De la Rosa says “Pirelli is ready for F1″ after wet test

Pedro de la Rosa gave the thumbs-up to Pirelli’s tyres after concluding a test in Abu Dhabi.

He used the manufacturer’s complete range of dry and wet tyres in the test including intermediate and full wets.

The wet weather running was conducted on the north loop of the track, measuring 3.1km, which was artificially dampened using 140,000 litres of water.

De la Rosa did around 700km of running. Pirelli say they have accumulated 20,000km since their tests began in August.

De la Rosa said:

In my opinion, Pirelli is ready now for Formula One. The dry tyre test went very well, and confirmed everything we had learned in Bahrain the week before.

But the most original part of the test was when we were running at night on the wet tyres, which was as new an experience for me as it was for everyone else. The most important thing was that the water levels were consistent, which allowed us to have some accurate results from the test.

At the end of it, we’ve come up with two tyres – wet and intermediate – which I believe are both competitive and stable.
Pedro de la Rosa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlgU9QSKxs4&feature=player_embedded

Hero’s homecoming for Williams’ Maldonado in Venezuela

Pastor Maldonado enjoyed a warm welcome from his home crowd in Venezuela on Friday as the Williams team celebrated his recent confirmation as one of their drivers for the forthcoming season. Maldonado demonstrated the British team’s FW32 at the historical Paseo de los Proceres in the capital city of Caracas in front of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

“It was unbelievable to share this experience with my countrymen,” said Maldonado. “The amount of people that turned out to watch was just amazing. Los Proceres is a very important place so to drive a Formula One car there is special to me. I was also honoured to drive in front of our President, Mr Chavez. What a great way to start my season!”

Maldonado completed a number of laps of the improvised track and delighted the crowd by concluding the spectacle with a series of doughnuts. Organisers estimated 20,000 people witnessed the landmark event, which was the first time a Venezuelan had driven a Formula One car in front of his home crowd.

“We’ve had an amazing day in Caracas,” said Williams F1 chairman Adam Parr. “Los Proceres, a very important monument to the liberators of Venezuela, was a very dramatic setting for the event and we were honoured with the presence of a number of ministers and, of course, President Chavez. Pastor did a great job, as did the team, and I think we gave the people of Caracas a taste of how exciting Formula One is.”

After wowing Venezuela, 25-year-old Maldonado is expected to return to Europe to join team mate Rubens Barrichello, ahead of 2011's first multi-team test at the Spanish circuit of Valencia from February 1-3.

Two-seater ride under the hammer for Australian flood victims

The organisers of this year's Australian Grand Prix are to auction off a ride in a two-seater Grand Prix car to raise funds to support the victims of the recent floods in Queensland. The eBay-based auction begins on January 17 and will draw to a close on January 28.

The winning bidder will enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime ride around the spectacular Albert Park street circuit during this year’s event. The two-seater car is powered by a 700bhp-plus V10 engine and features chassis construction, suspension, brakes and tyres not dissimilar to the cars competing in the 2011 championship.

“To experience the power of a two-seater Formula One car, hitting speeds of 300 kilometres per hour is normally a money-can’t-buy opportunity, so by auctioning this amazing experience we hope to raise a significant amount to support Queenslanders,” explained Andrew Westacott, acting CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

Former Australian Formula One World Champion - and Queensland resident - Alan Jones agreed, saying “This is a fantastic initiative and hopefully motorsport fans show their support in contributing to such a crucial cause.”

The Australian Grand Prix will take place at Albert Park from March 25-27.

Pirelli commence F1’s first-ever wet night test

As their eagerly-anticipated return to Formula One racing draws ever closer, Pirelli embarked on the sport’s first-ever wet weather night test in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Pedro de la Rosa is taking charge of the Italian tyre firm’s test car over the course of the two-day session, as he helps them finalise their wet and intermediate rubber specifications for 2011.

The 5.55-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit has been coated in water for the unique 12-hour night test, which got underway at 1800 hours local time. The test car is expected to cover more than 1,000 kilometres over the next two nights.

