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

Sebastian Vettel Denies Signing Ferrari Contract

Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel has denied rumors that he has signed a contract to race for Ferrari in 2014, after several British newspapers started the rumor only days before last weekends Monaco Grand Prix. This comes after his team-mate at Red Bull, Mark Webber, has been strongly linked to a move to the Italian outfit in replace of Felipe Massa.

Sebastian Vettel has raced for Red Bull since 2009, and has so far won two Drivers’ Championships with the Milton Keynes-based outfit. Beforehand, the German drove Toro Rosso (Red Bull’s sister team), and after a year and a half of impressive driving he graduated through the ranks of Red Bull. With recent rumors linking the 24-year-old away from Red Bull, Vettel has denied these allegations at Monaco.

“Maybe they needed to fill up some space in their newspapers, I have signed nothing.” Insisted Sebastian Vettel to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung throughout the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. 

During the race, Sebastian Vettel opted for a different strategy to the majority of the other front running drivers. This differing strategy enabled Vettel to lead the race for 14 laps before he made his one and only pitstop. He rejoined just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, and finished the race 4th whereas his team-mate Mark Webber took the victory.

Pirelli Sign Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas Di Grassi As Test Drivers’

For the first time, Pirelli have signed two former Formula 1 drivers’ to test for them throughout the 2012 season. Both Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas di Grassi will drive Pirelli’s new 2010 Renault R30, with an aim at defining the new 2013 tyres for next season. They will test at Jerez, Spa, Monza and Barcelona throughout 2012.

Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari joins Lucas di Grassi at Pirelli, after being replaced at the team after last season. The Spaniard scored 31 points in 46 races throughout his F1 career, which began at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. Beforehand he was racing in the World Series by Renault for Carlin, before making the big switch to F1 mid-season.

Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi competed in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship for Virgin Racing, alongside Timo Glock. He failed to score any points, and finished as high as 14th at the Malaysian Grand Prix. In 2011, he became the Pirelli test driver after being replaced at Virgin Racing by GP2 graduate Jerome D’Ambrosio. He will be entering his second year working for Pirelli, after becoming their test driver in July 2011.

“Our commitment to providing the best possible spectacle in Formula One is underlined by the fact that we have two extremely fast and talented test drivers this year.” Explained Pirelli’s Motor Sport Director, Paul Hembrey, “Lucas will provide us with the reference point that we need from the development programme so far, while Jaime brings an extra dimension from his experience of racing at the sharp end of the field throughout the last three seasons. We’re going to be using the drivers for all of our single-seater testing activities, including GP2 and simulator development as well.”

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Ocean Racing Technology Sign Carmen Jorda & Robert Cregan For GP3

With only two months until the start of the GP3 Series at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Portuguese team Ocean Racing Technology have signed two new drivers’ for their inaugural season in the series. This leaves only one seat available within the team, who have taken over from Tech 1 Racing for 2012.

Spaniard Carmen Jorda last year raced in the Indy Lights Series in America, contesting 5 races throughout the season and scoring 84 points. She has also contested numerous European F3 Open Championships’ since 2006, including the Le Mans 24 Hours in the LMP2 class.

“I am delighted with this agreement, especially because Ocean is an experienced team in GP2. I think we can develop a good relationship together.” Explained Carmen Jorda, “I’m sure they will help me to improve my performance. I am eager to test the car that I am sure is very different from the Indy Light that I was was used to. I’ll be a rookie in the Championship but I’m sure I’ll improve race by race.  I must thank all those who helped me build this project.”

Robert Cregan will also be a rookie when the opening race of the season begins, having previously raced in Australia’s V8 Supercars Championship. The 22-year-old is the son of former Toyota team manager Richard Cregan, and will be eager to prove his worthiness in front of the F1 fraternity in 2012.

“I have already tested a GP3 car, but I also know that the first race will be hard and I have a lot to learn.” Said Robert Cregan, “The test next week will be very important. I trust my own ability to adapt to this new reality and hope to gradually improve. I think I will be able to run in the top five in the short term.”

Both drivers’ will get their first taste of 2012 when they partake in the pre-season test Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya next week, ahead of the season-opening race on the same track in May.

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service 

Lotus GP Sign American Conor Daly For GP3

Lotus GP have this morning announced their third and final driver for the 2012 GP3 Series, in 20-year-old American driver Conor Daly. He joins Daniel Abt and Aaro Vainio at the team, who have won every GP3 Championship to date.

Last season, Daly competed in both the GP3 Series with Carlin Motorsport and the American Indy Lights Series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The Indy Lights Series is the feeder series to IndyCar and is equivalent to how GP2 and GP3 work with Formula 1. 

