F1 Report

Vettel on Pole for Abu Dhabi

2010-11-13T09:50:00.002-05:00

Sebastien Vettel put himself in the best possible position to win the World Championship with a strong pole position run in the Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton came second to keep his dim hopes alive for McLaren. He basically needs to win the race and have Vettel, Webber, and Unlikely, but he can be a spoiler for Alonso, Webber, or Vettel.

Webber continued his slide from the front with a very slow 5th place. He reallly needed to be on pole for this race, but his lack of pace over the past three races continues.

Alonso is in the best position. If he maintains 3rd place, he wins his third championship. It's Alonso's to lose at this time.

From the Guardian Website:

Who could win and how

Webber cannot win championship if P6 or lower.

Vettel cannot win championship if P3 or lower.

Hamilton cannot win championship if P2 or lower.

Alonso v Webber

If: Alonso P1 or P2: Alonso takes the title on points

Alonso P3, P4 or P5: Webber needs to win

Alonso P6, Webber needs P2

Alonso P7 or P8: Webber needs P3

Alonso P9: Webber P4

Alonso P10 or no points: Webber P5

Alonso v Vettel

If: Alonso P1, P2, P3 or P4, beats Vettel on points

Alonso P5, P6, P7, P8 : Vettel needs to win

Alonso P9, P10: Vettel needs P2

Webber v Vettel

If: Vettel P1: Webber cannot win

Vettel P2: Webber P4 or better

Hamilton

Must win, Alonso P11 or worse, Webber P6 or worse, and Vettel P3 or worse.

There's even a spreadsheet for these options.

Brazil Rocks

2010-11-10T21:49:00.004-05:00

Brazil was, as always, a great race. Where else can you get nearly-naked pit babes and machine-gun-toting highwaymen in the same weekend?

Interlagos is so bad that the drivers are routinely provided with armored Mercedes-Benzes for transportation to and from the track. And I thought we had bad neighborhoods.

The first indication that this would be a great race was Nico Hulkenburg's maiden pole. No kidding. It's been so long since Williams was on pole that they needed to give Frank a map.

Frank Williams is a badass. In an interview many years ago, he was asked about being paralyzed. Frank's witty response: "So I'm in a wheelchair. Tough Shit."

So I shall hereby refrain from further snarky comments. Hulk's drive was superb. You can make whatever excuses you want, but the scoreboard doesn't lie.

In the race, it wasn't to be. Hulk moved backwards all day, eventually finishing a credible 8th.

Seb Vettel made a daring pass for the lead and was never threatened. Marky Mark Webber drove a steady race to finish 2nd.

Funny thing. When Ferrari enforces team orders, they get fined and everyone gets the vapors. When Red Bull DOESN'T impose team orders, everyone complains. What's the deal? Either team orders are OK, or they're not.

Drive of the day goes to Fred Alonso. He made some daring passes, pushed his way past Hamilton, and never backed off. If he hangs on to win the Driver's Championship, it will be well-earned. I've never been a big fan of MonoBrow, but he is relentless.

Choke of the day goes to Jensen Button. OK, so he was nearly robbed and murdered, but he has simply dropped off the pace here at crunch time, and has left Hamilton to carry the fight for McLaren.

Honorable mention to Kamui Kobayashi, who once again drove a hard-nosed race for Sauber, outclassing Nick Heidfeld and coming home a respectable 10th. This kid's for real.

And at least Michael Schumacher managed to complete a race without his blinker on.

Me And My Big Mouth

2010-10-26T20:55:00.004-04:00

OK, it's my fault. As soon as I called the championship for Webber, he channels his inner Yuji Ide and blows it. All he has to do is keep the rubber on the road, avoid Adrian Sutil, and finish. If he merely achieved posiums, he wins by default. But NO.

As soon as the Safety Car goes in, Webber overcooks it and takes our poor Nico Rosberg, handing the race to Seb Vettel.

Who lead the entire race until his used Renault engine blew up in a way only a French engine can.

Which handed the race to one Fred Alonso, who scampered home unimpeded by Lewis Hamilton's dog-slow McLaren.

Surprisingly, Michael Schumacher finished a respectable 4th (only because everyone else blowed up real good).

I love, love, LOVE a wet race. It's probably the only thing that livens up F1 of late. Otherwise, the race is usually over at the 1st corner. Other than waiting for Lewis Hamilton to throw away another race in spectacularly stupid fashion, it can get dull.

Next surprise? Tony Liuzzi in the Bangalore Torpedo finished 6th. He may even keep his ride next year.

Next post: My Best/Worst of 2010. Find out where your favorite driver/team stands.

Call it: Webber is a Lock

2010-10-20T21:45:00.000-04:00

My money's on Webber hanging in there.

Seb Vettel is simply too inconsistent this year. Next year, with a humbling defeat under his belt and an improved Red Bull chassis, and he may be unstoppable.

Alonso has been coming on strong, but he cannot catch Weber unless Mark has a DNF. If Webber continues to get podiums, the math isn't there.

Hamilton will not win. There is a God.

Button, who has been very impressive this year, hasn't yet become consistently fast in the McLaren. I'm guessing the chassis doesn't suit his style. Let's face it: The McLaren is Lewis Hamilton's car, and will be until Button shows he is consistently faster. I'd love to see that, but the fact is that Hamilton is simply quicker.

I think Webber is simply the right guy in the right car at the right time. Jacques Villeneuve would never have been World Champion without the dominant Williams. Even more so for Damon Hill. Mark Webber is very, very good, but the difference is the Red Bull's superior aerodynamics. In equal cars, Alonso stomps him like a bug.

F1 Report will resume shortly.

2010-10-20T21:29:00.001-04:00

Due to some unforeseen family circumstances, F1 Report will resume with the 2010 Korean GP.

Monaco's Here!

2008-05-22T17:19:00.003-04:00

Let's face it. This Sunday will be a race lover's dream day. Every year we get a trifecta; Monaco in the morning, the Indy 500 in the afternoon, and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 in the evening.

Monaco has always been where the greats shined. Ayrton Senna won here 6 times, with Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher winning 5 times apiece.

This is the greatest test on the F1 calendar, as the drivers negotiate the narrow streets in 750 bhp machines. The roads are slick, and this year there may be rain. With no traction control, rain at Monaoco could result in a wild race result. Remember Olivier Panis winning for Ligier in 1996?

I have a rule for NASCAR races. I never watch until the final 50 laps. Nothing much happens until then, and I can avoid Darrel Waltrip for as long as possible. Indy; watch the start and the last 100 laps. All the action is in the last part of the race.

Massa Hangs On in Turkey

2008-05-22T17:07:00.004-04:00

Felipe Massa survived a strong challenge from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to win in Turkey. Hamilton's three-stop strategy nearly worked, and he executed a beautiful pass on Massa for the lead before his third stop. Hamilton drove a very good race, and nearly won, but Massa held on and executed his strategy perfectly to keep the McLaren at bay.

Ferrari looked good all weekend, but Mclaren had great pace in the race. Kovalainen could have contended for the win, as he was on a two-stop strategy, but it was not to be. He finished a lap down, but look for him to be very strong at Monaco.

Kimi Raikkonen drove a steady race to third, but frankly was never a serious contender at a track he seems to dislike. The BMW's of Kubica and Heidfeld were 4th and 5th, followed by a resurgent Fernando Alonso for Renault in 6th.

Mark Webber continued his great season with 7th for Red Bull, followed by Nico Rosberg's Williams in the final points-paying position.

The highlight of the race was Fisichella bounding over Nakajima's Williams at the first corner. Fisi went in far too fast and simply plowed into the back of Kazuki's car, vaulting over the Williams driver. I'm sure Nakajima needed a new driving suit after the race.

Next up is Monaco, traditionally a strong McLaren track, and where Hamilton will be looking to avenge his forced 2nd place last year.

Super Aguri Closes Down

2008-05-07T10:13:00.005-04:00

The Super Aguri F1 Team has shuttered its doors, finally succumbing to the financial pressures that have buffeted the team since last season.

New F1 rules meant that Super Best Friends could no longer buy chassis from Honda F1, and meant that the team needed a big infusion of capital to continue.

After a buyout from Dubai fell through, a last-ditch effort to secure funding from the German Weigl Group failed to come through. Honda was unwilling to continue to support Super Aguri, as it needs to focus its efforts and funding on its factory team. And so it ends.

The team was built around Honda's support for Takuma Sato, after he was released by BAR. He was joined by Anthony Davidson, a highly-regarded driver who's yet to get a chance to show what he can do in a competitive ride. They're both now looking for work. Expect to see someone scoop up Davidson quickly. Maybe even Honda F1, who has to be thinking about how to replace Rubens Barrichello. Sato may end up in the US's IRL series, where Honda supplies the power plants.

A sad day. Super Aguri always did well with a budget that was probably smaller than McLaren's catering budget, or Max Mosely's hooker allowance. They will be missed.

Raikkonen Cruises in Spain

2008-04-29T08:54:00.003-04:00

Kimi Raikkonen cruised to an unchallenged victory in the Spanish GO this past weekend, easily extending his championship points lead over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen, who pipped Renault's Fernando Alonso for the pole in qualifying, was never seriously threatened. Felipe Massa made it a Ferrari 1-2, with Hamilton 3rd in the McLaren. Neither Massa nor Hamilton had anything for the World Champion this weekend. Raikkone was totally in charge of the race, and even with 2 safety car periods, he easily opened up a lead and kept his rivals in check.

Robert Kubica continued to be the revelation of the season with strong 4th for BMW, followed by Mark Webber, in an inspired drive for Red Bull. Jensen Button gave Honda some hope with a 6th place finish, by far the best they've done recently. Kazuki Nakajima in the Williams-Toyota finished 7th, with Jarno Trulli in the factory Toyota 8th.

Alonso, who ran a light fuel load to try and steal his home pole, blew up on the 34th lap. His run for pole was amazing, and he showed that Renault is moving forward. They aren't there yet, but Alonso's performance was gutsy.

The main story of the day was the horrific wreck that took Heikki Kovalainen out of the race on lap 21, when he was leading during the pit stop window. He speared off the track at 150 mph when his left front wheel failed. He had no chance to slow the car as is skidded across the gravel into the tire wall. Reports are that he has a mild concussion, and will be OK in time for turkey in 2 weeks.

Drive of the day? That goes to Button, who pulled his Honda from 13th to 6th. He drove a steady, aggressive race and kept clear of the accidents. Maybe Honda will make some progress now. Honorable mention goes to Mark Webber, who kept his head down and gave Red Bull their best finish of the season, and showed that Adrian Newey's newest design is fundamentally fast. Webber qualified 7th, and kept his pace throughout. We've also got to give credit to Nakajima, who took his Williams from 12th on the grid to 7th. A great drive for the rookie.

