Essential Reading for January 7th, 2009

Recommended links for January 7th, 2009:

• Singapore to revise track for 2009 race - "We are modifying turns one, two and three because we want drivers to have more opportunities to overtake this year."

  There are also plans to work on improving the track surface, which drew criticism from drivers as the most bumpy on the Formula One calendar and required teams to make drastic setup changes.

  "We want to reduce the bumps and smoothen out the circuit," said Syn. "So that will be an improvement next year to make the race even better than it was in 2008."

• Donington Park in a race against time to stage 2010 British Grand Prix - The owners of Donington Park, the venue for the 2010 British Grand Prix, face a challenge to raise almost £40 million in funding required to upgrade the track and facilities in time to host the race next year.

  In February 2007 Gillett approached Donington's owner Tom Wheatcroft, who rescued the circuit from decay in 1973, and secured a 150-year lease as well as significant land holdings on the 100-acre site for a sum believed to be £30 million. Just as importantly, he secured from Wheatcroft an introduction to Ecclestone.

• Ferrari is not Honda’s only choice - There has been much reporting in the last day or so which suggests that the team formerly known as Honda Racing F1 is close to a deal to use Ferrari engines in 2009. This is not as clear-cut as some of the stories have suggested.

  Toyota and BMW both had acceptable horsepower levels but it was clear that the fight for the best engine was only ever between McLaren and Ferrari. It is worth noting that engine insiders say that the Mercedes was the better engine because at the end of 2006 the team picked up a lot of people from Cosworth, which was generally agreed to have had the best engine in 2006. Williams left the Northampton firm because there was a better financial deal on offer from Toyota.

Essential Reading for January 7th, 2009

Recommended links for January 7th, 2009:

• Collector’s Addition - David Coulthard's old racing cars are being transported from Twynholm to the Birmingham NEC for Autosport International. Make sure you don't miss them.

  The contents of the museum will be transplanted from their home in Twynholm, Scotland, to the Birmingham NEC to be displayed as part of a special tribute to Coulthard's racing career.

• Ferrari laughs off Peugeot KERS stories - Ferrari is currently developing its KERS system in conjunction with Magneti Marelli but there is no reason why the team could not buy Peugeot expertise if this was considered something of value. Peugeot unveiled its 908 HY car in September and revealed that this was going to have a KERS system, the aim being to deliver extra horsepower or better fuel consumption (depending on what was needed at any specific moment) at Le Mans in particular, where the long lap means that KERS could be generating electrical power for about half a minute each lap.
• A deal worth noting - Carlin Motorsport has announced that it is switching to Volkswagen engines in Formula 3 for 2009, following the announcement that it has signed two Red Bull Junior drivers.

  It is thought that Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz's decision to work with Volkswagen is a careful plan to align the two firms int he hope that one day it will provide him with engines for Formula 1. VW continues to say that there is no intention of any move to F1 in the forseeable future, but with a more cost-effective F1 and the likelihood of an eventual economic upturn in the years ahead, nothing is impossible.

Essential Reading for January 5th, 2009

Recommended links for January 5th, 2009:

• Ferrari first to launch 2009 car - Ferrari will be the first team to launch its car for the 2009 season.

  The constructors' champion will unveil its latest F1 challenger at its Italian HQ at Maranello on 12 January.

• Thorny claim over racing champ - Handsome, brave and impulsive, he was the golden boy of motor racing. But as fans prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of the death in a road accident of Britain's first Formula One champion, Mike Hawthorn, pit lane chatter has turned up a new theory as to why it happened.

  Mechanic Brian Taylor says a Mercedes like Walker's drove past the garage on the fateful day and an arm came up 'in the time-honoured salute'.

  Hawthorn roared after him in his Jaguar, but lost control on the Guildford bypass, dying when he hit a tree.

• Brundle might walk - Motor racing pundit Martin Brundle (right) is in discussion with the BBC's new Formula One production team as to how his celebrated prerace grid walk from his ITV days can best be revamped next season.

  Brundle has his doubts whether the unrehearsed and unscripted interviews will continue to work, especially as the drivers - with other arranged media commitments while on the grid - are becoming increasingly reluctant to chat.

  The likelihood is that the Beeb will cherry pick the best races for the Brundle walk.

• Alonso unhurt in plane incident - "Fernando indeed had a plane incident yesterday. His aircraft touched a building and damaged its wing. Fernando and his family are fine. They will be flying back to Europe today. It's apparently not as serious as some people are trying to make it sound."
• Sir Jackie Stewart delivers damning verdict - “I don't think Bernie can bring people in to help him in a transition phase, he has been so used to total control that if you look at his structure you have to ask yourself 'is there a successor?' and you would say 'no'. That is wrong. The commercial reality has to be recognised … and there has be continuity that the ageing process makes necessary.”

