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Off-Season Optimism: Livery Launches

"Where are the cars, Dad?"F1 off-season runs from November to March, which is often a painstaking time for an F1 fan in the absence of their beloved sport. But petrol heads are coming out of hibernation as teams begin to launch their livery for the 2012 season.

When referring to F1 cars, “Livery” is the distinct color scheme or emblem(s) related to the team. For example (and I'm simplifying), Ferrari is red; Red Bull is blue, red and yellow; Force India is orange, white and green (mimicking the Indian flag), and so on. As with just about every aspect of F1, there are rules and regulations pertaining to the teams and their livery established by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ("FIA," the governing body for world motor sport). Here are the highlights:

(Reminder: Each team has two drivers. And some have test drivers. More on this later.)

-Every car must clearly display its driver's race number on the front of the car. The driver's number is published by the FIA at the beginning of the F1 season.

-The team's name or emblem must appear on the front of the nose of the car and must be "at least 25mm in its largest dimension."

-The driver's name must appear on the external bodywork of the car and also be clearly legible.

-Each car has an onboard camera, located above the principal roll structure. In order to distinguish between a team's two cars, the camera on the first car must be predominantly fluorescent red and on the second car, predominantly fluorescent yellow.

-The livery must remain unchanged on both cars for the duration of the F1 season (however, it may be altered with approval from the F1 Commission).

Now on to the fun part: Caterham F1 Team revealed their 2012 car, the CT01, late last week. It was interesting because the official release date was published as Jan. 26, however recipients of F1 Racingmagazine received an early treat and images started circulating on Jan. 25. Here's the Caterham CT 01:

The 2012 Caterham CT01 Side note: we tip our hats to Caterham F1 Team's website - it's clean, well-organized and easy to navigate. Cheers.

Below is the most recent information we have found regarding the other 11 team's launches.

Bruno Senna, newest member of the Williams F1 Team, in 2012 team livery.I thought this was interseting and would get your gears turning (pun intended): The website F1 Colours took note of this picture of Bruno Senna, the newest member of the Williams F1 Team. Are there clues in this new team shirt that will have us seeing a hint of red in their 2012 livery? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Want all these dates in a calendar? We've got you covered. Click here to access our shared Google calendar. It includes important F1 dates such as launches and testing, 2012 F1 and MotoGP races, driver birthdays, and Austin community events that may be of interest. Check back often as we continue to update it, or just subscribe and have it populate your personal Google calendar in one click.

Williams F1 Connects with UT Austin Community

UT Austin students and interested Austin citizens attend Matt Jones' lecture on Marketing in Formula 1 at The University of Texas at Austin on Jan. 19, 2012

Last Thursday, the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin welcomed Matt Jones, Head of Marketing Services for the Williams Formula One team. The presentation was part of the “EU-US Distinguished Business and Politics Lecture Series” at UT Austin. This series presents lectures relevant to business and political relationships between the United States and the European Union and aims to bring attention to our shared economic interests. The goal is to encourage discussion between the UT population, local business communities and the broader public.

Matt’s professional experience includes his six years in the British Army’s Royal Anglian Regiment, three years as a Sponsorship Manager in the Formula Three series, Account Manager at Arrows Grand Prix from 2000 to 2002 and Sponsorship Manager at Jordan Grand Prix (now Force India) from 2003 to 2005. Although not a lifetime motorsports fan, over the past decade he has acclimated to the non-stop travelling lifestyle and now embraces F1’s fast-paced and challenging business culture.

Matt’s lecture was comprehensive, informative and engaging; I always enjoy hearing the collective gasp in the audience when they learn about F1’s 1.88 billion annual viewers or how it is broadcast in 187 countries. After introducing Formula 1 as a sport to a full lecture hall, he switched gears to talk about the Williams F1 team and how marketing is a vital role in this sport.

