2005/2006 F1 News and Testing.

[Flibster]

Berger joins Toro Rosso at Jerez

Former Grand Prix driver Gerhard Berger has wasted little time getting acquainted with Scuderia Toro Rosso after turning up for testing at Jerez in Spain today.

The Austrian, who announced yesterday that he has bought a 50 percent stake in the Red Bull junior team, met team members and spent time in the pits and on the pit wall as Scott Speed got his first taste of the new STR01.

Berger will be acting as a motorsport advisor for Red Bull in Formula One, although it is likely his main focus will be on Toro Rosso.

He said at the announcement of his deal with Toro Rosso: "I am aware that my Formula One know-how is very much valued by Red Bull in general and by the Italian Toro Rosso team in particular."

 

[Flibster]

Barcelona adds yet another grandstand

Spanish Grand Prix organisers have made available an extra 3,800 tickets for this year's race at Barcelona with the creation of a new grandstand.

Fernando Alonso's recent successes in Formula One have led to a massive growth in interest in the sport in Spain and, with the event fast selling out, the Circuit de Catalunya has announced plans to increase capacity further.

Tickets for the new grandstand, which will be located on the inner side of the circuit prior to the Seat Turn, are being offered at a special price of 185 Euros (£132) for the weekend during a pre-sale period until March 16.

The organisers have also confirmed that tickets for the other 14 Grandstands at the track, as well as the general admission areas, are almost sold out - meaning the circuit is likely to break its attendance record this year thanks to an increase in capacity of 8,000 over 2005.

 

[Flibster]

Holy hell - over 1000 posts now....

Not bad for a little under 4 months of posting...

 

[Flibster]

Why Renault cannot jump ship from the GPMA

This morning these is much talk of Renault trying to jump ship from the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association and join up with the deal to extend the Concorde Agreement to the end of 2012. This follows remarks made by Renault F1 managing-director Flavio Briatore in an interview in a German magazine. This is all well and good but it must be remembered that Briatore is not the man who decides Renault policy and that the French manufacturer has signed a legally-binding agreement not to negotiate individual deals with Formula One Management after a GPMA meeting at the end of September last year at Schloss Hohenkammer, a castle to the north of Munich.

This document was signed by the five manufacturers and includes a clause which states that any breach of the agreement could lead to unlimited claims from the other members of the pact. The deal lasts a year and can only be overturned if all those involved agree to cancel the arrangement. The implied threat that FOM may decide not to offer them any money may be the reason behind the rumours because Renault more than the others needs money from the sport to justify its involvement to the top management.

However, unless Renault is willing to get embroiled in legal action with other members of the GPMA clan it is not going to be breaking ranks.

Briatore may have aligned himself with Bernie Ecclestone of FOM and FIA President Max Mosley but this does not mean that Renault is in complete agreement with him.

 

[Flibster]

Rio offers to host Belgian Grand Prix

Rio de Janeiro is ready to step in and fill the void created by the cancellation of this season's Belgian Formula One Grand Prix, according to the city's Mayor.

Cesar Maia said Thursday that the Brazilian city, which hosted its country's leg of the Grand Prix calendar from 1981 to 1990 before the Brazil Grand Prix moved to Interlagos in Sao Paulo, could fill in after Belgium was forced to call off its Grand Prix on Wednesday.

"We know that Belgium has cancelled its meeting and we want to put ourselves at the service of the sport to organise our own," said Maia.

The FIA and Bernie Ecclestone removed the Belgian GP, scheduled for September 17th, from this year's calendar and ordered Spa Francorchamps to undergo vital track improvements to prepare it for the 2007 season.

Rio has been working hard in recent times to attract top international sport to the city and could host the Grand Prix at its Nelson Piquet circuit. Should Maia's offer be accepted by the FIA, the Rio Grand Prix would take place just over a month before the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on October 22.

