F1-Blog

Customer cars under fire

Spyker GP have launched arbitration proceedings against the two ‘customer’ chassis teams.

The Dutch (English) team have said that they believe that the Super Aguri SA07 is a clone of the Honda RA106 (from last year). They have also said that the Scuderia Toro Rosso STR2 is a repackaged version of the Red Bull RB3 designed by Adrian Newey.

They say that because of this both teams are in violation of the 2007 sporting regulations.

This is not the first time that Spyker have complained about the two teams. They complained to the stewards at the Australian GP after qualifying, the stewards however threw the complaint out on procedural grounds.

The case will now go to the Swiss court that judges Concorde Agreement cases. Both of the teams involved say that they comply to the Concorde Agreement, as they own the intellectual property for the chassis they are using.

If Spyker actually get this through, the probable outcome would be that the teams would not be eligible for constructor points, this would not affect the drivers points however.

Super Aguri Delay Launch

So the Tokyo Launch on the 12 is off. Why may we ask? Is it because Williams and Spyker (to name a few) are hoping to take the team to task if they believe the car is not Super Aguri’s own design (we already know it’s based at least on the 2006 Honda). Perhaps Super Aguri are hoping that if they launch the car at Albert Park on the GP weekend then the teams that will protest will have no time to do so.

If I were Super Aguri I would be less worried about my car, as they are not really a challenge (although I would love to see them perform, certainly Anthony Davidson). I believe all the teams will be complaining more about the Toro Rosso car that is not last years Red Bull, but is rather this years Red Bull with a different engine.

With only this year left of the rules that block chassis and major component sharing, I believe the teams should just buckle down and be done with it, after all it’s not the first time in F1 that teams have shared chassis.

Ferrari goes pop, Alonso goes Top

The 20th and for the forseable future, last Japanese grand prix at the Suzuka circuit threw out a doozy.

The Michelin tyres really did not perform well in qualifying on Saturday, with the Bridgestone tyres showing a 1 second advantage in the final grid layout.

However Sunday brought lower track temperatures, and a more rubbered in track. This brought the Michelin tyres up to the race pace of the Bridgestone runners.

Alonso made a good move from the start to elevate himself from fifth to fourth after the second corner. Alonso however struggled then to pass the obviously slower Toyota of Ralph Schumacher, with Massa and Michael Schumacher after he took the lead on lap 3.

The Toyotas where the first cars to stop, with Massa coming in shortly after due to a puncture, this put Massa out of position after the stop, coming out behind the BMW of Heidfeld. This tied Massa up, and allowed Alonso to stop and come out ahead after his stop.

Alonso, the Renault and the Michelin tyres started to come good, and he started to make inroads into the lead that Michael had gained.

Albers Spyker car, of which he has been complaining of vibrations, rear end explodes. It seems that a drive shaft has broken and the force has destroyed the back end of his car. Fortunately there is not too much debris on the track, and the safety car is not brought out.

Alonso managed to get within 4 seconds of Michael, but it seemed the Ferrari and Bridgestone had started to equalise the gap. Alonso it seemed could not catch the Ferrari.

However it turned out that he did not need to catch Michael, only keep his car on the road. This is because the unthinkable happened, Michael's Ferrari engine had it's first failure in a race since 2001.  The engine failure happens not long after Michael's second stop, it seems that the new Ferrari engine may not be as bullet proof as before. This is however the engines second outing, and Ross Brawn openly states that they run them a little closer to the limit's towards the end of the season.

 Alonso went on to win the race, followed by Massa and Fisichella with Button coming in fourth and Raikkonen driving a good solid race to come in sixth.

The Toyota cars faded badly after the stops and only managed sixth (Trulli) and seventh (Ralph), it seemed that after the tyre changes the cars where just not as balanced as before.

The outcome of the race leaves Alonso only requiring one point in the final race in two weeks time to take the championship, and Renault are nine point ahead in the constructors championship.

Some may say it was about time that Alonso had some luck go his way, and with this race it seems he got it all in one lump.

So it is a sad farewell to one of the last remaining drivers circuits on the grid. Let's just hope that the final race in Brazil is a great final race for Schumi.

Bridgestone quick at home

It seems that the Bridgestone tyres where certainly the rubber to have in Japan today.

The qualifying session ended with the first four spots on the grid for tomorrows race are held by the Japanese tyre giant.

This is certainly bad news for the Renault's and Alonso in particular. However the Ferrari's where pushed hard during the third session by one of the other home teams Toyota. This caused both of the Ferrari cars going out to set the fastest times at the end of the session, this however worked against Michael as Fillipe managed to pip the German to the pole position.

The Renault team are the fastest of the Michelin tyre runners starting from fifth and sixth on the grid behind the two Toyota's and the two Ferrari cars.

The shock of the session was the lack in pace from the McLaren cars, both of the cars did not make it through to 3rd qualifying.

Ferrari to supply three?

News from the Spyker MF1 team is that they have signed a one year engine deal with Ferrari.

The team is hoping that the new power unit's will move them up the grid next year. However there is nothing really wrong with the Toyota lumps they are currently running.

The teams CEO Victor Muller said: "To reach agreement with the number one name in the Formula One world for over 50 years is a milestone in the history of our company.

I am convinced that the co-operation of Spyker MF1 Team with Ferrari and its dedicated staff will bear fruit for the 2007 season.

Mike Gascoyne`s input as Chief Technology Officer, effective November 1, 2006, leads me to believe that Spyker will become a serious contender in the F1 seasons to come."

The Mike Gascoyne comment is perhaps more relevant at moving the team up the grid than the Ferrari engine deal. With some luck Mike may get back into his rhythm with the Silverstone based squad and give the team some pace from the chassis and aero departments.