2010 - "Формула-1"

[Алексей Грушко]

 Пол ди Реста - в Force India
Мирко Бортолотти - в Toro Rosso
Михаль Шумахер - в Mercedes
Alexey Grushko (Unicorn)40137,0345138889

[Владимир Мальчиков]

Райкконена теперь сватают в Mercedes GP

[Алексей Грушко]

Robert Kubica - Mercedes
Jose Maria Lopez - USF1

[Владимир Коваленко]

Из последних видеоновостей:
2009.11.13, 14.49 - интервью с Бруно Сенной (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/gvyn2f3)
2009.11.17, 00.46 - Эдди Джордан о 'Броне' и 'Мерседесе' (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/gg3lcwx)
2009.11.17, 18.12 - Норберт Хауг о 'Броне' и 'Мерседесе' (новости, 'Евроньюс').avi (http://disk.tom.ru/wx61uz8)
2009.11.18, 23.54 - Джеки Стюарт о Баттоне (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/tnh32gq)
2009.11.19, 07.50 - Эдди Джордан и Джеки Стюарт о Баттоне (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/ufbhezq)
2009.11.20, 06.18 - Дженсон Баттон о переходе в 'Мак-Ларен' (новости, 'Евроньюс').avi (http://disk.tom.ru/8lugr6s)
2009.11.20, 07.50 - Дженсон Баттон о переходе в 'Мак-Ларен' (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/l8z4uuj)
2009.11.20, 17.51 - интервью с Баттоном (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/cbcsrrp)

[Алексей Грушко]

Mercedes подтвердили Нико Росберга

Чего и следовало ожидать
 

[Владимир Коваленко]

Ещё видеоновости:
2009.11.20, 23.46 - Шумахер и 'Мерседес' (новости, Би-би-си).avi (http://disk.tom.ru/b4vvq4a)
2009.11.23, 06.08 - Норберт Хауг о 'Мерседесе' (новости, 'Немецкая волна').avi (http://disk.tom.ru/8u4ptgf)

[Алексей Грушко]

Хильдебранд - в Force India

[Алексей Грушко]

Force India подтвердила Сутиля и Льюцци, и вроде Toro Rosso подтвердила Буэми.

[Алексей Грушко]

 Физикелла, Трулли, де ла Роса, Кобаяси, Петров - в Sauber Alexey Grushko (Unicorn)40145,8416550926

[Алексей Грушко]

 Жак Вильнев и Хо-Пин Тун - в RenaultAlexey Grushko (Unicorn)40149,4824189815

[Алексей Грушко]

В Renault еще Кобаяси сватают
 

[Алексей Грушко]

Альваро Паренте в Campos

[Алексей Шеметович]

Я смотрю в этом году, как никогда было выгодно купить/основать команду. Каждый бедный гондурас старается влезть. Будет обидно если Петрову не найдется места. Я хоть и не из России, но поболел бы за него. А то 5-6 левых товарищей попадут на стартовое поле, а Петров вряд ли, как то все тихо.

[Владимир Коваленко]

История с Донингтоном и 17-летним контрактом Сильверстоуна напомнила мне рассказ об очень внешне похожей ситуации десятилетней давности, описанной в книге "Игра Берни" (Bernie's Game). Предприимчивая женщина сыграла дурочку, добилась для Брэндс-Хэтч контракта на "Формулу-1", после чего продала трассу за хорошие деньги.

