Formula One News — March 2008

Ferrari grabbed pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix with Felipe Massa well clear of his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. The fact that neither man made any obvious mistake suggests that the Brazilian may have a lighter fuel load than the Finn, as in the Q2 session Kimi was three-tenths ahead of Massa.

Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from eighth and ninth on the grid, rather than third and fourth, following a decision by the FIA Stewards to penalise the two McLarens for impeding the progress of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber.

Malaysian GP - Saturday Photos

Malaysian GP - Saturday Press Conference

Malaysian GP - Saturday Team Quotes

Malaysian GP - Qualifying Results

Nick Heidfeld set the fastest time of the Saturday morning session in Malaysia in his BMW Sauber, setting himself up for a shot at pole position in qualifying.

Malaysian GP - Practice 3 Results

Just when everyone thought that Ferrari had the Malaysian GP weekend sewn up, Lewis Hamilton threw water on the Italian fireworks, snatching the fastest time of the Friday afternoon session in Kuala Lumpur, with a lap that was two-tenths faster than the best time that Ferrari's Felipe Massa could manage.

Malaysian GP - Friday Photos

Malaysian GP - Friday Press Conference

Malaysian GP - Friday Team Quotes

The FIA stewards have asked Red Bull Racing to verify "the integrity of the suspension" of the RB4 to show that it should not be deemed "of dangerous construction", following David Coulthard's problems in the Friday morning session in Malaysia.

Malaysian GP - Practice 2 Results

Ferrari started the practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix with a strong showing, but the Friday morning session at Sepang was not without problems, as Kimi Raikkonen's car came to a halt out on the circuit in the middle of session, with mechanical troubles.

Malaysian GP - Practice 1 Results

The mayor of Sao Paulo Gilberto Kassab says he has signed a new deal with the Formula One group for the Brazilian Grand Prix to remain at Interlagos until the year 2015.

British Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay has attacked Formula 1 saying that the BBC should not be paying the fees to broadcast the races and that the public broadcaster should spend its money on "real sports" rather than "the wealthy industry of F1". MacKinlay said that licence-payers have a right to know what the deal is costing the BBC.

Malaysian GP - Thursday Press Conference

There are reports in Italy that Ferrari has signed Sebastian Vettel. These seem rather unlikely as Vettel's contractual situation is, at best, complicated and probably best described as convoluted, with BMW and Red Bull both having claims on the German rising star.

The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula 1 in the UK, starting next year. The five-year deal includes radio, Internet and and mobile phone rights. It is 12 years since the BBC lost the deal to rival ITV.

The big question in F1 circles in recent days has been where the money is coming from to fund the takeover of the Super Aguri F1 team. This is rumoured to be from the Middle East.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway president and CEO Tony George is planning to bring Formula 1 back to the Speedway in the summer of 2009. The race was lost this year because George and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone could not agree terms for a new deal, with a rumoured $7m difference between what George was willing to pay and what Ecclestone was hoping to get.

The deal between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car was billed a merger, but it is now emerging that this was not the case at all, as most of the Champ Car teams are now dropping out of the sport.

It has been known in Formula 1 circles for the last six months that Scuderia Toro Rosso was up for sale, despite a series of denials from some of those involved. There were in-depth negotiations with A1 Grand Prix Series's Tony Teixeira last autumn and Force India's Vijay Mallya also took a look at the team before buying the Spyker operation.