The biggest question of the day is David Coulthard. He was roundly trounced by Webber in qualifying, only putting his Red Bull in 17th, behind the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Bourdais. In the race, we was involved in accidents with Sutil's Force India and then Timo Glock closed the door on him in a turn and punctured a tire. He seemed to be off the pace all weekend.

One pleaing note was that Super Aguri made it to the race. This may have been their last race in F1; if they can't find new funding, they'll likely be done. It'd be a shame, since they've done wonders with a budget that's probably smaller than McLaren's catering bill. Let's hope Aguri Suzuki can find new partners soon and keep them on track.

Mad Max

2008-04-04T08:32:00.004-04:00

Max Mosley, the head of the FIA, has been caught with his pants down...literally!

Max, son of famous British fascist Bernard Mosley, was filmed in a bondage party with a bunch of hookers. He doesn't deny that he is the man in the video, but claims his privacy has been violated.

The News of the World claims the scene is a a nazi death-camp re-enactment, complete with uniforms for guards and prisoners. Max says there were no Nazi connotations, and that he would never do such a thing.

Mercedes, BMW, Honda, and Toyota have all called on the FIA to act swiftly (and boot Max), but so far, the FIA has not acted.

I haven't seen he video, since I have no desire to see a 70 year-old man cavorting with prostitutes, but it's a HUGE embarrassment to the world of motorsports.

While Max doesn't directly oversee F1, his role as President of the FIA makes him the de facto leader of world motorsports, and as such, he's seriously harmed the credibility of the FIA (as if they needed help in that matter).

Max, save your family the extended embarrassment and step down NOW.

I really don't care if he wants to dress up like a chicken to act our his weird sexual fantasies, but anyone with half a brain KNOWS that this kind of stuff ALWAYS ends up on YouTube. Max claims that "persons unknown" have targeted him by taking the video and leaking it to the papers, hinting at some dark conspiracy. Ummm, yeah, Max.

Dude is a freak.

F1 Report is Techno Challenged

2008-04-04T08:30:00.003-04:00

Sorry, readers, but F1 Report has been experiencing technical troubles.

My DSL Internet providor, whose name rhymes with BirthLink, has seen to it that I have no internet connection for the past two weeks.

I'm moving to a cable modem, so this should be resolved on April 17.

Reports will be sporadic until that time.

WTF was I thinking when I signed up for DSL?

Sorry about Australia

2008-03-19T23:23:00.001-04:00

Formula1Report was dealing with some family business out of town last weekend, and was without cable, or a TV for that matter.

I'll be back with a report on Malaysia next week.

Scott Speed in Car & Driver

2008-03-05T08:34:00.003-05:00

There's a feature on Scott Speed in the April issue of Car & Driver, updating their 2005 story. It's a great read, and tells the story of how one man's career in F1 came to an ugly end.

Back in 2005, they chronicled his rise through the Red Bull Driver's program, and his battle with ulcerative colitis, which nearly ended his career at 21. It's a fantastic read. It shows a young man of remarkable courage, determination, and not a little ego.

The update tells the story of Scott's fallout at Toro Rosso, including the famous fight at the Nurburgring in 2007 with Franz Tost, after Scott crashed out in a deluge. Tost physically attacked Speed in the pitlane and garage. Speed went to Gerhard Berger and let him know that if Tost touched him again, he'd "knock him out".

Peter Windsor, who we all know from Speed TV's coverage of Formula One, rates Scott highly, and says he believes Scott had the talent to win in F1, but never had a chance in a competitive car. Speed ran as high as 6th in that famous race at the Nurburgring, and in the rain at Monaco, he set the fastest practice times. He's very, very good, but in a Toro Rosso, he never could show any real speed, so to speak.

I agree, and it's a shame that there are no more Americans in F1. However, NASCAR is sucking up the talent pool. There were more Indy 500 winners at the Daytona 500 than there will be at Indy this year.

When the new story link is available, I'll post it. In the meantime, here's the link to the 2005 story:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/motorsports/sport_the_fall_and_rise_of_scott_speed_feature

Is Ron Dennis Out at McLaren?

2008-02-27T22:13:00.007-05:00

Motor Authority is reporting that Spanish sport daily Maca is reporting that Ron Dennis has been forced out at McLaren by Mercedes.

If true, it marks the end of an era in Formula One. Ron started as a mechanic at McLaren and rose to become one of the most important figures in motor sports in the past 30 years.

A consummate professional, Ron and his deputy, Martin Whitmarsh, turned a cottage industry into a professional sport. They took F1 out of the garages and into the boardrooms.

BTW, R0n still owns 15% of McLaren, so he won't be on the dole.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/motorsport/report-mclaren-f1-ceo-ron-dennis-fired/#more-4922

UPDATE 2/28/07, 9:03 AM EST: McLaren has denied that Ron is out. Mercedes has said that there's "No change in management" at McLaren. What no one has said is that Ron is still Managing Director at Mclaren. They've left some wiggle room. It could be that Ron's thinking of stepping down, after the SpyGate scandal and the breakup of his 20+ year marriage.

I've never been a Mclaren fan. They always seemed too corporate, too professional. Powered by the insane 1,000 bhp 1.5L Honda turbo, they won 15 of 16 GP's in 1988, leading all but 27 laps through the entire season! It became easy to hate such dominance.

But there can be no denying that Ron is an honorable man, fair and honest. He even turned his own team in over the SpyGate e-mails.

And Ron will always be great because he green-lighted Gordon Murray's spectacular McLaren F1 road car. It will forever be the yardstick by which "supercars" are judged. With an amazing 637 bhp BMW V-12, the F1 was the fastest roadgoing car from 1994 to 2005 at 240 mph. It was finally eclipsed by the 1,000 bhp Bugatti Veyron.

2008 Season Preview Team-By-Team

2008-02-27T21:30:00.006-05:00

Here's a short look at the upcoming season team-by-team, in the order I think they'll finish in the Manufacturer's Championship:

1) Ferrari: Ferrari had a productive off season, and has been very strong in testing. Gotta be the front runners for the Manufacturer's Title. After finally winning a World Championship, Kimi Raikkonen has to be considered the front runner for the 2008 championship. Massa is fast, but inconsistent, but he will bring home the points again.

2) McLaren: Back with two of F1's best young drivers, Ron Dennis has staked the future of the team on 2nd year phenom Lewis Hamilton. If he doesn't flame out, Ron may once again prove himself a genius. The McLaren's been consistently fast in testing, and has to be considered neck-and-neck with Ferrari. They also picked up Heikki Kovalainen from Renault, and he's been highly rated, but until the 2nd half of last season, had not really shone. He may give Hamilton a run or two, but expect him to play second fiddle.

3) BMW-Sauber: With veteran Nick Heidfeld and the brilliantly fast but inconsistent Robert Kubica, BMW looks to be the Best of The Rest this season. If they get some more aero tweaks, they may contend for some wins this season. They are consistely quick on all circuits, and have tested well. The key for them will be reliability. They have to be there in case the Ferraris or Mclarens fail.

4) Renault: With two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso returning after a disastrous season at McLaren, Renault's going to be in a rebuilding mode. Even Alonso concedes that podiums may be scarce this year. Don't count him out just yet. Fernando's a great sandbagger. He and Flavio may have a few tricks up their sleeves yet. They also have Nelson Piquet, Jr., in his inaugural season. Hopefully it will go better than the last rookie Fernando was partnered with...

5) Williams-Toyota: Frank Williams famously stared down Ron Dennis last season over Nico Rosberg, and Dennis blinked. Nico returns with rookie Kazuki Nakajima, who's shown some good testing form. Williams surprised everyone last season with their pace, and while they won't win any races, they may get a podium or two.

6) Honda: Jensen Button and Rubens Barrichello come back for another year of pain. With Ross Brawn at the helm, they will improve, but how much? This year's car was already designed when Brawn came on board, so the best he can hope for is improvement around the edges. I'm a big Honda fan going back to the 1,200 horsepower McLaren-Honda turbos, and their total collapse last year was painful. They can only get better, but the best they can hope for is a freak podium. Wins? Not so much.

7) Toyota: The Team That Couldn't Shoot Straight is back,with another $300 Million or so of Toyota's money to throw away. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock will be making excuses in many languages for Toyota's failures. Don't read anything into their testing pace today in Barcelona; you can always get good times when you remove the ballast and fuel.

8) Red Bull: In what will probably be David Coulthard's last season in F1, he and Mark Webber will try to make consistent points. The Red Bulls are not bad cars, but they simply lack the resources to compete with the Big Boys.

9) Scuderia Toro Rosso: Red Bull's development team soldiers on with the Sebastien twins, Bourdais and Vettel. Bourdais comes off an unprecedented run of 4 straight CART championships, and is the latest CART refugee (and the last, sine CART folded this past week) to take on the F1 challenge. He has F1 testing experience, and I think Renault made a big mistake not taking him to replace Alonso last season. I think he has what it takes, but can he shine in the STR?

10) Force India: Oh, how far the Jordan Team has fallen. In 1999, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished 3rd in the World Championship for Jordan. Since then, they've been Midland F1, Spyker, and now Force India. Giancarlo Fischella will be going through the motions, and Adrian Sutil will be trying to impress the big teams. It'll be hard to do.

11) Super Aguri: "Super Best Friends" are struggling to make the grid this year, facing a major financial crisis. Last season, they embarrassed the factory Hondas with hand-me-down 2006 Honda chassis, and that may explain why Honda has cut off their support. A team that consistently overachieves, they deserve better than this. If they can make it, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson will be driving.

We're Back!

2008-02-27T21:28:00.003-05:00

Fresh from the offseason, Formula1Report is back just in time for the 2008 F1 World Championship!

We're rested, ready, and full of crap once again.

Alonso to Renault

2007-12-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

Fernando Alonso announced he's agreed to a deal for 2008 with Renault, to the surprise of... ABSOLUTELY NOBODY.

He'll be teamed with Nelson Piquet, Jr., son of former two-time World Champion Nelson Piquet (1983, 1988). Piquet leaves his testing role with Renault and moves up to the race team.

Interestingly, Alonso did not say where he'd be in 2008. Rumors have him already signed for Ferrari, but I discount that. Ferrari knows the value of a strong #1 driver, and with Kimi Raikkonen finally having won the World Championship that eluded him for the past three years, I doubt Ferrari is keen to upset the team by trying a McLaren a la Prost/Senna.

