Formula 1 Events

German commercial broadcaster RTL had agreed a new four-year deal with Formula One Management for the TV rights for Formula 1 in Germany. The deal will run from 2008-2011. The German firm has been broadcasting F1 since 1991 but has struggled recently with a 23% drop in viewing figures in 2007, as a result of the retirement of Michael Schumacher at the end of 2006. Despite this setback the coverage still managed to attract an average live audience of 5.9m viewers, thanks to the culture of F1 that now exists in Germany and the fact that BMW and Mercedes-Benz are both major players. The Germans hope that a new hero will soon emerge to increase the viewing figures and thus the advertising revenues and with Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Suttil and Nick Heidfeld there is a chance that Germany could once again have a winner in the not too distant future.

Formula 1 prepares to roar back into action in just over a week’s time in Australia, with what promises to be another action-packed season.

So to get you revved up for a cracking new year, ITV Sport is kicking off its coverage of the 2008 campaign with our traditional preview show, this Sunday from 11.10am on ITV1.

The hour-long programme, presented by Steve Rider with analysis from Martin Brundle, will fill you in on the form heading to Melbourne with exclusive interviews with some of the star names in the sport.

We will also bring you up to date with all the details of the year’s two new exciting races on the streets of Valencia and Singapore. Read more…

Martin Whitmarsh, the would-be successor to Ron Dennis, insists that only the man himself will decide when the time is right for him to step down as McLaren team principal.

Speculation has grown in recent days about Dennis’ future with many suggesting that he will stand down as team boss over the coming days in order to concentrate on other aspects of the business.

Whitmarsh has already taken over much of the day-to-day running of the Formula 1 team and is expected to take over from Dennis when he eventually stands aside, although he insists the decision of when that happens is not his to make.

"I certainly think we need to stem the tide of the ‘Ron has had it’ coverage which we’ve seen in some sections of the media recently," he told The Guardian.

"It’s entirely, and I emphasise entirely, his decision if he decides he will have a change of role. There’s no pressure either on me or from me.

"I’ve been at McLaren for 19 years and am incredibly patient. Nor do I intend to be the Judas who knifed Ron in the back."

Luxury sports car maker Spyker said on Monday it has not yet ‘fully and definitively’ completed the sale of its Formula 1 racing team to the Orange India consortium. Spyker said there are still a few ‘minor differences of opinion’ to be cleared up.

Spyker announced a loss of €67.3m over the first nine months of 2007 following the sale of the racing team.

Flavio Briatore is still enjoying the challenge of running a Formula 1 team and has reiterated his desire to challenge for the World Championship over the coming months.

The 2008 season begins in Melbourne on March 16 and marks Briatore’s reunion with two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso following his unsuccessful spell at McLaren.

Alonso has already acknowledged the weight of the challenge facing Renault this year as they try to close the gap on Ferrari and McLaren, but his team principal is predicting a more fan-friendly championship due to the loss of traction control and engine braking.

"That means the cars will be more difficult to handle and mistakes are more likely to happen," Briatore says on the new rules. Read more…

Following the success of the inaugural AMSF Driver Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra and in line with the AMSF’s new mission to become a centre of excellence for improving driver performance, the AMSF are rolling out a suite of short courses which will allow aspiring young Australian drivers to attain a performance edge over their rivals.

To be run in April and May, the short courses will focus on fitness and sponsorship acquisition. The fitness courses will be conducted in conjunction with Formula 1 fitness guru Phil Young, who has spent the last eight years training Formula 1 drivers including our own Mark Webber and most recently Jenson Button. Over this period, Phil has also trained other drivers in the Renault and Honda Racing Formula 1 teams. Phil is now based in Australia and currently trains a number of leading V8 Supercar drivers. Phil will be supported by Glenn Lindsey who has also worked with drivers in Formula 1 and V8 Supercars.

Mark Webber, AMSF patron and one of the fittest drivers in Formula 1, is pleased that the AMSF is taking this direction and believes the courses will be of great benefit to young Australian drivers seeking that performance edge.

"To be at the top of your game you need to be on top of your fitness. Physical and mental toughness is an absolute requirement at the highest levels of motor sport. These courses will help you to gain that competitive edge," said Webber. Read more…

GP2 catching Formula One, Alonso warns : -

Fernando Alonso has voiced his concern that the demise of key technologies in formula one could allow motor racing’s lesser categories to catch up.

F1’s governing body has outlawed electronic driver aids including engine braking and launch and traction control for 2008, while the further reduction of downforce and engine capacity looms for future regulations.

But Spaniard Alonso, the drivers’ world champion of 2005 and 2006, told the Times: "Maybe it’s a good thing, but we are making F1 not the highest technology in the world.

"Everybody looking at F1 from the outside sees it as the maximum, but if GP2 keeps improving, and keeps their slick tyres, they will do our time laps very soon while we are going back to the past," he added.

FERNANDO ALONSO, two-time world champion, would-be scourge of Lewis Hamilton, and alleged sneak, claimed and looked to be a happy man at the beginning of the final testing session of the Formula One preseason in Barcelona last week.

The hangdog demeanour taken on towards the end of last season had lifted, and something of the spirit of the young star who not so long ago was being acclaimed for wresting his sport from the grip of Michael Schumacher had returned. Away from McLaren, away from Hamilton, and back in the comfort zone with Renault, Alonso had self-evidently relaxed.

Sufficiently to give his side of the story about that phone call to McLaren boss Ron Dennis after the Hungarian Grand Prix last year, when Dennis said the Spaniard threatened to shop his own team over the Ferrari Spygate incident, unless it accorded him No 1 status? Read more…

March 1 (Reuters) - Four-times Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais says the reunification of U.S. open-wheel racing has made him even more convinced he was right to switch to Formula One.
The Frenchman, who will make his grand prix debut with Toro Rosso in Australia on March 16, said the merger with the Indy Racing League (IRL) had effectively killed off the series he once dominated. Read more…

Since the age of seven, Tyler Dueck has dreamed of becoming a Formula 1 race car driver.

That dream, improbably, is looking more and more like a distinct possibility for the Abbotsford native. The 21-year-old has landed a ride with an Italian racing team for the Formula Renault series, the first step of the ladder system that leads to F1, the planet’s top open-wheel racing circuit. Dueck’s ambitious to-do list calls for him to be competing against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen within five years.

But as Dueck readies himself to compete on the Formula Renault circuit in the coming months, he can’t help but think back to his formative days racing karts in the parking lot at Tradex in Abbotsford. Dueck’s interest in racing had been piqued by making trips to watch the Daytona 500 and the Vancouver Molson Indy with his father Doug. But on many Saturdays, Doug Dueck’s land development business took up most of his time, so in the morning, he’d drop off young Tyler and his kart at the track before heading to the office. While all the other drivers had adults helping them tweak their kart’s set-up, 10-year-old Tyler had to do all his own mechanical work. Read more…