“This is a unique opportunity to witness a Formula One test car on track at night in the wet and on hot tarmac, in an entirely floodlit setting,” said Paul Hembery, Pirelli F1 team director. “We decided to do it this way because we want to challenge our rain tyres with the most difficult and demanding of all situations. And who knows, perhaps it could be a good idea for a future Grand Prix?”

The Abu Dhabi test will be the last in a series of nine private sessions Pirelli have carried out since August 2010, when their test programme started. Since then, test line-up Nick Heidfeld, Romain Grosjean and Pedro de la Rosa have covered more than 13,000 km at a variety of circuits as they sampled Pirelli’s range of tyres for the 2011 season.

The Formula One teams also got to sample the Pirelli rubber at a session at Abu Dhabi in November after the end of the 2010 season. Most recently, De la Rosa finalised the super-soft and soft compound tyres at Yas Marina last weekend.

“These tests will provide us with useful information to finalise our tyre development process for Formula One,” added Hembrey. “It is seven months since we started developing our tyres and five since we started with the actual testing. We are very satisfied with the results so far.”

With Pirelli’s private sessions soon over, the teams will take on the testing mantle as they start their own on-track preparations. All 12 are expected to attend 2011's first official pre-season test at Valencia from February 1-3, before they all journey to Jerez for a second test a week later.

Domenicali: Only perfection will do for Ferrari in 2011

They may have gathered to meet and greet the media and sample some winter sports, but off piste Ferrari are using their annual ‘Wrooom’ ski event to dissect the highs and lows of their 2010 season and outline their strategy for this year’s campaign. And after ending the year third behind rivals Red Bull and McLaren in the constructors’ stakes and coming so close to the drivers’ championship, there’s much for team principal Stefano Domenicali to mull over.

“In 2010 we just missed out on the drivers’ title with Fernando Alonso and we came third in the constructors’ championship,” Domenicali told the media. “The target for 2011 is as easy to say as it is hard to achieve - it requires taking one step forward in the drivers’ championship and two in the one for the teams. These have to be our targets because we are Ferrari.”

To achieve their aims and wrest the titles from defending champions Red Bull, Domenicali believes it is essential the team’s 2011 car is on the pace from the season opener in Bahrain.

“The truth is that the (2010) championship was lost in the early part of the season, when we failed to pick up the points that were within our grasp,” he said. “We want to have a car that is super-competitive and reliable from the very start. We know that we will have to be perfect, including in how we react to all the events that can crop up in a race weekend - because when the opponents are so strong and numerous this is what you need if you aspire to win.”

The new Ferrari will be launched at the team's Maranello base on January 28 and will make its on-track debut that afternoon as they take promotional shots at the Fiorano circuit. But Domenicali anticipates the car will undergo so many tweaks over the four pre-season tests that it will be virtually unrecognisable when it finally takes to the grid.

“The car that you will see at the Maranello launch will be very different from the one that makes its debut on March 13 in Bahrain. We will continue to develop the car up to the last available day, as we believe the other teams will.”

Like their rivals, Ferrari’s test schedule begins in earnest on February 1 at the Spanish circuit of Valencia. Alonso will carry out two days in the cockpit, before handing the car over to team mate Felipe Massa for the final day.

Virgin boosted after doubling computing power

When Virgin joined the grid in 2010, their debut race car broke the mould as the first Formula One challenger to be designed entirely in the digital domain using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). And though they finished last in the final constructors’ standings, the team’s pioneering CFD-only campaign is set to continue into 2011.

An enhanced partnership with technology partners, CSC, will see Virgin’s computing capacity double in 2011, with a new computer suite housed at the base of technical partners Wirth Research. According to Virgin, this will allow the team to make more changes, more quickly, and at less cost than their rivals, as they strive to improve on-track performance.

