Reigning FIA European Formula 3 champion Raffaele Marciello has finally been confirmed with leading GP2 squad Racing Engineering.
At 19-years-old, Marciello enters the GP2 Series with quite some momentum behind him and is certainly one of the more exciting prospects to enter the series for some years.
With Stoffel Vandoorne competing with ART Grand Prix and Mitch Evans still expecting to claim a seat, Marciello’s addition to the GP2 Series almost certainly makes this the most anticipated line-up since the 2011 season.
That Marciello is one of the leading lights of Ferrari’s Driver Development Programme (headed by former engineer and strategist Luca Baldisserri) is an indication of just how highly rated the teenager is.
The movements of the Swiss-Italian racer had been a subject of speculation for many months, with the pendulum swinging from Formula Renault 3.5 toward GP2 following the Christmas break.
As well as partaking in several DTM and FR3.5 tests, Marciello ran with Racing Engineering at the GP2 post-season test at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi late last year, impressing the Spanish team in the process.
For Marciello, this was the step he had been searching for. “GP2 is a fantastic platform because you can start learning more about tire management and because you are also in the paddock close to the Formula 1 environment. I am really thankful for the continued support of Ferrari Driver Academy and for the opportunity to race with my new team, I’m sure that we’ll do a really good job together.”
The signing of Marciello also gives Racing Engineering a shot at a 2nd consecutive GP2 Drivers’ title, having found success with Fabio Leimer last year, but team president Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón has his eyes firmly set on the Teams’ Title. “This confidence is a result of the efforts and great amount of work that this team has been producing during these last years. With this, we are very happy to have among our ranks the current European F3 champion for the 2014 season, something that will motivate us even more to equal, if not improve, the results in GP2 that Racing Engineering had last season.”
Although Racing Engineering have yet to announce their second driver, the arrival of Marciello makes them a very potent force indeed.
Nissan GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough is to move to the GP3 Series this season with Arden International, as he sets his sights on Formula One.
Alongside his move to the team owned by Red Bull F1 team principal Christian Horner and his father Garry, the Welshman also joins the Red Bull junior driver development programme, but is not a member of the Red Bull junior team.
Having won the Sony PlayStation competition in 2011, Mardenborough spent last season in the FIA European F3 Championship with Carlin, having also competed in both British GT and the Blancpain Endurance Series with RJN Nissan .
Indeed during the Brands Hatch round of the 2012 British GT campaign that Mardenborough, alongside teammate Alex Buncombe, grabbed a famously a narrow victory over the Beechdean Aston Martin pairing of Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard.
The 22-year-old has also claimed a class podium in the LMP2 category in the Le Mans 24 Hour race with Greaves Motorsport and took his first single-seater race wins earlier this year in the Toyota Racing Series, eventually finishing runner-up by only eight points to Andrew Tang.
It will be an interesting move for Mardenborough having shown plenty of speed in the past few seasons; however at times, some avoidable accidents have exposed his inexperience; however he feels ready for the challenge ahead. “I feel ready for GP3. I’ve prepared well and I have all the right people around me to help my development so I can fully focus on my racing. Formula 3 has taught me so many things, both in the car and out of the car, both mentally and physically. It was a great stage in my development and I’m sure the skills I’ve learnt there will help me in GP3 and beyond.”
Focussing on the task ahead, Mardenborough added: “I’m excited to work with Arden. My initial impressions of them are excellent; they have a lot of experience and great success over the years. I’m looking forward to working with my race engineer Sean (McGill). I haven’t raced the GP3 car yet, but going on initial testing, I prefer the GP3 car to an F3 car. The power is very addictive! This season is my opportunity to impress more people in the sport who make the decisions on who makes it into F1 and who doesn’t and I’m going to give it my best shot.”
For Red Bull, the inclusion of Mardenborough presents a new dimension to the young driver programme, as noted by Red Bull’s driver development manager, Andy Damerum. “We have been tracking Nissan’s innovative approach to motorsport and in particular GT Academy that challenges the status quo of motorsport. The traditional route to F1 of karting and single-seaters is a tried and tested success but Nissan and PlayStation have gone down a very different road and started to find some very talented drivers who have been doing all their practicing on a games console. I’m very interested to see how Jann fares on our programme and in GP3 this season and I look forward to taking him under the Infiniti Red Bull Racing wing to further progress his career.”
Former racer and GT Academy judge Johnny Herbert was also hugely impressed with Mardenborough’s progress. “His talent has not only impressed me, but has now got experienced figureheads in motorsport talking about what Jann, Nissan and GT Academy is achieving. The world of motorsport is recognising that GT Academy is helping bring talented young blood into the sport. The success of Jann and other GT Academy winners is also inspiring a new legion of gaming and motorsport fans by giving them a new route to becoming a professional racing driver. The only question that remains unanswered is ‘Can a gamer make it all the way to F1?’”