All this leaves Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen out in the cold. Kovalainen is high on the list for Alonso's vacant McLaren race seat, and Fisi is on the short list for.....nobody. Let's hope Fisi retires gracefully and goes back to Monaco to count his money. I always liked Fisi, but he never had the killer instinct needed to be World Champion. He never got the Ferrari ride he coveted, and when he had the chance (Renault 2005-2006), he couldn't deliver and was trounced by Fernando Alonso.

Piquet is the real deal. He can drive, and may be another Lewis Hamilton-style headache for Alonso. The difference is that Alonso's contract guarantees him #1 status. Of course, this counts for naught if Piquet is outperforming him on the track.

In related news, Ralf Schumacher has announced that he may retire, after being soundly whipped by Tonio Liuzzi in a test for Force India, the former Spyker team. The Billy Carter of Formula One, Ralf has failed to impress with Williams and Toyota. He really should leave before becoming even more of a punch line...

Renault Gets Off

2007-12-07T08:17:00.000-05:00

The FIA World Motorsports Council has decided NOT to penalize Renault for its possession of McLaren technical data. Actually, 3 CD-ROM's woth of data that was uploaded to their computer system.

The FIA found insufficient evidence that Renault had used or benefited from the McLaren data.

A spokesman said, "Well, Renault sucked this season, and that was evidence enough for us. Oh, and Flavio promised us a date with his wife. Besides, it isn't like they were stealing from Ferrari."

Ron Dennis was in the hospital with a wound to his head, described as the result of bashing it against a wall multiple times.

Sorry, but this is ridiculous. McLaren gets fined $100MM, and Renault gets NOTHING? Word was that Renault had threatened to withdraw from F1 if they were fined like McLaren; maybe the FIA blinked.

I'm no fan of McLaren, but the disparate penalties reek of favoritism.

Look for Alonso to sign with Renault in the next week, now that the threat of sanctions has been lifted. Kovalainen may be headed for McLaren.

Schumacher Comes Back - To Test. For Now,

2007-11-23T16:47:00.002-05:00

Michael Schumacher got back into a Ferrari race car for the first time last week at Jerez, and immediately went .5 seconds faster than Felipe Massa in the same car, and faster than anyone in the test.

This is why he's the 7-time World Champion.

One day, we'll all tell our grandkids that yes,we saw Michael Schumacher race. And he WAS that good.

Don't forget to tell tham that even though he only won 7 World Championships, it could have easily been 9 or 10, had he had some luck in 1997, 1998, and 2006.

SpyGate II

2007-11-23T16:32:00.000-05:00

McLaren has produced documents that show one of its ex-engineers downloaded 33 files containing over 780 technical drawings to Renault's computer system. If true, Renault's protestations that this is much ado about nothing will be proven a bit of an....understatement.

This also casts doubt about where Fernando Alonso will go in 2008. He's been coy about his next seat, but it appears that he's going to bide his time and see where this goes.

If McLaren's penalty for possessing Ferrari's data is any indication, Renault may be excluded from the 2008 championship. If so, Alonso may need to find a seat elsewhere.

Red Bull? Not yet, as they still use customer engines.

Honda? Ummm, with the disaster that befell the team this season, Alonso would be crazy to take a flyer with them. He'd also have to face Jensen Button, a driver who would show him no mercy. Alonso is defuintiely faster that Jensen, but he doesn't want another situation like 2007.

No other teams have open seats, at least none that are publicly acknowledged.

It's been widely reported that Alonso has a signed deal with Ferrari for 2009, but I would discount those rumors. I don't see Maranello putting themselves in McLaren's position by having both Alonso AND Raikkonen, especially since Raikkonen is the new World Champion.

Unfortunately, Alonso's only logical move is Renault, even with SpyGate II hanging over their head.

Prediction: Alonso goes to Renault, AND Renault gets excluded from the 2008 championship. Kavalainen goes to Mclaren.

Todt Kicked Upstairs at Ferrari

2007-11-12T08:45:00.000-05:00

With the breakdown in negotiations with Ross Brawn, Ferrari has moved quickly to reorganize the team.

Jean Todt has been promoted to a management position. He had been under fire from Luca De Motezemolo for the team's poor start to 2007, and although Kimi Raikkonen secured the World Championship in the final race in Brazil, it was mostly because Lewis Hamilton made some rookie mistakes coming down to the wire that handed the cup to Kimi.

Another issue that erupted during the year was the breakdown of the Ferrari wind tunnel, which cost them 3 weeks of development mid-season, when McLaren was beating them regularly. It was believed that poor maintenance was the cause, and De Montezemolo blamed Todt for the failure.

Todt is being replaced with Stefano Domenicali, who was Todt's second in command and Sporting Director for the team. He is very respected, and has been looking to move up in the team.

Todt has been unavailable for comment, which is never a good sign. Look to him to tow the company line for a few months, then retire after the New Year.

Also up in the air is the future of Felipe Massa, who recently re-upped with Ferrari for 3 more years. He is managed by Todt's son, and some speculate that Todt did a deal with Massa without De Motezemolo's knowledge; leading to the break. Ferrari may yet deal Massa to Toyota, as they were not happy with his lack of consistency this season.

Brawn In at Honda

2007-11-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

When he failed to come to an agreement with Ferrari, Ross Brawn wasted no time in accepting the Team Principal job at Honda. It's been widely known that Honda, Toyota, and Ferrari all wanted Brawn's services, but Ferrari failed to close the deal.

Brawn, who came to Ferrari from Bennetton with Michael Schumacher in 1996, was a central figure in the Italian team's resurgence, leading to an unprecedented 5 straight World Driver's and Constructor's championships with Schumacher.

When MS retired at the end of 2006, Brawn took a sabbatical to recharge his batteries. He had been tipped to replace Jean Todt, who's been running the Ferrari team since 1993, but the deal never happened.

Brawn is a technical and organizational giant, credited with bringing discipline to the notoriously unorganized Ferrari squad, and quelling the infighting that marked the 80's and early 90's at Fiorano.

The 2007 Honda was a complete disaster, and their 2008 car is largely finished already, so Brawn will have his work cut out for him. I imagine he will concentrate on reorganizing the team and then start on the car. Button and Barrichello are both ready to leave, but are under contract for 2008. I had thought Barrichello was going to retire, but with his old mate coming in to run the team, Rubens may stick it out one more year.

So What Do We Do Now?

2007-11-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's a new blog, and so you may be wondering that we do for the off-season.

So am I.

We'll keep up with the happening i F1, and there's lots of Silly Season stuff yet to happen. There will also be preseason testing, new teams (Force India, ProDrive, etc.), and other things to report on.

I'll also throw in a few non-F1 things that interest me. Music, the auto business, whatever I feel like blogging about.

I promise I'll try to keep away form political blogging, even though politics is one of my passions. Frankly, it's too polarizing to blog politics; you immediately alienate half your audience. No to mention those who don't care about politics.

Williams Drops The Hammer

2007-11-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

Williams announced that Nico Rosberg (Son of 1982 F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg), widely considered the front runner for the McLaren seat vacated by Fernando Alonso , is under contract to Williams for 2008, and his services are not for sale at any price.

Of course, in F1-speak, this could mean one of two things:

Ron Dennis hasn't offered enough money to buy out Rosberg's contract, or

Frank Williams has Rosberg under contract on the cheap, and Frank LOVES cheap.

Let's face it, Williams and McLaren have a rivalry that goes WAY back, and there's certainly no love lost between Ron Dennis and Frank Williams.

Over the past 5 years, though, the teams have been on very different trajectories.

McLaren has ridden a wave of Mercedes-Benz money and engine development technology to the top of Formula One. They've secured the services of the best drivers in F1, including Lewis Hamilton, arguably the best young driver in a decade (maybe ever).

Meanwhile, Williams has gone the other way, in a big way. Their partnership with BMW was a disaster, and when that broke up, Williams was left without a factory engine deal, which is critical to any success in today's Formula One. They spent a year with Cosworth engines, then moved on to Toyota.

Toyota's engines are highly regarded, but they're not free. This is a financial drain on the team, and Williams has struggled to keep pace with the mega-budgets of McLaren, Ferrari, Honda, and Toyota. As they've fallen off the pace, they've also struggled with sponsorships. History and a famous name only gets you so far, and Williams is trying to stay at the sharp end of the grid and avoid the fate of so many other privateer teams.

So, when Rosberg's name was floated as a replacement for Alonso, Williams again found themselves in the catbird seat. Believe me, Frank loves jerking Ron's chain.

So what will it be? I predicted Rosberg for the McLaren seat. If McLaren wants Nico bad enough, they can afford to make Williams an offer they can't refuse. The money Mercedes can throw at the issue is substantial, and Williams needs the money badly if they want to stay competitive.

And if Williams refuses, they've got a pissed off driver on their hands who will bolt as soon as his contract allows. Rosberg knows that driver only has a few chances to move up the grid, and the opportunity to drive for a team with a real chance to win the World Championship may only come once, if at all. F1 history is replete with great drivers who never had the chance to drive competitive cars (Jean Alesi, anyone?), and so Nico knows he NEEDS this chance; it may never come again. He wants this drive.

On the other side of the argument, Frank Williams was stated categorically that he will never sell Rosberg's contract, even to go as far as saying that he's sell the team if he sold Rosberg. According to WIlliams, Rosberg is the key to their resurgence.

The other name being bandied about for the McLaren seat is Heikki Kovalainen. It makes sense for McLaren and Renault to work a deal to swap drivers, but McLaren doesn't want to be seen as taking Flavio Briatore's rejects. Even though Kovalainen has drastically raised his game this season, he remains a second-choice driver for McLaren. However, he's still ahead of Adrian Sutil, the Spyker #1. While Sutil has shown great promise, he hasn't driven for a front row team as has Kovalainen.

So, I have to retract my prediction that Rosberg will go to McLaren. It's going to be Kovalainen and Alonso in a a switch between McLaren and Renault, with Rosberg left at the altar.

Alonso's Out - Captain Obvious Is Unavailable For Coment

2007-11-03T22:40:00.000-04:00

As expected by EVERYONE ON THE FREAKING PLANET, Fernando Alonso and McLaren have agreed to part ways, effective immediately.

It became obvious that Fernando was on the way out when he threatened to blow the whistle on McLaren over the SpyGate e-mails during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying fiasco. He and Ron Denns haven't spoken since, and Alonso had been effectively shut out of the team for the past 4 races.

He's been offered his old ride at Renault, and I expect that's where he'll go. He's been offered rides at Honda and Toyota, but he would be crazy to join either team. Honda has effectively ended Jensen Button's career, and Toyota, despite the largest budget in F1, has not accomplished anything but burning through roughly $1BLN.