Virgin hope the size and power of the new facilities will mean the smallest design improvements can be validated within a few hours, adjusted as needed, and re-tested. The team believe this will prove faster and more cost effective than the prototype production and wind-tunnel testing that their rivals rely on to make improvements.

“We are delighted that the partnership we enjoyed with CSC in our debut season has developed into an even stronger relationship and one which will have a more direct influence on the performance of our race car design and development,” said the Virgin team’s CEO Graeme Lowdon.

“Twelve months ago we launched the first Formula One car to be designed entirely using CFD to demonstrate that, over time, a new team operating with a smaller and more sustainable budget can enter the sport and be competitive. These are exciting times at Marussia Virgin Racing and with CSC’s support and an enhanced technical capability, we can embark on our second season with renewed ambition and pursue our longer-term performance objectives with confidence.”

The investment means that Virgin will be running at the maximum level of CFD capacity allowed under the teams' Resource Restriction Agreement.

McLaren’s Paddy Lowe on adjustable wings, late launches & KERS

Formula One racing is a nerve-racking sport at the best of times, but at this stage of the year - when pre-season work is reaching its climax, nobody’s sure about what their rivals have come up with over the winter break and there’s a question mark hovering over where new cars will sit in the pecking order - it’s particularly anxious. And so, despite enjoying the challenge of 2011's wide-ranging regulation changes, and feeling confident in the new MP4-26, even the nerves of McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe are jangling. In a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 'Phone-In' session, Lowe discusses the British team’s decision to launch later than their key rivals, adjustable rear wings and his hopes for the 2011 car…

Q: Which regulation change for this year has proved the most demanding to get to grips with and why?
Paddy Lowe: I think the most interesting and challenging - and they really go together in the technical domain for me - change is the adjustable rear wing, which is intended to add overtaking interest to the races. We can use it whenever we like in qualifying, much like we used the F-flap last year. That as a new package has presented interesting opportunities to optimise and has set some technical challenges, which has been good fun.

Q: Last year’s moveable front wing has been dropped in favour of an adjustable rear wing. Do you think it will prove more successful than its predecessor in boosting overtaking?
PL: I certainly do. It has a lot more leverage. The adjustable front wing was introduced along with the OWG (Overtaking Work Group) regulations in 2009 and it was really only intended as a mild adjustment for a driver to trim the balance of the car when in the wake and while attempting to overtake another car. I was a member of the OWG and we actually put it in there as an insurance policy as we were all a bit worried that if we had got it wrong the car would be very unbalanced in the wake and possibly have oversteer. As it turned out nobody used the front wing for that purpose at all, we only really used it to make mild adjustments during the race for balance. So we all agreed last year that we would get rid of it in the interests of simplicity and cost saving because it would be the same for everybody. It will add a bit more of a challenge in the race, in terms of balance, because now we will have to make any front-wing adjustments in the pit stop.

Q: Why will the new car be launched the day after the first pre-season test ends?
PL: It’s always been our plan to launch it after the first test. One of the reasons was that we wanted to make use of the first test to work with the old car - a stable and known platform - whilst we worked on understanding the new tyres. It also gave us a bit more time in the programme to work for the new car. It has always been planned that way. We consider it optimal for our preparation. It is always a bit of a balancing act deciding what your programme should be.

Is it possible to do anything clever with F-ducts? Are the rules absolutely clear or will anyone find a way around them and replicate some of what you did last year with the F-duct?
PL: You can never say never so I won’t rule it out, but I think the substantial effect has been deleted with belt and braces. It will be, in my view, impossible to reproduce the effect we had last year. The principal blockages are that those complex wing sections, which were necessary to create a slotted rear wing and therefore stall a rear wing, are states that are now prevented. So the aero-force sections through a rear wing, whether it’s the main plane or the flap, have to be much more conventional. You can’t have very sharp radii in that section and you can’t create a slot. The slot was the essential element of the stalling effect. On the other end of things, it’s very clearly stated now that the driver can’t control an aerodynamic effect, which was the aspect of the regulations which we had exploited. Article 3.15 was about moving bodywork not about moving drivers and that was the opportunity we found. That has now been explicitly closed down.

