The main news of the weekend was the story about Max Mosley and some of the things he may or may not get up to in his personal life. Pictures surfaced on the News of the World website and a video was posted onto YouTube that appeared to show Max in some compromising positions. At the moment, there has been no comment from Max or the FIA regarding the scandal and it is assumed that he is consulting with some lawyers.
In actual F1 news, McLaren have been pushed to the back of the pit lane in Bahrain, to their proper garage if last year’s championship result is anything to go by. The reason for this decision compared to the fifth place they enjoyed in Australia and Malaysia is still unknown.
Other stories today include Singapore testing out their lighting system on a stretch of road as a demonstration for the upcoming night race, Silverstone building a new grandstand to house over 2,000 more spectators, and Massa deciding he may keep his Malaysia engine for the Bahrain race.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
McLaren will be looking into their pit speed limiter process after the incident in Australia with Kovalainen. Engineering director Paddy Lowe has said they will be revising the system in future as: “It shouldn’t be something you can pick up by accident when you’re moving your hands around.”
Ferrari test driver Marc Gene has criticised the system used by McLaren, saying he was surprised it happened, as his team has a way of making the button inactive over a certain gear or speed.
The GPDA fallout continues, after Jackie Stewart’s disappointment in Hamilton yesterday. Pedro de la Rosa has said they don’t back this attitude. “We look forward to Lewis becoming a GPDA member at some time in the future. But it isn’t mandatory to join and it isn’t our intention to put pressure on Lewis, as he has always been extremely helpful with any safety issue we have engaged in in the past.”
And a Toyota official has confirmed that Timo Glock will be okay to race in Malaysia this weekend.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
It seems everyone has something to say following the manic race in Australia this weekend. First up, Ross Brawn is confident that Honda will be able to get points finishes regularly, despite Button being knocked out in the first lap and Barrichello being disqualified. The entire team is buoyed up by the improved performance from last year.
On that subject, Barrichello is calling for the pit signalling to be changed. He said: “I never saw a red light. I will never see it and I don’t pretend to see it. They are in the wrong places and by the time you see it, it is too late. You have already gone past it.”
Ron Dennis has spoken of Kovalainen’s mistake during the closing laps, where he pushed the pit speed limiter button and allowed Alonso to regain his position. Dennis said Heikki shouldn’t beat himself up too much, no one is judging him for what happened.
Two quick snippets, Massa refuses to take the blame for the incident with Coulthard saying the Scot should go back and rewatch the footage, whilst Glock is confident he will be okay to drive in Malaysia.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Hi everyone, it’s the 16th March and this is F1 Minute.
Lewis Hamilton got his championship challenge off to a great start by taking a lights to flag victory in Australia. Leading away from the grid, he managed to avoid the first corner carnage which saw Fisichella, Davidson, Vettel, Button and Webber all retire before they’d completed a single lap.
The retirements did not stop there. In one of the most incident packed races since Canada last year, only seven drivers actually made it to the chequered flag. Both Ferrari’s retired with engine trouble, Raikkonen’s non-finish compounding a bad day of mistakes trying to overtake other cars.
Timo Glock suffered a nasty accident when his Toyota was launched in the air over a bump in the service road. He is okay, a little bit winded at the time, and he left the circuit with a bandaged wrist.
The podium finishers were Hamilton, Heidfeld, and Rosberg. Bourdais picked up 8th place, despite retiring three laps from the end. Barrichello was disqualified, for exiting the pit lane through a red light, meaning Raikkonen did manage to pick up a single point.
That’s all for today, join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
The new format qualifying took place today, with Hamilton taking pole position, but there were a few surprises along the way. Kimi Raikkonen broke down during the first session, meaning that although his time got him through to the second, he couldn’t actually take part. He will now face a race through the pack tomorrow.
Webber spun off in Quali 2, which was quite disappointing in front of his home crowd. He caused a red flag and the session to be stopped while his car was cleared from the track.
Sutil also spun right at the end of the second session. Yellow flags were waved but a few of the drivers didn’t seem to heed them. Trulli, Rosberg, Fisichella and Button were all called to answer how they managed to set their fastest times while under yellow flags. No penalties were given though.
One driver who is suffering from multiple penalties is Timo Glock. He has had a gearbox change dropping him five grid places, and was then found to have impeded another driver’s lap, meaning another five place drop.
