15-Jan-08: Alonso Puts Renault on Top in Jerez
This is F1 Minute for the 15th January 2008.
The second day of testing at Jerez saw Fernando Alonso make a triumphant return to Renault, posting the fastest time. He drove 70 laps in last year’s R27, narrowly beating McLaren’s de la Rosa who completed over 110 laps. An interview with Alonso has also been published today where he managed to squeeze in some very subtle digs at Hamilton and Ron Dennis, now that he is confident and happy with his new team.
Toyota ran a 2008 car as well as a hybrid of old and new, but finished towards the bottom of the timesheets, sandwiching Fisichella in the Force India.
Three red flags caused problems for de la Rosa in the morning, and Nakajima and Bourdais in the afternoon. James Rossiter didn’t even manage to get his Super Aguri out on track, having to wait for parts to fix the problems they had yesterday.
Away from the track, David Coulthard has spoken out about the decision to drop the fuel burn laps from qualifying, saying it can only be a good thing. He felt the laps were an insult to both fans and drivers.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
14-Jan-08: BMW Launch F1:08 in Munich
Hi everyone, this is F1 Minute and here are your top headlines for 14th January 2008.
BMW launched their 2008 car in Munich today, and whilst there was the usual talk of being ready to challenge for the title and confidence of success, boss Mario Theissen did come up with a few tasty bits of information. Firstly, he said that BMW are in favour of the budget caps idea presented by Honda’s Ross Brawn and Nick Fry. He said with some evaluation as to how it would work, the idea is preferable to specific limitations. Secondly, Theissen announced that the team are ready to supply engines to other cars. They have no one in mind or lined up as a customer, but if the right situation arose, BMW have the resources.
Meanwhile, over at Jerez, the first day of testing kicked off with a mixture of 2007 and 2008 cars out on track. Raikkonen and Massa topped the timesheets in their new cars, with de la Rosa in the McLaren close behind. Liuzzi debuted as test driver for Force India and posted a respectable 11th fastest time, whilst Super Aguri struggled with mechanical problems. Tester James Rossiter only completed 10 laps and the team remained at the bottom of the times.
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.