Breaking News: Friday March 8th 2013

Will we see Marussia in Melbourne

A cheeky headline I know, because the team are going to Melbourne but it appears they have amusingly got Mr. E by the short and curlys. Ecclestone claimed recently that bi-lateral deals were done under the Concorde banner with all the teams including Marussia

Mr. E’s platoon of highly paid lawyers seems to have missed something. Marussia are saying they have no deal in place with Bernie et al because it does not include provisions for the broadcasting of the team/drivers/sponsors image rights.

The team say in a press release, “We are in active discussion with the Commercial Rights Holder but, as of today we do not have a signed agreement with them.”

Last week John Booth commented that he felt a deal was not far away. “It’s getting pretty close now, nothing is signed yet, but it’s getting pretty close now.”

Of course until the agreement is signed Marussia cannot get a share of the F1 pie at all, but rather cleverly they appear to be making life most tricky for the F1 supremo.

John Booth was asked whether it was important to get a deal done in time for Melbourne. He replied with a faint smile, “No [it’s not vital for Marussia ahead of Australia. It’s vital for Bernie because he won’t be able to film us without it.”

No deal in place would cause serious problems for FOM TV. We all remember the invisible Force India cars in Bahrain qualifying 2012, yet to omit those cars were relatively easy to do. In a race it could be highly problematic.

Mmm. Mr. E can’t be happy. Heads must roll.

Sir Frank and Lady Williams

It is sad to hear today of the death of Lady Virginia Williams who had battled cancer for some years. Ginny as she was affectionately called by many, was a feisty Lady and wrote an acclaimed book about life with Frank, entitled ‘A Different Kind Of Life’.

Many have observed that following Sir Frank’s fateful car crash with Peter Windsor, she was the fortitude behind him recovering from the devastating mental shock of being faced with a life in a wheelchair.