Q: There has been a bit of talk about drivers defending their places whilst others use their rear wings. Is it clear to you what happens if there are three driver together racing in a line? Are the two following cars able to use it? Do you have any specific concerns about any grey areas?
PL: I think there aren’t really grey areas to clarify because the rule, in the circumstance you are talking about, is clearly stated. If the two following cars are both within a second of the car ahead, then they can both use their rear wing for the following deployment point which will be on the following straight. That’s clear. What’s less clear is how that will actually pan out - what will the effect of that be in a race? I think that’s something we are going to have to see and explore throughout the season. I think it will be quite exciting. The one control that the FIA have is for each circuit they can set the points in the deployment straights at which you are allowed to press the button. So, for instance, you might be allowed to press it for the last 300m of the main straight until the braking point. I think the FIA have it within their power to manage the situation so that the authority of the system makes sense and that may take one or two races to settle down. But they can lengthen or shorten that amount of straight on a race-by-race basis so that will give some ability to make it work in the way we intended it to.

Q: What specification will you be running at the first test? Will it have elements of the 2011 car or will you test elements of the 2010 chassis?
PL: It's a relatively standard 2010 chassis. We’ll have a number of development items on it, but nothing substantial in terms of the elements of the 2011 package.

Q: So no moveable rear wing?
PL: No

Q: What were your feelings about the new Pirelli tyres at the test last year?
PL: It was an encouraging start. Pirelli have a challenge. We found the tyres very good in a number of points and weak in just one area, which was the traction in exit. I think that was the same for all the teams. The tyre was very good at high speeds, very stable and very good at the entry phase of a corner. In terms of degradation of the tyre, one of the compounds they hadn’t really got right and they’ve corrected that now for the next test in Valencia. The other one was reasonably severe in terms of degradation but still a raceable tyre. It was a good start. We learnt a few things. The weakness in the exit phase will not be solved easily so we recognised that that’s the most important area which we have to focus on and make some effort to try to mitigate that before the new car.

Q: Why is the team launching in Berlin?
PL: It’s at the request of Vodafone. They want to launch in Berlin as part of Vodafone Germany operations.

Q: Are you worried your late launch could cause reliability issues during the season? You are missing 25 percent of your allotted test time…
PL: It's always a bit of a balancing act between how much mileage you're going to cover from a reliability point of view and from a set-up point of view working with the new car. And then you're trading against development time in the lab, in the wind tunnel and in the office. We have taken that position. In terms of reliability impact, more and more work is now done in the lab, typically on the dynamometer, to prove out the major mechanical systems on the car. So we're more confident these days that we can hit the ground running with a reliable package without needing to do thousands and thousands of kilometres on the track. You always do learn something from the mileage, but it's a trade. I hope I’m not proven wrong in that respect, but we're reasonably confident that we can get the reliability that we need from those three tests.

Q: How confident are you this season’s car will be competitive?
PL: That’s always the big question. It’s a very stressful time of year for all the engineers I would say, between this point and the qualifying of the first race, when you really understand where you are. Everybody, no matter whether they think they’re doing well or badly, has no reference to what level of absolute performance is needed. So we are confident in what we’ve done. We’re happy with it and have worked very well over the winter. We think we’ve got a good car. But that will be true amongst all of our competitors. They are all working just as hard as we are. So we don’t know really, but that's the excitement and why we’re in this sport.

Q: In terms of your development are you where you want to be then?
PL: Yes I think we are, as much as we can tell that’s where we think we could be. It sounds like I’m taking in code! When you have a winter like last winter, with very few regulation changes, then you can try and extrapolate where you think you need to be relative to your competitors from the last race of the previous season. Just like in the winter 2008/9 there’s been a reasonable reset of the regulations this winter, so those reference points are not as good as you’d like them to be. We have taken some estimates as to what level of performance we think we need and we are on track for those. But time will tell whether that is sufficient.

