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The rich getting richer? Perhaps, but Lewis Hamilton will have to earn his 4 million dollar reward in 2008.The young superstar Formula One driver who finished equal second in last years 2007 championship has been given an extra incentive by McLaren head, Ron Dennis.If Hamilton can bring home the driver’s and constructor’s championships in 2008 for McLaren, Ron Dennis will arrange for one ultra-rare McLaren F1 LM to be gifted the young British driver.Apparently Lewis first spotted the LM in McLaren’s F1 factory some 10 years ago, which at the time he would have only been 13. He was quoted saying; "When I first went to McLaren it was there and I fell in love with it".Painted in papaya orange in honour of the founder, Bruce McLaren, the McLaren F1 LM is only one of five in existence. Lightened by some 80 kg over the standard F1 and rumoured to produce approximately 680hp from its derestricted 6.1L BMW sourced V12 engine the LM can accelerate to 60mph in just 2.9 seconds and go on to a top speed well over 200mph.If a McLaren race driver’s incentive is to win a McLaren at the end of the season, is a Red Bull driver’s incentive a can of Red Bull? Just a thought.
Yet another change in the qualifying rules for Formula One after both teams and drivers expressed their dissatisfaction over current rules that have the side effect of hampering qualifiers who are on their flying lap. This happens when slowing cars who are concerned with saving fuel severely slow those on their flying laps, as seen in the most recent GP in Malaysia. McLaren were the most headlined ‘victims’ of penalties imposed for impeding other drivers during their qualifying, which the Anglo-German team denied doing deliberately.So a maximum time limit is to be imposed on drivers for their in-laps, which is going to be 120 percent of the driver’s quickest timed lap."Our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time that we will set," an FIA spokesman revealed."This could be approximately 120 percent of the normal time as we do to prevent drivers going very slowly to the grid to save fuel."Source: F1Live via WCF
Formula One motor racing chief Max Mosley has been embroiled in a sensational sex scandal after footage that reportedly shows him taking part in a Nazi-style sex orgy with up to five hookers surfaced. A video reportedly shows Mosley - the son of British World War 2 fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, a friend of Adolf Hitler - giving orders in German as he lashes girls wearing mock death camp uniforms and is himself whipped until he bleeds. The video shows him alternating between masochist and sadist, first obeying orders and then doling out punishment in German, and having sex with his "victims". The footage was obtained by the News of the World, which reported that the orgy went on for five hours at a £2million riverside flat on Chelsea Embankment on Friday. A spokesman for the FIA, Formula One's governing body, insisted the footage was "a matter for Mr Mosley and the News of the World, and the FIA have no comment". Mosley, 67, has been married to wife Jean since 1960. He is a friend to FI billionaire Bernie Ecclestone and racing star Lewis Hamilton, and the son of the notorious Sir Oswald Mosley, who had Hitler as a guest of honour at his marriage. In public Mosley has refused to condemn his father's politics. The grainy film appears to show Mosley whipping hookers dressed in uniforms reminiscent of Auschwitz garb while declaring they need more punishment, as other hookers dressed in Nazi uniforms look on. It also records Mosley himself appearing to play a death camp inmate, having himself flogged so hard he needed to have his wounds dressed. The News of the World claimed he paid £2,500 for the orgy.
