Podcast # 163 !!  Des with the end of the week news.

Plus we include another great interview.

Mansell cool on Hamilton hype
STR’s Berger predicts F1 future for Senna
McLaren to use radical wing in Spanish GP
Renault win approval for second wind tunnel
Coulthard sets new Barcelona lap record
BMW scraps Friday driver strategy
Honda unlikely to race ‘elephant ears’

Mansell cool on Hamilton hype

 May 5 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton is reaping the rewards of formula one
success before he has truly delivered.
That is the claim of 1992 world champion and countryman Nigel Mansell,
who told the Daily Telegraph that the gushing British media also went
wild for Jenson Button long before the Englishman had won his solitary
race.
"What can you say?" Mansell, who is now pushing on the single seater
careers of his sons Leo and Greg, said.
"We had to win races and challenge for championships before we got the
rewards.  Now you seem to get the rewards before you achieve."
Mansell insisted that he has no hard feelings for Hamilton, but
credited much of the 22-year-old rookie’s impressive debut so far in 2007 to
McLaren.
He commented: "McLaren have been way overdue for success.  Timing is
everything.  When a driver can arrive with a team and an engine coming
right, it makes a difference.  No disrespect to him."
But Mansell hints that Hamilton’s immaculate preparation for F1, since
first meeting Ron Dennis at the age of 10, makes comparisons with
earlier greats unsuitable.
"I think it was ordained," he said, comparing Lewis’ full McLaren
sponsorship through his junior career to Mansell’s selling of a house to
fund a Formula 3 seat — only to be fired.
Mansell said: "My story was a lot harder."
—————————————————————————      STR’s Berger predicts F1 future for Senna 

While directing yet more criticism at Scott Speed, Toro
Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger has predicted a bright future in formula
one for Ayrton Senna’s nephew.
Former GP winner Berger, who for many years was Ayrton’s teammate and
friend until his death in 1994, hailed 23-year-old Bruno Senna’s
front-running GP2 debut in the recent Bahrain round.
"I have been observing him for some time," Berger told Sport Bild,
referring to the Brazilian whose mother Vivianne was Ayrton’s sister.
"If he can now confirm the great potential he showed in Bahrain, then
formula one is the next step."
Berger’s affection for Senna is bad news for Californian Speed, whose
seat already came into doubt after his moderate debut last season.
Champ Car sensation Sebastien Bourdais is already waiting in the wings
for 2008, and Berger said of Speed this season: "He has not yet awoken
from his winter sleep."
————————————————————————– McLaren to use radical wing in Spanish GP

  Contrary to earlier reports, McLaren has confirmed that
its new radical front wing is likely to be used at the Spanish grand prix
next weekend.
The Mercedes-powered team turned heads with the unique aerodynamic
innovation at the Barcelona test this week, which features an upper flap
that loops over the tip of the MP4-22 single seater’s nose.
But despite some suggestions that the piece had not lived up to
engineers’ expectations, McLaren’s F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh on Friday confirmed
that the team was "pleased" with the results of its Spanish test.
Drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Fernando Alonso, moreover, are understood
to have reported that the bodywork, nicknamed the ‘bridge’ by some
sections of the media, delivered a slight improvement to the car’s
production of front-end handling.
"Consequentially it will be one of the options available to our drivers
during the Spanish grand prix weekend," Whitmarsh said.
——————————————————————————————– Renault win approval for second wind tunnel

  Renault has won approval to situate a second wind tunnel
at its Enstone base.
Despite not enjoying a competitive start to the 2007 season, the
reigning back to back champions are looking to the longer-term future after
being granted conditional permission from the Oxfordshire County Council
to relocate a facility that is currently situated in Italy.
The approval is subject to the agreement of an ecologist, and it is
reported that at least one local resident is already objecting to the
development on the grounds that it will mean more vehicle movement on the
local roads.
The new tunnel will create an extra 15 jobs, according to the Cotswold
Journal.
——————————————————————————————– Coulthard sets new Barcelona lap record  

