Group Lotus have announced today the acquisition of a major stake in the Renault F1 team. So, in 2011, the Renault F1 team will be known as the Lotus Renault F1 GP team.

This is absolutely nothing to do with the Current Lotus F1 team run by the multi-millionaire Air Asia boss.  That’s the team which made it’s debut in the 2010 season…

There was a whole bunch of talk about how the ‘current’ Lotus team had in fact acquired the Lotus Grand Prix ‘name’ – I assume that’s all dead in the water now?

2011 Lotus Renault F1 Car

The Lotus Renault car will look like the old JPS Lotus from the ‘good old days’ so from that perspective this is really exciting – I love seeing those old branded cars out there.

Lotus today – in road cars, is owned by Proton, the Malaysian car company.  They see this as a way to bring F1 technology (KERS etc) into their cars – Great – but how confusing!

And also – Are Renault the CAR company at all related to PROTON?  If not, this would be like having the BMW Mercedes F1 team!

I’m confused!

Wow, this is confusing – I shall be following James Allen’s blog to keep in touch!

Below is the FULL statement from the team:

Group Lotus plc and Genii Capital are pleased to announce a partnership which will see the Renault F1 Team renamed as ‘Lotus Renault GP’ from the start of the 2011 racing season onwards. The association heralds the return of a highly successful Formula 1™ association between Lotus and Renault from the 1980s. Lotus’ racing pedigree and heritage coupled with Renault’s technology in Formula 1™ will set the united team on a path to future success.

Group Lotus plc will acquire a major equity stake in the team from Genii Capital. The transaction represents a partnership between Group Lotus and Genii Capital and signifies the beginning of a more comprehensive strategic alliance between the two organisations.

The partnership between Lotus and Genii brings the ability to quickly incorporate new technologies from F1™ cars into Lotus road cars including hybrid technology, Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), aero advancements and lightweight materials. Genii, an investment holding company with a portfolio of automotive technologies, bring non-F1™ technologies such as lightweight braking systems, variable compression engine technology and on board software systems to the partnership.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: “I can think of no better platform for automotive brand communications than motorsport and F1™. We’re well aware that there has been a lot of controversy around the usage of our brand in F1™ and I’m delighted to be able to formally clarify our position: We are Lotus, and we are back.”

Dato’ Sri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, Chairman of Proton, Lotus majority shareholder, said: “We know that Group Lotus has much to offer Formula 1™ and vice versa. After careful consideration, we believe this arrangement will be fruitful, both from a commercial and marketing point of view.”

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Proton advisor and former Prime Minister of Malaysia, said: “This is an exciting development which delivers strategic benefits to both Group Lotus and Proton. I fully support the partnership.”

Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault, commented: “This multi-partner alliance will bring a new dynamic to the team and enable it to compete with the sport’s best from next season.”

In addition to this, Genii is also offering Proton the ability to leverage on its existing business relationships in Russia and other parts of the world, as a means to expand Proton’s global reach. Through Genii, Proton can also potentially access advanced automotive technologies by virtue of Genii’s association with Mangrove, a venture capital group.

Gerard Lopez, founding partner of Genii Capital, said: “For Group Lotus, access to Formula 1™ opens up new marketing opportunities and a major platform for business exchanges and development. In this regard, Genii Capital possesses shareholdings in, and direct access to, cutting edge companies in the automotive industry. Our tie-up with Group Lotus and Proton, which will enable its future road car ranges to take advantage of significant new technologies, is a natural step.”

The last year and this have been brilliant, great racing, close championship – a real leap forward for the sport.

I’m unashamedly a fan of Mark Webber – it’s the Australian way.  Tonight’s German GP was always going to be a stretch for him, a poor first corner on his flying lap meant he could do no better than 4th on the Grid.

A reluctant embrace from Massa toward Alonso at race end

So, what of the race.  Well, it was destroyed by Ferrari.

