19-Aug-08: Renault Aiming High for the Championship
Today is the 19th August 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
We’ve heard from Red Bull recently that they are aiming to finish fourth in the constructor’s championship this year, but now it appears they’re not the only ones with such an ambition. After a couple of strong race finishes, Renault have said that fourth is the position they have their eye on as well. Director of Engineering Pat Symonds said: “So the performance in Hungary reinforces the belief that we are moving in the right direction and gives me confidence that we can finish fourth in the championship and end the season with the third fastest car.” Not quite sure of his maths there, but it sounds good to me.
Still with Renault, Piquet is looking to qualify well in Valencia and finish with a good points haul. He reckons that he’s had to learn a lot of new tracks this year, but as everyone else is in the same boat at this circuit, it will level the playing field somewhat.
And away from Renault, just a note that Glock says he is still smiling after his second place finish in Hungary. Three weeks later.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
15-Aug-08: Hamilton Wants Consistency for the Championship
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 15th August 2008.
The Valencia preview quotes are starting to trickle in now, and we have plenty of excitement from McLaren. Hamilton says he is enjoying the break for a chance to recharge his batteries but he’s also looking forward to getting to the new circuit. “I enjoy visiting new racetracks and I’m looking forward to getting into the cockpit on Friday morning. It looks like being an amazing track.” He also says that although he doesn’t want to make any predictions about the championship, what he can say is that the key is to be consistent over the remaining races.
Whilst we’re on the subject of championships, Gerhard Berger has said that he’ll be sad to see Vettel go to Red Bull next year, but knows the driver has to move on to better things. He said: “He can do everything really and I am convinced that one day he will win the Formula 1 championship.”
Finally, back to McLaren, Kovalainen says that his win in Hungary was great, but it really doesn’t change anything, he still thinks he has a lot to learn.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
09-Aug-08: No Rest for BMW Over the Summer Break
Today is the 9th August 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
You would think that the three week summer break in F1 would be just that, time for a rest from the non stop circus of Grands Prix. Not so much for BMW, as Mario Theissen has said that the team back at the factory are working as hard as ever on some updates for the car. Whilst there’s no testing just yet, they certainly haven’t given up. He says: “Obviously we aren’t going to sit down and twiddle our thumbs as we still have developments in the pipeline - aerodynamic as well as mechanical. We definitely won’t stop the development of the F1.08 because of one unsatisfying result.”
Elsewhere, teams have been looking into what caused the fuel rig fires at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but they’re not revealing much. So far, Williams and Toro Rosso both say it wasn’t a problem with the rig itself, but this is how a spokesperson for Toro Rosso put it: “I can confirm it was not a problem with the rig. The problem has been resolved to make sure it does not happen again, but there is no further comment from our technical group.” Very helpful, thank you.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
06-Aug-08: Massa Says No More Mistakes for Ferrari
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 6th August 2008.
As we’re going headlong into the three week summer break, the news will begin to trail off. There’s no testing allowed, but for now, there’s still plenty of talk about how the Hungarian race went and what the future holds.
Firstly, Massa is still, obviously, really disappointed from his non-finish at the weekend, and says that Ferrari cannot afford to make any more mistakes. “We’ve worked hard to make the car competitive again and this is a good thing for the upcoming races. But we’ve got to resolve the remaining problems: we have to be as competitive as at Budapest, but we need to raise our reliability. We can’t repeat certain mistakes: we don’t have any more excuses.”
Meanwhile, Alonso is adding fuel to the rumour fires that he’s leaving Renault at the end of the year by admitting he doesn’t believe the team will improve in 2009, whilst BMW have decided that they’re settling for third in the championship, as the other two teams are just too competitive.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
05-Aug-08: Toyota Will Most Likely Keep Current Lineup
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 5th August 2008.
It’s looking likely that Toyota’s line up for next year will still feature both Trulli and Glock, although no official announcement has been made yet. President of Toyota Motorsport John Howett has hinted at such a lineup, well, he’s basically confirmed it: “As we stand here today, we intend to keep both drivers. And I don’t think that’s ever been in any doubt to be honest.”
Whilst we’re on the subject of Toyota, they hosted a meeting at their motorhome in Hungary, for representatives of all the teams to discuss KERS. It looks like more than half of teams want to delay the introduction of the new technology for a year. Four teams voted against the delay, including BMW, Honda and Williams. These are all teams who have invested heavily in the new systems already.
