The Spanish windscreen repair and replacement company and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration deal for Cristalbox to become a new sponsor of the Spanish outfit for 2012. Cristalbox, who have already been linked with the motorsport world for a few years, have decided to extend this link and have taken a step into Formula 1 alongside HRT Formula 1 Team, with the objective of supporting the Spanish team’s project in the pinnacle of world motorsport.

The deal with which Cristalbox joins the team as a sponsor has a one year duration and the glass repair company has bolstered its commitment to HRT’s project by completing a spectacular glazing job at the new Caja Mágica headquarters in Madrid. The creation of a curtain wall at the team’s workshop supposed the installation of more than 25,000 kilogrammes of specially fabricated glass and will enable the team to make the most of the sunlight and environmental conditions.

Just like the conditioning of the other project areas at the Caja Mágica facilities, the installation and reinforcement of the curtain wall has been completed in under a month, thus proving the capacity of the Spanish company to expand its services.

Javier Celaya, Cristalbox General Manager: “A passion for cars is in the genes, the DNA, of our brand and top level competition reflects the essence of Cristalbox’s values: precision, speed, safety, resistance, reliability…From an advertising point of view, after two years sponsoring Formula 1 broadcasts, this was the logical evolution: to form a part of the competition. With HRT we can support a credible Spanish project in the pinnacle of motorsport and strengthen the reach of our brand to our targets”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, HRT Team Principal: “Formula 1 is all about technology and speed, two basic principles which we share with Cristalbox. They are a leading company in our country and we’re proud that they decided to fully submerge in Formula 1 alongside us and fully back our project. I want to thank them for the trust they have put in us and also for the extraordinary efficiency with which they have completed the structure and glazing of the workshop area in our new headquarters at the Caja Mágica. It was a structural and temporal task and they passed it with flying colours. We hope to overcome many other tasks alongside them this year”.

 Christian Horner has told British newspapers he is not switching to Ferrari.
As Red Bull looks to have its fourth consecutive championship-contending car on its hands for 2012, F1′s most famous team Ferrari has kicked off its new title campaign in stark contrast, with a car not yet fit for the podium.

Designer Adrian Newey has already said no to a switch to the Maranello marque, and now Horner – Red Bull’s 38-year-old team principal – has scotched similar speculation about his own future.

“Ferrari is a great team but my future is committed to Red Bull,” he is quoted by the Sun.

“You can see what the appeal is at Ferrari but you can also see the pitfalls.”

And the Briton is quoted by the Daily Mail: “Dietrich Mateschitz gave me the chance as a 31-year-old to step into formula one and entrusted me to build a team for him.

“I feel very much part of the team and I have no burning desire within me to go and work at Ferrari.

“I am happy where I am. I have a multi-year commitment,” Horner insisted.

 Valencia could be mere days from dropping off the formula one calendar.
El Pais newspaper claims the regional government is yet to pay Bernie Ecclestone the fee for June’s European grand prix street race.

“We are still negotiating,” a spokesman is quoted as saying.

The Spanish region’s president Alberto Fabra said recently his government, amid the worsening European economic crisis, was reviewing its commitment to F1.

The Diario AS newspaper said the contract demands the 2012 race fee be made by March 9.

“Formula one is not our primary concern,” Fabra is quoted as saying when asked about the risk of contract breach.

When asked specifically whether or not the fee has been paid to Ecclestone, he answered: “I don’t know, I cannot say.”

It is also an uncertain time for Spain’s other F1 host Barcelona, with the regional Catalonian government pushing to annually alternate its race with Valencia in future.

“For budgetary reasons, this (solution) would be best,” said a spokesman for Catalan president Artur Mas.

Jarno Trulli has revealed he was offered a seat at Ferrari some years ago.
After fifteen consecutive seasons in formula one, the 37-year-old Italian has lost his Caterham race seat to the well-backed Russian Vitaly Petrov.

2004 Monaco grand prix winner Trulli, 37, drove since 1997 for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Caterham’s former guise Lotus.

Writing in his New York Times blog, correspondent Brad Spurgeon said Trulli was made the Ferrari offer while he was racing for Toyota between 2005 and 2009.

