Alonso to Renault. Kovalainen to McLaren?

SO,

After the whole Renault spy affair scandal has inexplicably passed without punishment for the French manufacturer, they have confirmed their last World Champion Fernando Alonso as lead driver for 2008.

Now while Briatore and co clearly sees Alonso as the team’s Messiah after an average year as de-facto fourth best team, many would be dubious of employing the Spaniard.

Showing at McLaren how subordinate and potentially backstabbing he can be if his backside isn’t wiped and his ego caressed by an adoring team, I’m sure that many other manufacturer squads in the Championship would think twice about employing him, the exceptions being old best mate’s Renault, and new allies Ferrari (to whom many believe he will go next year).

How he would cope alongside the current fastest man Kimi Raikkonen at the Maranello squad remains to be seen – he won’t be number one there that’s for sure.

But of course, alongside the Oviedo man, Renault want some-one who will bend to their whim and be lap-dog to his team-mate in gratitude of a place in the race team.

Enter Nelson Piquet Jr.

The question now arises as to how much like his father the young Brazilian will be: remember, in his time alongside Nigel Mansell, Nelson Sr was hardly a happy and fulfilled man – so much so that on refusing to play second fiddle and trying his best to out-do the Brit, he nearly ruined his career.

But looking outside the French camp for ’08, questions now have to be asked about the driver’s that have been cast out; namely Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen.

The first seems keen to do whatever he can to keep his place in F1, dropping to the depths of current journey-men Force India (see Spyker/Midland/Jordan) for a possible drive next year.

But the latter is currently a free man. And a quick one at that.

So surely, surely, McLaren will swoop to gather the latest flying Finn to slot in alongside boy-wonder Lewis Hamilton for 2008 and beyond, seeing as at the moment they have the only real empty seat (despite constant rumours that Trulli at Toyota or Barrichello at Honda could be farmed off into retirement or Super Aguri respectively) they must be Kovalainen’s main chance of keeping a deserved competitive seat in the sport.

How keen will he be to run alongside Hamilton at the Anglo-German squad next year?

That remains to be seen.

You Dare To Question Us?

SO,

Once again the FIA have shot themselves in the foot on the respectability front as it has now arisen that they intend to sue the Sunday Times and Martin Brundle for suggesting they were engaging in a ‘witch hunt’ against McLaren Mercedes in the ‘Spygate’ scandal.

But Brundle has a point.

It is a long standing and well known fact that Ron Dennis’ and the Woking boys are not exactly on holding-hands terms with the sport’s French governing body, and many believe that the $100million fine for McLaren having been in possession of Ferrari documentation was another case of one-upmanship on the part of the FIA; a firm reminder of who’s in charge.

But after Renault – who was found guilty of having McLaren information from the last two year’s cars (courtesy of an employee who swapped sides) – went unpunished in the FIA court, the allegations of ‘witch-hunting’ strengthened.

Brundle, veteran of 158 grand prix, believes that the sport’s governing body clearly tried to prove a point with their punishment of McLaren Mercedes, and also states in his latest column that the timing of this lawsuit against the Sunday paper is not coincidental:

“The timing of the writ is significant, in my view, given the FIA's decision to find Renault guilty of having significant McLaren designs and information within their systems, but not administering any penalty,” Brundle writes.

“It is a warning sign to other journalists and publications to choose their words carefully over that decision.

“I'm tired of what I perceive as the 'spin' and tactics of the FIA press office, as are many other journalists.”

Many have waited with bated breath for the outcome of this hearing, as it is believed that ex-World Champion Fernando Alonso’s race seat for next year, as well as the French manufacturer’s (and Bernie’s mate Flavio’s) future in Formula One, were in the balance.

But now Renault has been inexplicably and unfairly cleared, their plans for next year can continue.

In the meantime, the FIA are doing everything they can to screw up McLaren Mercedes. This much is clear.

