Test boosts RBR confidence

On the final day of this test, David Coulthard was separated from the top of the time sheet by just one McLaren. He and Mark Webber both completed a high mileage on a day when track conditions, at least in the morning, improved thanks to a lull in the strong winds that had plagued the previous two days.

"Overall, this has been a very good test for us, as we got through all our programme and completed more laps than planned," commented Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "Over the three days, we did a lot of aero and mechanical work with no major problems and we can look forward to the remaining pre-season tests in Barcelona with confidence."

Toyota chief happy with TF108 progress

Toyota chassis chief Pascal Vasselon says he is happy with the progress the team has made with the new TF108 since its launch. His comments come amid concerns from Jarno Trulli that the team will at best be able to break into the second string group of teams behind Ferrari and McLaren.


"We are happy with the progress we have made with the TF108," Vasselon insisted. "It has been very obvious from the first test that the TF108 is a different animal compared to the TF107, with much better stability and an all-around much better basis to work on. Our drivers feel a lot more confident in the car and they are able to push more. We have found that set-up work is much more straightforward and it is much easier to make progress in that area."

"At the moment I would say we have gained the stability we were looking for so we are now focusing on the improvement of pure aerodynamic efficiency," he added. "If you compare what is comparable, which means comparing times within the same test sessions and taking into account estimated fuel loads, you will see that at the moment the gap reflects a performance gain for the TF108 compared to last year. Of course there is still a gap, it is not good enough, and we are constantly striving to close it, but compared to this time last year I believe we are much closer to the cars at the front of the grid."

"There is still plenty of performance left to come from this car before we race for the first time," he went on. "We have new parts coming through continuously but the biggest upgrade to the package will come just before the Australian Grand Prix. It is a process of continuous development which will peak just before Melbourne."

SIC ready for night race

Malaysian authorities at the Sepang Formula One circuit say they will be ready to host a night race next year, according to local media report.


Monkhzani Mahathir, chairman of the Sepang circuit told the New Straits Times newspaper that talks were ongoing to stage a night race at the venue.

"We're studying the best system as there is no single lighting technology that can fit all tracs," Mahathir said. "We're in discussion with companies which can do that."

"We have also studied the impact of having lighting technology at the circuit and we have come to the conclusion that it will help generate bigger revenue as the circuit can be rented for night racing," he concluded.

McLaren test wheel covers

Formula One team McLaren Mercedes test new wheel covers at Jerez : - McLaren showed to have taken the aerodynamic 'wheel cover' concept to a new level as testing continued at the Jerez circuit on Thursday.

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes-powered MP4-23 featured a new version of carbon fibre covers on the front wheels, and for the first time they include a piece that extends beyond the wheel rim and obscures part of the tyre wall.

Interestingly, at the lunch break, Kovalainen had set the fastest time of the sixteen runners in action, and gone more than five tenths quicker than Mark Webber's Wednesday best.

The British wonder-kid

The British wonder-kid came so close to winning the drivers' championship in his first year, but Sportingo's Richard Johnson reckons it's going to be another year of frustration for him and the McLaren team.

'I am looking forward to another great year - one that will hopefully be remembered more for on-track thrills and spills rather than espionage and illegality'

All the talk is Lewis this and Lewis that, but as good as he was last season he couldn’t overhaul Kimi Räikkönen. Hamilton was awesome in his first year as a Formula One driver, but in my opinion that was his best shot. In any case, Ferrari still came out on top and I don’t see this season being any easier for McLaren.

There is every chance that Räikkönen will be the next Michael Schumacher; after five years of disappointment in Woking, the Finn finally got what he deserved - the F1 title. At 28, he closed the season with an amazing seven straight podiums and victories in China and Brazil sealed the deal.

Far too many people have devalued the achievement by focusing on Hamilton’s errors towards the end of the season as the factor that led to the change of championship lead. The British press, of course, always focuses on its own national treasures - usually at the expense of giving respect to those who pip their idols for top spot.

Don’t get me wrong, Lewis is a fantastic driver. However, I get the impression that defeat will have left a massive emotional scar on the youngster. Let’s face it, to lose in such a fashion would affect any driver, let alone a rookie in such a fine run of form. I am sure Hamilton will be secretly glad to have Heikki Kovalainen as his partner rather than Fernando Alonso, whose problems with the team have been well documented.

Alonso finds himself back at Renault and I really don’t see him as a realistic candidate for the title this time around. Flavio Briatore’s outfit managed just one podium in 2007, and whilst they have an exciting team with Fernando and Nelson Piquet Jr, it would be a big ask for them to make up all that ground to Ferrari. I expect BMW Sauber to improve once again. They had a good season with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica forming a reliable partnership; they are two drivers with a great combination of talent and potential, so look out for them to run McLaren mighty close for second spot, behind an increasingly resurgent Ferrari.

With the new season just weeks away, I am looking forward to another great year - one that will hopefully be remembered more for on-track thrills and spills rather than espionage and illegality. For me, it’s Räikkönen for a successive title with Hamilton again coming in an exciting second.

