3
July
37-year-old David Coulthard of Red Bull announced today that this will be his last season in F1. The Scot feels that it is time to call it quits as a racer, but he hopes to stay involved in the sport. In his statement, Coulthard said that he will continue work with the Red Bull team next season as a consultant. The focus of his work will be on the testing and development of cars.
Although Coulthard feels this is the right move at the moment he added that it might not be permanent. He said that if he gets the urge to come back and race later he may do so. It may not be with F1, or perhaps it will, but it is a possibility. As for where Red Bull goes from here, it is speculated that Sebastian Vettel (who is currently with Toro Rosso) will take Coulthard’s spot.
Coulthard’s career ends 14 years after it started and he leaves with 13 grand prix victories plus any he may win this year. He has raced in 236 races, which is currently the record for British drivers. He has been a respectable person and someone who F1 will remember for years to come.
27
June
Lewis Hamilton topped the charts at the final day of testing in Silverstone, where the next race of the F1 season will be held next weekend. The young McLaren driver told reporters that he is going to “put down the hammer” to win races for the rest of the season and hopefully take a championship away from Ferrari. Hamilton said that Ferrari is strong on every track, but added that so is McLaren. He believes that his team can set itself apart from the crowd in the last 10 races of the 2008 season.
The driver explained how all they had to do was just drive the way they normally did. “You’ve got to learn to take a step back and realise okay, you don’t have to do anything, just drive the way you normally drive and you will be fine, you will get by”, said Hamilton. The young racer really seems to have some momentum going into next weekend’s race and that should certainly help him. That combined with the dream of a championship, especially one that he can snag away from fierce rivals Ferrari, is just something he doesn’t want to pass up. Of course there is also the want for revenge on last year’s close loss to Kimi Raikkonen.
19
June
Fernando Alonso recently spurred speculation about a strike when he called it a possibility due to the rising cost of racing licenses. The Spanish driver is peeved with the FIA’s sharp increases and he probably mentioned the word without really thinking about it.
Either way, it created a line of events and before anyone knew it the story was atop F1 headlines. Today, several top drivers including Kim Raikkonen of Ferrari put down the rumors. Raikkonen said that all of the drivers were never going to strike, as some assumed from the Renault driver’s words.
It may not lead to a strike, but the licensing fees are bothering some (although not all.) Max Mosley said that the costs should be a non-issue because the drivers earn so much more than it, that for most of them the fees won’t really have any effect. The drivers would probably give in, but they have been asking for a meeting with Mosley that would get the ordeal straightened out, but such a meeting has yet to take place. Some teams are turning to Bernie Ecclestone to discuss the matter instead. All-in-all, it isn’t something to worry about, and it shouldn’t create a big disruption as we move through the season.
11
June
Here are some of the headlines from around F1 at the moment:
Lewis Hamilton said that the penalty issued to him for crashing into Raikkonen last Sunday will not stop him. He feels confident and ready to move on from the issue and he hopes to have a good race in France. Hamilton also refuted a proposal that the crash was the lowest point in his F1 career.
Fernando Alonso said that Renault should begin discussing whether they really want to continue working on this year’s car or if they want to focus more on the future. At this point, with only nine points, the team is very far from a good finish and Alonso has suggested that perhaps they should call it quits for this year so that they have a better season in 2009.
Danika Patrick, American IndyCar racer, will test one of Honda’s cars later this season. This has created speculation about a possible start by Patrick in F1 sometime in the near future.
Former F1 Toyota principal Ove Andersson has died in a car crash at the age of 70. He was driving a 1957 Volvo in a trial race when he was involved in a head-on collision. The thoughts and prayers of people from all around F1 are with him.
2
June
After a rough 2007 and a bad start this year, there have been rumors that Renault will leave Formula 1 if things don’t turn around. Today, chief executive Carlos Ghosn of Renault denied such claims, saying that they are committed to F1 and plan on staying for a long time. Ghosn did say that he was unhappy with recent results, as are most fans, but he believes the team will be able to turn it around starting with the second half of this season. He also praised Fernando Alonso for all that he has done for the team, adding that Alonso will remain with the team into the foreseeable future.
The team is in a drought currently, not having won a race since the Japanese Grand Prix in 2006. In 2007 and so far through the 2008 season, the team has managed a measly 60 points, compared to over three times as many in both 2005 and 2006. Despite this down point in Renault’s history, management continues to back the team. Ghosn said that a recovery plan was put into practice, which should help in the remaining races of this year. There have been glimpses of hope, with Alonso starting in the front row in Barcelona. The team is now just waiting for him to push through with the first victory of the season, one which will certainly bring great joy and a lot more confidence.