Firstly, another company is found guilty of possessing more information on McLaren than the English company had on Ferrari, yet they go unpunished while McLaren struggle to find £50million. (A serious and disturbing case of double-standards)

And then, the FIA decide to hold-up checking McLaren’s 2008 car for Ferrari influences (surely the Renault is as likely to have McLaren bits) until one month before the start of the season, leaving the Woking team on edge that their car may be banned so soon before the first GP of the season.

While McLaren’s integrity is top notch and few believe there will be any suspiciously Italian bits nailed to the car, I’m sure Jean Todt’s FIA buddies can and will find something ‘stolen’ on the MP4-23.

The FIA appear to be doing everything they can to try and stuff McLaren as hard as possible, and anyone who won’t stand up and dance to their tune is being dragged into the dock.

Nice ‘sport’ we’ve got here…

For Martin Brundle's full column, see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article3021312.ece

Where's Alonso Going?

SO,

With the forthcoming hearing in the latest twist of the long-dragging Formula 1'Spygate' scenario – namely Renault being accused by McLaren of having a large collection of information of the Woking team’s 2006 and '07' cars thanks to an engineer who switched teams in January – there are now question marks hanging over the head of two-time champion Fernando Alonso’s opportunities to race next year.

Until recently, it was widely believed that the subordinate Spaniard had four options. These were Red Bull Racing, Toyota, Force India (Spyker) and with his previous home, nestled under Flavio’s wing in Enstone.

But it would seem these options are dwindling.

The McLaren reject seems hell bent on serving his own needs by hunting for a single year contract, with a view to setting off to Maranello as partner to Kimi Raikkonen in 2009. However, it seems that no-one is particularly keen or in a position to offer him this.

Toyota have Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli (sort-of) signed up for next year, Force India aren't really in a position to employ a World Champion, Renault are still tied up in the spy situation – which may have massive ramifications on the French manufacturers future in the sport – and Red Bull.

But today it would seem that his chances are fading, as Red Bull driver (and the one considered most likely to be replaced by Alonso) David Coulthard told Reuters there was no chance of his being ousted for next year.

"Why would Fernando leave McLaren to come to Red Bull at the moment?" he asked. "If he didn't enjoy not winning a lot at McLaren, he definitely isn't going to enjoy not winning at all at Red Bull at the moment is he?"

And in case, it would appear that 36-year-old DC has a totally water-tight contract for ’08.

"They simply cannot not put me in the car next year, even if they wanted not to, unless there was a solution found.

"Having been around the block a few times, my contract specifically states that if there's a world championship, they [RBR] have to enter me in it."

So where is he going?

There is a very good chance that the answer may be nowhere. But of course it does make you wonder what would happen in 2009. Fernando has already shown that he heartily dislikes having a team-mate who can rattle him for pace, and unless Ferrari are stupid enough to offer Alonso number one status over their current golden boy and World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, he is going to be in the same situation he is in now.

I wonder how long Ferrari would put up with Alonso's whingeing and threats?

Not as long as McLaren did I’m sure.

Lewis on Lewis

SO,

At the annual Autosport Awards ceremony, erstwhile 2007 Championship leader and apparent new face of Formula One Lewis Hamilton was quizzed on his year to date. Here are some of the best bits…

You have had an extraordinary season. What was it like heading into Melbourne?

LH: Well, the first year, (after) working so hard to get there, I didn't feel like a rookie. I was given such a great opportunity so I grabbed it with both hands.

My engineer and I at McLaren, we made sure we didn't leave a stone unturned so we could go to the first race as well prepared as we could. So I got to the first race and, for sure, probably the other guys didn't anticipate me being so quick - which is a good thing to catch them by surprise!

That was how I probably did so well at the first corner, but I think they caught on after that. I was given a lot of respect, but they quickly realised I wasn't here to mess around.

For you what was the high-spot - the first win, the first pole?

LH: It is difficult to say if there was one particular high spot. To be honest it was an amazing rollercoaster. To get to the first grand prix and to get the first podium is something you can only dream of.

