PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR A BIT
HAVE JUST CUT OVER TO A NEW WEB HOSTING MOB & A LITTLE RE-LOADING OF STORIES ETC IS STILL NEEDED
hOPE TO HAVE IT BACK UP TO DATE BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK (HAVE A FUNERAL TO GO TO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS)
CHEERS
SAM SNAPE 31/12/09
F1 ALONSO JOINS FERRARI (and other stuff)
The worst kept secret of the last six months has finally been confirmed with the announcement from Ferrari that Fernando Alonso will replace Kimi Raikkonen in 2010 for three years. He will be joining Felipe Massa in the race team, unless the Brazilian has not recovered properly from his head injuries suffered at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella has been confirmed as the teams test and reserve driver and may, if necessary, fill in for Felipe at the start of the season.
"We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date," said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.
"Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari," said Domenicali. "In his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers' title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari's history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors' title in 2007 and 2008.
"Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season."
The confirmation of Alonso’s Ferrari contract will probably lead to a rush of announcements over the next week or two with Raikkonen expected to return to McLaren along side Lewis Hamilton. If the car is good, what a titanic inter-team battle that one will be.
Other rumoured movements are; Robert Kubica from BMW to replace Alonso at Renault; Nico Rosberg from Williams to Brawn; Rubens Barrichello from Brawn to Williams alongside Nico Hulkenberg who will replace Kazuki Nakajima. The line-up of Red Bull (Vettel and Webber) has been confirmed while Force India (Sutil and Liuzzi) and Toro Rosso (Buemi and Alguersuari) are unlikely to change, Sebastien Loeb’s rumoured debut for Toro Rosso at Abu Dhabi not-withstanding as he will undoubtedly continue in the WRC for at least another year.
Although they continually deny it Toyota are looking increasingly unlikely to continue in F1 next year with the news that Jarno Trulli has been told he will not be with the team next year and the team not taking up the option on Timo Glock’s contract. They have effectively told Timo to look elsewhere and do not seem to be in negotiations with any other drivers. This would open up the final slot to Sauber who have been recently purchased by Qadbak. Nick Heidfeld is not apparently looking for a drive with another team so at least he believes that Sauber will be on the grid next year with Ferrari engines.
So the potential line up looks something like this;
Brawn-Mercedes
Will probably retain likely world champion Jenson Button although negotiations are snagged upon his salary requirements. Button thinks it reasonable that his former salary (when the team was Honda) should be respected as he had taken a sizable pay-cut to help Brawn survive the transition period. He will also be a world champ so his expectations are not entirely unreasonable. Where would he go if negotiations broke down? Renault or possibly Williams would be likely possibilities. Nico Rosberg is almost a certainty to join the team with Mercedes backing as it appears that Mercedes is about to purchase a majority holding in the team. This means that Barrichello must move on, or does it. He may well stay if Button can’t come to terms. Or he may just take the certainty of the Williams drive over the possibility of a Brawn one.
Red Bull
Definitely will line up with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. What engine they will use is still under negotiation. They are chasing a Mercedes deal but if that falls through will stick with Renault.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Or Giancarlo Fisichella if Massa is still not fit enough.
McLaren-Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton and probably Kimi Raikkonen. This leaves Heikki Kovalainen as a free agent. Where to for Heikki? It’s not like he has set the world on fire during his stint with McLaren but the kid has talent. Maybe would shine in a different team, one not quite so focused on Lewis Hamilton. A return to Renault would be his best chance for a competitive drive but do they want him back? Otherwise one of the new teams would be wise to take him on. He is, after all, a Grand Prix winner with experience in a couple of top rung teams.
Williams
Likely to be Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg but neither have signed on the dotted line just yet. Kazuki Nakajima appears to be headed in the same direction as the team’s under powered Toyota engines. Out. Reports are that Williams are on the verge of a engine deal with Renault and Kazuki has proved to be just a little too like his father. Very quick on occasions but just as likely to bend the car as score points.
Toyota
As likely to be out as in. Toyota are said to be chasing both Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica as Trulli has definitely been sacked and Glock’s contract option has not been taken up.
