<<TriniTuner 2009 F1 Thread>>

[MG Man]

[djaggs]

F1: No Need For British GP?Written by: SPEED Staff / GMM 10/24/2009

Bernie Ecclestone insists he is prepared to scrub Britain's name from the 2010 calendar if Silverstone does not want to pay the going rate for its Formula One race.

With Donington's chances now all but over, it had been expected that the F1 chief executive might move to safeguard the British Grand Prix by reaching an alternate deal with the race's traditional venue.

But after a Silverstone spokesman said Ecclestone's current offer is not "commercially viable", the British billionaire hit back: "No one is forcing them to take it.

"This is business. We have offered them a deal," he told the Daily Express newspaper. Do we need a British Grand Prix? No."

Ecclestone disputes that Silverstone, scene of F1's very first world championship event in 1950, should enjoy protected status as one of the sport's "traditional" venues.

"Italy is a traditional race because they have always raced at Monza,"he argued. "Monaco is traditional as they have always had the same track.

"Britain and France have raced at three different circuits. They want a cut-price deal because it is traditional. That's not traditional to me. Britain is not protected," said Ecclestone.

"I would like a new plane because it's traditional as I have had one for 40 years but no one is offering me a cheap deal. That's not how it works."

Meanwhile, The Times newspaper reports that Donington's breach of contract may cost the circuit up to 15 million pounds sterling in cancellation fees.


Hmmmmm......Is he the Jack Warner of motoracing ???

[djaggs]

F1: Hulkenberg, Barrichello To Race For WilliamsWritten by: SPEED Staff / GMM

While the news remains unofficial, a well connected figure all but confirmed Sunday the composition of Williams' driver line-up for 2010.

The British team heads into this weekend's Abu Dhabi season finale with Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel of the FW31s, but Williams looks set for a wholesale change ahead of its next championship campaign.

Rosberg looks likely to head to Brawn, while Kazuki Nakajima is out of favor at Williams due to the forthcoming parting of ways with the Japanese driver's backer Toyota.

Willi Weber, famous in F1 circles for being Michael Schumacher's manager,
let the cat out of the bag when speaking to Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper about his new charge, the 22-year-old rookie and current Williams test driver Nico Hulkenberg.

"I think he will be a match for his new teammate (Rubens) Barrichello," Weber said.

[Maserati]

Bernie is the devil

[JoKeR1980]

Trulli need help oui....

Sutil and Trulli continue their Brazilian feud

Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli traded insults on Thursday as they continued a war of words sparked by their first-lap crash in Brazil


Eleven days ago Toyota driver Trulli and Force India's Sutil came close to blows after a collision that forced from both out of the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.


Attempting to pass Sutil around the outside, Trulli put a wheel on the grass, sending him spinning into the back of the German's car and then into a wall.


The impact resulted in Sutil careering across the infield grass and his momentum taking him back onto the track where he was struck for a second time, on this occasion by Fernando Alonso.


An outraged Trulli leapt out of his car and ran over to confront a stunned Sutil, gesticulating furiously and clearly accusing him of causing the accident.


The exchange resulted in the 35-year-old Italian being fined £6,000 for what the FIA described as "aggressively confronting" Sutil.


In Thursday's main FIA press conference ahead of Sunday's inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when asked by Press Association Sport if they had settled their differences, the row erupted again.


Here is the transcript of their exchange which will likely spill over into Friday's customary drivers' briefing.


Trulli: "Obviously it was very disappointing to end the race like that, especially on the first lap.


"I had every reason to be extremely furious. I've got all the evidence to show I was there and was next to him, and tomorrow we are going to discuss it."


Sutil: "There's nothing to discuss, it was quite an obvious incident.


"In the end it was very disappointing for me, even more because I was the one who was driving, and he lost control of his car and crashed into my back.


"It's not my problem. It's his problem. I don't know why he's freaking out like that to be honest."


Trulli: "I don't know if you're blind, but I can clearly show you my front wing is next to your front wing."


