£5 Million Mercedes 'abandoned' in warehouse.

Photo courtesy of Motorshout.com

A Mercedes Formula One car has been discovered in a warehouse after being abandoned for over thirty years.

The W196 model is the car former World Champion, Juan Manuel Fangio drove in the 1954 season.

The Argentinian driver drove to four consecutive titles between 1965 and 1957 and is widely considered one of the greats of the sport.

The 'Silver Arrow' car had been untouched in the warehouse for over thirty years until earlier this year and is considered by auctioneers as 'one of the most important F1 cars of all time.'

W196 interior. Courtesy of Peachparts.com

Racing historian Doug Nye said: "The first time I saw this car I needed oxygen. It's landmark technology and it was driven by a landmark driver."

"Some people think it looks grotty - that's not the point - the really rare cars today are the unrestored ones," Said Nye, who declined to reveal the location of the warehouse.

"Every car that's restored has lost a part of its history because it's been obliterated by repainting or by rebuilding. Nothing's been obliterated on this, it's just a beautiful survivor."

The car will now be auctioned off at the GoodWood Festival of Speed and is expected to fetch over £5 Million.

Car enthusiast Robert Gerald spoke exclusively to TheDRSzoneF1, he said: "I would love to have it, it would be more than owning a car, it would be owning a piece of history."

Robert, believes you cannot put a price on a car like this, "It is a lot of money, I cannot deny that but for what it is, you cannot put a price on that, it is less than one in a million," he said.

"Whoever gets it, I hope it is up and running again before long, cars like that need to be shown to the world, it has been hidden away for far too long."

Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of Fangio winning the World Drivers Championship' in the car, so it would be fitting for the car to be ready for then.




Written By Ben Kelbrick

JamesClayton: "It doesn't matter how good you are anymore all F1 cares about is money".

Porsche club motorsport driver James Clayton, 26 has claimed that F1 is no longer recruiting 'the greatest talent' but instead choosing those with the deepest pockets.

James, who races Porsche GT3 cars in a Euro series made the claims exclusively in an interview with The DRS Zone F1 he said:

"When I started racing at around 8 years-old in a kart all I dreamed of was competing in F1."

"I won my first junior series when I was 11 and was selected to race in the British karting cup."

"But, as i got older it became increasingly apparent that without bags of money, I was unable to compete with drivers who had a seemingly unlimited backing."

James is now sponsored by Permec, a British organisation who specialise in car performance and tuning.

"Without the sponsorship it is simple, I would not be able to race!"

Formula One has undoubetdly seen an increase in recent years in 'sponsor drivers' who don't only bring their racing skill to the team, but, it cames additionally to financial backing.

With Formula One continually trying to decrease the annual spending of teams could this bring the advantage back to the more talented drivers.

Fia. Source: Autosport

James said: "In my opinion it is right that the FIA are trying to reduce costs but, I think they have a long way to go before they are able to go back to the ways of having the most talented driver in the seat of their car."

"Surely that is what F1 should be, the best drivers, racing in the best racing cars in the world."

"It is already so difficult to be involved in motor racing but compare it to other sports and it is impossible to draw any comparison."

"In other sports if you have the talent then you will be picked up, in motorsport that isn't half the story. You have to support yourself for so long, from when I started racing I think my father has pushed over £50,000 of his own money into supporting my racing - and that is still not enough!"

The costs involved in young people being involved in motorsport is notably large, with the membership  for the average junior kart season ranging from £250 to £600.

One solution is for potential drivers' is to find sponsorship, James said: "Sponsorship is essential, but it really is difficult to gain. I am talking about during the younger years of your racing career, even though you may be the most talented driver on the grid if you run out of money for new tyres, chassis, springs- you will be unable to compete."

"As a result, some of the most talented drivers' are not given the chance to develop and instead other drivers who are less talented are able to go further in their career to due the funding that they have."



One answer to this is Karting academies, one that has proved to be successful is the British Schools Karting Championship (BSKC). They offer students to get involved in racing from a young age and are helped to learn how to become a racing driver.

Student between the ages of 13-18 are able to join the programme which is made up of teams of three.

All that is needed to start up is

+ 2 Team mates

+ A teacher willing to act as captain

+ £150 entry fee

Information on help raising the funds and more details on what the academy can actually do for YOU are available here: http://www.bskc.co.uk/

Friday Practice Overview

Source: Guardian

Triple World Champion, Sebastian Vettel headed both time sheets for Friday practice and is now looking to secure the first pole position of 2013.

The Red Bull team completed a 'perfect' Friday as they locked out the top two slots, Australian, Mark Webber finishing the day in second position to his team-mate.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton continued to impress for Mercedes finishing 3rd and 7th, respectively.

Early tips indicated that Lotus had come to Melbourne with a strong package and they weren't wrong. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean finished in the top 5 and if last years' form is anything to go by, they will be hoping for hot race conditions.

Source: F1 Race.it

Ferraris, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa concentrated on longer runs during second practice and finished 6th and 8th.