The race started with Sebastian Vettel getting bogged down off the line (ie: not getting a great start).  He immediately turned right, pushed Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari toward the wall, and in his haste he let Felipe Massa run fast around the outside and take the lead – he led for some 60 odd laps.  Behind him was his team-mate Alonso.

Throughout, it was clear – Massa didn’t quite have as much pace as Alonso.  Did Alonso pass him, or even look to try? No.

Only once did he even look like it, when Massa had a bad run through backmarkers..

For the Race Engineer of Massa it was a gut-renching radio communication “Alonso is faster than you” – simple as that.  Everyone watching, Every commentator I heard – BBC, ONEHD, Five Live all said it was team orders.  If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a Duck.

Let’s take a look at the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations – A quick search for the word ‘Orders’ shows this:

39) THE RACE

39.1 Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.

There’s your duck people.

What Ferrari did is expressly forbidden by the FIA.

If they do NOT strip them of this race win, it is a slap in the face of the Fans.

Bring on the post race interviews.  Massa will be a Gentleman and say nothing.  Alonso must hold his head in shame.  He couldn’t do it.

Massa made the best start, he deserves the win.

Formula 1 is a shameful sport right now.  Ferrari is the reason.

Would I have preferred to see Massa and Alonso come to blows on the track?  Perhaps – A wheel to wheel race would be great – make them pass.  The evidence of this was Vettel’s stupid attempt to Pass Mark Webber earlier in the year – He was hot headed and cost himself anything.  That’s the risk you take if you don’t get track position.

I’m not happy.  Not Happy at all.

This morning, reading James Allen’s analysis of events (http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/05/so-is-vettel-the-favoured-son-at-red-bull/) I realise there is much more at play here.

Why was Mark not allowed the same fuel mix at that time, the mix which gave Seb such pace?  Why didn’t Mark’s engineer tell him about this (did the engineer even know!)

Why does Red Bull favour Seb?  Long term planning?, he’s young after all.

Whatever you think, that race was taken from Mark last night, and Mark is an easily frustrated guy.  With his contract for next year unsure, expect this to be the reason it won’t be settled any time soon.

Neither Mark nor Red Bull will want to negotiate with this hanging over their heads.  But rest assured, Mark will now be looking at other drives for 2011 with wide open eyes…

Well, as we know by now, its time as a racing venue is over, and it now heads the way of Amaroo up at Annangrove with housing set to take over.

For me, i look at Amaroo and think – Really – Was this necessary?  It’s out in the North West and frankly it seems like all that was lost for around a dozen homes.  If Oran Park is to feel like a better ‘loss’ i’d like to see a complete community built on the site!

Anyway – I was sent some photos this week which will make those memories fade even quicker – Sadly, the one missing is one of the Yokohama Bridge, an Iconic part of Australian Motorsport – I wonder what has happened to it?

Oran Park 'Raceway' - The Main Straight - Almost Ripped up

Oran Park 'Raceway' - the Pit Buildings and Corporate Suites

Oran Park 'Raceway'

Oran Park 'Raceway'

Oran Park 'Raceway' - All the old Tyre Walls

What are your memories of Oran park?

Mine are of the Group A races back in the early 90′s – the Nissan GTR’s i loved:), the Group E production cars were great to watch , A fantastic private test session with the best privateers ever Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby in their Group A commodore before Bathurst in I THINK it was 1986, a cold and wet evening up in the Commentary Tower on the infield with David Tapp and Leigh Diffey – helping out while they called some Super Touring Cars and there was a Truck Racing exhibition that night too – the leaks in that tower were probably never fixed.. Being in the Pits one weekend and admiring the team with Frank Gardner and the B&H BMW’s, and Glenn Seton’s Blue Sierra among others….  Could go on really!

have a look at these YouTube video’s i’ve found:)
Brock and co – 1995 ATCC

1991 ATCC with GTR’s and all (Mike Raymond Commentary on 7):

And here’s one you’ll remember – Paul Morris and Mark Larkham coming together on the Grid with a Huge Fire as a result – Commentary by my old mate Greg Rust and the Late great Barry Sheen:

Tragic photos really… but – it’s over now!

