2009 has been quite a year for Brawn GP, rising from the ashes of the Honda Racing Team and going on to take both the Drivers and Constructors World Championship.  We recently heard that 2009 was not only Brawn GP’s inaugural year but it will also be it’s last as it changes to Mercedes Grand Prix.

I started BrawnGPNews on 27th March 2009 chronicling the events of Brawn GP and the wider F1 sport.  For me this blog was an opportunity to learn the art of blogging and the internet with a subject I enjoy.  1 year and 264 posts later I have decided that as Brawn GP changes its name I will close BrawnGPNews.  I have found running the site an enjoyable educational experience, but lacked the time that I believe it deserves.  All to often I have posted press releases rather than writing a more detailed analysis of the events, and it is for this primary reason that I have decided to stop.

I hope you have enjoyed following Brawn GP as much as I have during 2009 and wish Mercedes GP and separately Jenson Button all the best for 2010.

If you want to continue following Formula One online, I strongly recommend F1 Fanatic, run by Keith, I am in awe of the dedication he puts into his blog (blog just doesn’t do the site justice).

For Formula One Books and DVDs check out the great selection at Amazon.co.uk and for all your 2010 Team clothing and memorabilia pay OnPole.com a visit.

All the best for 2010

Charles

Post from: Brawn GP News

Goodbye from BrawnGPNews

The achievements of Jenson Button and Ross Brawn have been recognised by the Queen as she names both in her New Years Honours list.

Ross Brawn is to receive an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for services to Motorsport while Jenson Button will receive an MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire) also for Services to Motorsport.

Jenson Button was quoted as saying “This really is the crowning glory to what has been the most incredible year of my life”

“I’m incredibly proud to have joined the likes of Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Sir Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Lewis Hamilton as British Formula 1 world champion.

“But to be recognised by Her Majesty The Queen and the British people is a tremendous honour for me.”

Ross Brawn said “Receiving this award is a great personal honour for me,”

“However, it is only through the dedication and commitment of the many talented people I have worked with and the unstinting support of my family which have led to this award.

“I am very grateful to everyone involved and pleased that the achievements of everyone at Brawn have been recognised in this way.”

This wasn’t the only award that Jenson Button has recently recieved.  He also received a Gold Blue Peter badge.  Next season Jenson Button will move to McLaren where he will join Lewis Hamilton who also holds a Gold Blue Peter Badge and is an MBE!

Post from: Brawn GP News

Button and Brawn named in New Year’s Honours list

Press Release from Mercedes GP Petronas

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team can confirm today that seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher will make his racing return in 2010 with the Silver Arrows team.

With seven Drivers’ World Championships, 248 Grand Prix starts, 91 victories, 154 podium finishes and 68 pole positions, the 40-year old German needs no introduction following an illustrious and record-breaking Formula One career from 1991 to 2006 at the Jordan, Benetton and Ferrari teams.

Michael’s return to racing with MERCEDES GP PETRONAS sees his return to Mercedes-Benz Motorsport where he began his racing apprenticeship as part of the Junior Programme in 1990, racing in Group C sports cars and DTM, and sees Michael renew his partnership with Ross Brawn with whom he won all seven of his World Championships.

Today’s announcement confirms the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS driver line-up for the 2010 season with Michael partnering his compatriot, 24 year old Nico Rosberg, in the Silver Arrows cars.

Michael Schumacher: “MERCEDES GP PETRONAS represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context. It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme. I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula 1 career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star.”

Nico Rosberg: “It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula One and will be my team-mate at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. It’s a great challenge for me to be up against one of the best drivers of all time. I’m sure that we will form a very strong partnership as he will have lost none of his speed! It is also great news for our sport and the fans.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS: “I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team. As seven-time World Champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again. With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth. We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS is extremely excited about the challenge ahead. With the investment and support in our team provided by Daimler, Aabar and our new title partner Petronas, and with two such exciting drivers, we have all of the building blocks in place to have another successful season in 2010.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports: “In April 1991, when I had been in charge of the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport programme for just six months, Michael was standing beside me on the balcony one evening. Without the slightest doubt, he said in a low voice: “It’s about time that I got into Formula 1”. Michael had just turned 22 years of age and four months later, he made his debut at Spa in a Jordan. Mercedes-Benz helped him to this point and the rest is history: seven World Championship titles, more than any racing driver, 91 Grand Prix wins, more than any racing driver. Michael has more of everything than every other driver. As part of the Mercedes Junior Programme, Michael had raced in Group C sports cars and competed in a few DTM races. Ross Brawn, then our opponent at Jaguar, quickly realised Michael’s talent and they went on to win all seven of his Drivers’ World Championship titles together at Benetton and Ferrari. Our sporting ambition has always been that Michael should drive again where his professional career had started and Michael knew that. We often joked about it after the races and discussed the prospect seriously several times during the last 14 years in Formula 1. It didn’t happen in 1995, it didn’t happen in 1998 and it didn’t happen in 2005. I am delighted that it will now happen in 2010. I am very much looking forward to working with Michael and everybody at Mercedes-Benz and Daimler extends a very warm welcome to our ‘apprentice’ of 19 years ago. That apprentice is now the most successful racing driver of all time.”

