[F1] Nieuwtjes topic #35 - Waar Massa het ditmaal niet verdiende.

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Ferrari confirm con rod failure on Kimi V8
^{25 August, 2008}

Ferrari confirmed today that Kimi Räikkönen's engine failure was caused by the breakage of a connecting rod in the left bank of his V8, the second such problem in two races. Kimi was running in sixth at the time of the failure, which saw him lose more ground in the drivers' championship, with team-mate Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton moving further ahead with their 1st and 2nd places respectively.

“Initial analysis of the engine fitted to Kimi Räikkönen's car, which arrived in Maranello this morning, confirmed the breakage of a con rod,” began a statement issued by Ferrari. “Currently underway are further checks to try and understand what provoked the failure.”

The Maranello-based team also revealed that engineers had been worried about the engine's reliability, given that the connecting rods in Kimi's engine had come from the same batch used in Massa's Budapest powerplant, which failed three laps from the end of the race. However, given that an engine change would have cost Kimi 10 places on the grid, and the difficulty of overtaking, it was decided to take the risk of running the old engine, which had survived the swealtering 70-lap race in Hungary.

Ferrari returns to the track tomorrow at Monza, taking advantage of their second of four 'joker' days of the testing season, in which they are allowed to run an inexperienced driver outside the usual schedule. Italian Andrea Bertolini will have the honour of lapping the F2008 around the legendary venue, before handing over to Felipe Massa for Wednesday, when all nine other teams will join the Scuderia. Massa will also drive on Thursday, before handing over to Räikkönen, as the team perpares for the Italian Grand Prix at the same venue just under three weeks from now.

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Op dinsdag 26 augustus 2008 20:11 schreef Atreidez het volgende:
Zou die de eerste zijn.. _proest

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Op dinsdag 26 augustus 2008 23:31 schreef Kleffe_Dop het volgende:

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Het zou gvd een keer tijd worden eigenlijk.

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Toro Rosso to test Sato at Jerez
^{27 August, 2008}

Toro Rosso is to give evaluation test drives to at least two clear candidates for a 2009 seat with the Faenza based formula one team. It is already known that Sébastien Buemi, a GP2 racer, Red Bull test driver and the energy drink company's preferred successor for Sebastian Vettel, is to get his chance in the coming weeks.

The German magazine Auto Motor und Sport now reports that Takuma Sato, the popular and experienced Japanese driver who lost his seat with the Super Aguri collapse earlier this year, will also test for Ferrari-powered STR before the season is out. The news was reportedly confirmed to the magazine by the jointly Gerhard Berger and Dietrich Mateschitz-owned team.

A final decision on the identity of Vettel's successor, and whether or not Sébastien Bourdais will also need to be replaced, is not expected to be made until October. Auto Motor und Sport claims that teenager Buemi, and 31-year-old veteran of approaching 100 grands prix, Sato, will both be evaluated at the forthcoming Jerez test.

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Op woensdag 27 augustus 2008 10:11 schreef sasquatsch het volgende:

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Ik geloof niet dat er geen rondreden in de F1. Al zijn die dan nooit uit de kast gekomen.

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He drives like that and calls himself a world champion?
^{Tuesday, 26 August 2008}

Ferrari at Valencia should have moved one step closer to determining a 'number one' driver to back for the 2008 title, according to observers following the European grand prix.

"La Ferrari e Felipe Massa" (Ferrari is Felipe Massa), the major Italian daily La Stampa declared, after the Brazilian driver overtook in the drivers' standings his teammate and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen with a commanding win at Sunday's inaugural Spanish street race.

Finn Raikkonen's misery at Valencia was compounded by an engine failure, but former Ferrari champion and commentator Niki Lauda has not been impressed with the 28-year-old's driving of late.

Lauda is, however, impressed with Massa's burgeoning form.

"He seems totally focused and motivated. And Kimi is really not with it.

"The world championship is now a duel of Hamilton against Massa," the great Austrian told German newspaper Bild.

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I want to win, more than ever! - Raikkonen

It hasn't been the easiest season for reigning World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. It has been a very long time that the Ferrari driver was on pole position or won a race and he's dropping fast in the championship standings. Still the Finn remains highly motivated and he wants to win, more than ever.

Kimi Raikkonen said: "It seems as if this year the street circuits don't work out for me. In four races I only got one point, at Melbourne, in a race, I didn't even finish due to an engine failure.

"Then there was the accident with Sutil at Monaco and then the rear-end collision by Hamilton at the exit of the pitlane in Montreal. And now another retirement at Valencia.

"I went to Spain with a good feeling, also because it's always great to have a race in a new place. On Friday it went well for me, but on Saturday temperatures were lower and I had problems in Qualifying: we should have been much more aggressive.

"There has been a lot of talk about my problems in Qualifying. But the truth is, that in a couple of races - at Hungary and Germany - I made some mistakes and I had to start from the sixth position. At Valencia I missed the third position by a whisker. I had to start from the dirty side of the track, which was a huge disadvantage. I couldn't pass the cars in front of me while Heikki had much better grip and overtook me. From that moment on, with the leaders pulling away with one second per lap, I was racing for the fourth place. When you get stuck in traffic on a track like that, there's hardly anything you can do; you just wait for the pit stop. Heikki and I came into the pit at the same time, but then I made a mistake and left too early.
Unfortunately our Pietro Tempini was hit by the car and hurt himself. He's got a microfracture in his left foot, but he's mainly ok. It's nothing serious and I hope that he'll be back at the track with us very soon.