Toro Rosso – Ferrari
Sebastien Buemi looks safe and Jaime Alguersuari has not done his chances of staying any harm with his performances since graduating to the team mid-season. Both have come up via the Red Bull Junior programme so some loyalty to their own can be expected. Sebastien Loeb will probably have a run at Abu Dhabi at the end of this year but unless he can commit to a full season instead of driving for Citroen in the WRC it is not likely that he will get the gig. Australia’s own Daniel Ricciardo will also be in contention after winning the British Formula 3 championship for Red Bull this year although a test/reserve position is more likely dove-tailing with a Formula Renault 3.5 or GP2 programme with Red Bull backing.
Force India – Mercedes
Have already indicated that they have no intention of changing from their current line-up, so Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi look sake here. Once the next big thing, this is Liuzzi’s last chance and must match Sutil, if not beat him if this is not to be his last year in F1.
Renault
Robert Kubica will almost certainly be confirmed as the lead driver within the next week or so. Will Romain Grosjean remain? His performances have been little better than the sacked Nelson Piquet’s if not worse so despite the fact that he has had no testing time apart from the GP weekends his position must be under scrutiny. Especially if Button is available. Or Glock. Or Kovalainen. Or Raikkonen. You can see what I mean.
Sauber-Ferrari
Nick Heidfeld seems intent on staying and as he has pretty much matched Kubica’s pace it would seem silly to drop him at this point. They will only be racing if a) all teams agree to let a 14th team enter in 2010, or b) Toyota pull out. Peter Sauber has a habit of matching experienced drivers with a young hot-shoe (remember where Raikkonen got his break) so someone coming up from a junior category is a likely partner.
US-F1 – Cosworth
Still making noises about an American drivers alongside someone expierenced. And they have mentioned Alex Wurz. Good grief! Alex was once a potential race winner but the reason he left Williams a couple of years ago was that he was unable to deal with qualifying a modern F1 car. They would be much better to chase Kovalainen for the reasons mentioned above.
Manor – Cosworth
Will have good financial backing with Virgin as the Title Sponsor (if not part owner). No rumours about a possible driver line-up yet.
Campos – Cosworth
Pedro de la Rosa will probably get his last chance with this Spanish team but barring a miracle, they will probably be lining up on the grid in a similar position to where Adrian did when he was a driver. Towards the back. Bruno Senna has also been linked with this squad.
Lotus – Cosworth
Despite having less time to prepare than any of the other new entrants Lotus is most likely to be the best of
the newbies at seasons end. Technical Director Mike Gascoigne always produced pretty quick cars during his
stints with Jordan and Arrows. Unlike those teams finance for development in not likely to be a problem with
investment from Proton (who own Lotus) and the Malaysian government. Bruno Senna would be a perfect fit
for this team for history buffs. Senna – Lotus – Cosworth , drool.
Sam Snape
01-10-2009
RICCIARDO WINS BRITISH F3 TITLE
In amongst all the hullabaloo over the race fixing scandal one excellent piece of news seems to have been overlooked. Young Western Australian Red Bull Carlin driver Daniel Ricciardo has won the prestigious British Formula 3 Championship. He has become just the fourth Aussie to hold this honour following on from Tim Schenken, Dave Walker and David Brabham. Below is the official BF3 report of the penultimate round of this years series.
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Daniel Ricciardo clinched the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series championship title in fine style today (Sun) at the new Algarve circuit in Portugal. The Australian 20-year-old took a maximum-points finish in the first of the day's races, and claimed a fourth-place finish in race two, enough to lift the crown beyond the reach of any of his rivals.
Ricciardo is the second successive Carlin Motorsport/Red Bull racer to claim the British F3 crown - last year's victor, Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, was promoted to Grand Prix stardom a matter of months after his championship win. Daniel's title is also the first international championship victory of the modern era for engine supplier Volkswagen, and he becomes only the third Australian to win the British F3 title - Tim Schenken was the first, in 1968, and David Brabham the last, 20 years ago.
"This is everything I've wanted since the start of the season," said a grinning Daniel, "and for it to come around a bit early makes it a bit sweeter. It still hasn't quite sunk in but I'm sure that by the end of tonight I'll realise it and party hard. If I can now follow in Jaime Alguersuari's footsteps that would be great - I'm not saying I'll be in F1 next year, but I'd like to be there in the near future. That's my dream."
