2005 Turkish Grand Prix

[Flibster]

No outsiders for Red Bull race drive

With Red Bull expected to make an announcement next weekend that Scott Speed will be its official test driver, the team has also confirmed that there will be no surprises regarding the identity of the second race driver to partner David Coulthard.

Red Bull's motor sport advisor Helmut Marko was quoted as saying by Autosport, "Coulthard is set as number one, the second seat will definitely be Klien or Liuzzi but nobody else, and the one will be chosen only after this season."

Klien will have his last race behind the wheel this season in next weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Liuzzi will then have the remaining four rounds to prove his worth.

 

[Flibster]

Old Athens airport will not be site of F1 circuit

After a thrilling Olympic Games in 2004, Greece has been vying to host a round of the Formula One world championship, adding a round of the pinnacle of Motorsports to their already impressive sporting portfolio.

However, talk of building a track close to the Elliniko Olympic Complex near the old Athens Airport has been dashed by the country’s Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister, George Souflias, who confirmed that instead on an F1 track, the country’s largest Metropolitan park would be erected on the site instead.

That said however, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of building a circuit somewhere else….

"I am not against a Formula 1 race track being built in Greece, but not in a residential area and only with the appropriate infrastructure and facilities," he told the People Daily.

 

[Flibster]

Now this sounds a good idea from Bernie...

F1 'seniors' tour proposed

Bernie Ecclestone has backed a proposed F1 support category that could see ex-grand prix drivers duke it out in Porsche Boxters.

'Senior' ex-F1 stars 45 years or older would be eligible for the possible Sunday morning category, ITV reported.

'Anything that improves the overall package of a grand prix weekend is a good idea,' said the Formula One supremo.

Former McLaren and Jordan driver, Martin Brundle - 46 - called the proposal to spice up the morning of grand prix Sunday a 'great idea. Count me in.'

 

[Flibster]

It sounds like a very good idea but would it be televised....I know I'd like to watch Nige and Damon going for it!

Andretti, Nakajima, Berger, Fittipaldi, Hill, Mansell, Palmer, Peterson, Zanardi, Patrese, Prost, Stewart, Piquet, Rosberg, Brundle, Scheckter, Tarquini, Warwick, Alesi ....

Amongst others - all in the same cars...

Could be fun

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

As many as they can get.

I'd love to see a full grid of 26 cars again...

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Bugger...yes true..

Forgot about that - was just running names of older drivers off the top of my head...

D'Oh!!!

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Uh oh....

Just read this after talking to one of my contacts who pretty much said that it's happening as well...

Raikkonen at Ferrari (without the question mark)

Usually reliable sources are now telling us that Kimi Raikkonen will definitely be moving to Ferrari in 2007, which clearly upsets the applecart of the Formula 1 driver market, unless we are to believe that Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher will agree to be in the same team together. This being the case there would be no room for Felipe Massa. However, if there is no future for Massa at Ferrari in the long term, Jean Todt would have been unlikely to have signed up the Brazilian because a Todt Family company manages Felipe and it would have made no sense at all to have made such a move. The Todt company could have put in any driver for 2006, without needing to burn its major asset. Thus, if the sources are correct, Michael Schumacher will not be at Ferrari in 2007. This is unlikely to have happened without Michael knowing about it, because he and Jean Todt have always been close and it is unlikely that Todt would have pulled such a stunt. So, one must presume that Schumacher knows he is retiring and all the talk of moving elsewhere is a smokescreen to cover what Ferrari is really up to.

The validity of all these arguments rests on the source of a Raikkonen deal but we have found this source to be highly reliable over the years and sufficiently connected to know who is going where.

So the next question that leaps to mind, is who is going to be going to McLaren to replace Kimi in 2007?

 

[Flibster]

I've now heard it from 2 other locations though...

...both part of the F1 circus..

Which is worrying...as one of the people I've talked to has been on the money for the past 2 to 3 years....

I still don't 100% believe it...but with the future of F1 in doubt why sign for Ferrari for 2007.. *which could be the last year of F1...*

It's certainly more plausable than some of the crap I've heard over the last few days..

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

More news...

Williams: BAR can have Button but...

Jenson Button will stay with BAR-Honda in 2006 - providing the Brackley based squad pay Williams around £50 million in compensation.

Button signed a deal with Williams for 2006 last year, when ironically he wanted to leave BAR for the Grove based squad. However in the end after the Contract Recognition Board ruled BAR had the valid contract he was made to stay with them for this season. Button though has now decided he doesn't want to move anymore, following BMW's decision to leave Williams and go it alone.

According to British newspaper, The News of the World, BAR have already offered Williams around £20 million, an offer Frank Williams has rejected.

"Their first offer was way short of the mark," a Williams 'insider' supposedly told the 'paper. "Frank can play hard-ball on this because we have a water-tight contact with Jenson for next season.

