FORMULA 1 - 2012

[MIKA27]

Out of work HRT mechanics in drunken brawl at factory

A brawl broke out at the Madrid headquarters of beleaguered Formula One team HRT after staff returned from Sao Paulo, El Mundo newspaper reports.

The report said that the fight involved drunk mechanics who had gone straight from the airport to the team’s factory to collect compensation for their redundancies.

“The atmosphere heated up and police had to be called to intervene,” said the report.

A member of the failing team’s management confirmed: “They began to threaten, push, hit; and because there was a violent situation we did call the police.”

[MIKA27]

Kobayashi has already raised almost $1-million towards 2013 seat

Kamui Kobayashi has reportedly already raised close to $1-million as he attempts to pay for a Formula One seat for 2013.

Having lost his Sauber seat, the Japanese set up a website asking for donations from his fans.

He wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that, in the first few days of the kamui-support.com website being live, he has already raised much more than half a million euros.

“Thanks so kindly for the support,” Kobayashi wrote in Japanese.

[MIKA27]

Still chance Nurburgring will host 2013 grand prix

There is still a chance that the financially strapped Nurburgring will host the German grand prix as scheduled next year.

With the famous circuit now in an insolvency process, an official said recently there is little chance that a Formula One race will be held there in 2013.

But SID news agency reports that the Nurburgring has in fact been empowered to negotiate with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

“Now we have to make progress in the talks with Bernie Ecclestone and [sign] a contract,” said managing director Thomas Schmidt.

[MIKA27]

New Sao Paulo mayor wants to keep Brazilian GP

The newly elected mayor of Sao Paulo wants to keep Formula One at Interlagos.

Bernie Ecclestone has warned that, without substantial upgrades to the ageing Brazilian Grand Prix venue, he might not extend the city’s race contract.

But the German-language Speed Week reports that the demolition equipment will soon arrive at Interlagos to raze the old buildings, with new ones to be built at an estimated cost of € 60 million.

“The future mayor, Fernando Haddad, is confident that (Ecclestone’s) conditions will be fulfilled for an early renewal of the Brazilian Grand Prix contract,” read the report.

Haddad is quoted as saying: “I will do everything so that the grand prix stays in our city.

“In the coming weeks we want to sign the new contract until 2022.”

[MIKA27]

Australian GP boss to retire if Ecclestone steps down

Australian Grand Prix boss Ron Walker has promised to step down if F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is no longer in charge of F1.

Embroiled in the ever-deepening Gerhard Gribkowsky corruption scandal, Ecclestone warned last week that his demise could cost the sport several key races.

“A few [race promoters] said to me, ‘if you’re not there, we’re not there’,” Ecclestone said. “That’s what the danger is.”

Walker, the chief of the Melbourne race promoter Australian Grand Prix Corporation and a long-time Ecclestone ally, is the first to put his hand up.

“When Bernie retires, then I will retire as well; and a number of other longstanding promoters that have been friends of Bernie’s will also,” he told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, published in Autoweek.

Walker clarified that the promoter exodus would not necessarily mean that those countries lose their grands prix.

But he added: “When Bernie goes, F1 will change. You won’t recognise the sport after Bernie goes because he has done it in his own way as unique as he can.”

[MIKA27]

Pirelli wants early decision over 2014 F1 contract

Formula One’s exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli is pushing for an early decision as to whether it will remain in the role beyond the 2013 season.

The Italian marque’s initial three-year tenure finishes at the end of next season.

“The deadline is June next year,” motor sport director Paul Hembery is quoted by Brazil’s Totalrace, “but we want to know the decision as soon as possible.

“If we need to find … different job for 300, 400 people, we need to know this in advance.”

[MIKA27]

Malaysian GP boss admits 2015 race could be Sepang’s last

Razlan Razali, the chief of the Malaysian Grand Prix, has revealed that the 2015 race could be the Sepang circuit’s last Formula One race.

He told Isportconnect it is “too early to even think” about whether the existing contract will be extended.

“I think for the event to be successful and to even consider the event going beyond 2015, and paying lots of money to formula one, FOM must help the circuit to try and allow us to do as much as possible to get spectators to come to the circuit,” said Razali.

He said another issue is the race’s late start time.

“Put it this way,” said Razali, “in the event that we decide to go beyond 2015, there are various key points that we insist upon changing before we even talk about [it], including the starting time.”

[MIKA27]

Mercedes test driver role for Schumi:

Michael Schumacher has said he is happy with the way he bowed out of Formula One in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix when he finished seventh.

"It's strange that I finished my career with a seventh place finish - that's how it started, with seventh in my first qualifying (at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix)," Schumacher told German magazine Stern.

"And with seven World titles: the number was a good ending."

Having now hung up his Formula One helmet for good after his initial retirement in 2006, which lasted until 2010, Schumacher walks away having won seven Drivers' Championships in his career.

He also praised Champion Sebastian Vettel who on Sunday became the youngest driver in history to win a third consecutive title after seeing off rival Fernando Alonso.

Schumacher allowed Vettel to pass him near the end of the race, although seventh would have been sufficient for Red Bull's Vettel to claim the title regardless with Alonso only second.

