Renault handed suspended F1 ban

Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban from Formula 1 for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix.
The team were called before governing body the FIA to answer charges they had asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.
Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA sanctioned events for an unlimited period.
Ex-engineering director Pat Symonds has also been excluded for five years.
Briatore and Symonds parted company with Renault last week at the same time as the French car giant said they would not contest the charges.
The FIA agreed not to pursue action against Piquet in return for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

Alonso, who attended the hearing in Paris, was also cleared of any involvement in the race-fixing scheme and the FIA thanked him for "cooperating with enquiries".
The World Motor Sport Council ruled that Renault was guilty of breaking its sporting code, finding; "breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.
"They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself.
"The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

"However, in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1's disqualification until the end of the 2011 season."
FIA president Max Mosley added: "The blame has been placed where it should be placed and it's the right decision.
"The penalty that we've imposed is the harshest one we can but because Renault have demonstrated that they have no moral responsibility for what took place, it would be wrong in the circumstances to impose an immediate penalty."
The hearing was an attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore scandal despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds.
Renault explained that its internal investigation found that Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr had conspired to cause the crash with no other team member involved.
After conducting its own investigation, the FIA agreed with Renault's findings and decided to hand the French team a more lenient suspended sentence.
Renault, who will pay the cost of the FIA investigation, as well as contributing to its safety-related projects, said it accepted the council's decision.
Renault's F1 president Bernard Rey
"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the Word Motor Sport Council," a team statement said.
"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour.
"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future. We will issue further information in the next few days."
The FIA imposed further sanctions on Briatore, who ended his nine-year reign as Renault team principal last week in the wake of the scandal.
The Italian has been banned indefinitely from attending any FIA events. A route back into F1 was made more difficult for Briatore as the FIA declared it would not grant a licence to any team he was involved with or renew an F1 Superlicence granted to any driver associated with him.
Renault's double world champion Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber are both managed by Briatore while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also has ties with the Italian.
Symonds was banned from all FIA events for five years but the FIA noted his communication to the hearing "that it was to his 'eternal regret and shame' that he had participated in the conspiracy".
The fateful conspiracy was brought to light by Piquet after he was sacked by Renault following July's Hungarian GP.
The 24-year-old Brazilian said after the hearing: "I bitterly regret my actions to follow the orders I was given. I wish every day that I had not done it."
During last year's Singapore night race Piquet crashed on lap 14, two laps after Alonso had stopped for fuel and tyres, and a safety car was deployed to control the field while the debris from the accident was removed from the track.
Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car - necessary while Piquet's wrecked car was removed from the track - was critical to Alonso's victory in Singapore.
It meant that when the safety car came out, he was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres and it promoted him into a position from which he was able to win.
The FIA's ruling on the race-fixing behind the Spaniard's victory has been reached in the same week that Formula 1 returns to Singapore for this season's race.

Briatore has been banned from any involvement in F1
While the majority of the Renault team flew out to Singapore over the weekend, the long-term future of the French team remains in doubt.
The team's main sponsor, Dutch bank ING, had already decided to withdraw its support at the end of the season while Renault itself reported losses as a result of falling car sales in the first half of the year.
Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year.
There have long been rumours that both Renault and Toyota, who have said it will not sign off its 2010 F1 budget until November, could follow them out of the sport.
If Renault and Toyota pulled out, the only two car companies left in F1 would be Mercedes and Fiat through its Ferrari brand.
As the car companies supply engines to the entire grid this year, that could be a major problem, notwithstanding the return of privateer engine company Cosworth next season as supplier to the new teams Lotus, US F1, Campos and Manor.
"Formula 1 can't afford another major manufacturer with such a proud history to walk away," said the BBC's James Munro in Paris.
"So some may accuse the FIA of that having influenced their decision."

Briatore & Symonds out of Renault F1 Team

Flavio Briatore has left his position as boss of the Renault team after they decided not to contest charges of fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Executive director of engineering Pat Symonds has also left the team.

Renault were summoned by governing body, the FIA, after Nelson Piquet Jr claimed he had been asked to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso's race.

An FIA spokesperson confirmed a World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris on Monday would go ahead.

Renault have been called to answer charges that they "conspired with Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso".

The hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore "crash-gate" despite the news that Briatore and Symonds have left Renault.

The FIA could still impose sanctions if Renault are found guilty, including excluding the team from the championship, although that must be considered unlikely given the two people Piquet said were responsible have now left the team.

Piquet crashed in Singapore two laps after Alonso had come in for a routine pit stop.

That meant that when race officials sent out the safety car to clear up the debris from Piquet's car, Alonso was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres.

Renault's double world champion went on to take the chequered flag at Formula 1's inaugural night race and claim his first victory in two years.

At the time, Piquet attributed the crash to a simple error, but after being dropped by the team after July's Hungary GP the race-fixing allegations emerged.

