Autoblog

The game of musical chairs is winding to a close, with most of the race seats for the 2008 Formula 1 season locked up. One of the few drivers left without a seat is Ralf Schumacher, who left Toyota at the end of the 2007 season.

Ralf, who has won less grands prix than his brother Michael has world titles, tested for Force India, the team that took over from Spyker, but performed poorly, forcing the German driver to admit he might have to take his brother's advice and sit the next season out.

With his 2008 prospects looking bleak, Ralf has fired his manager Hans Mahr. In 2006 Ralf parted company with his previous agent Willi Weber, who continues to manage Michael to great success even in his retirement. Mahr, a media expert with political and entertainment experience, is reportedly shifting his focus on a new media enterprise.

[Source: F1-Live]

In case we've ever accused anyone of prostitution, drug running, racketeering or anything, we here at Autoblog would like to go on the record as saying we were just kidding. So please, don't sue us. And we're so not hiring this dude from Business F1 magazine.

The staple publication for anyone and everyone professionally involved in the grand prix racing, Business F1, has lost yet another libel lawsuit, this time against Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber. The mag ran a story back in 2005 alleging that Weber had his hands in prostitution and drug running, which of course is only true if you consider Schumi's lucrative endorsement deals to be prostitution.

We say "yet another" because, if you can believe it, Business F1 has already lost two libel suits to former Jaguar Racing principal Tony Purnell and to FIA consultant Alan Donnelly, not to mention the two cases still pending with F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting and FIA PR guy Richard Woods.

The exact sum the publisher has to pay to Weber is not disclosed, but sources indicate he was seeking $180k, plus legal fees incurred. Friendly piece of advice for the guys over at Business F1: maybe consider stop printing libel? Just maybe. Think about it.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]