Raikkonen to compete in world rally Finland

Former Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is to compete in the World Rally Championship in his native Finland at the end of the July.
Ferrari's Raikkonen has appeared in three non-championship rallies this season and will be behind the wheel of a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto.
His co-driver, Kaj Lindstrom, said: "The roads used for this rally are so fast but he's very talented."
The rally is staged three weeks before the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
Raikkonen, who won the F1 title in 2007, will be competing against the likes of championship favourites Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.
Event spokesman Simon Long said: "It's superb news for the championship and hugely exciting that he'll be competing at Rally Finland."
In a disappointing season for Ferrari, Raikkonen has won just 10 points in the drivers' world championship, 54 behind leader Jenson Button.

Source: BBC
By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
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Donnington recieves 2010 boost

Donington's bid to stage next year's British Grand Prix has been boosted after final planning permission for its redevelopment programme was approved.
After giving the £100m redevelopment the green light in January, North West Leicestershire District Council then demanded certain signed assurances.
And circuit owner Simon Gillett and landowner Tom Wheatcroft have both now signed, meaning work can re-commence.
However, there is still some concern over how the scheme will be financed.
Gillet's planned debenture scheme to raise private investment was due to launch at the end of March but has failed to get off the ground.
A legal dispute between Wheatcroft and lease-holders DVLL, the council's concerns and the BRDC's insistence the race should return to Silverstone have also all added to Gillett's headaches.
However, Gillet said: "It's great to have cleared another hurdle and to see the hard work of the entire team at the circuit paying off.
"There's no denying that we still have a lot of hard work ahead but we'll continue to remain positive and do everything that we can to deliver against the promises that we have been made.
"The construction work is obviously extremely important, but we're also trying hard to ensure that it doesn't compromise the experience that our visitors to forthcoming events have."
This weekend will see the World Superbike Championship staged at Donington, but work on new pits and a paddock complex is set to begin immediately.
Silverstone, which hosted the British Grand Prix last weekend, remains many people's tip to host the race next year, despite F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone favouring Donington.


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
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Mosley hints that peace deal may not be as solid as first thought

Motorsport boss Max Mosley has claimed Formula 1's peace deal could be jeopardised by continuing antagonism between him and the sport's teams.
He accused the F1 Teams' Association (Fota) of misleading the media after an agreement to end the sport's civil war.
"If you wish the agreement we made to have any chance of survival, you must rectify your actions," Mosley said.
Mosley, who had said he would not stand for re-election in October, added that he now considered his "options open".
In the letter, written on Wednesday to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, the chairman of Fota, Mosley accused Fota of falsely stating he had behaved like a dictator and that he had been forced from office.
And he hinted that he might reconsider the deal that secured an end to the political row in the sport.
In that deal, Mosley abandoned his plans for a cost cap but secured the commitment of the teams to F1 until 2010 and agreed not to stand again for the FIA presidency in October.
"A fundamental part of [the deal] was that we would both present a positive and truthful account to the media," Mosley wrote.
"I was therefore astonished to learn that Fota has been briefing the press that Mr (Michel) Boeri (president of the FIA Senate) has taken charge of F1, something which you know is completely untrue; that I had been forced out of office, also false; and, apparently, that I would have no role in the FIA after October, something which is plain nonsense, if only because of the FIA statutes [which grant former presidents a place on the senate]."
In the letter, leaked to news agencies, he added: "There was no need for me to involve myself further in Formula 1 once we had a settlement.
"Equally, I had a long-standing plan not to seek re-election in October. It was therefore possible for me to confirm both points to you yesterday.
"Given your and Fota's deliberate attempt to mislead the media, I now consider my options open. At least until October, I am president of the FIA with the full authority of that office.
"After that it is the FIA member clubs, not you or Fota, who will decide on the future leadership of the FIA."
Mosley demanded an apology at at a news conference held by Fota on Thursday.
There was no apology there, and Fota's members expressed a wish to have a neutral figure governing their sport, but Di Montezemolo did praise Mosley's tenure as FIA president.
"I have to say that after a month of confrontations, we are pleased to thank the president of the FIA for his decision to leave the FIA in October, for the work that he has done - particularly for safety because this was, and still is, a big priority in F1 and the sport," Di Montezemolo said.
"F1 has made a huge, huge improvement in safety. We want to thank the FIA and the World Council for the unanimous agreement (on Wednesday) to approve and accept Fota's proposals."
However, the Italian's efforts clearly failed to placate Mosley, who sent a subsequent letter to all the presidents of the FIA member clubs urging them to appoint a "strong president" in the wake of what he sees as bullying by Fota.
It follows calls from Fota vice-president on John Howett for Mosley successor to be "independent".
The inference was a man such as Jean Todt, currently favourite, would not be an ideal candidate as Mosley's successor given his prior length of service with Ferrari.
But in Mosley's letter to FIA member clubs on Friday, he wrote: "The question of FIA president is a matter exclusively for you and most definitely not for the vehicle manufacturers who make up Fota.
"To have an FIA president under the influence of the vehicle manufacturers would put at jeopardy all the excellent work our organisation... if nothing else, this attempt to tell FIA members who they should or should not elect demonstrates precisely why the FIA needs a strong president who is experienced and knowledgeable."
And the 70-year-old hinted again that he was prepared for further ructions with Fota, "even if this leads to difficulties in the sport", he wrote.
"No doubt we face a difficult period and this may well result in short-term problems in Formula 1.
"It is possible Fota will set up an independent series. That is their right, provided they do so under the International Sporting Code.
"But the Formula 1 world championship will continue to be run by the FIA as it has been for 60 years.
"The championship has had difficult times in the past, and no doubt will again in the future. But that is no reason to hand control to an outside body, still less one with little or no understanding of sporting ethics and under the control of an industry we have constantly to monitor."

