Tuesday, 15th July 2008

Michael Schumacher, the most successful F1 driver of all time, reveals why he walked away at the end of 2006 – and it wasn’t because of Kimi Raikkonen, he claims…

More than a year-and-a-half on from his retirement from Formula 1, Michael Schumacher – the most successful driver in the sport’s history – has revealed that he walked away to save his team-mate and friend Felipe Massa’s career.

The German – who claimed a record-breaking seven world drivers’ crowns in the top flight, the product of an unrivalled 91 victories, 154 rostrum finishes, 68 pole positions and 1,369 points – hung up his F1 helmet at the end of his 16th season in 2006.

At the time many had surmised that he had quit rather than run the risk of being out-performed by Kimi Raikkonen, who had been signed up to drive for Ferrari the following year. Schumacher, though, insists this was not the case.

“I stopped because I didn’t want my friend Felipe Massa to be unemployed,” the 39-year-old is quoted as having said by Swiss newspaper Blick. “I would have had no problem going up against Kimi Raikkonen.”

Schumacher will be in evidence throughout the forthcoming German Grand Prix weekend – around a circuit at which he triumphed on four occasions during his career in the uppermost echelon – fulfilling his role as a special consultant to the Scuderia. The outing will mark only his second paddock visit of the season, following his appearance in Barcelona almost three months ago. He is also due to play football in the 1 drivers’ team on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the alternating agreement that currently sees the German Grand Prix shared between 2008 home Hockenheim and the Nürburgring looks set to continue until at least 2011, when the scheme is contractually fixed to end.

The move was made as more and more countries clamour for the right to welcome F1, making it more difficult to justify Germany having two seasonal slots on the calendar, as had been the case in 2006 and a number of previous years.

source: crash.net

Saturday, 28th June 2008

Australian Grand Prix receives a fresh blow as Melbourne’s local council argues it does not benefit the country, despite suggestions that a new deal to take the race through to 2015 is all-but signed and sealed.

The Australian Grand Prix – a mainstay on the Formula 1 calendar since 1985, firstly in the South Australian state capital of Adelaide and now in Melbourne’s Albert Park – has come in for severe criticism as its future remains up in the air, with claims that local residents have ‘had more than enough’ and that the race ‘does not benefit’ the country.

There has been considerable debate over the event’s future for a number of months, with no guarantee that its current contract – set to expire in 2010 – will be renewed. F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is demanding that the race be held at night in order to capture greater European viewing audiences, a move circuit promoters have repeatedly insisted is not a viable option.

The cost of welcoming the grand prix – including the fee payable to Ecclestone’s Formula One Management company – has risen steadily each year, climbing by a staggering $8 million AUD (£3.9 million) from $33 million AUD (£15.9 million) in 2006, funded by Victorian taxpayers.

Indeed, the race is now running at a considerable loss, even if the state government has pointed to clear economic benefits generated by the kudos of staging a Formula 1 event, in terms of visitors, publicity and widespread international television exposure.

In a new twist, however, the local Melbourne council which hosts the race has crucially withdrawn its support and is asking the Victorian state government to get rid of it, arguing that the grand prix ‘does not benefit Victoria as a whole’ or the rest of the country.

“After 14 years, residents have had more than enough,” City of Port Phillip mayor Janet Cribbes stressed in a statement. “Why should they have to suffer the noise and the inconvenience of a car race in a park, a race whose public price tag blew out to $41.3 million AUD (£19.9 million) last year? It simply doesn’t stack up on economic, social or environmental grounds.

source:crash.net

# Konica Minolta, title sponsor of JiR for the past three seasons, will not back Gianluca Montiron’s Honda team during the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.

# YAMAHA APOLOGISES TO ROSSI

Yamaha has apologised to Valentino Rossi for the engine problem that robbed him of second place in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship – but isn’t sure exactly what went wrong.

“We would like to say sorry to Valentino because he made a great effort to race with his broken hand,” said team director Davide Brivio. “Unfortunately a technical problem stopped him from getting the second place and we’re very sad about this. Our engineers are doing everything they can now to understand what happened today, because Valentino felt that he had a problem and that the engine was not working properly. From our first analysis we are not yet sure what the problem was, so we have decided to send the engine back to Japan for further investigation.”

# Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has confirmed that the Repsol Honda Team will remain on Michelin tyres for the 2008 MotoGP season.

# MICHAEL SCHUMACHER ON A MOTO GP BIKE

Just one day after the season-ending Valencian Grand Prix, Schumacher took to the same twisty Spanish circuit on board Casey Stoner’s 800cc Desmosedici.He finished the Spanish track in a best lap time just five seconds behind Pedrosa’s race record of 1min 32.748secs! Schumacher’s 1min 37.9secs also put the former Ferraridriver three seconds a lap from the back of the MotoGP field. Michael was ‘coached’ by former 500GP star Randy Mamola during his extended session, which lasted for most of the afternoon.

# 2008 Honda RC212V, the new motorcycle features pneumatic valves, as already used by Suzuki and Kawasaki – and rejected by Yamaha. The bike is described as an evolution of the 2007 machine , but features a new V4 engine with, as rumoured, pneumatic valve springs, plus an all-new chassis and exhaust system.