Arden have enjoyed GP3 success in recent years with champions Mitch Evans and Daniil Kvyat. For 2014, Mardenborough will be partnered by Robert Visoiu and Patric Niederhauser.
The European F3 Open revealed a change of identity of Friday with the series now rebranded as the Euroformula Open.
With pressure mounting from the FIA for all series’ with the Formula 3 title to adopt F3 technical and sporting regulations, series promoters have sidestepped the issue by merely rebranding the category.
According to Jesus Pareja, CEO of GT Sport: “Only the brand changes, not the content. The new Euroformula Open will continue to be the same.”
With the FIA pushing for title clarity amongst championships, maintaining the F3 title would have severely raised the costs in the series – a point laboured by Pareja. “To keep the F3 denomination would have entailed to adopt the new FIA F3 engine rules, something that would have had severe budget implications for the teams. We are of the view that this is not wise, especially in the current economic context.”
Pareja continued, “We think that offering a high performance formula at the most reasonable cost possible is the right way forward. This is our philosophy and we will continue to provide our competitors the same competitive package as in the past.”
The Euroformula Open Series have introduced engine upgrades to their previously detuned Toyota motors, which have brought the power level up somewhat.
Pareja believes this and the low-cost nature of the series will make it an attractive option for drivers and teams. “With the 2014 engine up-grade, the Euroformula Open cars will have a performance level similar to any other series using F.3 chassis. For us, to retain the freedom to further improve the performance package and the cost-effectiveness in the future is a crucial point.”
He then concluded by adding: “The name change also allows avoiding confusion with the European F.3 Championship recently re-instated by the FIA. We definitely think that preserving the essence of our series is more important than how it is called and we look forward to an exciting 2014 season.”
Meanwhile, the first Euroformula pre-season test took place in Jerez this week, with Yarin Stern proving quick in his new-for-2014 Team West-Tec machine. Stern topped both Friday and Saturday running, with a best of 1:35.830 on the second day.
Also running over the two days were former Red Bull junior driver Beitske Visser and Yu Kanamuru (both Emilio de Villota Motorsport), Christopher Hoeher and Tanart Sathienthirakul (Team West-Tec) and Alex Palos (Campos Racing) amongst several others.
Up-and-coming British racer Jordan King has opted to re-sign with Carlin Motorsport for a second stab at the FIA European F3 Championship.
King enjoyed a busy 2013 season with Carlin, taking part in both the British and European Formula 3 championships, proving victorious in the former, while taking top rookie in European competition.
Alongside his British F3 success, the Warwickshire native earned two podiums in the European Championship, while a series of regular top-six finishes throughout the second half of the season gave the 19-year-old 6th in the standings come year-end.
With a full year behind him, King goes into the coming season with plenty of confidence. “I learnt a lot last year and using that experience together with the work we have done over the winter puts us in good shape for the season ahead. I can’t wait to get back on track again and get the season underway.”
King’s form later in the season certainly makes him a target and a threat ahead of 2014 – a factor that has not gone unnoticed by Carlin Motorsport boss, Trevor Carlin. “Jordan surprised many last year with his form and pace. He worked hard throughout the season and took on board all the advice that was given to him to put himself in a position to challenge for race wins at the end of the year. We’re delighted that Jordan will be with the team again in 2014 and will be pushing hard to help him to the very front of the field.”
King’s signing sees the European F3 Championship field growing to fifteen drivers, with two months still to go before the season begins in earnest.
Caterham F1 development racer Weiron Tan will move up to the German Formula 3 Cup this season with van Amersfoort Racing.
The Malaysian progresses to the national Formula 3 series, following a successful stint in the Protyre Formula Renault Championship in the UK, that saw Tan claim five wins and the runner-up spot behind champion Chris Middlehurst.
Hailing from Kuala Lumpur, Tan has previously competed in the (now defunct) JK Asia Racing Series and Formula Gulf 1000, enjoying reasonably solid results to both, prior to his move to the UK.
Now with European competition on the horizon, Tan will be looking to build on his 2013 successes; however he remains wary of the road ahead. “I think the first two race weekends are going to be key and will undoubtedly dictate the season,” said Tan. “I am going to work as hard as I can over the off-season to make sure I am fully ready to go so we can be as competitive as possible right from the start.”
Having tested with the team at the end of last year, Van Amersfoort’s racing engineer Gerben van der Lei noted: “Ordinarily, drivers who transition from Formula Renault to Formula 3 find it difficult to comprehend just how much aerodynamic grip is available to them and spend a lot of time trying to master high-speed, high-commitment corners.”
Van der Lei added, “What most impressed me was his ability to find the car’s limit in all the high-commitment corners within a very small period of time.”