Ferrari: Nope. Raikkonen is the new World Champion, and he would hardly want to compete with Alonso. And Massa's just re-upped through 2010.

BMW: Nope. They have some pretty deep talent in Robert Kubica, and some good drivers in development. Could happen, but I doubt it.

Williams: They cold do a swap, since Nico Rosberg is widely thought to have the inside track on Alonso's McLaren seat, but Frank would never spend the money on Alonso. Heck, he may not HAVE that much money anymore.

There are no other teams he would even consider, even if they can afford him.

Nope. Fisi's out, and Kovalainen and Alonso are in. It's all over but the shouting. And a large chunk of Carlos Ghosn's money.

McLaren Pisses Up A Rope

2007-11-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

McLaren has announced that they would challenge the results f the Brazilian Grand Prix after it was learned that the BMW and Williams cars may have had fuel that was too cold, implying a performance advantage.

The FIA tested fuel samples form both teams and found them to be outside the allowable deviation from ambient temperature. However, there's some question as to what the actual ambient temperature was and where it is measured.

Sadly, McLaren is pursuing this. If they succeed and the FIA exclude BMW and Williams from the race, Hamilton moves up three places and would become World Champion.

Not a freaking chance, Ron.

If this happens, I'll never watch F1 again.

McLaren, hot on the heels of embarrassing the entire racing world with the SpyGate scandal and resulting $100MM fine, is now looking to finish the job of destroying Formula One with this idiotic gesture.

Take your lumps like a man and shut the f**k up, Ron.

Jayzas, could this get any more stupid?

Raikkonen Rules the Roost

2007-11-03T22:09:00.000-04:00

Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix, and with it, the 2007 WorldDriver's Championship> In a stunning turn of events, Raikkonen came through from third on the grid to beat his teammate Felipe Massa (who engineered his final pit stop so Kimi could win), and Fernando Alonso, driving what is likely to be his final race for McLaren.

And where was Lewis Hamilton, who came to Sao Paolo leading the championship? He finished a lowly 7th after first going off trying to hold off Alonso's charge through at the start, and then he suffered an electronic problem with his transmission that left him limping around hunting for gears. He drove an impressive race to come back through the field, but it was for naught. He finished 1 point adrift of Raikkonen, and tied at 109 with Alonso. Hamilton takes 2nd by virtue of having won more races than Fernando.

Remember, all Hamilton had to do was finish 4th, and no matter what anyone else did, he'd become the first rookie World Champion in he modern age of F1

It was a day that Raikkonen and his fans have long awaited. He's been considered the fastest driver in F1 for the past 3 seasons, but hasn't had a ride that could go the distance. He was robbed of a likely title in 2005, when the McLaren was easily the fastest car on the grid, but the Mercedes engines had a nasty habit of grenading within sight of the finish. Not so this year, as he overcame some uncharacteristic fragility in his Ferrari to win the Championship.

As for the race, Nico Rosberg finished 4th for Williams in what had to be seen as a chance to impress Ron Dennis in case Fernando Alonso leaves, as we all expect he will. Nico was followed by Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld in the resurgent BMW-Saubers. They have come on strong this season, and must be seen a a force for 2008.

As for the rest, Honda's whole season could be summed up by the fact that Super Best Friends again beat the factory Hondas in what has been a disastrous season. In fact, "disaster" almost seems too kind. For Honda, one of the most storied names in F1, this season has been a complete, utter, and total failure. There is not one good thing to be said about it.

So Kimi Raikkonen is World Champion 2007, and the whole of the British Empire lies in ruins as Hamilton has failed to win a Championship that was all but guaranteed.

Kimi Comes Through

2007-10-07T14:36:00.000-04:00

Kimi Raikkonen kept his title hopes alive with a strong victory in China today. Kimi came through when Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes cut a tie while leading, and Hamilton beached the car in a gravel trap on Lap 31. Like Japan last week, the race started in the wet, but the promised heavy showers never came, and the racers finished on dry tires.

Fernando Alonso held off a challenge by Fleipe Massa's Ferrari to claim second. Sebastien Vettel shocked everyone with a 4th place finish for Toro Rosso. Jensen Button showed again he's stronger than the Honda chassis with a 5th place, followed by Tonio Liuzzi in the other Toro Rosso. To say this was a great day for STR would be an understatement. Vettel and the team were going nuts when he crossed the finish line. Good for 'em!

Rounding out the points-paying positions were Nick Heidfeld's BMW and David Couthard in the Red Bull.

Trackside gossip centered on why McLaren kept Hamilton out on worn tires; he had not changed tires on his pit stop, and they were visibly worn when he stopped. By risking a tire failure, McLaren took too great a chance. had they changed tires and Hamilton finished in 4th place, he would have 111 points, and would have eliminated Raikkonen.

More troubling for Raikkonen, Massa failed to get past Alonso and gave Fernando an additional 2 points, which could be the deciding difference for the two-time defending champion.

Hamilton's retirement today was his first of the season. It couldn't have come at a worse time, as he gave Alonso and Raikkonen a chance to pull out the Championship in Brazil. Hamilton leads Alonso by 4 points, and Raikkonen by 7 points.

To win, Alonso must win and have Hamilton finish no better than 4th; for Raikknen to win, he must win the race and have Hamilton finish no better than 5th, and Alonso no better than 4th.

The racer of the day? Vettel, without a doubt. He ran strong all day in changing conditions, and took maximum advantage of his Ferrari power to come through the field and finish 4th, the best result for Toro Rosso ever, and looking back to the Minardi days, their best finish since 1983.

It's still Hamilton's championship to lose, but as we saw in China, anything can happen. We go to Brazil with three drivers in the hunt. It looks to be an exciting race.

Non-F1 Rant

2007-10-05T14:05:00.000-04:00

OK, I sat by when Toyota used The Damned's "What Do I Get".

I remained silent when AT&T used The Ramones' "Blitkrieg Bop".

I even let Jag get by with using The Clash's "London Calling". (They were selling Jags. Why an apocalyptic song about London after a nuclear war is appropriate to sell Jags, I'll never know.)

But now Nissan is using The Clash's cover of the Toots Hibbert classic "Pressure Drop" to sell the new Rogue CUV.

All the cool songs of my youth are being co-opted as marketing jingles.

If they start using The Replacements, somebody's getting hurt.

Silly Season V1.0

2007-10-03T08:39:00.000-04:00

Here is my first prediction of the 2008 grid:

Ferrari:
Kimi Raikkonen
Felipe Massa

McLaren:
Lewis Hamilton
Nico Rosberg

Renault:
Heikki Kovalainen
Fernando Alonso

BMW:
Robert Kubica
Anthony Davison?

Honda:
Jensen Button
Rubens Barrichello

Toyota:
Adrian Sutil
Jarno Trulli

Red Bull:
David Coulthard
Mark Webber

Toro Rosso:
Sebastien Vettel
Sebastien Bourdais

Super Aguri:
Anthony Davidson?
Takuma Sato

Spyker:
Whoever pays them

Schumacher Out at Toyota

2007-10-01T10:04:00.001-04:00

Ralf Schumacher announced on his website that he was leaving Toyota at the end of the season.

Captain Obvious was unavailable for comment.

Ralf announced he was leaving Toyota so he can concentrate on other ways to make money off his brother's fame.

Hamilton Rules The Rain

2007-10-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

Lewis Hamilton took a giant step closer to becoming the first rookie to win the Formula One World Driver’s Championship Sunday with a convincing victory in a downpour at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso saw his title hopes fade to dark, dark gray when he crashed out on Lap 41. He hydroplaned out of a turn and slammed the wall, destroying his McLaren.

Hamilton easily led home Heikki Kovalainen’s Renault and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari for his 4 th victory of the season, all coming from pole position. Felipe Massa let Raikkonen through with 5 laps to go when he was called in for a pit stop so as not to offend the FIA with team orders. Wow, we all believed that one…

As always in the rain, the rest of the points-paying positions were also surprising. David Couthard’s Red Bull finished 4th, followed by Fisi’s Renault, then Massa, Robert Kubica’s BMW, and finally, Adrian Sutil’s Spyker, scoring their first points of the season. Sutil was elevated to 8th when Toro Rosso’s Tonio Liuzzi was demoted a place for passing Sutil under the yellow flag.

It was a terrible ending for what could have been a glorious day for the Red Bull A and B teams. Mark Webber was in second place behind Hamilton during the second safety car period when the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Vettel unbelievable plowed into the back of his car, taking Webber out of a probable podium finish. Scratch one Red Bull and one Toro Rosso. Coulthard finished a great 4th place, but Liuzzi lost Toro Rosso’s first point of the season when he was demoted for passing Sutil under yellow. At one point in the race, Vettel led for Toro Rosso when the leaders pitted. He was still running a strong third when he took out Webber. Vettel was seen in the pits later with his head buried in his hands, for he knew he had blown his greatest chance yet in F1, and he had taken out Webber’s car for no reason.

Felipe Massa dropped from 3rd to 6th when he pitted to let Raikkonen through. Why Ferrari didn’t just have him make a show of holding up Kimi is unknown , but they gave away 4th place for Felipe when they called him in.

As always, the rain shows off the best drivers, and Japan was no exception. Hamilton, of course, was impressive, but then again, he was leading and didn’t have to bother with the spray. Webber, Vettel, Couthard, and Massa all showed strong, and Raikkonen’s charge through the field was impressive. Also getting noticed was Sutil in the Spyker, who drove a fast, disciplined race. He earned his point.

The Japanese teams fared poorly in their home GP, with the factory Hondas finishing 10th and 11th, and the Toyotas in 13th and 16th. Ralf Schumacher parked his car on lap 55, apparently giving up while running at the back of the pack.

The other strange event of the day also involved Ferrari. The FIA had declared a “wet race”, requiring the teams to start on full wet tires, but apparently, no one bothered to tell Ferrari except via e-mail. It seems Jean Todt’s Blackberry didn’t recognize the FIA’s address, because the Ferraris started on intermediates. They were later called in for drive-through penalties, which may have hurt their chances in the race. Ferrari is complaining, but the fact remains that it was raining heavily, and why they wanted to start on the intermediates is beyond me. They were sliding all over the track, and needed the full wets. Sorry, but I have little sympathy for Ferrari on this one. Every other team seemed to read the e-mail. The FIA has instant communications with the team managers via e-mail directly to their team stands on pit row. No way Ferrari should have missed this one.

Lewis Hamilton’s going to be the next World Champion.

Silly Season Starts In Earnest - Where Will Fernando Go?

