Formula 1 Roundup

Dennis has finally come clean, or at least, Martin Whitmarsh signed the letter of apology from McLaren that has hopefully brought the curtain down on the farce of the Stepneygate saga. President of the FIA, Max Mosley, seems to have been persuaded by the public humiliation of the British team and has now asked for the meeting scheduled by the World Motor Sport Council for February 14th next year to be canceled. If the meeting had gone ahead as scheduled McLaren might have fallen foul of the orders laid down by the Council, warning against any Ferrari/disputed technology being found on the plans for next year's Silver Arrows. It would seem that Max Mosley is giving up his so-called witch hunt for Valentine's Day. How romantic!

Alonso goes back to Renault

In a move that surprised no one but Heikki Kovalainen, Fernando Alonso this week inked a new two- year deal with his former team Renault which brought with it confirmation that Giancarlo Fisichella would lose his race seat (no surprises there) but also the bombshell that Heikki Kovalainen, the rookie sensation, would himself lose a race seat in spite of having been consistently the fastest of the two drivers during the last season. It was a matter of a few short hours before the true reason for Kovy's departure became known and, true to form, the old Spaniard had his role to play. Heikki's speed had been his own undoing as the former two-time world champion reportedly negotiated the removal of the Finn from the team to avoid the same kind of challenge he received from Lewis Hamilton this year.

The greatest champion of all time, as some Spanish media sources have named him on a number of occasions then, has to contend with 'just' Nelson Piquet jr, another rookie fresh from GP2. That should be easy enough, shouldn't it? Nelson Piquet's father doesn't seem to agree, saying that his son is certainly not in F1 to be a Number 2 driver. Oh dear Fernando, its not looking good for you this year, is it?

No harm though. Through all the hard times, McLaren hasn't lost its knack for spotting an opportunity as they confirmed the signing of one Heikki Kovalainen to partner Lewis Hamilton for next year. If they have a car that is. Here's hoping...

Champion Taxis

Michael Schumacher just can't keep out of the headlines, no matter how hard he tries. As confirmed by his spokeswoman, the former seven-time world champion, was in the back of a taxi on his way to the airport to jump on his private plane back home and, running late as they were, he asked the taxi driver if he could drive. The taxi driver dutifully stood aside and was treated to a first hand display of the German's mastery of his craft, in an Opel Vivaro! Storming through the traffic, a Schumacher specialty on track (and off, it seems), the Schumachers arrived on time for their flight and the taxi driver was paid his fare and a tip of 100 Euros... A good day to be a taxi driver in Germany.

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Formula 1 Calendar

The Ferrari F2008 was launched on Sunday at the company's base at Maranello. The debut saw the first public viewing of the car Ferrari pins its hopes on for continued championship glory. Its drivers, World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and championship hopeful Felipe Massa are hoping and expecting a two way fight between themselves for the coveted title. The new F1 challenger is, according to Chief Designer, Aldo Costa, an important step in the development from last year's 2007. The ban on traction control and the introduction of cost saving measures such as the requirement that gearboxes must now last for four race events, along with the introduction of a standard ECU have meant that the designers were limited as to how far they could go. Raikkonen welcomed the return of traction control-free Formula 1 whilst Felipe Massa, not surprisingly, confirmed that he was now ready to take the battle to the current title holder for championship glory.

The second of the two likeliest championship contenders, McLaren Mercedes, also launched their car, the MP4-23, at their engine partner's base in Stuttgart, Germany. The Woking squad's CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, referred to the new contender as 'a step forward' in spite of the freeze on the development of some aspects of the car offered by the team as penitence in the wake of the Spygate scandal. Lewis Hamilton was in a confident mood at the launch, which coincided with his twenty-third birthday explaining that he was going into this year's championship with more confidence than he had at the beginning of last year's campaign. If 2007 was 'tentative' for the young Hamilton, Schumacher's record books must be shaking themselves off the shelves at the prospect of a properly confident Lewis in 2008.