Post from: Brawn GP News

Michael Schumacher Signs for Mercedes GP

Today the FIA met with the newly formed F1 commission (the F1 Commission is made up of key championship stakeholders from F1 teams, promoters, suppliers and sponsors.) to discuss changes to Formula One with the new season containing 13 teams.

The biggest change which will be put to the FIA World Motorsport Council tomorrow is to award points to the top 10 positions with 25 points available to the winning driver.

The new points system proposed would be

1st -25
2nd – 20
3rd – 15
4th – 10
5th -8
6th – 6
7th – 5
8th – 3
9th – 2
10th – 1

Is this a good thing or bad?  Leave a comment!

Full Text of FIA Statement 10/12/09

The FIA today hosted the first meeting of the F1 Commission in its new structure since the signing of the 2009 Concorde Agreement. Chaired by Commission President Bernie Ecclestone and with FIA President Jean Todt in attendance, the F1 Commission is made up of key championship stakeholders from F1 teams, promoters, suppliers and sponsors.

The F1 Commission agreed that the Brawn team will be allowed to change its chassis name from Brawn to Mercedes. The team will continue to receive payments based on its historical performance. This has been granted on a one-off exceptional basis due to Mercedes-Benz’s long-term involvement and commitment to Formula One.

The F1 Commission also proposed a number of amendments to the sporting and technical regulations, which will be put to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for final approval tomorrow morning. They include:

The next meeting of the Formula One Commission will be held on 10 March in Bahrain.

Post from: Brawn GP News

Changes to the F1 points system

From the 2010 season, German driver Nico Rosberg will drive for the new Mercedes team in the Formula 1 World Championship, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport announced today.

Three years after his father Keke had won the Formula 1 World Championship, Nico Rosberg, 24, was born in Wiesbaden, Germany on 27 June 1985, inheriting his racing DNA from his father.

At the age of eight, Nico Rosberg began racing karts. From 1997 until 2000, he raced for the MBM team (the talent support programme of Mercedes-Benz McLaren); with this team, the two Formula 1 partners encouraged young talents. Nico’s team-mate at that time was Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes driver since 2007 and 2008 Formula 1 World Champion. In 2000, Nico was runner-up in the Formula A European Championship. Two years later, he entered his first car races in Formula BMW ADAC and clinched the title in his debut year with nine victories out of 18 races. A Williams Formula 1 test drive was the reward for the championship win – at the age of 17, Nico was the youngest driver ever to get such an opportunity.

In 2003 and 2004, Nico Rosberg participated in the then new Formula 3 Euro Series; in his first year he came home second in the rookie rankings and in 2004 he finished fourth overall. One year later in 2005, he moved up to the GP2 series which is staged alongside Formula 1 events and won the title.

The 2006 season opener at Bahrain on 12 March was Nico’s first Formula 1 race; he finished seventh and posted the fastest lap. To date, he has taken part in 70 Grands Prix, all for the Williams team; scoring a total of 75.5 points and achieving second place at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix as his best Formula 1 result. The 2009 season was Nico’s best in Formula 1 so far; finishing seventh overall with 34.5 points.

Nico Rosberg grew up in Germany, Monaco and at Ibiza; in addition to his mother tongue he is fluent in English, Italian and French.

Nico Rosberg: “I am really happy to be a part of the Silver Arrows re-launch in 2010 as a driver for Mercedes. No other brand in Formula 1 can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing. I am very proud that I will now drive for the new Mercedes team and work with Ross Brawn. I am more motivated than ever and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season at Bahrain on 14 March 2010.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: “We are delighted to welcome Nico Rosberg to our Mercedes team and are very much looking forward to working with him. Nico is a great talent, and with four years of experience in Formula 1, is a driver who will be able to make a valuable contribution to our team right from the outset. I had the pleasure of working with his father Keke during his Formula One career and it is great to see Nico following in his footsteps. 2009 was Nico’s best season in Formula 1 to date and we look forward to seeing his development continue with us at Mercedes next year.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “I saw Nico
racing karts alongside Lewis Hamilton and later in the support programme of the DTM events – I have known him since he was a young boy. Early on it was obvious that he would make his way as a race driver and we are glad that after four years with Williams he will now be one of our drivers at Mercedes. It makes our re-start even nicer, that we have as talented and sympathetic a driver as Nico in our line-up. Nico has positive ambitions, we have positive ambitions and together we want to achieve a great deal. I am really looking forward to working with him.”

Post from: Brawn GP News

Nico Rosberg signs for Mercedes GP

Mercedes-Benz will enter the Formula 1 World Championship with its own team, beginning with the 2010 season, and Daimler AG and McLaren Group will change their form of cooperation with effect as of 13 November 2009. This was announced by Daimler AG today.

Daimler AG together with Aabar Investments PJSC will take over 75.1 per cent of the Brawn GP team, with Daimler taking 45.1 per cent and Aabar 30 per cent. The rest of the 24.9 per cent will remain with the current stakeholders. With 9.1 per cent, Aabar is the biggest single shareholder of Daimler AG. This transaction is subject to the approval of the EU and the Swiss cartel authorities.