   Far from wanting a monopoly, the RAC's Motor Sports Association's management committee was actually keen to see the number increased. In 1983 building company boss Tom Wheatcroft, the millionaire owner of the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire, was given an indication that he could stage the 1988 British Grand Prix. On the strength of that understanding he proceeded to spend Ј850,000 on track improvements in order to obtain a Formula One track licence from the FISA. The Motor Sports Association had good reason to believe that it was in a strong position to win the day. It not only had ownership of the British Grand Prix title but also the comfort of a long-standing relationship with Silverstone and Brands Hatch in organising the event. It was a united force, it was confidently believed, that would see the status quo maintained. It had yet another, weightier reason for presuming a favourable outcome - the support of Balestre, whose authority at that time was still widely considered to be greater than Ecclestone's.
   It was given following a series of inconclusive meetings between Balestre and Jeffrey Rose, the chairman of the RAC, who was leading the discussions with the support and approval of the Motor Sports Association, at the FIA's headquarters in Paris. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September 1985, Balestre finally agreed with Rose that, subject to the approval of the World Motor Sport Council, the British Grand Prix could continue to alternate between Brands Hatch and Silverstone. A letter was drafted by Yvon Lйon, the general secretary of the FISA, signed by Balestre and delivered to Rose at the RAC in London. It seemed that, bar the formality of the council meeting - it was hardly likely to vote against its president's recommendation - the RAC had triumphed. But Balestre had erred. He had failed to consult Ecclestone.
   Shortly before the opening of the World Motor Sport Council in December, Ecclestone, without explaining his reasons, made it clear that he couldn't accept Balestre's recommendation. Balestre, who was present, said nothing. When the time came to discuss the resolution to allow the British Grand Prix to be staged at alternating venues, Balestre, with reference to his recommendation, said he could speak only as the representative of the Fйdйration Franзaise du Sport Automobile. With an obvious lack of enthusiasm for his own recommendation, the resolution failed to attract a majority vote. It was subsequently announced that from January 1986 there would be a policy of one country one circuit. The RAC came in for considerable flak from the UK motor sport media, which accused the motoring organisation of failing to do enough to block the move.
   As Brands Hatch dominated the motor sport scene and homologation fees were a major source of income for the RAC, John Webb, the managing director of Motor Circuit Developments Ltd (MCD), which ran Brands Hatch, was in a position to urge the Motor Sports Association to throw its weight behind Brands Hatch as its choice of circuit for the British Grand Prix, which it duly did. But whatever influence it might have once wielded within the FISA, it was now of little force. As the Canadian Automobile Sports Club was also to learn, it was Ecclestone's view alone that mattered. It would be he who would decide which circuit would get the British Grand Prix. The precedent had been established: the authority of the Royal Automobile Club as Britain's national sporting authority, which had been considered one of the strongest and most influential in Formula One, was now subject to Ecclestone's wishes.
   Around this time Webb had other pressing matters on his mind - he was busy looking for heavyweight investors to back a rescue of MCD, a quest that would come to involve the omnipresent Ecclestone, and which may have explained his enthusiasm for the introduction of a one-country-one-circuit ruling. Webb, who had joined Brands Hatch as a contracted press officer in 1954, was perfectly suited to the task before him. He had played a leading role, at the request of the then managing director, in the sale of Brands Hatch to Grovewood Securities, an investment company, in 1961, which led to his appointment to its board as a director. He began negotiations with the RAC that led in 1964 to the circuit staging, on alternate years with Silverstone, the British Grand Prix, and was also responsible for the acquisition of Mallory Park, Snetterton and Oulton Park. MCD was formed as a centralised operational company to run the circuits.
   Grovewood Securities was taken over in 1972 by Eagle Star Holdings, a financial investments company which, in turn, was bought by British American Tobacco (BAT) in the early eighties. By late 1985 BAT decided that motor sport no longer suited its long-term group business activities and made it known that it wanted to sell its assets, possibly to property developers interested in developing, for example, Brands Hatch as a supermarket complex. Webb, president of the Association Internationale des Circuits Permanents (Circuits International), the organisation representing the interests of circuit owners worldwide and which Rainer Mertel would subsequently lead, was a much-respected figure in British motor sport and became determined that Brands Hatch should remain a major motor sport circuit. He wrote to Patrick Sheahy, chairman of BAT, requesting first option on Grovewood's motor-racing interests.
   Sheahy agreed, and Webb, aided by his wife, Angela, who had been appointed a director of MCD by Grovewood Securities in 1976 and its deputy managing director in the early eighties, put together a buy-out plan, which required considerable capital investment. By February 1986 - a month after the one-country-one-circuit ruling had been introduced - Webb had found two interested parties. The first was 38-year-old John Foulston, multi-millionaire founder of Atlantic Computers, a computer leasing company, whom Webb knew well as a sponsor and a participant in Historic Sports Car Club championships at Brands Hatch. The other was Ecclestone.
