The F1 Thread 2009 Season

[vanthaman]

in the 2008 thread someone wanted to know who it was that crashed when his car lifted into the air and into the barrier, it was Barrichello at Imola in 94

 

[manxmanc]

After the most extravagant phase in its history, when it burnt up hundreds of millions of pounds a year, Formula One took its “reality pill” yesterday as a raft of cost-cutting measures were approved by the FIA that are designed to slash team operating budgets by a third next year and even more in the years after.

With the ghost of Honda lurking at the feast and with the imposing figure of Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, to the fore, a sport that is famous for making big promises and then failing to deliver, finally produced the goods in Monte Carlo.

Among key changes given the go-ahead by the FIA's rule-making body, the World Motor Sport Council, are a 50 per cent reduction in the price that independent teams will pay for their engines next season and a limit of eight engines per driver, a complete ban on mid-season testing, restrictions on wind-tunnel usage, agreed annual factory closures and, from 2010, a ban on refuelling during racing.

A notable feature of what was being seen as a turning point towards a more financially realistic future was that Bernie Ecclestone, who dominates all things Formula One as the sport's commercial rights-holder, was almost invisible in this process.

“Marginalised,” was how one team source put it. While Mosley was able to celebrate a triumph at the end of what for him has been an annus horribilis, his old friend and rival, Ecclestone, appeared to have been left on the outside looking in.

However, the wily billionaire was not feeling the cold last night as he prepared for Formula One's annual prize-giving, where Lewis Hamilton was presented with the World Championship trophy. He said he had never believed his presence was required in a process between the FIA and the teams that, he claimed, he had helped to initiate. Ecclestone will return to centre stage next month when the Formula One teams hold meetings with him as they bid for a greater slice of the sport's huge revenues and the establishment of a more equitable system for sharing this money out across the grid.

The 78-year-old Formula One supremo told The Times, however, that while he is quite happy for the teams to share out the money in a different way, there was no chance that they would get more from him and were more likely to get less. “What's happened now is that the teams have managed to reduce their expenditure, I'm told,” Ecclestone said. “So if they are not happy with what income they are getting at the moment, we could have a look at it and pay them less, because they don't need so much. I would suggest that they look at the amount they get and share it differently.”

Asked about the ambition of the Ferrari and Formula One Teams' Association president, Luca di Montezemolo, to increase the teams' share of the pot, Ecclestone replied: “He's been saying that every year for the last ten years - there's no chance of that.”

Mosley has repeatedly made the point that Formula One could save hundreds of millions of pounds every year without the fans noticing a thing. True to his word he and the teams have come up with a broad and ambitious package with about 25 main areas of savings, only two of which, the ban from 2010 on refuelling during races and the use of tyre warmers, will be instantly noticeable.

The refuelling change will, however, have knock-on effects on qualifying and it is as yet unclear what changes will be made to the present system under which the lightest car, as opposed to the fastest, usually starts from pole. The absence of refuelling in grands prix will make for super-quick pitstops, with cars coming in for new tyres remaining stationary for less than three seconds.

In addition to a deal on cheap engines supplied to the smaller teams by the manufacturer-backed outfits or an independent supplier, there will in 2010 be greater standardisation of chassis components and radio and telemetry systems and restrictions on various factory-based operations. Some of the measures will lead to job losses.

Formula One fans are to canvassed as to their views on Bernie Ecclestone's plan to introduce a medal-based scoring system. Should market research be completed in time and the reaction to his scheme is positive, the FIA may consider it again in March in time for the first race of next season in Melbourne.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article5333292.ece

 

[x42bn6]

Sir Jackie Stewart delivers damning verdict

Debate: should Mosley and Ecclestone go?

Sir Jackie Stewart was the epitome of the brave driver in the cockpit when he triumphed in an era when so many of his friends and rivals were dying all around him. These days the Scottish knight has lost none of that courage, passion and enthusiasm for a sport that has made him the legend he is. But Stewart is not one for sitting on his tartan laurels and at 69 remains a driven man, an obsessive, a competitor and someone committed to values of excellence that he never ceases to espouse or to expect in others.

