Page last updated Tuesday, April 3, 2007 4:45 PM

The Formula 1

Series

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO
APPOINTS ASCANELLI
AS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Scuderia Toro Rosso is pleased to announce the appointment of Giorgio Ascanelli as the
team’s Technical Director. For the past five years, Giorgio has been working as Technical
Director for Maserati Corse. Prior to that, Ascanelli established excellent F1 credentials,
including a long spell as Race Engineer and Head of R & D for Ferrari, with brief stints at
Benetton and McLaren. The 48 year old Italian also has one special link to Scuderia Toro
Rosso, as he was Gerhard Berger’s race engineer when the Austrian raced for the Prancing
Horse.
This appointment means that Alex Hitzinger is now free to concentrate on his original role,
heading up the Advanced Technologies Department for Red Bull Technology, having
additionally deputised as Toro Rosso Technical Director for the past few months.

The Sepang circuit hosted the first test session to run to the new rules, stating that
during the season, teams are restricted to just one car, are limited on tyre sets and
can run for only three days. This being Formula One, the first session actually lasted
four days! A ruling states that if rain stops play, as happened on Day Three, then
testing can be extended. It’s all beginning to sound like a game of Test Match
Cricket, only not quite so exciting.
The job sheet for the test included the usual pre-race preparations, as Sepang
hosts the Malaysian GP on 8 April. This included evaluating the two types of
Bridgestone tyre, evaluating new aero and suspension components, as well as
looking at some short and long term development on RB3. Day One saw David
concentrate on aero work as the track was too “green” for meaningful tyre
evaluation, with tyres and suspension work added to the list on the second day.
Mark took over on Day Three, losing some time because of the rain, but got through
most of his programme which also included race and qualifying simulation. Day
Four, the bonus day, was spent looking at more long term development. “A very
good test in terms of the mileage covered and the reliability and performance of the
car,” was how Chief Test Engineer Ian Morgan summed things up. “The heat and
humidity did not throw up any problems, although it was tiring for the team who did
a fantastic job of work over six days and nights.”

The first test under the new ruling stating that a session can run for only three days
lasted….four days. This is Formula 1 after all, not the real world. It made little
difference to our team who are out in Malaysia for the Grand Prix on 8 April and in
fact, by the time they get home after Bahrain, many of them will have been away
from home for almost six weeks.
The new rules also state that only one car should be used, so Scott drove on Day 1,
sharing the car with Tonio on Day 2, before the Italian had the car to himself for Day
3 and today’s Bonus Day: the test being extended because of rain on Thursday.
Three main items on our test agenda: putting more miles on the car given how little
running it did prior to the race in Melbourne, race preparation for the next Grand Prix,
including evaluating the two types of Bridgestone Potenza tyre and finally, evaluating
some new aero and suspension components. “In some ways, this was like an
extension of winter testing for us,” said Chief Engineer Laurent Mekies. “We had four
busy days and reliability was okay for this stage in the season, but we still have a lot
of work to do. The new aero and suspension components produced positive results
and we hope to use some of them as early as next week’s race.”

2007 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX POSTSCRIPT
Hamilton electrifying in F1 debut; Speed eager to drive improved car

INDIANAPOLIS, Tuesday, March 20, 2007 – Rookie Lewis Hamilton qualified his Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes fourth, ran in second place for much of the Australian Grand Prix ahead of his teammate, double World Champion Fernando Alonso, led four laps and finished third.

Not a bad day in the cockpit for his first career Formula One start.

“It has been fantastic,” Hamilton said. “To lead my first Grand Prix was a fantastic feeling. It was extremely tough. I had Fernando behind me for a long time, and it’s pretty tough when you have the two-time World Champion behind you in your first race.

“But I must say the team has done a fantastic job, preseason, preparing the car, not only the team here but back at the factory they have been working day and night to get the car ready and it was great.

“It was a bit unfortunate at the second pit stop (to lose second position to Alonso). I think the stop went fine but back markers were pretty tough. But it was all a new experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Hamilton’s paternal grandparents immigrated to England from the Caribbean island of Grenada. He is the first driver of African-Caribbean heritage to race in F1.

Speed confident car will improve: Although the weekend did not go smoothly in the Australian Grand Prix season opener, American F1 driver Scott Speed is confident that his Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari is going to improve considerably in the coming races.

