Auto News 5

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton is "scaling back" his deal with Simon Fuller, the entertainment manager famed for his involvement with American Idol and the Spice Girls.

In Fuller's XIX Entertainment stable, Hamilton lucratively switched from McLaren to Mercedes following the split from his manager-father Anthony, announcing at the time he wanted to expand his profile beyond F1 and into the world of film and music.

But as he approaches the business end of his 2014 title assault and mere weeks before starting negotiations for a new Mercedes deal beyond next year, The Times reports that Hamilton has "decided to play an increasing role in his own management".

Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRI2)

Hamilton's girlfriend is the pop star Nicole Scherzinger, he counts rappers among his personal friends and on Thursday he appeared in the official FIA press conference wearing a huge gold replica of an Andy Warhol artwork around his neck.

At the same time, "XIX have faded from the F1 scene", said Times correspondent Kevin Eason.

Another British newspaper, the Daily Mail, agrees that 29-year-old Hamilton's contract with XIX "recently expired".

An insider said: "Lewis is concentrating on the world championship for now and will assess how to progress with his management around New Year.

"He has been muttering for a year or so about changing his relationship with Fuller. He wants to stand on his own two feet -- and cut down on commission fees."

Swiss engineer Mario Illien has been hired by Renault Sport F1 to help improve its V6 turbo hybrid power unit for 2015.

Illien and the late Paul Morgan were the masterminds of Ilmor Engineering, the company that produced engines for Mercedes in the '90s.

Mario Illien left the Formula 1 world several years ago, but remained active in the motorsport business.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport revealed Friday that Illien will now be a member of the French Renault Sport F1 team.

The Renault power unit proved to be troublesome early in the season, especially for Red Bull Racing.

Auto Motor und Sport claims Illien may be a last roll of the dice for Renault, whose current 1.6-litre litre turbo hybrid engine is said to be missing between 40-60 bhp to the dominant Mercedes.

From GMM

Like his 2014 teammate Marcus Ericsson, Kamui Kobayashi has travelled to Austin without a formula one car to drive.

But unlike the Swedish rookie Ericsson, who reportedly carries up to $20 million in personal backing, Japanese Kobayashi looks less likely to secure a race seat elsewhere for 2015, following the collapse of the Caterham team.

Leafield based Caterham is in the death throes, even though the insolvency administrator says the green team came close to joining its drivers in the trek to America.

"One of the parties interested in buying the team offered to cover the costs," administrator Finbarr O'Connell told the F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, "but, unfortunately, having only been in control of the team since Friday it is not logistically possible to get there."

Writing in Autoweek, Sylt revealed that O'Connell is now making his way to Austin, as he aims to keep the F1 world abreast of developments.

Kamui Kobayashi is in Austin as a spectator (Photo: WRI2)

One man approached to buy the embattled Caterham or Marussia was the former BAR chief David Richards, but he said he is not interested.

"As you can imagine, at Prodrive, we always keep a careful watching brief on the situation in formula one," he said, "but the predicament of Caterham, Marussia and I believe one other team speaks for itself."

Assisting O'Connell in Caterham's administration is Henry Shinners, who is also travelling to Austin.

He told British television Sky that time is running out.

"We feel that if a buyer doesn't come forward in the next two weeks then we'll probably have to wind it down," said Shinners.

Hundreds of hopeful staff are hanging on the latest developments, with even Kobayashi admitting he is relying on the press to keep him up to date.

"No one told me," the Japanese told Speed Week, when asked about Caterham having to miss the Austin-Brazil double header.

"I read about it on the internet," he exclaimed. "I guess the bosses were too busy to call me or my management.

"Now I'm trying to secure my future as a formula one driver," Kobayashi, who is believed to be open to a reserve driver role for 2015, added in Austin.

From press release

The popular ChumpCar World Series is expanding.

ChumpCar International inc. CEO John Condren has decided to create an independent ChumpCar "club" to organize and promote racing events in Canada.

"I realized that migrating ChumpCar to a new legal entity - moving from the "for-profit" LLC to the "non-profit" and club-based INC - would create an issue for on-going events in Canada," said Condren.

