Who is behind the new Manor Marussia F1 team???

 

After seeing the confirmation of the entry of the Manor Marussis F1 Team in the official 2015 F1 World championship entry list (Autosport article here), I couldn't help but be intrigued to find out who would be so bold as to try and force themselves into F1 off the back of the tattered remains of the now bankrupt Marussia team. As it turns out, it is a Stephen Fitzpatrick, heralding from Northern Ireland and the owner and founder of energy firm OVO (cheaper alternative gas and electricity supplier - as confirmed on the BBC here). Whilst having no connection to the now defunct Marussia, the new team have had to retain the name so as to qualify for the £30 mln share of the prize money Marussia were entitled to thanks to Jules bianchi's 9th place achieved in Monaco last year.

Interestingly again, there also is talk of ex-Sansbury CEO Justin King's involvement in running of the new team, which could prove beneficial given his previous business success and passion for motorsport / F1 as borne out by his son's upcoming participation in GP2 this year.

Jordan King - competing in GP2 in 2015 for Racing Engineering

The new team's website (link here) looks as well finished as their 2015 cars are likely to be, given the short space of time that has been available for the team to prepare for the upcoming season. After Force India's veto against allowing Manor to use the 2014 spec' Marussia F1 cars for the beginning of the 2015 season, the new team have had to redesign parts of the 2014 car so as to conform to the majority of the 2015 rules. In particular, a new, lower nose has had to be designed and crash tested. Reports indicate that this task has been successfully completed which is a remarkable feat in itself! Being born and raised in England, I myself am naturally drawn to supporting this new underdog of the pinnacle of motorsport and wish F1's newest team the best of luck - I hope they have a long and successful life in the ever unpredictable world of Formula 1!  ; ) 

 

Ferrari's New Look F1 Car

 

These pictures show Ferrari's bold vision of how F1 cars could look in the not too distant future. With a potential overhaul of the rules scheduled for 2016 or 2017, Ferrari have made a cunning move to promote its own vision of how Formula 1 cars could be. I quite like it myself...

 

Link to the Skysports article here.

What is Sebastian Vettel so excited about?!

So this is what makes Sebastian Vettel woop like a little child - it can only be Ferrari's new hyper-car for the track, which boasts 1000+ bhp. Check out the link to the video below. Man I bet Alonso is missing being a Ferrari driver already....

Vettel in the FXX K at Fiorano

F1 First Test Thoughts

I find at this stage of testing, I always like to take a high level of what happens in the F1 tests and don't necessarily find it beneficial to get into the nitty-gritty of the new cars. If you would be interested in the some interesting technical insight into some of the new cars that is actually quite insightful, I recommend Mark Hughes' article on Skysports.com here.

 

 

As for my thoughts after the first test, Ferrari may have improved their engine's from last year but their posting of fastest lap times every day over the 4 day test smacks of desperation. Desperation that is of convincing everyone outside of F1 i.e. the Tifosi and even the senior management of Fiat Chrysler, that the massive political upheavals seen last year within the team have not been detrimental to the team's efforts to improve its performance. I very much doubt this is the case and expect the Ferrari's to be closer to 3rd row of the grid come race day in Australia and beyond.

 

 

Barring any comments on the Mercedes team, who have pretty much won the championship already given their record breaking day of testing where they covered something like 157 laps on their very first day of running! A team I am much more interested in seeing and understanding the performance of, is the Williams team. I was very happy to see the team back up there and fighting at the front after far too long struggling in the  midfield - a position the team should not be in given their history and heritage in the sport (not to mention the greatness of character of the man that is Sir Frank Williams) .

 

 

Quite reassuringly, Williams were not spectacular at all in testing and hardly even made the headlines during the four days. This may be counter intuitive but this, I feel, actually bodes well as it tends to suggest that the team are concentrating on doing their own thing, running their own program and not looking to carry out glory runs like that of Ferrari or Sauber. Another reason I am quite interested in this team's performance is that so many times before in F1, a team that is struggling over a number of years will have one great year, only to return to its old position the following season having had a 'flash in the pan' performance. I am sincerely hoping this is not the case for Williams F1 in 2015! Fingers crossed...

 

 

Caterham F1 Assets Up for Sale

Another month, another F1 asset auction but this time it is Caterham that will be putting up its remaining assets under the hammer, including its 2014 F1 cars. the team will however remain up for sale until the last minute with the auction scheduled for 11th/12th March. Time to break open the piggy bank...

Further details can be found on the following link:

http://www.wyleshardy.com/caterhamf1/