Sorry that things have been a bit quiet this week. This is because real life intervened and I had to spend my time doing things that normal people do, such as seeing family, moving and tomorrow I will be on the road to Monaco, as it is a lot better these days to rent an apartment for a week rather than to stay in a hotel for five days. So I will be on the Cote d’Azur from Saturday (Life is tough, I know).
There really us not much happening at the moment. Monisha Kaltenborn has been given a third of the Sauber team by a grateful Peter Sauber), which is a move that will nail her into the team for years to come. A smart move in my opinion. Beyond that there is not much serious stuff, although the news that Lola has gone into administration is sad. Hopefully it will emerge healthier.
Most of the time I think the IDEA of being a F1 journalist must be a lot more exciting than the REALITY of being one, but every time you post about traveling to the races (by car not plane, your loathing of air travel comest through loud and clear) I have to reconsider my stance!
enjoy your week of working in the sun.
Lets hope it stays nice and quiet not to mention penalty free right thro the Monico weekend, the last couple of races have been far too exciting for all the wrong reasons imho.
If there’s a Y in the month, Lola is probably in administration…
A tad unfair – they have stayed relatively free of dire financial trouble under Martin Birrane’s tenure.
Good luck with the move Joe.
Wait, “given”? Has that ever happened in F1? I mean, besides 100 million for 99 years of carte blanche bleeding, which is, by any definition, a gift.
Sometimes when you write of your travel hardships I almost feel sorry for you.
Then I read of your hardships from Saturday thru Monaco weekend and I come to my senses.
Loved your posts en route to Spain, too.
Joe, I think a man of your discerning taste will enjoy AA Gill’s take on Monaco a few years back. ‘Scumball Rally’, if you haven’t read it before… http://t.co/Yqntn1bS
Joe, what about Ferrari’s pointed remarks regarding Massa leading up to Monaco..? Seems more than a little ‘tough love’..? Let’s imagine he came down with a bad case of food poisoning on Wednesday.. Who’d you take, Sutil or Trulli…? Both have something to prove..?
I would be careful to replace him after what happened with Badoer and Fisichella.
Neither, Liuzzi of course!
Feck F1. Stoner is retiring. What a loss to the Racer’s Racer Club (which is now left with Solberg, Loeb and Raikkonen).
Stoner. A racer?
I don’t know what you have been watching but he was never a racer.
Racing in any context means competition with others.
When Rossi raced Stoner at Laguna in 2008, he moaned about it for 2 weeks, spoke about losing respect for Rossi and refused to shake his hand afterwards.
Rossi laughed at the child and proved what real men are about.
Whilst I respect him for taming the Ducati Desmo when nobody else has managed (though Vale was impressive yesterday in the rain) I totally agree with what you’re saying.
Also, his retirement due to “losing passion” made me query him ever having passion for anything much in the first place. He’s more boring than most of the F1 drivers which is an achievement for a bike racer! I’m sure he’s a lovely bloke away from the track though. Long time retired when you’re 27!
Casey tested a V8 supercar either late last year or early this year, and apparently the team were quite impressed. Look out for a few more tests and maybe a second driver stint in some of the enduro races. If all goes well it could turn into a full time drive in the future. Wayne Gardiner made a (relatively) successful transition to touring cars.
Very sorry to hear about Lola. Martin has put so much effort into the company.
Wilson
You’ve been silent for less than a day and are apologising for your lack of activity: on the contrary, I’m always amazed that you find the time to keep us so well-informed. Good to hear that you can enjoy 24 hours of real life too, occasionally! I enjoy reading the blog each day (have followed your writing on and off since your Autosport days) and use it as the first port of call for F1 analysis. Keep up the good work, and enjoy the Cote d’Azur!
Hi Joe,
You must be following this already, but the F1 seems to have been brought forward even further!! Madness… something screwy is definitely going on here…. any insights?
http://www.cityam.com/sport/formula-one-revving-listing-two-weeks-time?
Cheers
If I were an investor I would be deeply perturbed about the rush to market. It does not smell right.
Joe I’ll admit I’m not the smartest, but could you explain how this could effect the actual racing of cars, and the people who like to watch it?
It took Facebook nearly six months just from the point of filing the IPO to the actual event itself. The company’s legal team has been working on it privately for much longer than that. The company is worth about US$104 billion post-IPO. F1 is a smaller company but is still worth possibly $10 billion or so, and yet, its bankers want to go public in two weeks. That would leave two reasons for the rush: (1) to accelerate the IPO in advance of a potentially deteriorating market for it; or (2) because someone is financially incentivized to get it done by a certain date.
Bravo!
First female Team Owner in F1?
And Asian to boot!
Joe: PS praised Monisha for her role in salvaging Sauber from BM’s mess, could you share any detail on what she actually did to help?
Kind of reminds me of Siegfried giving James Herriot a share of the Vet Practice, as a wedding present in ACGS. But slightly more valuable.
Monisha is very smart. Brains are always useful when one os in trouble.
