The fact F1 has chosen the Singapore exchange for the sport’s high profile floatation does not mean the city-state’s popular floodlit street race is guaranteed.

The night event’s existing five year contract runs out this year, although a two-year notice clause in the deal means Singapore should stay on the calendar at least until 2014.

On the face of it, a new deal seemed a certainty, given it was Bernie Ecclestone himself who chose Singapore as the location for F1′s forthcoming floatation.

“Formula one is known in Singapore, and Asia is thriving. It is a simpler market and not as restrictive,” he said recently.

Talks about a new race deal “are underway”, the local Business Times reported in March, “but it is understood that one sticking point is the sanction fee.”

An unnamed banker commented: “The Singapore government wants formula one to be listed here and for that to happen, it knows the race has to remain here.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t want to pay top dollar again. So the bargaining should continue for some time.”

However, the English language newspaper now reports that F1′s floatation plans, and the expiring Singapore race contract, could be entirely unrelated.

“We are in the process of negotiating a possible renewal of the (race) agreement and the outcome will be announced once discussions are complete,” said a spokesman for race promoter Singapore GP.

Second minister for trade and industry S Iswaran insisted that the mooted floatation will not influence the outcome of the race contract negotiations.

And the Singapore tourism board’s Aw Kah Peng added: “You’ve got to see whether the deal is right in every way.

“We’re hoping everybody sees value in it and we get a so-called good deal for Singapore, in terms of whether all the numbers can work out and everybody takes home something — a kind of a win-win proposition.”

More details about formula one’s planned stock market floatation have emerged.

Bloomberg, the financial news agency, said majority owner CVC is seeking $2 billion by floating “about 20 per cent” of the sport.

That would value F1 at about $10 billion.

The information was verified by “four people with knowledge of the matter”, the report said.

“CVC wants to conduct the sale in Singapore as early as June, and is in discussions with investment banks about its plans, which aren’t final,” Bloomberg added.

The report added that Bernie Ecclestone plans to keep his 5.3 per cent stake and will remain F1′s chief executive.

 Singapore’s street race could be the key to the stock market floatation of formula one.
The Business Times reports that with the sport apparently wanting to float on Singapore’s exchange, the first step will be a new contract for the Asian city-state’s annual night street race.

The current race contract expires this year.

“Negotiations are underway but it is understood that one sticking point is the sanction fee,” the report said.

The Business Times said the Singapore government currently pays about $40 million for its race every year; a figure “roughly twice” the amount paid by Malaysia.

“The Singapore government wants formula one to be listed here and for that to happen, it knows the race has to remain here,” an unnamed banker said.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t want to pay top dollar again. So the bargaining should continue for some time.”

The banker added that F1 chief executive Ecclestone also holds a strong negotiating hand.

“(He) knows Singapore needs him because the SGX (exchange) hasn’t had any big names in recent years. Being the shrewd businessman that he is, he will play hardball.”

Kimi Raikkonen has argued he is back in the mood for F1 by revealing he would have kept racing in 2010.
“I was never planning to leave the sport in the first place,” the 2007 world champion told the Times of India. “I had a contract for 2010 anyway.”

Indeed, at the end of 2009, Ferrari bought out the Finn’s deal so that Fernando Alonso could arrive early with the backing of the Spanish bank Santander.

Raikkonen headed off for two years of world rallying but is back with Lotus in 2012, fending off all the old questions about his motivation.

“Since I started in F1, I have always preferred the time we spend in the car from anything else happening in the paddock. It’s still the same,” the 32-year-old insists.

Even now, he would prefer to split his F1 racing with more rallying, but has agreed to abide his team’s wishes that he stay off the gravel.

“Ah, it’s normal with formula one they try to ban everything,” he told London’s Telegraph. “Unfortunately with what happened to Robert (Kubica) last year … but even before that it was written into contracts.

“Maybe in the future if you can do some good results you can get a release or something. I still love it,” said Raikkonen.

“If I could do it this year at the same time as formula one I would. I think it’s good practice and it’s good fun.”

 Bernie Ecclestone has played down the controversy over the future of Australia’s grand prix by daring organisers to walk away from the sport.
“When the contract comes up, they don’t have to renew,” the F1 chief executive, speaking from London, told local Fairfax Radio ahead of the 2012 Melbourne race.

“That is the nice thing. We are not going to force anyone into doing anything because we can’t.”

The current contract expires in 2015, and Ecclestone has offered to ease the taxpayers’ burden if race organisers agree to host the race at night, to better service Europe’s live television audience.

