F1 Fanatic round-up: 11/1/2010

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There’s been some speculation about whether USF1 will be on the grid for the first race of the year but the team have now refuted it. More news from them in the links below.

If you’re in London today Lewis Hamilton is doing a promotional event for sponsor Santander though it’s not clear exactly where he’ll be.

Also this week Fernando Alonso will make his first appearance in Ferrari colours at the team’s press event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy.

Hopefully he won’t make the mistake of letting Luca di Montezemolo do the driving this time.

Links

Campos Meta on the brink (Joe Saward)

There’s been a lot of speculation about the Campos team’s chance of making to the grid in Bahrain. Perhaps the most surprising quote in Joe Saward’s take on the story is this: “the signing of Bruno Senna has failed to raise the level of interest in the team from Spanish and Brazilian companies”.

Details emerge of new Ferrari F1 design (James Allen)

Gazzetta dello Sport are claiming a scoop on the new Ferrari F1 car but as they haven’t put anything online about it we’ll have to rely on this summary from James Allen instead.

John Anderson, racing legend, joins US F1 Team (USF1)

“Most recently, Anderson was the team manager for Gil de Ferran’s American Le Mans Series (ALMS) organization. ‘The parallels with the ALMS car and an F1 car, with their complexity and performance envelope, are very similar. An F1 car is of course the pinnacle of construction and technology, and to be involved is a high point of my career.'”

Michael visits Brackley (Michael Schumacher)

Michael Schumacher visits his new team: “This a world champion team but it does not seem to be spoilt by success at all; it seems to be hungry for more instead.”

Comment of the day

Concedo Nulli felt I gave John Watson a raw deal in my article on Niki Lauda:

I think you do John Watson a great disservice. In both 1982 and 1983 he finished the drivers championship ahead of Lauda (and in ’82 was second in the points although awarded third on podium count back). The real difference between the two was the salary.

In 1984 Wattie fell foul of salary negotiations with Ron Dennis. Dennis picked up Prost at a knockdown price. Otherwise Wattie would have surely given Lauda a run for his money and possibly even won the 1985 WDC.

Wattie won the the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy in 1978, ’82 and ’83 which was awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth F1 driver. In the modern era his contribution to British motorsport and recognition of his racing goes sadly unrecognised.
Concedo Nulli

From the forum

Will Schumacher and Button update their helmet designs as they join new teams in 2010? Some cool Photoshopping going on in here.

Happy birthday!

After five F1 Fanatic reader birthdays in three days it looks like we haven’t got one for the best part of a week now. If your birthday is coming up let us know when it is: get in touch by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

January 11th seems to have been a quiet day in F1 history. On this day nine years ago Arrows launched its “three-seat F1 car” called the AX3. I’m not sure what became of the car and whether it’s related to the three-seater which Renault used in Russia last year. Can anyone out there shed some light?

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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25 comments on “F1 Fanatic round-up: 11/1/2010”

  1. I’m not sure about the AX3. I was a huge Orange Arrows fan and saw the AX3 at the Autosport show… wow 9 years ago already.

    I actually have a picture of the car which De La Rosa signed for me :)

  2. Also my Mum works for Santander and says a new TV advert will be on soon of Lewis building Lego

    1. There is a video of it on Youtube now:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrC4aHns6oM

  3. If you want to buy the Arrows AX3, you can! It’s for sale at €22,950.

    http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/27485/Arrows_AX3_F1_3_seater_car_for_sale.html

    Shall we club together and purchase it! ;)

    1. It’s actually been converted in to a simulator, with 5.1 surround sound.

      Here’s a picture of it in action:
      http://www.racecarsdirect.com/photos/ax3_demorun.jpg

  4. Regarding the new Ferrari for 2010, here’s a scan of the paper :

    http://i50.tinypic.com/103aamd.jpg

      1. The nose looks like it has been lifted this year.

        1. It’s still going to be red then?

  5. There aren’t many great news.
    Giorgio Piola says that the front will be lifted and horny (Red Bull shaped), there will be a loto af aerodynamicl devices in between the front tyres and the chassis, the oil tank will be between the engine and the gear box (this is interesting), the fuel tank will be larger. The rear will be very low to let work properly the diffuser, which is RedBull inspired.
    Thanks for scanning, guys!

  6. Best news item of the day… Lewis is no longer a Pussycat Boy.

    1. Was just about to post that!! Sod the new Ferrari, many will be devistated!

      1. At least we won’t have to look at cut-aways of her every 3 laps.

        I can’t stand cut-aways to people standing in garages. I end up shouting at the TV really loudly.

        1. What, because there’s a heap of overtaking going on? Just kidding!

    2. Very sad about that – I thought they were perfectly suited and she is so beautiful. Great shame.

      1. I always thought she looked quite old personally.

        1. I wonder if he has the pussycat doldrums… probably has?

  7. Nakajima and Sutil are in birthday today! :P

    1. I spoke to Sutil earlier on the Club Force wesbite, he was on an online chat :)

  8. Not sure if it’s been posted on this site yet, but here’s Alonso in his shiny new Ferrari gear:

    http://estaticos02.marca.com/albumes/2010/01/11/fotos_dia/1263227009_extras_albumes_0.jpg

    I guess they’ll be a lot more pictures later

  9. Look at the bottom of the USF1 release, it’s priceless.

    “Anderson is married to an understanding wife, Lesley, and is currently in the process of relocating from Indianapolis to Charlotte.”

    1. I know! That made me laugh, too.

  10. So Ferrari’s comeback will be all about copying Redbull. That’s original! I hope Adrian Newey has some other tricks up his sleeve to surprise us all..

  11. Hi guys
    The arrows ax3’s was sold to ascari who use both of them at there race resort. The one for sale on racecardirect is the displaycar used for the autosport show. Also you may also be interested that i own the 3 seater simulator version in which all 3 seats are used for racing in. View http://www.f1showcars.co.uk for photos

  12. forgot to say youtube f1showcars and i have posted a video of the simulator in use by the arrows team

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