Fast Cars

We wrote earlier about the possibility of a street racing circuit in Delhi as early as 2009. The project is supported by F1 supremo Bernie, The Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit and the Indian Richard Branson, Vijay Mallya.

They might be spending alot of money, and arnt goin nowhere but i still have fait…

Which championship fight is more exciting - Alonso vs Schumacher in Formula 1, Force vs Capps in NHRA's Funny Car or The Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship in NASCAR.

I will have to take Petty's side on this one. Besides, Indy Car racing and Formula One isn't really racing, if you win the pole you win the race, unless you break down. Dont' believe me take a look a look at Formula One racing today.

Whilst Schumacher may have been one of the best drivers in F1 (I think he’s past his peak), he bloody annoys me sometimes with these stunts.

今週の土日は、F1スペインGPがあります。だから今週も車三昧（笑）

No, not on the runway, happily. The Dubai-based Emirates has just announced another sports sponsorship deal. Beginning with this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the distinctive “Fly Emirates” logo – in evidence at an increasing number of top global sporting events - will appear on the Team McLaren Formula One cars at motor races across the world, as well as on the uniform of drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.

So, im going to the F1 at Sepang at last (upon invitation, no way i could afford those grand stand tix!!!).. and am pretty excited about it too… expect I’ll be taking lotta pics.. and am going to have a grand time and see for myself why my friends love the Formula One so much

Designed by noted Formula One designer and long time Dyson collaborator, Peter Boutwood, the goal was a new presentation consistent with Dyson Racing’s history as America’s premier sports car team. “The challenge was to re-design the whole corporate image, brand and liveries of Dyson Racing while retaining the origins of its image, integrity and identity,” recounted Boutwood. “It was necessary that the new image unite in a strong corporate brand befitting a successful race team.

Do blogs have anything in common with Formula One? I think yes, and these are my reasons…

- This site is dedicated to my passion - Formula One - and I will discuss all things F1. The season is due to begin in a few weeks, so there will be no shortage of posts. Please subscribe to the feeds if you want or return regularly as there will always be something new to read.

Mercedes McLaren SLR, what can I say about it? It is Mercedes showcase car, just look at the designs, that slick jacknife profile, those shark-like side gills, that formula one front end and those beautiful wheels. It's the ultimate gearhead's toy. The SLR is not just all show and no go, underneath is the superb McLaren tuned engine that sounds like a Spitfire charging down the road. In a word, breathtaking.

Here's an inside look at the new Sauber F1.06, BMW's first entry in Formula One racing.

The orange is synonymous with the origins of McLaren, as the team ran its Formula One and CAN-AM racers in the colour for a number of years starting with the M5A in 1968.

Only a little over two months from the start of the 2006 Formula One season, I thought I would publish the proposed calender and give my predictions for the upcoming year.

From a saddened fan who will miss the plight, struggle, failure, fortune, success and elation of one the most passionate teams to have graced the Formula One grid.

In the Basilica di San Antonio, I saw the strangest relics: St. Anthony’s tongue mounted on a gilded stand, his larynx in another, and the usual moth-eaten saintly-robe-and-slippers display. The university’s botanical garden - the oldest in the world, founded in 1545 - housed “Goethe’s Palm”, the palm that inspired the German writer’s ideas for his Metamorphosis. I spent the weekend back in Monza, along with thousands of race car fans there to see Italy’s Formula One race. Marco saw me off to the train station for the last time to meet George in Munich.

Continuing the motoring technology trend of the above article, this autoblog article brings in another of my loves: Formula 1. I've only been following F1 for a couple of years, but already the tensions within the sport have intrigued me:

Pedro de la Rosa was the man at the wheel of the interim MP4-20B, a modified version of the team’s 2005 race car specially adjusted to fit the new Mercedes engine. He completed 78 laps over two days with a best time of 1m 22.974 - between five and six seconds slower than the fastest V10 car present.

Can you think of anything better for motorsports in Italy? It has to mildly disgust Italian race fans to have a German pilot their Ferrari. Now they will have one of their own…one who is already a legend and hero.

Narain Karthikeyan would be hoping that a combination of new car and history help him turn around his fledgling formula one career as the team head to the Belgium Grand Prix here over the weekend.

Sacha Baron Cohen, better known to HBO viewers as Ali G, will be playing a French Formula One driver in a new NASCAR comedy that will also star Will Ferrell. The as-yet untitled picture will feature Ferrell as a fan favorite race car driver, while Cohen will be playing a Frenchman who comes to the U.S. to dominate NASCAR and beat Ferrell. The movie is currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2006.

François Cevert, 1973 (Died sliced in half on a F1 GP in 73)

It was with a slightly nervous disposition that I went into this years championship, after all Schumacher had dashed all my hopes in '04 by literally going through the competition as smoothly as a knife through butter. If that was not bad enough Ferrari had put their poor pre-season testing effort behind them and the modified F2004M started the season after some record breaking laps around Mugello.

Anyway, back to the Tour de France. The first thing I’ve noticed is that only teams compete, no individual riders. Much worse, out of the the twenty-one teams of nine riders, twenty-one of the teams are sponsored by corporations. That’s every one of them!