The car should be much more competitive by the time Speed arrives at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his home United States Grand Prix on June 17, Speed said.

“I’m optimistic about the year because I think it is going to be a great season for us,” he said. “But the beginning of the year is going to be very tough for our team. We still have quite a bit of stuff to learn about our car.

“Out of everyone here, we are probably going to be the ones that progress the quickest at the beginning of the year. The difference from race one to race four for us is going to be a big one.”

Speed and his teammate, Tonio Liuzzi, had limited running in the new STR2 Ferrari prior to the car making its race debut in Australia. Speed turned more laps during the race weekend than he had during preseason testing.

While Liuzzi finished 14th, Speed retired with a tire blowout.

The car, designed by the Adrian Newey, whose cars have won 100 Grand Prix races, has plenty of potential that the team still needs to unlock.

“It has been a struggle for us in particular because we got everything so late,” Speed said, “and we are still having problems.

“It is such a huge difference for us, this car compared to last year’s car. It is so much more complex, and all the guys are really still getting used to it. Like I said, it is going to be a slow start for us, but we have a car that has a lot of potential. As the season goes on, we are going to be getting closer and closer.”

F1 rock & roll: Scott Speed gave Motley Crue rock star Tommy Lee a ride around the track in a Ferrari sports car and a tour of the Scuderia Toro Rosso pit garage.

“I showed him around,” Speed said. “The most interesting thing for anybody seeing a F1 car is the steering wheel, because it is something that they can relate to. We show them all the buttons on it, and how much we have to do when we are driving.”

A F1 steering wheel is a highly complex unit with numerous buttons and dials that control many of the car’s functions. The steering wheel costs as much as a luxury road car.

Raikkonen back on top: Kimi Raikkonen’s victory in Australia was his first with his new team, Ferrari. He went winless with McLaren-Mercedes in 2006. His last win came in September 2005 at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“Of course it is a special moment, with a new team, everything new and we can win in the first race, so it is ideal,” he said after winning the 2007 season opener. “At least people will not ask, ‘When you are going to win?’

“I am happy because it is a new season and to win straightaway is good, also. I am really happy with the team, and how things are going with the people and how the car is. So it could not be better than it is now.”

Congratulations: Shortly after Raikkonen won, Ferrari Managing Director Jean Todt received two phone calls from Europe on his cell phone,

“I was very happy to get two telephone calls,” Todt said, “the first from Michael (Schumacher) as I was going up to the podium, which I handed to Kimi, and the other from (Ferrari president) Luca di Montezemolo, who was jumping for joy as if this was our first win in a decade. And indeed that is the feeling for us all!”

Five-time United States Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher drove for Ferrari from 1996 through 2006.

Work to do: Like all the teams, reigning World Champion ING Renault seeks improvement after the Australian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella finished fifth, and his new teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, who replaced Fernando Alonso, was 10th in Australia.

“This afternoon showed us that we have a lot of work to do to be competitive again,” Renault Managing Director Flavio Briatore said. “It wasn’t a strong race for the team in any department. Giancarlo drove hard to defend his position at the end, and did a good job, while Heikki had a very tough start to his career. But we were expecting more at every level, and we need to work hard to find the performance.”

New sponsors: The official name of the Spyker team is now Etihad Aldar Spyker. Etihad is an airline company, and Aldar is a property development company.

The SS United Group Oil & Gas Company is now a major sponsor of Super Aguri.

SPEED, TORO ROSSO EAGER TO GET TO WORK AFTER TOUGH OPENER

INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, March 19, 2007 – Scott Speed’s first race of the 2007 Formula One season ended with a bang.

Speed, America’s only F1 driver, is back in action with Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 17-race 2007 season, including his home Grand Prix on June 17 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The season kicked off March 18 in Australia.

After some light-hearted fun giving rock stars Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) and Lukas Rossi (winner of the TV show contest “Rock Star: Supernova”) a ride around the track in a Ferrari sports car, Speed and his team got down to work preparing for the Australian Grand Prix.

Because the STR2 Ferrari had such a late debut, the team is still playing catch-up.

“As expected, we are quite far behind at the moment as we learn about a lot of things that we should have done in testing,” Speed said after posting the 19th-fastest time in the opening day of practice March 16.