The Brazilian has since testified to the FIA that he was instructed by Briatore and Symonds when and where to crash.

Renault's response was to accuse the 24-year-old and his father Nelson Piquet of false allegations and blackmail, going as far as saying they would begin legal action against them.

But on Wednesday the team said in a statement they would "not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix."

The statement added: "The team also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team."

BBC pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan said he was surprised by Renault's announcement but believes it was effectively an admission of guilt.

"By suggesting they are not going to contest the allegations is in itself an admission," Jordan told the BBC.

"I don't know what goes on in teams and certainly in the Jordan team you would contemplate all sorts of things but you certainly couldn't contemplate that."

It remains to be seen whether this latest controversy, and the departure of Briatore and Symonds, will affect Renault's decision to stay in Formula 1.

Briatore had denied speculation that the French team's future was under threat and the team have signed a new Concorde Agreement to stay in F1 until 2012.

But this latest controversy, coupled with a decline in cars sales, could yet have repercussions for the staff of around 700, who are are employed at the team's headquarters in Enstone, in Oxfordshire, and Viry-Chatillon in Paris.

Former grand prix winner John Watson told the BBC: "The fact that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have left the team was the only solution to Renault.

"A company on the scale of Renault, a world-scale motor company could not afford to have a scandal of this magnitude rattling around in the boardroom."

As it is, Renault's statement draws the curtain on two of F1's best-known protagonists.

Briatore became Benetton team principal in 1991 and when Renault bought Benetton in 2000 to run under its own moniker, the 59-year-old Italian was chosen to lead the team.

Symonds joined the Toleman team, which morphed into Benetton and Renault, in the 1980s and worked his way though the ranks becoming executive director of engineering in 2001.

Briatore was also heavily involved in the teams' association Fota, as it sought to reach an agreement on the future of the sport with the FIA this season.

Romain Grosjean to Drive for Renault F1 Team

Allez la France !!

Renault have confirmed that Romain Grosjean will replace Nelson Piquet Jr at the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
Grosjean has also been chosen as the team's second driver for the remaining races of the season after Piquet Jr failed to pick up a point in 10 races.
"I'm very proud and looking forward to helping the team get the best results," said the 23-year-old Frenchman.
"Romain is an impressive young talent and we expect him to show his skills," said Renault team boss Flavio Briatore.
Grosjean will race alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for Renault in Valencia at the weekend after getting the green light to replace Piquet Jr.
"It is an honour to be Fernando's team-mate and to make my Formula 1 debut alongside a double world champion is especially motivating," said Grosjean.
Briatore thanked the Brazilian for his efforts in a team statement but said the switch was evidence that the team would "take an aggressive approach to the second half of the season".
Renault were reinstated on Monday for this weekend's race in Valencia after successfully appealing a one-race ban they were given at the Hungary Grand Prix.
The French team were punished after allowing Fernando Alonso to leave the pit lane with a loose wheel, which then came off, at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, Alonso will now be able to race at his home grand prix this weekend after the ban was overturned.
Motorsport's governing body (FIA) will instead fine Renault �30,000.
The decision to allow Alonso and his new Renault team-mate to race is likely to delight the Spanish crowd.
"The reason there are two races in Spain is largely because of Fernando's involvement," said Renault team manager Steve Nielsen.
"People in Spain were not so interested in F1 until he got involved, and now it's a big sport there."

