Formula One 2008 (5 Viewers)

[Salvatore]

Heikki Kovalainen signs for McLaren

McLaren has confirmed that Finn Heikki Kovalainen will team up with Lewis Hamilton for the 2008 season. Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa will remain the third driver while Gary Paffett will assist de la Rosa with the testing programme when required.

"We had a number of options open to us and as always we want to make sure that we have the most competitive driver line-up and I think that Lewis and Heikki will be a formidable combination," said Martin Whitmarsh. "Both enjoyed great rookie seasons in 2007 and share a genuine passion for winning and being the best. Heikki made a strong impression and Lewis' performance so far has been outstanding and speaks for itself. I am confident that they will push each other on track and work well together off track. In addition with Pedro remaining our primary test driver alongside Gary, we really have a strong package and look forward to 2008."

26-year-old Heikki, who made his Formula 1 race debut last year with Renault, joins the team on a long-term contract and will commence his on-track programme in early January.

"I am so excited to join a team like McLaren Mercedes," said Heikki. "So far I have been blown away by the dedication and commitment to winning which is clear through the entire organisation and I am really excited about our joint future. As a Finn it's an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi's footsteps. I haven't really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team."

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Good signing to be honest. He will do well at McLaren provided they don't cheat.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Sheik Yerbouti]

hope they dont squash his talents just to give Hami a chance to win sumtin!

 

[V]

YES!!! Excellent signing. Fook Hamilton up Heiki, I wanna see that brat put in place.

 

[Lucky Luke]

Heikki Kovalainen signs for McLaren

McLaren has confirmed that Finn Heikki Kovalainen will team up with Lewis Hamilton for the 2008 season. Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa will remain the third driver while Gary Paffett will assist de la Rosa with the testing programme when required.

"We had a number of options open to us and as always we want to make sure that we have the most competitive driver line-up and I think that Lewis and Heikki will be a formidable combination," said Martin Whitmarsh. "Both enjoyed great rookie seasons in 2007 and share a genuine passion for winning and being the best. Heikki made a strong impression and Lewis' performance so far has been outstanding and speaks for itself. I am confident that they will push each other on track and work well together off track. In addition with Pedro remaining our primary test driver alongside Gary, we really have a strong package and look forward to 2008."

26-year-old Heikki, who made his Formula 1 race debut last year with Renault, joins the team on a long-term contract and will commence his on-track programme in early January.

"I am so excited to join a team like McLaren Mercedes," said Heikki. "So far I have been blown away by the dedication and commitment to winning which is clear through the entire organisation and I am really excited about our joint future. As a Finn it's an honour for me to follow in Mika and Kimi's footsteps. I haven't really spent a lot of time with Lewis so far but from what I know I think we will work well together and do our best for the team."

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Good signing to be honest. He will do well at McLaren provided they don't cheat.

wow...forza ferrari :scarf:

 

[Salvatore]

McLaren Confess:

The McLaren Formula 1 team surprised a few as it published a statement late Thursday afternoon that it became clear to the team that that Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within McLaren than was previously communicated. In McLaren's statement the team furthermore apologises and regrets that these things has happened within its team.

The full statement of the team said:
As a result of the investigations carried out by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile it has become clear that Ferrari information was more widely disseminated within McLaren than was previously communicated. McLaren greatly regrets that its own investigations did not identify this material and has written to the World Motor Sport Council to apologise for this.

McLaren has written a letter to the FIA which in the interests of transparency it is publishing with this press statement. That letter speaks for itself and the sentiments expressed in it are sincerely held by McLaren. McLaren has also written to the World Motor Sport Council to apologise that it has taken an FIA investigation to find this information and have expressed our deep regret that our understanding of the facts was improved as a result of the FIA inspection rather than our own investigations. McLaren has recognised that this entire situation could have been avoided if we had informed Ferrari and the FIA about Nigel Stepney's first communication when it came to our attention. We are, of course, embarrassed by the successive disclosures and have apologised unreservedly to the FIA World Motor Sport Council.