The triple Formula One world champion, who last stood on top of the motor racing world in 1973, the year he retired, is in a unique position to run the rule over the sport. His racing record speaks for itself. He has been a team owner, he has worked for, and still represents, some of the biggest sponsors in the business and he is a household name whose career links the modern day with the 1960s and early 1970s in Formula One when friends of his such as Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and François Cevert raced and died alongside him.

To put it bluntly, Stewart may be thrilled by some of the drivers on the grid these days, not least Lewis Hamilton, Britain's new world champion, but he is shocked at the way the sport is being run and believes that an entirely new constitution is required.

Unafraid to say the unsayable, he has no doubt that both Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, the world governing body of motorsport, and Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's commercial rights-holder, have made enormous contributions.

But it is long past the point, he says, when both should have left the stage. Stewart blames them for what he calls a climate of disillusionment in Formula One and believes that a reappraisal of the distribution of revenue, of the administration and the commercial relationships at the heart of motor racing's most prestigious championship, is long overdue.

Speaking to The Times at his house in the Chilterns, where trophies and memorabilia from his racing days fight for space alongside his collections of paintings and sculptures, Stewart warms to his theme before a log fire in his study. He talks of Formula One with great affection, but to him it is like a picture out of focus, a sporting “nation” that has lost its way or a sphere of human activity in which creativity and potential have been suppressed.

“The era of big change is now essential because the sport has grown larger than either the governors or the commercial-rights holders. And that's just a fact,” says Stewart, still the owner of one of the most distinctive Scottish brogues in the land. “It has taken too long to achieve the things it should have achieved years ago and that other sports have long ago matured to, and other sports have prepared themselves more fully for the opportunities that have come their way.”

In Stewart's view, Ecclestone, who has become a multibillionaire as Formula One's impresario, has become far too powerful, even if he played a key role in making the sport what it is today. “But having done it, he now rules and nobody is up for taking on a battle with him. Bernie has such power and influence that he could suffocate almost any performer who would dare to suggest that there must be change,” he says.

What is more, Stewart believes, there is no proper succession in place for when Ecclestone, who is 78 and has said that he will never retire, finally goes. “I don't think Bernie can bring people in to help him in a transition phase,” he says. “He has been so used to total control that if you look at his structure you have to ask yourself 'is there a successor?' and you would say 'no'. That is wrong. The commercial reality has to be recognised ... and there has be continuity that the ageing process makes necessary.”

Ecclestone, the promoter, is much too close to Mosley, the regulator, in Stewart's view. The Scot has never bought into the notion that the two most powerful men in motorsport fell out over the scandal last year surrounding Mosley's private life, which prompted widespread calls for the FIA president to stand down.

Stewart believes that they rule in an authoritarian manner over Formula One. He says that the process of decision-making is almost impossible to “read” from outside, and remarked that Ecclestone and Mosley are so close and indivisible that they are like “Siamese twins”. “They haven't looked after the house properly and the foundations are built on just this two-man working relationship,” he says. “This has evoked concern and apprehension on the part of those involved in the sport. When Max Mosley had the scandal erupt around him, how many team principals or owners spoke out? None.

“Why, you may ask? When McLaren were, according to some, victimised [the team were fined $100million, now about £69million, by the FIA in late 2007 for allegedly cheating] - how many of the other teams thought, 'That could be us, we must stand behind them.' Who did? In fear of repercussions, nobody did. I was one of the few people who spoke out on both issues.

“I have no commercial ramifications surrounding my continuing involvement in the sport but, if there was something that did pop up or that was researched on me, I am sure it would be used. Now that is not a democratic organisation.”

Too much power, no succession plan, an authoritarian style, but the biggest charge against Ecclestone, Stewart argues, is the amount of money that he has taken out of Formula One. For years, Stewart believes he has enjoyed so much of the revenues that not only are the teams struggling to keep going but the circuits, too. At the same time, there has been little or no reinvestment in the facilities offered or in the future of motor racing, such as funding to help up-and-coming drivers.

“Nothing is coming back into the sport,” Stewart says, echoing the views of Luca di Montezemolo, the Ferrari president, who criticised Ecclestone last month on the same issue. “The financial distribution of Formula One appears to have been sorted out by two people who have directed it in whichever way they have seen fit. Although this has been a significant benefit in some ways, it has also hurt the sport because the balance of contribution within Formula One is absolutely untenable.

