Autosport International 2015 Photos

F1 Racing grid

I have just spent a couple of days at the Autosport International Show 2015, considered by many as the starting point of the motorsport calendar year, wherein many of the sport's figures and cars congregate in Birmingham's NEC.

The better products of my modest photographic abilities from the show are now up on my Facebook page here if you would like a look: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.880295141990742.1073741836.396515583702036&type=1

You'll see that there's plenty in there, such as F1 Racing magazine's by now famous F1 grid, with representation of all nine teams, as well as many historic F1 cars, BTCC machines, sports cars and rally cars. There are also a few of the luminaries that took part in Q&A sessions. Enjoy...

Palmer: ‘I’m not ready to give up on the F1 dream’

Jolyon Palmer's fine GP2 championship win last year - in the series considered by many the main feeder for F1 - led naturally to speculation that he would be seen on the F1 grid in 2015.

Jolyon Palmer at Autosport International 2015
outlined his difficulties in finding an F1 drive 

But in the months since all of the possibilities disappeared one by one, and now with all F1 race seats for this year filled it meant Palmer became the third GP2 champion in a row - after Davide Valsecchi and Fabio Leimer - to fail to be promoted to the sport’s highest rank.

At the same moment Palmer became additionally just the latest young up-and-comer to discover the sport's warped ways in (not) rewarding talent. That breaking into F1 is harder than likely it has ever been, due to a dwindling number of race seats combined with that many teams' financial plights ensure that driving pedigree is prioritised well behind the ability to bring money in who they select. And speaking at Autosport International 2015 today Palmer was frank about his situation.

'It does (concern) but I just know that’s the reality' Palmer said. 'So there's nothing I can do about it. I do my best on the track, and I think I did as good a year as I ever could have ever hoped for, winning the championship with two races to spare, which is something that neither of them (Valsecchi and Leimer) did.

'Conservative' approach works for Pirelli and Hembery

The 2014 F1 season just passed was a relatively quiet one for the sport's tyre supplier Pirelli. Indeed a repeat of the raucous 2013 campaign for it doesn't bear thinking about, given therein the Italian company became something of a bete noire - accused of being too much of a factor in Grands Prix with their product's deliberately gumball characteristics, and exploding literally to the forefront with a series of spectacular blowouts in the Silverstone race mid-season.

Pirelli's Paul Hembery spoke at today's
Autosport International 2015

And as far Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery was concerned at today's Autosport International 2015, this simmering down from boiling point in the latest F1 campaign was indeed welcome.

'There was a few people complaining (in 2014)...that's the nature of motorsport for a tyre maker! We have a little rule book, we say that when somebody's winning it's always down to the driver and the car, when they're losing it's always the fault of the tyres!

'It was a quieter year, still a very good year in terms of racing as we saw. We were going into a year with huge technology change so we had to make sure we took a slightly conservative approach to it. But I think sometimes that was taken as being an exceptionally conservative approach but you had to do it in the circumstances.

Hembery also insisted that the scaling back of the degradation of the 2014 tyres wasn't down to 2013 and all that. 'No, not at all. In reality it was really related to the change in regs and the need for different aspects of the sport to take centre stage; it was the year of technology with the power train in particular and quite rightly that took centre stage and we weren't needed to provide anything different, it was the racing based on different aspects of the sport.'

Symonds reflects on Williams' resurgence

One of the major, and most popular, stories of the 2014 F1 season was the long-overdue resurgence of the hardy Williams team. From a starting point of only beating the Marussias and Caterhams in 2013 the veteran squad in a single effort vaulted straight to third place in the constructors championship in 2014, shy only of Mercedes and Red Bull. Perhaps too the FW36 was the imperious Mercs' most consistent irritant on pure pace.

Pat Symonds spoke today at Autosport
International  2015 about Williams'
resurgence, among other subjects

Today at Autosport International 2015, considered widely as the starting point of the motorsport year, a man thought as important as anyone in the startling comeback, Williams' Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds, reflected on the shift in fortunes.

'It (the Williams 2014 season) was certainly a good news story I think' said Symonds, 'all the way from our partnership with Martini, bringing back those iconic colours, Felipe joining the team and then of course as we progressed through the season the results. Third in the championship is something everyone at Grove is extremely proud of.'

He outlined however that such is modern F1's way there was no single overarching explanation for the jump, things instead were more granular. 'There isn't a magic bullet, there never is...it really is getting everything working together. That's not just in a technical sense it's an operational sense.

'In the latter part of '13 I had a very careful look at what we'd got and saw that we've got some very good people but some of our processes weren't there so we weren't exploiting the performance of the car.

My favourite motorsport moment from the past 25 years

It likely unites most sports fans. The sense of injustice. And there was plenty around that day.

Year 2000 at Spa; Mika Hakkinen vs. Michael Schumacher. And I was there; my first overseas Grand Prix. Stationed on the Kemmel straight. Where it happened.

Mika Hakkinen in action in the year 2000
"Hakkinen". Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
 - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Hakkinen.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Hakkinen.jpg

In those days I was a Mika man. But an injustice sense came along with this. Always quick, but his McLaren team insistent on treading on its own tail. Schumi-Ferrari meanwhile led a charmed life seemingly.

But then latterly the fortune was with Hakkinen. In Spa he had the track to himself, claimed pole easily, Schumi down in fourth.

Yet there was the weather; overnight rain arrived. It relented eventually but the track was damp for the off.

Bringing Schumacher right back into the picture; he cleared the cars between in no time and nibbled into Hakkinen's lead.

Mika then gave him it all on a plate by half-spinning; Schumacher led and moved away. For me it all seemed tremendously unmerited.

But later Mika retaliated – track dried and qualifying pace returned he was with Schumi in the late laps. But in this F1 passing was near-impossible. Surely that was that?

No, up the same Kemmel straight Hakkinen bore down. He went for the inside. Schumacher repelled with an egregious chop. Adding to the injustice there already.

At that point next lap it was same again, only this time backmarker Ricardo Zonta occupied the middle of the road at a gentle pace. Schumi went to his left; Hakkinen for a tiny gap to Zonta's right. In an exhilarating flash the three were briefly abreast.

You had to make a point of comprehending. The big screen showed Mika's on-board, and nothing ahead. He had the lead, and kept it for the short remaining distance.

Justice, for once, was done.

The article is my submission to be one of ten official bloggers of the Autosport International Show 2015. The theme chosen for this is 'My favourite motorsport moment from the past 25 years'.

The Autosport International Show is Europe's largest motorsport show, and takes place at Birmingham NEC every January. More details on it, including on purchasing tickets, can be found here, and you can also follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook.

Back from the Autosport Show...

I was in Birmingham for the Autosport International Show on Saturday. Had a jolly good time thanks for asking.

I always see it as a good start to the motor sport calendar. Plenty of cars, old and new, F1 and non-F1, are on display. The F1 Racing display of the 2010 grid was, as usual, a highlight (though Ferrari were conspicuous by their absence), as was the historic display of McLarens (you sometimes have to remind yourself of McLaren's heritage, it never seems to come as easily as it does to the likes of Ferrari, Lotus, Williams etc). Drivers and others are in plentiful supply to talk and answer questions - this year included Martin Brundle, Jake Humphrey and Jody Scheckter, among others. It's difficult to think of another major sport that offers such access to some of the main protagonists.

It's also an opportunity to part with cash, with lots of merchandise and memorabilia on show. I managed to leave with a 1971 Autocourse, an F1 Racing magazine subscription, and a DVD of the 1964 British Grand Prix (really). The live action arena is also good value, though I've never mastered how to take a decent photo at it.