Latest F1 news in brief – Tuesday
07/24/07
- FIA declares Hamilton crane ride 'legal'
- Hamilton has 'big bruise' after crash
- F1 body fails in bid to trademark 'F1'
- Winning Alonso still unhappy at McLaren
- Tost denies assaulting STR's Speed
- BMW to discuss teammate clash with drivers
- Nurburgring boss wants name solution by 2009 New
- Bernie agrees to bring F1 back to Magny Cours New
- Buemi tests Red Bull New
- Speed's father denies son fired New
FIA declares Hamilton crane ride 'legal'
(GMM) F1's governing body has given Lewis Hamilton's controversial crane-lift out of the Nurburgring gravel trap a clean bill of health.
Some observers had wondered if McLaren's championship leader and rookie sensation had received preferential treatment, after the similarly stricken cars of his rivals were hauled away from the track rather than back to it.
But the Times says the FIA "confirmed that the incident … was legal".
Toro Rosso, however, clearly objected to the marshals' response to Hamilton, after refusing to issue a post-race statement when both Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed remained beached at turn 1.
A subsequent report on the Faenza based team's website said the Hamilton scenario was "something never before seen in F1".
"Sadly, our boys were unable to do the same (as Hamilton), even though the race was actually stopped and re-started behind the Safety Car," the team said.
Hamilton has 'big bruise' after crash
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton has revealed the pain of careering into a tire barrier at almost unabated speed.
F1's rookie championship leader was attached to a drip and oxygen on Saturday at the Nurburgring, after a wheel failure sent him off the track in the flat-out 'Schumacher S' section.
"You just hold on for dear life," the McLaren driver told reporters after his disastrous European grand prix weekend, which ended his run of nine straight podium finishes.
He said: "When you hit the wall you hope it's not so painful. But it was very, very painful in my chest and legs."
Hamilton, 22, immediately wiggled his legs to deal with the pain of the impact, before stumbling out of the car and laying down in the gravel trap.
He explained: "I had problems with my legs. I think with the shock I couldn't stand up. I was conscious. I was just in pain in my chest, and now I've got this big bruise."
He finished Sunday's race ninth and said of his dented championship hopes: "There is a long way to go and it is definitely not all over."
F1 body fails in bid to trademark 'F1'
(GMM) Formula One Licensing has failed in a bid to gain exclusive control of the descriptor 'F1'.
FOL, which is the brand exploitation division of the Formula One group run by Bernie Ecclestone, made a trademark application for the abbreviation for a range of goods to the UK Trademark Registry.
The application was opposed by the French racing website Racing-Live SA.
Autoweek reports that the UK Trademark Registry ruled against FOL, citing the definition of the 'F1' abbreviation on the influential online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The judge agreed with Racing-Live that 'F1' is indeed a generic term.
"The evidence, furnished by both sides, in no way suggests that the ordinary, original meaning of 'F1', as a type of motorcar race and as a description of the cars that compete in it, has been displaced," David Landau explained.
He added: "I do not see that a group currently having the exclusive rights to the commercial exploitation of F1, under the auspice of the FIA, alters that.
"The evidence shows that F1 is not registrable as a trademark."
Winning Alonso still unhappy at McLaren
(GMM) Even his inspired European grand prix win did not improve Fernando Alonso's tetchy relationship with his McLaren bosses, according to reports.
Proving that the story is not influenced by national allegiances, both the British newspaper The Times and its Spanish colleagues at 'Diario As' agree this week that all is not well behind closed doors at Woking.
"The double world champion has a terrible relationship with the head of McLaren, Ron Dennis" a reporter for 'As' revealed after the Nurburgring race.
Television viewers got a glimpse of the tension on Sunday, when in parc ferme Spaniard Alonso, 25, turned away from the waiting Dennis after alighting from his winning car at the Nurburgring.
The 'As' reporter then described their eventual greeting as "cold", particularly in comparison with the jubilant scenes that used to take place between Alonso and his Renault boss Flavio Briatore.
The Times, meanwhile, concurs that Alonso is "far from happy" at McLaren, despite winning three of the ten races so far in 2007.
"It's worse," an insider told the newspaper when asked to compare the current situation with the final tense months at Renault before Alonso defected to Dennis' team.
