Autoblog

Super Aguri announced today that it would immediately be ending its participation in Formula 1 after funding for the team has all but dried up. The news comes not long after Super Aguri was denied access to the Turkish Grand Prix paddock area due to its mounting financial issues. Honda has been Super Aguri's main source of funding, but is apparently tired of diverting money from its own F1 team despite pronouncing as recently as last December that it would fund the Honda "B-squad" through the 2008 season. The Japanese automaker also wasn't keen on an 11th hour buyout offer for Super Aguri from German automotive firm Weigl. The team hasn't been on sound financial footing for some time, and the breakdown of negotiations with the Dubai-based Magma Group in April certainly didn't help matters. This leaves Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato without cars to drive for the rest of the season and narrows down the starting grid for the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend to ten teams and 20 vehicles. Thanks to all who tipped in.

[Source: BBC Sport, Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty]

Click either image for a gallery.

When the Singapore F1 Grand Prix begins on September 28th, it will feature the first application of Digiflags, 35 large screens that can display the different flag colors, making it easier for racers to know what's going on while speeding down the track. The system will be used in conjunction with traditional flags, but separate track marshals posted through the circuit will control the electronic boards as the race hums wails along. But fear not, the checkered flag remains, and will be waved from a podium on high when the Singapore F1 race ends.

The full press release is posted below the fold.

If you're an F1 buff looking to spend a whole lot of time not doing whatever work you're supposed to be doing, head over to the Monaco Grand Prix Library. The site is the Internet version of the book, The Monaco Grand Prix Library by Belgian author Roy Hulsbergen. Endorsed by the Automobile Club of Monaco, it details everything -- drivers, results, cars, fastest laps, retirements -- and includes photos and commentary from every Monaco GP run since 1929. There's even video, such as the clip from the 1934 GP, won by Algerian driver Guy Moll in his Alfa Romeo B 2.9 in 3:31.31. So it might not be the best thing for workplace productivity -- or even Sunday afternoon productivity -- but this is what the Internet is all about.

[Source: Monaco-Grandsprix.org]

Autocar has listed the top 100 Formula 1 drivers of all time, as declared by British motorsport journalist Alan Henry. We won't spoil the top-of-the-list surprise for you, but of course, as with all of these things, some of the placings could be a little controversial. At least until one realizes that there haven't really been that many F1 drivers in the 62-year history of the sport. Still, Mika Hakkinen at #10 in front of Michael Schumacher at #11 strikes us as somewhat odd. And Barrichello and Button ahead of Bruce McLaren? Hmmm. Autocar has the top 30 listed, you can get the full list here.
Thanks for the tip, Darren!

[Source: Autocar via Bruce-McLaren.com]

If you TiVo'd today's F1 season opener from Melbourne, Australia, don't read any further or it will spoil the race for you. But not to worry, you'd be in good company as the race was spoiled for just about everyone else, too. Everyone except for Mercedes, whose star driver Lewis Hamilton claimed a flawless victory, his new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen narrowly escaping the completion of a one-two finish for McLaren, while spectators at Albert Park saw little else other than the new Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG safety car.

While the McLaren drivers escaped unscathed, the rest of the race was packed with more early retirements than a plant closure. Out of the 22 cars that started the race, only seven finished. At the first corner of the first lap, Jenson Button (Honda), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) and Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) all collided in a spectacular six-car pile-up, forcing each of the drivers to retire one after the other. Ferrari's duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa also retired early after mounting difficult campaigns, with Kimi finally being awarded a point as Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for a pit-lane mishap. BMW's Nick Heidfeld had a strong race, finishing second behind Hamilton, while Williams' Nico Rosberg claimed his first podium in third place. Perhaps most impressive, however, was Sebastien Bourdais. The four-time Champ Car champion and newcomer to F1 was set to cross the finish line behind the wheel of the Toro Rosso in fourth place on a brilliantly-timed one-stop strategy, only to retire when his Ferrari engine failed three laps before the end. With no one else completing the race behind him, the Frenchman finished his first race in the points, behind Williams' Kazuki Nakajima (the last to actually finish the race) and Raikkonen.

Follow the link for more details on the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, and stay tuned next week as the F1 circus moves on to Malaysia.

[Source: Autosport]

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Honda Racing is the latest F1 team to officially unveil its new grand prix car with which it will be contesting the 2008 Formula One World Championship. While race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been shaking down the new RA108 at official test sessions, Honda left it to its new test driver Alex Wurz to unveil the car in Brackley, UK, at one of the team's three main facilities.

Although like its competitors the Honda RA108 is the culmination of many months of development, it benefits from the vast technical experience of the team's new principal Ross Brawn, former technical director at Ferrari. Brawn points out that the development of the RA108 focused on aerodynamic flexibility that will allow Honda to optimize the car's performance with a constantly-evolving aerodynamic package. In keeping with the FIA's freeze on engine development, the RA808E engine remains largely unchanged, adapting only to the new standardized engine control module while getting a new exhaust system, airbox and transmission.

