2006 Bahrain Grand Prix - Race 1/18

Hamilton 'unlikely' to race for McLaren
McLaren chief Ron Dennis believes it is unlikely that Lewis Hamilton's first Formula One drive will be for them.

McLaren have supported Briton Hamilton throughout his racing career since he was successful in the McLaren-backed 'Champions of the Future' karting series in the mid-1990s.

Hamilton has been successful progressing up the motor racing ladder, winning both the Formula Renault UK and F3 Euroseries titles. He will race with reigning champions ART in this year's GP2 series.

Dennis has said that it is probable that Hamilton will have to gain experience of Formula One with another team when he steps up, before he considers him for a drive with the Woking-squad.

"Obviously he has quite an elaborate contract because we have financed his entire career," Dennis said. "So it is contractually possible for him to drive for us. But if he dominates GP2 he may be attractive to other people as well.

"As I have said to his face, McLaren is not in the business of making GP drivers, it is in the business of winning races, so it is not impossible but unlikely that the first Grand Prix car he races will be a McLaren."

Dennis added that Hamilton could be loaned out to another team, and additional support could come as part of the deal.

"If there is something we can do to help that team we will," Dennis added. "The easiest thing is money but we could also supply technical guidance or support or supply engine supply. We will have whatever elements are available for us, that is the mission for us.

"I see it as a project - Can you take someone at 12 years old and physically guide them through the whole process? The only thing he has to do is follow the guidance.

"At various moments he has been able to walk away but it is not a My Fair Lady process. It is a more that we will continue to support you if you continue to follow our guidance."
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Can anyone spell Direxiv??






No, seriously I've no idea to to spell it..... :confused:
 
No, dont get me wrong its an excellent thread, but I dont care about the life story of every single formula ones team drivers and their test drivers and what they eat for breakfast, lets just keep to the facts, main drivers, points, champ points and last seasons results as well as a run down of the track!
 
Flibster said:
Paffett and Hamilton then?
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Logical choice really.

And look what's going on in Surrey....

McLaren considering B Team
McLaren have completed a revamp of their old factory in Woking as the British squad continue to consider running a "B" team in Formula One.

McLaren have been linked with the creation of a second team since the end of last year, in a project involving Japanese investment company Direxiv.

Dennis said McLaren's B team would look at the possibility of running old elements of the current car, although the team chief is unsure about the legality of the plan.

Formula One's Concorde Agreement rules out teams from running other team's old cars - and insists they must design and manufacturer the chassis themselves.

Dennis admitted running the second team would be possible if the financial aspect was justified.

"I think we need to have clarity on what you can or cannot do, as regards to running all of or elements of your existing car in a following year," Dennis said. "And I don't have any axe to grind with anyone or anything as long as we have clarity and if there is clarity then that will encourage us to move in that direction.

"We have completely and extensively refurbished our old factory, it is a absolutely pristine. It is better than probably several other teams who are currently competing in F1 and the investment was made in order that an option of running a second car exists.

"We will not hesitate to invest in other long lead elements of a second team if we feel that the business justification exists."
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Super Aguri reposses Sato's company cars ;)

sato_cars.jpg



Seriously, it's part of the FIA's Think Before You Drive campaign.
 
Ralf blasts arrogant Kimi

Ralf Schumacher has launched a withering attack on rival Kimi Raikkonen ahead of the Bahrain season-opener.

Ralf says Kimi’s monosyllabic, often expressionless public comments are wrongly put down to shyness or reticence.

Instead, the German believes they simply reveal Raikkonen’s arrogance.

“People call him ‘cool’ because he doesn’t say anything,” Ralf complained to the Daily Mirror.

“If I ran around the paddock behaving like that, people would call me the most arrogant idiot of all time.”

As regards the competitive state of play heading into Bahrain, Schumacher has written off both his own and brother Michael’s chances of victory.

“Of course I am hoping I can win but it does not look very good,” he said.

“Last year [Toyota team-mate] Jarno Trulli finished second, but it would be a big surprise if it happened again this Sunday.