“Lots of stuff on the car is brand new for today, and so inevitably some of it didn’t work. The one positive element is that it is clear that we will be able to develop this package through the season and can do something with it.

“It’s going to be a tough time until we get some more testing under our belt, as we seem to be quite a way off the pace, unless some of those ahead of us were on low fuel loads.”

Speed qualified 18th, two spots ahead of his teammate, Tonio Liuzzi.

“The car was no better than yesterday because we are not going to be able to improve this car until we get some testing behind us,” Speed said.

“We are throwing darts in the dark, and on top of that my qualifying was completely (ruined) by traffic, when as I came past the pits there were three cars coming out the pits in front of me going into Turn 1. Also on my last lap, there was some dirt on the track, and I had a moment at Turn 14. Tomorrow if I can keep the car within the white lines, I will be happy.”

On race day, Speed stayed on track until Lap 29 of the 58-lap event.

"I had two flat front tires after the pit stop,” he said. “It was a mechanical problem with something in the valve stems. I started losing air pressure in the front, and immediately after the pit stop I started having massive understeer.

“Going into the fastest corner on the track, the outside front tire exploded, and I went straight off the track.

“Luckily there was gravel in front of me instead of a wall!”

And so the bang of a blown tire ended Speed’s first Grand Prix of the season. California native Speed plans to spend a week in Australia before heading to Malaysia for the next F1 test session followed by the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, April 8.

(Not so) LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY

Despite a pre-race visit from Aussie diva Kylie Minogue, our duo definitely didn’t get
to sing her biggest hit I should be so lucky in the first race of the season…
DAVID COULTHARD, (Finish Position DNF, Start Position: 18th)
“I tried to have a go down the inside of Alex Wurz’s car at Turn three, but I was too far back and screwed it
up. I went for the pass, but it was over optimistic on my part. The collision was my fault, not Alex’s, so
apologies to him for that.”
MARK WEBBER, (Finish Position 13th, Start Position: 7th)
“It was tough race today, the first pit stop didn’t go very well and when I went back out, I was having trouble
maintaining my speed going into the corners. I wasn’t able to get the pace back that I’d had in the first stint,
which was very frustrating. Nothing really went right today, but that’s the game we’re in, some days give you
a good feeling and the next day it isn’t so easy.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “It’s a shame for Mark not to score points as he was driving well. Unfortunately, his
car had a fuel flap problem, which cost him a lot of time at his first stop and then it stuck open, which affected
his car’s aerodynamic performance. It’s a shame, as he deserved a couple of points out of the weekend.
David was always looking to make up ground from a low grid position. He was making good progress and his
lap times looked respectable, but an optimistic move on Wurz unfortunately resulted in his retirement.”
FABRICE LOM, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support
“I think that we concluded our first Grand Prix weekend on a positive note. We looked quite competitive,
especially in the first stint. In spite of the incident with David, we were pleased to see Mark’s car make it to
the finish. The chassis and engine teams have worked very hard during the past few weeks and I truly
believe this is a promising start. We now look forward to Malaysia where we hope to continue our progress.”

SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY, THE RED BULL WAY…

Another Formula One season, another Red Bull party, but if the two elements
together now seem totally predictable, the Melbourne presentation was far from
ordinary.

Set in a massive film studio in the city’s revived docklands area, the facility had been
converted into a spectacular tiered amphitheatre for the night. Around a thousand
guests turned up, including friends of Red Bull Australia (Kelly Slater, Markus
Schenkenberg, Toby Rand and surf goddess Layne Beechley, to name but a few),
Red Bull athletes, some of Melbourne’s finest and a selection of F1 beautiful
people….and also the media!
After the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers had all braved the Red
Carpet routine and the inevitable interview questions about their hopes for the
season, the presentation began. The auditorium was surrounded by screens and
mirrors and, once the music had subsided, the venue was plunged into darkness.
Then, up came a showing of this year’s very unusual Mood Film, featuring DC and
Webber as sophisticated British duellists up against the raw and edgy Toro twins,
Scott and Tonio. The film was met with shouts of approval and enthusiasm from the
Melbourne crowd.

A screen then moved aside to reveal a dazzling white light and the four drivers
appeared one at a time at the top of a giant staircase. Of course, local hero Webber
came out last to a huge reception before walking down into the auditorium to signal
the start of Melbourne’s biggest party of the race weekend. End of show and time for
some Aussie rock music courtesy of top Australian band, Wolf Mother, an absolute
household name here in the Southern Hemisphere.