Ricciardo never doubted he could pull it off: "We had some bad rounds; Rockingham and Hockenheim weren't the best for us - that was where Hitech started coming on strong - but we never lost faith, kept believing and working hard for it."
There was jubilation also for 20-year-old Brit Daniel McKenzie, who secured the National Class title thanks to a class win and a second-place finish in Portugal. Fortec Motorsport racer McKenzie has shown remarkable consistency throughout the season, beating his chief rival, Brazilian Gabriel Dias, to the class win in 10 of his 18 races. Title secured, McKenzie hopes to step up, with a Mercedes-powered Fortec Dallara, into the International class next weekend (19/20 Sep) at Brands Hatch, venue for the championship's final rounds. "This is my first championship win," said Daniel, "and it's been a long time coming. It's a great feeling. I hope very much we can sort a deal to join the International class next weekend, and then use that to launch into a full championship bid in 2010. The National class is a great stepping stone, very competitive and with some great drivers. It's been a good experience."
Race 1
Ricciardo wasn't the outright victor of round 17 of the championship - that honour went to invitation class driver Jules Bianchi - but the Australian placed third on the road and was the leading British championship points scorer. It was Daniel's sixth championship-class race victory of the season and brought him within a few points of the title.
The prize for most disappointed man in the paddock was pole-sitter Renger van der Zande, who led for 12 of the 16 laps only to slip back with a steadily deflating rear tyre. The Dutch Hitech driver lost the lead at the start to ART Grand Prix man Bianchi, but snatched back top spot on the third lap. Renger pulled a second clear at one stage but then struck trouble: "I think we were definitely quickest today and I am really disappointed because about seven laps from the end I started to feel the car bottoming. By the last lap my rear tyre was completely flat. I managed to make it to the finish but I could have won it easy. Not my day."
Bianchi and his ART team-mate Esteban Gutierrez got the jump on van der Zande on the penultimate lap, pushing him back to third and into Ricciardo's gunsights, the Red Bull racer having driven a steady, trouble-avoiding race in fourth throughout. Daniel did not waste the opportunity: "I didn't even realise it was the last lap... I got the run on Renger and pipped him on the line. It was pretty fortunate but you have to take what you can, when you can. I'm disappointed not to have won outright."
Colombian Carlos Huertas was close behind for fifth overall and his maiden British championship podium finish for the Raikkonen Robertson team, with Max Chilton sixth after a slow getaway from second on the grid, and Riki Christodoulou seventh for Fortec. Invitation runners Adrien Tambay and Pedro Enrique were next up, with Hywel Lloyd making a great start in the CF Racing Dallara and moving up to claim 10th overall and sixth in championship class.
Hitech's other championship title challenger, Walter Grubmuller, endured a tough time. The Austrian started only 13th and was badly delayed by a spin in avoidance of a third-lap collision involving the cars of Sam Bird, Valtteri Bottas and Daisuke Nakajima.
McKenzie made an excellent start to overhaul class pole-sitter Gabriel Dias, only to lose the National Class lead on the opening lap. "That was the most up and down race I've had all year. The start was insane but I took advantage of it and made up eight places to the first corner. Unfortunately Dias was then able to drive straight past me - he has found some serious power from somewhere."
Daniel played a waiting game and seized his opportunity to regain the class lead on lap 12, when Dias was delayed by a tussle with an international class car. Gabriel was then bumped backed to third in class two laps from the end by impressive Lebanese newcomer Joe Ghanem, making his debut with the Carlin team.
Race 2
In all the excitement of both championships being settled, it was all too easy to overlook the feats of Bianchi, whose ART Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes took outright victory once again, and of Max Chilton, who took championship race honours for the first time in his three-year career.
The initial race leader was Fortec's invitation class runner Sam Bird, who got the drop from fourth on the grid, passing Ricciardo and pole-sitter Chilton. But Sam's grip on top spot was loosened by Bianchi on lap four, the Frenchman blasting past both Ricciardo and Bird at the restart after a two-lap safety car period initiated after a clash between Riki Christodoulou and Roberto Mehri.
