Formula One News — September 2007

Another fact to emerge from the FIA World Council in Paris on Thursday was that McLaren boss Ron Dennis and Fernando Alonso have not talked since the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite the fact that the Spaniard is battling to win the Drivers' World Championship for the team.

Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in the first session of the Belgian Grand Prix, half a second up on the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Nick Heidfeld was fourth fastest in his BMW, just a tenth slower than Alonso. Felipe Massa went off at Rivage early in the session and thus lost the entire 90-minute session.

Belgian GP - Practice 1 Results

Our spies in the FIA World Council meeting have revealed that there are going to be some surprises when the details come to light next week. We understand that the most extraordinary revelation will be in relation to the identity of the man who tipped off the FIA that there was additional evidence against McLaren: it was none other than Ron Dennis.

Formula 1's top management seems to believe that it exists in a vacuum, untroubled by the real world. Everyone is consumed/outraged by the penalty inflicted on McLaren but no-one seems to be looking beyond the end of their noses.

The yet-to-be-explained decision by the FIA World Council to deprive McLaren of all its points in this year's Constructors' Championship and to fine the team $100m seems like a Draconian punishment for a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code which states that competitors can be punished for "fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport".

Belgian GP - Thursday Press Conference

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team has lost its points in the Constructors' World Championship for 2007 and will not be allowed to score in the final four races - and has been fined $100m, although this will be reduced because the team will be credited the money that it would have won this year.

McLaren has issued the following Press Release.

The FIA issued the following statement.

If, according to the rumours swirling in the F1 paddock in Belgium, the McLaren team has been thrown out of the F1 World Championship for 2007 and 2008 there will be many effects, not just in terms of the immediate impact on the team but also on the long term funding.

The FIA World Council has attracted unprecedented interest with the F1 media (and those claiming to be) around the world waiting for a result from Paris.

Stories that McLaren has been banned for 2007 and 2008 are not confirmed, according to our sources in Paris. The World Council is debating the matter but no decision is yet official.

The recent A1 Grand Prix test at Silverstone was not an affair with much interest in Formula 1 circles and it was odd therefore that one of the people spotted at the end was Ferrari F1 team manager Stefano Domenicali.

The Italian Grand Prix was a busy affair with a lot happening in the Formula 1 paddock. One man who slipped under the radar was Tony Teixeira, who was to be seen walking the grid with Mr E on Sunday.

In the next 36 hours there needs to be a lot of thinking in FIA circles - at least one would hope that will be the case because the "trial" of McLaren is as much a trial of the FIA as it is of the team.

In the days before the Italian Grand Prix, one might have got the impression that Formula 1 is about conference rooms and devious plots. But it is not. What really matters is what the cars do on the circuits. It is about the emotion and excitement of it all. But when all is said and done it is about what happens on the race track. It is about the tears at the end of the day.

Jacques Villeneuve is continuing his NASCAR education with a test today at the Talladega circuit in Alabama, where Nextel Cup cars reach top speeds of 215mph.

Bacardi has announced that Michael Schumacher is to become Bacardi™s Global Social Responsibility Ambassador, starting in January 2008, Michael Schumacher will work with Bacardi and its portfolio of brands to communicate a global œDon™t drink and drive message.

Italian GP - Race Notes

Italian GP - Sunday Photos

Italian GP - Sunday Press Conference

Italian GP - Sunday Team Quotes

Italian GP - Race Incidents

Italian GP - Race Results