One day after saying, that attempting to blend Rubens Barrichello into becoming a permanent part of the Hungaroring pit wall, was ‘part of F1’ Michael Schumacher concedes that he might have gone a bit far and has issued an apology… to the Brazilian.
It’s hardly a fulsome, teary, box-of-tissues-required kind of apology but for Michael Schumacher, it is something of a revelation.
Having heard that the German had come over all contrite, several other F1 drivers who have been given the Schuey squeeze over the years, were on tenterhooks by their telephones last night.
However, Messrs Hill, Villeneuve, Frentzen, Hakkinen and Coulthard (amongst many others) were warned not to hold their breath, as one apology in 19 years does not bode well for a repeat anytime soon..
Despite the fact that the last time he was involved in setting up an F1 team, results were shall we say, scarce, Jacques Villeneuve is reported to be forming his own F1 squad ‘Villeneuve Racing’ and has lodged an entry for the… 2011 season.
Although he won’t confirm whether he will drive or not, it is safe to assume he will, as it is clear he is desperate for a drive as he (allegedly) even spoke to the scary guys at Stefan GP. Said a source close to the popular Canadian; “For sure, it will be great, he will be paid loads of money, there will be none of these arguments about who get’s the new wing or whatever and as he’ll be in charge it won’t matter if he is any good or not, plus it will be very difficult to sack him”.
Nineteen years after he won the British F3 Championship, Williams driver Rubens Barrichello is celebrating another title here in Canada.
Barrichello was last night crowned champion in the Celebrity Sushi Eating Championship, held for the first time in a Formula 1… paddock, after wolfing down two pounds of the Japanese snack in 3min 12secs.
The plucky Brazilian saw off stiff competition from local boy Jacques Villeneuve, who spun on a piece of Gunkanmaki early on and fellow F1 foodie, Timo Glock, who having had a Medieval banquet for lunch had to retire with just a small Fugu and a cucumber wrap to go.
In these difficult times, you can get a pretty good deal when buying a new car, for example just £15,000 will get you a fully kitted out Honda Civic type S – which isn’t bad for a sporty little number that should last you forever.
However if… you are after a Japanese number to race around supermarket car parks after dark, then why not spend your fifteen grand on something a little different – maybe an ex-Jacques Villeneuve BAR Honda?
The car, on sale via auction on the 25th of July, was raced by Villeneuve in 2001 before Olivier Panis took it on and it comes with a full service history and 12 months MOT.Unusually for Honda F1 cars it was a moderately quick, reliable little runner.
Sadly, with the car being at the top end of insurance group 20, the forecourt price of £15,000 will pale into insignificance when the broker gives you his quote…
While some American F1 fans, like me, are already kind of excited about seeing the new USF1 team on the grid next year, there are already plenty who say that it is just not going to happen, budget cap or… not.
It would seem that going back to the Moon is more likely and straightforward.
Apart from a launch on Speed TV, not a lot more has been heard of how Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson plan to take on the likes of Brawn, Ferrari, McLaren and company.
The plan, as much as we know of it, seems to be to run the team out of the US and a base in Spain (at least they will rack up the air miles if nothing else) and to have both drivers of American origin. Well, let’s see, that will be Danica Patrick and A.N.Other, because as much as I hate to say it, all the top-line drivers from these shores are on gazillion-dollar-a -year NASCAR contracts and it would be a fair bet that USF1 aren’t looking at paying the drivers too much of the green stuff.
Mind you, Jacques Villeneuve is desperate for something to do and Canada is pretty much the 51st state anyway so why not let him have his mid-life crisis in one of the seats?
Some snooty UK journalist said last week that he’d been to North Carolina to check out how things are going with USF1 and that “there was nothing there”. Nothing unusual there buddy – that’s North Carolina for you.
However, a quick look at the USF1 (or are they called USGPE – who knows?) website is not too encouraging either. Nothing there after all these months and let’s face it, setting up a website is not exactly rocket science – most 3rd graders could knock you one up for fifty bucks during recess.