David Coulthard turned a few heads on Thursday by setting
a new unofficial lap record as the four day Barcelona test drew to a
close.
The Red Bull driver, whose ‘RB3′ was equipped with a new seamless shift
gearbox that also impressed in the hands of Mark Webber earlier this
week, narrowly went quicker than Kimi Raikkonen’s Monday benchmark after
Ferrari dominated the majority of the test.
It must be noted, however, that Scottish veteran Coulthard’s fast time
was achieved on a qualifying simulation run, and also before midday
when the skies above Circuit de Catalunya opened and ensured that none of
his rivals could trouble his apparent pace.
Meanwhile, aboard the heavily revised ‘F2007′ Ferrari, Brazil’s Felipe
Massa had a limited programme due to the rain and a hydraulic problem
in the morning, when it was mostly dry.
Teams packed up early at the end of the day when the track stayed wet.
Red Bull’s chief test engineer Ian Morgan said: "It’s always good to
produce quick lap times and to be fastest, but let’s wait and see how the
situation evolves when we come back here for the race."
The Spanish GP takes place next weekend.
—————————————————————————–

BMW scraps Friday driver strategy

BMW Sauber has apparently caved to the pressure of its
race drivers by scrapping the unpopular policy of sitting one of them out
during Friday morning practice at grands prix this year.
The Swiss based outfit’s team principal Mario Theissen confirmed that
teenaged tester Sebastian Vettel will not take to the cockpit of either
Robert Kubica or Nick Heidfeld’s cars at the Spanish GP next weekend.
"Until further notice, the two race drivers will be on track for the
whole of Friday," the German said, having earlier revealed that BMW would
"look closely" at the strategy following Heidfeld’s struggle to perfect
his setup with limited practice time.
Germany’s Bild newspaper proclaimed the decision as a victory for
Heidfeld, who has been openly vocal about disagreeing with a plan that put
BMW’s race drivers at a disadvantage compared with its rivals.
The tabloid publication headlined that Theissen’s back-flip is a
"triumph" for 29-year-old Nick, who has yet to secure a contract for 2008,
"in the struggle for power".
In a media preview about the Barcelona race next weekend, meanwhile,
BMW-Sauber said it wanted to remain clearly the third quickest team in
formula one as the European season develops in 2007.
—————————————————————————–

Honda unlikely to race ‘elephant ears’

Honda’s ‘elephant ears’ addition to the front nose of its
2007 car is unlikely to resurface at the Spanish GP next week.
The bizarre aerodynamic innovation – basically two sculpted vertical
winglets – was track debuted by test driver Christian Klien as the
Barcelona session drew to a close on Thursday.
But despite speculation that it is a definitive part of the beleaguered
Japanese squad’s new bodywork package, and the conspicuous presence at
Circuit de Catalunya of team boss Nick Fry, it is believed that Honda
engineers have almost certainly ruled out running the piece in the first
European race of 2007.
The Spanish newspaper ‘Diario As’ described the winglets, designed to
improve the RA107 single seater’s chronic instability under braking, as
"horrible" in appearance.
The report also claims that the device proved not adequately
"effective" after analysis of Klien’s programme for Thursday.
Race driver Rubens Barrichello, nonetheless, reports that he is feeling
"happier" with the updated RA107 following the test in Spain.
After finishing thirteenth and a lap down in Bahrain, he said: "We seem
to have found some results in the right direction, so I hope we can
make a small step forward at the next race."
—————————————————————————–
Alonso says home GP not special

 Fernando Alonso says he feels "no special responsibility"
in the lead-up to his home grand prix next weekend.
F1′s reigning world champion is credited for almost single-handedly
transforming the popularity of formula one in Spain, with an unprecedented
sellout crowd of 145,000 countrymen expected at the Barcelona circuit
next Sunday alone.
But 25-year-old Alonso shares a notoriously awkward relationship with
the Spanish press and has in the past expressed frustration at not being
able to live normally when he returns to the country from his home in
England.
Speaking to the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Barcelona
this week, he said: "I always try to drive a normal race.
"My goal is to win.  When I race here, I want to win.  When I race in
Bahrain, I want to win.  The same for Monaco.
"I know that thousands of fans come to the circuit to see me, but when
I am driving in Bahrain, five million Spaniards are watching me on
television anyway," Alonso insisted.
—————————————————————————–