Tan’s addition to the Dutch team means he is the fourth driver to sign up for this year’s German F3 Cup and while more are expected to join the 19-year-old in competition, 2014 may still be something of lean year for the series.
Former Formula 3 racer Emil Bernstorff will graduate to the GP3 Series this season, partnering Macau champion Alex Lynn at Carlin.
The Anglo-Danish pilot moves up after taking 3rd overall in the German F3 Cup with Lotus, while also having scored a podium at the Zandvoort Masters with Prema Powerteam.
Bernstorff tested with the Carlin GP3 team at the tail end of last year, paving the way for a step up the ladder. According to Bernstorff’s presser: “Carlin is a team I have admired for many years and it is great to be racing with them this season. I’m now looking forward to the official testing which starts at the end of March. Until then, we will be working hard to make sure we are well prepared for the first race.”
The 20-year-old from Middlesex in England has taken something of an unusual route to GP3. Having begun car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship in 2010, Bernstorff swapped England for Germany where he finished runner-up in the ADAC Formula Masters category.
A move up to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2012 (which also included the FIA European F3 Championship) saw the then ma-con driver take a podium at the Norisring on his way to 10th in the standings. However Bernstorff surprised many when he assumed a backward step to the German F3 Cup last year, albeit with the Motopark-run Lotus squad.
The GP2 Series has adjusted two of its primary sporting regulations ahead of the 2014 season, in order to bring it slightly further in line with Formula One.
Friday morning’s free practice session has been extended from 30 to 45 minutes, while the tyre regulations have been adapted to ensure both sets of available slick compounds will be used in the Feature Race.
GP2 Series CEO Bruno Michel welcomed the changes to these regulations. “I am very satisfied that we could extend free practice sessions to forty-five minutes during race weekends. The additional track time will most definitely help our young drivers learn the circuit, giving them even better preparation for the qualifying session with no additional cost for the teams.”
While these changes may not appear to significant game changers on the surface, according to Michel altering these regulations may do enough to shift the balance of a weekend. “Looking at how last season unfolded, we felt it was important that teams and drivers display their strategy over the course of both races. Just like in Formula One, during our Saturday Race, each driver will have to use both tyre compounds. I am sure we will see some great racing and interesting strategies again this season with even more enthralling Sunday races.”
Although one acknowledges that the move to copy Formula One for Formula One’s sake is little more than a folly, the change to the tyre regulations could do much to realign GP2 as a competitive championship. With only five sets of dry tyres available over a race weekend (three prime; two option compounds), the rules regarding tyre management were always going to become a sticking point.
Under the old rules, it became increasingly common to see team and driver combinations sacrifice one of their weekend races, based what they could or couldn’t do with their qualifying position and how the tyres fared at certain circuits.
If nothing else, the previous regulations determined that drivers would either push with all new tyres in the Feature Race, condemning them to significantly used rubber for the Sprint.
Alternatively, they would play a conservative game for the Feature Race, thereby sacrificing top positions in the hope a good reverse grid starting position and set, or even a half-set, of fresh rubber.
These regulations did little to encourage a driver and team combination to push for the front over the course of an entire weekend, pressing some of the top runners to choose a race in which to be competitive, rather than pressing home natural advantage.
As an aside, adding fifteen minutes to the Friday practice session is merely common sense, but I can only imagine difficult to arrange. A thirty-minute practice session for a championship at this level simply wasn’t good enough.
One must also remember that championships such as GP2 (and other ladder categories) are not – or at least should not – be about outright entertainment, but rather pertain to driver education and advancement.
Marlon Stöckinger and Nikolay Martsenko solidified their places in the Formula Renault 3.5 field this week, bringing the driver count to fourteen
Managed by Gravity Sport, Stöckinger will spend his second FR3.5 season with the Lotus junior squad.
The Filipino racer fared reasonably in his début year in the category last year, having moved over from the GP3 Series.
At Lotus, Stöckinger ended the year 18th in the standings with 23 points having scored on six occasions, but will be keen to move up the order. The 22-year-old is to be partnered at the Lotus squad by reigning French F4 champion Matthieu Vaxivière.
This season may prove somewhat more urgent for Russian racer Nikolay Martsenko. Approaching his third season in the category, the 20-year-old driver from Krasnoyarsk has struggled to score points on a regular basis.
Having graduated to FR3.5 from German F3 with BVM Target in 2012 {note 1} and moving to Pons last year, Martsenko has scored on only six occasions and finished 20th in the standings on both occasions.
For the coming year, Martsenko moves to Comtec Racing – a team who will be hoping for much more from this season, having finished last in the Teams’ Championship in 2013 with the persistent Daniil Move and Lucas Foresti.
