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Tag Archive | "Formula One"

MELBOURNE: The more things change…

Saturday, March 26, 2011

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MELBOURNE: The more things change…

They are running less downforce and new tyres but despite the best intent of the World's Governing body to slow the cars down, Sebastian Vettel will start tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix from pole with a time faster than last year. With a stunning lap of 1:23:539 Vettel again proved his superiority over team-mate Mark Webber and the rest of the F1 field. Even more impressive when one considers that he didn't even use the added boost of his KERS button. Vettel said that he was surprised at just how well the car ran and how well the new Pirelli tyres performed. "We have made the first step and starting the season this way with a pole position is a good sign for the team." siad Vettel. "We’ve been working very hard to get the RB7 to where it is now – it’s thanks to all those in the factory and those here, down under, for preparing the car. If you look at the points we still have zero like everyone else, so we need to see what happens tomorrow.”

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WEBBER: Welcome back to the nanny state Mark

Thursday, March 10, 2011

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WEBBER: Welcome back to the nanny state Mark

In the wake of Lewis Hamilton's public flogging from the Melbourne media after last year's "Burnout" scandal, local hero Mark Webber described Victoria as "A nanny state". These comments provoked mock outrage from the talkback radio demi-gods of Melbourne and their loyal army of lonely housewives, bored loners and senile geriatrics. Now Webber is caught up in another controversy that again proves his original statement 100% correct. The Melbourne Grand Prix, and Red Bull want Mark to drive an F1 car across Melbourne's less than iconic Bolte Bridge.

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SPORTSCARS RULE AT ISLAND CLASSIC

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

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SPORTSCARS RULE AT ISLAND CLASSIC

Sportscars will take centre stage at the 2011 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport. The annual event is widely regarded as the biggest and best in Australia has again attracted a huge entry of approaching 500 vehicles. The most popular category of the meeting are the Production Sports Cars, with 105 already entered – around a quarter of the total cars at the meeting! The Group Sa and Sb cars are again fully-subscribed, with a lone Shelby GT350, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Morgan Plus 8 taking on 12 MGs, nine Austin Healeys, eight Triumph TRs, four Porsches, a Lotus Elan and a Mercedes-Benz 190SL. And in the always-popular Group Sc, at least 10 Porsche 911s will face three De Tomaso Panteras, three MGB V8s, three Ferraris, a Renault Alpine and a Corvette Stingray. With the feature event of the meeting being the Sunday’s 30-minute race for big banger sports cars, the 2011 Phillip Island Classic features one of the strongest sports car fields seen for many years, with nine Lolas, six Porsches, two Elfins, a Sauber-Mercedes and a genuine Ford GT40 amongst the early entries.

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FORD SUES FERRARI OVER NEW F1 CAR

Friday, February 11, 2011

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FORD SUES FERRARI OVER NEW F1 CAR

In  one of the silliest lawsuits of its kind, Ford is suing Ferrari over the name of its new F1 racer the F150. The Formula One car was named to commemorate this year's celebration of the unification of Italy 150 years ago. The US car maker is claiming that the F150 moniker is too close to its F-150 pick-up truck. According to the law suit Ford claims that Ferrari is using the F150 name “in order to capitalise on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150 trademark, and in order to trade off of Ford's famous and winning trademark,” While Ford are not willing to comment publicly Ferrari are stunned. We are simply speechless," a Ferrari spokesman told Automotive News Europe in response to the lawsuit. He noted that the F150 is a racing-only Ferrari model, which is not for sale, either for private customers, or for racing teams.

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FERRARI DEBUT 2011 F1 CHALLENGER

Friday, January 28, 2011

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Ferrari have released the first pictures of it's 2011 Formula One challenger. The F150 is the fifty-seventh single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship. The company chose the name as a tribute and celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Unification of Italy. The project, which goes by the internal code name of 662, represents the Scuderia’s interpretation of the technical and sporting regulations that apply this year. Various factors influenced the design of the car, especially on the aerodynamic front, to the extent that the F150 can be seen as severing ties with the recent past. The innovative aspects are in part dictated by changes to the regulations and partly down to original thinking from our designers. As far as the rule changes from 2010 are concerned, the double diffuser and the blown rear wing are banned, as is the use of apertures in the front part of the floor, while the use of an hydraulically controlled adjustable rear wing has been introduced. After an unofficial agreement saw its use banned for 2010, KERS is back this year, thanks partly to the increase in the car’s minimum weight and stricter controls on weight distribution figures. The Scuderia has decided to incorporate this technology on the F150 and this has had a significant impact on the design, also taking into account that the dimensions of the fuel cell are very different to what they were in 2009.

