PastyHusty

Toyota have dropped their appeal against Ralf Schumacher's 25 second penalty. After a long review, the team felt that their evidence wasn't conclusive enough to construct a strong appeal.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

This is disgraceful IMO.

David Coulthard has revealed that a red mist descended over him at the conclusion of the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday as he grabbed Sauber's Felipe Massa by the throat. Coulthard had been rammed by Massa on two separate occasions during the course of the 62 lap race, forcing the Scotsman to continue much of the race with a broken floor.

"I was absolutely furious and saw red," he told the Daily Mirror newspaper on Thursday, explaining how he stepped in front of the Brazilian's car as Massa was leaving the Imola paddock on Sunday night.

"I leaned in and grabbed him by the neck," he said. "I have respect for other drivers and I expect them to have respect for me. Then I looked up and saw his parents were in the back and that cooled things down pretty quickly. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of them. But he continued ranting that I had used unsporting behaviour.

PastyHusty

Even though this article is a week old, I only just read it! I totally agree with what Ralf Schumacher and the team bosses said about testing. It's a disgrace that Ferrari haven't agreed to go along with the agreement. I thought sport was supposed to be fair? oops, excuse me.. I forgot that Ferrari don't follow rules. I've said this before - Ferrari don't give a damn about F1, they just want to win and will do it anyway they can.


Ralf accuses Ferrari over testing

Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher has criticised Ferrari for refusing to restrict their in-season testing. All nine other Formula One teams agreed to test on just 30 days this year to cut spiralling costs. Schumacher said: "We restrict ourselves and Ferrari carry on testing happily. I don't understand this. What they are doing is unfair to everyone else. We're interested in F1 carrying on for a long time, while Ferrari are not. That's not the right way."

Ferrari chose not to sign up to the gentleman's agreement for two reasons. They have concentrated their resources on testing, with two private test tracks and a full test team. And they say they are at a disadvantage because they are the only top team on Bridgstone tyres, while rivals Michelin have data from Renault, McLaren, BAR, Toyota and Williams to work from. The Italian giants felt the benefits of their massive testing programme at the weekend, when Ferrari's Michael Schumacher bounced back from a poor start to the season to finish second in the San Marino Grand Prix.

Asked whether the testing deal is beginning to collapse, Toyota boss John Howett said: "I think it already has. I don't think the other competitors can just sit there and accept Ferrari driving into the distance. We need to find some sort of compromise where there is either an equivalence or Ferrari join the remaining teams otherwise people will start to test remorselessly. I think they will force others to do that. I think it is a question of common sense."

BAR-Honda team chief Nick Fry added: "Frankly I'm glad (Fernando) Alonso won because if Ferrari had won it would have been a hollow victory and I would have felt very sorry for Renault. It would have been fairly un-sportsmanlike in some ways had Ferrari revelled in a victory when we have handicapped ourselves deliberately by [limiting testing] to keep costs down. Ferrari are flaunting that and this is the result. BAR have done more testing than any other team, but Ferrari have done 85% more miles than we have by totally ignoring the gentleman's agreement between the teams and putting themselves in a better position. Ferrari undoubtedly will start winning. You cannot test in the way they test with their resources and not benefit versus the rest of us. It was inevitable they would come back."

ForeverInLoveWithJus

lol. You gotta love Ferrari. Ferrari Pride. <3333 Ferrari can do what they want. They didnt have to sign so they didnt. Nothing wrong with that.

PastyHusty

Yes.. nothing wrong with being greedy, arrogant people who have no respect for their sport or fellow teams.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Anyway, I thought this was nice. You gotta love Bernie.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher should do more to promote Formula One along with other drivers, the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone told The Independent newspaper.

Ecclestone claimed that it was vital for the sport that the drivers connected with the public so it's waning popularity could be revived.

"The drivers don't give the public a fair shake," the 74-year-old told the paper. "They're taking a lot of money out of the business, and I'm delighted for them, but it would be nice if they signed a few more autographs, gave a few more interviews.

"Schu is a culprit. I think he does an interview with himself, and if someone wants an interview he just plays them the tape. He's a very nice person, but people don't understand him because they can't get close enough."

Ecclestone, who formerly owned the Formula One team Brabham, claimed that it was impossible for drivers to speak their minds anymore due to pressure from above.

PastyHusty

This could be a sad week for the BAR team..

F1 bosses seeking BAR exclusion

They do look to have broken the rules, but I'm not 100% certain they've done something wrong. Whatever happens, they do deserve some form of punishment as Buttons car was clearly lighter than the 600kg minimum limit.

ForeverInLoveWithJus

Well rules are rules!

PastyHusty

BAR have been punished..

They will have a 2 race ban starting this weekend at the Spanish GP after being found guilty of being neglegant in their interpretation of the FIA rules.

At the time the stewards accepted BAR’s explanation that the compartment, the legality of which was not questioned, was a collector tank which always held a minimal amount of fuel necessary for the car to function, meaning it would have been above the minimum weight throughout the race.

However, the FIA contested the stewards’ decision and the International Court of Appeal decided that while it could not find BAR to have intentionally cheated, the team’s interpretation of the rules was flawed and they should have sought clarification.

The Court said that the only way the car could have met the 600kg requirement was by using fuel as ballast, which is not allowed under Formula One regulations.

It also stated that BAR’s fuel consumption data could not guarantee that the car complied with the rules at all times during the race, hence the team neglected their duty to satisfy the FIA technical delegate of its legality throughout the event.

BAR have also been given a further, suspended 6 month ban, which will start after the Monaco GP.

PastyHusty

Friday's Practice Times
1. P.De La Rosa. 1:15.062
2. R.Zonta. 1:16.220
3. N.Heidfeld. 1:16.527
4. K.Raikkonen. 1:16.586
5. J.Trulli. 1:16.653
6. D.Coulthard. 1:16.797
7. G.Fisichella. 1:17.200
8. R.Schumacher. 1:17.264
9. F.Alonso. 1:17.356
10. J.P.Montiya. 1:17.555
11. R.Barrichello. 1:17.702
12. F.Massa. 1:17.931
13. M.Schumacher. 1:18.042
14. J.Villeneuve. 1:18.336
15. V.Liuzzi. 1:18.444
16. C.Klien. 1:18.802
17. N.Karthikeyan. 1:18.858
18. R.Doornbos. 1:19.125
19. T.Monteiro. 1:19.140
20. C.Albers. 1:19.581
21. P.Friesacher. 1:20.686
22. M.Webber. No Time

De La Rosa does it again! He set the fastest time in both practice sessions today, proving that the McLaren will be a force to be reckoned with in the race.. but IMO only Raikkonen will be challenging for the win. Montoya crashed in the second session and his times haven't been too impressive. I suspect he'll be a bit rusty all this weekend.

Williams have their problems. A defective exhaust valve on their V10 engines was discovered, which prompted the team into keeping Webber in the garage all day, thus not incurring a penalty of 10 places for changing his engine. Heidfeld will suffer this penalty though, as he has recorded laps today.