Is this the end for super aguri? April 16th 2008
Britain's magma group had been expected to complete the buyout last month, but they have now told the japanese team the deal is off.
It is believed magma's financial backers, dubai international capital, are having second thoughts. Super aguri are now said to be seeking new investors but warned they may be forced out of the spanish grand prix on 27 april.
A statement by the team said: "super aguri confirms that it has been informed by magma group, the potential purchasers of the team, that its investors no longer wish to fund the intended acquisition.
"it is with deep regret that [team owner] Aguri Suzuki is now forced to consider the future of the team, however negotiations with other parties continue."
A team spokesperson confirmed they may not be able to compete in the Barcelona grand prix, the team have also been missing from testing at the circuit de catalunya this week.
Lewis Hamilton 5th fastest in testing april 15th 2008
Lewis Hamilton posted a time of 1:20.452s during testing in barcelona on tuesday, placing him 5th in the times for the day, hamilton was standing in for pedro de la rosa, who is mclarens usual test driver.
the test plan of the mp4-23 included some revised aerodynamic components.
Rubens Barrichello fastest on slicks april 15th 2008
Rubens Barrichello completed 79 laps during the second day of testing at barcelona, finishing at the top of the tables with a time of 1m18.928sin his Honda ra108 using next years slick tyres.
Giancarlo Fisichella came 2nd 0.8s slower for Force India’s also using slick tyres. om this years tyres he managed a time of 1m20.7s
1. Barrichello Honda 1m18.928s
2. Fisichella Force India 1m19.721s
3. Massa Ferrari 1m20.283s
4. Coulthard Red Bull 1m20.392s
5. Hamilton McLaren 1m20.452s
6. Alonso Renault 1m20.616s
7. Rosberg Williams 1m20.800s
8. Glock Toyota 1m20.870s
9. Heidfeld BMW 1m20.981s
Michael Schumacher to test slicks tomorrow. april 15th 2008
Michael Schumacher is to get back in a Ferrari and test out the new bridgestone slicks at Barcelona tomorrow.
Bridgestone, now the only tyre supplier to the sport, has brought three new versions of the slicks to the circuit de catalunya.
Other teams, like McLaren, were trying the slicks in conjunction with simulated 2009 levels of downforce, including a flat rear wing that significantly reduced cornering speeds.
Malaysia, Sepang sunday 23rd march 2008
the race!
It's taken me three days to come out of my miserable mood to write this! to say I was disappointed to say the least with the decision to dock the mclaren drivers 5 places for hindering other drivers progression during their qualifying laps. however, to be fair it did look to be a pretty stupid move on their part. something tells me they won't be doing it again!
On to the race now ... as a fervent supporter I duly got up at the ungodly hour to watch the race, complete with my bag of doritos! it's a race ritual!
One - two on the grid for ferrari and both drivers got off to a good start. massa however lost pole to Raikkonen at the first pit stop and subsequently spun off the track on lap 31. after that, raikkonen seemed to cruise to the end of the race, claiming victory and a much needed 10 points.
BMW are looking strong this year. Kubica managed to claim second place for BMW - the best finish of his career to date. good to see the pole on the podium. whilst BMW haven't shown the pace of Ferrari, McLaren may find the BMW's nipping at their heels this season.
Kovalainen came in third for McLaren but Hamilton could only manage fifith. despite making up places at the start of the race, his impressive performance should have left him coming in third, but problems in the pits meant that he spent the race trying frustratingly to catch the leaders.
Malaysia, Sepang saturday 22nd march 2008
qualifying
Ferrari dominated the qualifying and Felipe Massa takes his second successive sepang pole with an amazing lap time of 1m 35.748s. Raikkonen came in second.
The McLaren pair of Kovalainen and Hamilton took third and fourth consecutively. Hamilton struggled throughout Q3, but is confident that he'll fare better during tomorrow's race.
Jarno Trulli pulled off an amazing fifth place - his best grid position since 2006.
Kubica came in sixth for BMW and despite Heidfeld's successful practice sessions yesterday, he could only manage seventh,
Mark Webber pulled off eighth postion next to Renault's Fernando Alonso.
