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EJ In Land Dispute With Force India
2008-03-26 20:20:00
Eddie Jordan has blocked the main entrance road into his former Jordan factory at Silverstone in a dispute over land ownership. The Irishman owned the plot at the home of the British Grand Prix until 2005 when he sold his team onto Midland F1, who sold onto Spyker who sold onto Vijay Mallya of Force India . Jordan ...
More About: News , Gossip , Teams

Losail Circuit In Qatar Preparing For F1
2008-03-26 14:06:00
Qatar’s #1 Circuit , Losail is upgarding significantly so that at some point in the future it could host a Formula One race. The popular track already plays host to MotoGP, and just recently the first ever MotoGP night race event took place there. The track is 5.38km long and has a very varied amount of corners, with ...
More About: News , Qatar , Tracks

Monteiro Lands Part In GT5
2008-03-26 14:02:00
Tiago Monteiro, the former Jordan and Midland F1 driver has landed a voiceover role in the latest Gran Turismo Game. The driver, who now races in WTCC will feature in the Portuguese version of Gran Tursimo 5, the latest version of the popular series. It relies upon HD graphics, and with all new features and cars inclduing ...
More About: Gossip , Part

Ecclestone Pushing For 2 More Night Races
2008-03-25 13:00:00
Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that he wants 2 more night race events, with China being the first race to be asked if it will consider the proposals. The night race idea only came about last year, with Singapore agreeing to be the first ever night F1 race later in the 2008 season. Yesterday, it was announced that ...
More About: News , Gossip , Night , Tracks , Races

Theissen Reckons Quali Changes Coming Soon
2008-03-25 12:51:00
Mario Theissen of BMW Sauber reckons that the FIA are going to be adjusting the rules in Q3 to prevent any blocking incidents, such as those seen in Malaysia. Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber was blocked by the two McLaren drivers, he was on a hot lap, they were on a slow down lap.  There was ...
More About: News , Qualifying , Rules

Ferrari Hoping Bahrain Tests Will Give Them GP Advantage
2008-03-25 12:47:00
Scuderia Ferrari are hoping that the previous test in Bahrain over the winter will give them an advantage heading into the forthcoming Bahrain GP. The Italian based team decided to spend 5 days in the Arabic nation, rather than 5 days at Barcelona. They were the only team testing, alongside Toyota. “It’s clear that we’ll take advantage of ...
More About: News , Give , Tests

2009 Malaysian GP To Be Run At Night
2008-03-24 12:11:00
Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix will be run at night. The asian event is very popular, but in the wrong timezone to appeal to the main European audience.  Thus, it has taken a leaf from neighbouring Singapore’s book and is having floodlights installed for night racing to take place. It will become ...
More About: News , Night , Tracks , Sepang

Toyota Tester Bags First GP2 Win
2008-03-24 12:07:00
Toyota’s test driver, Kamui Kobayashi has bagged his first ever GP2 win. The Japanese racer won the GP2 Sprint race at Malaysia, in the Asia n GP2 series event. GP2 Asia uses the former GP2 cars, allowing many competitors to race before the new GP2 World Series season starts.  The Malaysian rounds were a support to the F1 ...
More About: Toyota , Bags

Raikkonen Bags Thai Home
2008-03-24 12:00:00
Kimi Raikkonen has added another home to his portfolio, bagging a £500,000 villa in Phuket, Thai land. The Finnish driver, who won yesterday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, wanted the home to retreat to during the winter months between race events as it would provide him with some warmth. That warmth is obviously somewhat entertaining considering he is “iceman”. Raikkonen was ...
More About: Bags , Home , Gossip

Alonso Doesn?t Expect Huge Leaps In Renault Performance
2008-03-24 11:57:00
Fernando Alonso has admitted that he doesn’t feel that Renault ’s performance is going to greatly increase over the coming races. The Spanish driver has been struggling for pace and grip in the R28, and recognises that there is a lot of work to do in the weeks leading up to the Bahrain GP, and the weeks ...
More About: News , Performance , Expect , Huge

Raikkonen Wins The 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix
2008-03-23 12:32:00
Reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen has turned around his fortunes after a disastorous Australia, taking the chequered flag and all 10 points on a day in which his main competitors to the crown faultered. The Finnhad to start second, but easily made it past Massa who later made a mistake, leading to his retirement. From there on ...
More About: Malaysian , Grand , Wins , 2008