Team principal Stefano Dominecalli expects the front-runners to remain similar to last years final race in Brazil, he said: “For many reasons, however, it can be considered an important test bench to establish the state of play. I expect that the teams who finished in the top positions in Sao Paulo will repeat that in Melbourne, probably with a reduced advantage – that’s what we are all hoping for, anyway.”

One team who have endured a difficult first day are Mclaren. The Woking based team have struggled so far having confessed 'radical' designs for their 2013 contender. A fairly despondent Jenson Button said: "I think we have quite a few weaknesses with the car, ride is a lot worse than we expected, we have been trying to improve but we haven't really found a direction yet."

His team-mate, Sergio Perez also described the car as "Unpredictable and difficult to drive," whilst they appeared to be off the pace at a pre season test in Jerez, they seem to be in a similar position for this weekend and admitted they would be thrilled to reach the top ten shootout.

Adrian Sutil marked his return to a Formula One weekend with a 9th place finish with, Scot, Paul Di Resta finishing 12th.

Nico Hulkenberg who elected to leave Force India for Sauber finished the day in 10th place with his rookie team mate, Esteban Gutierrez down in 15th.

Torro Rosso made an impressive start to the Friday sessions but once the front runners started to put in competitive times they found themselves lower down the time sheets than they wanted to be. Danie Ricciardo completed 31 laps and finished 15th, team-mate Vergne, finished two tenths down in 17th.

Source: blog.bettor

No team completed more laps than the Williams F1 team on Friday who completed a combined 75 laps between their drivers. Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas finished the day 16th and 18th respectively.

Newcomer Jules Bianchi continued his fine form finishing ahead of his team-mate and both Caterhams' he finished half a second quicker than Caterhams Charles Pic and almost a second quicker than Max Chilton.

Caterham appear to have fallen behind Marussia at the rear end of the grid, Charles Pic headed, Giedo van der Garde who is yet to run on the softer compound tyre.

Al is set up for qualifying now with rumours of rain rife in the paddock, can anyone stop Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull? 

LIVE: Melbourne Grand Prix Free Practice 1

Please refresh for latest updates on this page.

It's finally here, the start of the 2013 F1 season and the chance to see all of the latest cars on track.

The F1 season kicks off this weekend at Albert Park, Melbourne and we are giving live updates throughout the weekend.

Will Red Bull still be on top or will Mclaren and Ferrari be able to challenge them? Join us here from 1:00am GMT to find out how the likes of Lotus and Mclaren fare in the first event of the year.


00:40 GMT: 20 minutes until the green light, Lewis Hamilton says he is 'positive he can get a good result' this weekend.

00:47: Jenson Button says "If your quick enough for pole you are going to go for pole." quashing rumours that drivers' may sacrifice pole position in order to start on the prime tyre

00:51: Sergio Perez has spoke ahead of testing and says: "I am here to win races."

00:55: Triple World Champion remains cautious ahead of this weekend insisting the team really don't know where they stand compared to other teams.

00:55: A smiling Fernando Alonso says "Rain is always good news!" Unfortunately it's blue skies in Melbourne Fernando!

Shiny new Ferrari has just been wheeled out!


00:58: Grandstands aren't full just yet but, look on in envy.

01:00: The lack of rule changes 'could bring the pack together' according to F1 legend Damon Hill.


01:07 The safety car has just been around the track, not long now!

01:10 Sebastian Vettel has described the number one on his car as 'a privilege but, not an advantage.'

01:11 Mark Webbers' Red Bull is being prepared for the first practice session.

01:15: An aero display just before the start of the session.

01:16: Reports are coming in that Mercedes, Mclaren and Ferrari all have major upgrades since testing in Jerez.

01:18 Christian Horner claims electrical programming systems faltered their pre season testing but is hoping that there aren't any recurrences.

01:19 Newcomer Esteban Gutierrez getting comfortable in his Williams' ahead of practice.

01:22 Just under 10 minutes....

01:25: Lewis Hamiltons' Mercedes getting some last minute changes

01:28 Helmets are on. Who will be the first car out on track?

01:29 No surprise here, Vettel has a new helmet.

01:31 Daniel Ricciardo of Torro Rosso is first out out on track!

01:32 He is followed by both Lotus drivers' Raikkonen and Grosjean

01:34 If you thought it would be difficult to tell Hamilton and Rosberg apart don't worry the Brits' helmet is more luminous than ever!

01:35 Ricciardo back in the pits following an installation lap.

Hamiltons helmet bears an uncanny resemblance to the high-vis paint the teams use to test aerodynamics.

01:40 Yet to see a competitive time the teams' are carrying out there 1-lap routines

01:43 Max Chilton is 'excited' at his first weekend in F1, he reveals the team are hoping to put a long run in later on.

01:45 All quiet here at Albert Park circuit, here is a shot of Jenson Button on his installation lap

Here is a nice shot of the Ferrari being pushed back into the garage...