Great to see the Silver Arrow back in F1 as a single entity

Mercedes GP Car 2010

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport History 
The return of the Silver Arrows in the 2010 Formula One World Championship with the new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team begins the latest chapter in the proud 116 year history of motorsport success for Daimler and Mercedes-Benz.
The Silver Arrows were born on 3 June 1934 when Manfred von Brauchitsch won the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring at the wheel of a Mercedes W25. The car’s white paintwork had been sanded down to meet the weight requirements and the car raced in the silver colour of its aluminium body.

On 4 July 1954, the Silver Arrows returned for the first time: Juan Manuel Fangio drove his W196 streamliner to victory in the French Grand Prix at Reims which he won ahead of his team mate Karl Kling. It was the first Formula One race win for Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz has been a force in motor sport since 1894. The first four cars home in the race from Paris to Rouen on 22 July in that year were powered by a 954cc V2 engine designed by Gottlieb Daimler. This victory set the ball rolling and in subsequent decades, the marque won countless races. For the Nice-Salon-Nice race of 1901, Daimler’s cars were entered under the name Mercedes for the first time, named after the daughter of the Daimler importer and racing driver, Emil Jellinek. The event was won by the Mercedes of the German driver Wilhelm Werner. 

Mercedes Grand Prix

 Mercedes Motorsport Highlights

• 1903 Camille Jenatzy drives a Mercedes to victory in the Gordon Bennett race held in Ireland.
• 1908 Christian Lautenschlager wins the French Grand Prix in Dieppe, his Mercedes crossing the finish line ahead of the two Benz Grand Prix cars driven by the Frenchmen Héméry and Hanriot.
• 1914 The top three places in the French Grand Prix are filled by 4.5-litre Mercedes racing cars. The winner is Christian Lautenschlager. Ralph de Palma takes victory in a Mercedes in the Vanderbilt race in the USA.
• 1915 Ralph de Palma wins the Indianapolis 500.
• 1926 Rudolf Caracciola takes Mercedes to a first win in the German Grand Prix on the Avus circuit in Berlin.
• 1927 Caracciola drives a Mercedes S to victory in the Eifelrennen, the first to be held on the Nürburgring.
• 1930 Caracciola is crowned European Champion at the wheel of a Mercedes SSK sports car.
• 1931 Caracciola takes victory in the European Hill-Climb Championships in a Mercedes SSKL.
• 1934 Manfred von Brauchitsch wins the Eifelrennen in a Mercedes-Benz W25 built to comply with the regulations of the new 750kg Grand Prix formula. In order to meet the maximum weight limit, the car’s white paintwork has to be sanded down during the night, exposing its aluminium body. This heralds the birth of the Silver Arrows. Caracciola and Fagioli win the Grand Prix races in Italy and Spain.
• 1935 Mercedes sweeps to victory in seven Grand Prix races. Caracciola is crowned European Champion.
• 1936 Caracciola takes first place in the Grands Prix in Monaco and Tunis.
• 1937 Mercedes wins six Grands Prix: with Hermann Lang (2), Manfred von Brauchitsch (1) and Rudolf Caracciola (3).
• 1938 Mercedes takes four Grands Prix titles. Caracciola once again takes the European title.
• 1939 Mercedes wins five Grands Prix. Hermann Lang is the new European Champion.
• 1953 After the end of the Second World War, Mercedes-Benz resumes its motorsport activities, announcing its return in sports car racing. Hermann Lang and Fritz Rieß drive a 300 SL to victory in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, and Karl Kling wins the Carrera Panamericana Mexico.
• 1954 Mercedes-Benz returns to Formula One with a triumphant 1-2 victory by Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling in the French Grand Prix. The race marks the debut of the W
  196 car powered by a 2.5-litre eight-cylinder in-line engine. Fangio follows up the win with three more first places to clinch the World Championship.
• 1955 Mercedes-Benz wins six Grand Prix races with the W
