Formula One News — July 2005

Today in Munich there is another meeting of the Formula 1 teams which are opposed to the current way in which the sport is being run.

Safety, according to Max Mosley's letter to David Coulthard this morning, is "of paramount importance" to the FIA. This is an admirable statement but clearly 22 drivers do not agree that this was in the forefront of Mosley's thinking last week when he was on the telephone to David Coulthard.

Mark Webber has launched an attack on F1's qualifying format because he says he had to suffer burns into order to finish the French Grand Prix so as to avoid running early in the qualifying session at the next race.

Red Bull Racing is to appeal the FIA World Council decision which found the team guilty of "acts prejudicial to the interests of a competition".

Max Mosley earlier today cancelled a meeting planned for Friday meeting with the Formula 1 drivers to discuss safety measures with drivers. The FIA President called off the meeting because of remarks made by David Coulthard in an interview in The Times.

Max Mosley and his troops like to make fun of Paul Stoddart, calling him "a sad case" and trying to laugh him off as being a ridiculous figure. But the Minardi team boss is a danger to the FIA President - as he showed earlier this year in Australia.

Red Bull Racing has announced that David Coulthard has extended his contract and will stay with the team in 2006, when he will be driving a Ferrari-powered RB2. Coulthard will probably be joined by Tonio Liuzzi but that decision has yet to be confirmed.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association has blown the lid off the rumours that have been doing the rounds in recent days about what Max Mosley said to GPDA chairman David Coulthard in a telephone conversation on Tuesday June 28

The proposed FIA regulations for 2008 are much as expected but they do include two very interesting items: a restriction on testing to no more than 30,000 km in a calendar year and the introduction of a control tyre.

David Coulthard was under pressure at Magny-Cours. He told his fellow drivers about conversations which he had had with FIA President Max Mosley. This upset the majority of the drivers.

The FIA yesterday published a draft of the technical regulations it wants for 2008 and beyond - and an explanation of why it wants them. The primary aim is to cut costs by reducing the technology involved.

There are two ways of looking at what happened at the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. There was the French way. "Eh bah, voila! Quelle victoire! Vive la France! etc etc etc." A massive win for Renault and Michelin. A defeat for the Anglo-Saxons. Fantastique. Or there was the Ango-Saxon way to look at the story.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt has told reporters that he supports FIA President Max Mosley. This is not a surprise. The views underline once again that Ferrari is completely isolated from all the other Formula 1 teams of note.

French GP - Race Notes

French GP - Sunday Photos

The Formula 1 drivers spent a lot of time talking to one another last weekend at Magny-Cours with a series of meetings taking place over the course of the weekend. There was also a lot of action with documents flying around, some of which required signatures.

French GP - Sunday Press Conference

French GP - Race incidents

French GP - Sunday Team Quotes

French GP - Race Results

Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George says that Formula 1 is wasting its time talking about a non-championship race in October.

It has been known for several days that a row was brewing following conversations between Max Mosley and David Coulthard about the statement made by the drivers as part of the Michelin teams' defence at the FIA World Council meeting on Wednesday, but up to now no driver has been willing to say anything on the record.

Fernando Alonso was able to overcome an early qualifying run to grab pole position for the French Grand Prix for the home team Renault. The Spaniard ran 10th in the session and took two-tenths of the pole, which had been set by Takuma Sato, and then had to sit and watch 10 other cars running.

The seven Michelin teams who withdrew from the US Grand Prix have offered to race for free at Indianapolis after the end of the season. The idea has been put to Bernie Ecclestone and he will be talking to Tony George about the idea.

French GP - Saturday Photos