Throughout his first season in GP3, he consistently finished all but one race throughout the year, finishing as high a 6th on two occasions. The American only took part in five races throughout the Indy Lights Series, winning the race at Long Beach, as well as finishing 2nd at the season opening race at St. Petersburg. 

Conor Daly and Lotus GP worked together for the first time at a test at the Jerez circuit in December last year, with Daly showing his quality by finishing his day within the top 10. 

“I am very pleased to be with the Lotus GP team in 2012!” Explained Conor Daly, “The team has had an incredible history of success and have certainly been the team to beat in GP3. The goal in the off-season was to try and put myself in the best position to try and win the championship this year and I have no doubt that I’ve got the best chance to do so with Lotus GP. I was fortunate enough to test with the team at the end of 2011 and was extremely happy with what I was able to learn. I now look forward to learning more during pre-season testing from the team and my new teammates. I have to thank everyone who made this happen and I can’t wait to get the 2012 season rolling!”

The 2012 GP3 Series kicks off in May supporting the Spanish Grand Prix, with several pre-season tests taking place beforehand at both the Circuit de Catalunya and Silverstone.

Picture Copyright © Drew Gibson/GP3 Series Media Service

Caterham Sign Giedo Van Der Garde As Reserve Driver

Dutch driver Giedo Van Der Garde has been confirmed as the reserve and test driver at Caterham, ending weeks of speculation that Vitaly Petrov was set to drive for them in 2012. Van Der Garde is the most recent driver to graduate from GP2 to Formula 1.

Last season Giedo Van Der Garde finished 5th in the GP2 Championship, driving for the Barwa Addax team. He finished as high as 2nd on several occasions, and has won three races in his GP2 career, back in 2009 when he raced for iSport International. 

Recently Giedo Van Der Garde has been rumored at potentially joining HRT, bringing with him the huge amount of funds the team were demanding. However with HRT re-signing Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan, this left Van Der Garde without a Formula 1 drive with only days until pre-season testing starts at Jerez.

“We are delighted to welcome Giedo into the family as Reserve Driver.” Said team principal, Tony Fernandes, “He is a very exciting prospect that we have been monitoring since the early days of our team, and we are all looking forward to seeing how he can help us develop throughout the season as we take our next steps towards the established midfield teams ahead.”

“I’m very happy to become a part of the Caterham F1 Team family today and I’m very excited about the next step in my career within Formula 1.” Said Giedo Van Der Garde, “The team is fresh, with some fantastic people here. Tony Fernandes is extremely ambitious and he has brought in a lot of very good people in to help grow this team for future success. I’m looking forward to learning and moving forward with the team in and out of the car.

“It’s great for Holland that we again have a Dutch driver who is connected to Formula 1. Being the only Dutch driver now is very good for the sport in Holland, as the interest was perhaps on the decline since the Verstappen years, however I hope to generate the same excitement for my country and really bring Formula 1 to them.”

Caterham have also confirmed that Van Der Garde will take part in pre-season testing, as well numerous Friday practice sessions throughout the looming Grand Prix season.

Ferrari Sign Former Bridgestone Chief

Ferrari have signed ex-Bridgestone Chief Hirohide Hamashima to join it’s technical department in a bid to try and help Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, get the most out of their Pirelli’s in 2012.

Throughout the 2011 season Alonso and Massa struggled with the Pirelli tyres, especially when running the harder option tyres. Now, with the guidance of Hirohide Hamashima, Ferrari are confident they can benefit more from the tyres in 2012.

Hamashima worked for the Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone in Formula 1 up until 2010 when the outfit left the sport and was replaced by the Italian company Pirelli. Last season Hamashima worked with Bridgestone in MotoGP, but has returned to F1 with Ferrari, a team that Bridgestone worked closely with throughout the Schumacher/Ferrari dominance that reigned from 2000-2004.

Hirohide Hamashima is one of many new faces joining Ferrari for 2012 as they embark on a reshuffle of its organisation with Pat Fry which includes Steve Clark from Mercedes GP, with rumours circulating that Ferrari have also signed Jonathan Heal and Lawrence Hodge from McLaren. Ferrari are confident that they can pick up on what was a disastrous 2011 season that saw only Fernando Alonso win one race at the 2011 British Grand Prix whilst Massa failed to even reach the podium all season.

Ferrari have also announced they will release their 2012 car on February 3rd, two days after rivals McLaren who are hopeful on also closing the gap to Red Bull in 2012.