(Trulli then produced photographs to support his argument)


Sutil: "But you're trying to overtake me around the outside on the kerb. There was not a problem. You were off the power.


"The same happened in Barcelona where you lost control again and crashed again into a Force India car (Sutil).


"You have to sometimes respect the limits of the car. If you've nowhere to go, you have to back off. That's how racing is. I don't know how long you need to learn this."


Trulli: "In Barcelona I spun and he hit me because he cut the kerb, cut the circuit completely, and he didn't slow down."


Sutil: "I didn't hit you. You hit me. I don't know what is your problem. I really don't understand."


Asked what was said during their spat immediately after the accident, Trulli replied: "I was furious because he didn't see me.


"I was next to him and he kept on pushing me on the outside until I was obviously on the kerb."


Then the row continued:


Sutil: "It's not a problem to be on the kerb. Where's the problem?"


Trulli (sarcastically): "Yeah, no problem! As long as we know the rules."


Sutil: "I know the rules."


The verbal confrontation resulted in Alonso being asked for his opinion as he had a clear view of the incident prior to hitting Sutil.


With a smile, Alonso said: "I saw everything more or less, but as Jarno said we will discuss it in the drivers' briefing - deeply!"

[Maserati]

Trulli is a balls man wrong and strong

[redras]

Revealed: What the F1 drivers earn

The driver salaries for every competitor in Formula One in 2009 have been published and contain a number of surprises.

Most notable from the results are the discrepancy in team-mate pay and also the staggering gap between what the highest-paid driver receives and the pay packet of the next man on the list.

Ahead of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend around the all-new, spectacular Yas Marina street circuit, Arabian Business, has revealed the salary list, which is perhaps unsurprisingly topped by former world champions Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari, 2007), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes, 2008) and Fernando Alonso (Renault, 2005 and 2006).
More of a shock is the £16.4 million margin between Raikkonen's retainer and that of Hamilton, and the £22.5m that the Finn earned over injured Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, who is bidding to return to the fray in 2010 following his terrifying high-speed Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying accident back in late July.

The figure also perhaps sheds some light upon Raikkonen's current predicament, with potential suitors McLaren and Toyota reportedly baulking at the 30-year-old's financial demands for next season, and the 18-time grand prix-winner apparently unwilling to lower his expectations.
Newly-crowned 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button, meanwhile, was paid just £3m over the course of his title-winning campaign - albeit £2.4m more than Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who seemingly received less even than Scuderia Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi - after taking a substantial cut last winter in order to enable the Brackley-based outfit to survive the post-Honda F1 fallout.

Button and his team remain locked in stalled discussions over his 2010 salary - as the 29-year-old believes his achievements this year merit a return to his erstwhile retainer at the very least.
Also ahead of Button on the list are Brawn-bound Williams star Nico Rosberg, Massa, Toyota veteran Jarno Trulli and the Red Bull Racing pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Meanwhile, four drivers on the grid - Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Renault) and Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi (both Force India F1) - went unpaid.

The total salaries nonetheless equalled a mind-numbing £81.9m, or to put it another way, an average of £3.9m per driver.
"There may be a global recession going on," remarked Tom Rubython, who compiled the list, "but being an F1 driver means you earned a fortune this year. These figures are just basic salaries, and don't include sponsorship and other income, which can often be three times that amount."

Full list of F1 2009 driver salaries:

1. Kimi Raikkonen £27.35m
2. Lewis Hamilton £10.9m
3. Fernando Alonso £9.1m
4. Nico Rosberg £5.15m
5. Felipe Massa £4.85m
6. Jarno Trulli £3.95m
7. Sebastian Vettel £3.65m
8. Mark Webber £3.35m
9. Jenson Button £3.05m
10. Robert Kubica £2.75m
11. Heikki Kovalainen £2.1m
12. Nick Heidfeld £1.7m
13. Timo Glock £1.2m
14. Giancarlo Fisichella £0.9m
15. Sébastien Buemi £0.9m
16. Rubens Barrichello £600,000
17. Jaime Alguersuari £300,000
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi £0
19. Adrian Sutil £0
20. Romain Grosjean £0
21. Kazuki Nakajima £0