   In either late March or early April, following a preliminary round of discussions, Foulston, Ecclestone and the Webbs met at Fairoaks Aerodrome, Surrey, where the Webbs' proposal was verbally agreed. Foulston and Ecclestone would go 50-50 to buy the circuit's freehold through a holding company, later to be known as Brands Hatch Leisure Pic, while the Webbs would have a 20 per cent stake in an operational company, which would come to be known as Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd, and which they would be left to run. The sum involved, or so Webb confidently believed at the time, was about Ј3.5 million. Both Foulston and Webb proceeded with some confidence. At that meeting Ecclestone had reassured Foulston and the Webbs that the Grand Prix would be going to Brands Hatch.
   Webb informed Eagle Star that his act was in place and it was informally confirmed that the price would be about Ј3.5 million, although Webb was informed that, to protect shareholders' interests, a consultant would be engaged to revalue the assets. From that point, he noted, another party became interested in buying the company. That party was British Car Auctions (BCA). Its involvement hiked up the price dramatically. Then, shortly after the Monaco Grand Prix on 11 May, Webb received a phone call from Ecclestone. He'd gone cold on the deal, would he mind explaining to Foulston? Webb declined, and told Ecclestone to tell Foulston himself. Foulston later called Webb to say that he had heard from Ecclestone but was prepared to go it alone. However, due to the intervention of British Car Auctions, the price of MCD soon reached Ј5.25 million - Ј1.75 million more than the initial valuation. If it went any higher, said Foulston, he would pull out. It didn't - and he got the company.
   At a board meeting of Brands Hatch Leisure Pic, which included Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith and Sir Jack Brabham, Foulston was asked how he had reacted to Ecclestone's call. His answer, which was not minuted, was that Ecclestone said he was prepared to go with the latest increased figure - it had yet to get to Ј5.25 million - only if he, Foulston, loaned him his 50 per cent. Foulston said that he would, but at some rate of interest. Ecclestone said no, he wanted it interest-free. Foulston replied that there could be no deal on that basis. After that, Foulston reported, 'Bernie threw his toys out of the pram.' Their business association came to a sudden end.
   Given his wealth and his usual method of business, Ecclestone's request was implausibly out of character, as if he were deliberately creating a reason to pull out of the agreement with Foulston, which was more than likely. For unknown to Foulston, Ecclestone had also been talking to David Wickins, founder and chairman of BCA. Ecclestone had come to an 'understanding' with Wickins: if BCA's bid was successful, the company would lease the track to him. Ecclestone, as ever, had done his sums and had doubtless found this proposition more appealing, not least because, without the hindrance of a partner, particularly one as potentially troublesome as Foulston, he would be in complete control.
   Commenting on the 'understanding' with Ecclestone, Wickins, who headed BCA from its founding in February 1946 to his retirement in 1988, said: 'I am not sure there was anything firm or fixed about it, but when you gave your word, you'd given it. We were only interested in Brands Hatch as a site for an auction centre. It wouldn't have interfered with the racing. I was certainly not interested in running Formula One. I tried never to get involved in things outside my particular knowledge.' BCA, he recalled, had bid Ј250,000 more than Foulston but it was conditional on planning permission being granted for the construction of offices. 'I don't know what happened after that. I went to America and started buying auctions there.' Ecclestone, he said, had had no personal stake in BCA's bid, nor did he do anything to promote it.
   With Foulston's successful acquisition of Brands Hatch, Ecclestone's interest switched to Silverstone, the former military bomber base in Northamptonshire whose original x-shaped circuit hosted the first British Grand Prix in 1950, and which was owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club, a mutual organisation of some 800 members. He had secret talks with managing director Jimmy Brown, and, on 21 May, within weeks of the partnership with Foulston breaking down, a contract was signed between Ecclestone, on behalf of the FOCA, Balestre, on behalf of the FISA, and Brown, which led to Silverstone getting the British Grand Prix for the next five years. With few aware of what had been going on behind the scenes - as well as the RAC, as the national sporting authority, whose senior officials were livid at being kept in the dark - Ecclestone explained that the contract had gone to Silverstone 'because there is room to build the kind of facilities necessary'. In an off-the-record comment, which he refused to enlarge, he said he had been involved in 'the early stages' of the sale negotiations of Brands Hatch.1 The news was announced by Balestre during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. It was relayed to Webb in a phone call from the motor sport correspondent of the British daily newspaper The Guardian at 9 a.m. on Saturday 24 May. He was stunned, at least briefly.
   Six days earlier, on 18 May, a statement had been issued announcing the change of ownership of Brands Hatch through the acquisition of Motor Circuit Developments Ltd by Foulston, with the Webbs in operational control. The future of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch was secure, Webb had declared. But if Foulston was deeply concerned by the news about Silverstone, he appeared unperturbed. 'In a financial sense there was no reason why he should be,' said Webb, 'because in those days one made very little money out of a Grand Prix. He took it very well, and simply got on with business.' The 1986 British Grand Prix, won by Nigel Mansell in a Williams-Honda, was the last one to be staged at Brands Hatch. Foulston later added Cadwell Park -Mallory Park was sold in 1983 - to his stable of circuits, which underwent extensive improvement programmes. 'In fact, we went on to make some of our best profits,' added Webb. 'If anything, a Grand Prix can cloud one's mind and distract attention from other opportunities. So when we had to start thinking hard, it went well.'