The background to this decision are the new terms and conditions for Formula 1. The “Resource Restrictions” set by FOTA and FIA effectively limit expenditure for the design, construction and running of the racing cars. In addition, there will be a significantly higher income available for a Formula 1 team generated by the commercial rights of the racing series following the signing of the new Concorde Agreement.

The partnership between McLaren Mercedes has been in place since 1995 and endedits 15th joint Formula 1 season in 2009. The change to the form of cooperation is taking place by mutual agreement. Mercedes-Benz and McLaren will continue to co-operate with each other and the supply of engines could continue until 2015.

The McLaren Group have set themselves new targets, especially in the automotive sector, and Daimler understands and respects these new strategic objectives. For this reason, it has been agreed that the buy-back by the McLaren Group of the 40 per cent McLaren share owned by Daimler AG will be completed by 2011.

By taking this decision, Mercedes-Benz resumes its marvellous motor racing history on the 75th anniversary of the Silver Arrows, the world’s most unique racing cars. Mercedes wants to continue the tradition in the style of these flawless Silver Arrows, which put their stamp on each era by winning the majority of the races they competed in.

“Mercedes-Benz is the most valued and best-known premium automotive brand in the world. This brand looks for competition of the utmost quality in all relevant fields in order to continually improve its performance in the face of such new challenges”, explains Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

“Due to the new Formula 1 environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team.

“Our new Silver Arrow Formula 1 team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm.”

Mercedes-Benz will restructure their Formula 1 programme and work hard to achieve further savings, going beyond the already completed steps for significant cost reductions and improved efficiency.

Since 1995, the beginning of the partnership, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have competed in 256 Grand Prix events and have achieved 60 victories. In 1998, 1999 and 2008, the British-German team won the drivers’ World Championships, as well as the World Constructors’ Championship in 1998. The McLaren Mercedes team became runner-up in the World Championships ten times, with five times in the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings respectively.

After winning the drivers’ title with Lewis Hamilton last year, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes finished third in the World Constructors’ Championships this year. The 2008 World Champion won two races with his current car, the MP4-24, achieving a first historic victory with the brake energy-recovery system, KERS Hybrid. No other driver scored more points in the last eight races from the season’s total of 17 races than Lewis Hamilton.

“I want to thank McLaren for a successful collaboration over the last decade and a half”, says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. “For the benefit of both Mercedes and McLaren, we will continue our partnership cooperation in future. We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will cooperate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide.”

“We look back on 15 successful years of great collaboration with McLaren; in that time, we won four world-championship titles and finished ten times as runner-up in the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings,” states Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “Since the first victory in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, the modern Silver Arrows have achieved a total of 60 victories in 223 races to ensure that our brand symbol, the star, stands for the greatest successes in Formula 1. We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership.”

Mercedes Grand Prix, the management team of the former Brawn GP team, will continue to work under the leadership of Ross Brawn, who will continue in his well-known role. The Formula 1 team, as well as the engine team of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, will be co-ordinated by Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, headed by their Vice-President, Norbert Haug.

“Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months. From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabars offer to buy our team, which will secure its future”, Team Principal Ross Brawn looks back on a difficult beginning of the year which eventually turned into an extremely successful season.

“Both I and my fellow Directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances. The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula One next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team.”

The new Silver Arrow team, Mercedes Grand Prix, will compete in Formula 1 as a works team in its own right. Synergies between the 100 per cent Daimler-owned subsidiary Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth, UK, and the Mercedes Grand Prix team based about 28 miles from there in Brackley in the UK, will create even greater efficiency.

It is our target to develop a model for our Formula 1 activities which will initially be run with significantly reduced budgets by Mercedes-Benz and which, in the foreseeable future, will be self-financing”, comments Norbert Haug. “Furthermore, we naturally want to inspire our faithful spectators and TV viewers worldwide and maximize media coverage for our brand. With Formula 1, Mercedes-Benz can continue to clearly demonstrate its willingness to compete and win on the most important motor sports competition stage in the world.”

Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman, Aabar Investment PJSC comments: “Aabar is delighted to join forces with Daimler AG and its world leading brand Mercedes-Benz in order to create a new Formula One Team which follows in the footsteps of the longstanding and successful tradition of the famous ‘Silver Arrows’.

“Ever since Aabar became the largest shareholder in Daimler AG, the cooperation between our two organisations has been exemplary, and we have already co-invested in Tesla. Aabar is confident that further successes will follow in this arena.

“Bearing in mind the recent outstanding success of the Abu Dhabi GP, which brought Formula One to the United Arab Emirates for the first time, it is especially exciting to realise that next year, our own cars will be in the field, with the genius of Ross Brawn, who is still deeply involved with the team, now backed by the unrivalled excellence of Mercedes-Benz across the entire spectrum of automotive technology. It is a fantastic prospect, which makes me both pleased and proud for my country.”