Matt Jones, Head of Marketing Services for Williams F1, speaks at UT Austin on Jan. 19, 2012I admit, I knew very little about Williams F1 before Matt’s presentation: I knew that it was founded by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, but didn’t realize the team has “only” been around since 1977 or that Williams has won 16 FIA Formula One World Championships to date. At their 20 acre headquarters in Grove, Oxfordshire (southeastern England), they employ about 500 staff, with a majority of the workforce comprised of engineers. Aside from operations, marketing, reception, design and electronics offices, the site also includes two wind tunnels, a race bay, museum, conference center, stores, research & development and machine shop, to name a few. As the image of a corporate powerhouse comes into focus, you realize they do much more than build cars and train drivers.

The presentation’s title, “Glamour and Grit: The Marketing of a Formula One Race Team,” properly captured Matt’s focus. An F1 team’s marketing group does not simply decide advertisements; they must simultaneously spin many plates. For Williams F1, Marketing Services manages partner and sponsorship accounts, event and paddock hospitality, the Williams F1 Conference Centre and brand and licensing. All strategy and execution of team sponsorships and partnering must pass a rigorous review to be cleared by Marketing Services. This process ensures continuity, aligns corporate objectives and values and matches Williams F1’s values to each partner’s commercial objectives.

Matt spoke in detail about current and past Williams F1 partners, including relationships with the Dutch staffing company Randstad, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), Budweiser and the insurance company Allianz. It was interesting to learn how varying sectors align their needs and values with the F1 world and what they gain from it as the result of an active partnership. Matt echoed the shared sentiment that all F1 teams realize the importance of an active US market to be a truly global sport.

The Williams Formula One team is the only company that is wholly independent and traded publicly on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (since March 2011). Williams F1 describes this independence to its advantage:

Williams F1 commercial partnerships must work harder to drive value back into its partners’ companies…it has no publicly funded automotive giant to bail it out should things go wrong. It exists solely to go racing. It is driven by a hunger to win. It is – unusually on the modern Formula 1 grid – purely about racing.

This independence and desire to win transcends to admirable team values: integrity, entrepreneurship, precision and accessibility. As you learn about Sir Frank Williams and the history of the Williams F1 team you begin to draw parallels between his character, work ethic and winning attitude. Williams F1’s partnership announcement with Michael Johnson Performance is the most recent example of aligning a winning attitude with a dedication to excellence. Matt also introduced us to the Williams Spark Program, which exemplifies how Williams F1 embraces energy efficiency, education and road safety. The Williams F1 website is quite comprehensive and serves as an ongoing, accessible resource.

Matt speaks with UT Austin students following his presentation. There was an active Q&A session and reception after Matt’s presentation. Based on the level of feedback from the audience, it was evident that Matt sparked an interest within F1 amateurs and led long-time F1 fans to a better understanding of how teams continue to evolve in today’s marketplace. Matt’s lecture at UT Austin’s EU-US Speaker Series proved to be a great opportunity to engage with varying communities as he offered valuable insight into how Austin’s November Formula 1 race has the potential to elevate Austin throughout the global business community.

Special thanks to Matt Jones of Williams F1, Dr. David Platt, Director, and Sabine Wimmer, Administrative Associate, of the Center for International Business Education and Research.

Trivia contest: Sir Williams first tried his hand at motor racing behind the wheel of what car?

Piecing It All Together: From the White Board to the Dirt Mound

Out of all the photos from last week’s site visit at Circuit of The Americas, only a few adequately capture the magnitude of the project. In fact, it takes 17 frames compiled together to create the following high-resolution panoramic photo. This is a panoramic photo taken from atop Turn 1, the most south-eastern point of the circuit, facing west. The far left of the photo is the south side of the property, and as you pan your view to the right, you are looking north.

Compiled from 17 photos, this panoramic shows the racetrack site from atop Turn 1.

