It is well documented that Ferrari has suffered its worst start to the season since the 1980s. If they fail to score a point tomorrow it will be their worst start ever. While both Renault and McLaren have been able to bring a version of the double diffuser to their car already, Ferrari is still waiting for its edition to come out in Spain. Against the backdrop of a significant step forward for McLaren, all eyes were on Ferrari in qualifying today to see whether they could get both cars into the top ten shoot out. As it turned out More…

It should be a very close qualifying session this afternoon, with a few different names up the front compared to recent races. McLaren look more competitive here than at any stage this season and while this will not be enough of a step for them to challenge for the win on Sunday, I fancy that one of the cars could be in the top five or six. Judging from free practice, McLaren has a car capable of getting into the top ten shootout and from there we could see them and/or others doing what Fernando Alonso did in China and More…

Flavio Briatore has spoken in support of his driver Nelson Piquet, who has endured another disappointing start to the season in the Renault. At the last race in Shanghai, Piquet was half a second slower in qualifying than his team mate, Fernando Alonso. But Alonso had the only example of Renault’s new double diffuser. Here this weekend the team has new parts on both cars, including modifications to the front wing and front suspension. The pressure is really on Piquet in qualifying tomorrow. Judging from today’s running the Renault is capable of getting both drivers into the top ten, with More…

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has written to the FIA ahead of next Wednesday’s world council meeting, essentially pleading guilty to all five charges of bringing the sport into disrepute over the issue of lying to the stewards in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur, according to the Times. “Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, has written to Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, informing him that his team accept that they are in breach of Article 151c of the Formula One sporting regulations, which covers bringing the sport into disrepute. The letter also contains a full apology from Whitmarsh for More…

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that the British Grand Prix will disappear from the F1 calendar if Donington does not manage to put the race on next season. Yesterday Simon Gillett’s Donington Ventures group, the promoter of the event at the Midlands circuit, suffered a major blow when legal proceedings were launched by the circuit’s owners, Wheatcroft and Son for £2.5 million in unpaid rent. The Wheatcrofts are also seeking forfeiture of the 150 year lease. Ecclestone said that he had spoken to Gillett during the day and attacked the British Government for not investing in one of its largest annual More…

Today has been a very interesting one here in the Bahrain paddock. There is plenty going on, as usual, with many teams bringing new parts to the cars, news coming through of lawsuits at Donington, making the 2010 British Grand Prix an ever more diminishing possibility and discussions of what might happen at McLaren’s FIA hearing next week. A lot of people feel that Shanghai was a bit of a one-off and that the picture at top will be a little more predictable this weekend, with Brawn dominant, Toyota stronger than in China, especially in qualifying where they may have More…

I’ve just received the item below in my inbox. It relates to a law suit which veteran Donington circuit owner Tom Wheatcroft has filed against the Donington Ventures company of Simon Gillett, who has a contract to stage the British Grand Prix from 2010 onwards. “Wheatcroft & Son Limited, the owners of Donington Park motor racing circuit, have issued legal proceedings against Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, the operators of the circuit, seeking £2.47m in rent arrears and forfeiture of the circuit lease. Lawyers at Browne Jacobson LLP, acting on behalf of their client Wheatcroft & Son Limited, issued the proceedings More…

Williams’ Nico Rosberg has given his vote of support to his old friend and adversary Lewis Hamilton as the April 29th FIA hearing into McLaren and Hamilton lying to the stewards comes into view. People are openly talking here in the Bahrain paddock about the possibility that McLaren may face a similar punishment to the one Honda received for it’s fuel tank irregularity, namely a two race ban. This could include Spain and Monaco, if it were to come into immediate effect. Rosberg said that he didn’t know the details of the case but, as one of Hamilton’s oldest friends More…

More details have emerged today of the new F1 game, produced by Codemasters, which will replace the long standing Sony product. According to Autosport, “F1 2009 will come out in the autumn for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP, while a higher-spec F1 2010, with HD graphics and a more sophisticated gaming mode will be launched next year for the Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 3 and Windows.” The game will be fully up to date, with all the latest tracks, latest drivers and the technical features of 2009 cars, like KERS and slick tyres. Presumably it will feature a lot More…

All of a sudden we have a rush of people heading for the revolving doors into F1. Hot on the heels of the news that Lola is lining up an F1 entry, comes Dave Richards, former head of BAR Honda and before that Benetton. Richards has unfinished business in F1. His time at the BAR Honda team was cut short after their most successful season in 2004. He has long been an advocate of cut price F1 and planned an entry with Prodrive which did not materialise because his plan was based on customer McLaren Mercedes cars and the rules More…