McLaren Blocking Incident - Full Report and Analysis
2008-03-22 19:57:00
Welcome to another full report and analysis on a controversial incident.  This time the incident we shall be analysing is the blocking incident, in which Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen impeded Nick Heidfeld’s qualifying lap. Firstly, lets look at the incident.  Hamilton, Kovalainen and Kubica had all finished their qualifying lap.  They were slowing down, but ...
More About: Analysis , Report , Full , Incident

Ferrari Secure Front Row In Malaysian GP Qualifying
2008-03-22 14:14:00
The Ferrari ’s of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have locked out the front-row in a dramatic qualifying session, which could be the best sign yet of the pace of the F2008. The two McLaren’s had to settle for the second row, with Hamilton 4th Kovalainen 3rd. Q1 Review Q1 as ever is fast pace and action filled.  The ...
More About: Malaysian , Qualifying , Front , Secure

Hamilton Fastest In FP2 At Sepang
2008-03-21 15:01:00
Lewis Hamilton edged Ferrari’s Felipe Massa out of being fastest by just 1 tenth of a second. Kimi Raikkonen was down in 3rd again. David Coulthard did not start the session because of his crash in the morning, and Sebastien Bourdais only did a single instalation lap. Timesheets Pos. Driver Team Time Laps 1 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:35.055 32 2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.206 33 3 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.428 36 4 J. Button Honda 1:36.037 40 5 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.474 35 6 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.493 38 7 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.512 30 8 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.671 33 9 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:36.756 37 10 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.838 34 11 R. Barrichello Honda 1:36.879 38 12 N. Rosberg Williams 1:36.908 36 13 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:37.106 3 14 F. Alonso Renault 1:37.328 23 15 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:37.331 42 16 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.346 37 17 T. Glock Toyota 1:37.512 35 18 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:37.614 35 19 T. Sato Super ...
More About: Sepang

Massa Fastest In FP1 At Sepang
2008-03-21 14:57:00
Felipe Massa was fastest for Ferrari at Sepang in FP1, with team mate Kimi Raikkonen just behind. Red Bull’s David Coulthard will not be running in FP2 after a huge shunt destroyed a large part of his car. Timesheets Pos. Driver Team Time Laps 1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.392 20 2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.459 8 3 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:36.556 21 4 N. Rosberg Williams 1:36.578 23 5 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.626 17 6 F. Alonso Renault 1:37.022 18 7 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:37.034 28 8 R. Kubica BMW 1:37.218 9 9 J. Button Honda 1:37.282 17 10 J. Trulli Toyota 1:37.540 24 11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:37.649 17 12 K. Nakajima Williams 1:37.649 18 13 R. Barrichello Honda 1:37.076 20 14 T. Glock Toyota 1:37.782 27 15 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.219 26 16 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:38.232 7 17 M. Webber Red Bull 1:38.707 12 18 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.798 25 19 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:39.046 21 20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:40.178 1 2...

2008 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix Preview
2008-03-20 19:22:00
The second round of the season in Malaysia is always a big challenge for the teams and drivers as the immense heat plays havoc with everyone. The Track The Sepang Circuit was designed by Tilke, and was opened in 1999.  It hosted the first F1 race that season.  For a long time the track was no open to anything else other than F1, but that soon changed and testing, support series and even television crews used the fantastic circuit which is very long, and has a wide variety of corners.  One of the best known things about the track is the two long straights, and the beautiful grandstands along the sides with roofs in the shape of a fan. Pre-Event Thoughts Nico Rosberg, Williams (3rd Australia):   “Sepang is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. We should be stronger there than we were in Melbourne as well, especially if we have the whole weekend to prepare properly, so we’re looking for another good performance. Perhaps not a podium, but anoth...
More About: Malaysian , Preview , Grand , Petronas , 2008