 

[Flibster]

Berger: Toro Rosso was impulse decision

Gerhard Berger has revealed that his 50 percent buy-in of Scuderia Toro Rosso was agreed on the spur of the moment with Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

The former Grand Prix driver has been a friend of Mateschitz for several years and, although he had been previously reluctant to accept an invite to help Red Bull's F1 activities, he has claimed it all changed during a conversation in Salzburg.

"Everything happened in one night, even though Dietrich and I have known each other for 20 years, when I was the first sportsman endorsing Red Bull," Berger was quoted as saying in Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Lately we've met fairly often in Salzburg and one evening, while chatting about the things we did together in the past and about future projects, all of a sudden he told me: 'I'd like to buy 50% of your company.' I thought he was joking, so I replied: 'Fine, then I'm buying 50% of Toro Rosso.' And we did it for real... "

Part of the deal that sees Berger buy into Toro Rosso is for Red Bull to buy 50 percent of Berger's shipping company.

Berger has made it clear that he is not becoming the team boss of Toro Rosso and says he is happy to leave responsibility of that role to fellow Austrian Franz Tost.

"Don't confuse me with the team boss," he explained. "That role is and will be Franz Tost's, a person I trust with my eyes closed.

"My long experience in F1, with all the things learned over the years, will be the contribution I'll bring to the team when I'll be asked.

"I can't miss [attending] the first Grand Prix. As for the others, we'll see one by one."

Yup - sounds like Berger to me.

One of the biggest jokers in F1 - but a absolute professional in the car itself.
Having him and Johnny Herbert together *the 2 biggest jokers...* back together could mean there's a few practical jokes going to be taking place in the pitlane again.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Rossi closer to F1 switch

Valentino Rossi is seriously considering a switch from MotoGP to Formula 1 in 2007 following his impressive test with Ferrari at Spain’s Valencia circuit last week.

Motorcycle News cites a “close personal friend” of Rossi saying the Italian surprised himself with how competitive he was against F1’s established stars – leaving him with a genuine dilemma over where his future lies.

The friend claimed Rossi is now “very close” to moving to F1 and that Ferrari has redoubled its efforts to lure him to Maranello.

Rossi’s performance at Valencia suggested he has the potential to emulate Britain’s John Surtees and make a successful transition from two wheels to four.

His best lap time at the twisty Spanish circuit of 1m12.3s, set in a Ferrari F2004 with 2004 downforce levels, compares with Michael Schumacher’s benchmark of 1m10.2s in a similar car last year.

However, Rossi was using a restricted V10 engine developing 200bhp less than the car used by Schumacher, thought to account for a time loss of about 1.5s.

Taking the different engine specifications into account, Rossi was only around 0.7s slower than the seven-times world champion on his fourth outing in an F1 car.

“For the first time I didn’t feel like a visitor, I felt like a member of the team,” Rossi is quoted as saying by MCN.

“I learned a lot in the three days and we have to keep working in this way.”

Rossi is committed to racing for Yamaha this season but is a free agent thereafter.

Schumacher has yet to extend his contract beyond this season while Ferrari’s second driver Felipe Massa only has a one-year deal.

In theory, therefore, there could be two vacancies, although McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen has been linked with a possible switch to the Italian squad and Schumacher is by no means certain to retire.

 

[Flibster]

Oh yes... always a smile in the paddock with those 2 about

he's one of the nicest blokes I ever met in the pits as well - will always talk to fans if he's not needed somewhere and was happy to sign hundreds of autographs.

He kind of lost his passion with F1 after Ratzenbergers and Senna's death though.

Was nice to see him in 2004 driving Senna's JPS Lotus - while wearing a badge of Ratzenbergers helmet as a tribute to them both. Senna as a friend and Ratzenberger as a fellow Austrian.

He was great friends with Senna and would often share a helicopter with him on the way to the track.

Thats where one of the best stories I hear of came from. Flying into a track - Berger notices Senna's new briefcase...Carbon Fibre Briefcase.

Berger asks about it and Senna talks about it and says that it's virtually industructable. Berger then says - "lets find out" opens the helicopter door and throws the briefcase out the door then shuts it again.

