Mercedes F1 launch video

Farewell Nico

Photo: Paul Ripke

So Nico has retired…

… a very unusual move for a new and not yet crowned world champion, but not unique.

Nico’s statement left no doubt that he has now achieved the goal that had pushed him on, and led him and his family to make significant sacrifices to get to the top. Having reached that peak, it's enough.

I laud his honourable decision and I'm not that surprised by it having met him two or three times. He always struck me as a real gentleman, and his devotion to his wife and family were very evident in those manic post-race minutes.

Photo: Paul Ripke

Photo: Paul Ripke

We all at UKMT wish him well and are convinced he will go on to do something else in motor sport, even if his driving days are over.

His observations on Lewis’ superiority are telling and confirm the common view that Lewis is the better racer even if he lacks some of Nico’s finer sensibilities.

So who now will pitch for that seat?

Pascal Wehrlein perhaps if Mercedes want a German driver?

Young lion or old hand?

Perhaps even a Spanish driver? A certain Senor Alonso could jump at it and reuniting Fernando and Lewis would make an amazing driver pairing, just ask Stirling Moss who his two favourite drivers are! It would be his dream team. Another Fangio and Moss era for the Silver Arrows?

Graham Benge

Graham Benge interviewing Nico a long long time ago!

360 degrees video onboard the 2014 Mercedes F1 car

Join Nico Rosberg as he takes the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 W05 round the Silverstone track for the very first time….

Guten tag, I must be going..

And so, in the light of The Worst Kept Secret In Formula One being revealed (see previous post re Lewis Hamilton's future employment prospects) we must bid farewell to the man in whose place young Mr Hamilton shall be racing next year.

Yes, at the ripe old age of 43, Herr Michael 'Schumi' Schumacher is hanging up the old crash hat & racing boots for the second time in his career and sloping off to spend more time with his millions, sorry, family.

When the newly re-branded Mercedes team announced that team principal (and man whose name resided above the factory door for 12 months) Ross Brawn had lured his old pal out of retirement to drive for him a couple of years ago, the response from Formula One fans was mixed to say the least.

Whilst some were ecstatic that the man who'd chalked up a stunning seven World Championship titles would be returning to show the current crop of PR-friendly automata just what a real racer looked like, others feared - justifiably it seems - that Michael would have lost his edge in the 3 years he'd been sat at home observing proceedings on what would most likely have been one of the biggest tellys in existence..

On the face of it, Michael's presence at the pointy end of the new venture had all the hallmarks of yet another smart move from master tactician Ross Brawn & the suitably well-funded Mercedes outfit. Whilst he would undoubtedly be a bit rusty in the new style F1 car with its considerably-reduced amounts of downforce and fully-slick tyres, it wouldn't take this wily old stager long to get back up to speed and start putting in competitive laps on a par with his widely-admired rising star team mate, Nico Rosberg. As it transpired, Michael seemed to struggle against the competition, and whilst he never actually found himself consistently lapping at the tail end of races with the likes of Marussia, it's pretty telling that his best result at the time of writing is a third place on the podium at Valencia behind two other World Champions, Fernando Alonso & Kimi Raikkonen.

The general consensus amongst the F1 fraternity it would seem is that whilst it was nice to have the Silver (née Red) Baron back in the mix, it's probably good that he safely bows out now with dignity rather than squandering his inestimable reputation trundling around every other Sunday in something your Grandmother could probably out run in her automatic Micra..

Personally-speaking, I was never Schumi's biggest fan - especially after that incident in Adelaide in 1994 - but I've always maintained a healthy, if grudging respect for his metronomic ability to think his way to victory after victory and, despite myself, found that I was eager to see him put a few of the new hotshoe breed in their place.

Realistically though, I reckon that was always a bit of a long shot - yes, Niki Lauda & Alain Prost proved in the past that you could come back, but for Michael, those three years away from the bleeding edge of competition had proved too many. Perhaps it was age, perhaps it was the realisation that he just didn't need to be doing this anymore - who knows, but I for one am glad he gave it a shot at least.

Mach's gut, Michael & thanks for playing..

David Wakefield.

F1 Drivers' musical chairs 2012 - Pt 1..!

So at last the guessing games - will he won't he - are over... Lewis is going to Mercedes and leaving Mclaren, or is he really?

Sometimes we forget that his long relationship with Mclaren has always effectively included Mercedes... He has always been a Mercedes powered driver, in fact he is already the most successful Mercedes GP driver ever, so why move?

