F1 News Updates

last SG · 2007-04-25T23:33:29+00:00

not confirmed.... imola might be alternated with monza too the long gap ahead of malaysia cud be filled by a pacific gp too

Kuali Baba SG

The news since the end of the last GP:

Kimi Räikkönen may need to have his engine changed prematurely at Sepang after it sprouted a cooling leak during the last race.

FIA makes the bodywork tests more stringent after allegations of irregularities by BMW-Sauber and Ferrari.

Bridgestone to introduce a single white groove on the softer tyre.

Air Asia to sponsor Williams-Toyota for the rest of 2007.

Spyker files a lawsuit against Scuderia Toro Rosso, alleging that the latter is using a clone of Red Bull's RB3 car.

Queensland bids to host the Australian Grand Prix along the Gold Coast.

Toyota are due a chassis update at Barcelona, while Honda and Spyker will introduce theirs this weekend.

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F16 jet beats Spyker in demo race

Christijan Albers' Spyker lost out to an F16 fighter jet in a demonstration race in Holland on Friday.

More than 10,000 fans saw the Formula 1 car race the plane down the 1000 metre runway at the Volkel airbase in southern Holland.

Albers led away from the startline, but was overhauled by F16 pilot Captain Ralph Aarts in the final yards.

"It was a tight race, for the first 300m all I could see was the plane in my mirrors, but then he just accelerated past me and off into the distance - it was incredible!" said Albers.

"I'd never been close to an F16, or even sat in one, so it was really interesting to compare the performance of the two.

"Aside from the displays though, Ralph and his team do some brave work out there, I have a lot of respect for them."

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F1 needs customer cars

IA president Max Mosley says that allowing customer cars is vital for Formula 1's future competitiveness.

Under the new-for-2008 rules, teams will be able to buy chassis from other outfits rather than having to design and build their own cars.

Prodrive has already announced that its new F1 team will be a customer project.

Mosley told the Reuters news agency that the enormous resources required to build a competitive chassis meant that smaller teams were doomed to struggle if customer cars were not permitted.

"There are all sorts of commercial discussions going on but, to me, it's self evident that Formula 1 hasn't got enough money for 12 different teams to have 12 research and development programmes, 12 wind tunnels, 12 organisations getting on for 1,000 employees (each)," he said.

"That means you either have 'customer cars' or you have people struggling at the back of the grid being lapped four times in the race.

"To me it's obvious you should have the customer cars.

"Whether you have four cars of a given make or two on the grid, it doesn't seem to matter.

"They will all look completely different anyway."

itv

Kuali Baba SG

Heidfeld will do a tour of the old Nürburgring this Saturday in the BMW-Sauber F1.07. However, he’ll be using demonstration tyres, which have less grip and are about 10% slower than the normal tyres.

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Tsutomu Tomita to step down at Toyota

Toyota team principal Tsutomu Tomita is to stand down from his position at the end of June.

He will be replaced by Tadashi Yamashina, who is currently Toyota Motorsport's vice chairman.

The team said that Tomita's departure was part of a standard policy of staff rotation.

"As is normal for Toyota senior executives following a long overseas assignment, he will return to Japan in the middle of the year where new assignments await him with the Toyota group," said a team statement.

Yamashina paid tribute to the man he will succeed.

"Tomita san has been involved in a number of Toyota's motorsport activities throughout his career, including Formula 1 from its very beginning," he said.

"He has been one of its central pillars over the last two decades, and I am both proud and pleased to succeed him.

"Tsutomu is part of Toyota's F1 heritage and we will remain in close contact with him."

Tomita described his F1 stint as "one of the most challenging and exciting periods of my career."

He believes that he leaves the team in good shape.

"I am looking forward to celebrating Toyota's first victory in Formula 1, which I believe will happen sooner rather than later - based on the technological capability and competent team of people which has and is being established in Cologne," said Tomita.

