F1 2007/2008 Winter Testing and Rumours

rpstewart

rpstewart

rpstewart

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The teams and drivers may be on holiday until the test window starts again in December but that doesn't stop the rumour mill running flat out.

There's plenty of discussion about Alonso leaving McLaren here.

First piece of proper news of the weekend is that Kazuki Nakajima has landed the second Williams seat alongside (maybe) Nico Rosberg. Nakajima had a strong debut race in Brazil, finishing 10th despite hospitalising two of his mechanics at his first pit stop. How much of his appointment is on merit and how much is at the behest of Toyota remains to be seen although it does suggest that Toyota themselves are looking for an established name to replace Ralf in the works seat.

I think the 2008 grid is looking like this so far, all the names have (as far as I'm aware) 2008 contracts with their respective teams but as we know an F1 driver's contract isn't exactly a binding document.

Code: 
1    Ferrari                     Kimi Raikkonen
2    Ferrari                     Fillipe Massa
3    BMW Sauber                  Nick Heidfeld
4    BMW Sauber                  Robert Kubica
5    Renault                     Fernando Alonso                     
6    Renault                     Nelson Piquet Jr 
7    Williams - Toyota           Nico Rosberg
8    Williams - Toyota           Kazuki Nakajima
9    Red Bull - Renault          David Coulthard
10   Red Bull - Renault          Mark Webber
11   Toyota                      Timo Glock
12   Toyota                      Jarno Trulli
14   Toro Rosso - Ferrari        Sebastien Bourdais
15   Toro Rosso - Ferrari        Sebastian Vettel
16   Honda                       Jenson Button
17   Honda                       Rubens Barrichello
18   Super Aguri - Honda         Takuma Sato*
19   Super Aguri - Honda         Anthony Davidson*
20   Force India - Ferrari       Adrian Sutil*
21   Force India - Ferrari
22   McLaren - Mercedes          Lewis Hamilton
23   McLaren - Mercedes          Heikki Kovalainen

* Unsure of exact contract status

There are some names missing from that list - Fisi, Ralf, Liuzzi, Yamamoto - who don't have a contract for 2008 but we may see one or more of them back.

At this point it's probably fair to say that we'll see pigs flying before we see a 2008 Prodrive.

2008 Car Launches
Code: 
Ferrari         6/1/08, Fiorano
BMW Sauber      14/1/08, Munich
Renault         31/1/08, Paris
Williams
Red Bull        16/1/08, Jerez
Toyota          10/1/08, Cologne
Toro Rosso
Honda           29/1/08, Brackley
Super Aguri
Force India
McLaren         7/1/08, Stuttgart
 
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And the current confirmed calendar for 2008:

Code: 
2008 FIA Formula One World Championship

16/3   AUS   Australia
23/3   MAL   Malaysia
6/4    BRN   Bahrain
27/4   E     Spain
11/5   TR    Turkey
25/5   MC    Monaco
8/6    CDN   Canada
22/6   F     France
6/7    GB    Great Britain
20/7   D     Germany
3/8    H     Hungary
24/8   E     Europe
7/9    B     Belgium
14/9   I     Italy
28/9   SGP   Singapore*
12/10  J     Japan
19/10  CN    China
02/11  BR    Brazil

* Night race

It's an 18 race calendar rather than the 17 of this with Indianapolis dropping out and Valencia (as the European GP) and the night race in Singapore coming in. The German GP title returns to the calendar as the race switches back to Hockenheim for 2008.
 
Is that Australia Melbourne or Australia Sydney?

Ive heard Rumours and news reports that Sydney is trying to get the GP
 
Any news when Sydney will try frab it then?

I cant wait so i can laugh at the Victorians:D

/Wishes it was Adelaide still:(
 
It's quite a shock to see so many big holes in the driver line up this year. Renault, McLaren and Toyota are all short, and who really deserves to fill the seats, apart from good ol' Ferdy? I suppose the Renault and McLaren seats are fairly obvious choices, but Toyota seem to be the real doozie. Personally I reckon they'll go for Fisichella, after all Toyota have a thing for hiring 'run of the mill' also rans.

This wild rumour about Sydney going after the Ozzie GP sounds good too, as I've never really cared for Albert Park in all honesty. It's always seemed a bland and uninteresting location/track for the season opener.

And finally 'Force One India', I mean what kind of a name is that for a GP team?!
 
rpstewart said:
So he's running at an open test?? That could be interesting to see whether he's still got it.
Click to expand...

Wont be able to tell really as it's Kimi's car without the electronics. They do need some serious help as few of the drivers have run an F1 car without aids.

Kimi's not good at testing at the best of times. Any input from MS will help them out.
 
dannyjo22 said:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=33360

Nice to see MS is finally going to try a f1 car without traction control. :)
Click to expand...
I thought he had driven a few seasons before it came in?


Stormrider said:
On the Toyota side, it looks like they are going for Timo Glock. Unfortunately he appears to have a contract with BMW in his way:
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/071107132347.shtml
Click to expand...
Toyota really need someone like Glock. I just hope Trulli train isn't there after next season.
 
Lunatic Dreyfus said:
And finally 'Force One India', I mean what kind of a name is that for a GP team?!
Click to expand...
It's the kind of name that you make up first thing in the morning when you can't be bothered to check :o

The correct name is "Force India". It isn't exactly an improvement I'll grant you.

Sone said:
prodrive defintly out then?
Click to expand...
As near as makes no difference. Their financial and technical package is based on operating as a customer team but there are a couple of stumbling blocks:

1) The FIA court of appeal was due to rule on the legality of customer cars about 2 weeks ago but that has been postponed (and I can't find a confirmed date). Without that the technical package is screwed.

2) Negotiations over a change to the Concorde Agreement which governs the distribution of money to the teams have stalled so it looks likely that the current agreement will run on. This doesn't allow payments to non constructors and so would mess up Prodrive's financial plans.
 
Duke said:
I thought he had driven a few seasons before it came in?
Click to expand...

Yeah he did in the Jordan in 91. When exactly the benetton started using the traction control software that was loaded but they never used is anyones guess ;)

Personally I'd say he drove 92 and 93 without a form of TC as well. I think they will definately require his input into the car which doesnt say a lot for kimi and massa really.
 
dannyjo22 said:
Yeah he did in the Jordan in 91. When exactly the benetton started using the traction control software that was loaded but they never used is anyones guess ;)
Click to expand...
The 93 Benetton was probably only second to the Williams in terms of technical sophistication and certainly carried traction control along with active ride and passive rear steering for most if not all of the season. Their only real disadvantages that season were the power deficiency of the Ford HB V8 (although it was far more driveable than the Renault RS03/04) and a couple of years less experience of active ride and how it affected the setup required on the car.
 
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