Formula One News — August 2006

A puff of publicity this week about Prodrive's talks with other F1 teams reveals that the new F1 team will, as previously reported, be a customer operation when it starts testing next year and in the foreseeable future.

Nelson Piquet Jr has had tests with several F1 teams to date and the whisper in the paddock was that while he was relatively quick, he was rather too petulant and cocky for the taste of those involved.

The Appeal from the FIA against the Stewards of the German Grand Prix has been successful - and the FIA, keen to show the credentials of the court, has issued biographies of the judges involved so that everyone sees that the process is fair, independent and carried out by top-level legal minds.

The FIA International Court of Appeal met today in Paris to examine the appeal made by the FIA against decision handed down by the Stewards of the German Grand Prix regarding Renaults use of Mass-Dampers.

German driver Sebastian Vettel will take over the Friday test driver role for Sauber-BMW at the Turkish GP this weekend, and will join Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Juan Pablo Montoya is unable to test NASCAR this summer because Dodge has not been able to negotiate his release from his contract at McLaren.

Cristiano da Matta has now been transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit at the Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin.

The sale of Midland F1 to a Dutch consortium could go ahead this week - with the new owners possibly even being in control by the Turkish Grand Prix.

Creighton Brown, a wellknown racing entrepreneur and a man who helped Ron Dennis win control of McLaren, has died.

Geoff Willis will be free to work for another F1 team from the end of the year. The former Honda F1 designer has now reached an agreement with the team over his departure and it is believed that there has been a financial settlement which will allow Willis to work elsewhere in 2007.

Although there is still no official sign of a Formula 1 calendar, the races are one by one coming forward and giving the dates they believe they will have next year and the latest to join that list is Indianapolis which says that it will be hosting a race on June 17. This means that Canada will be on June 10.

There are increasing reports in Germany that Mercedes-Benz is buying the remaining 60% of McLaren, with suggestions in the German press that the deal was signed at Hockenheim.

The Renault F1 team is still chasing a title sponsor to replace Mild Seven in 2007 and given the time it has taken since Mild Seven announced it will be departing, this is not proving to be an easy task.

Sweeney Sports Report, a leading Australian sports analyst company, says that the country's top three sporting events are the Australian Football League Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup horse race and the Australian Open tennis championship.

Cristiano da Matta has yet to regain consciousness at the Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, but his condition is improving all the time. Da Matta is becoming more alert each day and has been removed from the ventilator that was providing respiratory support since his accident.

The Formula 1 circus will return to Indianapolis in 2007 but there are no guarantees beyond that as Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George does not want to do a longer deal.

There has been speculation for a long time that DaimlerChrysler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, will eventually complete the purchase of the McLaren company.

Toyota has quit the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association. This leaves BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Honda as the only serious members of the organization. Renault joins when there is something to be gained and jumps ship when it suits it to do so.

The Renault F1 Team will participate as an interested party in the FIA International Court of Appeal hearing on August 22. The actually hearing will be between the FIA and its own stewards who decided at the German Grand Prix that the mass dampers on the Renault were legal.

Although the Formula 1 racing teams are on holiday, there was still plenty of action around at the weekend, notably in the United States where Kevin Harvick took victory from Tony Stewart in the NASCAR Winston Cup race at Watkins Glen.

Professor Mark Gillan, BEng, PhD, MAIAA, FRAeS, CEng, currently employed at the University of Surrey, is to join Toyota as its new head of aerodynamics.

Red Bull is happy to fund a drive for Christian Klien in Champ Car in 2007. The Austrian drinks company has proposed a deal to the 23-year-old driver although, he is keen to stay in F1 believing that he has the talent and is young enough to make a career in Grand Prix racing.

Following the discussions between the FIA and the GPMA about engines at the start of the week, the FIA Formula 1 Race Director Charlie Whiting has issued orders that teams must hand over engines to be homologated for 2007 after either the Japanese or Brazilian Grands Prix.

Former Toyota F1 driver Cristiano da Matta remains in a medically-induced coma in the Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, following his accident last week at Elkhart Lake when his Champ Car was in collision with a deer that had managed to get on to the circuit.

NASCAR continues to work hard in the media world with the release last weekend of Will Ferrell's spoof movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". The film ended the weekend as number one in US box office taking $47m, which was a lot more than had been expected.