30-Nov-07: Ecclestone and Fisichella Battle It Out
This is F1 Minute for the 30th November 2007.
Another war of words has hit the headlines, this time between Bernie Ecclestone and Giancarlo Fisichella. Ecclestone was quoted on the Official Formula 1 website as saying he thought perhaps it was time Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher called it a day, instead of prolonging an unproductive career. Fisichella has retaliated on his own website saying that when he and Alonso were team mates, he was actually the first to get a win from the championship winning Renault.
Ron Dennis has been in the news talking, once again, about how McLaren are in no rush to pick their second driver. An interesting quote, though, regarding Alonso, he said: “You can’t win at all costs. It’s good that the only ambition is to win and that’s what they are hired for, but you have to know how to deal with your impulses and with difficult situations.”
And finally, rather unsurprisingly, Lewis Hamilton has been shortlisted as one of ten possibilities for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. He is up against nine other stars of the year including Paula Radcliffe, Jonny Wilkinson and Andy Murray.
That’s all for today, have a great weekend and please join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.
29-Nov-07: Indianapolis Boss Hopes For F1 Return
Today is the 29th November 2007, this is F1 Minute and these are your top headlines.
The boss of the Indianapolis circuit in America has expressed his hope that Formula 1 will return to the states and to their track. Having invested so much in the circuit, Joie Chitwood hopes that a deal can be done for a future race.
BMW have released Timo Glock from his contract, so that he can join his new team Toyota for the upcoming test in Jerez. Glock’s contract officially runs out on December 31st, but BMW have given the go ahead for him to test all four days next week.
Jarno Trulli has been talking about his hopes that slick tyres will return to racing, as he dislikes the current grooved ones. Trulli says they change a drivers style to be totally unnatural and the graining that come with a grooved tyre is frustrating. He blames any lack of overtaking in Formula 1 on the grooved tyres.
And very quickly, two former World Champions have been talking about Michael Schumacher’s impressive return to form in testing this winter. Alan Jones and Mika Hakkinen both say that his success may tempt the German back to the cockpit.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
28-Nov-07: The Incredibly Popular Force India
This is F1 Minute for the 28th November 2007.
Given all the McLaren headlines of late, you would think they are the team everyone wants to join. But it looks like Force India are giving them a run for their money, with no less than seven drivers hoping for a race drive.
Among the many are Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Christian Klien, Tonio Liuzzi and Franck Montagny. Force India have confirmed that Schumacher and Fisichella will each get a full day of testing in Jerez next week, to assess potential for the spare seat alongside Adrian Sutil. Liuzzi and Klien are both testing for the second time for the team, having been called back from Barcelona.
Current test drivers Roldan Rodriguez and Giedo van der Garde make up the seven interested parties, although neither of them have any race experience within Formula 1. With such big names fighting for a place in a small team, an interesting post over on the International Herald Tribune blog points out that many drivers race for the love of it, rather than simply to win. And apparently, they also get their travel and food expenses for the test paid for them.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
27-Nov-07: Teams, Drivers, Their Futures
Today is 27th November 2007, I’m Christine from Sidepodcast and this is F1 Minute.
All the headlines today focus on driver and team futures, starting with Ralf Schumacher’s apparent desire to get in the McLaren seat. The actual quotes appear to point to him saying it is simply a coveted seat, that’s all.
Rosberg has announced that he hopes to stay with Williams for the long haul, because he wants the challenge of bringing them back to the top again. He said he’s not going anywhere for at least another season, and hopes for more than that. He says it’s nice to be linked to McLaren and he’d like to drive with his old friend Lewis Hamilton, but for now he wants to be to Williams what Schumacher was to Ferrari.
After Coulthard’s statement yesterday that Alonso would most likely not be joining Red Bull, Webber has come out and said he’s confident about his own race seat. And Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has confirmed that Alonso is not in their plans.
And finally, Adrian Sutil has ruled out joining another team in 2008, despite his name being linked with several opportunities around the grid. Mike Gascoyne from Force India has also spoken out, saying that the one point the team scored last year will only spur them on to try even harder in the next.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
26-Nov-07: David Coulthard Speaks Out
I’m Christine and this is F1 Minute for the 26th November 2007.
David Coulthard has given an exclusive interview to the ITV-F1 website giving some frank views and interesting insights.
His first point is that he doesn’t think Fernando Alonso will be joining Red Bull in the near future. He’s slightly disappointed in the lack of communication from the media since that story began to surface, thinking that perhaps journalists should do slightly more research and get the information firsthand.
David also uttered some surprise at the fact that Franz Tost from Toro Rosso was allowed to get away with inciting such rumours, considering the fact that Red Bull are first a totally separate team, and second, the parent company of his own.
Coulthard stuck up for Alonso considerably, saying that although events throughout the year may not have helped the image of the sport, at least everyone involved has acted consistently. And speaking from experience about McLaren, David said that although Ron can be a difficult man to get on with, the team absolutely do offer a fair and equal racing experience.
