25-Nov-08: Red Bull Buy Back Toro Rosso Share
Welcome to F1 Minute for the 25th November 2008.
Red Bull have bought back their 50% share in Toro Rosso from Gerhard Berger, despite the fact that owner Dietrich Mateschitz was previously contemplating selling his interest in the team. Now, the Austrian says: “I am very grateful to Gerhard for his huge input. Together we turned Toro Rosso into a team that qualified on a regular basis in the top 10 and collected world championship points.”
Also in Red Bull news, Christian Horner says the only positive thing from Webber’s accident is the timing, and they plan to put Vettel and Buemi in the car during upcoming tests. He said Coulthard had other priorities at the moment, having just become a first time dad.
Meanwhile, Rosberg has said he doesn’t regret staying with Williams and will wait to see what 2009 brings before rethinking his position. Obviously he wants the team to get back to their winning ways but knows the field will spread out with the drastic regulation changes in the coming season.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
24-Nov-08: Webber Recovering from Tasmania Accident
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 24th November 2008.
You’ve probably heard by now, but Mark Webber suffered an unfortunate accident over the weekend during his charity challenge in Tasmania. Webber was on the cycling leg of the adventure challenge and was involved in a head on collision with a car. He escaped with a broken leg, although it did require surgery. He is well and according to Red Bull in good spirits. They say he will return to the UK as soon as possible, will miss out on a lot of winter testing, but they’re sure he’ll be back in time for the Australian Grand Prix.
Elsewhere, Dietrich Mateschitz has said he thinks Buemi is “very likely” to get a race seat at Toro Rosso for 2009 although we won’t know the official decision before the final December test.
And lastly, the BBC have confirmed their lineup for F1 coverage next year. Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard take over commentating duties with David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan as pundits. Lee McKenzie and Ted Kravitz cover the pit lane. I’d love to hear what you think of this lineup at F1Minute.com.
18-Nov-08: Vettel Ahead For Second Day of Barcelona Test
Today is the 18th November 2008, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets at testing in Barcelona today, in his Red Bull. Yesterday’s leader Takuma Sato was close behind in second, with the other two Toro Rosso entrants Bourdais and Buemi settling in third and fourth. Gary Paffett in the McLaren was best of the rest with normal McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa in the Force India car. He ended the day last.
After seeing the potential 2009 BMW yesterday, tester Christian Klien has admitted that it’s not a nice looking car: “To me, for the moment, it’s the worst Formula One car I have ever seen. It just doesn’t fit together.” Kubica agreed that it looks a lot better from inside the cockpit.
Finally today, Bernie Ecclestone has resurfaced his idea of changing the current points system to a medal tally, to encourage drivers to fight for gold instead of settling for silver. He says that the FIA and teams are all for the idea.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
17-Nov-08: Takuma Sato Tops Day 1 of Barcelona Test
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 17th November 2008.
Testing got underway at Barcelona today, with our first glimpse of the 2009 wings in action. BMW ran a very high rear wing and low front wing, and it’s not that pretty. They were also testing out KERS, with the mechanics protected with thick gloves.
Toyota were the only team not in action, and we saw Takuma Sato top the timesheets in his test for Toro Rosso. Sebastien Buemi, also in the Toro Rosso, was just three tenths slower.
There were three red flags, caused by Robert Kubica for BMW and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams, with the main disaster saved for Giedo van der Garde in the Renault. He completed 27 laps as part of his World Series prize, but crashed out and finished the day in 16th.
Elsewhere, it appears the Canadian Grand Prix will definitely be off the calendar as the Montreal Mayor has admitted: “Despite our endeavours, the unreasonable demands of Formula One exceeded the taxpayer’s ability to pay.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
11-Nov-08: Toro Rosso Set Up Driver Shoot Out
Today is the 11th November and this is F1 Minute.
Toro Rosso have confirmed who they’ll be running at the test in Barcelona next week. With just two seats available and a raft of drivers interested in having a go, just three will get a chance at the Circuit de Catalunya. Sebastien Buemi is scheduled to drive for all three days at the test, with Takuma Sato getting a chance for a day and a half, and Bourdais getting the other day and a half. It seems pretty tightly organised, and I hope it goes to plan. It’s been ages since we saw a good shoot out for a race seat. Apparently Bruno Senna is still in the running, despite having a go in the Honda, and Autosport.com is reporting that Barrichello was also in discussions with the team, but needs to bring some sponsorship money with him.
Elsewhere, David Coulthard has raised doubts about Hamilton’s pledge of commitment to McLaren. Lewis said he wants to see his career out at the team, but DC says if McLaren become uncompetitive, he doubts that will remain the case.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
19-Sep-08: McLaren Top Final Test Day at Jerez
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.