Jenson signs with McLaren - Six Million Pounds for Car #1

It's funny how much McLaren is willing to pay for a #1 and #2 on their cars in 2010. Everyone's best guess is about 6 Million Pounds per year. Too bad that between Jenson and Lewis they only tend to win races in the beginning of the season (when they have the technical edge) as opposed to the end of the season. What do you think? Is this pairing the next Prost/Senna or is it Alonso/Piquet?

Least surprising newsflash ever- Toyota leaves F1 !

In one of the most predictable news stories of the racing year, Toyota has announced that they are departing the F1 scene in 2009. After spending $400M a year without a win,Toyota has decided to stop lining Bernie's pockets with gold on what is becoming the most boring, controversy laden spec series in the world. Bon Vonyage Toyota.

Renault Guarantees Pole in 2010 - Signs Robert Kubica as Alonso's Replacement

While it appears that the 2009 Silly Season in Formula 1 started in March this year, the number of confirmed drivers for 2010 just increased by one with the Renault F1 Team's signing of Robert Kubica. Based on the press releases that have been circling it appears as though Robert Kubica's contract with Renault in for one year only, not surprising in a sport where the remaining manufacturer-based teams keep a clear path to the exit just in case the share-holders get nervous about the F1 budget.

The move to Renault is actually a return for Robert who started his F1 career with a Renault test session before being snapped up by BMW-Sauber. Hopefully Robert finds the 2010 Renault more to his liking than the 2009 BMW-Sauber, which combined with some of his ambitious passing maneuvers has netted him only 9 points so far this year.

Best of luck Robert, anyone that can take the kind of hit that he did in Montreal in 2007 and return to racing cars is one of the few bright spots in Formula 1 today.

Briatore Banned ! Renault and Pat Symonds Suspended for Two Years and Five Years!

So Flavio is out, sentenced to a life of billionaire excess with his super-model wife. Pat Symonds and Renault were banned for 5 years and two years respectively, but as Renault had the good sense to push Flavio and Symonds onto their own swords, their ban is suspended. As for Nelson Piquet Jr., the man who never was, he will need to be content with the knowledge that he took the cowards' way out...twice.

This lifetime ban is the harshest ever handed out in the sport of motor-racing, and "Crash gate" is the latest blemish in a sport and series that truly has lost it's way. Even after all that, I'm still surprised that a room full of people think that Nelson Piquet Jr. had the car control skills to crash at will.

I thought that the article below was an interesting take on the matter.

(via the Independent.ie)

So Renault F1 will not contest the allegations against them of race-fixing during last year's Singapore Grand Prix. Team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds beat a hasty exit once they knew the game was up. For Renault, after all their years in F1, they end up with their valuable name and the word 'cheating' juxtaposed. It is a public relations nightmare.

The highly regarded CEO of Renault, Carlos Ghosn, whose sobriquet is 'Le Cost Killer', said they will not act irrationally in advance of the hearing by the FIA tomorrow. That roughly translates as 'this is the perfect opportunity to exit the sport'. Not only is it a get out of financial jail card, but with Renault's name tainted, they need to keep a low profile. Whether the manufacturer leaves of its own volition, or gets forced out by the FIA, remains to be seen.

It is inconceivable that their F1 lieutenants should have jeopardised Renault's reputation with such an outlandish plan to get one team-mate, Nelson Piquet Jnr, to deliberately crash out in order to help another team-mate, Fernando Alonso, win the race. That is taking race strategy beyond the pale.

Briatore forced this young driver to effectively hold a gun to his head in a game of Russian roulette and in doing so the Renault F1 boss lost all rationale and perspective. To treat people with such contempt, especially when they are already out there risking their lives, is pernicious.

Eddie Irvine doesn't see it like that and believes the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. "F1 has always been a war, and in war all is fair. When I was in various teams, you would do anything to win. In those days it was normal."

Well, when you enter the world of F1 you make a pact with the devil, but even Satan would raise an eyebrow at the tactics employed by Briatore.

It is also incredible that Piquet should accede to such a demand. When it was pointed out to him on a map of the circuit which part would be the most opportunistic to crash out, did he not say: 'You are asking me to crash into a wall and possibly kill myself, are you f****** crazy?'

There is also a conflict of interest. Flavio Briatore was not only his boss but also his manager. Piquet was hanging onto his drive by the skin of his teeth. Briatore put him in an impossible position -- do as I say or you're out. It is said that Briatore is regarded in the paddock with a mixture of fear, suspicion and envy. Sounds like he earned his spurs.

