Formula One 2012

[zebra]

Nah next up will be 15mins of qualifying and the championship decided based on the lap time

Oh wait it already is. Just a 3 hour filler of remote control cars being driven around on sunday

[tweety bird]

This is the full release sent out by Group Lotus on the Wednesday before the Chinese Grand Prix.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story....

Take a little look at what we found online. Don't you think it's funny? We do. We had a good old giggle. After all, we love a bit of self irony, just as well really. Although it's funny, this one's not accurate but then again, why let the facts get in the way of a good story? The inconvenient truth is - surprise, surprise - we have never said that there are no problems at Lotus.

So whilst lots of people obviously feel the need to comment on Lotus' current situation in the absence of proper facts or evidence, we can't ignore these particular mistruths any longer even if we would like to, so we have decided to turn a negative into a positive and use this hilarious piece of 'art' to set the record straight regarding the status quo at Group Lotus and try to return a little stability to a fast changing situation.

False rumour #1: Dany Bahar is no longer CEO of Group Lotus.

Fact: Rubbish - Dany Bahar still is.

False rumour #2: Dato' Sri Syed is no longer Managing Director of Proton.

Fact: Again rubbish. He still is.

You can thank good old Tony Fernandes for these two. Don't take everything he tweets too seriously – perhaps he's still frustrated about owning Caterham instead of Lotus and the fact that he fights HRT and Marussia instead of Mercedes and Ferrari in F1.

And whilst we're on the subject of jokes - do you know the latest F1 joke? Mike Gascoyne, Caterham Group's Chief Technical Officer, has gone missing. Why? He's looking for the 30 to 40 points he predicted for the last F1 season. Funny.

Speaking of F1: It seems that one special so called 'independent' source is at the root of the lion's share of damaging rumours and misleading stories. The delightful Joe Saward which leads us nicely to....

False rumour #3: Joe Saward is JUST an independent journalist.

Fact: He is an active Director for the Caterham Group.

And unlike some, we don't want to get too personal, so we'll leave it to you to judge how 'independent' his stories about Lotus are.

False rumour #4: Group Lotus is no longer involved in F1.

Fact: Lotus F1 Team and Group Lotus have reshaped their commercial relationship earlier this year. The new governance agreement signifies the continued commitment of Group Lotus to the team and the sport.

Group Lotus' branding and marketing rights and subsequent activities remain unaffected by the new agreement until at least 2017. Alongside continued branding and title partnership status, Group Lotus is also the exclusive master licensee for all Lotus F1 Team merchandise.

The new agreement was reached following Group Lotus owners Proton providing team owners Genii with a £30m loan which is repayable within three years. In order to secure the loan Genii used 100% of the F1 team's assets as collateral meaning that under the conditions of the loan agreement Proton have been given full title guarantee to all plant, machinery, show cars, computers, office and the Lotus F1 Team headquarters.

In addition Proton retains the rights to purchase 10% of the F1 team. Another 10% share option will be activated if the team default on their loan obligations with Proton.

Again we leave it to your judgement how 'bad' Lotus' current situation in F1 is. And speaking of bad situations.....

False rumour #5: Group Lotus is going into administration.

Fact: Rubbish. The takeover of our parent company Proton by DRB-HICOM couldn't have come at a worse time, but up until that point Proton was (and still remains) fully committed to our five year business plan to create jobs and to expand the factory and business. With the takeover process the funding has been restricted and DRB-HICOM is taking time to understand what to do with the business. DRB-HICOM is currently in the middle of due diligence of Group Lotus and there have been and continue to be positive discussions between Group Lotus senior management and senior management at DRB-HICOM both here in Hethel and in Malaysia. At no point has DRB-HICOM indicated to Group Lotus that it intends to put the company into administration. The over-active rumour mill is seriously damaging our business reputation, image and credibility but it is what it is.

The simple fact is, and we haven't denied this - Lotus is going through a very difficult phase at the moment but we are showing true fighting spirit every day in trying to keep this vision alive. This is also a fact – no matter what people outside of Lotus may say or tweet or blog.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98706

you happy roy?

[tweety bird]

only been married to him since october last year too.

had a look at her results in DTM. pretty ordinary. certainly not worthy of a f1 drive. barely worthy of even just being taken round in the 2 seater f1 car, lol

ordinary?

she made it into the top ten nine times in six years never going better then seventh and only scoring four points in those six years.

of sixty one starts her best place in the championship is thirteenth.....

roy could of done better!!

[Roy]

Man, listen to the Lotus Propaganda machine roll into town. A $30 million loan means nothing in my book. If it was a straight up sponsorship of 30million over multiple years then perhaps it starts to look like they are serious....otherwise....I really hope Kimi and Romain start kicking goals and get some money into the team with results

[djr81]

False rumour #3: Joe Saward is JUST an independent journalist.