"Legal and financial restrictions are clearly spelled-out by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding international revenue streams."

Photo: Facebook

Therefore, starting January 1^st, 2015, ChumpCar Canada will be in charge of everything north of the border.

Canadian members will have pay to dues to support ChumpCar Canada, but their ChumpCar memberships will still be valid at all US-based events.

Similarly, US members will be allowed receive access to all Canadian race meetings.

To improve safety under yellow flag conditions, the FIA has run two tests of the news “virtual safety car” at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

This test comes after Jules Bianchi's terrible accident at Suzuka where he crashed into a heavy recovery vehicle under double waved yellow flags.

Here at Austin, a sector of the track was deemed to be yellow and drivers were asked to drive to a specific delta time through it.

The objective of the concept is to slow drivers down without recourse to the presence of the actual safety car.

Although all drivers and the FIA agree that adjustments will be needed before the system can be introduced, all were happy with how the first tests had gone.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile will assess the feedback from Austin and will probably continue testing the system over the final two Grands Prix of this year in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

From GMM

Susie Wolff will extend her deal with Williams into the 2015 season, according to the German newspaper Bild.

The 31-year-old female Briton was the Grove team's test driver this year, even appearing on a couple of Friday mornings.

"The contract for 2015 is close to being signed," said the newspaper's correspondents Nicola Pohl and Helmut Uhl.

A former DTM and F3 driver, whose maiden name is Stoddart, Wolff's husband is Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss and still a significant Williams shareholder.

Bild said her 2015 programme will involve two test days and two further outings during Friday morning practice sessions.

Father and daughter Sir Frank Williams and Claire will miss the United States Formula 1 Grand prix this weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Williams' team principal Sir Frank Williams is in hospital for treatment on a pressure sore on his back, says the BBC.

Claire and Frank Williams (Photo: WRI2)

The 72-year-old Sir Frank Williams, a quadriplegic since a road accident in southern France in 1986, is receiving what is described as routine treatment and is said to be responding well.

Claire Williams, the deputy team principal, is also missing this weekend's American race to be with her father.

However, she plans to attend next weekend's Grand Prix in Brazil.

German Nico Rosberg was all smiles after he set the fastest time and clinched pole position for Sunday's United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Q1
Lewis Hamilton immediately set the pace in Q1, with Valtteri Bottas second in the Williams. Then, Rosberg, in the second Mercedes AMG, moved to first place.

With a minute to go, Hamilton set a fast time of 1m37.196 to take first place. Felipe Massa in his Williams took second place ahead of Bottas, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso in the first Ferrari and Kevin Magnussen in the fastest McLaren.

Out of Q1 were Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez, Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Q2
Nico Rosberg immediately set a fast time in 1m37.099 to take first pace ahead of Hamilton. Alonso was a surprising third.

In the final moments, Massa jumped into third place behind the Mercedes duo. Bottas was fourth and Alonso was fifth.

Out of Q2 were Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

Q3
Rosberg was again quickest of all at the beginning of Q3, ahead of Hamilton and the Williams duo of Bottas and Massa.

Drivers came in for their second set of yellow Pirellis.

On his second set of tires, Rosberg managed to go even quicker, setting a time of 1m36.067. Hamilton took second place, almost four tenths of a second slower than Rosberg. The Briton locked up his left front tires under braking and lost a bit of time. He later admitted that his Mercedes W05 is still suffering from brake problems.

Teammates Bottas and Massa qualified on the second row.

Daniel Ricciardo took fifth place in his Red Bull ahead of Alonso (Ferrari), Button and Magnussen (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari and Adrian Sutil in the Sauber.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing (Photo: Rene Fagnan)

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel will make a brief appearance during qualifying on Saturday ahead of the US grand prix in Austin.

Earlier, team figures suggested the reigning world champion would sit out the session because penalties for running his sixth 'power unit' of 2014 means he will start the race from pitlane.

Red Bull has now confirmed Vettel's pitlane start, but it appears the 27-year-old will no longer simply sit out the qualifying action.

Rumours suggest the FIA was unimpressed with Vettel and the team's vocal criticisms of the long-life engine rules and the associated penalties.

