Formula 1 World Championship 2014 Pre-Season Discussion

By +Frank B.
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Grand Master

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McLaren decides that Magnussen will replace Perez in 2014 F1 season

 

McLaren has taken the decision to replace Sergio Perez with Kevin Magnussen for the 2014 Formula 1 season.

 

Sources have confirmed to AUTOSPORT that the team has decided to promote the Formula Renault 3.5 champion, although a contract has not yet been signed.

 

Magnussen, a McLaren development driver, became the favourite for the seat in the days following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

 

Speaking earlier on Monday, team principal Martin Whitmarsh had declined to comment on the prospect of Magnussen racing for McLaren next year.

 

"The fact is at the moment we haven't confirmed our driver line-up, we haven't signed contracts with drivers," he said.

 

Source: Autosport

 

Another reason for me to feel old: I remember the times when his father, Jan Magnussen, was considered the next big talent for F1.

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Grand Master

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Why not go full retro and resurrect old team names? Mercedes GP could be Tyrrell again (their history: Tyrrell -> BAR -> Honda -> Brawn GP -> Mercedes GP), Force India could go back to the Jordan name, Toro Rosso -> Minardi, RBR could buy the rights to the Brabham name.

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MightyJordan

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1384270378.jpg

 

Formula 1 teams are concerned that the 2014 technical regulations are forcing them into 'ugly' designs with hooked nose sections, as shown by this AUTOSPORT image.

 
The rules for next season require a high chassis of 525mm and a low nose tip at 185mm.
 
But the regulations only demand a relatively small nose tip cross-section, and teams will want to minimise the width of this area to improve air flow under the chassis.
 
That raises the prospect of slender, drooping nose tip extensions to meet minimum rules requirements for this section, protruding from a higher, more bulky, section that will pass crash tests and fit teams' aerodynamic needs.
 
While not all teams are believed to be heading down this design route, it is understood that several leading outfits believe it is the best solution.
 
AUTOSPORT understands that some senior Formula 1 technical personnel have already called for changes to improve aesthetics, but this was not successful due to a lack of agreement on the need to do something.
 
An FIA technical directive has also been issued ruling out an alternative nose solution that was put forward with a request for clarification.
 
Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey and McLaren sporting director Sam Michael have admitted that the 2014 cars are likely to be "ugly" due to the front impact structure.
 
"The low nose is not a problem," Michael explained.
 
"The problem is the vagaries in the way you get through the crash test - and the teams will mostly be going down one solution.
 
"It is not because of the chassis height."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111262

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Perez confirms McLaren exit at the end of the year.

 

Sergio Perez has confirmed he will not drive for McLaren in 2014.

 

Perez joined the team from Sauber at the beginning of the season. McLaren?s development driver and Formula Renault 3.5 champion Kevin Magnussen has been tipped to take his place.

 

?First of all I would like to thank McLaren for giving me the opportunity to be with them this season,? said Perez in a statement.

 

?It has been an honour for me to have been in one of the most competitive teams in the sport and I do not regret even a bit having joined them. I have always given the best of me for the team and still despite this I could not achieve what I aimed for in this historic team.?

 

?I am committed to deliver very good results in these last two races, especially in Austin,? he added. ?I am so much looking forward to see all my people gathered together, feel their energy and show them the best of me.?

 

?I would like to say to every single one of my fans around the world and in my country that I am eternally grateful to them. They have never let me down, especially in difficult moments like these. I truly appreciate their support, they have never forgotten me.?

 

?I have met a lot of new people at McLaren this season and I have made many good friends as well. From the top management level to the marketing, accounting and engineering departments to the mechanics, the cooks, the catering people and basically everyone in the team, I am eternally grateful to them. It has been a learning experience to me.

 

?I would like to wish the team the very best in the future. I will always be a fan of McLaren. In the meanwhile I will be looking at my future to ensure my best position in the best possible package to fight for wins.

 

?Thanks to McLaren and all of its partners this season, you can rest assured that I will never give up.?

 

Source: F1 Fanatic

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MightyJordan

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And now we wait for the announcement of Kevin Magnussen as his replacement...

 

 

EDIT: Ooh, almost a dead heat, Meph! If I didn't spellcheck Magnussen, it probably would have been a dead heat. :P

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MightyJordan

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Spellchecker is not the tool of a real man :p

I actually Googled his name; spellcheckers aren't so good with foreign names. :P

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McLaren confirm Magnussen will replace Perez

 

McLaren have confirmed they will Sergio Perez him with rookie Kevin Magnussen in 2014.

 

Magnussen, 21, won this year?s Formula Renault 3.5 championship in emphatic style, taking five races wins along the way and losing another on a technicality. He also impressed the team during his Young Driver Test appearance for them at Silverstone in July.

 

Magnussen said he was ?absolutely overjoyed? to be making his debut with McLaren and vowed ?I won?t let you down, guys.?

 

?I?ll put it simply: this team is the best,? Magnussen added. ?It?s been my dream to drive for McLaren ever since I was a small kid, and it?s no exaggeration to say that I?ve dedicated almost every day of my life to achieving the goal of becoming a McLaren Formula One driver.

