Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Collantine – hope you both had a lovely day and that you enjoy your honeymoon.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Dennis backs Villeneuve’s F1 bid (ESPN F1)
"McLaren group chairman and former team principal Ron Dennis has thrown his support behind Jacques Villeneuve’s bid to return to Formula One."
Racing returns to reopened Donington Park (BBC News)
"Racing is being held at a Leicestershire circuit which has been out of use for almost a year.
"Donington Park was left unusable after a failed bid by the previous leaseholder to host Formula One racing."
Liuzzi looking forward to Spa adrenaline rush (ESPN F1)
"According to Force India driver Tonio Liuzzi, the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit is the most beautiful and demanding one on the Formula One calendar.
"’Spa is my favourite venue and I love the circuit because it is a mixture of adrenaline and technique,’ Liuzzi told ESPNF1. ‘It has a great mix of really high-speed and technical corners and there is nowhere else like it that gives you the same adrenaline rush. It’s the most beautiful circuit on the championship calendar.’"
Racing tougher in my day, says Berger (ESPN F1)
"Gerhard Berger says that nobody would have complained about Michael Schumacher’s move on Rubens Barrichello if it happened in his day.
"Berger, who raced against uncompromisingly hard drivers such as Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Schumacher himself, says the racing was much tougher back in the 80s and 90s.
"’We drove harder and more brutally,’ Berger told Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung. ‘Three times a lap we drove each other into the walls without complaining. This was just part of it. We would have thought nothing of an action like Michael’s against Barrichello.’"
Christian Klien hopeful of HRT race drive (ESPN F1)
"Former Jaguar and Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien remains hopeful of driving in at least one grand prix with the HRT team this season."
Sauber upbeat over 2011 budget (Autosport)
"Peter Sauber is confident his team will have increased financial backing to continue making progress next year.
"The Swiss squad has been mainly sponsor-less during the 2010 season after Sauber retook control of the team following BMW’s exit from the sport at the end of last year."
Austin could host F1 ‘for 40 years’ (Autosport)
"Tavo Hellmund, the man at the head of the new United States Grand Prix programme, believes the Austin venue will be so well-suited to Formula 1 that it could stay on the calendar for ’40 years’."
Glock fully committed to Virgin (Autosport)
"Timo Glock says he remains committed to the Virgin Racing team for the long term despite the squad’s difficult start to life in Formula 1."
How much does an F1 driver earn? (James Allen)
"As a rule, F1 drivers’ income is 70% retainer and 30% bonus, based on podiums, wins and championship position. Apparently Red Bull is the exception with 40% retainer and 60% bonus, which might partly explain why the driver who doesn’t win looks pretty down!"
Formula One Star Races Triathlon In Kitzb?â??hel (Triathlete)
"German racing superstar Nico Rosberg takes part in the Olympic-distance age-group event at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Kitzb?â??hel, finishing in an impressive time of 2:07:33."
Comment of the day
Yesterday’s comment of the day discussing a new system for promoting new teams to Formula One has got us all thinking. BasCB had some interesting points:
I think the regional leagues to F1 is a very interesting idea. But to introduce it, you would have to solve a lot of details.
First of all, you would probably need to have some kind of period to stay in F1 (degrade only if you’re not making gains in the second year there) before getting back down. Or the level of the regional competition would have to be so close to worldwide F1, it would be very costly.
And as Lee states above, how would you get regions that are comparable in strength and amount of teams? Like in football you have Europe and South America with very strong teams and Asia, Africa and North America and the middle east less so. It would need some kind of play off for the regional champs to get into the worldwide series.
What would happen with outfits getting teams in several regions (Arden or Prodrive or Carlin running cars for several drivers/sponsors in different regions). You might even get a B-team run by Ferrari/McLaren/Red Bull into worldwide F1 as well, as it upgrades from a region.
BasCB
From the forum
The F1 Fanatic Forum: which countries provide the most F1 Fanatic’s?