"Not only could I not overtake to gain fourth position, but I even fell back on sixth. As things went, this would have meant at least three points, but then the engine blew, without any warning. I came out of the last corner and I felt that something was wrong. And then smoke came out of the back of the car. We knew that there might be a problem of this kind, after what had happened to Felipe at Hungary. But it's still a shame what happened in Valencia. Having said that it's useless to cry over spilled milk: what happened, happened and now we have to look ahead.

"This week I'll be at Monza for a test day on Friday 29th. Next week we'll go to Spa. I love this track. I'd like to race there all the year round. It's the best of the all the track and I hope that I'll have a car that works the way I want. I'll give it all to win again. If someone has doubts as far as my motivation is concerned: go ahead. I want to win. More than ever!"

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Unfortunately our Pietro Tempini was hit by the car and hurt himself.

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Op woensdag 27 augustus 2008 13:03 schreef Trystar het volgende:

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Ik denk dat als je zolang getest hebt de race spirit toch een beetje weg is. Kijk maar naar Wurz vorig jaar, die kon toch ook niet meer echt potten breken.

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Op woensdag 27 augustus 2008 13:03 schreef Trystar het volgende:

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Ik denk dat als je zolang getest hebt de race spirit toch een beetje weg is. Kijk maar naar Wurz vorig jaar, die kon toch ook niet meer echt potten breken.

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Op woensdag 27 augustus 2008 19:26 schreef Trystar het volgende:
Uitslag eerste test dag Autodromo Nazionale Monza;
[ code verwijderd ]

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Some teams want turbo engines for 2012
^{Posted 27 August 2008 at 18:19 GMT}

In the current trackside discussions about possible new rules for the future, some teams are pushing for a radical change on the engine front.

According to the largest Austrian daily, Kronen Zeitung, Renault and also BMW are fully behind the push for small turbo-charged engines for the 2012 season and beyond.

The newspaper said those teams have proposed a 1.5 litre capacity for the turbos, with 1.5 bar boost.

Ferrari's current reliability problems aside, it is no surprise the Italian marque's rivals are pushing for the end to the current 2.4 litre normally-aspirated V8 era.

One key speed trap at the Valencia circuit last weekend captured Sebastien Bourdais (313kmh), Kimi Räikkönen (313), Sebastian Vettel (313), Felipe Massa (312) and Adrian Sutil (311) monopolising the top five positions in terms of sheer top-end grunt.

All of the aforementioned drivers use Ferrari engines.

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Heidfeld future back under dark cloud
^{Posted 27 August 2008 at 18:19 GMT}

Following a dreadful showing at Valencia last weekend, Nick Heidfeld's future in Formula One is back under a dark cloud.

"When we are in a position to do so, we need to be scoring with both cars," BMW-Sauber team boss Mario Theissen was quoted as saying by RTL after the European grand prix, where Robert Kubica finished on the podium and Heidfeld, the 31-year-old German, was ninth and out of the points.

Dispensing with Heidfeld, however, could be an expensive option for BMW - not only will the Swiss based outfit need to replace the veteran with a talented successor, but it is understood Heidfeld is already firmly under contract, with a multi-million dollar retainer, for 2009.

In the German press, however, it is rumoured that Heidfeld's managers Andre Theuerzeit and Werner Heinz nonetheless recognise the gravity of the situation and are on the hunt for a back-up plan.

Theuerzeit was spotted more than once in the Red Bull motor home at Valencia, possibly to explore the vacancies at the energy drink company's junior team Toro Rosso.

However, another team boss with a vacancy for next year, Honda's Nick Fry, is quoted as telling the German newspaper AZ when asked about a 2009 berth: "Heidfeld? No."

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Op woensdag 27 augustus 2008 19:35 schreef Googolplexian het volgende:

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Rubens doet lekker mee


trouwens:
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en
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Oud-wereldkampioen Phill Hill overleden

Phil Hill, de enige Amerikaan die tot nu toe wereldkampioen werd, is gisteren op 81-jarige leeftijd overleden. Hill leed al enige tijd aan de ziekte van Parkinson. De Amerikaan laat een vrouw, twee kinderen en vier kleinkinderen achter.

Hill debuteerde in 1958 in de F1 bij het Joakim Bonnier Racing Team dat met een Maserati reed, maar stapte in 1959 over naar Ferrari waar hij tot en met 1962 reed. In 1961 werd Hill wereldkampioen bij Ferrari en in zijn 7-jarige F1-carrière won hij drie Grote Prijzen en eindigde 16 keer op het podium. In 1966 reed Hill zijn laatste Grote Prijs voor het Anglo American Racers Team. In de 24 uren van Le Mans blonk Hill ook uit. In 1958, 1961 en 1962 slaagde hij erin om de befaamde uithoudingsrace te winnen.