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Paddy Lowe to leave McLaren for Mercedes later this year

 

Paddy LowePaddy Lowe will move to Mercedes after his current contract with McLaren comes to an end later this year.

 

Although Mercedes declined to comment on the situation, sources have revealed that a deal has been agreed in principle for him to switch camps ahead of the 2014 campaign.

 

The confirmation of Lowe's departure makes it likely that he will now be put on gardening leave by his current team until the end of this year, with McLaren having now appointed Tim Goss as its new technical director.

 

It is not clear exactly what role Lowe will take at Mercedes, as the team already has three technical directors in place, but he is likely to assume a more senior management role at the outfit.

 

There had been speculation earlier this year that Lowe was being lined up for the team principal role at Mercedes, with it being suggested that the new management structure of Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda was even looking at ousting Ross Brawn.

 

However, talk that the current team principal's position was under immediate threat was strongly denied, while Brawn revealed that he had been involved in talks with Lowe about joining the outfit.

 

Brawn said that the idea of attracting Lowe was aimed more at the longer term, as he looked to put in place a succession plan for when he did decide to call time on his F1 career

 

AUTOSPORT has learned that the likelihood of Brawn staying on for the foreseeable future has increased over recent weeks, however, as relations between the senior management at the outfit have bedded down well since Wolff's arrival.

 

Brawn said at the Jerez test earlier this month that thoughts about his future had stopped being a topic for him, as he was settled in terms of what was happening.

 

In an interview with the official F1 website on Monday, Brawn suggested that bolstering the number of senior managers at Mercedes would not lead to confusion as long as everyone had clearly defined roles.

 

"It can be a problem if everybody tries to do the same thing!" he said. "It is important to have clear areas of responsibility. I am responsible for the sporting side; running the team on an operational level. If we can maintain that then there will not be a problem."

BBC on the other hand seem to think Brawn could be on his way out of Mercedes sooner or later.

 

No Paddy Lowe for McLaren then this year, as they keep him away from development.

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Sutil confirmed at Force India.

 

Should have gone to Alguersuari. :hmm:

 

Will be VERY interesting to see how Di Resta matches up to him though!

I'll bet Paul was thinking he'd have a good advantage over his team mate this year and be able to play the team leader, but Sutil is more than capable!

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Dunno what to think of that really. Surely there were better drivers there without a ride waiting with open arms. But hey ho.
I think unfortunately it came down to business rather than talent.

 

Force India needs engines for 2014... Sutil has strong Mercedes links, Bianchi strong Ferrari links... and unsurprisingly they ended up being the two drivers fighting for the seat. Rumour had it that whichever engine supplier could offer the most attractive deal would get their driver in the seat.

 

But who knows. Just a shame that there are so many other drivers missing out.

 

EDIT: OK yeah...

 

"There's a little bit of business behind it," said Sutil, alluding to his links with Mercedes and Bianchi's to Ferrari, regarding Force India's eventual choice of V6 engine supplier.

 

He admitted to F1's official website: "My relationship with Mercedes has always been good and hopefully they are heavily interested in having me in the car this season."

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I think unfortunately it came down to business rather than talent.

 

Force India needs engines for 2014... Sutil has strong Mercedes links, Bianchi strong Ferrari links... and unsurprisingly they ended up being the two drivers fighting for the seat. Rumour had it that whichever engine supplier could offer the most attractive deal would get their driver in the seat.

 

But who knows. Just a shame that there are so many other drivers missing out.

 

2013 Season hasn't kicked off yet, but I'm already looking forward to 2014.

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Rumour has it...

 

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie in Barcelona:

"The rain has eased off and cars are heading out on to the track. It's still very cold here, with a strong wind. But it has been an interesting morning with all the off-track developments, and I have another to add into the mix. In the wake of the obvious problems between Luiz Razia and Marussia, the rumour is that Heikki Kovalainen is having a seat fitting with Marussia tonight."

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Razia out, Bianchi in..

 

Jules Bianchi to replace Luiz Razia in Marussia Formula 1 team

 

Jules Bianchi will race for Marussia this season after the team was forced to terminate Luiz Razia's contract, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

 

The Frenchman will test for the team at Barcelona on Saturday and then complete half a day of running on Sunday.

 

Although the deal is not believed to have been signed yet, Bianchi will make his debut in the Australian Grand Prix later this month.

 

Bianchi is known to be able to bring some money to Marussia, although he will struggle to match the starting price being quoted by the team, believed to be just over the £5 million mark.

 

Razia was announced as a race driver during the first pre-season Formula 1 test at Jerez after his backer made an initial payment for the seat.

 

AUTOSPORT understands that second scheduled payment deadline was missed, which led to the team pulling Razia from the car in last week's Barcelona test and running team-mate Max Chilton for all four days.

 

Marussia allowed extra time for the agreed backing to appear and held off on making a decision until the Friday of the final test, but has now been forced to take the decision to drop Razia.

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Umm Lewis... what are you doing?

All this reminds me of is 'Deal With It' memes

 

 

 

 

On the subject of Australia, here's just one example of why I wish something over here would broadcast it's V8 racing series.

 

tumblr_mjfo3vjY6N1rozkooo2_400.gif

 

That is insane!

 

 

 

Yay new season starts soon :) it's flown round so quickly.

 

Also this is pretty awesome - ib1jPsvnyFf9QR.gif

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Do you make alot of money of these @Retro_Link?? All your designs are awesome :)
Thanks! :)

I sell some, but no I don't make a lot of money off them. I sold quite a few of the 'Leave Me Alone I Know What I'm Doing' t-shirts. Sometimes I think I should look into costs for making them myself and set up a website... but not sure I could do that for the iPhone cases.

 

 

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Really pleased to see Lotus having a good Friday after a troubled/lack of running in Winter. They seem competitive straight out the box too, so am happy! :D

 

Red Bull seem to be the ones to beat this weekend atm, with Lotus/Ferrari/Merc in a tight pack behind.

 

McLaren... hmm, who knows what's going on there.

I think it's really strange that Lewis was really hyping the MP4-28 up after he'd left McLaren... he said he knew that car was going to be amazing several times, so what has happened?... Either he didn't know what he thought he did, or as soon as he announced he was leaving the team McLaren started developing the car around Buttons?... and really I'm not sure Button is the guy to build a team around... but then what choice to McLaren have now.

 

Also why they decided to go with a new concept car in a 'year of evolution'... and especially after a strong car last year I just don't know!?

 

I'm a bit concerned by Gutierrez! I think he could be this years Grosjean; one to watch out for and steer clear of at the starts!

 

Also Caterhams... why have to changed to a less good green this year? :p

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