Five ways to improve F1


Emerson Fittipaldi in his heyday © Sutton Images
In an interview in the Times, former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi’s outlined his five-point plan to enhance Formula One. Cut costs “They spend a fortune in wind-tunnel testing alone. Reduce costs and the slowest teams would catch up and make it more even.” Limit downforce “They need to reduce enormously the downforce in the cars, the only way to bring back overtaking. We need more mechanical grip so that you have longer braking areas, can set up the car coming out of a corner, get in the slipstream and then overtake.” Close the pitlane “When the safety car goes out they should close the pitlane. Now it’s just a lottery.” Lift ban on team orders “It is a very stupid rule. It’s why they are called teams, it’s why they have two cars. If a driver is leading in the championship, everything has to go in his favour. What is wrong with that? It’s so easy for teams to camouflage their orders anyway. All they need to do is tell one guy on the radio he has a problem with his brakes. They can bend the rules very easily. In the old days they would even swap cars, so why do we have this ban now?” Retain traditional grands prix “These places are the soul of racing. The Americas are under-represented. We have Canada back, but there is no USA, no Argentina, no Mexico. We need to stay in the heartlands.”

Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/five_ways_to_improve_f1.php

David Clapham Jim ClarkÜ Kevin Cogan Peter Collins Bernard Collomb

Massa threatened with jail over team orders


© Getty Images
Brazil’s F1 fever may have overstepped the mark after a local prosecutor threatened Felipe Massa with a six-year jail term if he “defrauds” the sporting public by letting Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso past at Sunday’s grand prix. The story, reported by a local paper and picked up by the Daily Telegraph, is the latest of several anti-Massa reports to emerge from his home country since the team orders controversy at the German Grand Prix earlier this year. The Daily Telegraph's Tom Cary reckons that Massa simply isn't living up to his home crowd's high expectations.
“A public raised on a diet of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were simply appalled and saddened in equal measure by Massa’s apparent lack of ambition.”

Source: http://blogs.espnf1.com/paperroundf1/archives/2010/11/massa_threatened_with_jail_ove.php

Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut

20 years ago today: Schumacher’s first podium and Mexico’s last race | Grand Prix flashback

20 years ago today: Schumacher’s first podium and Mexico’s last race is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Mexico's last F1 race, held 20 years ago today, saw Michael Schumacher claim his first podium finish.

20 years ago today: Schumacher’s first podium and Mexico’s last race is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/qmzTjyIicRI/

Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack BrabhamÜ Bill Brack

Robert Kubica Hospitalised Following Rally Accident

UPDATE ON KUBICA’s CONDITION:  http://wp.me/p3uiu-11K Renault Lotus F1 driver Robert Kubica has been airlifted to hospital following a car accident while competing on a rally. The incident, described as a high speed accident, left the Pole injured and he had to be airlifted to hospital.  His co-driver Jakub Gerber was uninjured in the incident. While [...]

Source: http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/robert-kubica-hospitalised-following-rally-accident/

JeanPierre Beltoise Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger Gerhard Berger