Articles Tagged ‘Renault’
Monday, December 14th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
Lotus have today confirmed their drivers for the 2010 Formula 1 season – Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen in race seats with Fairuz Fauzy the team’s third driver. The announcement was made by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur.
Trulli was left without a drive when Toyota left F1 at the end of the 2009 season. He is a veteran of 219 races, collecting 246.5 career points but just one win since his first race in 1997. He has driven for Jordan, Renault and Toyota.
28-year-old Kovalainen has been in F1 since 2007 where he raced for Renault before moving to McLaren for 2008 and 2009, before being replaced by Jenson Button for 2010. Kovalainen has raced in F1 52 times, collecting 105 points but only one race win.
Fairuz Fauzy, a Malaysian driver now on a Malaysian team at Lotus. 27-year-old Fauzy is a veteran in the formulae below F1. This year Fauzy finished 2nd in the World Series by Renault.
Tags: Fairuz Fauzy, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Jenson Button, Jordan, Lotus, McLaren, Renault, Renault World Series, Toyota
Posted in Lotus F1, News | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 26th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
The new Mercedes team have today announced their two drivers for the Young Drivers Test at Jerez, Spain which will take place later this month – Mike Conway and Marcus Ericsson.
Mike Conway, the 26 year old from Kent, England has previously won the Formula Renault and British F3 titles. This year he has competed in the IndyCar series, with his only podium being a third place. He finished 17th in the drivers standings.
The 19 year old Swede Marcus Ericsonn won the Formula BMW title in 2007 and just this year he has triumphed and won the Japanese F3 title.
The full list of young drivers heading for Jerez so far is:
BMW Sauber:
Alexander Rossi
Esteban Gutierrez
Mercedes:
Mike Conway
Marcus Ericsson
(more…)
Tags: Alexander Rossi, Andy Soucek, Bertrand Baguette, BMW Sauber, Brendon Hartley, British F3, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniel Zampieri, Esteban Gutierrez, Ferrari, Force India, Formula BMW, Formula Renault, Japanese F3, Jerez, JR Hildebrand, Jules Bianchi, Lucas di Grassi, Marco Zipoli, Marcus Ericsson, McLaren, Mercedes, Mike Conway, Mirko Bortolotti, Nico Hulkenberg, Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Paul di Resta, Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso, Williams
Posted in Mercedes GP, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
The former Renault team boss, disgraced Flavio Briatore has today appeared in a French court for the start of a hearing against the FIA. Briatore wants his lifetime motorsport ban overturned and £900,000 in damages.
Briatore received his lifetime ban from motorsport due to his alleged involvement in the ‘crashgate‘ scandal, where Nelson Piquet Jr. was told to deliberately crash in order to let his teammate Fernando Alonso win at the Singapore Grand Prix 2008. Briatore still denies any involvement in what was dubbed by some as ‘The worst act of cheating in the history of sport’.
On the FIA’s decision to ban Briatore, he said that the FIA’s president at the time Max Mosley was;
“Blinded by an excessive desire for personal revenge”
- an argument stemming from Briatore’s disagreements previously with the FIA, where Briatore lead the group wanting to create a breakaway series following the rows over a budget cap.
Tags: Crashgate, Fernando Alonso, FIA, Flavio Briatore, Max Mosley, Renault, Singapore
Posted in FIA, News | No Comments »
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 - Posted by Formula1Blogger
Jose Maria Lopez has confirmed via his personal website that he intends to drive for the new US F1 team, as long as he can find the funding. Lopez said that he was close to finding the cash, and as soon as he has he will sign a contract.
Team boss Peter Windsor stated that he intended to sign the Argentinian driver,
“He is a driver we are interested in and we want him to be with us… We would like to sign the contract as soon as possible.”
Lopez is a former Renault Formula 1 test driver, racing previously in Formula 3000 and GP2 between 2004 and 2006.
