Hey everyone - it's another wicked Wednesday. I do hope your week is going well and that you are all keeping on top of things.
Because this was written on the Tuesday before a long haul race, there's not many news stories. I do have a lot of links for you though...
- I guess I should start with the sad news that former Team Lotus boss Peter Warr has passed away. According to the obituary he was instrumental in keeping the team going after Colin Chapman's death and was a key figure in helping F1 grow as a sport. He was also a good friend of Bernie Ecclestone and was rather well known for his dislike of Nigel Mansell, making a rather memorable but unprintable quote about his career prospects. Our thoughts go to his friends and family at this time.
- The other piece of news is that Lotus Racing/Team Lotus have announced a deal with Red Bull for use of their gearbox and transmission systems from 2011. This means that it is very likely that they will be using a Renault engine as it would fit best with this gearbox package.
- ScarbsF1 has a great blog post analysing the technical aspects of this new partnership. Apparently Lotus already have the gearbox designed and this will give them an advantage when designing the rear end of next year's car. It's all about having a good rear end, apparently.
- The tweet from Tony Fernandes announcing the deal hinted at further announcements... which Emma Stonier thinks includes a new driver for 2011 as she thinks Jolly Jarno is retiring...
- Sir Richard Branson and Tony Fernandes want to see the end of blue flags - reasoning that the faster drivers should learn to overtake the slower cars and that by pulling over for blue flags, the slower cars are losing too much time.
- A bit more Virgin news: for those wondering how the team works, Joe has a great article about Understanding Virgin Racing.
- Williams are going green by reducing their CO2 levels. Interestingly, racing the actual cars only accounts for 0.46% of the annual output...
- Joe also muses about what Kimi Raikkonen will do next. I have a feeling we won't be seeing him in a Renault next year... Especially when he is having so much fun making adverts like this one :D
- There was a very odd press release from Hispania Moda for Japan that didn't mention any drivers, prompting wild speculation as to who will be in the car for Suzuka. Seeing that team boss Colin Kolles likes the circuit so much (and is the only person mentioned in the press release), I think he will be driving. You heard it here first...
- We have a breakout thread about Sauber's new Mexican driver, Sergio Perez. Stuart C muses that although it's odd that the runner up of this year's GP2 championship has an F1 drive and the champion doesn't, that Perez is the real deal. Also, Adam Cooper has his take on the matter too. Exciting times ahead for Sauber!
- Couple of "behind the paywall" articles from AUTOSPORT for you. The first one is an exit interview with Pedalo, who has been so anonymous this year it's ironic that he is getting more press now he has effectively left the sport. The other is one comparing Mark Webber's championship challenge with that of Alan Jones's championship winning season, exactly 30 years ago. I have a feeling Alan probably wouldn't want fish eating his feet though!
- Speaking of which, why not check out Christine's Tweets of the Week and her Rankings, for all the latest comings and goings in the F1 world...
That's all from me. I will leave you with a funny video of Japanese commentary from the 1996 F3000 Final at Fuji. A fun game to play while watching this is "Spot the Future F1/Indycar drivers"
Enjoy your day and may the cake be with you ...