"If BAR are so keen to keep Jenson they will have to offer a lot more money."

BAR boss, Nick Fry meanwhile has confirmed again that they are very keen to keep hold of Jenson, despite the fact he has yet to win a grand prix. Ideally BAR would like to partner him with Rubens Barrichello next season, after signing the Brazilian earlier this month.

"If Williams want to do a deal we are open to discussion," added Fry. "Jenson is worth a lot to both teams. We wouldn't be squabbling over him if he were not, but his value is impossible to quantify. Jenson has already started the process of trying to get out of his Williams contract. There has been a number of letters going backwards and forwards and also discussions."

BAR have apparently offered Button a five-year deal worth £50 million, should he managed to get out of his deal with Williams.

Ok...it's kind of from News of the World...Not really a newspaper...

It's emergency bog roll tbh...

 

[Flibster]

Briatore slams team orders 'slur'.

Renault boss, Flavio Briatore has dismissed suggestions that they employed team orders at the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago, despite the fact the team were clearly heard on the radio telling Giancarlo Fisichella he was slower than Fernando Alonso, who currently leads the championship.

Following that 'call', Fisi subsequently let Alonso by on the second lap, a move that drew criticism from McLaren test driver, Pedro de la Rosa, who said this was clearly a case of team orders and as such 'illegal'. Briatore though has now broken his silence on the matter.

"If others think they need to try and pressure us by saying that then it is a good sign, but it doesn't bother us," he insisted, when asked about the matter. "I am surprised nobody has asked why viewers heard those comments on live TV?

"The answer is that our team doesn't believe in unnecessary secrecy, and we have nothing to hide.

"Giancarlo is a team player [that is why he let Fernando by]. He had problems with his tyres in the first laps, and Fernando was faster - something we told Fisico over the radio. So when Fernando got alongside him, he didn't fight his team-mate. It is not about team orders, it is about working as a team."

Asked if he was worried about not winning any of the remaining races this season, Briatore added that that doesn't concern him as such.

"We have already shown we can do that this year, with both drivers," he stated. "Our sport is not about dominating at one moment or another, but about scoring points progressively through the season. As far as I know, the driver who wins the championship is still the man with the most points at the end, and nothing else."

Turning to the constructors' championship, he continued: "Things are much closer [in the battle for the manufacturers'] with only a nine point gap, but I am still confident. McLaren are the ones who need to take risks and attack all the time. Let's see how the next few races unfold."

 

[Flibster]

And finally for today...this is one of the nicest bits of news I've heard for a long time...

Zanardi returns to top step

Alex Zanardi has defied the odds by returning to the very top step of a motor racing podium.

The Italian, who in 2001 nearly died in a Champ Car shunt that cost him both legs, won a World Touring Car race in Oschersleben.

It is his first triumph since 1998, the year before he tried to reignite his F1 career by driving for Frank Williams' team. Zanardi, now 38, races a hand controlled BMW 320i.

He led every lap of the Oschersleben race but only just pipped Andy Priaulx. And, in true Zanardi style, he did a series of victory 'donuts' after taking the chequer.

A serious racer. This man deserves no end of respect because of what he's done.

He was given a 20% chance of living at the scene of the accident - he normally would be lucky to be alive - but he's still racing...and now winning.

Simon/~Flibster

 

[Flibster]

Oooh..Silly season in full swing now.

'Rossi pens Ferrari deal'

The Valentino Rossi-to-Ferrari story is more than mere speculation, if you believe the claims of an Italian newspaper.

La Repubblica said on Monday that the MotoGP champion was all set to switch to four wheels and race onto the grand prix grid alongside Kimi Räikkönen in the 2007 season.

The newspaper did not give a source but cited a staggering $33 million per year for the flamboyant 26 year old rider, who is already the highest paid sportsman in all of Italy.

He would race a Ferrari for an initial three year period, La Repubblica added. The deal would put into context Felipe Massa's unusual (for Ferrari) one year contract for 2006, speculation linking Michael Schumacher with a Ferrari split, and Rossi's alleged reluctance to ride with Ferrari cigarette sponsor Marlboro's rival - Gauloises - in the MotoGP series.

La Repubblica said Marlboro owner Altria had even asked Rossi to sever all ties with Gauloises - owned by Altadis - for the start of next season.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt, meanwhile - an open admirer of Räikkönen - leapt on gossip that a deal with the McLaren driver had also been struck.

'Just because a young driver has a lot of talent,' the Frenchman said, 'you cannot say he has signed with Ferrari.'

That last line fron Toad...how true...I mean - they've signed Massa..

Also - interestingly Rossi has done enough miles in a single seater now to apply for his Superlicense...

Plus Rossi and Raikkonen in the same team - 1 Finn and 1 Italian...who's going to be the no1 there?

Simon/~Flibster