Formula One news

Column: My first column

It's been a very busy winter and we've been working really hard to improve the team and all the signs are that we're moving in the right direction. Back when Midland acquired Jordan it was a case of stabilising the team and making sure we survived. Now we're into the next step following Spyker's acquisition and the task at hand is improve the team's performance and move up the grid.

In people terms Mike Gascoyne is already making a hugely valuable technical input and working well with our team of enthusiastic, young engineers to develop the new car. I'm also very excited that Adrian Sutil will drive alongside Christijan Albers. We'll continue to benefit from Christijan's speed, consistency and experience while Adrian is also an exciting prospect. He's one of the fastest young drivers around and is mentally very strong. I'm sure he'll rise to the challenge and show his star potential.

The new car will be a marked improvement and we have plenty of continuous development planned during the season. We've been working hard all winter in two wind tunnels and in the future hopefully all that work translates into a bigger improvement than our nearest rivals. I think it's to say that we can fight for points, certainly later in the season as we develop the car, but even in the first race if we can get back a little bit of the luck that deserted us last year.

Our own preparations are going well and the only matter outside of that we need to resolve is Toro Rosso and Red Bull, but also Honda and Super Aguri using the same cars. The issue started last year when Toro Rosso was using the previous season's Red Bull car with a V10 engine. At that time I was the only one to raise my concerns but all too soon a lot of other people in the pit lane realised that it was actually a mistake to let it happen. In light of that we made it very clear that 2007 would have very clear regulations and the Concorde agreement has a very clear definition but there are some teams that are still counting on a unique interpretation.

Personally I feel the regulations are clear: To be a constructor you have to manufacture and own the intellectual property of your car. Red Bull is one company sharing intellectual property between two teams, while the rules state that each team has to have its own intellectual property. To argue that's not the case is not valid. We've just agreed to pass new regulations from 2008 that allow what Red Bull and Super Aguri is trying to do - why would we need to pass a new regulation if you could go ahead and do it legally anyway?

There is no grounds on which the FIA can take action until it scrutinises the cars at the first race of the season. We just want to make certain people aware now that if they're going to try to get away with this and bend the rules, we're ready to go into arbitration.

There is a team principal meeting on Friday and this could be one of the subjects that come up. The meeting is mainly about the future of F1 and how to make it more interesting for fans and spectators and I look forward to updating you on everything in my next colum.

Colin Kolles

more news

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• 22 Nov.
  • Photos: 2009 Toyota Motor Sports Festival
  • Vettel surprised by Button team switch
• 21 Nov.
  • Mercedes: No Schumacher drive with us
  • López close to USF1 deal
  • Options open for Bourdais
• 20 Nov.
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  • Photos: SKUSA karting event, Las Vegas
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  • Clock ticking for Silverstone
  • Williams sells first shares
  • Official: Bianchi handed Ferrari test
  • My door is open, says Trulli
  • Button: I needed a new challenge
• 19 Nov.
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  • Sons release birthday song for Jackie Stewart
  • Räikkönen: No talks with Brawn
  • No early Brawn exit for Button
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  • 2010: How the grid is shaping up
• 18 Nov.
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  • Donington goes into administration
  • Villeneuve working on F1 comeback
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  • Webber drives GP3 car in France
  • 'Bianchi to test Ferrari at Jerez'
  • Prize-winning Wilson drives McLaren
  • Brawn: Button-McLaren talk not helpful

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