David Coulthard is usually pretty quiet on the subject of his future, which never stops the silly season rumours from flying without abandon. However, today he’s spoken out a little about his future. What he actually says is that he doesn’t know what the future holds, and whilst he would love to keep driving, he knows that it’s very possible the coming race could be his very last British GP. He says there are worse things in life than not having a drive and when the time comes he will move on gracefully.
The BMW boys have differing opinions on how they will fare at this weekend’s race, with Heidfeld confident that the improvements from the recent test will help them get back to form. Kubica, meanwhile, says that their dismal French GP performance will hopefully kick everyone into a new gear, and that Silverstone needs to be a turning point for the team.
And finally, the boss of the Paul Ricard test track, Phillippe Gurdijan has retired and will concentrate on his new project – helping the Abu Dhabi circuit organisers.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Welcome to F1 Minute, today is the 29th June 2008.
Another light hearted story to round out the weekend, although this one does seem slightly dangerous.
David Coulthard and Sebastien Bourdais took their respective Red Bull cars to Pamplona in Spain today, to take part in the Bull Run with a difference. Normally, around this time of year, crazy people run down a hill being chased by bulls. In celebration of this festival, Red Bull thought it would be a good idea to chase people down the hill in Formula 1 cars.
Now, technically, it wasn’t the same hill, and the cars spent more time doing donuts than actually being aimed at people, but it still looked like a pretty good show. Bourdais in his Toro Rosso and Coulthard in his Red Bull headed down the street following a herd of runners, there is video evidence on the web. The cars came crazily near to the people, with one video showing man entering an arena, closely followed by machine.
Having given it some pretty serious thought, I’ve decided I would rather be chased by a Red Bull than a real bull. Let me know what you think at F1minute.com.
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A slow news day today, but even when F1 isn’t hitting the headlines, McLaren and Lewis Hamilton still are. This time he has been involved in a crash, not on track but on the water. Taking part in the Round the Island race which goes around the Isle of Wight, Hamilton was on board the boat of McLaren sponsor Hugo Boss. Before the yacht race even started, he and his fellow sailors had collided with another boat, but the damage was not extensive enough to stop them from competing. They went on to apparently win the race.
However, controversy isn’t limited to Formula 1, as a complaint from the team who were hit saw the Hugo Boss crew disqualified six hours after the race had been completed.
Elsewhere, Murray Walker is being given a star on the Walk of Fame at his home city of Birmingham. The star is in recognition of his achievements and his fame. The BBC article reporting this story ends with: “Other West Midlands celebrities to have been given a star on the Walk of Fame include rock stars Ozzie Osbourne and Noddy Holder and comedian Jasper Carrott.”
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Today is the 27th June 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Autosport.com are reporting that the FIA are scrapping the anticipated ban of tyre warmers for 2009. The ban was supposed to coincide with the reintroduction of slick tyres, but teams and drivers have been raising safety concerns ever since the idea was put forward. Although Bridgestone have offered up a solution or two, no agreement can be reached. Therefore, it looks like the FIA will push back the warmers ban.
Elsewhere today, it has emerged that Bernie Ecclestone warned Max Mosley about the fact that someone was out to discredit him at least two months before the News of the World scandal broke. A different UK newspaper, The Times, is reporting that Bernie has a friend from a corporate intelligence company who was approached with an unlimited budget to bring Max’s reputation into disrepute, so he would be removed from office. Bernie’s friend told Bernie and Bernie told Max, but I guess Max didn’t think it was a problem.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Hi everyone, this is F1 Minute and today is the 26th June 2008.
Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on the last day of testing at Silverstone, ahead of Glock for Toyota, and then Raikkonen in the Ferrari. Glock actually had an incident with Coulthard with the pair colliding at the end of Hangar Straight. Glock apologised for the contact, and thanked his mechanics for working hard and getting the car out again. Alonso caused a red flag with apparent engine trouble, as did Coulthard later in the day for the same reason.
Elsewhere today, BMW have announced they will be restructuring their technical department and reducing the workload of current Technical Director Willy Rampf. He will become Technical Coordinator from November this year, meaning he will still lead the overall concept of the car.
Finally, organisers of the Abu Dhabi GP are said to be super happy with their provisional placement on the calendar, not just because they will host the potential championship decider, but also because it means the weather will be good.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Kovalainen was fastest on Day 2 of the test in Silverstone, with Trulli and Rosberg behind him, and Massa all the way down in 7th. There were several red flags today, one of which caused by Fisichella, who crashed after being caught in a gust of wind. He was taken to the medical centre and then a nearby hospital for checks on his wrist. He is okay, though.
