Formula 1

Piquet and Alonso have extended their contract with Renault

just found out from mate at work glock was hamiltons karting team mate when younger.. what a surprise. I hope this guy never wins a world champ again. I know hes british but wish he wasnt he doent even live in this country left cause tax reasons.. what a ....... ....
best driver in formula 1 for me is alonso

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

The best thing Button has ever said!!!

Jenson Button insists he is a better driver than his British countryman Lewis Hamilton -- at racing a "bad car".

Hamilton wrapped up the drivers' title in Brazil one week ago, while Honda's 28-year-old Button completed the 2008 title eighteenth -- the lowest placed contender excluding those at the wheel of Force Indias or Super Aguris.

But he is quoted as saying by the British Sunday tabloid The People: "If (I'd) had Lewis' car then I'd have been World Champion too."

Button, whose only Grand Prix victory dates back to 2006, insists his comments are not sour grapes, but rather a reflection of his recent experiences.


"Lewis is a worthy World Champion but he wouldn't have done as well as me in my Honda."

"I mean, the guy has never been in a bad car. I think you learn from it and become a better driver trying to work with a bad car," he said.

:laugh: :laugh:

Well said Button!

A new row over money, with the Formula One teams on one side and the sport's ruling bodies on the other, looks set to intensify.

Britain's The Guardian newspaper reports that the teams, now allied together and pledging undying unity in the FOTA alliance, are angry about the huge debts being serviced by Formula One's owners CVC.

The newspaper said the more than $5 billion debts are requiring interest payments of more than $230m per year - with the teams suspecting that the FIA are in cahoots with CVC and Bernie Ecclestone amid the latest push to radically slash costs.

They are reportedly concerned that the annual debt payments total more than the commercial revenue they receive from CVC.

"We have had banks, oil companies, financial institutions and pharmaceutical companies with us as sponsors. We have raised this money. Why do we have to keep cutting costs?" a FOTA insider is quoted as saying.

"The sport earns a lot of money so let's look at our share," he added.


Ecclestone, CVC and F1's holding company Delta3 are, however, staying firm, insisting that teams receive more commercial revenue today than at any other time, even amidst a global financial crisis.

But another insider told The Guardian that the teams are keen to sit down with F1's commercial parties to renegotiate their share - also given Ecclestone's push into new markets that are willing to pay higher race sanction fees.

"(The calendar) used to be 12 races, then a maximum of 17. There used to be 80 percent of the races in Europe and now 80 percent are across Asia: the costs to the teams are much higher now," the insider said.

Whatever Pork.


Lewis Hamilton has echoed his boss Ron Dennis' defence that he is not arrogant.

Among the criticisms of the 2008 world champion that emerge from the paddock and the wider public, the 23-year-old's sometimes over-zealous confidence is arguably most often repeated.

"It saddens me people get a different view of me," Hamilton is quoted as saying by the Sunday Mirror. "But I'm young and I'm going to be here for a while. I'm going to do everything I can to open their minds."

"Hopefully, I'll be able to win them over and show them that I am a normal person and have good values and morals," he said.

Hamilton admits he possesses very healthy 'confidence' and 'self-belief' but warns against confusing it with arrogance.

"There are some people who express things better than others.
Some are a lot quieter. It just so happens I'm a bubbly kind of guy."

Another criticism often fired at Hamilton is his decision, for both privacy and tax reasons, to leave Britain and live in Switzerland.

"Britain will always be my love. I love my people, I love their support and I love the country - but I'm happy where I am," he said.

Fernando Alonso is unlikely to return to the Renault cockpit until the new year.

The Spanish newspaper Sport reports that Renault will begin its winter test programme in Barcelona next week without the former champion.

The 27-year-old, and other notable race drivers, will probably not reappear at test circuits until January, when the new 2009 cars begin to arrive.

However, Alonso is believed to have left the door open to possibly testing at Jerez in December, when many of the key attributes of the 2009 regulations will be up and running on the existing car.

Until then, Alonso plans to spend his time at his Swiss residence in Mont-sur-Rolle, and at his parents' house in Spain.

