With Renault currently battling with the FIA for the right to compete in Valencia and Nelson Piquet and Flavio Briatore involved in trench warfare, it was apt the team chose to conduct this weeks test on the runway of the Imperial War Museum..
27/03 Australia
10/04 Malaysia
17/04 China
08/05 Turkey
22/05 Spain
29/05 Monaco
12/06 Canada
26/06 Europe
10/07 Britain
24/07 Germany
31/07 Hungary
28/08 Belgium
11/09 Italy
25/09 Singapore
09/10 Japan
16/10 Korea
30/10 India
13/11 Abu Dhabi
27/11 Brazil
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2010 Archive
Archive for July, 2009
Valencia in the dark?
Maybe it is the return of Michael Schumacher that is flustering them, but ‘The Daily Telegraph’, has reported that the forthcoming European Grand Prix will be a night race.
In considering Schumacher’s chances, the Telegraph’s Andrew Baker says, “Valencia is a… night race, but evening temperatures in high summer in Spain mean that drivers will face a challenging physical environment.”
He warms to his theme adding; “Dehydration will undoubtedly figure and cardiovascular fitness will be at a premium.”
Really?
Well, as far as we can tell the race is still scheduled to start at 2pm, so if you do tune in to watch the race after you’ve had your tea, you will have missed what promises to be biggest sporting comeback since Lance Armstrong decided to get his bike out of the shed.
Mind you, Mr Baker may have had a good idea here, as the Valencia circuit is so pig-ugly and bland, that holding it in the dark can only be a good thing.
L of a test for Schumacher
Despite the fact that he competed in 249 Grand Prix, winning 91 of them, it appears there may be a hitch that could prevent Michael Schumacher racing for Ferrari at the next round in Valencia.
Apparently, Schuey cannot find where he… left his superlicence which means he’ll have to take the test for F1 novices again. Said a source close to the star; “Michael has searched everywhere for the superlicence, which as he lives in a great big castle took ages, but there is no sign of it, he has a sneaking suspicion that Corinna may have chucked it away.”
Provided he gets the final nod from Ferrari, Schumacher is expected to book in for a new test at the first opportunity and is already practicing three point turns, reversing round corners and pretend emergency stops.
A good day for BMW to bury bad news…
BMW Sauber today announced, with its tail firmly between its legs, that they are to quit F1 at the end of the season. The long, rambling press release made no mention of the fact that the BMW board were just… plain fed up after a dire year (despite three years of success), instead giving us a load of cobblers along the lines of this gem: “Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility, this is an area in which we want to remain in the lead”
What rot – using the old ‘green excuse’ to bail out of F1, leaving hundreds of loyal Sauber employees, some of whom have stuck with the team, through thick and thin since 1993 on the dole queue – Peter Sauber must be delighted to see his legacy binned in an instant.
Still it could have been worse, BMW got all huffy with then engine partner, Williams, a few years ago when a takeover-merger was blown out of the water by Sir Frank. Good job too, as today could have been the end of the mighty Williams team instead of poor old Sauber.
At least another, far more decent German, sailed to the rescue today by announcing he would step in for an injured colleague out of loyalty to his team.
So for BMW, at least the back pages of tomorrow’s newspapers will be full of the news about Michael Schumacher’s return to Ferrari, rather than the dull excuses of a dull car company leaving F1.
Red Bull Dog
Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, has revealed that he has two West Highland terriers, one called Bernie and the other Flav. We assume if Christian had a Whippet he’d have to call it Max.
Eddie Jordan in wrist watch worry…
Concern has been expressed in the F1 paddock for the health of Eddie Jordan, following the news that his wrist watch now weighs in excess of 5 kilos and that the stress of lifting up the microphone to bicker pointlessly… with David Coulthard could lead to irreparable upper arm damage.
For much of the season EJ has decided to dress like a handsomely paid deck hand with a well glued on hairdo, but it is the ever increasing size of his watch (seen here in a relatively sensible size in Melbourne) that has people worried.
Said one source close to the Beeb; “The watch just gets bigger at each race, during the Hungarian GP weekend his right hand was dragging on the ground – if it goes on like this, by the time we get to Abu Dhabi it will be the size of a grandfather clock.”
Get well soon Felipe
Grand Prix Diary is back from its cycling odyssey across northern France, which ended in a sports bar in Paris with the Tour de France coming past just ten feet away and with the Hungarian Grand Prix on the big… screen TV. Things rarely get any better.
Sadly of course the weekend was marred by the awful accident suffered by Felipe Massa, something our merry band were blissfully unaware of until the race programme started.
We wish Felipe the very best with his recovery and we sincerely hope to see him back in action before too long.
Ferrari boss, Luca di Montezemolo put it best, when being pressed by an insensitive journalist as to who would take Massa’s place in the team, by responding; “The most important thing now is the recovery of Felipe the man, not Felipe the driver.”
Here, here.
Grand Prix Diary is away
Despite the fact that there is the small matter of the Hungarian GP this week, it is going to be a bit on the quiet side around here, as Grand Prix Diary’s staff of one is getting on his bike… to cycle from London to Paris in aid of (a) Action Medical Research, a charity primarily looking into raising funds for research into premature birth and (b) to get to Paris in time to see a Spaniard beat a Texan in the Tour de France.
Please be sure to come back, and if you feel like giving a few pounds/euros/dollars to our charity (£1650 raised so far) we’d be dead chuffed!
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