“The teams have got all the capital investment, yet they get no more than 50 per cent of the revenues. The next largest capital investment is by the racetracks who currently receive little or nothing from the revenues apart from what they get for bums on seats. Hardly any of them receive anything from TV revenues or the circuit advertising or the title sponsorship or the commercial hospitality. How can they reinvest when they have little or no income outside of spectator attendance fees?”

Stewart has other gripes with Ecclestone. He believes it to be “ridiculous” that there will be no grand prix in North America this year, after Ecclestone cancelled successively Indianapolis and Montreal, given the importance of that market to the big car manufacturers, oil and fuel producers and tyre manufacturers. And he dismissed Ecclestone's recent call for a medal-based scoring system to replace points in Formula One as nonsensical and inappropriate for a professional sport.

Then came the thorny issue of Mosley, a subject that Stewart dealt with over lunch in the conservatory. The FIA president has no time for Stewart and outraged many in motor racing and beyond in September 2007 by ridiculing the profoundly dyslexic Scot as a “certified half-wit” who dressed like a “music hall artist” and who never has a chance to listen because he never stops talking, remarks for which Mosley has not apologised.

Stewart, for his part, still believes, as he did when the scandal over Mosley first broke, that his arch-critic should resign, and not only that. “I think Max should remove himself from the FIA completely and from motorsport and the motor industry,” he says. “The FIA should replace him with somebody not from within its organisation or even within motorsport. They should go out and headhunt a CEO who is going to rebuild the structure in line with modern practice to satisfy the investors in the sport and to give the FIA total transparency.”

Stewart believes that the huge fine meted out to McLaren would not have happened had Mosley not been in charge and he finds it incredible that Mosley and almost all the senior figures in the FIA are, at least in nominal terms, unpaid, part-time amateurs. Yet they preside over the most capital-intensive and professional sport in the world.

Some have applauded Mosley for having the guts to stay on. Not Stewart. “The scandal created the opportunity for a new structure to be born,” he says. “That opportunity has been overtaken by one man's insistence on remaining, which would have been impossible had it been an Olympic committee, the Football Association or a publicly held company. How can we accept that in a sport so dependent on multinational corporations and even governments for its revenues and which also requires a totally transparent and independent rule-making body?”

Stewart may be getting older and he is dismissed by some, among them Mosley, as an irrelevant voice from the past, but the views of the tenacious Scot on the need for radical reform in Formula One ring true for many silent supporters. The question is how long will it take for his new world order to come into being?

Makes some good points, I think...

 

[Leg-End]

The 2009 Ferrari F60 launch

 

[Stemmy]

aye i'm still trying to get my head around these new wings....especially the rear one.

But i must admit after seeing the BMW in testing that the F60 looks a lot better than that.

I expected a lot worse...

 

[Red Pavan]

Looks like a toy tbf

 

[CrazyBelgian]

It will take some time to get used to that.

 

[ZIDANE]

Aye, wasn't expecting it to be so small in width, looks more dramatic with the wide front wing. How will they get major sponsers on there now eh? At least they have taken all these fancy aerodynamic things off the side pods.

Its different but all in the name of overtaking though so a welcome change. Are there any videos of it being tested around their track yet? I assume there will be small changes before the first race anyway.

 

[Leg-End]

 

[Dave89]

Ron Dennis to step down as team principal of McLaren

Ron Dennis has confirmed he will step down as team principal of McLaren from March 1.

Dennis dropped the bombshell at the end of the launch of McLaren's new challenger for the forthcoming Formula One season at the team's technology centre in Woking. Dennis, who has been in charge of McLaren since 1981, will hand over the reins to his long-standing right-hand man and CEO Martin Whitmarsh.

"It's absolutely time for Martin to take over the job of team principal, so as of March 1, Martin will adopt that position," Dennis said. "I will still go to races - not all of them - because I am still passionate about Formula One.

"But don't see this as a form of retirement. It's very much the opposite because I will now be working harder in other areas. I will now take on more responsibility, greater responsibility, in certain key areas of the group.

