3530 replies to this topic

[DrDickAction]

or even leading an all new Team Honda USA (which should be called Team Acura surely) with Danica Patrick as his team mate. Unfortunately, Takuma wouldn't confirm or deny any such gossip.

this has got to be a fucking joke. then again, this is honda....earth dreams, green clown pants, dumbo ears, and SBF murdering honda. fucking

[_R_]

Spanish banking giant Santander is set to become a Ferrari sponsor in 2010, high level sources have told autosport.com.

In a move that would heighten speculation former world champion Fernando Alonso is on his way to the Maranello outfit, Santander is poised to switch teams after its current exclusive arrangement with McLaren comes to an end.

The company originally joined the Woking-based team at the start of 2007 as it intended to make the most of the team's capture of Alonso.

However, the former world champion had a troubled time at McLaren and quit them to join Renault for this season. The Spaniard and his team are sponsored by Dutch banking group ING.

Alonso is believed to be holding out for a Ferrari deal, and has been tipped as favourite to join the Italian squad in the near future.

However, news of the Santander move in 2010 will only increase suggestions that a deal is in the offing with the Spaniard. Santander would be unlikely to commit to the team without some hint about Alonso's future plans.

A Santander spokeswoman refused to comment on the speculation, but made it clear on Friday the company was committed with McLaren until the end of next year.

"We are not making any comments about this," she told autosport.com when asked about the Ferrari deal. "We have a contract with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes until the end of 2009."

Despite Santander's planned future switch to Ferrari, there is a chance that the company could also opt to maintain some link with McLaren from 2010.

Although McLaren lost Alonso, Santander has benefited greatly, especially in the United Kingdom, through its association with Lewis Hamilton. This has been bolstered by the company's title sponsorship of the British Grand Prix.

Alonso at Ferrari 2010? let even more rumors begin

[PittHockey]

in for kimi-emonso team

[vietlol]

kimonso will be best team ever

[cafcwest]

That Stig (reports say it is not just one person) is quite a big person. Over 6' it appears, very broad in the chest. Among former F1 drivers, who do you all believe it might be?

[Alicante]

Alonso and Stig for Ferrari in 2010

[_R_]

That Stig (reports say it is not just one person) is quite a big person. Over 6' it appears, very broad in the chest. Among former F1 drivers, who do you all believe it might be?

dunno, but that second pic has that "i'm going to kick your ass and fuck your girlfriend" look to him

[_R_]

The FIA's proposed Formula 2 Championship is to take the form of a one-make arrive-and-drive category, the sport's governing body has indicated after announcing on Saturday that it has launched the tender process for the series.

In a statement on the FIA's website, the governing body invited manufacturers to pitch for an exclusive three-year deal to supply the cars from 2009 onwards.

Doubts had been raised by several team principals from current feeder formulas about containing costs to the specified target figure of €200,000, but the FIA appears to have got around this by transferring the cost to the manufacturer, which would receive 20% of each car's bodywork space to advertise its brand.

"The selected tenderer will be responsible not only for the design, production and transportation of a sufficient number of race-ready and technically identical cars to each event and official testing but also for all maintenance and repair work on those cars throughout the season," the FIA said in a separate 74-page tender document.

"It will also be responsible for supplying all fuel, tyres and other consumables, all spare parts and for providing a number of technical personnel to support the competitors at events and official testing.

"It is envisaged that competitors would be responsible for the cost of replacing parts damaged as a result of racing accidents."

The successful constructor would also be responsible for producing the identical 400bhp machines, which would be supplied to teams for six tests and 10 two-day weekend events during a European-based season.

After each event the cars would be returned to the constructor and teams then draw lots to find out which chassis they receive at the next event.

Each event would include one hour of free practice, one hour of qualifying and one race of approximately 175km, although this format could change into a heats/final system if more than 26 entries are received for the series.

The FIA's proposed category, which has been seen as a direct rival to the Renault-powered GP2 Series, would allow for two-car teams. But entries would have to be for the full season rather than on a race-by-race basis.

The FIA is even considering allowing the successful vendor to include its name in the championship's title.

The governing body also indicated that the engines, the specifications of which remain undetermind other than that they need to be of a four-stroke nature, would need to be capable of lasting a full season.

"It is hoped that the cost to a competitor of competing in the championship for a calendar year - to include full participation in all official testing and events - could be in the region of €200,000 per car, though no minimum or maximum price is indicated in this tender," read the statement.

All bids must be submitted by August 29, and the successful applicant will then be notified by September 8.

[Nacho]

call me sexist, but i sorta don't want her in F1 b/c she's a woman. It's fine if she's a woman, but I want her to gain publicity b/c she wins. Not b/c of her sex.