Not to focus on style over substance, the unveiling also showcased the RA108's new livery, which promotes the renewed "earthdreams" campaign. Evolving from last year's "myearthdream" project, the new campagin has Honda and its sponsors pledging $1.2 million towards environmental awareness. While last year's car was covered entirely with a global motif, this year's livery appears considerably more sporting, with globe-pattern racing stripes and numbers covering the traditional Japanese racing white.

[Source: Honda Racing]

We love Formula 1. Have for years. We believed it was the pinnacle of motorsport, and by golly each team had the stratospheric budget to prove it. There was a time when a single top team in F1 spent enough to run 12 or 13 top dollar teams in IndyCar. Teams have been wanting the costs to come down, which is fine, because we also miss the days when privateers had a punter's chance at winning a race. Bring back the days of Jordans, Saubers, and Tyrells, we say.

But we're not so sure about the way the FIA is going about its cost cutting. Max Mosley, FIA president, has said that as of 2009, budgets will be capped. The cap isn't set, nor are the details of what is and isn't included as part of the capped amount. For instance, the team principal, driver, and marketing department, as well as the engine, might not be included in the spending limit. If the teams accept a limit, then they'll get other rewards like additional use of their wind tunnels or more computer time for CFD work.

This, along with the 5-year engine freeze (which we still don't understand), is meant to allow teams to operate with a mooted budget amount of $150 million per year. Compared to the nearly $500 million dollars that a team like Ferrari spends, or Toyota's rumored $700 million budget, it will be fascinating to see what teams come up with. It will also be neat to start hearing about the sudden astronomical rise in marketing budgets, and to get a whiff of all those cooked books, because we simply don't believe teams will spare a bit of extra coin when championship silverware is on offer. The FIA meets with teams again at the end of this month to discuss the matter further.

[Source: Motor Authority]

click above to view more high-res images of the BMW Sauber F1.08

While BMW was busy taking the wraps off the production X6 and 3-liter twin-turbo-diesel in Detroit, its Formula One team unveiled its latest race car at their headquarters in Munich, Germany. For those of you who missed the event, which was broadcast live over the internet, we've got the details for you here.

A "radical evolution" is what star designer Willy Rampf calls his latest creation, the BMW Sauber F1.08. Based on last year's successful F1.07, which took the team to second place overall in the constructors' championship (following McLaren's disqualification), the F1.08 adapts to the new regulations – loss of traction control, standardized ECU and longer-lasting transmission – while the bodywork narrows in width, coupled with an improved aerodynamic package.

BMW is hoping to compete with Ferrari and McLaren next season for checkered flags, and given its progress since taking over the Sauber team in 2006, it just might get there. Both Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica are staying on for a third consecutive season with the team, lending stability when many teams are switching it up for 2008.

Check out the gallery below for high-resolution images of the F1.08 launch, and pertinent excerpts from the 108-page press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW Sauber F1 Team]

The FIA and the teams participating in F1 have agreed to shorten the ban on engine development to five years. The FIA, which forms the rules for Formula One, had previously instituted a freeze on the development of every team's engine program for a staggering ten years in an effort to reduce the rapidly escalating costs involved with running an F1 team.

At a meeting called by the FIA in Paris, the principals of each team agreed that a ten year ban was too long, but begun discussions on how costs could be curbed in the sport. Rather than continue imposing half-measures aimed at reducing costs, most of the teams agreed that the FIA should actually reduce costs by instituting an overall budget cap, as many had suggested... Autoblog included. Although Ferrari remains opposed to a budget cap, its former technical chief and now head honcho at Honda, Ross Brawn, has been a vocal proponent of the idea.

With the freeze now cut down to half, the FIA announced it would begin working on a new engine formula for the series. F1 has gone in the past couple of decades from turbo eights to V12s and then to V10s before arriving at the 2.4-liter V8s currently used. Insiders expect the next formula to be unveiled within two years' time and to be both more environmentally-friendly and more cost effective.

[Source: Autosport]

The Honda Racing F1 Team didn't win a lot of fans when it pulled the bold move of ditching its sponsors and painting the 2007 car like a globe. Thankfully, the Japanese team has revealed that it'll be ditching the map scheme for next season's car, the RA108.

The world map livery was instituted last year to promote Honda's environmental conscience, but came off as an ironic statement considering that it was painted on a gasoline-slurping F1 car. The only slogan on the car was the rear wing that pointed spectators to the team's tree-hugging website, myearthdream.com. But while the 2008 car won't carry the global map theme itself, the new livery will bear some sort of environmental slant to it. We'll have to wait for the it's unveiling on January 29 to see exactly what Honda has in store for us.

In related news, Honda F1 announced that it's hired veteran Austrian racer Alexander Wurz as its test driver. Wurz had announced his immediate retirement from F1 in the middle of last season, and cited the opportunity to work with Honda's new chief Ross Brawn as a principal motivating factor for his return.

[Sources: F1-Live and autosport]