2009 French Grand Prix CANCELLED!

Rumours have been circulating for some time now that the European races in particular may be feeling the financial pinch and I guess this proves it.

The French Motorsport Federation (FFSA) has announced that they will not hold a French GP in 2009 because of economic problems. Given the current financial climate they do not believe that they’ll be able to run a profitable event. In recent years the group has struggled with the annual 10% increase in fees it has needed to pay the Formula One Group. The Magny Cours race has been under fire for some time from drivers, teams and most importantly Bernie. It was surprising that they managed to hold on for this long. The FFSA have been reviewing applications for the 2010 French GP which will be hosted somewhere more ‘exotic’ and promoted by a new group. The FFSA will no longer be promoter but will remain the sanctioning body.

That leaves 17 races on the calendar for 2009… unless the Formula One Group can work something out.

Fernando Alonso – A man for all seasons

What can I say?
Fernando Alonso scored his second consecutive victory in Sunday’s Japanese GP. Winning a single race this season seemed inconceivable even to him just a few short months ago. The Renault R28 chassis has been disappointing and the RS27 engine is lagging 20hp behind other cars on the grid and yet Fernando can still win. And in style. He bunny-hopped Kubica during the first round of pit stops, stayed out in front and controlled the race comfortably. He was never really threatened. And take a look at the guys lap times. He’s like a metronome. He’s so consistent. Flawless. Anyone misguided enough to believe Fernando Alonso isn’t everything he’s cracked up to be is SADLY mistaken.

Alonso is by far and away the most complete package in F1. Even early this year when he stepped back into a Renault which everyone knew wasn’t competitive enough to make him a serious title contender he had the eye of the tiger. He’s more passionate about F1 and racing than most other drivers are in their rookie season… and that’s why he’ll be World Champion again. He’s still as hungry as ever for it! He may behave like a prat sometimes but you’ve gotta love that fiery passion. 2008 may be all wrapped up for Fernando but what does the 2009 season hold in store? I can’t wait to find out!!

PS – The early report is for rain on Sunday in China!!! And we know how Massa enjoys the rain… not. Remember Silverstone?

Why Robert Kubica will one day be Champion

There has been a definite decline in the performance of the BMW-Sauber car in the latter half of the season so Kubica’s second place on Sunday in Japan are all the more impressive. Kubica qualified well and pushed through to the lead avoiding the first corner melee started by Hamilton. He was overtaken by Alonso in a perfectly balanced Renault during the first round of pit stops and didn’t have the performance to peg him back. During the graining phase on his last set of tyres Raikkonen was able to close the gap from third position and place him under immense pressure. And that’s where Kubica demonstrated an entirely different side to his usual aggressive style. He kept a level head and defended his position from a rampaging Ferrari with a vastly more experienced current World Champion behind the wheel for several laps in a display of defensive driving skills that I haven’t seen the likes of in years. His tyres eventually cleared up and he managed to pull away slightly from Raikkonen to finish comfortably in second.Kubica’s second in Japan also scored him enough points to put him within 7 points of Massa in the Drivers World Championship.

He’s still a slim outside chance for the title but one can only wonder… what would have happened if BMW-Sauber hadn’t stopped developing their car early in the season to focus on the 2009 build? What if they hadn’t pooled all their race team resources behind a struggling Nick Heidfeld? Don’t get me wrong… I adore the BMW-Sauber team… but if they had have offered Kubica their full attention in 2008 could they have walked away with the Championship? Dr Mario better have his shiznitz together next year or he'll lose his REAL star driver.

Lewis’ ego gets the better of him

You have a seven point buffer in the World Championship, you’ve qualified first on the grid and your only real title rival has qualified fifth. All you have to do is keep it on the track and stay in front of your title rival to keep your Championship secure. Nothing else matters. Unless, that is, you have an ego as big as Lewis Hamilton’s… in which case you’ll out-brake yourself and go way too deep into turn one trying to regain a position from someone who is absolutely no threat to your Championship, take most of the front runners off the track into the overrun area and flat spot your tyres so badly that you’re forced to pit before you’ve even started racing. Hamilton’s blunder was compounded when Massa finished the race seventh and closed the Championship gap to 5 points. Lewis Hamilton got it ALL wrong in Japan.