   In blithe ignorance of all that had been going on between Ecclestone, Brands Hatch and Silverstone was the RAC's Motor Sports Association, and the hapless Tom Wheatcroft, who had spent a fortune on his hopes for a Grand Prix at Donington. The general reaction of senior RAC management, as reported at the time by the motor sport media, was one of disquiet, although Peter Cooper, the then chairman of the Motor Sports Association, claims today that he had not been surprised by the news. 'I was not surprised by anything that Bernie did.'
   Wheatcroft issued a High Court writ against the RAC for damages of Ј1.25 million, a legal action which progressed no further. But he finally got his Grand Prix, even though he incurred heavy losses. It took place in 1993 - 50 years after the Leicestershire circuit, a one-time pre-war motorcycle track, held its first Grand Prix - after Ecclestone backed his application to the FISA to stage a one-off European Grand Prix following the cancellation of the Asian Grand Prix in Japan. Given just 12 weeks' notification, Wheatcroft, then aged 71, worked furiously to get everything ready for the Easter weekend event.
   But his long-awaited dream, at least financially, was washed down the drain as rain fell for three days. Attendance figures were disappointingly low, leaving him with a bill of more than Ј3.5 million, much of which, of course, was Ecclestone's cut for the FOCA. How much Ecclestone actually received, Wheatcroft declined to say. 'When you sign a contract, there are two things you can't talk about - how much you pay for the race and where the money goes.' Whatever happens, though, Ecclestone, he said, 'can't lose'. Wheatcroft had the opportunity to stage a European Grand Prix the following year but was thwarted by a heart attack. All the same, he had no regrets that it didn't take place: he conceded that Donington needed 'a lot more infrastructure'. But, for one of motor sport's rare nice guys, the experience of staging a Grand Prix prompted the comment, which he declined to explain: 'You can watch racing all your life, you can enter cars, but when you own a circuit you get into the political side, which I call the "dirty tricks" side. People are nice to your face ... [then] stab you in the back.'
With an estimated personal fortune of Ј40 million, John Foulston had funded the acquisition of Motor Circuit Developments Ltd through a mix of ready cash and the proceeds of the sale of a minor part of Atlantic Computers, which he co-founded in 1975. But he would have little time to fully achieve his ambitious expansion plans for his circuits. Sixteen months later, in September 1987, he was killed instantly, and ironically, at Silverstone. In a test outing, a component failure caused him to lose control of his prized 1970 McLaren-Offenhauser M15, a powerful lOOObhp IndyCar, and crash into barriers at Club Corner. His death, at the age of 40, led to the sale of Atlantic Computers, which, considered to be very much a one-man show, would, it was feared, soon plummet in value.
   It was sold to British & Commonwealth Holdings Pic, whose activities included banking, shipping, securities and investments. The sale, now in the name of Mary Foulston, who had inherited her husband's holdings, went through the following year, but in late 1989 the company collapsed, pulling British & Commonwealth into liquidation with debts totalling Ј1.3 billion. A report published by the Department of Trade and Industry in July 1994, following an investigation into Atlantic Computers, criticized Foulston for misrepresentation over the number of lease contracts with 'walk' clauses in the event of the company's sale, the cause of its downfall.
   As for John and Angela Webb, two years after Foulston's death they withdrew as chief executive and managing director respectively of what had now become the Brands Hatch Leisure Group. They were unable to get on with Foulston's intensely ambitious daughter, Nicola, who, at the age of 18 had been appointed managing director of Haslemere Sports Cars Ltd, which ran her father's historic Formula One and CanAm cars. In September 1989, at 21, she was appointed commercial director, a move which was said to have had the support of John Webb in order that he could 'keep an eye on her'. But within just four weeks the friction was such that the Webbs decided they couldn't continue.
   John Webb told Mary Foulston that either her daughter had to go or he and his wife would resign. Mrs Foulston, who believed the Webbs had done an excellent job for the group, was reluctant to lose them, but nevertheless was persuaded to let them go. She agreed to buy out their 20 per cent share - as long as the news was broken to them by one of the company's advisers. In 1990 a press statement was issued stating that the couple - he had been at Brands Hatch for 36 years and she for 18 - were retiring to Spain.
   Six months after her appointment as commercial director, the feisty Nicola Foulston took on a new role as chief executive and set off on an ambitious expansion programme to raise Brands Hatch's motor sport profile and revenue, which topped Ј10 million a year but with minimal profits. For her more cautious mother it proved more of a white-knuckle ride - she saw her daughter as 'a ridiculous risk-taker' - which led to increasing friction between them. The relationship became so strained that in January 1991 Foulston offered to buy her mother out. Through Baring Brothers, she was backed to the tune of Ј6 million to buy the company in February 1992, following 12 months' negotiations - a protracted period that gave rise to reports of deep acrimony between mother and daughter - which resulted in the final purchase taking place through offshore trusts rather than with debt provided by Barings.