There seem to be numerous reasons...

• Perhaps the apparent coolness of the relationship with Martin Whitmarsh compared to the almost paternal warmth of that with Ron Dennis?
• Perhaps the unsettling arrival of Jenson Button who is no one's second driver, despite Lewis apparently being paid or offered 2 to 3 million above Jenson's reputed 7 million wage?
• Perhaps he knows some plan to leapfrog the grid that the wily old fox Ross Brawn has in mind?
• Perhaps he thinks Mclaren will go into decline when he leaves?!?

So what of Michael and Nico?

Nico has shown flashes of greatness, but is it he or the car that is unable to be consistent? Will he be retained ? Is he being offered a good deal or, given time, is he part of a complete Mercedes funded clearout? He may stay for now, but I suspect one of the younger drivers will become a clear number 2 to Lewis as he goes into the second stage of a career which surely will include at least one more World title..?

I expect we will find out more in the next few days as Michael walks away for the second time from F1... or does he? Which team will have a new boss in 2013? Would Bernie really let that amount of experience exit F1...?

Graham Benge

Bologna Motor Show – December 2011

Think of Bologna and you’ll most likely think of a certain pasta dish regularly seen on dinner tables across the country.  But, aside from being famous for its wide ranging food and drink supplies, this city also plays host to pretty much every supercar manufacturer worthy of note.  Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Pagani can all call the city if not home, at least a significant neighbour.  Whilst run of the mill car production from the likes of Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia (and now Chrysler) is spread throughout Italy, Bologna is a city that lives and breathes the automotive exotic.

It’s apparent when you arrive at the airport.  Amongst the usual sight of bag shops, tourist tat stalls and purveyors of overpriced liquor, you will find a Ferrari store, opposite a Ducati store.  The beautiful city centre once featured the original Maserati factory, and the statue of Neptune in Piazza Maggiore, reminds us of this with his trident being held aloft – that same trident now featuring so proudly on the bootlid of every new Maserati car to come out of the Modena factory, up the road.

So it’s not surprising to learn that Italy’s national motor show is held every year in the Bologna Fiere district, to the north of the old city.  Whilst it’s not on the scale of the likes of Frankfurt, Geneva or Paris, the exhibition centre spans a very large area and, for this year, features an open air arena in the centre, with banks of stands filled with spectators viewing rallycross demonstrations.

In truth, this is not the reason for my attendance.  Previous trips to Bologna in search of some kind of romantic supercar ideal, have borne fruit – tours of the Lamborghini factory and museum, a one to one tour of the Pagani workshops with Mrs Pagani herself, along with a chance encounter with a certain Valentino Balboni out on a test drive in a Murcielago workhorse – these things have all convinced me that this region is the promised land when it comes to automotive excellence.

I’m here for the Italian supercars that still occupy a place in my heart, if no longer poster space on my bedroom wall.  I’m also armed with VIP passes, gained through a contact in London, for the Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati stands.  As far as I am concerned, the rest of the assembled motoring offerings are nothing more than window dressing.

It’s the 150th anniversary of Italy’s formal unification into something like the country we recognise today.  To celebrate, Maserati have starting producing a run of only 12 GranTurismo S ‘Limited Edition’ models.  The first of these is rotating slowly on the centre of the stand.  Finished in a beautiful shade of blue, with black wheels, these cars will only be sold in Italy.  It’s a beautiful car, although modifications barely go skin deep as the engine and transmission are unchanged.  It’s hard to get good photos in the low lighting conditions, but much harder to get a look inside.  With this beautiful car, comes a beautiful model.

Maserati GranTurismo S 'Limited Edition'

I’ve been to many motor shows, and the presence of a leggy model on press days is normal, but I’m here well into the show’s run.  This car, and every other car on the stand has a woman draped over it, and another sat inside it.  A request to move seems out of the question, as it seems every red blooded Italian male is expressing just as much interest in the girls as the cars.  I’m fortunate enough to be allowed onto the stand, whilst paying punters queue four of five deep to just photograph the cars, so I suppose it’s a privilege to be this close.  But, if I’m considered worthy enough to come through the barrier, surely it wouldn’t be too much to expect to get in, close the door and make car noises without an Italian girl staring at me?

