Latest F1 news in brief
- Schu in town for another GP – brother
- New rear wing test equipment in Canada
- No news on Heidfeld contract
- Kovalainen blames press for Piquet muddle
- McLaren duo played video game amid 'team orders' storm
Schu in town for another GP – brother
(GMM) Michael Schumacher this weekend will attend his third grand prix in a row, his brother revealed on Thursday.
Ralf Schumacher, the only sibling of the famous brothers who is still racing in formula one, told a news conference in Montreal that retired Michael is due to touch down in the Canadian city.
In his advisory role for his former team Ferrari, 38-year-old Schumacher attended the recent Spanish and Monaco grands prix.
Ralf, who is six years younger than his brother, admitted: "He will be here this weekend."
New rear wing test equipment in Canada
(GMM) FIA scrutineers' new equipment for better testing the legality of bendy rear wings was spotted on Thursday at the scene of the Canadian grand prix.
The governing body upped the intensity of the deflection tests following speculation and evidence that Red Bull might be sidestepping the rules.
The new equipment is to debut this weekend in Montreal, where an illegal wing could give cars an up to 6kph unfair advantage on the long straights of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve layout.
Essentially, the new equipment is simply a wooden frame or template, upon which 100 kilograms of downwards weight can be applied to the wing.
Wings must deflect less than 2mm to pass the test.
No news on Heidfeld contract
(GMM) BMW-Sauber principal Mario Theissen in Montreal refused to appease reporters when they asked him about the status of Nick Heidfeld's contract for 2008.
Heidfeld, 30, is yet to be offered an extension to his current deal, despite impressing alongside his highly rated young teammate Robert Kubica so far this year.
Theissen said: "This will be an internal topic for the next weeks and months.
"It is simply not our first priority, because I see our driver situation as steady.
"And I can assure you that if we make any decisions, we will make an announcement about it."
Kovalainen blames press for Piquet muddle
(GMM) Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainen in Montreal hit out at the media for "misunderstanding" his recent comments about the French squad's test driver Nelson Piquet Junior.
The Finn had been asked which famous racer he most admired — 1992 title winner Nigel Mansell or triple world champion Nelson Piquet, who is Piquet Jr's father.
25-year-old Kovalainen answered: "I don't really like Piquet Junior so much, so maybe Mansell."
In the paddock of Canada's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, however, Heikki denied journalists' claims that the comments had given an "insight" into his possibly thorny relationship with his Brazilian team colleague.
"I was asked a question and I wanted to make a jokey reply and it was taken literally," Kovalainen marveled on Thursday.
He added: "Nelson and I talked about it today and we had a laugh. Everything's okay; it was just a misunderstanding on the part of a few journalists."
Fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, was asked about Kovalainen's struggle at Renault so far in 2007.
The Ferrari driver said: "He has had a difficult start to his career.
"With the car that they have now, after winning the last two championships, it is surely not easy for him."
McLaren duo played video game amid 'team orders' storm
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton put the brakes on rumors of an internal rift with his teammate Fernando Alonso in Montreal by talking about a video game.
As the media continued to explore the 'team orders' saga of the recent Monaco grand prix in the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve paddock, Hamilton and Alonso came armed with comments designed to douse the journalists' fires.
Rookie Hamilton, however, went another step further as he insisted that there are no hard feelings inside the McLaren camp — especially once the sun has set on the race track.
He was asked by one reporter on Thursday if any heated meetings with either team boss Ron Dennis or Spaniard Alonso had taken place in the hours after the race.
He answered: "Fernando and I sat in our (motor home) room and played basketball, because we have a PlayStation.
"It was 'NBA 2007'.
"We are both really competitive and I must say that Fernando is really good — he must play a lot!
"So we were playing, Fernando was really happy about his (Monaco) victory and I was pleased for the team."