June 27, 2008
Autoweek.com is reporting that Tyre warmers will remain in Formula One next year, after the FIA agreed to scrap plans to impose a ban in 2009.The governing body had been scheduled to scrap the use of tyre blankets to coincide with the return of slicks at the start of next season in a bid to improve the racing and cut costs.
But that move led to concern from drivers about safety implications, after they tried out slick rubber without warmers in winter testing.
With a big difference in laptimes between cars on cold tyres and those with warmed up rubber, drivers feared about the increased chance of accidents.
This is good news.
Posted in FIA 
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June 25, 2008
As reported at Autoweek.com, the French Motor Sports Federation, the FFSA, confirmed on Wednesday that they have made an application for France to host a round of the 2009 Formula One World Championship.
The FFSA has a contract to run the French Grand Prix until 2011, but there was doubt about its future after Bernie Ecclestone made it clear several times that he did not want F1 back at the Magny-Cours circuit.
The French body said on Wednesday, however, that the entry for next year’s race had been confirmed.
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June 25, 2008
As reported at Autoweek.com, the FIA is to conduct a full review on how Formula One is governed in the future, in a move that could be viewed as a bid to enhance the governing body’s control of the sport at the expense of Bernie Ecclestone.
Following a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, a statement was issued confirming that F1 teams were to be consulted on changes to the future direction of F1.
“The FIA will enter into a wide-ranging consultation with the Formula One teams to examine plans for improved efficiency, including new technical regulations for the Championship. This will also involve a review of the governance of Formula One,” said the statement.
The latter sentence is understood to be a reference to the ongoing dispute between FIA president Max Mosley and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone over future control of the sport.
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June 25, 2008
As reported at Autoweek.com, The FIA has announced a shock decision to resurrect the Formula Two name from 2009 as an ‘inexpensive’ platform for aspiring driver talent as a stepping stone for Formula One.
In a statement following Wednesday’s FIA World Council meeting in Paris, the sport’s governing body has invited tenders for the new low-cost feeder series.
The statement read: “The FIA will invite tenders for a new feeder series for Formula One. This championship, called Formula Two, would be launched in 2009 and used as an inexpensive platform to develop emerging driver talent for Formula One. It is hoped this can be achieved within a budget of around €200,000 a car per season.”
How the FIA hopes to achieve running costs of around €200,000 per car per season remains to be seen. The target figure is significantly lower than it costs to compete in the current traditional ladder series - GP2 Series and F3.
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June 25, 2008
As reported at Formula1.com, the FIA has announced the provisional 2009 Formula One calendar. There is no USA Grand Prix, but the addition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix makes for a 19-round season - one more round than in 2008.
The Australian Grand Prix will kick off proceedings on March 29, followed by Malaysia and Bahrain, before the championship heads to Europe. In a change to the traditional calendar the British Grand Prix will take place before the French race.
In another shift, the Turkish event will revert back to its more traditional August date, following this season’s earlier May slot. The championship will draw to a close in mid November with the inaugural Abu Dhabi race.
2009 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar (provisional)
29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Canada
21 June Great Britain
28 June France
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
9 August Turkey
23 August Europe (Valencia)
6 September Italy
13 September Belgium
27 September Singapore
11 October Japan
18 October China
1 November Brazil
15 November Abu Dhabi
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June 17, 2008
I attended the Canadian Grand Prix this year, and it was an excellent weekend. The weather was wonderful (except for the occasional thunderstorm, and an absolute downpour after the race), and, as usual, Montreal is just a great place for a Grand Prix. The city is a fabulous place to visit, and it is so easy to get to the race (via the metro).
There were real problems with the track breaking up this year, especially at the hairpin (which is where I sit), and this needs to be finally fixed for the next race.
It was great to see Robert Kubica win his first Grand Prix, and he drove brilliantly. Heidfeld also had a great race to finish second. So not only was it BMW’s first win as a team, it was also their first and second place finish.
David Coulthard kept it together for his first podium finish for Red Bull. This was a finish that he badly needed, as he has done nothing this year.