{note 1}
Martsenko ran with Max Travin Racing during his years in Finnish and German Formula 3; however Travin’s attempt to join the FR3.5 category as a team in 2012 was blackballed by series organisers. In light of the blocked entry, Travin teamed up with BVM Target to bring Martsenko to the category.
For 2013, BVM were dropped from the category and the company split into two management groups – Zeta Management and MT (Max Travin) Motorsport – with the former progressing to the series under the banner “Zeta Corse”.
© Liam Cunningham / Zoom
The second annual Zoom F1 proved a roaring success on Friday evening, with the charity auction raising over £20,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
Held at London’s exclusive InterContinental London Park Lane hotel, several notable members of the Formula One paddock attended the event hosted by BBC Formula One presenter Suzi Perry.
Guests included Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, former World Champion Damon Hill and team bosses Christian Horner (Red Bull) and Claire Williams.
Also in attendance were television stars Vanessa Feltz, Charlie Webster and James Martin; Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag and Ecclestone’s daughter Tamara.
Conducted by motorsport experts and auctioneers Coys, bidders enthusiastically received photos taken by the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.
However Fernando Alonso’s shot of the tifosi under the podium at last year’s Italian Grand Prix raised the bar, fetching £3,250 in a tense bidding war that lasted several minutes. Alongside the photographs, four signed Nikon cameras were also auctioned off during the event.
Not content with his status as a special guest, Ecclestone also provided the night’s comedy moment as he played both auctioneer and eventual buyer of his own photograph.
Following the event, Christian Sylt, co-founder of Zoom, commented: “I would like to extend a massive thank you to Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula 1 teams and also to the fans for their support and help in making this year’s Zoom event so successful. Not only for their generosity tonight, but also for their continued support throughout the year, without which Zoom would not be possible!”
Syly then added: “Not only have we been able to showcase a truly unique collection of photographs which encapsulate the world of Formula 1, we have been able to support the incredible work undertaken by Great Ormond Street Hospital.”
The remaining twenty pictures will be sold in an online auction that went live at www.coys-zoom.co.uk yesterday. As with the 2013 edition, all the photographs included in the auction will be published in a special edition book by Vision Sports Publishing prior to the beginning of the 2014 Formula One season – see www.visionsp.co.uk for further details.
Leading Auto GP World Series squad Super Nova has announced a partnership with Bedford-based Cranfield University.
The partnership will see the postgraduate university place a masters student within Super Nova, creating a new role while also expanding the team’s research and analysis capacity.
Meanwhile, an educational package is also being produced in an effort to help the team’s drivers better understand the engineering principals of the machines they compete with.
Super Nova team principal, David Sears, is confident this partnership will only add to the success of the Norfolk squad. ”Our team philosophy is built on educating our staff and drivers in order to deliver the success that Super Nova has achieved over the years and Cranfield’s reputation in the field of motorsport engineering is fantastic,” enthused Sears.
Cranfield University is well known in the motorsport industry for its innovative higher-level programme. According to the university prospectus, Cranfield’s Advanced Motorsport Engineering Masters programme was established at the beginning of the last decade and “prepares graduates for a career in motorsport or high performance engineering through the development of a combination of applied research and practical skills, specialist expertise and business management tailored towards a career in motorsport.”
The overview also sites that “motorsport practitioners such as Pat Symonds, Adrian Reynard, Andrew McFarlan, Stefan Strahnz, Mike Pilbeam and Daniele Casanova contribute valuable sessions on the course.”
Continuing Sears said, “Drivers tend to come to us with varying levels of engineering knowledge so I believe that if we can set a standard for this understanding through education then this will enable our drivers to raise their performance and be better prepared as their careers progress.”
Senior Lecturer and Programme Director, Clive Temple added: “Super Nova is an innovative team which recognises the value of education, both in terms of the development of its own drivers and critically in supporting aspiring engineers. The partnership with Super Nova will provide Advanced Motorsport Engineering MSc students with the opportunity to enhance their understanding of motorsport as practitioners working with the team and its drivers. This partnership has the potential to underpin thesis projects for example.”
If nothing else, this will certainly be top-notch real-life experience for an aspiring engineer.
GP2 Series race winners Hilmer Motorsport are to become Force India’s junior development team from this season.
Debuting in the category last year, the Hilmer team impressed after taking wins with Robin Frijns, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Jon Lancaster.
For this season, the German squad will be competing with GP3 Series runner-up Facu Regalia and Daniel Abt – the latter of whom joined the team from ART Grand Prix in November.
Such is the nature of the collaboration, both Regalia and Abt join Force India’s development programme, partnering 15-year-old karting star Jehan Daruvala. As well as becoming Force India’s junior squad, Hilmer will also incorporate Force India’s traditional colours of green, white and gold into their livery scheme.