Four-way fight in ’07 won’t last – Alonso

F1′s current four-way tussle for title supremacy is
unlikely to last until the final moments of the 2007 season.
That is the opinion of reigning double world champion Fernando Alonso,
who presently shares the top of the drivers’ standings with his rookie
teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen’s teammate Felipe Massa, meanwhile, is just five points
adrift.
"The two Ferrari and McLaren drivers will fight together probably until
the middle of the season," Spaniard Alonso said in an interview with
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
He added: "Eventually one or two will have some bad luck or stop
achieving such good results, so that at the end of the championship probably
only two or three will be left to fight."
Alonso conceded that English sensation Hamilton’s debut this year was
"a surprise for everyone".
"He is very fast and deserves his ranking in the championship. 
Hopefully he can keep it up for the whole year," the Spaniard said.
While discounting some of the current frontrunners, however, Alonso
says a maiden victory for BMW-Sauber’s impressive Nick Heidfeld this year
cannot be ruled out.
"At the moment there is a small gap from the two top teams to BMW," he
said.
"But perhaps at some circuits there will not be such a gap.  We saw in
Bahrain that Nick is capable of fighting for the front positions.
"I think there will be races when not only McLaren and Ferrari are on
the podium, but Nick as well.  And perhaps he will even fight for a
victory," Alonso added.
—————————————————————————– Updated Ferrari is ‘new car’ – Tost

The media-pleasers at the Barcelona test this week were
McLaren and Honda’s wacky wings.
But the real revolution roared out of the Ferrari garage, according to
the more astute members of the press; including Germany’s Sport Bild.
The magazine quoted Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost as observing: "What
Ferrari is testing is basically a new car."
Most obviously, the revised F2007 – strictly not a ‘b’-spec, according
to team sources – features a noticeably reshaped engine cover and
smaller sidepods.
The controversial under-body, meanwhile, has been totally redesigned to
withstand the FIA’s new flexibility tests.
But it is the engine’s cooling system that is the newest, allowing
Maranello based engineers to run a more aggressive bodywork setup and
dominate the opening three days of the ultimately four day test.
"We are at least half a second faster than before," team racer and
Bahrain GP winner Felipe Massa is quoted as admitting.
‘Sport Bild’ estimates that Ferrari’s advantage over McLaren ahead of
the Spanish grand prix may have blown out to more than one second per
lap.
——————————————————————————

Gene opposed to return of street circuits

   The apparent return of street circuits in formula one is
contrary to the sport’s push for better safety, according to Marc Gene.
The occasional Ferrari test driver told the Spanish news agency EFE
that he is opposed to Bernie Ecclestone’s negotiations with Valencia,
Singapore and other potential venues for Monaco-style city races.
Abu Dhabi’s grand prix layout for 2009 will combine a purpose-built
facility with a city section.
"It is definitely not going to be safer for the drivers," Gene said of
the apparent trend.
He continued: "With the exception of Monaco, the occurrence of street
races has been fading over the years.
"I don’t think it is a good idea that they start coming back, obviously
because of safety.
"But also in terms of the spectacle (I am opposed) because you almost
never see overtaking on a street circuit.
"Just from the perspective of a driver, I am not in favour."
—————————————————————————-