German Grand Prix Preview

The real action is in the driver�s championship, not in the corridors of power

LEWIS Hamilton pulled a stunt in front of his home crowd after the last race at Silverstone three weeks ago and the fans went wild. The world champion did a doughnut, rotating his McLaren-Mercedes at high revs around the same spot, until a plume of smoke rose up from his rear tyres. It didn�t matter to his fans that their hero ended 16th out of the 18 drivers who crossed the finish. They had fun, so did the 24-yearold Briton. At Nurburgring for Sunday�s German Grand Prix, the McLaren pilot said drivers should be given more freedom to improve the Formula 1 show � just like in MotoGP, where the speed demons do all kinds of wheelies, stoppies and burnouts at the end of a race to the delight of the fans.
The powers-that-be who run F1 ought to listen to Hamilton. Not that they should push drivers to perform tricks. But they need to understand that fans watch motor-racing for fun. The bickering over the past few months between motorsport�s governing body FIA and the top eight teams has left many disturbed. They sighed with relief when both sides seemingly ended their feud in Paris two weeks ago. It was short-lived. At Nurburgring earlier this week, the eight teams walked out of a technical meeting seething after efforts to sort out rules for next year with the FIA broke down. The breakaway series they had threatened to launch resurfaced, and the mud-slinging resumed. Fans are tired, of not knowing what a bunch of men, who have made discord in F1 their life�s goal, will do next. I know I�ve tired of the off-track drama. We�ll just have to let the demons sort themselves out and not lose sight of the fun taking place between Hamilton and company on the track.That is where the real action is. That is where the grown-ups in F1 are today.
Beware the Red Bulls� charge
Hamilton is effectively out of the running for the drivers� championship. The real deal is Brawn GP�s Jenson Button, who has taken six of the eight races so far. But the 29-year-old Briton is facing some real opposition from others, rather than just team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who was the only one pushing him earlier in the season. It came from the Red Bull Racing pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who knocked the wind out of Brawn GP with a one-two finish at Silverstone. They have the talent and now the car to stop the championship leader from taking any more race wins. To do this, Red Bull must come to a bold decision, starting this Sunday in Germany. They must focus the rest of their campaign around Vettel, who is better all around than Webber. The 22-year-old knows how to win races, and his three career wins, including his Silverstone victory, have been nothing short o fGe rman Grand Prix Keep your eye on the tarmac spectacular. In front of his homefans, the German will be fired up to repeat that. Though 25 points behind Button,Vettel has a long shot at the title, and that will require Webber, 3.5 points behind his teammate and who has yet to win an F1 race, riding shotgun. Button�s route to the titleis far easier. All he needs is to register three more wins and be consistently on the podium for the rest of the season.
Ferrari spoilers
The real threat to Button�s bid, however, is from within his camp. Barrichello, second in the championship and two points ahead of Vettel, is in the twilight of his career. At 37, this may be the Brazilian�s last chance to finally be crowned world champion. After playing second fiddle to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari under Ross Brawn, who is again his boss at Brawn GP, Barrichello is not in the mood to be short changed once more. There is no hint that Brawn GP has issued team orders and is forcing Barrichello to give way to his team-mate. But Button must also keep his eye on other drivers such as double world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault and the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and 2007 title winner Kimi Raikkonen. Although out of the championship reckoning, their cars are fast improving and could take precious points off him. They can turn out to be kingmakers and hand Vettel or Barrichello the title. This is where the fun in F1 is, on the track and not off it.

By Ian De Cotta ; TODAY Paper

Week-end Formula 1 News

The Australian Grand Prix will likely be scrapped if leading teams form a breakaway Formula 1 series next year, Australian F1 race chief Ron Walker said on Friday.
Uncertainty continues to surround the future direction of the sport after the eight-member Formula One Teams Association (Fota), including Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes, walked out of a meeting with motor racing's governing body in Paris this week and revived their threat to form a breakaway series.
Walker said he would advise the Victorian state government, which backs the race, to cancel the event should F1's leading teams carry out their threat."The Grand Prix board would probably say to the (Victorian) Premier it's too hard," Walker told a radio station on Friday. "
You can just imagine if the likes of (Roger) Federer and other major tennis players didn't turn up to the Australian Open in January or if some of the best horses didn't come to the Melbourne Cup."
Melbourne has an agreement to run the event until 2015 under a five-year licence extension signed last year

On another note, defending drivers' world champion Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest time in Friday afternoon's second free practice session ahead of Sunday's German Grand Prix.It was the third time in this disappointing season - for him - that the 24-year-old had been quickest on the opening day in his McLaren Mercedes, having been fastest previously on Friday in Bahrain and China.Cynics, however, may suggest that with his McLaren team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen struggling in 17th place on a cool, wet day, Hamilton was running very light on fuel to please the fans sitting in the Mercedes-Benz grandstand.
The Briton clocked a best time of 1min 32.149sec with 6 minutes of the 90 remaining to ease clear of nearest rival German Sebastian Vettel, in his Red Bull, by 0.2sec.Championship leader Jenson Button of Britain was third for Brawn GP, ahead of Australian Mark Webber, in the second Red Bull, with Italian Jarno Trulli fifth for Toyota and German Adrian Sutil sixth for Force India. Button's Brawn team-mate Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello was seventh ahead of two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault.

Alonso trades Renault in for Ferrari, say press reports

Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso is planning to switch from Renault to Ferrari next season, Spanish sports newspapers Marca and AS reported yesterday.Negotiations about the Spanish driver's transfer are close to completion and could become official at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from Sept 11-13, according to the reports which were echoed by Italian media.
The 27-year-old Spaniard won the driver's championships in 2005 and 2006 for Renault and is under contract with the French manufacturer until the end of next year, but with a get-out clause which he can activate earlier.
Alonso, currently ninth in the driver's championship table, has expressed dissatisfaction with Renault's under-performing R29 model, even though engineers say radical improvements are on the way.
Ferrari are believed to be less than happy with Kimi Raikkonen, currently 10th in the table, and could be keen on the idea of Alonso partnering Felipe Massa. But the Italian firm would find it very expensive to buy the Finn out of his cast-iron contract.
According to the Spanish reports, Alonso has secured the backing of Spanish financial giant Banco de Santander to get a five-year deal with Ferrari.