Hamilton had a great weekend until the moment he had a complete brain fade and slammed into Kimi. After last year, all teams should have been aware of the possible red lights at the end of the pit, yet Lewis went flying into Kimi as he was stopped (next to Kubica) for the pit lane red light. This took both Lewis and Kimi out of the race. Robert was extremely lucky that Lewis hit Kimi and not him. Felipe drove a great race to finish fifth, after a bad qualifying session.
Timo Glock finished fourth, after driving a great race, although at one point he blocked his team mate, which allowed Massa to pass Trulli, which forced him to finish sixth, instead of fifth.
Barrichello stayed in the race to finish seventh, although at times he was a moving chicane.
Vettel finished eigth, after a big crash in qualifying. Heikki did nothing in this race and finished ninth. It is hard to understand the difference in speed between Lewis and Heikki all weekend.
Nico finished tenth, although he had hit Lewis in the pits after Lewis had hit Kimi. Button finished eleventh, Webber twelth, and Bourdais thirteenth.
We now move on to the last French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, with both Lewis and Nico facing a 10 spot penalty for the pit incident.
70 laps; 305.270km;
Weather: Sunny.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1h36:24.447
2. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 16.495
3. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 23.352
4. Glock Toyota (B) + 42.627
5. Massa Ferrari (B) + 43.934
6. Trulli Toyota (B) + 47.775
7. Barrichello Honda (B) + 53.597
8. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 54.120
9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 54.433
10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 54.749
11. Button Honda (B) + 1:07.540
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:11.299
13. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:17.387
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 54
Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 49
Alonso Renault (B) 47
Piquet Renault (B) 42
Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 20
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 20
Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 14
World Championship standings, round 7:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Kubica 42 1. Ferrari 73
2. Hamilton 38 2. BMW Sauber 70
3. Massa 38 3. McLaren-Mercedes 53
4. Raikkonen 35 4. Red Bull-Renault 21
5. Heidfeld 28 5. Toyota 17
6. Kovalainen 15 6. Williams-Toyota 15
7. Webber 15 7. Renault 9
8. Trulli 12 8. Honda 8
9. Alonso 9 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 7
12. Coulthard 6
13. Vettel 5
14. Barrichello 5
15. Glock 5
16. Button 3
17. Bourdais 2
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May 28, 2008
I always enjoy watching the Monaco Grand Prix, and this year was no different. It was made especially interesting with the changing wet and dry conditions and the lack of traction control this year. In the end, Lewis Hamilton won easily, but at times during the race, this looked far from happening.
Ferrari had an impressive qualifying session, and to most people’s surprise (even Ferrari’s I think) they locked up the front row, with Massa on pole and Kimi next to him. The McLarens were next, with Lewis in third and Heikki in fourth.
There was a lot of rain in the morning before the race, and then it rained again as the cars came to the grid, so the drivers had big decisions to make on the choice of tyres. In fact, Ferrari didn’t get the tyres changed in time (within 3 minutes of the drive off) and he ended up getting a drive through penalty. The other Finn, Heikki, stalled his car on the grid (caused by a software glitch that didn’t allow him control of his clutch) and had to start from the pit instead of 4th place.
When the race started, Lewis managed to get ahead of Kimi into the first corner and was just behind Felipe. Further back, Nico Rosberg tagged Fernando Alonso and damaged his front wing that had to be replaced. Also, Jensen Button who had had an excellent start and passed Rubens Barrichello and Mark Weber before hitting Nick Heidfeld and also damaged his car.
Lewis punctured his rear tyre when he hit the barrier in the 5th lap and had to go in and change his tyre. McLaren quickly changed their strategy and filled up his car so that he could go much longer into the race, and he reentered in fifth place. This was a masterful change, as shortly after this tyre change, the safety car came out when David Coulthard hit the barrier and then was hit by Sebastian Bourdais’s car. This allowed Lewis Hamilton to catch up with the leaders.
