and so it begins...
Formula 1: Mercedes to bring in two senior Red Bull engineers
Mercedes have signed two leading engineers from world champions Red Bull to boost their technical staff.
Mark Ellis and Giles Wood will join Mercedes in June 2014.
The departures are a blow to Red Bull, who now face two of chief technical officer Adrian Newey’s main lieutenants leaving the team next season.
McLaren have already recruited Red Bull head of aerodynamics Peter Prodromou, and now Ellis, the world champions’ head of vehicle dynamics, is leaving.
Wood is Red Bull’s chief engineer for simulation/analysis.
The two men are the first two key appointments of Mercedes’ new leadership team of Paddy Lowe and Toto Wolff.
Lowe and Wolff will be co-team bosses of Mercedes in 2014 following the departure of team principal Ross Brawn.
Both carry the title executive director, with Lowe responsible for the sporting and technical aspects of the team and Wolff the financial and political.
The two new recruits from Red Bull represent the latest step in a process Mercedes hope will lead to them becoming the leading force in F1 after four years of Red Bull domination.
The technical leadership of the German team, who are based in Brackley in Northamptonshire, has been comprehensively reshaped in the last two years.
A Mercedes statement said the recruitment of Ellis and Wood would “further strengthen the team’s technical organisation, particularly in the fields of simulation and vehicle dynamics”.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/25444218
Nico Rosberg suffers tyre failure in Bahrain Pirelli test
Nico Rosberg suffered a 200mph tyre failure on Thursday at a private Pirelli test in Bahrain.
The German’s Mercedes outfit are among four teams helping F1 supplier Pirelli with development work in the Gulf state this week.
Rosberg tweeted: “Just spun at full speed 320km/h on Bahrain straight because my tyre blew up without warning.”
The tweet was deleted within a few minutes of being posted.
A Pirelli statement said: “The tyre tests in Bahrain regarded a number of prototypes, which were completely innovative in terms of structure and compounds, with the aim of developing the most suitable solutions for the next season.
“This morning Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes was fitted with one of these prototypes, a tyre which had only been tested in the laboratory and which will not be proposed again.
“Thus, the safety of the tyres which will be supplied for the next championship is not in question.
“The accident which happened to Rosberg’s car is being investigated and the findings will be communicated to the FIA and the teams.”
Damage to Rosberg’s Mercedes caused by the spin and the tyre failure meant the team had to end its programme for the week.
Red Bull, Ferrari and Toro Rosso are also taking part in the test, which started on Tuesday and ends on Thursday.
Pirelli asked for the test because it felt it was important to do more development work on its tyres ahead of the 2014 season, when major rules changes come into force.
It is concerned that the greater torque of the new turbo engines will put more demands on the tyres and it wants to avoid the problems it suffered this year.
Pirelli needed to change the design of its tyres in the middle of the season following a series of dramatic failures, culminating in six issues at the British Grand Prix.
The FIA, which governs the sport, has an observer at the test and will expect an explanation for the tyre failure.
It was understood Pirelli would no longer conduct safety testing on the track and that the testing would be done on a rig, before durability and performance testing was conducted on a circuit.
Pirelli has constantly complained, since it became F1’s tyre supplier in 2011, that the severe limitations on testing in the sport were making its job impossible.
As a result, F1 has introduced four in-season tests in 2014 to help Pirelli develop its tyres.
Pirelli has a contract with F1 for the next five years but the FIA has not yet made clear its status as the sport’s official tyre supplier in 2014.
Earlier on Thursday, a Pirelli spokesman said: “The test in Bahrain is a private tyre test, so most data generated from it is confidential. However, incidents can happen, this is what testing is for. Our testing programme will continue as planned.”
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/25449812
Interesting that Red Bull didn’t throw enough money at these guys to keep them. Unless Red Bull believes they have a deep bench.
Well that’s gotta sting losing that many top level Engineers in 1 off season.
Should be interesting to see the results on both sides.