Autoblog

While Villeneuve and Montoya are adapting well to their new home in NASCAR, their German-speaking former colleagues might be headed to their own sedan-based racing series at home.

Reports indicate that, against the advice of his older brother, Ralf Schumacher climbed into the cabin of a Mercedes C-Class DTM race car for a trial test at the Estoril track on Tuesday.

Austrian driver Christian Klien, who was passed over for the last seat at Force India in favor of Giancarlo Fisichella, is believed to have also participated in the test. The Mercedes-AMG team in the popular German touring car series recently suffered the loss of Mika Hakkinen, and is tipped to be eager to replace him with another big F1 name.

[Source: Autosport]

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]

Talk about airing your family's dirty laundry in public. Michael Schumacher has made a public statement to his kid brother Ralf, urging him to consider taking a sabbatical from F1.

The news comes hot on the heels of a less-than-spectacular test Ralf undertook for Force India, the team formerly known as Spyker, which has two of the remaining seats open on the F1 grid for next season. Team owner Vijay Mallya and Schumi Jr. formed close links when the Indian tycoon's Kingfisher Airlines was sponsoring Ralf's Toyota, and the German driver was strongly linked to a potential drive for the new team. Unfortunately for Ralf, the test didn't go so well, prompting him to admit that the session could very well be his last drive in F1.

His considerably more successful brother, meanwhile, urged him to consider taking a sabbatical from Formula One, pointing out that, following his own retirement, it wasn't hard for him to come back for the recent test sessions for Ferrari, in which he posted top lap times. Michael was quick to point out, however, that he himself had no intention of returning to the race seat.

[Source: Autosport]

Following the sale of Spyker F1 (again), the new owners have announced the team's new name: Force India. Indian investor Vijay Mallya got together with former Spyker Cars CEO Michiel Mol to buy the team from the financially-troubled niche sportscar manufacturer, which it now seems had no business in F1 to begin with. Spyker itself had acquired the team from Midland, who in turn had purchased it from Jordan, changing the name and image with each new owner.

Mallya aims to use his new team to raise India's image abroad in an apparent confusion between Formula One and the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, which is made up of national teams. The team's logo is anticipated to include the Indian flag, and will probably look like the one on Mallya's hat (at right).

[Source: Formula One]

It's that time of the year again, as the Formula One season winds to a close and drivers line up for new contracts. After Ralf Schumacher's departure from the over-funded but under-achieving Toyota F1 team, Felipe Massa was rumored to be heading over while Fernando Alonso assumed his seat at Ferrari. With Alonso now headed back to Renault for next season and Massa likely to stay where he is, Toyota have reportedly signed Timo Glock (right) for next season to race alongside incumbent Jarno Truli.

Glock has floated in and out of F1 for the past few years. After working his way up the ranks and named Rookie of the Year in the Formula 3 Euroseries, Glock moved in to a race seat with Jordan F1 in 2004, scoring his first point in his first race (due to a technicality) at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2004. He then moved across the ocean to Champ Cars, and in his second race at the Montreal circuit scored a second place finish in his first season and was again named Rookie of the Year. Last year he moved to GP2, and took the title this year while simultaneously serving as a test driver for BMW Sauber, but was passed over for the race seat after Robert Kubica's crash... also at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Despite his experience, Glock is evidently still considered a rookie, which means Toyota can get away with paying him "only" $2 million a year in comparison to Ralf Schumacher's purported $19 million annual contract. Glock and Toyota are expected to officially sign after this season's closer in Brazil. Just don't be surprised if his new employers use Timo to promote their new JDM coincidentally-named cellphone, the Timo.

[Source: F1i.com]