BMW Team Principal, Mario Theissen, says: “There were three aspects discussed in the meeting - two of them openly, which is safety and financial implications. And the other one, underlying the picture, is competitiveness…“
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
04-Aug-08: Hungarian GP Gets Five Year Extension
It’s the 4th August 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
Some snippets of news following the race yesterday: Bridgestone haven’t confirmed it yet, but believe that Hamilton’s puncture was caused by debris in the sidewall. The tyre is being flown to Japan for further investigation. The Hungarian GP has been given a five year extension. It was already contracted until 2011 and will now run to 2016.
In other news, Autosport.com is reporting that the drivers will test out a new audio warning system in their cars, as part of the overhaul of the safety car rules. The idea is that anything on the dashboard is just going to add more distraction for the drivers, so some kind of signal over the team radio may be more effective.
Finally, in the rumour mill, the speculation has increased that Alonso will join Honda in 2009 for a one-year deal before moving on to Ferrari. It’s believed that Honda are willing to offer the short term contract in return for a big name signing.
That’s it for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
03-Aug-08: Kovalainen Takes Maiden GP Win in Hungary
This is F1 Minute for the 3rd August 2008.
Hands up everyone who was expecting a boring Hungarian Grand Prix? Yup, me included. This race was anything but, though. Whilst the lack of overtaking did hamper things somewhat, we still ended up with a podium of Kovalainen, Glock and Raikkonen.
Here’s a quick summary of what happened: Hamilton lined up on pole, but Massa got a fantastic start from third and overtook both Kovalainen and Hamilton to take the lead of the race. He pulled away a decent enough lead and retained his position through the pit stops.
During the second stint, Hamilton picked up a puncture, which meant he had to bring forward his pit stop, and take on the soft tyres much earlier than he would have wanted. It looked like nothing could stop Massa from taking victory, but three laps from the end, the Ferrari engine blew up on the home straight, leaving Massa a short but agonising walk back to the garage.
Kovalalainen inherited the win whilst Glock picked up second after a really strong performance. Hamilton finished 5th, and continues to lead the driver’s championship.
That’s it for today, I will be back tomorrow with all the reactions from the race, in another F1 Minute.
01-Aug-08: Massa Leads FP1, Whilst Hamilton Tops FP2
Today is the 1st August 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend kicked off to a slow start today, with a dull Free Practice 1 session. There was barely any action for the first 30 minutes of the hour and a half session, but things did get going eventually. Not for Vettel, though, as he struggled to get through four laps, and his Toro Rosso broke down at the side of the track. Massa was fastest ahead of Raikkonen, Kovalainen and then Hamilton, but things were pretty close at the top. Raikkonen began the session without the shark fin engine cover, and had it fitted to his car towards the end of the allotted time.
In the second session, Lewis Hamilton managed to get his McLaren to the top of the timesheets ahead of, wait for it, Nelson Piquet, and Kovalainen. Renault afterwards said that it was an ultra-low fuel run and should be taken in context as such. Vettel, again, suffered from problems, and after 5 laps this time, pulled to the side of the track. Everyone else got plenty of laps in, testing out tyres, and longer runs, and basically making up for the slow start this morning.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
27-Jul-08: Kubica and BMW Expect Good Things in Hungary
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 27th July 2008.
With Poland not having it’s own Grand Prix, Robert Kubica is counting Hungary as the nearest thing to his home race. A large number of Polish fans are expected to turn up in Budapest, and Kubica is hoping for their support. He also enjoys the track as it’s where he raced his first Grand Prix in 2006. “As a driver you always have a special relationship with the track where you had your first Grand Prix. However, it is not for these reasons alone that I like this track. For most of the lap you have some steering angle, which means you rarely get a break, and this is made worse by the fact the straights are very short.” Doesn’t sound that much fun to me!
Meanwhile, BMW boss Mario Theissen says he is looking for a podium finish this weekend. “In 2006 the weather turned the race into a cliffhanger, and in 2007 an offensive strategy really put us on our mettle but rewarded us with a podium place. For 2008 the goal is to make it onto the Budapest podium for the third consecutive time.”
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.