Here’s a round-up of F1 news and other interesting links I’ve found today.
If you’ve spotted a hot news story, interesting new website or just something funny from the world of F1, please share your links in the comments below.
Teams continue work on F1 agreement
"Although FOTA has not revealed any details of its plans or progress, a senior source has suggested that the current teams may all choose to lodge their entries by next week's deadline – but only with an attachment expressing that their entry does depend on them being happy with the 2010 regulations."
A deal is coming; looks like Ferrari is staying (no surprise there)
"One way is a possible exclusion of engine costs from the cap up to 2013 which the FIA may have offered. Another is for the teams to agree ways to save money in other areas to help them achieve the £40 million target figure. The impression being given from informed sources is that the teams believe they can get to £40 million in 2011 but not by next year. But all in all, it looks like it's all narrowing towards a compromise and the theatrics from Maranello are no longer required."
Red Bull introduce long awaited DDD
"The new diffuser adds an exit channel above and ahead of the usual one which has a constant height over the whole span of the diffuser. Apart from the extra upward flow thanks to this, the inner fences now also feature are small cut-out that allows air to flow into the central diffuser channel."
Prince Albert: F1 can’t lose Ferrari
Prince Albert: "I'm sure we cannot afford to lose teams like Ferrari or Renault. I think it would be such a bad image for the sport that I am sure that a solution is going to be found."
James Allen’s star of qualifying
"The tactic for some teams who got both of their cars into the top 10 was to split the strategies with one light car and one heavy. This is to hedge their bets against a safety car early in the race."
Robert Kubica: "Normally when you are slow, you are lacking grip. Then when the grip is coming, if it's mechanical, aerodynamically or some other part of the car, it's too difficult to explain. It's a complex problem. It's not something that's easy to fix in one minute or five minutes."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I’m only interested in winning, so I have nothing really to lose. OK, the team needs points but in the end they are happier with a win than just some points. We’re not really in the championship. We know that the team has not had a very easy time this year but we have shown some signs that we are getting better."
"We don’t know if 'Nakajima' is generally regarded as a swear word, but it definitely is now in our team and possibly some others too, after the Williams driver messed up Sebastian’s chances of challenging for pole this afternoon, by blocking the Red Bull’s progress at a key moment."
McLaren introduce new rear wing
"The new item now features a completely horizontal leading edge, ditching the curvature in the middle. The resulting lower leading edge will allow the wing to catch a little more air and hence create a stronger downward force."
Crisis talks to continue into weekend
"Crisis talks over the budget cap regulations will continue into the weekend in Monaco after hours of meetings involving the teams and FIA on Friday again failed to result in a compromise solution being agreed."
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
persempre
24th May 2009, 20:42
According to Autosport they aren`t quite as close as Max is trying desperately to imply.
No to 2010 rules & discussions on both governance & cost-cutting
Prisoner Monkeys
25th May 2009, 4:25
Now that FOTA are united, they’re closer than they were a few days ago. Previously, the FIA had to deal with three separate factions within FOTA: Ferrari with their injuction, the renegade teams like Red Bull and Renault (not in the same category as Ferrari because they didn’t launch legal action), and the teams like Brawn and Williams who exist for the sole purpose of racing. That’s three individual groups, all of them with vastly different ideals. Now that FOTA are standing together as one, it will be far easier to negotiate a settlement.
The Limit
25th May 2009, 7:29
Nice pictures yesterday of Ecclestone, Mosley, and the teams meeting aboard Force Blue, Flavio Briatore’s yacht.
All very cosy I would imagine, all very high profile.
Is it me, or does all of this appear to be scripted, almost staged?
Watching Max Mosley departing into the Monaco air, into the midst of a million reporters with flash bulbs bursting, it reminded me of Kate Winslet collecting her oscar. The man absolutely loves the limelight, you can just see it in his eyes.
Back to the plot, and there is always a scandal every season, then I believe that an agreement will be made, if not already. The trump card in all of this was always Ferrari.
For all these years, Ferrari and the FIA have been joined at the hip. Ferrari have always sided with the FIA, until now. FOTA knew, that without Ferrari threatening to quit, then the FIA would never take them seriously.
For me, it is as simple as that! Deep down, everybody knows that they will have to agree on something or lose the championship forever. There is simply too much money, especially Bernie’s, to lose if F1 goes south.
That man, I would wager, would howl like a whipped dog if he lost a tenner playing poker. The words Ecclestone and lost profits go aswell together as Ron Dennis and Alonso stranded on a desert island.
We are going to have new teams, one of them American based, on the grid for 2010. Ferrari, Toyota, and Renault will all be there. Lets face it, who wants to do what Honda did?
Spend billions of dollars over many years as a team, to produce poor cars, to quit, and then have an ex Ferrari guy buy your old team and win the championship within a year! All, I may add, minus alot of people and a boatload of Japanese yen. Catch my drift?