Nice find! THAT is proof of the saying that a pix is worth 1,000 words.....this one may be worth a lot more than that....... I may start rooting for McLaren wouldn't it be something if Ross leaves the sport, ON HIS TERMS, after bringing this storied team back to the heights it once enjoyed? I love watching that guy work his magic.
And, finally filling out the grid, the other Caterham driver is Marcus Ericsson. 2014 F1 driver lineup: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Red Bull-Renault Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo Mercedes Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Ferrari Fernando Alonso Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault Romain Grosjean Pastor Maldonado McLaren-Mercedes Jenson Button Kevin Magnussen Force India-Mercedes Nico Hulkenberg Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari Adrian Sutil Esteban Gutierrez Toro Rosso-Renault Jean-Eric Vergne Daniil Kvyat Williams-Mercedes Felipe Massa Valtteri Bottas Marussia-Ferrari Jules Bianchi Max Chilton Caterham-Renault Kamui Kobayashi Marcus Ericsson
With Kobayashi at Caterham, I'm pretty sure they'll see the improvement they want. I just wish Sutil was out and DiResta was in at Sauber. I'm also happy with Massa at Williams. They need a driver like him.
I think Caterham's other option was Kovalainen. He might have been good but he refuses to be a pay driver (good on him) and probably insisted on being paid. Also, FWIW, DiResta just signed to drive for Mercedes, returning to DTM.
I know one of the Indy drivers made a company of himself and sold stock to fund his racing future. I remember hearing his investors got their money back many times over. Maybe this is what Rossi needs to do so he can buy his F1 seat.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI0fgWxgYT4]Revealed: The 2014 Mercedes-Benz V6 Power Unit - YouTube[/ame]
Huh, that looks pretty different from the Renault one we've been seeing. Speaking of engines, here's a great write-up about how the new systems work, including the two energy recovery systems. Seems they've found a way to eliminate turbo lag. 2014 F1: The power unit explained | Racecar Engineering
Me thinks things at Lotus are not well at all.....shame really but after not paying Kimi one red cent of his contract last year, and considering how well Kimi performed, would you as a business sign a contract with them and dump huge amounts of money into it? Why would one think a contract with them is worth even the paper it is written on? Jan.22 (GMM) Lotus has been left standing as the only team that will sit out the first test of the crucial 2014 pre-season next week. That is because Marussia on Wednesday announced that it will be at Jerez, despite some earlier uncertainty. "If it (the new car) is there and you can use it, you want to use it," team president Graeme Lowdon had said last week, sparking the uncertainty. But Marussia told its 170,000 Twitter followers on Wednesday that its 2014 car will be at Jerez. "For those of you asking if we'll be in Jerez next week ... we will indeed," the message read. "Can't wait to see the new MR03 out on track!" The news puts the spotlight firmly on struggling Lotus, after boss Eric Boullier said he knew as "fact" that other teams will also be sitting out Jerez. A table compiled by F1's official website showed that every team except Lotus has confirmed they will be testing with all-new V6-powered cars in southern Spain. Lotus is yet to announce even a launch date for its E22. Meanwhile, while Marussia ended its Jerez test announcement with the hashtag 'lookinggood', that was not the message given on Wednesday by Cyril Abiteboul, the Caterham team boss. He admitted that the new green Caterham is "ugly", because of the solution used to comply with the FIA's new nose-height restrictions. "Kids should be dreaming when they see a Formula One car," he is quoted by Reuters. "I don't know what sort of dream or nightmare you will get when you look at those cars. "It does remind me of (the film) Alien, with something coming out of the mouth and whatever. It's not very nice."
There was an article last year on how Lotus had a number of opportunities for a new title sponsor and turned them down because they weren't good enough. Now I understand when your doing well, as they were, you want to get the most you can. But I think their greed will kill them. You would think they would be able to get some more sponsors considering how they did last year. Teams that did worse are getting them.
They actually signed up Saxo Bank a few days ago. Saxo Bank has been a long time title sponsor of a cycling team (Tour de France, etc). They said they're just trying it out and if it goes well this year they'll jump in next year. No way to know how much they've actually contributed but it sounds to me like they're not providing big money this year and considering a title sponsorship role next year.
Notice the size of the Williams' sidepod inlets? Here's another pic. Is it just me or do they look rather large this year? Much cooling required!
Business people don't like to do business with folks that have a blatant disregard for contractual obligations. Not paying your number one driver and the guy who is helping you run up front, a single penny for the entire season is no minor contract infringement... I hate it, was really enjoying how well they were doing...but this is starting to look more like a mountain instead of a bump in the road.