As far as I know - was never found again.

We need people like that in F1 - just like Raikkonen being found half naked asleep in someone's front garden - thats fine.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Chaps,

Any good sites whith more pics of the Toro Rosso?? Want to see if my uncle made it into any of them.

Steve

Best one is Autosport or the Sutton Motorsport Images pages - but you have to pay for Autosport and pay for good sized images from Sutton.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Any more news on the McLaren MP4-21 launch guys? I heard rumours it would be today...

Nothing yet...

They were testing yesterday so unless they've got a 2nd car all painted up and ready to go it's looking more likely that it'll be next week tbh.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

I seem to remember hearing that briefcase story before

Sounds like a right joker...... bet no-one falls asleep around him!!!

There was also stories of whoopie cushions in cars on the grid and things like that...

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Honda's test team gears up for Bahrain

Since last month's introduction of the latest RA106 at Barcelona, the Honda Racing F1 Team has been busy putting the new car through its paces in Spain. Despite winter sunshine and largely dry track conditions, the temperatures have been chilly on the Iberian peninsula - quite unlike the conditions expected in the opening three Grands Prix of the season that take place in the heat of Bahrain, Malaysia and Australia.

To prepare for those races, the team is now leaving Spain for an important test in the warmer climate of the Bahrain International Circuit, venue of the season's opening race in four weeks time.

Mark Ellis, Chief Engineer Vehicle Performance "We've just completed another positive test at Jerez and we are now looking forward to next week's four-day test in Bahrain where we can fully evaluate the latest tyre developments from Michelin in realistic conditions and start our real preparations for the opening races. The pace of the RA106 has again been very encouraging and the car has been extremely reliable despite a couple of small issues."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development, is also keen to see how the RA106 performs in the Middle East; more so as Honda has an engine update to evaluate. “We will have some new improvements next week on the engine that we will be running in Bahrain,” he confirms. “We've had some minor issues but overall we are in good shape."

 

[Flibster]

Renault fix rear wing problem

Renault have succeeded in finding a fix to the rear wing problem suffered by Heikki Kovalainen earlier this week - meaning their testing programme is now back on track.

Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella had been forced to share a low-mileage rear wing during testing on Thursday while the team got to the bottom of the structural problem discovered on Wednesday.

But after analysis at the team's Enstone factory, and a big effort from the team on Thursday night, the team were able to resume normal testing activities with two cars today.

Renault's technical director Bob Bell said: "The rear wing is a brand new design, and we noticed a small structural problem this week on two examples, leaving us with just one lower-mileage wing available at the test - which meant we only ran one car at a time on Thursday.

"Obviously, a potential problem with the rear wing assembly can have serious consequences if it fails, so we took a very prudent approach and immediately brought the wings back to Enstone.

"After rigorous analysis, we determined the solution that was required, and the team worked through the night yesterday to implement it. The modified components arrived this morning in Jerez, and the cars were both running again at 09:00."

 

[Flibster]

Renault happy with less teams on Michelin

Technical director Bob Bell admitted his Renault team are benefiting from the decrease in the number of teams working with Michelin this year.

Toyota and Williams left the Michelin camp at the end of last year, leaving Michelin with five teams compared to Bridgestone's six. Last year, the French tyre maker had seven teams, compared to three on the Japanese tyre.

"Michelin are showing a real determination to win," Bell said, when asked how competitive Michelin are.

"They are pushing harder than ever. With fewer teams running Michelin tyres this year, we are also enjoying a closer and more direct collaboration."

 

[Flibster]

I wonder if Donkey (if he's still under contract ) could make the switch to STR? Would be nice to see Donkey on tour again.

Donkey retired. Even his web site no longer exists...

That is good going and I think an appropriate time to say thanks for all your efforts.

I'll second that. I don't post much but I check this thread daily. Excellent read and excellent work.

Cheers. I have no idea how much time I spend doing these F1 threads...
May have to time the first one for Bahrain *going to miss the Australian F1's back party.*

Yeah but Ron likes to hide those stories away from the press.

