F1: Bernie Ecclestone US GP Q&A

This week�s announcement that F1 will go to Austin, Texas in 2012 came as a huge surprise, even to the sport�s insiders. But promoter Tavo Hellmund had been dealing with Bernie Ecclestone for over two years while trying to put the deal together.
In Turkey on Thursday, SPEEDtv.com�s Adam Cooper spoke with Ecclestone about the race, and while the F1 chief executive wasn�t giving too much away, what he did say was, as ever, fascinating�

Q: Is it fair to say that Tavo�s dad brought F1 back to Mexico in 1988?
�I think together, we did, yes!�

Q: And you�ve been friends ever since?
�Yes, we�ve kept in touch. And with Tavo, I�ve known him since he was born.�

Q: Did the Austin idea come up straight away after F1 finished with Indianapolis?
�No, but we�ve been talking about it for a long time.�

Q: What was it that convinced you to go there?
�Well, it�s a good place. Texas is a great place; it�s something that suits us.�

Q: But Dallas didn�t work in 1984...
�No, but it would have been nice. Dallas was good.�

Q: Had you been to Austin before this came up?
�No, I only went there because of this.�

Q: What were your impressions?
�Good. It�s a nice place. It�s got all the features that we want.�

Q: What is it about Tavo that convinces you that he can get the job done?
�Well, I trust him.�

Q: But it was a difficult job even for Tony George...
�Yeah, but he�s got a different way of looking at things. He knows about F1.�

Q: What�s the biggest hurdle he�s going to face?
�I think he�s going to face hundreds of them. He�ll have to jump over them all as he gets there! Building the circuit, for a start, is not going to be easy. But we�ll get it done, no fear. He�s got a lot of help from the government.�

Q: In that sense he�s got a head start compared with Tony George?
�Tony was unfortunate. It was the right and the wrong place. Right place for the type of racing they have, the wrong place for us.�

Q: I mean as far we know, he never got any government help, did he?
�No, not at all. I think everybody thought that Tony didn�t need any help.�

Q: Even in Texas finding $200m to build a circuit isn�t easy...
�He�s done it, otherwise he wouldn�t embark on it.�

Q: And a permanent track is the way to go?
�This sort of facility [Istanbul]. It�s going to look good.�

Q: It�s a better bet that a street race?
�Yes, sure. I think we�ve got enough street races now.�

Q: Is it fair to say that street races like Phoenix were not the best way for the American public to see F1?
�I don�t know what the American public want to see in motor sport. I think they�ve seen too much oval racing, so I hope we can wean them off that!�

Q: Do you think he can get a crowd?
�Yes, sure. Dallas was good. It was full up.�

Q: In somewhere like Vegas you were always going to get people coming from all over the world. Austin�s not really got the same appeal...
�The difference is that Austin will have a track, and Vegas didn�t have one...�

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka �94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi �09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005. Check out Adam�s Blog or follow him on Twitter

American F1 team USF1 signs Argentine driver Lopez

Jose Maria Lopez will drive for the new American Formula One team USF1 in 2010.

Argentina President Cristina Fernandez Kirchner announced deal in Buenos Aires on Monday, saying her government was "very happy to get behind this exciting new project."
Lopez, a 26-year-old former Renault test driver, is the 24th Argentine to drive in F1 and the first since Gaston Mazzacane at Prost in 2001.
Lopez, who has over 6,000 test miles (9,600 kilometers) under his belt, dominated Argentine racing after returning when an F1 seat fell through in 2007.
"This is a truly memorable day for me, my family and the people of Argentina," Lopez said. "Of course a new F1 team faces many challenges, but our goal is to improve with each race and build a foundation that will eventually see this team competing for wins and championships."
USF1 executive vice president Pete Windsor said the team followed Lopez since 2003 and was "thrilled to have him on board." The Charlotte, North Carolina-based team is still to name its second driver.
"You can nail every step along the way but if you don't have the right guys in the seats, everything else is for naught," Windsor said. "With Jose Maria Lopez we have further positioned ourselves for a successful 2010 debut campaign."
Lopez will make his debut at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.