The only way she'd get in is because she's a woman. She's not even remotely close to being the top IRL driver.

[_R_]

David Coulthard has confirmed he is expecting later this year to become a father for the first time.

We reported last month that the Scottish veteran's fiancée Karen Minier, a former F1 TV journalist for France's TF1, is pregnant.

But while Coulthard, 37, now acknowledges the timing of the news with his impending retirement is 'convenient', he also insists the two events are not overly related.

"That wasn't the deciding factor because plenty of drivers have children and continue with their careers," he wrote in his column for ITV.

Meanwhile, having endorsed German youngster Sebastian Vettel to take over from him at Red Bull next year, Coulthard also addresses speculation that Fernando Alonso may be on the market for 2009.

"(The seat) should go to the quickest guy with a proven track record who is available," said Coulthard, who will stay at RBR as a team consultant next year.

"That might be Fernando Alonso for instance; if the team could get him that would make sense because he has great credentials as a double world champion.

"But if we assume he's not available, then it's completely logical to take Sebastian Vettel, who is within the Red Bull family, is performing well at Toro Rosso and naturally wants to progress to the larger team," he added.

DC is a dad awwwww.... and Alonso to Redbull?

[_R_]

no shark fin for McLaren or Toyota at the GermanGP

McLaren have decided against introducing their shark fin engine cover at the German Grand Prix, autosport.com has learned, despite some encouraging results in last week's Hockenheim test.

The Woking-based team experimented with the new cover as part of their build-up to this weekend's race, with Lewis Hamilton topping the times as he used it alongside other aerodynamic and mechanical developments.

However, autosport.com understands that McLaren want to run the fin in further tests before committing to using it at a race weekend. With further evaluation not possible prior to Hockenheim, the team will stick with their current design for now.

Heikki Kovalainen said after the test last week that he felt the team needed to be sure the shark fin would not be affected badly by crosswinds - something that caused Giancarlo Fisichella to crash his Force India during testing at Silverstone recently.

"Maybe Hockenheim is not the best place to try this new wing and we need to see if it is affected by crosswinds," said Kovalainen. "It was quite windy at the Hockenheim test, but we didn't seem to be too affected by the wind. It's definitely encouraging for the future."

McLaren's decision means that both the teams that tried shark fin covers out at the Hockenheim test last week have decided not to race them, with Toyota not taking theirs to the German GP either.

Toyota have opted not to run with their new shark fin engine cover at the German Grand Prix, despite testing the device at Hockenheim last week.

The Japanese car manufacturer joined McLaren in trying out the concept, which was pioneered by Red Bull Racing at the start of the season, during the pre-German GP test.

Although McLaren are still undecided about whether they will run their fin this weekend, Toyota have confirmed to autosport.com that they will not be taking theirs to Hockenheim.

That decision suggests that the wing did not bring the benefits the team had hoped, although other improvements tried out during the test have left Jarno Trulli encouraged.

"We had a promising test last week at Hockenheim which was very useful because we have not raced there for two years and we had the chance to study set-ups and tyre behaviour," said the Italian.

"That was the first time we have used the current Bridgestone Potenza tyres at Hockenheim and it was important to understand their characteristics at this circuit. We made good progress with some new aero parts and hopefully this track will suit our car.

"I have finished in the points for the last three races which shows how competitive we are at the moment, so my target this weekend is to again score points and fight for the top six. I am optimistic as usual."

Pascal Vasselon, Toyota's senior general manager chassis, believes that the team can expect a repeat of the form they showed at Magny-Cours when Trulli took a podium finish.

"We are expecting a level of performance more in keeping with our display at Magny-Cours than Silverstone," he said. "That means we are hoping to be near the front again. Actually, Magny-Cours and Hockenheim are now very similar in terms of car configuration so we are expecting to go well."

[chiuey]

no shark fin for McLaren or Toyota at the GermanGP

yeah sorry, I stole it and put it in my "shark fin soup"

[_R_]

Kimi Raikkonen is keeping his fingers crossed that forecasts of bad weather for this weekend's German Grand Prix are wrong, as he prays for the hot weather that will allow his Ferrari to shine at Hockenheim.

The F2008 is widely believed to be much gentler on its tyres than main championship rival McLaren's MP4-23 - meaning it should not only be more consistent over race distances but also will not suffer too much tyre degradation when temperatures are high.

However, on the flipside, it means the more aggressive MP4-23 is better able to get heat into its tyres over one lap – and can be stronger when the temperatures are cooler.

That is why Raikkonen wants Hockenheim to be as warm as possible – even though forecasts are for showers throughout the weekend.

