PIT & PADDOCK
WorldMags.net
For all the breaking news, visit
SMALL F1 TEAMS PUSH FOR
‘CORE CAR’ COST-CUT PLAN
alternative path, introducing the
idea of a ‘core car’, where major
components such as the monocoque
are jointly developed and shared
between them to reduce costs.
The notion has been discussed
at recent Strategy Group and F1
Commission meetings, but has not
yet gathered enough support from
the bigger teams.
OUR GRAND PRIX
PREDICTOR IS GO
The AUTOSPORT Grand Prix Predictor
returns with a brand new look for 2015.
Free to enter at www.gppredictor.com
and now in its fifth year, more than
100,000 people have signed on to
play the game since it launched.
The Grand Prix Predictor features
private leagues, which allow you
to play against your mates, and a
Facebook app version as well as a
fully responsive mobile site so that
you can make your predictions of the
Susie Wolff has urged the FIA to
reconsider Formula 1’s superlicence
criteria, set to be introduced next
year, so that test drivers do not
miss out on race seats.
Although the Williams test driver
has done more than 600 miles of F1
running since 2012, she will not
qualify for a superlicence.
Mercedes reserve Pascal Wehrlein
would also not qualify despite having
won races in European F3 and DTM.
“It can’t be like that,” Wolff told
AUTOSPORT. “Pascal is in a different
place to me – he’s an up-and-coming
driver. It [the criteria] shouldn’t
limit the likes of him coming in.”
Hamilton rejects #1 as ‘irrelevant’
I’ve been racing
since I was 10
years old so it
was my dream to
drive a Formula 1
car since I was
very young
GP3 driver Carmen
Jorda after securing
a developmentdriver role with
Lotus for 2015
GERARD DUCAROUGE 1941-2015
LEGENDARY EX-MATRA, LIGIER AND
Lotus Formula 1 designer Gerard
Ducarouge died last week at the
age of 73.
The Frenchman started his racing
career in the 1960s with Matra and
played a part in the design of the
MS80 that won the 1969 constructors’
championship and carried Jackie
Stewart to his first world title.
Ducarouge, who also designed the
Matras that dominated at Le Mans from
1972-74, subsequently moved to the
newly established Ligier team, playing
WorldMags.net
LAT
World champion Lewis Hamilton is
sticking with his permanent #44 race
number for his title defence this year,
because #1 is “irrelevant” to him.
New rules require all F1 drivers to
pick a permanent race number to carry
throughout their careers. But they are
permitted to switch to #1 if they win
the world championship.
“It [#1] is irrelevant for me,” said
Hamilton. “#44 means more to me than
#1. It doesn’t mean I’m not number one.
#44 is my family number, it’s the number
I had when I first started racing; I won
my first championship with #44. It
means something to me.”
a key role in it
emerging as a
leading grand
prix force, taking
its first win at
Anderstorp (left)
in 1977 with Jacques Laffite driving.
After working at Ligier throughout
its glory years, Ducarouge moved to
Lotus in 1983 where he designed the
famous Lotus 97T that Ayrton Senna
drove to his first victory in the 1985
Portuguese Grand Prix.
He remained at Lotus as its fortunes
waned, but subsequently moved first
to Larrousse and then to Ligier in the
final years of his grand prix career in
the first half of the 1990s.
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 5
5
Free to enter at www.gppredictor.com
LAT
WOLFF URGES
CHANGE ON
LICENCE RULE
best performers on each grand prix
weekend on the go.
The first of our prizes on offer
for this year is a Sony PlayStation 4
DriveClub bundle, which will go to
the player who scores the most
game points over the Australian
Grand Prix weekend.
FERRARO/LAT
THOMPSON/GETTY
XPB IMAGES
Formula 1’s smaller teams are pushing
to be allowed to share more car
parts in the future.
Despite complaints last year from
Force India, Sauber and Lotus that
spiralling budgets threatened their
survival, talks at executive level to
identify ways to cut costs have come
to nothing. So the smaller teams
have now got together to pursue an