Month: May 2006 articles archive

Expect to see plenty of this during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend coverage. Red Bull are set to top their 2005 Star Wars extravaganza with a massive motorhome built to resemble the Daily Planet offices from the forthcoming Superman Returns film. The cars will also be running in special liveries during the weekend. Rumours that … Continue reading Red Bull’s Superman Promo Revealed

Bernie Ecclestone has moved to dismiss rumours of a ‘VIP-only’ Mediterranean Grand Prix that would be held at the Paul Ricard High-Tech Test Track and not be open to paying spectators. Although some suggested such an event would be consistent with F1’s ‘ultra-elite’ image it would send out exactly the wrong message from a sport … Continue reading Ecclestone denies ‘VIP GP’

Fernando Alonso has stormed the start of 2006 – finishing every race so far in either first or second place. The F1Fanatic statistics update tells shows you how the drivers’ and constructors’ championship battles are progressing, who has suffered the most DNFs, how the drivers’ championship would look under old points systems, who are the … Continue reading 2006 Stats Update – Spain

It’s easy to whinge about the Formula One points system – but it’s a lot harder to come up with a viable alternative that’s a bit more persuasive than just ?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?àÔÇ£let’s go back to how it was.?â?ó?óÔÇÜ?¼?é?Ø But what if we did away with points altogether? Why not just give the championship title to the … Continue reading A new answer to the points argument

A survey by ESPN has revealed the extent of Formula One’s struggle to capture the imagination of American sports fans. It ranked fourth out of all motor sports in a popularity poll. Top was NASCAR with three-fifths of the vote (59.5%), followed by NHRA drag racing (13.4%) and motorcycle racing (9.7%). Only 6.3% of fans … Continue reading F1 is #4 in US motor sport

Three turgid Grands Prix in a row were unsettling enough. But now the ugly spectre of political conflict in Formula One has reared its head once more. The news that the GPWC-aligned teams were ready to agree terms with Bernie Ecclestone had scarcely sunk in, the hopes for a new era of political stability in … Continue reading The five-second peace

For Trackside today I decided on a feature about Coulthard in light of his 200-race career landmark at Spain last weekend. Enjoy! Related links Auto Trader: trackside – Coutlhard is 200 not out (external) DC to join to 200 club Tags: f1 / formula one / grand prix / motor sport / david coulthard / … Continue reading Trackside: Coulthard’s career

An ongoing poll on the Autosport forums shows the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix is the most popular of the year so far. Fans gave it an average rating of 7.7 out of 10. At the opposite end of the scale the Malaysian Grand Prix, round two was voted the least popular. Unsurprisingly the two races … Continue reading Bahrain is fan favourite

Fernando Alonso’s second pole position of the season means he is now the driver with the best average starting position. He demotes Jenson Button, whose eighth position on tomorrow’s grid is his worst of the season so far. Alonso and Button are the only two drivers to have made it to the final part of … Continue reading Alonso top qualifier in ’06

Somewhere near the bottom of the ‘Things to Fix with F1’ list, beneath ‘overtaking’, ‘distribution of income’ and ‘fuel burn-off in qualifying’, is the dearth of Formula One action on the Friday of a race weekend. 130,000 Spaniards are at the Circuit de Catalunya to watch Fernando Alonso this weekend. So far, he’s done just … Continue reading F1’s Friday farce

Super Aguri fans are phlegmatic about the predicament of Yuji Ide. Writing on Formula3.cc one fan has admitted that Ide’s performances were disappointing and that he failed to resolve communication problems within the team. Ide has little to no English, and was forced to request setup changes via team boss Aguri Suzuki, which caused further … Continue reading Aguri ‘need young driver’

David Coulthard will become the tenth driver to have participated in 200 Grand Prix at the Spanish Grand prix this weekend. Fittingly, it is also the circuit where he started his Formula One career in 1994 at Williams, replacing the late Ayrton Senna. Two active drivers have already passed the 200 mark – Michael Schumacher … Continue reading DC to join the 200 club

For my weekly Auto Trader column Trackside I expanded on some of my thoughts in an earlier post here about why Michael Schumacher doesn’t look ready to retire just yet. It’d be great to hear some feedback on it. Related links Auto Trader: Trackside – Why Schuey Won’t Stop (external) Thoughts from abroad #1 Tags: … Continue reading Trackside: Schu won’t stop