I realize Formula One is getting that way, but motorsport at least has privateers. Evidently there’s none of that in bike racing, which I have to say pretty much turns my stomach. The only reason a company would sponsor a bike team is for advertising exposure and I’d prefer it if some people who loved the sport itself could have some teams.

An adamant Mosley apparently did not consider the wider ramifications for formula one in front of 130,000 spectators and a television audience of millions. For him this was “a black-and-white issue”. The chicane undermined the spirit of sporting competition and would have been unfair to the Bridgestone cars - even if Jordan and Minardi supported the Michelin teams. Mosley argues that “I had to apply the rules fairly. In sport you can’t allow the majority to dictate.”

Perhaps this is one of the “gotchas” which await the FIM in its quest to match the popularity of F1. As is often the case, the grass isn’t always greener and the complexities of balancing cost, safety and participation may yet create the same PR controversy for MotoGP that has just exploded in the Formula One world.

It seemed the Formula One president and CEO had seen the error of his words about women racing with men when he called Danica Patrick over the weekend, presumably to apologize.

The main culprit was turn 13 at Indianapolis considered to be the only real banked turn in Formula One racing. With an angle of up to nine degrees, it demands a left-right compromise on suspension set-up. The left tyres take the heaviest strain, particularly their shoulders, with tyre temperature increasing in this area as a result. If this temperature is too high for too long, wear rates rise dramatically and can lead to failure. Michelin's request to allow tyre changes for safety reasons without penalising the teams was denied, as were the teams' requests to add a chicane to turn 13; all ruled as being against regulations. No surprises in the results as Schumi won facing no real competetion. His disappointment at the win was however clearly seen at the podium, with Tiago Monteiro being the only one really celebrating the hollow victory.

The F1 race today in Indianapolis, the US Grand Prix, was a complete failure - on many levels.

Michelin failed to make a tire that is capabale of racing more than 10 laps without putting the driver in danger.

The FIA failed to figure out some sort of resolution to the problem.

The teams failed to push Michelin to give them another option.

Well the Formula race at Indianapolis yesterday was interesting. Although IMHO I don’t think that you can entirely blame Michelin for it as they were concerned for the safety of the drivers. I know that if I was a race driver in an F1 car I would be concerned if my tyre company said there was a fault with the tyre and it wasn’t safe to race then I wouldn’t race. I think the blame lies with the FIA for not building that chicane allowing the rest of the teams to race. If that had’ve been built then the race would have been more interesting and all the fans at Indianapolis wouldn’t have been so dissappointed. Still the only bit of excitment during the 6 car race was the fact that Ferrari’s nearly took each other out. Bet Barrichello was fuming.

Together with his co-driver Allen Oh, Karamjit had won the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) last year, as well as in 2001 and 2002. Because of him, Proton had also snagged the Manufacturer’s title in 2002 and 2004. Karamjit also took the Group N (Production car) titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001. (Source)

Isn’t this a proven track record for success? How come he is unable to get sponsorship from anyone?

There is an interesting article by Terry Blount of the Dallas Morning News discussing future options that may be available to Danica Patrick in NASCAR or Formula One were she ever to decide to go that route. Though, if Danica is successful in the Indy Racing League and the IRL continues to grow in popularity as a result, the issue of money may become mute as the IRL will enjoy an increase in sponsorship money and television revenues in the same way that the PGA did with Tiger. In addition, Danica’s independent endorsement contracts outside of the sport would likely well exceed her earnings from racing. The article is well worth a read for IRL, NASCAR, and Formula One fans (free login required at Mercury News website).

The 2005 Formula One racing schedule is now posted and has been updated with race previews and circuit information. Follow this World Championship Racing Series as it visits 19 different countries and numerous types of courses. Get my perspectives on the importance of each event along with some predictions as to what the outcome will be.

Michael Schumacher crushed rivals with a daunting performance in the Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying round. The world champion set pole position with a lap 0.641 seconds faster than second placed Mark Webber of Jaguar. The German secured the 57th pole of his career and is now just eight poles away from the Formula One record set by the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna. Schumacher is looking to win in Malaysia after failing to win here in two years. Provisional grid positions for the Malaysian Grand Prix after Saturday's qualifying: 1. Michael Schumacher...

Having qualified as a psychologist, Nicky became more specifically involved with sports psychology following a contract with Formula One. In 1997 she became part of the support team for the British eventing squad. She helped the team — including Pippa — to team silver at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Car racer, designer, and manufacturer Bruce McLaren was killed when his McLaren M8D lost its back end at high speed and collided with an earthen embankment at the Goodwood racetrack in England.

They are doing some impressive things with electric motors these days:

“Size for size, we can provide 400% more torque than any type of motor currently available,” says managing director John Bryant. He is now hoping to team up with a sports car manufacturer, such as Lotus or TVR. Theoretically an electric racing car driven by four of the motors - one for each wheel - could hold its own in Formula One.

The Sultan’s interest is also shown in motor racing. He has a private museum displaying all the Formula One championship-winning race cars since 1980, all are real cars bought from the teams. Because of this, Frank Williams was invited to visit the King.