Was Flavio so naive as to think Piquet wouldn't go straight to the FIA with his little secret when he failed to renew the Brazilian's contract? So far we've had blackmail, threats of lawsuits and counter-threats. But Briatore sealed his own fate. The flamboyant 59-year-old Italian had become more famous for being in the gossip columns than for his day job. He had more supermodels than you could shake a carrot at. He had so many fingers in so many pies he'd run out of digits.

Apart from his Renault gig and managing the careers of Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen, he'd been hanging out on Billionaire's Boulevard, co-buying Queen's Park Rangers with Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal. He owns The Billionaire Club in Sardinia and Monte Carlo. He has a posh London restaurant, a nightclub and a Kenyan estate 'Lion under the Sun', frequented by Bono.

Last year he took time out to marry his girlfriend, a 29-year-old wonderbra model, though what first attracted her to the would-be-billionaire is not known. At least Flavio can now spend more time on his $68m super-yacht banishing his billionaire blues.

It wasn't all plain sailing for this self-made high-achiever. Back in the 1970s, he was an assistant to an Italian businessman who was later mysteriously killed by a car bomb, which had nothing to do with Briatore, but around the same time he was sentenced in the Italian courts to four and a half years in prison for fraud. He fled to a Caribbean island and that was the end of that.

Meeting Luciano Benetton when he worked at the Italian stock exchange was a watershed moment. He became a director of Benetton's US division and subsequently took over the reins of Benetton F1.

He pinched Michael Schumacher from under Eddie Jordan's nose and the German went on to win two drivers' titles in 1994 and '95 and gave Benetton their first constructors' championship in '95. In 2000, Renault purchased the Benetton team and Flavio's new charge, Fernando Alonso, won two drivers' and two constructors' championships.

Briatore fired Jenson Button in favour of Alonso and back then he commented: "Time will tell if I am wrong." Eddie Jordan and Briatore were close. They both enjoyed the partying and razzmatazz of F1. Flavio, in a show of friendship, once offered Eddie and his family the use of his Kenyan retreat. Eddie duly accepted and enjoyed the hospitality in the wonderful surroundings of this fabulous facility. Meanwhile, back in the UK, Briatore, it is alleged, worked overtime luring a sponsor away from Jordan. By the time Eddie returned from the holiday, the sponsor had switched teams. There are not many who can boast of pulling the wool over EJ's eyes.

In the 1980s, when there was a bomb scare close to where he lived in London, it turned out the IRA had abandoned a bomb outside his house.

Piquet described Briatore as his executioner, but it turned out to be the other way round. So after an illustrious career in F1, Briatore faces an uncertain future. He always said he didn't want to spend his dotage in F1 so he got what he wanted, albeit earlier than expected.

Next weekend we re-visit the scene of last year's crime, the Singapore Grand Prix. Remember it's a night race and the drivers' body clocks will have to adjust to strange racing times in a foreign time-zone. They will try to keep European hours which means eating dinner at 5am, a challenge in itself. The inaugural race proved a resounding success last year and the floodlit setting looked spectacular.

It's a pity there's a scent of scandal hanging over it. Though that's the least of their worries; the smog haze that has enveloped their city is a more immediate problem and one they hope will have gone by the weekend.

Brawn's Button and Barrichello will be fighting tooth and nail as their battle gets personal. Barrichello seems to be in the ascendancy having won again in Monza, while the money is on Button. But since it's Singapore, maybe it should be a case of 'all bets are off'.

It's Official - BMW to leave F1 at the end of 2009 Season

(via ESPN) MUNICH -- BMW is pulling out of Formula One at the end of this season, the second car maker to leave the series within a year.

The German company announced the decision at a news conference Wednesday, saying it wanted to use its significant F1 budget in other areas. It will remain involved in auto racing.

Since entering F1 as a team by taking over the Sauber team ahead of the 2006 season -- it had previously acted as an engine supplier -- BMW had posted just one race win, at last year's Canadian Grand Prix.

Touted as a championship contender for the 2009 season, BMW lagged well behind the pace of the leading teams.

"Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it's a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment," BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said at the news conference.

He said the Munich-based car maker would use the resources previously spent on the F1 team to advance "sustainability and environmental compatibility."

Klaus Draeger, the board member responsible for development, said the team was "unable to meet expectations in the current season."