“We are simply not fast enough.

“[And] Ferrari are not as good as Renault, Honda or McLaren.

“Because Toyota is now a Bridgestone team, I have seen Ferrari’s data.”

Toyota has stated publicly that it is targeting a maiden victory this season, its fifth year in Formula 1.
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Mr Pot....meet Mr Kettle.. :D
 
Ralf Explains Why He's Lacking an F1 Title

Ralf Schumacher has defended himself amid criticism that he has never risen above fourth in the championship.

The German driver, who at 30 is attacking his tenth year in formula one this year, is a six-time race winner but never looked like troubling the title winner.

''Well, you have to have some luck to be at the right place at the right time,'' Schumacher - whose brother Michael won five drivers' triumphs for Ferrari during Ralf's career - told 'Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger'.

He added: ''Of course I could not win with Jordan (in 1997 and 1998), and Williams never progressed enough that I could win the title.

''And now I am at the beginning with Toyota.''
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He's missed the main point..

He ain't that good...
 
My Team Mate is On Average Two Tenths Quicker

F1 rookie Nico Rosberg expects to be beaten by his more experienced teammate.

The 20-year-old German, the son of Williams' 1982 world champion Keke, admitted that Mark Webber is - at present - a quicker pilot.

''For the moment, Mark is on average two tenths per lap in front of me,'' Rosberg, the reigning GP2 champion, told Germany's 'Sport Bild'.

Williams' new driver characterised Webber, 29, as an 'extremely quick' driver, particularly on a qualifying lap.

In a separate interview, with Sport1.de, Rosberg singles out Webber's four years of F1 experience as his advantage.

He said: ''So I must work hard if I want to catch him up. In F1, you are always compared to your teammate and that's the way it should be.

''My goal is to equal his achievements, or even beat him from time to time.''

Rosberg also revealed that the strength of the 'FW28' package is the Cosworth engine and the aerodynamics, while the main weakness is the often unreliable gearbox.
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Renault to Keep Alonso Away From 2007 Developments

The fact that Fernando Alonso already has a McLaren contract in his back pocket should not harm his 2006 title charge.

That's the opinion of triple world champion and former Jaguar principal Niki Lauda, who thinks the 24-year-old Spaniard should still get along fine at Renault.

"I do not see the major consequences of the move for him," the Austrian told TV broadcaster ORF, "as long as he is driving a good car."

Where Lauda, 57, thinks Alonso could run into trouble is if his final blue and yellow racer turns out to be a tugger.

He said: "The bottom line is that Alonso, of course, wants to defend his title. So in that case I do not see why anything should be any different in the way he beats (Giancarlo) Fisichella.

"But if the results and the points do not come, if there is some crisis, then there could be some problems."

Renault's Pat Symonds, however, admits that - title challenge or not - the team will begin to shut up shop to McLaren-bound Alonso near the end of the year.

"Of course we wouldn't have him privy to those (development ideas for 2007)," he told the BBC.

Symonds added: "But we're not going to cut off our noses to spite our faces and he's going to think the same."
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Monza cancels F3000 race over noise levels

The Monza autodrome, host of the Italian Grand Prix, has cancelled the Italian F3000 race programmed for March 19th because the cars aren't fitted with a suitable noise-reduction system.

The decision, taken by the Automobile Club Milano and the SIAS, the company which manages the Monza autodrome, comes after an out-of-court settlement could not be found with a group of local residents, who in 2001 filed a formal complaint over the track's noise levels.

A new court hearing yesterday, the outcome of which won't be known until next week, follows a ruling from last November stating that testing and racing at the circuit without a suitable system to reduce the noise levels will be temporarily banned.

Lawyer Leandro Cantamessa, who assists the Automobile Club Milano and the SIAS, was confident yesterday's appeal will stand.

"We heard from 1,800 people who live in the area next to the Autodrome, and none of them feels the annoyance which is the basis of the official complaint presented by two persons," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It's not a matter of health, but of annoyance which doesn't have a constitutional tutelage when it's against a business activity which has a historical value and produces formidable induced revenues."

