Nick Prost? And Kammmmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiii I wet my pants. lets just hope the Renault turbo is the best all round engine so he can show his mettle. I did think he would be the choice, it was between him and Heikki and Caterham said they overspent in 2012, Heikki needs to live in the real world and get his head out of his arse, he may consider himself a professional racing driver but that means nothing in F1 as they all are, you ain't gonna get a free drive unless you're a brilliant professional racing driver, and that's something that Heikki isn't. Plus he's a bit boring, Kamui is an exciting driver whose style of driving will help with their marketing
Brilliant to see him back . Wonder why he could not get a deal to stay in F1 at the time ( and other drivers in history ) , Japan is F1 mad & look at the car companies , I wonder if it is a cultural thing to go Asking for money ?
If I remember correctly he was asking the public for money to help fund a drive. he raised about £1m for a drive in 2013 but it was not enough. I wonder how much he raised for this drive?
Yes , I mean if people view " Sponsorship " as not being a good thing from the Japanese point of view .
Sky sports are reporting McLaren don't have a title sponsor yet and will not be presenting one at the launch.
Originally they were due to announce at the start of Dec, then it was changed to with the car launch, and now its not at all. I've read that they've got a bigger budget this year through other sponsors and the shareholders, but still i imagine they'd want a title sponsor... Are they only wanting a 1 year deal so they can do something with Honda next year?? I know he's racing for free so at least he's not bringing negative money
Nope, theres probably some sort of weird contract as its a British based team and employment laws and the like, but essentially he's not being paid
Kobayashi spurned Ferrari pay for Caterham Jonathan Noble January 21, 2014 Kamui Kobayashi was so eager to return to Formula 1 race action this year that he turned his back on an expanded Ferrari deal and is driving for Caterham for free. The Japanese racer has secured an F1 comeback for 2014, as teammate to rookie Marcus Ericsson. Having failed to find a drive last year, he competed for Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship as well as taking part in F1 demonstration events. Speaking at Caterham's Leafield, UK headquarters on Tuesday, Kobayashi revealed that he had been offered another Ferrari contract for sports cars, as well as an expanded role on the F1 team that included simulator work. But despite the security of such an offer, he was so eager to get back to grand prix racing that he did everything he could to persuade Caterham owner Tony Fernandes to take him when they first met in December last year. "I am 27; I still need more to race in F1," said the former Toyota and Sauber driver. "That is why I chose to come back to F1. "Ferrari offered me another contract, and Stefano [Domenicali] is not happy I didn't take it. But it is only my decision to be here. I took a risk in my life but it is important for me. "Caterham needs some different energy and my experience is quite useful for this team. We'll see what I can do. I am quite confident." With Caterham making no secret of the fact that it required drivers to bring financial support, Kobayashi has helped deliver a package of funding that was raised when he asked fans to help him at the end of 2012. Beyond that, Kobayashi also wanted to emphasize to Fernandes how eager he was by making no pay demands at all. "I'm driving for free; it is my decision," he said. "It is just my approach. I want to do this job. This appeals to Tony, this was the message to Tony and he is happy about that. "I want to help the team. I don't care about the money. I want to be successful in my life and I want to bring the team back successfully in my goals."
Still no Smedley announcement but I don't think they've filled the chief engineer position yet. Williams F1 Team ‏@WilliamsF1Team 3 hrs Andrew Murdoch will be Race Engineer for @Felipe1Massa in 2014 whilst Jonathan Eddolls will continue with @ValtteriBottas