Having received the €200,000 scholarship from the GP3 Series at the end of last season, Regalia is understandably delighted with both his move to GP2 and the possibilities the tie-up to Force India brings.
The deal also offers the Hilmer pilots a shot at driving the Force India Formula One car come the young driver test – a factor that clearly excites Regalia: “The chance to drive a Formula One car at the end of the season is also a huge motivation. My focus is to work as hard as I can to make sure we are fighting at the front of the field and getting the best results possible.”
For Hilmer Motorsport team principal Franz Hilmer, this deal is a very welcome one. “We are very happy about the collaboration between Hilmer Motorsport and Sahara Force India Formula One Team. I’ve had an association with Sahara Force India for ten years and we are looking forward to working together on a sporting level going forward.”
Looking to his drivers, Hilmer added: “With Facu Regalia and Daniel Abt we have two very talented, young drivers with the potential to progress to Formula One. We will do our best to support them on their way to the pinnacle of motor racing.”
It is not the first time Hilmer has touched Formula One. The German was one of the backers behind the failed bid to get Brabham Grand Prix on the grid for the 2010 season. If nothing else, this may eventually become an avenue for Hilmer to finally enter the top category.
Hilmer have also been a supplier of mechanical parts to various Formula One teams and are well known in the sport’s circles.
Camren Kaminsky is to step up to the British Formula 3 International Series this year with Double R Racing.
Managed by MB Partners and under the guide of former Formula One driver Mark Blundell, the young American racer took 8th overall in the British Formula Ford Championship last year, claiming a single victory with JTR.
Kaminsky will be racing alongside the already confirmed Andy Chang at the Woking-based squad. Following a brief tenure in karting, Kaminsky made his car-racing début in 2012 in the Pacific Formula 2000 championship, where he took five podiums on his way to the runner-up in the standings.
The Arizona native certainly left a positive impression upon the mind of Double R team principal, Anthony Hieatt. “Camren really is a fantastic young prospect and we’re thrilled he’s signed with Double R for the new British F3 season,” said Hieatt.
Naturally, Kaminsky’s fast rise up the motorsport ranks could prove tricky, but it is an element already factored by Hieatt. “The step from Formula Ford to F3 is still big, even though Ford now has slicks and wings, but I’m confident from what I saw of Camren last year he’ll be a very capable, very quick young driver. He certainly has a lot of potential.”
Alongside his Formula 3 commitments, Kaminsky is also competing in the MRF Challenge against more experienced talent such as Tio Ellinas, Arthur Pic, Harry Tincknell and Rupert Svendsen-Cook. Kaminsky currently lies 14th in points, with the final round set to take place in Chennai next week.
© Brabham
If one listens closely, you can almost hear David Brabham relax.
Almost.
The son of the three-time World Champion Jack Brabham – a great in the annals of motorsport – Brabham emerged from the shadow of his father’s legacy to build a successful career of his own.
A winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, a champion in the American Le Mans Series and a former Formula One racer, Brabham has achieved and touched more points in motorsport than many others could possibly imagine possible.
The 48-year-old Brabham recently competed in the Daytona 24 Hours with the Extreme Speed Motorsports team; however the Honda-powered squad retired after just over fourteen hours, following a disjointed running peppered with gearbox issues.
Taking a short breath, Brabham considers for a moment about recent events at the inaugural United Sportscar Championship race. “They weren’t going great,” noted the canny veteran. “It was a case for us to try and get to the end and get some points for the guys in the championship. Unfortunately we had an issue and that stopped us. It’s not going to be easy to get the [balance of performance] right, but the DPs had such an advantage, it was a bit like racing against the diesels.”
It is not the only battle that Brabham has emerged from in recent times. Brabham recently launched The Brabham Dynasty – a website and branding programme dedicated to celebrating the family’s heritage across its generations – but it did not come without its difficulties. Initially conceived in the middle of the last decade, Brabham found himself faced with a roadblock, leading to a prolonged legal battle, as he explains, “There was a problem as someone had registered the Brabham name in Germany and that caused us problems, because around about that time I was thinking ‘we have got this name, we’ve got all this history, yet as a family we have done nothing with it’.”
With the programme in its early stages, Brabham prepared to register the family name as a trademark, only to receive a surprising rebuttal. “We got a rejection letter from a guy in Germany saying ‘you can’t do that, because I own it’, which was like a red rag to a bull for us.”
The situation was complicated further when the party in Germany attempted to register the ‘Brabham Grand Prix’ name for the Formula One World Championship in 2009. “[Franz] Hilmer ended doing a deal with some other guy that I was suing for the use of the name and call it Brabham Grand Prix, so we put in an objection to that and Bernie [Ecclestone] did as well and it got changed very quickly.”
