Latest F1 news in brief
07/08/08
- F1 teams to analyze Singapore lights
- Photographer slams 'rude' Raikkonen
- Coulthard names Vettel as ideal F1 successor
- McLaren debuts 'shark-fin' at Hockenheim test
- Mosley scandal returns to mainstream media
F1 teams to analyze Singapore lights
(GMM) All formula one teams will shortly send experts to Singapore to collect information before the first ever artificially-lit grand prix there in late September.
"We are trying to understand the implications of the lighting," Honda team principal Ross Brawn confirmed to reporters at the British grand prix last weekend.
He said a section of the street circuit will be lit by organizers within the next week or two so that the F1 teams can analyze the implications.
One of the elements of the sport's normal routine that might need to be adjusted, for example, is the brightness of rear tail light, Brawn suggested.
Another problem, he added, is that Bridgestone's current range of tire compounds are not designed for cooler night conditions.
"There is a limited range of compounds and I know they are not going to invent a compound for it," he said.
Photographer slams 'rude' Raikkonen
(GMM) The photographer knocked over by reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen on the Silverstone grid has denied provoking the Ferrari driver's attack.
We reported that Frenchman Paul-Henri Cahier, who has been a F1 photographer for almost forty years, fell onto his back after Raikkonen shoved him for pushing a lens too close to the Finnish driver's face and standing on his equipment prior to the British grand prix.
But in a statement issued by Cahier's agency, the Cahier Archive, he denied that he touched Kimi's equipment.
"Furthermore, the distance at which Paul-Henri Cahier was taking a picture, although close, was completely standard," the statement added.
Cahier said he has never seen a F1 driver act "in such a rude manner" as did Raikkonen at Silverstone, but he does not intend to take any further action.
Coulthard names Vettel as ideal F1 successor
(GMM) David Coulthard has named Sebastian Vettel as his preferred successor at Red Bull Racing.
After announcing his impending retirement at Silverstone last weekend, the veteran Scot said German youngster Vettel, 21, "has everything a future F1 winner needs".
Vettel, under contract to the energy drink company and racing for sister team Toro Rosso, is already strongly linked with the 2009 seat.
Mark Webber, who has been confirmed as a continuing Red Bull Racing driver for next year, is also believed to have publicly named Vettel as a frontrunner for the ride at the scene of the British grand prix.
Coulthard, a 13-time winner who made his grand prix debut in 1994, told F1's official website of Vettel: "His maturity and approach shows me that he is the best man for the job.
"So I am very confident that he would be able to do a very good job for Red Bull Racing."
Coulthard also gave a big hint that, alongside his consultancy and occasional testing role at RBR next year, he may spend time in the F1 paddocks as a special television pundit.
"On the side of the media, I can contribute a lot, as I have the knowledge of what its like inside a team," he said.
McLaren debuts 'shark-fin' at Hockenheim test
(GMM) McLaren debuted a 'shark-fin' style engine cover as three days of formula one testing got underway at German grand prix venue Hockenheim on Tuesday.
Rain showers were an unwelcome element on the first of the three days of action, but the weather did not stop Silverstone winner Lewis Hamilton from giving the striking bodywork addition its maiden runs.
Similar bodywork is already being used by Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Renault in 2008, and Force India joined the growing 'shark-fin' club at the recent Silverstone test and British prand prix.
All ten F1 teams were testing at Hockenheim on Tuesday. Also on driving duties were Nico Rosberg (Williams), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber), Nelson Piquet (Renault), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), David Coulthard (Red Bull), Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota) and Alex Wurz (Honda).
Mosley scandal returns to mainstream media
(GMM) The Max Mosley sex scandal has returned to mainstream media headlines, as the FIA president this week began his privacy and defamation case in London against British newspaper News of the World.
Veritable hundreds of press reports took notable interest in the 68-year-old Briton's appearance in the High Court witness box, as he openly admitted to enjoying sadomasochistic "parties" with paid women for nearly fifty years.
The Financial Times made the inescapable observation that the new media attention "raises fresh … doubts" about Mosley's continuing role at the head of the world governing body of motoring clubs and motor sport.
The British international business newspaper also said the trial raises "fresh questions about whether he is fit for office".
Like the celebrity-scandal newspaper News of the World, the British tabloid press gleefully focused again on the previously low-profile Mosley, who has a "bizarre sex life", according to the Daily Mail.
The media reports quote Mosley as playing down things like the bleeding caused by whippings, with the Daily Star headlining: "F1 chief hooked on spanking for 50 years".
The Daily Mirror's headline was "Motor racing chief Max Mosley: I love to be spanked".
Mosley's court appearance also breathed life into the claims that his "party" had a Nazi theme, for which he is seeking unlimited punitive damages.
In court on Tuesday, two of the five prostitutes denied the orgy had a Nazi theme.
Video evidence played in court, however, depicted one woman saying: "We are the Aryan race, the blondes", to which Mosley responded that he did not hear or recall.
"The fact that someone mentioned they're Aryan doesn't ipso facto mean Nazi," the newspapers quote Mosley as saying.
"It's a throwaway line in a general scenario. If that's the only thing you can point to, it's not much, is it?" he added.
The respected Guardian newspaper headlined its take on Monday's court proceedings as 'Max Mosley: Aryan doesn't mean Nazi'.