The Times claims that Alonso did not like the way Dennis handled the Monaco aftermath, when his win was overshadowed by suggestions that Lewis Hamilton had been prevented from winning.
Also controversial has been the allocation of race strategies between Alonso and Hamilton, with the Spanish press adamant that the British rookie usually receives the favorable deal.
Tost denies assaulting STR's Speed
(GMM) Franz Tost has rejected claims in the media that he 'assaulted' beleaguered Toro Rosso racer Scott Speed after he slid out of Sunday's European grand prix.
Witnesses have reportedly been quoted as describing how Tost, the Faenza based outfit's team principal, physically struck his American charge as they discussed the aquaplaning incident inside the Nurburgring pits.
"I asked Speed why he went off the road," Tost is quoted as saying by the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"He smiled back and asked why his pit stop took so long, and then turned away. I touched him on the shoulder, but I don't think anyone can talk about a war in the pits."
Tost's explanation follows widespread reports that Speed could be replaced by BMW's rookie test driver Sebastian Vettel as soon as the upcoming Hungarian grand prix.
But the Austrian chief is also unhappy with his Italian teammate, Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Tost told Bild: "What can I say? We are not only dissatisfied with our drivers' performance at the Nurburgring, we are dissatisfied with their performances overall."
BMW to discuss teammate clash with drivers
(GMM) BMW principal Mario Theissen has vowed to sit down with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica and discuss their collision on the first lap of the European grand prix.
The pair predictably blamed each other after the clash; Heidfeld – who was later involved in another collision with countryman Ralf Schumacher – insisting that his Polish teammate "forced me onto the dirt", while Kubica retorted that Nick "arrived too fast and touched me".
Theissen condemned the incident as having cost his Hinwil based outfit another podium finish.
"Obviously, a collision between teammates isn't exactly what we want to witness," the German said.
He revealed: "We will first analyze the data, then sit down with the drivers and talk about the situation. The goal is to avoid these kind of incidents in future.
Nurburgring boss wants name solution by 2009
(GMM) The boss of the Nurburgring circuit says a solution must be found to its formula one naming problem before it hosts a grand prix again in 2009.
Last Sunday's event is the only German race on the 2007 calendar, but it had to officially be called the 'European Grand Prix' because rival motor sport body AvD exclusively controls the 'German Grand Prix' descriptor for the Hockenheim circuit.
Hockenheim will return to the calendar next year as it now annually shares the privilege of staging Germany's only race with the Nurburgring.
The 'European GP' was a solution for 2007, but in 2009 – the next time the Nurburgring is due to host the German race – the descriptor will be in use by Valencia in Spain.
"Therefore we must find a solution in time for our next championship race," the Nurburgring's Walter Kafitz is quoted as saying by Motorsport Aktuell.
Bernie agrees to bring F1 back to Magny Cours
(GMM) Mere weeks after declaring that Magny Cours will never again feature on the formula one calendar, Bernie Ecclestone has revived the hopes of the French grand prix venue.
According to reports on Tuesday, F1's 76-year-old chief executive has in a meeting with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon shown a green light to the race for 2008 and possibly also 2009.
And "the venue will be kept for 2009 if there are no solutions for an alternative," Ecclestone is quoted as saying by the BBC.
A statement from Fillon's office confirmed: "Mr Ecclestone said he agreed in principle with keeping the French grand prix at the Magny Cours circuit."
Ecclestone said after this month's French grand prix that there was "no future" for the rural venue Magny Cours, and that he wanted to see the race in a centre such as Paris.
Buemi tests Red Bull
(GMM) Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi is on Tuesday driving for Red Bull at the formula one group test at Jerez.
The 19-year-old replaced test regular Michael Ammermuller in the GP2 series last weekend as reports circulated about Ammermuller's hand injury but also his lack of competitiveness this year.
Speed's father denies son fired
(GMM) Scott Speed's father has denied reports that the beleaguered Toro Rosso driver has been sacked.
But, when asked by the website of American broadcaster Speed TV, Mike Speed did not rule out the scenario unfolding as "a lot of things" are currently going on behind closed doors.
"As far as I know, Scott has not been released and he's planning to go to the test this week in Italy," said Speed Snr.
"But, obviously, there's been a lot of things going on."
A source told Speed TV that Speed, 24, received his marching papers on Monday.