All Teams submit F1 entries for 2010

Team bosses are all now signed up to compete in next season's campaign Ferrari and the rest of the teams in the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota) have submitted conditional entries for the 2010 championship.
Williams announced on Monday that they intend to enter next season's campaign. McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso, Brawn GP and Force India have now followed suit.
However, the teams have only signed up to the new season on the condition that they are able to operate on the basis of current technical regulations. The teams and the sport's governing body, the FIA, have been at odds in recent weeks over plans to introduce an optional budget cap in 2010. The teams have tried to meet (FIA president) Max Mosley halfway on this one - it remains to be seen now if he agrees to their terms

Those teams who pledged to keep costs under �40m a season would be allowed greater technical freedom than those outside of the budget cap, but many of the teams felt the cap was far too strict, fearing it would create a two-tier championship.

Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and Toyota all threatened to pull out of the sport if the budgetary restrictions were to be forced through. It prompted a crisis meeting between Fota and the FIA a fortnight ago, talks which failed initially to provide an acceptable compromise. But at a meeting at the Monaco Grand Prix last week, it was agreed in principle to delay the cap until 2011, while motorsport boss Max Mosley has made other concessions to the teams on governance. And it appears enough progress has now been made on that to convince teams to sign up to the new season - on the condition that a new financial agreement with F1's management is reached by 12 June.

"It could be the end (of the budget cap row) but we won't know for certain until the FIA publish its list of accepted teams and drivers for the 2010 championship on 12 June," reported BBC Five Live's F1 commentator David Croft.

"At the moment, it's the current 10 teams plus Prodrive, USF1 and the Campos team from Spain. Those teams will be offered technical assistance from the current entrants who, in return for that, want a sliding scale of cost-cutting. "That means instead of a �40m cap next year, say a spend of around �80m that reduces to somewhere around �40m by 2011.
"The teams have tried to meet Max Mosley halfway on this one - it remains to be seen now if he agrees to their terms." A statement on behalf of Fota said: "Fota confirms all its members' long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. "It has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship in the next three years."

The FIA now has until 12 June to confirm its intentions.
Toyota Motorsport boss, and Fota vice-chairman John Howett, whose team has long been rumoured to be quitting F1 at the end of the year, said: "We await a response from the Federation."

Your Bank may be the ticket to F1 Singapore GP

WITH only a month left until Singapore's first Formula One race, some banks are pulling out all the stops to get their clients revved up for the big event.
Some are splashing out wads of cash to fly in top-tier customers from all over the world while others are hosting posh F1 cocktail parties at some top hotels.
Splashing out
Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank is inviting about 900 global guests who are its clients to the race.
Royal Bank of Scotland. Clients will be hosted to a cocktail party at the old Supreme Court building and get a chance to meet F1 legend Jackie Stewart.
ING. A major sponsor of the Renault team, it is hosting some 1,000 wholesale and private banking customers.
In short, the inaugural F1 night race is shaping up to be a major marketing tool for a number of the banks here.
Three big sponsors - ING Group, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - are not only giving the highly sought-after Paddock Club tickets to wealthy clients, but also letting them hobnob with the world's best F1 drivers.
While the three declined to say how much they are splurging on their clients, observers estimate each bank could chalk up millions during the race period.
Credit Suisse is inviting about 900 global guests who are its clients to the race which runs from Sept 26 to 28.
The Swiss bank did not want to disclose how many of its clients will be treated to exclusive Paddock Club tickets.
But what is known is that these tickets - which allow guests to get close-up views of the pit-lane action while feasting on champagne and caviar - do not come cheap, with prices ranging from $3,500 to $7,500 for a single seat.
As Credit Suisse is the official partner of the BMW Sauber team, its guests will get to meet the team's drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica at a dinner.
RBS, a key sponsor of the Williams team, will host its clients at a cocktail party at the old Supreme Court building.
ING, a major sponsor of the Renault team, also said it is hosting some 1,000 wholesale and private banking customers.
Meanwhile, other banks have entered the fray to create opportunities for guests to meet and socialise.
'One of our party nights is built around a hawker stall theme,' said Mr V. Shankar, group head of origination and client coverage at Standard Chartered Bank. 'Our clients can look forward to lots of good, authentic Singapore food, lots of laughs and definitely F1 celebrities.'
SG Private Banking has chartered a private yacht for clients to cruise to the Southern Islands. 'It will provide guests, especially those from overseas, the unique opportunity to view the much-talked-about developments along Singapore's waterfront,' said Mr Pierre Baer, SG Private Banking chief executive officer for Singapore and South Asia.
OCBC Bank is the only local bank to invite its clients to the Paddock Club. 'No detail is too small for us as we make transport arrangements for our customers to get to the OCBC Paddock Club without fuss,' said Ms Koh Ching Ching, head of group corporate communications.
Despite the glamour of being associated with the race, industry watchers say some private banks, including those belonging to Citigroup, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch, have chosen to give the race a miss, or are taking a subdued approach.
Sources say many of them - saddled with credit-related losses and write- downs back home - would have thrown parties and sponsorships without hesitation when capital was plentiful.
But now they have to be realistic.
Citi, JPMorgan and Merrill all declined to comment. Those willing to go on record were either skittish on details or simply painted a mood of conservatism.
UBS Singapore's chief operating officer Teo Lay Sie said it has made arrangements for clients to attend race-related hospitality events and the race itself.
Mr Rolf Gerber, CEO of LGT Bank in Liechtenstein (Singapore), said the bank is sponsoring tickets for top clients - but they will make their own flight and hotel arrangements. 'We wanted to see how exciting, if at all, the F1 turns out to be before making a decision on perhaps a greater commitment for F1 next year,' he said.