Q: Do you think it was mistake to introduce KERS back in 2009 in tandem with a big aerodynamic regulation change?
PL: I think it was regrettable that it came in and then went out again. I think it’s a good thing to have in the sport so you had to start somehow and it was a tough start in 2009. But KERS is a good technology and good for the sport, so we should adopt it. 2010 was a good consolidation break, so the suppliers have been able to regroup and determine ways to produce more effective systems. So we should have a field this year where the majority - if not all - of the cars have KERS and where KERS is worthwhile to run. It has been a painful way to arrive at it but I think we’ve got a good outcome.

Q: Do you think it would have been better to introduce KERS before or after the aero changes in 2009?
PL: I don’t think they’re entirely coupled in that way. KERS was developed by the engine suppliers and therefore wasn’t much in conflict with the aerodynamic operations. So whilst the aero change package in 2009 was large, and the packaging implications of KERS are large, they are still somehow mostly independent in my view. So I don’t think it would have made much difference.

Teams hopeful moveable rear wing will boost overtaking

A great overtaking move is one of the most thrilling sights during a Grand Prix, but critics have argued for some time that passing has become too difficult for even the world’s best drivers. Recent attempts by the FIA and engineers to develop technology to help drivers pass rivals have enjoyed variable success, but teams are hopeful this season's moveable rear wings could achieve much more.

In 2011 drivers will be able to adjust their car’s rear wing from the cockpit, thereby boosting their top speed and increasing their chances of overtaking the car ahead. McLaren’s director of engineering, Paddy Lowe, is amongst those who believe this new concept will enjoy more success than 2010's moveable front wing, which has been dropped for this season.

“It has a lot more leverage,” Lowe explained during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 'Phone-In' session. “The adjustable front wing was introduced along with the OWG (Overtaking Work Group) regulations in 2009 and it was really only intended as a mild adjustment for a driver to trim the balance of the car when in the wake and while attempting to overtake another car.

“I was a member of the OWG and we actually put it in there as an insurance policy as we were all a bit worried that if we had got it wrong the car would be very unbalanced in the wake and possibly have oversteer. As it turned out nobody used the front wing for that purpose at all, we only really used it to make mild adjustments during the race for balance. So we all agreed last year that we would get rid of it in the interests of simplicity and cost saving because it would be the same for everybody.”

Although some have voiced concerns the new rear wings may make passing too easy, there are restrictions on its use, which should present a real challenge to teams and drivers. The system’s availability will be electronically governed and during the race can only be activated when a driver is less than one second behind another car at pre-determined points on the track.

These ‘deployment points’ will be specified by the FIA on a race-by-race basis. And while Lowe believes the season may be a couple of races old before the stewards are happy they are implementing the new technology in optimum fashion, he doesn’t doubt the objectives of the changes will be realized.

“We are going to have to see and explore (its effects) throughout the season,” he explained. “I think it will be quite exciting. The one control that the FIA have is for each circuit they can set the points in the deployment straights at which you are allowed to press the button. So, for instance, you might be allowed to press it for the last 300m of the main straight until the braking point.

“I think the FIA have it within their power to manage the situation so that the authority of the system makes sense and that may take one or two races to settle down. But they can lengthen or shorten that amount of straight on a race-by-race basis so that will give some ability to make it work in the way we intended it to.”

In 2011, a driver’s overtaking arsenal will also include Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS), which return after a mutually-agreed suspension in 2010. KERS turns the waste energy generated under braking into additional power, which is then made available to the driver via a steering wheel-mounted ‘boost button’.

When used in combination with an adjustable rear wing, it should enable a driver to pass a rival who may have track advantage but doesn’t necessarily have a speed advantage. Over at McLaren rivals Ferrari, driver Fernando Alonso is certainly excited by the prospect, even if he has concerns about the complexity of carrying out so many car adjustments at once.

