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Post by schumi on Nov 3, 2007 14:40:25 GMT
Renault chief Flavio Briatore has offered Fernando Alonso a deal to return to the team which helped him win the 2005 and 2006 world titles. Alonso has left McLaren and speculation suggests he could move to a team for a year before a switch to Ferrari.
But Briatore says Renault are not prepared to be an interim measure.
"I have presented a project for the future to Fernando," Briatore told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport's website.
"If his desires coincide with ours, it can happen.
"I know how much he can still give Renault. But an agreement for one year would have no sense with an outlook projected for a period of time."
Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen are currently the drivers at Renault, who finished third behind Ferrari and BMW in the constructor standings last season.
From the BBC.
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Post by schumi on Nov 7, 2007 14:50:22 GMT
Williams have announced that 22-year-old Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima will race for the team in 2008.
Significantly, in the press release that confirmed Nakajima's appointment, the team repeatedly expressed its confidence that Nico Rosberg, targeted by McLaren as Fernando Alonso's replacement, will also remain with the Grove outfit.
'After two seasons of racing for AT&T Williams, Rosberg is an established and highly regarded talent and he will form the mainstay of the team's continued drive towards the front of the field,' Williams declared.
Team boss Frank Williams added: "I am delighted to confirm that Nico will be racing for the team for his third consecutive year after demonstrating impressive and widely applauded form in 2007. Nico will be ably partnered by Kazuki, who has impressed the team over the past year. He has pace and the right aptitude to develop into a competitive Formula One racer and over the course of the next season, we will provide him with all the necessary support and assistance to hone his talents."
From planetf1
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Post by Genghis on Nov 7, 2007 19:05:36 GMT
Significantly, in the press release that confirmed Nakajima's appointment, the team repeatedly expressed its confidence that Nico Rosberg, targeted by McLaren as Fernando Alonso's replacement, will also remain with the Grove outfit. Schumi - I told ya, it'll be Button at McLaren alongside Hamilton in 2008.
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Post by schumi on Nov 19, 2007 16:27:53 GMT
Toyota confirm Timo Glock for 2008.
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Post by Genghis on Nov 19, 2007 18:04:38 GMT
Toyota confirm Timo Glock for 2008. Who?
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Post by schumi on Nov 19, 2007 20:36:45 GMT
Toyota confirm Timo Glock for 2008. Who? Drove for Jordan in 2004 - ring any bells?
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Post by donsking on Nov 20, 2007 0:06:41 GMT
Drove for Jordan in 2004 - ring any bells? Also one of the few drivers to score points on his debut, having finished 7th in the Canadian GP that year. More importantly, he's the 2007 GP2 champion. Good driver, naff team though; I hope that doesn't restrict his progress.
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Post by Genghis on Nov 20, 2007 11:46:23 GMT
Drove for Jordan in 2004 - ring any bells? Nope. F1 was a major snoozefest in 2004 - I missed watching a few of the races that year.
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Post by schumi on Nov 25, 2007 16:03:52 GMT
A little light-hearted reading from http://www.planetf1.com:
20 Things McLaren Have Learned In 2007 Friday 23rd November 2007
McLaren may be the second oldest team on the grid, but they're still learning. Here's what they found out this year.
* Lewis Hamilton is probably ready for a full race drive.
* When you have a driver with the fragile ego of one of the world's biggest divas, it's better to be extremely careful what you say after the race i.e. "we were racing Fernando" uttered by Ron Dennis after the Chinese GP would sound much better if it came out as "he was racing Fernando".
* Mike Coughlan's wife shouldn't be trusted with any important photo-copying. Come to think of it, Mike Coughlan shouldn't be trusted with anything, full stop.
* When you can see the lining of the tyre for a couple of laps, it may be time to change that tyre.
* If you find out that one of your employees has the full specification for your main rival's car, look up a mafia hitman in your Yellow Pages and get them to spend some quality time together.
* Don't make any Mercedes commercials that involve friendly rivalry between your two drivers, when on the track they want to knock lumps out of each other. (As we recall the "I can do anything better than you can" C-Class television commercial came out after their Monaco contretemps.)
* Equality isn't everything.
* Max Mosley's idea of "sporting fairness" is McLaren playing by the absolute letter of the law, and Ferrari telling him what that law is.
* Kimi Raikkonen IS a World Championship-winning driver.
* The year may have been a complete bummer, but it could have been worse. Juan Pablo Montoya could have been in the team.