"I hope it will be hot, as it usually is at Hockenheim," said Raikkonen in his Ferrari preview to the event. "Our car goes really well at high temperatures and also the tyre-wear is not too high. So I really hope it will be hot.

"It's hard to overtake, but the qualifying doesn't determine the result as (much as) on other tracks: although starting from the first row will make life much easier."

Raikkonen remains positive about his and Ferrari's championship challenge, despite the disappointments of Monaco, Canada and Britain.

"I've always said that the championship will be very uncertain," he explained. "I had the possibility to win the last three races, but for one reason or the other things didn't go the right way: but that's racing and I'm sure I'll win again soon.

"Every point will be important, just like last year. Three drivers tied on the top spot and a fourth, who is two points behind: that's a very interesting situation."

He added: "We've done some testing here last week and it went pretty well. We tried some new components and judging by the lap times there is still a great balance, but I think that Ferrari will be very competitive and fight for the win. I had some really good impressions of the F2008: I'm convinced that we'll be at the max."

if the weather in Germany is anything like this past weekends MotoGP weekend... it won't be hot...

[MrHahn]

^^^ God, that looks like a death wish!

[_R_]

^^^ God, that looks like a death wish!

they hit 170mph

[F1]

^^^ God, that looks like a death wish!

What's the worst that could happen?


Oh, right.

[Redliner]

What's the worst that could happen?


Oh, right.

That'll buff right out...

[_R_]

He was leading by 7 seconds 5 laps in too.... oops.

I love how high that bike is... I mean it's what, $500,000 worth of bike 15-20 feet up in the air...

[MrHahn]

Customary chop

[Dr. Jimmmah!]

Customary chop

[_R_]

Force India reserve driver Vitantonio Liuzzi says that sitting on the sidelines of Formula One is more difficult than he expected and is eyeing a return to a race seat.

The 27-year-old Italian spent a season with Red Bull and two with Toro Rosso, but he lost his drive this year and accepted the reserve role at Force India, where he was encouraged by the team to put pressure on Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil.

"I would never have thought that one year without racing in F1 would be so tough," he told Autosprint magazine. "To be honest, I feel really bad. This wait is exhausting, watching races but being unable to step into the car.

"But Force India are giving me the opportunity to run plenty of miles and they've given me a lot of credibility. We've developed several aerodynamic and mechanical solutions, especially Giancarlo and I, who are more experienced than Adrian."

Liuzzi is keen to reclaim a race seat in F1 and is confident of making a return.

"Based on the agreement we have, anything can happen and I have a good chance of becoming a regular race driver," he added. "At the moment the situation is totally open and nothing has been decided for 2009, so nobody can claim to be confirmed."

Before the season started, Force India technical boss Mike Gascoyne said: "If (Giancarlo and Adrian) need any motivation, they need only look at who the test driver is. They're going to need to be performing or else there is a guy there who can obviously step in.

"He (Liuzzi) is quick, he's experienced, and he wants to be a race driver. The message is very clear for both race drivers, if they want to be driving in 2009, they have got to deliver. If not, there is a guy who will be driving it in 2009."

And Liuzzi says he would be willing to look beyond Force India for a race drive if an opportunity came up.

"The decisions will be taken around mid-August, and I'm not just talking about Force India: other drivers could become available," he said. "Everything revolves around (Fernando) Alonso and the market will move once he moves. The team would allow me to leave should I find a race drive elsewhere."

[Redliner]

Quality chops by both, rofl.

[Redliner]

Both former RBR proteges will have a tough time finding a drive in the current market. Altho I do see a drive at Toyota, Honda, and Renault opening up...I just don't think they'll be the shoo-in's. Altho Glock has proven me wrong once

[_R_]

uh huh...

Willi Weber, most famous for being Michael Schumacher's long-time Formula One manager, has made a bold prediction about the next move for another highly rated German driver.

The 66-year-old, who currently handles the career of Williams test driver Nico Hulkenberg, reckons Nico Rosberg - who races for the Oxfordshire-based British team - will be bound for McLaren at the end of 2008.

Rosberg, 23, is under contract to Williams for 2009, but currently he is refusing to say he will definitely still be driving for the Toyota-powered outfit this time next year.

Weber told Sport Bild: "He has a clause in his contract that Williams can surely not fulfil."

Weber claims that Rosberg will be free to leave Williams if the team fails to finish fourth or better in the 2008 constructors' championship. The team currently lies sixth, nine points behind fourth placed Toyota.

Willi Weber continued: "Rosberg will replace Heikki Kovalainen, who will change back to Renault."

[DrDickAction]

uh huh...

bad news for heikki