Renault's Fernando Alonso won the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring after long-time leader Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren crashed on the last lap.

Raikkonen's car was crippled in the closing laps with a badly damaged right front tyre, which was sending strong vibrations through the suspension.

Raikkonen was just ahead of Alonso at the start of the last lap, only for the suspension to fail at the first corner.

Today the FIA announced it has changed the Formula One qualifying. At the next race on May 29th at the Nurburgring there will be only one qualifying session. All teams agreed in Monaco to the changed format.

What do you think about the sport of Formula One. Tell the FIA in “The FIA/AMD Formula One Survey 2005”

The site is very busy so may require a few attempts to get in. There are about 25 questions in toal then you can enter the prize draw.

Just finished watching the Monaco Grand Prix. Traditionally, this is a race where it's almost impossible to overtake, because the streets are so narrow. Not this year - just ask Villeneuve, Alonso, Heidfeld, Webber, Schumacher.... Congratulations Raikkonen and McLaren.

A movie and screenshots of the upcoming Formula 1 game for the PlayStation 3 — looks absolutely fantastic!

Formula One star Rubens Barrichello and 2004 IRL champion Tony Kanaan led their team to victory Sunday in the Granja Viana 500 kart race. They beat an all-star field that included F1’s Juan Pablo Montoya, retired two-time CART champion Gil de Ferran and current IRL star Helio Castroneves. More than 70 teams competed in the event, which began Saturday night and finished Sunday.

Today was the second time this year a Formula One race was shown on national television. Yes, you read correctly, not another NASCAR race, but a race where drivers must also know how to turn right… and use the brakes.

Which is better TV entertainment: Formula One racing or Moto GP? (hint there is a correct answer).

Jenson Button has admitted his BAR team's two-race ban has dashed any remaining hopes he had of winning the Formula One drivers' title.

Ok, neither side of this dispute has been especially forthcoming about the precise details of this infringement. BAR claims that the regulations did not require them to drain this second tank; the FIA is claiming that because they were not open and transparent about the whole thing it is proof that they knew they were in violation of one rule or another. The fact of the matter is that the FIA regulations are as clear as mud, and the tradition of having local stewards judge the car’s fitness to said regulations leads to these misinterpretations.

Renault extended Flavio Briatore’s contract as boss of their Formula One team to the end of 2006.

There is no ‘magic’ solution to a not-fast-enough Formula One package. That’s the warning of Ross Brawn, who said at Imola that Ferrari and Bridgestone are likely to struggle a little longer.

Why the skepticism about a driver who has obviously been a force to be reckoned with in his past and therefore could potentially be dangerous on the grid on any race day? Simple, Jacques hasn’t delivered. The fact that his boss, Peter Sauber, has been willing, however late to JV’s defense, to admit the problems the French Canadian faces have had more to do with a poorly sorted car, known as the C24 in Sauber code, and the fact that JV has had little opportunity to test than with any lack of talent on his part, has done little to thwart the critics, hot after the 1997 champion for blood.

Commenting on the subject of replacement drivers, Sauber jokingly told Autosport magazine, “In Malaysia we were married to Anthony Davidson, before Bahrain apparently Klien or Liuzzi would replace Jacques very soon. But there was no contact whatsoever with any of these drivers. And the reason for that is simple: I feel no urge for a driver change.”

The 1982 San Marino Grand Prix was the last Formula One race for Gilles Villeneuve, who was killed in a practice crash prior to the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 2005 edition of the race may just be the last for his son, Jacques Villeneuve, who is currently struggling through a difficult year with the Sauber team.

Stories have percolated over the last several weeks about the future of the 1997 F1 champion with the Swiss-based team. While the team has acknowledged there are problems with the C24 chassis, Villeneuve has been off the pace when compared to teammate Felipe Massa. The team’s recent decision to replace the Canadian after just one day of inconclusive testing in Spain further fuelled the speculation surrounding his future.

Following a unanimous request from the teams and further to a fax vote of the remaining Formula One Commission members, together with a fax vote of the World Motor Sport Council, the requirement under Article 58b of the 2005 Formula One Sporting Regulations that the third (Friday) driver should not have competed in more than six World Championship Events during the previous two World Championships has been deleted.

Trois Grands-prix, trois victoires, celà nous change de l’hégémonie des Ferrari et de la supériorité de Mickaël Schumacher de ces dernières années. Bravo à Renault de nous offrir la Marseillaise à chaque podium. Je vais certainement retourner à Monaco et Magny-cours cette année, j'espère que Renault continuera sur sa lancée...

That's actually not as true as it used to be, but there's no doubt that NASCAR owes much of it's meteoric rise in the 80s and 90s to RJ Reynolds cleverly skirting increasingly restrictive advertising rules by pouring huge piles of cash at the series and take over advertising to such a great etent that they effectively became a surrogate promoter. Formula One has been solidly attatched to the tobacco pipeline though they've been slowly but surely coming ungluued as well (though not before they dumped the historic Spa circuit a couple of years...