Formula 1 is the epitome of motorsport glamor and fortune and the pinnacle of automotive engineering, technology and innovation. However, if an  F1 car doesn’t have what it takes to win, then apparently it isn’t worth anything at all. Yet amid the unforgiving reality of competition, Kevin Anthony, a 47-year-old resident of Brighton, England realized that a team’s loss could be his gain.

From bits and pieces of obsolete Formula 1 components found on eBay, Anthony is building his very own race car. So far, he has purchased a damaged tub for about $5,000 produced by team BAR for the 2001 season. With a basic structure, Anthony then bought an engine cover from BMW Williams, a nose from Force India, Lucky Strike racing livery and whatever else he could muster to create his Frankencar. To date, he has spent approximately $10,000 on his project.

He enjoyed purchasing memorabilia like spark plugs from grand prix cars before staring his current project, but realized after a while that “in buying parts, I have met quite a few people who raced Formula 1 cars and were selling their old ‘rubbish’ off. That made my realize that if I bought the right ‘rubbish’, I too could have what they had and fulfill a dream that until then was out of reach, namely having my own Formula 1 car.”

Currently, Anthony believes the project is near 65 percent complete and expects to have a rolling chassis by next year. As for an engine, he’s keeping an eye out for the perfect Formula Renault or Formula Ford powerplant.

[Source: New York Times]

To the race fans and cinema buffs that missed Senna‘s limited release this summer, Christmas came early.

Officially available as a digital download, the award-winning documentary of the most celebrated modern Formula 1 Driver can now be watched on Netflix Instant Streaming and on iTunes.

Unfortunately, Ayrton Senna fans that would like to have a copy on their shelf will have to wait. While the European region 2 release of the Senna DVD and BluRay have been available on amazon.com for months, the North America Region-1 NTSC DVD won’t be available until March 6, 2012 while no official release date has been announced for BluRay yet.

Check out the Senna trailer after the jump: Continue Reading…

Thanks to a last-minute financial deal that came through to secure the $25 million in sanctioning fees needed for the new Circuit of the Americas to part of next year’s F1 circus, the US Grand Prix is back on track for 2012.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, had given the consortium that’s constructing the track in time for next season, until December 7th to come up with the money, otherwise the Circuit of the Americas risked being withdrawn from the 2012 racing schedule.

Ecclestone had said that providing the money upfront, as well as assurances that the required funding would be available for the race over the next 10 years, was necessary for the deal between F1 and the Circuit of the Americas to go ahead, even though previously, the Texas state comptroller said that the $25 million in public funds necessary for sanctioning wouldn’t have been made available until the start of the race next year.

Now that the money has been secured, work on constructing the circuit (which had been on hold since November 15th) could resume. The 2012 US Grand Prix is slated to take place on June 17th, one weekend after the Canadian Race in Montreal.

[Source: KXAN news]

It was back in 1967 when the AMG badge first appeared on a Mercedes-Benz product, and in 2012 it will first appear on a Formula 1 car.

In order to promote its performance division, Mercedes-Benz has decided to change the name of its F1 team for the 2012 season, and it will now be called “Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team.”

On this occasion, the director of motorsport at Mercedes, Norbert Haug said: “Our new team name fuses the proud traditions of AMG and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows at the pinnacle of motorsport. These three letters (AMG) are synonymous with high technology, sporting performance and excitement and this step is a further strong sign of the strategic commitment Mercedes-Benz has made to Formula 1.”

So if you are a fan of the Aufrecht Melcher Grobaspach (AMG) racing cars, wait until March 18, for the first Formula 1 race of 2012, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, to see your favorite racing cars in action.

[Source: Autocar]

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is making a comeback to the sport after a two-year break.

However, its not like he was sitting at home doing nothing for the last two years. Raikkonen dabbled in WRC rallying, and also tried his luck in the NASCAR Truck Series. But it’s F1 where his star shined the brightest, where he had won 18 races and 62 podiums while racing for McLaren and Ferrari. His only championship win came at the wheel of a Ferrari.

Raikkonen’s return to F1 was in the rumor-mill for several months, but many speculated that he will drive for Williams. But the 32-year old from Finland will return with Lotus GP (known as Lotus-Renault GP for the 2011 season). On this occasion, Raikkonen commented: “My hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus GP.”

Raikkonen who first entered F1 in 2001 with Sauber, raised many eyebrows in the paddock when he scored a point in his debut race. He moved to McLaren a year later.

Will Raikkonen’s return be heroic or will he suffer from the same fate Michael Schumacher has been dealing with during his comeback? Only time will tell.

Robert Kubica, one of Formula One’s most promising young drivers, will sit out the start of the 2012 F1 season as he continues to recover from a crash that partially severed his arm.

While Kubica is making a recovery, the pace is not as rapid as some had hoped for. Kubica can move his arm, but it remains unknown whether he is physically fit enough to drive a Formula One car at this time.

Kubica was driving a Skoda rally car in an Italian race when he crashed into a barrier that penetrated his car and nearly sliced off his arm. Kubica was replaced before the start of the 2011 season by Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna. Renault will have to look for a replacement for 2012, but says that Kubica has a test car and a crew of mechanics at his disposal when he is ready to return.

