Autoblog

Formula One has been on the rise in India. First came Narain Karthikeyan, the first Indian F1 driver. Then came the purchase and transformation of Spyker F1 into the Force India team, followed by a second Indian driver, Karun Chandhok, emerging onto the F1 scene. Now comes the official confirmation that India will host its own grand prix starting in 2010.

The track will be constructed 50 km east of the capital New Delhi by JPSK Sports Private Ltd, a division of Indian development company JP Associates. The confirmation comes from the office of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who struck the deal with JP Associates, who together hope to develop F1 as a rival to cricket's standing as the most popular sport in the world's second most populous country.

[Source: itv-F1]

Fans had been looking forward to it for years, and now it's come to a close. For 2007, Formula One stepped out of the dominating shadow of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, the first season since his retirement, and came to today's final race of the season in a close three-way battle between Ferrari's "iceman" Kimi Raikonnen and McLaren's feuding fraternity of defending champion Fernando Alonso and amazing rookie Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's brave Brazilian Felipe Massa having fell out of contention earlier in the season.

The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix was a thrilling end to a thrilling season and a gripping race in its own rite. SPOILER ALERT: Follow the jump to find out who won the race, who took the title and how it all went down.

With plans on the drawing board to potentially move the defunct USGP from Indianapolis to Las Vegas, BMW is ostensibly testing the waters by staging one of its popular Pit Lane Park demonstrations in Sin City this coming January.

BMW stages the public demonstrations at various grands prix and events around the world. The park features demonstrations of the team's F1 cars, a live pit lane display and a variety of hands-on experiences for racing fans. At the recent event staged at the British Grand Prix, the team brought in Nigel Mansell and Johnny Herbert who returned to the wheel of an F1 car for the fans' enjoyment.

The Vegas event, which will be located on the Gold Lot by the corner of Paradise Road and Convention Center Drive, will be held during the Consumer Electronics Show, held from January 7 to 10, 2008. At the same time as CES, Vegas is also usually host to a pornographers' convention, which, notwithstanding the wealth of electronic technology packed into a modern F1 car, may actually come closer to the obscenely ecstatic sight of the formula race cars pulling donuts and smokey burn-outs at close range.

[Source: Autosport.com]

Spectators, commentators and fans all feared the worst when BMW Sauber's star driver Robert Kubica hit the wall at the end of the hairpin at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on St. Helen's Island in Montreal during this year's Canadian Grand Prix. But as we all know, the Polish driver suffered only a concussion and a sprained ankle, despite the high speeds, high G's and hard impact of the crash. Now he's back in the cockpit, sticking it to everyone this side of Ferrari and McLaren, defending champions Renault included. (Thank God for carbon fiber, eh Robbie?)

The techies over at RTL, the German network that broadcasts the Formula One events, put together this three-dimensional re-creation of the crash, complete with some Matrix-style viewing-angle sweeps. The action is slowed down so you can better see what happened, which makes it all too easy to forget the enormous speeds at which the crash occurred.

Unfortunately, whoever posted it up on YouTube decided to mix in a typically poor soundtrack, but since the original was without sound anyway, offended parties can feel free to turn down the volume completely.

• Kubica survives crash at 75 G
• New view of Kubica crash as F1 goes after YouTube clips
• VIDEO: Kubica crashes Canadian GP

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with the info!
Video after the jump.

[Source: RTL via YouTube]

The UK is a pretty good place to be an F1 fan, as a number of F1 teams are headquartered in Great Britain. Four current F1 racing drivers are British, including the incredible Lewis Hamilton, with several more test drivers as well. Brits have their own race every year, no matter how poor the facilities and the attendance. And they're within driving distance of a handful more on the Continent. In short, the British Isles are F1-land, and more British companies are getting in on the action every year.

The latest to offer their services to race fans is Vue Cinemas, a rapidly-expanding chain of movie theaters that currently counts 59 multiplexes encompassing over 570 screens in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The chain has announced it will be screening a live feed of the British Grand Prix, directly from Silverstone, with no commercial interruptions. Vue Cinemas is calling it a "larger-than-life-experience" that will be offered at 30 of its locations in the UK.

You can expect tickets to be considerably less expensive than race tickets, and while it won't feature the same "right-there" experience, you'll probably get a better Vue.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

In the United States, racing fans get one chance a year to see F1 cars in action at the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Those willing to trek over the border get another shot at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, each pitting a couple dozen current Formula One single-seaters against each other in pursuit of the world championship. British fans, however, are in for an even sweeter treat in the form of GPLive, a spectacular display of over 200 historic grand prix racers that will take place at Donington Park later this month.