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MELBOURNE’S GP ON BORROWED TIME ?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

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MELBOURNE’S GP ON BORROWED TIME ?

Melbourne's Formula One Grand Prix looks to be on borrowed time with calls by the City's Lord Mayor to axe the race once it's contract is up in 2014. Writing in the top selling Australian newspaper The Herald-Sun, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the Grand Prix had run it's race. "...it has been 20 fantastic years, the benefits to the city and the state have been enormous, but the cycle has run its course." he said. "In the end, it will be a government decision and one of the tough ones that Ted Baillieu faces in his first term. Does he undo the legacy of Jeff Kennett, his mentor, in his very first term and, ironically, through the same minister to first get the event, Louise Asher? My judgement would be: Get ready. Time's up."

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WANNA OWN AN F1 TEAM ?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

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Sir Frank Williams has moved to secure the long term future of Williams F1 with a plan to float the company on the stock exchange. In a statement released by the company overnight (Australian time) Sir Frank said that he had been considering how to secure the long-term ownership of Williams so that it will remain true to the aims with which it was originally established in 1977. “My goal then was to race in Formula One as an independent Constructor. This was and is my great passion and I will race for as long as I continue to be blessed with good health." he said. "It is also my desire that the team is in good shape to go on racing long after I am gone. To that end, it is prudent and necessary to plan for an ownership structure that will enable Williams to be an independent Constructor, owned and staffed by people committed to Formula One and to the sound business practices which have supported us over three decades." Although no firm decision has been made as yet, it is clear that this is something of a kite flying exersise by Williams to gauge support for such a  float.

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F1 SALE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Thursday, January 6, 2011

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F1 SALE UNDER INVESTIGATION

The financial dealings of Formula One and it's "colourful" head man Bernie Ecclestone are again coming into question after the arrest of a former executive at Bavaria’s state-backed bank BayernLB. Former BayernLB manager Gerhard Gribkowsky was arrested on Wednesday under suspicion of fraud, tax evasion and taking bribes. The investigation will look at whether Gribkowsky sold the bank’s Formula 1 holdings under questionable circumstances after BayernLB took control of bankrupt media mogul Leo Kirch’s stake in the sport. This was later sold to CVC Capital Partners who became the majority owner of Formula One. Prosecutors claim that the sale was made without "it's true value being being properly evaluated,” They claim that Gribkowsky in turn received $50 million in payments disguised via two consultancy agreements. They have not at this stage made any direct allegations of who may have paid those payments.

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IS THE CAMS, AGP DEAL UNDER THREAT ?

Sunday, December 26, 2010

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IS THE CAMS, AGP DEAL UNDER THREAT ?

Is the recently signed agreement between CAMS and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation regarding the running of the 2011 Australian Grand Prix already under threat? Sources close to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation have told In Pit Lane that the AGP Corp. are furious with CAMS over their recent media releases and statements about the deal, which they say was a clear breach of a confidentiality clause in the agreement. According to the source, a letter has been sent to CAMS informing them of the alleged breach and the Corporation's anger. The Corporation has also allegedly sought advice from Australia's Competition watchdog the ACCC regarding their concern that CAMS role as the sole FIA approved Motorsport body in Australia may be in breach of Australia's anti monopoly laws. Clive Banfield, Media & Communications Co-Ordinator for CAMS told In Pit Lane that he had been in recent meetings with the AGPC and was not aware of any such problems.

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IS F1 REALLY WELCOME IN KOREA ?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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South Korea recently hosted its first Formula One Grand Prix race at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Jeolea, turning on an entertaining race due to the unpredictable weather and conditions. Whilst it was commendable effort by the Koreans, beneath the gloss in the paddock of the Korea International Circuit there are very much [...]

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