WEBBA MANIA
AUSTRALIA

Yes, our Australian GP Preview headline rhymes, as do some of the poems and other items seen in this photo, all paying homage to our new driver Mark Webber.
Rather than write our own preview to the season-opener, we turned to Year 5 and 6 students at Mark’s alma mater, Queanbeyan Public School. (It’s cheap labour and they can spell better than us). The project was carried out under the guidance of teacher Anke Jennaway, who despite her youthful looks apparently taught Mark when he was at school, and claims to have taught him “everything he knows about driving.”
The children are definitely versatile, making board games, posters, mobiles, models, scrapbooks, as well as writing poems, biographies and funny captions to rival those in Red Bulletin.
Come and see their work in the Red Bull Racing Hospitality area in the Albert Park F1 paddock on Thursday 15 March, as we turn the area into an Art Gallery for a day.

We might have only had one car here in Bahrain, but that didn’t stop our drivers from
sharing the pain. While it was Scott who got two days in the car, it was Tonio who
was limping around the paddock with blisters on his feet. Why? Instead of lounging
by the hotel pool while his American team-mate was pounding round the track, Tonio
overdid the running and training. “After this, sitting in the cockpit will feel like a
holiday,” he sighed.
Meanwhile, back at the track, this second part of the Bahrain test has seen significant
progress for the STR2. “Last week was a shakedown for us really and every day,
more and more parts have arrived here from the factory, which have helped us to
improve reliability and performance,” said Chief Engineer Laurent Mekies. “It really
kept our guys busy and they worked very hard. Looking at today’s performance
especially, with a respectable lap time and 125 laps, it is clear we are working in the
right direction, even if there is a lot to do.”
The team now heads back to Europe and the second chassis will get its shakedown
at Mugello next week, before setting sail for Melbourne.

After a launch and a shakedown in Barcelona, these three days were effectively the
first “proper” test session for Scuderia Toro Rosso with the new STR2 car. Therefore,
after Spain, it was a case of full speed ahead to get to the Sakhir circuit in time.
“We are still very much in the early stages of development, learning about the car
and how to work with it,” said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. “This meant that for
the first two days, we did not cover as much mileage as we would have liked, but this
is inevitable when learning about a new car. But by the third day, we managed to
increase our number of laps and pick up some speed, as we worked on aero and
mechanical set up, as well as evaluating the two types of tyre Bridgestone will make
available to us for the race here in April.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso and the eight other teams here now have two days to get back
up to speed in readiness for the final three days of the Sakhir test that get underway
on Tuesday 23 February. The mechanics will be working at full speed in the garage
to ensure everything is ready.
And just in case you think from reading the above, that we have a limited vocabulary
when it comes to talking about speed, Scuderia Toro Rosso is happy to confirm that
Scott Speed will once again race for the team this season.

The desert is not usually regarded as an ideal venue for staging a Dress Rehearsal, but that’s more or less what this six day session at the Bahrain International Circuit of Sakhir represents, as it is the last chance to get everything sorted out prior to the season opener in Melbourne. To continue the theatrical theme, we now have a two day Intermission (ice cream is being served in the foyer) before the final three days get underway on Tuesday.
For Red Bull Racing, work continued on development of RB3: set-up, assessing engine and ancillary cooling in the hotter conditions afforded in this part of the world; testing brakes on one of the toughest tracks in terms of brake use, looking at systems reliability, software and evaluating the two types of tyre that Bridgestone will supply for the race here in mid-April. “On the first day, both cars lost some track time with a technical problem, but generally over the three days, we made good progress, culminating in both David and Mark completing the equivalent of a race distance each today,” said Head of Race and Test Engineering, Paul Monaghan. “David also posted some competitive times, while Mark was working on different aspects of the car’s performance. As far as cooling and brakes are concerned, we look in good shape and, although we still have some reliability concerns, I think we can sort these out before tackling the next three days of testing here.”