 

?I have an enormous amount of respect for everyone at McLaren, and I want to say a massive ?thank you? to everyone, but most of all to Martin and his senior colleagues, for giving me this chance.?

 

McLaren rarely promote rookie drivers to their race team. Magnussen is the first to have the chance since Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

 

Before that the last driver to make his race debut for McLaren was Magnussen?s father Jan in the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix, substituting for an unwell Mika Hakkinen. It was a one-off drive, though Magnussen later spent a year and a half racing for Stewart.

 

Source: F1 Fanatic

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Grand Master

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Updated grid:

 

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing RB9 ? Renault Energy F1-2014
Team Principal: Christian Horner; Technical Director: Adrian Newey
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Daniel Ricciardo
 

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Mercedes F1 W04 ? Mercedes TBA
Team Principal: Ross Brawn ; Technical Director: Toto Wolff
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Nico Rosberg
 

Scuderia Ferrari
Ferrari F138 ? Ferrari TBA
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali ; Technical Director: Pat Fry
Fernando Alonso
Kimi R?ikk?nen

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
McLaren MP4-28 ? Mercedes TBA
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh ; Technical Director: Tim Goss, Neil Oatley
Jenson Button
Kevin Magnussen

Lotus F1 Team
Lotus E21 ? TBA
Team Principal: Eric Boullier ; Technical Director: Nick Chester
TBA
TBA

Sauber F1 Team
Sauber C32 ? Ferrari TBA
Team Principal: Monisha Kaltenborn ; Technical Director: James Key
Sergey Sirotkin
TBA

Sahara Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM06 ? Mercedes TBA
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya ; Technical Director: Andrew Green
TBA
TBA

Williams
Williams FW35 ? Mercedes TBA
Team Principal: Sir Frank Williams ; Technical Director: Pat Symonds
Valeri Bottas
Felipe Massa

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso STR8 ? Renault Energy F1-2014
Team Principal: Franz Tost ; Technical Director: James Key
Jean-?ric Vergne
Daniil Kvyat

Caterham F1 Team
Caterham CT03 ? Renault Energy F1-2014
Team Principal: Cyril Abiteboul ; Technical Director: Mark Smith
Charles Pic
TBA

Marussia F1 Team
Marussia MR02 ? Ferrari TBA
Team Principal: John Booth ; Technical Director: ?
Jules Bianchi
TBA

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Grand Master

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^ should of updated the first post

I can't. A mod will have to do it.

(Unlimited edit time for subscribers had to be cancelled after an incident with an ex-member a while ago)

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Chasethebase Reporter

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^ should of updated the first post

 

 

I can't. A mod will have to do it.

(Unlimited edit time for subscribers had to be cancelled after an incident with an ex-member a while ago)

 

Just poke me when you need it updating, I'll get on it :)

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MightyJordan

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McLaren is trying to help Sergio Perez find a seat in Formula 1 next year, team boss Martin Whitmarsh has revealed.

 
Although McLaren has elected not to retain the Mexican for next year and dropped him for Kevin Magnussen, Whitmarsh believes Perez is good enough to be in F1 and has contacted rival teams to encourage them to take him.
 
"I have rung Force India and I have rung Lotus," Whitmarsh told AUTOSPORT. "I have recommended him.
 
"I am trying to help him get a drive. He deserves to be in Formula 1. He is an exciting driver, but we saw such great potential in Kevin that we decided to sign him.
 
"It was not a case of what Checo did wrong. What Checo did wrong was that Kevin existed."
 
Although it may appear strange for Whitmarsh to be pushing teams to take a driver that his outfit has rejected, he says he is doing so because McLaren still believes Perez is a better prospect than other drivers being considered elsewhere.
 
"People say, how can you recommend him when you've just dropped him? But the fact is I had Kevin," Whitmarsh said.
 
"We could have taken a lot of the drivers that were around that were available, the experienced guys, and we made a decision that we wouldn't take any of those guys in preference to Checo.
 
"That is why I can reasonably recommend him to another team."
 
Although Perez said earlier this week that the lateness of McLaren's decision had hurt his chances of a 2014 seat, Whitmarsh does not agree.
 
Martin Whitmarsh and Sergio Perez
 
He claims that even at this stage of the campaign the seats that were realistically available for him are all still open.
 
"People say it is terribly late, but what I have said to him is that he needs to stand back from it a bit," he said.
 
"I told him the Ferrari seats have gone, the Mercedes seats have gone, Red Bull has gone, and Toro Rosso has gone. Those are the only seats that have gone - and in truth he wasn't in the frame for any of those. So he hasn't lost a seat.
 
"At the time Williams had a seat, but that has now gone, but there is a Lotus seat, a Sauber seat, a Force India seat, a Caterham seat and a Marussia seat. So there is no seat closed to him and we can have no accusations that we made the decision too late."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111375

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MightyJordan

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Paul di Resta is being forced to consider a driving career outside Formula One as seats run out for next season.
 
Di Resta, 27, is coming to end of his third season with Force India and is 10th in the drivers' championship going into the final race of the season in Brazil this weekend. That is an improvement on his 13th and 14th places in 2011 and 2012 but he is still unsure of his drive for next season.
 
