F1 2007/2008 Winter Testing and Rumours

sunama said:
Honda would almost certainly have wanted a lot of the F1 employees who were responsible for producing Honda's 2007 car, go. There must've been some seriously p'd off people at Honda, bearing in mind that they invested so much money into the F1 program.

This does not bode well for any driver coming in to Red Bull, considering their reliability record in 2007 was not the best. Alonso could arrive and make RBR more competitive, but I doubt he could have any effect on the reliability of the car, unless they decide to run conservative settings (say on the engine) and expect Alonso to make up for the lack of speed that this would result in.
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Or, possibly, Honda should have kept the employees responsible for the half decent cars produced in the previous seasons.
 
For those of you who can still cope with the exposure, just a heads up that Lewis Hamilton will be on Parkinson tonight at 10:35pm ITV1.
 
Had a pretty decent chat with Heikki today (had to pop into work to check on some stuff and he was stood near some marketing people looking pretty bored so I decided i'd try to cheer him up :p ) - he is a bit of a legend and certainly my favourite driver on the grid. We talked about the R27 and how rubbish it was, how awesome the R28 is looking, about all the driver changes and contract issues, and more general crap like oxford nightlife. I really like the guy :)
 
Button issues Honda with ultimatum

Jenson Button has warned Honda that he is not prepared to waste his Formula 1 career in uncompetitive machinery.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, the 27-year-old, admitted that a season spent toiling "with a complete dog" of a car left him deeply frustrated as the momentum of strong season in 2006 faded away.

"I'm just not interested in racing like this any more," said Button, who says his loyalty remains with Honda, so long as the team can make dramatic improvements in 2008.

"I remember after Hungary this year wanting to hit something.

"I'd won that same race 12 months previously and now I was there sitting in something which was undriveable."

"I have to start winning and if I don't then I have to be ruthless.

"There's an option in my contract which means we can all sit down and discuss the future at the end of the season.

"I'm not saying I expect to win the world title, but I do expect a dramatic improvement."

Button, who finished 15th in the world championship with just six points to his name, added that his season in hell should act as a sobering tonic to the heady cocktail of success Lewis Hamilton enjoyed in 2007.

The McLaren rookie eclipsed Button as Britain's F1 favourite with a remarkable run of nine straight podium finishes and four victories en route to runner-up spot in the world championship.

But Jenson knows through bitter experience that opportunities to drive competitive cars are rare and should be capitalised on.

"He is a great driver, but there are lots of great drivers in F1 who did not have his package," he said.

"What would worry me is the lost opportunity. He should be sick as a dog because another chance like that might not come round again."
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http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41268

Sounds fair to me. I just hope Honda have a reasonable car next season.
 
NicktheNorse said:
Had a pretty decent chat with Heikki today (had to pop into work to check on some stuff and he was stood near some marketing people looking pretty bored so I decided i'd try to cheer him up :p ) - he is a bit of a legend and certainly my favourite driver on the grid. We talked about the R27 and how rubbish it was, how awesome the R28 is looking, about all the driver changes and contract issues, and more general crap like oxford nightlife. I really like the guy :)
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The chap certainly grew on me during the latter half of this season and I hope he has a faster car next year. ;) By the way, have you seen Ferdy mooching about the place? :D

AcidHell2 said:
Yeh it was a bit disappointing, no new or obscure questions.
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Back in Parky's wild sideburn days things might have been different. The 'new' version of his talk show is little more than a glorified PR exercise.
 
Heard on the radio this morning that Ross Brawn is going to be announced as Technical Director at Honda...
 
Duke said:
Heard on the radio this morning that Ross Brawn is going to be announced as Technical Director at Honda...
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Yeah, just read the same thing on the BBC News site. That's one heck of a coup for Honda but it'll only work if they let Brawn run things without interference.
 
I hope so, they really need someone like him.

edit: just noticed it says team principal not techy :o
 
Honda need a techie principal at this stage. There's no point in having a strong technical department if they're not getting support from above. Brawn may not have the experience of managing an entire team but he's far from daft and hence is likely to ensure that the departments he doesn't have experience with have good heads to let him concentrate on sorting the problems in the team rather than running it day to day.
 
Brawn has been announced as Honda's Team Principal...

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=33384

very very surprised by this one TBH. Obviously the rumours have been flying around for a while, but with the strength Ferrari had over the last 10 years, you kind of expected him to come back to Maranello.

Could be some bad blood then that Todt didn't step down and hands the reigns to Brawn? Either way, good luck to him.
 
I feel that Honda will now need a top notch driver and Brawn will know this. I dont feel Button has the ability to deliver, hence, they will need to shop around. Perhaps they will give Button 2yrs to make it as their No.1 driver, after which they will look elsewhere. Perhaps they might even look towards Alonso and give Barrichello the boot?

Do you people not find it strange that someone of Alonso's standing/callibre still has not confirmed a drive for 2008? I dont think this has ever happened.
 
sunama said:
Do you people not find it strange that someone of Alonso's standing/callibre still has not confirmed a drive for 2008? I dont think this has ever happened.
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I agree, I can't think of a similar situation - Prost's fallout with Ferrari left him under contract for 1992 hence he spent the year working for French TV.

I suppose Alonso will have been unable to talk to oter teams until his contract with McLaren was anulled but he's had 10 days since then and you've got to think that his manager/agent will have been running about since before then. I suppose there is the potential that he's already signed somewhere and the team is waiting for the right time to announce it. Maybe Renault are waiting to see if they can pay him next year or if they need to give Max the money instead?
 
rpstewart said:
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Maybe Renault are waiting to see if they can pay him next year or if they need to give Max the money instead?
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This may not be far from the truth. Perhaps Alonso wants to sign for Renault, but doesnt until the Renault scandal is heard (I think in December?) This would have course assume that Renault is at the top of his list. If it just means a points deduction in 2007, then it wont effect Alonso if he drove for Renault in 2008. The last thing he needs is to be consitently driving for teams that have been linked to cheating. Eventually, he will get a bad name if it continues.

I actually believe that Alonso's manager/agent would've been scouting around before he even anulled his contract with McLaren. It was only when the agent got some positive feedback and felt he could get Alonso a good drive, that Alonso would've decided to sever his contract with McLaren.
 
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