Bahrain. It is a warm evening and the paddock here is buzzing. I have been cruising up and down since I arrived, chatting and trying to get a sense of who is doing what and how they think things will go when the action starts tomorrow. Down at Hispania they have spent the day building up the second car so that Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok will both be in action. It has been a mighty effort to get the team here, but there are some good brains involved and while the cars may not be massively reliable, they should at least be running. Geoff Willis is here but not in team uniform, his job for the moment being as a consultant to the team.
Down at Lotus they seem pretty happy and Mike Gascoyne says that he expects the team to make some pretty rapid progress as the first developments come through the system. The car was rather thrown together and this meant that some decisions had to be made that meant that the car was not as quick as it could be. The team hopes to shave a second and a half off the lap times in the first few races.
I hear from Brackley that a number of engineering staff have departed in the last week or so, including Gary Savage, a man who has been a major player in the team since Honda days. Savage has forgotten more about F1 engineering than many engineers will ever know and I expect him to be in demand. There are also rumours that there is a certain amount of friction inside Mercedes GP as the data of the two cars is not being shared as it is in other teams. I did not see Ross Brawn today so I have not had the chance to ask.
The Renault team has been busy announcing a few new sponsorship with Movit brakes appearing on the nose. This is part-owned by Gerard Lopez, through his GenII investment firm. The team also has branding from Mangrove, another Lopez company.
The big news however is that the team has landed a two-year deal with HP. This seems to be part of a deal between the US technology firm and some of the telematics companies that Lopez is involved with. The team recently announced funding from the Russian car firm Lada, which is keen to improve its international image (which would not be hard). There have been rumours that Lada might even become the name of the team in the future, sliding into the place of Renault.
The FIA World Council met today in Bahrain and we hear that there may be some kind of sanction against the USF1 team for failing to appear.
The general feeling in the paddock seems to be that the fight for victories will be between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, but no-one is really sure.
joeblogsf1 
Thanks Joe. It’s so much better to read blogs/articles/opinions of people who are actually at the races, and talk to/see the people involved!
‘There are also rumours that there is a certain amount of friction inside Mercedes GP as the data of the two cars is not being shared as it is in other teams.’
As in between Schumacher and Rosberg?
“The general feeling in the paddock seems to be that the fight for victories will be between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, but no-one is really sure.”
So Mercedes have dropped out of most people’s lists of frontrunners? Obviously this is all guesswork but it is interesting nonetheless. Also fascinating to hear the rumours of friction in the Merc camp already. Keep up the good work Joe, I’m sure you’re as excited as we are – it’s great to read about what’s going on “behind the scenes.” Enjoy the weekend!
The USF1 team should get a two race ban!
Really looking forward to the season starting. Spring weather is here on the US East Coast, and real racing is back 🙂 Sadly I’ll be away from home tomorrow morning when practice occurs, thank goodness for TiVos.
Joe – thanks in advance for your invaluable reporting this season. It’s going to be an interesting one.
“There are also rumours that there is a certain amount of friction inside Mercedes GP as the data of the two cars is not being shared as it is in other teams.”
Thats a shame…Schumi effect?
So friction is developing within Brawn because the two sides are not sharing data, eh? Or perhaps it’s one side in particular that is not sharing its data with the other? That selfish Nico Rosberg must be at it again!!!
I can’t wait for Lada F1 merchandise to become available.
Hi Joe,
What are your thoughts on the McLaren wing, is this going to be the new diffuser issue this year???
With the diffusers, are there likely to be any more protests as I’ve read somewhere that Mercedes are bringing a triple diffuser to the race, is the diffuser issue gonna kick off again???
Keep up the good work!
Lee
“There are also rumours that there is a certain amount of friction inside Mercedes GP as the data of the two cars is not being shared as it is in other teams. ”
Assuming this is true, who is not willing to share, MS or Nico? Both?
Lada F1? I hope that won’t happen.
“There are also rumours that there is a certain amount of friction inside Mercedes GP ”
Maybe someone did mention the war, and did not get away with it? An ingrowing toenail? Elsie going to Canada? A naughty moose?
Button and Rosberg would have been perfect, maybe Heidfeld and Rosberg would have been a good driver pairing, but Schumacher comes with a lot of baggage, this has raised the stakes for Mercedes and may be to much for them to handle in their first season as “team owners”, although I rate NH and RB highly….
You are one lucky guy Joe! The weather update here in the midlands, uk is just above freezing. Oh well, best get my head down so I’m up for first practice on the tv in the morning.
There’s a video of Brawn being interviewed on the iPhone sky news app. It’s a few days old, but he’s mostly talking about Shumi, & that he thinks they are about there pace wise. It’ll be interesting to see how soon Rosberg has to comply to team orders!
Joe, I have been meaning to post here for ages, to say how much I’ve been enjoying the blog. Have been reading you since I was not high to the computer screen back in your Autosport days! Am banging my head against the wall at the minute attempting to finish a PhD so is always a lovely break to sit down with the blog and a cup of tea!
That is an interesting detail about the lack of information sharing in the Mercedes team- Mr Schumacher up to his tricks again? I must say I am most excited for the new season, but not for him especially- never warmed to his mechanical, winning it in the pits ways, and all the questionable moments….still, should be a cracker of a year anyway!
Right, I’m now off like a good boy to renew my GP+ subscription!!,
Ben
I assume Schumacher’s insecurity is intact if there is no data sharing at Mercedes. How pathetic do you need to be to make a comeback and immediately start this nonsense?
I could see the point if he had Hamilton as his team mate but I guess if that was his option he would stay retired until he got an offer with someone slow enough in the other car.
It’s been said that the W01’s inherent handling imbalance & understeery nature favors Nico’s driving style. Michael does not particularly seem to be pleased with it, whereas Nico is supposedly as happy as a pig in mud. Friday practice results seem to bear this out, with Nico enjoying the edge over Michael.
Given that backdrop, isn’t it more logical that Rosberg is the one who stands to gain an advantage by not sharing data from his side of the garage? Also, let’s not forget that his race engineer is Jock Clear, who apparently still has no love lost for Schumacher ever since ’97.