Latest F1 news in brief
- Alonso 'surprised' by Red Bull pace in Turkey
- Sauber notes football fluke in Turkey
- Honda become first team to test KERS system
- Hartley – I'm Toro Rosso test driver
Alonso 'surprised' by Red Bull pace in Turkey
(GMM) Fernando Alonso in Turkey said he has been "surprised" by the improved performance of the Red Bull team.
Mark Webber narrowly but consistently outpaced the Spaniard in qualifying, just two weeks after Renault appeared to have turned a major corner at Barcelona following a disappointing early 2008.
Alonso, 26, confirmed to the Spanish newspaper El Pais at Istanbul that he expects to also fight Webber throughout the Turkish grand prix today.
"For us here, sixth would be a success," he said.
"We have been a little surprised to see that the aerodynamic improvements brought by Red Bull have put them in the position that we were in at Barcelona."
Sauber notes football fluke in Turkey
(GMM) BMW-Sauber in Turkey celebrated a coincidental link between the team's driver lineup and the forthcoming European football championship.
In front of the Swiss based team's transporters at the Istanbul circuit on Saturday, Nick Heidfeld (Germany), Robert Kubica (Poland) and test driver Christian Klien (Austria) posed in special blue and white soccer outfits.
All three countries, as well as Croatia, have been grouped together in 'Group B' of the Euro 2008 tournament, to be hosted jointly by Austria and Switzerland in June.
The drivers' jerseys featured their native country's flag on the front.
Heidfeld, meanwhile, celebrated his 31st birthday with a cake outside the team motor home, but Saturday was not all fun and games for the German team.
"We have to admit that up to this point McLaren has been stronger than us," team boss Mario Theissen is quoted as saying by the Swiss newspaper Blick, after Robert Kubica qualified fifth in Turkey.
Heidfeld is a comparatively distant ninth on the grid.
Honda become first team to test KERS system
(GMM) Honda recently became the first team to track-test a KERS energy recovery system, which will be allowed in formula one from next year.
"We've run it on a car for the first time," team principal Ross Brawn told the website of the American broadcaster Speed TV.
The Briton did not say whether the system, trialed in an initially basic form, was tested at the recent Barcelona group test, or elsewhere.
Brawn said the environmentally-friendly system, which stores braking energy that is then re-released under acceleration, was tested at "not a very high level, but we've got it functioning".
The forthcoming introduction of KERS has been controversial, with some teams (unsuccessfully) pushing for a delay until 2010.
"That's inevitable," Brawn continued, conceding that – in a climate of needing to reduce costs in F1 – the voluntary deployment of KERS is proving very expensive.
Hartley – I'm Toro Rosso test driver
(GMM) New Zealand youngster Brendon Hartley on Sunday revealed that he is Toro Rosso's unofficial test driver.
The 18-year-old recently gave the Faenza based formula one team's 2008 car, the STR3, its shakedown track debut in Italy, and he has also appeared for the Red Bull-sponsored teams in demonstration runs and for a quick test at Silverstone.
Hartley is currently racing with Red Bull backing in British F3.
"It seems a bit strange to say that but I am their test driver," Hartley is quoted as saying by New Zealand's Herald on Sunday.
"I'm not the official test driver but I'm the man who does all their aero testing and stuff," he added.