And then to continue that, and to finally get the first win and first pole - I really remember that. I had nearly put it in the wall but managed to get the lap. It really was just an amazing emotional ride throughout the year.

What would you say was your best overtaking move?

LH: Probably Monza. I really just wanted to do a 1-2 for the team, so I had to make sure I got past Kimi (Raikkonen). I had two laps to do it with brand new tyres and he was on old tyres as he had only done one pit stop. I didn't actually realise until I saw the replay how far back I was.

It didn't work out in the last few races of the season. What lessons do you take from that in 2008?

LH: To always keep your head up. I went into those last races and what was important was that I still had support from the team. And with all the problems we had to deal with, the atmosphere within the team to support me remained the same. It really showed that if you work, keep your head down and stay focused you can achieve it.

You can't win all the time, but you have to lose to learn how to win. We didn't get the championship, but perhaps it was a good thing. So we will be working twice as hard next year.

FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW, GO TO http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64248

Stop Taking the Michael.

SO,

Is it just me or is Michael Schumacher taking the piss a little bit?

While he may have achieved legendary status in Formula One, with his innumerate Championships for both Benetton and obviously Ferrari, he seems to still be milking both his former employer and Italian Motorsport in general for whatever he can get.

At 11am this morning, Schumacher jumped off Moto GP World Champion Casey Stoner’s Ducati GP7 to the applause of all around him, as he had set a time just five seconds slower than recent Valencia race-winner Danny Pedrosa around the Spanish circuit.

What I want to know is what Ducati gained out of this?

Ok, there is the exposure of running Herr Schumacher - a demi-God in Italy - on one of their machines, but saying that an ex-F1 driver, no matter how legendary, rode your bike is hardly going to shift 1098s out of the showroom.

So apart from the huge cost of fuelling and booting an 800cc race bike, and the risk of sending out an incredibly valuable machine onto the circuit for two race distances (the German completed 58 laps), Ducati proved nothing, except a willingness to bend over and squeal for Michael Schumacher.

Schumi’s 1.37.89 lap may have impressed, but it just showed his wanton lust for self indulgence now that he has supposedly ducked out of Motorsport, and willingness to exploit the soft spot Italian’s have for him for his own gain.

He said: “I didn’t expect anything, I just wanted to be quicker than last time and I achieved this.

“I’m just doing this for fun. I don’t want to race,”

And this proves my point. He is just having a laugh in his retirement at other people's expense. But not just satisfied with riding the Duke, he has now set his sights on enjoying the machine that he supposedly ‘chose’ not to race this season.

It was announced – while he was still lapping the GP7 - that he will drive the F2007 at Barcelona next week.

Why?

A spokesman for his old employer said: “It’s half for fun, half for technical reasons.”

If you retire from your job at a bakery, you don’t occasionally turn up and eat cakes to see if they taste good. Schumacher ruled himself out of motorsport for the foreseeable future.

He should go home to his castle and his slippers and stop wasting race team’s money on his little self-indulgent lust for ‘fun’.

Prodrive - McLaren talks collapse

SO,

According to Autosport.com talks between Prodrive and McLaren over the Banbury-based company running the Woking-built cars next year have collapsed.

A source informed the website that McLaren COO Martin Whitmarsh told staff at the factory that the team are no longer in negotiation with Prodrive.

The issue over the legality of customer cars under the 2007 Concorde Agreement was not under question, as the regulations clearly stated that all teams must run a unique car of their own construction, to which they own the design rights. However, the suggestion was put forward that for 2008, constructors would be allowed to sell chassis as well as engines to other race teams, and it was on these terms that Prodrive lodged their entry for F1.

But now that the '07 rules may be rolled over into next year, Prodrive may not be legally allowed to run customer cars, and the delays over sorting this out have contributed to McLaren supposedly ending talks.

So the question is, if Prodrive are informed that they will be allowed to run another constructor's car next year, what happens next?