And the winner is…
Unless you have been living on Mars for the past month, you cannot fail to have noticed that Oscar fever is gripping the media. But no one seems to have caught onto the fact that Red Bull has produced its own Action Movie Blockbuster, featuring the Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing drivers. We don’t want to give the plot away, but let’s just say the storyline involves a scrap between the “gentlemen” in the very British Red Bull Racing team and the fearsome “gladiators” of the Italian Scuderia Toro Rosso squad.

While filming, the drivers did not even have time to get out of their cars before the local thieves moved in

For this epic production, David Coulthard and Mark Webber were sent off to the Czech Republic, which in true Hollywood style was supposed to look like Scotland, while Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed found themselves in Sofia, Bulgaria, because where else would you go if you want to find a version of the Colliseum. This is the second year that Red Bull has produced a pre-season film, known within the company as “The Mood Film,” possibly because our accountants get in a bad mood when they see the budget!

David and Mark were happy to come second and third in the “Best Dressed Man” competition

The film will be distributed to TV companies in Melbourne, at the time of the Australian Grand Prix in mid-March, and those of you who attend the Formula One Grands Prix can see it during the season, playing in our Energy Station. In the meantime, you can get a glimpse of the fun and games of filming, by looking at our photo website.

Now we know you are serious motor racing journalists, but we are sure that, like us, you have been amazed to see what the American Popular Singer, Britney Spears has done to her hair. Take a look at our photos of Scott Speed and you will see it was evidently an all-American idea.
…thank you, thank you, thank you for this award. We would like to thank our parents, our agent who made it all possible, the director, the producers for the money, the other actors who were so great to work with and everyone who voted…

It is an often cited statement that setting quick lap times in winter testing means nothing at all come the start of the season, often cited by the slowest runners that is. But right or wrong, a quick lap time sure is good for morale!
“We are very pleased with the way this three day test has gone,” said Head of Race and Test Engineering, Paul Monaghan. “And yes, it’s nice to see David is quickest, at least for today, but more impressive is the fact he completed 116 laps.” A quick reality check came from the fact that, in the other car, Mark Webber did not get so much running today because of a drive train problem. “But we are confident we can get on top of that,” continued Monaghan. “We can be happy with the mileage we have completed over the three days and also with the fact that our relationship with Renault and Bridgestone continues to improve, as has the overall performance and reliability of the car. Now we look forward to more work on both these parameters when we head off for hotter conditions at the Bahrain test, starting on 22 February.”

Yesterday, the Scuderia Toro Rosso crew was robbed of the chance of seeing
its new car make its track debut, when a red flag stopped the session with just
five minutes of test time remaining. But today, Tonio Liuzzi was able to reward
them with the perfect Valentine’s Day gift of 43 relatively trouble-free
shakedown laps.
“The last few weeks have been a real rush for all of us,” said Chief Engineer,
Laurent Mekies. “So it was great to see our new car finally running and
completing a respectable 43 laps. This was very much a shakedown and
systems check, with no thought of setting quick lap times. Now, we must push
very hard over the coming weeks to make up for the fact we have only started
running quite late. Like everyone else, our next step is the test at the Sakhir
circuit in Bahrain, starting on 22 February.”

Some people are so obsessed with motor racing, they think the Formula 1
Championship should run all year round. Proving how deluded they are,
today’s weather meant that our factory staff struggled to even get to work in
Milton Keynes because of snow, and rain affected the final day of this three day
test in the south of Spain.
David and Mark each had an RB3 to drive, working on programmes that
involved a bit of everything: traction control, aerodynamics, mechanical set-up
and tyres. Inevitably, on a car that has virtually no carry-over parts from its
predecessor, the three days did not go completely smoothly, with a drive shaft
failure and a gearbox glitch interrupting proceedings. “But it was still a
productive test, during which we got through all our planned programme and
made progress over the three days,” maintained Chief Test Engineer, Ian
Morgan. “The working relationship with Renault continues to grow and we got
on top of our problems, covering a respectable mileage. It’s a fast pace at this
time of year and now we have just two days to turn the cars around and start
testing back in Barcelona.”