It might mean stewards are less inclined to give the German driver an exemption from the 107 per cent qualifying rule and force him to also sit out the race.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB10 (Photo: WRI2)

Another rumour is that Bernie Ecclestone put pressure on Red Bull to at least send Vettel onto the circuit during the 'Q1' session, to appease the locals and television audience.

"Out of respect for the audience," confirmed the German newspaper Bild, "Red Bull decided late on Friday afternoon to let Vettel drive at least in the first session of qualifying, although he will start the race from pitlane."

Meanwhile, American F1 legend and 1978 world champion Mario Andretti has tipped Vettel to emulate Michael Schumacher's success once he switches to Ferrari from 2015.

"Michael knew exactly what he was doing," the 74-year-old told the German newspaper Die Welt ahead of the US grand prix.

"He took the men who he succeeded with at Benetton to Ferrari and after a few years they were unbeatable.

"I would advise Sebastian to do the same -- maybe he will even persuade Adrian Newey to go with him.

"That would certainly be the ideal situation, because - for sure - Ferrari needs more than just a new driver," Andretti added.

From GMM

Battle lines are being drawn as F1 reacts to the 'crisis' of collapsing teams.

But Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko declared unequivocally ahead of the US grand prix: "We are ready."

He was referring to the concept of three-car teams, as he admitted to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that it might cost the sport's big players up to $30 million each.

The mood ahead of the US grand prix is therefore dramatically tense, with some declaring it the sport's latest 'crisis' following the collapse of the backmarkers Marussia and Caterham.

David Richards, the Prodrive chief who told Autoweek that he was approached about saving the embattled teams, said he believes at least "one other team" is also in dire straits.

At least two other teams are at risk of collapsing, according to Prodrive's David Richards (Photo: WRI2)

But according to Bernie Ecclestone, the currently 18-car grid could actually dwindle by a further two teams.

"It could go down to 14 (cars)," the F1 chief executive told British television Sky.

Trackside in Austin, the situation is rapidly deteriorating from the initial shock to obvious anger, as the next most endangered teams - reportedly Sauber, Force India and Lotus - threaten to boycott Sunday's race in protest of the increasingly inequitable balance of power.

At Force India, anger about the make-up of the powerful 'strategy group' - chaired only by the richest and most historically important teams - has been bubbling for months.

Deputy team boss Bob Fernley declared in Austin: "Two teams have now gone and I think the commercial rights holder is comfortable in thinking there might be 14 cars next year.

"So the question is, if we are driving teams out of the business, to what agenda is it? And what's the game?" he added.

The suspicion is that Ecclestone and F1's controversial owner CVC are happy to see the stragglers go out of business and for their grid places to be filled by big teams running third cars.

Referring to the most struggling privateers, Ecclestone said: "We need them if they are going to be there performing properly and not moving around with begging buckets."

There was also little sympathy from Mercedes, F1's dominant force in 2014, who said: "I have great respect for what Tony Fernandes and Andrey Cheglakov have done in their businesses, but maybe formula one is just a different ball game."

The paddock is splitting into two distinct camps in Austin (Photo: WRI2)

The feeling in the paddock is that the teams are separating into two distinct camps, and according to the Times newspaper, the anger of the 'have nots' has now descended into a boycott threat.

"It is 50-50 whether it happens," the newspaper quoted one executive as saying at the scene of the US grand prix, "but what else is there?

"We haven't got anything to lose, have we? No one listens, so the only thing we can do is take action that CVC will understand. It would be painful but it would make the point."

Reuters quoted Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez as confirming that while a meeting took place, he was "not aware" of the boycott threat.

The BBC, meanwhile, quoted Force India's Vijay Mallya as also playing down the US boycott, but he hit out at the "arrogance" of the big teams who are resisting the idea of cost control.

"There are many fans out there who support the smaller teams and they need to be respected. The small teams cannot be taken for granted," he insisted.

But Red Bull's Marko thinks the three-car solution is a good route, even for improving the spectacle and popularity of F1.

"Imagine if we could put a NASCAR driver like Jimmy Johnson or Tony Stewart in the (third) car here in the US," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"The promotional effect would be huge."