F1 and all kinds of Auto Racing

[LuNo]

Kimi different kettle of fish to Schu - Massa

Felipe Massa says his new team mate Kimi Raikkonen is a different kettle of fish to former partner Michael Schumacher. Despite this, and despite the limited time the duo have had together at Ferrari, Massa is confident they'll get on.

"Kimi has a different character and personality to Michael," Massa said. "He does not talk very much and keeps himself to himself. He appears to be very fair and he does not seem to be the type of guy who plays the political game."

"He is good to work with and I am sure I won't have any problem with him," he added. "The important thing is that he works for the team so that we both have the best car possible."

[LuNo]

Vettel adapting to Bridgestones

BMW Sauber F1 test driver Sebastien Vettel says the switch to Bridgestone tyres is something that has taken some getting used to. BMW ran with Michelin tyres last season when Vettel made his debut.

"You have to adjust yourself to the new situation," Vettel said. "You have to adapt your driving style as you can't be too aggressive any more. You've got to stay on a clean line or you slide around a lot."

"The tyres are different from the Bridgestones used in 2006," he added. "They are a lot harder."

[LuNo]

Massa denies new Ferrari struggle

Felipe Massa has given his backing to the 2007 Ferrari car despite some speculation that the team might not be the most competitive in the current crop of winter test sessions.

"Before we started winter testing, a lot of people made comments about our new car, saying it looked very different to the others and they were asking if we had got it wrong," Massa said. "But it's not important what people outside the team say; what is important is what we achieve on track!"

"The new car is the work of the same people who produced the 2006 car, so why should they not be able to do a good job again?" he asked. "They have not forgotten how to design a car in just a few weeks! If the car looks different to last year's, then it is because we felt that was the way to go. For the moment, the car is working very well."

[LuNo]

Spyker test drivers getting ready for first run

After a successful test in Barcelona last week, the Spyker Formula One Team now moves to the 4.05km Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo close to Valencia for the team's first two-car test of the year. The team's new test drivers will get their first chance to steer Spyker's F8-VII at the Spanish track.

Spyker test drivers Fairuz Fauzy, Giedo van der Garde and Spaniard Adrian Valles will join race drivers Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil for a half-day of testing each.

Adrian Valles will be the first test driver to experience Spyker's new 2007 challenger as he takes to the track on Monday morning. It's going to be an emotional day for the 20-year-old Spaniard; born in nearby Alicante, Adrian has enjoyed the support of the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana throughout his driving career and Monday will be the first time he's ever driven an F1 car on his 'home' track. "It's exciting for me to drive an F1 car at a track that means so much to me," Adrian enthused. "For sure it makes you more motivated when you know the track well and have a lot of support there."

After a one-day test last year with Midland, the Spaniard hopes to build on his F1 experience this time out, "Last year I did 25 laps at Silverstone, but the aim for this test will be to familiarise myself with the new car and get to know the team a little bit better."

Giedo van der Garde will take over driving duties from Adrian on Monday afternoon. "Of course I'm very happy to be driving for Spyker and excited to get into their F1 car. I've driven at Valencia before in F3 and in the World Series by Renault, so at least the track will be familiar. I'm not sure what it will be like to drive the track in an F1 car, maybe very tight, but we'll soon see."

Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy will be keen to make his mark on Tuesday morning when he steps into the F8-VII. The 25-year-old can't wait for the run, "I'm very excited about this chance," said Fairuz. "My target will be to gain as much experience about the car as I can and to learn the new-spec Bridgestone Potenza tyres and the electronics. My priority is not to go for a fast time - as it will be more important to set a series of consistent lap times."

The test at the Spanish circuit of Valencia Ricardo Tormo will be the third run of the F8-VII that Fairuz has attended, after the inaugural shakedown of the new car at Silverstone and also at the three-day run at Barcelona earlier this week. Last Monday at the Spanish track, the Malaysian was fitted for his seat.

Fairuz said: "When I sat in the car, everything felt good, but it's only when you go out on to the track for the first time that you actually know how comfortable you will feel. I was amazed at the amount of people who worked at the team - and all the different jobs they did. It's a very professional outfit.

Spyker's race drivers will also attend the test. Christijan Albers will take over from Fairuz on Tuesday afternoon and drive for the remaining one and a half days, while Adrian Sutil will drive the second car on all three days.