"It was a nice conclusion: a great race, a great Champion and a great comeback," said the 43-year-old as Vettel finished sixth in Sao Paulo to claim the title by just three points.

"Sebastian is one of the smartest drivers and is open enough to understand what is necessary."

Schumacher said Vettel has improved by learning from his rivals, something he used to do.

"I watched my colleagues and copied everything which was better about them, it resulted in a good mix," revealed Schumacher.

The German said he now has concrete plans for his retirement: "I have signed a contract and will be active as a test driver" and wants to improve on his hobby as a sky-diver.

"I'm still a greenhorn, but I have learned to switch off and I am looking forward to not having to think constantly about Formula One."

[MIKA27]

Maria De Villota undergoes further surgery

Maria De Villota has undergone a seven-hour operation to reconstruct her face which was severely injured in a testing accident.

De Villota suffered serious facial injuries and lost her right eye when she crashed into a flatbed truck during testing with Marussia at the Duxford Airfield circuit in July.

The 32-year-old underwent several operations in the wake of the accident with the knowledge that more would be needed.

De Villota's latest, which lasted seven hours, was "aimed at cranial and ocular reconstruction" in order to "avoid future dysfunction due to the injuries caused by her accident."

According to a statement released by her family, doctors in Madrid put new plates in her skull and she was able to leave the intensive care unit on Wednesday.

"She is still showing that vital strength that we are used to and is getting better every moment," said her father Emilio de Villota.

"We were able to talk to her while she was in intensive care and she was even able to follow the last race of the season."

[MIKA27]

On the front line: The evolution of pitstops

In his latest exclusive column, former McLaren team member Marc Priestley takes a look at the evolution of the pitstop. A crucial moment during the race which can gain or lose you positions.

If you look back at footage of pitstops in Formula One from the early days of the championship in the 1950's, they're an all together different spectacle than those of 2012.

They appeared leisurely, disorganised and, in the case of refueling, downright terrifying.

Drivers got out of cars while tyres were changed using large copper hammers and fuel was poured into, and often over, the back of the vehicle. Well over a minute later he'd hop back into the moving car as it was pushed away by mechanics and rejoin the race. All this took place at the edge of the track, circuits had no such thing as a separate pitlanes and there were certainly no speed limits.

Now I've stood with a front jack in pitlane as a modern F1 car brakes from 100kph to a stop at my feet and it raises the heart rate I can assure you. Mechanics of the 50's and 60's faced a series of dangers that would put today's health and safety officers into an uncontrollable frenzy and have the sport shut down for good. Thankfully Formula One's moved on in every area and pitstops are no exception. Today's world record breaking stops to change four wheels in under 2.5 seconds are impressive to say the least, but they're the culmination of years of development, learning, and improvements in technology.

Here's how they've done it.

For many years we've had pitstops becoming faster and faster as the sport woke up to the reality that the pitstop or stops can play a real part in a Grand Prix outcome. Teams initially threw more and more people at the process and gradually, over time, made improvements to their equipment too.

Just as competitors will always find innovative ways to make their cars faster on track, teams from every era and every formula have found ingenious ways to shave time from their pitstops. Some have done it legally, some questionably and some downright illegally, but the fact that it's an area where time can be gained over rivals means it's also an area where they'll use resources and expertise to minimise the time it takes to service their cars.

1983 saw a number of fires as teams tried all means possible to shove as much fuel into their cars as quickly as possible at a pitstop and back then it was often a form of highly volatile rocket fuel, making it perilously dangerous. Refueling was banned the following year and this brought the focus away from pitstops and into the ability to conserve fuel and tyres during a race.

In an effort to spice up the show after a ten year break, 1994 saw the reintroduction of mid-race refueling and inevitably teams very quickly began to look at ways of speeding up their stops once more.

Perhaps the most infamous example was the Benetton pitstop fire of the same season, which allegedly uncovered that the team had removed a filter in the standard fuel rig, designed to restrict the flow rate of fuel from rig to car. The increased flow rate would mean the required amount of fuel could be pumped into the car faster than their rivals and of course reduce the time spent in pitlane.

During my early years at McLaren we developed a system to shave tenths of a second off the refueler's reaction time once the fuel rig had delivered it's required quantity.

Where normally the 'nozzle man' would react to a standard set of lights on the rig telling him to pull off the hose when the fuel was in, we used a stethoscope type device to listen for the valve closing inside the nozzle itself.

Just before the required amount of fuel was delivered, the motorized valve would begin to 'whir' and close, a process which took a couple of tenths, and once shut, the lights on the nozzle would illuminate to alert the fuel man he could begin detaching from the car. With the operator listening through an earpiece for the 'whirring' of the valve starting to close, he could start to react and be pulling the nozzle off the car by the time the lights switched on, therefore saving valuable time.

In those days of course, refueling was almost always the limiting factor in a pitstop. Time was saved or lost in connecting and disconnecting the rig from the car and the reactions of the lollipop man and the driver in getting away from the box. Although everyone had to use the same refueling rig, pumping at the same rate of 12 litres per second, the same hose, nozzle and valve in the side of the car, teams tried simple ways to make the operation smoother, more reliable and ultimately faster. Extra handles were welded onto the nozzle for someone to assist in pulling it off, fluorescent strips stuck on the nozzle end for the lollipop man to spot when it was completely detached from the car and the same hi visibility vinyl stuck onto the car valve to aid the refueler in lining himself up.