He is considering a number of options and might even follow his cousin, Dario Franchitti, into IndyCar.
 
"I built a good reputation in DTM [an international touring car racing series, which he won in 2010], and there are other opportunities in a few other series," Di Resta said. "I've always been slightly concerned about the safety of it [indyCar], but sitting down and looking at it logically, it's a serious option to look elsewhere because of the success he has had."
 
Franchitti, 40, announced his retirement last week on medical grounds, following a horrific accident in Houston and Di Resta said at the time: "Racing in America is slightly different, isn't it? In Europe, [Franchitti] is probably under-appreciated. But to sit there at 40, having won four IndyCar titles and three Indy 500s ? I would like to be in that position."
 
Force India, as usual, will not announce their 2014 drivers until the end of December but they want to re-sign the highly-rated Nico H?lkenberg from Sauber. The incumbent Adrian Sutil and Sergio P?rez, who has been dropped by McLaren, are favourites for the other seat.
 
Di Resta has not yet given up on his F1 career. "They know what I'm capable of here, they know what I can deliver. I feel like I'm an asset to the team," he said, "but I can't make the decision for them, and I have to respect their decision. I've said all along I'd love to be part of it.
 
"Things are getting tighter in the midfield to get seats, so I have to be content with what I've done, and I believe over the last four races I've done what's been asked of me. I don't know what will happen. I've got to wait and see. We're speaking, and that's all you can do. All is not confirmed yet."
 
Di Resta's manager Richard Goddard said recently: "There are a lot of drivers in the sport with money and a lot of teams that need money. That is probably the biggest issue, that it is not just outright talent that gets you a seat any more. Unfortunately, Paul doesn't have a government-backed scheme or a rich billionaire standing behind him."
 
Marussia are ready to re-sign the fourth British driver in F1, Max Chilton, even though he has been the last of the finishers on 11 occasions this season, and last but one on a further six.
 
But Marussia, who have already re-signed his team-mate Jules Bianchi, have been impressed by the popular Chilton's progress. Chilton is also the only driver among the smaller teams to finish every race.
 
Heikki Kovalainen, who has made a two-race comeback with Lotus, looks set for a full-time drive with Caterham next year.
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Chasethebase Reporter

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Yeah but this is Taki, take it with a pinch of salt.

 

Edited the topic title.

 

Basically, from this point going forward, discussion relating to the 2014 season will be going in here, items such as car announcements, driver announcements and any other news relating to next season. The only thing to be discussed now in the old thread is the last race.

 

Speaking of news, looks like Western Digital will be entering a major sponsorship deal with someone in the coming few hours. Going by the colours of the site, I would believe it's Lotus, but who knows.

 

http://products.wdc.com/powerof2/

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Confirmed:

 

Mercedes confirm Ross Brawn will leave team

 

Mercedes have officially announced team principal Ross Brawn will leave the team at the end of the year.

 

The leadership of the team from next year will be shared between executive director (business) Toto Wolff and executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe.

 

?The most important consideration in my decision to step down from the role as team principal was to ensure that the timing was right for the team in order to ensure its future success,? said Brawn.

 

?The succession planning process that we have implemented during this year means we are now ready to conduct the transition from my current responsibilities to a new leadership team composed of Toto and Paddy.

 

?Mercedes-Benz has invested significantly in both the personnel and infrastructure at Brackley and Brixworth. Thanks to the one-team approach we have implemented between the two facilities, the team is uniquely positioned to succeed in 2014 and I am proud to have helped lay the foundations for that success.

 

?However, 2014 will mark the beginning of a new era in the sport. We therefore felt this was the right time to simultaneously begin a new era of team management to ensure that the organisation is in the strongest possible competitive position for the years to come.?

 

Source: F1 Fanatic

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MightyJordan

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Nico Hulkenberg looks set to be with Force India next year after apparently failing in an attempt to stay at Sauber.

 

While the German signed a deal with Force India some time ago, he had until the start of this week to make a final decision on whether to proceed -- an obvious option, given that the Lotus seat was, in theory, still open to him. However, sources have confirmed that Pastor Maldonado has finally agreed to join the Enstone team, alongside Romain Grosjean.

 

Meanwhile, in the light of the recent improvement in Sauber?s form, Hulkenberg inquired about staying. It?s believed that he was told on Sunday that it would not be possible, leaving him committed to Force India.

 

Despite his good performance on-track he has apparently fallen out of favor off it, presumably by not only agreeing to the deal with Force India, but also paying a visit to Lotus prior to the U.S. Grand Prix, which included a seat fitting.

Force India is keen to have Hulkenberg back on board despite being snubbed in favor of Sauber in the middle of 2012.

 

With Sergio Perez likely to join Hulkenberg at Force India, it looks increasingly likely that Adrian Sutil will leave and eventually end up at Sauber.

 

The identity of his teammate remains the missing piece in the transfer jigsaw, as it appears that the team is unlikely to keep Esteban Gutierrez. Sauber?s Mexican sponsorship deals have now come to an end, and sources say that the team is looking elsewhere.




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