Kimi the WDC contender

FERRARI'S Kimi Raikkonen is even more motivated this year than he was during his title-clinching season a year ago, a source close to the driver says.

The source told the GDN that Raikkonen is this season more comfortable with the Ferrari team members, having already been with them over a whole season and winning the 2007 drivers' championship with a total team effort.

"Kimi now knows that it can be done with the people around him," the source who wished not to be named said of his fellow Finn. "He is now more focused, and he wants to win this year's title more than he has ever had, and he wants to beat the pressure of being the defending world champion."

Raikkonen himself admitted that he is now closer with team members this time than during his debut stint with Ferrari.

"It is much easier now after one year with them," Raikkonen said. "We know what we want and what to expect, so for sure everything is now better."

Raikkonen has been totally focused during the Bahrain tests, rarely speaking with the media or taking time out in the paddock. He also refused to answer a question posed to him yesterday about a new tattoo he is reportedly sporting.

The 28-year-old was joined in Bahrain for the latter days of testing by his father Matti and manager Steve Robertson. Both were present yesterday as tests concluded.

VJM01 debut in Jerez

Just five days after its presentation in Mumbai, India, the Force India Formula One Team's striking new livery of gold, white and tungsten made its track debut today in Jerez, Spain.

Test and reserve driver Tonio Liuzzi completed driving duties on the opening day of the team's three day test in Jerez, completing a programme that took in work on new gearbox development items, the 2008 electronics package and brakes. Tonio was able to complete more than 100 laps over the day and recorded a best of 1min 21.553, despite the high winds that swept the area in the afternoon and made track conditions challenging. Adrian Sutil will take over tomorrow, with Giancarlo Fisichella completing the test on Thursday.

"Today was a good day," said Liuzzi. "We managed to do a lot of mileage, which was the target today following the shortened days we have had at the previous tests. We had a few items to test for the new car and managed to complete the programme with some promising progress. As I had a full day I was able to get more comfortable in the car and feel very positive about it. We now need to put all the information together, look through the data and keep everything going forward."

Renault is back

Renault returned to action today, completing the first of three days in Jerez. The team was again running two R28s with Nelson Piquet joined by fellow Brazilian, Lucas Di Grassi, who was enjoying his first test with the new car.

"Another good day and lots of mileage for the car and myself," said Piquet.

"The more I drive the car, the happier I feel and it's all good preparation for the first race. The car ran well today and we did not have any problems, which meant we could do a race distance in the afternoon."

Christian Silk, chief test engineer commented, "The two main objectives of the programme were to complete a race distance with Nelson and to get Lucas comfortable in the car as he had not run an R28 on a full circuit test before. Both these were completed without any problems and both cars enjoyed a trouble-free day. Nelson did a bit of performance work in the morning, improving the set-up of the car, and completed a race distance in the afternoon without any major issue, so that was a good day for us."

Super Aguri postpones new car launch

The Super Aguri team has postponed the official launch of its 2008 car as it works to finalise agreements with sponsors and drivers. The team was due to launch its new car at Barcelona next Tuesday.

Team boss Aguri Suzuki and technical director Mark Preston will be at the circuit to answer media questions and the new car is due to run for the first time, but the official launch including livery and final driver line up is not expected to happen until the teams travel to Australia.

Williams fixes front wing

Williams is confident it has fixed the front wing problem which caused Kazuki Nakajima to suffer a high-speed crash at Barcelona testing last week. The Toyota-powered team resumed testing at Jerez on Monday and had no further problems.

"We ran two cars on the first day of this week's Jerez test, with both the race drivers working through the test programme," said Williams technical director Sam Michael.

"After signing off the revision to the front wing mounting system, we proceeded to work on mechanical set-up and long runs for reliability. We had no major issues and both Nico and Kazuki will continue with the programme tomorrow."

Bernie has love for Russian GP

Russia could join the Formula One circus in 2010, according to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Ecclestone is set to travel to St Petersburg next weekend where he'll meet the city's mayor to discuss the possibility of building an F1 circuit on the outskirts of the historic city.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is also expected to be present at the meeting, with Ecclestone hoping to have Russia on the calendar by 2010.

"Nothing is done yet but this could be an interesting development for the sport," the 77-year-old told the Mirror.

"We'd like to get it in the calendar as soon as we can but that depends on them. It's down to how long it takes them to get the circuit ready."

New Ferrari suits new rules

Ferrari team manager Luca Baldisserri has warned rivals that the 2008 Ferrari design suits the new regulations for the upcoming season and is encouraged by the car's performance so far in testing.

"Everyone thought the drivers would find the car harder to drive with the electronic aids banned this year," Baldisserri told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But, so far the F2008 has shown to be very good and has excellent traction."The new Ferrari has also been much more reliable than previous cars, giving other teams plenty to worry about.

Fisichella aims to be a force in F1

Giancarlo Fisichella insists he is ready for the challenge of leading Force India off the back of the F1 grid.

