in the simulator.

But Mercedes clarified in a statement that the reports were wrong to say Schumacher, 42, has only been suffering from motion sickness since returning to Formula 1 after an initial career spanning 91 wins.

"Throughout his career, Michael from time to time has been susceptible to simulator sickness which has affected the length of time that he can spend on a simulator," said the German team.

"Michael has not been disadvantaged as together with his engineers he has made his simulation work effective," added Mercedes.

However, the statement did say Schumacher's problem with simulators was "exacerbated" in 2010 because Mercedes' technology is not yet up to scratch with some of its rivals.

Schumacher is my Idol and all but the team need to forget about last year, I'm sure he has...move on.....

Ferrari's 2011 formula one car will be called F150, the famous Italian team has announced.

The car, to be launched and given its track debut on Friday at Ferrari's headquarters, is named in tribute of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.



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"All the men and women who put so much effort and passion into their work at Maranello share the pride and responsibility of representing our country around the world and it is in this spirit that we chose to dedicate this car to an event that is so important for the whole of Italy," said Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

A statement issued by the Maranello based team also said Giorgio Napolitano, the president of the Italian Republic, "took the opportunity to wish the Scuderia the best of luck for the forthcoming season" after being told of the 2011 car's name.

Last year's Ferrari was called the F11. Until now, the codename for the 2011 project was 288.

F150 is also known as a model of Ford's famous series of full-size pickup trucks.