2007-09-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

When the news broke that Fernando Alonso had threatened in Hungary to turn over incriminating e-mails to the FIA about McLaren's spying on Ferrari, it became apparent that he would not be returning with McLaren next season. This was confirmed when we learned that he had not spoken to Ron Dennis since the qualifying war at Hungary, and his subsequent run-in with Ron that led to the threat to turn over the e-mails.

Alonso may have a contract with McLaren, but we all know a few things:

Alonso will likely be World Champion this year.
He's not happy at McLaren, and chafes under its corporate atmosphere.
He's not happy having to battle his teammate for points and attention.
He probably has enough incriminating evidence to get McLaren excluded from the 2008 season.
If McLaren was to be excluded next season, he's definitely got an out in his contract.

So where does he go? There are only 4 teams with realistic chances of winning or scoring podiums: McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, and BMW. Let's look at each:

McLaren: He's not coming back to McLaren. Look for everyone to walk away declaring victory.
Ferrari: Having watched Alonso and Hamilton battle it out at McLaren has probably cemented Ferrari's policy of having a strong #1 driver. Right now that's Kimi Raikkonen. They won't want any part of the war McLaren's had this season. One website has Alonso moving to Ferrari to replace Massa, with Massa moving to Toyota to replace Ralf. Massa may leave for Toyota, but Alonso won't replace him. Ferrari's gunning for Nico Rosberg.
BMW: They may be looking to replace Nick Heidfeld, but that's not a done deal. Alonso's unlikely to want to go to a team that is still "best of the rest". Remember Damon Hill going to Arrows?
Renault: They've slipped badly this season, but that has more to do with Fisi's poor performance and the feeling last year that Renault may pull the plug. Remember, the threat that Renault may cut funding was what drove Alonso to McLaren in the first place. Renault has re-committed to F1, and that may help lure Alonso back. Fernando also has a great relationship with Flavio Briatore, even though he negotiated the McLaren deal behind Flavio's back. Flavio protested, but you know he really just shrugged his shoulders and thought, "Well, there you go." Ominously, McLaren has been making noises about lodging's complaint about Renault with the FIA; this is largely viewed as a shot across the bow to make Renault back off their pursuit of Alonso.

Final call: Alonso returns to Renault. We'll call the other teams next week.

Raikkonen Rules at Spa

2007-09-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

Kimi Raikkonen cruised to an easy victory at Spa on Sunday, keeping his title hopes alive as the 2007 season winds to a close. The race was unfortunately dry; rain at Spa makes for some memorable races. Schumacher cemented his rep here with some stirring drives in the rain.

Raokkonen easily led home his teammate, Felip Massa, who seems to have hit a rough patch lately. They were followed home by the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewid Hamilton. Mclaren was clearly off the pace, and it could easily be said that the recent SpyGate media frenzy has taken their eyes off the ball. $100MM will do that to you...

Finishing out the points were Nick Heidfeld's BMW, the ever-impressive Nico Rosberg in the Williams -Toyota, followed by Mark Webber's Red Bull and Heikki Kovalainen's Renault.

Of all the rest, the most impressive drive had to be Vitantonio Liuzzi's surprise 12th in the Toro Rosso, ahead of the factory Hondas, Spykers, and Super Aguris. He drove a great race, and it's a shame he's being dropped just as he hits his stride.

This was another boring race, except for the first corner, always a treat at Spa. The field runs down to a hairpin turn, then makes the downhill run to Eau Rouge. It's always packed at the first corner, and this race was no exception. Hamilton tried an end-run around Alonso, who was having none of it. He pushed Lewis to the outside; Hamilton rejoined side-by-side as they ran down to Eau Rouge. Alonso had the inside, and Hamilton wisely backed off. Lewis later complained about Alonso's tactics, but they appeared to me to be perfectly acceptable, if a bit rough. This is not karting, the World Championship is at stake. No one should ever doubt Alonso's determination to win at all costs. Hamilton would be best advised to keep his head down, his eyes open, and his mouth shut. He's showing rookie nerves, and whinging about your teammate is never good form.

Spygate Update

2007-09-14T15:31:00.000-04:00

The FIA has published a copy of its decision on its website:

http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/17844641__WMSC_Decision_130907.pdf

In short, it's devastating to McLaren.

Mike Coughlin was being fed data from Nigel Stepney far in excess of what we had already known, down to what lap Kimi Raikkonen was going to stop on in Bahrain.

Cooughlin fed secret data to Pedro De La Rosa and then on to Fernando Alonso, including brake system design and performance, weight distribution (down to 2 decimal points!) and other information that definitely gave McLaren an advantage.

Most of the new information came from McLaren e-mail, text messages, and phone calls. Also, the FIA received information from Italian Police investigating the case.

The FIA gave immunity to Mclaren's drivers for providing data, which is why they have not been bumped from the championship.

Max, Will You Take a Check?

2007-09-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

McLaren was hit today with a $100 MILLION DOLLAR fine for stealing the trade secrets of rival Ferrari. The fine was handed down by the World Motorsports Council of the FIA.

Additionally, McLaren has been stripped of all its Constructor's points for the 2007 Season. They will also have to submit their 2008 car for inspection by the FIA and may be excluded from the championship next year.

Most importantly for the Driver's Championship, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton get to keep their points towards the World Driver's Championship, and can continue to accrue points.

The fine is certainly unprecedented, but McLaren's drivers can still win the championship. And everyone remembers the World Driving Champion, and only F1 geeks like me know who wins the Constructor's Championship. So while the penalty is harsh, in practical terms McLaren gets off without losing everything. If they indeed stole Ferrari's data, then they should get bounced completely. But we all know that ain't gonna happen.

Ron Dennis was visibly shaken by the verdict, as it implies that McLaren is cheating. Ron is many things, but I sincerely doubt he knew of Mike Coughlin's possession of the Ferrari data.

McLaren may appeal the ruling.

What remains to be seen is the reaction of Mercedes-Benz to today's ruling. As a majority owner of the team, Mercedes is guilty by association. This can't help the already poor relations between McLaren and Mercedes, especially after the failure of the Mercedes-McLaren SLR sports-car program. Mercedes has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into McLaren in terms of engine development and other technical assistance, and they have to be furious about the sanction.

What of McLaren's drivers? Alonso and Hamilton are both under long-term contracts, but I imagine that at least Alonso has a clause that would let him out of the deal if McLaren is excluded next season. I'm sure his lawyers are working overtime looking for a possible out for Fernando. As is Ferarri, who are desperate to turn around their fortunes, and are looking to replace Massa and/or Raikkonen with a more consistent driver.

The McLaren team will be under siege at Spa, and the world motorsports press will be hounding Ron Dennis without mercy. He's always been a bit arrogant, and for many in the press, this is a comeuppance he truly deserves.

Alonso Cruises in Monza

2007-09-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

Fernando Alonso cruised to an easy victory at the Italian Grand Prix at the historic Monza track. He easily raced to the pole in qualifying, and was never seriously challenged in the race.

Monza stands out as the only real low-downforce "speed" track on the F1 schedule. He led home championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 6 seconds (though it wasn't nearly that close), with Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari far, far behind. At Ferrari's home track, it was a huge disappointment for the tifosi.

Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica continued to be "the best of the rest", followed by the resurgent Wiliams-Toyota of Nico Rosberg. He led Heikki Kovalainen's Renault, and Jensen Button in the forlorn Honda, who gained one point and doubled Honda's points haul for the season.

Felipe Massa retired early on with a broken suspension, effectively ending his title hopes.

Ferrari had hoped their form in Turkey would lead to success at Monza, but it wasn't to be. McLaren was easily the class of the field all weekend, and Alonso made it very clear he wasn't going to surrender his title to Hamilton without a fight. Alonso has the bit firmly in his teeth now, and he has always liked Spa.

As the circus heads to my favorite track, the title looks to be a straight fight among the McLarens. Kimi Raikkonen let too many races get away before he found his form, and Massa's been too inconsistent to really challenge the boys from Woking.

Spa. The greatest track in the world, without a doubt. Eau Rouge, The Bus Stop, the list of legendary corners goes on. The greatest test of man and machine is the ability to go through Eau Rouge flat. Even in recent years, with the incredible downforce available, this complex of corners has always been the greatest challenge. If you really want to see the greatness of Spa, rent (or preferably buy) John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix. The shots he took of the old course from a low-flying helicopter, while his cameraman hung out the door, are some of the best racing footage ever brought to the screen.

See you there.

VIlleneuve to NASCAR Oh, THIS will work

2007-08-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

Following in the footsteps of Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve announced he'll be moving to NASCAR to drive for Bill Davis Racing.

Villeneuve is talented, but he's probably gotten a little rusty since his abrupt dismissal from the Sauber-BMW team midway through 2006.

Villeneuve had a reputation for refusing to do sponsor work while in F1. and that won't fly in NASCAR, where fans expect their drivers to be accessible. In fact, it's one of the reasons that NASCAR is so wildly popular.

Jacques has always been a prima donna, and the fact that he won the World Championship only made him worse. After leaving Williams for the fledgling BAR-Honda team, he wasted his talent running for years at the back of the grid. Dropped by BAR when they sold out to Honda, he jumped to Sauber.

Unfortunately, he wasn't any better-loved at Sauber. After whining about the car while being summarily spanked on track by Nick Heidfeld, he was finally let go.

I give him 2 seasons. He'll be about as popular as Jean Girard in Talladega Nights.

No, it'll be worse.

He'll be less popular than that.

He'll be less popular than Jeff Gordon.

GP of Turkey---A Turkey of a Race

2007-08-27T08:58:00.000-04:00

We joined some friends to watch the GP of Turkey on Sunday, and were it not for all the fun we were having, the race would have simply bored us to tears.

Felipe Massa showed his on again-off again form by dominating the race. He had snatched the pole in Saturday's qualifying from Lewis Hamilton with a last-second flyer; in the race he simply checked out and cruised to victory.

Ferrari capped off a great weekend for the team with Raikkonen finishing second, ahead of reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso's McLaren-Mercedes.

Finishing out the points positions were Nick Heidfeld in another strong drive for BMW, Lewis Hamilton, Hiekki Kovalainen's Renault, Nico Rosberg in a good drive for Williams-Toyota, and Robert Kubica in the 2nd BMW.

The only real drama in the race occurred on Lap 43 when Hamilton's right front tire exploded just before his 2nd scheduled stop, costing him a podium finish. His front wing looked to be the culprit, as it had been damaged and cut down the tire. He managed to hold on through the lap, and because the Ferraris and McLarens were so far ahead of the pack, he only lost 2 places.

Hamilton's misfortune cost him in the points race, and he now leads Alonso by only 5 points, 84 to 79. Massa re-took third with his victory, giving him 69 points to Raikkonen's 68.