Trulli reportedly told Italy’s Autosprint magazine that Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali’s predecessor, the now FIA president Jean Todt, made him the offer.

“Nobody knows this, but at this point I think I can publicly thank Jean Todt for having been one of the few top team managers to consider me during my career,” he said.

“I won’t tell you when exactly — I was racing for Toyota and I was doing very well. But I had signed a rather long contract with the Japanese, and in my career I’ve always honoured my commitments.

“In 15 years of F1 I’ve never needed lawyers,” added Trulli.

Trulli left Renault for Toyota at the end of the 2004 season, driving for the carmaker until it pulled out of formula one at the end of 2009.

Rubens Barrichello left Ferrari at the end of 2005, replaced by Felipe Massa. Michael Schumacher retired a year later, replaced by Kimi Raikkonen.

At Ferrari, Frenchman Todt handed over to Domenicali at the end of 2007.

AUSTIN, Texas — February 13, 2012— Circuit of The Americas is the newest member of the Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of more than 40 professional and collegiate sports teams and nearly 90 sports venues with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Circuit of The Americas will be the first Formula One™ racing facility to become a member of the Alliance.
“Circuit of The Americas and the City of Austin have taken a bold stand with their sustainability plan for the sports and entertainment complex,” said Martin Tull, executive director of the Green Sports Alliance. “We welcome Circuit of The Americas into the Alliance and look forward to working with them.”
The Green Sports Alliance is a unique coalition of sports teams and venues, professional sport leagues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental and green building experts.
“I applaud the Circuit’s commitment to setting a standard for sustainability in North American motorsports,” said Lucia Athens, chief sustainability officer for the City of Austin. “Joining forces with the Green Sports Alliance will increase their green horsepower and put Austin on the map yet again for its leadership and innovation. The Green Sports Alliance has been providing expert technical assistance to many of the sports leagues, and can now assist motorsports in achieving greener results.”
Members in the Green Sports Alliance share best practices to improve the environmental performance of their venues, saving millions of dollars through energy and water conservation, waste reduction, recycling and composting. By tracking environmental performance, sports facilities learn how they compare to their counterparts and how to maximize sustainability efforts. Alliance members have reported reductions as high as 30 percent in energy usage, 60 percent in natural gas use and more than 20 percent in water use.
“We are excited to be collaborating with the best minds in sustainable facility management,” said Edgar Farrera, sustainability director at Circuit of The Americas. “We look forward to developing new approaches to environmentally sustainable operations at our facility and sharing what we learn with organizations and companies around the world.”
About the Green Sports Alliance
The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Less than a year since its public launch, the Alliance is made up of representatives from over 40 teams from 13 leagues and 90 sports venues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Protection Agency, Bonneville Environmental Foundation and many other organizations.
Its second annual conference, the Green Sports Alliance Summit, will be held on Sept. 5-7, 2012 and will bring together hundreds of facility operators, team executives, league officials,
environmental experts and corporate partners to discuss innovations in environmental performance.
For more information about the Green Sports Alliance visit: www.greensportsalliance.org.
About Circuit of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas will be a world-class destination for performance, education and business. It will be the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the United States designed for any and all classes of racing, from motor power to human power, and be the U.S. home to the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ Nov. 16-18 and V8 SUPERCARS.
The Circuit of The Americas’ master plan features a variety of permanent structures designed for business, education, entertainment and race use. Its signature element will be a 3.4-mile circuit track with capacity for 120,000 fans. Other support buildings will include a medical facility, a conference center, a banquet hall as well as an expansive outdoor live music space. Future proposed amenities include a driving/riding experience, a motorsports driving club, kart track, grand plaza event center and tower, and a trackside recreational vehicle park.

Lewis Hamilton looks set to be recalled as a witness as the Adrian Sutil assault saga rolls on.
German Sutil, and his father Jorge, described former close friend and 2008 world champion Hamilton as a “coward” and “pathetic” after the McLaren driver did not appear at the recent hearings in Munich.

But with the former Force India driver – and Munich prosecutors – now filing appeals against the judge’s verdict, Hamilton’s personal testimony might be regarded as crucial.

Hamilton is clearly visible in the video footage of the incident with Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub last April, but Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann claims the judge neglected the gravity of the security camera evidence.