I believe that if it is possible, McLaren will seek to run a second team. After all, they tried so hard in early '06 (when the FIA took entries for the 12th slot on the F1 grid) to get the Jean Alesi fronted 'Direxiv F1' onto the grid as an official McLaren 'B' team.

And if after that has failed Prodrive offer the same possibility then why shouldn't McLaren take it?

As it stands McLaren Mercedes are the one of only two manufacturers who have no links with, and supply no parts to other teams and when it was revealed that Prodrive was searching for a partner team, they were the ones out of the three favourites who seemed the most keen to establish a second team.

But now, if as Autosport has been informed, McLaren are no longer interested, then surely Prodrive will turn to the other two options it supposedly chased up originally.

BMW and Renault.

If this becomes the case then surely BMW would be the better option, as it’s cars are clearly more competitive than those of the French manufacturer at the moment, and unlike Renault, they would have no third group that they are providing with engines (Red Bull Racing) to offer a distraction.

However this whole saga is reliant on the outcome of the Court hearing on October 24 which will decide the legality of customer cars in Formula One for 2008, and therefore whether or not Prodrive will feature on the grid next year.

Will chassis sharing be allowed? That’s a total 50-50 call.

But if it is (and providing there is no skeleton-in-the-closet between them that has yet to be revealed) then I really wouldn’t be surprised if McLaren are still the team that Prodrive link up with for next year.

Four McLaren’s on the grid?

Sounds like a Jean Todt nightmare…

Equal Rights?

SO,

The Championship is going to go to the wire in Brazil because of a stupid 40 mile-an-hour slide into the gravel for Lewis Hamilton on totally knackered tyres.

And while McLaren have shouldered the blame for not calling him in, it's hard to understand why Lewis himself didn't make the decision.

Surely as it was him who had the chassis squirming noticeably and continually under his arse, he should have thought better than to stay out as long as he did and jeopardise his championship chances.

While many would argue that Hamilton's lack of experience would cause him to wait for the teams call to pit, I would have thought that with the number of mistakes Lewis was making on the three laps up until that fateful attempt to make a stop would have surely made him re-think continuing as long as he did.

Of course, we also shouldn't forget that this is McLaren Mercedes' second monumental and race-destroying cock up in tyre calls, as it was Lewis' ill-fated gamble at the Nurburgring that left him in a sorry ninth place on a day that he had every opportunity to snatch victory.

But what is worryingly telling in this saga was that post race; Ron Dennis told Autosport that the delay on the call was due to the team worrying about Alonso.

He said: "The problem was rain and his [Hamilton's] tyres were in the worst condition. But we weren't at all fazed about Kimi. We weren't racing Kimi, we were basically racing Fernando."

Now, I'm the first to admit that I have long believed that Fernando Alonso demanding favouritism, and proving that he will go as far as blackmail to get it, was a pathetic attempt to win power and prominence within the team in the face of a mighty team mate. During this team, I was pleased with McLaren's decision to treat each driver equally as it gave Lewis a fair tilt at the title.

But now, as Hamilton had a solid chance to seal the title today, (and after Alonso's almost traitorous behaviour to the team during the Stepneygate fiasco and the likelihood that he will swiftly aim two fingers at the Woking boys in November) McLaren are surely overlooking the team's needs in their blind determination to maintain even treatment between it's drivers, and in doing so have left rivals Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen with a shout at the Championship in Brazil.

Lewis has proved often the quicker, generally the more reliable, and certainly the most loyal of the team's two drivers, and on a day when he could have achieved the dream and won McLaren's first title since '99 and the first ever for a rookie, the team have admitted to being more worried about Alonso.

Call me a hypocrite and tell me I'm being totally favouritist towards Lewis if you will, but think. Today we should have all been celebrating the eigth British F1 World Champion, our first title since Damon Hill in '96 and McLaren's first in eight years. But we aren't.

And it's all thanks to McLaren's determination to maintain equality between two drivers who in light of certain events this year and with a McLaren Championship at stake, clearly don't deserve it.

