Formula One News — March 2008

It is with great sadness that we must mark the passing of Richard Lloyd and David Leslie in a plane crash in Kent on Sunday afternoon. Although neither was involved in Formula 1 they were both wellknown and highly-respected members of the motor racing fraternity.

The News of the World newspaper has long specialised in sexual scandals. On Sunday it invaded the world of motor racing, with allegations involving FIA President Max Mosley.

Former Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve is the join the Speedcar series for the last two rounds. He will take to the grid for the upcoming race at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 4-6, followed by the final round in Dubai a week later on April 11-12.

The controversial Jean-Marie Balestre has died at the age of 86. For 13 years, until he was toppled by Max Mosley, he was the most powerful man in the motor sport world, as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

With Red Bull having faced up to the fact that there is not much point in having two Formula 1 teams, the Austrian drinks company is now trying to find a solution to the problem of Force India taking Scuderia Toro Rosso to arbitration.

The Microsoft Corporation is one of the world's richest companies but generally avoids direct sponsorships in motorsport. The computer giant is now involved in F1 as the supplier of the standard Electronic Control Unit (ECU).

The Australian newspaper has just published the TV ratings for the Australian Grand Prix and revealed that Channel Tens GP telecast was the 11th highest rating programme of the week, with 1.2m viewers across Australia.

Qatar has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world thanks to healthy oil and natural gas revenues. The country is booming and the country has began to look at reducing its dependence on oil (which currently accounts for 85% of export earnings).

Bernie Ecclestone has crowned England™s Team Pulse World Champions of the F1 in Schools competition. The four-man team of John Ware (16), Samuel Wood (15), Andrew Lees (16) and Thomas Simpson (17) from Devonport High School for Boys in Plymouth, fought off competition from 24 teams from 15 countries to claim the coveted BEng Automotive and Motor Sport Engineering scholarships at City University London.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council met in Paris and appointed a Management Committee for the Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, the body which will distribute the $60m from the McLaren-Mercedes fine.

Red Bull has agreed a new partnership with the Citroen C4 WRC team in the FIA World Rally Championship. The deal kicks off in Argentina this weekend. Red Bull was previously a partner of Skoda in the WRC, but the Czech company has renounced its WRC plans and is now developing a Fabia S2000 car for use in racing.

David Richards, chairman of Prodrive and Aston Martin, and a former F1 team principal of the BAR and Benetton, will deliver the opening keynote address for the first Motor Sport Business Forum Middle East on April 1-2.

A report by the Godo Research & Marketing Consultancy in Dubai, commissioned by the Bahrain Grand Prix, suggests that the economic impact of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on the local economy was $548m. This figure is believed to include air fares, hotels, and expenditure while the visitors were in the country.

Eddie Jordan, the former owner of the Force India F1 team, has been out of the F1 picture for several years, since selling his team to the Midland Group. The team was then sold on to Spyker and last year was acquired by Vijay Mallya and renamed Force India.

The Motor Sports Association in Britain has launched a nationwide marketing campaign to attract new people to motor sport. Backed by initial funding of $500,000 from the Motor Sports Association, Go Motorsport follows in the footsteps of Let's Go Karting (a nationwide programme to give youngsters a taste of karting), free first-time competition licences for the under-16s, continued investment in the successful Volunteers in Motorsport programme and the on-going commitment to the development of the UK's Elite talent through the MSA British Race and Rally Elite schemes.

The start of the Formula 1 season has not been an easy one for the Renault F1 team, after what was a very poor year in 2007. The team has not looked very competitive thus far although Fernando Alonso has managed to score points in both of the first two races.

The 2007 scandals in Formula 1 highlighted the amount of information that flows between the teams in the sport. It seems that NASCAR may now be running into similar problems.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has always enjoyed the concept of inspiring others to follow their dreams. It was this concept that led him to include an educational area in the McLaren Technical Centre in Woking and is behind a new charitable foundation that he has now launched (albeit quietly) called Dream Chasing.

After qualifying in Malaysia, we thought that the McLaren team had something up its sleeve. But that was not the case at all. Ferrari was dominant. The Italians ought to have scored a 1-2 but Felipe Massa spun out. Lewis Hamilton had a tough afternoon - by the end of the day he was fifth and is still three points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Drivers' World Championship. But if we see the same kind of performance from Ferrari in Bahrain, McLaren will be in trouble.

Malaysian GP - Race Notes

Malaysian GP - Sunday Photos

Malaysian GP - Sunday Press Conference

Malaysian GP - Sunday Team Quotes

Malaysian GP - Race Incidents

Malaysian GP - Race Results