“For years changes to the regulations have been brought in with this objective [more overtaking] but they haven’t always worked,” said Alonso. “We’re crossing our fingers but I think that between KERS and the adjustable rear wing there will be enough difference in speed to be able to overtake a car you’re fighting.

"These changes have been brought in after meticulous work on the part of the Technical Working Group and I believe they will work. They will be more complex to handle on the part of the driver because we will have more operations to carry out. You will need to find the way to adapt and find the right mechanisms for the buttons to avoid losing the correct concentration for driving.”

The Spaniard - and some of his rivals - will get their first taste of using the rear wing and KERS in tandem when he samples the new Ferrari at the forthcoming Valencia test, which begins in Spain on February 1.

Martin Whitmarsh Q&A: Second won't do - McLaren must win

With five world champions preparing to slug it out, the forthcoming 2011 season is a mouth-watering prospect. And of those five champions, two - Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button - line up for McLaren for a second year. Both were in the 2010 title hunt until late in the year, and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is determined to build on that performance with the team’s new MP4-26 car, which features ‘fresh design features’, as he explained exclusively to Formula1.com…

Q: As we look forward to the new season, how do you rate your team’s performance in 2010?
Martin Whitmarsh: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ mission is a unilateral one: to win. We won five Grands Prix last year, including three one-two finishes, and we came second in the constructors’ championship, significantly ahead of our traditional rivals, Ferrari. But although many teams would be more than satisfied with that performance, we weren’t and aren’t. As I say, our mission is to win, and winning five Grands Prix and coming second in the constructors’ championship doesn’t constitute enough of a win for us. It goes without saying that this year we aim to do better. Having said that, last year there were lots of positives. Season-long, our car wasn’t quite as quick as Red Bull’s, but it was quicker over the course of the year than anyone else’s. Moreover, both our drivers performed extremely well, combining controlled aggression with an astute grasp of on-the-fly tactics. Not only were they very quick, but they also demonstrated good race craft too.

Q: Only one of your drivers can be world champion in 2011. Isn’t it wise to marshal all your resources behind just one of them to achieve that goal?
MW: McLaren goes into every season committed to providing both our drivers with an equal opportunity to win. We’ve enjoyed an enormous amount of success in our 45-year history; since our first Grand Prix in 1966 we’ve won 25 percent of the Grands Prix we’ve started, and at least one of our drivers has stood on the podium in more than 50 percent of them. We’ve won eight constructors’ championships and 12 drivers’ championships. What has underpinned that track record of success is our ability to attract and retain the very best drivers in the sport. You’re very unlikely to obtain the services of two top drivers if one or both of them fear that they may be called upon to comply with team orders. We certainly have two top drivers today - two world champions who between them have won 23 Grands Prix, started from pole position 25 times and taken 67 podium finishes. Not only that, they’re genuinely friendly and cooperative with each other, and that represents a genuine performance dividend for us. We certainly couldn’t have hired the two of them unless they could be utterly confident of receiving equal treatment. So the answer to your question is ‘no’: we won’t marshal all our resources behind just one of our drivers, to quote your phrase. On the contrary, our equal-treatment philosophy has worked for us in the past, it works for us now and it will work for us in the future.

Q: Why will your new car not be ready for the first test?
MW: The MP4-26 is on schedule and will be launched on February 4, after which it will go through the normal testing processes. We feel that timetable is optimal with regard to providing Jenson and Lewis with the best possible package for the first race in Bahrain on March 13. And that will be just the beginning of a progressive and rigorous development programme that will continue right up until the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 27.

Q: Will it be a bold new design?
MW: There are new regulations for 2011 - and the MP4-26 will not only adhere to them but it will also sport a few fresh design features in response to the opportunities presented by those new regulations. So, yes, there will be some new elements, but as you can imagine I’m not prepared to add more detail at the moment!

Q: There has been much speculation about other teams trying to lure Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull. Is McLaren interested?
MW: As I’ve said, we’re delighted with Jenson and Lewis. Without a shadow of a doubt, in my opinion, they’re the best driver line-up in the sport today. In fact I suspect they’re the envy of every team - including Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz.

