BlogF1

McLaren have today confirmed Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen as Lewis Hamilton’s team mate for their 2008 campaign. Heikki, who was unceremoniously dropped by Renault earlier in the month in favour of partnering Fernando Alonso with Nelson Piquet Jr had been in talks with McLaren for some time, and while the news was expected, was today finally confirmed by the Woking team. Pedro De La Rosa, who was also hopeful of the drive, will remain as reserve driver and Gary Paffett is retained as test driver. Continue Reading…

Even though Fernando Alonso has now officially announced his allegiance to Renault for the 2008 season, the driver market is still not complete with some teams yet to decide on their pilots. Force India are still mulling over their drivers trying to decide between Giancarlo Fisichella, Christian Klien, Franck Montagny and the plethora of test drivers they have on their books. Toyota are still to absolutely confirm Jarno Trulli for the seat alongside Timo Glock, and McLaren are hesitating while they choose from Heikki Kovalainen, Pedro De La Rosa or Gary Paffett. And of course, each team could still throw a spanner in the works and sign another young charger not yet mentioned. Continue Reading…

In an attempt to fulfill his team’s promise of speedy closure on the Stepneygate saga that has gripped Formula One for the past six months, McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh yesterday offered a full and unreserved apology to the FIA, Ferrari and the Formula One community. The team sent a letter to the FIA and published a copy on their official website, explaining that they didn’t realise just how much the information from Ferrari had spread through the team and that they were holding back on developing certain systems in the near future. Continue Reading…

I was asked to write about podcasts earlier in the year by the folks over at Sidepodcast, but at the time I couldn’t find the half hour to put any cohesive thoughts down. And so this post ended up waiting six months before coming to fruition - better late than never though, or something…
…Formula One podcasts: Do you listen to them? I ask because the internet is a funny medium, and often what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Here at BlogF1, I write. I write because I find it to be the best way for me to get my thoughts down and I can edit my work very easily on the fly. However, that viewpoint is purely from a publishers side. When you’re on the readers/listeners side, it can be very different. Continue Reading…

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Double world champion Fernando Alonso has officially confirmed that he will once again drive for Renault, having stated he will return to Enstone for the 2008 season. The news comes as no surprise as Renault personnel had admitted they were holding talks with the Spaniard, but the decision to return couldn’t have been an easy one and many factors had to be considered. Continue Reading…

Last Friday the WMSC gave Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, permission to pursue legal action towards the Sunday Times newspaper, seeking libel over an article the paper published in September. The article, written by former Formula One driver and now respected commentator Martin Brundle, spoke about a witch-hunt against McLaren being carried out by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. Today, Brundle has followed up his original piece and offered a rebuttal to the FIA, claiming they are trying to deter the media for speaking against them and accusing the organisation of imposing double standards on their punishment policies. Continue Reading…

In a new series of posts, BlogF1 will take you on a tour of the Formula One factories. These structures are the homes of F1 teams, where the cars are designed, tested (in wind tunnels) and built. Most teams are currently situated in the UK, which might seem a little odd upon first thought. But as most races are still in Europe and given the strong economy and high-skilled work force, Britain isn’t actually as odd of a choice as you might think. The only grievance the teams occasionally voice is that they have to buy left-hand drive transporters as most driving is done in continental Europe (and thus they drive on the right as opposed to the left). Currently four teams reside outside of the UK; Ferrari, STR, Toyota and BMW. Continue Reading…

There weren’t any new cars around as they are still in production, but there were some new faces with new teams and some different liveries. Here are some of the best photographs to come from the recent test session at Jerez. Continue Reading…

What a busy few days it has been, eh? I knew they would be busy, but I honestly didn’t expect this much news to be flying around, particularly when it is the off-season and most teams were also in Spain attending the test session at Jerez. Anyway, what with everything being a little hectic I thought I would take a few moment just to punch out a few of the headlines and also chat briefly about the news that didn’t quite make into BlogF1 this week. Continue Reading…