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.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and today is the 4th October 2008.
This week, Williams hosted the launch of the F2 series at their factory, and we got to learn some more details of the new feeder formula. We already know that Williams have designed the F2 cars, and that Jonathan Palmer has secured the rights to operate the series. Now we know that the winner of the F2 championship will get to spend time in the Williams F1 simulator and then get a test in the car out on track. Of his hopes for the series, Palmer said: “I am absolutely determined that Formula 2 will attract the greatest depth of talent by virtue of its extraordinary cost effectiveness, and through its carefully considered format and equality of opportunity produce most of the best future F1 star talent in the coming years.”
Elsewhere, technical director of Renault, Bob Bell, has said the Alonso we saw in Singapore was “the Fernando of old”, the one who was capable of winning championships.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Williams have confirmed their driver lineup for next season and it remains unchanged. We already knew that Rosberg would be driving for them in 2009, but now Nakajima has been signed up for next year as well. Frank Williams believes it is good to be consistent with the two drivers, plus Nico Hulkenberg as tester, and says: “Nico Rosberg continues to be one of the most capable drivers in the sport. Kazuki is getting stronger all the time and has more to offer and Nico Hulkenberg is developing well.”
Also today, Flavio Briatore has apparently said he will be taking a different role at Renault next year, and bringing a team director on board to run the day-to-day business. Briatore has said he already has someone in mind.
Finally, Red Bull believe they have found what caused Webber’s gearbox to malfunction in Singapore. They’ve narrowed it down to an electrical surge from the tramlines on the street circuit. What are the chances?
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.
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.
It’s the 19th September 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
Pedro de la Rosa headed up the final day of testing at Jerez for McLaren, just ahead of BMW and Renault. There were no rain interruptions today, and no major incidents. Vettel returned to the Toro Rosso cockpit whilst Buemi returned to work for Red Bull.
Talking of which, it appears that Buemi may be a favourite for the Toro Rosso race seat in 2009, after Franz Tost has been quoted as saying as long as they could find an experienced driver to pair him with, they would want him in the car. Buemi isn’t getting too carried away, but says he is excited and getting into F1 is his main objective for next year.
Elsewhere today, Wurz has finished up testing Honda’s KERS system and declared that it’s quite safe: “Honda has an enormous amount of know how with the battery system and we have some security checks all the time going on, so we are very confident that we won’t be electrocuted.” He said it’s fine in road cars so all F1 teams have to do is work out how to package it correctly.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Vettel led the way at testing in Jerez today, still in the Red Bull car. He posted the fastest time despite only managing 37 laps due to an engine change. BMW were second, and Renault third. There was some rain in the middle of the day, which disrupted quite a few of the team’s programmes.
Someone in particular who was affected by the weather, was Takuma Sato who returned to Formula 1 for a test with Toro Rosso. He completed just under 50 laps and was 6th out of 8 runners. Afterwards, he said: “Although I couldn’t complete the day due to the weather conditions, I really enjoyed driving the STR3. I would like to say a big thank you to Red Bull and to the team for giving me this great opportunity.” What he doesn’t say is: Please give me a race seat next year.
Elsewhere today, Ron Dennis has issued some fighting talk, saying that McLaren are confident to do well at every circuit left on the calendar this year, and he feels they’re closing in on the constructor’s title at every stage.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Today is the 27th August 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
Day 1 of the test at Monza has wrapped up with a fine showing from Felipe Massa. He topped the timesheets just ahead of Kovalainen in the McLaren and then Rosberg in the Williams. Piquet did the most work, 117 laps, but he ended the day as the slowest car.
Having said that though, Renault seem to think that going slowly can actually help them get better results. We’ve seen the two Renault drivers posting painfully slow lap times during practice at the last two Grands Prix, and we’ve not really known why. Now it seems that Renault are convinced their tyres do better after running a couple of slow laps. They’re using data from the German race when Piquet finished second having run some laps behind the safety car. Apparently Alonso will be testing this phenomenon when he gets his turn in the car this week.
And very quickly to finish, BMW have apparently told Heidfeld he needs to start getting some better results if he is to keep his race drive for next year.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
The European Grand Prix at Valencia got underway relatively calmly, with Massa holding his lead over Hamilton and the pair streaking away from the rest of the pack. There was a wide field spread and overtaking seemed almost impossible. The expected safety car situation never happened.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t incidents though. Nakajima crashed into the back of Alonso on the first lap, with the Renault having to stop. Sutil spun and hit the wall, and Raikkonen was the other retiree. He had a botched pit stop that saw him pull away with the fuel rig attached, injuring the mechanic on duty. He was stretchered away and we don’t yet have an update on how he is. A lap or so later, and the Ferrari pulled to the side of the track spewing smoke from the engine.
Massa’s Ferrari held together though and he took the win from Hamilton and Kubica. He is under investigation from the stewards, for being released in the pit lane directly into the path of a Force India. We are still waiting for their findings.
With two unresolved items, it looks like I’ll be back later with another F1 Minute.
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.