Marussia Yet To Sign Commercial Agreement With Bernie Ecclestone

Marussia have apparently yet to sign the commercial agreement with Formula 1’s Commercial Rights Holder, with only one week remaining until the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone negotiates the commercial agreement with the varying teams, but Marussia have allegedly yet to sign.

The commercial rights deal entitles the eleven Formula 1 teams to a share of the sport’s revenues, and although an agreement has not yet been met between Mr. Ecclestone and Marussia, the Anglo-Russian outfit will still be able to partake during the season-opener in Melbourne. The major worry is largely for Bernie Ecclestone, who would theoretically be unable to film the Marussia cars out on track without the team’s signature on the agreement.

“It’s getting pretty close now,” explained Marussia’s team principal, John Booth to ESPN. “Nothing is signed yet, but it’s getting pretty close now. No [it’s not vital for Marussia ahead of Australia]. It’s vital for Bernie because he won’t be able to film us without it.”

The remaining ten teams’ on the grid have already signed the agreement, therefore permitting their cars to appear during the coverage of the opening race weekend in Australia. Should Marussia fail to sign the agreement prior to the Australian Grand Prix, Bernie’s FOM could find themselves in tight situation as they would be unable to broadcast images of Marussia until the agreement is signed.

Picture Copyright © Marussia F1 Team

Marussia Launches KERS-Assisted MR02 At Jerez

Marussia have unveiled their new KERS-assisted MR02 machine at Jerez, prior to the first day of pre-season testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain. With only one driver confirmed for the new season in former reserve driver Max Chilton, much of the attention within the paddock is on who will team-mate the Briton at the Banbury-based outfit.

As the first day of testing dawned over the Jerez circuit, Marussia became the first outfit to get proceedings underway with a short and sweet unveiling of their new MR02 machine on the track’s start/finish line. The new car features a slightly revised color scheme in comparison to last season, however their main colors of black and red remain relatively the same.

For the first time in 2013, Marussia will run the KERS device which naturally presented a challenge to the design team to accommodate the package. Another new addition to the Banbury-based outfit’s machine is a new sidepod design, which is aimed at improving the airflow over the car. This will be assisted by a more aggressive coanda exhaust layout, which the team believes will be a major development area for the new season up and down the grid.

“We embark on the first pre-season test of 2013 feeling very positive about our new car – the MR02 – and what lies ahead in this next important chapter in the development of the Marussia F1 Team.” Explained Marussia’s team principal, John Booth. “Whilst we have experienced some changes over the winter, the one area of stability we have enjoyed is the one that is most important to our progression from here, the design of our 2013 race car, led by our Technical Director Pat Symonds. The incremental steps we were taking in the latter half of last season gave us the confidence to not only fight hard for 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship, but to feel encouraged by our overall design direction, which was the basis for the car we are fielding here in Jerez today.

“It is early days in our pre-season development programme but there is a great deal of optimism amongst the team for what lies ahead.” Continued John Booth, “With that in mind, we all look forward to seeing the MR02 make its on-track debut later this morning.”

Max Chilton will become the first driver to get behind the wheel of the new MR02 later today at Jerez, however the Briton’s team-mate has yet to be confirmed by the Anglo-Russian outfit. After Timo Glock’s sudden departure from the team, rumors have been circulating that paddock that GP2 ace Luiz Razia could join Max Chilton. With no driver announcement imminent, Max Chilton and Marussia will be hoping for a productive opening day of the first pre-season test.

Picture Copyright © Marussia F1 Team

Marussia Officially Confirm Max Chilton For 2013

Marussia have officially confirmed that British racing driver Max Chilton will team-mate Timo Glock at the Anglo-Russian outfit next season, in a move which will see the 21-year-old “graduate” from the GP2 feeder series to the world of Formula 1. Chilton will be filling the vacancy left by Charles Pic, who will move to Caterham for 2013.

