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
Was Romain Grosjean Issued Team Orders In Bahrain?
During the Bahrain Grand Prix, many eyebrows were raised when Lotus failed to give Romain Grosjean direct team orders to allow the much faster Kimi Raikkonen through. With Raikkonen loosing time behind his slower team-mate, many believe it was this error that cost Lotus and Raikkonen their first win of 2012.
However, Finnish TV broadcaster MTV3 have reported that Lotus did actually issue the Frenchman team orders, with the team stating that Raikkonen was faster than Grosjean. The team reportedly ended the radio message ordering Grosjean not told the 2007 World Champion up, as they hunted for their first victory under the Lotus name.
Although such team orders are now legal in Formula 1, Lotus were adamant that they didn’t issue Romain Grosjean such orders and that they were happy to see the two race each other for track position. The topic of team orders has been a touchy subject up and down the paddock, after Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to let Fernando Alonso through in 2010 with the infamous “Fernando is faster than you” statement.
Ultimately, the Finn was unable to pass Sebastian Vettel and win the Bahrain Grand Prix, and although Raikkonen was initially frustrated at not winning the race, Lotus left Bahrain in high spirits after a superlative team result with 2nd and 3rd.
Since Bahrain, many have predicted that both Kimi Raikkonen and even Romain Grosjean could win a race in 2012. Both drivers‘ know how to win races, and both will be eager to replicate such competitiveness next time out in Spain in just under two weeks time.
FOM Fail To Show Force India During Qualifying Broadcast
After qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, it became apparent that Bernie Ecclestone’s FOM Television company, who are in control of the F1 world TV feed, failed to show a full shot of a Force India car during the session. This has aroused suspicions, after Force India failed to make an appearance during FP2 on Friday.
With controversy surrounding the running of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Force India decided to pack up early on Friday and therefore not run during the second practice session, with the team wishing to leave the track in daylight hours. This came after four Force India members’ got caught up in protests on Wednesday night as they traveled from the circuit to their hotels in Manama.
During qualifying, the Force India of Paul di Resta was the first driver out on track in both Q1 and Q2, yet images of the Scot were never seen from the FOM. Paul di Resta even set the first timed lap of both Q1 and Q2, yet still the FOM failed to pick up on the teams actions on track. This has created suspicions as to whether F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who owns the FOM (Formula One Management) purposefully instructed the TV Director to not show any of the Force India’s throughout qualifying, after they made international headlines after failing to appear in practice two through safety fears.
With many picking up on the absence of a Force India on their TV screens across the globe, Bernie Ecclestone has insisted it was not deliberate: “Nobody cares if someone is 9th or 11th,” he explained to Reuters. “Only the people that are watching a particular team. I spoke to our people and they were more or less concentrating on who was going to be on pole, rather than somebody going to be 10th.”
The team themselves have remained silent on the situation, with Paul di Resta declining to comment, stating that he had read various comments on Twitter. With a 57-lap race ahead of them tomorrow, one would imagine the cars’ would undeniably be seen during the TV coverage of the race.
In qualifying, the only shot of a Force India was whilst onboard with Mark Webber as the Red Bull flew past Paul di Resta in the dying seconds of the session. Whether this is pure payback from not running in FP2 on Friday or not, it will be interesting to see whether the Force India’s make it onto the TV during the race later today.
Picture Copyright © AFP
Vitaly Petrov Hits Out At Renault
Russian F1 star Vitaly Petrov has hit out against Renault (now Lotus), stating the team treated him like a child throughout the 2010 season. Petrov made the big leap from GP2 to Formula 1 in 2010, after finishing the previous season as the series runner-up with Barwa Addax.
When Petrov first made his debut on the F1 scene, he was undeniably the No.2 driver to the much experienced Polish driver Robert Kubica. However, towards the end of the season Petrov began to show his potential, especially after his superb drive at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In 2011, Vitaly Petrov was thrown in at the deep end with Renault, as Robert Kubica was severely injured during his rally crash. This made Petrov the unofficial No.1 driver, with the much experienced Nick Heidfeld alongside him for the opening few months of the season. Petrov started the 2011 season strongly, with his first and as of yet only podium with 3rd at the Australian Grand Prix. After that, the team gradually faded away and entered a grueling song-long battle with Force India.
For 2012, the Russian was replaced at the team as Lotus selected two new drivers’ to head their team in Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. With Petrov now racing alongside Kovalainen at Caterham, he can now express his frustrations at driving with the Enstone-based team.
“In 2010, I had some problems with my team, fighting with Mark Slade [Petrov’s race engineer]. He’s a very clever engineer, but it was not a good relationship. They put him up high because he had 20 years of experience and you are the child. If he told you to jump through a window, you must jump through a window,” said Petrov in an interview with AutoSport. “I respected him and listened to him all the time and jumped when he said. But I did the wrong thing. I had my feelings and I should have been more aggressive, but I was afraid I would say something wrong.”
Vitaly Petrov criticized the team after last seasons Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Russian TV, due to the teams apparent lack of lack of car development. Afterwards the Russian apologized to the team, yet the writing was already on the wall for him as he was replaced shortly after seasons end as 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen joined the team.
Petrov will be hoping that this new chapter in his F1 career with Caterham can be a successful one, and that he can become the teams first driver to finish in the points in 2012.
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James Allen Becomes BBC Radio 5 Live Commentator
Ex-ITV commentator James Allen has been announced as the new BBC Radio 5 Live lead commentator, replacing David Croft who last year was announced as the commentator for the new dedicated F1 channel Sky Sports F1 HD alongside former BBC colleagues Martin Brundle and Anthony Davidson.
James Allen took over from Murray Walker as ITV commentator in 2002, alongside Martin Brundle and was immediately under the spotlight by critics, some believing he was trying to sound too much like Murray Walker and that his enthusiasm sometimes got the better of him, especially when Jenson Button won his first ever Grand Prix at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
However, regardless of what the critics have said about him, no-one can deny that James Allen’s enthusiasm for Formula 1 is unmatched by any of todays journalists and commentators. In 2009 he became the Formula One Management World Feed Interviewer when he was asked to do so for the 2009 British Grand Prix in place of Peter Windsor, and he asked questions for the post-qualifying and post-race TV interviews.
James Allen will continue writing for his website and will also continue his contributions to Australia’s Ten Sport F1 coverage. With the BBC loosing the majority of its major talent to Sky Sports for 2012, the BBC couldn’t have picked a more enthusiastic commentator to head their BBC Radio 5 Live coverage.