We rode down the hill and made a pit stop in the temporary job site offices. Inside, we were greeted by grandstand seating options, restroom hardware and miscellaneous fixture options. Though it might seem trivial, selection of this hardware is a critical part of the project, and when done right, each doorhandle and light fixture intgrates seemlessly with the design. Just behind us, a detailed and colorful ten foot long rendering was tacked onto a white board, but it extended well past it. This was the first full size print out availible, so I also compiled numerous frames of it to deliver this high-res panoramic rendering, which mirrors the above panoramic shot from Turn 1.

Panoramic view from the top of Turn 1. Conceptual rendering from COTA, all rights reserved.

WOW! What a view! From this position, you can see the start/finish line, the pit and paddock building, and Turns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19, & 20.  Very few tracks in the world offer this comprehensive of a view from a single location.  The seating from this vantage point will be highly coveted and possibly limited; but there will be numerous seating options throughout the circuit that provide multiple views of the track, versus a 5-second drive/fly-by.

The magnitude of this project is starting to sink in, rivaling the scale of an Olympic complex or a Walt Disney World theme park. As the Austin Commercial construction team works towards an August deadline, daily progress amounts to significant visual changes, and the reality of the project inches closer to (pardon the pun) the finish line.

In case you missed our first article of this update, Turn 1: Austin's Zenith, check out the gallery below.

Update

on 2012-01-20 23:07 by Kevin Olsen

If you're having trouble seeing the high-res photo, follow these steps:

  1. Click on the photo from the article; it will open in a new window.
  2. In the new window, right click on the image and choose "View image." This will shrink the image to fit on one page. Hover your mouse/cursor over various areas of the image and you will see a "+" magnifying glass.
  3. Click once on the "+" magnifying glass to zoom in on the desired area, and then click again on the "-" magnifying glass to zoom out.
  4. Repeat the zoom in and zoom out process on various areas of the image.

Turn 1: Austin's Zenith

From the temporary observation platform at the top of turn number one, looking back at the whole project. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But the only word I can utter after yesterday's tour of Circuit of The Americas is: WOW.

Not having been inside the construction zone since April, I was semi-prepared for a different perspective. The last video we shot in Elroy was back in October, but it was outside the fence; we've been keeping up with the photos floating around in cyberspace like vultures circling their prey, but nothing could prepare me for this.

Paddock Building view on the way up to turn number one.From the open-aired comfort of our off-roading taxi, our Austin Commercial guide started pointing out the favorite features of his outdoor office. Bits and pieces started to look familiar: that's the tunnel, I recognize it from COTA's Facebook photo album; those are retaining walls, and there's Turn 1.

My whole perspective shifted when we were halfway up the incline of what's sure to be the United States GP's zenith: Turn 1.

The miniature city grew smaller and smaller on our steep ascent. Bulldozers and Tonka truck lookalikes whizzed by. This looked very different from our first trip up Turn 1 back in April; what was once large masses of dirt has taken shape. Turns are easily identifiable with large numbered flags and berms have been carved out which will one day seat many of us reading this. You finally get a grasp on the magnitude of this project from atop Turn 1 because you can see it all: the 300-400+ construction workers, the positioning of the future Grandstand and Paddock building, the downtown Austin skyline in the background, and my new favorite feature: The Grand Plaza.

To put it simply, the Grand Plaza is going to rock. In the past 3 days they have created a sunken ampitheater by digging a hole that is roughly the width of a football field, the length of two football fields, and 50 feet deep. At the east end of the ampitheater will be a round tower that will soon make its way to the top of Austin's destination list. A large observation deck, designed by the Austin architecture firm Miró Rivera Architects, will give viewers a panaromic perspective of the entire Circuit of The Americas dreamland set against Texas Hill Country. To the west you will have unparalleled views of our iconic Frost Tower and its neighboring buildings in downtown Austin. The tower and observation deck should be complete the first year with future plans to finish it out to include a banquet hall for 600 people, a club on the top floor, a museum and unrivaled suites on the first floor.

