David Coulthard exclusive "We’re seeing a vast change in the regulations. The last time we had such a big change was 1998 when we went to narrow track cars with the grooved tyres and it was Adrian Newey’s design team that stole the march on the new regs back then so this could well be … Continue reading F1 links: Davidson was set for Honda
Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems are one of the big talking points off the off-season, as F1 teams weigh up whether to use them on their 2009 F1 cars. KERS builders Flybrid Systems demonstrated a working Formula 1-spec device at the Autosport International show. I had a chat with managing partner Jon Hilton who talked me … Continue reading KERS explained: how a mechanical Kinetic Energy Recovery System works
McLaren boss Ron Dennis gave the annual Watkins lecture at Autosport International yesterday. He was interviewed at length by veteran commentator Murray Walker for around an hour. One of the most interesting moments came when he discussed how he managed the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007, and how it compared to … Continue reading Ron Dennis on how the Hamilton-Alonso row compared to Senna and Prost
Simon Gillett was looking slightly the worse for wear when I met him at Autosport International this morning. He had a reason to be, as he celebrated Donington Park winning approval for its development work in order to hold the 2010 British Grand Prix. Nevertheless he was happy toi spend a half hour answering questions … Continue reading Donington Park boss Simon Gillett on building the new British Grand Prix circuit
Sebastien Buemi’s move to Toro Rosso has been predicted for months so it doesn’t come as any great surprise to hear he’s been confirmed today. Buemi, aged 20, is Switzerland’s first F1 driver since Jean-Denis Deletraz finished 15th at the Nurburgring in 1995.
Turns eight and nine are like the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, it’s quite steep. But for me that is the beauty of it, you know? What’s the point of racing on completely flat tracks? I like Pedro de la Rosa. Here’s what he had to say about Hermann Tilke’s new Motorland Aragon circuit, whether the … Continue reading Exclusive interview: Pedro de la Rosa on F1 2009 and Motorland Aragon
David Richards didn’t exactly say “I’m not buying Honda”, but he dropped a big hint today that he won’t be taking over the Brackley team in 2009: The cost-cutting process that has been put in place has not yet seen its full benefit, and I don’t think it will be until 2010 that you will … Continue reading David Richards says F1 costs are still too high – and he’s not buying Honda
Donington Park has won approval from Leicestershire District Council for its £100m redevelopment plans in order to host the 2010 British Grand Prix. I’ll be speaking to circuit owner Simon Gillett at the Autosport show tomorrow, so if you have any questions for him please leave them below.
The operators of the Singapore Marina Bay circuit, which held F1’s first night race last year, have revealed they are making changes to the track for 2009. What would you change about Singapore’s street track? Would you leave it the way it is? Here’s what I think needs fixing – and what doesn’t.
I’m going to be in Birmingham for the Autosport International show over the next two days. As usual I’ll be writing about the show for Auto Trader and there’ll be lots of coverage of on the Auto Trader website. I’ll also being putting up F1-related pictures here. I should be talking to Donington Park boss … Continue reading Autosport International starts tomorrow
Bridgestone downplays degradation issues "Bridgestone is confident that teams will quickly adapt to the challenges of setting up their cars to work with the new slick tyres, despite complaints of chronic rear degradation in earlier testing. 'It is still early days for the teams working on their understanding of the slick tyres and the aerodynamic … Continue reading F1 links: Tyre wear concerns
Here are some more (and much better!) pictures from the Donington Park 2010 track simulator that give a clearer impression of what the track will be like in 2010. These images are from a simulation of the track built in rFactor which will be made available next week. They show several parts of the track … Continue reading More pictures of Donington Park 2010
Donington Park’s redevelopment plans will be heard by Leicestershire District Council tomorrow. Circuit owner Simon Gillett is confident his proposals will be supported by the council and one councillor has been quoted in favour of the proposals. Is it time to stop the cynicism about Donington’s plans?
F1 gets hit with the ugly stick In the early part of the 2008 season, I had a conversation with a senior member of an F1 team who said they had already recovered 85 per cent of the downforce the ’09 regs were supposed to lose and that the the fitting of slick tyres meant … Continue reading F1 links: Grid walks and Twitter
Donington Park is beginning to reveal more detail about its plans to host the 2010 British Grand Prix. Here are four images showing an artist’s impression of the pit building on the re-designed F1 track.
How well can we predict what’s going to happen in F1 this year? In this post we’ll put ten predictions for the 2009 season to the vote and see which ones come true…
Sir Jackie Stewart’s interview in yesterday’s Times, spread across the inside back pages, is a must-read. Stewart’s criticism of Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley’s governance of Formula 1 is as rational as it is critical. His message is simple – they have stayed too long, they must be replaced – and it’s entirely persuasive. But … Continue reading Jackie Stewart’s criticism is persuasive but he can offer more than words
F1 Fanatic has been nominated for the “Best Sports Blog award in the 2008 Weblog Awards. (Yes, I know it’s 2009 – they do the 2008 awards in 2009!) Voting starts today and runs until Tuesday 13th January. You can vote once in each cateogry in every 24 hour period so if you want to … Continue reading Weblog Awards: Vote F1 Fanatic!
Michael Schumacher and Honda "One intriguing rumour to surface over the Christmas period is the suggestion that Honda Racing F1's Ross Brawn may have been talking seriously to Michael Schumacher about working together to save the Brackley team. Schumacher has plenty of private money but it is unrealistic to believe that anyone will spend their … Continue reading F1 links: Schumacher and Honda
F1 will not be broadcast in high definition on the BBC in 2009. Director of BBC Sport Roger Mosey said "we’d very much like it to be" but HD F1 broadcasts are not available yet. He also suggested practice sessions will only be available online and ‘via the red button’, and said the BBC is … Continue reading BBC: No HD F1 in 2009