Post from: Brawn GP News

Mercedes Grand Prix Press Release

Toyota today announced that they would be withdrawing from Formula One effective immediately due to the “severe economic realities”.

In a statement today Toyota said

Tokyo—TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) at the end of the 2009 season.

Drawing on its experience in F1 and other motor sports, TMC intends to move forward in developing exciting production vehicles, such as the Lexus “LFA” supercar and
compact rear-wheel-drive sports cars. In motor sports, it will not only race in various categories, but will also actively contribute to further development of motor sports by
supporting grassroots races and planning events in which it is easy for people to participate.

The FIA (Federation International Motorsport) have responded quickly to this statement demanding immediate clarification.  Just weeks ago Toyota along with the other F1 teams signed an updated Concorde agreement committing themselves to the future of Formula one.

The FIA stated

The announcements this week by Toyota and Bridgestone of their withdrawal from Formula One are of concern to the FIA.

The FIA will now work to ensure that Toyota’s departure is managed in the best interests of the championship and will continue to encourage the F1 teams to undertake the necessary cost-cutting measures for the good of the sport.
Toyota is the second 2009 Formula One team that will not take to the grid in 2010, BMW having previously announced their intention to quit earlier in the season.  In other poorly timed news Renault are also considering quitting Formula One.  Renault today held an emergency meeting to address the issue of their future in Formula One, it is reported that Bob Bell the Renualt F1 Team manager attended but was not able to take part in the debate of the team’s future, there has been no announcement from Renualt at the current time.

Post from: Brawn GP News

Toyota to leave F1, Renault to follow?

Williams F1 today announced their 2010 driver line up.  They have changed both drivers this season and will have the experienced Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg who comes from GP2.  This will be a shock to many Brawn GP fans as it was widely expected that Brawn GP would retain both their drivers this season.

William’s Press release reads

The AT&T Williams team today confirmed that its drivers for 2010 will be Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg.

Frank Williams, Team Principal, said, “Rubens needs no introduction. He is not only the most experienced driver in Formula One, but a passionate and talented driver who fought hard for the Drivers’ Championship this year.  Nico Hulkenberg won the GP2 Championship this season as a rookie and has previously won the F3 Euroseries, Formula Masters, A1 GP and Formula BMW Germany.”

He continued, “Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima remain our drivers until the end of 2009 and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contribution to the team. Nico and Kazuki have represented AT&T Williams and our partners with dedication, discipline and skill and we wish them every success with their future endeavours.”

Ross Brawn thanked Rubens Barrichello for his 4 years with Honda and Braswn GP.

Ross Brawn, Team Principal, Brawn GP

“We are very pleased for Rubens that he will be driving in Formula One once again next year. Rubens was with our team for four years and we regard him as a highly experienced and talented driver whose contribution to the team over that period was significant.

“2009 was a very special season for Brawn GP and I am extremely proud of the spirit in which our drivers Rubens and Jenson fought for the Drivers Championship. Rubens contributed hugely to our success in the Constructors Championship with two great victories in Valencia and Monza along with numerous podiums and he was a pleasure to work with.

“We wish Rubens the very best with his new team and thank him for his contribution to Brawn GP this year.”

At this time Brawn GP have not announced their driver line up for 2010, it is widely expected that Jenson Button will stay with the team if they can come to an agreement on wages.  The most likely contender for the second seat is current F1 driver Nico Rosberg.

Post from: Brawn GP News

Rubens Barrichello to Leave Brawn GP

Although Rubens Barrichello qualified in 5th place for tomorrows Singapore Grand Prix, he will start in 10th place.  This is because the gearbox was replaced on his car which incurs a 5 place grid penalty.

Since 2008 the Formula One rules and regulations stipulate that gearboxes must each last 4 races.  Rubens’ gearbox survived Monza but after the practice sessions and testing Brawn GP believed the risk of it failing was too great and replaced it.

Despite this Rubens Barrichello will still start the race one place ahead of Jenson Button, who he trails in the 2009 Drivers World Championship.

Post from: Brawn GP News

Rubens Barrichello receives 5 place grid penalty

The FIA have released the confirmed 2010 Formula One calender as below.

March 14th – Bahrain Grand Prix
March 28th – Australian Grand Prix
April 4th – Malaysian Grand Prix
April 18th – Chinese Grand Prix
May 9th – Spanish Grand Prix
May 23rd – Monaco Grand Prix
May 30th – Turkish Grand Prix
June 13th – Canadian Grand Prix (contract pending)
June 27th – European Grand Prix (Valencia)
July 11th – British Grand Prix
July 25th – German Grand Prix
August 1st – Hungarian Grand Prix
August 29th – Belgian Grand Prix
September 12th – Italian Grand Prix
September 26th – Singapore Grand Prix
October 3rd – Japanese Grand Prix
October 17th – Korean Grand Prix
October 31st – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
November 14th – Brazilian Grand Prix

Currently the Canadian Grand Prix is listed as pending, if contractual issues are not resolved the Turkish Grand Prix will move to June 6th.  A new addition to the Formula One calender is Korea.  South Korea will hold its first Grand Prix at Jeonnam, on a Hermann Tilke designed track.