Q: Will the 2013 engine regulations have a positive or negative impact on the sport?
MW: We at McLaren are unequivocally in favour of 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engines as outlined recently by the FIA. They’ll be every bit as powerful in terms of bhp as the 2.4-litre V8s we currently run, and they’ll be of considerably more interest and value to car manufacturers in terms of the learning opportunities they present for optimising fuel efficiency and performance. It’s my firm belief that F1 can in that way offer car manufacturers a platform onto which they can focus a significant part of their drive-train development energies - something that other sports, which may seem on the surface to be more environmentally friendly, could never do. For example, you’ll never develop a leaner, greener engine by hitting a golf ball or kicking a football - but car manufacturers should, can and will be able to do exactly that with the FIA’s new Formula One engine regulations. Lastly, Formula One has already successfully reduced its total carbon emissions, according to a comprehensive and independent audit conducted by Trucost, a world leader in the field of carbon emissions assessment, and we believe the FIA’s new Formula One engine regulations will help our sport to meet or better its targets for the future.

Q: How strong is Formula One racing’s economic health, given the effects of the global recession?
MW: There’s no doubt that Formula One, along with all other sports and industries, has felt the effects of the global recession. However, the Resource Restriction Agreement is something that we should all be proud of because it has delivered significant cost savings across the board. It has been a major factor in helping teams not just survive but also thrive in these difficult times. As for us, I’m delighted to say that our team continues to offer a fantastic return on investment, as demonstrated by our title partner’s recent decision to sign a new multi-year deal with us. And as part of our ongoing relationship with Vodafone, we’ll be developing technical collaborations as well as finding exciting and innovative ways in which to engage with their customers. Their corporate slogan is ‘Power To You’, and we’re aiming to help provide some of that power! Vodafone has been our title partner since 2007, and we pride ourselves on being able to offer fantastic returns on investment for all our partners over a long period. TAG Heuer has been with us for 25 years and Hugo Boss for 30 years - and I believe it’s pretty impressive that one sporting entity can boast not one but two of the longest sports sponsorships of all time, and that those partnerships are still ongoing and are still delivering fantastic value. It would be remiss of me to make any bold statements or predictions about economic recovery in the wider world, but I believe that Formula One in general and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in particular have a great deal to offer investors, not only in terms of PR, marketing and brand positioning but also in terms of technical collaboration.

Q: Lastly, will the 2011 season be a four-team race between Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes?
MW: The 2010 season could be said to have been a three-team race (Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari) and undoubtedly it was a very exciting one. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if 2011 were to involve those three teams - and others besides. You’ve mentioned Mercedes-Benz - and we at McLaren know all too well, having worked closely with them since 1995, what a powerful and effective racing force they are. Equally, Ross Brawn and his team, plus Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, are very impressive too. So it would be no surprise to see them mounting a more significant challenge in 2011 than they did in 2010. As ever, it’s impossible to make firm predictions, but we think we’re on course to be competitive. Having said that, we never underestimate our opposition and we’re sure they’re working every bit as hard as we are.

Mercedes to launch W02 on February 1st

Mercedes will have their 2011 F1 car ready for the first test session of the year.

The W02 will be launched in the pit lane at Valencia on February 1st.

They will join Williams and Toro Rosso who are launching their cars on the same day.

With the new Renault and Sauber being revealed the day before, and Ferrari’s new car appearing before that, there will be at least six new cars running in the first test of the year.

The Redbull RB7 is also expected to appear at the first test.

Mclaren, Force India and Virgin have already confirmed they will not be running their new cars in the Valencia test on February 1st-3rd

David Coulthard keeps Red Bull deal

David Coulthard will keep his £4million Red Bull deal despite his new role as BBC pundit.

Massa expects Pirellis to suit him better

Felipe Massa expects Pirelli tyres suit his driving style better than the 2010 Bridgestones did.