To avoid even the possibility of Ferrari information influencing our performance during 2008, McLaren has offered a set of detailed undertakings to the FIA which will impose a moratorium on development in relation to three separate systems. During the course of these incidents, McLaren has conducted a thorough review of its policies and procedures regarding the recruitment and management of staff. The proposals arising from this thorough review have been disclosed to the FIA and McLaren has agreed to demonstrate that all of these policies and procedures have been fully implemented.

McLaren wish to make a public apology to the FIA, Ferrari, the Formula 1 community and to Formula 1 fans throughout the world and offer their assurance that changes are now being made which will ensure that nothing comparable to what has taken place will ever happen again. McLaren have also agreed to pay the costs incurred by the FIA for their investigation.

McLaren now wishes to put these matters behind it and to move forward focusing on the 2008 season.

Ferrari to press ahead with legal action

Ferrari has accepted the FIA’s proposal to draw a line under the McLaren spying affair "from a sporting point of view", but made it clear that it intends to press ahead with its ongoing legal action in England and Italy.

McLaren published a humiliating apology to the governing body, Ferrari and the wider F1 community on Thursday, in which it acknowledged that leaked Ferrari technical secrets had seeped further into the team than its own investigations had indicated.

Along with the apology, which was prompted by a detailed report by the FIA’s technical department, McLaren offered to cease development work on three aspects of its 2008 car that the report identified as bearing similarities to Ferrari designs.

FIA president Max Mosley reacted to McLaren’s initiative by asking the World Motor Sport Council to treat the matter as closed and cancel its plans for a 14 February meeting to consider the eligibility of McLaren’s 2008 car.

Ferrari said in a statement that it had no objection to Mosley's recommendation, but would continue to pursue its criminal and civil cases against its former head of performance development Nigel Stepney and ex-McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan.

“Ferrari notes the apology offered today by the McLaren Group, following the investigations carried out by the FIA technical department, as presented to the WSMC on 7th December last,” the statement said.

“The written and verbal statements issued by senior McLaren personnel both at the World Council meetings of the 26th July and 13th September and through the media have thus been publicly proved wrong.

“Therefore it is admitted that confidential information which was the property of Ferrari was disseminated within the structure of the English team and this also confirms the seriousness of the behaviour of those involved over the past few months.

“In the light of McLaren’s apology and the guarantees it has presented, Ferrari respects the proposal of the FIA president to cancel the extraordinary general meeting of the WSMC scheduled for 14th February coming, thus bringing this incident to a close from a sporting point of view.

“However, it is confirmed that criminal actions underway in Italy and civil ones in England are still continuing.”

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Ferrari doing the right thing there. Basically, they won't be taking the matter to the FIA anymore but to the courts. McLaren are doing themselves no favours either by lying for all that time. Hopefully they get a huge fine.

 

[JCK]

McLaren's end.

 

[Tom]

YES!!! Excellent signing. Fook Hamilton up Heiki, I wanna see that brat put in place.

I thought alonso was the only "brat" in F1 these days. I can't see Kovaleinen getting close to Lewis pointswise tbh, but good luck to him

 

[Salvatore]

Piquet: I need to blaze my own trail

New Renault signing Nelson Piquet Jr says he got his Formula 1 chance through 'talent and potential' rather than having a famous surname.

Like his Williams rival Nico Rosberg, Piquet is the son of a 1980's world champion (Nelson Piquet), but the Brazilian is acutely aware that while his name attracts attention he needs to blaze his own trail.

"Ever since I started racing, I have felt the pressure of being Nelson Piquet's son," he said in a press conference at his home town of Brasilia.

"My father is a legend in the sport, and that makes me very proud, just like it does for his many fans around the world.

"If I am here today, it is because I have the talent and have worked hard, with the right motivation, to become an F1 driver.

"Now, I hope to give people plenty of reasons to be proud of me."

Piquet spent much of his formative racing career in Britain racing for a team his father formed purely to develop Nelsinho's talent.

