18-Aug-08: Teams Expect Safety Car This Weekend
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 18th August 2008.
The build up to Valencia continues, with teams apparently expecting a safety car to enter into proceedings, and they are planning their strategies around such an eventuality.
With a new track, some close walls and the general unknowns of the street circuit, it’s not far fetched to assume that an incident might occur. Mike Gascoyne of Force India says they are hoping to make the best of any luck that is thrown their way, as it’s all the team can hope for at the moment. An interesting quote from him is: “”We may look at strategies that will put us out of sync with the others so we can take advantage of it.” What happens if there is no safety car, then they are just out of sync. Let me know your thoughts about the chances of a safety car during this weekend’s race at F1Minute.com.
To finish, I just wanted to update the Mecachrome story we covered a few days ago. It’s rumoured the engine manufacturer’s are now ending their involvement with Formula 1, after recording severe losses due to the homologation regulations.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
13-Aug-08: Ex-Renault Director Dino Toso Passes Away
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 13th August 2008.
Sad news today, the former director of aerodynamics at Renault, Dino Toso has died aged 39. He joined the team in 2000, and left in June this year, and he passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer. Toso was instrumental in the Renault campaign that saw them win two World Championships, and the team have paid their respects, saying: “His contribution to the team, both through his results and his courage in the face of illness, are an inspiration. He will be missed enormously and the immediate thoughts of the whole team are with his family.”
In other Renault-related news, their engine partners Mecachrome have blamed the engine freeze in Formula 1 as part of their financial problems. The company is much less involved with the engines now, and attributes it’s recent quarter losses of $17.5 million to delays in the aerospace industry but also the homologation regulations.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.