Next customer please...

Prodrive, who own Aston Martin and run their Le Mans programme and Subaru’s WRC cars, now have to wait until October 24 to find out if their plan to run this year's McLarens in the 2008 Formula One Championship is a possibility.

The problem has come due to an intervention from Williams, who have questioned Max Mosley over the legality of the cars, despite the preliminary '08 regulations stating that 'customer cars' will be permitted next year.

In a statement today, Prodrive boss David Richards said: "We are in no doubt that the sporting regulations for the 2008 Formula One Championship clearly allow the use of customer cars, which is why our entire F1 proposition has been based on this fact since the outset.”

But as discussions over a new-for-2008 Concorde Agreement are still on-going and look likely to not be finalised before the end of this year, the current regulations governing the sport (which do not allow 'customer cars', ie, those purchased from another team) could be rolled over. This leaves the possibility that Prodrive's plans may yet be deemed illegal for '08

SO,

The understandable issue being raised by Team Willy is that as a customer team, Prodrive may not be able to run McLaren's next year under the current regulations, but if they are permitted to, then they should at least be unable to score Constructors Championship points as they are - by definition - not a constructor.

And, to some extent, they have a point.

The Formula One Constructors Championship has been in place since 1958, and I think that allowing a ‘race team’ not a constructor to score points is neither fair nor sporting.

Of course, the fact that they would be running the current batch of McLaren Mercedes' MP4-22s, a car which has shown itself to be the arguably the fastest and undoubtedly the most reliable in this year's championship, could mean that Prodrive's outfit are potentially point-scorers from the outset.

However, it is a tad hypocritical for Frank Williams to suggest that running some-one else’s cars is unfair, as his Williams team ran Henri Pescarolo in a year-old March 701 purchased from the French car builder in 1971. His team was eligible for Constructor points, though the car wasn’t quick enough to get any.

So maybe Frank needs to have a bit of a think before he starts getting funny about new teams not being constructors, as this was a situation he benefited from hugely in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

We shall have to wait three weeks for the International Court of Appeal to decide the legality of Prodrive’s intentions to run another constructor’s cars next season, and whether or not Britain's newest F1 team will be on the grid next year.

But if Prodrive's appeal is granted in their favour, some of the sport's 'Old Boys' may have to face watching their cars trail home a repainted McLaren Merc, whether they like it or not!

And whether or not Frank is being hypocritical, I don’t want to see it either. Now Aston Martin F1…

That would be a different story.

No punishment for Lewis

SO,

The FIAs stewards have decided not to punish Lewis over his alleged causing of the accident between Webber and Vettel.

All I can say is thank God for that. We still have the promise of a rookie Champion on our hands.

Can't wait for China!

Webber hammers Hamilton

SO,

After his race ending collision at the Japanese GP, Mark Webber has criticised Hamilton for some questionably dodgy driving behind the second safety car.

Webber told today's pre-practice press session: "It definitely contributed to Sebastian hitting me up the back because he [Lewis] wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing, clearly."

Mark was running in second when the third placed Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel smacked the rear corner of his RB3 and ended his race. Vettel and Webber were both distraught, with ITV showing Sebastian apparently crying, and Mark slated the young driver for 'driving like a fucking idiot' on air.

Webber added: "It was one of the lowest points of my career last weekend, in terms of being in a position to challenge for victory, and it was taken away not even in a racing incident.

"It was very, very hard to swallow. It's under the bridge, it's gone and we'll never get that back."

And now, courtesy of a spectator video, Hamilton is under investigation by the FIA stewards over his driving at Fuji.

STR's Franz Tost went to the stewards after being shown the footage with the aim of getting Vettel's ten-place grid penalty in China for causing the accident revoked.

He told Autosport: "You could quite clearly see that Hamilton slows down quite unexpectedly.

"Look at the video. Sebastian would have had to have gone between the cars and there was no chance. It was totally unexpected. It looked like Hamilton was stopping, that is why I went to the stewards."