[LuNo]

Montoya has no regrets

Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has no regrets exiting Formula 1 to join the NASCAR series in the US. "I have no regrets," Montoya said.

"I don't miss F1 and I don't spend time thinking about it," Montoya told Sunday Mirror Sport. "There are only a couple of guys each year who have a chance of winning the world championship. At Daytona there are maybe 15 guys in with a chance. Jeff Gordon is the favourite, along with Tony Stewart, and he is starting from the back of the grid. They are two of the most experienced guys."

"I've no regrets about leaving (Formula 1). I had options to stay but decided Nascar is where I wanted to be," said Montoya. "Formula One is not unfinished business for me and it's not in my mind to return there. OK, everyone wants to win the world championship but apart from that I won all the big races."

"I've won Monza, Silverstone, Germany and Monaco. All the races that every driver wants to win, I have won. There was only a small chance of winning the championship unless you had a car that was right on it. It is always the teams with the most money that win the championship. This year will be the same - it'll be between the same big names. I won't miss that."

"Nascar is keeping me pretty busy but I'll try to catch a couple of the Grands Prix if I can."

[LuNo]

Brawn won't return as Ferrari's technical director

Ferrari's former technical director Ross Brawn hopes to return at Ferrrari in 2008 after his sabbatical year. The Briton though doesn't want to return as the Italian team's technical director but is looking for a new challenge with the team.

This summer Brawn expects to have a meeting with Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo and Jean Todt to talk about his future at Ferrari. "When I return at Ferrari I hope to face a new challenge," Brawn told German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport. Brawn doesn't even think about joining a different F1 team than Ferrari. "The link with Ferrari is big and the team gave me a lot in the past. It would be more than reasonable to talk to them first when I want to return in Formula 1."

Ferrari already confirmed the team would love to see Brawn return. Ferrari's new technical director Mario Almondo said: "At Ferrari our former employee's will always remain part of the team. If Brawn returns he can decide in what can of way he will join our team."

[LuNo]

Villeneuve retracts Button jibes

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has admitted that he regrets some of the disparaging comments he has made in the past about Jenson Button.

Villeneuve fired a number of verbal broadsides at Button after the Briton was signed to partner him at BAR-Honda for the 2003 season, in what was widely seen as an attempt to ‘out-psych’ his new team-mate.

Among these was the observation: “Some people spend their life as would-have-beens, could-have-beens and they end up never achieving anything – and that’s what Jenson has done.”

He was also quoted as saying: “I’ll respect Jenson once he goes quickly out on the racetrack.”

The put-downs backfired when Button proved more than a match for Villeneuve, and by the end of 2003 the Canadian had split with BAR, the team he had been instrumental in creating.

Four years on, JV admits some of his remarks were uncalled for.

“F1 Racing recently published my ‘59 mouthiest moments’,” he told the March issue of the magazine.

“When I read it, there were a couple of quotes about Jenson that I said back in 2003 where I thought, ‘Ouch! That didn’t come out too well!’

“Jenson didn’t deserve that.

“Some of the things I said were a little bit too harsh and a couple shouldn’t have been said at all.”

In his defence, Villeneuve cites the displeasure he felt at being treated as expendable by newly appointed BAR boss David Richards – plus the fact that Button had much to prove after two disappointing seasons at Benetton.

“I’d built that team, and suddenly a new team principal was saying, ‘We don’t want Jacques, he’s useless – we’ve got a future world champion in Jenson.’

“Jenson had done nothing at the time and had had his ass kicked by [Giancarlo] Fisichella at Benetton.

“So mainly I was saying let’s just wait and see – I’ll respect him once he achieves something.

“And he did, so I did.

“It wasn’t as bad as it was portrayed and there was never a problem between us.”

Villeneuve now rates Button rather more highly.

“He’s fast, strong, and nothing disturbs him,” he observed.

“But he’ll have to be in a position to take a shot at the championship if we’re to see if he’s as good as [Fernando] Alonso.

“That’s highly probable, because he’s at least as good as Kimi [Raikkonen].”

[LuNo]

'Relaxed' Alonso looks to join F1 greats

Fernando Alonso says he starts 2007 more relaxed than ever as he begins his quest to carve out a place alongside Formula 1’s greatest drivers by claiming a third world title.