“Not asking one of the witnesses to court and other important circumstances have not been considered as well,” Zimmermann charged.

London newspaper the Daily Telegraph claims Hamilton “is happy to testify provided the date does not clash with prior commitments”.

Stefano Domenicali has admitted it will be “interesting” to see how Ferrari’s rivals tackle the remaining three races of 2010.

Of the title contenders, only the Italian team is solely focused on a single driver, while Red Bull and McLaren still endeavour to provide equality to each of their race drivers.

“In the other two teams they have both drivers that will fight (each other),” said team boss Domenicali, contrasting Felipe Massa’s role for the rest of the season in support of Fernando Alonso’s title challenge.

“I think it will be very important to see how all the drivers approach the next few races mentally, within the teams and against the other drivers — it will be very interesting,” he added.

The most obvious negative example of a team’s commitment to equality is 2007, when McLaren’s acrimonious duo Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso tied on points but both lost the championship against the odds to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Flavio Briatore, who is Mark Webber’s manager, insists Red Bull should order the Australian’s teammate Sebastian Vettel to fall in line.

“With only three races left, Red Bull should make Mark their number 1 driver,” he said in a new interview with the Times of India.

He thinks team orders and the notion of number 1 drivers have an obvious place in formula one, whose biggest prize is the individual drivers’ title.

“If I had been at Ferrari, I would have done the same thing,” said Briatore.

The decision about a possible Formula 1 entry of VW brand is approaching: An important strategy meeting in early November.

If the “World Engine” holds in F1 feeder, then the Volkswagen group knocks on the door to the premier class. This statement has Motorsortrepräsentant Hans-Joachim Stuck made in recent months and over again. Since currently the new engine rules for the period from 2013 is on track, the time for a decision in Wolfsburg has also come soon.

In early November, it will give the group an important strategy meeting, “in which the procedure is discussed,” said Stuck to the ‘SID’. It is expected that at this important meeting not only advise on whether you want to climb in Formula 1, but discuss the same time, with any brand, this step would be most welcome.

Recent statements from the Porsche Executive Board had ensured that one could look at the Zuffenhausen as the first candidate from the camp of VW. But according to information from ‘Motor-Total.com’ a Formula 1 commitment from Audi is more probable. VW will decide, according to plaster at the meeting and a possible investment in the American NASCAR.

Timo Glock has played down rumours he is considering a move away from Virgin for 2011.

The 28-year-old German joined the new British team from the departed Toyota, but recently was quoted as saying he might be interested in the seat alongside Robert Kubica at Renault for next year.

But in a German language report posted in German on his website, Glock said he is committed to his current team.

“If we had stopped making progress and developments, then – as with any driver – of course there would be frustration,” he said.

“But this is currently not the case.

“I have a long-term contract with Virgin Racing and am determined to get the team to the next level.

“We have all the conditions necessary to achieve our goals this season and in the future,” added Glock.

Michael Schumacher is not about to give up on his new quest to return to winning ways in formula one.

That is the opinion of the German’s 90s nemesis Damon Hill, amid suggestions the seven time world champion has lost his edge and could return to retirement before his three-year commitment to Mercedes is fulfilled.

“Just never write the guy off.  I made that mistake.  You cannot count him out.  He is never out.

“He has always somehow pulled something out of the hat somewhere,” said Briton Hill, now president of the Silverstone-owning BRDC.

Some pundits believe the 41-year-old has lost his desire to excel and allowed his famous attention to detail to lapse, and is now driving only for fun, but Hill only agrees with the latter sentiment.

“He loves driving.  Where else are you going to get the same kind of fulfilment or kick?” Hill told reporters at Silverstone prior to the British grand prix weekend.

“It is not about the money.  He is a perfectionist, very determined to achieve things and he will want to show that it is possible to win at 41.”

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told German media that recent criticisms of Schumacher have been “unfair”.

“He was on holiday for three years, what do you expect after a break like that?” said the 79-year-old.

F1 drivers must follow even the rules of the road, the FIA declared on Wednesday.

In the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s arrest and summons for dangerous driving in his hire car whilst in Melbourne earlier this year, Jean Todt suggested drivers might in future be penalised by the governing body for such offenses.