No matter, I move on to snaffle some free cakes before taking a look at the Quattroporte on the stand.  This one, finished in Mafia staff car black, is hiding at the back of the display.  For most of the time, it doesn’t have a girl draped over it.  This is because, it’s likely to be the last show for this car, which is due to be replaced with two separate models next year.  It’s always been a favourite of mine, and to this day I consider it pretty much the best looking car on sale today.  It’s also been a great success for Maserati, and has had much to do with the company’s incredible ride from being an also ran on the cusp of death, to a manufacturer of significant renown.  Just take a trip around central London these days, and you’ll see Quattroportes everywhere.

Maserati Quattroporte

The GranTurismo is based on the Quattroporte – take a close look at one and you will see just how large they are.  Aside from the limited edition car still spinning in front of the starry-eyed locals, there’s also an example of a lightened racing version, the MC Stradale alongside more down to earth variants of the coupe and convertible.  To me, this car doesn’t work as a lightened, track day special – it seems to contradict the nature of this car, which is defined by it’s own moniker – and my attention wanders back to the delicious snacks on offer at the bar.

I go off in search of Ferrari.  I’m pleased to find a selection of Ferrari racing biased cars.  The latest Formula One car is proudly displayed, alongside trackday versions of the Enzo and 599.  These are nicely set out, in a large number of small ‘pens’ which enable circulation of the general populace, allowing them to pay homage to the local speciality.  It’s nice to see a breaking down of the normal barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’ at this show, as Ferrari stands generally occupy a rarified space where it is usual to look, but forbidden, except for the chosen few, to touch.

My democratic feelings soon fade away when I discover that Ferrari has no formal display of road cars at this show.  I’ve travelled a long way for this spectacle and I’m quite shocked to find this out.  I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed about missing the chance to see the 458 Spyder, or another opportunity for snacks.  The quality of the latter is normally second to none.  I find a solitary 458 Coupe on show in a hall dedicated to posh cars with unofficial origins, which seems to have been installed as a sort of apology to those, like me, expecting the big supercar maufacturers, and the more exotic specialists, to have a presence here today.

It’s here that I realise that not only are Ferrari road cars missing, but so too are Lamborghini, and Pagani.  There’s a current model Aventador getting a lot of attention in one corner, opposite a middle aged Zonda C12S, but the sorry collection of cars presented here is no real consolation.  The situation is made worse by the presence of a toxic waste yellow coloured Bentley Continental Flying Spur in the same small hall.  I figure it means Bentley’s stand, normally well worth a look even for one so keen on Italian supercars, is not here either.  I am correct in my assumption.  Rolls Royce are missing too.

I take my pass to the information desk in the centre of the show to make sure I’ve not missed something obvious.  A brief conversation comprising shouty English and hand gestures, along with some name dropping brings forth a moment of joy – I’m told I will find Lamborghini upstairs, at the top of an escalator up which only those with a pass are allowed.  I’m presented with the pass and I ascend to find a display of Lamborghini branded furniture and carpets.  There are some free snacks here and, having duly abused my pass, I go back down to see if it’s possible to recover the day.

Things don’t improve rapidly.  It’s clear that not all of the major manufacturers consider this show worth their effort.  A conversation with a member of staff on the Audi stand leads me to understand that the last couple of years have seen fewer brands being on show.  Ferrari and Lamborghini, I am told, have not attended since 2009.  As I wander, I find that Toyota, the world’s largest and most profitable car company, do not have a display.  They’re not the only ones.

At the Frankfurt motor show this year, Mercedes Benz built a multi storey temple to the three pointed star.  It was more showpiece than showcase and the experience of a fifteen minute shuffle, shoulder to shoulder with sweaty Northern Europeans, left a lot to be desired.  I didn’t actually look at any cars, as I just wanted to get out into the fresh air.  At Bologna however, the stand was much more conventional.  On show were a couple of SLS’s, and the A-Class concept car that has been doing the rounds recently.  We were too early for the new SL, but in the more traditional setting of this show, it was nice to have a chance to try out the new SLK and ML Class.  The previous models had their gestation in the profit obsessed, troubled times following the ill-fated DaimlerChrysler merger experience, and these new models seem to be imbued with a feeling of quality that was never quite there  with the previous models.

Current Benz cars are doing much to invoke the glory days of the likes of the W124 E-Class, when drivers had the impression that their cars were hewn from solid rock and would last as long.  It’s clear in the design both externally and internally, that curves are out and bold, straight lines are back in, harking back to those days.  It makes me smile to see a G-Class being displayed on this stand.  If there is any model in the marque’s history which better sums up the principle of longevity better than this mother of all SUV’s, then I’m yet to see it.