By Gabriel chen (Asiaone.com)

Massa wins New Valencia GP street Circuit.

Felipe Massa has won the European Grand Prix in Valencia ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.
Starting from pole position, the Ferrari driver led from start to finish through the harbourfront streets of the Spanish city, which was hosting a grand prix for the first time.
With team-mate and World Champion Kimi Raikkonen retiring with engine failure on lap 46, the result also moves Massa up to second place in the Drivers' Championship, six points behind Hamilton.
The victory, Massa's fourth of the season, remained provisional for a time after his second pit stop almost brought a collision with Force India driver Adrian Sutil.
Sutil was forced to dart left and scrape the pit wall as both drivers accelerated away out of the pit lane.
Race control then announced that Massa's car was being investigated for 'unsafe release from a pit stop' by stewards.
And, although it was then announced that any punishment for Massa would be meted out after the race, he eventually escaped with a reprimand and a fine of �10,000.
Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes team-mate Heikki Kovalainen finished fourth, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock finished seventh, with Williams driver Nico Rosberg claiming the final Championship point.

Massa gave a dominant display in the heat of the Mediterranean summer, three weeks after an engine failure cruelly cost him victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
But Ferrari's afternoon was nevertheless a chaotic one, with Massa's pit lane infraction being followed by another incident which befell Raikkonen.
Disputing fourth place with Kovalainen, the two Finns pitted in tandem for the second time on lap 44.
However, Raikkonen's eagerness to get away saw him depart with the fuel hose still intact and also drag a mechanic to the ground.
As the mechanic was stretchered away to hospital - having suffered a foot injury ( broken Ankle) and back pains - Raikkonen fell to sixth place behind Trulli.
But his race was soon run - Raikkonen's Ferrari trailing a plume of smoke across the start-finish line much as Massa's had in Budapest.
After qualifying fourth around the 3.380-mile track, it has to be said that, before his retirement, Raikkonen had once again failed to shine.
Massa looks Ferrari's best bet of mounting a Championship challenge on current form, the opening stint alone seeing him build a lead over his team-mate roughly the equivalent of one pit stop.
But it was during the second stint that he really extended his lead over the second-placed Hamilton, with Massa setting successive fastest laps on laps 34, 35 and 36 as he went 10.2 seconds ahead of the lead McLaren.
The race had already lost its biggest draw when Fernando Alonso retired with rear wing and suspension damage after his Renault was hit from behind by Kazuki Nakajima's Williams on the opening lap.
Incident
And it wasn't until lap 37 and Massa's near-collision with Sutil that the processional affair that had developed produced any more genuine incident.
Elsewhere, Kovalainen passed Raikkonen off the line to take fourth, with the next change of track position in the top eight coming when Trulli leapt ahead of Vettel for sixth at the opening round of stops.
Given the newness of the track, teams also were feeling their way in terms of tactics and strategy.
Most drivers elected to make two stops but Glock was among the few to pit only once as he climbed from 13th on the grid to seventh at the chequered flag.
Despite his rather lonely race, Hamilton nevertheless sees his Championship lead increase by one point, with Massa now leading the pursuers.
Raikkonen drops to third place and now stands just two points ahead of Kubica.
In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren have closed the gap to 13 points on leaders Ferrari.
However, after another race for the Italian team not without its difficulties, they at least have the knowledge that they now head to a track - Spa-Francorchamps, venue for the Belgian Grand Prix in two weeks' time - on which they dominated 12 months ago.

Alonso Worried by Bad Luck and Lack of Traction

The Spanish Renault driver did a good job in qualifying, but was unable to sustain his form in the race and fell down the running order after losing most of his key car-to-car battles.
Alonso had notable problems pulling away from the hairpin and said afterwards that this weakness is unlikely to be resolved this year with the current car.

