07-Jan-09: Singapore Organisers Offer Revisions for ‘09
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 7th January 2009.
It’s all circuit news today, starting with Singapore. The organisers of the night race are talking to teams and the FIA about the state of the track, with some revisions being offered for the 2009 event. The chairman Colin Syn says some decisions are already made: “We are modifying turns one, two and three because we want drivers to have more opportunities to overtake this year.” He added that they are also thinking about smoothing the surface – as bumps were the number one complaint from drivers in 2008.
Elsewhere, Bernie Ecclestone has said that Donington Park have a deadline for things to be going to plan. There are a lot of doubts over the circuits capacity for holding a Grand Prix, but Bernie says: “I am relying on what they told me they will deliver, and we have a September deadline to see that all is as it should be. If it’s not then we have 4 or 5 venues ready to stage a race.” Donington Park will receive news on their planning application from the local council tomorrow.
That’s it’s for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Quotes Roundup - Week Ending 30th Nov
November 30, 2008 by Christine
Filed under Weekly Quotes
The very best from the mouths of those in the know.
Toro Rosso Buyout
In which Dietrich Mateschitz regains full control…
- “Dietrich’s interest will focus on Red Bull Racing, therefore the support for STR will become smaller and prevent the team from improving further from sixth. I don’t want to decline, that is not in my nature.”Gerhard Berger
- “I am very grateful to Gerhard for his huge input. Together we turned Toro Rosso into a team that qualified on a regular basis in the top 10 and collected world championship points.” Dietrich Mateschitz
- “I will be out of STR, but the split with STR and Dietrich is completely amicable and there was no rift between us.” Gerhard Berger
The Medal Proposal
Bernie says it will be introduced in 2009…
- “All the teams are happy. The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there’s no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it’s to do with the drivers not needing to overtake.” Bernie Ecclestone
- “The points are necessary. I was one of the team principals in the team principals’ meetings who advocated that the points should go down to eighth place, because one point to a team down there is as important as a win is to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, and we must never forget that.” Eddie Jordan
- “There are a lot of people who have ridiculed this suggestion, and honestly I have to admit at first that I thought the stress of divorce had got to him. But I think he actually has a point. Like him, I think the winner of the most races in a season should automatically be the world champion.” Jos Verstappen
Circuits Planning Ahead
Although many are pulling out of the calendar, some are thinking to the future…
- “This will be the first public transport Grand Prix. We are not bringing cars here. We are looking to use public transport from all the major conurbations, the airport and the Parkway station.” Simon Gillett, chief executive of Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd
- “With Bahrain at the start of the year and Abu Dhabi at the season finale there are many projects on which we can work together to attract more spectators, corporate clients and sponsors to both the region’s races.” Zayed Alzayani, Bahrain circuit boss
- “We think Formula One is a very good product, a very good event for Shanghai city so at least from our company’s point of view we want to continue promoting and building the event. Research shows there are more and more race fans in China, so I don’t think we will say no to the Formula One Grand Prix.” General Manager of Event Management at Shanghai
27-Nov-08: Webber Hopes to Return to the Track in February
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 27th November 2008.
Webber has confirmed that he hopes to be back in action in February. Speaking about his injuries and recovery, he said that both bones in his lower leg were broken which does complicate things, but he’s starting the slow process to being well again: “At the moment there is pressure and swelling whenever I stand up. There is talk it will be like that for the next two or three weeks and come the first week of February we should be on target for me to be able to walk unaided.” He hopes to get back in the car and be fully fit by the season opener in Melbourne.
Elsewhere, organisers at Donington Park hope the British GP in 2010 can be a car free event, with every spectator arriving by public transport. They say that buses will be available from nearby towns, plus there’s East Midlands airport and a railway station set to open. For an F1 race, it doesn’t seem to fit for organisers to say: “We are not bringing cars here.” Nevertheless, it fits with the current green initiatives.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
05-Jul-08: British GP Qualifying Update Plus It’s Future
This is F1 Minute for the 5th July 2008, and I’m in the vicinity of Silverstone having watched qualifying first hand. So, let me fill you in on all that happened.
Kovalainen took his first ever pole position just ahead of Webber who for a brief moment looked like he’d secured the top spot. I know what you’re thinking, the world’s gone crazy - no Hamilton, Raikkonen, or Massa at the top. In fact, Massa finished in 9th.
The constant threat of rain became a reality first thing and although most of FP3 was dry, drivers still had to negotiate the spray. For qualifying, there was a brief shower or two but nothing to cause any major problems. Teams who were facing adversity though include Honda, who couldn’t get either driver out of the bottom five, and BMW who had to pull Kubica in for emergency repairs similar to those they had on Friday.
In other news, and in very bad and obviously orchestrated timing, Bernie has announced that the British Grand Prix will move to Donington Park from 2010. This decision is of particular interest as Bernie has interests in Donington Park, and has been threatening to ditch Silverstone for a very long time.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.