Excavation for the grand plaza started this week...and the site is huuuge!
To the west of the tower and observation deck sits the ampitheater. I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite places in the world, Chicago's Millennium Park. COTA is working to have our newest Austin ampitheater ready this year and should accommodate 14,000 live performance viewers. Like many ampitheater settings, there will be floor or standing room tickets for 1,500 (sometimes also referred to the mosh pit), then directly behind that, 3,500 permanent seats, and then it opens up to about 9,000 lawn seats. Continue moving west and you'll hit the reflection pond which might tempt unwanted swimmers when we hit our famous 100'F+ heat streaks.

I'm a huge live music fan so it's no surprise that I'm drawn to the outdoor ampitheater. But I think COTA is doing something very smart by creating an expansive and multi-use space in their mini-city. How many visitors will come to see Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett perform and be intrigued by the racetrack? Or parents bring their kids to the observation deck and the kids get a different view of the world than from Austin Duck Tours? Huge potential to introduce non-oval style racing to an entirely new fanbase.

We covered a lot of ground out at the Circuit yesterday and this is just part of it. Over the next week we'll hit on the pit/paddock area and share our interview with COTA spokesperson Jeff Hahn as he goes into more detail about the progress. Until then, enjoy our photographs taken at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on January 12, 2012 - 311 days until our United States Grand Prix, in case you're counting (and we know you are).

 

 

The Comeback Kid: Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi in the 2012 Lotus GP race car (source Lotus GP)Rarely do successful athletes relive their glory days after taking a hiatus from their sport. Only a few of the best have accomplished this feat, with many quickly losing the edge on their game as age begins to take its toll. Michael Jordan is one of the few athletes to conquer this feat; he dabbled in baseball in 1994 after leaving his highly successful career in the NBA. With just a year of minor league baseball under his belt, Jordan ended up returning to basketball, making a great run for the playoffs but falling short of winning the title again.

Niki Lauda driving the McLaren MP4/2 in the 1984 Dallas Grand PrixIn the motorsports world, drivers don't often return to the hot seat; they either move on to another series or retire after competing in Formula 1.  The most recent reminder in the industry is seven time world champion Michael Schumacher who left the sport in 2006 and returned in 2010. Despite fighting hard for his position, Schumacher has not made it back into the championship spotlight and has struggled to keep his car in contention for points.

Former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda made quite a comeback following a serious accident and retirement from the sport in 1979, and even went on to earn another championship in 1984 by just half a point over Alain Prost. However, since Schumacher's return to F1, he has yet to step foot on the podium and finish above fourth position. This is quite a disappointment in many respects, yet maybe not a surprise at all.

Before it sounds like I am joining the anti-Schumacher camp (I'm not, I promise), we need to turn the attention back on Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Championship winner and a promising young driver who is making his comeback to Formula 1 this 2012 season.

Kimi had a successful early start in the sport and a great season in 2007, crowning him the world champ in his first year in the Ferrari car. Following a frustrating 2008 and 2009 season, he left the sport after failing to secure a contract with a team. From 2009 until 2011, Kimi had some short stints in other series, including a decent run in World Rally Championship (WRC) and races in both the NASCAR Truck and semi-pro NASCAR series.

Kimi Raikonnen with Lotus Renault GP team principal Eric Boullier Rumors began to run about of Kimi's return to Formula 1 last fall. Then, there was speculation that he would be joining the Williams team. However, on November 29 Lotus Renault GP announced they snatched him up for a two year contract beginning in 2012.

So, can we expect a modern day comeback to shake up the sport?  If Schumacher's sabbatical was an indication, any time spent out of an F1 car can feel like a lifetime.  Kimi, though ten years younger than Michael, must overcome additional obstacles. In addition to a two year hiatus from F1, the FIA rules have evolved (grumble grumble): back then we didn't have the same technical challenges that we have today, such as DRS. Luckily though, Kimi did get a chance to play around with the early KERS system in 2009 with Ferrari, though it was largely in it's infancy of development.

