Latest F1 news in brief
- Spain objects to FIA's anti-racism campaign
- Williams wants more money for more races
- BMW rise not good for me – Alonso
- Villeneuve laments late traction control ban
- Mosley orgy had Nazi theme – newspaper
Spain objects to FIA's anti-racism campaign
(GMM) The head of the Spanish motor racing federation has come out fighting against embattled FIA president Max Mosley's plan to launch an anti-racism campaign at the country's grand prix later this month.
Carlos Gracia, also a member of the World Council, insisted to members of the Spanish press on Saturday that "there will be no anti-racism campaign in Montmelo", referring to Mosley's declared plans in February for the race at Circuit de Catalunya this year.
The FIA's anti-racism campaign, entitled 'racing against racism', was a response to the Lewis Hamilton incident during winter testing, but its deployment must now be in doubt because of the Mosley sex scandal, which reportedly had Nazi connotations.
In a five-star Bahrain hotel, Gracia would not be drawn on the scandal, but he said his position against the anti-racism scandal had already been made clear to Mosley before his romp with five prostitutes was made public.
"Spain is not a racist country," he insists.
Mosley received some support amid the sex scandal on Saturday in the form of the Brazilian motor body.
Two more F1 teams played their cards close to their chest in Bahrain; Force India's Vijay Mallya saying only that India is a "conservative country", while Red Bull's coy stance is encapsulated by its paddock magazine, the Red Bulletin, which hasn't uttered a word about the sex scandal this weekend.
The global press coverage of the story, however, remains a problem for Mosley. The Independent on Saturday took a step into the surreal when it published a 'brief history of orgies', while Spain's El Mundo referred to the impending 'decline of F1's Fuhrer'.
Williams wants more money for more races
(GMM) Sir Frank Williams has backed formula one's expansion, but thinks Bernie Ecclestone should pay for the privilege of a longer calendar.
A raft of team bosses recently said they would agree to the F1 chief executive's desire for 20 races a season.
"We support twenty (races) providing Bernie recognizes it costs a lot more because of extra people and transporting equipment," Williams said at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit; his first appearance at a grand prix in 2008.
BMW rise not good for me – Alonso
(GMM) Robert Kubica celebrated his first pole position on Saturday night with a quiet game of cards with his closest F1 friend — double world champion Fernando Alonso.
But while Alonso, the Spaniard who had qualified tenth in Bahrain, was delighted for his Polish friend, he insists that the rise of BMW Sauber does not bode well for the recovery of his Renault team in 2008.
"Instead of two teams in a different world to us, now there are three," the 26-year-old told the Spanish newspaper El Pais at Sakhir.
"For me this is not a good development, because now I am aspiring only to seventh position in races at the most."
Alonso said he also played cards with Kubica after qualifying in Australia, where a driving error cost the 22-year-old pole position.
"Tonight I think he will not be as bad tempered as he was then," Alonso laughed.
Villeneuve laments late traction control ban
(GMM) Jacques Villeneuve had mixed feelings as he made his return to a formula one paddock in Bahrain this weekend.
The 1997 world champion said he has enjoyed being trackside again, after unceremoniously leaving the BMW-Sauber team during the 2006 season — ironically to be replaced by Robert Kubica, who scored his and the Swiss-German team's first pole in Villeneuve's presence.
Villeneuve had travelled to the Sakhir circuit to race in the Speedcar support category, explaining that he is trying to compile a budget to return to the premier stock car series, NASCAR, in the future.
French-Canadian Villeneuve, 36, then took in the qualifying session from the garage of his famous father's former team, Ferrari.
His only pang of regret is that his F1 career ended before the FIA outlawed driver aids, including traction control
"These cars would be exactly to my taste," Villeneuve told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell. "Unfortunately, the rules changed a little too late for me."
Mosley orgy had Nazi theme – newspaper
(GMM) British tabloid News of the World on Sunday insisted that Max Mosley's sex romp with five prostitutes had a Nazi theme.
In a second expose about the FIA president's personal life, the newspaper quotes one of the prostitutes as saying Mosley ordered her to "dress up in German military uniform".
"It's not the first time he's hired us," she added.
Mosley vehemently denies the Nazi connotations, and has commenced legal action against the newspaper. News of the World says all the prostitutes were contacted by Mosley's lawyers to bolster his denial of the Nazi connotation.
But the unnamed prostitute, confirming that one of her colleagues wore a German Luftwaffe tunic, said: "Max knew (the) orgy was to have a Nazi theme — he ordered it!"
The report also published photos of Jews in a Nazi concentration camp wearing striped uniforms — similar to the costumes also donned by Mosley's prostitutes.
"I was told to expect a very strong Nazi theme, including demeaning body inspections, brutality and that two submissive girls must play the parts of camp inmates," the prostitute added.
News of the World also said the FIA Senate will be sent a DVD copy of the full sex video, depicting Mosley speaking German and faking a German accent in English to the prostitutes.
But the newspaper's evidence of a Nazi undertone is thin, and a published transcript of the orgy quotes a prostitute as saying Mosley is "serving a life sentence for crimes he has committed" and would be returned "to his cell" — which doesn't tie in with the death camp claims.