At the start of this season I thought Lewis would romp it in. He came SO close last year. He outwardly (to the Press) conducted himself in a mature and professional manner despite all the pressure and the soap-opera happening at McLaren throughout the year. He got a boot load of experience in his rookie season and the scene was set for 2008. When Raikkonen slumped at the start of the season I knew his main rival would be Massa… someone I thought was way too erratic and inconsistent to trouble Hamilton. Wrong. It turns out that Massa became more consistent toward the latter half of the season and Hamilton disappeared up his own bum.

He still leads the Championship by 5 points and the scene is set for an AMAZING season finale… but in the last few rounds Hamilton has lost a lot of respect from his peers and fans with his arrogant behaviour and borderline dangerous driving. Even good friends like Robert Kubica have criticised his behaviour. I still have my money on him for the 2008 Championship but I’m almost hoping I lose it.

Japanese GP - Fuji Speeday

Weekend forecast for Oyama, Japan

Friday, October 10



Periods of sun
Low: 18 °C
High: 22 °C


Saturday, October 11



A shower in the morning
Low: 11 °C
High: 21 °C


Sunday, October 12



Times of clouds and sun
Low: 14 °C
High: 19 °C


NO RAIN!!! There's the possibility of rain on Saturday morning but the track should mostly be dry in time for qualifying in the afternoon. And most importantly, DRY for the race.

Australian telecast times on Channel Ten are:

Sunday 12th October
1:30AM - 2:30AM
Qualifying Highlights

Sunday 12th October
10:50PM - 12:50AM
Race

Let's hope Massa can claw back some points and make things REALLY interesting for the final two rounds.

Prost vs. Senna

This weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway is gonna be a doosey… but how could anyone forget the EPIC battle between Prost and Senna in the late eighties at Suzuka?

1989 Japanese Grand Prix
Senna won the 1988 Championship in his first season with McLaren beating Prost by 3 points and there had been bad-blood and feuding between the McLaren drivers throughout the 89’ season. The bitterness came to a head when the teams arrived at Suzuka for the penultimate round of the Championship and Prost made a press statement claiming that he wouldn’t leave the door open for his teammate to pass and that he wasn’t going to give up position simply to save McLaren the embarrassment of a double-retirement. And so it went. Senna had qualified in pole but Prost beat him into the lead at the start. Senna chased Prost the entire race until lap 46 (7 laps before the end) when he made a dive to pass Prost entering the chicane before the start/finish straight. True to his word Prost closed the door and both of them skidded off the track and stalled. Prost jumped out of his car satisfied the Championship was his. Senna asked the track marshal’s for a push, got started again and fought his way back to win the race. However, his altercation with Prost meant he’d skipped a chicane and he was controversially disqualified by the FIA after the race. Prost won the World Championship.

1990 Japanese Grand Prix
Prost moved to Ferrari in 1990 due to what he perceived as favouritism towards Senna at McLaren. Again after stoushing all through the season they made it to Suzuka with Senna leading the Championship on 78 points… ahead of Prost who had 69… the Championship was still wide-open with two races to go. Senna qualified in pole position at Suzuka but was unhappy with his position on the dirty side of the track. He requested that FISA change the side of the track on which pole was located as the second place grid position was located in the racing line and had the advantage into the first corner. His request was denied. Who qualified in second place? Alain Prost. At the start of the race Prost had the advantage into the first corner and pulled ahead. Senna wasn’t going to let him get away and dove into the gap from the inside crashing into the side of Prost’s Ferrari as he closed the door into the first apex. Both cars spun into retirement in the gravel trap… and Senna clinched the Championship. He later admitted that he’d intentionally crashed into the side of Prost’s car.

CLASSIC!!

Ferrari gets a lollipop

Ferrari has given up on their troublesome pit stop traffic light system for releasing drivers. After the complete and utter bungle in Singapore where Massa was released early from his pit box into oncoming traffic… with the fuel hose still attached to the car… they’ve decided to ditch the system for the rest of this season so that the mechanics can have 100% confidence during pit stops that they won't be dragged along pit lane by an F1 car or whalloped in the head by a flying fuel hose coupling.

The Singapore incident could wind up costing Massa the championship. After waiting at the end of the pit lane for 2 minutes to have the hose released by his mechanics he was able to rejoin the race but finished outside the points in 13th. His title rival Lewis Hamilton managed 3rd place and took 6 points to extend his lead in the championship. All this because an overzealous mechanic hit the go button on the lighting system before he’d disconnected the fuel hose. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali still reckons the system provides a performance advantage to the team and that it will be reviewed post-season ready to be implemented again in 09.

