Pitpass.com is reporting that Alonso was talking to Renault about a return last March. This is before we knew how good Hamilton was going to be, before the rift started with McLaren, and before the spy issues. Interesting.

Posted in McLaren, Renault No Comments »

As reported at Autosport.com, the McLaren Mercedes team on Monday launched their new car for the 2008 season, the MP4-23, in an event in Stuttgart, Germany. McLaren were the second Formula One team to unveil their 2008 challenger following Ferrari’s launch of their F2008 yesterday. The McLaren event was a lot more straight-laced [...]

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Autosport.com and Grandprix.com both announced that McLaren has signed Kovalainen (from Renault) to replace Alonso. I think this is a great move for both McLaren and Kovalainen (and Hamilton). Kovalainen seems to be a much more level headed guy than Alonso so hopefully we won’t have all of the tantrums we had this past year. [...]

Posted in McLaren, Renault No Comments »

The BBC is reporting that McLaren have admitted that leaked Ferrari data had been more “widely disseminated” within the team. “It has become clear that Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within McLaren than was previously communicated,” it said on the website.
“McLaren has written to the World Motor Sport Council to apologise that it has [...]

Posted in FIA, Ferrari, McLaren No Comments »

As reported at Grandprix.com (as well as many other places), Alonso is returning to Renault. This isn’t exactly the biggest surprise, but what is interesting is that he will be partnering with Piquet Jr. It will be interesting to watch if Piquet turns out to give him as much competition as Hamilton did this year. [...]

Posted in McLaren, Renault No Comments »

As reported at Formula1.com, the McLaren appeal has been rejected. The reason given is not that they were wrong, only that they were not allowed to appeal. Therefore, Williams and BMW get to break the rules with no retribution, and Ferrari get another world championship handed to them by the FIA. Grandprix.com has a good [...]

Posted in BMW, Brazilian Grand Prix, FIA, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams No Comments »

As reported at ManipeF1.com, Renault (and other teams) are not happy with the McLaren-designed, and now required, ECU.  Renault technical director Bob Bell says it is “obvious” that teams including McLaren will begin the 2008 season with an advantage over their rivals. Coinciding with the traction control ban, every team next year must use a [...]

Posted in McLaren, Renault No Comments »

As reported in Autosport.com, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher made an impressive return to Formula One action by topping the times on the first day of testing at the Barcelona circuit.The German driver, who had not driven a Grand Prix car in anger since he retired from the sport a year ago, posted a best [...]

Posted in BMW, Ferrari, Force India (Spyker), McLaren, Red Bull, Super Aguri, Toyota No Comments »

As reported at Autosport.com, Renault has now been summoned to the FIA concerning spying charges. Will this story never end. In addition, as also reported at Autosport, the FIA has started to look at the McLaren 2008 car to see if it contains any Ferrari secrets. I have no idea how this is going to [...]

Posted in FIA, McLaren, Renault No Comments »

As reported in Autosport and PitPass, Alonso and McLaren have agreed to part ways. Alonso’s manager is saying that no money has changed hands, but this is hard to believe. Why would McLaren let Alonso go for nothing, only to go to a competitor. There are rumours that Alonso can only go to a privateer [...]

Posted in Force India (Spyker), McLaren, Red Bull, Williams No Comments »