Month: March 2006 articles archive

Eight teams have given the FIA notice of their intent to protest Ferrari running what the other teams believe is an illegal wing – but it is their front wing, not their rear wing, which is coming under fire. The teams believe the uppermost part of the Ferrari wing deflects too greatly at high speed … Continue reading Ferrari wing protested

Going into the second round of the championship at Sepang, the team struggling most with the new two-race V8 engine rules appears to be Ferrari. Felipe Massa has now had his engine changed twice and Michael Schumacher will also use a new unit and take a ten-place grid penalty. Fellow Ferrari engine user David Coulthard … Continue reading Ferrari engine woes

ITV will not be showing the qualifying session for this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix live on terrestrial television, despite the action taking place early in the morning in Britain. The qualifying session will be screened from 5.30am-7.15am, but only on the digital channel ITV3. ITV1 will carry a tape-delayed replay of qualifying at 1.10pm, and … Continue reading ITV drop live qualifying

Seriously good, according to a facinating article on autosport.com. Scarily good, in fact. The article, which is only available to autosport.com subscribers, explains how quick he was relative to the leaders while running in traffic. From overtaking Yuji Ide’s Suepr Aguri on lap nine until the end of the race, he lost only 3.0 seconds … Continue reading Just how good is Nico Rosberg?

Business F1 magazine have reported that F1 sponsorship revenue leapt by 25% in 2005 to a staggering US$2.5bn (UK?âÔÇÜ£1.4bn). Kevin Eason in The Times attributes the growth to the good season’s racing we saw in 2005: Alonso’s World Championship success last season, followed by a spectacular first race of 2006 in Bahrain, has signalled a … Continue reading Sponsor money ‘up 25%’

We took a look at the odds offered by five different bookies on the Malaysian Grand Prix and found that each one tipped Fernando Alonso to repeat his 2005 win. Interestingly 2005 title runner-up Kimi Raikkonen is considered more likely to win than Michael Schumacher, who led for longest in Bahrain. The unusually competitive performances … Continue reading Bookies back Alonso again

Felipe Massa’s second Grand Prix for Ferrari is off to a poor start even before the first practice session. The Brazilian will start ten places further down the grid after Ferrari engineers replaced his faulty engine. This robs Ferrari of the option of running Massa light in qualifying in an attempt to protect Michael Schumacher … Continue reading 10-place penalty for Massa

We said we wanted The Secret Diary of Michael Schumacher, aged 37. Well, we very nearly got it! Ferrari have launched three blogs on their Ferrari World website, including one by new driver Felipe Massa. The blog doesn’t appear to be available as a feed yet, which is a shame, because his feedback on his … Continue reading Ferrari launch Massa blog

Reports from Japan indicate that Honda’s Suzuka circuit will lose the Japanese Grand Prix to Toyota’s Fuji Speedway in 2007. The Yomiuri Shimbun claims Fuji have done a deal with Formula One Management, but that Suzuka could yet be thrown a lifeline as Japan could host two races. In 2005 Suzuka was voted the second-best … Continue reading Suzuka ‘dropped for Fuji’

In this week’s issue of F1Fanatic: Bahrain Grand Prix review Starting in style Cold turkey Schumacher: The qualifying king? Malaysian Grand Prix preview Editorial: A change for the better

After qualifying in Bahrain, all the talk was of Michael Schumacher equalling Ayrton Senna’s twelve-year-old record for most pole positions – 65. So does this make Schumacher the all-time premier pole-sitter?

Conventional wisdom has it that when you make a big change to the F1 rules, the better-resourced teams steal a huge advantage. 2006 has already turned that on its head. The new 2.4-litre V8 engines are the most substantial individual change to the technical rules since the imposition of grooved tyres and narrow-track chassis in … Continue reading A change for the better

So, how did you cope with five months without Formula One? Ben Evans shares his solutions to off-season boredom. The BBC stepped into the breach with some rather excellent alternatives to the lack of F1 action over the winter. First there was the Winter Olympics – complete with F1 action in the opening ceremony. Admittedly … Continue reading Going cold turkey

The Bahrain Grand Prix was a bit of a stonker – and there’s nothing like a cracking first race to set you up for the season. Ben Evans reviews some of his favourites.

All eleven Formula One teams have signed a new pact limiting themselves to 36 days on testing in 2006 as predicted last week. Even Ferrari, who refused to sign a similar pact for 2005 limiting testing to 30 days and repeatedly stated they would only agree to limit testing mileage, have signed. The new deal … Continue reading Test pact gets unanimous support