hope he doesnt hate Honda ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by JDM.Power
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hope he doesnt hate Honda ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by JDM.Power
I think Jenson should be doing everything he can for BAR, mainly to help them for everything they have done for him and for him to prove he is still worthy of the BMW seat.
When I said lucky, I mean BAR was lucky that others were developing there car in 04.
<H2>Mosley out, Stewart in?</H2>Tuesday April 12 2005
Sir Jackie Stewart may be fighting to hold onto his job as president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, but according to reports he could also soon be fighting Max Mosley for the presidency of the FIA.
According to reports in the Scottish press, Stewart is favoured by 'several national motor racing bodies' who are keen to see Mosley ousted.
And should it come to a battle between Stewart and Mosley, the triple F1 World Champion may also have the backing of the ‘Group of Nine” – the teams who have signed up for a rival series, Grand Prix Racing, that they intend starting in 2008.
A source close the teams told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that it was "only a matter of time" before Moseley was forced out.
"He’s been imperial about his decision-making to bring in regulations he has imposed which have cost the teams tens of millions of pounds and some of those changes have been shown to have been of no benefit."
Source - Planet F1
thought Jean Todt was takin over from Mosley?
source f1live.comQuote:
Lucky Strike B·A·R Honda continued to set the pace in testing this week with the completion of an intensive two-day, two-car test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.
Hot on the heels of last week's Barcelona test in which Jenson Button broke the lap record, Takuma Sato and Jenson ended today at the top of the timesheets in first and second places with Takuma setting a new unofficial lap record for the Paul Ricard circuit.
Having completed almost 6000kms of back-to-back testing, the team is confident that it has met its development objectives with the introduction of new aerodynamic upgrades, whilst reliability has also been excellent. In the knowledge that a significant step forward has been achieved, and with all its testing requirements completed in two days rather than the anticipated three, B·A·R Honda took the decision to save a day from its 30 day testing allocation and go home early. The team is looking forward to the first of the European races in Imola, where our 2005 season should really get underway.
Takuma and Enrique began the driving duties on Wednesday with both drivers conducting early set-up runs. Takuma went on to run through an evaluation of further aerodynamic upgrades, completing a total of 137 laps. Enrique concentrated on evaluating tyre options for the San Marino Grand Prix. He completed an impressive total of 182 laps with no reliability issues, which is a new team record for the number of laps completed in one day.
Jenson joined the team on Thursday, taking over from Enrique. He ran through some early set-up runs before completing an evaluation of the new aerodynamic parts, followed by a tyre programme over long runs. Jenson completed a total of 177 laps today setting the second fastest time. Takuma also ran through an intensive tyre evaluation, completing 179 laps and setting the fastest time of the day - a 01:02.839 - a new lap record at Paul Ricard.
Jenson Button
"Today was a very good day. We got through quite a lot and the car has been responding well. We mainly focused on long performance runs and tyre testing and the progress we have shown is encouraging. I am very much looking forward to racing in Imola next week."
Takuma Sato
"It has been a very enjoyable two tests since we came back from Bahrain. We have covered many miles mainly looking at aerodynamic, engine and tyre developments and we seem to have made good progress. Many teams will also improve but we are confident that we have made a good step forward and I'm feeling very positive about the performance of the car. I'm sure we can compete with a very strong race in Imola and am looking forward to the race weekend."
Enrique Bernoldi
"I had a very positive day yesterday and we successfully completed all of our planned test programme. The car felt good and we were right on the pace throughout the day, setting some fast lap times which I really enjoyed. I also made a new team record for the number of laps covered in one day which is very pleasing and helped us to collect a lot of data."
Mark Ellis, Chief Test Engineer
"We have continued the excellent progress made last week in Barcelona with further performance improvements this week. The excellent reliability of the car has enabled us to complete our whole test programme in only two days this week. All our drivers have made positive comments on the improvements to the car since we tested here three weeks ago. Over the two tests since Bahrain we have completed almost 6000kms of testing which has proved extremely encouraging for the team and everyone is optimistic ahead of the first European race at Imola next week. We are also looking forward to testing in Mugello in two weeks time where we will debut further performance parts."
Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development
"We've had two more productive days at Paul Ricard, with some encouraging lap times, and are looking forward to the start of the European season."
Press release
BAR Honda
FINALLY... things r really looking up... :D :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
After reading the above and the article on planetF1 I think I might put BAR up there, but to me it always seems they have a great test and then come race day they find a new problem.
I do think Jenson will be in top 4 at Imola.
He won't be able to compete with Michael, Alonso and Juan.
Just some general f1 "gossip" or reading.
'Ferrari interested in Kimi, not Alonso'
If Ferrari had the choice between signing Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, Jean Todt says the team would choose the latter.
Ferrari will be faced with a difficult decision regarding who will replace Michael Schumacher should the seven-time World Champion retire at the end of next season when his current Ferrari deal expires.
And although there is no one specific driver Ferrari are looking at, Todt has revealed that they do have a few possibilities in mind.
"I certainly don't have a 'stand-by-Schumacher' who could suddenly jump in," the Frenchman told Bild am Sonntag.
"But we're not sleeping. There are several talented drivers. They all have contracts."
However, contrary to recent media reports, Fernando Alonso is not Ferrari's hot favourite to replace Schumacher, despite the Renault driver having won two of this year's opening three races.
"Who keeps saying we want Alonso?" Todt added.