I don’t doubt that the guys behind the team know their stuff and are keen to do well and hopefully these rumours about YouTube wanting to sponsor the outfit are true but basing the whole concept around a country that doesn’t even have an F1 race and wouldn’t know Jenson Button if they suspended him from the Statue of Liberty is surely not a great idea.
Michael Schumacher, when after a vacation where he would not be recognised, would usually choose one of two countries. Norway, where they are so uninterested in the outside world that Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama could walk, hand in hand, wearing tutu’s, through the centre of Oslo without so much as a sideways glance from the locals, or America, where the only sportsmen that count are American ones.
This is after all, the only country in the world that has a number of ‘World Series’ or ‘World Championships’ played on solely on American soil.
That, I’m afraid is the way it is. Period. A ‘European’ sport like F1, that nobody in the US cares about, has close to zero chance of diverting fans (or sponsors) from NASCAR or Indy Racing.
If USF1 could maybe consider hiring Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to race in those tutu’s – then people might just watch…
Our somewhat sceptical F1 fan from the other side of the pond is John Gerhardt of Roanoke, West Virginia – thanks to him for this piece.
Jacques Villeneuve is apparently talking to several teams for next year, with the rumours pointing him in the direction of one of the three new squads.
USF1, for reasons known only to themselves, want American drivers, and even though Canada is… close to America it doesn’t quite count as a US State. Spanish team, Campos, also seem to be going down the route of providing employment for a couple of fellow countrymen so that leaves Yorkshire F1.
Our Yorkshire correspondent tells us that YF1 team boss, John Booth, is known to want an experienced F1 campaigner in the team and with Jacques not in a position to ask for much of a wage he could have himself a bit of a bargain driver.
15 June, Lakeside, San Diego. Open the sports pages over here and it’s fair to assume that you won’t find much reporting of the FIA/FOTA war, that looks like it is set to tear Formula One apart on Friday afternoon… If it does happen I guess its kind of ironic that F1 should die at Silverstone of all places.
Most of my English buddies just can’t see it happening, F1 has been around forever and will continue to remain so, they argue that it would be madness on both sides to let the unimaginable happen but we have a precedent here in the US – our sporting body and the teams managed to wreck what was (after F1 of course) the best single seat championship in the world – namely CART.
CART was a brilliant, exciting championship, with top notch drivers which over a period of time included F1 World Champions past and present, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve – even Ayrton Senna had a test for Penske. For many reasons, mostly those of self interest CART split apart in 1994 with the formation of the Indy Racing League and there in one fell swoop was the death of decent open wheel racing in America.
CART ambled on for a while, becoming Champ Cars, while for years the IRL was a series with a sparse schedule and drivers not known outside of their own family. Now, 15 years later, the two series are united as one again as the Indycar series which is a mere shadow of what CART was – and what was achieved? Nothing.
So F1, listen up, the FIA needs FOTA and FOTA needs the FIA, it’s really not that difficult to understand.
Former F1 world champion, Jacques Villeneuve, has complained at the lack of ‘warriors’ on the grid and that apparently there appears to be a lack of hate.
According to Germany’s ‘Sports Bild’ Villenueve said; “”I realised it last year, when Massa… was fighting Hamilton for the title that you didn’t get the impression that these guys wanted to win so badly that they actually hated each other”
So much for all that peace, love and understanding he warbled about on his last album. Villeneuve also revealed that while he is (almost) pleased at former team mate Jenson Button’s current success, he still manages to find a downside in the Brawn team that has its origins in the British American Racing (BAR) squad he was a founder member of.
“I’m happy for Jenson but I also see the team as a negative part of my past, a lot of my own money is still there as my manager Craig Pollock set up that team with some of my money as well”.
During his five years at BAR, Jacques was, after Michael Schumacher, the best paid driver in F1, in 2002 alone he trousered an estimated $21 million.
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