Show: 0 new items – all items Show: Items with comments – all shared items Mark all as read Refresh View settings… Switch to “Comment view” » « Back to “Friends’ shared items” Translated by Google – View Original You have subscribed to “Your starred items.” Last 30 days Time of day Day of the week Items posted Items read Items posted Items read Items posted Items read 5:44 AM (seconds ago) FIA hands individual punishments to Briatore and Symonds from Formula1.com – Latest News In addition to handing Renault a suspended two-year ban after finding the team guilty of conspiring to cause a premeditated crash during last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has meted out individual punishments to former team principal, Flavio Briatore, and former engineering director, Pat Symonds. Briatore has been given an indefinite ban from FIA-backed motorsport, with the governing body deciding that for an ‘unlimited period’ it will not sanction… Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 5:44 AM (seconds ago) FIA puts conditions on engine equalisation from Formula1.com – Latest News Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, says it is happy for the teams to agree steps to eliminate performance differences between their engines, as long as it is achieved by lowering the output of the more powerful engines. Engine development is effectively frozen under current F1 regulations, but there are fears that some engine makers have still been able to gradually increase power by clever use of the changes which are permitted in order to aid reliability. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 5:44 AM (seconds ago) Korea and Canada on FIA’s 2010 calendar from Formula1.com – Latest News Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has released the calendar for the 2010 world championship. The addition of the Korean Grand Prix, and a return to Canada (subject to race contract), will make for a 19-round season – two more than in 2009. The Bahrain Grand Prix will kick off proceedings on March 14, followed by the Australian race two weeks later. The Malaysian and Chinese races will take place in April, with the Sepang event getting underway an hour earlier than this year, with a revised start time of 1600 hours local time… Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:14 PM (9 hours ago) ING Renault F1 Team Statement – 21 September 2009 from ING Renault F1 Team Breaking news Original enclosure (50_logo_rf1_tcm3-85704.jpg) Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:14 PM (9 hours ago) Renault gets two-year suspended ban from itv.com/f1 News and Features Renault handed suspended F1 ban after admitting race-fixing charges, with Flavio Briatore barred for life. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:14 PM (9 hours ago) WMSC race-fix verdict from itv.com/f1 News and Features FIA statement explaining the World Motor Sport Council’s decision in the Renault race-fixing case. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:13 PM (9 hours ago) Engines – who has how many left? from Formula1.com – Latest News Each driver may use eight engines this season. Any more and they get a ten-place grid penalty per additional engine. With just four races remaining, most drivers are nearing the end of their allocation, so reliability will play an increasingly important role as the ’09 campaign approaches its finale. Drive a Renault, or have a Ferrari V8 behind you, and things are looking pretty rosy. Less so if your name is Vettel. The list of how many new engines each driver has used thus far makes interesting reading… Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:13 PM (9 hours ago) Two-year suspended ban for Renault over Singapore conspiracy from Formula1.com – Latest News 1 person liked this Renault have been disqualified from the FIA Formula One World Championship, with the ban suspended for two years, after the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) found them guilty on Monday of conspiring to cause a deliberate crash in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Investigations found that team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds, both of whom have now left the team, planned the crash with driver Nelson Piquet in order to benefit the race strategy of Fernando Alonso… Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:13 PM (9 hours ago) Renault apologises to F1 for scandal from itv.com/f1 News and Features Renault F1 president issues unreserved apology but does not confirm the squad’s future. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:13 PM (9 hours ago) Contrite Piquet hopes to return to F1 from itv.com/f1 News and Features Nelson Piquet says he will always regret agreeing to crash but is determined to rebuild his F1 career. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:12 PM (9 hours ago) Renault escape ban for crash (Poll) from F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog by Keith Collantine Renault ony received a suspended sentence for causing a crash in Singapore The FIA used strong words to describe how Renault conspired to cause a deliberate crash to win the Singapore Grand Prix. It said: The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship. But it has not banned Renault from a single race nor stripped them of its position in the 2008 championship, nor fined them. Instead the team has received a “suspended punishment” which will last until the end of 2011. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll. Presumably this lenient punishment was designed in the hope that Renault will remain in F1 until 2011, instead of leaving in disgrace as many feared it would. The FIA claimed it reduced the punishment because Renault had conducted its own internal investigation into the crash and taken reasonable steps. The individual culprits, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds, have in effect been barred from competing in FIA-sanctioned events – Briatore for an unlimited period, Symonds for five years. As the FIA cannot punish them directly, as the pair are no longer represented by licence holders, the regulatory body has achieved this by vowing not to sanction events in which the two compete for the respective periods. The FIA specifically stated that no-one beyond Briatore, Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jnr were involved: As regards Fernando Alonso, the World Motor Sport Council thanks him for cooperating with the FIA’s enquiries and for attending the meeting, and concludes that Mr. Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1’s breach of the regulations. The full verdict is here and the FIA will shortly publish further details. What do you make of Renault’s punishment, or lack of it? Renault Singapore crash controversy Renault face Singapore hearing today Singapore Grand Prix organiser says: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” No punishment for Briatore or Symonds? Did more foul play by Renault scupper Schumacher in the 2006 title decider? Fernando Alonso should renounce his Singapore Grand Prix ‘win’ Briatore and Symonds step down as Renault accepts Singapore crash charge Piquet-Renault scandal: more new evidence and complaints about leaks Statement by Nelson Piquet Jnr on his Singapore crash leaked online Did Piquet crash on purpose? (Poll) Renault face Singapore crash hearing Nelson Piquet Jnr and Fernando Alonso in renault Singapore claim Piquet’s scathing attack on Briatore Nelson Piquet Jnr dropped by Renault Alonso and the Piquet-Renault fall-out 2008 Singapore Grand Prix analysis Fernando Alonso’s bad luck turns good for win (2008 Singapore Grand Prix) Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:12 PM (9 hours ago) Canada, Korea in 19-race 2010 season from itv.com/f1 News and Features The 2010 season will stretch to a record-equalling 19 races after FIA includes South Korea and, provisionally, Canada. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:12 PM (9 hours ago) South Korea to make 2010 F1 debut from BBC Sport | Motorsport | Formula 1 | UK Edition South Korea is the latest new track to make a Formula 1 debut, on a 19-race calendar in 2010. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 8:11 PM (9 hours ago) 2010 F1 calendar has 19 races, starts in Bahrain and ends in Brazil from F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog by Keith Collantine Interlagos will host the 2010 F1 season finale The 2010 F1 calendar revealed by the FIA today has 19 rounds. That equals the record for the most races in a season, set in 2005. The championship will start in Bahrain, as it did in 2006. The season finale will return to Interlagos in Brazil, which held the final round of the championship last year. South Korea’s first F1 Grand Prix has been confirmed, and following this year’s debacle the start time for the Malaysian Grand Prix has moved forward. Here is the official 2010 F1 calendar in full: 2010 F1 calendar March 12-14th – Bahrain Grand Prix March 26-28th – Australian Grand Prix April 2nd-4th – Malaysian Grand Prix April 16-18th – Chinese Grand Prix May 7-9th – Spanish Grand Prix May 20-23rd – Monaco Grand Prix May 28-30th – Turkish Grand Prix June 11-13th – Canadian Grand Prix (contract pending) June 25-27th – European Grand Prix (Valencia) July 9-11th – British Grand Prix July 23-25th – German Grand Prix July 30th – August 1st – Hungarian Grand Prix August 27-29th – Belgian Grand Prix September 10-12th – Italian Grand Prix September 24-26th – Singapore Grand Prix October 1-3rd – Japanese Grand Prix October 15-17th – Korean Grand Prix October 29-31st – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix November 12-14th – Brazilian Grand Prix The 2010 F1 schedule looks promising so far – however we have to remember that following the first announcement of this year’s calendar two races were subsequently lost – the French and Canadian rounds. It’s a great shame there is still no French round on the calendar, but as mentioned a few weeks ago it’s great to see Canada make a return. Although the FIA hasn’t confirmed any venues (except to say that the European Grand Prix will remain at Valencia, albeit two months earlier), most of the events will remain at their present venues. Thankfully any notion of Spa-Francorchamps having to share its slot with the Nürburgring appears to have receded for the time being. The Hockenheimring has said it will not host an F1 race next year, so presumably the German round of the championship will be at the Nürburgring once more. Donington Park is racing to get ready to host the British Grand Prix. If it can’t, hopefully Silverstone will be able to. Although Bernie Ecclestone insisted he wouldn’t move the Malaysian Grand Prix start time forward, after this year’s new late start meant the race couldn’t be finished, he has apparently relented and moved it forward by an hour to 4pm. The only new round on the 2010 calendar is the South Korean Grand Prix at Jeonnam. You can have a look at the Hermann Tilke-designed track here (but to be honest if you’re familiar with his work you can probably guess how it goes: hairpin, straight, hairpin, token squiggly bit, etc…) This calendar is definitely arranged better than recent efforts, with few big gaps between races except for the new customary August break. And it’s great to see F1 calendar size on the increase next year. India is supposed to join the roster the year after, so if France and the USA can make a return to I hope we have 22 races in 2011. 2010 F1 calendar 2010 F1 calendar Should F1 have ‘twilight’ races? (Poll) Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:56 PM (9 hours ago) Sale and student offer from Dorothy Perkins from Affiliate Window | Offers by awin Hi, Dorothy Perkin’s 20% off VIP event is now over. But don’t despair, there are still plenty of great offers still running on site with up to 50% off their new season sale: http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=1134&awinaffid=!!!id!!!&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dorothyperkins.com%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FCategoryDisplay%3FbeginIndex%3D0%26catalogId%3D20552%26storeId%3D12552%26categoryId%3D165602%26parent_category_rn%3D%26langId%3D-1%26top%3DY%26intcmpid%3DHP1_WK3_NEWSEASONSALE As well as this, they are currently offering all students 15% off on site. This will be running until Sunday 11th October. Banner creative is now available through your Affiliate Window account for this: To qualify automatically for the discount, students simply have to fill in the form found here: http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=1134&awinaffid=!!!id!!!