He said he believed that this meant he had an opportunity now to use up all of his bad luck so that he could have a clear misfortune-free season in 2009. "I hope we use all the bad luck in the remaining races of the season and next year we don't have any," he said. "I was very lucky in 2005, 2006 and 2007. This year I'm being very unlucky and you can see it every race. I wish that in Hungary I'm unlucky again -- I'm used to it now."

He added: "The problem we have with the traction is worrying for me. When we are fighting wheel to wheel and we try to pass someone, we just lose too much out of the slow corners and then we can't make up the ground on the straight."

Asked what the solution might be, he said: "Wait a year..." But the Spaniard was happy to see his team-mate Brazilian Nelson Piquet make the most of a one-stop strategy and a Safety Car intervention to finish second, on the podium for the first time. My poor FERRRNANDOH!

The MISUS

Spanish bank to join Ferrari, ahead of Alonso

Spain's largest bank, Santander, is to sponsor Ferrari from 2010, which could facilitate the arrival of Spanish driver Fernando Alonso to the Italian Formula One team, Spanish newspapers said Friday.
A spokeswoman for Banco Santander would not confirm the reports, but said the bank's current sponsorship deal with rival team McLaren-Mercedes ends in 2009.
"The bank has always wanted to be with Alonso but the sponsorship contract was done with McLaren and not with Alonso," she said.
Santander reached a deal with McLaren when Alonso joined the team last year. But after an unhappy season with the British team, Alonso rejoined Renault, where he won the world championship in 2005 and 2006.
After a disappointing season so far with the French team, he has recently been linked with a move to Ferrari.
"Santander leaves McLaren and is going to Ferrari. The company has already informed the team of Ron Dennis and has a deal with the Italians from 2010," the newspaper ABC said, without indicating its sources.
The bank will pay Ferrari 25 millions euros (39.5 million dollars) per year compared to the 15 to 20 millions they pay McLaren, the daily Publico said, noting that the contract has not yet been signed.
The business newspaper Expansion said "the new deal with the Spanish bank could coincide with Alonso leaving Renault to join the Italian team".

Fernando Alonso in warning to Renault

Fernando Alonso has warned his Renault team that he could leave at the end of the season if the car does not improve.
Alonso returned to the constructor after a tumultuous year at McLaren in which he surrendered his world championship to Kimi Raikkonen and was unsettled by his rivalry with team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso does not expect major improvement
The Spaniard is seventh in the 2008 championship after two races in which the Renault car has been well off the pace set by McLaren in Melbourne and Ferrari in Malaysia.
"I'm at Renault because I wanted to get back to winning, like in 2005 and 2006, if not this year then next year," Alonso said. "But I have an option to leave so I can be in the best possible car, and it is clear Ferrari is one of the best."
Alonso's comments have fuelled the speculation that he could join Ferrari after one season back at Renault.
However, his attempts to distance himself from that theory may have had the opposite effect as he highlighted errors made by Ferrari number two driver Felipe Massa at Melbourne and Sepang.

"It's early to talk about moves and rumours, but Massa has had two bad races with mistakes and that has kicked off speculation about me," Alonso said. "It's logical, but it's too early."
Renault managing director Flavio Briatore said it was a "waste of time to get involved in hypothetical daydreams." He said: "Fernando is a great sportsman who will always give his best and rumours I never comment on."
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali defended the role of Massa, who is under contract until 2010, despite the setback to the Italian team in both the drivers' and the constructors' championships.

"Felipe has all the qualities and the capabilities to do well," he added. "The championship is long and the team are united, so I see no worries from this aspect."
The Ferrari team were also running checks on the car to be sure a mechanical failure did not cause the spin-out.
At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Massa retired after a collision and Raikkonen came to a halt with only five laps to race as Ferrari failed to collect any points - its worst start in 16 years. Alonso performed well at Melbourne, moving up from 11th on the grid to finish fourth.
While Alonso said he expected improvements in his car, he also suggested that rival teams would also perform better as the season progresses. "In Barcelona we will have some improvements for the car, (but) the same ones all teams will have, so the championship is going to stay more or less the same.
"We saw it last year and we see it every year. The cars that win the first two or three races stay on top. We are not going to see big surprises during the year."
Briatore, meanwhile, remained optimistic about the team and his star driver. "It does not make sense to judge a car after one or two races. Of course, McLaren and Ferrari have a fast car, but look what happened to Ferrari in Australia," Briatore said. "So we will have to wait and see how it will be at the next couple of races."

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What a start to the 2008 F1 season !!!!!

It didn't take long for my predictions to come true... Nico Rosberg got the first podium of his carreer in Formula 1 on the first race of the season that proved to be quite eventful start to the 2008 F1 championship and Sebastien Bourdais got a top 8 finish...

