2009 August archive
Vote Todt, get Mosley? 5th August 2009, 19:10
Reading Jean Todt’s FIA election manifesto, one line jumped out at me: For each FIA World Championship we propose appointing a Commissioner responsible for the Federation’s day to day management and governance of the championship. Now, who do you think Todt might have in mind for the job of F1 Commissioner? Share this article with [...]
F1 should bring back testing as an event
Michael Schumacher’s return to F1 and Jaime Alguersuari’s debut in Hungary has sparked a debate over the problems with the ban on testing during the season this year. The ban was intended to cut costs, but it has caused problems for teams wishing to evaluate new drivers. I think F1 is missing some valuable opportunities [...]
F1 links: Surtees on son Henry’s death 4th August 2009, 23:50
John Surtees has spoken about the death of his son Henry in a Formula Two race last month. ‘Lessons’ from Surtees son death John Surtess talks about his son Henry's death: "I reached down into the cockpit on the starting line at Brands Hatch, and we shook hands. We bid each other farewell, as it [...]
Handbags at dawn part 2: This time it’s Williams versus Ferrari
Yesterday it was Nelson Piquet Jnr vs Flavio Briatore, today it’s Ferrari and Williams at loggerheads. Infuriated by Williams’ refusal to support Schumacher’s request for a test in the F60, Ferrari published a statement on its website saying: Guess who opposed the test with the F60? A team that hasn’t won anything for years and [...]
Why are more F1 drivers going rallying?
Kimi Raikkonen entered his first round of the World Rally Championship over the weekend and did rather well. Sebiastian Vettel was at the same Finnish round and has been talking about how he’d like to give it a try. Robert Kubica has gone even further – buying his own rally car. I think it’s great [...]
Schumacher won’t get F60 test (Poll)
Michael Schumacher will not get to sample a 2009-spec Ferrari F60 after three teams blocked the move. The opposition came from Williams and Red Bull/Toro Rosso. The latter objected because they claim to have made a similar request for Jaime Alguersuari which had been turned down. Williams, meanwhile, said Ferrari should have used one of [...]
F1 links: Renault penalty criticised
The Spanish motor racing federation RFEA are trying to get Renault’s ban lifted so that local hero Fernando Alonso can race on home ground at Valencia. Spanish federation slams Renault ban "The federation has asked the ICA to rescind the ban or else substitute it with 'another form of penalty which does not affect the [...]
Button runs London Triathlon (Pictures) 3rd August 2009, 21:44
Over 55,000 spectators lined the streets of London yesterday to watch 14,000 competitors tackle the London Triathlon 2009. Jenson Button was among their number tackling the arduous running, swimming and cycling competition. He set a personal best time of 2hr 7min 2sec – almost half an hour longer than it took him to win the [...]
Interview: Me on Massa on Sky (Video)
I’ve just had an interview with Sky News about Felipe Massa’s recovery. Happily the news on the Brazilian’s condition is much more positive than it was when I was on their last week and he gave his first (real) interview to the press today. Thanks once again to lookingspiffy via Twitter who captured the video [...]
Piquet’s scathing attack on Briatore
As first reported here on Saturday, Nelson Piquet Jnr has been dropped by Renault. And a statement from the Brazilian today gives insight into the simmering resentment between him and team boss Flavio Briatore. We discussed the Renault situation last week and there was some disagreement over whether Briatore had compromised Piquet in trying to [...]