  196. Stirling Moss takes his first British Grand Prix victory at Aintree; Fangio records five race victories and wins his second World Championship with Mercedes. At the end of
• 1955 Mercedes-Benz ceases its involvement in motorsport.
• 1988 On its return to motor port with the Swiss Sauber team, Mercedes-Benz enters the World Sports Prototype Championship, lining up on the grid with its partner AMG in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).
• 1989 Mercedes-Benz wins the World Sports Prototype Constructors’ Championship and Jean-Louis Schlesser takes the Drivers’ title. The C9 finishes first and second in the 24 Heures du Mans.
• 1990 For the second year in succession, Mercedes-Benz wins the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles in the World Sports Prototype Championship with the Jean-Louis Schlesser/Mauro Baldi driver partnership. Mercedes juniors Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger experience a racing baptism of fire in Group C sports cars.
• 1991 The Schumacher/Wendlinger junior driver team takes victory with the C291 at Autopolis, Japan; Mercedes-Benz announces its withdrawal from the World Sports Prototype Championship and its decision to concentrate instead on the DTM. The Sauber team switches its attentions to Formula One.
• 1992 Klaus Ludwig and the AMG team win the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) with the Mercedes 190 E.
• 1993 Sauber receives the support of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One -“concept by Mercedes- Benz” – and finishes in sixth position in the Constructors’ rankings, after taking fifth position (J. J. Lehto) in the very first race. Late that year, Mercedes-Benz announces its motorsport concept for
• 1994. Following the acquisition of a holding in Ilmor Engineering, the new package now covers the partnership with Sauber in Formula One, with Mercedes-Benz as engine supplier, and with Penske in the IndyCar race series. Mercedes celebrates its 50th win in the DTM and finishes the season as runner-up in the Championship.
• 1994 Al Unser Jr. wins the Indianapolis 500 in a Penske car powered by a Mercedes-Benz pushrod engine. Klaus Ludwig and the AMG team take the DTM title with the Mercedes- Benz C-class. Mercedes drivers win eleven of the series’ 24 races. On 28th October
• 1994 Mercedes-Benz and McLaren announce the signing of the contract covering their long-term partnership in Formula One. The agreement takes effect from 1995.
• 1995 McLaren Mercedes finishes fourth in the Constructors’ Championship in its first year as a Formula One team. Mika Hakkinen takes second place in Italy and Japan. Bernd Schneider drives his AMG C-class car to victory in both the DTM and the International Touring Car Championship (ITC). Al Unser Jr. finishes as runner-up in the IndyCar series.
• 1996 McLaren Mercedes takes fourth position in the Constructors’ rankings. Mika Hakkinen is fifth in the Drivers’ standings with David Coulthard in seventh place. Together they achieve six podium finishes and score points on fifteen occasions. Bernd Schneider is runner-up in the ITC with his AMG C-class, with Mercedes drivers taking six race victories.
• 1997 Team McLaren Mercedes’ David Coulthard wins the Australian and Italian Grands Prix races to take third place in the Drivers’ table. Mika Hakkinen takes the chequered flag first in the European Grand Prix and finishes the season in sixth position.With six wins from eleven races AMG-Mercedes and Bernd Schneider clinch the FIA GT Championship. In the CART series Mercedes-Benz takes the manufacturers’ title after notching up nine wins in 17 races.
• 1998 Mika Hakkinen and Team McLaren Mercedes take both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. Hakkinen wins eight times, with David Coulthard taking one Grand Prix victory, and third place in the rankings. Klaus Ludwig, Ricardo Zonta and AMG Mercedes pick up the drivers’ and team prizes in the FIA GT Championship. AMG Mercedes win a record ten out of ten races. Greg Moore is victorious in two CART races with his Mercedes-Benz powered Reynard.
