This week’s racing press has seen perhaps the biggest split since Ayrton Senna died, between those who ‘get’ racing and those who do not. I cannot believe those who comment that Kimi Raikkonen should have jeopardised a potential Grand Prix win by changing his damaged tyre. Newsflash: Raikkonen is a racing driver and he is … Continue reading Talking Money
A chance Google mix-up earlier this week got me musing on the problem of unintended consequences. Plan for one thing, get the other. Luckily for us, unintended consequences have played a major part in making the 2005 season rather good so far. Take Ferrari’s sudden and shocking decline in form relative to the opposition. The … Continue reading Editorial: Unintended Consequences
2005 sees the sixth running of the United States Grand Prix on the Indianapolis ‘infield’ circuit and, for the first time in this period, the field of drivers will include an American. But will F1’s brave new rules win over the notoriously indifferent American audience? F1 has had a rough time in America. Although for … Continue reading United States Grand Prix 2005 Preview
The Canadian Grand Prix proved dramatic and incident-filled from start to finish, if lacking in much outright racing. But, with Kimi Raikkonen winning and Fernando Alonso failing to score, it gave a welcome shot in the arm for the championship battle. Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher provided the Saturday shock by stealing the front row … Continue reading Raikkonen takes vital win as Renault falter
The Williams-BMW partnership looks unlikely to last for a seventh season as both team owner Frank Williams and technical chief Patrick Head have lashed out at the Munich car manufacturer for deflecting blame from themselves for their car’s failure to win a championship so far. Rumours suggest BMW will buy into the Sauber team and … Continue reading Williams slam BMW
Meanwhile Jordan’s dismal start of to 2005 has been compounded by the loss of technical director Trevor Carlin, who has left to concentrate on running his F3 team. As Carlin was put in place my new owner Alex Shnaider, his departure may signal that Shnaider is indeed losing interest in entering his own team next … Continue reading Carlin departs Jordan
Mark Webber has warned that the use of the safety car could precipitate more serious accidents as the enforced low-speed running causes tyre pressures to become dangerously low. This problem has been observed in F1 since the growing regularity of the use of the safety car in 1994, when it was suspected to have been … Continue reading Safety car ‘unsafe’
Max Mosley has fired a double salvo in retaliation to media criticism of driver safety in the wake of Kimi Raikkonen’s last-lap crash in the European Grand Prix. Mosley has warned teams not to risk accidents by allowing drivers to race on seriously worn or damaged tyres – potentially a futile plea, as no team … Continue reading FIA warning on tyres
Dan Wheldon’s victory in the Indy 500, his fourth win in the first five roudns of the 2005 Indy Racing League, has led to inevitable speculation that he will switch to F1. He has denied that he would be willing to make the switch with anything other than a front running team. The Briton has … Continue reading Wheldon to F1?
We had a thrilling chase to the finish and ITV let us watch it all this time. Raikkonen’s heart breaking last-lap failure made big news in the British papers – or was it just because the football season’s finally over? ITV commentators James Allen and Martin Brundle did not see eye-to-eye on McLaren’s decision to … Continue reading European Grand Prix 2005 Media Review
On an already jam-packed calendar, why does Germany get two races? The case for the European Grand Prix to be held at a different venue each year is a sensible one. It’s time someone took notice of it. In the midst of last-week’s white hot build-up to the Eurovision song contest (I voted for Norway) … Continue reading The Eurovision Grand Prix
Changing the number of points that are given for finishing positions in Grands Prix could revolutionise how drivers approach races and fundamentally alter the meaning of the Driver’s Championship. It is something the governing body should very seriously consider. The Formula One rules have been in a state of flux since 2002. Not a year, … Continue reading Missing the points
Having slumped almost to the very back of the grid, Jordan are now not far short of being beaten by usual backmarkers Minardi. In theory, 2006 should bring a relaunch of the team as Midland F1 – but the current sorry state of affairs is not breeding much optimism. The European Grand Prix was a … Continue reading Editorial: No joy at Jordan
The A1GP series, which is due to start this September, announced the provisional calendar for their 2005 winter championship this week. It promises to be the most internationally diverse motor sport series, even more so than Formula One. In all, twelve events are planned for the inaugural championship year, and the list of destinations makes … Continue reading A1 Grand Prix Calendar Revealed
Fernando Alonso kept Kimi Raikkonen under pressure throughout the European Grand Prix and capitalised at the last possible moment, when Raikkonen’s suspension shattered and pitched the Finn into the barriers. Alonso now has a 32-point advantage in the title race. From the outset the European Grand Prix looked like it was going to be McLaren-Mercedes … Continue reading Last-lap drama for Raikkonen hands Alonso victory
Red Bull have confirmed that Vitantonio Liuzzi will be replaced by Christian Klien after the European Grand Prix. This is the first time that a team have deliberately shared a single seat between two drivers since Ligier made a similar arrangement with Aguri Suzuki and Martin Brundle in 1995. Brundle started eleven races to Suzuki’s … Continue reading Liuzzi out, Klien back in
So what was the big story after Monaco? The near-collapse of Renault? That stunning pass by Nick Heidfeld? Juan Pablo Montoya’s remarkable drive from 16th to 4th? Or just Kimi Raikkonen’s maiden win in the glamorous principality? If you answered, “none of the above,” then congratulations, because you kept in mind the British press’s negative … Continue reading Monaco Grand Prix 2005 Media Review
The FIA have launched a survey to canvas Formula One fans on their opinions of how the sport should develop in the future. F1 Fanatic sets out what changes need to be made to ensure F1 gets stronger and stronger over the coming years. As much as they suffer criticism for their handling of the … Continue reading The FIA Survey: How to fix Formula One
Open this week’s Autosport, Motorsport News or Autocar at any page and you will see someone connected to Formula One talking about improving the show. Now we know that it isn’t going to happen, but there is a simple way to improve the ‘show’ at Grands Prix. The simple answer is to put on better … Continue reading More bang for your buck
A reputable bank, keen to promote their close alliance with a leading Formula One team, have rolled out a series of adverts to communicate to Formula One fans that they understand the complexities, the pressures and the demands of the sport. At least, that is what they tried to do. Because when you show an … Continue reading Editorial: Bashing the bishop
