Sports → [Auto] F1 silly season forf 2014 starts....

First - Perez out at McLaren:
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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"I would like to wish the team the very best in the future," he said ahead of this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix.

"I will always be a fan of McLaren. In the meanwhile I will be looking at my future to ensure my position in the best possible package to fight for wins."

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Second - Heikki returns
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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Following intense discussions that have involved both the Lotus and Caterham teams over the past few hours, it is understood that an agreement has been reached for him to stand in for the final two Formula 1 races of the season.

One of the main hurdles was securing the blessing of Caterham for the deal, because Kovalainen is under contract to the outfit until the end of the season.

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At least it is a move up for Heikki.

Third - Magnussen in at McLaren to replace Perez/
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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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.

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Fourth - Massa to Williams replacing Maldonado
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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Finland's Valtteri Bottas will remain as the former champions' other driver.

"When I was a kid I always dreamed about racing for Ferrari, Williams or McLaren," Massa said in a statement before addressing assembled Williams employees at the factory in central England.

"I'm glad to be signing with another icon of the sport following my time at Ferrari."

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To be a leader and not a pay driver...
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

Not sure about the latter....

Fifth
Brawn leaves Mercedes
»www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/fo ··· 24725406

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Ross Brawn will leave his position as Mercedes team principal at the end of the Formula 1 season.

Brawn and Mercedes have failed to reach an agreement on a role in which he would have been happy to stay at the team, sources close to Mercedes said.

Mercedes will now be run in tandem by their two executive directors, Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, along with non-executive chairman Niki Lauda.

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There is a story that says Brawn is expected to stay in F1. Wonder what Hamilton thinks of this as well as I bet Brawn was a point for Mercedes when he decided to leave McLaren.

Sixth
As noted in the regular F1 thread - Maldonado joins Lotus
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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The Venezuelan had been working on a deal with Lotus since leaving Williams, but also entered into talks with Sauber amid uncertainty about Lotus's status during its efforts to secure investment from the Quantum organisation.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for me to join the Lotus F1 team for 2014," said Maldonado.

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Seventh
New pit rules (mandatory stops and possible lap limits
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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AUTOSPORT has learned that detailed tweaks to the regulations, which will have a dramatic impact on strategy and spectacle, have been tabled for discussion at next month's F1 Strategy Group meeting.

The rules, if accepted and then agreed by the F1 Commission and FIA's World Motor Sport Council, will demand that each driver must stop twice during the race to fit new tyres.

Furthermore, drivers will not be allowed to use the 'prime' specification of tyres for more than 50 per cent of the race distance, while the 'option' compound will not be allowed to be used for more than 30 per cent of the race distance.

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Eighth
Bahrain night race?
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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Bahrain International Circuit chief executive Salman bin Isa al-Khalifa said in a statement on Friday that a round of the world endurance championship at the circuit on Saturday and Sunday would test the first phase of the project.

"This is by far the biggest development project we have ever undertaken at the BIC since the circuit was first built," he said.

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Ninth
Championship point for pole and possible pole trophy?
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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AUTOSPORT has learned that during discussions at last month's Strategy Group meeting, the idea of an FIA award came out of debate about whether or not a championship point should be awarded to the fastest qualifier.

The idea of such a change to the points structure was rejected by a number of team principals present, so FIA president Jean Todt instead proposed the creation of the 'FIA Pole Man of the Year in F1' trophy instead.

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Well that's just plain stupid. If a team wants to try to run the race on a one stop strategy, let them. If the FIA wants to control that, have Pirelli make a tire that won't last that long. or just use the soft and super soft tires for all races. Other than Monaco, that would force two or more pitstops at every track.

Pirelli has done that when they vor the contract and they caught hell for it - even this year at one of the races when tires started to fly apart (though likely caused more by teams settings than issues with the tire).

I'm guessing, but I think Pirelli could build tires that would last the entire race without much degradation, but that's not what the FIA wants.

Absolutely, michellin did it and so could pirelli. Fia asked them specifically to create tires that would degrade to force pit stops.

»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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he Italian manufacturer's tyres, in particular the softer compounds, generated large amounts of marbles during 2013, making going off the racing line to overtake less viable for drivers.

"The drivers certainly have commented on it and we can understand it," said Pirelli's motorsport boss Paul Hembery. "So it's something that we are trying to do.

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Permanent car numbers:
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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As AUTOSPORT revealed last month, the item was tabled for discussion for F1's Strategy Group meeting on December 9.

The group and Formula One Commission has approved the change, which becomes effective immediately and will therefore be implemented ahead of the 2014 season.

The FIA gave the Strategy Group and Commission a one-off mandate to impose rule changes at its World Motor Sport Council meeting last week.

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Williams trying to make things better:
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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Dave Wheater will join the Grove-based squad from Lotus to become head of aerodynamic performance. He will report to head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville.

Shaun Whitehead, who previously worked at Red Bull, joins Williams as head of aerodynamic process. Somerville described the duo as "first class talents."

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I saved this for its own post as I expect a bit of kvetching...

FIA to give out double points for the last race in 2014:
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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The novelty, immediately dismissed by some angry fans as a needless gimmick, was the most eye-catching of several rule changes announced by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Monday.

The FIA said double points would "maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign" and had been unanimously approved at a meeting in Paris of teams in the F1 Strategy Group and Formula One Commission.

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In other words - we need to find a way to make sure the drivers championship are not decided 4 races from the end of the season.

I guess this is easier than making the other cars more competitive. They're taking the permanent car numbers from NASCAR (I know it's really the car and not the driver there). Maybe instead of doubling the points for the last race, they should reset the points for the last five races like NASCAR does for "The Chase" for the Cup? I just don't want to hear the F1 drivers start referring to their cars in the third person by the number. "Yes, David, the #27 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was working well today."

Gutierrez confirmed for Sauber for '14.
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

Looks like the car numbers are set, except for a few.

»www.fia.com/2014-fia-f1- ··· try-list

And Chilton retains his seat:
»uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/n ··· -f1.html

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The 22-year-old made his grand prix debut with the team last year, taking a best finish of 14th in Monaco.

He set an F1 rookie record by finishing all 19 races, and made it into Q2 for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Chilton's capture of the second Marussia seat was officially announced at this year's AUTOSPORT International.

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Gene Haas (part owner of NASCARs SHR team) - applies for a F1 spot:

»sports.yahoo.com/news/ha ··· car.html

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NASCAR team co-owner Gene Haas has applied to own a Formula One team.

Haas is co-owner with Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing. He confirmed Thursday that Haas Racing Development ''has responded to the FIA's 'call for expression of interest' regarding a Formula One entry.''

Formula One's governing body said in December it would accept applications through Jan. 3 for new teams that would begin in either the 2015 or 2016 season.

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I don't necessarily see this going well.

Can't do any worse than the previous US attempt from a few years ago.

Nothing special about em. Unspectacular V8 engines, ugly aero designs, hideously complex rear wings etc.

Not this coming year. Wholesale changes to aero and v6 turbocharged engines that will be rev limited to 14k I think.

just heard that "Kobayashi" is returning to F1 with "Caterham". The team also appointed a new rookie driver from Sweden "Marcus Ericsson"

Sounds like they didn't bribe Bernie enough "We're really serious this time" cash.
»www.planetf1.com/driver/ ··· unlikely

The car owners own the numbers in NASCAR. Childress is allowing 3 to be used again.

One of the more intriguing ideas coming from Haas is running the Indy 500 with Kurt Bush.