Tags: Drivers 2010, Jose Maria Lopez, Peter Windsor, Renault, US F1
Posted in News, US F1 | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
Force India are obviously keeping their options for 2010 drivers open – no less than 6 drivers are in the running for the seats, including the drivers who ended last season with the team; Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Giancarlo Fisichella who went to Ferrari last season to cover for the injured Felipe Massa will most likely stay at the Italian team as test driver next season with Massa and Fernando Alonso having the race seats, although Fisichella has not completely ruled himself out, saying:
“Why not? It is open. It could be Force India. There are a lot of teams without drivers so far.”
Another driver in the running is former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. who was heavily involved in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, although it seems his whistleblowing has not deterred Force India. Piquet said:
“I am close to Force India at the moment, but to me NASCAR is very interesting, so I don’t know yet what is going to happen. I don’t want to take a decision without knowing how things work here in the United States, so I came to be with the drivers and team owners.
“It is clear that the F1 cars are very much better technologically – the best in the world – but I find that if it is enjoyable, it doesn’t matter if I am racing in karts. The important thing is to compete.”
The other two drivers in the running are Pedro de la Rosa who was denied a drive at the new team Campos for the lack of Spanish sponsors that come with him, although he is still a possibility for the Force India drive.
The final driver rumoured to join the team sure is an interesting one – Scot Paul di Resta. Di Resta finished 3rd in this years prestigious DTM championship driving for the AMG Mercedes team, including one race win on home soil at Brands Hatch. Di Resta is set for a test at Jerez for the team in early December.
Tags: Adrian Sutil, Campos, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Force India, Giancarlo Fisichella, Nelson Piquet Jr, Paul di Resta, Pedro de la Rosa, Renault, Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Posted in Ferrari, Force India, News, Rumour | No Comments »
Saturday, November 14th, 2009 - Posted by Formula1Blogger
Flavio Briatore has this week accused the FIA of holding a “sham hearing” in the lead up to his subsequent lifetime ban from Formula 1 after the “crashgate” episode, where he stood accused of conspiring to intentionally crashing Nelson Piquet Jr’s Renault in order for team mate Fernando Alonso to win the Singapore Grand Prix. Briatore is also looking to receive at least €1m in damages as he takes the FIA to a french court to overturn the decision.
Briatore has a hearing in Paris scheduled to start on the 24th November, where he hopes to quite publicly dirty the name of the FIA, whilst additionally clearing his in order to return to the sport. Briatore has recently released the details of his case into the public domain where he stated,
“The FIA neglects to mention that, according to declarations by one of its own vice-presidents to the media, the world council’s decision was rather the outcome of secret negotiations on the eve of the sham hearing,”
One of the key elements to Briatore’s case is a quote from FIA vice-president Mohamed Ben Sulayem, where he said to the Abu Dhabi National newspaper,
“We are not here to hang teams, we did our negotiations before and everybody is happy with the result.”
The FIA recently responded stating that they condemned the “selective leaking” of evidence from Briatore’s case by his lawyers, however Briatore was quick to deny such allegations stating that he has nothing to hide.
Tags: Crashgate, FIA, Flavio Briatore, Renault
Posted in FIA, News, Renault | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 series champion Bertrand Baguette will test for Renault in Jerez next month – his first time in an F1 car. The Belgian driver will take to the wheel on December 1st.
Baguette said:
“This will be a great first for me. It’s all my childhood dreams come true and, at the same time, it’s every racing driver’s ultimate goal.
“It’s thanks to Renault that I was able to get into single-seater racing, by winning a programme set up by Renault in Belgium to discover up-and-coming young talent from karting.
“Since then, I’ve driven every Renault single-seater, from Formula Renault 1.6 to Formula Renault 3.5 via Formula Renault 2.0. Driving the Renault F1 R29 kind of completes the set as far as I’m concerned! The first few laps in Formula 1 must be really unbelievable, with a lighter, more powerful car that has just phenomenal cornering speeds.
“I’ll have everything to learn, not just the car itself, but also a new environment, lots of new parameters, a different way of working. The only thing I will be familiar with will be the Jerez circuit!”