US F1 allowed to test in America

The first USF1 car will make its debut on an American circuit, it was announced on Friday, 8 Jan. Peter Windsor, Sporting Director of the US F1 Team, has all but confirmed speculation that the new American team will field two rookies for its grand prix debut this March.
Amid constant rumours that the Charlotte based outfit will not make it to Bahrain at all, it has been reported that experienced drivers earlier linked to USF1 - including Pedro de la Rosa, Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Wurz - are no longer in the running.
The Charlotte based team's sporting director Peter Windsor told the official F1 website that the FIA has granted special dispensation to allow winter testing for USF1 away from the normal European group sessions.
"Because we are a new team and start everything from zero the first time we will run the car will be in the United States at the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, the circuit that was nominated by the FIA for us," he said.
Windsor added that the maiden test will take place "at the beginning of February", but was not more specific.
He said the FIA dispensation allows for three tests in the US, before the car is shipped to Spain "to do some testing there before we fly out to Bahrain".
It has been reported in recent days that Argentine driver Jose Maria Lopez is close to finalising his sponsorship package for one USF1 race seat, while the Briton James Rossiter is rumoured to be in contention for the other.
Said Windsor: "We are very close to announcing our drivers. We've been talking to some great racing drivers over the last couple of months -- and it is very difficult choosing from the good drivers that are around.
"I think there are still a lot and the difficult thing is to choose only two out of ten that are available. It's a difficult job and I hate having to do that. We have not signed our forward deals yet in terms of the contracts, but we are pretty near to announcing," he added.

All Teams submit F1 entries for 2010

Team bosses are all now signed up to compete in next season's campaign Ferrari and the rest of the teams in the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota) have submitted conditional entries for the 2010 championship.
Williams announced on Monday that they intend to enter next season's campaign. McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso, Brawn GP and Force India have now followed suit.
However, the teams have only signed up to the new season on the condition that they are able to operate on the basis of current technical regulations. The teams and the sport's governing body, the FIA, have been at odds in recent weeks over plans to introduce an optional budget cap in 2010. The teams have tried to meet (FIA president) Max Mosley halfway on this one - it remains to be seen now if he agrees to their terms

Those teams who pledged to keep costs under �40m a season would be allowed greater technical freedom than those outside of the budget cap, but many of the teams felt the cap was far too strict, fearing it would create a two-tier championship.

Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and Toyota all threatened to pull out of the sport if the budgetary restrictions were to be forced through. It prompted a crisis meeting between Fota and the FIA a fortnight ago, talks which failed initially to provide an acceptable compromise. But at a meeting at the Monaco Grand Prix last week, it was agreed in principle to delay the cap until 2011, while motorsport boss Max Mosley has made other concessions to the teams on governance. And it appears enough progress has now been made on that to convince teams to sign up to the new season - on the condition that a new financial agreement with F1's management is reached by 12 June.

"It could be the end (of the budget cap row) but we won't know for certain until the FIA publish its list of accepted teams and drivers for the 2010 championship on 12 June," reported BBC Five Live's F1 commentator David Croft.

"At the moment, it's the current 10 teams plus Prodrive, USF1 and the Campos team from Spain. Those teams will be offered technical assistance from the current entrants who, in return for that, want a sliding scale of cost-cutting. "That means instead of a �40m cap next year, say a spend of around �80m that reduces to somewhere around �40m by 2011.
"The teams have tried to meet Max Mosley halfway on this one - it remains to be seen now if he agrees to their terms." A statement on behalf of Fota said: "Fota confirms all its members' long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. "It has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship in the next three years."

The FIA now has until 12 June to confirm its intentions.
Toyota Motorsport boss, and Fota vice-chairman John Howett, whose team has long been rumoured to be quitting F1 at the end of the year, said: "We await a response from the Federation."

Sebastien Vettel Grabs Pole Position in Shanghai

Sebastian Vettel (born July 3, 1987 in Heppenheim) is a German race car driver. He drives for Red Bull Racing having replaced former driver David Coulthard.
By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. On Sunday September 30, 2007, during the Japanese Grand Prix Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race. (Mike Thackwell remains the youngest driver to compete in a championship Grand Prix race; Nico Rosberg the youngest to drive an F1 car in private testing) He also became the quickest driver to get a fine in F1, being fined $1,000 nine seconds into his career, after speeding in the pitlane. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix and the youngest driver to score points in a Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to win pole position. He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year.

Junior Series

Vettel demonstrating his Formula Three Euroseries car in 2006
Vettel started racing karts in 1995, winning various titles such as the Junior Monaco Kart Cup (2001). In 2003, he upgraded to open-wheel cars, and won the 2004 German Formula BMW Championship with 18 victories from 20 races. In 2005 he drove for ASL Mucke Motorsport in the Formula Three Euroseries. He was placed fifth in the final standings with 64 points, winning the year's top rookie honours. He did not win any races, but this was largely due to the championship's domination by Lewis Hamilton. Despite, this, he tested the Williams FW27 Formula One car on September 27 as a reward for this Formula BMW success. He then went on to test for the BMW Sauber team.
Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified. However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying d�bris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks.

