2009 Formula 1 Pre-Season Thread

So who's the other one? Seems massa is likely to stay

Ferrari will only run one car, Alonso's ego will be too big for a team mate.
 
okay, Fernando, you may go and drive for Ferrari in the future, but I will still, and always will, hate your guts

kthxbye
 
by 2011 we might not have any teams left on the grid :eek:

Or just 20 Ferraris. In that case, I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso was a Ferrari driver. ;)
 
Oh. By 2011 we'll have a team full of FAILS then.

FAILRARI and Fernando FAILONSO.

Hmmmm. ;)

He was already in a team of FAILS in 2007. ;)
 
Changes at Toro Rosso

30 December 2008

After winning its first ever Grand Prix in 2008, with Sebastian Vettel's impressive driving at Monza, the Toro Rosso team has already had to content with the departure of team boss and co-owner Gerhard Berger, after the Austrian sold his share of the outfit back to Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz.

Since then, however, team manager Massimo Rivola has left to take up an offer from Ferrari. Toro Rosso has announced that Gianfranco Fantuzzi will move over to take up the role. The Italian was previously general manager of the Toro Rosso outfit and has been in F1 over thirty years including stints at Ferrari and Toyota.

Source
 
Actually come to think of it...


If FAILIPE stays...

Wow !

FAILRARI, FAILIPE MASSA, FERNANDO FAILONSO...

EPIC where it matters. ;)


ROFLMAO FAILIPE! :lol:
 
FAILIPE :mrgreen: :p LMAO :D
 
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21069.html

Stewart on the offensive

Sir Jackie Stewart has started the New Year with an unveiled attack on Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, arguing that the two need to leave Formula 1 in order for the sport to move on. Talking to The Times newspaper, Stewart said that "the era of big change is now essential because the sport has grown larger than either the governors or the commercial-rights holders. And that's just a fact. It has taken too long to achieve the things it should have achieved years ago and that other sports have long ago matured to, and other sports have prepared themselves more fully for the opportunities that have come their way."

Stewart says that Ecclestone rules F1 "and nobody is up for taking on a battle with him. Bernie has such power and influence that he could suffocate almost any performer who would dare to suggest that there must be change." He also questions whether there is a succession plan as Ecclestone is 78.

"That is wrong," he says. "The commercial reality has to be recognised ... and there has be continuity that the ageing process makes necessary."

Stewart says that Ecclestone and Mosley rule in an authoritarian manner and are like "Siamese twins" but he says that "they haven't looked after the house properly and the foundations are built on just this two-man working relationship. This has evoked concern and apprehension on the part of those involved in the sport. When Max Mosley had the scandal erupt around him, how many team principals or owners spoke out? None. Why, you may ask? When McLaren were, according to some, victimised how many of the other teams thought, 'That could be us, we must stand behind them.' Who did? In fear of repercussions, nobody did."

Stewart also says that the finances of the sport need to be re-examined.

"Nothing is coming back into the sport," he says. "The financial distribution of Formula 1 appears to have been sorted out by two people who have directed it in whichever way they have seen fit. Although this has been a significant benefit in some ways, it has also hurt the sport because the balance of contribution within Formula 1 is absolutely untenable. The teams have got all the capital investment, yet they get no more than 50% of the revenues. The next largest capital investment is by the racetracks who currently receive little or nothing from the revenues apart from what they get for bums on seats. Hardly any of them receive anything from TV revenues or the circuit advertising or the title sponsorship or the commercial hospitality. How can they reinvest when they have little or no income outside of spectator attendance fees?"

Stewart also says that it is "ridiculous" that there is no Grand Prix in North America.

The former World Champion also attacked Mosley, who has never a big fan of the Scot.

"I think Max should remove himself from the FIA completely and from motorsport and the motor industry," Stewart says. "The FIA should replace him with somebody not from within its organisation or even within motorsport. They should go out and headhunt a CEO who is going to rebuild the structure in line with modern practice to satisfy the investors in the sport and to give the FIA total transparency. The scandal created the opportunity for a new structure to be born. That opportunity has been overtaken by one man's insistence on remaining, which would have been impossible had it been an Olympic committee, the Football Association or a publicly held company. How can we accept that in a sport so dependent on multinational corporations and even governments for its revenues and which also requires a totally transparent and independent rule-making body?"

Stewart's comments will not go down well with those on the receiving end.


Max & Bernie will explode when hearing this. Because it's pretty much correct. But of course, they'll explode by making fun of Stewart's dyslexia problem.
 
GO STEWART! I love this guy...he's never wrong...;)

BTW:

Berger confirms Buemi for STR
05 January 2009

Scuderia Toro Rosso have yet to announce its drivers for the 2009 Formula 1 season. Former team boss Gerhard Berger though had a little slip of the tongue when the Austrian confirmed that Toro Rosso has a good and fast driver in Buemi for 2009.

In an interview with Swiss magazine Blick Berger said about the situation at Toro Rosso: "I personally made the right decision I think at the right time to sell my shares. And for 2009 the team has a good and fast driver in Buemi indeed."

It is expected that the team will announce both of its drivers before the end of the month.
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/01/05/berger-confirms-buemi-for-str/
 
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