F1 BLOG

It would appear that Bridgestone is under fire in the press. There is concern that teams will not be treated equally and that some teams may have an unfair advantage.

Some are claiming that Ferrari will be getting their Bridgestone tires for free while other teams will have to pay out around $5 Million for the tires. This of course raises the concern that there will not be a level playing field when it comes to tires next season.

Bridgestones response so far has been that their contracts with the individual teams are confidential and they won’t discuss the details of their arrangements with the various teams.

So, going into the 2007 season the single tire supplier issue looks like it is a little more complex and perhaps a little less fair than it would appear on the surface.

I’m sure we are going to hear more about this once the 2007 Formula One season hits the track.

It looks like Sebastien Bourdais is struggling on his first F1 test day. Firmly in last place, 6 tenths slower than the other Toro Rosso car. Perhaps Sebastien doesn’t have what it takes to drive F1 or perhaps he just needs more time in the car.

There are a few more days of testing so we’ll just have to wait and see if he manages to improve his performance.

It would appear the Kimi Raikkonen has a bit of a reputation for getting a little out of hand when he celebrates with the bottle. Ferrari master Jean Todt is reported to have told Kimi to “Be Discreet” when he is enjoying his favorite beverages. Todt feels that with Kimi now part of the Ferrari team he will be more in the public eye and will have to behave better when in the much brighter spotlight of the Ferrari team.

Photo by Brian Scott

I always thought that F1 drivers were supposed to be athletes of the highest order of fitness. I just can’t imagine driving a Formula 1 car with a pounding hangover.

Actually, that’s not true, I can Imagine it. It doesn’t really sound like alot of fun though.

It looks like McLaren are going to have to wait until January to get Fernando Alonso behind the wheel of one of their cars. It seems that Renault just doesn’t feel there is any point in releasing Fernando to the McLaren team before his contract is up.

While I firmly believe that people should honour their contracts I really just see this as sour grapes from Renault. Sure, you can argue that he has a contract and that’s fair but I really don’t see any reason why Renault can’t let him go a few weeks early. I guesss in F1 you take every advantage you can and at the moment Renault sees keeping Fernando Alonso out of the McLaren as some sort of advantage for next year.

It looks like Sebastien Bourdais has found himself a chance to show what he can do in a Formula One Car. He had been complaining that while he wanted to drive Formula One that no one was giving him any offer other than a testing position which he felt was below someone with his history in Champ Cars.

It appears today that he has changed his tune. Scuderia Toro Rosso has offered him a chance to test with them in Jerez during the 13th to 15th of December.

I will be most interested to see how his Champ Car experience translates to the world of F1.