Latest F1 news in brief
- Super Aguri keen to keep Davidson for 2008
- India promoter confirms F1 architect in Delhi
- Coulthard says media key to F1 snobbery
- F1 president Dassas to leave Renault
Super Aguri keen to keep Davidson for 2008
(GMM) F1 team Super Aguri says it would like to field an unchanged race driver lineup in 2008.
Takuma Sato, a strong performer this year and central to the Japanese Honda-powered team's establishment two years ago, was always a near certainty to retain his cockpit.
But the fate of Sato's former works Honda colleague and current teammate Anthony Davidson was less well known, with it believed that – unlike some of the British rookie's rivals near the back of the F1 grid – he does not provide any significant sponsorship to the team run by former driver Aguri Suzuki.
"We want to keep the same drivers," managing director Daniele Audetto told the website of British magazine Autosport (www.autosport.com).
"That is our aim. We are very happy with the job they are doing."
Even though 28-year-old Davidson has not scored any points so far this year compared with Sato's four, Audetto explained that Davidson is now "better in the races" than he was at the beginning of the season.
Davidson said: "It is nice to know the team are happy with you. I am happy with what they are doing and if I am happy then everyone else should be as well."
With Super Aguri linked with a partial sale to Alejandro Agag, meanwhile, Audetto suggested that any speculation of Davidson being replaced by a Spaniard for 2008 is premature.
While admitting that Spanish investors might want a countryman at the wheel of the car, Audetto said: "Honestly I don't see today a Spanish driver ready for F1 next year.
"Maybe with a good F1 testing he could be there for 2009, but not yet."
India promoter confirms F1 designer in Delhi
(GMM) Indian officials have confirmed reports that F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke is currently touring potential grand prix sites in Delhi.
Suresh Kalmadi, president of the prospective promoter of the 2009 event, the Indian Olympic Association, told the local news agency PTI on Monday: "Tilke visited some sites today.
"He will see more sites again tomorrow.
"He will leave the day after and file his report to Mr. Bernie Ecclestone."
52-year-old German Tilke's company Tilke Engineering has been responsible for all of F1's recent circuit projects, including in China and Bahrain, and also future venues such as those in Abu Dhabi and South Korea.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone recently wrote Kalmadi a letter in which the promoter was given a September 30 deadline to select a site and sign a binding contract.
"We are closer to getting F1," Kalmadi insisted.
Coulthard says media key to F1 snobbery
(GMM) David Coulthard says the media is partly the reason for a breakdown in relations between formula one drivers and its fans.
The pinnacle of motor sport has become notoriously more exclusive in recent years, and Coulthard – the oldest current driver on the grid – explained that part of the reason for the caginess has been the development of "communication technology" such as the internet.
Scotsman Coulthard, who is 36, described the gulf between drivers and the media as a "key problem" for formula one.
"The way the sport is reported has changed completely since I started in 1994," he wrote in his column for ITV.
Coulthard explains that in the subsequent 13 years it has often become necessary for drivers to be "guarded" with the media against "being misquoted or stitched up".
"The truth is that most journalists that work in the paddock are decent and honorable people," he wrote. "But then one or two that are just searching for the headline quote ruin it for the rest.
"They just want a soundbite that will out-scoop all the other websites. They are not interested in the real story."
Coulthard, who now races for Red Bull, defended his former team McLaren for protecting rookie Lewis Hamilton from headline-seekers.
In Hungary, for instance, the Mercedes-powered team's drivers did not address the media on Thursday, and in Turkey they controversially called off their visit to the paddock altogether.
Coulthard said: "I guess my point of all this is that because the ferocity of competition within F1's media has become so intense, it is harder for the drivers to trust them.
"Therefore it becomes harder for the public to get to know us as well as they might. It's no-one's fault but I think it makes that invisible barrier between the fans and the drivers harder to break down."
F1 president Dassas to leave Renault
(GMM) After just sixteen months as president of Renault's formula one team, Alain Dassas is vacating the role, the French carmaker announced on Tuesday.
The 61-year-old Frenchman's successor is Bernard Rey, currently senior vice president of Renault CEO office, with Dassas appointed chief financial officer of Renault-affiliated Nissan.
Earlier in his career, Rey was responsible for Nissan's global motor sport activities, the team outlined in a press statement issued on Tuesday morning.
He will replace Dassas on 17 September "to ensure a smooth, stable transition as the team prepares for 2008", it read.
Dassas replaced his predecessor Patrick Faure as Renault president in April 2006.