Few things happened over the weekend, here is my attempt to sum them up.

Ron Dennis is back in the news. Last week the Marca story claimed he is being fired by McLaren. Both Mercedes and McLaren too their time before they very quietly rejected the claims. Now the Sunday Times report that according to their sources McLaren will announce exit of Ron Dennis later this week. I do not really care whether he goes or stays, but it would be nice if he himself either strongly denies these rumours or confirms them. The sooner the better, we have F1 racing to watch …

Few funny things came out of Williams. Frank Williams suggests that Lewis Hamilton is better driver than Kimi Raikkonen. He did not say that directly, but what else to make out of this:

“If the Ferrari is the better car this year, McLaren should be saying to themselves ‘Thank god he is not in a Ferrari, otherwise there would be no point going racing’. I don’t know Kimi well. He is a gifted driver, as good as anyone, but Kimi’s weakness is that he is not that interested. So if a man of equal skill, let’s say, turns up in an identical car, with one working harder than the other, it is more likely that that man would have the upper hand.”

Poor Massa …

Patrick Head spoke about Williams missing out on Lewis Hamilton back in their BMW days. Back in 2004 Hamilton and his father came to Grove saying ‘Ron Dennis has dropped us’. Frank Williams proposed to BMW to take Hamilton on, but BMW were not ready to provide any finances and Williams did not have much cash to spare … After the split with BMW Williams signed Nico Rosberg who then became a target for McLaren after 2007 season. Williams admitted they turned down majestic offer from McLaren and kept Rosberg for 2008 and to their surprise even managed to get Nico sign up for 2009 (and more cash).

And finally, Fernando Alonso does not seem to be impressed with the direction F1 is taking, and frankly, he is not alone….

“We are making F1 not the highest technology in the world. Everybody looking at F1 from the outside sees it as the maximum, but if GP2 keeps improving, and keeps their slick tyres, they will do our time laps very soon while we are going back to the past.”
“We are becoming a sort of GP2: same tyres, same engines. We don’t have the best technology anymore. And if you have a car that doesn’t go (quickly) in the winter, you have to put up with it for the whole season.”

F1Wolf

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After Ferrari yesterday today was McLaren’s day. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes presented the MP4-23, the team’s 2008 Formula 1 car, at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

Following today’s unveiling the car will be transported to the Circuito de Jerez in Southern Spain, where on Wednesday 9th January Heikki Kovalainen and Pedro de la Rosa will start the test programme with two MP4-23 chassis at a private test. The team will remain at the circuit for five track days, excluding the weekend. Lewis Hamilton will drive the 2008 car for the first time on Thursday 10th January alongside Heikki.

More photos in the article…
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F1Wolf

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Well, that is the opinion of Max Mosley. Perhaps he read some comments on this site and replied them through The Guardian .

So here are few latest gems courtesy of Max Mosley:

On the 2007 F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen and whether he pleased Kimi has won it:

“Relieved because, if it had been either of the two McLaren drivers, there would always have been a question mark. I’m not sure how big a question mark but it would have been there. And that puts you in an incredibly difficult position. I think we’ve been very lucky.”

On the Ferrari McLaren thingy:

“People are interested in the human aspect and the whole human aspect of the Ferrari-McLaren thing fascinated a lot of people outside Formula One. The publicity actually increases interest. So I don’t think it does any harm to Formula One as long as the sponsors and so on feel the sport is honestly run and honestly governed.”

What does he exactly mean by the “human aspect” ? Tearful Ron Dennis or enterprising duo Coughlan/Stepney or the not exactly smart act by Mrs. Coughlan or the childish Fernando Alonso ?

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F1Wolf

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I have been trying to digest all the Ron Dennis stuff that came out in the past few days. And something does not add up here …

First there is the stunning turnaround by McLaren team with the admission and apology and all that. But the name under it is not Ron Dennis but the heir apparent Martin Whitmarsh. And in that apology, there is also a passge:

“Apart from the morale-sapping consequences within the team, its ability to continue its task of generating investment has been made virtually impossible. Consequently, the long-term damage to the team’s previously outstanding record and commercial capability is significantly greater than that potentially envisaged by the fiscal penalty imposed.”