• 1999 Mika Hakkinen retains his Formula One World Championship crown with five Grands Prix victories. Team McLaren Mercedes finishes as runner-up in the Constructors’ Championship. David Coulthard wins two Grands Prix and finishes the season fourth in the Drivers’ standings.
• 2000 Team McLaren Mercedes are the runners-up in both the Drivers’ Championship, with Mika Hakkinen, and the Constructors’ rankings. Mika Hakkinen wins four Grands Prix and David Coulthard finishes in third position overall, after three individual victories. Bernd Schneider takes the title in the new-format DTM with six wins.
• 2001 Team McLaren Mercedes secures the runner-up positions in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, with David Coulthard finishing second and Mika Hakkinen fifth. Both drivers take two victories. Bernd Schneider takes the second successive title in the new DTM with three wins. With eight wins from ten races Mercedes- Benz is again the most successful manufacturer in the German touring car series. Mika Hakkinen stops racing in Formula One at the end of season.
• 2002 Team McLaren Mercedes finishes the Constructors’ Championship in third place overall. David Coulthard, who wins the Monaco Grand Prix, ends up fifth overall in the Drivers’ Championship whilst his new team mate Kimi Raikkonen comes home sixth. Both drivers, as well as third driver Alexander Wurz, form the Team McLaren Mercedes line-up for 2003. In the DTM, Mercedes-Benz drivers win five out of ten races, among those is series newcomer Jean Alesi. Bernd Schneider takes the runner-up position and Mercedes-AMG/Vodafone win the teams’ title.
• 2003 David Coulthard wins the season’s first race at Melbourne with Kimi Raikkonen clinching his first Grand Prix victory two weeks later at Kuala Lumpur. The Finn finishes the season runner-up; after 16 races he was two points behind champion Michael Schumacher. Team McLaren Mercedes finishes the Constructors’ Championship in third place overall. Bernd Schneider (Vodafone AMG-Mercedes) clinches his fourth DTM title to add to his previous in 1995, 2000 and 2001. Mercedes-Benz drivers win nine out of ten races. In the new Formula 3 Euro Series, seven drivers in three teams race with the Mercedes-Benz engine M271 achieving six victories out of 20 races. Christian Klien in the Mücke team’s Dallara Mercedes comes home runner-up in the championship and wins the prestigious F3 Masters at Zandvoort. He graduates to Formula One for 2004.
• 2004 Kimi Raikkonen wins the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, comes home second at both Silverstone and Säo Paulo and ends up third in the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix. In the Drivers’ World Championship he finishes seventh overall; Team McLaren Mercedes is fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. David Coulthard leaves the team after 150 Formula 1 races with Juan Pablo Montoya becoming Kimi’s new team mate for
• 2005. Gary Paffett (C-Class AMG-Mercedes) wins three DTM Championship rounds as well as the Shanghai invitational. The HWA team rookie ends up runner-up. Dallara Mercedes driver Jamie Green wins the Formula 3 Euro Series title. His team mate Alexandre Prémat scores victories in the prestigious Masters at Zandvoort and the season highlight at Macau.
• 2005 Team McLaren Mercedes wins 10 out of 19 Formula One races they competed in. Kimi Raikkonen wins seven Grands Prix and Juan Pablo Montoya takes three victories. The Finn ends the season as runner-up; the team finishes the Constructors’ Championship also in second place. Gary Paffett clinches the DTM title. The Englishman wins five out of 11 races; Jean Alesi, Mika Hakkinen and Bernd Schneider take three more victories for Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz also clinch the manufacturers’ title and – with DaimlerChrysler Bank AMGMercedes – the teams championship.
  20-year old Lewis Hamilton who has been supported by Formula One partners McLaren and Mercedes-Benz since 1998 wins the Formula 3 Euro Series. At the wheel of the French ASM team’s Dallara Mercedes, Hamilton achieves 15 wins in 20 races.