Elsewhere, the FIA have been busy, with the World Council meeting in France. Firstly, they released a statement officially announcing they would review how F1 is governed. They also promoted their new feeder series for F1 called Formula 2, and they decided that they’d only raise the entry fee costs to F1 for teams by the rate of inflation.
Finally, they released a provision calendar for 2009, which sees the races starting and ending much later in the year, France is included, whilst the US is not, and the season closer will be in Abu Dhabi, the only new addition. Notably Turkey has been returned to its slot further down the calendar.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
A three day test at Silverstone kicked off today with Felipe Massa putting Ferrari at the top of the time sheets. The Ferrari boys did have some troubles, with their car stopping out on track and causing a red flag, but it obviously didn’t hinder them too much. Kovalainen in the McLaren was just behind, then Kubica for BMW. Other notable events, Vettel had gearbox trouble and finished the day last, whilst Piquet had engine problems, causing another red flag.
Elsewhere, after the recent upset over the super licence price hike, the FIA are now set to discuss the possibility of raising the entry fee for teams. It currently stands at 300,000 Euros and could go up to 740,000. That’s quite a steep hike. There’s a World Council meeting tomorrow, where the FIA will decide if teams should start paying for some of the services they provide, such as weather forecasting, digilights, and the intercom system from the pits to race control. Also on the agenda will be regulation changes for 2009.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
It’s being reported that the FIA may be interested in a new Concorde Agreement but only if Bernie accepts some changes. Apparently the new deal would be in place if Bernie ups the share of F1 revenue given to the teams. For promotional revenues, it could go up from 75 to 92 per cent, and for TV earnings from 50 to 67. It looks like the proposal was submitted to Mr Ecclestone last year, and so far has garnered no response. Within the paddock, however, teams aren’t really in on the deal. Mario Theissen says the new Concorde Agreement isn’t just about money, but of course, they wouldn’t turn it down.
Elsewhere, after the exhaust incident in France this weekend, it looks as though Raikkonen will need an engine change ahead of the British GP, but he won’t receive a penalty. Ferrari will be able to cash in on the one freebie engine rule.
Finally, the San Marino Grand Prix has been missing off the calendar for a couple of years now, but the Imola circuit has received certification from the FIA so they can now host F1 tests.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and it’s the 22nd June.
Felipe Massa took the win in France, after Raikkonen’s Ferrari developed a mechanical problem. Part of the exhaust became loose and was dangling off the car for at least half the race. It finally fell off a few laps from the end, but not before melting a giant hole in the bodywork. Raikkonen still managed to finish in second, though. Rounding out the podium was Trulli, who is no doubt thankful to have provided the tribute for Ove Andersson that Toyota so badly wanted.
Elsewhere, Button was the only retiree, after a first lap tangle with Bourdais that damaged his front wing, whilst Hamilton pushed through the traffic as much as he could, but was on the receiving end of another penalty - this time a drive through, for taking a position by running off the track.
Alonso was having a strong afternoon, battling with Webber mostly, right until the end when Piquet managed to get past him. This will have boosted Piquet’s confidence after a run of bad luck.
It didn’t rain as was predicted, although there were two brief showers, and I mean very brief, that barely affected the action at all.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Kimi Raikkonen has secured Ferrari’s 200th pole position today, with Felipe Massa helping the team lock out the front row.
Free Practice 3 was slightly bizarre with Nelson Piquet topping the timesheets, so that gave nothing away as to what would happen in qualifying. The first two sessions saw nothing out of the ordinary, except for Heidfeld struggling to get out of 18th position. He finally managed to pull his BMW into 12th in the nick of time. Other than that the bottom of the timesheets saw team mates sticking together. Force India’s last, then both Honda drivers, both Williams and Toro Rossos.
At the top, Hamilton and Alonso followed the Ferrari’s, but with Hamilton’s ten place grid drop, that promotes Alonso to third. Kovalainen in the other McLaren also suffered at the hands of the stewards, being handed a five place grid drop for impeding Mark Webber on a hot lap.
Finally, on that subject, Raikkonen was fined 5,000 Euros for turning up late to the driver’s post-practice meeting on Friday.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.