As the circus heads to the great tracks at Monza and Spa, the race is very tight and could go to anyone of the top four. However, the current points schedule makes it more difficult to overtake the leader, as there's a much smaller gap from 1st to second these days; a change instituted when Michael Schumacher was dominating the scene and F1 wanted to make the points race more exciting. If Hamilton can keep scoring podiums, only Alonso can beat him.

Alonso looked very happy with Hamilton's misfortune, and said as much in the post race press conference. The bad blood at McLaren is still very evident.

Kimi "MushMouth" Raikkonen again embarrassed the team at the press conference, looking thoroughly bored and issuing another monotone performance. Someone at the Scuderia needs to get this guy a interview coach.

As for the rest: Button drove well in the Horrible Honda to come from last to 13th, barely beating the shoestring Super Aguri-Honda of Anthony Davidson, the Toyotas again made no impression at all, and Spyker and Toro Rosso were in attendance, though Liuzzi did have a good drive to beat Jarno Trulli's Toyota. Trulli's been confirmed for next season at Toyota, though no one knows why. At least they appear ready to drop Ralf Schumacher, which can only help the team.

If someone at one of the front teams doesn't give Anthony Davidson a real car to drive soon, he may waste his considerable talents like Jean Alesi or Giancarlo Fisichella.

Spyker is holding on by a thread, as Spyker Cars continues to implode. They will probably hold on through the end of the season, but don't be shocked if they close shop or sell out after this year. Eddie Jordan, where are you???

Let's hope the Italian Grand Prix at Monza gives us some excitement. And luckily, we can always hope for rain at Spa.

Linky-Love

2007-08-16T08:57:00.001-04:00

A story I had to link to, from one of my favorite humor sites, Sniff Petrol.

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/2007/08/16/ferrari-might-just-be-the-worst-car-maker-in-the-world/

The News That Surprised....No One

2007-08-10T08:26:00.000-04:00

Sebastien Bourdais has been signed to drive for Squadra Toro Rosso for 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. This news surprised absolutely nobody, as it has been common knowledge for some time.

Bourdais, who's utterly dominated ChampCar for the past three seasons, becomes the latest ChampCar champion to venture into F1. He follows former champions like Michael Andretti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacque Villeneuve, Alex Zanardi, and Christiano DeMatta.

Of all those, only Villeneuve ever became World Champion, and only he and Montoya ever won in F1. the rest were mediocre at best (DeMatta), and embarassments at worst (Andretti).

Bourdais may be different. He has experience in Europe, and has tested in F1 in the past. He was passed over by Renault and Williams previously, and has been openly campaigning for an F1 seat for the past two years. If he can shine at STR, look for him to be snapped up by a top team in 2009.

In a recent test at Spa, he beat Liuzzi and Speed by more than a half-second on the legendary course (in a car he's hardly ever driven), and that spelled the end for Liuzzi's drive.

I've openly suggested that Toyota should have signed him to replace one of their drivers, and now they'll be once again picking through the scraps looking for a driver. This guy can drive, and he could have been a real asset to Toyota.

He's already very good at whining, and that's always a trait looked for in F1 drivers.

With Bourdais and Vettel, STR has markedly improved their driver lineup for 2008. Now let's see if they can give them a competitive car.

Hamilton Makes It Look Easy

2007-08-05T20:52:00.000-04:00

After one of the craziest qualifying sessions recently, Lewis Hamilton dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix, easily holding off Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. The final margin was less than one second, but let there be no doubt: Lewis Hamilton crushed the competition today.

Rounding out the top three was Nick Heidfeld's BMW, holding off Alonso's late charge for a well-deserved podium. Nick needed a good finish here, and he needed the boost of holding off Alonso.

Finishing out the points were Kubica in the 2nd BMW, Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota, Nico Rosberg's Williams, and Heikki Kovalainen's Renault. Ralf likes this track, and he proved he can drive once in while with a solid drive to 6th.

Felipe Massa's Ferrari was never a factor after his disastrous qualifying session, where the team FORGOT TO PUT FUEL IN THE CAR. Shades of the bad old days at Ferrari. Maybe they can call Jean Alesi out of retirement to call the pits. Massa's becoming known for these sort of uninspired drives. He'll never become champion when he checks out like this. He didn't even help out Raikkonen by holding up Hamilton.

As for the rest, let's see...Fisi sucked, Red Bull whatever, Super Aguri embarrassed the Honda factory cars again. Let's face it, the Hungaroring is one of the most boring tracks in F1.

Outside of the Hamilton/Raikkonen race up front, it was pretty boring.

As it stands, Hamilton is walking away with the championship.

MonoBrow pulls a Schumi

2007-08-05T20:38:00.000-04:00

In what has to be the most embarrassing moment of the season, 2-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso has been penalized 5 grid positions and McLaren's lost any Constructor's points they might get as a result of Alonso's blocking of Hamilton during the final qualifying period of the Hungarian GP.

Mind you, this is his TEAMMATE. Alonso same into the pits ahead of Hamilton. After getting his final set of tires, McLaren held Alonso for 20 seconds so he could get his final qualifying run right at the end of Q3. For reasons unknown, he then sat for an additional 10 seconds while Hamilton idled behind him waiting to pit.

McLaren later said that they held Alonso so he could get a clear track, but there were only 4 cars on the track at the time. The stewards were not impressed.

Then Alonso said it was because he wanted to be sure they gave him the right tires. Of course, he never asked about tires, or anything else, during the stop. The stewards were not impressed.

Alonso was ON THE FRONT ROW at this time, and would have opportunities to pass Hamilton during the race. What the heck was he thinking???

I agree with the penalty, though I'd have moved him to 10th on the grid.

Speed Limit

2007-08-05T20:33:00.000-04:00

Scott Speed, the only American in F1, was summarily fired by Squadra Toro Rosso (STR) on Wednesday, surprising no one.

Speed's struggled with the STR this season, with one great drive (at Monaco), and compounded the problems by speaking out in the press about his dissatisfaction.

After a physical altercation with the team manager, he was released, replaced by rookie Sebastian Vettel from BMW.

Liuzzi's also on the way out, to be replaced by three-time ChampCar champion Sebastian Bourdais.

I'd like Scott to stay in F1, but it appears unlikely; look for him to land a ChampCar ride soon.

McLaren: Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! But Then Again...

2007-07-30T21:12:00.000-04:00

The FIA's World Motorsports Council found McLaren guilty of being in possession of Ferrari's technical data.

They also didn't penalize McLaren.

According to Jean Todt:

“During [the WMSC] meeting, the McLaren bosses, with no exceptions, admitted that their chief designer had obtained since back in March, prior to the Australian GP, documents from Nigel Stepney,” said Todt.

“Some of this data was used to prepare a clarification request submitted to the FIA, aimed clearly at us, given that throughout the Melbourne weekend, the McLaren team principal and his closest colleagues made statements in which they threw doubt over ‘some cars’.

“Therefore, such information was in fact used to obtain an advantage over us: not through an improvement in their performance, but instead through limiting ours.

“It is important to underline that the information used to try and damage Ferrari through the FIA might be only a part of the information received by McLaren.”

I have to agree with Todt here. While I've said before that Ron Dennis is scrupulously honest, and I doubt he knew about the Ferrari data, it's very plausible that McLaren's chief designer, Mike Couglin, used this data to look good, "Hey Ron, that Ferrari seems to have a floor that moves. We ought to ask the FIA to look into that..."

It has definitely given McLaren a window into Ferrari's innner workings and decisions. It's hard to say that McLaren gained a direct performance advantage, but how many of Mike Coughlin's ideas were cribbed from information allegedly given to him by Nigel Stepney?

I think that Mclaren should definitely been penalized. I'd have simply excluded them from the Championship, but Mercedes would never have gone for that. Hey, they did it to Schumacher after he tried to wreck Villeneuve in 1997.

No. In this day and age of manufacturer dominance, Formula One can't be seen to accuse Mercedes-Benz, even indirectly, of cheating. I'm just shocked that they didn't impose any penalty at all, other than to basically tell McLaren that they'd watch to see if McLaren used any of the Ferrari material. Ummm, yeah. riiiiiiiight.

It just slays me that in NASCAR, they slap major penalties on a team for almost any infraction, and it has definitely cost some drivers a championship. In F1, they can't even penalize McLaren when they're found with 700 pages of Ferrari technical data.

Welcome to F1, where Casablanca justice applies: "I'm shocked to find gambling going on here!"

European GP - Alonso Triumphs Amid Chaos

2007-07-23T08:12:00.001-04:00

In what can only be described as the most bizarre race in recent memory, right up there with Fisi's win for Jordan in Brazil in 2003, Fernando Alonso kept his head and stormed through the storm to victory at the Nurburgring yesterday. In a race punctuated by intermittant showers, and a red flag from the heavy rain, Alonso passed the struggling Ferrari of Felipe Massa with 8 laps to go to take his first win since Monaco, bringing him to only 2 points shy of championship leader and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton survived a major crash in qualifying to bring his McLaren home 9th, his first non-podium finish of the season.

Mark Webber held off the Williams-Toyota of Alex Wurz for third; David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the points-paying positions. It was Webber's first podium in almost three seasons, and he was visibly moved to have finally gotten back to competitiveness, if even for one race.

The story of the day was the rain. Starting on the formation lap, it quickly became a deluge that sent cars flying off the track as Bridgestone's iffy intermediate tires showed everyone what hydroplaning really meant.

Four cars spun off at the first corner on Lap 2, including both Toro Rosso's; Liuzzi's car narrowly missing both the safety car and the crane trying to get to the wrecked cars of Speed, Rosberg, and Button. The treacherous conditions brought out the red flag, and the race was delayed until the rain subsided.

The rain story also brought out one of F1's most interesting events. Seeing the coming rain, Spyker's Markus Winkelhock pitted at the end of the formation lap and fitted intermediates. Starting from the pit lane, he quickly carved through the field. When the rain began in earnest Winkelhock pitted again and fitted full wets. He took the lead and held a 36 SECOND LEAD at the time of the red flag. I never thought I'd see a Spyker, with a rookie F1 driver in his first race, with 36 second lead in a grand prix, but their gamble on the formation lap put them way out in front. The strategy would have paid off if not for the red flag, which bunched the cars back up, gave the rain a chance to subside, and killed his chances for a possible podium (or at least points-paying) finish. As it was, Winkelhock spun off on lap 13, and his day was done, but he'll always be able to say he led a grand prix after starting dead last, and he led the way on the restart. Good for him and Spyker!

