Archive for August, 2008
August 31st, 2008 at 11:02pm
Under Racing
While pressure mounts for Kimi Raikkonen, as he remain winless in the last four months, and Fernando Alonso silly season rumors run amok, Luca Di Blah, blah, blah has admitted that Kimi is going nowhere in 2009.The speculation has been that Kimi is unmotivated to win, lloking to retire, Fred is coming over to Ferrari in 2009 because Kimi has lost his edge. All of this seems to have been trumped by an existing contract and perhaps some behond the scenes wrangling.
Luca, when asked if the driver line-up would remain the same for 2009, said “absolutely, yes”. The natural question would be to ask if Fernando should keep looking elsewhere and Luca replied:
“I don’t know if he can put his mind at rest, poor guy, at the moment it’s up to him. I was sorry to see a great champion like him be out of the top ten at Valencia.
“But with regards to Ferrari, he can put his mind at rest.”
And:
“It can’t be forgotten that he’s the world champion, and that last year he won in his first season with Ferrari, while many people never thought he would do so. Now he has 17 victories and I hope he’ll get back to winning ways in the next Grand Prix in Belgium. Anyway, he’s not a driver in crisis.
“Kimi is motivated and we must work to put him in the conditions to start races nearer the front, especially on these new circuits which I don’t like and are bad for F1: you can’t overtake on them, and nine times out of ten the man on pole wins.”
By Mikel
August 31st, 2008 at 12:00pm
Under Motorbikes
There’s not long left to wait until the next MCN Live! event this October. Just when you thought MCNLive! had everything you could possibly want under one roof, we’ve gone and lined up even more fantastic attractions for you. Click here to learn…
By admin
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00pm
Under Computers
Every time you surf the web, you come across interesting bits of information that you think you may need sometime in the future. Actually, the World Wide Web is a huge source of information, where you can find anything from how to make an omelet to what you need to build an atomic bomb. And, when you do find something that interests you, your first impulse is to write it down, in order to remember it or to just have there, just in case you might need it so… (read more)
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By Moris
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00pm
Under Racing
Heikki Kovalainen became an F1 winner in this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix
Heikki Kovalainen has had an odd introduction to Formula 1. After bagging a seat with reigning champions Renault in 2007, he made his debut as the team hit a slump in performance.
He made a poor start to the year but quickly rallied, and beat his vastly more experienced team mate Giancarlo Fisichella on points over the course of the year.
Renault dropped him anyway – and though he found a new berth at an even more competitive team, he has faced the unenviable task of partnering Lewis Hamilton. How well is he doing?
Kovalainen impressed in GP2 in 2005. Despite not winning the championship (he was runner-up to Nico Rosberg) he showed consistency and speed… and some poor luck. Much the same can be said of his 2008 campaign so far.
Last year he made his F1 debut in an evil-handling Renault R27, and his maiden race was punctuated with several spins, leading Flavio Briatore to make his infamous remark that surely Kovalainen’s brother had been driving the car instead.
After a few races in the doldrums Kovalainen got a handle on the R27 and rebounded. At Montreal – the same race where current team mate Lewis Hamilton scored his first win – Kovalainen raced from 22nd to fourth.
From that point on the balance of power at Renault had shifted. Now Kovalainen was usually the team’s best hope for points, and at Fuji he put in a virtuouso drive in shocking weather to beat Kimi Raikkonen to second.
After such a successful turn-around it was, on the face of it, a surprise to see Renault let Kovalainen go. But in the real world, Renault had the chance to get Alonso back and they knew they were more likely to do that if they brought someone more financially beneficial to them – and less threatening to Alonso – so Nelson Piquet Jnr got the gig.
(I think Renault may come to regret that. Piquet’s form this season has been mixed at best, and Alonso is considering a move to Ferrari, or Honda, or both.)
Kovalainen landed on his feet however, stepping into Alonso’s vacant slot at McLaren. Rumours suggested the team wanted Nico Rosberg, but he wasn’t available, and considered Mark Webber, but cast him aside when he made one blunt remark too many.
Early in the season Kovalainen often looked capable of matching Hamilton for pace, but suffered some vile luck. The safety car ruined his race at Melbourne, he lost five places on the grid in Sepang, had a huge crash after a component failure in Barcelona and picked up a puncture on the first lap in Istanbul.
However in recent races Hamilton has had the edge. Kovalainen was left floundering in his team mate’s wake at Silverstone, and lagged behind at the Hockenheimring and Valencia.
He wasn’t quite on the pace at the Hungaroring either – but he was quicker than Raikkonen and the BMWs, and when events turned in his favour he was perfectly placed to collect his maiden win. It may have been fortunate, but given his luck early in the season only the hardest of hearts would have begrudged him it.
It came a few days after McLaren confirmed a one-year extension to Kovalainen’s contract. That is an endorsement of the form he has shown this year, but it carries hints that McLaren still have an eye on someone else for 2010, or are at least keeping their options open.
Martin Whitmarsh explained some of the ways he thinks Kovalainen has improved during the year:
Heikki’s much more adept at switching effortlessly between engine-saving, brake-saving and tyre-saving modes, and he knows exactly when to push, so the situation he encountered at the start of the year when he was dealing with slightly more tyre degradation is no longer a concern.
The reality is that Heikki’s particularly strong when he’s got the car in front in his sights. When he homes in on another competitor then his natural competitive instincts really come alive.
Now 27 points behind his team mate in the title race, Kovalainen will surely be relegated to playing the number two role soon. Although no driver wants to be subjugated to supporting his team mate’s title bid, Kovalainen is probably wise enough to see it as an opportunity to cement his evident popularity within the team.
