January 7th, 2009 at 12:49am Under Racing
In the high-stakes world of ‘branded architecture’, Lava has designed the Michael Schumacher Tower (one of seven to be built around the world) and construction is under way for the first tower in Abu Dhabi.
ACI Real Estate, an affiliate of Alternative Capital Investments, yesterday…
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:57pm Under Racing
Well so much for hinting that they not only wanted to sell the team but would provide lumps for 2009.
Honda team boss Ross Brawn has confirmed he is in talks with his former employer Ferrari about securing a customer engine supply for 2009. I guess Honda re-shook the Magic 8-ball on that one…
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:40pm Under Racing
Our own Wonkydave submitted this gem:
Q: What drivers have scored a Grand Chelem (Grand slam - pole, win, led entire race and fastest lap) at their home track (country of their nationality, not where they transplanted)?
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:12pm Under Racing
Donington Park is beginning to reveal more detail about its plans to host the 2010 British Grand Prix. Here are four images showing an artist’s impression of the pit building on the re-designed F1 track.
Donington has already revealed changes to its track configuration to accommodate F1 cars.
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
F1 remains stuck in the past with no HD service yet again in 2009
F1 will not be broadcast in high definition on the BBC in 2009.
Director of BBC Sport Robert Mosey said “we’d very much like it to be” but HD F1 broadcasts are not available yet.
He also suggested practice sessions will only be available online and ‘via the red button’, and said the BBC is looking into broadcasting GP2 as well.
Mr Mosey has made a series of remarks about the BBC’s plans for F1 coverage on the BBC’s sports blog pages. Here are a few of the major highlights:
The races will be on iPlayer, but precise red button plans are yet to be confirmed.
The idea is that F1’s home will be BBC One, with all qualifying and races live and uninterrupted on that channel. The rest will be online and on the red button.
We’re still working on GP2 and other scheduling details. Clearly, we’ll have a lot of new content from F1 itself – which will start with practice available online on the Friday of a race weekend. Catch-up F1 will later be on iPlayer with highlights on the site.
F1 won’t be available in HD though we’d very much like it to be. I’ll keep you posted.
I’m surprised at the choice of BBC One for the shows – I expected them to screen it on BBC Two, to keep it clear of any clashes with mainstream programming. It makes no difference as long as they stick to their promise of “live and uninterrupted” broadcasts – even if Eastenders is on, even if England finally wins a cricket tournament, even if the queen’s 17th cousin stubs her toe.
Having qualifying and races live is the bare minimum but he says “the rest will be online” indicating F1 fans will still get to see free practice live next year. Good news.
It would be a shame if nowhere could be found on the BBC’s many channels to show GP2 live. At the very least I hope it’s screened live on iPlayer. It’s provided some of the best races I’ve watched in the past four years. If BBC isn’t going to show it live on one of their channels I hope Eurosport or Motors TV can pick it up instead.
I’m very disappointed that F1 will not be in high definition in 2009. Once again it seems Formula One Group’s laughably slow adoption of new technology is to blame.
More on the BBCs 2009 F1 coverage
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
"One intriguing rumour to surface over the Christmas period is the suggestion that Honda Racing F1's Ross Brawn may have been talking seriously to Michael Schumacher about working together to save the Brackley team. Schumacher has plenty of private money but it is unrealistic to believe that anyone will spend their own cash to pay the running costs of an F1 team. However, the Schumacher name does have a great deal of clout in the commercial world and it is possible, although rather unlikely in the current financial climate, that his involvement in a team could bring in the kind of money needed to run Honda for the next couple of years. This would give the team the opportunity to show an improvement in performance and allow the global economy to rebound and would perhaps end up being a sound investment for him."
How F1’s cash crisis could help the sport
"The grid looks like being at least two cars light next season, sponsorship is going to be hard to come by for at least a year or two and the pressure on the carmakers' balance sheets is going to grow. After all, where is the magic of Ferrari when the classifieds tell you the value of a used 559 has just tanked? And it's not just F1: rallying lost two manufacturers in two days, Subaru and Suzuki, a huge blow for a sport that is struggling for exposure."
Henry Surtees joins Formula Two
"Henry Surtees, whose father John remains the only man to win World Championships on two and four wheels, has signed up to compete in the 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship."
New motor racing blog by Scott Woddwiss.
F1 champ may be witness at tribunal
"Peter Boland of Birch Road, Onehouse near Stowmarket is due to appear at a tribunal in Southampton after claiming he was sacked because fellow staff thought he was gay. He had worked on Mr Dennis's private jet but claims he was fired without notice in 2007. However at last year's hearing Jane Mulcahy representing the companies told the panel that Mr Boland had been sacked after he fell asleep on the plane while on duty."
Ferrari laughs off Peugeot KERS stories
"Ferrari sources say that rumours linking the company's development of KERS with the Peugeot sportscar team are not to be taken seriously. The stories, which seem to have begun in the United States, suggest that Peugeot will run the Ferrari F1 KERS system on a 908 development car. The suggestion is that this would circumvent the F1 testing ban, which comes into effect at the first race in March."
Red Bull RB5 to be unveiled next month
The RB5, powered by a Renault engine, will take to the Jerez circuit on 9 February.
"It is time for both of them [Mosley and Ecclestone] to go. The old argument that only they know what is good for the sport no longer holds any water; the results of their greed are now becoming apparent and it becomes clear that the actual beneficiaries of their reign have been themselves, not F1."
It is thought that Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz's decision to work with Volkswagen is a careful plan to align the two firms in the hope that one day it will provide him with engines for Formula 1. VW continues to say that there is no intention of any move to F1 in the foreseeable future, but with a more cost-effective F1 and the likelihood of an eventual economic upturn in the years ahead, nothing is impossible.