Allianz Extends Formula One Engagement
7 February 2007. Oxford, UK. Allianz today confirmed the extension of their Formula One sponsorship programme. The renewed engagement, which originated in 2000, marks the eighth consecutive year that Allianz will be involved in Formula One and with AT&T Williams.
“The affiliation between Allianz and Formula One has proven its worth over the years,” commented Steven Althaus, responsible for Marketing Communications at Allianz. “Heading into 2007, the Allianz F1 strategy will consist of three main elements. Firstly, on-track and pitlane branding at eight key races over the season will continue to drive the brand’s presence across Allianz’s strategic and emerging markets. A renewed association with longstanding partners, AT&T Williams, will also allow us to bring our Formula One engagement to life via a tangible team connection, while our activation strategy will continue to focus on road safety.”
“We are delighted to extend our important association with Allianz and assist them in their engagement with Formula One as a whole,” said Frank Williams, Team Principal of AT&T Williams. “We value our longstanding partnership with this truly global financial services company and are looking forward to rewarding their support on the race track.”
“It will be a very busy year for Allianz as 2007 also sees the launch of the global marketing campaign,” says Althaus. “The continuous promotion of our additional global sponsorship platforms, namely the Allianz Arena and the sponsorship of the BMW ORACLE Racing Team, who are competing for the America’s Cup sailing accolade in Valencia, Spain, are also very high on the agenda.”

Red Bull Racing had its first proper test with its new car, running this week at the
Valencia circuit. The 2007 car, code-name RB3, had its shakedown courtesy of David
Coulthard on 24 January in Barcelona and two days later, Mark Webber got his
hands on it for his first go behind the wheel.
And it was our Aussie driver who stayed in the cockpit for the first day of testing here
in Valencia on Tuesday, handing over to David on Wednesday. Those of you with
children will know how they fight if they only have one toy to play with, so the Milton
Keynes factory crew worked flat out and sent over a second example of RB3 so that
each driver had his own car to drive on Thursday. Only Webber ran on the final day,
as, having done the most miles, RB3-01 was given a quick strip down and turn
around in preparation for the next test.
As with any new car, the initial focus was on evaluating the many new systems, not
least the integration with the new Renault engine, as well as sorting out software on
elements such as traction control, gear selection and engine braking. David had a
gearbox glitch on the second day, while evaluating aero and suspension set-up
changes.
“We had some teething problems which means we did not complete as many laps as
we would have liked,” said Head of Race and Test Engineering, Paul Monaghan.
“However, we learnt a lot and came up with fixes for some of the problems we
encountered and we made progress throughout the four days. We are already
building up a good relationship with the guys at Renault and we are now looking
forward to an even more productive test at Jerez, where we start running on Tuesday
(February 6) with two cars and both race drivers.”

Lenovo Starts a New Engine in Formula One
AT&T Williams Names Lenovo as Major Sponsor
Grove, Oxfordshire, UK
February 2, 2007
Lenovo, a leading computer company that creates the best-engineered PCs in the world, today announced a top sponsorship agreement with the AT&T Williams team competing in the Formula One World Championship. Lenovo’s announcement took place at the launch of the team’s 2007 race car at AT&T Williams headquarters near Oxford, UK.
Lenovo PC technology will be used throughout the AT&T Williams team, on functions ranging from ignition checks to race operations and inventory and the Lenovo logo will be displayed in the dominant branding position on the 2007 cars of drivers Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz. “Lenovo is an international technology company obsessed with innovation, and they will undoubtedly help us achieve success in every area of our business," said Frank Williams, Team Principal of AT&T Williams. “In Formula One, teams are highly reliant on PC technology. With Lenovo's record of innovation, reliability and performance in ThinkPad notebooks and Lenovo desktops, we are confident that our team is lined up with the very best," said Alex Burns, Williams Chief Operating Officer.
Formula One is a data-intensive, computing-intensive endeavour, highly focused and invested in innovation and development, and highly dependent on information technology. Effective deployment of information technology is a key part of the Williams F1 strategic allocation process, and these decisions help determine the team’s success at the track. AT&T Williams needs high-performance, reliable, robust PC support from Lenovo. “Lenovo creates the best-engineered PCs in the world, and we look forward to collaborating with the AT&T Williams engineering team in the highly competitive world of Formula One,” said Deepak Advani, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Lenovo. “Formula One provides an exciting platform to build Lenovo awareness in key markets worldwide, and to showcase our products and their reliability. This is in an environment where cutting-edge technology is essential. We are honoured to join AT&T Williams and are motivated to work with the team, its partners and the sport in building the Lenovo business and Formula One." The AT&T Williams team will use Lenovo PC technology in every functional area of its business, and a Lenovo notebook PC will form an integral part of starting the F1 car before each race, practice and test session. Lenovo PCs will support engineers in car research, test, development and manufacturing. They will support the drivers in their analysis and will support the management team in marketing, logistics, travel and race planning as well as networking, inventory, relationships with clients, sponsors and suppliers, human resources, finance and strategy.
About Lenovo Lenovo is an innovative, international technology company formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the IBM Personal Computing Division in May 2005. Lenovo develops, manufactures and markets cutting-edge, reliable, high-quality PC products and value-added professional services that provide customers around the world with smarter ways to be productive and competitive. Executive offices are located in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A.; Beijing, China; and Singapore. The company employs more than 19,000 people worldwide, with about $13 billion in annual revenue. For more information about Lenovo, visit www.lenovo.com About AT&T Williams AT&T Williams is one of the world’s leading Formula One teams, with 16 FIA Formula One World Championship titles and 113 Grand Prix victories to its credit. Today, Williams F1 employs around 520 personnel at a 40 hectare technology campus based in the heart of the UK’s Motorsport Valley in rural Oxfordshire. The company is unique as an entrant in the FIA Formula One World Championship as it is the only organisation that exists solely to race.
The company’s core competencies are the design and manufacture of Formula One race cars, and the deployment of this expertise in running the team’s entries into the Grands Prix each season. The company was formed in 1978 and is privately owned by Sir Frank Williams and his long-term business partner, Patrick Head.
For more information, visit: www.attwilliams.com