The sport's always pushing the envelope in terms of technology in all areas, but whereas groundbreaking developments of ten years ago in the 'real world' may now seem a little dated, Grand Prix racing moves at a considerably faster pace. Technology in Formula One supersedes itself often before new parts even make it onto a car, such is the rate of R & D, but until now pitstop equipment has been something which got attention only when time permitted within the busy schedule.

Today the focus is different. With refueling gone once more, pitstops are all about replacing four wheels and tyres as fast as physically possible. For the first time in years, F1 teams have a relatively blank canvass with which to create equipment and systems to complete the operation in the shortest time. Wheel changing technology was almost an untapped market if you like, there was no desperate need to change them in 3 seconds when refueling would always take at least another 4 or so.

With FIA rules being comparatively open when it comes to pit equipment and procedures, it's been a case of micro-analysing every element of the stop to see what can be done to save time. In the past that might have meant finding the fastest way to work with the car and equipment they had, but today there's considerable resource allocated to the project and so the car and any new equipment can be designed from the ground up around the necessity for the ultimate stop.

Many years ago, frustrated at the difficulty of working on one of Adrian Newey's complexly designed McLarens, I asked him one day how much of the design brief is about making the car practical and easy to work on? His answer was simply "None". For the first time in modern F1, designers have had to think not just about making the car light and fast, but about how they can improve the way wheels are changed during the race, with the realisation that it now has a direct impact on the outcome of a Grand Prix.

Stub axles on the car have as little as three threads of engagement for the wheel nut, to minimise the number of revolutions it has to do in tightening or releasing the wheel and the axle tip's rounded to guide the wheel into place. Wheel nuts themselves are retained within the rims to reduce the opportunity for cross threading and take away the possibility of one falling out of the socket. In days gone by it wasn't an uncommon occurrence to see wheel nuts spinning off down pitlane during pitstops or pitstop practice as they popped out of the gun as the wheel was removed. Of course it was hardly ever an issue as a spare nut could be picked up and fitted long before the fuel man had finished his part of the job.

Like the stub axles, drive pegs on the car's uprights and the wheels themselves are designed to guide them seamlessly together and avoid 'pegging', where the two butt up against each other and fail to engage.

The jacking points, particularly at the rear of the car, are specifically made to make it easy to slot the jack into place. Whereas it used to be quite easy to 'miss' the old, relatively small, lifting hook with the jack when doing at speed, now things are designed differently. Most don't even use a 'lifting hook' as such and a large carbon 'splash' on the jack can be thrown in anywhere under the rear crash structure to avoid the need for two bites at positioning it.

When it comes to the equipment and tools used in today's pitstops, the advances are somewhat staggering.

The days of four 'standard' wheel guns, a couple of compressed air bottles, two basic steel jacks and a lollipop seem like a distant memory in 2012. In car terms, that level of technology would equate to the F1 cars of perhaps twenty years ago, but that basic layout of the pitstop area was still in use by almost every team just three or four seasons back. If you walk down pitlane now, it's all very different.

The gantries carrying air lines overhead to the outside of the box are complex and beautiful. Huge moulded carbon structures house lightweight, super flexible airlines, 'traffic light' systems to release the driver, cameras and electronic cabling connecting almost everyone involved in the stop. As each operation's completed, the 'system's' notified through either mechanics pushing a button, or an automatic switch. Once all four wheels are on tight and the car's on the ground, the chief mechanic gets a light and once he's happy, he pushes a button to give the green light to the driver to pull away.

Wheel gun men now use heavily modified guns from the originals. 'High flow' gun backs allow greater air flow through the gun itself and effectively spin the socket faster, around 9000rpm. Until 2012, when it was banned on environmental grounds, teams used compressed helium instead of air to power the guns. It's extremely low density again allowed guns to spin faster and therefore remove and replace nuts quicker. The guns of today have bespoke sockets to match the team's own nut designs, lights to indicate to the user when the nut's done up to the correct torque and buttons to signify to the jack man that the operation's complete.

Before the recent focus on pitstop speed, gun men would signify they were done by raising a hand in the air and when the jack men saw the two hands at their end of the car, it would be dropped back onto the floor. When the chief mechanic saw four hands and both jacks out of the way, he'd release it. Now the action of raising a hand 50cm in the air is considered to take too long and so the flick of a switch or button on the side of the gun shaves off valuable hundredths, that's how thoroughly things are analysed.

One of the very latest developments in wheel gun technology is an automatic direction change.

Up to now mechanics slide across a 'shuttle' on the back of the gun once the nut's undone to change it's direction of rotation, before doing the new wheel back up again. But Rhodri Griffiths of Palindrome Sports, the man credited with most advances in F1 wheel gun technology, has devised a new system which switches direction automatically as the gun's removed from the first wheel. Whilst it may not directly save time in a standard stop, it's a device which removes the need for a human operation and therefore one less thing to think about during the two and a half seconds or so that the car's waiting in the box. Teams carefully study human performance in pitstops as well as that of the equipment, so anything which can simplify an action as well as speed it up, is worth looking at.