Soucred from BBC
By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
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Formula one in hunt for Mosley's successor

Formula 1 teams want to find a neutral figure to govern the sport when Max Mosley's reign as the president of governing body the FIA ends in October.
Mosley agreed not to stand for re-election as part of a peace deal to end the threat of a breakaway championship.
"We would like someone independent from any of us," said John Howett, the vice-president of teams' association Fota, which had planned a rival series.
"Either currently or historically. It would mean a much better balance."
Representatives of Fota's eight members - all the current F1 teams on the grid with the exception of Force India and Williams - were assembled in Bologna on Thursday to discuss the future of the sport.
However, the tone of the meeting was much more positive after Mosley struck a resolution with Fota at a World Motorsport Council meeting on Wednesday to put an end to their ongoing dispute.
As part of the deal, the 69-year-old agreed not to seek to extend his 16-year tenure as FIA president by standing for a fifth term in October.
The teams, who oppose what they see as Mosley's arbitrary style of governance, will play no part in deciding his successor.
That responsibility falls to the World Motorsport Council, who will elect a candidate of their choosing.
Michel Boeri, president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, former rally driver Ari Vatanen and chief steward Alan Donnelley, who is also Mosley's representative, have all been mentioned in connection with the role.
The agreement between the FIA and Fota also saw Mosley's controversial plan to introduce a £40m budget cap for 2010 shelved.
Instead, the teams will work to their own agreed cost-cutting measures with a view to reducing spending to early 1990s' levels.
"Already the savings have resulted in 15-25% saved and we will see further savings in the next few seasons," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
A new deal to settle teams' share of commercial rights has yet to be signed with holder CVC, represented by Bernie Ecclestone, but Flavio Briatore has already been given the task of overseeing the commercial development of the sport.
The Renault team principal wants to improve the spectacle of F1 and push for a return to its traditional circuits.
"Even if the likes of Turkey are paying more money, we would rather have stadia that are full," Briatore said.
"It is better for the spirit of the sport. We want stands full of fans. There is no point spending all that money on an empty cathedral.
"We want to work for a better show, better entertainment."