F1 switch for Rossi not likely – Bernie

Bernie Ecclestone has backed multiple MotoGP champion
Valentino Rossi’s decision last year to call off his switch to formula one.
The F1 supremo, who chatted with the Italian rider on a visit to the
Istanbul round recently, said Rossi would have been "stupid" to abandon
his kingdom for the big unknown world of four wheels.
Bernie, 76, was reportedly desperate to lure flamboyant Rossi to F1 and
instrumental in his tests with Ferrari a couple of years ago.
But asked by Motorcycle News about Rossi’s decision to stick with
MotoGP, Ecclestone replied: "I would like to have seen him with us (but) to
be honest he’s good where he is.
"Obviously he would have been stupid to have moved.  Honestly he’s the
king of the bikes and it would have been stupid to come to formula one
and maybe not make it.
"He did the right thing," Bernie added.
"We don’t know, maybe he would have come in and done well."
28-year-old Rossi is contracted to stay with his Yamaha team on two
wheels until the end of next year, but Ecclestone said he thought it now
unlikely that he might switch to formula one in the future.
Bernie said: "I think more likely he wants to do rallies.  For us (the
issue is) not closed and for the teams I’m sure they’d love to have
him.
"I’d love him to be there (in F1), but I don’t see it."
—————————————————————————-
I won’t quit with third title – Alonso

Fernando Alonso has played down the prospect that he could
quit formula one as soon as he bags a third drivers’ title.
The 25-year-old Spaniard won back to back championships with Renault
and, after switching to McLaren, is jointly leading the 2007 standings.
The situation has rekindled memories of statements Alonso made late
last year, when he hinted that he would be content to retire with the same
number of titles as Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda.
In an new interview with Deutsche Press-Agentur, however, he clarified
that while he would be content with three championships, it does not
mean that he will quit if he achieves it in 2007.
Alonso started a three-season McLaren contract this year, and said:
"Even if I do achieve my ambition (in 2007) it will not mean that I will
no longer want to drive.
"If I should become a three times world champion, I will try to do it
four times.
"Each year you need new motivations and new goals.  This year the
motivation is to win with McLaren-Mercedes and get the title.  And next year
will not be different," Alonso said.
He agreed, however, that a third title would probably change the
challenge of formula one for him in successive seasons.
Alonso explained: "The pressure would probably not be as high as before
– I can imagine it would be more fun."


(c) 2007 Global Motorsport Media (GMM)
———————–

             

Podcast number 162  Gilles Villeneuve tribute.

Motorsports Mondial

McLaren unlikely to race radical wing
More rain likely for last day in Spain
McLaren forks out to ‘inspire staff’
Vettel not guaranteed BMW seat in 2008
Mateschitz rejects Red Bull ‘crisis’
Red Bull hunt for ‘reserve’ stand-in
Another famous son begins racing rise

McLaren unlikely to race radical wing
May 3 (GMM)  McLaren is unlikely to use its unique ‘bridge’ front wing
design at the Spanish grand prix next week.

The Woking based team publicly debuted the innovation at the pre-race
test at Circuit de Catalunya on Monday, and on Wednesday world champion
Fernando Alonso got his first taste of the unique bodywork.

But the Spanish newspaper Diario As reports that 25-year-old Alonso did
not offer promising feedback after using the wing – now painted red
after originally appearing in carbon-fibre black – on the Barcelona
layout.

"The extravagant and revolutionary front innovation did not work as the
team had expected," the report added.

Alonso was fifth quickest in the MP4-22 on Wednesday; a full second off
the pace of the dominant Ferrari steered by Felipe Massa.

‘As’ said Pedro de la Rosa will conclude McLaren’s test on Thursday,
with Alonso due to do an appearance for a sponsor.

—————–

More rain likely for last day in Spain
May 3 (GMM)  After torrential rain washed out day two of the crucial
Barcelona test, the skies above Circuit de Catalunya brought a better day
of weather on Wednesday.

Although some light rain interrupted proceedings for a short time
around noon, warm Spanish sunshine mostly set the scene as Ferrari continued
its dominance of the pace.

Having taken over the Finn’s F2007, however, Felipe Massa trailed
teammate Kimi Raikkonen’s new unofficial circuit record by a few tenths.

A Williams spokeswoman, meanwhile, confirmed that Nico Rosberg was
taken to the local hospital for tests after he crashed his FW29 at high
speed without setting a lap time.

He was not injured.

Due to Tuesday’s bad weather, the initially three-day test has been
extended to include Thursday, but the risk of rain on day four is high.

Along with Williams, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri and Spyker all opted
against staying around for the extra day.

————————

McLaren forks out to ‘inspire staff’
May 3 (GMM)  Some sections of the media dismissed a press release
distributed by the McLaren team last week.