There are teams who've lasers mounted in the overhead gantry which direct two beams incredibly accurately towards each wheel position. It enables the gun man to hold the gun ready at the exact height, avoiding any vertical adjustment to his position as the car comes in and hopefully the driver stops right on his marks to avoid having to move left or right.

Front and rear jacks have had a lot of thought put into them recently too. Often now made from carbon fibre to make them light and quick to move into position, they all have a quick release mechanism operated by a lever on the handle. It's quicker than the motion of raising the jack handle to drop the car on the floor. When the lever's pulled, the lifting arm of the jack simply breaks away, dropping the car instantly and it's 'reset' ready for the next use. As someone who's sat in a car for pitstop practice before, I can tell you it's not a comfortable experience being dropped off the jacks with no comfy cushioned chair and very little in the way of suspension, but ultimately its faster and that's what counts.

The jack men are looking for two lights from each of their respective gun men in order to dump the car on the floor and teams house those lights in various positions on the gantry, on the jack, or in some cases now, in 'heads up' displays inside the jack man's crash helmet visor. Another example of trying to minimise human reaction times and remove opportunity for error wherever possible.

When the jacks drop they trigger another light for the chief mechanic and if pitlane's clear, he can illuminate the final light for the driver to pull away. Some teams now use a separate spotter to keep an eye on the pitlane, so that the chief mechanic can simply watch his own car and only when the system sees the 'pitstop complete' light AND the 'pitlane clear' light, does it release the driver.

When the whole procedure's written down it seems a vast operation and although the bottom line is that it's just a case of changing four wheels, when you look at it more closely, it is indeed complex. Each of the individual elements are studied using video analysis, onboard car data and of course the good old fashioned stop watch, although these days most teams use their own computer based systems for timing and so even the stopwatch has been replaced to a degree.

One interesting development in the pipeline is an automated jack release system. McLaren have been evaluating for some time, but are yet to race, a jack which drops the car upon receiving an electronic signal from both wheel guns, removing yet another human reaction delay and perhaps saving another tenth or two.

Crews practice over and over and over to the point where, whatever your role in the stop, it becomes literally second nature. Drivers don't get the chance to rehearse so much and we do still see car's over shooting, coming in too slowly or too far off centre, but mechanics practice for those situations too and normally deal with it without most people noticing.

Throughout F1's pitstop history they've always played a direct role in the outcome of races and as such, the speed with which they're completed is crucial. For the ultimate stop, whether it's tyre changes or refueling, each consecutive action has to preempt the smooth completion of the previous one and that's where things normally come undone. We've all seen lollipops lifted as the fuel nozzle begins to detach from the car, only for it to stick slightly and end in disaster. Today, with stops lasting less than two and a half seconds, there is no room for error or glitch. Everything happens so fast that there isn't often time to react to anything out of the ordinary, and just as through practice everything's second nature, you're conditioned for perfect stops and perfect stops only.

Add to that, the pressure that I know only too well and that each of those guys feel when the spotlight's on them and there's an incredibly fine line between the perfect stop where all four guns operate perfectly in unison, and complete disaster.

Talk of automated jacks, guns and lights is fascinating in terms of the technological advance and perhaps even the 'show', but it'll undoubtedly have many squirming with discomfort at the prospect of the pitstop becoming too fast for humans to react to a problem and the potential safety issues that may cause. At the moment FIA regs are fairly open in this area, but just as with the cars, surely it's only a matter of time before they step in to restrict spending, close up the field and safeguard everyone involved.

MIKA: I miss the days of refuelling. Was so much more interesting and a spectacle in itself. Would love to see refuelling return to F1.

[MIKA27]

Ross Brawn: Red Bull title joy will be shortlived

Red Bull's delight at securing a hat-trick of Formula 1 world championship successes will be shortlived, reckons Mercedes boss Ross Brawn.

Sebastian Vettel helped Red Bull achieve a third successive drivers' and constructors' title double at the Brazilian Grand Prix when he bounced back from a first-lap crash to finish sixth.

While Red Bull's chiefs are overjoyed at what they claim is their biggest achievement to date, Brawn suggests that there will be little time for the outfit to enjoy the spoils of its success.

"To win a race is a massive challenge, to win enough races to win a championship is pretty special, and to do it consecutive years is even more special," said Brawn, who was part of the dominant Ferrari set-up at the start of the 21st century.

"But I know their pleasure is going to be shortlived in that they are already thinking about next year.

"In our case, it was fantastic to win it, but always there is the pressure of the following year - you want to win it, repeat it, and do it again.

"It is so intense in F1, you rarely sit back and feel job done, fantastic.

"There is a feeling of elation and achievement, but a fear of failure that is immediately there for the following year. You have that mixture of emotions.

"It is very special to win any championship and to win consecutive championships.

"It is a great achievement, and one they should be proud of."

Red Bull is only the second outfit in F1 history, after Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher years (2000-04), to have completed a hat-trick of championship doubles with the same driver.

STATS: Ferrari dominance vs Red Bull dominance

Ross Brawn's Ferrari team won every F1 title available from 2000 to '04 with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello - a run Red Bull is on the way matching with its 2010-12 double title hat-trick.