He even managed a quick plug for his autobiography.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
23-Nov-07: Prodrive Won’t Race in 2008
It’s the 23rd November 2007, this is F1 Minute, and these are your top headlines for today.
Prodrive have said they will not be participating in the 2008 championship after last minute legal battles. A statement from the team said that they were disappointed at the challenges they faced with the Concorde Agreement, especially as their plans to use a customer car had been public knowledge for a year beforehand. Prodrive do intend to enter Formula 1 at some stage though, when an agreement can finally be reached.
Also in the news today, teams have been complaining about what they see as underhanded tactics from Honda. In the recent test at Barcelona, Super Aguri tested out some new, young drivers, apparently on Honda’s behalf. This means that Honda could continue using up their own testing miles for the data, and let Super Aguri use up their miles on the drivers.
Finally, details of a legal document given to the FIA by McLaren reveal they believe Renault did benefit from having their information. The document also revealed McLaren are unhappy with some of the submissions from Renault engineers, believing them to be misleading.
That’s all for today, have a great weekend, and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.
22-Nov-07: Schumacher Will Return to the Track in Jerez
I’m Christine and this is F1 Minute for the 22nd November 2007.
With the news that Michael Schumacher will be returning to the cockpit for Ferrari in Jerez next month, it seems only right to share another story on the former champion. ArabianBusiness.com says that Michael Schumacher will have a building named after him in Dubai. The German owned company ACI will begin work on Michael Schumacher Business Avenue in the next few months, it will have 29 floors and house both commercial and residential tenants. Schumacher is expected to travel to Dubai to launch the project in January. ACI have previously been involved in building the Niki Lauda Twin Towers.
Back to the present, though, Alonso’s manager has told the BBC that he will not be making any decisions until he is ready, despite Renault continually being in the news as they pursue him. Luis Garcia Abad said: “Fernando is on holiday and we have nothing to say at the moment.”
That’s all for today, Happy Thanksgiving to our American listeners, and join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
21-Nov-07: Jerez Testing to Feature Slicks Tyres
Today is the 21st November 2007, I’m Christine and this is F1 Minute.
The upcoming test in Jerez in December will be the first in almost ten years to feature slick tyres. The teams are all in agreement that they need to gather data for a possible return to slicks in 2009, but that the laps they complete this year should not count against their testing mileage limit.
Also in the news, Bernie Ecclestone continues his love/hate relationship with the Silverstone circuit. Today he is loving the circuit and urging the British government to fork out some cash for the necessary upgrades. He says: “With a tiny percentage of what the government are wasting on the Olympics, they could support Silverstone.” A few weeks ago the Sports Minister for the UK said he supported the Grand Prix at Silverstone, but no money would be forthcoming.
And finally, a quick update on yesterday. I mentioned that BMW would be launching their new car, the F1.08 on 14th January, and we now know it will be in Munich.
That’s all for today, thanks for listening, and join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
20-Nov-07: Fisichella Believes His Options Are Open
This is F1 Minute, I’m Christine from Sidepodcast, and these are your top headlines for the 20th November 2007.
Following Flavio Briatore’s hints that the Renault line-up for next year will feature all new drivers, Fisichella has said he has other opportunities within Formula 1. He hasn’t named names, but says he is looking around for other options.
The other news today is Toyota’s announcement that their new car, the TF108 will be launched on January 10th. Next season’s contender will be unveiled at their headquarters in Cologne. They are one of the first teams to announce the launch of their new car, with BMW being the only others. Their offering will be launched January 14th but they have not yet named the place.
And because that’s all the news there is, here’s an interesting quote from Mario Theissen about the future of the F1 calendar: “20 races is a lot and will place a heavy burden on the whole team. However, this is something we can live with. At the end of the day, we put a huge amount of resources into racing in Formula One. And if we do end up with another two races on the program, it will mean that these resources are actually being used more efficiently.”
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
19-Nov-07: Toyota Confirm Timo Glock as New Driver
Welcome to a brand new week of F1 Minute. These are your headlines for today, 19th November 2007.
Toyota were expected to confirm Timo Glock as their Ralf replacement at Fuji this weekend, but the announcement was made today. Glock won the GP2 series this year, and said he is looking forward to working with the team. Toyota have said that Glock’s deal covers multiple years and they hope to arrange for his early exit from BMW.
Christian Klien was one of the many drivers testing for Force India last week, in the hopes of securing a drive with the new team for 2008. Klien said he was impressed with the car and the team, and they obviously thought the same of him, as he has been invited to join them again in Jerez in December.
And finally, Flavio Briatore has been talking about their drivers for next year. The rumours are out that Fisichella has already hung up his Renault boots, and Briatore’s words have caused speculation about Kovalainen’s future as well. The team boss also said that he is 60% confident they can get Alonso back to Renault, but that an announcement either way would be made soon.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.