01:50 Caterhams' Charles Pic describes the track as 'slipper' nobody wants to lay down rubber cleaning up the track for other teams so we have all cars in the garage at the minute.

01:55 A bit of news for all you Vettel fans, his new helmet is a tribute to 'space jumper' Felix Baumgartner.

Also the highly anticipated name of his new car is here. HUNGRY HEIDI. decide for yourselves.

01:56 Fernando Alonso makes the first move, returning to the track on the medium compound tyre.

02:04 still no circuit cleaners, the limited number of tyres over a race weekend must be playing a part.

02:06 That looks like an F1 car! IT IS! Ricciardo returns to the track #prayfortimedlap.

02:08 Local boy Ricciardo is the first man to set a timed lap on a medium compound, 1:36:089

02:09 The Marussia of Bianchi has set off on a timed lap how will he compare to the markey lay down by Torro Rosso?

02:11 Ricciardo improves his time to a 1:31:946 followed by Bianchi in the Marussia with a 1:34:537

02:14 Vergne improves on his team-mates time with a 1:31:267 only for a second, Ricciardo strikes back with a 1:30:969

02:17 43 minutes left of practice and the two Torro Rosso drivers are exchanging top times, Vergne currently leading with a 1:30.947

02:19 This years Safety car, lets hope we don't need to see it this weekend.

02:22 Kimi Raikkonen does a 1:29.029 to lead the way in his Lotus.

02:24 The Finn improves his time to 1:28.095 while Adrian Sutil is told his tyres are 'too cool' over team radio.

02:26 Williams F1 team confirm that both of their cars are on track and running both aero and tyre tests.

Marussia have been tipped to make a huge improvement with this years' car here it is running at Albert Park.

02:28 Mark Webber goes second quickest with a 1:28.737 but Nico Rosberg almost immediately beats his time. The German puts in a 1:28.457.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are the only two drivers not to set a time, as i say it Alonso goes quickest on his first lap with a 1:27.547

02:31 Lewis Hamilton goes second fatest with a 1:27.759m he was sideways through T11

02:34 Vettel goes 8th quickest on his first attempt but is flying on this next lap.

02:35 Vettel goes fastest! 1:27.320 is now the time to beat

02:37 Felipe Massa now goes fastest with a 1:27.211 'Fernando is not quicker than you.' Couldn't resist.

02:45 Heavy degradation on the left rear of Bottas' Williams. Vettel currently ahead on a 1:27.211

02:48 Maldonado goes wide on T11 he uses a lot of curb going through T1 as Nico Hulkenberg locks up his Sauber on the penultimate corner.

02:50 A few longer runs are taking place now understanding the degradation of the tyres will be key this season.

02:51 Fernando Alonso struggles to keep his Ferrari facing the right way...

02:54 The Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel returns to the pits..

Sky F1's Martin Brundle is stood at the braking zone of T15 and says the Lotus is struggling with understeer in the low speed corners'

02:56 A little under 5 minutes remaining can anyone go quicker than Vettel?

02:58 The medium compound tyre appears to be wearing off after 11 or 12 laps, strategies may have to be changed if they react this way throughout the weekend.

03:00 Paul Di Resta goes off into the gravel and does well to avoid beaching his Force India.

03:02 Checkered Flag waves, no sign of the softer compound tyre yet here are the final standings:
Pos. Driver                              Nat. Team               Time        Gap     Laps

1	Sebastian Vettel		Red Bull	1:27.211		15
2	Felipe Massa		Ferrari	1:27.289	0.078	16
3	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari	1:27.547	0.336	15
4	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	1:27.552	0.341	17
5	Mark Webber		Red Bull	1:27.668	0.457	17
6	Kimi Raikkonen		Lotus	1:27.887	0.676	8
7	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes	1:28.013	0.802	9
8	Adrian Sutil		Force India	1:28.426	1.215	9
9	Jenson Button		McLaren	1:28.440	1.229	10
10	Sergio Perez		McLaren	1:28.597	1.386	11
11	Nico Hulkenberg		Sauber	1:28.786	1.575	8
12	Paul di Resta		Force India	1:28.981	1.770	10
13	Romain Grosjean		Lotus	1:29.296	2.085	6
14	Pastor Maldonado		Williams	1:29.443	2.232	10
15	Valtteri Bottas		Williams	1:29.928	2.717	9
16	Esteban Gutierrez		Sauber	1:30.203	2.992	12
17	Jean-Eric Vergne		Toro Rosso	1:30.947	3.736	8
18	Daniel Ricciardo		Toro Rosso	1:30.969	3.758	10
19	Jules Bianchi		Marussia	1:31.263	4.052	13
20	Giedo van der Garde		Caterham	1:32.388	5.177	8
21	Charles Pic		Caterham	1:32.682	5.471	10
22	Max Chilton		Marussia	1:32.794	5.583	14

Source: Planet Sport



03:10 Well done for staying up! That concludes the first session and we begin how we left off, Red Bull up top. See you later on for FP2!