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Damon Hill scored his first Formula One win on this day in 1993 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Alain Prost qualified on pole but stalled on the warm-up lap and had to start from the back of the grid, giving Hill the lead and making him the first son of a Formula One Grand Prix winner to take victory himself.
This race also marked Riccardo Patrese’s last podium and the last time Derek Warwick finished in the points.
Here’s a clip of Hill’s final lap at the Hungaroring:
Calum
15th August 2010, 1:39
How is everyone coping with the F1 break this year?
I hear Keith has got married, and for the past 4 days I have been walking/camping on R̼m for Duke of Edinburgh Gold, it was supposed to be next week but I got them to move it back Рobviously not telling them that it was going to clash with Spa :D
Scalextric
15th August 2010, 7:48
Re-doing the kitchen…
Congratulations to the Collantines!
bosyber
15th August 2010, 8:30
Looking for a new place, in a different city, as my wife starts as a teacher there at the end of the month – housing market in NL not very easy, it seems.
Mike
15th August 2010, 9:38
Panicking, mainly panicking, panic panic picnic? I’m not a picnim! waaa!
…. Actually I’ve been wasting time with my mates mostly, it is one of my specialities.
Congrats to the Collantines ^^
BasCB (@bascb)
16th August 2010, 8:17
A lot of things to do. We also had the Brno MotoGP here, yesterday i went mushroom collecting in the forests here.
And F1Fanatic has still got pretty nice stories to fill the race void.
Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Collatine, have a nice honeymoon and for ever after!
Lord Stig
15th August 2010, 1:41
Congrat’s to Mr & Mrs Collantine. Have a great honeymoon wherever in the world your travels will take you.
-Lord Stig.
Otherwise F1 has really has not produced much news…I guess we just need to wait for the WMC to start the fireworks.
spawinte
15th August 2010, 1:46
Congrats Keith.
Whats up with the double rear wings in that vid? I’ve seen them before but never knew why they were banned (I’m assuming they were banned)
bosyber
15th August 2010, 8:29
It was banned by disallowing any part of the rear wing in front of the rear wheel axle, and it was done after 1994, as part of increasing safety by bringing down cornering speeds, I think.
cyanide (@cyanide)
15th August 2010, 2:50
Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Collantine :)
wasiF1
15th August 2010, 3:02
Congratulation to Mr & Mrs Collantine have a happy life.
US_Peter
15th August 2010, 3:42
Not to sound like a broken record here, but congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Collantine and have a great honeymoon!
I really love the early nineties Williams livery. I’m sure it had to do with Camel sponsorship, but I kind of wish they’d go back to the yellow, blue, and white livery. Maybe their results would take a turn for the better if they did!
LAK (@lak)
15th August 2010, 3:52
A Big Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Collantine!! :D I wish you a life filled with happiness.. And hope she slowly converts to being an F1F! :)
GeeMac
15th August 2010, 4:47
Ah Damon’s first win…I remember cheering wildly as an impressionable 9 year old! It was a great drive and a thoroughly well deserved win after two near misses at Hockenheim and Silverstone.
bosyber
15th August 2010, 8:06
Heh, I was closer to adulthood, but still felt much the same with that win.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th August 2010, 8:22
That was a really great win and a deserved one. But looking at it now, i am happy it’s not like that any more.
Look at it, only the podium not lapped (and Hill let Berger past to unlap) but both almost a lap behind.
Macca (@macca)
15th August 2010, 7:11
Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Collantine. Best wishes for the futre.
Accidental Mick
15th August 2010, 7:30
Nice to see Donnington back, for a time it looked as if it had gone forever.
bosyber
15th August 2010, 8:14
Hoping it takes a long time before Keith sees this: Congratulations and a great honeymoon Mr & Mrs. Collantine! Enjoy it together.
Good to hear of Donington’s return, it was sad to see the broken-up circuit on images.
About Dennis backing Villeneuve bid: after the heading, it seems that the ‘backing’ is sort of interpretation by the article, he really says something more like: We would all love to have another former champion back in F1, good luck to him, he will need it”. Not much of a “backing” there really.
Berger starts to sound a bit Lauda-like: grumpy old man, talking about how much was better in his time (apart from safety).