After an extremely competitive season in GP2 with the Marussia-backed Carlin outfit, Max Chilton became a firm favorite to fill Charles Pic’s vacancy once the Frenchman confirmed his departure to Caterham for 2013. The Briton tested for Marussia during the team’s Young Driver Test programme at Silverstone in July alongside fellow GP2 driver Rio Haryanto. Chilton impressed greatly during this two-day test, and was appointed as the team’s official reserve driver once the GP2 season had drawn to a conclusion at the Japanese Grand Prix.

This saw Max Chilton make his first official appearance at a race weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix during practice one, when the Briton replaced Charles Pic. This fueled speculation that Chilton would drive for the outfit in 2013, and would team-mate Timo Glock who has remained with the outfit since their debut season in 2010. Marussia Motors President Nikolay Fomenko assured Russian media that Max Chilton would partner Timo Glock earlier in the week, with rumors circulating that the Briton has brought around €11.5 million to the team.

“We are delighted to welcome Max to the role of Race Driver with the Marussia F1 Team for the 2013 season.” Explained Marussia’s team principal, John Booth. “We have spent a significant amount of time evaluating his performances during 2012, both in our own car in a testing situation and also from the pit wall as we monitored his progress alongside the other members of our junior talent pool during Grand Prix support races. We felt confident enough in his ability and potential to appoint him to the role of Reserve Driver in September and since that time his development has been rapid in all aspects.

“Max very quickly embedded himself within the team, thanks in no small part to the fact that he is a lively and affable character who we’ve enjoyed having around. Having been integral to our race weekend engineering environment for the past three months already – as well as having undertaken a significant part of our simulator programme – Max has already found his feet.”

Max Chilton is understandably enthralled with his promotion within the Marussia outfit, and already has his sights firmly set upon making a good impression once pre-season gets underway in only a few months time. Marussia struggled greatly during pre-season testing last season, however the team is confident such struggles are behind them as they aim for a much more competitive 2013 campaign.

“It’s hard to put into words how I’m feeling today, with the announcement that I will be racing for the Marussia F1 Team in 2013.” Said Max Chilton, “It comes at the end of what has been a fantastic year for me, and those steps – my GP2 pole positions and wins, my performances in the F1 Young Driver Test and in FP1 at Abu Dhabi – have given everyone the confidence in my ability to compete at the highest level of motor sport.

“I feel very lucky to be able to embark on my F1 racing career with this group of people. Pre-season testing is just a few weeks away, so my focus now is to continue my physical preparation whilst spending as much time as possible working with the technical team to help develop the car I will drive in my debut F1 season.”

Max Chilton will become Timo Glock’s fourth successive team-mate at Marussia, following in the footsteps of Lucas di Grassi, Jerome D’Ambrosio and Charles Pic. Only the latter of those three drivers has gone on to secure himself a full-time drive in the sport after his debut season with Marussia, however Max Chilton will be hoping his time with the Banbury-based outfit allows him to secure a future in the highest echelon of motor sport.

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service

Maria de Villota Looses Right Eye After Testing Accident

It has been confirmed that Maria de Villota has lost her right eye after the horrific accident which occurred at Duxford Airfield yesterday morning, in which her Marussia MR-01 car collided with the tail-gate of one of the teams support trucks. The Spaniard emerged from theatre earlier this morning, after a lengthy operation that began yesterday afternoon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

Maria de Villota currently remains in a critical but stable condition, after receiving serious facial and head injuries after yesterdays accident. Marussia F1 team principal John Booth issued this statement, which provided as much detail on her condition as possible at this current time:

“Maria emerged from theatre at Addenbrooke’s Hospital this morning after a lengthy operation to address the serious head and facial injuries she received in the accident at Duxford Airfield yesterday.” Read the statement from Marussia, “We are grateful for the medical attention that Maria has been receiving and her family would like to thank the Neurological and Plastics surgical teams. However it is with great sadness that I must report that, due to the injuries she sustained, Maria has lost her right eye.

“Maria’s care and the wellbeing of her family remain our priority at this time. Her family are at the hospital and we are doing everything possible to support them.

“We ask for everyone’s patience and understanding with regard to updates on Maria’s condition. We will provide further information when it is appropriate to do so and with consideration for her family.

