Formula One News — January 2007

Spain's Adrian Valles, who has yet to do much in GP2, is tipped to be the man on the verge of being named as the Spyker test driver for 2007. If that turns out to be the case, there is little doubt that it was just a question of money, a situation which does not reflect awfully well on the team that is trying to build up its credibility.

The question of customer cars is one that is convulsing Formula 1 at the moment, both in terms of the 2007 season; but also for 2008 and beyond.

Ferrari and Motorola have been working together for a while now and have just produced a nicely-understated Ferrari new phone, called the V6 Ferrari. Based on the hugely-successful MotoRazr Maxx mobile phone, the Ferrari version is a sleek black with the Ferrari shield logo.

Bahrain has extended its contract to host Formula 1 racing, possibly until 2019. The country was the first to embrace the sport and has enjoyed an exclusive deal to host a Grand Prix in the Gulf region for the last few years but now rivals are popping up.

Juan Pablo Montoya has won the Daytona 24 Hours, sharing his Chip Ganassi Riley-Lexus with Scott Pruett and Salvador Duran. The former McLaren F1 driver was racing in the endurance as a one-off for his new employer Ganassi.

Valentine's Day is coming

The City of London is to be closed down next month to allow Shell to film a new TV commercial to promote its long-standing sponsorship of the Ferrari F1 team.

The Swiss TV station SRG has decided not to continue with its coverage of Formula 1 because it is not keen on paying the price increase of 6.5% being demanded by the Formula One group.

Robert Doornbos and Michael Ammermueller have both been named as Red Bull test drivers for 2007. It is expected that Doornbos will also pursue his career in the United States, which will allow Ammermueller to do testing work from time to time.

The World Economic Forum is the annual gathering of top business leaders, politicians and intellectuals at Davos in Switzerland. They meet to discuss social and economic problems in an informal atmosphere.

Mika Hakkinen has re-signed to drive for Mercedes-Benz in the DTM series for a third season. The 38-year-old former World Champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2001 season after an 11-year career in the sport, including 20 race victories.

Marlboro is not to seen in Formula 1 this year - at least not in name. The brand remains the primary sponsor of the Ferrari F1 team, on the basis that it has established such a strong visual brand in the course of the last 10 years that people will still relate the car to Marlboro, whether the name is there or not.

The new Red Bull RB3, the team's first design involving Adrian Newey, was unveiled this morning in Barcelona with much excitement around the project, which the team hopes will propel it into the top ranks in Formula 1.

Honda has launched its new RA107 in a black and white testing livery, planning to get the maximum coverage by launching the car at this stage and the livery some time next month. The RA107 is, not surprisingly, a development of the same theme as the RA106.

When one considers the current trends in Formula 1 there is one that is beginning to emerge which is not at first obvious: racing seems to be heading for the streets, or at least circuits which are being built in urban areas to try to duplicate the excitement and atmosphere of street racing.

Renault's chassis technical director Bob Bell was in front of the microphones at the team launch in Amsterdam and as usual was full of interesting reflections on the sport.

Renault 1 will be sending its road show to five cities in the course of the year ahead with provisional plans for events in Warsaw, Poland; Bucarest, Romania; Dubai, Cape Town, South Africa and Mexico City.

The ING Renault F1 Team launched its new Formula 1 contender in Amsterdam with an all-new livery, an exciting new driver and a commitment to stay in the sport in the long term.

Renault has launched an F1-branded Clio is an effort to maximise the value of its F1 programme.

Although Renault has been talking down its chances of success in 2007 in recent months, team boss Flavio Briatore says that he expects Renault to go on winning.

Reports coming out of China suggest that the Lenovo Group has announced a sponsorship deal with the Williams F1 team and that the team will carry heavy Lenovo branding.

The computer is still in the process of changing the way we live and work in the modern world. It is worth noting that Renault has just reached an agreement with its trade unions on the subject and will soon start to offer some of its employees the opportunity to work from home two to four days a week.

Toyota Formula 1 sponsor Panasonic is moving into NASCAR this year - but not with Toyota.

Gulf Air, the title sponsor of the Bahrain Grand Prix, has also become one of the full-time commercial partners of the Bahrain International Circuit. Both the BIC and Gulf Air are controlled by government-owned companies.

Justin Wilson will stay at the Rusport team in Champ Car this year and hopes to mount an even stronger challenge this year to Sebastien Bourdais and the Newman Haas Racing team.