"I am going to raise my own game because everybody realises this is a tough period in which to work.

"We are a very diverse organisation and we have a number of other projects ongoing, including the development of our road car, and that is going to be a real challenge.

"I will still be full executive chairman. But it's time, and it's absolutely 100 per cent my decision. It's what I want to do."

The news came after reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton had delivered his verdict on the new car - the MP4-24 - and his attempt to retain the title he won in spectacular fashion on the final lap of the last race of last season.

"I don't see the fact that I am world champion will add to the pressure on my shoulders for next season," Hamilton said. "I've obviously a little bit of extra confidence and I've reset my goals, reset my targets back to when I started out in Formula One and that's to be world champion.

That's not me sitting here saying, 'I am world champion', I am sitting here saying, 'I want to be world champion'."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article5530653.ece

 

[Leg-End]

Dissapointing to see Uncle Ron stepping down but it probably is time.

Good looking car though.

 

[B Cantona]

Could be a great season. Another of last seasons daft rules scrapped:

F1 to scrap 'bad' pit lane rule

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7854692.stm

Formula One's governing body is to scrap the rule that saw drivers penalised for pitting early while the safety car was deployed.

Instead, the pits will be kept open, with software regulating drivers' speeds as they enter the pit lane.

"The rule introduced in 2007 was bad," said F1 race director Charlie Whiting.

The 2007 rule was introduced to stop drivers going through an accident zone at speed to get back to the pits and refuel while the safety car was out.

Whiting told the International Automobile Federation website drivers would have to stick to a time frame they would be given to get back to the pits.

"When we deploy the safety car, the message will go to all the cars, which will then have a "safety car" mode on their ECUs (electronic control units).

"As soon as that message gets to the car, it will know where it is on the circuit, and it will calculate a minimum time for the driver to get back to the pits.

"The driver will have to respect this and the information will be displayed on his dashboard."

Last season, several races were affected by the safety car rule.

In the opening race in Australia, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen had to pit for fuel and tyres while the safety car was out and subsequently dropped to the back of the pack. He did manage to recover and finish fifth.

Three races later in Spain, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld lost fifth place and finished out of the points when he was penalised for returning to the pits during the safety car period.

In Singapore, Nico Rosberg, who was running in second, and Robert Kubica both served stop-go penalties for coming in when the pit lane was closed.

Fernando Alonso took advantage of the situation to claim his first victory of the season as he had already pitted and was able to move up the field.

---

How that rule ever came to be in the first place is beyond me. Dreadful, and it clearly ruined races for some who had done nothing wrong

 

[Count Duckula]

I want this to start now

 

[Leg-End]

Yeah the off-season is boring as hell. I love the fact F1 is almost a year long sport, every other Sunday its racing time, love it. I usually pop down to the Silverstone test too but they have now limited testing to the point they will probably not test there again.

 

[EZee]

when does it actually start then... march?

 

[Leg-End]

March 29th for the race in Australia, its a back to back job too so Malaysia week after.

 

[EZee]

Jensen Button

Right... whats goinng on with him then...

if honda are not racing then can he join another team?...

will he get a drive this season? will he become a test driver (if hes able to do that)

or is he still contracted to honda and hes going to be testing the new civics and accords?

 

[ZIDANE]

I think they said they will keep running for a certain while as they do not want to pack the team in. Surprised nobody has bought them yet. Its a decent team, a few individuals like Brawn and Button, and a car they have been working on for most of last season. Add to that Mercedes are willing to supply engines and budgets are being cutback in F1 anyway.

Can't wait for the new season like. All these changes may well end up making it a mad one. A wet race in these new cars should be fun!

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

if honda are not racing then can he join another team?...

He has joined already a other team

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article2199859.ece

 

[Leg-End]

Honda are cutting it really fine if they are selling, Honda have already said that they will not provide engines for whoever buys the team, it has been said any new engine they supply they may get will need upto 6 weeks to fit into the new cars chassis for re-design, on top of no testing until this is done atleast not with the new engine. This means unless they have all this sorted behind the scenes then they will be going into the new season with a new engine fitted into an untested chassis and with in-season testing now banned then they have really no chance next season.