“In the meantime, we would all like to take this opportunity to praise the emergency services at Duxford Airfield, who were on stand-by yesterday, as is usual procedure for a Formula One test.

“With regard to the accident, we have embarked on a very comprehensive analysis of what happened and this work continues for the moment.

“Finally, we have been overwhelmed by messages of support for Maria, her family and the Team and we would like to express our sincere gratitude for those.”

More to come as further news is available…

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Marussia To Introduce “First Proper Wind-Tunnel Upgrade”

Marussia will be introducing a significant amount of upgrades to their car this weekend, as the team prepare for their home race around the legendary Silverstone circuit. With the team headquarters now situated only 17 miles away in Banbury, their is high expectations for a decent result in front of their home fans.

After a tough start to the 2012 season, by which Marussia’s new chassis initially failed the mandatory FIA crash test in February, the team have visibly improved throughout the first part of the season. Timo Glock finished 14th at both the Australian and Monaco Grands Prix, and the team have only suffered four retirements so far this season. Along with Caterham and HRT, Marussia have yet to score a World Championship point in Formula 1 and will undoubtedly be hoping that their planned upgrades this weekend propel the team closer to those first points.

“We have a fairly significant upgrade for this race, comprising a new rear wing, exhausts, floor and side pods.” Explained Marussia’s team principal, John Booth. “I would have to describe this as our ‘first proper wind-tunnel generated upgrade of the season’; we’ve had some smaller parts in Malaysia and China, and a few small iterations recently, but this is the first fully developed package that is not just a modification of existing elements. That is a big result in itself, aside from the performance step we hope it will bring us, as it means we have caught up with ourselves in terms of the diligent way in which we have approached and developed our Technical Partnership. With Timo back to strength and Charles looking to build on a great performance in Valencia, we have good reason to be excited about what our home race can bring.”

With rain set to spice up the action at this weekends British Grand Prix, Marussia will hoping for a topsy-turvy race which could enable them to score their first points in Formula 1. However, rain has not be necessary to create unpredictable racing in 2012 with the Pirelli tyres keeping the teams and drivers guessing at each race weekend.

Picture Copyright © Marussia F1 Team

John Booth Pleased With Marussia Progress

After three races of the 2012 season, Marussia Team Principal John Booth is already very satisfied with the progress his team have made. The Anglo-Russian outfit made a late start to the season, as they were one of only two teams along with HRT to not bring their new car to any of the pre-season tests at Jerez or Barcelona.

However, unlike HRT who were unable to qualify for the season opener in Australia, Marussia have successfully been able to qualify for every race so far this season. Not only have Marussia qualified for every race this season, they have finished every race this season as well (Pic did retire from oil pressure issues in Australia, but was classified nonetheless after completing 90% race distance). 

“Going into last weekend’s race in China we’d eaten into the gap to our immediate competitors by 0.8s since Malaysia.” Explained Marussia Team Principal, John Booth. “Combined with the 0.6s decrease we’d seen between the first two races, that means we’ve found almost 1.5s of lap time in the first three races which, considering the challenges we faced with our late start, is very pleasing to all of us. It is still very early in the season of course, but it is nice to see that we are heading in a good development direction.”

Timo Glock started the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix from the front row of the grid for Toyota, alongside his then team-mate Jarno Trulli. The German therefore has good memories of the circuit, and will be confident heading into round four of the Championship. Frenchman Charles Pic will be confident heading to Bahrain as well, as the rookie begins to race on circuits he is familiar with from his GP2 days. Pic won on the circuit in 2010 in the GP2 Asia Series for Arden International, and will undoubtedly be glad to begin racing on tracks he knows.

Marussia made their debut at Sakhir in 2010 (known then as Virgin Racing), with Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi at the wheel. Unfortunately both cars’ retired during the race, and Marussia will be hoping history does not repeat itself this coming weekend.

