Ten drivers in Haas shortlist
Gene Haas has a shortlist of ten drivers he would like to sign for his formula one team. Haas says he is keen to sign someone “currently competing on the starting grid.”
The team has a technical partnership with Ferrari meaning the Italian team may want to run one of their test drivers. World Champion Kimi Raikkonen may be place in the team if Ferrari sign Force India driver and Le Mans winner Nico Hulkenberg or Williams’s Valtteri Bottas.
Haas told Motorsport.com the team has a list of ten drivers they are watching. He told ESPN “We’ll talk to them in particular and we will see what works for us. We definitely want to have drivers who are currently competing on the starting grid, people with experience.”
Ferrari’s and Haas’s partnership has been called “very intelligent” by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. They partnership may revolutionise the way new teams join the grid.
Investigation if backed by smaller teams
The Labour MEP Anneliese Dodds has said if smaller teams want an EU investigation into the way F1 is governance and distribution of revenues they would need to make a formal complaint.
Dodds has asked the commissioner responsible for competition to express concerns that the sport is breaking EU competition laws. Dodds said “The Commissioner in charge has made it clear to me that she can’t do anything until the teams themselves submit a formal complaint, and so if that’s what the teams feel is right then that is what they should do.”
Last year there was a debate over the way revenues were split in the sport and earlier this week a case was brought to try to try to wind the Lotus team up. Last seasonForce India, Sauber and Lotus wrote to Bernie Ecclestone last November as part of a push for a re-distribution of the sport’s revenues.
Top teams Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Red Bull receive special payments and sit with the commercial rights holder and governing FIA on the sport’s core decision-making ‘strategy group’
Berine Ecclestone said He “hope the complaint goes ahead and the competition authorities have enough patience and time to deal with it.”
Sole responsibility for starts
A new directive has been issued by the FIA making drivers “solely responsible” for their race starts according to Autosport.
Following a Strategy Group meeting last week the governing body the FIA is to put new stricter limitations on driver aids and coaching with “a particular emphasis on race starts” from August.
The clutch bite point may not be changed after drivers leave the pits until the race starts. A driver may also be told to pit in order to retire the car or fix damage sustained. Teams can also inform drivers of red and yellow flags.
If the rules were broken it would lead to a penalty. Lewis Hamilton says the changes would not affect the way he drives if communication was reduced
Fittipladi Mexican Ambassador
Two times world champion Emerson Fittipaldi has been named as a ambassador for the Mexican Grand Prix. His role ahead of F1’s return to the circuit in November will see him take on a variety of roles.
The circuit will return to the calendar after a twenty year absence from the calendar. The roles Fittipaldi will be tasked with acting as a spokesperson for the event, meeting with fans and attending the race.
Fittipald said “I am truly honoured to take on this role as the official ambassador for the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Mexico. I have such special memories of racing here back in the seventies, the track was really something else.”
He added “Having had a close look at what CIE have done with the new track, I feel envious of the current F1 drivers, especially. What they have created is a great combination of the thrill of the old track combined with a more modern approach to F1 circuit design.”
CIE Director of Marketing Rodrigo Sanchez said “We wanted someone who could really capture the spirit and energy of our event, someone who our fans can relate to and connect with, Emerson fit the bill perfectly.”