The 35-year-old left Renault at the end of last season after failing to secure a contract extension, with Force India subsequently signing Fisichella after he impressed during a test for the team.
The decision raised a few eyebrows in the paddock as some felt he should have quit F1 rather than join a backmarker team.

However, Fisichella reckons he'll prove his critics wrong this season.

"For sure the general opinion was that I should have quit Formula One. On the contrary I like challenges and I love the sport and I want to prove everyone wrong," he told the official F1 website.

"The management of Force India is very focused and they know what they want. The people out there do not understand it, so it is up to us to show them how things have changed."

When asked about rumours that Renault and BMW had both offered him the role of test driver, Fisichella confirmed that the teams had but "honestly that was never an option for me. I want to race."

Scoring points is also high on Fisichella's criteria for the season and he reckons that Force India have the ability to finish grands prix in the top eight.

"I am looking for points - as many as I can get. Then we will work together with the technical people to gradually improve the car and I want to be their guiding force," he added.

"As for real improvement, I would realistically say that the second part of the season is when I expect that we will catch up. Watch us then."

Airport offers F1 cars along with the duty free

LONDON (Reuters) -Passengers passing through Zurich airport can add a Formula One car to their usual duty-free shopping this month.

A selection of cars and memorabilia owned by Peter Sauber, whose Swiss-based team were taken over by BMW at the end of 2005, will be auctioned off at the airport over a six-week period from February 19.

"This is the first time Formula One racing cars will be up for sale at Zurich Airport," said Patrick Graf, head of marketing retail for the company that holds the government concession to operate the airport, in a statement.

The Sauber Formula One cars to be sold to the highest bidder include ones raced by France's Jean Alesi between 1998 and 1999 and Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn who started his grand prix career with Sauber in 2001.

Even if they never won a race, the cars are unlikely to be easily affordable. The cheapest offering on the F1-sales.com Web site is a 1989 Leyton House rolling chassis with a starting price of 37,500 pounds ($73,110).

Trulli demands further improvement

Jarno Trulli completed a successful race simulation at Bahrain on Sunday and showed some better pace at the wheel of his Toyota, but the Italian has still demanded more improvement from the car if he is to be competitive this season.

"We did a lot of laps and successfully simulated a race distance without any trouble," Trulli said after testing.

"We did some set-up work this morning and the lap times show we are moving forward. We still have work to do but we are definitely going in the right direction and that is very positive. I was pretty happy with the car, even during the long runs. Obviously there is still room for improvement so we will study the data and push hard to improve our car."

Bahrain considering night race

Bahrain officials have said they are happy to consider running a night race, if it becomes necessary to do so and that it can deliver clear benefits.

"We're not opposed to the idea, and it is only natural that we have been gathering information about it, trying to determine its advantages and disadvantages," Shaikh Salman told the Gulf Daily News.

"A night race could be quite exciting to watch, and it's something everyone is talking about now that Singapore will be the first to have one,"

Shaikh Salman added. "I have no knowledge of it being proposed for Bahrain, but it is a very interesting concept."

"Right now, it makes most sense more for host countries further east," he said. "Here, it is debatable and we would have to go through lengthy discussions with Formula One Management before we can seriously consider it."

Mark Webber is confident

Mark Webber is confident Red Bull will start the season with the most reliable car it has had for a “long time” after a strong start to testing with the new RB4.

The Australian and team-mate David Coulthard lost out on a number of points-scoring results in 2007 as the RB3 consistently suffered from gearbox-related glitches.

However Webber reckons RBR’s latest design has so far proved to be a clear step forward on the reliability front in testing and the team should start the new season with a less brittle package.

“The reliability has been really encouraging for us, especially from the Red Bull for the Milton Keynes side,” he said in an Australian Grand Prix podcast.

“We've had a few Renault [engine] issues which have stopped us on track but as far as gearbox and a lot of the Achilles Heels that we had last year, a lot of that equipment has been pulled down very well at the end of each night so we're very encouraged by how those components are at this early stage.

“All things being equal we should have at least the most reliable car that we've had for a long time coming into the season, which is good.”

RBR’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey was adamant that he hadn’t taken a more conservative design approach with RB4 in a bid to cure its predseccor’s reliability weaknesses.

An example of this was the introduction of a radical engine cover ‘fin’ on the new car at the recent Barcelona test.

Webber says Newey will continue to be as aggressive in the car’s development as he can be, given the team’s need for a more reliable challenger.

“Adrian has never really been conservative in his whole life in terms of designing cars so we're trying to - I mean, the engine cover looks very, very different but in terms of actually the effects of the car are very subtle in terms of the aerodynamic tuning device that we're trying to play with and we know what it does to the car in certain situations on the track but we're just trying to work out,” he said.

“That particular thing you're talking about is the engine cover so we've been, I'd say, not too adventurous on the sort of the weight saving, all those sort of things have been done very well without a huge amount of risk involved because we need to obviously prove that we can design a reliable car.

“So tricky sort of position to be in and how aggressive we be but Adrian has never really been that conservative.

"With all that taken into account, what does it mean? It means that Adrian is being as aggressive as he can be within reason, without being ridiculous."