Just a mere days after Bernie Ecclestone fired out his comment that Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher should hang up their racing shoes, Fisichella has fired back with a rather sarcastic letter posted on his personal web site.

“You are the father of Formula One and like a father you have talked about your children, including me. I wanted to remind you dear daddy, I mean dear Bernie, that I am the one who won the first Grand Prix in Melbourne in 2005 with Renault and therefore I was the one who first discovered the R25 as a winning car. In the two seasons I spent alongside Alonso, in full agreement with the strategies of my Team, I have contributed to two constructor titles, taking home the fourth place in the drivers’ championship, just like Massa this year. Given the circumstances I believe I could not do any better.”
“In 2007 Renault promised me a championship winning car, but this has not been the case and for this I did not get demoralized! Next week, in fact, I will bring my enthusiasm and my experience to Force India, a young team with an “old heart” just like Giancarlo Fisichella who has still some talent to show!”

No doubt Ecclestone expected this type of public reaction and relished the thought of it, but looking at this letter, Giancarlo does speak to the truth when talking of his contribution to Renault, and given a better car in 2007, I don’t believe we would have heard these remarks from Ecclestone.  Yes, Giancarlo’s years in F1 are numbered if not over, and Renault, just like other teams are looking to new ‘young guns’ for some new life and added energy, but it is drivers like Giancarlo and Ralf Schumacher who have contributed greatly to F1. 

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In the middle sidebar and just below ‘Recent Posts’ there is a new feature on F1-ToGo. The F1-ToGo Quiz is now online for you to test your F1 knowledge in.

Here you will find 3 different quizzes, one easy, one harder, and one difficult.
High scores are kept for you to see and you must register to play

I will keep adding new questions as often as I can so at times, one or more of the quizzes may be down for maintenance.

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Bernie Ecclestone has once again waded into ‘the drivers business’ and is raising eyebrows.  With his reputation of circling and dropping verbal bombs and then smiling as he waits for the fall-out, Bernie has now dropped comments about Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher.

Ecclestone went on record as saying that Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher should quit F1 racing rather than fight for an uncompetitive seat at Force India.  This, after hearing both drivers have been invited to test with the team at Jerez.

While both drivers careers are winding down, they have a wealth of experience they can offer Force India in their inaugural year in 2008.  One could look at this at least as a wonderful opportunity for this young team to learn a few things quicker than if they relied only on their young drivers.  For now, both drivers will join Force India in testing.  This is what Ralf had this to say on his acceptance of the invitation:

“For any driver, driving for a young dynamic team with high ambitions is a good opportunity, but at the moment it is just one test to see how we get on working together, and whether this is possible.”

“I think I can help the team with its development program, but we will see.”

For all of his career in F1, Bernie Ecclestone has had the ability to sway people into thinking his way weather his way is right or not.  I remember comments from Damon Hill on Bernie Ecclestone:

“The way he can manage to control a lot of very intelligent people and still keep them dancing to his tune is extraordinary.’ His technique? ‘The same old tricks: he works on people’s fears and insecurities. He’s a bit like a female spider. Lots of people think they’re close to him, but they’re in danger of being eaten.”

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When information comes quickly on hot topics like Fernando Alonso talks, sometimes we hear conflicting reports of what is happening.  Yesterday I wrote that Fernando was confirmed in talks with Red Bull, but below is the latest story on that same topic.

Helmut Marko has clarified reports that Fernando Alonso may have been in talks with Red Bull about joining the team in 2008.
Although David Coulthard and Mark Webber insist they will resume their cockpits in Melbourne next March, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz on Tuesday was quoted as contemplating a multiple-year deal with Alonso.
Mateschitz’s quotes were, however, interpreted differently by the media; one news outlet said the Austrian billionaire had ‘confirmed Alonso talks’, while another said the double world champion was now ‘not an option’ for Red Bull.
Clarifying the situation, Marko - Mateschitz’s motorsport advisor - denied that there has been any ‘negotiations’ with Alonso, the 26-year-old Spaniard.