Actually Joe Saward is just a muppet. If you disbelieve everything he writes you will be right pretty much all the time.

Independent? Journalist? He fails massively on both counts.

[Roy]

I always read his site as he often gives an alternate perspective/insight into things. You read it long enough you realise he has his pet agendas but still posts plenty of interesting insight into the "world of F1" rather then just the usual races and cut and paste articles so many other F1 sites have

[MacGillaZ]

next bernies daughter will be running a red bull and winning the championship next year after a marrying vetool too.

I thought Vetool swung the other way like a certain V.Rossi?

[djr81]

I always read his site as he often gives an alternate perspective/insight into things. You read it long enough you realise he has his pet agendas but still posts plenty of interesting insight into the "world of F1" rather then just the usual races and cut and paste articles so many other F1 sites have

Yeah well my view point on it is that he mostly just makes sht up. I got fed up with his pet agendas long ago - back when he used to write for Motorsport News. Hell I still havent forgiven him for what he wrote about the Texaco Sierras at Bathurst in 1987. Not that I hold a grudge, you understand.

[Roy]

What did he write about the Sierra's. I only learned to read at 15yrs of age

[djr81]

What did he write about the Sierra's. I only learned to read at 15yrs of age

What, you were in a gifted students program too?

The crux of it was that the (legitimate) protests by Gardner & many others were not in keeping with how the thing was done in Europe - which was not by the book by any means. Anyway a search dredged up this:

Joe Saward, touring car writer for Autosport in Britain, found it all mildly amusing. "Hey, this isn't Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There's a lot of money at stake here, and if Bathurst wants to lose the World Championship, it's going the right way about it." The inference was that the rules are a little more malleable in Europe. Everyone knows the score. Everyone knows how to play the game. Yet the dumb Aussies actually believe in the letter of the law.

87 was an interesting year, but I enjoyed 89 more after 88 broke my black heart.

[ctjet]

I thought Vetool swung the other way like a certain V.Rossi?

i though he was a bit strange

turns out he's probably not gay, just italian

[mad082]

ordinary?

she made it into the top ten nine times in six years never going better then seventh and only scoring four points in those six years.

of sixty one starts her best place in the championship is thirteenth.....

roy could of done better!!

from the info i saw, initially she was in an older spec car that may have run in a different class where she won a few races in that category (whilst still placing poorly overall). in the same sort of way that different classes all race at the same time in some sports car categories and the le mans series. i may be wrong about that though (not really a follower of DTM). the end of her career was just plain shit though, LOL.

i'd like to see lowndes in a f1 drive. probably wouldn't see too many other f1 drivers come out of a corner all crossed up while only steering with one hand whilst also resting his elbow on the top of the cockpit, like he does in his v8 supercar, lol.

[Roy]

He had his chance. He struggled to match the results of his team mate in F3000. It would have been nice if his team mate wasn't Juan Pablo Montoya and it would have also helped if his engineers spoke english. He generally raced well and made positions, but the problem was Montoya would qualify at the front and his results hosed Lowndes on a whole.

I would loved to have seen Power get a chance....he seems to have the gusto that may have meant he had a chance in F1

[ctjet]

sux 2 b hamo

[tweety bird]

The FIA has confirmed a single DRS zone for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai circuit.

The DRS (Drag Reduction System) will be allowed on the back straight, with the activation zone located before the halfway point of the straight, after Turn 13, just like in 2011.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98711

[tweety bird]

Lewis Hamilton's chances of fighting for victory in the Chinese Grand Prix have taken a hit as he will be given a grid penalty.

The McLaren driver confirmed on Thursday that he will need a new gearbox for the weekend, meaning he will get a five-place grid penalty for the change.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98713

lol.

[tweety bird]

The Lotus team has filed a protest against Mercedes's rear wing ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/98719

Lotus's protest against the legality of Mercedes's rear wing has been rejected by the FIA, Formula 1's ruling body.

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/98736

The full Mercedes decision by the FIA

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98738

you can read all about it here.

[Topstage_S14]

The FIA has confirmed a single DRS zone for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai circuit.

The DRS (Drag Reduction System) will be allowed on the back straight, with the activation zone located before the halfway point of the straight, after Turn 13, just like in 2011.

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/98711

was hoping they brought it back an extra 100m this year. but oh well. The merc/mclaren cars will be able to pass in reverse

[ctjet]

the schum will be mighty tough to beat for pole

im putting a couple bucks on him

[dori34]

this race might be the one for Mercedes!