But with the Championship taking a huge swing towards Lewis at the previous race, any penalty imposed on him could remove his current advantage and encourage a tighter finale to the Drivers' title. While a close finish would undoubtedly be a good thing for the sport, I just hope it doesn't serve to unfairly wreck Hamilton's chances of becoming the first true rookie champion.

What price a 10-place grid penalty?


NB - The YouTube footage of Hamilton's supposedly dangerous driving has now been copyrighted by Bernie's FOM, and is no longer viewable by the public.

Driver's Title Tainted?

SO,

Ferrari team President Luca Di Montezemolo now believes that should Lewis win this years' championship (which he surely will), he will have the Italian team to thank.

LDM told Italian sports publication Gazzetta dello Sport:

"I still think that in the [Stepneygate] spying affair it was a big mistake not to disqualify the McLaren drivers as well.

"It means that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will also win it thanks to Ferrari because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car."

Rubbish.

McLaren were punished on September 13 following new evidence from Alonso and Pedro De la Rosa - involving emails and text messages to and from Mike Coughlan about the Ferrari car - on the grounds that they gained some sporting advantage over Ferrari.

But there was only circumstantial evidence to suggest that there were any parts on the McLaren influenced by Coughlan's Ferari documents.

So for Di Montezemolo to suggest this is frankly bullshit.

While his team may be happy to win the Constructor's title for 2007 in the courtroom, there is surely no way that the integrity of the McLaren Group would bend enough for them to use a bastardised Ferrari to win any championship.

Luca is clearly a bitter man. Schumi and Ross Brawn left at the end of '06 and since then their importance to the Italian's infrastructure has come to light, with this year's car suffering the kind of weaknesses that neither man would have encountered.

And now he is resorting to desperate snipes at a McLaren squad that few believe were guilty of plagiarising Ferrari parts, and even fewer believe would have lost either of this year's titles.

The car is superior and so are the drivers.

So sorry Luca, but if (when) the horrendously talented Lewis Hamilton wins this year's Drivers Championship, as far as most people would be concerned, he owes your lot bugger all.

Rust in Piece....

SO,

Following Alonso's spectacular turn five cock up at a sodden Fuji Speedway, the odds of him clinching his third title seem slim at best, and I for one am frankly ecstatic.

At the point at which his McLaren - easily the best car on the grid at the Japanese GP's new home - aquaplaned its way into the wall, I leaped into the air in the knowledge that some justice had been done.

Fernando's blatant attempts to blackmail Ron Dennis by threatening to run to the FIA with some new information in the 'Stepneygate' farce if he wasn't granted number one status in the team proved the selfishness and ruthlessness of the man.

And seeing the remains of the reigning champions car (the number 1 most likely adorning it for just two more races) sat idle in the pouring rain just off the racing line while his sensational team mate sauntered calmly past, was a sweet moment.

It astonished me that, following Team McLaren Mercedes' unceremonious booting out of the 2007 Constructor's Championship and ludicrous $100million fine dished out on September 13, Dennis could even look Alonso in the face, let alone insist the team intend to keep treating it's drivers equally.

After the hearing, Dennis told Autosport's Steve Cooper: "We have multi-year contracts with both of our drivers, and there has been no discussion about varying them.

"We have two of the best drivers in the world, and our commitment to winning races is undiminished. That's what we exist to do - to win races.

"And if there is any variation to those contracts, it will be by mutual agreements."

But this alludes little to the general feeling at the factory, as surely everyone in the team would find it difficult to support Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, with the golden child still leading the title race, ahead of his teammate who has shown a potentially traitorous attitude.

And this is where the Fuji results fits in.

Surely now, with Lewis 12 points clear of Fernando, the Woking team have the perfect excuse to favour its most likely championship contender and, after Alonso's repeated mantra of deserving to be the teams established number one, do the unthinkable.

Ask Fernando to move over...