Mercedes

F1 Engine sounds, Force India to have Ferrari engines, Italian top 10 F1 drivers list, Bianchi to Force India, Mansell second hand car dealer

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers in only thejudge13’s 15th week and just over 400 by twitter.

Engine sounds: A couple of days ago I mentioned the engine sound changes we will hear in 2014. I found this last night. Listen to the sounds of F1 engines in 1967. (LINK) Sorry I can’t embed this video as the embed code they’ve given is wrong.

Italian rationality: For those of you who have been reading thejudge13 for some time, you will know my views on Ferrari – for those of you who don’t – Firstly, I LOVE Italy and Italian culture. I would live there if I could. However, as I often say – Ferrari would rather bask in the glory of being Ferrari than change their beliefs even if it would make them better.

There is an element of this in the Italian psyche I see in my friends of many years. Irrationality is accepted as a rational way of thinking and being and so to Autosprint – One of Italy’s finest Auto magazines. Today they publish a list of the best F1 drivers of all time.

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Grosjean attitude win at all costs, Petrov confident of Caterham drive, Mercedes and Ferrari pass crash tests, Ferrari wind tunnel progreses, Kimi approves of 2013 DRS rules, Kimi says drivers do not make teams better, Maldonado most penalties in 2012

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers in only thejudge13’s 15th week and just over 400 by twitter.

Grosjean attitude win at all costs: Romain Grosjean thinks he is ready to take a more mature approach to Formula One. He did of course have an abortive start to his career at the scandal ridden Renault in 2009, the young Frenchman gained a second chance with Lotus in 2012.

He clearly proved himself to be a very quick driver with 3 podiums by the middle of 2012, but as we know became the focus for media vilification following the dramatic events at the start of the Belgian GP – for which he received a race ban for Monza.

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Barcelona shafts Valencia, Ecclestone Ferrari vengeance, Bahrain loses GP2 race, Glock Safe? Alesi retires or dies, Rosberg and the ‘bulls’, Webber saves Vettel, Total Petroleum calm down, Why FIA changed 2014 rules, Pirelli aim to shake it up again, Haug gives reasons

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers yesterday only in thejudge13’s 14th week and just under 400 by twitter.

thejudge13 archive: There have been a number of questions about Nikki Lauda, his time at Jaguar, why Mercedes recruited him…I did a couple of articles around the time of the announcement so if you’ve joined the site since then, here they are. “Lauda: Ross Brawn’s new boss” I wrote this about 2am on October 2nd after reading an online article on a German newspaper site – that was going out the following day. The story hadn’t been picked up even on titter to my recollection.

This was a part 2 follow up – written when I was more alert (the next day) and had time to reflect on the  implications. “How Lauda got the top job in Mercedes F1” – my conclusions are now quite interesting post Haug’s departure.

Barcelona shafts Valencia: The circuit de Catalunya has over the past 2 years been making consistent noises about how much money it is losing which resulted in an initial agreement with Valencia, also under big financial pressure, to alternate the Spanish GP between them – al la Hockenheim and Nurburgring.

This deal has been agreed with Ecclestone clearly as Valencia’s extended contract signed in 2009 meant they would remain on the calendar until 2014. So either they are paying out $30m a year in hosting fee’s and not having a race – or the Spanish GP sharing with Barcelona has been agreed with FOM.

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Jordan criticises Lauda, Vettel art sells for 16,000, Some Schumacher memories, Lauda checking staff holidays, FI launch 2013 on 1st Feb, FIA nervous over Bahrain, Berger to replace Haug? Indecisive Caterham

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb. WE REACHED 500 email followers yesterday only in thejudge13’s 14th week and just under 400 by twitter.

thejudge13 archive: I started a consultation document to agree the parameters of what we should use as our interpretive grid to establish, “Greatest F1 Drivers”. We’ve had many new readers since then so, here it is again and next week I’ll publish part 2 (LINK). Read my starter for 10 and then the comments already made and add your ideas, this article will be co-written by thejudge13 readers. A collaborative work that carries therefore great breadth of source and as such has more persuasive force. You’ve heard how the camel came into being? A committee attempting to design a horse. So I will have final editorial privileges 🙂

Jordan says Lauda can’t have it both ways: Since 1996, Nikki Lauda has been an F1 pundit for German speaking TV station RTL. Jordan questions how he can operate objectively as a journalist whilst working as chairman of Mercedes AMG F1.

Lauda claims he is a ‘grown man’ and knows how to discharge his responsibilities for both employers. He claims that he received praise for a schizophrenic performance he gave in Brazil, where as RTL journalist he allegedly interviewed himself simultaneously as Chairmen of Mercedes F1.

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Marussia – miss media opportunity, Grosjean wins ROC and a seat at Lotus, Mercedes knives appear, Sutil legal matters? Horner would’ve dirched Massa, Lewis been to Mercedes, Ex-F1 doctor rants on twitter, Williams and Gillan seperate

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

thejudge13 archive: Here’s an article I wrote after trawling the southern US media prior to the inaugural Austin GP. To this date, I have not heard this reported anywhere else, yet you would think the sale of nearly 10% of F1 for $900m to the pensioners of North America might be of Interest to someone (LINK).