The fact Button has not signed for STR yet is surely a good sign but it's not looking good for the potential buyers of Honda for 2009.

 

[Dave89]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7896784.stm

Branson to bid for honda.

 

[Leg-End]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7896784.stm

Branson to bid for honda.

Excellent news, really good news. I thought for awhile there Honda were just going to pack it in, but if they have a serious bid from a company such as Virgin then they should probably bite their hand off. The only trouble is Nick Fry is still involved in the dealings and is notoriously useless at closing deals.

 

[vanthaman]

is there any news whether BBC will be using fleetwood mac as title tune? i bloody hope so

 

[SAred]

is there any news whether BBC will be using fleetwood mac as title tune? i bloody hope so

That was brilliant going back a few years - just for the record COME ON LEWIS.

 

[Leg-End]

is there any news whether BBC will be using fleetwood mac as title tune? i bloody hope so

No official word I don't think but chances are it will be a new updated version of The Chain.

 

[Rooney1987]

is there any news whether BBC will be using fleetwood mac as title tune? i bloody hope so

BBC confirm return of The Chain

By Edd Straw Wednesday, February 25th 2009, 11:16 GMT


The BBC has confirmed that it will use the iconic Fleetwood Mac song The Chain as the theme for its Formula One coverage this year.

Since the BBC announced last March that the sport would be returning to its schedule for this year, fans have been calling for the song, recorded in 1976, to make a return. At yesterday's media launch of the corporation's F1 coverage, the BBC revealed that it had opted to revive the iconic theme.

"There has been one enormous issue on all the message boards and that was the question of what music we are going to use," said a BBC spokesman. "Whether it's a surprise or not, we'll leave for you to decide."

The revealing of The Chain drew applause from legendary commentator Murray Walker, who was attending the launch and will play a part in the BBC's coverage

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/73417

 

[Leg-End]

For those younger fans here is the sort of thing we can expect with the return of The Chain

 

[lynchie]

One of the first riffs I ever learnt on bass. Classic stuff.

 

[Dave89]

When did BBC lose the coverage? That riff rings a lot of bells, but I can't remember watching F1 on the beeb.

 

[vanthaman]

12 years ago

 

[Dave89]

Quite possible then. I just love that riff anyway.

 

[Leg-End]

Honda are saved, management buyout by Ross Brawn, Nick Fry and financial directors. There are to be job cuts but the old Honda team is to be renamed and now has an excellent engine in the back of it with Mercedes.

This is excellent news, 1 due to the fact that Brawn is now partly a team owner because if there is 1 guy on the grid that could bring a team from the depths its Brawn. Rumours around that it is to be called Brawn Sport which would mean the initials BS, I like it. Jenson Button is taking a 50% wage cut for the next season and its either Barrichello back to join him or young Bruno Senna. The fact that they now have a Merc engine along with their own KERS system (although it remains to be seen if they can use the old one with that engine or if Honda even allow them to use the technology) and Brawn seems confident the chassis is half decent enough for Brawn to risk a management buyout they could be closer to the front than some think this season.

 

[jgraham]

Could someone who knows more about F1 help me out here. Last year in some of the races I watched the young lad Vettel really impressed me, and seemed to have something special about him. I've read this morning that the car he is in this year is performing quite well during testing.


Is it worth having a punt on him at 16/1 to win the championship this year?

 

[Stemmy]

Could someone who knows more about F1 help me out here. Last year in some of the races I watched the young lad Vettel really impressed me, and seemed to have something special about him. I've read this morning that the car he is in this year is performing quite well during testing.


Is it worth having a punt on him at 16/1 to win the championship this year?

You really cant read much into testing mate as many factors come into play.Where some teams might be sandbagging, others not with full new parts or others even running light to attract sponsors etc.

eg...so far in this Jerez McLaren look slow but i wouldnt bet on them not being right up there come the start of the season.

Vettel IMO is one ofthe top drivers out there mind so i reckon he is allways worth a punt

 

[jgraham]

You really cant read much into testing mate as many factors come into play.Where some teams might be sandbagging, others not with full new parts or others even running light to attract sponsors etc.

eg...so far in this Jerez McLaren look slow but i wouldnt bet on them not being right up there come the start of the season.