But the 81-year-old Briton is also furious, after a federal politician for the ruling Labor Party scorned the millions paid to Ecclestone in order to bankroll the billionaire’s flamboyant “bogan” daughter Tamara.

“Who was the halfwit that said these things?” Ecclestone told 3AW radio.

“You’re not a communist state there, are you? Any money that my children have got, they didn’t steal.

“I’d like him to say what he said to me face to face.”

The latest spat is yet another threat to the highly popular Albert Park race, with Ecclestone surmising: “From all the things I read that the government say, I don’t think that they want to continue.”

Australian driver Mark Webber hopes the race has a future.

“I don’t think it’s a gain to lose it, put it that way,” he said.

“It was successful in Adelaide and in Melbourne as well and it would be brilliant to keep it here for a long time yet.”

 An Australian federal politician has argued Melbourne’s grand prix should be axed because it bankrolls “Bernie’s billionaire bogan”.
Kelvin Thomson told parliament that much of the fee paid by the Victorian state government to formula one ends up in the deep pockets of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone’s eldest daughter Tamara.

After watching a documentary about 27-year-old Ms Ecclestone, he said she uses a million-dollar bathtub, an elevator for her Ferrari road car, crystal balls for her bowling alley, and a massage parlour for her dogs.

“One thing I am absolutely sure of,” said Thomson, “there are better ways to spend $50 million, year in and year out, than bankrolling Bernie’s billionaire bogan.”

‘Bogan’ is an Australian slang term for someone who demonstrates their lower-class background through their speech, clothing and behaviour.

This weekend’s Australian grand prix is seventeenth at Albert Park.

 Williams will not rush into signing a new title sponsor, chairman Adam Parr insists.
The famous British team performed woefully in 2011 and lost its naming backer ATT, yet recently revealed improved turnover and profits.

And Parr told Reuters the Grove based team has more than $45 million in the bank.

“I am very satisfied with what we have done overall with the business,” he said.

“We don’t have a title sponsor at the moment and obviously that’s an important initiative for us. But it’s something that you have to get right because your title sponsor is the most visible of your partners,” Parr explained.

“In many ways, it sets the character of the team. You want a title partner who is very active in the way they promote and activate the partnership.

“This is not something we are going to rush into, this is something we want to get right.”

For the moment, Williams’ main source of income appears to be the controversial deal with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, including Pastor Maldonado as driver.

“PDVSA is an important partner of the team in financial and other respects but it is by no means the only one,” insisted Parr.

F1 could be set to get some new shareholders, amid reports the collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers wants to sell its stake within two years.
The bank, which is being wound up to pay back creditors, still holds a 15 per cent stake in the majority CVC-owned holding company Delta Topco, which the Guardian newspaper said is valued at about $1.5 billion.

Lehman Brothers became a F1 shareholder in 2002, when the German media company Kirch defaulted on a loan.

Bernie Ecclestone will keep the 2012 race fee even if he is forced to cancel the Bahrain grand prix at the last minute.
The F1 chief executive made the revelation to fend off speculation he is only supporting the Kingdom’s controversial return to the calendar for financial reasons.

Britain’s Telegraph newspaper said the Bahrain government pays $40 million per race, but last year Ecclestone did not collect the fee after civil unrest forced the cancellation of the event.

“They (Bahrain) will pay if there is no race,” Ecclestone revealed.

“The money is in the bank already. So we’re not going because we’re going to get paid. That has nothing to do with it.

“We have a contract with them and we’re respecting the contract. And I don’t believe the people there would take a risk if they thought there was a risk.”

 Sir Frank Williams has named Adam Parr, the Oxfordshire based team’s current chairman, as his obvious successor.
69-year-old founder Williams remains the major shareholder and team principal, but he has already handed over the day-to-day running of the once-great outfit to fellow Briton Parr, 46.

“If for whatever reason I couldn’t come in to do my job, Adam would fill the gap,” Williams told the British magazine F1 Racing.

“He’s not a racer but, in a way, that’s probably an advantage in these distinctly commercial days,” he added.

Parr began his career with the investment bank Barclays de Zoete Wedd, and later worked for Rio Tinto.

He practiced law until the late 90s, meeting Williams in 2000.

 A leaked invoice suggests PDVSA, the state owned Venezuelan oil company, is paying a staggering US$46 million for its sponsorship of the Williams team in 2012.
Despite its authenticity having not been confirmed, the invoice from Williams – includes the Oxfordshire based team’s correct Barclays bank account – requests the full amount in pounds sterling.