Bianchi pulled into a commanding lead as Ricciardo's pace faded - Daniel believed contact with Bianchi's car had damaged his car's nosecone - with Bird, and then van der Zande, giving chase. Renger moved up to second past Bird on lap six but yet again fell victim to a rear puncture in the latter stages, limping home 12th.
That gave Bird a secure grip on second, and he was more than able to fend off Chilton's challenge, Max having recovered from his poor opening lap, which left him sixth, to take Ricciardo and then profit from van der Zande's demise. Max was under heavy pressure from Carlos Huertas for much of the race but never wavered.
Bianchi crossed the line 4.7 seconds clear of Bird, with Chilton next up and the leading championship class driver by a two-second margin. "It's good to do it at last," said Max, "although it's a shame it's not an outright win. My start wasn't shocking but I got forced wide and several got past me. I knew Dan had a problem and then Renger had a puncture, and there I was." Huertas earned himself the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award for his chase to fourth, and championship class second.
Esteban Gutierrez claimed fifth overall for ART, ahead of the final championship class podium finisher, T-Sport's Adriano Buzaid. Ricciardo, Henry Arundel, Hywel Lloyd and Adrian Tambay completed the top 10. In the National class, Gabriel Dias led all the way to win for the seventh time for T-Sport, with McKenzie cruising home for second and the title, and French newcomer Mathieu Maurage third in class for Team West-Tec.
SAUBER SOLD
The BMW Sauber team has been sold to a Swiss based Investments company, Qadbak Investments Ltd which represents "certain Middle Eastern and European based families".
If given the green light to race in 2010, the Sauber cars will be equipped with Ferrari engines and transmissions, it is reported in the German press. Publications including Sport Bild said the transaction selling the Hinwil based outfit to the mysterious Swiss based foundation Qadbak is for 80 million Euros.
Little is known about Qadbak Investments Ltd although earlier this year, through a subsidiary, it bought the English football club NottsCounty.
BMW Sauber's parent BMW AG made the press announcement on Tuesday, and a spokesman for the Swiss based team has now said: "The team expects to line up on the grid for the first race of the 2010 season."
Sam Snape
17-09-09
BRIATORE IS BUGGERED
Not really a question any more is it? Renault made a short announcement over night to the effect that they admit that the cheating allegations raised by Nelson Piquet Jr are true and that both Briatore and Symonds had been sacked. Sorry, resigned…
The Renault statement was just three short lines long, but then many press releases that have had dramatic consequences have been rather short. “Peace in our time” springs to mind. Renault’s may as well have been just three words long, “Guilty as charged” would perhaps have been more eloquent.
Renault’s statement read; “The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.It also wishes to state that its Managing Director, Flavio Briatore and its Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.”
Putting the best light on this you may believe that the Renault board, having learnt the truth have sacked those responsible, are admitting guilt and throwing themselves at the mercy of the FIA. Another view is that as the charges are against Renault themselves, and not any other individuals, then by having sacked Briatore and Symonds, neither of these would have to show up at the hearing on Monday as they are no longer employees of Renault. No more embarrassing details would be forthcoming as it would just be “Guilty m’lud” and cop this sentence.
However that would not be in the best interests of at least one of the dearly departed. Symonds only gets immunity if he testifies. If he wants to have any future in the sport, and I’m sure he still does, he will have to turn up anyway and may still give some totally damning evidence.
I’ve got to say that the only thing in this that has surprised me is that Pat Symonds was involved. I have met Pat and he has always struck me as a totally honest bloke that absolutely loves the sport in which he has spent most of his adult life. Pat had been with this team since it started life as Toleman Group Motorsports back in the early 80’s. He has only ever worked with this squad in all that time through it’s various guises as Toleman, Benetton and now Renault. I can only guess that his loyalty to the team overcame his better judgement in this case. Guilty he may be but I do hope that he still has a future in the sport as he has always been one of it’s finest ambassadors. His support for associated events such as the Formula 1 for schools programme has been steadfast.
The new owners of Sauber (see separate story) must be feeling quite confidant that they will be on the grid next year. One way or the other.
Sam Snape
17-09-09