This is how the dominant eras compare so far, with Red Bull closing on Ferrari's five-year pole stats just three years into its reign but looking unlikely to match the Scuderia's win tally even if its steamroller run continues.

Ferrari 2000-04

Races: 85

Drivers' titles: 5

Constructors' titles: 5

Wins: 57 (67%)

Poles: 51 (60%)

Fastest laps: 42

Podiums: 117

Red Bull 2010-12

Races: 58

Drivers' titles: 3

Constructors' titles: 3

Wins: 28 (48%)

Poles: 41 (71%)

Fastest laps: 23

Podiums: 61

[MIKA27]

Marussia blames Vergne for losing 10th place in the standings

Marussia blames Jean-Eric Vergne for costing it 10th in the 2012 Formula 1 constructors' championship.

The Frenchman collided with Marussia's Timo Glock early in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Although it was Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov's late pass on Marussia's Charles Pic for what became 11th place that technically allowed Caterham to vault its main rival to claim the lucrative 10th spot in the teams' standings, Glock was running strongly before his incident with Vergne.

The Toro Rosso driver made contact with Glock, who was running 12th, as they prepared for the safety car restart on lap 29.

Marussia team principal Graeme Lowdon has no doubt that his squad would have stayed clear of Caterham in the points but for this incident.

"That's what destroyed our race," Lowdon said.

"He just ran straight into the back of Timo and smashed Timo's car, certainly damaged the aero at the back, and gave him a puncture, but it wasn't obvious enough to come straight in so he had to do a whole lap on it.

"We were a country mile ahead of Caterham at that point.

"Through the first pitstops we got everything right. We got Timo a long way ahead in time before that safety car. That lost Timo the advantage, but he had still had a few cars between him and Petrov.

"And he clearly had the pace, because we were just driving away from them.

"It's not the first time we've been run into by a Toro Rosso, but this time it's ended up being incredibly costly."

Lowdon said the blow to morale was a greater wound than the loss of constructors' prize money.

"It's less financial, it's more the fact that everyone's worked really, really hard and got themselves into that position," he said.

"We're going into an uncertain period - there is no Concorde Agreement, so you want to be as high up as you possibly can as we want to make sure that we're treated the same way all the other teams are treated.

"But for all the people on the team and back at Banbury who've worked so hard, it's frustrating when you can't deliver the result that you think everyone deserves.

"If we'd messed up, got the wrong strategy, if the drivers had made a mistake then you could hold your hands up. But we did absolutely everything that we could.

"It seemed to be totally avoidable. You're not meant to hit another car when you're under safety car conditions. It's as simple as that."

Marussia still looked set to retain its position until Pic was overtaken by Petrov. Lowdon dismissed any suggestion that Caterham-bound Pic had made life easy for his 2013 employer.

"I'm sure he didn't," Lowdon insisted. "Nothing worse for him than going there after being overtaken by one of their drivers. He's got his professional pride to look after."

[ptrthgr8]

Out of work HRT mechanics in drunken brawl at factory

A brawl broke out at the Madrid headquarters of beleaguered Formula One team HRT after staff returned from Sao Paulo, El Mundo newspaper reports.

The report said that the fight involved drunk mechanics who had gone straight from the airport to the team’s factory to collect compensation for their redundancies.

“The atmosphere heated up and police had to be called to intervene,” said the report.

A member of the failing team’s management confirmed: “They began to threaten, push, hit; and because there was a violent situation we did call the police.”

Hmm. Someone help refresh my memory. Why did HRT go belly up? Seems so odd that they would have any sort of business problems with a team whose morale is clearly so good. And here I thought they were always such a tight-knit group. <== Sarcasm, BTW.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[MIKA27]

Hmm. Someone help refresh my memory. Why did HRT go belly up? Seems so odd that they would have any sort of business problems with a team whose morale is clearly so good. And here I thought they were always such a tight-knit group. <== Sarcasm, BTW.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

Hi Greg - Thanks for contributing.

All I can say on the HRT matter and it is rather harsh... Glad they are now out of Formula 1. There is always a leading team and there will always be a back marker, but HRT IMO, truly delivered in every sense in regard to the meaning of 'Back marker". They were more of a hinderance and danger on the grid.

[MIKA27]

FORMULA E LAUNCHES IN EUROPE:

The FIA’s new Formula E electric vehicle racing series moved a step closer to reality yesterday with a launch in Rome, which will become the second world city – and the first in Europe – to host a round after Rio de Janeiero.

FIA president Jean Todt and Formula E’s CEO Alejandro Agag attended the event hosted by the Mayor of Rome.

The inaugural series in 2014 will feature ten races, so there are eight more slots to be filled by host cities in the coming months. There will be ten teams entered, with 20 drivers and 40 cars between them.

The cars will accelerate from 0-100km/h in under three seconds and will have a top speed of 220km/h.

A prototype of the Formula E car was on display; the series will launch with cars supplied to Formula E, by Frederic Vasseur’s Spark Technology with power trains from McLaren. But the intention is to have teams designing and building their own cars and drive-trains so that the competition will drive development of the technology. Formula E will provide the platform for innovation in this emerging area of motorsports technology.

