F1 links: Investigation into Massa crash

27th July 2009, 0:27 by Keith Collantine 13 Comments »

"The investigation into Massa's incident will be conducted by F1's governing body the FIA and the Brawn team. Barrichello's car suffered a failure in its rear suspension as the Brazilian, one of Massa's closest friends, went through Turn Three of the Hungaroring during final qualifying."

The Ferrari engine is a hothead

"The Ferrari engine in the STR4 is clearly running much hotter than the Renault, hence the team had to open up the engine cover more than Red Bull was ever required to."

Schumacher’s return to F1 racing is ruled out by manager

"Willi Webber has ruled out the possibility of the seven time world champion getting behind the wheel of the Ferrari F60 in place of his former teammate."

A Holiday If We Must…

"As for the team, they’ll be itching to get back to work as we’re bringing another important component with us to Spain – a new front wing."

Alguersuari treating GP as test

"Free of charge and I feel this is testing. Tomorrow there are 19 cars which are racing and one that is testing, which is me. I have this philosophy." Said, of course, before it was known Massa would not be starting.

A random rumour about Renault F1

"It would not be a surprise to see Renault selling up and getting out of F1 given the state of the world’s car markets and it would be no surprise to see Flavio Briatore staying on to run the team for the new owner. None of the rumours have been confirmed, but it is no secret that Renault has long wanted its F1 programme to deliver success and if it does not do that the team team might not continue in the sport."

Brawn: Safety action must be balanced

"We need to keep a perspective of it I guess. From what has been seen last weekend and this weekend, we need to have a proper study to see if there is a need to do something. You really are into the area of structures, windscreens and canopies, and anything is possible. We just need to digest what has happened, and understand it properly."

Renault F1 struggles to record losses off the track

"After-tax losses at the Formula One team owned by Renault more than doubled last year to £10.3m as its costs increased 38% to £158m – the highest ever on record for any outfit in the sport."

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13 comments on F1 links: Investigation into Massa crash

Becken said on 27th July 2009, 0:50

Joe Saward have an interesting point about Renault harsh penalty:

Thus the decision is easily justifiable in terms of safety. It is, however, inevitable – whether the FIA likes it or not – that the move will be seen by some in F1 circles as some kind of a payback for Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, who has been one of the leading members of FOTA in recent months.

It will not help that the FIA Stewards in Budapest include some of Max Mosley’s strongest supporters, who are advised by Mosley’s right hand man Alan Donnelly. One of them is none other than Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the UAE representative, who confessed last year to have personally provided Mosley with 41 votes for last year’s confidence vote resulting from Mosley’s spanking scandal. Ben Sulayem later became an FIA Vice President.

LINK:
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/renault-f1-suspended-from-european-gp/

Marilia said on 27th July 2009, 1:17

as usual, your blog is a MUST read to know more news about F

keep the good work, Keith.

I’ll RT your info!

wasiF1 said on 27th July 2009, 2:05

I think Schumacher should take up the vacant space in Ferrari considering he is fit.Because none of the Ferrari test drivers did any testing what so ever in the F60.So his experience will count for good.Secondly he will be a GOOD teammate for ICEMAN

- Gman said on 27th July 2009, 2:56
  
  Perhaps Willi Weber may be ruling out Schumi for the vacant ferrari cockpit, but he has another client who is racking up some impressive results and who may fit the bill just nicely…a certain someone named Nico.
  
  - Pete Walker said on 27th July 2009, 8:29
    
    I’d second that. Nico is a genuine talent. It would also give Williams a chance to run Hulkenberg, who has been pretty stunning in GP2 of late.
    
    - Tom said on 27th July 2009, 12:52
      
      i reckon alonso to ferrari, grojean replaces piquet, bruno senna replaces alonso. ferrari then reasses if massa recovers completely.
      
DGR-F1 said on 27th July 2009, 8:48

No, I don’t see the return of Schuey into the cockpit. Didn’t he give an interview a while back where he said his wife wouldn’t let him?
I think we are more likely to see him return as a Team Manager – maybe if Red Bull have to sell Toro Rosso, he would run that for the new owner, especially if it became an official Ferrari ‘B’ team….
And I can see Renault pulling out of F1 again, since they haven’t had that much success recently. Flavio will continue, I am sure, but since he also has drivers to manage, GP2 under his wing and a certain football team to fund, does he really need the aggro of running an F1 team as well?
So does this mean that Red Bull are seriously looking at using Mercedes engines, in case Renault leave suddenly?

Tols said on 27th July 2009, 9:57

I fear we won’t see Massa in the car for a long time, probably not this year. So Ferrari needs a replacement and it won’t be Schumacher. He has retired with grace and the car is just not good enough for him to think about a comeback. Marc Gene and Luca Badoer haven’t raced in a F1 for a long time, altough they have tested a lot in recent years. For 1 race that would be ok, but not for multiple race. Maybe they can get Alonso for the race(s) Renault will be banned, but I don’t think that is likely either.
So who else? They need someone with recent F1 race experience. So no to Hulkenburg and the GP2 bunch. David Coulthard, Sebastien Bourdais, Alexander Wurz, Takuma Sato, Antony Davidson? None of them is a perfect solution, but I would choose DC. In the same moment I think Ferrari should realise that they need new, young testdrivers.

- Ben Ell said on 27th July 2009, 13:46
  
  Gene did win Le Mans about 4 weeks back. Best credentialed of most of the options.
  
  DC hasn’t driven a car in anger for about 10 months now and hasn’t been on a driving roster for 3-4 months, I’d be surprised if he was still race-fit, especially for an extended campaign.
  
  - Tols said on 27th July 2009, 14:36
    
    With all respect, Le Mans is a very hard and enduring challenge, but it’s very different from a F1 ‘sprint’ race where every lap has to be driven flat out. Apart from that Gene has only driven a F1 in a handful of outings over the last two years.
    
    - LewisC said on 27th July 2009, 15:42
      
      Actually these days LM is driven as a succession of sprints – especially at the sharp end of the LMP1 class where Gene has been. They had to sprint all the way this year to stay ahead of the Audis.
      
      I don’t think Gene is the answer though: and I can’t help but think Alonso will get the nod. He’s been quick without getting the results at Renault this year, and I actually think he’s going to be there next year in place of Kimi when he decides he’s had enough and goes off permanently in search of an ice-cream.
      
Michel S. said on 28th July 2009, 3:29

GBP 158m is the highest ever? I guess the estimates that Toyota spends $400m a year is a bit overrated then.

dsob said on 29th July 2009, 15:07

Nice to see the announcement of a cooperative investigation with Brawn participating. I had thought for certain that FiA(and it’s Prez who shall remain un-named) would be all over this like white on rice, slamming through regulations. Which they could have done, as “safety related” rules changes require no scrutiny or approval by Formula One Commission nor by WMSC.

I truly hope this is indicative of a new mindset of FiA. Perhaps the coming election has tempered the Prez’s responses, so as not to hurt his hand-picked successor. Or perhaps the FiA Senate and other top FiA officials have woken from their nearly two decade-long slumber and decided to take the reins again. Either way, it’s a good sign.

Damn shame one driver had to die and another one get injured badly to get this sort of measured and intelligent response from FiA.