&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dorothyperkins.com%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FCategoryDisplay%3FbeginIndex%3D0%26catalogId%3D20552%26storeId%3D12552%26categoryId%3D160433%26parent_category_rn%3D122473%26langId%3D-1%26top%3DY%26intcmpid%3DOFFERS_TEXT_STUDENTS Thanks The Dorothy Perkins team dorothyperkins@affiliatewindow.com Add starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:56 PM (9 hours ago) Freemans, Kaleidoscope and Oli.co.uk are launching on Affiliate Window! from Affiliate Window | Offers by katie.grey Freemans, Kaleidoscope and Oli.co.uk are launching on Affiliate Window: Receive a £20 voucher just for your feedback! Dear all, We will shortly be launching three programmes from FGH (Freemans Grattan Holdings); Oli.co.uk and exclusively Freemans and Kaleidoscope. Each programme will now be paying commission on all validated transactions, new or existing customers and validating daily. We’re asking for your feedback on how each of these programmes has previously been run. Was something you particularly liked, if so let us know so we don’t go changing it! Perhaps there’s something that really put you off promoting, if so don’t be shy, let us know and hopefully we can look at changing this. Even if you didn’t promote but have something to say you can fill in the questionnaire. It’s one questionnaire for all three programmes, but if not all the sections are relevant to you just fill in the parts that are! You’ll find the questionnaire here Plus there’s a £20 voucher for the top 5 responses! The team can also join you up to each of the accounts prior to launch so that your links are active the moment each programme goes live. Please just email the relevant address below, or alternatively contact Anjulie Truong, the Freemans, Kaleidoscope and oli.co.uk account manager. Best wishes, Freemans, Kaleidoscope and oli.co.uk freemans@affiliatewindow.com kaleidoscope@affiliatewindow.com oli@affiliatewindow.com Anjulie Truong Email: Anjulie.truong@affiliatewindow.com Phone: 020 7553 0420 MSN: anjulietttruong@hotmail.com Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:55 PM (9 hours ago) FIA will allow engine equalisation from itv.com/f1 News and Features FIA agrees to second wave of engine ‘catch-ups’, but only by reducing power of best V8s. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:55 PM (9 hours ago) Piquet Jr ‘sorry’ for race-fixing from BBC Sport | Motorsport | Formula 1 | UK Edition Former Renault driver Nelson Pique Jr apologises for his role in the Formula 1 race-fixing scandal. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:55 PM (9 hours ago) How To Win At The Content Network – Think Vis Write Up from Blogstorm SEO blog by Zoe Piper Following on from my presentation at Think Visibility a couple of weeks ago, I thought I’d do a write-up of my slides because lets face it, the content network doesn’t get enough love. If you came to see me on the day (hello!) this might be a bit of a recap – I did miss a couple of things out of my talk however that I’ll include below. First, here are my lovely slides, designed by The Floating Frog. Who I Am And What I Do My first couple of slides are about who I am and what I do. I’m a big believer in having a brand identity and using it wherever possible, which is why my slides all mirror the strong design of my personal website, Piggynap.com. It’s also important for everyone to know that I work at Branded3 – at Branded3 I get to do awesome stuff like talk at conferences, write on Blogstorm and work on some really cool clients. My work work, and personal projects cover SEO, Adwords, Blogging, Linkbuilding and Blogger Relations. I don’t think these should be split up into different jobs – I think by doing several, you get a really good overview of a client and there’s always crossover. In this write-up we’ll see how Adwords can actually help your SEO and linkbuilding strategy. What Is The Content Network? Skipping to the main bit of my presentation (round about Slide 9), we can see what the content network actually is. In short, the content network is any website that shows Google ads. So, if you’re logged into Googlemail and you see some text ads, you know you’re on the content network. If you’re on a blog showing text ads, you’re on the content network. If you have a blog opted into adsense, you’re part of the content network. It’s a bit crazy the sort of sites that actually show Google ads. The Telegraph do for example, so they’re part of the content network. I bet you wouldn’t normally associate The Telegraph with adsense but there you go. The final category I wanted to point out is parked domains. This won’t come as a surprise to anyone – how many times have you stumbled across a parked domain full of text ads? It’s pretty annoying, but what is surprising is that (in my personal experience), parked domains actually convert quite well. I always assumed people click onto a parked domain and click straight off again, but my adventures in the content network suggest a good number click through adverts and buy stuff instead. Why could this be? Well, a lot of parked domains are exact-match, or themed to a particular niche. Frustratingly for SEOs they also often rank. If your ad is well-matched to a particular domain and the traffic converts, should you be worried it’s a parked domain? I don’t think so. Why Should You Use The Content Network? The content network always used to be crap. When I first started using Adwords two years ago the bidding and reporting was awful. I used to spend loads of money with no return whatsoever and abandon campaigns in disgust. Not any more! Google have changed and improved the content network management tools almost beyond recognition. Managing a content network campaign is now really similar to managing a search network campaign – it’s not scary any more. You can use CPC bidding, you can track your conversions, you can see where your ads have shown, you’ll find less competition than on the search network, and you’ll find it cheaper than the search network. These are just some of the reasons you should be using the content network. Campaign Structure Creating your content