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Lauda tips Hamilton for 2007 title

Triple world champion Niki Lauda is the latest Formula 1 legend to predict that Lewis Hamilton can snatch the title in his rookie season.

In an interview with the official F1 website, Lauda put his money on Hamilton to emerge on top of a thrilling four-way championship battle.

"As unbelievable as it sounds, at the moment I can see Lewis Hamilton heading the ranking," said Lauda, when asked who he thought had the edge in the title fight.

"Because of his young and clean experience - he is as fast as (Fernando) Alonso.

"This season will be the most exciting for years - we will not only see a shoot-out between the teams, but also amongst the team-mates.

"There will be a do-or-die fight between Alonso and Hamilton, and between (Felipe) Massa and (Kimi) Raikkonen.

"I hope they will not give any team orders until the last two races.

"At the moment I cannot see a faster driver within either one of these teams, so I dont think this will happen in the near future."

The Austrian said he could not choose between Ferrari and McLaren at this stage, but suspects that one of the rivals will eventually slip up and let the other escape.

"Both teams have done their homework and both have very strong drivers," he said.

"Right now, we have to wait a couple of more races to see who can get into the lead, either through a possible performance advantage, or through driver mistakes."

Lauda won the 1975, 1977 and 1984 world championships despite nearly losing his life in a fiery accident at the Nurburgring in 1976.

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New chicane leaves Kubica cold

BMW's Robert Kubica is unimpressed by the modifications made to the Barcelona circuit over the winter.

The fast final corners have been slowed by the addition of the tight chicane approaching the former turn 14.

The revision was made for safety reasons, amid fears that the run-off at the last corner was inadequate given the speed with which cars were now taking the bend.

Kubica conceded that the section is now less dangerous, but said the new complex spoilt the circuit.

"I like the track, but Im afraid that the new corners have taken away some of its charm," he said.

"Fast corners with high downforce are a real treat in a Formula 1 car.

"But now the two high-speed corners have been replaced by a tight chicane, where you are only doing 60 or 70 km/h (40 mph).

"We used to hit 260 km/h (160 mph) through that part of the track.

"This change to the track means less fun, but greater safety.

His team-mate Nick Heidfeld agreed with the Pole's summary

"The new section is less exciting, but safer," he said.

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BMW drops Friday testers

Sebastian Vettel

BMW Sauber has abandoned its policy of running young drivers on grand prix Fridays 'until further notice'.

The team had used test driver Sebastian Vettel in opening practice in Melbourne and Sepang, but race drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld felt that this had cost them critical preparation mileage.

Under the 2007 regulations, team can only use two cars in the Friday sessions, so any test driver appearances must be at the expense of a race driver.

Team boss Mario Theissen admitted after Bahrain - when Vettel's other commitments meant Kubica and Heidfeld had a full day of running - that BMW might rethink its driver plans, and today he confirmed that the testers would have to stand aside for now.

"As announced, following the overseas races we have been looking closely at the driver line-up for the Friday of the GP weekends," said Theissen.

"Until further notice, the two race drivers will be on track for the whole of Friday."

Williams is the only other team to have used a Friday tester so far this year, but with Kazuki Nakajima committed to the supporting GP2 event, the squad is also expected to use its race drivers all day in Spain next week.

Although Spyker had also intended to give its four test drivers some Friday practice opportunities during the season, it has stuck with racers Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil to date.

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Raikkonen: I'll show my true pace in Spain

Kimi Raikkonen has warned his rivals that he will be 'considerably' faster in the Spanish Grand Prix than in the first three races of 2007.

Although Raikkonen shares the championship lead with the McLaren drivers, having won in Australia and taken third places in Malaysia and Bahrain, he was never entirely happy with his Ferrari's set-up in the opening rounds.

But after dominating much of last week's Barcelona test, Raikkonen says the car is now much more to his liking - and significantly faster.