A proposal to create noise-reducing barriers and to reduce the number of days in which free-emission cars are allowed to run was put forward at yesterday's hearing.

Besides the Italian F3000 race, all the various competitions scheduled to take place in the same event were cancelled, including the Italian Touring Car Championship and Italian Formula Three.

"This is because, being unable to let the F3000 cars race, interest in the event falls," explained Cantamessa.

The Formula One Italian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at Monza on September 10th.
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Uh-oh...

The complainers are winning... :mad:
 
Bahrain Preview: Midland F1

What a difference a year makes.

Heading into the 2005 World Championship, Jordan Grand Prix arrived in Australia with a new owner, rookie drivers, and an unfamiliar engine bolted into an ageing chassis.

A year later, the freshly rebranded Midland Formula 1 team touches down in the desert kingdom of Bahrain with a striking new look befitting a team driven by the desire to build on lessons learned over the course of last season.

Fresh off 14 complete days and thousands of kilometres of winter testing in Spain and England, MF1 Racing is confident it possesses a package capable of running reliably and competitively. Its Toyota RVX-06 V8 engines have run faultlessly over the course of several race distances, the Bridgestone tires continue to show marked improvement, and the brand-new M16 chassis is a significant leap forward in every respect when compared to its predecessor. With two fast young drivers in Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro behind the wheel, the team is optimistic and ready to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "We have worked very hard to get to where we are today, and we're continuing to work hard every day. A lot of effort and investment has gone into re-building this team, from the infrastructure at the factory, to new race equipment and a new car. We don't expect things to change overnight, but we now have the right ingredients on this team to push forward and that's a good first step. Bahrain represents a fresh start for us, and we're determined to make the most of it."

Tiago Monteiro: "After a long winter of testing, it's very exciting to be back in action. The first race is always very interesting; there are so many unknowns. Everyone on the team is very keen and motivated. I think we did an excellent job of getting ready this winter. We did way more testing than last year, and that can only help us down the road. We have to stay realistic and focused on working on moving in the right direction, but everything is looking positive at the moment. We're ready to go racing."

Christijan Albers: "I think we're doing quite reasonable, but it's never enough in Formula 1. We need to push every day, every minute, every second, to get the results we're looking for. But the most important thing is that everybody is really motivated and everybody is pushing really hard to achieve our goals, which is to crack the top 8 and score points whenever we can. Based on what I've seen so far, it's a reasonable goal but we have to keep working really hard for that. We've seen constant improvements in testing: the car is still quite new, but we keep finding performance improvements and it keeps getting faster all the time."
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Raikkonen warns rookies: let us past

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen has only one piece of advice for Formula One's rookie drivers.

"Hopefully, let us past," the Finn told a news conference at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday when asked what tips he could pass on.

Two of the three newcomers, Germany's Nico Rosberg and U.S. driver Scott Speed, were sitting behind the 2005 title runner-up.

Rosberg, son of Finland's 1982 World Champion Keke, is making his debut for Williams while Speed will become the first American Formula One driver in 13 years when he starts for Scuderia Toro Rosso.

The third rookie is Japan's Yuji Ide, 31, who has least Formula One experience of all and is also likely to be the slowest, at newcomers Super Aguri.

"I just want to do a good job and improve all the time," said Rosberg, 20, who won the inaugural GP2 junior series in Bahrain last year.

"Certainly there are a lot of nerves when you are starting your first Grand Prix," said Speed, 23, who drove a Red Bull in Friday practice at Indianapolis and Montreal last year.

"I've been dreaming about it ever since I was 11 years old and drove my first go-kart," added the Californian.

"I get a sense of completion that I've completed a big part of my goal in life."

Rosberg has impressed with his confidence and testing times, with Williams already expecting him to score more points in his rookie year than Briton Jenson Button did with them in 2000.

"I don't think they need advice," said Ferrari's seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher. "Generally the young generation have so much time in go-karting and all the formula series.

"Formula One is just a formula car with a bit more horsepower and that goes around quicker. They have enough experience of everything else."

