07-Jul-08: Honda and Ferrari Reactions to the British GP
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 7th July 2008.
After their unexpected podium finish at Silverstone this weekend, you’d imagine Honda might want to rethink their plans to abandon development this year. However, CEO Nick Fry says they won’t be doing that. He says: “The plan is really designing the car Ross wants for next year, and this year is about getting everything as Ross wants it in the way the team operates.” Fry does concede that the podium finish has boosted everyone’s morale (except perhaps Jenson’s) but they have to remember it was mostly down to luck.
More reaction to the weekend, and of a less positive kind, comes from Luca di Montezemolo. “I hope we’ll manage to win our eighth title in ten years. We will if we don’t carry on doing stupid things. Obviously I wasn’t pleased with what I saw yesterday, but I hope it’s a useful lesson. Knowing my men, I’m certain it is.”
Finally, Max Mosley’s court case against the News of the World has begun, and the FIA president has been on the stand today denying the Nazi side of the allegations.
That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
06-May-08: Super Aguri Withdraw From F1
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 6th May 2008.
Apologies for the second Minute in a row about Super Aguri, but unfortunately it is most likely the last.
Today, they announced that the team are withdrawing from the championship, with immediate effect. Aguri Suzuki met with Honda to discuss the possible Weigl group deal but the outcome of the meeting today was bad news.
Suzuki announced the team’s departure from the sport, and blamed it on the non-payment of SS United from 2007, which put the financial position into immediate turmoil. He went on to thank the entire team including Davidson and Sato for always pushing hard and staying loyal.
Of the future, Suzuki said he was exhausted from the last few weeks of trying to save the team, and so he wasn’t planning a rush return to F1. And he left with a parting thought to the recent comments of Nick Fry.
“Honda were our backers and he’s not the CEO of Honda. I have no interest in Nick Fry whatsoever and have no idea what he was talking about.”
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
05-May-08: Super Aguri Barred From Istanbul Circuit
Hi everyone, this is F1 Minute for the 5th May 2008.
Super Aguri’s transporters turned up at the Istanbul circuit yesterday in preparation for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, but they were denied access. The trucks and motorhome were not allowed into the paddock, and Aguri Suzuki has said he doesn’t know why this is. Formula One Management were told the team wouldn’t be racing and so have been barred from the track. It looks like Honda were the ones to inform FOM of this, although it hasn’t been confirmed.
Honda chiefs are due to meet with the Weigl group tomorrow, and therefore Super Aguri have been left confused as to why they have been denied access when no decisions have been made.
Takuma Sato has written a piece on his website, asking Honda to reconsider their actions, as he desperately wants to race. He believes the team can still be competitive, and that the deal with Weigl is an attractive proposition.
CEO of Honda Nick Fry, however, has said that it’s unlikely the Weigl group could support the needs of an F1 team, and is approaching the deal with some scepticism. Hopefully we will find out more after the meeting.
That’s all for today, join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
01-May-08: Ron Dennis Denies Mosley Set-Up
Welcome to F1 Minute, today is the 1st May 2008.
The Max Mosley saga rumbles on, this time with speculation increasing that Ron Dennis may have had some involvement with the story being leaked to the press. The head of the Czech Automobile Association stated his belief that Ron Dennis may have been getting revenge for the spy scandal last year, saying the Mosley revelations were a set-up. Dennis, however, has denied any such allegation, saying: “We are writing to Mr Novak and are currently considering the appropriate route via which the remarks that have been attributed to him may be withdrawn or corrected.” Another war of words begins, it seems.
Elsewhere today, recent Indy-Car winner Danica Patrick has said she would love to have a test drive with one of the Formula 1 teams, and Honda have stepped up as an interested party. Honda currently supply her engines, so the link is already there. Nick Fry commented: “We haven’t instigated anything, but if Danica wanted to be test driver then we’d be more than happy to talk about it.”
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
30-Jan-08: Super Aguri Struggling for 2008
I’m Christine, it’s the 30th January 2008 and this is F1 Minute.
2007 was a difficult season for Super Aguri in terms of revenue and budget, and the team are looking for investors for the coming season. This has prompted all kinds of speculation, from some saying the team won’t make it through the year, to others saying they’ll need to bring in pay drivers. Honda have said that they will continue to support Super Aguri but only if they keep a driver like Anthony Davidson on board. They want someone who can bring valued feedback to the team. Nick Fry also essentially said that supporting Super Aguri is a bit of a distraction for him and Ross Brawn and that their primary focus needs to be on Honda.
On that subject, Alex Wurz has obviously been listening to the speculation about his ability to stand in at a race after his sudden retirement from competitive racing last year. He has cleared the air saying he would stand in if required, but it’s not what he wants to do all season long.
And finally, the schedule for the Singapore GP has been released and shows that practice sessions and qualifying will also be at night, along with the race.
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.
01-Jan-08: Honda Ask for Budget Caps Idea
This is F1 Minute for January 1st 2008 – Happy New Year!
Nick Fry and Ross Brawn of Honda have recently been putting their heads together to come up with an idea of what can be done to save money in Formula 1. The FIA are constantly trying to cut costs, and have taken the direction of an engine freeze and long-life components. CEO of Honda Racing, Fry said that he and Brawn agree that capping the budget of F1 teams is the most likely way of stopping outrageous expenditure.
The idea is to stop the current practice, whereby teams simply switch expenditure to other parts of the car when certain things are frozen. With a budget cap in place, it would seem to be a more fair and measurable way of controlling costs.
Brawn added that although he thinks the idea of applying the caps wouldn’t be simple, it would create a new spin on the competition. He says: “How fast can you make this car go for 100 million a year? How efficient can you be? And it’s up to the teams to decide whether they spend 50 million on the driver and 50 million on the car; or one million on the driver and 99 million on the car. It would be fascinating to have that challenge.”
That’s all for today, please join me tomorrow for another F1 Minute.