"We were able to improve the F2007 considerably, because the new components work really well and the car is now much closer to my style of driving," he said.

"I'm much more optimistic now: we can attack the best way possible, as my friend (ex-rally star) Markku Alen usually says.

"It's true that you never know how competitive you really are compared to the other teams during the test sessions - obviously for that we have to wait for the qualifying and the race - but the lap times give us some hints."

Raikkonen is particularly keen to show better pace in qualifying, where he has been out of sorts so far this season.

"As I already said over the last weeks, we have to improve the performance in qualifying," he said.

"It was not really easy for me to get all the potential out of the car on a single lap, because we never managed to prepare it at the best.

"Now I'm really happy about the steps forward.

"Although it's really difficult to overtake another car, even when it's slower, it makes things a lot easier when you want to win, when you can start from the front.

"Last February we had a good test session and we managed to make the set-up even better now, also thanks to the new components, which give me a very positive feeling.

"All in all the car is much better to drive now."

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F is missing

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Whole new F1 in 2011

If adopted, radical new engine regulations could be set to change the face of Formula 1 from 2011 according to a document outlining the FIAs proposals for the future of the sport which have been sent to all current F1 manufacturers, the latest issue of F1 Racing magazine (on sale from Tuesday) reveals.

As previously suggested by the FIA, the new rules, if adopted, would dramatically change the way the sport approaches engine technology and will rely heavily on renewable sources of energy to power F1.

The proposals outline potential regulations for 2011-2014 that have been designed with the FIAs president Max Mosleys stated long-term aims in mind namely to reduce costs and make F1 more environmentally friendly and road relevant.

It was sent to the manufacturers by Mosley and former BMW CEO Burkhard Goschel, the chairman of the Formula One Manufacturers Advisory Commission, and was drawn up by the governing bodys technical consultants Tony Purnell and Peter Wright.

The proposals were sent to the manufacturers, and not the teams management, directly as they mainly concern powertrain (engine) regulations.

And these proposals include a turbo-compounded 2.2-litre V6 engine formula, with the power units to run on bio-fuel rather than the current unleaded fuel.

The engines would produce around 770bhp (including a kinetic energy recovery system) with the maximum revs limited to 10,000rpm.

Engines would be required to last five grands prix, as opposed to the two currently, with the fuel savings thanks to the lower revs expected to be about 30 per cent.

Further mooted proposals include cars to be fitted with traction control, four-wheel drive and a 13-second-per-lap, driver controlled, power-boost function in a bid to aid overtaking.

The document also states that all development that cannot be classified as powertrain development for example aerodynamics should be severely constrained.

In addition to all current F1 manufacturers, the document was sent to both Ford and Volkswagen-Audi, who may join the sport in the future.

V6? Four-wheel drive? lol

Kuali Baba SG

4 wheel drive and TC? No way!

sand king SG

haha, wow the current engines are v12s?

Kuali Baba SG

No. V8s.

Kuali Baba SG

Suzuka may return in 2008

F1-Live.com

Suzuka could return to the Formula One calendar in 2008, after the Fuji was awarded the Japanese Grand Prix this year.

Auto Motor und Sport claims that there could be two races in Japan next season, following Bernie Ecclestone's realisation of the true popularity of the figure-of-eight Suzuka layout and also pressure from its owner, Honda.

Ecclestone criticised Suzuka's ageing facilities before axing it for 2007, much to Toyota's delight after the carmaker refurbished the Fuji Speedway at considerable cost.

Suzuka's return next year would reinstate the Pacific Grand Prix; a term last used in 1995 when the circuit was twinned with a race in the Japanese city of Aida.

Auto Motor und Sport said Honda has agreed to pay the bill for Suzuka's return to the calendar - a reputed $30m.

E.A.
Source GMM

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bio fuel… i wud like to see bioethanol… maybe E85 since they want to promote road going technologies

Kuali Baba SG

Bye-Bye Magny-Cours

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that this year's French Grand Prix will be the last held at Circuit de Nevers. It could move to another track or even be held in the streets of Paris next season.