Never one to be idle, Brabham’s own racing exploits continued apace, while legal arguments continued. “It ended up going to court and it was a seven-year process to get the name back, so there was very little we could do with our name as a brand until that got sorted and it was sorted on Christmas Day a year ago.
“It was a very difficult time, because I was still heavily involved in my own racing in America. The height of it was in 2009 when I won Le Mans and I won the [ALMS] Championship and no one knows how, because I was so incredibly stressed out, particularly around Le Mans time, with the court case, because it was extremely personal.”
While the website itself is online, the former Simtek and Brabham-Judd racer considers it an unfinished project and promises that there is more to come. “The online presence is just the start of what we are going to do in the future. We are talking about sixty years here of family racing history and a lot of success, so we have attempted to capture six decades of different people and we haven’t got all of them.”
Talent across generations happens occasionally in motorsport – there are plenty of examples of sons and nephews who follow their elders into the motor racing arena, but Brabham is one of those rare examples of a family with three generations of racers. Thankfully the Brabham name has not stopped with David or his brothers Geoff and Gary. Now David’s son Sam is taking his first steps into motorsport in British Formula Ford, while Matthew Brabham – the son of Geoff – is about to move into Indy Lights having won the 2013 Pro Mazda Championship in the US.
“It is interesting,” notes Brabham. “When I was last in Australia, I did an interview with a high-level criminal psychiatrist who was fascinated – what is it that makes this family tick? Three generations of success in an industry in an industry is rare.” He explains further: “You have got to be born with some degree of ability to drive, but I have seen a lot of talented people that don’t make it because their work ethic is no good – they don’t work hard enough at it and for us as a family, we all have very similar tools as human beings – it’s just how we use them determines our results. It’s an interesting subject and something that I have been looking at in the background. I do talks to different schools and I do talk about these particular things which help people.”
Always willing to help his son, without interfering too much, Brabham has been keen to pass some of his experience on to Sam as the latter looks toward his first full-season in Formula Ford. “I felt it was a good place for him to start, to learn the tracks, learn what racing is all about, but also importantly to learn about himself and he has been able to do the MRF championship in India and Bahrain in a quicker car and with tougher competition. That will bring him up a level and then he has got to learn how to win. He is very limited in his experience and he has to learn to arrive at a race track and come away a winner and this is what this year will be all about.”
In a sense, Brabham’s ability and willingness to pass on his knowledge is an extension of one of his side-projects – a driver development company known as Performance Clinic, which is soon to celebrate its tenth year of existence.
Speaking about Performance Clinic, Brabham remembers: “It started in 2004 and […] I needed to look at what I am going to be doing in the future and I have always been someone who has liked to help people and I do feel that I have an ability to do it as well, because I have always had a good response from people that I’ve worked with and I enjoy it. So I wanted to do something that I have a passion for, because I have a passion for racing and I am prepared to work had for it and I needed something else to have a passion about outside of racing.”
Brabham’s experience goes beyond the cockpit and is one of a growing number of driver coaches who focuses on the sport’s untapped psychological mine. “I’ve been through many, many ups and downs in the sport which has given me a lot of confidence in what I am saying to people and I can relate to them, because I’ve been through it myself. So I started to help a few drivers and they improved dramatically and a lot of it was to do with the mental side really; the way they think about things and where their focus really should be, so it is probably more to do with that.”
Having had his success in the great Le Mans endurance, the former Peugeot and Aston Racing is keen that motorsport alters its approach to psychological training, believing there to be untapped possibilities. “When you are young, you have a tendency to think you kind of know it and you don’t, but I think racing in general has a backward mentality when it comes to helping people with the mental side, because they see it as a weakness and it’s not a weakness. It’s improving your weaknesses as a person and improving your strengths and making you a stronger package which can only be a good thing. You see top sportsmen in other areas working with people to improve themselves, so why aren’t racing drivers doing it? It doesn’t make any real sense.”
With much of his racing career behind him, Brabham remains as busy as ever, but for now his main focuses are the Dynasty site, his son’s burgeoning career and the emblem that is the family name; however it is not something that he takes for granted. “I think we are now at a stage where we understand it a bit better. We understand the advantages of being a Brabham, because when we talk to people, they say ‘oh yeah, I know Brabham’ – it’s still in people’s minds and we have to make sure that this is part of the brand development and the project that we are looking at doing in the future will only benefit Sam and Matthew, because they are great ambassadors for the name and they are both very talented. We are now looking at it in a much different way and a much bigger picture way that.”
The Brabham Dynasty can be found at brabham.co.uk.
TheMotorsportArchive.com is saddened to learn of the death of David Robertson Snr this week following a long illness.
A canny driver manager, Robertson Snr is credited with discovering numerous young driving talents, including World Champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen, helping to propel both to Formula One with Williams and Sauber respectively.
