Latest F1 news in brief
- 'I would have been penalized' – Alonso
- Mosley guilty of 'disrepute' over Stewart insult – Hill
- Haug defends Dennis over Alonso rebuke
- Massa ready to help teammate win title
- Heavy rain expected on Sunday
- Bernie and Flavio miss Chinese GP
- Massa, Barrichello Fined
'I would have been penalized' – Alonso
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has openly questioned the stewards' decision not to penalize his teammate Lewis Hamilton for driving erratically behind the safety car last Sunday.
The 22-year-old's bitter title challenger told the Spanish newspaper Diario As on Friday: "I am sure that if it was me (under investigation), I would have gone to sleep with a penalty."
The Spaniard is probably recalling his famous Monza penalty last year, applied after stewards ruled that he impeded Felipe Massa's qualifying lap.
Alonso said of the Hamilton investigation: "But I do not know, because I did not see it (the YouTube clip of the Vettel-Webber crash)."
Reigning world champion Alonso, who is 12 points behind Hamilton after his Fuji Speedway crash, said Hamilton had been warned by race director Charlie Whiting about his driving behind the safety car at Monza last month, after "some drivers complained".
"The race director reminded us before Fuji what you can do — warm up your tires, zigzag, but with a constant speed.
"He said 'you can move, but not change your speed all the time'."
Mosley guilty of 'disrepute' over Stewart insult – Hill
(GMM) Sir Jackie Stewart is believed to be considering taking legal action against Max Mosley, after the FIA president recently described him as a "certified halfwit".
Stewart, the triple world champion who still regularly attends races as a sponsor representative, attracted the rebuke from Mosley following his strong criticism of how the F1's governing body handled the espionage saga.
In a media lunch in London last month, Mosley derided the 68-year-old Scot – who is a famous suffered of dyslexia – as a "certified halfwit" who dresses oddly.
"He's a figure of fun among drivers," Mosley said. "He goes round dressed up as a 1930s music hall man."
But as rumors of legal action arise, presumably for slander, it has emerged that 1996 world champion Damon Hill has staunchly defended Stewart in a letter to the British print magazine Autosport.
"Regardless or not of whether he was alluding to his dyslexia, what he said was a gross insult to one of the sport's leading figures," an excerpt from Hill's letter reads.
"It is conduct most unbecoming of an FIA president and, in my humble view, brought the sport into disrepute."
Haug defends Dennis over Alonso rebuke
(GMM) Norbert Haug has defended his fellow McLaren-Mercedes chief Ron Dennis after the Briton criticized Fernando Alonso in China.
Team boss Dennis in Shanghai rebuked Alonso when the Spaniard said he would "not answer" a question about whether he expects equal treatment for the final two races of 2007.
Reports in the Spanish press hit back at Dennis' apparent intensification of an already strained relationship with the reigning world champion.
But Haug, competition director for McLaren's engine partner Mercedes-Benz, told the newspaper Diario As: "I have always defended Fernando, but Ron is not a bad type.
"From the very first moment, we have done everything we can to try to integrate (Alonso) in the team."
It is reported that Alonso's seemingly flawed relationship with the team is having a tangible effect on the sale of Mercedes-Benz road cars in Spain.
The matter was worsened even more after the 26-year-old's heavy crash at Fuji Speedway, when it was suggested that neither Dennis or Haug bothered to even phone Alonso to check that he had not been hurt.
Haug does not deny the charge, revealing only that Alonso had been checked over by team doctor Aki Hintsa, who told McLaren bosses "that he was okay".
"Our relationship with Fernando could be better, but we are not shutting him out," he insists.
To prove his point, Haug also criticized Lewis Hamilton for accusing his teammate of disloyalty in Japan a week ago.
"I do not like to hear that and I believe that it is better if the drivers do not speak about one another in a way such as this.
"We are under pressure from all sides, and I don't mind being criticized — but do not say that we are not fair."
Massa ready to help teammate win title
(GMM) Felipe Massa says he is ready to help Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen to secure the drivers' title.
The Brazilian, who mathematically dropped out of the championship battle in Japan a week ago, qualified third in Shanghai on Saturday and vowed to try to win the Chinese grand prix.
"But clearly if it is required, I am ready to help the team and keep alive its chances of winning the drivers' title," he was quoted as saying in the Italian team's press statement.
Raikkonen, who is a distant 17 points behind McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton, qualified behind the British rookie in China.
Due to McLaren's exclusion from the constructors' standings for espionage, Maranello based Ferrari has already won that title.
Raikkonen said on Saturday: "We know the situation in the championship is pretty compromised but I will do my all to try and win."
Heavy rain expected on Sunday
Weather expects predict heavy rain on Sunday and temperatures dropping down to below 20 degrees Celsius. The weather is being influenced by cold wind from the north and a fallout from Typhoon Krosa, which is heading in the direction of Shanghai.
Last weekends Japanese Grand Prix also suffered from lots of rain. The race was started behind the safety car as the track conditions were terrible for the Formula 1 drivers.
Bernie and Flavio miss Chinese GP
Renault F1's team boss Flavio Briatore has not travelled to Shanghai for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix. It is the first time in over six years the Italian will miss a Formula 1 race.
Briatore returned to Europe with Bernie Ecclestone after the Japanese Grand Prix a Renault spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. Both planned to fly back to Shanghai after a number of business meetings but Ecclestone decided to stay in Europe, prompting Briatore to make a similar decision.
Massa, Barrichello Fined
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was fined 4,000 Euros for speeding at 80 kph in pit lane.
Honda driver Rubens Barrichello was fined 800 Euros for speeding at 64 kph in pit lane.