Ferrari to bring light system back
Ferrari's team manager Luca Baldisserri told Italian newspaper La Stampa that the team were confident they had eradicated any problems with their pitstop lights. "We've analysed the mistakes made in 2008 and we've improved the system," he said. "An electronic program will prevent the car from leaving when the fuel hose is still attached."
ART sign Gutierrez for Euro Series
"Champion Formula 3 Euro Series team ART Grand Prix have confirmed Esteban Gutierrez as the first of their four drivers for the coming season." Gutierrez won the F1-supporting Formula BMW Europe championship last year. But he lost for Formula BMW world title race to Alezander Rossi.
The argument for salary caps in F1
"It is not fair that people are losing their jobs in the F1 industry when drivers are being paid as much as $50m a year. Their talents are valuable, but so too are the talents of the people who will be losing their jobs. Young men do not need $50m a year. They can live comfortably for the rest of their lives with considerably less than that. If teams must lose people, it is only fair that drivers should make sacrifices as well."
Alonso unhurt in plane incident
"The Renault driver's plane made contact with a building before take-off, damaging one of its wings. Alonso, his wife and the rest of the passengers and crew are fine."
Ugly Benettons, mutating Fortis, weird Ferraris.
Sir Jackie Stewart delivers damning verdict
"Stewart has other gripes with Ecclestone. He believes it to be “ridiculous” that there will be no grand prix in North America this year, after Ecclestone cancelled successively Indianapolis and Montreal, given the importance of that market to the big car manufacturers, oil and fuel producers and tyre manufacturers."
These are articles I’ve found and bookmarked using Delicious. View my Delicious profile to see what else I’m reading and recommend other links to me.
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
F1 Fanatic has been nominated for the “Best Sports Blog award in the 2008 Weblog Awards. (Yes, I know it’s 2009 - they do the 2008 awards in 2009!)
Voting starts today and runs until Tuesday 13th January. You can vote once in each cateogry in every 24 hour period so if you want to you can vote each day until the awards close! To cast your vote now go here:
Vote for F1 Fanatic in the 2008 Weblog Awards
Last year F1 Fanatic was the only F1 blog nominated in the Best Sports Blog category. This year BlogF1.co.uk has also been nominated. I wish Ollie all the best but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to win!
Another F1 blog is nominated in two different categories. The excellent Sidepodcast is nominated in Best Community and Best Podcast, and I’m going to be voting for them too.
Last year F1 Fanatic was sixth out of ten in the Best Sports Blog voting with 269 votes. The winner was Kissing Suzy Kolber, an American Football blog, with 4,065.
KSK is in the running again this year, along with Deadspin, so the competition is very tough. Please vote now:
Vote for F1 Fanatic in the 2008 Weblog Awards
Thanks to everyone who voted!
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
In yet another ominous sign of premier motor sport’s struggle amid the global financial crisis, the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki is expected to announce on Monday its decision to pull out of MotoGP.
“There will be an official press release very soon, where we can confirm or deny all rumours,” the Kawasaki rider John Hopkins wrote on his website.
The news follows a recent exodus of manufacturers from top categories, including Honda from Formula 1, as well as Audi, Porsche, Suzuki and Subaru from other top series.
This is a news story from the GMM agency. Looking to trim down your F1 Fanatic feed so you don’t receive news? There’s now a feed that does just that - get the link here.
Read more
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
David Coulthard bowed out of life as a Formula 1 racer near the top of a Scottish sports rich list.
After fifteen consecutive seasons on the Grand Prix grid, the 37-year-old still collected (US) $13m (£8.9m) in 2008, Scotland’s Sunday Mail newspaper said.
Earned through both his Red Bull retainer and sponsorship deals, as well as investments like his Monaco hotel, it put Coulthard second on the Scottish high-earners list to the 21-year-old tennis player Andy Murray ($18.2m).
In position three is golfer Colin Montgomerie, with 2008 earnings of $7.4m.
The only other race driver on the list is Dario Franchitti, whose $3.78m was earned before his NASCAR team shut down mid-season.
Chris Hoy, the newly-knighted Olympic cyclist, ranked seventh with his $3m.
This is a news story from the GMM agency. Looking to trim down your F1 Fanatic feed so you don’t receive news? There’s now a feed that does just that - get the link here.
Read more: David Coulthard’s F1 career: 1994-2008
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:55am Under Racing
Sebastian Vettel insists he is happy to be moving up to Red Bull’s senior team in 2009.
At the Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso outfit this year, the German youngster was arguably Formula 1’s find of the season, and he subsequently admitted that driving for the works Ferrari team would be a “dream”.
But in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the 21-year-old concedes that his promising career is nevertheless on the right track.
“It has always been my goal to one day drive for Ferrari,” Vettel told the German newspaper, “but continuity is also really important and that’s why I am with Red Bull.”
A protege of his countryman Michael Schumacher, however, Vettel does not attempt to hide his affection for Ferrari, with which the great German achieved five of his record seven world titles.
Vettel said it is only possible to become world champion “if you sit in one of the best cars”.
“And Ferrari knows how to build them. They will be right at the front all of the time, because their resources are on a completely different level to ours at Red Bull.”
He answered “I don’t know” when asked if Schumacher will be recommending him to Ferrari decision-makers like Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo.
“But I hope I will be making my own luck,” he grinned.
This is a news story from the GMM agency. Looking to trim down your F1 Fanatic feed so you don’t receive news? There’s now a feed that does just that - get the link here.
Read more: Sebastian Vettel biography
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