motor

blue8 · 07-27-2007, 12:19 PM

Provisional 2008 Calendar

blue8 · 07-29-2007, 12:47 PM

Sakon Yamamoto to drive the rest of the season alongside Adrian Sutil for Spyker.

Mike Gascoyne has revealed that Sakon Yamamoto cracked the nod to drive for Spyker because of financial considerations and his experience.

The former Super Aguri driver was confirmed as Christijan Albers' replacement late last week and the team's technical director Mike Gascoyne explained the decision.

"Obviously Spyker is a team that was looking for a driver with experience of the circuits where we were going to race," he said.

"There's also financial considerations, so we wanted a driver both with experience and that could bring some finance to the team.

"Thankfully Sakon was able to do both of those."

"It's a permanent appointment for the rest of the season," he continued.

"We're only allowed to use four drivers in Formula 1, and he's the fourth one that we've had in the car this year.

"I think one of the key important factors in the decision was the fact that he's raced on all the circuits that we have left in the season, so that was absolutely essential to the decision.

"I think with Adrian and Sakon working together it will be absolutely no problem.

"Two young drivers, both with half a season of experience, I'm sure we won't have any problems.

"Obviously the ideal thing in Formula 1 is to have continuity all season.

"The switch has been forced upon us, but now I think we have a steady pairing for the second half of the season, so I don't think it will put us at a disadvantage."

saadie · 07-29-2007, 04:47 PM

yamamoto never had a superlicense ... he was driving on int A .. as far as i know ..

aanyway .. .another clasical sato is in the making

bmagni · 07-29-2007, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by saadie

yamamoto never had a superlicense ... he was driving on int A .. as far as i know ..

aanyway .. .another clasical sato is in the making

who overtook Alstornzo BTW

blue8 · 07-31-2007, 06:15 AM

Sebastian Vettel is released by BMW Sauber. The German driver has been officially confirmed to replace Scott Speed and continue the rest of the season alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi for Toro Rosso starting this weekend for the Hungarian GP.

BMW Sauber is allowing Sebastian Vettel to take the step into a Formula One cockpit. The 20-year-old from Heppenheim is being released to move to Scuderia Toro Rosso with immediate effect.

"As our test and reserve driver Sebastian has carried out sterling work for us," BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said. "When he stood in for Robert Kubica in the USA Grand Prix he made history by becoming the youngest debutant to earn a world championship point. However, the current testing rules mean that he barely gets a chance to drive for us. Now he has been offered the opportunity to get inside a Toro Rosso cockpit. We have sponsored and coached Sebastian over a number of years. To place obstacles in his career path now would go against our concept of talent promotion."

"BMW and Red Bull have a longstanding partnership in supporting Sebastian," Theissen continued.
"Toro Rosso is the sister team of Red Bull Racing, and in that context it makes sense for us to release him. In a sponsoring partnership the main thing is to use the best opportunities that present themselves to a young driver at any given time."

Taking over the role of reserve driver for the BMW Sauber F1 Team will be Timo Glock, who is currently a test driver. The 25-year-old from Brensbach-Wersau is championship leader in the GP2 Series and would forgo a GP2 race should he have to step into the breach for the team.

^I think he has a lot of potential but sadly the car doesn't...

saadie · 07-31-2007, 06:48 AM

holy shit .. lucky break for the kid ... . .. i feel sad .. i wish i was in his place

..

..

great news thou

blue8 · 08-03-2007, 07:44 AM

Michael Schumacher will not attend any more races as a Ferrari 'advisor' this year.

The retired seven time world champion admitted two weeks ago at the Nurburgring that, despite several visits to races in 2007, he still had not found a more specified trackside role to play for the Italian team.

He said: "Already I notice that I am a little bit out of date, and the only alternative is to always be around - and I absolutely do not want to do that."

It was also pointed out recently that, despite winning three times this year, Kimi Raikkonen only seems to climb to the top step of the podium when his predecessor Schumacher stays at home.

Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm confirmed that the 38-year-old is not and will not be in Hungary this weekend, adding that he "does not intend momentarily to attend any races" after that.

He is, however, scheduled to help launch a new Ferrari road car in Frankfurt next month, but "his priority is to spend time with his family," Kehm said.

Some people (including me) mentioned that Raikkonen never had a good race in Schumi's presence this season. It's obviously coincidence but let's see... I hope anyway that Kimi does well in the remaining races. One bad result and this season's over

blue8 · 08-07-2007, 11:38 AM

News exclusively for the 2008 season:

Provisional 2008 Calendar:
16 March Australia
23 March Malaysia
06 April Bahrain
27 April Spain
11 May Turkey
25 May Monaco
08 June Canada *
22 June France
06 July Great Britain
20 July Germany
03 August Hungary
24 August Europe **
07 September Italy
14 September Belgium
28 September Singapore **
12 October China
19 October Japan
02 November Brazil
* Provisional
** Subject to circuit approval

The FIA has revealed the provisional calendar for the 2008 season, which sees Australia kick off the Championship and France retain its place.

Reports earlier this month from the Australian GP organisers had claimed that the Melbourne race would be moved to the second slot on the calendar, while Bahrain would be promoted to first place.

However, according to the provisional calendar that is not the case and Australia will start the season.