"He's got talent, okay. But there are other drivers, even very good ones. I can tell you this: Alonso is not at the top of our list."
"Even if this may not sound very respectful to Alonso, I consider a young man who drives for a German-English team to be the better choice.”
When asked by the German newspaper if the driver he was referring to was McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, Todt smiled and said: "Next question."
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Schumi: 'I have nothing to lose'
Expect to witness Michael Schumacher embroiled in a few dogfights this weekend at Imola because the German goes into the race with "nothing to lose."
Schumacher already trails Championship leader Fernando Alonso by 24 points after three races and by his own admission unless he starts winning soon, his grip of the Drivers' title is going to start slipping.
However, unlike some who say it has already slipped, Schumacher claims it's too early to make such statements.
"There is no doubt about this: our objective is to begin winning again and I think we have a good chance," said the German.
"The World Championship, despite the opinion of some pessimists, has not yet been decided. Twenty four points seem like a lot but it is not impossible to catch up."
"We should remember that events have gone in Fernando Alonso's favour so far this season. We cannot take it for granted that things will always be like this."
"Alonso will have to begin thinking about the championship and act differently on certain occasions, keeping out of trouble in order to earn precious points."
"I, on the other hand, have nothing to lose. I can only attack and press on. All the other drivers can take more risks than he can."
And after completing two success intense test programmes as two different circuits, Mugello and Fiorano, last week, Schumacher is confident he can return to winning ways at the San Marino GP.
"I must say we made some really good progress. The F2005 was very good right from the start, but now we understand the car much better and know how to deal with any problems that may arise. We perfected it and also improved the aerodynamics," he told The Telegraph.
"Reliability is one of our strongest areas of expertise and the technical failure in Bahrain was my first since 2001, so that's not really something we're overly concerned about. I think we've solved that problem."
He added: "I think our winning potential is very high with this car, and we're not worried any more about the problems regarding reliability that came up in Bahrain."
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Gascoyne targets race wins for Toyota
Having twice finished second on the podium this season, Mike Gascoyne says it's only a matter of time before Toyota are winning races.
Toyota driver Jarno Trulli has had a fantastic start to the year. He began both the Malaysian and Bahrain GP’s second on the grid and went on to the finish the races in P2 as well.
The Italian’s performances have boosted Toyota’s confidence and Gascoyne, who is largely responsible for Toyota’s progress, believes the team’s maiden win isn’t too far off.
"A lot of people are saying: 'Can you win a race?' Well, why not?" he told BBC Sport.
"We've finished the last two races behind (Renault's) Fernando Alonso. If he'd retired, we'd have won both."
However, the 42-year-old does concede that it won’t be easy for Toyota as there are other teams that are also capable of winning races.
"Ferrari will come up and win races, for sure," the 42-year-old said.
"McLaren will probably win a race or two. But if they win a race, Toyota will probably win two or three."
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Formula One outfit Jordan look certain to stay on in Britain after their new owners bought the team's wind tunnel.
There were fears Jordan may leave their Silverstone base after Russian-born Canadian Alex Shnaider and his Midland group bought out Eddie Jordan over the winter.
Shnaider is keen to use the team to promote his homeland and Russia was touted as a possible new home for Jordan, while links with Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara also hinted at a move away from Britain.
But the announcement that Midland have bought Jordan's wind tunnel facility in Brackley - and are planning to invest heavily in upgrading it - suggests Shnaider is committed to having a base in Britain.
Jordan managing director Colin Kolles, said: "The acquisition of the wind tunnel facility in Brackley is definitely the right way to go for our team and this will help us make a big step forward."
"Moreover, we will also be continuing the technical collaboration with Dallara to have a better car in 2006."
Sporting director Trevor Carlin added: "We are very pleased that the purchase of the wind tunnel has now gone through.
"It is a crucial addition to our technical department and hopefully it will help us to build a much more successful 2006 car."
Jordan have struggled this season after financial problems over the winter meant their 2005 car lacked development when Midland took over.
montoya aint racing this weekend again :( so now its alex wurz's (spelling) turn
Imola should be a good race. will be interesting to see how good BAR and Ferrari do.
Quote:
Jenson Button ended first practice for this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix with the second fastest time of the day, clear signs of a much more competitive BAR Honda 007 racecar and the promise of plenty more to come through the weekend.
Also buoyed by the improvements made to the 007 package, team-mate Takuma Sato posted the sixth fastest time of the morning session, although traffic for much of the afternoon session caused him to slip to tenth in the timesheets by the close of the first day's running.
source f1live.comQuote:
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello recorded the sixth and seventh fastest times respectively in today's second practice session at Imola.
Michael Schumacher
“We are looking competitive compared to the others, which is a good sign for the rest of the weekend. The car seems to be very strong in most areas and today went well. I am happy with the handling and I had a well balanced car right from the start of the first session, which meant we could get a lot of work done. It is important at this track to have a car with good brakes and one that rides well over the kerbs and the F2005 seems to do that. BAR’s performance was interesting, but we need to know if they were running at race pace or if they were on a light fuel load. I think we can be confident for qualifying and the race.”
lookin good so far for BAR... :thumbsup:
After the major success of BAR's test days and seeing them top the charts in practice they have improved a lot.
But have they done enough to beat the Toyotas?
Talk of changing qualifying AGAIN is under way at Imola.
i wanna see takuma sato get a podium this year...
hopefully there wont be anymore mechincal failures for BAR in imola...
what time is the race gonna be aired on telly?