F1 teams wish Kubica well - in Polish

With Robert Kubica recovering, with the prospect of numerous operations to repair his nearly severed arm, Formula One teams on test showed their support by wishing him well, in Polish

Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia Robet, they all said

Heidfeld replaces Kubica at Lotus Renault GP

Robert Kubica is considered one of the best driver on the F1 grid today and now former team mate Nick Heidfeld will have to fill in for him after a severe accident at a rally event where an Armco barrier pierced into the Skoda Fabia S2000 and nearly severed the Pole’s arm.

After a week of speculation, following Heidfeld’s test sessions in Jerez, where he topped the time sheet several times, Lotus Renault announced that the 33-year old German has joined the team and will take over driving duties from the recovering Kubica.



Heidfeld is one of the most experienced drivers in Formula 1 having started 172 races over the last 11 seasons. He will race alongside Vitaly Petrov when the season gets underway in Bahrain on 13 March.
Nick Heidfeld: "I would have liked to come back to Formula 1 in different circumstances, but I'm proud to have been given this chance.

“Everything has happened so quickly, but I've been very impressed by what I have seen so far in terms of the facilities and the dedication of the people at Enstone.

“I really enjoyed the test last week in Jerez and I've already settled in well with the guys at the track. I have a good feeling for the car, which is quite innovative. I'm extremely motivated and can't wait for the season to begin," he added

Team Boss Eric Boullier was clearly relieved to secure the services of an experienced pilot.

"The team has been through a very difficult couple of weeks and we had to react quickly. We gave Nick a chance in Jerez last week and he really impressed us.

“He's quick, experienced and is very strong technically with his feedback and understanding of the car.
“We always said the priority was to have an experienced driver in the car and we feel he is the ideal man for the job. We are pleased to welcome Nick to the team and look forward to a strong start to the season with him and Vitaly in Bahrain," said Boullier.

Heidfeld and Petrov will be taking part in the Barcelone test sessions from 18 to 21 February and both will take part in pit-stop practice on Friday morning.

Petrov will take to the track on Friday afternoon and Sunday while Heidfeld will be driving on Saturday and Monday.

BREAKING NEWS: Clive Chapman sides with Group Lotus

• Clive Chapman endorses Group Lotus F1 effort and rejects Team Lotus
• Controversy over use of the name will make its way through British courts in January

Clive with Proton MD Datuk Syed Zainal
at the preview of Lotus future models in Paris in October

Even at the Paris Motor Show, Clive Chapman had already shown that he has a special place for Group Lotus and Lotus Cars in his heart, after all, the company is the one that is keeping his father's legacy alive through thick and thin.



Despite Lotus Group making losses for more than a decade, Proton has never forsaken the company and continued to support the British auto/engineering group because they believed that the Lotus name is a very valuable asset.

The recent turnaround plan is probably the most ambitious ever taken by the British icon and it has the best chance of transforming Lotus from a cult track car manufacturer into a full-blossom of global sportscar maker.

Group Lotus needed the Formula One presence to create awareness and interest in their new range of cars and struck a deal with front-runner Renault and this has set the stage for a return of the Black and Gold Lotus livery

Clive Chapman said last week that the heritage of his father's racing team belongs to Group Lotus, which earlier this month announced a merger with the Renault F1 team.

"The Chapman family is looking forward to continuing to give its support to Group Lotus, which is the ongoing Lotus entity created by Colin and Hazel Chapman," a statement from Clive Chapman read. "After all, the Lotus marque is the responsibility of Group Lotus."


"During 2010, the Chapman Family...made it clear to those involved that it would prefer that the Team Lotus name should not be used in Formula 1," said Clive in a statement.

Team Lotus, which is owned by Air Asia budget airline boss Tony Fernandes is pursuing legal recourse for the use of the name and the case involving the ongoing dispute with Lotus Ventures will enter the British High Court in January.

Lotus Ventures used to belong to David Hunt, brother of late former F1 Champion James Hunt and they claim that the company owns the rights to the name 'Team Lotus' in Formula One. Fernandes bought the company from Hunt towards the third quarter of 2010 as part of his strategy to retain the Lotus name.

Changing the team Lotus name is not a simple case of filing the paperwork because if the council of F1 team owners do not endorse the name change it would mean that Team Lotus would enter Formula One as a new team and this would mean losing whatever TV rights money that have accumulated during the 2010 season.

The extended dispute will also likely scare sponsors of Team Lotus, which relies primarily on Malaysian money to operate.

MOTORSPORT: Team orders are go in F1

F1 has lifted the ban on team orders so next year we may get more of it...if we don't already have them.

Will it change the face of F1 much? probably not....

Although Ferrari was fined EURO100K last year for the team orders at the German GP, most of the other teams secretly want team orders to be allowed, not because of anything but for the extra room to manoeuver.

F1 back with four cylinder...mass market brands should be more interested

BMW's F1 block design was derived from their robust road engines
and the road engines lasted for more than two decades

With Formula 1 returning to four cylinder engines with capacity of not more than 1.6-litres maybe Proton can go into F1 in a meaningful way. After all Proton has four cylinder expertise and Lotus can help them design a four-pot turbocharged unit for racing.

OK I was kidding, but only half kidding because the four-cylinder rule can generate a lot of interest among mass market car makers since most of them live and swear by four-cylinder engines so most of them understand the idosyncracies of the format like the back of their proverbial hand.



The decision to return to 4-cyl in 2013 is seen as yet another way to reduce the cost of racing, presumably with less cylinders there are less moving parts and this, logically, means less expensive engines, especially since there is a lost of prohibited exotic materials accompanying the specifications.

Engien speed has been limited to 12,000rpm, which should also eliminate the use of exotic metals, while the planned reduction from eight to five and later to four engines per driver per year would also mean that the engines would be as robust as a good diesel.

BMW gained modern fame through their 4-pot F1 engines which were basically derived from the 1.6-litre Neue-Klasse engines that appeared in everything from the 2002 to the larger sedans of the 1960s.

That basic engine block survived two more decades before being out to pasture in the late 1980s, so there is very real reasons for thinking that F1 could not make real sense for companies like Proton. After all, the same engine block can, with modification, be homologated for use to power their saloon cars and rally machines.

Proton's F1 engine can be used for homologation specials
which then can be used to rally and race in touring car, endurance
and maybe even DTM

Imagine a Proton Satria Neo with a 1.6-litre race block, all-wheel drive or front wheel drive with LSD and all the rest of the kit sold for around RM150K, a car with real Proton racing pedigree

Imagine the Lekir concept with a race-bred Proton block pulsating behind the driver, an engine forged in eeh extreme heat of F1 battle.

Like everyone else, Proton has two years to develop the engine, unlike production engine, race engines are less expensive to develop since they do not have to last 200,000 kilometres between servicing, but that is not the same as saying that they will be cheap to develop.

At the very least, if Proton spends a few hundred million ringgit on an F1 engine block (together with Renault for example) the whole exercise is not entirely without grounding in the real world, as Is aid earlier, since the engine can be used for a small-run race homologation specials which can take part in touring car, rallying and endurance racing