Running over the course of the weekend from May 18-20, GPLive will feature what promises to be the largest single gathering of F1 cars, spanning decades of the sport, in one fast-paced, high-octane retrospective. Dozens will be on display from the famous Donington Park collection, in addition to others from private collections. More than a hundred, meanwhile, will take to the track again to relive their glory days, including several former world champions' rides.

One of the highlights will undoubtedly be the four cars taking part from the private collection of 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter, including his championship-winning Ferrari 312 T4. Joining Scheckter's cars will be cars driven by past champions including James Hunt, Alan Jones, Jim Clark and Mario Andretti. Ayrton Senna's 1986 Lotus-Renault 98T, in full JPS livery and 1000-horsepower spec, as well as dozens more, will also be on hand for the enjoyment of the crowd of motoring enthusiasts, for whom this is shaping up to be the event of a lifetime.

Follow the link for more details of the historic racing machines to be included in the GPLive show.

[Source: Gizmag]

It seems that the FIA wanted it to go un-noticed, but the motorsport governing authority has let Turkey get away without even paying the slap on the wrist they imposed in the first place.

For those who may not recall, at last year's Turkish Grand Prix, the leader of Turkish-occupied Cyprus was introduced to give the trophy to race winner Felipe Massa in a deliberate politicization of the motorsport competition. Turkey's dominion over Cyprus is not internationally recognized, and the FIA warned of fire and brimstone. Threatening to take away not only the Turkish Grand Prix but also possibly to revoke Turkey's WRC rally stage and blacklisting the entire country from holding any FIA-sanctioned races, the sanctioning body declared that motor racing was not to be manipulated towards political ends. Following a tribunal that considered the issue, the FIA instead imposed a relatively minor $5 million fine and let Turkey keep its races.

Half the fine was paid by the race promoters, who were subsequently dismissed from responsibility for organizing the grand prix, which passed into the hands of Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management. The remaining $2.5 million was to be paid by the Turkish motor sports federation TOSFED, but after pleading with the FIA and explaining that the fine would send them into bankruptcy, the governing body let them off without paying.

Mercy is a laudable attribute, but by failing to hold TOSFED to any punishment whatsoever, the FIA is leaving the door open to further manipulation of motor racing by others in the future.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Despite all the ongoing rumors of this country and that preparing bids for F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone, few of them are anywhere near that stage. As track designer Hermann Tilke has pointed out, many of the speculative locations lack circuits that would be ready to host grands prix.

Tilke has to his credit the designs of most of the new F1-spec race tracks around the world, including Malaysia, Bahrain, Istanbul and Shanghai.In addition to those, he's working on Abu Dhabi's. The overwhelming likelihood is that Tilke Engineering would be commissioned to draw up the plans for any new track if prospective organizers are serious about their F1 bids.

In an interview with British publication Autosport, Tilke said that Mexico, India, Russia, South Africa and Greece are a long way from making their Formula One dreams realities. Mexico, he says, is stalled with political problems, India and Russia are merely topics for discussion, plans for a return to South Africa are "dormant" and the Greek bid has "fizzled out." That leaves plenty of room for progress on each front, but then again, there are a lot of countries vying for Tilke's talents...and for Bernie's attention.

[Source: F1i]

Russia is back in the race for a grand prix, with the picturesque city of St. Petersburg being touted as the potential venue.

The venture had gotten what looked to be a decent rolling start several years ago with several promising leads. Bernie Ecclestone visited Russia a couple times with an eye towards getting a Russian Grand Prix off the ground in either Moscow or St. Petersburg. Russian businessman Alex Shnaider had brought Formula One to the capital when his Midland F1 team unveiled its car outside the Kremlin in 2005, and fellow businessman Alexander Berezhnoy had put forward a plan in 2001 to build a new circuit to be called the Pulkovo Ring near the St. Petersburg airport. Since then, however, the proposal seemed to have fallen by the wayside.

Continues after the jump

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Click on the image above to view more pictures from the event.

As promised, organizers put on quite the spectacle on Saturday when the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was officially announced. Tens of thousands of people reportedly turned out for an F1 demonstration on the streets of the gulf emirate that featured all the big-name drivers, including Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. No big surprise that Ferrari sent both its driving aces to the event, but Spyker's absence seems conspicuous. Abu Dhabi crown corporation Mubadala Development is a minority shareholder in both teams.

Follow the jump for the rest of the story plus the official press release.

Related posts:

• Bahrain is still in the race, and the race is still in Bahrain
• Update: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix announcement may come Feb1
• F1 circuit to join Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi
• Abu Dhabi to build Ferrari World theme park
• Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi

[Source: AbuDhabiGP.com]