Niki Lauda

China GP 2013: Off Track post race review

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Thankfully after the past couple of weeks, the ‘off the track’ post race report I write will be considerably shorter than some of my recent reviews. Firstly, lets clear up the matter of 8 drivers under investigation for use of DRS under yellow flag conditions. All 8 escape sanction and the stewards note the following. … Read more

Red Bull: In disarray

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The debate over how true to real life the next big F1 film will be is beginning to circulate the F1 fans forums. Will ‘Happy Days’ Ron Howard’s account of the life and times of Niki Lauda and James Hunt and their on track battle be believable or a work of fantasy? Well, no one … Read more

On This Day in F1: 27 March

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On this day in F1 March 27th, is brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler: Samora Machel – 1983: John Watson and Niki Lauda Do The (almost) Impossible – 1971: David Couthard is born 1983: John Watson and Niki Lauda Do The (almost) Impossible Just to put things a little in perspective here, Jenson Button’s run … Read more

On this day in F1 – 22nd March

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On this day in F1 – 22 March, is brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler: Bart De Pauw – 1974: Fatal accident of Peter Revson During a test session in preparation for the 1974 South African Grand Prix, Peter Revson’s UOP Shadow-Ford DN3 suffered a front suspension failure and crashed at about 220 km/h head-on … Read more

Wolff wishes to clear the air, Big Foot or The Hulk, Pirelli reveals tyres for 1st 4 races, Ecclestone and the ‘appearing’ evidence

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Toto Wolff sets matters straight

In an interview for Formula1.com Toto Wolff talks about expectations at Mercedes.

“As they (Mercedes) know I have put my neck on the line they know that I have no room for failure. Not only have I taken a personal risk by leaving Williams – where I have enjoyed working – but there is also a financial and economic side to it. There is a huge amount of trust on both sides and I am very happy having joined.”

I’m not really sure what Toto is inferring here, “You cannot run a Formula 1 operation in the UK out of Germany. It is not only a difference in mentality – there is definitely a difference (laughs) – but it is also about physically being there.

Running a company from a distance never really works, so the question is either you run it full time or you don’t. And if you don’t, then you rely on management. In the past I have done that, but it was not the role Mercedes had envisioned for me.”

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Opening Night ~ “F1 & The Musical Chairs”: Starring – Zetsche the Godfather, Lauda the Hatchet man, Toto the Wolff in sheep’s clothing, Fry the Mole, Jordan the Whistle Blower, Brawn as the ousted King and Paddy Lowe as the Ghost of Christmas to come

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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.

I have now put 2 RSS feeds at the bottom of the right hand bar for those of you who know how to use them for updates.

TJ13 internship: It has been suggested to me that I get some help with the site, as I can spend easily 6 hours some days reading, researching writing and honing the material. One area I thought of is the, ‘On this day’ feature. When I’m busy, this suffers and I believe some of you quite like it.

This could be a good project for under graduates studying journalism or media studies to include in their portfolio of work. Ideally a few helping hands would be good – and if we had 7, it would only be 1 day a week each would need to provide something. I can brief on the topic if necessary, and then the apprentice TJ13’s could go and find video and source information, write it up and use contemporary information to bring it relevant to the here and now. For someone who is feeling lethargic – they can have Feb 29th.

Anyway, if you or someone you know are up for this they can email thejudge13@hotmail.co.uk. Please – I am not sinking here and can manage for now without, so if you are a busy person and can’t commit fully I’d rather you not offer. Chasing up material that is late will be worse than just delivering it.

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Mercedes caution Lewis ambitions, Lauda needs a new sponsor, Niki Lauda compliments Marko, F1 USA broadcaster NBC criticised, Marko criticises Webber, RB9 may not make Jerez, COTA helped by fiscal cliff, Dennis: we could have retained Hamitlon

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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.

Where exactly are Mercedes up to? According to Schumacher, money was “a factor” in Mercedes’ F1 team’s failure to succeed during his three year comeback to F1. It is clear to the world that the ‘Silver Arrows’ team spends about 100m euro’s less than Red Bull each year and at least the same less than Ferrari.

Schumacher tells Auto Motor und Sport: “It’s a factor. Over the years Red Bull built an infrastructure and has a budget giving them the possibility to respond to anything in the best possible way. This is nothing less than what we had at Ferrari”.

Mercedes, have never been higher than fourth in the constructors’ championship since the Brawn buyout in 2010 and their Chairman has strongly denied they will now pump in more funding for 2013 and beyond. Of course Lewis Hamilton has signed for the team and claims he wants to help turn them into a title winning outfit.

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Ecclestone worried over charges, Ferrari confident they will not be as bad, The 2013 WDC odds, Force India: Driver decisions not imminent, Lauda quits Air Berlin

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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.

The opposite game: Did you ever play this as a child? I had a brother around my age so we used to do this to irritate our parents. You had to say the opposite of what you really meant. So, mother cooks up a spot of lunch and “I don’t like this lamb chop” would be pronounced whilst greedily scoffing the last remnant of fat from the bone.

Over the years, if you believe the opposite of what comes out of Mr. E’s mouth, you’ll get it right more than not. Bernie tells the Italian publication the Corriere della Serra that he’s not worried about the impending court case in Germany over the fraudulent sale of the commercial rights to F1.

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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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