Finally, the Honda A Team have not yet confirmed that their drivers for 2007, Takuma Sato and Brit hopeful Anthony Davidson are confirmed for 2008, although a spokesperson has intimated that to sign them up is the intention of the team. Meanwhile, Honda's second team has long since confirmed Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as their drivers of choice. Or were they the first team? Oh dear, Honda's in a bit of pickle isn't it?

And so the season's testing and public gesturing begins. 2008 will be a vintage year for every Formula 1 fan, no doubt. Here's hoping that the Whinger Fernando Alonso can keep his complaints to himself, like the double champion that he was, when Nelsinho turns the 'rookie pressure' button to maximum attack.

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F 1 2008

The 2008 Formula One season begins on 14 March at Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Some of the prominent drivers and personnel have moved to different teams and technical regulations have also been changed. There are two new street-track venues, one in Spain and the other in Singapore featuring the sport's first-ever night race.

Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari are the world champions, after a gripping, if controversial, 2007 season when the action on the track between the Scuderia and McLaren reached fever pitch. But what are their chances of retaining the titles? Having come so close in his rookie season, can Lewis Hamilton win redemption for McLaren by going one better in 2008?

Raikkonen and Hamilton, together with Fernando Alonso, are regarded as F1's top trio, and Ferrari and McLaren are the top teams. Renault--constructors' champion in 2005 and 2006 but nowhere in 2007, faces the question of whether it can recapture its past form.

On the other hand, as F1 continues to implement rules changes designed to reduce costs and return driving responsibility to the drivers and away from engineers and computers, there is talk of the same two-team dominance and whispers of scandal to come. By most accounts, however, the 2008 show will have a different tint. Continuing the cost-cutting that began several years ago with longer-life engines and a freeze in engine development, each car must now use the same gearbox for four races. This will be of little interest to most spectators, unless a team needs to replace a gearbox sooner and the driver is thus given a five-spot starting-grid penalty.

Meanwhile, Alonso is back on the team with which he won his two championships (2005, 2006). Renault's budget is nowhere near Ferrari's or McLaren's (even after McLaren suffered from the FIA's $100 million fine for last year's industrial espionage debacle), but that was also the case when Alonso won his titles. Team boss Flavio Briatore is a master at running a race team, spending the money when and where necessary but never squandering it.

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Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is aiming for this season to start in order for him to begin his race for the World Championship as the Formula One formally kicks off this weekend in Melbourne, Australia.

Just one year ago he finished third on his first Grand Prix at Albert Park, but what really caught the eye of the public is the fierce some competitively against his team mate Fernando Alonso. He enjoyed his first rookie season like no other has done it in Formula One; he had a great year claiming four victories and eventually losing the World Championship against the Finn Kimi Raikonen; Ferrari's driver by just two points.

Hamilton believes he can really improve from last year's results and he thinks he has more opportunities during this coming weekend an experience that will leave a positive lesson.

Also; Alonso's departure from the McLaren team to the Renault has given him a leading role that he didn't had last season. "We've been working very, very hard through winter making sure the training's even better but also preparing the car," he added "Seeing a new car evolve, seeing the evolution of last year's car, and seeing the input by me and Heikki (Kovalainen) and Pedro (de la Rosa) and Gary (Paffett), and seeing how we can help push the team forward I think is really special, it's a great experience."

The 23 year-old Britton also underlined he is completely focused in the Formula One racing since he was a little boy not and not even thinking on the risks this could lead to. He was told by his father that if he studied and trained hard he would keep on racing.

He had to make a lot of sacrifices to be as successful as he is right now. When he decided that he wanted to be a professional driver he dedicated his life to it and so did his family that have been there for him always.

"At a very early stage I made that decision that I wanted to be a Formula One driver so I dedicated my life to it and so did my family. "Along the way there was lots of different turning points and there's two different roads you can take. It really was about taking that split decision right there and then you don't have too much time to make the decision, get on with it and I was very, very fortunate that I went down the right route." His entry to the Formula One was so smoothly but he overshadowed many drivers; let's not forget his previous team mate the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. This uncomfortable situation did also taught him a lesson which was his certain ability to compete and excel in motorsport's top tier.

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