WILLIAMS LAUNCHES THE FW29

Oxford, UK, Friday February 2, 2007. AT&T Williams launched its new race
car, the Williams-Toyota FW29, for the 2007 season Formula One World
Championship at the team’s headquarters near Oxford today.
In addition to unveiling the team’s new race car, livery and racing identity with its
new title partner AT&T, the team also confirmed a major new sponsorship
agreement with Lenovo, a global leader in the international PC market. This
announcement consolidates a strong winter of sponsorship activity for the team.
Reflecting on all elements of the day’s announcements, Team Principal Frank
Williams said, “Without question, 2006 was not our finest year but I am delighted
to see how the entire Williams workforce has pulled together and redoubled its
efforts over the winter. It is how you perform in adversity that really counts. We
begin this year with a completely new brand identity courtesy of our new partners
AT&T, four new or upgraded sponsors including Lenovo, a wealth of new
engineering talent and, of course, what we hope to be the focus of all these
efforts and ambitions, the FW29.”
Technical Director Sam Michael explained, “The FW29 continues the design
philosophy of the FW28 with a zero keel configuration. The other notable
elements of the design include another step in the undercut of the sidepod
leading edge (with top louvres for cooling), improved engine and exhaust
packaging to address the reliability issues experienced in 2006 and a lower and
narrower top deck for improved aerodynamic efficiency. The other prominent
differences from the FW28 include large chimneys expressly for cooling at the
season’s first three races and a narrower engine cover spine. At the rear of the
car, a twin pillar configuration supports a lighter and lower drag rear wing, now
featuring FIA-mandatory slot gap separators to prevent deflection and a lower
and wider rear impact structure as required by regulation.”
The FW29 passed all mandatory FIA static and dynamic tests and features some
of the new regulation safety elements such as Zylon-enhanced side impact
structures to protect the driver by virtue of enhanced penetration resistance.
From a driver perspective, Nico Rosberg moves forward from his rookie season
having gained a year of invaluable experience. “The experience from last year is
going to help me significantly this season. The F1 environment is completely
unique and I have learnt how to handle all of its various elements now. In the
past weeks everyone in the team has been very positive and put great effort into
the new car, so I think we can be optimistic about a much improved season
ahead of us.”
Nico is joined by the vastly experienced Alex Wurz who is bubbling with
anticipation and excitement about the prospect of racing again. “Although I have
done thousands and thousands of Formula One kilometres in the last couple of
years, I simply haven’t had enough of the real stuff – racing – so I can’t wait for
the season to start. There is a really high sense of motivation in the whole team
ahead of the coming season and of course I am very proud to be part of the
AT&T Williams team.”
Nico and Alex will be ably supported by established tester, Narain Karthikeyan,
who will continue to bring his own pace and capability to the test programme. He
will be assisted in this role by new recruit, Kazuki Nakajima, who will be
contributing to the team’s Friday activities at some Grands Prix in the forthcoming
season.
Commercially the team has enjoyed a successful winter, recruiting new title
partner AT&T and increasing its sponsorship engagements with Philips and
Randstad, who both now have on-car presence, an increased investment in
response to a positive experience in their first season with the team. Today’s
announcement that Lenovo has joined the team as a major partner consolidates
a robust commercial outlook.
Headquartered in Purchase, New York, Lenovo is an international technology
company formed as a result of the acquisition by the Lenovo Group of the IBM
Personal Computing Division. With 19,000 employees worldwide and revenues
of US$13 billion, Lenovo is a major global manufacturer of computing equipment
for both the consumer and enterprise marketplace. The company will support the
AT&T Williams team with a wide range of hardware to support a variety of
operational activity.
With the advent of a new title partnership relationship, Williams today unveiled a
new corporate identity, drawing on its thirty year heritage by returning to an iconic
‘W’ brand device, refreshed and re-interpreted for the team’s fourth decade of
racing. The new corporate identity forms part of the new racing identity of AT&T
Williams. This new identity will be universally unveiled trackside, but is reflected
in the new racing livery of the FW29.
Also newly launched today is the team website located at www.attwilliams.com,
with vastly improved and increased content, facilities and services for all user
communities from consumers to the media and other stakeholders such as team
partners. The new site is not only intended to challenge the conventional online
presentation of Formula One, but also forms part of a wider cross platform media
partnership Williams has entered into with Endemol UK, a global leader in
emerging media including format television and other audiovisual entertainment
including content to mobile.
With all of these disparate elements of progress over the winter, Williams’
Director of Engineering, Patrick Head, neatly summarised the team’s approach to
2007. “Of course we start every project we undertake with the ambition of being
the best, whether in engineering or marketing terms and indeed we approach
every race with the sole ambition to win. But we are not in the business of
predicting the year ahead as that requires me to speculate about the likely
performance of our rivals. All I can say is that as an organisation we exist to race
and everyone in the company has shown a singular sense of purpose over the
winter and so we look forward to Melbourne with anticipation”.
The AT&T Williams team hits the track in Jerez on Tuesday February 6 with two
FW29s to build upon the significant testing mileage undertaken on interim winter
cars with four weeks of testing in Spain, prior to the season’s first race on
Melbourne on March 18.