But they still come out. Although for that drunk in someone garden he apparently received a written warning.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

No advantage for V10s, says Berger

Scuderia Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger has said he does not understand why rival teams are upset about his outfit running V10 engines this year - because he is adamant they will not have an advantage over the V8 runners.

Midland F1's managing director Colin Kolles said last week he was furious that Toro Rosso were running a V10 engine – and said there would be a 'problem' if the Red Bull junior team outqualified his outfit in Bahrain.

But despite continued doubts about whether the FIA's 'equivalency' restrictions on the V10 engine have gone far enough, Berger has said that he thinks the current level of performance for his team's engines is about right.

When asked for his thoughts on other teams' concerns about the V10 engine situation, Berger told autosport.com: "For other teams, you mean basically Midland.

"I think this is the regulation. I do not see any advantage at the moment and all the lap times are where they should be. We have a good car but we are not doing the quickest times. You know, okay, we are quicker than Midland but so what?

"I think when they decided on the equivalency there were a lot of thoughts behind it and lots of calculations must have been done. We know we are definitely not having an advantage over the V8 Cosworth engine and, although we may have an advantage over another engine, for me at the moment this figure is a fair solution."

Berger has said that he does not expect a swift improvement of form over Minardi's pace for Toro Rosso this year, and claims he is looking at up to three years for the outfit to be competitive.

"You have to see the reality," he said. "It is not reasonable to say that we can go first and second. We will have to see over the first three years. Within three years we have to establish a good pace, put good people together – but knowing that the resources are limited.

"Still, I believe with the right people we can do something together and of course we have direct competitors – Midland and Suzuki. That is the first stage of direct competition. Then let's try to see the next step."

 

[Flibster]

Berger says F1 needs the FIA

Former grand prix driver and new team owner Gerhard Berger has added his weight to Flavio Briatore's belief that Formula One's future can only be secured by the FIA.

Although the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association are still pressing ahead with their plans for a breakaway series, Berger has made it clear that his Scuderia Toro Rosso outfit are fully supportive of FIA president Max Mosley's vision.

He echoes Briatore's claims from his interview in Auto Motor Und Sport that the manufacturers would be the wrong people to run F1 because there would be too many vested interests.

"We are very much in line with the FIA," Berger told autosport.com during a break in testing at Jerez in Spain on Friday. "I am a believer in the FIA, simply because it is important to have independent bodies making decisions without individual interests.

"It will be strange to get teams involved (in running the sport) as everyone has his own agenda and interest.

"You have to accept that when the FIA makes decisions it sometimes fits your idea and sometimes it does not. It is important to have an independent body, and I am a supporter of it."

 

[Flibster]

Briatore: manufacturers should commit to F1

Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes the time has come for Formula One's manufacturers to accept that their best hope for the future is in aligning themselves with Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone.

Although the five members of the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Toyota and Honda , have agreed to stay committed to their breakaway plans until later this year, Briatore has made it clear that he has no doubts where his team are likely to focus beyond that.

In an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport, Briatore said that the only sensible solution for the future was the low-cost F1 being planned by Mosley - and warned that the sport could 'destroy' itself if the breakaway happened.

"It is very simple," said Briatore. "The cards are on the table and everybody is free to decide what he prefers. The ones who want to compete with reasonable cost have to stay in Formula One. The rest have to do something different.

"We only should have one thing in mind. It took ages to bring this sport to the level that we have now. It can take only one season to destroy it all."

Briatore claims that the idea of manufacturers running a championship does not make sense, because of the amount of self-interest likely to exist between the competitors. He thinks only Mosley and Ecclestone are able to look at the bigger picture and help secure the long-term future of the sport.

"People in this business have a very short memory," he explained. "For most of us the world ends at the door of our own garage. Max and Bernie see the whole picture. Mosley has to act as he does, because we never find an agreement. It is normal that doing this results from time to time in not so good decisions.

"But all in all he does a very good job. Bernie made us all rich. I do not understand the people, who complain all the time, that they do not get enough money. I know colleagues who started as normal people in this business. Now, they are normal people with a private jet."