Every other team uses a regular lollipop.

Canada gets dropped!

The FIA has released the 2009 F1 Season Calendar… and the Canadian GP has been ditched. That may upset some of the drivers since the nightlife, and presumably the women, at the Canadian GP are consistently voted best on the fixture. This also means there is no more Formula 1 in North America since the US also got ditched (thank God!!) last season. The new Yas Island circuit in Abu Dhabi has been added as the season finale next year. Apart from a couple of date changes everything else mostly stays the same. Another 18 rounds of bliss.

29 March Australia Albert Park
5 April Malaysia Sepang
19 April Bahrain Bahrain
10 May Spain Catalunya
24 May Monaco Monte Carlo
7 June Turkey Istanbul
21 June Great Britain Silverstone
28 June France Magny-Cours
12 July Germany Nurburgring
26 July Hungary Hungaroring
23 August Europe Valencia
30 August Belgium Spa
13 September Italy Monza
27 September Singapore Singapore
11 October Japan Suzuka
18 October China Shanghai
1 November Brazil Interlagos
15 November Abu Dhabi Yas Island

There are still three epic rounds and a Championship to be decided in 2008 and I’m ALREADY pumped for the new season

BMW Sauber retain Kubica and Heidfeld

BMW Sauber announced yesterday that both Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will be retained in 2009. Kubica was an obvious choice following his strong performances this year but Heidfeld looked a little more doubtful. The truth is that while Quick Nick might have been outshone in qualifying and some races by his less experienced team mate he’s still had a cracking season in his own right and certainly deserves his spot on the team. Perhaps the ONLY doubt in Mario Theissen’s mind was the possibility of getting a certain 2 x World Champion to race alongside Kubica…

So I guess that begs the question, what options are there left for Alonso?
I always thought he’d stick with Renault for another season and while he’s yet to confirm his intentions I’d be horrified if he went with any of the alternative (Honda) now.

Christian Klien will also stay on as BMW Sauber’s third driver.

Frank gives Nakajima a ride in 2009

It's official... Kazuki Nakajima has been confirmed to race at Williams in 2009. Likewise, Nico Rosberg will stay with the team next season.

Rosberg was never really in doubt, Frank Williams has made no secret of his admiration for Nico's rapidly developing skills, but speculation was rife that Nakajima would get the boot. The sceptics will say that Kazuki has kept his seat purely because of his Toyota relationship but I disagree. He's done a great job in his rookie season in a difficult car, his performances have been just below the benchmark set by his far more experienced teammate. Williams sighted the fact that they wanted to maintain a stable and familiar driver line-up to contend with the raft of regulation changes taking place next season. They've made a wise decision and if they can squeeze some more performance out of their 2009 car the Williams team has the potential to be the strongest it's been in over a decade. And I for one would love to see Williams back at the pointy end of the grid.

Senna ready for F1?

There has been a flurry of rumours on the wire this week about the F1 future of Bruno Senna. He’s had a great season in GP2 and although he hasn’t positively sparkled he’s managed a solid second in the standings which has stirred interest from the F1 paddock… plus he’s got the Senna brand which undeniably generates interest. Bruno is keeping his cards close to his chest as he rolls through negotiations only stating that a few teams have expressed interest. It’s no secret that his Uncle Ayrton’s close friend and team mate Gerhard Berger is sizing him up for the empty seat created at Toro Rosso when Vettel heads to Red Bull next year, but STR have also recently evaluated ex-Super Aguri driver Takuma Sato and another GP2 driver Sebastien Buemi. Other possibilities for Senna include the race seat of Nakajima at Williams or possibly even a spot at Honda. There are also rumoured to be test drives on offer from BMW-Sauber and Toyota. Senna has stated that although his preference is a race seat in 2009 if he’s offered a test seat and a race seat in 2010 with a decent team he’ll consider it.

I’m tipping Senna will wind up at STR or Honda. Williams can’t ditch Kazuki Nakajima without upsetting their Japanese engine manufacturer Toyota, who back Nakajima. I also believe Nakajima has done enough good work with the Williams FW30 to retain his spot in 09. And the allure of a race seat at one of the aforementioned teams will prove too great for Senna when weighed up against a test drive.