Daily Update Formula1 News

Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes a solution to the row over a two-tier Formula 1 must be achieved 'at all costs', ahead of showdown talks with the FIA in London tomorrow.
After a week in which Toyota, Red Bull, Ferrari and Renault all announced that they will quit F1 at the end of this year unless plans for a voluntary budget cap are scrapped, Briatore says that no one is keen for the situation to result in a breakaway series.

Speaking about the possibility of a rebel category, Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport: "It is a remote hypothesis that everyone wants to avoid.
"We are living in a difficult moment and we must find a solution at all costs. I hope [Max] Mosley and his men will mend their ways, in order to start over in full harmony."
Briatore says that the teams are angry at both the rules that have been introduced for 2010, and the manner in which they were forced through without direct consultation with the teams.
"The teams are F1 and the international federation should simply be the referee, the rules should be written by us, they can't be imposed by Max without him speaking to anyone," he explained. "That's an unacceptable way to work.
"The FIA throws at us a new thing every week: we've gone from medals to diffusers with embarrassing thoughtlessness. We can't go on like this. We must protect the work of our employees."
He added: "It must be clear that we, Ferrari, and the others have no intention of breaking with FIA. We want to be there, to participate, and to preserve the future. We are setting logical conditions to Mosley."
Briatore also said that he believed the desire to attract new teams to the sport was misplaced, because manufacturers are ready to keep a full grid.
"We don't accept F1 to be distorted by a set of rules that has no reason to exist," he said. "The arrival of new teams that lack the characteristics to be admitted to a world championship is not acceptable either.
"Maybe he's [Mosley] had the support of some small teams and he got excited. However, what will happen with the championship he had the World Council voting for, is that the teams with the capped budget will be ahead of the ones that didn't accept that limit, thanks to more technical and design freedom.
"That can't be. That way you'd tarnish not just the image but also the value of who invests money in F1. A world championship with two sets of rules doesn't make sense."
Members of the Formula One Teams' Association will meet in London tomorrow morning, prior to their talks with Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone in the afternoon to discuss a way forward.
When asked if he was optimistic a solution could be found, Briatore said: "I must be."
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Fernando Alonso took his and Renault's second shock victory in succession in the Japanese Grand Prix, as title contenders Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton finished only eighth and 12th after a series of controversial early incidents.

Both Hamilton (McLaren) and Massa (Ferrari) were delayed by drive-through penalties - the Briton for forcing Kimi Raikkonen wide at the start, and Massa for pushing his title rival into a spin shortly afterwards.

Robert Kubica kept himself in title contention by finishing second for BMW, fending off Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton made a slow start and was behind Raikkonen going into Turn 1, where the McLaren dived down the inside with a tyre-smoking move that took not only Hamilton and Raikkonen wide onto the run-off, but also caused their teammates Heikki Kovalainen and Massa to go off in avoidance.

That allowed Kubica and Alonso to slip into first and second ahead of the recovering Kovalainen, while Massa, Hamilton and Raikkonen fell back into the traffic.

On the next lap Massa ran wide into the Turn 10 chicane, allowing Hamilton to slip past and into fifth place, but the Ferrari fought back across the kerbs at the second part of the corner, punting Hamilton into a spin.

Both Hamilton and Massa would later receive drive-through penalties for their respective aggressive moves, consigning the title contenders to unproductive afternoons in the midfield.

At the front, Kubica held a narrow lead over Alonso and Kovalainen through the first stint, with Raikkonen swiftly hacking through the field and back up to fourth, then closing right in on the closely-matched top three.

But at the first stops Alonso managed to leapfrog Kubica and take the lead, and was able to charge away at the front.

Kovalainen's shot at victory ended at the same time, as his McLaren suffered what the Finn believed to be an engine failure.

By the time Alonso came in for his final stop on lap 43, he had established a 13-second lead over Kubica and an 18-second advantage over Raikkonen, and although both his pursuers were running several laps longer, neither was able to get anywhere near the flying Renault.

Alonso duly pulled away again after pitting, taking another comfortable victory that demonstrated Renault's huge improvements in recent weeks.

Raikkonen picked up his pace significantly prior to his second stop and was able to rejoin just metres behind Kubica. The pair then commenced a spectacular battle for second, running wheel to wheel into the first corner several times in the closing laps.

As they battled, Nelson Piquet closed in after a superb drive from 12th in the second Renault. A good start and very long stints allowed the under-pressure Brazilian to come through the field, and as Kubica and Raikkonen lost time fighting with each other, Piquet moved into podium contention.

Ultimately Piquet dropped back when he ran wide at Turn 5 in the closing laps, while Kubica managed to edge clear of Raikkonen as the Ferrari's tyres faded.

Jarno Trulli took fifth for home team Toyota, losing out to Piquet at the last stops, but his teammate Timo Glock was an early retirement with suspension damage from the first lap incidents.

Toro Rosso got both cars into the points, with Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel coming home sixth and seventh, ahead of the flying Massa, who at least reduced Hamilton's lead to six points.

Massa managed to salvage a point despite spinning when he banged wheels with Bourdais as the Toro Rosso rejoined following its final pitstop - an incident that will be investigated by the stewards after the race.

The Ferrari survived that tangle and produced a series of late passes to claim eighth, with Red Bull's Mark Webber his final target. The Australian had driven well on a one-stop strategy, but couldn't fend off Massa at the end.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld also used a one-stop plan to progress to 10th, ahead of Nico Rosberg (Williams) and the delayed Hamilton, who had pitted and taken on heavy fuel immediately after his tangle with Massa. This strategy failed to pay off, as although he was rapidly catching Massa in the middle of the race, he lacked the pace to make progress during his long final stint.