However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Fr�d�ric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the N�rburgring next weekend - that's important."

Vettel became BMW Sauber's third driver at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, when former incumbent Robert Kubica was called up to replace Jacques Villeneuve for the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race.The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.
He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007, and also competed in the World Series by Renault Championship, where he had his first win at the N�rburgring. He was leading the championship when he was called up to F1 permanently, and his seat was taken by Michael Ammerm�ller.

Formula One

Vettel made his Formula One debut at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, driving for BMW Sauber.

2007: BMW Sauber
Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the US Grand Prix and started in seventh position on the grid, finishing in eighth position, thanks to Nico Rosberg's late retirement, to take his first F1 World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button � who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2007-2008: Toro Rosso

2007
On July 31, 2007, BMW released Vettel to join Red Bull's Scuderia Toro Rosso team, replacing Scott Speed as race driver as of the Hungarian Grand Prix. He earned approximately $165,000 for finishing the season with Toro Rosso. Before the race, it was also announced that Vettel would drive for STR in 2008. His team-mate would be S�bastien Bourdais.

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman �It�s kids isn�t it... kids with not enough experience � they do a good job and then they fuck it all up.� Vettel was caught on camera crying after the incident. He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the Chinese GP having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Vettel will be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential ! He is fast, intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."

According to some sources, at the end of the 2007 season Vettel was contacted by McLaren in order to replace Spanish two-time world champion Fernando Alonso who left the British team for Renault in the same period. The talks between McLaren chief Ron Dennis and Dietrich Mateschitz failed however, the Red Bull boss refusing a multi million Euro deal for the young German driver.

2008
After four races of the 2008 Formula One season Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers. However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix, he finally saw the chequered flag, finishing 17th after qualifying 14th. In the next race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the 2008 Season with a fifth place finish, mainly due to the changing conditions. Vettel also benefitted from the downfall of other drivers, such as Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen. Vettel scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane and having to fight off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point. Vettel finished 12th in the French Grand Prix after passing Hamilton at the start. Vettel retired on the first lap of the British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaning into the gravel trap along with the Red Bull driver. He then bounced back from this by finishing eighth at the German Grand Prix by fending off Fernando Alonso and securing the last championship point after Jarno Trulli went off the track. Vettel then became the first retirement of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. Vettel impressed many at the European Grand Prix by setting the fastest time in the first practice session and fastest time in the second qualifying session, which was also the fastest overall time in qualifying. He qualified 6th on the grid, and finished 6th, 2 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.
At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix. Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza. Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages, and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy". Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is".

Alonso, whom Vettel displaced as the youngest Grand Prix winner, said the victory was "deserved" by the whole of the Toro Rosso team. The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement". He then went on to finish fourth at the Singapore Grand Prix and fifth at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after running second for much of the race, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning the Briton the title.

2009 onwards: Red Bull Racing

2009
At the start of the 2009 season, Vettel replaced David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing.
Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. He thought that he would be asble to do this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred. In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions. However in China he went on to take pole position, the first pole for the Red Bull Racing team.

Race of Champions
Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher. Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Kovalainen and Marcus Gr�nholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen.

Helmet design

The Bergstra�e Coat of Arms that appears on the chin area of Vettel's helmet
Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

US F1 team aims to begin racing in 2010

America's Formula One team has been officially launched with organizers unveiling plans to begin competition with two cars in 2010.

USF1 will be based in the heartland of America's stock car series NASCAR and will be backed by Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson. Both have been involved in helping run Formula One teams in the past.
Anderson said having an American F1 team is an ideal fit.
"There's more equipment, more people here than anywhere on the planet," said Anderson who has worked for two Formula One teams.
Said Windsor, "We've got the capital to do it."

Windsor and Anderson did not go into details about how they would finance the team but they have projected their annual budget to be about 62 million dollars.
They have yet to choose their drivers but said they are considering approaching people like Scott Speed, Marco Andretti, Kyle Busch and Danica Patrick.

Windsor said Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone has given them the green light to go ahead.
"He said, 'Great, get it done,'" said Windsor.
Some have questioned the timing of the announcement because of the global economic crisis, but Windsor says they are not worried.
"Long before the current economic recession, we were thinking "lean, mean"," Windsor wrote on the team's website.

"We were questioning why the existing F1 teams needed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in not winning races; and we were convinced that not only could an F1 be designed and built in the USA but also that we could base the team in America, too."
Windsor said they have sound financial backing.
"We have exceeded our investment targets and have the capital we need," he wrote. "The support and enthusiasm for USF1 has been nothing short of overwhelming. As cliched as it is, the NASA-speak is irresistible: we have lift-off."