BMW's withdrawal followed that of Japanese car maker Honda ahead of the 2009 season, illustrating the growing pressure upon car makers to cut costs amid a global economic downturn that had hit new car sales.

Their withdrawal also lent credence to efforts by the FIA to significantly reduce F1 costs in order to retain existing teams and attract new entrants.

FIA, motor racing's world governing body, said it hoped BMW was the last manufacturer to leave the series.

"The FIA regrets the announcement of BMW's intended withdrawal from Formula One, but is not surprised by it," it said in a statement.

"It has been clear for some time that motor sport cannot ignore the world economic crisis. Car manufacturers cannot be expected to continue to pour large sums of money into Formula One when their survival depends on redundancies, plant closures and the support of the taxpayer. This is why the FIA prepared regulations to reduce costs drastically."

BMW's decision to end its involvement on Formula One only came Tuesday and the company was still considering what to do with the staff involved with the team, Draeger said.

"Of course ... would all have liked to continue this ambitious campaign and show that this season was just a hiccup following three successful years," BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen said.

"But I can understand why this decision was made from a corporate perspective. We will now focus sharply on the remaining races and demonstrate our fighting spirit and put in a good result as we bid farewell to Formula One racing."

Mercedes, the other major German car maker involved in Formula One, said it regretted BMW's pullout, "but it will have no influence on our F1 engagement."

The decision by BMW comes at a time when auto makers worldwide are reporting lower sales amid the global economic slowdown. Consumers are reluctant to open their wallets for big-ticket items and companies are trimming costs.

Georg Stuerzer, an automotive analyst with UniCredit in Munich who follows BMW, told AP that he estimated that the company was spending approximately $280 million a year on its Formula One involvement.

Draeger said it was not yet clear if the decision would result in job losses in Munich and Hinwil, Switzerland. The operation counts some 700 workers.

"Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information," he said. "We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich."

The withdrawal will prompt speculation about the future of drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. Kubica will be in strong demand for next season and will likely remain involved in F1.

The future for Heidfeld is less certain, though his long stint in the sport could make him an attractive option for the new entrant teams next season, who will be looking for an experienced driver.

In its debut season in 2006, BMW Sauber wound up fifth in the constructors' championship. In 2007, the German-Swiss team came in second after McLaren-Mercedes' exclusion from the points standings.

In 2008, the team was in the hunt for the world championship until the end of the season, winding up third. Kubica had the only GP victory in Canada.

So far, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has taken one pole position (Kubica in Bahrain in 2008) and 16 podium finishes. It is eighth in the constructors' standings in the current season.

Hey Nelson Piquet Jr....Your bus is waiting, time to get under it.

Remember the good old days of the "silly season" in F1 where there would be rumors and speculation that someone was going to lose their seat and their replacement would be signed and then installed the following year?

Well those days are largely gone. It looks like the most recent casualty of the 2009 season (aside from decorum, good-sportsmanship and business ethics) is Nelson Piquet Jr. Apparently the race this weekend at in Hungary will be his last outing for the Renault F1, and that he will be replaced by Romain Grosjean for Valencia.

Good luck Nelson. We hardly knew ya!

Hey Sebastien here's your bus...

No wait, it looks like you're already under it, courtesy of Jaimie Alguersuari, your new replacement, I mean teammate.

This will be the second time that Scuderia Toro Rosso has allegedly booted a driver for "lack of performance," when the difference between the kept driver and the sacked driver is often the difference between 16th and 18th spot on the grid.

I always thought that anything short of the first 8 places was a poor showing.

As reported by Motorsport.com

Jaimie Alguersuari on Monday indicated that Sebastien Bourdais has been ousted from his race seat at Toro Rosso.

The 19-year-old Spaniard is the favourite to replace Frenchman Bourdais, whose immediate exit from the Red Bull-owned team is expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.

Alguersuari told Radio Catalunya: "He is 30, he has a daughter, has won four championships in the American Champ Cars, won the F3000 here in Europe and, honestly, is a highly trained driver.

"But it seems that this year he has not given it everything, as he should have.

"I truly believe that the decision by Red Bull is just, but it is never nice to see someone taken away after half a season," Alguersuari added.

Toro Rosso on Monday would not comment.

If he makes his debut as expected in Hungary in two weeks, the Spaniard - not yet 19 and a half years old - would be the youngest ever Formula One race driver.