The next incident was Alonso hitting Heidfelds car. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he tried to pass Heidfeld in the hairpin, which was never going to happen. With these cars stopped in the hairpin, Rosberg slid into Heikki and damaged his second front wing.
When the race restarted, Kimi had to serve his penalty, and then damaged his front wing when he hit the barrier at Sainte Devot. This allowed Kubica to take second behind Massa, and then first when Massa made a mistake at Sainte Devot as well. When both Kubica and Massa took their first pit stop, Lewis moved into first place. Mark Weber, having an excellent race was now in fourth.
On lap 45, Alonso was the first to move to dry tyres, and Nelson Piquet changed to dry the next lap. This was a mistake for Nelson (who doesn’t have the car control of Fernando) and quickly hit the barrier and was out of the race.
When Lewis made his final pit stop, on lap 53, he changed to dry tyres and now had a 40 second lead over Felipe. Kubica then moved ahead of Massa again, when they both pitted and changed to dry tyres. The safety car came out again, when Nico Rosberg had a massive crash at the swimming pool. This ensured the field were together for the restart, and by this time, Adrian Sutil of Force India, with a miraculous drive had made it up to fourth, with Kimi now in fifth.
Kimi then lost control of his car under braking coming out of the tunnel and took out Sutil. It will be interesting to see if he receives a penalty for this, because you can be sure if the roles were reversed, Sutil would get one.
With the rain, the safety cars, and the incidents, the race finally ended short of its planned 78 laps when the 2 hour limit was hit. This was lucky for Lewis Hamilton as he discovered he had a slow puncture on his cool down lap.
The final positions were:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 2h00:42.272
2. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 3.069
3. Massa Ferrari (B) + 4.811
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 19.264
5. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 24.657
6. Barrichello Honda (B) + 28.408
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 30.180
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 33.191
9. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 33.793
10. Alonso Renault (B) + 1 lap
11. Button Honda (B) + 1 lap
12. Glock Toyota (B) + 1 lap
13. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1 lap
14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 4 laps
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:16.689
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 67
Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 58
Piquet Renault (B) 46
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 37
Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 13
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 13
World Championship standings, round 6:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Hamilton 38 1. Ferrari 69
2. Raikkonen 35 2. McLaren-Mercedes 53
3. Massa 34 3. BMW Sauber 52
4. Kubica 32 4. Williams-Toyota 15
5. Heidfeld 20 5. Red Bull-Renault 15
6. Kovalainen 15 6. Renault 9
7. Webber 15 7. Toyota 9
8. Alonso 9 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
9. Trulli 9 9. Honda 6
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 7
12. Vettel 4
13. Barrichello 3
14. Button 3
15. Bourdais 2
Posted in Monaco Grand Prix No Comments »
May 22, 2008
As reported at Autosport.com, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes FIA president Max Mosley is using concerns about the future of the sport as a ’smokescreen’ to divert attention away from talk about his own position.
Mosley wrote to the presidents of national automobile clubs last week telling them that the FIA risked losing control of F1 if he was forced out of office at the June 3 General Assembly meeting.
He claimed that he was locked in hard negotiations with F1’s commercial rights holders, Bernie Ecclestone and financial backers CVC Capital Partners, to prevent the FIA losing control of F1’s regulations and a veto to any potential future sale.
Posted in Bernie Ecclestone, FIA No Comments »
May 22, 2008
As reported at Formula1.com.