   Over the next decade Foulston transformed Brands Hatch, with the building of new headquarters and conference centre, new pits, renegotiation of television contracts and lucrative diversification into exhibitions and corporate hospitality. In 1995 she organised a Јl5.5-million management buy-in of the Brands Hatch Leisure Group - enriching herself by Ј1.55 million through a ten per cent stake, the purpose of which was to raise finance to buy out the freeholds of the circuits from her mother's trusts - and in November 1996 went public, adding considerably to her personal wealth, but also enabling the funding of further expansion. Foulston, who won the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year award in 1997, had achieved one of her father's plans - to see Brands Hatch successfully floated. But it had all been part and parcel of her own grand plan. For Foulston, perceived as a hard, ambitious and ruthless operator in the genetic strain of Ecclestone, was working to a hidden agenda that had driven her throughout her mercurial career, one which, if all went to plan, would bring her sufficient riches for the rest of her life. The key to its success was the acquisition of Silverstone.
   It led in mid-1998 to a series of exploratory talks with Denys Rohan, the chief executive of Silverstone Circuits Ltd, the track's commercial subsidiary, to discuss ways of bringing Brands Hatch and Silverstone together. The thought of contacting Rohan in the first place had been prompted by the unsuccessful efforts of an American company to acquire RAC Motoring Services, which was finally bought by Lex Service, a UK motoring and related businesses group, in July 1997 for Ј437 million after the 11,000 members of the mutual organisation agreed to accept payments of Ј34,000 each. Its structure was not dissimilar to the British Racing Drivers' Club, whose 838 members owned Silverstone. Founded in April 1928, with membership restricted to established racing drivers, by 1931 the club had proven so popular that it became registered as a company limited by guarantee. BRDC Ltd bought the lease of Silverstone from the RAC in 1952 and the freehold from the Ministry of Defence in 1971.
   It was Foulston's initial gut instinct to launch a surprise attack on Silverstone, one that would have enriched each member by a figure in the region of Ј100,000. She believed that a sufficient number of members would agree to the proposal before BRDC's 12-strong board of directors could muster a counter-attack. She held back because she had been advised that if she moved too quickly she could risk inadvertently breaking City codes, such as the listing rules of the Stock Exchange and the Financial Services Act, which govern a pic's offer of shares to members of the public who form a co-operative such as the BRDC. By late autumn Foulston was proposing a more formal approach - a straightforward takeover of Silverstone, a move that Rohan was said to have greeted positively. But, by now, the future of Silverstone had attracted the interest of another party, prompted by an inevitable leak of Foulston's covert meetings with Rohan.
   In November property developer and BRDC member John Lewis, a former non-executive chairman of Silverstone Estates Ltd, which managed the assets of the club's industrial property, made a Ј41-million offer, backed by HSBC Private Equity, for Silverstone. He believed that the BRDC would be more receptive to a known face, someone who respected the culture and traditions of Silverstone, rather than Foulston, who, in the eyes of her critics, would race jam doughnuts if the bottom line was sufficiently attractive. Lewis's bid subsequently attracted the interest of another property developer, Essex-based Colin Sullivan, who put up a figure of Ј45 million. Bids from other parties were also put on the table.
   Foulston now found herself somewhat on the back foot as the board directors began to set the agenda. It hired the services of merchant bankers Dresdner Kleinwort Benson (DKB) as financial advisers to review all the options open to the club. In reply to a letter from DKB to all interested parties, Brands Hatch Leisure Pic, the holding company of the Brands Hatch Leisure Group, confirmed its interest in buying Silverstone for a figure later put at Ј47.9 million. An information pack on Silverstone, containing financial detail not publicly available, was offered by the bankers on condition that Foulston signed a confidentiality agreement, which also included a lock-out clause preventing a direct approach to BRDC members. Foulston declined to have her hands tied by the clause, but it confirmed in her mind that her early instinct to make a direct approach on day one would probably have proved successful.
   Brands Hatch Leisure now seemed to be out in the cold. Until, that is, Foulston decided to seek the support of the one person who could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In early December she arrived at Ecclestone's office in Knightsbridge with nothing more than a book to read while he kept her waiting for his usual obligatory period. She had deliberately left her briefcase at her office, along with a sharp business attitude that might work against her. She knew that Ecclestone, like her father, had an ego easily rankled by an attitude suggesting peer equality, particularly from someone so young.
   Inside his office, Foulston immediately got down to explaining the reason for her visit, of her interest in Silverstone, of the proposed takeover talks she had had with Denys Rohan, and now the hiring of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, whose services had been engaged, she believed, in order to bring about a merger between Brands Hatch and Silverstone. As she unfolded the events, Ecclestone was said to have become increasingly angry. It became apparent that he had had no idea of what had been going on. Foulston believed that the BRDC board had made a major tactical blunder. A 'change of control' clause in Ecclestone's contract with Silverstone allowed him to pull the Grand Prix if its management was in any way reconstructed or the company taken over without his approval. Foulston found she had Ecclestone's undivided attention as she set about negotiating in effect an option agreement: if the BRDC sold to her, the British Grand Prix would stay at Silverstone. But if it was sold to anyone else it would lose the Grand Prix.