Although Button eventually switched management teams, Robertson Sr and son continued to play management roles with Raikkonen, guiding the Finn through his formative years.
Robertson Snr was also key in helping to set up Raikkonen-Robertson Racing (later Double R Racing) with his son Steve and Raikkonen in 2004 to run in the British F3 Championship, with the elder Robertson becoming a well respected member of the F3 paddock for many years.
Raikkonen-Robertson would eventually win British F3 in 2006 with Mike Conway; however by 2010, the company had transferred ownership its then team manager Boyo Hieatt.
The team would also join the Formula BMW Europe ranks, but withdrew from the category following the conclusion of the 2009 season.
Commenting on the Double R website on Thursday, Hieatt said: “What an incredible inspiration Dave Snr was to work with. We first met in 1988, he was more than a work colleague though – we had many, many great times all around the world, whether in Europe, America or Asia. Building Räikkönen-Robertson Racing together in 2004 really was a special time.
“It’s such a sad loss, he fought his illness with unbelievable tenacity. David is going to be very sadly missed by a huge number of people and we pray Maggie and the rest of the family will be blessed with the strength they need at this tragic time.”
David Robertson Snr passed away this week at the age of 70.
Mazepa (right) with leading GP2 Series driver Sam Bird.
© Sam Bloxham/LAT Photographic.
It with great sadness that TheMotorsportArchive.com must report the passing of RUSSIAN TIME boss Igor Mazepa.
The 40-year-old entered his team into the GP2 Series at the beginning of last year, eventually taking the Teams’ Championship with Sam Bird and Tom Dillmann. Bird would take the runner-up spot in the Drivers’ Championship, just shy of Fabio Leimer.
In addition to the GP2 squad, Mazepa was to enter his team into the GP3 Series this season and had even spoken of running his own Formula One team at some time.
While details are still relatively thin at this point, early reports have said the Ukrainian passed away on Monday due to thrombosis. My thoughts and condolences are with the family, friends and associates of Igor Mazepa.
Mazepa (right) with leading GP2 Series driver Sam Bird.
© Sam Bloxham/LAT Photographic.
It with great sadness that TheMotorsportArchive.com must report the passing of RUSSIAN TIME boss Igor Mazepa.
The 40-year-old entered his team into the GP2 Series at the beginning of last year, eventually taking the Teams’ Championship with Sam Bird and Tom Dillmann. Bird would take the runner-up spot in the Drivers’ Championship, just shy of Fabio Leimer.
In addition to the GP2 squad, Mazepa was to enter his team into the GP3 Series this season and had even spoken of running his own Formula One team at some time.
While details are still relatively thin at this point, early reports have said the Ukrainian passed away on Monday due to thrombosis. My thoughts and condolences are with the family, friends and associates of Igor Mazepa.
GP3 Series racer Alex Fontana is to move to ART Grand Prix for his second season in the category.
Fontana, who is the first to sign with ART for this year, initially tested with the French squad at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi last November, as they aim for their fifth consecutive teams’ title.
A member of Gravity Sport Management’s young driver programme with Lotus F1, Fontana sees this as an opportunity to break out with the ART squad.
According to Fontana, “Our collaboration started very well during winter testing and although I still have to get familiar with people and with the teams method of working, my experience of the car and especially of the GP3 Series, the professionalism at ART Grand Prix will help me to complete this mission.
“I have been training both physically and mentally to maximize this tremendous opportunity given to me and I would like to thank ART Grand Prix and the Lotus F1 Junior Team. My goal is to always be at the forefront and be consistent throughout the season, because it is a crucial factor for the overall championship results.”
The Swiss pilot débuted in GP3 in 2011, but was pinned to only occasional appearances with Jenzer Motorsport. A former champion of the European F3 Open Series, Fontana progressed to the now defunct FIA Formula Two Championship, before committing to his first full GP3 season last year.
The 21-year-old has shown flashes of real speed on occasion and enjoyed a reasonably stab at GP3, with a podium coming in the Silverstone Sunday Race, alongside three points finishes.
ART Grand Prix boss Frederic Vasseur also commented that, “Alex has adapted quickly to his new work environment and has proven his talent throughout the recent three days of testing. His technical qualities, speed and knowledge of the GP3 Series will help us get off to a good start in the early races, something that is essential in such a competitive championship series such as GP3.”
The French team has yet to announce any additional drivers for their GP3 programme.
There were some interesting notes released this morning regarding Formula One’s global television figures for the 2013.
According to reports released in Formula One’s latest Global Annual Report (GAR), the category lost around 50 million viewers over the course of the 2013 season, bringing Formula One’s approximate total annual viewership to 450 million.
While Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone commented that the drop is down to the overwhelming success enjoyed by Sebastian Vettel, it must also be countered that where the 26-year-old’s victory run has played a part, it is certainly not the sole reason.