The 22-year-old progressed to the GP2 Series with the Piquet Sport squad and finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2006 before signing a test deal with Renault in Formula 1.

But while Piquet Sr's huge commitment has provided the means for his son's F1 quest, Nelson Jr claims he has made it on his talent.

"It would be unfair to all the people who have supported me throughout my career to say that my success is down to one person," he said.

"My father has been, and will be, a great reference point for me and his support was crucial to the early stages of my career, all the way to GP2 Series.

"But to get into Formula 1, you need much more than a famous surname.

"Renault have given me the chance to race for them, and that is because I have the talent and potential to do so.

"The team knows how we perform in the tests, what configuration the car is in, and our character. That is what counts in Formula 1."

Nelson Jr says he can't wait to go racing at Melbounre in 2008, where he will make his debut alongside double world champion Fernando Alonso in the Renault race team.

"People don't see that behind every young driver, there are a lot of years of hard work, dedication and focus to make it to F1," he said.

"I have dreamed of competing in F1 since I was small, and I have finally made it.

"It is the start of a new phase, and I can't wait for the season to begin."

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Rookie vs Nando again. I don't think he will have problems this time though, Renault compared to McLaren is a huge change. McLaren seems steely, unnerving and cold while Renault are more like Ferrari, as in a big family. They seem more warm to people, as proved here:

Ferrari invites copy-shop man to Italy

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has invited the man who blew the whistle on McLaren chief designed Mike Coughlan to Italy to thank him personally. The individual in question is the man who noticed that someone had copied 780 pages of Ferrari technical data in his shop's photocoper in June.

"If it had not been for that man we wouldn't have known anything about it," Montezemolo said. "That's why we've invited him to Mugello and we'll invite him to our factory too."

Montezemolo also reflected on the whole spy saga saying, "It was an ugly time and something to forget now. The latest statement from McLaren demonstrates that someone lied."

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Luca outdoing himself there. Ron in this situation would have been a huge downgrade. Tyre business update is here:

Bridgestone confirmed as official F1 tyre supplier

It might not be a big surprise but on Thursday the FIA announced that it has signed a there-year contract with Bridgestone motorsport. The Japanese tyre manufacturer will be Formula One's only official tyre supplier until the end of the 2010 season. The contract is a result of a tender process with the FIA.

In 2007 Bridgestone was already Formula One's only tyre supplier as Michelin pulled out of the sport at the end of the 2006 season. The French tyre manufacturer pulled out of F1 as soon as it found out Formula 1 will allow only one tyre supplier as of 2008. Michelin stated it would only stay in Formula 1 to compete with other tyre suppliers. And thus with the many years of experience in Formula 1 Bridgestone was a logical choice for the FIA.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: "Becoming the 'Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship' is a prestigious honour for Bridgestone and we await the start of the 2008 season with great anticipation. Our participation in Formula One is a core element of our company's expansion and development and this is an exciting step for us as a company.

"As the sole tyre supplier to Formula One in 2007, we all saw a dramatic and exciting season with very close competition. We strived to treat all teams with fairness and we believe we did a good job. It was an epic battle with Kimi Raikkonen crowned the drivers' champion at the final round and in our role as 'Official Tyre Supplier' we now look forward with great anticipation to some equally exciting battles over the next three seasons."

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I wouldn't be surprised to see them provide tyres for over 5 years from now.

 

[Salvatore]

http://www.itv-f1.com/Home.aspx

vote Ferrari in the poll.

 

[V]

http://www.itv-f1.com/Home.aspx

vote Ferrari in the poll.

Yes Sir!

 

[Salvatore]

You are learning well.

 

[Alfio_87]

Vlatko u ferrari lover u!

 

[Salvatore]

FIA changes qualifying format:

The FIA has announced that as of 2008 the qualifying format will change slightly. Qualifying, which has three rounds, will start with a 20-minute qualifying session followed by 15-minute Q2, and a 10-minute session for Q3.

The format was mainly changed as the final qualifying session saw Formula 1 drivers run for around ten minutes to empty their fuel tanks.

