Latest F1 news in brief
- Let Red Bull race four cars – Mateschitz
- Piquet Snr backs Mosley amid sex scandal
- Official 'delighted' Mosley skipped Spain GP
- Scott Speed wins stock car race
- Boss tells Hamilton to focus on himself
- Hamilton missing Alonso input – Adrian Campos
- Briatore wants KERS delayed until 2010
Let Red Bull race four cars – Mateschitz
(GMM) Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz has proposed that each formula one team be allowed to field four cars per grand prix in the near future.
The Austrian billionaire has openly put his 50 per cent share in junior outfit Toro Rosso up for sale, as formula one prepares to no longer condone 'customer cars' from 2010.
But in an effort to maintain the same number of Red Bull-branded cars on the grid, Mateschitz told an Austrian newspaper that an alternative would be to simply allow four RBRs to be entered at each race.
"My proposal is to allow four cars per team," he said.
"If the regulations mean Toro Rosso can no longer utilize Red Bull technologies, then it makes no sense," he is quoted as saying by Salzburger Nachrichten.
"We can not build a second Milton Keynes in Faenza," Mateschitz added.
Piquet Snr backs Mosley amid sex scandal
(GMM) Max Mosley has found a rare ally in the form of former triple world champion Nelson Piquet.
Brazilian Piquet, the 55-year-old father of the rookie that races this year for Renault, suggested to the Spanish newspaper AS that the sex scandal is a storm in a teacup.
"I am very upset with him," Piquet laughed at Barcelona. "Very upset, because he didn't invite anyone to his party.
"Is there no-one in formula one who has ever had a sex party?" he mischievously wondered.
The farce of Mosley's waning grip on his FIA presidency, however, continued on Friday evening, when the 68-year-old said he understood why Israel uninvited him to the country following his meeting with sports minister Galeb Majadle at the Jordan Rally.
"I look forward to resuming contact with him when the News of the World's deliberate and calculated lies have been comprehensively refuted," he is quoted as saying in an official statement.
Official 'delighted' Mosley skipped Spain GP
(GMM) The highest ranking motor racing official in Spain said he is "delighted" that scandal-ridden Max Mosley elected to stay away from Barcelona for the grand prix this weekend.
Some observers have criticized the FIA president's absence as the 'EveryRace' campaign was launched at the Circuit de Catalunya, but the Spanish racing federation president Carlos Gracia declared that Mosley and an anti-racism drive do not currently go together.
"I'm delighted that Max is not here," he told the Associated Press.
Gracia, with a vote in the FIA Senate, also doubts that the 68-year-old Englishman will emerge with his job from the June 3 meeting.
"He's damaged FIA a lot with this. FIA is an entity that needs to send out an image of credibility," he explained.
In Jordan for the FIA world rally, Citroen chief Olivier Quesnel confirmed that he was anxious about bumping into Mosley.
"We understand that it is his private life, but the problem is that everybody knows what is in his private life," he is quoted as saying by The Independent.
Scott Speed wins stock car race
(GMM) Former Toro Rosso racer Scott Speed impressed the American stock racing scene on Friday by winning the 'ARCA RE/MAX' race – a couple of steps down from the premier NASCAR category – at Kansas Speedway.
25-year-old Speed, who now drives a Red Bull-sponsored Toyota, was dropped by the energy drink firm's second-tier formula one team before the Hungarian grand prix last August.
After winning in Kansas, Speed confirmed that his ambition is to achieve the same success in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup category.
"This is a step toward that," he said.
Boss tells Hamilton to focus on himself
(GMM) McLaren executive Martin Whitmarsh at Barcelona advised Lewis Hamilton to focus on himself, as observers agree that the 23-year-old Briton is going through a slump.
Whitmarsh, the Mercedes-powered team's CEO, said Hamilton needs to hone how he manages the '2 per cent' of his mind that needs to think about things other than driving.
So is Hamilton, who some have observed is less cheerful than usual at Barcelona following his awful Bahrain grand prix, overcommitting himself?
"Yes," Whitmarsh confirmed. "I think Lewis is too giving of himself."
Whitmarsh said he has never seen the F1 world pile on the pressure as much as it has in reaction to Hamilton, triggered by his burst onto the scene as a rookie last year.
Some believe that Hamilton soaked up the attention like a sponge, and possibly to his detriment now.
"As a young man, Lewis is that way inclined," Whitmarsh acknowledged. "I wouldn't say he's overly gregarious or overly outgoing, but he's a lively, young, ambitious individual."
The Guardian newspaper points out that, missing from Hamilton's entourage this year is Dr Kerry Spackman, a neuroscientist who worked closely with the Briton in 2007.
Former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart agrees that Hamilton needs some sort of "coach".
"You cannot go from kindergarten to university overnight," said the Scot. "Even the great Tiger Woods has a man with him."
Hamilton missing Alonso input – Adrian Campos
(GMM) One year ago, Lewis Hamilton was the meteoric rookie who seemingly could do no wrong.
At Barcelona, following a disastrous Bahrain grand prix, the 23-year-old McLaren driver is accused of having lost the spring in his step.
A reporter for the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport dared ask him if he is missing the technical experience of departed teammate Fernando Alonso, who some say guided the setup of Hamilton's car last year.
"Nonsense," Hamilton, 23, fired.
"Fernando and I have a similar driving style, but with the setup we usually went our separate ways," he added.
Alonso's former manager, however, is in no doubt that the Spaniard is the missing element at Woking this year.
"Fernando arrived last year, put the car on the right track, and they thanked him by basically kicking him out," Adrian Campos told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
"And look where they are now," he added.
Briatore wants KERS delayed until 2010
(GMM) F1 team and technical bosses will meet on Saturday morning to discuss the introduction of KERS energy-recovery technology next year.
The German magazine Auto Motor und Sport claims that not every leading figure in the paddock supports Max Mosley's claim that the environmentally-friendly 'boost button' gizmos are good for the sport.
Renault's Flavio Briatore, already supported in his opposition by Ferrari vice president Piero Ferrari, is reportedly concerned that the cost of developing the system for 2009 is running into $20m.
He will apparently propose at the meeting that KERS is delayed until 2010.
Auto Motor und Sport said Honda, BMW and Williams are, however, in favor of introduction next year, while McLaren-Mercedes and Toyota sit on the fence.