Pos Driver Team Pts

1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 10
2 Nick Heidfeld BMW 8
3 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 6
4 Fernando Alonso Renault 5
5 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 4
6 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 3
7 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 2
8 Kimi R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1

Sebastien Bourdais could have had a 5th place finish except for an engine failure 3 laps from the end.

Ferrari had many troubles and could only get 1 point from Kimi's extravagant day on the track.

A season that promises a lot of surprises and the probable rise of GP2 drivers used to the non traction controlled cars as opposed to the more experienced F1 drivers.

I'l be in Malaysia next week for the Grand Prix and will post all the pictures from the "hottest" race on earth... Sepang - Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix

Have a great week ....

Lewis Hamilton "His-Story" - Is it Self Indulgence?

Before you start to assume that I dislike the fella ... I don't. The fact that my husband is a fan - and has been talking of the fella even before his F1 debut - got me fascinated with the character. In fact now, I truly respect and admire this young English lad greatly in terms of his achievements at such a young age. A Mclaren F1 Prodigy, he knows how to work the media machine and in his very busy schedule, he finds the time to produce a biography.

But then again, I also know he is much too young to come out with a book on err "His Story" - no pun intended. Is it self indulgent? As far as I am concerned, his F1 life has just begun and while it looks very, very promising, the future of where and how he would end up is still unclear. Yes, he was cultivated to work hard to become some sort of genius in the motor racing sports. Yes, he could be the F1 world champion sooner or later. Yes, he could live life to its grandest. My point is personally I think 22 is much too young of an age to come out with such a book with such a title. Simply because his life personally and professionally is inconclusive.

To have Lewis' book up in stores besides the likes of legendary Aryton Senna (I-bow-to-you-cause-you-are-my-all-time-favourite-driver) and nemesis Alain Prost, Messieurs Juan Manuel Fangio , Gilles Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher and Didier Pironi is imbalanced even premature.

Formula One aficionados will be those that are most likely to be interested to hear Lewis' perspective on the controversial 2007 season especially on his very public squabble with teammate Fernando. The book highlights his entire childhood, both on and off the track, his ex girlfriend - Didn't your mama taught you never to kiss and tell ?- and his entire F1 career (all one year of it anyway) in a thick tome. So I can't help but feel it's a little too self indulgent for a 22 year old, even if his debut season was very eventful. It sure sounds that way at times. Not a terrible read for fans of the sport and the driver, although the writing is nothing to shout about and Lewis tends to get a little defensive once in a rare moment. Well I guess it's his book so he can say whatever he wants in whatever tone he likes. However, I still think a biography at his age is way too early.

Bonne Journee, the MISSUS.

You might like to check out Amazon other selection of books On F1 drivers.

Finally some kind words from Alonso

You understand the pressures so there are many things that will give him an advantage compared to last year



Alonso on Hamilton
Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton will find his second Formula One season easier and could even win the title.
Last season Alonso and Hamilton had an intense rivalry at McLaren and tied on points, with Hamilton taking second in the championship behind Kimi Raikkonen.

But Alonso told the BBC: "After one year's experience things become easier and that will give him an advantage."

Asked if Hamilton could win the world title, Alonso, who has now returned to Renault, said: "Possibly, yes."

Hamilton surprised almost everyone by winning four races and coming to within a point of the drivers' crown in his unprecedented rookie season.

Alonso now expects the 23-year-old to open his season in Melbourne on 16 March armed with the lessons learned from a battling season.

"After a year, you know all the circuits and how the races go," Alonso, 26, said.

"You understand the pressures so there are many things that will give him an advantage compared to last year."

However, Alonso, who also won four races last season, believes Ferrari's defending world champion Raikkonen remains favourite for the 2008 crown.

"The two Ferraris and two McLarens will be able to fight for the championship," said Alonso.

"But if I have to name one then Ferrari and Kimi because he is the world champion and will be the driver to beat.

"At the end of last year, Kimi had some very good final races, and was also lucky, to be world champion being so far behind.

"But he has the self confidence and he is obviously very quick, so he has put himself in a very strong position."

Alonso has himself been linked with a future move to Ferrari but after a bruising season at McLaren he cut his contract short to return to Renault.

The Spaniard joined forces with the French team, who gave him his first Grand Prix win in 2003, to take both the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2005 and 2006.


However, after Renault's mediocre showing in pre-season testing, which saw them some way off the pace of the Ferraris and McLarens, Alonso remains realistic about his chances of finding himself in the title hunt for a fourth consecutive season.

"It will be difficult to repeat the successes we had and it will of course be a frustrating season not to lead the table," said Alonso.

"But I will do my best and I know the team will do their best to produce good cars so we will see.

"The new R28 car is a step forward but we are still not at the level to win races, so we need more time and some clever ideas.

"We will set new targets for each Grand Prix; maybe it's not a victory, but first it will be the top five, then the podium and then we'll see. There will always be some motivation."