Tenth position goes to Timo Glock for Toyota - not bad for a newbie!
Jenson Button just missed out on the top ten, coming in eleventh, and despite the problems faced by the Red Bull team during yesterday's practice sessions, David Coulthard managed a respectable twelth.
|
|
2008 Malaysian GP starting grid |
|
Position |
Driver |
Team |
|
pole |
Massa |
Ferrari |
|
2 |
Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
|
3 |
Kovalainen |
McLaren |
|
4 |
Hamilton |
McLaren |
|
5 |
Trulli |
Toyota |
|
6 |
Kubica |
BMW |
|
7 |
Heidfeld |
BMW |
|
8 |
Webber |
Red Bull |
|
9 |
Alonso |
Renault |
|
10 |
Glock |
Toyota |
|
11 |
Button |
Honda |
|
12 |
Coulthard |
Red Bull |
|
13 |
Piquet |
Renault |
|
14 |
Barrichello |
Honda |
|
15 |
Vettel |
Torro Rosso |
|
16 |
Rosberg |
Williams |
|
17 |
Fisichella |
Force India |
|
18 |
Bourdais |
Toro Rosso |
|
19 |
Sato |
Super Aguri |
|
20 |
Sutil |
Force India |
|
21 |
Davidson |
Super Aguri |
|
22 |
Nakajima |
Williams * |
* penalised 10 places for incident at Melbourne
Malaysia, sepang friday 21st march 2008
Practice session.
Nick Heidfeld finished top of the leaderboard after final practice, lapping in 1m 35.019s. Raikkonen came in second posting 1m 35.262s with Massa in third lapping 1m 35.388s. hamilton finished 11th with 1m 35.927s.
David Coulthard's car suffered track rod failure during friday morning's practice session. The Red Bull team subsequently decided to investigate the cause of the accident in the afternoon, meaning David missed valuable further practice laps.
Thursday 20th march
breaking news.....
Formula one is to return to bbc from next year (2009) under a new five year deal. F1 has been broadcast by itv for the past 12 years.
Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of Formula One Administration Limited, said: "I am delighted to conclude this new deal with the bbc."
this will of course mean no ad breaks and therefore continuous coverage, so no more missing those crucial overtaking manoeuvres that always seem to happen when the commercial breaks are on, this editor for one is happy to see the return to the bbc.
bbc.co.uk/news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7306123.stm
ed
Australian Grand Prix Sunday 16th March 2008
WOW! what a start to the season, some were expecting a traditionally slower more predictable start to the season, but no.
at the end of the race there were only 9 cars still running with McLarens hotest competitions and expected main rivals nowhere to be seen, Masa being disqaulified from 6th place after exiting the pits under a red light, as things ended there were so few cars finishing that the last 2 to retire actually scored points. kimi raikkonen creeping in to the end of the points scorers claiming 1 point after being elevated from 9th to 8th place as a result of Masa's disqualification. Overall Australia was a disaster for Ferrari, and the Italian press left them in no doubt of that. This being the first race for Ferrari without Jean Todt (who joined in 1993).
Other teams faired better with 2 of the rookies finishing in the points.
the winner was Lewis Hamilton finishing in 1 hour 34 minutes 50 seconds.
you can find Lewis Hamilton related items here
Australian Grand Prix Sunday 16th March 2008
Melbourne
Wow! What a start to the season, some were expecting a traditionally slower more predictable start to the season, but oh no!
At the end of the race there were only 9 cars still running. The lack of cars finishing meant that the last two cars to retire actually scored points!!.
McLaren's hottest competition and expected main rivals were nowhere to be seen. Massa was disqualified from 6th place after exiting the pits under a red light, whilst Kimi Raikkonen crept into the end of the points claiming 1 point after being elevated from 9th to 8th place as a result of Massa's disqualification.
Overall Australia was a disaster for Ferrari, and the Italian press left them in no doubt of that. This being the first race for Ferrari without Jean Todt (who joined in 1993).
Other teams faired better with 2 of the rookies finishing in the points.
The winner was Lewis Hamilton finishing in 1 hour 34 minutes 50 seconds.
You can find Lewis Hamilton related items
here