McLaren’s new recruit assumed the mantle of the sport’s pre-eminent driver from Michael Schumacher last season, following the German’s retirement and his own second successive drivers’ title with Renault.

Eight drivers in the 57-year history of F1 have won three or more championships and Alonso believes this is the benchmark for drivers to aspire to.

"I want to win three world titles," he told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"To win one may mean you had the best car on the grid.

“To win two is a great achievement.

“But to win three...well, all the big names in F1, and all the drivers we remember, won three or more world titles.”

The 25-year-old also insists that the achievement would be all the more significant if his third title came with his new team.

"If you ask me which is more important, winning three titles with Renault or winning three titles with two different teams, then the answer is easy,” he said.

“Even my grandmother will understand how much better it is to be world champion in two different cars with two different teams.

“So it’s always been my plan to switch teams regardless of how well I did at Renault, and especially switch to this team."

But although stating his target for the next stage of his career, Alonso claims that with two titles already in the bag he is feeling less pressure than before ahead of the 2007 season-opener in Australia next month.

And in a warning to his rivals, he says he is confident that he will continue to both flourish and improve at McLaren.

"I will be a better driver at the end of this season, too, even if I finish seventh in the drivers’ table, because it will have been another season under my belt," he said.

"I am a lot more confident and I am totally happy with life.

“Before I was very frustrated because, at 23, I was young and talented but everyone was expecting me to win the world title one day.

“I felt as if I had to keep proving myself to everybody.

"Now I don’t have to prove myself to anyone and that makes me more relaxed.”

[Angel717]

um, guys can you post the name of F1 racers (active ones)

coz i really like this dude and i totally forgot his name, maybe if you can list down some, i 'll remember! thanks!

[Frederick]

Here are all the runners and riders for the new season.

RENAULT

Giancarlo Fisichella

Heikki Kovalainen

HONDA

Rubens Barrichello

Jenson Button

RED BULL RACING

David Coulthard

Mark Webber

McLAREN

Fernando Alonso

Lewis Hamilton

TOYOTA

Ralf Schumacher

Jarno Trulli

SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Scott Speed

SPYKER

Christijan Albers

Adrian Sutil

FERRARI

Kimi Raikkonen

Felipe Massa

BMW SAUBER

Nick Heidfeld

Robert Kubica

WILLIAMS

Nico Rosberg

Alexander Wurz

SUPER AGURI

Anthony Davidson

Takuma Sato

[Angel717]

yay! thanks! I got it!!!!! :hug:

[Frederick]

Kimi takes pole in Australia.

EDIT: Kimi wins. Alonso second. Lewis Hamilton third on debut.

[Angel717]

Does anyone watches A1GP here?

[Frederick]

Despite an interesting start to the F1 season, it seems no one's too interested in motorsports here. Which is regrettable.

[Nightlife]

Despite an interesting start to the F1 season, it seems no one's too interested in motorsports here. Which is regrettable.

Haven't missed a Grand Prix in 12yrs.. Trust me yr not alone ...Just haven't really noticed this thread

booked grandstand tickets for this years Monaco GP, Can't wait!!

[Angel717]

hahah well, no matter how eager i am to watch F1 here.. it all depends on Star Sports on when are they planning to give us some coverage <_<

[Angel717]

A1GP season finale is on tonight!

Germany had already secured the cup and now, its the rest of the nations fighting for second place..

the qualifiers were such shockers, New Zealand qualified 9th, so if team GBR won both the sprint and feature race, they will definitely overthrow New Zealand for 2nd place.

GBR (1) will be at the front of the grid along side team Germany (2), followed by France (3) then Italy (4).

no worries for team Germany, they already won but they'd better retain their spot on the podium, b/c people might think they'd gone over confident, and besides I'm pretty sure Nico Hulkenberg will want something for himself

[Angel717]

yay!!!! Germany wrap up the season in style by winning the Feature Race!!!

Results:

Sprint Race:

Gold - GBR

Silver - Germany

Bronze - Italy

Feature Race:

Gold - Germany

Silver - GBR

Bronze - Italy

As of standings, Germany is in First place (and also the champions) with 128 points, New Zealand is in Second with 93 points and GBR is in Third with 92 points.

woot for Germany!! and Nico!!!

[Ange]

My team always.. Ferrari especially with Kimi.

[KBIII]

I like NASCAR