   While Ecclestone was incensed by what he had heard, it did nothing to diminish his insistence on a top-dollar deal. To secure the contract, Foulston had to offer a most attractive incentive: $10 million a year - $4 million more than he was getting from Silverstone - for a ten-year contract with an annual compound increase of ten per cent. The first payment would also fall due upon acquisition of Silverstone, not when the contract with Silverstone expired two years later, an incentive designed to encourage Ecclestone's further support to make it happen. Foulston left his office with a provisional agreement, which was known as the Number One Silverstone contract.
   DKB believed that Ecclestone had, in fact, been made fully aware of events. As a BRDC member, he had been informed by letter in November, following the bid from John Lewis, that the board of directors had decided to consider a review of the options, including a possible restructuring - but it gave no hint of a merger that the board was apparently seeking as relayed by Foulston. DKB also believed that, beyond progress letters sent to members, which included Ecclestone, it had had no reason at that stage to seek his stamp of approval. Nothing had been formalised by the board or put before the members for their endorsement. Until that stage had been reached, everything was in the air. Nevertheless, Ecclestone would have interpreted the absence of his involvement as a personal snub by a clique of board members who continued to see him, despite all his achievements, as a second-hand-car dealer with too much money for his own good. He, in return, saw them as old school-tie fogies interested only in self-glory.
   However, Foulston and her finance director, Rob Bain, believed that Lord Hesketh, the then president of the BRDC and the former Hesketh team owner, and DKB had another, more tactical reason for not going to Ecclestone. They were hoping that Foulston would agree to a merger with Silverstone to give them the whip hand in negotiating with Ecclestone the terms of the British Grand Prix contract. With such an alliance, who else could realistically stage it? Foulston had now regained the initiative. In January 1999 she received an invitation from Lord Hesketh for a meeting at his private office in London. Over tea she listened to a subtly worded overture which, in her mind, confirmed her and Bain's suspicions of the BRDC's strategy. Hesketh indicated that, rather than a messy takeover of Silverstone which, in his opinion, was unlikely to succeed, a merger between Brands Hatch and Silverstone would be to everyone's advantage, if, that is, she would accept a diminution of power. Foulston declined to be drawn and left the meeting an hour later, unimpressed by what she had heard. Lord Hesketh declined to comment on Foulston's account.
   It was shortly followed by another invitation, this time from DKB to discuss her company's offer in more detail at Brands Hatch Leisure's offices in Cheapside, London. At this meeting reference was made by the DKB team to a merger based on an exchange of shares, which, it was understood by Foulston, would effectively give the BRDC majority control over the combined group. Hesketh would be chairman and Foulston would have operational control, appointments that were not proposed but inferred as being politically necessary if the deal was to work. Foulston, who had said little over her cup of tea with Hesketh, was now extremely direct - under no circumstances, she told them, would the BRDC get its hands on any Brands Hatch shares. Doubtless satisfied that they had done their homework and that the aggressively ambitious Foulston would respond favourably to the proposal, the bankers must have been left somewhat nonplussed by her response. Even her own bankers had been pressuring her into issuing shares to do a deal with Silverstone. But such an obvious move was not part of Foulston's personal plan.
   With the review of options completed, on 23 April 1999, at the BRDC's annual general meeting, members were asked to give in-principle approval to the board of directors' recommendation that would bring about a restructuring of its assets and operations, which would be divided between the BRDC and a new company, Silverstone Circuits Group, in which members would receive 100 per cent of the issued shares, to run Silverstone Circuits Ltd and Silverstone Estates Ltd. The proposal, in effect, was intended to ring-fence the BRDC's key assets, including the Silverstone freehold, and at the same time restructure an out-of-date management in preparation for a sale or future flotation. In either event, with the Number One Silverstone contract in her briefcase, it would put Foulston in prime position. Brands Hatch Leisure supporters within the membership were urged to back the proposal, but, at the death, failed to do so, because, it was believed, they were uncomfortable with the complexity of the issue. The members voted two to one in favour, but short of the 75 per cent required under BRDC rules for the matter to go any further.
   Undaunted, Foulston decided to go for her only option. If she couldn't get Silverstone, then she wanted the next best thing: the British Grand Prix contract. In early May she returned to Ecclestone to state her case. Once again she found that Ecclestone, long scornful of the Formula One facilities at Silverstone and its management, was ready to respond positively. Out of those talks came a second contract, known as the Brands Hatch Grand Prix contract: if the BRDC did not sell to Foulston, the British Grand Prix would be transferred to Brands Hatch in 2002 for six years with an option for a further five years. It would be worth $11 million a year to Ecclestone, the additional $1 million to cover the risk should Foulston need to switch the Grand Prix to Brands Hatch. This contract was intended, of course, to put greater pressure on the BRDC to sell to Foulston. The loss of the British Grand Prix would, at a stroke, cause the value of Silverstone to plummet. Who would want to buy Silverstone without its crown jewel?
   Before the contract was signed, on 14 May 2000, and before the discussions from which it emerged had taken place with Foulston, Tommy Sopwith, the then chairman of the