The FIA states in its rules on qualifying:
The qualifying practice session will take place on the day before the race from 14.00 to 15.00. The session will be run as follows :
a) From 14.00 to 14.20 (Q1) all cars will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period the slowest seven cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session. Lap times achieved by the seventeen remaining cars will then be deleted.

b) From 14.27 to 14.42 (Q2) the seventeen remaining cars will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period the slowest seven cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session. Lap times achieved by the ten remaining cars will then be deleted.

c) From 14.50 to 15.00 (Q3) the ten remaining cars will be permitted on the track.
The above procedure is based upon a Championship entry of 24 cars. If 22 cars are entered only six cars will be excluded after Q1 and Q2.

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About fucking time as well. The most boring 10 minutes of my life was in Q3.

 

[Lucky Luke]

yeah,changes again but i wish for the best.Q3 was so boring except from the final 5 minutes.

 

[Salvatore]

Ferrari to kick-off 2008 season today

On Sunday afternoon the Ferrari Formula One team will be the first to present its 2008 contender. In its home town Maranello the team will present the F2008 to over 80 invited journalists from 13 different countries.

Preview...

 

[Firestarter]

Whoa, that pic is so high res can't even see it

 

[Salvatore]

Sorry about that Didn't realise how big it was going to be.

New Ferrari technical lowdown

The F2008 is the fifty fourth single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to take part in the Formula 1 World Championship. The design, codenamed internally as the 659, represents the Scuderia's interpretation of the regulations in force in 2008. A major new element of these is the introduction of a new electronic system to be used by all teams, known as SECU (Standard Electronic Control Unit).

It consists of a single control unit and a software system, the development of which ends as the season begins. Other areas affected by rule changes are: gearbox, which must be used for four consecutive events; safety, with the introduction of higher side protection around the driver's helmet; materials, with a limit to the type of composites that can be used. As a result of these rules, there has been an increase in the weight of the car. All aerodynamic surfaces have been completely revised, however the current version will be replaced by a completely different configuration in time for the first race. In fact, an intensive and all encompassing development programme is planned to run throughout the season. The monococque has been further cut away under the driver's legs and the side pods and engine cover are more tapered. The suspension system has been reworked and developed around the new aerodynamics.

The wheelbase and weight distribution have been adapted to meet the challenge of the new regulations and on the basis of lessons learned last year in terms of the performance of the Bridgestone tyres. Changes to the technical and sporting regulations in terms of electronics, alongside the introduction of the SECU, have led to the removal of a host of a driver aids, such as traction control and engine breaking and the electronically assosted starting system, and also mean that management of the differential, engine and gearchange are much simpler. The gearbox casing is produced in carbon, while the transmission continues to be mounted longitudinally. For the second consecutive year the gearchange is fitted with a quick shift system, adapted to the SECU software and further speeded up. In dealing with the reliability aspect of the new regulations, Shell has played a key role in defining the lubricants for the gearbox. The braking system has been updated with new callipers and innovative concepts regarding cooling.

The 056 engine is mounted longitudinally and continues as a load bearing element. Its basic structure remains unchanged compared to the unit homologated at the start of last season, while its auxiliary systems, air and fuel intakes have been further developed. The technical regulations also call for the use of fuel corresponding to European Union norms, with a content of components derived from biological sources equal to 5.75%. As usual, during the design and development stages of the entire car, our technical partners played an important role. Apart from previously mentioned significant input from Shell , also worthy of note is the contribution of the Fiat Research Centre, especially in providing simulation systems and Brembo for its work in developing the braking system. As is now traditional, a great deal of attention was paid to the performance and optimising of the materials used at the design stage and through quality control, striving to maximise performance levels while attaining the highest possible safety standards.

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Suits Kimi's style I'd say. Oh, and to make this page slower to load:

Looks boootiful.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

looks great as usual!

 

[JCK]

Nice pics

 

[Salvatore]

And I bring you the new McLaren:

Too silver!

And the best pic of the Ferrari I have seen yet:

Ill try and get a high res one.