Autoblog

Never mind all the adrenaline, the horsepower and the glory. The coolest part of being an F1 driver could very well be the Superlicense. That's the prerequisite certification that any F1 driver needs to get from the FIA before driving in Formula One. Now, however, the World Motorsport Council has decided to raise the fees, and not by a little, either.

Until now, the standard fee for a Superlicense was €1,690 for a newcomer – a sizeable chunk of money compared to the standard fee that you and I pay down at the DMV, but not entirely unreasonable in relation to all the money being spent in F1 altogether. On top of the base fee is an additional €447 for each championship point scored in the previous season by a returning driver. The new fee structure, however, has gone up exponentially: €10,000 base fee, plus €2,000 per championship point. That means that for Kimi Raikkonen to get recertified after having won the championship last year, he'll have to pay €230,000 (over $336k) – that's a staggering €199,255 more than last year. Gulp.

Sure, that's no big deal for a driver pulling in millions each year, and the teams will likely pick up the fee for their drivers. But it does seem to run counter to the cost-cutting measures that the FIA itself has been putting in place.

[Source: Autosport]

European model PASSION CABRIO shown

We alerted you to the fact that smart would be taking $99 reservations for its U.S. bound fortwo and the day has come when you can officially get in line for a fee. A registration page has been set up that will take your vital info, including your drivers license number, as well as what model fortwo you'd like and the color of the body panels, trident safety cell and interior. The $99 fee doesn't guarantee you a car, as it's meant to help DaimlerChrysler distribute the vehicles they'll have to the regions where demand is greatest. If you do manage to buy one, the fee will be added to the cost of your vehicle. If you don't get one, they'll refund the money.

According to the registration page, the U.S. fortwo will start at under $12,000 for the PURE model (just a note – it appears the PURE comes sans stereo with a "radio-ready dash). The slightly uplevel PASSION model (with an AM/FM radio and CD player) will begin under $14,000, and the PASSION CABRIO just under $17,000. While this pricing is most likely not final, it can't be far off. Color us impressed, as we were expecting a base smart fortwo to start in the $15k to $16k range based on the kitsch factor of smart's image alone. Beginning at $12,000, however, means DCX will have to worry about supply much more than what we expect to be extremely high demand for this urban runabout.

Thanks for the tip, Matt!

[Source: Smart USA]