Renault's 2009 car is expected to be launched towards the end of January.

Toro Rosso will evaluate three drivers at next week's first post-season Formula One test as they seek to finalise their line-up for 2009.


Sebastien Bourdais, who raced for the team in 2008, will be joined by Red Bull tester Sebastian Buemi and former Jordan and Honda driver Takuma Sato.
The drivers will be evaluated over three days at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya, starting on Monday.
Both Toro Rosso seats are up for grabs after Sebastian Vettel joined Red Bull.
Frenchman Bourdais, a four-time winner of the US-based Champ Car series, is battling to convince the team he is worthy of a second season in F1 after an up and down debut year.
Buemi, from Switzerland, is a member of the Red Bull junior team while Japanese Sato is aiming to revive his career following the collapse of the Super Aguri team early in the 2008 season.
Brazilians Rubens Barrichello and Bruno Senna are also believed to be contenders for a Toro Rosso seat.

Veteran Barrichello is also in with a chance of staying at Honda next season alongside Jenson Button.
Senna, the nephew of the late three-time champion Ayrton Senna, is also in the frame at Honda - he is testing for the Anglo-Japanese team at Catalunya next week.
The former Minardi team, bought by Red Bull in 2006, won their first race last season, with Vettel taking the chequered flag in Monza.
They outstripped senior team Red Bull in the second half of 2008, when they were often battling to be best of the rest behind title contenders Ferrari and McLaren.
They use the same car as Red Bull, but fitted with a Ferrari engine rather than the Renault used by the senior team.

Force India owner Vijay Mallya is to replace Colin Kolles as team principal in a major shake-up for next season.
Chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne, former technical director at Jordan, Renault and Toyota, has also left.
The team announced it will use Mercedes engines, which power world champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, in 2009 after ending its deal with Ferrari.
"These new resources and developments will provide an enormous boost to our technical armoury," Mallya said.
The deal with Force India marks a shift for Mercedes, who since 1995 have worked exclusively with McLaren.
In another step forward, McLaren Applied Technologies, a company owned solely by McLaren, will also supply Force India with gearboxes and hydraulic systems. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif

Both McLaren and Mercedes will share their kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) - which will convert energy generated under braking into power that can be used for acceleration - with Mallya's marque.
"McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are two of the most famous names in motorsport history, having achieved great success in Grand Prix racing over many years," added Mallya.
"We said at the outset that we meant business and were not interested in merely making up the numbers.
"The announcement of our new technical partnership clearly underlines that we meant what we said."
Indian billionaire Mallya bought the Spyker team along with Dutch businessman Michiel Mol in 2007 and the outfit raced under its new moniker for 2008.
However, Force India failed to win a single point in their first season with Giancarlo Fisichella's 10th place at the Spanish Grand Prix their best result.
Team-mate Adrian Sutil was running in a brilliant fourth place in Monaco before Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen slammed into the back of him in the closing laps, forcing him to retire.
Now Mallya, who has stuck with Fisichella and Sutil for 2009, has initiated a major management restructure as he seeks success on the track.
"Force India is my most difficult project and requires more direct input from my side and greater performance accountability," Mallya said.
"We have come a long way this season but we need more and that requires a radical reorganisation.
"I would like to thank Colin Kolles for his tireless efforts in keeping such a small team alive and to Mike Gascoyne for bringing his wealth of technical experience."

Rubens Barrichello has vowed to retire from competitive motor racing if he fails to secure a seat in Formula One next season.

The 36-year-old veteran's Honda ride is in serious doubt, as the Japanese team plans to evaluate alternatives Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi - both graduates of the GP2 series - at Barcelona next week.

"If they are good they will keep the position," Barrichello, whose more than 270 starts makes him the most experienced driver in F1 history, said.

Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger this week did not deny that the Faenza-based team is in talks with the Brazilian about working together next year.

But if his F1 options do not materialise, Barrichello said he will not switch to IndyCar.

"Either I stay in F1 or I won't race," he said, speaking from his native Sao Paulo.