Marrusia – missed media opportunity: If you look on Marussiaf1team.com today, you’ll see a Christmas wish from Timo and John says, “”We are very proud of what we achieved in 2012 and we take away so many highlights, all of which point towards a development path we can have great confidence in. Thank you for sharing some fantastic experiences with us. Wishing you the very best of Christmases.”

No announcement of Timo’s partner for 2013, yet over the weekend, there have been some rumours emanating from Russian reporters. Joe Saward has some interesting insights on the Marussia car company today, “Marussia is a funny company. It took over a controlling interest in the Virgin F1 team around a year ago, but since then there has been virtually no word about the progress of the Marussia road cars”.

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Buemi testing for Ferrari, Norbert to take to the stage, Lauda sole link between Daimler and AMG F1, Hulkenberg splits from manager, Berger clashes with Ecclestone over Austrian GP, Stewart thinks Mercedes should’ve kept Schumacher, Valsecchi to Lotus

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

thejudge13 archive: Here’s an interesting article I wrote the week after I returned from Monza, particularly in light of recent comments from Mr. Big. By the way that week thejudge13 had 242 reads  (LINK)

Ferrari  peek at Red Bull secrets: Blick, a swiss publication are running a story suggesting Buemi could be on his way to Ferrari. To be honest the article is a rambling useless piece of ‘imagine if’ writing suggesting all kinds of possible driver options for 2013/2014.

Yet, the nugget of the story is that after 22,000km in the Red Bull simulator, Ferrari are seriously considering signing Buemi as a test driver with bait that 2014 may be a chance for him when Massa is again out of contract. I’m sure Ferrari could and would try this – but would Buemi believe the ‘carrot’ was more than a mirage?

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Fernando – “Impossible to repeat my performance ever again”, Haug leaves Mercedes, Bianchi to Force India, Force India Ferrari engines 2014, Perez thinks he can be F1 champion, Support Kamui donations dramatically slow, Marko – Ferrari never get Vettel

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

Alonso on all things F1: Yesterday Fernando was in the spanish city of Santander and here are the highlights of an interview he gave as reported in as.com.

“It will be impossible to start 2013 worse than this year, but Red Bull will still be favorites to start well. At the end of the year they found six or eight tenths on us and we must recover that in only two months. But the starting point will be better than last year, which is not difficult. There is always room for improvement, there are always things you can evolve. With the experience and technological capability that we have today, there are many factors that can be improved. But the driver is also important.”

This is true, and despite being Ferrari the team will be closer at the start of testing in Jerez in under 2 months time. My translating skills are not the best so I’ll paraphrase the next bit.

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McLaren record breaking year, Ecclestone says 19 races 2013, Todt referees Ecclestone-Ferrari spat, Webber calls for more European races, Texas pays Austin organisers $29m, Mercedes W03 – a space ship

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Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.

thejudge13 archive: I was reminded yesterday by Kevin McCauley that there are new readers coming to the site all the time. There are some articles I have written since the launch of the site nearly 13 weeks ago that they may not be aware of. A lot of the articles though are part of the daily news I’m afraid, hence why I have put a search bar on the right hand side.

If you type “Mallya” into the search bar for example – all the articles that have that string “Mallya” within them (main body not just headings) will be presented for you. However, every few days I’ll put a complete feature from the past just above “On this day in F1” for those of you who missed them. Today’s archive article, “F1: Breeding ground for road car technology? No chance“.

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Stewards back slapping, Vettel suit sells for $18,000, Gascoyne enters the danger zone, 2013-14 rules and who this helps, Austin want a new date, Turkey 2013 agreed

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Win 2 hospitality passes to Silverstone 2013 and vote for thejudge13 at the Silverstone Media Awards: “Best F1 Blogger” category. Here’s where to vote, Facebook users www.facebook.com/SilverstoneCircuits. Non-Facebook users (Link). Voting closes 12:00 hrs on 11 December, 2012.

FIA Stewarding: It appears that Charlie and the Stewards are feeling rather pleased with themselves with regard to the rather narrow topic of penalties. I hope we hear a little more on race management as a whole. Anyway here is the FIA release.

At a meeting chaired by F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting, the stewards praised the recent introduction of readily available real-time telemetry and added that the presence of former and current racing drivers on the stewarding panels has been a benefit. 

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Kamui website raises $800,000, HRT have ‘miracle’ hope, Melbourne tax payers cough up $55m, Brawn warns Red Bull, RB staff bonys £10,000, Grosjean in the naughty boy corner, Lewis expects 1/4 of sponsor work with Mercedes

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I think it might be a little early for thejudge13, but you could try voting for us at the Silverstone media awards – “Best F1 blogger”. (Link). Still nearly 55,000 reads in 10 weeks – not bad I guess

Support Kamui: The website set up last week to help Kobayashi get the funds to find an F1 seat is seriously working. They have raised 65,813,672 yen as of today (I think this is about $800,000). This is fairly startling and it will be interesting to see if the momentum and rate of donation can be maintained or increased.

Kamui is a very good driver, and as one of thejudge13 readers demonstrated in the comments to yesterdays news, if points were awarded 24 for 1st place down to 1 for last place (a consistency analysis) Kamui is way ahead of Perez this year. So if KK can raise $4m or more, he has to be in with a chance at Marusia or Caterham. I still think Mallya will take Senna’s $10-12m and sign him for that reason.

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