What the F1 teams spent on drivers in 2009:

1. Ferrari £32.2m
2. McLaren-Mercedes £13.05m
3. Renault £9.1m
4. Red Bull Racing £7m
5=. Toyota £5.15m
5=. Williams £5.15m
7. BMW-Sauber £4.45m
8. Brawn GP £3.65m
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso £1.2m
10. Force India £900,000

Link here

[noshownogo]

dat list have me in shock yes, Kimi was overpaid IMO especially compared to two time world champion Fernando Alonso. I still cyar believe Barrichello was so grossly underpaid and I making more per year than some F1 drivers make in just salary blasphemy

[teems1]

[noshownogo]

it still doh change the fact that Barrichello was significantly underpaid especially compared to Jenson, what Jenson did prior to deserve so much more?

[Maserati]

It was common knowledge that Kimi was receiving a crazy amount of $
As much as I like him, it's just not justified, he doesn't have the results to back it up.
And he should really ask for a more realistic amount if he wants to be signed to a new team.

Poor Rubens he getting the short end of the stick IMHO..

And are those figures of 0 for some of the drivers real or is it just no data available?

[MG Man]

u guys forgetting Kimi's salary was secured in expectation of great things.....and don;t forget the year Hamtoiletson won his 'world championship' Kimi had abysmal bad luck, a lot of which was from the team;s bungling, NOT his driving. Kimi would have easily won over Hamratsassisone if he had a reliable car and reliable crew......who can blame him for being indifferent when he had to see Hamtuntunking hoist the championship trophy? Ferrari dropped the ball last year, NOT Kimi

[JoKeR1980]

Jensen say he was paying for himself to fly to races jed...tings was tight . Reubens on the other hand have a private jet

I wonder what Alonso will be paid next year

[dmitc]

[noshownogo]

Kimi - McLaren my only option

Kimi Raikkonen has said that McLaren Mercedes are his "only" option to remain in Formula One next season.

The 2007 World Champion is as yet without a race seat for next year having agreed to part ways with Ferrari a year earlier than expected.

And although Toyota have made it clear they want the Finn, Raikkonen says he's only interested in returning to McLaren, for whom he raced between 2002 and 2006.

"Toyota has not even been discussed," Raikkonen told Finland's MTV3. "If I want to drive (F1) cars, then McLaren is the only option. I should know the situation in the next few days."

Speaking at Thursday's press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Raikkonen also said he would like to do some more rallying.

The 30-year-old contested his home round of the World Rally Championship this summer having earlier taken part in three earlier non-championship events.

"If I do Formula One, it's going to be in the contract that I'm allowed to do it (rallying)," he said. "It's not going to hurt you. Any kind of driving is always going to give you some experience, so I don't see what's the issue.

"It's been working well this year, so as long as it doesn't disturb what you're doing in Formula One or whatever you do, I don't see that there's any problem."

However, Raikkonen said he could also opt for a year on the sidelines.

"I can if I want. I can do whatever I want, but like I said before, I haven't made my decision what I want to do yet," he said.

He added: "Basically I have a few different options and we will see what is the best one overall and then make my decision."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_5660077,00.html

[noshownogo]

Todt: Room for Schumacher

Newly-appointed FIA president Jean Todt has revealed close friend Michael Schumacher could enjoy a role within his new regime.

Todt was elected to replace Max Mosley and is now the most powerful man in motor sport following a landslide victory that saw him secure 135 votes to 49 over rival Ari Vatanen, with 12 abstentions or invalid votes.

Although former Ferrari team principal Todt already has his team in place, including deputy presidents and World Motor Sport Council members, the 63-year-old has hinted that Schumacher may yet play a role in some capacity.