“Urban mobility and sustainability are a priority for our Championship,” said Agag. “And Formula E wants to become a showcase for these advances through an entertaining and all-inclusive spectacle.”

[MIKA27]

THE 'UNLOVED F2012"

Ferrari’s traditional end of season sign-off, the Ferrari World Finals, has been the scene of some triumphant scenes in the last decade, but not today.

Over 15,000 Ferrari fans are in Valencia to see the last rounds of Ferrari’s own racing series and to see a demonstration run of the F1 car.

Fernando Alonso will attend the event, but there is not much to celebrate after the team missed the drivers’ title by 3 points, having enjoyed an advantage of over 40 points after the summer break. He will drive the unloved F2012 car for the last time.

Next season he will drive car number 3 in the world championship, with Felipe Massa in car 4, according to the FIA entry list published yesterday.

The team can draw many positives from the 2012 season on one level: they beat McLaren in both drivers’ and constructors’ championships despite having a demonstrably slower car all year.

But they finished second in both championships and know that the driver’s title was within their grasp; with better work from the technical department and better luck at the start of the Belgian and Japanese Grands Prix, they could have won it.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali has not attended the event in Valencia, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Domenicali was at an event in Madrid on Friday and explained the background to Ferrari asking the FIA for clarification on Sebastian Vettel’s overtake on Jean-Eric Vergne in Brazil, which sent scaremongering headlines around the world last week of a threat to Vettel’s title.

Bernie Ecclestone has described the episode as a “joke” and there are some suggestions in the Gazzetta dello Sport this weekend that relations between Ferrari and Alonso have possibly been “frayed” a bit by the episode, which originated in Spain,

“It was incumbent on us to ask the Federation for a clarification, given everything that was going round on the Internet,” said Domenicali. “We had no intention of belittling the merit of the title winner, but it was right to have the matter completely cleared up.

The FIA has replied and we have noted their answer and now consider the matter to be closed.”

“In the championship that’s just ended, we definitely had the best driver, the best reliability and a level of excellence when it comes to the work on the pit wall and during the pit stops. What was lacking was the car, despite the fact we staged a recovery after the very complicated start. We also lacked a bit of luck, especially with the incidents at Spa and Suzuka. That’s why I’d give Ferrari a 7.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo spoke to the team in Maranello at the end of last week, trying to rally them after a season of coming second.

“There were at least two cars, the McLaren and the Red Bull, that were better than ours,” he said.”Therefore having managed to get ahead of at least one of them in the Constructors’ and keeping Fernando in the fight right to the end, was very significant and I wish to thank you for that.”

He asked every employee to raise their game, “by a millimetre” in order to guarantee that they build a car capable of winning from the first round in 2013.

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Massa was 'worried' about his future

Felipe Massa admits he was "worried" about renewing his Ferrari deal especially as the team almost the entire season to decide.

Scoring just two points in the first five races of the 2012 Championship, Massa's position at Ferrari was under threat with reports claiming he could be replaced mid-season.

Massa's position was even more tenuous given that Sergio Perez, a member of the Ferrari Drivers' Academy, was finding form and achieving top-three results with Sauber.

However, Massa began to kick on although it was not until the Japanese GP, round 15 of the Championship, that he secured his first podium finish since 2010.

One race later the Brazilian's future was finally resolved with Ferrari announcing he would remain with the team for a further season.

"In the first half of the year, I was worried about renewing my contract," the 32-year-old told the team's website.

"I did not think that Ferrari would really wait right to the end of the summer before deciding on the driver line-up for next year.

"It's true that ever since I've been at Maranello, there have always been rumours about me: already in my first year there was a list of drivers who were supposed to take my place and it was the same this year, with a lot of names and plenty of speculation.

"At the start, I paid too much attention to these things, but then, in August, I told myself I should only think about racing and having fun and so I began to really drive, to have the right feeling with the car and to drive as quickly as I know how."

The 11-time grand prix winner is now hoping for better next season.

"I feel very strong and the results were there to see in the last nine races: so I am optimistic for the future, mine and Ferrari's."

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Button: Brazil win angered Ferrari fans

Jenson Button revealed he made many Ferrari fans "angry" when he beat Fernando Alonso to the Brazilian win, denying the Spaniard a third title.

Button claimed only his third victory of a difficult 2012 Championship when he brought his MP4-27 home 2.7s ahead of Alonso in the season finale.

That result meant Sebastian Vettel, who finished sixth, clinched his third successive Drivers' Championship by three points over Alonso.

But had the Ferrari driver beaten Button to the line he would have been the one celebrating a third triumph.

Speaking about his season's conclusion, Button, who was named the 2012 British Competition Driver of the Year at the Autosport Awards, said: "It has been a very up and down year for us.

"[Winning in Brazil] was a great way to end the season and hopefully for all the guys working that'll be good for 2013.

"I had so many angry Ferrari fans, but it was nice to make Christian [Horner] happy. I look forward to doing that again many times next year."

The Brit, who will remain at McLaren next season, also praised departing team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who will race for Mercedes next season.

"For me the excitement of going to McLaren was obviously in racing for the team, but it was also racing against Lewis. He's unbelievably fast.