PARIS, March 28 (Reuters) - Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre, once the most powerful figure in the world of motorsport as president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), has died at the age of 86."It is with immense sadness we have learned of the passing of Jean-Marie," FIA president Max Mosley said in a note of condolence on Friday."His contribution to motorsport in France and indeed throughout the world has been unique."The L'Equipe Web site (www.lequipe.com) said Balestre, who would have been 87 on April 9, died on Thursday.Mosley replaced the sometimes controversial Balestre as FIA president in 1993 after ousting the Frenchman as head of FISA, then the sporting division of the governing body, two years earlier.The late Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna famously fell foul of Balestre when he accused him of manipulating the 1989 championship in favour of fellow Frenchman Alain Prost.Senna's obscenity-laden tirade came after he was disqualified from the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, after having won the race, and was also fined $100,000 and given a six-month suspended ban for dangerous driving.Balestre, a former motoring journalist, threatened not to renew Senna's super-licence and the Brazilian was only included in the official 1990 drivers' list after he withdrew his allegation.The FIA head was then given special security when he travelled to Brazil for the 1990 Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.Balestre was also a key figure in Formula One's so-called "FISA-FOCA War", a fight that ended in 1982 with an agreement allowing Bernie Ecclestone and the team bosses to take control of the commercial side of the sport."He really loved us, the drivers," former racer Jacques Laffite told L'Equipe. "He did a huge amount for us, we owe him a huge debt."Source - The Guardian.co.uk
This is too funny and is really shameful at the same time .... what an asshole ...http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/3003_nazi_orgy.shtml
Do you remember some months ago when somebody asked Bernie what the F1 needs and Ecclestone answered that more sex scandals? Well, now that he has gotten one, he has turned his back to Mosley Idiots!
Everybody's favorite racing driver has been getting a lot of attention since claiming her "maiden" victory in the IRL race at Motegi in Japan two weeks ago. Now officials are considering giving Danica Patrick a shot at test driving a Formula One car.Patrick has had a checkered past with F1 prospects. She was initially offered a chance to demonstrate an F1 car at Indy in 2005, but declined saying it was just for show. Around the same time, she was shocked by Bernie Ecclestone, who compared her to a kitchen appliance. Since her Motegi win, however, the international motorsport community has been abuzz about the prospect. Honda, which supplies the engine in Danica's IndyCar (and everyone else's, for that matter) says it will seriously consider giving Patrick a shot at testing for its F1 team. While some debate whether a woman has the physical strength to drive an F1 car, Patrick says she wants to focus on contending for the IRL championship before she considers a possible step up to Formula One.[Source: Autosport
Super Aguri have withdrawn from the Formula One world championship with immediate effect, the team announced on Tuesday.After weeks of speculation about their future following the collapse of a proposed takeover by the Magma Group, a last-minute rescue package by German automotive company Weigl Group was not good enough to keep them racing.Team principal Aguri Suzuki is understood to have met with the Honda board in Japan on Tuesday, but the outcome of that meeting was that the team will no longer be racing."In order to realise my dream to become an owner of a Formula One team, I applied for a grid position in the FIA Formula One World Championship in November 2005," said Suzuki in a statement issued by the team. "Since then, I have participated in the championship for two years and four months as the Super Aguri F1 Team, but regretfully I must inform you that the team will cease their racing activities as of today."Suzuki made it clear that the current difficulties for the team were caused by the non-payment of major sponsor SS United last year, which put the team on the back foot regarding their financial situation."The team competed against the many car manufacturer-backed teams and have succeeded in obtaining the first points after only the 22nd race finishing in ninth place overall in the 2007 constructors' championship. "However, the breach of contract by the promised partner SS United Oil & Gas Company resulted in the loss of financial backing and immediately put the team into financial difficulties. Also, the change in direction of the environment surrounding the team, in terms of the use of customer chassis, has affected our ability to find partners. "Meanwhile, with the help of Honda, we have somehow managed to keep the team going, but we find it difficult to establish a way to continue the activities in the future within the environment surrounding F1 and as a result, I have concluded to withdraw from the championship."I would like to express my deepest thanks to Honda, Bridgestone, the sponsors, all the people who have given us advise during various situations over the past couple of years all the Team Staff who have kept their motivations high and always done their best, Anthony Davidson who has always pushed to the limit despite the very difficult conditions, Takuma Sato who has been with us from the very start and has always fought hard and led the team and lastly our fans from all over the world who have loyally supported the Super Aguri F1 Team." Super Aguri made their debut in 2006, having been formed with assistance from Honda in a bid to keep Takuma Sato in F1. They scored their first world championship points at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, and finished ninth in last year's constructors' championship.The team's withdrawal leaves F1 with only 10 teams now, with the grid originally having supposed to have had 12 outfits at the start of this year before the collapse of Prodrive's entry.
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