"It's a little bit disappointing because we organised this grand prix and it has never developed in the way that we would have liked it to," Bernie told L'Equipe.

The track has been in use every season since 1991, when it replaced Paul Ricard.

Kuali Baba SG

Fisichella launches motor sport academy

Giancarlo Fisichella has announced he is to open his own motorsport academy in his home country of Italy.

The Renault driver, alongside his management team, is launching the Fisichella Motor Sport Academy in a newly built building at the Vallelunga test circuit near Rome.

The Academy will, through a series of lectures by staff and big names from the world of motorsport, teach students about the different career paths available in the field.

These will include how to become a mechanic, telemetrist, race engineer, aerodynamicist, technical director or team manager, as well as a driver manager, personal trainer or public relations officer.

Fisichellas academy will be housed in the brand new Fisichella Motor Sport Technopole building, which will also feature a personal training centre, museum and shopping precinct.

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Alonso not 100% comfortable at McLaren

Fernando Alonso has revealed that he has not felt truly comfortable at McLaren since joining the Woking squad last winter.

Although he has won two races this season, the double world champion unexpectedly trails his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the points standings and has made an uncharacteristic number of driving errors.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Alonso admitted that he is finding it hard having a British team-mate in a British team but said he had never expected it to be an easy situation.

From the first moment, I wasnt comfortable with everything, he said.

I'm in an English team, with an English team-mate who is doing a brilliant job.

"We knew that all the support and help would be going to him.

I understood that from the start and Im not complaining about it.

The British media has hailed Hamilton as F1's new superstar and tended to overlook Alonso, but the Spaniard is philosophical about the hype.

"I am indifferent to it," he said.

"We know how they are and luckily the Spanish press have a little more respect than the English do."

Despite his misgivings, Alonso remains confident that his title chances are still good.

Im relaxed, he said.

Im fine, though I know there is some impatience [due to] the way I arrived and how I am expected to dominate.

Im where I want to be and I have a clear chance of winning the title, which is what we want.

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Lewis rejects 'strange' Alonso claim

Lewis Hamilton has rejected Fernando Alonsos suggestions that he is receiving the lions share of McLarens support.

After Hamiltons first grand prix win in Montreal last weekend, Alonso told a Spanish radio station that he did not yet feel fully comfortable at McLaren and was finding it difficult being paired with a British driver in a British team.

While he stopped short of accusing his team of giving Hamilton preferential treatment or equipment, Alonsos comments forced McLaren boss Ron Dennis to reiterate on Wednesday that the team is scrupulous in treating its two drivers equally.

At Indianapolis on Thursday, Hamilton told a news conference that he was surprised by Alonsos comments.

I find it strange he said that because I feel that ever since he joined [McLaren], the team have been extremely motivated to push us both toward winning, he said.

Ron and the other guys on the team have been working very hard to make sure we have equal opportunity.

Its probably always going to be difficult in a business, but obviously Ive got a great relationship with all the guys in the team because Ive been with them since I was 13.

At the end of the day when Fernando came into the team, they were extremely excited and I feel built a very good relationship with him.

So I don't see why he would say that.

But I guess because he is Spanish and I am English, he might feel that way, but I dont agree with it personally.

Hamilton has made a sensational impact in his rookie F1 season, finishing on the podium in every race and taking a clear world championship lead following the Canadian GP.

The Briton acknowledged that Alonso may have been taken aback by the intensity of the intra-team competition.

I doubt very much that he was expecting me to do as well as I have, he said.

But I dont know whether thats why he would be saying what hes saying.

But definitely, coming into the team, hes the two-time world champion and hes not really been challenged well, I think he has some challenges in the past but not really had probably someone as close as me and as good a friend off the track probably.

So its a very difficult situation.

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