According to former Mclaren teamate David Coulthard and driver Jenson Button, Kimi's return will be stronger than ever before and a welcome sight for the sport. David says the following about Kimi while at the Race of Champions (ROC) this past December to Autosport:

"Kimi stopped too early in his career, there's no question about that," said Coulthard. "He's gone off and had some fun in rallying.

"I did an event with him earlier this year at the Red Bull Ring and he was just jumping on everything - whether it was motocross bikes or the different cars that were there, he just has a great feeling for pushing the limits. So I've got no doubt at all that he will be on the pace."

Even Jenson Button chimed in, offering his surprise about returning to the sport with Lotus Renault instead of Williams and the likely partying that will ensue:

"It was a shock to me that he's going to be racing for the team he is," said Button. "I was really surprised when they announced Kimi. I thought he had a chance at Williams."

"I think it's really good for the sport. As a driver, he's very, very competitive. If he really wants to race, he's going to be quick.

"From what I've heard from the engineers at McLaren, he knows what he's doing in terms of engineering and setting up the car.

"It's good to have him back and the races will be more fun and obviously the evenings after the races will be more fun..."

Kimi's return is likely to shake up the sport a bit, especially with the rise of the Lotus Renault team who has steadily climbed back into the spotlight this past year with a solid 5th position in the constructors championship, moving them into the 'top-tier' with the heavy hitters. Given the rough past couple of years at Williams, Kimi's decision to go with Lotus Renault may prove to be a great launching platform for him to return to the sport, get back into the groove of things, and pull off some great races this year. 

Finally, let's not forget that Kimi is likely to be a great personality for new and existing fans of the sport.  His stoic media contact has earned him the nickname of "Iceman," but off track, Kimi carries somewhat of a party animal reputation (just google "Kimi Raikkonen Boat Monaco"). Without a doubt, he's going to bring more excitement to the sport and cause quite a stir within the Formula 1 establishment. 2012 is going to be a great season.

// Lotus is doing a solid job of sharing info about Kimi's return via their site Lotus Renault GP, here's some Q&A's with Kimi.

New Year, New Toys

As we await F1 Winter Testing to begin, we're working on other creative ways to keep you engaged.

Pinterest - the virtual pinboard

New on the social networking scene is Pinterest. It is a virtual pinboard: you find things that you are interested in or inspired by on the internet, and you "pin" online images and videos of the objects to your virtual bulletin boards. Like tumblr, other users can "re-pin" your objects to their boards if they share your interest. Broken down, it is another way to socially interact over shared interests on the web.

Between August and December 2011, Pinterest has grown from 1.2 million users to over 4 million.

The majority of Pinterest users appear to use it for style, design and cooking inspiration. Instead of creating 537 internet bookmarks for every gluten-free recipe that you find, you can "Pin" them to your self-titled "Gluten Free Pinboard" and have them in one spot.

What does this have to do with racing?

I created an Austin Grand Prix Pinterest account in December with the intent of organizing pictures and videos of motorsport and everything related - What books can I read about Formula 1? What movies are out there about historic motorsport moments? Who are the F1 drivers and teams? Instead of getting sucked into a black hole of F1 info, you can peruse our boards and if you're interested on knowing more about a specific topic, just "follow" that Pinterest board for updates.

What appeals to me the most about Pinterest is that you can find others who share your interests and discover related content that you may never have known about before.  To learn more about Pinterest, check out their website, read this beginner's guide from Mashable or the Wikipedia entry.  Other racing brands are jumping on the bandwagon, as SPEED TV announced their Pinterest account today.  As they say in the Pinterest world, Happy Pinning!

Here is a link to The Austin Grand Prix on Pinterest. I will be updating our "Pins" frequently so check back for new content weekly.

TIP: You must request an invitation to join Pinterest. If you need one, send me your email address at Pinterest {at} TheAustinGrandPrix.com

The Austin Grand Prix on Pinterest.com