Source: BBC

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Fota and FIA strike a deal at long last

An agreement has been reached between Formula 1's governing body and the teams to prevent a breakaway series.
The two parties had been engulfed in a bitter row over planned budgetary and technical changes for the 2010 season.
But it appears a resolution has now been found and, as part of the deal, Max Mosley has agreed not to stand for re-election as president of the FIA.
"There will be no split, there will be one F1 championship. We have agreed to a reduction of costs," said Mosley.
"The objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years."
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone added that he was "very happy common sense has prevailed" following a meeting of 120 members of the FIA in Paris aimed at resolving the crisis.
Ferrari chief president Luca di Montezemolo, head of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota), added: "I think the decisions we have shared this morning are important. We will have the rules of 2009, same rules for everybody.
"It means that we have stability.
"I think [Max Mosley] has done a very good fix of the problem. When you have reached an agreement everyone has to help in the same way."
Ahead of the meeting, Mosley had insisted that he would not step down as part of any potential agreement and might even seek re-election as head of world motor sport.
He hit out at what he described as "wholly unjustified criticism" of the FIA, adding: "It is for the FIA membership, and the FIA membership alone, to decide on its democratically elected leadership, not the motor industry and still less the individuals the industry employs to run its F1 teams."
However, it appears Mosley has now agreed to move aside when his fourth term as FIA president ends in October, saying: "I will not be up for re-election, now we have peace."
Furthermore, writs that had been threatened against Ferrari and the other teams in Fota - McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - are likely to be shelved.
"Fota's public stance before this meeting was that they weren't in the mood for negotiation or compromise - and if we take that on board, the fact that they've got their way today must be seen as something of a capitulation by the FIA," reported BBC Five Live's David Croft.
And that is a view shared by Ferrari, who issued a statement reading: "The FIA's World Motor Sports Council has approved all Fota's proposals."
It added: "The objective is to avoid continuous changes decided by one person alone."
However, Mosley sought to play down suggestions he had bowed to Fota's requests, telling BBC Sport: "I know it's an old cliche but everybody's won.
"What we wanted was to get new teams into F1. We've got new teams in, which we haven't been able to do for 10-15 years, and at the same time got costs down so independent teams are profitable
"If they're happy with what they (Fota) have got, fine, I've won what I wanted.
"As far as I'm concerned the teams were always going to get rid of me in October, well they still are. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their liking remains to be seen."
The agreement ends two months of wrangling since Mosley announced after a World Council meeting at the end of April that a voluntary £40m budget cap would be imposed from next season - a plan that prompted a rebellion from eight teams, with Fota announcing on Thursday they were planning a rival series.
But the new agreement ends that threat, while still maintaining the "financial viability" of teams which had been targeted with the initial budgetary restrictions.
Mosley explained: "There is no budget cap because costs will come down to the levels of early 1990s in two years - it's a different way of doing the same thing. I always thought there wasn't much between us, now we've agreed there isn't."
As part of the agreement, existing teams must help new outfits - Campos, US F1 and Manor - with their engines and chassis.
Toyota president John Howett, the vice-chairman of Fota, hailed the unity of the teams even though Williams and Force India broke ranks and submitted unconditional 2010 entries earlier this month.
"This has been a challenging period," he said.
"But thanks to the unity of the Fota teams and the foresight of the World Motor Sport Council members we have achieved the right result for Formula 1," he said.
"We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula 1 and its millions of fans around the world."
BBC sports news correspondent James Munro, reporting from Paris, said: "It's come as a bit of a surprise, given that Fota was planning to meet in Bologna on Thursday to discuss plans for the breakaway championship.
"But what we got today after a meeting of World Motorsport Council was an impromptu press conference and Mosley began by saying there will be no split, there will be one championship.
"He said that over the course of the negotiations he had been able to secure guarantees from the teams who were threatening to break away that they would try to rein back the levels of their spending to the levels they were spending in the early 90s.
"It was him that had come up with the idea that next season all teams would have a budget cap of about £40m, but there has clearly been a trade-off as he has also agreed to do what he says was always the plan - stand down as president of the FIA this October."
It is not the first time Mosley has promised to stand down as FIA president - in June 2004, he announced he would stand down from his position in October of that year, only to rescind his decision a month later and secure re-election.
But he was adamant that with his 70th birthday approaching, and with the row finally settled, there was no way he would be having a change of heart this time.
"As long as the teams behave themselves I will be gone," he said. "A deal is a deal and if it is not stuck to you sometimes have to reconsider things. However, I have absolute confidence that this resolution will be stuck to."
Fota was expected to address the media at a press conference on Thursday.