This car is kept locked shut, but a flash of my special pass gets me in, or rather up.   I have to climb up on the running board to get in behind the wheel, before closing the driver’s door to revel in the experience.  Mercedes have done a lot to bring this car up to modern standards.  This model is a G500, a 5 litre V8 petrol with automatic transmission, satellite navigation, beautiful nappa leather and the latest multi function steering wheel.  But it’s clear the moment I close the door, that this car has history.  When the door is pulled shut, it emits a sound akin to the closing of an antique safe.  There’s none of the sound design of modern equivalents here – the door shut sounds good, because for all I know, these doors are actually fit to be used on a safe.

It should smell of musty leather and petrol in here, but it doesn’t.  It feels like the comfy pair of shoes you never want to throw away, but without the holes that let in water – it’s wonderfully familiar and gives me the feeling that this is a car that would last forever and survive anything that was thrown at it.  More than any other car today, I want one.  But then I realise that it’s on sale for Maserati money, and I head over to Land Rover to compare notes with the Defender, which must surely be the only other contender for the G-Class crown.  It too is locked, but nobody lets me in.  I peer through the window and only get to consider how these two compare for a few moments before moving on.

There’s not that much in the way of new product launches, or vehicles which haven’t already grabbed headlines.  I look with interest at some of the Chinese and Indian manufacturers on display, the former with brands I neither recognise nor care about.  No doubt this will change, but for now, I’ll pass on anything more than a cursory inspection of the RAV4/Vitara clones on show today.  VW are pushing their new up! at this event.  There are posters all over town for this new city car, and it’s the first chance I get to take a decent look at it.  I’ll assume they won’t be selling the ‘black up!’ version in the UK, nor the ‘white up!’ for fairly obvious reasons, but aside from these basic errors in nomenclature, the car passes muster.  It’s light years ahead of the sickly Fox and tinny Lupo models it succeeds, and had a great deal of the spirit that small cars should have apparent, just from sitting in the cabin.  It shouts ‘drive me hard’ at whilst I grip the lovely three spoke steering wheel.  I make a mental note to have a go in one when they go on sale in the UK, to compare to my own Fiat 500.

For old time’s sake, and to get my money’s worth  before the show ends, I head over to the Fiat/Lancia/Alfa Romeo area to go and prod the switches on the new Panda.  For Italians, this is a car which can not be ignored.  More often than not, this car is the choice of the cash strapped Italian, to be used as a dodgem around city streets and as a grand tourer, come the August holidays.  This new model doesn’t differ much visually from the model it replaces.  Some refinements in the design, particularly internally, bring it up to 2011 standards but the major change is under the bonnet.  It’s the second Fiat car to get the innovative TwinAir parallel twin motor, and the first without a turbocharger attached to it.

This engine is likely to feature heavily in the Fiat group product lineup over the next few years , and that’s no bad thing.  The environmental credentials of the parallel twin petrol engine are second to none, and it also makes the cars attached to it, fun to drive.  It’s full of character, and makes a great sound.  There’s a display area outside, where I watch various Fiat group cars so equipped get punted around.  I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the 875cc engine, and can almost imagine being in any Italian city in the 1960’s.

It’s funny how my journey through the show has gone from one extreme to another.  I note that I have gone from eating posh cakes and dodging catwalk models on the Maserati stand, to eating a KitKat, leaning against a barrier, watching Fiat Pandas drive around a small section of tarmac.  But this fairly sums up how things are right now.  Money is tight.  Italy is a country in financial straights, like much of the rest of Europe.  This sort of thing is more relevant than any supercar at the present time.

I decide not to go back in to the show as the sun sets.  I’ve seen what I need to, and I can’t stand another moment of the God awful hard house music being incessantly pumped out of every stand by a legion of Eurotrash DJ’s.  I’ve tired of the models draped over every car, from Maserati to Megane and the free cakes have run out.  I know that I should have researched before coming out here, but had I done that, I would have missed out on an experience that comparatively few of my countrymen and women get to see.

Any remaining doubts about the need for the trip dispel after a short taxi ride into the centre of Bologna.  Piazza Maggiore, complete with that statue of Neptune holding his trident, has been transformed into a warm coloured, winter wonderland.  I wander around the magnificent covered arcades and find a shop devoted to selling Fiat branded chocolates.  I ask you, where else in the world would such a thing be possible? 