Hamilton;s day was full of drama, as he was all over the track after starting 10th. After all the day's event, he finished 9th for his first finish out of the points (and off the podium). He was lucky to even finish on a day when so many others spun off the track.

For Ferrari, Massa drove great race from 3rd on the grid to lead much of the race, but a vibration slowed his car and eventually Alonso caught and passed him for the lead. Alonso hounded the Ferrari for a couple fo laps before passing Massa in a wheel-banging display of bravado, the sign of a champion not to be denied his victory. Massa whined about the pass a the press conference, but there was no denying that Alonso had the faster car, and the pass was legitimate. Kimi Raikkonen retired on lap 34 with a hydraulic failure, putting the brakes on his championship march after two strong victories in Britain and France.

BMW once again finished strong in 6th and 7th, and Red Bull had a good day with Webber's podium and Coulthard's 5th. Red Bull is getting better each race, and may even challenge BMW as "Best of the Rest" as the season unwinds. They have strong Ferrari power, and Adrian Newey's design is finally hitting its stride.

The Renaults bracketed Hamilton in 8th and 10th, with Kovalainen easily outpacing Fisichella again; it looks like Heikki may finally be showing the form that he's been promising since being moved into a Renault race seat.

Barrichello finished 11th for Honda, just ahead of Anthony Davidson's Super Aguri-Honda. Button spun off on lap two, adding another DNF to his miserable season. The fact that the Super Aguris are regularly outqualifying and beating the factory Hondas has to be disheartening for Honda, who are spending piles of cash to barely beat a startup team with virtually no budget.

Toyota was again a non-factor in he race, except that Ralf Schumacher once again demonstrated why he is universally disliked in the pitlane when he shoved a course worker out of his way after beaching his Toyota in the kitty litter. Trulli finished last among the cars running at the finish; it appears that Toyota are finally seeing the light, as word is that they are looking for two new drivers for next year.

I've been saying they needed to look at Sebastien Bourdais, but Toro Rosso has an option on his services through the end of the month, and look for STR's Gerhard Berger to sign him up. He may even replace Scott Speed before the end of the season. Speed is distinctly unhappy, and has spoken out about the treatment he and Liuzzi are receiving at STR. Unless he can land a job testing, look for this to be Scott Speed's last year in F1. Too bad he never had a chance to shine; he's had a couple of great drives this season, most notably in Monaco, where he finished just outside the points. Do some Googling and look up the story on Scott published in Car and Driver last year; it's inspiring.

The day belonged to Fernando Alonso, as he showed once again why he's the two-time defending World Champion. Honorable mention to Winkelhock, who'll soon be a trivia game answer, but he had his moment in the sun today.

All in all, the European GP was a great race, with drama, comedy, and a Spyker in the lead; what more could you want?

F1 Spy Saga - UPDATE

2007-07-20T13:09:00.000-04:00

According to MotorAuthority, now-sacked Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney may have tipped off his friend Mike Coughlin at McLaren about some of Ferrari's innovations, including the now-infamous "movable floor", that McLaren subsequently challenged with the FIA (And won).

If Stepney e-mailed Coughlin, then McLaren may be in BIG trouble, as it would provide a "smoking gun" for the FIA. McLaren could face a severe penalties, and exclusion from the 2007 championship for McLaren and their drivers wouldn't be out of the question.

As I've said, I doubt that Ron Dennis was in any way aware of this, but Mike Couhglin obviously was, and if he was the one who put McLaren on to the movable floor, all bets are off.

The plot thickens...

Hat Tip: MotorAuthority: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/motorsport/mclaren-may-have-received-phone-tip-offs-from-spy/

F1 Spy Saga Continues

2007-07-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

So now McLaren and Honda are dragged into Mr. Stepney's little Watergate. Seems that someone at McLaren got their hands on a 700-page Ferrari technical document and SENT THEIR WIFE TO KINKO'S TO MAKE A COPY!!! What. The. Hell?

OK, biases front and center.

I've always disliked McLaren, even during the halcyon days of Senna and Prost. Mostly becasue back in the day, when they had 1,500 bhp Honda turbos, McLaren so dominated the sport that in 1 year they won 15 of 16 races. They were so much more professional than the other teams that they seemed to be in another sport. Compared to McLaren, Ferrari was a garage operation. Hell, back then, Tyrrell WAS a garage operation.

So it's hard for me to say this, but I doubt McLaren's used the materials. Ron Dennis may be many things, but he's no cheater. An arrogant asshole, perhaps, but an HONEST arrogant asshole.

Chief designer Mike Coughlan is toast; he was in control of the docs. But the fact remains that todays F1 cars are so aerodynamically sophisticated that McLaren would have to virtually redesign their cars to take advantage of any aero tweaks that Ferrari uses.

Honda? They really NEEDED the docs, but they appeared not to have had access to them. At worst, they missed their big chance.

As for Nigel Stepney, he seems ready to come clean and implicate others to save his own skin. Again, I don't see what he had to gain by passing on the docs to McLaren; he had no hope of getting a job there. But one of his engineers could easily have done it to demonstrate his willingness to do whatever he could to get a job at McLaren.

My guess is that Coughlin had the docs but didn't know what to do with them; seeing them maybe as a war trophy, but not of much use to McLaren. He had to know that Ron Dennis would sack him if her found out; he was just hoping to get some ideas from the docs and for future research. Now THAT would have given him a leg up, and he would have impressed his bosses with his seemingly amazing ability to discern what Ferrari was doing.

PREDICTION:
Coughlin loses his job. McLaren pays a big fine. Everyone goes out for drinks.

USGP RIP

2007-07-20T09:20:00.001-04:00

Well, Bernie did it. I had predicted that they'd come to an agreement to save the USGP. I was wrong.

Ignoring the team owners, sponsors, and fans, Bernie Ecclestone killed the USGP at Indianapolis. After slagging the race and Indianpolis' promotion of F1, talks broke down and the USGP is dead once again.

After the 2005 debacle, Indianapolis signed a 1-year extension. Attendance at Indy has dropped over the years but has stabilized at around 100,000 or so. I'd say this is a sustainable figure until F1 gets a larger US presence, either US-based teams or more US drivers.

Bernie wanted $30MM from Indy, triple the current $10MM figure. Tony George called his bluff, and now the USGP is history.

The issue is money. The F1 calendar is full, and Bernie has promised a number of countries new races over the next few years. Teams are balking at a race calendar over 18 races, so some races have to go. Simple math. So if that's the case, then Berniw will kill those races that pay him the least.

Bernie Ecclestone doesn't care about the fans, the teams, or the sport. His only concern is who will pay the most for hosting the traveling F1 circus. While this is a reasonable position in the short run, in the long term it drives away fans and ruins the sport. If all F1 is left with are boring circuits in the middle of the desert (Bahrain), or races where no one in the home country can actually afford to attend (Malaysia), F1 will be dead. Fans want to see great racing on great tracks. Sometimes they'll give up the racing for the scene (Monaco), and sometimes they'll give up the scene for the racing (Spa), but take away both and you have, well, the IRL. (I take that back, the IRL has some great races.)

Personally, the USGP track at Indy was dull, too. But Indianapolis means something. It is probably the best-known racetrack in the world, and along with Monaco and LeMans, is one of the "Big Three" in motorsport. Indianapolis is the world's shrine to motorsport.

There are some great natural-terrain road courses in the US that could host the USGP (Watkins Glen, Road America, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca), and that's where F1 shines. Hopefully the USGP can move to a more fitting home. The antiseptic F1 track at Indy inspires no one. That's why Spa is legendary and Bahrain is forgettable.

Regardless of what Bernie says, for most of the manufacturers, the US is their biggest market. They like F1 as a show of their racing prowess and financial might. Losing the USGP is a major loss to them. The audience in the US is small, but very loyal and financially powerful.

F1's rise over the past 20 years can be credited to the benevolent dictatorship of Bernie Ecclestone. But like many dictators, he's started to think only of himself and the money he can make, and not of the long term good of the sport.

Let's hope the USGP returns soon.

British Grand Prix - MushMouth Strikes Back

2007-07-10T08:42:00.000-04:00

Kimi Raikkonen cemented his return to form with a stirring drive in Great Britian on Sunday. Following on the heels of his win in France (Hey, I was on vacation, so no report on that race), he came from 2nd on the grid to beat F1 super-rookie Lewis hamilton to the flag. In doing so, he spoiled Hamilton's expected grand victory in his home GP.

Hamilton started on the pole, but his light fuel load got the netter of him. Kimi passed him on the first round of fuel stops, then managed to pass Fernando Alonso's Mclaren on the second round, when he was able to get in 6 fast laps after Alonso's final stop.

Alonso, starting 3rd, had short-filled the MP4-22 in an attempt to get ahead of Raikkonen on the track, but to no avail. Raikkonen put in a series of blistering laps to seal the victory, then cruised home.

Hamilton was a non-factor all day, as he never got to grips with the Mclaren's handling. Perhaps is was the pressure from the home press, but he was not the same driver as we've seen recently. His stunning pole drive notwithstanding, Hamilton looked the rookie this weekend. His relative lack of F1 experience showed in his inability to get the car dialed in on Silverstone's fast straights and sweepers, and he was unable to shake Raikkonen in the first stint, which cost him the race.

Felipe Massa's run of back luck continued, as he stalled from 4th on the grid and started from pit lane. In what had to be the drive of the day, he came through to 5th place at the end, hounding the reusrgent Robert Kubica's BMW to the end.

Kubica continued his fine pace this season, even after the most horrifying crash in recent F1 history at Canada; he easily outpaced Nick Heidfeld, and is fast becoming a hot property.

Rounding out the points were Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella's Renaults, and the BMW of Heidfeld.

I can't say enough about Massa's drive through to 5th. I don't know what caused his starting line failure, but he put in a spectacular drive, carving through the field and very nearly challenging for a podium.

Ferrari has had the pace these past two races, and it remains to be seen if McLaren has an answer. The MP4-22's were about .5 seconds a lap off the pace, and they didn't seem as stable as the Ferraris in the corners.

Again BMW was the best of the rest. They've been largely ignored in this year's story line, as Mclaren and Ferrari have dominated, but BMW-Sauber is the most improved team on the grid. They are consistently fast, and are always in the hunt. If they can find another half-second a lap, they could be a factor.

Renault continues to surge, as Kovalainen is now consistently outpacing Fisi, as we all expected. They're nowhere near the front yet, but they may yet surprise everyone.

Toyota showed good pace this weekend, with Ralf Schumacher qualifying in 6th, but both cars fell out of the race with technical problems. I'll say it again: Toyota needs a radical overhaul if they want to fight for the Championship, and it needs to start with the drivers.