Next year his luck may change, but if it does, will he have the raw pace to take on Hamilton in the same team? The jury’s still out on that. Give your verdict on Heikki Kovalainen below.
Read more about Heikki Kovalainen: Heikki Kovalainen biography
Will Renault regret replacing Heikki Kovalein (right) with Nelson Piquet Jnr?
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By Mikel
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00pm
Under Racing
Acura has announced that they will compete in the ALMS LMP1 clas in 2009. This is a big move for the car maker but with their recent pace in the LMP2 class, it could be the right move at the right time. See the story here.
By Mikel
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00am
Under Motorbikes
There’s not long left to wait until the next MCN Live! event this October. Just when you thought MCNLive! had everything you could possibly want under one roof, we’ve gone and lined up even more fantastic attractions for you. Click here to learn…
By admin
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00am
Under Motorbikes
On Saturday 30 August, biking legend Phil Read and road racing rising star Guy Martin will be making a special appearance at Hein Gericke in Luton. Luton’s very own Phil Read scored over 50 Grand prix wins between 1961 and 1976, and…
By admin
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00am
Under Motorbikes
Here are eight motorcycle stories found on the internet during the last seven days.
Enjoy!
…
By admin
August 30th, 2008 at 04:00am
Under Motorbikes
Valentino Rossi is already looking ahead for his next job when he retires in a few years.
Rossi has just been appointed President of motorcycle helmet manufacturer AGV. There you go… set for the next few years..
…
By admin
August 30th, 2008 at 12:06am
Under Racing
An underdog team last year, Toro Rosso have developed into the darlings of the paddock this season - thanks in no small part to the talents of young driver Sebastian Vettel. With several superb performances under his belt and an engaging attitude to boot - Vettel is the team’s golden boy. But at the end of the season Gerhard Berger, Toro Rosso’s co-owner, will have to wave farewell as his favourite heads to Red Bull. What happens next? Berger doesn’t know, but what he is sure of is that the team is currently over delivering - and the Austrian is confident it can continue to do so…
Q: Gerhard, Sebastian Vettel has become the team’s leading light, in terms of results and media interest. How difficult is it for you to let him go?
Gerhard Berger: Well, of course the media interest is important, but what is more important is the performance of the team - Sebastian has helped us a lot to get the right atmosphere back. We had been really struggling with Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi last year, but he has proved what the team is able to do and has done it in a very nice way, with us, with the engineers, with everybody. That has pushed us such an immense step forward - it is really a pity to lose him. There is not a single soul in the team that is not sad to see him go at the end of the season. On the other hand we get so much from Red Bull. Without Red Bull, Toro Rosso would be nowhere, so it feels good that we can give something back, even if I would like to have him stay with the team.
Q: With one cockpit definitely free, do you have a replacement in mind?
GB: The first direction that we look in is obviously to the Red Bull young driver programme and then we’ll see. But we are not quite ready yet. We don’t really have a list in our heads at this stage. We are far from saying it’s this one or that one because we are also waiting to see if something happens elsewhere - and probably then we’ll get a new chance.
Q: How is the decision made? Is it something that you do yourself or do you confer with Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz?
GB: Everybody will bring opinions and then we - Didi and myself - will try to find the right way for the team. At the end of the day, the last word will come from Red Bull because that is where we get all our resources from, so it is natural that we listen to what he would like to do.
Q: What about Sebastien Bourdais? It seems that he’s found the transition to Formula One racing quite difficult. Has this surprised you? You hired him because of his ‘champion mentality’…
GB: In Formula One you have to give someone half a year of time before you start to judge him. The half year is over and he is now in a situation where he has to prove his talents. I would not say that I already have a clear opinion on him, but I also have to say that Sebastian Vettel started a couple of races before and he performed very well in the first half year. So we will have to see how the second half goes for Sebastien Bourdais. And honestly I don’t want to be drawn into an expression of opinion at this very moment.
Q: But is he a fixture at Toro Rosso for next season?
GB: No. It’s open.
Q: Are you satisfied with the season so far? There have been a lot of DNFs?
GB: We started with the old car, but that was part of the programme and at the end of the day we are having a fantastic season. Sure I would like to see more points on their accounts - hopefully there’s more to come - but what we are doing now at Toro Rosso, in my opinion, is clearly over delivering.
Q: Are you still improving the STR3?
GB: We are still working on the car and there are still six races to go, which makes me convinced that we are heading into a good season finale. There is one circuit that’s going to be difficult for us and that is Singapore - for downforce reasons - but the rest of the tracks should be fine for us, as we proved very clearly last week in Valencia.
Q: How is a small independent team like Toro Rosso dealing with the 2009 regulation changes?
GB: At a small team you just get on with the job because there is not much to do as there is not much influence that you have. There is simply not much you can do to turn it around. Just read what the regulations are and try to do it.
Q: Red Bull Racing raised concerns about KERS. What is your stance on that? There have been two somewhat turbulent team principal meetings on it…
GB: That is very simple - I understand the need for KERS, but I have to pay for KERS, and we simply don’t have the budget to do it. So we would prefer not to have it, simply because of cost reasons.
Q: You said in a previous interview that it will be no big deal to separate Toro Rosso from Red Bull Racing again. It is just about relocating some staff back to Italy - what is the schedule for that?
GB: It is in a state of process - halfway I would say. We are consistently improving our infrastructure and I think we are in good shape.
By admin
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