21-Sep-08: Ferrari Boss Discusses Raikkonen and Singapore
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 21st September 2008.
Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has been talking about the ever increasing number of street circuits on the calendar, which he thinks is a problem. He believes that street circuits don’t allow many opportunities for overtaking, and regarding the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix, he said: “I have the impression it will be one of those letdowns where you cannot overtake, like Valencia.” He added that to keep on encouraging street circuits on the calendar would be a bad thing for Formula 1.
Montezemolo has also been discussing the team’s decision to extend Raikkonen’s contract after he has failed to live up to expectations this year: “I know some disagreed when we lengthened his contract, but we are talking about the world champion, who won the title in his first year at Ferrari.” He said that Kimi will soon be back on form and getting results once more.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton is preparing for a busy week, as not only does he have to prepare for the race next Sunday, he is also planning to attend the Court of Appeal hearing in Paris tomorrow. Let me know how you think the result will pan out at F1Minute.com.
26-Oct-07: FIA Court of Appeal Announce Fuel Hearing Date
Hello everyone, this if F1 Minute, I’m Christine from Sidepodcast, and today is Friday 26th October. But it’s not today’s date that matters, oh no.
The FIA’s International Court of Appeal has set the date for the BMW/Williams fuel saga as Thursday, 15th November, and it will be heard in Paris.
Max Mosley made the announcement to a small gathering of French press, but the news soon spread through the blogosphere, causing anxiety wherever it went. Whilst defending the championship result as decided, Mosley said: “For us, the world championship is over, the result is what it is.” But then the President went on to contradict himself slightly by saying: “If the cars classified ahead of Hamilton would be excluded, would this change his position? The Court of Appeal will have to rule on that.”
So, whilst we now have a date to focus on, we are still going to have to wait for the final results.
And very quickly, while we’re talking about new champ Raikkonen, ex-Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn has praised the driver for his ability to adapt to the car and overcome the challenges of the Bridgestone tyres.
That’s all for today, have a wonderful weekend, and join me on Monday for another F1 Minute.