Meanwhile France has retained its place on the calendar, despite Bernie Ecclestone earlier claiming that this year's event was the final French GP at Magny-Cours.

Other things to note are the inclusion of the Singapore Grand Prix as well as the European GP, which will be held at the new Valencia circuit. Both races there are on the calendar pending circuit approval by the FIA.

blue8 · 08-07-2007, 11:44 AM

2008 line-up for Scuderia Toro Rosso:
Sebastian Vettel has been confirmed before the Hungarian GP to continue the 2007 season for Toro Rosso and continue til next year. Sebastien Bourdais has just been confirmed to replace Vitantonio Liuzzi for the 2008 season.

Toro Rosso will officially complete its 2008 driver line-up on Wednesday, according to a specialist report on Tuesday.

Multiple Champ Car title winner Sebastien Bourdais has now reached a deal with the Faenza based team to replace Tonio Liuzzi from 2008, the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell claimed.

28-year-old Bourdais will join the already-confirmed German rookie Sebastian Vettel in the team, and plans to relocate from Florida to Europe with his wife Claire and their baby daughter Emma.

The publication reported that Bourdais was tying up loose ends with his American employer Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing so that an official announcement could theoretically be made on Wednesday.

blue8 · 08-13-2007, 11:37 AM

Teams take steps to improve overtaking

The F1 teams are currently taking steps to improve overtaking by meeting to discuss new designs of the cars.

According to Autosport, the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) met during the Hungarian GP weekend where they agreed on a new diffuser designer aimed at helping cars overtake.

The design, which has already been extensive wind tunnel testing, could be implemented as early as the 2009 F1 season.

Following this the teams are set to discuss a new rear wing design, which will hopefully put an end to cars being affected when following close behind a lead car.

Another change the OWG is looking at is the banning of winglets and bargeboards. However, should they agree to outlaw these, the ban will only be introduced in 2010.

McLaren engineering director Paddy Lowe, Renault director of engineering Pat Symonds and Ferrari consultant Rory Byrne are all chair the OWG.

This is great news for F1 if those plans push through! Lack of overtaking makes F1 boring

blue8 · 08-14-2007, 01:27 PM

Teams unhappy about McLaren supplying ECUs starting 2008:

More than a year after the granting of the FIA tender, serious opposition within the Formula One pitlane has emerged against McLaren supplying standard ECUs to all teams starting in 2008.

It is reported in the specialist technical publication Auto Motor und Sport that at least Renault, Ferrari, Honda and BMW - after trying the jointly Microsoft-McLaren electronics system recently in testing - are not happy with the idea of using the unit for the next three years.

McLaren Electronic Systems, although separate to Ron Dennis' F1 team, is based at the Woking factory and part of the McLaren Group.

The German magazine said that the aforementioned teams experienced problems with engine and throttle control when they fitted the McLaren ECU at a recent test session.

It is suggested that some teams may also now be uncomfortable with the idea of forcibly working closely - including exchanging data - with a team that is accused of industrial espionage.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore is openly unhappy about working with McLaren in 2008-2010 and is believed to be exploring legal options.

"How am I to trust a company that is at the centre of a spying scandal?" he is quoted as saying.

BMW's Mario Theissen added: "I have to say that (when we tested the ECU) some serious situations arose."

McLaren and the FIA, however, dismiss the concerns. A spokesman for McLaren said: "MES acts independently of the (F1) team," while the FIA source insisted that the awarding of the tender will be followed through with.

"The teams always oppose anything that is new," he added.

jenkF1 · 08-15-2007, 06:09 PM

I doubt Flavio is talking any sense. I doubt the spy scandal means anything hes just being crazy like every media comment.

I found it hard to comprehend when I heard this rule that one ECU can work fine with every pre-designed engine. Also I thought this was just Microsoft involved.

McLaren using the settings to both the Mercedes advantage and for its chassis. I am sure McLaren have a very different approach to the cars (break balance aero etc, nippy little machine)

Mattk · 08-16-2007, 12:11 AM

I'm surprised Bourdais has made the move from a top Champ Car team to a middling F1 team. Surely a step down, but his participation will be promising.

I see no problem with McLaren supplying the ECUs, in the sense that I don't think they are hatching some conspiracy. However, it deprives other manufacturers from developing their own systems, which is ultimately detrimental to the development of motoring in general.

blue8 · 08-16-2007, 07:19 AM

Prodrive in the 2008 season?

Formula One's 12th team, Prodrive, is on course for next year's Championship, according to a source close to the team.

While an announcement was expected from the team at last month's British GP regarding their plans for their first season in F1, none was forthcoming, leaving some to speculate that team's plans had stalled.

However, according to a source, Prodrive's future is taking shape with the team finalise car, engine, driver and sponsorship deals.

"Plans for our F1 programme are still progressing well," a source told Autosport.

"We have never set ourselves a deadline, July or otherwise, and we will make an announcement when we are ready to do so."

Meanwhile other reports claim that a deal with McLaren to use their chassis as well as Mercedes engine is as good as done.

The team is also expected to use McLaren test drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett as their race drivers in the 2008 Championship.

Mattk · 08-16-2007, 10:15 AM

So this Prodrive is essentially a McLaren seconds team, with McLaren employees driving a slightly inferior McLaren?