“What I can say is that Red Bull has not negotiated anything with Alonso.

We know that he has talked to several teams, and we are one of them, but there has been no negotiation,” the Spanish sports daily Marca quotes Marko as saying.
Marko also slammed as ‘lies’ reports that Alonso recently visited Red Bull Racing’s team headquarters at Milton Keynes.
Elsewhere in the Spanish press, it emerged that although Alonso has now returned from his post-season vacation, he is not scheduled to drive for any team at next week’s final test of 2007 at Jerez.

Source GMM
© CAPSIS International

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Now it’s confirmed!  Fernando Alonso has been negotiating with Red Bull.  Today, Red Bull’s Dieitrich Mateschitz confirmed that they have been in negotiations with Fernando Alonso even though as I wrote in my previous story, David Coulthard was convinced Alonso wouldn’t be going there in 2008.  David said his contract prevents his seat from being taken, but Mark Webber wasn’t sure if his was written the same.  He better look now.

What we can gather is that Fernando is looking at his remaining options (Renault, Red Bull, and Toyota) to see what the best deal for him would be.  Once he has all this information, then we should hear from the man himself.

The stumbling block as we know so far is that Fernando wants the one year deal of course, but so far Renault are saying 3 or none and Red Bull are asking for 2 years with an option of 3.  Here’s what Dietrich Mateschitz had to say:

“We want a two-year contract [with Alonso] with an option for a third.” 

“What I hear is that he is negotiating with the other teams only for one year. Such a deal is for us out of the question. We would prefer to wait and demonstrate that for 2009 we can build a car that is capable of attracting one of the best grand prix drivers.”

Fernando Alonso is a great competitor and would find it almost impossible to drive for a season with a car that doesn’t have the potential to get him to the front where he can do battle.  Neither Red Bull, Toyota, or Renault based on last season can prove they can do this, although my money for significant improvement is Renault, but remember that on December 6, Renault will answer to espionage charges which could potentially leave Renault out of the 2008 lineup.

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The latest on Fernando Alonso isn’t really much yet, but it has been rumoured that he is in talks with Red Bull.  Now, we don’t know what they may have to offer (if anything), but I’m sure Fernando is talking about this 1 year deal he has been pushing for at Renault.  We speculate the reason for the one year deal is because he is hoping for a drive in 2009 with Ferrari and here’s  what’s come up along these lines just recently.

David Coulthard has been adamant that he will be driving for Red Bull next year because the contract he has states he will drive in all scheduled races next year.

“I cannot see Fernando Alonso joining Red Bull in 2008, and I am 100 percent certain that I will be racing for them next year. I was never worried about that, even when the rumours first surfaced about Alonso.”

“The contract I signed with Red Bull is binding, we didn’t just sign a piece of paper giving Red Bull the right to put me in any car that they happen to sponsor, it’s very specific and says that I have to drive the car in any F1 event it is entered for.”

I certainly would tend to believe this.  David Coulthard is a seasoned veteran who knows the game quite well and has garnered much respect throughout the F1 community.

On the other hand, Mark Webber hasn’t ruled out his seat being stripped from him in 2008 primarily he states because he doesn’t know if his contract contains the same clause as David Coulthard so that really doesn’t say much.

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It almost appears that no news from Fernando Alonso is good news.  He is certainly taking his time in making a decision on who to race for, but more so I believe that after many weeks of waiting for a decision, Fernando is indeed waiting for the outcome of the Renault espionage hearing December 6.  No matter what you believe, Renault will be facing a stiff penalty, a penalty that may have such an effect on Renault that they pull from F1.  Another possibility is they are banned from competition in 2008.  In either case, for Fernando to sign prior to knowing what the outcome is could put his ride for 2008 in jeopardy.

Carlos Gracia, President of the Spanish motor sport federation and also a FIA Vice-President and member of the World Motor Sport Council hopes the impending hearing won’t effect Fernando’s future.