It somehow suggests, that the USD100 million fine hurts more than Ron Dennis has ever admitted.

And as if that fine was not enough, the team will also have to pay £1m bill for the FIA’s investigation into the legality of McLaren’s 2008 car.

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F1Wolf

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UPDATED - FULL WMSC DECISION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE

The history repeats. Like McLaren earlier this year Renault were found guilty but escaped without punishment.

FIA Statement:

“An extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council was held in Monaco on December 6, 2007. The World Council found Renault F1 to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code but imposed no penalty. Detailed reasons for this decision will be issued on December 7, 2007, and a transcript of the proceedings will be published as soon as possible thereafter.”

Renault and Flavio Briatore are obviously pleased with this outcome:
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F1Wolf

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On November 7 the news broke out that Alonso is close to signing a deal with Renault, announcement was expected later that week.

Then only a day later Renault was summoned to the World Motor Sport Council to answer spying allegations. Coincidentally about the same time some sites reported that Alonso’s manager was talking with Red Bull. This started all sorts of theories, including Bourdais staying one more year in the US and Coulthard making room for Alonso by moving to Toro Rosso. This has been rubbished since by Bourdais, but not by Red Bull or Toro Rosso teams, at least I haven’t spotted it.

After the Renault spy case hearing news I wondered whether Renault and / or Alonso will be in a position to sign anything until the ruling is out, and that will be December 6 if there are no appeals.

With no news about the Alonso / Renault deal and no fresh indications he is in talks with anybody else it really may be the case that nothing will happen till the Renault ruling is out …

Perhaps the text on scooter helmet on the picture above points into his next destination Just kidding …

F1Wolf

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After reading several of the lates news releases on this Renault case, visiting several forums to see what other make of it, in the process making fool of myself on one of them with my memory black out on the Stepneygate, I am trying to put some of the recent developments in a context.

The first information came out on September 11, 2007, just days  before the WMSC hearing and McLaren verdict FIA confirmed to Autosport:

“We have noted the speculation and we can confirm that McLaren lawyers have recently brought to our attention certain matters regarding Renault F1. But we can also confirm that the team (Renault) does not form any part of our investigations into McLaren’s alleged breach of Article 151C of the International Sporting Code. The FIA has reminded McLaren that the World Council hearing in Paris on Thursday will focus solely on the new evidence in that investigation. To the extent required, any other matters will be dealt with as part of an entirely separate process. Renault F1 are aware of this and are happy to cooperate fully.”

Flavio Briatore then responed with his now famous quote:

“We told the FIA what we had, so there’s no problem. I don’t know what Dennis refers to, he’s throwing stones a bit everywhere. We are calm, no problem at all.”

Then came weeks of silence and all of a sudden 2 days ago news broke out that Renault were called to appear before WMSC to answer the allegations.

Renault as expected came up with a statement to the media:

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F1Wolf

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Hm… Sweet, it is Ron against Flavio now

FIA have summoned Renault to appear at a hearing of FIA World Motor Sport Council:

‘Representatives of the Renault F1 Team have been requested to appear before a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on Thursday, December 6, 2007.

‘The team representatives have been called to answer a charge that between September 2006 and October 2007, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, the Renault F1 Team had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, including, but not limited to the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren F1 car, together with details of the McLaren fuelling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and a novel suspension component used by the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars.’

Back in September when the allegations surfaced for the first time, Flavio Briatore’s response was:

“We told the FIA what we had, so there’s no problem. I don’t know what Dennis refers to, he’s throwing stones a bit everywhere. We are calm, no problem at all.”

Will be interesting to hear some fresh statement from him.

F1Wolf

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