The opening day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix saw an impressive performance from McLaren and Lewis Hamilton, the British star all too aware that a victory in Monte Carlo this weekend is vital if he is to keep his championship challenge on track. And it was Hamilton’s old GP2 sparring partner Nico Rosberg who proved that you can always expect the unexpected in the Principality, as he lifted Williams clear of both Ferraris in the timesheets…
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 16.216s, P2/1m 15.140s, P1
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 16.248s, P3/1m 15.881s, P5
Hamilton said he was quite happy with the progress he and McLaren made on set-up and tyre evaluation, and how much he loves driving every lap here. He spent the morning on the same set of tyres to set second fastest time, then pushed hard for the quickest lap in the afternoon. Kovalainen was well up in the morning and reported a fair bit more to come after the afternoon as he wasn’t happy with the best lap he put together.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 16.653s, P5/1m 15.533s, P2
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 18.274s, P15/1m 16.372s, P9
Rosberg came to a track he loves well fired up, and was fifth in the morning and second in the afternoon. He felt Williams had a good baseline set-up and was able to push hard as he felt comfortable straight away. He also believes there is more to come. Nakajima struggled initially but got it together in the afternoon to move into the top 10.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 15.948s, P1/1m 15.572s, P3
Felipe Massa, 1m 16.292s, P4/1m 15.869s, P4
Raikkonen, who did two tests with the Monaco set-up last week at Paul Ricard, said it was a normal Friday for him, which came as a relief after his problems in Turkey. He missed his good lap on supersoft tyres, ironically after Massa had dislodged a track marker in the Swimming Pool complex, and struggled on new rubber. Massa, who did only one Monaco test (and one for Canada), also failed to do a time on the supersofts and admitted that McLaren were very strong.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 16.834s, P6/1m 16.296s, P6
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 18.263s, P14/ 1m 16.426s, P11
A mixed day for BMW Sauber, with Kubica sixth in both sessions but Heidfeld troubled by a loss of power in the morning. The Pole was reasonable happy, but the German rued the loss of running time and data. He was encouraged, however, by the driveability of his F1.08.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 17.498s, P7/1m 16.310s, P7
Nelson Piquet, 1m 18.955s, P18/1m 17.246s, P15
Not a great day for Renault, even though Alonso was seventh in both sessions. In the afternoon he slid sideways at Ste Devote and wiped off his rear wing, shortly after Piquet had done something similar. The Spaniard was happy with the way his R28 reacted to changes, but the Brazilian was clearly struggling again as he learned the track in an F1 car and experimented with set-ups.
Honda
Jenson Button, 1m 18.153s, P12/1m 16.351s, P8
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 17.511s, P8/1m 16.418s, P10
With Barrichello eighth in the morning and Button eighth in the afternoon, Honda had a fairly promising day. Both drivers were cautiously happy with what they achieved during the two sessions.
Toyota
Timo Glock, 1m 17.942s, P11/1m 16.688s, P12
Jarno Trulli, 1m 18.360s, P16/1m 17.379s, P17
Glock loved driving Monaco in an F1 car for the first time, and while he said he was happy with the car he admitted that he needs more experience here to get the best from it. Trulli, the winner here in 2004, clobbered the wall at Portier in the morning and broke the rear suspension, and had a problem with the undertray in the afternoon which lost him more track time.
Red Bull
Mark Webber, 1m 17.798s, P9/1m 17.094s, P13
David Coulthard, No time/1m 17.131s, P14
Webber did all his scheduled work, but was dissatisfied with the outcome as the RB4 clearly does not yet suit the track. Coulthard’s day got off to a bad start when the throttle actuator failed on his out lap in the morning. He thought he had recovered ground reasonably well in the afternoon, however.
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 17.835s, P10/1m 17.251s, P16
Adrian Sutil, 1m 18.360s, P17/1m 18.176s, P19
Fisichella was happy with the balance of his VJM01 in the build-up to his 200th Grand Prix appearance, but lost his afternoon run on new tyres to an undisclosed mechanical problem. Sutil fought understeer and tyre graining all day, and eventually took off his front wing in a slow-speed shunt at Rascasse in the afternoon.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 18.245s, P13/1m 17.581s, P18
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 19.176s, P19/1m 18.225s, P20
A tough day for Toro Rosso, as their drivers worked on setting up their new STR3s. Bourdais always ran with plenty of fuel and believed they were not as far behind as appearances suggested. Vettel said he was fighting his car all day as he worked on set-up.
Posted in Monaco Grand Prix No Comments »
May 22, 2008
Bernie Ecclestone, Chief Executive Officer of the Formula One commercial rights holder has written today to FIA Club Presidents. To view the letter click here.
Posted in Bernie Ecclestone, FIA No Comments »
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