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iPod touch blog post test - Gulf livery Aston Martin

Testing post from my iPod touch, just checking my new mobile blogging tool is up to the job... Including test photo of stunning Aston martin.. Fingers crossed it all works.


Aston martin: new gulf livery

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Ecclestone Promises Positive Action in F1 Breakaway Row

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has declared his determination not to let the championship "disintegrate".

Eight of the sport's major teams are threatening to form a breakaway series because of an ongoing row with world motorsport's governing body the FIA.

But Ecclestone believes the differences between the sides can be resolved.

"My marriage broke up because of Formula 1," the 78-year-old told the Times newspaper. "I am sure as hell not going to let things disintegrate."

The Formula 1 Teams Association (Fota) represents eight out of the 10 teams, including Ferrari, McLaren and championship leaders Brawn GP.

It is at odds with FIA president Max Mosley over what the teams see as his autocratic and arbitrary governance of the sport, among a number of other issues.

Fota is due to meet again on Thursday to discuss whatever emerges from Wednesday's World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris, where issues including the ongoing feud will be up for discussion.

And Toyota president and Fota vice-president John Howett has warned time is running out for an agreement to be reached.

"If we start with the actions next week, which we intend to, to move from a conceptual discussion to implementation phase, we'll start to make commitments that then become very difficult to come out of," he said.

However, Ecclestone insists the issues can be ironed out, saying "if you analyse the problems, there aren't any that can't be easily solved".

"If (a breakaway) started, everybody would be suing everybody else and there would be no other series," he added.

"There would be nothing. It would be finished - it would be a total disaster. Everyone would spend a fortune on lawyers and nothing will happen."

Fota maintains that it is continuing with plans to appoint an administrator for its series and that a review of circuits and potential new entrants is in full swing.

BBC Sport understands that Mosley may have tempered his threat over the weekend to launch legal action against the teams.

After taking an initially bullish approach to Fota's threat to break away, Mosley was increasingly conciliatory in his remarks through Saturday and Sunday.

He told an Italian television station that he would rather "negotiate than litigate".

But despite his claims that the parties were close to an agreement, Fota insiders say no negotiation took place at Silverstone.

If there is somebody who needs to be very quiet in their personal life, it's him because for sure he is not a (good) example, to be president with what he has in his personal life  Briatore on Mosley

And Renault boss Flavio Briatore has warned Mosley to stop dishing out "personal" insults if he wants to see a resolution to the ongoing row.

Mosley described a certain element within Fota as "loonies" over the weekend, and in particular claimed Renault team boss Briatore wanted to be the new Bernie Ecclestone by taking control of the sport.

Briatore, though, hit back, citing last year's infamous expose of Mosley's sex life when he was caught involved in a sado-masochistic orgy with five prostitutes.

"Max is going personal all the time. I'm too much of a gentleman to go personal," he said. "If he wants to go personal, I have a lot to say about Max. I know. He needs to stop insulting people.

"I don't want to personally describe what Max is because in his private life we have already had a demonstration of what he was in the News of the World.

"If he is talking about lunatics and stuff like that, he needs to watch himself, to just do the best job possible for him, the teams and not go personal, insulting me, the people from Fota, the people from ACEA (European Car Manufacturers' Association). It's enough.

"If there is somebody who needs to be very quiet in their personal life, it's him because for sure he is not a (good) example, to be president with what he has in his personal life."

And, despite arriving at Silverstone at the weekend in a helicopter with Mosley and Ecclestone, he insists no talks took place and that plans for a breakaway series continue unabated.

"We have tried to compromise (with Mosley), we have opened the door, tried everything, but we have had the door closed in our face," said the Italian.

"We have tried to make sure we race as Formula 1 teams in a formula with one rule, but this has not been possible, and this is the reason why we are not negotiating any more with anybody."

