F1 Round-up: Partners dish the dirt; Williams makes changes
The difficult relationship between former partners Alonso Fernando and Lewis Hamilton has never been a secret. Ferrari’s Fernando stunned McLaren’s No.1 driver Hamilton yesterday during a press conference when he said he has “always” had a good working relationship with all his current and former teammates. Hamilton couldn’t help but smile to himself, and shake his head.
Fernando was a rookie on the McLaren team in 2007, but left the team because he felt outshone by Hamilton’s driving. Fernando and current Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa have shared a good working relationship.
When the reporter turned to Hamilton for a comment he perhaps made a point by avoiding the point and staying vague, replying “I’ve had great team-mates and great relationships.”
Hamilton’s partner Jenson Button laughed off headlines when newspapers depicted the two drivers in a love heart. The two have not been coy about sharing how well they work together, though rivals have suggest the cooperative partnership is really a “smoke and mirrors” act.
Williams announces changes
Frank Williams also announced a change in his team’s formation. Williams, 68, handed over the day to day control of his eponymous team to Adam Parr, his former chief operating officer. Despite what this move suggests, Williams is adamant about his commitment to the team, and has no plans to retire.
“I wish to emphasize very strongly that this is absolutely not my notice of impending retirement . . . I love Formula One I have a strong involvement in the company and go to work every day. When I’m going to retire hasn’t crossed my mind”
Parr has been involved with the team for five years now and backed up Williams.
“Its an enormous responsibility because Williams is a great company. Frank has been competing in F1 since 1969 and Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd since 1977 and the goal is to be doing that for decades to come.”
Williams is a legendary Formula One driver, who won seven drivers' championships back in his prime when working with Patrick Head. The two were an intimidating force out on the track.
Webber, Vettel speak about crash
Mark Webber and Sebasiten Vettel of Red Bull had an embarrassing moment when they crashed into each other in Turkey last May. Webber was present at the press conference yesterday and when asked about his relationship with Vettel he responded:
“My opinion is exactly as it was. It is not the easiest to have a warm, fuzzy relationship as we are all competitors but we don’t hate each other's guts.”
Ferrari gets a new logo
In other Ferrari news the company changed their team logo and will reveal it at the British Grand Prix. The new logo won’t come into effect until January 1st of 2011. Ferrari’s logo has been heavily criticized of inadvertently advertising Marlboro cigarettes. Marlboro is Ferrari’s main sponsor, and the team's name as of next season will be Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.
The Italian outfit strongly denies this accusation and has been working hard over the past few months to reduce such speculations.
Ferrari removed the barcode from its car a while ago, replacing it with a white square; now the square has also been removed from the car, and the team will have their logo, merchandise, cars, equipment and outfits changed as of next season.
Stefano Domenicali, team principal, told reporters why Ferrari chose Silverstone to reveal the new logo:
“We chose Silverstone because it was here in 1951 that Ferrari took its first Formula 1 win with Jose Froilan Gonzalez.”
Ferrari’s new logo still bears the prancing horse and ‘Scuderia Ferrari’ written across the bottom but the design is more angular in shape now.
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