That is a very cryptic comment Joe I know nothing whatsoever about it in the ‘how each team is doing financially stakes’ – but surely Sauber are doing a reasonable job midfield – and have the world’s richest man as one of their sponsors?
Also looking forward to the road trip notes! Unless you’re catching the TGV of course
Third bite of the cherry – and the midfield has become rather packed lately including all the top teams. Here’s hoping Kimi becomes winner number six in Monaco
I’m in Provence. Going for dinner…
She comes across as a very nice lady, and as you say, she has the brains behind the face as well, see her detail in Wiki.
Good to see her efforts and talent being recognised.
Asian MGs, Asian Lotus’, what next… Asian Lolas?
No doubt Monisha was very grateful also!
On Lola’s matters… possible for a Caterham takeover? The two have previous working relationship in the SP300 car (probably difficult to get an answer from you since you are involved in one of the party!).
This one probably easier to answer: will it affect the SP300 production or the existing deal don’t go as far?
It does not really make much sense unless it was to use the composite facilities at Lola. I would guess that this depends on how much work they have at Caterham Composites, and I have no idea about that.
Caterham Composites is doing quiet well. Still that does not mean that they have to take over someone going out of business (unless there is something good).
http://www.compositesworld.com/news/caterham-composites-expands-to-accommodate-rapid-growth
would be fantastic for british industry if lola were saved by tony fernandes. He wouldn’t give up on it (not saying that martin birrane hasn’t done a good job). I think all divisions could fit quite nicely in to the caterham group
Joe can you do more on the Lola piece. Especially the link with the peer group and the impact it might have on same
If you feel like a stop in Marseille, I’ll very happily buy you lunch.
Drive safe.
Well thank you Jem, that’s too kind of you, how about tomorrow mid-day at the Tip-Top? Mind if I bring the wife and kids too?
Well I’m suitably bored, why not? One slight issue, it’s passed midday and I’m not showered because I’m still putting my bathroom sink back together.
That and the only “Tip Top” I know of near here is a dance studio.
Joe, completely off theme here but since you have a great passion for F1 history I wondered whether you’d seen the event planned in Bourne (Lincs,UK) to celebrate the 50th aniversary of BRMs world championship in 1962. Details at http://www.brmday.co.uk/
The date is set for 7th October so I guess you will be in SEA then, but in case anyone else is interested …
Senna’s Monaco ’84 Toleman was auctioned recently but the bid of half a million pounds failed to reach the reserve. Despite May-madness, despite looming Monaco 2012, and despite the Senna Film’s success.
I’m surprised Bernard didn’t snap it up for his collection.
He’s a bit stretched right now.
Joe could you give us a brief intro into who Monisha Kaltenborn is? All i know she is of Indian origin and that’s it. Being Indian myself all i can say is that she is from Bengal but would like to know more about her and how she got involved in the Sauber team. Thanks
You should buy GP+ we did a full interview with her in 2010
Look on Google then go to the Wiki page, it gives full details.
Hi Joe, don’t want to spoil the joyful outlook, but soon as I read about a rented apartment in Monaco alarm bells rang… That’s because there’s been a plumbers’ strike in the principality since february of this year. Normally that wouldn’t warrant much worry, but if you know the locality, you will know that blocks built after circa 1970 [quite a few] need constant [ie weekly at least] plumbing maintenance or the loos will flood and I don’t need to be descriptive here. Course yours may be a pre-70s flat and your stay will be idyllic. If the block is newbuild, then please Joe, take that hotel while you can. I pass this on for what its worth.
Did I say it was in the Principality?
Joe, just a word of caution
Hotels are usually OK only because they pay up “l’insurance” on demand.
the cote d’azur plumbers union runs its own fully funded sabotage units who will “fix” your plumbing for good if you refuse to pay up protection money. You’re probably alright if you’re west of Toulon or east of Turin, but even then….
If chaps in striped t-shirts and berets come asking for “Insurance de toilette”, buy it, Joe
regards
MM
An apartment on the Riviera, you are roughing it!
Will David be joining you?
Not he is staying in a hotel. Crazy though it may sound, an apartment for a week is less expensive than a hotel for five days.
Joe do you have any insight into what is going on with Todt? Seems like a closed shop.
It looked like a good move to have him in place of teflon Max bit nothing much seems to be happening.
Tv ( BBC and Sky) have tried to get some answers from him at recent races but he says nothing worth repeating. What game is he playing?
The WRC is in real trouble and Todt’s lack of action/information/confirmation of what will happen next is damaging the sport’s future. He made big statements of what he would do and has done nothing, lost the TV coverage, and left the current manufacturers in limbo re the future.
With his history in Rallying it looked like things might improve but it now looks to be getting worse – is he only interested in F1 (or maybe just looking after himself?).
What is the feeling inside the paddock of having him running the FIA?
He is dealing with all these problems. It is not easy. People in the paddock are happy that there is not too much FIA intervention.