"I spent a lot of time with BAR and then Brawn, and I know they're a great bunch of guys, so he will definitely have a lot of fun there."

Hamilton's departure means Button will head McLaren's charge as his new team-mate Sergio Perez has just two years of experience under his belt.

"I love the role of being the experienced driver and that is definitely the case next year - I think I am the most experienced guy in F1 next year. Really looking forward to working with Checo next year too, he has shown great speed and seems like he wants to learn, so it should be good fun.

"I think this year we've shown there is a real heart to this team. They are so passionate about motor racing, they've been around for decades and achieved so much. They are very professional but they also have a lot of fun fighting for victories. It's a big family and I didn't expect that when I got there."

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'Vettel can win with a different team'

Niki Lauda says Sebastian Vettel will continue to win titles even if he leaves Red Bull for another team.

Last Sunday the German wrapped up his third successive Drivers' Championship, beating Fernando Alonso to the 2012 crown by just three points.

Vettel has a contract with Red Bull Racing for the next two seasons, however, he has been linked to a move to Ferrari in the future.

And should the German swap teams, whether that be Ferrari or another, Lauda believes the 25-year-old has the ability to win titles with a rival outfit.

"He will eventually move somewhere else," Lauda, who won two Championships with Ferrari and one with McLaren, told CNN.

"It's normal. Any skier changes his skis every year - so you have to change your cars at least once in your history.

"I changed my racing cars three or four times in my career and still kept on winning. He will do something like this for sure as well."

He added: "Vettel is the top guy, [Lewis] Hamilton is the top guy, Alonso is the top guy, Schumacher is a top guy too.

"You need a car, and you need a driver. Vettel is for sure as good as Alonso is - but you need a better car."

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Perez: My target is to win titles

Sergio Perez says he will tackle his first season with McLaren with the intention of winning the World title.

Perez made a name for himself this past season as the Mexican, in only his second season in Formula One, secured three podium finishes with Sauber.

His impressive showing caught the attention of the big teams with McLaren announcing the 22-year-old as Lewis Hamilton's replacement.

And already Perez is thinking big.

"I think expectations in terms of result, my target is to win titles with them and to win the Championship already next year," he told ESPNF1.

"That takes a lot of work during the season so it's very important to start very well my preparations with them and try to reach their targets.

"This year they have had many reliability issues and if they solved that they would have been fighting for the title.

"So I think it's realistic what I'm saying and the team is capable of putting together a very strong car. The target has to be always high - it's the way we have to think and McLaren wants to win every race."

But while Perez's targets are high so too will be the pressure on his shoulders as much is demanded of any driver who races for a team such as McLaren.

"When you are in the best team you are always on the radar," he conceded. "When you are doing well you are the hero and when you are doing bad you are the worst one.

"It's kind of getting used to that, but I'm used to it already at Sauber because I remember when I did a podium I was a superstar and when I didn't do well I was a very bad driver who is always doing mistakes.

"The most important thing is to focus on the winter and try to make a very good connection with the team early in January and then be able to fight from the first race onwards."

There are, however, some concerns that the pressure is already getting to him as, following the announcement of his McLaren contract, the Mexican failed to score a single World Championship point in the final races.

Perez, though, insists that had nothing to do with the deal.

"Here in Formula One they like to make stories about everything so they linked it to my [McLaren] contract.

"But it has nothing to do with it because I'm a professional driver, a very loyal person and I'm very grateful to the team [sauber]."

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Force India: Funds not the decider

Force India insist talent and not sponsorship is the vital criteria in deciding their second driver for next season.

Having lost Nico Hulkenberg to Sauber at the end of the 2012 Championship, Force India are in need of a new driver to partner Paul di Resta.

Several have been linked to the team including test driver Jules Bianchi, former driver Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi.

However, when it comes to making the decision, chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer insists money won't be the deciding factor but rather they'll be signing someone who can push di Resta.

"I am a believer that you need someone like that," Szafnauer told Autosport. "Not everyone does, and it is a subconscious thing.

"You think you are driving the best you can, but there is nothing like competition for us humans to really sharpen our focus, attention and skills in all sort of stuff.

"If you have competition you end up driving yourself more."

Szafnauer added: "We will announce everything in a couple of weeks. We have a pretty short list of candidates now."

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'Williams close to a breakthrough'

Pastor Maldonado believes 2013 could be a "breakthrough" season for Williams as they attempt to become regular podium visitors.

After a dismal 2011 campaign in which just five points were scored, Williams began to return to form this past season.

Scoring 76 points, the team even bagged a podium finish courtesy of Maldonado's impressive Spanish GP victory.

However, the 76 still meant Williams were down in eighth place in the Constructors' Championship with Toro Rosso the only established team to have scored yet.

Maldonado, though, hopes next season could witness yet another step up the grid for Williams.

"The goal is to be more competitive next year and have a car that is consistently in the points and challenging for podiums," said the Venezuelan.

"This year we showed excellent pace at a number of tracks such as Barcelona, Monaco and Abu Dhabi, but we didn't have the consistency to maintain that at every grand prix.

"We have all the tools needed to push the top teams, and hopefully we can learn from this year and move further up the field."

He added: "Williams is one of the big names in Formula One with a really strong pedigree so it is an honour to be driving for them.