network campaigns is a little different to the search network, but once you’ve got it right the rest will fall into place. Basically, you want 2 main campaigns and 1 optional campaign: 1) Auto Campaign In your first campaign, use Automatic Placements. This lets Google decide where to show your ads, so you have the whole content network at your disposal and let Google do all the hard work. Keyword Theming Google decides where to show your ad based on keywords you choose. Just like you add keywords to a search campaign ad group, you add keywords to a content network campaign ad group. Instead of the keywords triggering your ad however, they help Google decide what sort of website to show your ad on. You need to choose your keywords based on ‘theme’. Use a small group (5-6) keywords, and make sure they’re similar, e.g. ‘cat clothes’ ‘cat clothing’ ‘clothing for cats’ ‘clothes for my cat’ ‘buy clothes for my cat’ Google will look for pages in its network that match this theme, and show your ad on them. Reporting Once your campaign has been running for a week or so, you can start using your reporting tools. All you need for this is the ‘networks’ tab – all your reports are in here. If you choose ’see URL list’ you can see the exact URL your advert was shown on. Here you need to exclude domains or URLs that don’t convert. You also need to make a note of domains and URLs that convert really well, as this brings us to our second campaign…. 2) Top Converting Sites Create a new campaign, but this time select Managed Placements instead of Automatic Placements. Take all your top-converting domains and URLs, and create a new ad group for each one. You already know these sites perform well, so you can invest a bit more budget and effort in them. You might want to write an advert just for that website, or even create a special landing page for traffic from that domain. Be Sneaky What’s even better, if you know that traffic from a website converts, why not contact that website direct? You could set up some new advertising, submit some editorial content or get some other form of sweet deal. Use your SEO imagination! 3) Managed Placements I’m not a fan of this third campaign, but for the sake of completeness we have to include it just to use the Placement Tool. Google pushes it when you’re setting up a campaign and it actually has potential to be useful. Just like Campaign 2, you want to select Managed Placements when you create this Campaign 3, but this time instead of typing in URLs that you know convert, you can try Google’s shiny Placement Tool. The Placement Tool is meant to suggest websites on which to show your ads. You can either browse categories, type in keywords that describe your offering, or type in a URL you think is relevant to your campaign. Google gives you back a list of websites you can advertise on. People tend to use the Placement Tool if they want to keep total control over their campaign. Maybe they already know where they want to advertise – they’ve seen competitor’s ads on a certain website and want to match them. Maybe they just don’t want Google showing their ads willy nilly. In my opinion however, the Placement Tool isn’t that great. Why Is The Placement Tool Crap? For one thing, Google gives you no estimate as to the traffic and cost you can expect. All it tells you is the number of impressions your ad may get (with such vague figures as 0 – 10k/day). What bugs me is we don’t even have to bid by CPM (cost per thousand impressions) any more, we can do CPC bidding, so these figures are completely irrelevant. I think Google does have better data about the websites it suggests. I just think it doesn’t share it yet Secondly, Google suggests these same placements to lots of people. I’m speaking from personal experience again, but I always find that Placement Tool sites are more expensive and you need a larger budget just to get your ads to show. This isn’t a good thing. Test, Test, Test Just like for Campaign 1, you need to use the reporting tools to test sites, test budgets and refine both. If a website isn’t converting don’t be afraid to get rid of it and look for something new. If you do find a really good website, move it over to your Top Converting campaign, or contact the owner directly to set up a different deal. Notes When it comes to the content network, you don’t really need to worry about the sort of websites your advert shows on. Whether it’s a parked domain, a blog or one of Google’s own properties, what matters is the traffic it sends. Use conversion tracking, and use the reporting tools regularly – for me the content network is all about numbers. If you find a site that converts well, or converts cheaply, invest more in it. If you find a site that wastes money, get rid of it. From an SEO point of view, the content network is a goldmine of partnership opportunities. When negotiating an advertising deal or even buying a domain, have you ever had so much info at your fingertips? In fact, if you’re thinking about advertising on a certain website, why not use the content network to test it cheaply first? Like I said, use your imagination Not getting the rankings you want? Hire us for Search engine optimisation How To Win At The Content Network – Think Vis Write Up Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags 7:54 PM (9 hours ago) Mosley denies Renault let off lightly from itv.com/f1 News and Features Max Mosley insists WMSC right to reserve harshest punishment for Briatore and Symonds. Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags Sep 21, 2009 (16 hours ago) Adrian : A lap of Singapore from Force India Formula One Team Feed Corner one is actually a complex together with two and three so it’s very important to get it right. Don’t go too far onto the kerbs on the exit as you get some understeer and can’t go back on the power. The complex carries into turn three so you need to be nice and controlled through the corner and have a good line. It’s a classic normal bend but it’s easy to lock up there with quite high kerbs on the inside… Remove starLikeShareShare with noteEmailKeep unreadAdd tags No more items in Offline mode.Go online to check for new items. No more items. Previous item Next item 30 items

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2010 Calender Confirmed