[Алексей Грушко]

Бертран Багетт - в Sauber.

Вообще ситуация на пилотском рынке должна проясниться к первым тестам в феврале.

[Алексей Грушко]

Даниел Риккардо - в Toro Rosso

[Владимир Мальчиков]

Lotus подтвердила Трулли и Ковалайнена
Источник - ProFormula.UA

[Алексей Грушко]

Virgin назвали второго пилота, им стал Лукас ди Грасси

Итого, у нас осталось свободных мест:
Renault, Mercedes, Toro Rosso, 2 в USF1, Campos, 2 в Sauber. Итого всего 8 осталось. Плюс еще какие-то телодвижения наблюдается вокруг Stefan GP, они надеятся, что их также могут допустить к участию в чемпионает. Непристроенныеми из гонщиков этого года остались Хайдфельд, Кобаяси, Накадзима и Грожан.
 

[Владимир Коваленко]

Глупо, но мне приятно, что в команде "Вёрджин" есть и мои несколько копеек, потому что я проехал из Бирмингема до аэропорта на экспрессе "Вёрджин". Собственно, так реклама и работает.

[Алексей Грушко]

Кубица в USF1 или Campos, в дополнение к уже ходившим слухам - из-за покупки Renault

[Владимир Мальчиков]

Кобаяши подписал контракт с Заубер

[Алексей Грушко]

Хосе Марию Лопеса сватают и в USF1

[Алексей Грушко]

Николя Прост - в Renault

[Алексей Грушко]

Михаєль Шумахер подтвержден в Mercedes.

[Алексей Грушко]

Хайдфельд - в Toro Rosso

[Алексей Грушко]

Ральф Шумахер - в Toro Rosso или Renault
Энди Соучек - в Campos или USF1
 

[Алексей Грушко]

Энтони Дэвидсон - в Sauber

[Алексей Грушко]

Джеймс Росситтер - в USF1.
Похоже, пресса туда сватает уже всех подряд
 

[Алексей Грушко]

Такума Сато - в Renault

[Алексей Грушко]

 Педро де ла Роса подтвержден в Sauber

• Роберт Доорнбос мог оказаться в Campos или USF1
  Кристиан Клин - в Renault
  Alexey Grushko (Unicorn)40199,0681018519

[Алексей Грушко]

Альгерсуари подтвержден в Toro Rosso.
Осталось 4 места.
 

[Алексей Грушко]

Хосе Мария Лопес подтвержден в USF1
Я запомнил этого гонщика по выступлениям в Формуле Renault V6 в 2003, когда он стал в ней чемпионом - во второй половине сезона он просто уезжал от соперников в точку со старта. И потом был даже немного расстроен, что у него не заделалось в Ф3000 и GP2 - скорость была, но он постоянно попадал в какие-то неприятности.
 