Berger Rubbishes Vettel Ferrari Rumour
2008-03-20 19:06:00
Gerhard Berger was forced to deny paddock rumour that Sebastian Vettel was off to Ferrari for the 2009 season. The German rookie has only been in F1 for a short time but has already proven himself an extremely talented racer, with certain world championship titles ahead of him. Vettel is also a favourite of Michael Schumacher, who tipped him to be a world champion back when Vettel was karting. “Vettel has a three-year contract with Red Bull and he will be the next three years with Red Bull,” Berger said in Malaysia. “It is not any more with BMW at all, he is 100 percent Red Bull.” Felipe Massa’s position within the team has yet again been brought into concern, with many fans of Ferrari wanting him out after bad performances.  Massa had an appalling weekend in Australia.
More About: Rumour

Air Asia Paint A320 In Williams Colours
2008-03-20 19:02:00
Air Asia have painted an entire Airbus A320 in the colours of the Williams F1 Team’s FW30 livery. The airline, who have been a sponsor to the British team since 2007, have painted the new aircraft in the blue and white colours, and named the aircraft “Sir Frank Williams”. Nico Rosberg’s helmet colours were replicated for the nose of the aircraft. “It has been incredible to see the AT&T Williams livery on AirAsia’s plane,” said Rosberg, at the launch. “I’m delighted that the design of my helmet, which I have been racing with all my life, has been used to create a lasting tribute to the team’s partnership with Air Asia .”
More About: Colours , Paint

BBC Gets F1 Coverage Back From ITV
2008-03-20 19:00:00
The BBC has managed to get the Formula One rights to show F1 on TV, radio and other platforms from 2009 onwards back of ITV. The BBC showed F1 from its entrance onto TV until the end of 1996 when ITV took over. The coverage ITV has offered has been heavily criticised because of many advert breaks which often mean the viewer misses imporant moments, and the poor choice of commentators after Murray Walker’s exit. Bernie Ecclestone appears to have taken the coverage from ITV and given it to BBC in an unprecedented step. “I am delighted to conclude this new deal with the BBC,” Ecclestone commented. “It is an exciting time in Formula One and the BBC has some innovative new ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base.” Dominic Coles, BBC Sport Director of Sport Rights, added: “The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning home after 12 years. “We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC....
More About: Back , Coverage

Nakajima Gets 10 Place Grid Penalty
2008-03-19 16:44:00
Kazuki Nakajima has been handed a 10 place grid penalty for this weekend’s Malaysian GP, F1fanatics has learned. The Japanese driver was involved in an array of shunts at last weekends opening race, but the stewards called the shunt with Robert Kubica unacceptable. Thus, the FIA have given Nakajima a 10 place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, demoting him well back. “I’m going to have a ten place grid penalty for Malaysia so it’s going to be difficult for me, but I’m just going to concentrate on my race and do the best I can.” Nakajima said as he arrived in Malaysia today. Meanwhile Patrick Head, top brass in Williams has begun to defend his rookie driver. “He’s done a very good job and he’s generally been very calm and cool on the track,” explained Head to autosport. “I didn’t see either of his incidents and he lost two noses but I have no idea whether those incidents were down to him. “But he’s...
More About: Grid , Place , Penalty

McLaren To Change Pit Limiter System After Kova Mistake
2008-03-19 15:23:00
McLaren have announced they are to overhaul their pitlimiter system after it caused Heikki Kovalainen to make a mistake which utimately cost him 4th position in the Australian GP. The Finnish driver had just passed Fernando Alonso, and while on the straight as he tore off a tear off strip he caught the pitlimiter button which slowed the car dramatically.  Alonso swung around the ambling McLaren and took 4th position. McLaren are looking into changing the position of the button, or using a device similar to other teams which means the limiter does not work over a certain speed. “We’ll certainly look at changing it for the future.” Paddy Lowe of McLaren told Autosport  “I think we could have done a better job frankly to stop that happening – either in the way it’s managed electronically or just simply in the way we manage it ergonomically. “It shouldn’t be something you can pick up by accident when you’re moving your hands around.&r...
More About: System , Change , Limiter

