10-Sep-08: Raikkonen Won’t Give Up On Championship Yet
Today is the 10th September 2008 and this is F1 Minute.
Raikkonen has admitted that his championship campaign isn’t looking very bright at the moment, but that he won’t stop fighting until he’s actually out of it. The Finn hasn’t won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix, and now trails three drivers in the championship, but remains optimistic. He says: “My position is not ideal but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I will fight until the very end.” Raikkonen also says it would be good to get a win this weekend, in front of the team’s home crowd.
Elsewhere today, Gerhard Berger has admitted that the jury is still out on whether Bourdais will retain his seat for 2009. The Toro Rosso boss says that he is still watching Bourdais closely, but his recent improved form has been good. Berger says that the driver isn’t really lacking in speed, as recent outings have shown, but that he just doesn’t have the confidence yet. The team also confirmed that they have extended the deal with Ferrari to supply engines, although we don’t know how long for.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
17-Jun-08: Renault Say They Are Not Giving Up On ‘08
Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 17th June 2008.
Renault’s chief of aerodynamics Dino Toso has left the team today, to be replaced by Dirk de Beer. The move was announced back in April, and has finally come to pass. This comes at the same time as Renault confirming that they are not giving up on this year’s championship, with technical director Bob Bell saying of the team’s poor start: “The worst thing we can do is get spooked by it and start losing our attention to detail and commitment. We’ll keep our heads down and things will come right for us.” He said they will not be giving up and focusing on next year as was believed, and that they have an aggressive development plan in place.
More Renault news, Fernando Alonso has been awarded the Dialogue Prize in Spain at the French embassy. The award is for opening up communications between France and Spain and was handed over by a French Ambassador. It was also revealed a few days ago that Alonso has hired his very own professional fan, who will be paid to follow him round at races. Which is quite a job description.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
30-Apr-08: Webber Asks the FIA to Consider Spain Run-off Areas
This is F1 Minute for the 30th April 2008.
Mark Webber has been talking about Kovalainen’s crash in Spain this past weekend, in his capacity as director of the GPDA. Webber says that the run off area on that particular turn is not big enough and needs to be looked at by the FIA. He mentioned the fact that Sebastien Bourdais also had a crash there in testing the previous week, although that was much less severe.
The FIA have today announced that their safety experts are looking into the crash, particularly from the angle that it took doctors a relatively long time to reach Kovalainen. The FIA have said they will be conducting a detailed analysis of the accident data but it is too early for any official comment just yet.
In aero news today, BMW’s technical director Willy Rampf has said that the team will be testing a version of the Ferrari nose hole in the wind tunnels to see if it will benefit them. And Renault believe they have already made significant improvements, as Pat Symonds said the gap may still be big to Ferrari, but the team have gained at least three tenths on their past performance.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
27-Apr-08: Ferrari Take 1-2, Whilst Kovalainen Crashes in Spain
It’s the 27th April and this is F1 Minute.
From pole position to the chequered flag, Kimi Raikkonen won a relatively easy race at the Circuit de Catalunya, and was joined on the podium by Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. Alonso lost out a place on the start but was keeping up with the front runners. Unfortunately he had an engine failure about halfway through the race and had to retire in front of his home crowd.
The big news of the weekend was for Heikki Kovalainen, though, who suffered a wheel failure at 150mph and crashed into the tyre barriers. The car seemed to be heavily embedded in the tyre wall, and the safety car was brought out whilst the situation was cleared up. Kovalainen was stretchered to the medical centre, giving the thumbs up to the crowd as he went, and later airlifted to hospital for further checks. Ron Dennis has told reporters that all the scans are clear, and Heikki has suffered only a concussion, after losing consciousness at the scene for a moment. He’ll stay in hospital overnight and Dennis is confident he’ll be cleared to race in Turkey.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
26-Apr-08: Raikkonen Beats Alonso to Pole in Spain
This is F1 Minute for the 26th April 2008.
After dominating Free Practice on Friday, Raikkonen lost out in FP3 to Nick Heidfeld, but remained top in Qualifying. It was a mixed up session with Coulthard and Vettel out early, and Hamilton and Kovalainen struggling. The most important moment came in the dying seconds of the third session, when Fernando Alonso posted the fastest time in front of his home crowd. It was literally only for a few seconds, as Raikkonen snatched pole position from his grasp, but everyone at Renault is happy with their much improved performance.