Todt suggested the possibility of the German, who won five of his seven F1 titles working with the Frenchman at Ferrari, expanding his ambassadorial role with the FIA.

"He is like a son," said Todt. "There has always been a place for him next to me and there still will be."

Despite previous concerns about Todt's former allegiance to Ferrari, the Formula One Teams' Association have welcomed his appointment.

"I am convinced Jean's presidency represents an opportunity for all Formula One's stakeholders to unite under his leadership and work together to strengthen our sport," said FOTA vice-chairman John Howett.

"FOTA is looking forward to supporting him to broaden the appeal of our sport among fans and sponsors, while respecting Formula One's great heritage to which he has contributed enormously."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_5647213,00.html

[JoKeR1980]

dat is one hell of a lovely track in AD

[MG Man]

Ferrari Land yo

[djaggs]

F1: Button Fuels Talk Of McLaren SwitchWritten by: SPEED Staff / GMM 10/30/2009

A relaxed Jenson Button has added fuel to speculation that he could leave Brawn after Sunday's 2009 season finale if they are not prepared to pay him more.

Following reports he has been in contact about joining McLaren for 2010, the new world champion told British newspapers he is not afraid of lining up in the same team as Lewis Hamilton.

"I have achieved what I wanted to in F1 and I want new challenges," said the 29-year-old. "There's no one on this grid I wouldn't go up against. But I'm not talking about Lewis; I'm talking generally."

Button scoffed at suggestions that Brawn cannot afford to pay him more because they have now burned through the money provided by Honda amid the management buyout of last winter.

"They have just won the world (constructors') championship, you know. There is a lot of money involved in that. But as I have said before, money is not the most important factor for me," the Briton insisted.

He confirmed that he has been approached by some of Brawn's rival teams, but refused to name them.

"It wouldn't be fair (to name them) as I haven't yet sat down and discussed the future with my team. We are waiting to get this race out of the way first," said Button.

He also took issue with boss Ross Brawn's
comments that a new deal with Button is "99 per cent" likely.

"I wouldn't put a percentage on anything," said Button.

Button also vowed to enjoy this weekend's Abu Dhabi season finale, now that he is guaranteed the 2009 world championship.

Two weeks ago when he clinched the title in Brazil, the Briton admitted to enduring months of stress, but his first reward is a race at the impressive Yas Marina Circuit with his lifelong dream already secure.

"It's been a while since I've jumped into an F1 car and not felt stressed or a little bit under pressure," he said, before going second quickest in opening practice on Friday afternoon behind the reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton.

"The last time I wasn't thinking about the championship was my final race (for Honda) in 2008," Button added.

Watch The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix LIVE Sunday at 7:30 am. Eastern on SPEED

[djaggs]

Maybe Kimi at Brawn ???

"With Toyota there was nothing, although they said that we negotiated," Raikkonen told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. "We didn't speak with them; that was only what they said," he added.

Elaborating on why he is not interested in joining the Cologne based team, he said: "It is not cool to drive bad cars."


Oh yeah KIMI, i sooooo agree LOL

[teems1]

Woot! Hamilton on pole.

Fastest in Q1, Q2 and Q3.

Hope McLaren finish the year on a high and secure 3rd place in the WCC.

Ferrari will have trouble scoring points with Kimi middle and Fisi back of the grid.

[Maserati]

[JoKeR1980]

Kimi running frigging heavy jed!

[BANzai Rastafarai]

wait nah?!?!

meh boy on pole??!!

the SAME fella that non God loving fella say CYAR perform?...

waaaays..

[MG Man]

considering he needs KERS to stay in front of others............anyways, this ched shud screen users who actually HAVE Cable or DTV b4 allowed to rant

[Freelander]

i keeping meh eye on kobayashi!!

[BANzai Rastafarai]

[Freelander]

[BANzai Rastafarai]

[Maserati]

the McLarens have some good pace, Hammy first then Vettel second