Melbourne Confident On Race Deal
2008-03-19 15:18:00
Albert Park organisers have admitted they are confident that a deal to secure the future of the Australian GP can be reached. The organisers and government are meeting Bernie Ecclestone do comprimise on requirements. The owners do not want a night race, but Ecclestone reckons a start at around 7pm could work. “I will be seeing Mr. Ecclestone sometime in the next three or four weeks and we will have a heart-to-heart discussion about what he wants to do,” Walker told autosport.com. “I have known him for more than 20 years. He loves Melbourne and I am sure we will work something out.” “I am very confident [A deal can be reached]. Business is about compromise and I’m very confident we will work something out. If you talk to the teams and the media, they love being here. “He has said he wants 7pm, but we are looking at the light quality and hopefully there can be a margin between what he wants and we want, which is fair. It is not about money, i...
More About: Race , Deal

Todt Leaves Ferrari CEO Role
2008-03-18 18:06:00
Jean Todt has stepped down as CEO of Scuderia Ferrari it was announced today by the shareholders. It is unknown why the Frenchman has done so after being in charge for just under 18 months and supervising new models such as the 599 Fiorano, F430 Scuderia and FXX Evolutzione. Todt will now take a seat on the board of directors, after Luca di Montezemolo gave him a special role. Montezemolo himself will stay on as president of Ferrari for the next 3 years. The new board of directors looks like this; Luca di Montezemolo, Piero Ferrari, Jean Todt, Amedeo Felisa, Alfredo Altavilla, Diego della Valle, Christopher Gent, Enrico Lippi, Sergio Marchionne, Paolo Monferino, Lindsay Owen-Jones, Marco Piccinini and Sergio Pininfarina. 
More About: Role , Leaves

Rubens Wants Pit Lane Light Changes
2008-03-17 18:00:00
Rubens Barrichello has called on the FIA to make changes to the end of pitlane lights after he was disqualified for driving through a red light in yesterday’s Australian GP. The Brazilian driver had made a pitstop and missed the lights altogether, noticing them after he had driven past - which was too late. They were showing ...
More About: News , Honda , Lane , Light , Rubens Barrichello

Dennis Downplays Heikki?s Mistake
2008-03-17 17:57:00
Ron Dennis has called for calm, and for Kovalainen to stop punishing himself for a mistake he made in the Australian Grand Prix yesterday, which ultimately cost him 4th position. The Finnish driver, in his first race with McLaren , had just passed Alonso in the final corner with 1 lap left. Kovalainen pulled into the straight, and ...
More About: News , Ron Dennis , Heikki Kovalainen

Domenicali Vows To Work On Ferrari Reliability
2008-03-17 17:52:00
Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali has vowed to work on the reliability of the new car after the teams dismal display in the Australian Grand Prix yesterday. Both Ferrari cars retired from the race, although Raikkonen was later awarded a single point because of Barrichello’s disqualification.  Raikkonen had to start 15th on the grid after breaking down ...
More About: News , Ferrari , Work , Vows , Felipe Massa

Barrichello Disqualified, Kimi Scores Point
2008-03-16 13:30:00
Rubens Barrichello has been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for leaving the pit lane while the red light was showing. The Brazilian broke the rule, just like Massa and Fisichella did last season at Canada. This just adds to the bad news of the pitlane for Rubens today.  Some of his pitcrew got taken down the ...
More About: News , Honda , Point , Rubens Barrichello , Scores

Hamilton Wins The 2008 Australian Grand Prix
2008-03-16 13:20:00
Lewis Hamilton has won the first round of the 2008 season.  The British driver started in pole position, and cruised to victory amid a large volume of accidents and mechanical retirements. The start of the season is usually an exciting race, and as the cars revved their V8’s to 19,000rpms on the startline many pulses began ...
More About: Australian , Grand , Wins , Australian Grand Prix

Hamilton On Pole For Australian Grand Prix
2008-03-15 13:12:00
1 year after making his grand prix debut, Lewis Hamilton has secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. The British driver narrowly edged Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber who had to settle for second place. Heikki Kovalainen followed on in third, with the best Ferrari of Felipe Massa ending up in foruth place. Sebastian Vettel of ...
More About: Pole , Australian Grand Prix

Alonso Concerned For Lack Of Pace
2008-03-14 18:14:00
Fernando Alonso has admitted he is concerned over the lack of pace the Renault R28 is showing, and admitted that qualifying is going to be tough. He claimed his goals were realistic, and that he is going to have to get used to not winning for a while. He believes that they should easily make Q2, but ...
More About: News , Concerned , Pace , Fernando Alonso