20-Oct-08: Rampf Says BMW Shouldn’t be Disappointed
Today is the 20th October 2008 and this if F1 Minute.
BMW technical director Willy Rampf believes the team should be very proud of what they’ve achieved this year, despite being out of the hunt for the championship now. He said there’s no need to be disappointed because they are still competing with the two teams in front. Regarding Kubica, Rampf has only the highest praise: “During the race he is sometimes asking questions – it is something when a driver has enough time and mental capacity to think about things. He is a very quick driver and also a very intelligent driver.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian Grand Prix organisers have refuted Bernie Ecclestone’s claims that they breached their contract. The suggestion is that they owe money from both 2007 and 2008, but the marketing department says: “”It is true that we have a commercial disagreement regarding our monetary obligations, but only for 2008. This is the result of an historical difference within the contractual understanding between the two parties.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
03-Oct-08: BMW Will Keep Up Development This Season
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 3rd October 2008.
We heard earlier in the week that McLaren are pushing forward with development this year and it’s good news to hear that BMW haven’t given up on the title, either. Technical director Willy Rampf said that they will still develop despite Kubica being 20 points down on Hamilton. He said: “We will continue though. We will try to have at least small modifications and updates for the next races and hope to get closer to the top. We are not far away, not the team and not Robert as our leading driver.”
Elsewhere today, Autosport.com is reporting that the FOTA are looking at a new concept of sharing commercial revenues between the teams equally. Currently, teams get a bigger share, the higher they finish up the constructor’s championship. You’d imagine the larger teams wouldn’t appreciate getting less money, but Autosport has asked Frank Williams who said it’s the best way of making things more competitive. I’d love to know what you think about this potential new scheme, leave your thoughts at F1Minute.com.
26-Jun-08: Hamilton Heads Up Final Test Day at Silverstone
Hi everyone, this is F1 Minute and today is the 26th June 2008.
Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on the last day of testing at Silverstone, ahead of Glock for Toyota, and then Raikkonen in the Ferrari. Glock actually had an incident with Coulthard with the pair colliding at the end of Hangar Straight. Glock apologised for the contact, and thanked his mechanics for working hard and getting the car out again. Alonso caused a red flag with apparent engine trouble, as did Coulthard later in the day for the same reason.
Elsewhere today, BMW have announced they will be restructuring their technical department and reducing the workload of current Technical Director Willy Rampf. He will become Technical Coordinator from November this year, meaning he will still lead the overall concept of the car.
Finally, organisers of the Abu Dhabi GP are said to be super happy with their provisional placement on the calendar, not just because they will host the potential championship decider, but also because it means the weather will be good.
That’s all for today, please 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.