The two front rows of the grid take the form of Hamilton, Kubica, Kovalainen and Massa. It should be a good race, for all the headlines, join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Super Aguri have announced they have new owners, British company Magma Group. The financial backing means that drivers Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato have been confirmed for this season, but there are very few details out about the actual financial arrangement.
Nigel Stepney escaped sanction from the FIA over last year’s espionage scandal, however teams have been warned not to work with Stepney for over a year. The FIA have advised against collaboration with him until 1st July 2009.
Bernie Ecclestone was threatening the future of the Australian Grand Prix again this weekend, saying it would have to become a night race or else it would be off the calendar. Organisers have offered a compromise, saying that if the delayed start time this year raises viewing figures, they will delay it again next year to start at 5pm local time.
Finally, as the teams line up in the Melbourne pit lane, McLaren are not at the end as expected. Their motorhome is apparently too big to fit, so McLaren have secured the 5th garage down the line.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Today is Friday, the 22nd February and this is F1 Minute.
Lots of headlines for you today, starting with Ferrari. They finished up a day of testing in Barcelona, having the track all to themselves. They ran an entire race weekend simulation, including practice and qualifying. Massa was out on track and finished the day saying that Ferrari are right where they want to be.
Jarno Trulli obviously agrees with him. Having previously said Ferrari may as well have won the championship already, and then saying Toyota would be competitive enough to fight near the top, he’s now saying that it will be hard for anyone other than McLaren or Ferrari to get on the podium this year.
Williams have enjoyed a good run at testing recently, and technical chief Sam Michael says it’s left the team with a “good feeling” but he doesn’t want to get over-confident and predict how the season will pan out for them.
And finally, Nelson Piquet Sr won’t be available to watch his son’s debut Grand Prix in Australia next month. Piquet Jr said his father will be away on business.
That’s all for this week, have a great weekend and meet me back here on Monday for another F1 Minute.
The new Force India car doesn’t launch until tomorrow, but several members of the team have been talking to the press in Mumbai. Giancarlo Fisichella says he is pushing for several points finishes this year, and then expects the team to be competing for podiums in 2009. Technical boss Mike Gascoyne supports this theory, although he thinks it will take a few years. He says the team have thebudget to get to the top now, although they are not just throwing money around and hoping it works. Adrian Sutil has his feet firmly on the ground though, saying that he hopes for change but people should not expect too much from this first year.
With the future of the Australian Grand Prix in question at the moment, Bernie Ecclestone has brought up the old Silverstone debate as well. The track has had it’s revamp approved but Ecclestone says there are still hurdles to overcome and if the facilities were not up to scratch, he would not be sentimental about kicking it off the calendar. There is also suggestion that the revamp approval is reliant on a guaranteed future for the track, whilst the future depends on the revamp.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Hello everyone, this is F1 Minute for the 13th December 2007.
McLaren have written a letter to the FIA apologising for the Ferrari information scandal, and offering to hold back any borrowed technologies from the rival team. The inspection of McLaren’s car found that some ideas, such as the gas in the tyres and the quickshift technology appeared to have come from Ferrari. McLaren say they will not develop these technologies, they have given a public apology to basically everyone, and offered to pay the inspection costs incurred by the FIA.
Also in the news, a lighting system by an Australian company has been submitted to the FIA after a secret night test by Mark Webber. He was joined by a former motorcycle champion last month for the test, and the results have shown the system is immune to blackouts and casts no shadows. If the FIA approve the lights, Australia could very well be hosting their own night race along with Singapore.
And your final bit of FIA news, Max Mosley has said that if the new aerodynamic rules in 2009 do not cut cornering speeds, then teams can forget about slick tyres returning to the track.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Hello everyone, today is Friday the 10th November, and this is F1 Minute, bringing you the top headlines.
Renault have issued a statement saying that engineer Phil Mackareth arrived from McLaren with disks of information, but, although some of the other staff may have seen the details, none of it influenced the design of the cars. Mackareth has been suspended, the information has been deleted from Renault’s computers and returned to McLaren and they are confident that the FIA will be able to judge their innocence.
More courtroom drama, with Timo Glock’s future in F1 being decided by the Contract Recognition Board. BMW have always insisted they are happy to let their test driver race elsewhere, but it appears now Toyota may have signed him up for 2008, contract irregularities exist. We don’t know for sure what they are but the CRB will be making their decision shortly.
Also in the news, the British government say they are fully backing Silverstone, but still refuse to part with any cash, whilst the Australian government are trying to limit rumours that the race may relocate.
That’s all for today, have a wonderful weekend and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.