[Владимир Быков]

Народ! А это правда, Виталий Петров появится в Renault?Сегодня(28.01.10) прочитал информацию на сайте www.rbc.ru и по телевизору сказали.

[Андрей Ларинин]

Раз по телевизору сказали, значит, правда
РБК путается в показаниях. В одной заметке ссылка на ИТАР-ТАСС в качестве источника "достоверной инофрмации" (а там ни гу-гу), в другой на некие не названные французские СМИ. В общем, цена этой "новости" - полкопейки

[Алексей Грушко]

Почему "неназванные французские СМИ"? Французская газета Auto Hebdo, вот эта новость на их сайте
http://www.autohebdo.fr/f1/f1/article-25-25-2973/270110-petrov-avec-kubica-chez-renault-f1

А f1news.ru уже даже получил комментарий по этому поводу от Косаченко
http://www.f1news.ru/news/f1-55377.html

********************

Мария де Виллота - в Campos
Если это окажется правдой, у них действительно беда с деньгами...
 

[Андрей Ларинин]

А f1news.ru уже даже получил комментарий по этому поводу от Косаченко
http://www.f1news.ru/news/f1-55377.html

Это не комментарий

[Алексей Грушко]

Renault подтвердила Петрова
Закрылась последняя реальная вакансия, осталось 2 призрачных, в командах, которые рискуют не успеть выйти на старт.
 

[Алексей Шеметович]

В прошлом сезоне были страшные машины,
но в этом какие то совсем уродливые.
Заубер какой-то кошмарный.
 

[Алексей Грушко]

А мне, наоборот, что Ferrari, что McLaren, что Sauber понравились, а от Renault я вообще в полном восторге.

[Владимир Быков]

Народ! А сколько заплатил отец Виталия Петрова за "вход" в Формулу 1? Я очень рад за этого пилота - прогресс очевидный. Посмотрим за его выступлениями в Формуле 1.

[Владимир Коваленко]

А кто у Виталия менеджер? Неужели Оксана Па'лна?

[Алексей Грушко]

Оксана Косаченко

[Александр Кульчицкий]

 

А кто у Виталия менеджер? Неужели Оксана Па'лна?

Сегодня большая статья об этом и интервью с Петровым на первой полосе "Спорт Экспресс".

[Владимир]

 Да, Александр. В точку! Правда скорее два интервью, но на ПЕРВОЙ ПОЛОСЕ.

Первый русский в первой формуле
Владимир gp240211,0059375

[Владимир]

 

А кто у Виталия менеджер? Неужели Оксана Па'лна?

Когда-то я тоже этому удивился и не верил.
Но со временем удивление прошло. Она - значит она.

Хотя уже сейчас муссируются слухи о том, под какой лицензией будет выступать Петров. Это раз. А два, кому пойдет доход от прав на использование имени и фамилии Виталия Петрова.  Подождем. 
Владимир gp240211,0056944444

[Владимир Коваленко]

Я не знаю, будет ли это всегда под одной и той же ссылкой, но на сайте Би-би-си ведутся прямые текстовые репортажи с испытаний: Live text - F1 testing.
Если что, посматривайте в раздел Formula 1. В это межсезонье они стали регулярно перепечатывать из разных источников новости короткой строкой под видом слухов, как, например: Tuesday's F1 gossip column.

[Алексей Шеметович]

Володя по эти ссылкам ничего не выходит.

[Алексей Шеметович]

Интересный, практически моментальный анализ новинок.

http://twitpic.com/photos/ScarbsF1
 

[Алексей Шеметович]

Либо это немного сумасшедшие энтузиасты,
либо это какая то разводка для спонсоров (и Тойоты заодно).

http://www.stefangp.com/news.html

Сначала пишут что отправили контейнер с оборудованием в Бахрейн,
а потом что 25-28 февраля проведут тесты в Портимао.
Они что уже по 2 комплекта штанов успели купить что и в Бахрейн
и на тесты хватит.
И первый пилот у них будет гонщик который провел два сезона в Ф-1.
По идее должен быть Казуки, если считать полные сезоны как раз 2.

 

[Алексей Грушко]

Эти сербы мне уже заочно не нравятся, не знаю, почему. И еще больше я не хочу видеть возвращение Ральфа Шумахера с его "жалобными жалобами" в их составе.

Очередной слух - Адриан Валлес в USF1