MPJ1994
15th August 2010, 9:10
Congratulations Mr and Mrs Collantine. Enjoy your honeymoon
GeeMac
15th August 2010, 9:24
On a completely unrelated note, I just booked my tickets to the Abu Dhabi GP…very excited! Despite being an F1F since the early 90’s, I have never been to a race (growing up in South Africa made it too expensive to travel to races). I’ve got tickets for Saturday and Sunday in the North Grandstand. Hopefully the WDC and WCC will still be up for grabs.
Anyone else going?
Mike
15th August 2010, 9:51
I hope you enjoy it mate!
HounslowBusGarage
15th August 2010, 9:30
Congrats to Keith and New Missus!
I found this about the re-opened Donington http://www.crmc.co.uk/ and there was a note somewhere to the effect that the chicane had been moved 85 yards back along Starkey’s Straight to make a longer Start/Finish straight. Can’t find that bit again though . . .
Hamish
15th August 2010, 12:31
Um, the 4th line of the article?
HounslowBusGarage
15th August 2010, 14:38
Doh!
(Your comment was too short . . .)
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
15th August 2010, 11:07
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10978569
Apparently quite a few people have died at a rally in California when a car crashed into the crowd. Sounds horrific from reading the article. I live in fear of something like this ever happening in F1…
HounslowBusGarage
15th August 2010, 12:10
And that’s why we have run-off areas, barriers and fences all around the F1 tracks. Reading the report, it describes the race as a 50 mile off-road event, held at night with the course only illuminated by spotlights on the car’s rollover bars.
In addition, it describes spectators routinely getting perilously close to the cars with little or no crowd control.
I remember watching footage of the old San Remo rally with crowds of spectators on the mountain roads, seemingly playing chicken with the rally cars. I think that’s been curtailed and this Californian race should be too.
Very sad; sympathies to all those involved.
kt
15th August 2010, 11:23
Congratulations Keith & Alison. Enjoy.
djdaveyp
15th August 2010, 12:03
Congrats to Keith and hism missus!
True F1 fan Keith is, as most of us here are!
Who else would time their wedding and honeymoon so it didn’t clash with a race!?
I know I will!
Jacob
15th August 2010, 14:27
also this on the speed website http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-pirelli-to-begin-formula-one-track-tests-monday/ i dont no how reliable their website is though
manatcna
15th August 2010, 16:05
I’m amazed more people aren’t killed spectating at rally events.
When you’re standing ON the road with a rally car heading toward you at a high rate of knots you’re not only putting your life on the line, but you’re blocking the driver’s view, possibly leading to an even more serious accident.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th August 2010, 8:30
Quite a lot of news gathered from the last days. Interesting to see how confident Liuzzi seems to be, even though it’s only team speak, he might be up to something.
The article by James Allen does not really reveal any big news (for me the biggest news is, how hard it is to get any information on the subject). Actually those retainers seem pretty lean, especially compared to Raikkönens last deals and the amount of money Schumi earned (although he might still be the biggest earner).
LewisC
16th August 2010, 8:53
Great to see that Ron hasn’t lost his sense of humour :) First the jape with EJ’s mike at Silverstone, now welcoming Villeneuve’s team to F1… what next, a race in Korea? Oh – Bernie beat him to that one…
DGR-F1
16th August 2010, 18:27
I was wondering if Old Schuey’s ‘return’ would spark a lot of other ex-f1 drivers into coming back and seeing if they could make a worse job than he has done.
Villneuve at least has been racing something while he is away, but surely if you don’t keep up with the sport, you are never going to be able to make as big a noise as you would like to. Grow up Jacques, stay as a has-been, it will be more fun in the long-run!
And anyway, the FIA will announce that there won’t be another team before long, I’m sure…… :-)
Dianna
16th August 2010, 22:37
@DGR-F1………Leave him alone you bully,Jacques has come of age,but you obviously haven’t.
daykind
20th August 2010, 9:42
Glock is fully committed to Virgin?
That’s a laugh.