The headline ‘Arts Council Collection teams up with the
McLaren group’ led some to believe that the rest of the document would
outline a typical sponsorship or promotional deal between the two
parties — hardly the stuff of a media scoop.

Team boss Ron Dennis, however, had revealed that he hoped displaying
some of Britain’s top sculptures around the huge and impressive Woking
factory would stimulate workers’ "individual creativity".

It also emerges that, unlike the traditional team-sponsor arrangement
of money in return for promotion, the only party forking out the cash
for this arrangement is McLaren itself.

The team says it wants to help the Arts Council "increase its already
important support of the young and emerging artists working in Britain",
while the English broadsheet newspaper The Guardian revealed that
Dennis is an avid art aficionado and recreational collector.

The sum McLaren pays is unknown, but the Arts Council’s head Caroline
Douglas confirmed that the money "comes without strings and simply
enables us to do more of what we’ve always done".

———————-

Red Bull hunt for ‘reserve’ stand-in
May 3 (GMM)  Red Bull are probably on the lookout for a stand-in
‘reserve’ driver for the upcoming Spanish grand prix.

It is reported that Michael Ammermuller, who usually fills the role in
2007 after last year’s reserve Robert Doornbos headed to race in Champ
Car, is currently nursing a fracture in his wrist.

One possible stand-in for 21-year-old Ammermuller is the Red
Bull-backed and Renault World Series racer Filipe Albuquerque, from Portugal, who
got his first taste of a formula one single seater recently when he
performed a demonstration on the streets of Colombia.

German Ammermuller drives for ART in the GP2 category, but he is likely
to miss next weekend’s round in support of the Spanish GP.

Ammermuller may have aggravated the injury, sustained in an earlier
clash with Kazuki Nakajima in Bahrain, by persevering at the wheel of his
GP2 car without adequate treatment.

He has now undergone surgery in Austria to insert a titanium screw, and
wrist specialist Andreas Priol commented that full recovery is likely
to take several weeks.


————————

Another famous son begins racing rise
May 3 (GMM)  Yet another son of a famous formula one driver is about to
emerge on the single seater scene.

Adrien Tambay is the 16-year-old son of former McLaren and Ferrari
driver Patrick Tambay, the Frenchman who won two grands prix in his
123-race career in the 70s and 80s.

Adrien, an accomplished karter, will make his car debut this weekend in
the opening round of the Formula BMW Deutschland series at
Oschersleben.

Part of BMW’s exclusive Young Driver Scholarship Programme, Tambay will
race in 2007 for JK Racing, the current champions who powered names
including Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil to past title success.

The series’ Nurburgring round in July will support F1′s German grand
prix.

Meanwhile, one of Adrien Tambay’s rivals in karts last year, we have
learned, was Bas Lammers, the son of Dutch former F1 driver Jan.

———————-

Vettel not guaranteed BMW seat in 2008
May 3 (GMM)  Sebastian Vettel has played down suggestions that he has
already been guaranteed a race seat at the BMW-Sauber team for next
year.

The 19-year-old German brought controversy to the garage of the Swiss
based camp in 2007 when boss Mario Theissen insisted that he should
appear in one of the race drivers’ seats on the Friday before every GP.

BMW is now reviewing this questionable policy, but Theissen’s affection
for the youngster is well known and some observers wonder if the Vettel
saga could be linked with Nick Heidfeld’s wait for a new contract.

The news agency ‘sid’, however, insists that Vettel has not been
guaranteed a 2008 seat, even though he seems to be setting up for a long
future at BMW by recently moving his residence from birthplace Heppenheim
(Germany) to a small house near Sauber’s Swiss base.

The teenager himself is keeping quiet: "We will have to wait and see,"
Vettel, who is racing in the Renault World Series this year, said.

He insisted that it is too early to think about what will happen in
2008.

Blonde Vettel, who now sports a cropped haircut after years with a
Beatle-style mop, added: "There has only been three races of this season."


(c) 2007 Global Motorsport Media (GMM)

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