Picture Copyright © Marussia F1 Team

Bernie Ecclestone Keen On F1 Budget Cap

Formula 1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone is still keen on introducing a budget cap into the sport, believing many of the teams on the grid are currently spending way more than is necessary. After a similar idea was rejected in 2009 in favor of the Resource Restriction Agreement, Bernie is now keen on seeing the idea implemented in F1. 

“Let’s put it this way: there are still too many people in Formula 1 running around with rose-tinted glasses,” said Bernie Ecclestone in an interview on the Official Formula 1 website. “They obviously like to see the world as they want it to be – wonderful, the sun is shining, isn’t life delightful – and not how it is. The downside of these glasses is that they blind you to reality.”

Although such a ruling would most likely hurt these larger teams of the sport, Marussia (formerly Virgin Racing) are backing the idea, with the team originally entering the sport in 2010 under the belief that budget cap rules were to be implemented in the sport. The teams CEO, Graeme Lowdon, believes a budget cap is the way ahead in Formula 1. 

“The attraction for us as a team coming into F1, was that if the rules had not changed and the resources you can employ are limited, then there should be some reward for ingenuity and being clever,” he said in an interview with AutoSport. “But if this is the international championship of spending, then most teams are not equipped to excel in that field, and it is not clever – nor very relevant to the business world our sponsors live in. So anything that promotes cost control is a good thing.”

Regardless of the fact that Marussia are one of the most cash strapped teams in the sport, team principal John Booth is also backing the budget cap. However, with Marussia’s progress up the F1 pecking order made all the more difficult due to the increasing costs in the sport, it’s understandable Marussia are backing such a move. 

Picture Copyright © Getty Images 

Marussia Unveil New Car

The new Marussia Formula 1 car, the MR-01, has made its first track appearance at Silverstone today. The team initially failed the mandatory FIA crash test, and therefore failed to take part in the final Barcelona pre-season test. 

Although their 2012 car has taken to the track, it has still yet to pass the mandatory crash test, with technical consultant Pat Symonds saying it has only passed an unobserved one. With the 2012 car featuring very little carryover components from the 2011 car – when the team were known as Virgin Racing – this marks a new technical era for the team, with a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies.

With the tie-up with McLaren a big influence on the design of the new Marussia MR-01, it has become the only car other than the McLaren not to feature a step nose platypus design. The team have dubbed the new car as a significant evolution of its predecessors, with the design team being a little more adventurous with the design of the car in relation to the teams previous challengers.

“We are very pleased to be running the new MR01 for the first time this morning.” Explained Team Principal, John Booth, “It has been a long and frustrating wait for everyone in the team but we can now get back on track – literally – and start working towards the first race of the season in Australia next weekend. Today is the first of two promotional events, so while the drivers will be able to get a feel for the car, they won’t be able to draw any real conclusions until we start running in anger in Melbourne. Nevertheless, this is an important day for us and we’ll enjoy every minute on track with the new car.”

The Cosworth powered team are completing a two day shakedown of their new car at Silverstone, with both Timo Glock and French rookie Charles Pic getting time in the car before the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

Picture Copyright © Glenn Dumbar/LAT Photographic 

Marussia Not To Use KERS In 2012

Marussia have announced they will not be using KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) throughout the 2012 season, with the team deciding to focus on other aspects of their new car. 

With the new Marussia car being designed under the guidance of their new technical chief Pat Symonds, they believe their progress could be halted if they add KERS to their 2012 car. Even though this could well shoot Marussia in the foot in the short term, in the long run the team could well progress greatly in comparison to their 2011 results, just like Team Lotus did last season when they opted against KERS, yet still held 10th place in the Constructors’ World Championship. 

Marussia Team Principal, John Booth, has announced that this season his aims for the team are on aerodynamic gains, as well as admitting to the the fact that cost also made KERS seem less favorable.

Marussia have lately been changing their pre-season testing plans, with their initial plans set to see them launch their new car at the second test in Barcelona, with the team running their 2011 car at the first test. However, these plans changed once again when the team announced they’d launch their new car at Barcelona on March 1st in time for the third test.

Along with the newly branded Caterham team and HRT, Marussia are still hunting for that all elusive first World Championship point in 2012.