ORIS RENEWS PARTNERSHIP WITH AT&T WILLIAMS

23 January 2007, Oxford, UK. Williams F1 today confirmed that Oris SA of
Switzerland, the premium timepiece maker, has renewed its sponsorship of the
team for a fifth consecutive season.
The news follows several announcements recently confirmed by Williams F1
which demonstrate a continued faith in the team’s ability to deliver both a
successful sponsorship programme and an improved track performance in 2007.
Oris’ association with Williams F1 started in 2003 as the team’s official watch
supplier. With the intention of broadening their influence in new markets, the
Swiss company produced a series of Formula One inspired timepieces, with the
strap designs mirroring that of a Formula One tyre’s vertical tread. The Limited
Edition WilliamsF1 Team Chronograph proved to be its best selling watch in the
programme’s first year, prompting Oris to upgrade its sponsorship. A further
extension in 2006 saw Oris’ branding move from the cars’ rear wing end plates to
the front wing end plates and on to the drivers’ overalls as well as on the pit stop
crew’s clothing. Both race drivers also acted as ambassadors for the brand.
Next season, the partnership’s fifth year of collaboration, will see the Oris name
be added on to the drivers’ gloves in addition to the traditional 2006 locations.
Alex Wurz will join Nico Rosberg in an ambassadorial role for the brand.
On the extended relationship, Ulrich Herzog, Chairman and CEO of Oris SA,
Switzerland, commented, “I am confident that, based on the major realignment
within Williams F1, the team will in future be much more in a position to deliver
strong results on the race track and thus give Oris positive brand exposure within
the powerful environment that is Formula One.”
Frank Williams, Team Principal of the AT&T Williams Team, said, “I am pleased
to confirm that, following a mutually successful four year partnership, Oris have
extended their relationship with the team for a further season. This announcement
indicates a clear commitment from a long serving partner and it is our intention to
repay that support on the race track.”