Essential Reading for January 3rd, 2009

Recommended links for January 3rd, 2009:

• 2009 The new stars - There isn't a team in the paddock who wouldn't give their right wheelnut to employ Sebastian Vettel just now. He has talent, he has car control, and he's also consistent. He had a terrible run of bad luck in the first half of last season, but from Monaco onwards he scored in all but three races, and ended up eighth overall. At 21, he was the youngest F1 race-winner ever. The only people in front of him were the two McLarens, two Ferraris, two BMWs and Alonso in the Renault. In a Toro Rosso car, that was pretty special.
• Why Donington might well work - The bit I was sceptical about was the financing of the whole thing using a debenture scheme.

  But the critical point, according to Gillett, is that the risk on the scheme doesn’t lie with him, it lies with his debenture partners IMG, the sports marketing firm and Goldman Sachs, the investment bank. He says that they committed to the programme before the credit crunch came, so he will get his money anyway whether they sell 10 debentures or 10,000. He gets the up-front money, they get the annual fee.

• Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica goes back to his roots - The Polish Formula One driver has taken up a new challenge by setting up his own karting team.

  Kubica has returned to his roots by going into partnership with the Italian company Birel formed by the Sala family, for which he raced in the European and World Championships in 2000, taking a management role in the team competing in major international karting events.

Essential Reading for December 31st, 2008

Recommended links for December 31st, 2008:

• Economy the winner if F1 comes to Donington - Economic benefits of the F1 British Grand Prix coming to Donington Park will outweigh any negative noise impact on neighbouring communities, a report claims.

  In a report to go before the authority's environmental committee 48 hours before D-day, Mark Alflat, director of community services, recommends support for the project. He says: "The development offers substantial economic opportunities. The Grand Prix has the potential to attract both visitor spend and inward investment. New facilities, along with associated developments, will create substantial construction employment opportunities."

• Times are tough on the circuit, says F1 hopeful - Formula One hopeful Jonathan Kennard believes motorsport’s top teams are worried to invest in drivers following Honda’s dramatic departure from the sport.

  "I was delighted to be called back by Williams to do another test. It was very similar work to the one I did before, but is shows that they thought I did a good job which can only boost me as a driver."

  "The Williams tests have certainly boosted the interest in me for next season and I am in talks with a number of people. However, we will just have to wait and see what the long term effects are with the economic crisis.”

• Hamilton MBE a ‘massive honour’ - Lewis Hamilton said he felt "humbled" after being made an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours.

  "It is a massive honour and incredible privilege to receive an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen," said Hamilton.

  "It is the most amazing culmination to what has been quite a year for me and something I am very appreciative of."

Essential Reading for December 29th, 2008

Recommended links for December 29th, 2008:

• It’s out! Alonso has a Ferrari contract - They would have hired Alonso in 2006 when they took Raikkonen were it not for the fact that Alonso had fallen out with Jean Todt after pulling out of an agreed testing contract in 2001, to sign for Renault.

  Todt said he would never drive for Ferrari, but Todt’s influence is now reduced at Ferrari and Montezemolo clearly felt that they had hired the wrong man when they took Raikkonen instead of Alonso in 2006.

• A Grand Prix in Rome? - Maurizio Flammini was a winning Formula 2 driver in his day. Flammini is now saying that he would like to see a Formula 1 street race in Rome. It is not a new idea but the idea that Monza will be dropped from the F1 calendar is pretty unlikely, given the continued popularity of the event, the investment that has been made at the track by the local government, and the historic traditions of the venue, which go back to 1921.

  Flammini says that the current F1 trend towards street races, taking the races to the people rather than vice versa, would make Rome an ideal location for a race.

• Honda Racing deny reports billionaire Carlos Slim is ready to take over the team - Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote on Saturday that Slim had agreed a deal that would see the team line up on the grid in 2009 with Englishman Jenson Button and Bruno Senna as their drivers.

  But Brawn told Telegraph Sport on Sunday that, while talks are ongoing with "a number of interested parties," speculation concerning the Mexican billionaire is wide of the mark.

Essential Reading for December 25th, 2008

Recommended links for December 25th, 2008:

• Alonso in fresh Ferrari link - Speculation linking Fernando Alonso with a future at Ferrari reappeared on Sunday, when Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported he had a four-year deal signed from 2011.

  Respected journalist Pino Allievi has now written that Alonso has a four year deal in place from 2011, with get-out clauses agreed for both sides.

• Honda F1 team in line for rescue package from Mexican billionaire - Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the world's second richest man, has rescued the Honda Formula One team, Italian newspaper La Stampa has reported.