Hit the jump to see the official press release

Continue Reading…

One of the most successful partnerships in the history of Formula 1 has to be the combination of a Honda engine in a McLaren chassis and body, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. It was the perfect partnership which saw the team win many races and championships.

Over the last 16-years, McLaren has found much success by giving their driver’s Mercedes-Benz power. However, for the last two-years, Mercedes-Benz has been running its own F1 team and rumors started circulating that this will lead to an end to their relationship with McLaren, especially since Mercedes-Benz sold all its shares in McLaren back to the parent company.

With McLaren’s contract coming to an end in 2015 with Mercedes-Benz, much speculation has been circulating on the web and in the paddock as to who will supply engines to the Woking-based team in the future.

This has lead many to speculate that the McLaren-Honda relationship will once again be born, especially since turbo-charged engines are making their way back in Formula 1, and Honda was dominant in the last turbo-era in this sport.

However, McLaren’s managing director Jonathan Neale denies that there has been any contact with Honda. He stresses that McLaren is very well married to Mercedes-Benz for their engines and he sees this partnership continuing into the future.

As for rumors suggesting that Mercedes-Benz might not be giving McLaren its latest motors to give itself an advantage on the track, Neale says he doesn’t think “that’s a concern. ” He goes on to say, “Of course, Mercedes have their own GP team and it’s right and proper that a degree of focus is going to go in that direction, but I was just talking this morning with Thomas Fuhr at Mercedes-Benz – we speak frequently – and we want the same things. It’s in our interest to have consistent engines together because that’s how we get the highest quality.”

The last race of the 2011 F1 season takes place this weekend in Brazil at the Interlagos circuit.

[Source: ESPN]

Next year’s U.S. Grand Prix could be in jeopardy if organizers of the Austin, Texas race do not agree on a contract and pay fees by the end of next week. Formula One’s head honcho Bernie Ecclestone’s patience is clearly wearing thin with negotiations and does not want to wait beyond the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix race in San Paulo on November 27th for a decision to be made.

The first race to be held in the United States since 2007 has been hyped up and highly anticipated but Ecclestone has no problems calling it off if no deal is done. Some might believe that Ecclestone isn’t so focused on working out a deal for the Austin, Texas race since a deal has been settled for a grand prix in New Jersey for 2013.

As with everything else that makes the world turn, negotiations have come down to money, Ecclestone exclaiming that “they can’t bloody well pay,” and “the teams want paying.”

Ecclestone claims that the deal has been ongoing for 18 months now, and that he doesn’t have any contract with anybody concerning the race in Austin. As of Tuesday, construction at the Austin track was halted but Steve Sexton, Circuit of the Americas president, remains optimistic.

At the end of the day though, Ecclestone is clearly becoming impatient and frustrated with the negotiations. “Since we’ve been talking to the people in Austin we’ve done two or three deals with different countries. I don’t know what the problem is for America really.”

[Source: Reuters UK]

Fans of Formula 1 racing and Lotus must have spent this year feeling a bit confused regarding who they should support, since there were two teams going by the name Lotus.

There was Team Lotus, a private team founded by Tony Fernandes (who also owns Caterham Cars), and then there was Group Lotus which was run by Lotus (the guys who make the cars) and their parent company Proton.

The two teams fought over the naming rights. Group Lotus said that the name Lotus belongs to them, while Team Lotus said that their name has always operated in motorsports as a separate entity to the road car business.

Who gets what naming rights was up to the courts to decide, and the verdict is in. Group Lotus is to keep the rights to the Lotus name in motorsports, which means they now own the rights to the Team Lotus name also.

In what is being described as a amicable settlement between the two parties, the former Team Lotus, which is also owned by 1 Malaysia Racing Team, will rename themselves as the Caterham F1 Team for the 2012 season.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said at the announcement that, “On behalf of Group Lotus and Proton, I would like to express how pleased we are that this matter is finally closed and we can now focus on looking forward to the future.”

The new deal will also lead to a working relationship between the two parties over future automotive projects.

Caterham, a company that started out life as a Lotus dealer, who got the manufacturing rights to the Lotus 7 and has been producing the car for over 30 years now, will now be its own force in Formula 1. Recognition of the Caterham brand will thus grow on a global scale.

The moment has come. Formula One, the pinnacle of international automotive racing, is coming for Greater New York in 2013!

According to well placed sources involved in the matter, the Formula 1 franchise will make an official announcement of the “Formula One Grand Prix of America” some time next week. Slatted for June 2013, the Weehawken-West New York road course of New Jersey will feature a stunning Manhattan skyline backdrop.

A Tuesday press conference at Port Imperial, Weehawken is expected. This project was first proposed in August, when the mayors of Weehawken and West New York issued a joint statement that revealed discussions with a group of investors led by Leo Hindery by Leo Hindery, Jr., a former chief executive of the YES Network, to bring a race to New Jersey were in motion.

The current Formula One calendar features nineteen incredible destinations including Monaco, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Yas Marina, Montreal, Melbourne, and Catalunya. The last grand prix held in the United States was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007.

By 2010, already a three year hiatus, Formula 1 already announced plans for a return to the United States. As we speak, a state-of-the-art $250 million racetrack in Austin, Texas enters the final phases of construction, readying for its debut at the November 2012 Formula One Grand Prix of America. With the addition of the New Jersey circuit, racing fans in the United States finally gets to experience the excitement they deserve.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]