Speed, whose team will run a restricted V10 engine unlike others using V8 units, made clear he had higher ambitions than simply clearing the road for Raikkonen and other frontrunners.

"We are generally aiming to gain as many points as possible," he said.
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Toro Rosso duo downplay podium chances

Vitantonio Liuzzi has played down suggestions that his Toro Ross team enjoy an advantage over their rivals for using a V10 engine.

"They are just jealous. For sure it is always the same: people are trying to say things about the performance that we are doing," Liuzzi told autosport.com. "We have got our down side and up side.

"For sure we have a good side in the reliability of the engine in the races, but in qualifying for sure we will struggle. It seems the V8 will be much stronger, so you always have to take the good things and the bad things.

"We look good for the race but on Saturday it will be tough to follow the others."

Liuzzi's comments come after Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug said Toro Rosso could be fighting for a podium finish next Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"Toro Rosso have more horsepower - that is not a secret," said Haug. "It could be up to 10 percent more. They also have more torque. But I am not criticising that. They were strong in testing here and they can go for a podium here, I am convinced."

Liuzzi believes Toro Rosso are looking more competitive than they actually are because their rivals have detuned their V8 engines in order to avoid problems.

"I think it looks like that because many people are struggling with reliability," he said. "It seems like they are not able to finish a race distance so they have to push the power down, but I am sure with development they will make the car more reliable and we will struggle even more.

"It is looking positive for the first three races because they are looking very hot and this will be a negative point for the other teams but it is difficult to say how good we are, because in testing the V8 showed a really good performance."

Liuzzi's teammate Scott Speed said reaching the podium was not a realistic target, but claimed the team will aim to score a few points.

The American also admitted that if they reached the podium, a further restriction of their V10 engine would be fair.

"If we got a podium then immediately we will have a restriction on our hands which would be the right thing to do," Speed said. "I don't think a podium is something that we can realistically hope for, I think getting a few points is something that is more reasonable to expect."
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Schumacher expects more fun with V8s

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher expects to have more fun in Formula One this season with the switch to smaller V8 engines.

The seven times World Champion said on Thursday the balance between engine power and tyre performance was now "more in harmony" than with the old V10s.

"The car is a bit sharper to drive and I prefer it," the German told a news conference before Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Schumacher won a record 84 Grands Prix with the old three litre engines that have been replaced by the new 2.4 litre V8s.

"Generally you lose about two to three seconds going from a V10 to a V8 engine but thanks to our engineers, who are very efficient, it has not made a big difference," said the 37-year-old.

"But then we were off the pace to some degree last year."

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen said the new engines made no difference to him.

"I haven't changed my driving at all. You just drive the car as fast as you can," said the Finn, winner of seven races last season on his way to second place behind Renault's World Champion Fernando Alonso.
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FIA Amends F1 Qualifying Rules

Any driver stopping on the track during F1 qualifying in Bahrain this weekend will take no further part in the procedure, even if they’ve gone fast enough to make it through to the next round. Thus, if a driver who has done a time in session two that qualified him for the top 10 subsequently spins off or stops with a technical problem, he will have to start from 10th place.

The last-minute change to the Sporting Regulations has been introduced with the full agreement of all the teams, and had solved what could have been a serious headache for the FIA.

As written, the rules allowed cars that had stopped on the circuit to be returned to the pits between session 1 and 2, and 2 and 3. While this was feasible at modern circuits with good internal access roads, it was rather less easy to manage at tracks where cars are towed back on the circuit itself, because the five-minute gaps between the sessions did not allow much time for the track to be open to recovery vehicles.

In either case it would be down to luck as to whether a car could be returned in time, which could have led to arguments had one car made it back, and another not.

Another complication was caused by the fact that cars have to be refueled before the start of session 3, and any machine being towed back was likely to miss the deadline any way.

Now, any cars which are brought back will be held in parc ferme, and not returned to the teams.
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Arrgggh.....

More rule changes - this time within 48 hours of the event...

For god sakes stop it!!
 
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