“We are … trying to see whether to do something, and how,” the FIA president recently told a French newspaper.

After a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Geneva, the first step in Todt’s new plan was unveiled.

“Competitors … must act as ambassadors for the sport, be aware their conduct on the road must be exemplary and respect road safety rules,” a media statement read.

The FIA also said changes to the international sporting code are possible to ensure the Paris body’s “overall objectives and, in particular, its commitment to road safety, are upheld”.

(GMM)

Jun.14 (GMM) Team sponsor Sir Richard Branson said during his visit to the Canadian grand prix that a new scheme demonstrates Virgin’s “commitment to focusing upon the environmental impact of formula one”.

He said a deal struck with Canadian-based company Carbon Green to recycle tyres “is the first truly green and highly relevant deal in the history of the sport”.

Elaborating, the British billionaire explained: “Old tyres used by Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi and co will be recycled into useful products.”

But an astute fan asked Bridgestone’s F1 press officer Andy Stobart via Twitter if Branson’s comments were true, given that the tyre supplier usually takes back its products from the teams at the end of a race weekend or test.

Stobart confirmed that the tyres “definitely come back to us” because of the “confidential technology”.

However, he added that Bridgestone’s old tyres are “used for fuel, a positive contribution to energy recovery”.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Michael Schumacher looks set to stay at Mercedes in 2011.

The famous German, who initially retired in 2006, is believed to have signed a three-year contract prior to returning to formula one this season.

But after a difficult re-acclimatisation, it had been widely speculated that the 41-year-old might prefer to step back out of the race cockpit at the end of 2010.

Boss Ross Brawn said in Turkey that he hopes both Schumacher and Nico Rosberg stay at the team in 2011.

Schumacher’s younger brother Ralf also thinks the seven time world champion is staying put.

“I think he’s pretty happy with what he’s doing and, as far as I know, it’s a three-year plan, so I’m sure we’ll see him around for a while,” he told 422race.com.

And Schumacher himself is quoted as saying on Thursday: “For me this is not a one-year project.”

That commitment might lead to Mercedes eventually calling off development of the silver MGP-01 in order to concentrate early on its 2011 successor.

“By mid-season, we must look to put the F-duct in and catch up to the top,” Brawn added.  “If it is worthwhile to keep attacking then we will do it, if not we will concentrate everything on 2011.”

The Briton told Italy’s Autosprint magazine that he still thinks the pacesetting Red Bull cars are still within reach.

“Some aspects of their car is different from all the others,” he explained.  “Other teams will introduce these elements in the next races.

“I know that everyone is looking with great interest at their exhaust system,” said Brawn.

HRT “have got problems” and will struggle to make it through the 2010 season.

That is the admission of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who told the Daily Telegraph he is working to help the new Spanish team.

“HRT have got problems.  I will sort it out.  I’d like to see 12 teams finish the season because they have made the commitment to come in.

“We might lose one of them.  But I’m doing my bit to make sure it doesn’t happen,” said the 79-year-old Briton.

In the same interview, Ecclestone also spoke about Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Jean Todt, Max Mosley and Flavio Briatore.

On Schumacher, despite his teammate Nico Rosberg outpacing him in practice on Thursday, Bernie said the seven time world champion looks in “good shape”.

“People were too quick to write him off.  Why pick on him?  His return has been brilliant for formula one.”

On the other hand, Ecclestone thinks 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been “disappointing” so far in 2010.

“People praise his overtaking but you don’t get any points for passing cars,” he said.

Flavio Briatore is watching from the vantage-point of his luxury yacht in Monaco, and after a party on Thursday night Ecclestone admitted he regrets the Italian’s paddock ban.

“He is good company and he was good for this sport.  People associated him with F1.  He was a character.  We miss Max, too.  Max got a lot more right than wrong.”

On the other hand, Ecclestone sounded happy with the quieter role being played by Mosley’s successor Jean Todt.

“We don’t need the president getting involved in stuff that doesn’t concern him,” he said.

“The biggest problem that Max had was that he couldn’t package things in a nice way.  You tell people to take it or leave it and it doesn’t work.  It’s quieter now at the FIA, which is how we like it.”

(GMM)