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I have been doing a lot more reading about the new rules forcing teams to go back to standard electronics or ECU.  Whatever you wish to call it, since recent testing, it’s been brewing up a storm for months now.

So far the majority of the complaints revolve around the fact that the new engine management system, Microsoft McLaren Electronic Systems (MES) is a collaboration that involves McLaren so we can already see where this is going. 

Clear opposition has come from Renault when Renault Technical Director Bob Bell went on record with these remarks:

“It is ‘obvious’ that teams with prior knowledge of the McLaren ECU will have an advantage in 2008, primarily because adapting to the system ‘involved a huge amount of work.”

“All this extra work meant that resources were allocated to an area other than performance.”

“It’s as if we had to talk to the car in a new language with a new philosophy.”

“The system has lower performance”.  “Its capacity, complexity and functions are not on the same level.”

Renault chief designer Tim Densham say that  McLaren is the only team in the paddock that does not need to commit vast resources to adapting to the new standard ECU.

“Let’s just say that for me this ECU has a very strange shape, a triangular one, so it was clearly designed for a specific car last season.”
“It’s the same thing for the power box that goes with it.  The position and the angle of the connectors are proof of a bespoke design for another car.”

From a drivers perspective, Felipe Massa has so far had a hard time with the new system at his recent testing sessions.  His concern is safety and that the new system is a step backwards for Formula 1.  Massa predicts:

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As we get closer to the December 6 hearing where Renault face a charge of possession of confidential McLaren technical information, McLaren are going on the attack.  This was to be expected as the media are paying increasingly more attention as the date gets closer.  McLaren were fined $100million and kicked out of the constructors’ championship after they were found guilty of what they are saying is minor compared to what Renault have done. 

Renault are accused of breaching Article 151c of F1’s International Sporting Code and the case against them will be heard at a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on December 6.  What McLaren are essentially saying in a briefing sent to the FIA is that in September 2006, suspended engineer Phil Mackereth stored 33 files with more than 780 drawings on Renault’s computer system for the intent of using them.  The briefing also states this information contains “the entire technical blueprint of McLaren’s 2006 and 2007 cars” which is “the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 cars”.  This information they allege was discussed by up to 18 team personnel including senior engineering chiefs and also chief designer Tim Densham.

Renault have admitted to being in possession of the data, although unknowingly, but continually deny any use of it.   They also admitted that some Renault engineers did see drawings mentioned above, but did not use any information in their own cars.

Renault also invited experts on behalf of McLaren to inspect the computer system as well as the cars.  However, one could argue the computer would have been purged of all incriminating evidence prior to any invitation, but the cars are another story.

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Here’s the latest news concerning the allegations of sabotage against former Ferrari chief mechanic Nigel Stepney.

Amid this year’s famous espionage scandal that became known as ‘Stepneygate’, it also emerged that the Briton was being pursued by Ferrari and Italian prosecutors for allegedly trying to sabotage the Maranello based team’s charge for victory at Monte Carlo in May.

According to the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, the white powder found in Stepney’s trouser pockets have now been analyzed at length by a laboratory at Modena university.
The results of the investigation reportedly indicate that the powder, determined to contain phosphate and calcium, matches the substance found in the fuel tank Kimi Raikkonen’s F2007 before it was shipped to the Principality to race.

When we look back at the 2007 F1 season and see the headlines that dominated the sport, we won’t likely be too pleased.  Here’s a list: White powder in Kimi Raikkonen’s fuel tank, McLaren in possession of Ferrari technical data, Renault in possession of McLaren technical data, and last but not least, the ‘cool fuel’ fiasco.  It’s true, these are the stories that have taken over the 2007 season and the off season and for people glancing at the sports headlines, the picture they get is a very poor one.

Now look at another more positive side.  Considering that the FIA is making an effort to clean up the sport, this is actually good.  After all, we have never experienced these type of scandals in such numbers in one season and certainly have never seen as heavy a penalty as McLaren received.

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