Although Mosley's plans to reduce technology and costs in F1 from 2008 have been on the receiving end of criticism from some manufacturers, Briatore actually believes they do not go far enough.

"Max is right with his new rules," he said. "We must cut the cost to guarantee a future to Formula One. For me he could have gone even further with his cost saving measures."

He added: "A Grand Prix is a two-day event. Friday should be a test day. Then we would not need to test during the season at all. The single tyre supplier and a few additional standard parts on the car will support that. I would cut testing before the season to one week. That should be enough to see whether the new cars are running and everything is safe. We burn millions of dollars with testing and nobody watches us. What a waste of money."

And Briatore has even suggested that the best solution would be for the sport to impose a budget cap - which would be enforced by the FIA in the same way that the Inland Revenue oversees company's accounts.

"The ideal situation would be to have a budget cap of 100 million dollars for each team," he said. "The job of the FIA would then be to police the budgets, just like the tax office is controlling your income and expenses. In such a formula, efficiency would win. Who makes the most with a given amount of money?"

 

[Flibster]

Red Bull spend too much, says Briatore

Red Bull Racing need to win a race this season if they are to justify the huge amount of money they are pumping into Formula One.

That is the view of Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who claims that Red Bull's massive recruitment drive from rival teams has led to the outfit losing sympathy from some of their rivals.

"Red Bull seems to be on a big shopping tour at the moment and they are spoiling the costs with exaggerated salaries," said Briatore in an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport.

"In the past we all thought that it was Ferrari who spent the most money. Maybe we have to reconsider that.

"Taking into account how much money Red Bull invests, they have to win their first race this year. Red Bull got a lot of sympathy in their first season, but they are starting to lose that."

Briatore's comments about Red Bull Racing needing to win a race this year have come at the same time as the team's leading figures bid to play down mounting expectations surrounding the outfit.

David Coulthard claimed the realistic target this season was for Red Bull Racing to finish consistently in the points and maybe grab just a single podium finish.

"I think we have to be careful and set realistic targets, and the realistic target is that I think we should be aiming for consistent points finishes and a possible podium," he said in an interview with autosport.com.

Sporting director Christian Horner added: "It is always a fine balance and I think that David's public perception is very high and this year is going to be another building year for Red Bull Racing. We will make progress from where we were last year, but ultimately we won't be winning races this year on pure pace.

"Our targets are quite clear, we want to be challenging some of the big boys ahead of us, we think we can compete with Williams, we got quite close to BAR last year, BMW are going to be a big force to be reckoned with as well. So we are confident we can move forward and build on that progress."

Flavio's not going to be popular this year....

He's running his mouth off - but he's not in charge of the future of Renault in F1 ...

He's going to pee off some big people in F1.

 

[Flibster]

Rossi won't win in F1, say Alonso

World champion Fernando Alonso believes that Valentino Rossi's switch to Formula One will end in disappointment - because he doubts the Italian will be able to win.

Although speculation is mounting that Rossi will eventually make the jump from motorcycles to F1 with Ferrari, Alonso is sceptical about whether the MotoGP champion will be as good in cars as he is on bikes.

When asked whether be believed Rossi could actually win in F1, Alonso told Spanish radio station Cadena SER: "Sincerely...no, I don't think so.

"Last week he did his first test with other drivers, but his engine was quite different from ours. It's like if I would try motorbikes. I could take part, have fun, but I could never beat (Dani) Pedrosa. I couldn't beat people that started in mini-bikes when they were three..."

Alonso's doubts about Rossi's potential come after analysis by this week's Autosport magazine reveals that Rossi was theoretically able to set a time just a few tenths slower than Michael Schumacher.

Taking into account the restricted V10 engine that Rossi was running in his F2004, Autosport reports that Rossi would have been able to set a best time of 1:10.8 seconds with a proper V10. This compared to Schumacher's best lap at Valencia in a F2004 of 1:10.2 seconds.