In our second update with Alfonso de Orleans, Team Principal of the Racing Engineering GP2 team, we look at the new Pirellis for 2012 and preparations for the first round of the GP Series – the flyaway race in Malaysia.
He’s shown his pace in F Renault, F3, GP3, GP2 – and even in F1, at the Young Driver test in Abu Dhabi. Portugal’s (very talented) Antonio Felix da Costa talks about his 2011 GP3 season with Status; the ongoing difficulties of raising a decent budget; and his plans for 2012
On the eve of the 2012 season, in the historic London Hilton, I caught up with one of the greatest of them all – Sir Stirling Moss. (Part One of a two-part interview originally recorded for http://Speed.com.)
It is the fall of 1978. Mario Andretti has won the World Championship. We are at Watkins Glen, in upstate New York. We approach a restaurant from which the lights are glowing in the early-evening mist. Cars are being valet-parked. We are ushered to a table in the far corner; magic fills the air. Mario Andretti is dining with friends. And Colin Chapman, even then, is laying the foundations of active-ride….
Peter Windsor takes you inside Mario’s world. One dinner. One evening. Read more…
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about the enormity of the contribution made to Formula One by Louis T Stanley. Married to Jean, the sister of Sir Alfred Owen, the co-owner of BRM, Louis T effectively was BRM in their glory years – and through to the end. Along the way, he published his own F1 annuals, featuring his own photographs, and wrote numerous books, the most memorable of which were undoubtedly Golf With Your Hands and Lawn Tennis. Stanley was fond of candid portrait shots and would typically like to picture Tony Brooks drinking a cup of water and write as a caption: “Tony Brooks – speaks directly, but in no way loquacious”, or write this about the legendary Mercedes team manager, Alfred Neubauer: “He combines the manner of Friar Tuck with the authority of a dictator. Vaguely reminscent of the ‘man of very stout countenance’ in Bunyan, who bellowed at the keeper of the Book of Life: ‘Set down my name, Sir!’ and hacked his way thereafter through an army into Heaven….” Not your average SkyTV soundbite presenter, in other words.
A pioneer of safety in F1, Louis T was responsible for the arrival of the mobile Grand Prix Medical Unit in 1967 and was a great supporter of Sir Jackie Stewart and all that patently needed to be done to make racing safer in the 1960s. He is pictured below, indeed, at a Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) meeting in South Africa, 1969. Sir Jackie is in the centre, speaking to Graham Hill, Chris Amon, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Jacky Ickx, Jochen Rindt, Denny Hulme and Mario Andretti among others – and there, on the side, immaculately dressed, as ever, is Louis T Stanley.
I mention all this because a lurid book has just been written by Bobbie Neate in which the author claims that Louis T Stanley protected a secret for most of his natural life – to wit, that he was actually the illegitimate son of the British Prime Minister, HH Asquith. Neate was Stanley’s stepdaughter but never knew of this background until she began to research the family history. In F1 Louis T was always known for the affectation of his – how shall I put it – upper-class ways, so now I guess we can all appreciate why he was the way he was. So Lordly did he appear to foreign drivers that most of them called him “Sir Louis” even without thinking about it. “Yes, Sir Louis. Tea at the Dorchester. I’ll be there”: they all said it – from Pedro Rodriguez to Jo Siffert to Jackie Oliver to Larry Perkins – and yes, to that real knight of the realm, Jackie Stewart. Stanley-bashers loved to call him a fraud. Now – assuming we are all over the the business of being “illegitimate” – we can all look back at Louis T and raise our hats. He indeed had the pedigree.
Bearing in mind that Louis T obviously didn’t want this information to be made public, I suspect Neate’s book is on the scandal/resentment side, and therefore probably very negative (sadly); I have to confess, though, that I’ve only read its “Product Description”. If you’d like to buy it, go to Amazon.com and search for Conspiracy of Secrets. Me? I think I’ll re-read The Beauty of Women and Journey Through Cornwall by Louis T Stanley.
Congratulations are due to Claire Williams (Sir Frank’s daughter) on her new appointment to the Board at WilliamsF1 – and to her new role as Director of Marketing and Communications. A tough fighter, like her Dad, Claire has in recent years been working on the Media side of the team. Now, with Dominic Reilly leaving Williams at the end of this month, Claire is taking on the difficult role of sponsorship procurement and management. She’ll do well, I believe.
Simultaneously, with his 70th birthday coming on April 12, Sir Frank will be stepping down from the Board at WilliamsF1 – but not – many F1 fans will be pleased to hear – as Team Principal.
“It is no secret that Claire is my daughter,” said Sir Frank in his own, inimitable, style today, “but I am proud to say that she has fought hard to earn this appointment and of all the battles she has had to fight, the prejudices of her father were not the least challenging. Dominic Reilly has proven a unique talent in the field of sports marketing and filling the gap he leaves was daunting. But I have come to the view that Claire, with her profound love and knowledge of the sport and the team, can do so and I am proud and delighted that the Board has given her this opportunity. I am equally delighted that Dominic will remain close to the team with his new venture and that we can thank him for his contribution to Williams by supporting him now.
“This is an opportune moment, also, for me to consider my own role in the team. I turn 70 in April and I have decided to signal the next stage in the gradual but inevitable process of handing over the reins to the next generation by stepping down from the Board at the end of this month. This is not as dramatic a move as it may appear: I shall continue to work full-time as Team Principal and I shall continue to attend all Board meetings as observer. I also remain the majority shareholder of Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC. Nonetheless, I shall be looking to Claire to represent the Williams family on the Board and I know that she will work tirelessly alongside Adam to make the Group and the team just as successful as we can be.”
Jonathan Williams, Claire’s equally-talented brother, continues to work at Williams on driver-management and the huge portfolio of past WilliamsF1 machinery. He also has close connections with the iSport GP2 team.
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