Formula 1

john the tinca · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:46 am Post subject:

Todt steps down as Ferrari boss

Ferrari have named Amedeo Felisa as the Formula One team's chief executive after the resignation of Jean Todt.
Todt, 62, who was a key figure in turning the Italian team into one of F1's most successful teams, will stay on in a senior executive role.

Felisa, also aged 62, joined Ferrari in 1990 and has been the team's general manager since 2006.

Todt joined Ferrari in 1993 and guided the team to six straight constructors' titles between 1999 and 2004.

With chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo back at Ferrari after a stint as chairman of Italy's employers body, Todt said he could "dedicate more time to myself and the things I'm interested in".

Montezemolo is known to be an admirer of Renault driver Fernando Alonso.

The switch marks the culmination of a generational shift within Ferrari, with the replacement of the previous foreign leaders with a new set, chiefly Italian.

The team's success in the late 1990s and first half of this decade was based on Michael Schumacher's arrival at the team in 1996, by which time Frenchman Todt had already been in charge for three years.

Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 to be replaced by Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who won the world title last season.

Todt will remain a board member as well as chairman of Ferrari Asia Pacific and Ferrari West Europe.

He will also be charged by Montezemolo to carry out special assignments for Ferrari's racing operations.

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john the tinca · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:49 am Post subject:

Sir Jackie Stewart says Lewis Hamilton is "completely wrong" not to join the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.
The McLaren driver, who won the opening race of the season in Australia, claims he has not joined the union because he has "so much going on".

But former world champion Stewart believes every driver should support the union's attempts to improve safety.

"I'm surprised and disappointed. He has been badly advised," he said. "It is completely wrong not to be involved."

Stewart was instrumental in changing the sport's attitude to driver safety, both during his career and after.

The GPDA was formed in 1961 but it was thanks to Stewart's tireless campaigning during the 1960s and '70s that the association became influential, introducing fireproof overalls, effective helmets and emergency medical facilities.

There have been no deaths in Formula One since that of Ayrton Senna nearly 14 years ago, but Stewart is concerned that drivers such as Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is also not a member of the GPDA, are becoming complacent.

"So far we have been incredibly lucky," added Stewart, who won the world title in 1969, 1971 and 1973.

"We are on the slate to have a big shunt. But what is going to happen is this - somebody is going to get killed.
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john the tinca · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:50 am Post subject:

The Toro Rosso Formula One team has been put up for sale, team founder Dietrich Mateschitz has confirmed.
Rule changes in 2010 mean Red Bull will no longer be able to provide Toro Rosso with custom cars and so Matechitz says there is no need to run two teams.

"It is not a big secret that we've put Toro Rosso on the market," Mateschitz told Motorsport Aktuell magazine.

"I see the necessity that we continue with one team only for 2010 but we will not sell Toro Rosso during 2008."

Mateschitz and co-owner Gerhard Berger want to have a buyer in place by the end of next season.

"We will only sell the team if it is put into safe hands," added Austrian Mateschitz. "But it will be before 2010."

Toro Rosso's cars are designed and constructed by Red Bull's team in Milton Keynes but under the new Concord Agreement teams will no longer be able to make cars for one another.

The Toro Rosso team came into existence in 2006 one year after Red Bull when Mateschitz bought the Minardi outfit from Paul Stoddart.

This season the team signed up four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais to race alongside German Sebastian Vettel.

The Frenchman earned two points for the team on his debut at the dramatic Australian Grand Prix.
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john the tinca · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:51 am Post subject:

State officials have ruled out staging a night Grand Prix in Australia, despite Bernie Ecclestone saying the future of the race may depend on it.
Formula One boss Ecclestone wants a race under lights to satisfy European television viewers.

The current contract ends in 2010 but Victorian state premier John Brumby said the government would do everything possible to keep the race in Melbourne.

However, Brumby insisted: "There won't be a night Grand Prix."

Race organisers and the Victorian state government, which gives financial backing, are optimistic they can hold on to the event.

Brumby added: "We will take whatever steps are reasonable and whatever steps are practical to keep the event."

The start time of this season's curtain-raiser in Australia was pushed back to 0430 GMT and could start 90 minutes later at 0600 GMT in 2009.
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john the tinca · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:36 am Post subject:

Lewis Hamilton beat title rivals Ferrari to set the pace in Friday practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Fresh from victory in the season-opening race in Australia on Sunday, the Englishman's McLaren beat the Ferraris into second and third places.

Hamilton was 0.151 seconds clear of Felipe Massa, with Kimi Raikkonen a further 0.222secs behind in third.

Massa had been fastest in first practice, with Raikkonen second and Hamilton down in fifth.

Scot David Coulthard was forced to sit out second practice at the Sepang track after a worrying suspension failure.

He ran off the track when a track-rod failed, and then suffered major front suspension damage when the car bounced over a kerb as it speared off the track.
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john the tinca · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:37 am Post subject:

The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season.
The five-year deal for an undisclosed fee marks F1's return to BBC screens 12 years after it switched to ITV.

The contract covers all platforms and will see F1 broadcast on the BBC Sport website, as well as on TV and radio.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he was "delighted", adding: "The BBC has some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fan base."

Among the new developments will be live video coverage of F1 on the BBC Sport website.

Asked why he had decided to split with ITV, Ecclestone told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's not that we are unhappy with ITV but I think maybe they will have their hands full with other things and maybe the BBC can service us a bit better.
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john the tinca · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:38 am Post subject:

BBC editors should have been "probing" their senior managers more about the corporation securing Formula One TV coverage, a Labour MP has said.
Andrew MacKinlay said BBC coverage of the story had been too celebratory and lacked questions about costs.

He said the licence fee should be spent on "real sports rather than the wealthy industry of Formula One", he argued.

A BBC spokesman said managers had been available for interview. He said public response to the deal had been positive.

He said it was "standard practice" not to discuss the value of such deals owing to "commercial sensitivity".

"The public response to the BBC's announcement, judging by our message boards and blogs, has been overwhelmingly positive - and people are particularly pleased about the opportunity to watch F1 live and uninterrupted," he added.

'Brought to book'

The BBC's five-year deal, across TV, radio and online, begins next March and will end 12 years of televised race coverage on ITV.

ITV is currently three years into its own five-year contract but said it had decided to end the arrangement for "commercial" reasons.
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