* The idea that the FIA were serious about saving costs in F1 and encouraging customer teams - such as Prodrive - had the shelf-life of a bunch of bananas.
* A driver that stays in his cockpit while being hauled out of the gravel by a crane ( a fate that befell Lewis Hamilton at the Nurburgring) looks remarkably silly. Perhaps a future punishment should NOT be a $5000 fine or five grid places, but to suffer the humiliation of a lap of the circuit hoisted on that crane.
* Norbert Haug looks better WITH the moustache.
* Renault had 11 floppy discs of McLaren technical data for over a year before someone decided to own up (if this is true at all, some say it was McLaren who found out, not Renault admitting it).
* The team will be meeting some new faces and making new friends at the far end of the pitlane next year. But given the upcoming FIA investigation, it's highly likely that their old friends Renault will be next door.
* When following the Safety Car, the idea is actually to follow the Safety Car and not to pretend to be a water-skier, and zig-zag from side to side.
* Lewis may be one of the coolest drivers on the grid, but Anthony Hamilton is definitely the coolest drivers' dad. Felipe Massa would be best advised not to ask where his father comes in the ranking, while David Coulthard is old enough (and Mark Webber is grumpy enough) to be Sebastien Vettel's dad.
* Never ever ever ever ever ever let ITV run a feature on past British F1 World Champions until the trophy is mathematically won.
* When appealing - never take the stewards at their word - do everything by the book.
* The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes official body-warmer jacket looks about as chic as a Japanese marshal's disposable rain jacket. Stocked any good refrigerated cabinets lately, Ron.
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Post by Genghis on Nov 25, 2007 21:59:34 GMT
* Max Mosley's idea of "sporting fairness" is McLaren playing by the absolute letter of the law, and Ferrari telling him what that law is. How true this one actually is.
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Post by schumi on Dec 5, 2007 21:22:47 GMT
They have the Ferrari one on there, but it's not so funny. Latest from http://www.planetf1.com: Brace yourself for the most ludicrous piece of transfer gossip you've read this winter...Spanish newspaper AS claims that Fernando Alonso could join, wait for it, McLaren. Yes, McLaren. According to the newspaper, McLaren have re-opened 'lines of communication' with Alonso's management less than two months after terminating his contract. The team is said to have had second thoughts after their Spanish sponsors reacted badly to Alonso's departure and, with the driver market short of desirable goods, McLaren are willing to consider the Spaniard's demand for a one-year deal. Planet-F1 will believe it when it sees it.
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Post by Genghis on Dec 5, 2007 21:31:15 GMT
They have the Ferrari one on there, but it's not so funny. Latest from http://www.planetf1.com: Brace yourself for the most ludicrous piece of transfer gossip you've read this winter...Spanish newspaper AS claims that Fernando Alonso could join, wait for it, McLaren. Yes, McLaren. According to the newspaper, McLaren have re-opened 'lines of communication' with Alonso's management less than two months after terminating his contract. The team is said to have had second thoughts after their Spanish sponsors reacted badly to Alonso's departure and, with the driver market short of desirable goods, McLaren are willing to consider the Spaniard's demand for a one-year deal. Planet-F1 will believe it when it sees it. NO fucking way will Big Ron Dennis have the Spanish flapperjack back. Schumi - what is that on your avatar? Is it a Tiger - have you joined Paulco as a Glasgow fan?
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Post by schumi on Dec 5, 2007 21:35:46 GMT
Schumi - what is that on your avatar? Is it a Tiger - have you joined Paulco as a Glasgow fan? It's Lejonen's logo. Have to defect to Sweden now the BSPA, in their infinite wisdom, have kicked out the most exciting rider in the elite league. (Now that Balinski's gone, of course.) And are you following me?
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Post by schumi on Dec 5, 2007 21:36:30 GMT
NO fucking way will Big Ron Dennis have the Spanish flapperjack back. Is this like your prediciton we'll see Button in the McLaren?
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Post by Genghis on Dec 5, 2007 21:41:06 GMT
Schumi - what is that on your avatar? Is it a Tiger - have you joined Paulco as a Glasgow fan? It's Lejonen's logo. Have to defect to Sweden now the BSPA, in their infinite wisdom, have kicked out the most exciting rider in the elite league. (Now that Balinski's gone, of course.) And are you following me? No, just looked up the last 25 posts. Is it a Tiger - it is quite weird looking. Schumi - can't remember the last time Nicki bothered turning up at Oxford anyway. ... and as for Balinski, he was quite exicting at Swindon, but because the Cov riders kept passing him.
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