Naturally the loss of 10% of the global audience represents a worrying deterioration, it would poor to take last season’s figures in isolation, for Formula One has been suffering declining global viewing figures for several years.
At its peak in 2008, Formula One enjoyed a global viewership of approximately 600 million, as Ferrari and McLaren did battle both on and off the track in what can only be described as a desperately turbulent period.
In the time since, the viewing figures dipped massively (losing approximately 80 million in 2009 alone), as Jenson Button took the title with Brawn Grand Prix. There was a slight rise the following year, with another dip coming (this time to 515 million in 2011 and then to – what is believed {note 1} – 500 million for 2012, despite the tense championship battle between Vettel and Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso.
So are these viewing figures measured per Grand Prix? Well, not quite and this is where it gets somewhat confusing. According to the opening of the 2012 GAR, the report is “based on the industry norm of a minimum non-consecutive, fifteen minute viewing experience.”
There is little in the overall analysis to differentiate between the viewer who watched fifteen minutes of a race or watched every moment of each Grand Prix throughout the year. The report goes on to cite that, “new viewers are identified for each new Grand Prix, allowing the GAR to calculate an audience of unique individual viewers.”
Now if we are to look at the 2013 viewership in isolation, it might be reasonable to conclude that Vettel’s victory parade probably turned off most of the casual viewers; however it has also been insinuated that double points may have rescued the bottom half of last year.
(There will have more on this later in the week.)
Realistically, that makes little sense when the championship effectively swung toward Red Bull and Vettel during the latter part of the summer, before eventually being decided in the German racer’s favour in October. By year-end, Vettel had won nine consecutive races.
Interestingly, it was during October that Ecclestone made references to how Vettel’s dominance was not hurting television figures at all and that viewers were switching on in the hope of catching his downfall, adding that, “It’s a bit like with Roger Federer or Muhammad Ali. Vettel is the best there is and people want to be there when he gets beat.”
Vettel’s ease of the title owed as much his skill and the prowess of Red Bull as a technological organisation, as it did the stability of the technical regulations, which has seen Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey consistently deliver title and race winning cars for the drinks company since 2009; however, as with any rules package, the longer the technical regulations stay the same, the easier it is for any one team / driver combination to dominate.
If anything, the new rules may actually be a greater incentive for people to tune in again, as it could do much to create a (temporary) upset of the order – a point that Ecclestone was determined to impress: “It is timely developments like these that keep Formula One at the forefront of sustainable and relevant technology. One thing I am sure of is that this coming season will not only offer a heightened level of unpredictability but renewed excitement and fierce competition.” Admittedly, Ecclestone’s comments are the polar opposite of his sentiment over the weekend, when he referred to the new regulations as a farce following a stuttered opening test at Jerez.
But that is how motorsport works much of the time.
Alas, that last season contained one less Grand Prix, aligned with the continuing fragmentation of television audiences across the globe (that’s another big topic that will be touched on eventually) and the migration to pay TV probably makes up a massive chunk of that 50 million, while Vettel winning championships ad infinitum probably does the rest.
Of course as time passes, Formula One’s television deals appear to be switching toward numerous pay TV packages, but where pay TV brings in huge swaths of money, there are still relatively few eyeballs in that arena; ensuring viewing figures may continue to fall as the transition away from free-to-air (or various national equivalents) gathers pace.
In the end, Formula One may be best served by copying the FA’s tactics in the UK with regards to Premiership football. Where the Premiership enjoys a very healthy pay-per-view package, the weekly highlights package on the BBC has done much to keep much to keep the sport high in the public arena.
Football also has the advantage of only needing a ball, a couple of jumpers for goalposts and some friends to create a match setting.
Formula One – and motorsport as a whole – does not have that advantage. Should Formula One eventually disappear completely into the land of pay-per-view, the sport could conceivably wither away to nothing.
Don’t mind me. I am normally an optimist.
(note 1)
An exact figured was not released for 2012; however according to http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/feb/15/formula-one-tv the number is believed to be in and around the half-a-billion mark.
Nine teams have signed up to compete in this season’s Auto GP World Series, with an additional pair weighing up entry.
As expected, reigning champions Super Nova are to continue in the single-seater series, as will Comtec by Virtuosi, Ghinzani Motorsport, Ibiza Racing Team, MLR-71, Virtuosi UK and Zele Racing.
Joining the regular septet are Fortec Italia Motorsport (run by former International F3000 champion Vincenzo Sospiri) and Puma 3 Motorsport, while Team Spirit and RC Motorsport continue to evaluate their options.
Where some have joined the series, Auto GP has also lost two participants, with Euronova and Manor MP Motorsport currently absent from the entry list.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 