Let's talk about......

[Greyhead]

So, no Prodrive for 2008 then. Well done the FIA/Williams/Spyker. I thought the FIA were supposed to encourage new teams? Wasn't that the point of getting teams to submit bids last year? Yet again indecision has reared its ugly head. All Prodrive needed was clarification of the rules, and this was not provided by the governing body. Again.

[V12-Power]

It's not correct from the FIA's side. They said customer-chassis would be allowed in 2008 and so Prodrive saw the chance to enter F1. Now it's clear the FIA assuranced something it couldn't hold, because the FIA forgot about the voice of the F1-teams.

Second it's not okay, because Honda and Red Bull already supply satellite-teams. Why isn't that possible for another team in cooperation with Prodrive?

I think the FIA should make very clear rules. One sentence would be enough: "Teams are allowed to buy pre-season-chassis from another team to use them in the current season." I think this would be fair and the current F1-teams could agree on it.

What I am against is that Prodrive would have bought the 2008 McLaren chassis and used it next season. So they would have been a top-4-team probably and that would be just not right, because they didn't even construct an own chassis! And that's the point where I'm happy Prodrive was not allowed to enter.

[AD]

Well, technically they weren't not allowed to enter, as they communicate it, they've decided not to take part in 2008's season, because they didn't want the other teams taking legal action against them... Of course the effect is the same, and it's because the circumstances they always wanted for their entry don't apply yet. It's unfortunate for F1 and the fans who wanted to see another team, and unfortunate in terms of Prodrive's interests, but I think it's the right decision they made under the circumstances, as just throwing these plans out the window and scrambling to get their own car for 2008 already would probably be impossible right now.

[AD]

Ten years, and Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher have apparently come full circle, testing an Ex-Ex-Jordan again...

[HF]

Ten years, and Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher have apparently come full circle, testing an Ex-Ex-Jordan again...

LOL

[Greyhead]

Oh yeah, that had not occurred to me! Strange how things go around... To a paraphrase a French saying, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

[AD]

Nice to see the slicks back for testing purposes:
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/bild ... 2&b=117074
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/bild ... 5&b=117075

Apparently, both teams have also been using Monza-style wings to simulate 2009-ish aerodynamics with less downforce...

[Greyhead]

I really hope slicks get the go-ahead for 2009. I hate those grooved things, they don't look right at all. But the main problem I have with them is the fact that they're only used in F1. A young driver graduates from karts to, say, Formula Renault or Formula BMW, both of which use slicks. He moves up to Formula 3 after a year or two, again using slicks. Then after another year or two he tackles GP2, with... you guessed it, slicks. Basically all the feeder series (F3, GP2, Champ Car, World Series by Renault, and so on) use slicks. Then he makes the move to Formula One and suddenly has these grooved tyres that he's never, ever had to race with before. As if he doesn't have enough to worry about! Hardly ideal training is it?

[Greyhead]

Anyone else heard these rumours about Alonso going back to McLaren for a year? Have a look at this:

http://www.crash.net

McLaren have denied it though but it's an interesting one! Anyone ever considered how these rumours start?

[AD]

Well, in that particular case, I would think that it would start with some journalists' imaginations.

I think it's highly unlikely we'll ever see Alonso at McLaren again, let alone next year. It might not have been the wisest thing for Alonso to get away from McLaren first thing after the season finale, maybe theoretically it would have been possible for them to sort of calm down and find a way continue, but now that these ties have been cut, both McLaren and Alonso would be put in a near to ridiculous position, IMO, if they now announced they'd continue working together for 2008, after they had basically said they agreed that this wouldn't make sense.

I'm normally very careful with these prognisis things, but I think especially after what kind of verdict Renault apparently got handed today, it's more likely we'll hear about Alonso and Renault getting back together, because that's more or less his only realistic option for next year where he'd have some factual basis to believe the team could have a really competitive car next year.

(I don't have a crystal ball though, so I can't give guarantees for this. )

[Greyhead]

Well it is highly unlikely, but I wouldn't rule anything out... Personally I'd like to see Gary Paffett get the seat though.

[AD]

Yeah... according to Whitmarsh's comments that I read here today, it sounds like they might actually promote one of their current test driver's, so Paffett or De la Rosa, rather than going out of their way to look for someone else to join the team.

[Greyhead]

Re-reading Martin Whitmarsh's comments, it sounds like both de la Rosa and Paffett will get the drive! Perhaps they'll share it like Klien and Liuzzi did a Red Bull a couple of years ago. Apparently McLaren's Spanish sponsors (Banco Santander) aren't too happy about the whole Alonso debacle so they might insist on de la Rosa. You can see their point: they signed up with McLaren on the basis that Alonso would be there. However Santander do have a British subsiduary (Abbey) so who knows...

[Greyhead]

And now Ralf Schumacher says he's not actually interested in the Force India seat. Good! Now bugger off!

[Edgars Erix]

And now Ralf Schumacher says he's not actually interested in the Force India seat. Good! Now bugger off!

Yea, after he crashed the car in testing
Will he compensate the damage?