The sole Japanese driver in the field, Kazuki Nakajima, saw his first home race ruined at the start, when he lost his front wing on David Coulthard's Red Bull as it veered across his path after a dramatic suspension breakage. Coulthard, who suspected his suspension had been weakened in first corner wheel-banging, slammed into the barriers but was unhurt.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Japanese Grand Prix
Mount Fuji, Japan;
67 laps; 305.416km;
Weather: Cloudy, dry.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Alonso Renault (B) 1h30:21.892
2. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 5.283
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 6.400
4. Piquet Renault (B) + 20.570
5. Trulli Toyota (B) + 23.767
6. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 34.085
7. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 39.207
8. Massa Ferrari (B) + 46.158
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 50.811
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 54.120
11. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:02.096
12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1:18.900
13. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1 lap
14. Button Honda (B) + 1 lap
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:18.426

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 22
Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 17
Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 9
Glock Toyota (B) 7
Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1

ref[AS]
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Fernando Alonso believes his Renault team have not made enough progress to leave the midfield group despite several updates being introduced in their R28 car this week.
The two-time champion and his team admitted before the Barcelona test that they were pinning their hopes for a better season on the developments tested this week at the Spanish track.
Alonso topped the times with the revised car in yesterday's session and confessed the upgrades were a step forward after a poor start to the season.
But the Spaniard reckons Renault have not progressed enough to be ahead of the midfield pack.
"The car is better, that's true, but we haven't made so much progress," Alonso was quoted as saying by AS newspaper. "We still haven't managed to escape the midfield group.

"It's very close. Things haven't changed so much because the others have evolved too. We are still more or less in the same place as before this test.
"We are in a group where, if everything goes well, you qualify eighth on the grid, but if you fail, then you have Red Bull, the Toyota and Williams ahead of you and you are 14th and outside of Q3."
Alonso, however, said it was not easy to judge where Renault stand ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix next week.
"The day was good and I'm happy with the developments, but we need to continue improving because the rest have done that too. It's hard to say where we are compared to the rest. We will only know next week."
ref [AS]
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Nelsinho Piquet is cautious about how much Renault can improve thanks to the new updates to be introduced this week, although the the Brazilian admitted the car is already better.
Renault, who have endured a difficult start to the season, are pinning their hopes for the year on all the improvements they will introduce in this week's test at Barcelona.
The team already tested a new front wing and other updates yesterday, and introduced a new engine cover fin in today's session.
Piquet reckons the car is already a step forward, although he says it's hard to judge by how much.

"I think the car is better everywhere," Piquet told reporters after the test.
"Obviously it's difficult to calculate how much better the track is since the last time we were here because they had an LMS race and then BMW drove here yesterday and cleaned up the track a little bit, so it's difficult to say if the track is much better or if the car improved a lot.
"Obviously set-up wise we have improved throughout the three races, so coming back after two months obviously we would have a gain. When you gain on aero you gain everywhere.
"You gain on braking, you gain on speed on the corner, on the straights. So I think we gained a little bit everywhere."
The Brazilian said Renault are doing things step by step in order to see what works and what doesn't.
"Obviously we have four days of testing so we are going to test things step by step every day," he said. "But obviously it's not a case of putting them on the car and making them work straight away. You need to put them on the car and develop them slowly.
"So I think the good thing of having these new bits is that you have more doors for improvement; you can improve in different ways. So at the moment we didn't find a one-second gain, but we found some doors to improve.
"It will be four days of data collection and a lot of experiments but I'm sure it will open a lot of doors for improvement for the car."
Despite his caution, Piquet reckons the updated car will allow Renault to get both cars into Q3 in the Spanish Grand Prix next week.
"I thought the car was very good today and we have another three days of testing and there's margin to improve. I think I'm optimistic that we can put both cars in the top ten in qualifying."

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Double world champion Fernando Alonso says he is committed to bringing Renault back to the top step of the podium and has denied he has a performance clause in his contract allowing him to leave the team at the end of the season.

But the 26-year-old Spaniard, who has been linked to switch to Ferrari in 2009, hinted to reporters in Bahrain that it was too early in the season for him to make firm decisions about his future.

"I don't remember that clause and I signed for two years with Renault," said Alonso. "But as we saw last year the contracts are always very flexible."

Alonso's best result so far this season was fourth, in Australia, but then finished 70 seconds behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Malaysia.

Asked if he was committed to staying at Renault and turning the team's fortunes around, Alonso replied: "At the moment yes, because we have just started the championship.

"And okay, we are disappointed with our performances in the first two races, but it is not time to give up now, it is time to keep working as hard as we can," he added.

"And then we will see at the middle of the season or the end of the season where we are and for next year there is a big change of rules it seems, so aerodynamically there will be a big change with very little wings and we will have slick tyres again probably.

"So all this can change the picture again in F1, at the moment I am really convinced that we can do a good job, Renault and me together."

Formula One's regulation changes are likely to be the most far-reaching for more than two decades in the sport, and Alonso believes that with the resources at Renault's disposal, the team will be well-placed to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I think when rules change this dramatically it is like throwing a coin in the air," he said.

"Any team can have a good car and fight for the championship. At the moment the teams that we are behind now, this is the thing that we are hoping, a big change in rules and we can recover the gap quickly.

"If the rules stay the same for the next ten years or whatever, we know that Ferrari and McLaren will fight for the next ten championships. So hopefully next year everything will change a little bit and maybe we can see the benefit of it."
ref : [as]
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