“The most important thing for me is not really driving the fastest possible lap,” he added. “The aim of this day will be to work hard with the team and to carry out the test programme that Renault F1 Team is going to define seriously and professionally.
“Rather than my outright speed, it will be my ability to analyse the car’s handling and my communication with the members of the team that will be gauged. I can’t wait.
“I’m going to have to take things one step at a time and be cautious. It’s a terrific opportunity to be able to take part in testing with a team as prestigious as the Renault F1 Team.”
Renault have already signed one driver for the 2010 season – Robert Kubica, however more recently the rumours have circulated as to whether the Enstone based team will stay in Formula 1 for next season.
Tags: Bertrand Baguette, Jerez, Renault, Robert Kubica
Posted in News, Renault | No Comments »
Friday, November 6th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
Fernando Alonso has today visited the Ferrari base at Maranello, the team he will be driving for next season.
He went to meet his new colleagues but he wasn’t allowed to test for the team in an F1 car as the testing ban is not over until February 2010. However he did manage to get out on to the team’s Fiorano test track albeit in a Ferrari 458 Italia,
“naturally in red”
as the post on Ferrari.com read.
Alonso was still wearing a Renault t-shirt as he is not officially a Ferrari driver yet due to contractual commitments with former team Renault and other sponsors.
The full post on the official Ferrari website read:
(more…)
Tags: Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Fiorano, Maranello, Renault
Posted in Ferrari, News, Renault | No Comments »
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 - Posted by Jack Sargeant
After the bombshell of Toyota pulling out yesterday, it seemed we were heading for a double-whammy with Renault calling an emergency meeting in Paris. However the result of that meeting sounds positive and it seems Renault will continue on the F1 grid in 2010.
The Enstone based team have had a tough 2 years, finishing 4th and 8th in the constructors championships, as well as the departure of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds following the ‘Crashgate’ race fixing scandal involving Nelson Piquet Jr.
The team’s managing director Jean-François Caubet said:
“We have already contracted our drivers, had our budget approved and are enrolled in the world championship. Season 2010 has begun already. We will not be world champions in 2010, but we do have hopes to be much improved.”
Update 05/11/09 21:58GMT
Despite these quotes coming out of Renault, they are still not confirming they will or will not be on the grid next year and will make a decision by the end of the year.
Tags: 2010, Crashgate, Flavio Briatore, Jean-François Caubet, Nelson Piquet Jr, Pat Symonds, Renault, Toyota
Posted in News, Renault | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 - Posted by Formula1Blogger
After much astonishment today that Toyota are to leave Formula One, it has been rumoured that Renault too may possibly be looking to leave the sport. They have apparently called an “extraordinary” board meeting today to discuss the team’s future in the sport. It will be attended by Renault F1 bosses Bob Bell and Jean-Francois Caubet, however they will not be allowed to take part in the debate about the team’s future.
One possibility could be that Renault decide to quit the sport as a team, and continue to be a supplier of engines only. Red Bull are soon to announce their renewal of their contract with the supplier.
Renault have had a very bad year. Earlier in 2009 team boss Flavio Briatore and executive engineer Pat Symonds were banned from the sport after it was revealed by sacked driver Nelson Piquet Jr that they intentionally crashed the car in Singapore in order for Fernando Alonso to win the Grand Prix.
As a consequence of this, ING – their main sponser also pulled away from the team.
Subsequently, Alonso has now decided to leave the team, heading for Ferrari – leaving rookie Romain Grosjean, and the incoming Robert Kubica as drivers. Alonso recently spoke about the car, and how it was the worst car on the grid.
If Renault were to leave Formula One, it would leave only Ferrari on the grid as a car manufacturer team. Renault are expected to clarify/confirm their position in F1 later today.
update: BBC News are now confirming this rumour.
Tags: Drivers 2010, Fernando Alonso, Renault, Toyota
Posted in News, Renault | 2 Comments »
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