Elsewhere today, Super Aguri have said that their future will depend on a meeting with investors and Honda at some point next week. Aguri Suzuki has confirmed that talks with potential investors Dubai International Group are ongoing, but their future will rest on the meeting with Honda. Suzuki also said he was bound by a couple of Non Disclosure Agreements, so we probably won’t be finding out much more until after a decision is reached.
That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
25-Apr-08: Raikkonen Tops Both Practice Sessions in Spain
Today is the 25th April and this is F1 Minute.
Raikkonen dominated both Free Practice sessions in Spain today. The first was a Ferrari 1-2, with Hamilton just behind, and all in all it was a pretty dull affair. The cars sat in the garages for almost a third of the 90 minutes, which has raised some questions about whether it’s wise to test at a track the week before going to race there.
However, the second session put some of these fears to rest, because although Raikkonen took the headline again, we saw many drivers at the top. At one point, it was a Force India 1-2, something I never thought I’d say, then a Williams double, and also a Renault double, which made Alonso’s home crowd very happy.
Elsewhere, Mosley was invited to Israel to meet with the Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, but after news of the current scandal reached the Minister, the invitation was withdrawn. They said they’d rather wait until things had settled down. Mosley responded saying he understood.
That’s all for today, don’t forget we go 7 days a week on race weekends, so I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
24-Apr-08: FIA Launch the EveryRace Campaign
It’s the 24th April and this is F1 Minute.
The FIA have launched the “EveryRace” campaign, which appears to be an evolution of the previously announced Racing Against Racism initiative. The campaign took shape after an incident during winter testing that saw some racist behaviour towards Lewis Hamilton, and it aims to highlight the fact that “there is no place for racism in our sport or our society.” Visit everyrace.net for more information.
Hamilton, meanwhile, has said he isn’t anticipating any problems this coming weekend in Spain, says he always gets on well with the Spanish fans and he’s looking forward to a good race.
Elsewhere today, David Coulthard has been giving his opinion on the new rules and regulations, saying that he doesn’t believe reducing downforce and running slick tyres will give the audience the show it wants. He said more needs to be done, such as improving how the cars run through dirty air, before we start to see the increased overtaking that we want. He doesn’t go on to say how this could be achieved, though.
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
23-Apr-08: Heidfeld Thanks The Team In Munich
Hi everyone, welcome to F1 Minute for the 23rd April.
Nick Heidfeld was at the BMW factory in Munich today to say thank you for the hard work that’s been going on. He didn’t just say thanks and sign autographs, though, he drove the F1 car in a demonstration, did a couple of donuts and brought the factory to a halt for an entire 45 minutes. Heidfeld said: “It is nice to give the workforce something back. I lost track of how many hands I was shaking.”
Patrick Head has finally admitted what we’ve all known for a long time, that Nakajima’s signing to Williams was at the request of engine supplier Toyota. Head said that although Toyota had some influence over Rosberg’s teammate signing, they wouldn’t have picked Kazuki if they didn’t think he was good enough. He does admit though: “It’s true, Kazuki has made some mistakes, but he also has learned from them, and has great potential, and I think that is what really matters.”
Finally, today, we have an early weather forecast for the weekend: showers are predicted for both Saturday and Sunday, but even if it doesn’t rain, temperatures will be much lower than F1 usually finds in Barcelona.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
22-Apr-08: Super Aguri Are On Their Way To Spain
This is F1 Minute for the 22nd April.
A quick update on Super Aguri, co-owner Fumio Akita has said that as far as he is aware, the cars have now been sent on their way to Spain. This is after the short term future of the team looked very pessimistic following the collapse of the latest takeover deal.
In other news, Ferrari team president Luca di Montezemolo has said that they don’t really want to have Alonso in their team, squashing the rumours that he is destined for a seat there in 2009. Montezemolo said: “To line up a Raikkonen/Alonso double act would mean wanting to damage yourself. I want two equal drivers that work together.” Not necessarily as a response to this, but with coincidental timing, Alonso has said he has many options, including staying at Renault, but he’s also interested in Williams, BMW and Toyota.
Finally, today, a commissioner for the EU will be investigating the Valencia street circuit project after questions were raised by an environmental group. The concerns involve how the contract was decided upon, and also the potential noise levels.
That’s all for today, join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.