Also appearing on the internet in recent months were the full contract between team driver Pastor Maldonado and Williams, and a stamped letter from Venezuelan congressman Carlos Ramos.

The leaking of the documents, with the invoice now published on the website of the Spanish sports daily Marca, surrounds Venezuelan officials’ doubts about the legality of Williams’ lucrative PDVSA deal.

Ramos’ letter to Williams’ communications boss Claire Williams last November referred to an “ongoing investigation” by the Venezuelan parliament.

“You may … be aware that our congress granted no approval to the sponsorship contract between Williams F1 and PDVSA,” he wrote, demanding Williams divulge the “amount disbursed to date to Williams F1 by PDVSA”.

Maldonado is backed directly by PDVSA, and is famously close to Venezuela’s controversial president Hugo Chavez.

The Williams-racing start in Qatar an initiative to make the roads safer – it is the first of its kind in the region
The Williams team is expanding its efforts to make the road safer. Together with the Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest private bank in Qatar and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) will start the team some safety campaigns to alert the population in Qatar on the dangers in traffic. One wants to move 25,000 residents to more cautious and forward-looking driving style.

Some team members of the racing team will hold lectures in schools and universities. QSTP will promote road safety through simulators, developed in the Williams factory and used for driving instruction, training and education are. The initiative in Qatar as well as other programs will run from Williams, including the partnership with DEKRA in Germany: The Williams program focuses on energy efficiency, education and road safety.

The campaign is the first of its kind in the region. It is intended to encompass all stages of life, not just the current driver, but also the future. As an incentive, a Williams-powered car in different places will be issued.
TMS

Ex-Sauber driver Pedro de la Rosa to bring in his fellow countrymen of HRT to continue his racing career in position
Originally, Pedro de la Rosa as a prime candidate for a Campos-Formula 1 cockpit, but tilted as the project and was later renamed the HRT was no place for him anymore. He also opted for the Sauber team, which he could at the time the supposed offer better prospects.

Sauber has thrown out the 39-year-old now – and lack of alternatives can imagine the current Pirelli test driver means, 2011 to drive for HRT. He was in contact with the family Carabantes, who runs the Spanish cycling team, he says, and adds to the news agency ‘EFE’ to: “If your project is sporty interesting and ambitious, then I will gladly come to them.” Currently, there is but “no hurry”.
De la Rosa would probably not bring their own sponsors, but his salary was reportedly financed at least in Sauber by the bank Santander. Could also cause a Spaniard in a Spanish team of national interest and bring in this way be indirectly sponsors. It is striking in any case, how much the veteran currently ingratiate the worst team of Formula 1.

“For Spain, it is important to a Formula 1 team to have, and their investment is worth something,” de la Rosa says of the Carabantes. “We have a team, but we do not receive the best value within a few months they have brought a car to the starting line and next year they will again have a car, but the project needs more support -. Not only for companies but also by riders like me and the fans. We need to stand behind them! “

The arrival in formula one of Swiss bank UBS is helping Williams in its search for a new major sponsor for 2011.

It recently emerged that the sport has sealed a sponsorship deal with UBS that will be launched in Singapore later this month.

The news was warmly welcomed by Adam Parr, chairman of the independent British team Williams who are preparing to lose major sponsor RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) at the end of the season.

“The signal that this will send is that other global players need to be looking at the fundamentals that F1 offers and not being influenced by ‘political correctness’,” he told Reuters.

The ‘political correctness’ comment is no doubt a referral to the global economic crisis, with former Renault backer ING being yet another bailed-out bank that pulled out of the sport.

Credit Suisse left F1 before the 2009 season.

“The bottom line is that formula one sells products and services and intelligent companies can see the opportunities it offers,” insisted Parr.

Team owner Sir Frank Williams said he is confident a “pretty big” brand will replace the departing RBS signage on next year’s car.

Asked how the search for a new sponsor was proceeding, he answered: “Very slow, but very busy.

“I wouldn’t say there are an enormous number of leads, but there’s a lot of talking going on between us and various companies.

“I think we will land something pretty big despite the difficulties,” added Williams.

A sponsorship deal between formula one and UBS, the Swiss based global financial services company, was announced on Monday.

UBS is headed by chief executive Oswald Grubel, who previously brought the Swiss bank Credit Suisse to F1, and was a BMW-Sauber board member.

“The global reach of F1 complements the many local activities we support,” said Grubel.

The deal will be formally launched at the Singapore grand prix next month.