Vettel IMO is one ofthe top drivers out there mind so i reckon he is allways worth a punt

Right, so testing isn't really a good thing to go by.

Like you say though Vettel is a quality driver and I think I will back him, I'd like to see Hamilton win again of course but his odds aren't really worth taking on!

Who do you think will win this year?

 

[Leg-End]

Would take testing times with a pinch of salt, some teams like to go for the show runs others just work on race pace and some even just sandbag to hide their pace. Case in point 2006 when Honda dominated winter testing and then just fell away in the season, 2008 when BMW looked really really slow in testing then all of a sudden nearly was the fastest at Round 1.

If I was looking for a decent bet with odds that are worth it I would be looking at Vettel and Alonso. Vettel isn't quite WDC material yet but if the Red Bull is fast then he has a chance, Renault look slow in testing, but they could be playing games as that car is built for Alonso and hinges on his style so Piquet looks terrible in it but Alonso is mighty.

Obviously favorites are McLaren and Ferrari but McLaren don't look too fast so far but I have heard numerous rumours they are holding back their ultimate pace and have plenty in hand.

 

[ZIDANE]

I'm sure there will be a few surprises this season with all the changes coming into play this year. I'd still suspect either Ferrari or McLaren but hopefully the likes of BMW and Alonso can do something. Think its too early for Vettel myself but the Red Bull should be fast - designed by Newey?

Its good Honda made it, they should have a decent package as well due to the development they have put into that car. Again who knows, Force India have gone into a partnership with McLaren so half of their car is McLaren isn't it?

I just wonder how many reliability problems we will see this year.

 

[bazalini]

BBC have a great 5 mins on its homepage of the last 30 years. Certainly brings the memories floding back.

First time in many years I went out and bought an F1 Mag. Cann't wait.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/default.stm

 

[Leg-End]

Great video, the first battle between Arnoux and Villeneuve I remember watching as a kid on VHS and I was basically hooked from then.

 

[Rooney1987]

Honda team to return as Brawn GP

The former Honda Formula One team has been saved and will contest the 2009 season as Brawn GP.

The Honda Motor Company Limited and ex-Honda boss Ross Brawn have reached agreement to preserve the team.

Britain's Jenson Button and Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello, last year's Honda line-up, will continue to drive for the British-based team.

Brawn GP will use Mercedes engines when the new F1 season starts in Australia on 29 March.

Honda pulled out of F1 in December as a result of the global financial crisis, leaving the team to search desperately for a buyer.

Brawn, a former Ferrari technical director, said: "The past few months have been extremely challenging for the team but today's announcement is the very pleasing conclusion to the strenuous efforts that have been made to secure its future.

"I would like to thank Honda for the fantastic co-operation and support we have received throughout this process, particularly those members of the senior management who were closely involved with concluding our agreement, and for the faith they have demonstrated in myself and our team."

Brawn, who joined Honda at the start of last season, added that he was delighted to retain the same driving line-up.

"The vast experience and knowledge that both drivers bring to our team will prove invaluable as we aim to get up to speed in the shortest possible time to be ready for the first race of the season," he said.

"In what will be their fourth season together, their experience with our team in Brackley, our systems and our engineers, will prove a real asset."

He added: "I would like to express particular appreciation for the support we have received from Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, the FIA (Federation Internationale de L'Automobile), FOM (Formula One Management), Fota (Formula One Teams Association) ... and our many fans the world over.

"The journey ahead will be challenging but exciting and we know we can count on their continued enthusiasm for our team and its ambitions."

Hiroshi Oshima, managing officer of Honda Motor Company Limited, wished Brawn well in his new role as team owner.

"Since announcing our withdrawal from Formula One racing on 5 December of last year, we have conducted various studies and discussions so that the team can continue its activities as a new team," said Oshima.

"We are very pleased that we could sell the team to Ross Brawn, with whom we have been partaking in the challenges of F1 competition, and are grateful for his decision. We offer our sincerest wishes for the new team which will be led by Ross."

Brawn GP will attend the remaining pre-season tests, in Barcelona starting on 9 March and Jerez starting on 15 March.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7927488.stm