Formula One News — May 2008

Turkish GP - Qualifying Results

Saturday morning practice may not be hugely significant in Formula 1 these days, but it is always good for a team's morale to set the fastest time of a session and so there were smiling faces down at Red Bull Racing on Saturday in Istanbul as Mark Webber went quickest with a best lap of 1m27.030s.

Turkish GP - Practice 3 Results

The second practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix resulted in a very close finish between Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren.

Turkish GP - Friday Photos

Turkish GP - Friday Press Conference

Turkish GP - Friday Team Quotes

Super Aguri F1 Limited has been placed in administration. The company is now being run by PKF (UK), a British accounting firm.

Turkish GP - Practice 2 Results

Force India F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella started off badly in Turkey on Friday morning when he left the pitlane and drove through a red light at the very beginning of the first practice on Friday morning. The result of this was a three-place penalty on the grid.

Felipe Massa set the pace in Turkey on Friday morning with a fastest lap in the first practice session which was a tenth faster than Heiki Kovalainen's McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was third fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Turkish GP - Practice 1 Results

Turkish GP - Thursday Press Conference

There have been a number of new recruits in recent weeks at Honda Racing F1 with some interesting appointments in the marketing department.

According to reports in Germany Force India F1 driver Adrian Sutil has been the victim of an attempted blackmail. Sutil apparently went to the police when an unnamed man got hold of the hard drive of his old computer, which contained private information.

The Figaro newspaper in Paris has this morning published an exchange of e-mails regarding multiple World Champion Sebastien Loeb.

The Figaro newspaper in Paris is reporting this morning that France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon has a secret desire to become the president of the FIA. Fillon has been the French Prime Minister since Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidency a year ago.

At the end of last week there was a story in Italy suggesting that Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo (60) has had a meeting with incoming Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (71) to discuss what if any role he can play in Berlusconi's new government.

Aguri Suzuki has announced in Japan that he is ceasing operation of his Formula 1 team, Super Aguri F1. The outfit has been in existence for just two and a half years, having started out in 2006 using modified versions of the 2002 Arrows A23 chassis, which were acquired from Minardi boss Paul Stoddart.

The future of the Super Aguri F1 team remains in the balance at the moment with a meeting due to take place tomorrow in Tokyo between Honda personnel and Franz-Josef Weigl, the German industrialist who seems to think he can save the team.

For the last eight years London has been run by Ken Livingstone. In that period Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone tried to convince Livingstone that it would be a good idea for a London Grand Prix. Livingstone seemed keen on the idea, believing that that it would bring hundreds of thousands of people to the city.

The Super Aguri F1 team says it is in "final discussions" concerning an agreement for a substantial shareholding to be transferred to the German company.

It is worth noting that the motor racing world was represented yesterday at the Prince of Wales's May Day Business Summit on Climate Change by Honda Racing F1's Nick Fry. This involved not only the heir to the British throne but also Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Enviroment Minister Hilary Benn and American Senator George Mitchell.

Radovan Novak is much in the news today for his remarks to a Czech radio station about who was responsible for what Max Mosley claims was an investigation into his private life. The end result of this was the sordid revelations that have filled the newspapers of late.

Today is the 14th anniversary of the death of the great Ayrton Senna, the last fatality in Formula 1. And while FIA President Max Mosley is under intense pressure to resign because of his sexual adventures, it is worth remembering that one of the reasons for this statistic is that Mosley acted decisively after Senna's death.