Despite Alonso's modest expectations for the season ahead, the Spaniard again insisted he had no regrets about leaving McLaren.

As well as his rivalry with Hamilton, both on and off the track, his relationship with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis also deteriorated; first over driver status within the team and then when Alonso threatened to reveal incriminating emails about McLaren's knowledge of confidential Ferrari data.

That threat eventually led to the team being stripped of all their points in the constructors' championship and fined �50m.

"I was lucky to have a competitive car again and to be able to fight until the last race," said Alonso.

"I've still got good friends and a good relationship with the team; you build up good relationships with your engineers and mechanics."

When asked if Alonso was also friends with Hamilton he replied: "Maybe that's not the right word.

"I don't think there are many friends in Formula One between the drivers.

"We have a lot of respect for everyone. Sometimes we say hello, we shake hands, we talk about races when we meet, but we don't go out to dinner or the cinema with anyone; not with Kimi, not with Massa, not even (Renault team-mate Nelson) Piquet.

"I think outside of F1 we are quite close to our family."

Alonso did, however, show support for his former team-mate Hamilton, who was subjected to racist abuse during a testing session in Barcelona earlier this month.

McLaren was taunted by a section of Spanish fans and motorsport's governing body, the FIA, has since launched an anti-racism campaign.

"I don't know much about what happened, only what I read in the press," said Alonso.

"But if that happened we have to be very clear on that and that needs to stop."

Alonso also repeated his view that Spain is not a racist country.

The double world champion was speaking in Barcelona during a three-day test which also saw the return of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

The German, who retired in 2006, was testing Ferrari's new car in his advisory role for the team, and Alonso said he would welcome Schumacher making a more permanent return to the sport.

"The fans would love it and it would increase the attention on F1, so it would be good for the sport," said Alonso.

"It would be an interesting championship again as he would be one of the maximum contenders, but I don't know if he wants to come back."

Renault heads for Mexico

New destination for the Renault Roadshow
Mexico

The next instalment of the Renault F1 Team Roadshow will see the team hit the streets of Mexico City for a spectacular F1 demonstration.

Following on from events in Warsaw, Johannesburg and Rotterdam earlier in 2007, the team will let its cars loose in the streets of one of the biggest cities on the planet next month. The bustle of Mexico City will be brought to a halt as the city reverberates to the sounds of Formula 1 on 13 and 14 October, resplendent in the colours of the Renault F1 Team.

Renault Mexico and the Federal District Government hope to create a truly open and approachable motorsports festival, a vision that chimes perfectly with that of the Renault F1 Team.

A 1.4-kilometre stretch of the Paseo de la Reforma will be closed for the event, giving a total lap length of 2.8 km. The event will give the passionate Mexican public the opportunity to celebrate their passion for Formula 1, which has not visited the country since the 15th and final Mexican Grand Prix was held in 1992. Indeed, who better than Renault to bring the sport back to the country, given that the final race was won from pole by Nigel Mansell in his Williams-Renault, on his way to the French company's first ever world title.

In 2007, the team will be represented by Giancarlo Fisichella and Nelson Piquet Jr.
, who will be at the wheel of the title-winning R26 to put on an unforgettable show for what are expected to be large, enthusiastic crowds!

"I am delighted to be taking part in the Mexico City Roadshow," commented Nelson Piquet Jr. "I have never been to Mexico before, and I think the atmosphere will be fantastic! I'm going to put on a great show for the Mexican people. It has been a while since they last saw what an F1 car can do, and I know they love motorsport over there. It should be a great weekend."

Giancarlo Fisichella added: "I never got a chance to race in Mexico, so I'm looking forward to going there for the first time, and especially because we will be driving the car in one of the biggest cities in the world! The Roadshow events are always a great success, and it is a fantastic way to meet the public and our supporters. My last event was in South Africa, and they gave us a brilliant welcome. I'm looking forward to tasting the atmosphere in Mexico!"

Can Renault beat BMW this season ?

Renault technical director Bob Bell claims his team can bounce back enough to beat the BMW Sauber F1 team on several occasions before the end of this season, despite being consistently outperformed all year.


"The top two teams are clearly still a step ahead, and it will be difficult for anybody to race with them," Bell admitted. "Looking at BMW, they have taken a definite step forward in the last few races and they remain, at this stage of the year, quicker than us. Williams and Toyota have moved forward too. I think that it we continue to work well and to get the most from the car, then we are capable of beating BMW on a number of occasions before the end of the year. That remains our target."

"Our design and development resources are already focusing intently on 2008," he added. "We began work on the car early, and our approach has been quite different to recent years. First and foremost, we had to be certain that our development tools were working correctly. Once this was confirmed, we began putting a lot of energy into the design of the new car. The project is on time, and we have been exploring some very interesting new development paths."

Only the last few races will tell us who's wrong or right ! What's your take on it ?