"Whilst we haven't quite achieved the sort of success we would have liked in the past few years, the team is still really strong and we have brought in some new senior people who are making a big difference already.

"I feel that Williams is close to making a real breakthrough and I want to be a part of a new era of success."

As for his long-term goal, the 27-year-old is dreaming of a World title while under Frank Williams' leadership.

"My ambition is to win the World Championship and I'd love to be able to do that with Williams and be alongside some of the greats who have won titles here.

"I feel ready to fight for wins and after tasting success this year I want to experience that again as soon as possible."

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Sauber already looking forward to first test of 2013

Just a week after the longest ever Formula One season came to an end, team boss Peter Sauber is already looking ahead to the first official action of 2013.

The Swiss team’s founder revealed in his column for the Sonntagsblick newspaper that Sauber’s 2013 car – the Ferrari-powered C32 – will be tested for the first time at Jerez on February 5.

“I’m very confident,” Sauber wrote. “Because the technical rules are not changing much, we can build on the C31. We are currently on schedule.

“I am convinced that on February 5 at Jerez we will put a fast car on the track.”

Sauber, having lost Sergio Perez to McLaren and having dropped Kamui Kobayashi, will have an all-new driver lineup next year.

“I don’t need to say much about Nico Hulkenberg,” said Peter Sauber. “What particularly impressed me in the second half of the season was how he dominated his highly rated teammate Paul di Resta.

“And his performance in Sao Paulo inspired us all,” he added.

Hulkenberg’s teammate will be the Telmex-backed Mexican rookie Esteban Gutierrez.

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Buemi eyes Force India or Lotus seat for 2013

Former Toro Rosso driver, and current Red Bull reserve, Sebastien Buemi believes that he is still in contention to secure a Force India race seat for 2013.

The Swiss driver, who was dropped by Toro Rosso at the end of last year but subsequently signed up as Red Bull’s reserve driver, told the Blick newspaper that he might also be a candidate to replace the erratic Romain Grosjean at Lotus.

Blick said that a new Red Bull deal for the 24-year-old is “on the table”.

Buemi added: “I am waiting for Force India’s answer. And everything doesn’t seem clear at Lotus.

“Luckily for me, most teams have not forgotten about me. There’s no more I can do.”

Buemi’s career is currently being handled by Julian Jacobi, who is famous for being the great Ayrton Senna’s manager.

Also still in the running for the remaining 2013 vacancies is Kamui Kobayashi, whose website campaign to raise money from his fans for a race seat is running strongly.

Spain’s AS newspaper said that the Japanese driver, who has been dropped by Sauber, has so far raised over € 1 million.

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Fernando Alonso: To be one of the greats of F1, it’s not enough to win titles

Just eight days after the end of the longest ever Formula One season, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were back on track. This time the task was very different in terms of intensity and tension to that of the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

In Brazil, Alonso was in the hunt right to the final few metres for what would have been a well deserved third F1 drivers’ title, while the Scuderia managed to take a great second place in the constructors’ classification. On this occasion it was all much more festive as the two drivers were at the Ricardo Tormo circuit at Cheste, on the outskirts of Valencia, along with hundreds of Ferrari owners who had made the trip to Spain for the traditional end of season Finali Mondiali.

The event was also Alonso’s first opportunity to calmly sum up the season past.

“I am happy with the way things went,” said the Spanish champion.

“In the end, we lost the title by three points, however I [had] the best season of my life and now I can only think of the year to come.

It was a miracle to see, race after race, what we managed to achieve: we definitely did not lose the title in Brazil – that happened in Spa and Suzuka. Next year, we will try and improve the car, trying to start further up the grid, thus avoiding accidents. Let’s hope we also have a bit more luck,” mused the Spaniard.

“I think in terms of strategy, pit stops, starts, reliability, this has been a perfect year,” continued Alonso.

“We all agree [that] the one thing lacking was the car, which meant we could not match the best teams for most of the year. It’s the only thing we need to improve, but it’s also true that it’s the hardest thing to do. With all the difficulties we had, I’m thinking for example of how far behind we were in winter testing, to be able to fight right to the very end for the title means we are a great team.”

Alonso also spoke about the incident when Vettel passed Vergne, which was headline news for several days immediately after the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“There were a lot of video clips on the Internet and we knew our fans were asking for an explanation and so it was right for Ferrari to turn to the Federation for a clarification. We got a reply and I think everything has now calmed down. I did not pay much attention to all the uproar this incident caused, but I felt we owed our fans an answer,” said the two time world champion.

“Frankly, I’m not that interested in what the opinion is of me in Germany or elsewhere. What I know is that people who see me in the streets hug me and call me gladiator or samurai. What matters to me are the 1200 people in the Ferrari family, who gave me a standing ovation at a dinner.

This has been a spectacular year, hard to forget, with moments that will never be repeated like the win in Valencia or in Malaysia,” he reflected.

“Ever since I’ve been at Ferrari, I think I have grown a lot, especially this last year.

Before, the people had a more or less good opinion of me, but now I notice a whole different level of respect. And then, to be one of the greats of F1, it’s not enough to win titles, you must also tackle seasons like the one just ended.

Next year? I hope to score three or four point more.”