[Alvin]

Volkswagen Close To Purchasing Red Bull Formula One Team: Report
17,80719

Stef Schrader
Filed to: F 19/18/15 1:52pm
http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/volksw...eam-1731685388

Volkswagen is closing in on a deal to purchase the Red Bull Formula One team to enter as a full works entry with VW power units in 2018, per BBC Sport. We’ve all been wondering why the Volkswagen Group keeps hiring personnel from Formula One, and I guess now we know.


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BBC F1 pundit Eddie Jordan says that the Red Bull team will likely use Ferrari engines in the interim until Volkswagen can develop its own power unit. Red Bull, too, would remain as a major sponsor of the team.

Of the Volkswagen brands, Audi is still considered the one most likely to be on a F1 entry.

Red Bull will split with current power unit supplier Renault after this year after their miserable performance in 2015. This somewhat put the team into limbo, given that Red Bull has been the de facto works entry for Renault over the past few years.

According to BBC Sport, Volkswagen board chairman Martin Winterkorn has already agreed with team boss Dietrich Mateschitz and Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko to purchase the team. Former Volkswagen Group chairman Ferdinand Piech was against the idea of going into Formula One, however, he resigned in April.

Team principal Christian Horner has publicly denied that anything is going on between the two brands, however, in Formula One, denial is the number one sign of guilt.

Update: Will it be an Audi car? If so, Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich isn’t talking about it. I caught up with him here at Lone Star Le Mans, where he’s here to support the Audi World Endurance Championship effort.

“I have no information about what’s going on,” Ullrich said.

He continued, “We’ve been in F1 25 times if you believe the papers.”

True, true. Personally, I’m rooting for MAN F1. What better Volkswagen brand is there to run an F1 effort than the one that could sell tow rigs to all the other teams?

[Alvin]

Manor Marussia prepare for Japanese Grand Prix with Jules Bianchi in mind
• F1 back at Suzuka for first time since accident which resulted in driver’s death
• Team principal John Booth: team dealing with return in a very private way



Jules Bianchi will be foremost in the thoughts of the Manor Marussia Formula One team this weekend as they prepare to return to the Japanese Grand Prix circuit where he had his horrific accident last year.

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The 25-year-old French driver died in hospital in southern France in July, nine months after suffering severe head injuries when his Marussia skidded off a wet track in fading light at Suzuka and hit a recovery tractor.

Bianchi was the first F1 driver to die of injuries sustained during a race since the Brazilian Ayrton Senna in 1994.

The Marussia principal, John Booth, said going back to the circuit for Sunday’s race would be “extremely emotional” and challenging for everyone at the team and appealed for understanding.

He said in a team preview: “We were Jules’s team, and with that in mind I would ask everyone to understand and respect that, this weekend, we wish to deal with the experience of returning to Suzuka in a very private, introspective way. Our commitments will be reflective of this.”

Marussia went into administration after last year’s accident, racing with one car in Russia and missing the final three races, but were rescued at the 11th hour and many of those who worked with Bianchi are still with the team.

Both current drivers, the Briton Will Stevens and the American Alexander Rossi, were in Suzuka last year in reserve roles.

Booth added: “We think of Jules every single day; he will forever be a huge part of our team. His name has also been on our car at every single race.

“That tribute, our incredibly fond memories of Jules and the camaraderie we have within our team are all we need to race on in his honour in Suzuka this weekend.”

Stevens said he would try and focus on racing: “In the same circumstances, Jules would have gone about the business of racing in a very focused and professional way and that is exactly what I’ll be doing.”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...-jules-bianchi