  "The saviour has arrived: Carlos Slim, 67 years old, the second richest man in the world," said the newspaper.

• Brundle latest to sign up for F2 - Alex Brundle, the 18-year-old son of former grand prix driver and BBC commentator Martin, has entered the Formula 2 Championship for 2009.

  Martin Brundle, who never raced in Formula 2 but jumped straight from F3 to F1 when he was climbing the motorsport ladder, added: "F2 cars will be fast, competitive, strong, equal, high profile and good value.

  "This ticks many boxes for parents and sponsors and the direct F1 link is important too."

Essential Reading for December 23rd, 2008

Recommended links for December 23rd, 2008:

• Toyota backs call for bigger slice of income - As Toyota forecast its first ever annual operating loss yesterday, the head of the Japanese car giant's Formula One team threw his weight behind Ferrari's efforts to wrest a greater share of the sport's huge revenue stream from Bernie Ecclestone.

  Howett was unimpressed. “He may be trying to [split Fota] but all the information that was given is very transparent and openly shared among the members of Fota, so it was a bit of a non-event because everybody is aware of the historic status [of Ferrari],” Howett said.

• Toro Rosso confirm new team manager - Scuderia Toro Rosso have confirmed that Gianfranco Fantuzzi will be their new team manager, replacing Massimo Rivola who has joined Ferrari.

  The reshuffle comes as the team continue working hard on their preparations for 2009, where they will bid to try and match the form that helped them to a maiden victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

• Exclusive interview - FIA President Max Mosley - Mosley was not expected to run again for re-election in 2009. However, the last word on this has not yet been spoken and the FIA President will make his final decision next June…

  "The withdrawal of Honda was a surprise. They were good enough to inform us in confidence four days before announcing it, but they would have been one of the last teams I would have expected to withdraw."

Essential Reading for December 22nd, 2008

Recommended links for December 22nd, 2008:

• Gordon, Tata and Ferrari - Following this week's news that Indian giant Tata is to sponsor Ferrari, there is growing concern that this might be at the expense of the British taxpayer.

  While British race fans fear for the future of the British Grand Prix, the government having made it quite clear that it will not intervene with financial support for the event, the thought of subsidising a foreign car manufacturer that would in turn sponsor Ferrari, might be just too much to bear.

• Watch out for the Koreans - There is much talk of David Richards taking over the Honda F1 team, and there are clear signs that is his intention.

  The other name that we have heard mentioned is that of Korea's Hyundai Kia Automotive Group. This is the world's fifth largest automaker, producing 1.6 million units annually, but it has no profile at all in the sport at the moment, although the company was involved in the World Rally Championship until 2003.

• Donington Park’s plans for the British GP - Simon Gillett, the chief executive of Donington Park, has not said a great deal about his plans for the British Grand Prix in 2010, arguing that it is best to let his actions speak for him. He understands that there is much cynicism in F1 circles and scepticism that the idea will ever come to fruition.

  Gillett says that his goal is not only to make the track sustainable but also to make sure that his customers enjoy the experience and return year after year. He says that the sport long ago lost sight of how to treat the public and needs to focus on that to develop in the future.

  Perhaps the most spectacular element of his plan is to close East Midlands Airport over the race weekend and use the facilities to fly in F1 charters from all over Europe, executive jets, helicopters and to use the airport parking. To achieve this he simply has to offer the airlines involved a better deal than they would get from passengers.

Essential Reading for December 20th, 2008

Recommended links for December 20th, 2008:

• Renault’s F1 boss Briatore pits in Malindi with Christmas tidings - With exorbitant operational costs coupled with the global economic downturn stinging Formula One, residents of Malindi are not complaining at all.

  It appears that Formula One team Renault’s boss, Flavio Briatore, is releasing the motorsports stress by spending more time on the Kenyan coast and footballers in Malindi are enjoying every moment of it. Briatore said a container full of sports equipment was on the high seas headed for local schools and institutions.

• Van der Drift’s F1 dream put on hold - Kiwi A1GP racer Chris van der Drift was oh so close to his dream of a drive in a Formula One car.

  How close? "I'd been to have my seat fitted," van der Drift said, referring to the fact each F1 driver has to have his seat moulded to fit him exactly.

  But his test drive with Honda (as part of his prize package for winning the Formula Master series in Europe) was swept away when Honda's bosses pulled the plug on their entire F1 campaign.

  "I was only 10 days away from driving the F1 car. They didn't know anything about what was going to happen, everything was completely normal."

• F1’s American dream intact - McLaren team boss Ron Dennis is confident North America will be back on the Formula One calendar "within the next three years".

  "There shouldn't be anybody who feels we are turning our backs on North America," Dennis told the The Associated Press. "We definitely expect to be back in North America within the next three years."

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