Alex Wakefield

It's what you've been waiting for...! - UKMT's F1 briefing for 2010...

Just when you thought we'd forgotten... ;-)

Graham Benge, Andrew Denyer and Dave Wakefield discuss the forthcoming 2010 F1 season...:

New Cars
New Teams
New Driver line-ups
Who will be Champion?

For more, visit http://www.ukmotortalk.co.uk/

Stuttgart's dream team (HQ, Brackley, Northants)

With the ever persistent rumours this week that Michael Schumacher may yet be coming out of retirement to join forces with his former associates Mercedes and Ross Brawn, Graham Benge asseses the potential of a Mercedes 'Dream Team'.

Schumacher to Mercedes?

Dream team or stopgap?

Will the seven times champion return and join forces with former mentor Ross again, neck permitting?

Surely, for the German paymasters the avuncular Sebastian Vettel is the prize?

The rising star?

One bonus should Schumi's neck hold out is that it brings Lewis' dream to fruition, the opportunity he thought he'd never have to rate himself alongside Michael Schumacher - the one living great who still potentially has the ability to grab a World Championship.

Could this be the real 2010 highlight and relegate Lewis vs Jenson to a ho hum B movie..?

Graham Benge

Mercedes musical chairs as Jenson heads for Woking

As the dust settles on the news that Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button is Mclaren bound for 2010 and beyond, UKMotortalk's Graham Benge takes a look at what he can expect as he takes the coveted number 1 to Woking and speculates on the bigger picture which might well have helped engineer his move.


"Don't mention the war" they used to say in Fawlty Towers but now we have two moustachioed RAF types flying red white and blue Spitfires yet powered by Messerschmitt engines!

How times change, & despite knowing that Lewis and Jenson get on really well I never thought they would both be signed by McLaren at the same time.
Will Martin Whitmarsh be able to hold the two of them in check, to prevent a major ego clash? Will McLaren, as they have always done, field identical cars and show no garage bias, or will it degenerate into the Senna/Prost rivalry of the early 1990s?

Even if it did that rivalry produced one of McLaren's most successful eras, winning - between the two drivers - 15 races out of the 16 in the 1988 season despite their drivers coming to blows very publicly at least twice!

But to see what's really going on one needs to step a lot further back.

Only with sufficient perspective do we realise that both Lewis and Jenson are just very well paid and very talented pawns in a much bigger and longer game. The driver moves and their inflated salaries are really but a nickel and dime side show.

McLaren will doubtless become a major player in the sports car market within the next two or three years, probably rivalling Ferrari and Porsche and seriously hurting Mercedes sports car sales, especially at the premium end of that particular market niche.
The 722 SM we talked about recently is the last of the supercar collaborations between Mclaren & Mercedes and has only a few weeks left to run before they have all been completed. This expensive “niche of a niche” has shown no decline whatsoever, indeed those with the financial wherewithal to spend a million euros a pop on a car can still afford those sums of money.

The great game seems to be one of major power shifts in the car industry at its most expensive. Mclaren have no desire to be a volume car producer, they will be a high tech, high cost, high profit constructor, and want to go their own way in car making; therefore Ron Dennis and the other investors certainly don’t want to sell out completely to Mercedes Benz.

Indeed they are probably very glad to be able to buy back the 40% Mercedes currently own, I’m sure that opportunity came as a very pleasant surprise to Ron and Mansour Ojjeh.

At the same time Mercedes found that they could do a deal with Mclaren where they continue to provide engines to the F1 team at a price, dramatically reduce their financial input into the Woking squad yet keep their name on the car and still have spare change left over to buy the 2009 World Championship winning F1 team, repaint the car as the legendary Silver Arrows, hire two very capable German drivers – Rosberg and Heidfeld – retain the services of master tactician Ross Brawn to work alongside Norbert Haug, (putting a substantial profit into Ross’s pocket as he capitalises 70% of a team he paid just a £1 for - in addition to a substantial dowry from Honda) and achieve all of this at what would seem to be bargain basement prices in global terms.

The end result is that Mclaren get the best drivers and the best engines while they still want them, and in addition get to design and build their own road cars whilst Mercedes get to own their own F1 team with their own name on it, their choice of drivers at lower outlay than they expected and get to strengthen their brand image against Mclaren’s road car division into the bargain.

As Ron said last week “for all parties it’s a win-win scenario”.

I think we are going to see a lot of wins for McLaren in 2010!

Graham Benge