Formula 1

[Noxide]

Talks between the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Bernie Ecclestone to resurrect the US Grand Prix may now have begun.

Tony George, the famous Indy 500 venue's chief, told an audience at the IU business conference in Indiana this week that he is pursuing options to patch up the relationship with the F1 Chief Executive in time for the Speedway's centennial celebrations in 2009.

The American broadcaster Speed TV also revealed that Just Marketing, a local company, has been hired by the IMS to help find a Formula One title sponsor.

Just Marketing President Zak Brown said George and Ecclestone have a 'strong interest' in reuniting as soon as possible.


"If the right sponsors can be put into place, I think this can happen in 2009," he added, insisting that the interest from lucrative potential race sponsors is already "fairly high."


If this happens you're going to have a house guest next year Kevin

[Noxide]

F1-Live.com

Lewis Hamilton has - unsurprisingly - singled out reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen as his man to beat to the 2008 title.

The Briton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen has been earmarked by experts as a dark horse for this season, and Brazilian Felipe Massa will this year drive the same Ferrari as that used by Raikkonen to defend his crown.

But speaking to the Daily Telegraph, 23-year-old Hamilton said of his stated Finnish rival: "He is the guy I want to go out and beat to win the title.

"Kimi got stronger throughout the whole of last year and will start at the level he finished in October. I can only imagine he will get better but that is the same for me," he added.

[DipShyt]

Melbourne - Lewis Hamilton said on Wednesday he was more determined to take the Formula One championship this year after his stunning debut season with McLaren last year.

The 23-year-old British racer enjoyed a storming start to his F1 career in 2007 and was on course to clinch the title before he was pipped by just one point by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the last race in Brazil.

Hamilton goes into the new season, which gets underway on Sunday, with a new teammate in Heikki Kovalainen, who has replaced double world champion Fernando Alonso with whom the British driver endured a fractious relationship.

"I want to win even more," he said. "I think I'm more confident and the team I have behind me are stronger and I know what I want."

Hamilton admitted he was surprised with his stunning first season - winning four GPs and on the podium in eight others - but had taken several key pointers out of the year.

Major lessons

"It was a very, very tough season and way exceeded my expectations and everyone else's and I was really very surprised by my performance," he said.

"There were many, many lessons but a major lesson was learning to deal with the pressure, learning to deal with being consistent, the importance of finishing high up and scoring points every race.

"Obviously, in the past I've learnt how to lose and how to deal with winning, so it was just on a slightly bigger scale and slightly more meaningful than it has been before," he said.

He will partner Kovalainen after the Finn and Alonso swapped seats, Alonso returning to Renault.

But Hamilton denied he would assume the role of number one driver at McLaren.

Electronic controls

"I don't see myself as a team leader, I feel I have a responsibility as does Heikki and we have equal responsibility in driving the team forward," Hamilton said.

Hamilton also rejected criticism from four-time world champion Alain Prost that extensive electronic controls meant modern drivers were not as skilled as in the past.

Prost said it was hard to tell who was a great driver and who wasn't because the cars were being largely propelled by computerised aids.

Traction control, designed to prevent loss of grip under excessive acceleration, has been dumped this season, but Prost wants more done to make drivers work harder.

Hamilton rejected his claim, saying the best drivers would emerge during the season.

"I'm a bit surprised by that," Hamilton said. "Obviously, he has a right to his own opinion, but for me I think it's even more challenging and a lot harder than it is with traction control.

"Without TC there is a real skill and the real knack to feeling the throttle and really getting down the power without lighting up your rear tyres.

"You have to look after your tyres a lot more than you have done in past years.

"I think what you'll see is the top, top drivers will rise above the good drivers."

[Noxide]

Almost there!!!.jpg

[Noxide]

Multichoice Sucks B*lls!!!!!

[DipShyt]

Multichoice Sucks B*lls!!!!!

I assume that's because they aren't showing every second of the preparations for the race?

[Noxide]

I assume that's because they aren't showing every second of the preparations for the race?

No it's because they are showing Free Practice 1 & 2, which took place at 01.00 am this morning, at 19:30 tonight. Which sort of defeats the purpose as I now already know the results.

Idiots!!

[DipShyt]

...I now already know the results...

That is a little pointless

So who did what M8?

[Noxide]

The opening day of the 2008 championship is complete and for the first time we get an indication of who is quick and who’s not. After topping the timesheets in the first practice session with a best lap of 1:26.461s, Kimi Raikkonen was not working on raw qualifying speed this afternoon and it was Lewis Hamilton who topped the timesheets for McLaren Mercedes with a best time of 1:26.559s.

Friday afternoon testing is usually given over for race preparation, so reading too much into the times can be tricky. However, given the pace of Raikkonen this morning and Hamilton this afternoon, it is safe to say that Ferrari and McLaren are the teams to beat around the Albert Park circuit. No surprise there then.

Mark Webber was an encouraging second fastest in his Red Bull Renault while team-mate David Coulthard endured another difficult session in his RB4. After his engine issues in the morning, Coulthard ended the afternoon session getting a lift back to the pits from the Mercedes safety car following another mechanical problem. Still, fifth fastest, the pace is there.

Felipe Massa survived a big spin exiting the fast turn 12 right-hander to record the third fastest time of the session ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren, Coulthard and Raikkonen.
Click here to find out more!


Toyota has shown well so far with Trulli setting the seventh fastest time, despite putting his left rear tyre on the grass and spinning out of the action late in the session. Timo Glock, making his Toyota Grand Prix debut was a solid tenth fastest in the sister TF107.

After a fraught start to the weekend, the Williams Toyota duo of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima were able to belatedly get their programme under way this afternoon. The FW30 seemed particularly prone to rear brake lock ups and oversteer, but Rosberg will be happy enough for now with his eighth fastest time while Nakajima is getting up to speed and 16th.

Giancarlo Fisichella has shown great pace in pre-season testing with the Force India Ferrari team. Today the Italian again impressed with the ninth fastest time for the new team. Team-mate Adrian Sutil had a few off track excursions on his way to 17th.

Honda looked firmly mid-field with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello 11th and 14th but so too today did the BMW Sauber team. While considered a dark horse by some sections of the media, the F1.08 seemed fairly average today with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica 12th and 16th respectively.

[DipShyt]

I see Alonso is on average 2 seconds slower than the fastest cars...