Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A Retired Guy Goes Fastest In Testing

Seven time world champion Michael Schumacher returned to the seat of a Ferrari F1 car for the first proper session since his retirement following the 2006 season.

Schumacher made his return and quickly established that a one year absence has done little to stiffle his talent as a world class driver. He set the fastest time of the day in the F2007.

The German served to test the new regulations which ban traction control and debut a new electronic control system. When Schu began his career the cars featured fewer electronic gizmos to aid drivers on track.

Schumacher has no plans to return to F1 in any capacity beyond this test.

Barcelona hosts the teams this week and many new faces got behind the wheel. Toro Rosso welcomed Sebastian Bourdais, fresh off of a fourth Champ Car title.

GP2 drivers Zuber, Chandhok, and Rodriguez put their stamp on the field but failed to compete with the front runners on the time sheet.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Former Ferrari Joins Honda As Boss

Ten year Ferrari veteran Ross Brawn takes on the role of team principal for the Honda F1 racing team.

The Britain took a one year sabbatical from the Italian team that coincided with the departure of 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher at the end of the 2006 season.

Ross Brawn will take over the role alongside CEO Nick Fry beginning November 26th. Many speculated that Brawn would return to Ferrari as team principal to replace Jean Todt who is now president of the entire FIAT coportation - the parent company of Ferrari.

The announcement today was immediately followed by the announcement of the promotion of Stefano Domenicali to replace Todt beginning in 2008.

Following a terrible season by the Honda team, Nick Fry is beefing up the technical team in hopes to recuperate for 2008 and Brawn is an important figure to help draw more technical staff.

Could this be the final keystone in securing a drive by two time world champion Fernando Alonso in the future? Alonso has yet to sign with any team following the closure of a rocky relationship with McLaren after just one season and the fate of many drivers rests on Alonso's decision for next year.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Williams Announce 2008 Driver Line Up

In a move to quash rumors about the future of Nico Rosberg Williams announced today their driver line-up for 2008. Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima are paired for next season at the Toyota powered team.

Nakajima joins is promoted from team test driver. After a successful season in GP2 he hopes to follow in his father's footsteps as a Japanese F1 star.

The announcement means one option for the future of Fernando Alonso is sussed.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

A Glimpse At the '08 Driver Market

At the end of last week the split between two time world champion Fernando Alonso and legendary British performance race team McLaren came to an early conclusion. News is thus far limited as to where Alonso is heading next season and that spells an uncertain future for many of the other drivers in the field.

Here's a list of the confirmed drivers and a list of the possible driver/team matchups for 2008:

Confirmed:
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen
Felipe Massa

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton
???

BMW
Nick Heidfeld
Robert Kubica

Renault
???
???

Williams
Nico Rosberg
???

Red Bull
David Coulthard
Mark Webber

Toyota
Jarno Trulli
???

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Vettle
Sebastian Bourdais

Honda
Jenson Button
Rubens Barichello

Super Aguri
Takuma Sato
Anthony Davidson

Spyker - Force India F1
Adrian Sutil
???

Potential Drivers/Teams:

Renault is the biggest wonderment in the field. With Fernando Alonso's availability now...available, the French team are one of the front runners. Rookie Heikki Kovalainen is contracted for 08 but not guaranteed to race. Veteran Giancarlo Fisichella's job for 08 is up in the air after being outraced by Kovalainen for the majority of the season. Test driver Nelson Piquet hopes to capatilize on Fisichella's closure with the team.

McLaren have a seat to be filled after parting ways with Alonso. Team boss Ron Dennis made it clear that he is in no rush to fill that seat and will the make the proper decision in due time. Front runners appear to be Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and even Adrian Sutil.

Williams have a seat to fill next to Nico Rosberg. Though Rosberg is favored for a McLaren ride, the Grove based outfit insist that he is contracted for '08 and not for sale. Next to Rosberg, test driver Kazuki Nakajima may have a chance. Other rumored drivers are Vitantonio Liuzzi, Nelson Piquet Jr, Giancarlo Fisichella and even Fernando Alonso - though unlikely.

Following Ralf Schumacher's departure from the Toyota factory team a seat is available and likely to go to GP2 Champion Timo Glock pending contractual release from his duties as test driver for BMW Sauber.

Finally, Adrian Sutil is confirmed to driver at Spyker again in 2008. Force India F1 will be the new moniker for the team who was purchased recently by Indian billionaire, Vijay Mallya. Malya has close ties to Ralf Schumacher and potentially could save his friend from early retirement with a race seat. Roldan Rodriquez, no relation to Bender, has a contract with Team Force India F1 for '08 but the capacity of that contract is unknown.

Michael Schumacher To Test For Ferrari

Just weeks after taking the F2007 out at Fiorano to impress members of the Fiat board of directors, Ferrari have announced seven time world champion Michael Schumacher's return to the track for winter testing in Barcelona.

38 year old Schumacher retired following the end of the 2006 season and has kept a low profile since. From time to time Schu attended races in the '07 season as a technical advisor to Ferrari, but this stint marks the first time that he will return to the driver's role for testing next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Schumacher holds the distinction as the most succesful driver in F1 history with 91 wins, many coming from a time when electronic driver's aides were not as prevelant. For '08 on, traction control will be removed from the cars and Schumacher's skill in this situation should prove useful.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Kovalainen Completes ING NYC Marathon

Congratulations to Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen on his completion of the ING New York City Marathon.

The Finnish driver/runner finished the race in 3:36:56 which was good enough for 5370th place. Kovalainen's pace is testament to the necessity of fitness in modern F1 racing as he finished ahead of approx 34,000 other runners.

The NYC Marathon was sponsored this year by Kovalainen's team sponsor, ING.

Kovalainen's future in F1 is cloudy for the 2008 season as several drivers await the news of where former double world champion Fernando Alonso will race in '08.

The Finn outpaced his older and more experienced teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, this season and looks set for a race drive somewhere in the field as a desired young talent.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Breaking News: McLaren, Alonso Part Company

Fernando Alonso is a free agent in the Formula 1 talent pool following an amicable split from McLaren Mercedes. Ron Dennis, team boss at McLaren, promised a decision between the two parties within a couple weeks of the end of the season and has delivered.

Alonso leaves the squad after fulfilling just one of three years on his contract.

It had been speculated that the Spanish driver would only be allowed to nullify his three year contract if he were to join a privateer team but that appears to be false.

Alonso is free to join which ever team he wishes and the rest of the driver market is hinged on his decision.

The likely options on the table for the Spaniard are seats at Renault, Williams, Toyota, and even Red Bull.

One possibilty that shouldn't be overlooked is a drive at Honda F1. Rumors are swirling that the lack of determination from Rubens Barichello may land him a demotion to Jr Honda team Super Aguri.

Honda utilize a humungous budget and despite a horrid 2007 campaign could use said budget to turn things around in '08.