It’s the 7th October 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
The shock news of the day is that the FIA have confirmed the calendar for 2009, and have dropped the Canadian Grand Prix. Teams have got back the summer break that they were looking for, but we will no longer be heading to North American shores. Both the Belgian and Italian races have been shuffled by a week as well. Back to the Canadian GP, though, and organisers say that they weren’t informed of this decision ahead of time. They released a short statement that said they had only learnt of it through the media, and would therefore not be commenting until they’d spoken to the FIA and FOM. Needless to say they’re not happy.
Elsewhere today, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that they will be going back to the old lollipop pit system at this week’s Japanese Grand Prix. After many, many pit lane incidents in the last few races, Domenicali says: “We need to stay calm so we’ve decided to go back to the old system.”
That’s it for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
BMW have become the next team to confirm their driver lineup for 2009 and it remains unchanged. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld line up beside Christian Klien as test driver. BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen said, of the pairing: “We are in no doubt that we will again achieve our ambitious aims with them in the team’s fourth year.” Of course, this news narrows down Alonso’s options for next year, with his main choice now being between Renault and Honda.
Elsewhere today, Bernie Ecclestone has hit back at the statements Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo made regarding Singapore. The team boss said the safety car rules make F1 a circus. Ecclestone has apparently responded to this with: “After the weekend Ferrari had, their president should have shut up and kept his head down. If Massa loses the world championship, he will know the team were responsible. He would have destroyed everybody in Singapore if he had kept going.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 30th September 2008.
If you ignore the slight marshalling issue, all reports regarding the Singapore Grand Prix have been good. Until now. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has some pretty harsh words about the race, and Formula 1 in general. He’s reported as saying: “When we race on tracks which should be used for the circus, anything can happen. This is humiliating for F1 and it is an aspect I want to talk about with the other teams in the next few weeks.” In particular, he’s annoyed about the safety car, as are many of the teams.
Elsewhere today, Renault believe they have done enough to convince Alonso to stay with them for next year, including a rumoured replacement of Piquet with tester Lucas di Grassi. Alonso, in turn, says that his lack of enthusiasm on the podium this weekend was because he was tired, and not because he wants to leave the team. But, he’s still going to leave us waiting for a decision until the end of the season.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Following on from the great race in Singapore, here are some news snippets we might have missed.
Bernie Ecclestone has announced that the Indian Grand Prix, due to be on the calendar from 2010, has been pushed back a year. It looks as though construction work will be finished in time for the 2010 debut, so reasons for Bernie’s decision remain unknown.
Ferrari have confirmed they will be keeping Luca Badoer and Marc Gene as test drivers for next season.
Alonso says that although he knows he was lucky with the safety car timing at the weekend, he also had a fast car, and he believes this win makes up for what has been a really tough year.
Ex-F1 champ Jackie Stewart has said the biggest winner from the Singapore race this weekend was Formula 1 in general, because such a fantastic event should help put some of the recent controversies behind us.
And finally, it’s no surprise that the overhaul of the safety car regulations has resurfaced, with teams very unhappy about the lottery effect.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
After an intense two hour race, Fernando Alonso emerged the surprise winner of the Singapore Grand Prix following two safety car periods.
The first few laps were nice and clean, and running got underway with Massa stretching a lead from Hamilton. Alonso started on soft tyres, and pitted really early for hard tyres, having changed his strategy because it wasn’t working. Then Renault team mate Piquet smashed into the wall and the safety car came out. Kubica and Rosberg had to pit for fuel, although the pit lane was closed, so they received penalties. As more drivers took their stops, Alonso worked his way to the front.
Despite serving his penalty, Rosberg managed to finish second, and Hamilton picked up third. Massa suffered another Ferrari pit stop blunder as he was sent on his way into the path of another car and with the fuel hose attached. He finished way down the order. Raikkonen was running fifth but crashed into the wall in the last few laps. At the end of the race, they all looked pretty exhausted.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
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.
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 20th September 2008.
Ron Dennis has said he has absolute faith in the International Court of Appeal, who are due to meet on Monday to discuss the Belgium penalty against Lewis Hamilton. When asked if he thinks there is a bias against anyone other than Ferrari, Dennis said: “Although Lewis has had five penalties already this season, I wouldn’t claim that he hasn’t been treated fairly. More importantly, we have to have faith in the system, and in the fairness of the FIA International Court of Appeal at which our appeal will be heard.”
Elsewhere, other teams are looking forward as well, although the Singapore Grand Prix seems to be at the forefront of their minds. BMW boss Mario Theissen thinks it is going to be something to behold: “You only need to think of the special atmosphere you get at a football match under floodlights: the surroundings melt into the background, the action itself takes centre stage. I’m expecting this premiere in Singapore to be the highlight of the year.”
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Today is the 17th September and this is F1 Minute.
BMW climbed to the top of the timesheets for the second day at Jerez, where this time eight teams were in action, instead of just the three we saw yesterday. Klien was at the wheel, and he finished ahead of Vettel. The German was driving for Red Bull, as a pre-cursor to him joining them for next season. To add to the confusion, normal Red Bull test driver Sebastian Buemi was third fastest of the day, but with a Toro Rosso under him. He was under evaluation for a possible race drive in 2009.
Also today, McLaren were testing out their KERS setup for the first time, and Williams hit the track with their 2009 spec rear wing – a much narrower and higher evolution of this year’s wing. Nakajiama finished the day last and 2 seconds off the pace of his nearest rival.
Ferrari, meanwhile, were at their own private test with Badoer in the hotseat, whilst Force India have not joined the testing fun yet.
That wraps up everything for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
The final in-season test of 2008 has started at Jerez, with BMW, Williams and Honda turning up for the first day. The teams tested three young drivers: Marko Asmer finished the day on top for BMW, followed by Dani Clos for Williams and Mike Conway for Honda. Both Williams and Honda tested out the new KERS technology, but Honda only managed 20 laps whilst the others completed over 70 each.
Elsewhere today, Ron Dennis has been talking about his team’s relationship with Ferrari, and says things have never been better, despite last year’s spy scandal, and the Belgium penalty incident. Dennis spoke out to put pay to rumours that there might be trouble within the FOTA, and of new chairman di Montezemolo, he said: “Luca is an old friend. Granted, inevitably, our relationship has had its ups and downs as a result of the competitiveness of our respective organisations, but there’s a deep and mutual respect between us.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
It’s the 15th September 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Just a day after winning their maiden victory in Italy, Toro Rosso have come back to earth with a bump. Technical Director Giorgio Ascanelli admits they know it will be difficult to achieve a second win, and they don’t expect to do so, but he says that this will have been a boost to the team no matter what. However, Sebastien Bourdais reveals that he found it hard to celebrate with the team, as he was ruing what could have been if he had not stalled on the grid. “It’s very difficult to enjoy it with the team in these conditions. I’m very happy for them but my race was a non-event.”
Meanwhile, Stefano Domenicali has said he doesn’t doubt that Raikkonen will support Massa, without directly referencing the fact that Kimi will be playing number two driver. “I’ve always said that our main interest is the team. Of course, that’s the most important thing and the drivers know it.” Domenicali also said the team will be looking at how the car works with the tyres in cooler temperatures, as that has been one of the main problems so far this year.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.