• 2006 Team McLaren Mercedes finishes third in the Constructors’ World Championship. Kimi Raikkonen ends up fifth overall in the drivers’ ranking whilst Juan Pablo Montoya comes home eighth. Following Juan Pablo’s departure to Nascar Pedro de la Rosa replaced the Columbian and finishes 11th in the final ranking. As Kimi leaves the team at the end of the year, the driver line up of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for
  2007 consists of double World Champion Fernando Alonso and GP2 Champion Lewis Hamilton, as well as the test drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett. In the DTM Bernd Schneider clinches his fifth title win. Mercedes-Benz drivers win six out of ten races with Bruno Spengler taking four and Bernd Schneider two victories respectively. McLaren junior Paul di Resta wins the Formula 3 Euroseries.
• 2007 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso take eight race wins out of 17 Grands Prix. With nine consecutive podium finishes in the first nine Grands Prix of his career and a total of four wins, Lewis is the most successful rookie in 58 years of Formula One history. He ends the season runner-up with 109 points, one point behind the World Champion. Fernando Alonso is third overall, also with 109 points. In the DTM, Mercedes-Benz drivers achieve seven out of ten race wins, six of them with the new AMG-Mercedes CClass. Bruno Spengler ends the championship runner-up. The final race of the season at Hockenheim is the brand’s 300th DTM race and Jamie Green’s win is the 141st victory for Mercedes-Benz in the championship. Romain Grosjean wins the Formula 3 Euro Series with a Dallara Mercedes.
• 2008 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton takes the Formula One World Championship title winning five out of 18 Grands Prix. He wins the title in a dramatic final race in Brazil when he clinched fifth place in the final corner which was enough to secure the Championship win ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Lewis’s team mate Heikki Kovalainen won his first GP in Hungary and finished the season seventh overall. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is runner-up in the constructors’ ranking. In the DTM, Mercedes-Benz drivers win five of 11 races. Paul Di Resta ends the season second overall whilst Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes takes the team title. Nico Hülkenberg wins the Formula 3 Euro Series with a Dallara Mercedes.
• 2009 Formula One cars with Mercedes-Benz engines win 10 out of 17 races of the season and customer team Brawn GP takes the Formula One Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian Grand Prix – the first Formula One win for a car with KERS Hybrid – and the Singapore GP and ends the World Championship fifth overall. Heikki Kovalainen ends up 12th. In the DTM, Mercedes-Benz drivers win six out of 10 races. The Salzgitter / Mercedes-Benz Bank team wins the Teams’ Championship. Gary Paffett comes home runner-up in the drivers’ ranking. Jules Bianchi wins the Formula 3 Euro Series with a Dallara Mercedes. At the end of the year, Daimler and Aabar Investments PJSC together acquire a 75.1 percent share of Brawn GP and announce that the team will participate in the 2010 season as the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team with seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Daimler AG and the McLaren Group agree that McLaren will buy back Daimler’s 40-percent share of the McLaren Group.

7 is great, and aspirational, but the 5 is just shocking.

Well, over at WORLD CAR FANS they’ve got some ‘leaked’ photos of the new 5 Series.

I say ‘leaked’ because clearly, this is a staged leak, ahead of a more formal announcement.

All I can say is – GREAT, FINALLY, a good looking 5 series.  Looks a lot like a scaled down 7 rather than a scaled up 3.  Most of all, those damned ugly headlights from the more recent models is gone.

Bring on the final pics soon.

TL

The driver claims he dropped his mobile phone and then looked up and was alerted/distracted by a bird and swerved off crashing into a lake.

Whatever the story, its a LOT of money sunk…

Here’s a video, taken by a couple of blokes simply driving along a parallel highway admiring the car..

Wow.. that’s one epic fail.

I didn’t notice a bird flying anywhere near the car though…. hmmmm..