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Formula One: British Grand Prix Race Report

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel scored a crushing victory in the British Grand Prix as championship leader Jenson Button's Brawn struggled to sixth.

Vettel took advantage of his team-mate Mark Webber being caught behind Brawn's Rubens Barrichello to build a decisive lead in the first stint of the race.

Webber passed Barrichello at the first pit stops to complete a Red Bull one-two ahead of the Brawn driver in third.

Last year's winner Lewis Hamilton was 16th in a car he said had "no grip".

Felipe Massa's Ferrari was fourth after winning a battle with the Williams of Nico Rosberg. Behind Button, Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took the final points positions in seventh and eighth.

We can really mount a championship challenge from here Red Bull's Christian Horner

The result leaves Button with a reduced but still substantial championship lead of 23 points over Barrichello, with Vettel two further points adrift and 3.5 ahead of Webber.

Button's advantage is still more than two clear victories but, with more than half the season still to go, he will be concerned by the startling pace shown by Red Bull, who introduced a major upgrade to their car and were in a league of their own throughout the weekend at Silverstone.

"It was a completely seamless race by both drivers and they completely dominated it," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

"We can really mount a championship challenge from here."

Brawn's potential was reduced by the low temperatures in Northamptonshire - both Button and Barrichello struggled to get their tyres up to the temperature at which they give their optimum grip.

That put the season's dominant team back into the battle with Williams, Toyota and Ferrari behind the leaders - a position from which they did well to finish third and sixth.

The car worked perfectly - Vettel (UK users only)

Red Bull, by contrast, had looked strong favourites as soon as their updated RB5 car showed its pace in practice in Friday.

Vettel was on pole by more than half a second and he made the most of the fact that Webber, after a frustrating qualifying session, was stuck behind Barrichello on the grid and could not pass him in the opening laps.

The German rising star, 21, pulled away by about a second a lap over the first stint, and was nearly 20 seconds in front of Barrichello by the time the Brazilian became the first of the top three to stop on lap 19.

"It's never easy it's a long race - you have to stay focused and keep your eyes open all the time," said Vettel.

"The start was very important and in the first stint I tried to push as hard as I could and make a gap.

"That worked perfectly and I had a fantastic car. The tyres were fantastic as well. This was a step in the right direction."

Webber, who spent the first stint less than a second behind the Brawn, came in on the next lap, and made up enough time to exit the pits just ahead of Barrichello.

606: DEBATE An absolute supreme performance from the young German. His first win in the dry and on is way to victory he's blitzed his team mate and bulldozed the rest of the grid...  King_Alonso786

From that moment, a Red Bull one-two was locked on barring any unforeseen misfortune.

Barrichello found himself holding off the Williams of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa's Ferrari - a battle he won by staying out for a couple of extra laps before his final stop and rejoining with a comfortable advantage.

Massa jumped Rosberg at their final stops and in the closing laps they found themselves coming under increasing pressure from Button.

Brawn had decided to save a set of the quicker softer tyres until the final stint, when both Massa and Rosberg were on the harder and slower of the two tyre compounds teams are obliged to use in the race.

That meant Button was much faster than the Ferrari and Williams in the final few laps. The home crowd cheered him on, but although the Englishman closed in on them he was unable to pass.

"I didn't know what was going happen today," he told BBC Sport.

Hamilton and Alonso do battle down the field

"I had good pace when I was on the soft tyres. The pace in the last stint compared to Rosberg and Massa was magnificent. [But] I had nowhere to go at the start. Everybody shot by on the outside. It is down to [our] tyre temperatures today."

World champion Hamilton - now 11th in the 2009 drivers' championship - started the race in 19th and, after a brief but engaging battle with Renault's two-time former world champion Fernando Alonso, finished 16th.

"I was pushing all the way and I the most important thing for me today was to give something to the fans," he said. "All I could do was try my best.

"This has been the best race in terms of the crowd for a long time in F1. I enjoyed it because of the fans and they gave me so much energy today, regardless of how bad we are doing."

Source: BBC News Website

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