Honda was again a laughingstock, with Barrichello and Button finishing 9th and 10th. Frankly, they benefitted from Toyota's problems, as the cars were uncompetitive. David Hobbs claimed that Honda was racing last year's car in Britian; I've been unable to independently verify that claim. I doubt it could do any worse than the 2007.

As for the rest, it was Christijan Albers' final drive for Spyker as he's been dropped due to sponsorship problems. David Couthard manhandled an oversteering Red Bull to 11th. The Spykers, Toro Rosso's and Williams were non-factors all weekend.

Nigel Stepney - WTF???

2007-06-27T16:15:00.000-04:00

Seems that Machiavellian politics have again reared their ugly head in Maranello.

Ferrari's accused Nigel Stepney of sabotaging their cars in Monaco. They say that a white powder was found in the fuel tanks.

Everyone knows Stepney's been unhappy ever since Ferrari reorganized, and that many teams want his services, Honda chief among them.

Sounds like Ferrari's trying to smear him so other teams will shy away from hiring him and anyone he brings along; it could also be a "shot across the bow" to keep him from jumping ship and taking a bunch of engineers with him.

I find it hard to believe that Stepney would sabotage his own cars. This appears to be simply F1 politics at work, in the worst sense of the word.

F1 Silly Season Already?

2007-06-20T11:48:00.001-04:00

Reports from MotorAuthority speculate the Ferrari is looking to replace Kimi Raikkonen as early as the end of this season. He's currently the highest paid driver in F1, at around $25MM or so. Not so bad for what, 19 races?

Kimi's been rather unimpressive at Ferrari. There's no doubt he's quick, but he seems to lack motivation since his arrival at Maranello as Michael Schumacher's heir apparent. Aside from Australia, where he won in a convincing flag-to-flag victory, he's been outperformed by Felipe Massa at nearly every venue. At Indianapolis, Massa easily held off the Finn for 3rd place.

Raikkonen's interviews since arriving at Ferrari made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Schumacher, and was uninterested in his advise/counsel. He planned to go his own way and made sure everyone knew it.

Bad decision, MushMouth.

He really should have embraced Schumi. It's understandable that he wanted to step ouit of MS's shadow, but he forgot that the team was built around Michael. He really should have used Schumi's influence to get the car handling to his liking and to get the engineers on his side.

I suspect that he is unhappy with the F2007's setup/design/handling, and one of the issues with Kimi at Mclaren was that he was not very adept at setups. If it handled well, he could drive the wheels off, but his feedback to engineers was lacking. He's always had a more experienced teammate in Coulthard and Montoya, and maybe their experience helped. He was quicker than his teammates, but now he's on his own.

Lastly, he's always been able to outperform his teammate pretty quickly. First Coulthard, then Montoya. Now he's come up against a driver that is as quick as he is, and who's been with the team longer.

So, if not Kimi, then who?

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/motorsport/kimi-to-leave-ferrari-reports/

Whither the USGP?

2007-06-19T08:53:00.000-04:00

Bernie Ecclestone's been making noise abut the USGP. Ever since its debut in 2000 (Which you humble correspondent attended), attendance has dropped, though it seems to have stabilized.

The embarrassment of the 2005 race, with only 6 cars taking the flag, nearly killed the USGP at Indianapolis. In 2006, Michelin coughed up 20,000 free tickets to make up for ruining the race in '05. In '07 attendance was once again very good (by F1 standards, if not Indy 500/Brickyard 400 standards). The USGP is regularly one of the best-attended races in F1.

Bernie says that F1 doesn't need the USGP; that they have other markets clamoring for a race, and since there's no US-based F1 teams and only 1 American driver (STR's Scott Speed), F1 can drop the USGP and not suffer.

I call bullshit.

A World Championship without a race in the US? Not hardly. F1 needs the USGP for legitimacy.

And what goes unnoticed are the sponsors. F1's sponsors, for the teams and for F1 as a whole, need the exposure that the USGP gives. You can't ignore the largest consumer economy on the planet and keep your corporate sponsors happy.

And don't forget the teams. Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Renault(Nissan), Ferrari, all of these carmakers see the US as their biggest, most important market. They won't want to abandon Indianapolis for some third-world country.

No, this is just more of Bernie's not-so-subtle negotiating techniques at work. He wants to raise the fees to Indianapolis to host the race, and he thinks he can do that by browbeating Tony George. Not so fast, Bernie...

F1 needs Indianapolis far more than Indy needs F1. If the USGP goes away, only a small fraternity of F1 fans will be affected. But F1's teams and sponsors will lose out on exposure in the US market, which they need badly.

Right now, the USGP draws fewer TV fans than pro bowling. It's not even on the radar screen for the average NASCAR fan. But if they stay and build the USGP brand, then there's hope that the future will be bright.

Tony will call Bernie's bluff, and they will come to an agreement. F1 cannot afford to be seen retreating from the US. If they do, they might as well never return.

USGP-Hamilton Doubles Up

2007-06-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

Lewis Hamilton stamped his mark on the 2007 season with an impressive flag-to-flag victory at the United States Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso bounced back from his disastrous race in Canada for a strong 2nd place, with the Ferrari's of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen bringing home 3rd and 4th.

While Ferrari can take some consolation with their finish; in reality, it was all McLaren this weekend. Alonso dominated practice, and Hamilton just pipped him for the pole in a daring last-lap flyer that demoted the two-time defending champion to 2nd on th grid.

Heiki Kovalainen drove well in the Renault, qualifying a strong 6th and came home 5th, his second great drive in 2 races, at a time when his seat was under pressure.

Rounding out the points were Jarno Trulli's Toyota, Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault, and Sebastien Vettel, substitution for the injured Robert Kubica in the Sauber-BMW. Vettel. all of 19 years old, had the drive of the day, qualifying 7th and finishing 8th. He was strong all weekend at a track he'd never seen before, in his maiden F1 race, and acquitted himself well.

That first-lap wreck took out David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, and Ralf Schumacher, who misjudged the braking point on the run down to the first corner. All indications are that Schumacher caused the melee, adding more fuel for the critics who are clamoring for his seat at Toyota.

Today was all about Lewis Hamilton. He simply dominated the race today, easily holding off Alonso's pressure and driving away on a track that, like Canada, he'd never seen outside a video game. He's a genuine phenom, and if he stays consistent, he'll run away with the championship. For all the pundits who wondered, "What will we do without Michael Schumacher?", here's your answer.

Team by Team:

McLaren:
Fernando Alonso must be wondering about his decision to move to McLaren this season. Everyone figured the team would be built around him, and he looked strong in the off-season. Today he seemed a beaten man, putting a brave face on what must be a crushing defeat.

What nobody figured was that Lewis Hamilton would be giving Fernando all he could handle. Hamilton is nothing short of a revelation; he is blindingly fast, cool under pressure, and a genuinely enthusiastic driver. Not since Michael Schumacher have we seen a driver who seems to enjoy himself like Hamilton.

As for the race, McLaren had the field covered and then some. Since Monaco, nobody's had anything for the Silver Arrows, and it doesn't look like that will change soon.

Ferrari:
Second best, but not even in the same league as McLaren. Massa continues to outshine his more celebrated teammate, and Kimi Raikkonen seems to be disheartened by both McLaren's pace and Massa's unwillingness to roll over for him.

Jean Todt must be wondering about their decision to push Shumacher out in favor of Kimi; he hasn't shown the leadership needed to push the team, and Massa's simply beaten him most of the races this season. Massa's quick, but no one thinks he's the driver to lead the most storied team in racing.

Renault:
Coming on, but still a long way off the pace. Heikki Kovalainen continues his strong recent form, and has been pushing Fisi to the side. He may yet live up to his hype, and it looks increasingly like this will be Fisi's last season at Renault. Look to him to announce his retirement within three races.

Sauber-BMW:
Still the surprise of the season. BMW has long known how to build engines, and now it seems they are coming to grips with the chassis as well. Vettel raced strong this weekend, and Heidfeld was on course to another good finish when hydraulics put him out of the race.

Toyota:
Another disappointing finish. Trulli continues to drive consistent, if not inspired races; Ralf Schumacher continues to underperform when it counts. Ralf makes a reported $20MM per year, and today his race lasted 10 seconds.

Toyota is widely believed to have the biggest budget in F1, and they continue to waste that money on two drivers well past their prime. They'll never move up the grid until they make some radical changes, starting with their drivers. Wait 'til next year, again.

Red Bull-Renault:
Mark Webber just keeps having good drives that go unnoticed. In the points again at Indianapolis, and once again beating his teammate.

Coulthard was again the hard-luck guy, being taken out by Ralf's stunningly bad driving at the first corner. Red Bull is preforming well this year, and Adrian Newey's designs are a large part of this. Their Renault power is good enough for points, but that's about it.

Williams-Toyota:
After last year's disaster, Williams is once again in the hunt. They have two workmanlike drivers in Alex Wurz and Nico Rosberg, and their Toyota engines are at least reliable.

Today they were just outside the points in 10th; Rosberg probably would have been in the points had his hydraulics not given up. Wurz is almost invisible this year, and look for Frank Williams to replace him next season, if not before.

Honda:
Another race, another embarrassing finish for Honda. Barrichello was taken out at the first corner, which was probably a blessing, as he didn't have to keep driving around at the back of the pack. Button finished down in 12th, and would have been even worse had Ralf Schumacher not taken himself and Coulthard out of the race.

The 2007 Honda is proving to be almost undriveable, and the drivers and engineers seem to have no idea what to do about it. Remember, it was less than a year ago that Button had his maiden win, and Honda seemed poised to join the front ranks with McLaren, Ferrari, and Renault. Now they can only hope to beat the Super Aguri-Honda's and save themselves from the embarrassment of losing to last year's car.

Super Aguri-Honda:
Anthony Davidson has a geat race today, coming through from 16th to 11th. Takuma Sato again proved to be one of the more entertaining drivers in the field, throwing it into the kitty litter yet again. After Sato's inspired drive in Canada, which saw him pass Alonso for position with just 4 laps to go, his wreck today was a disappointment.

Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari:
As an American, I continue to pull for Scott Speed, and he came through today with a steady drive to 13th. Liuzzi 's car dropped out with cooling troubles, and that's a shame. Not much to say except that the STR is one of the more wildly painted cars on the grid, and that's got to count for something.

Spyker-Ferrari:
Were they there today? I guess they were. Sutil and Albers brought up the back again, and someone's got to fill out the grids. Other than that, they were invisible today and didn't hold up the leaders.

Open Post

2007-06-14T16:56:00.000-04:00

I'm starting a new blog about Formula One. Hope to see all you F1 junkies here as we progress.