This is a few days old, but... Bernie has sold his (controlling) stake in Formula One... for THREE BILLION DOLLARS.

Rumors abound, of course. "It's a way for the manufacturers to buy the series!" "Bernie is bailing before it goes belly-up!" And on and on... I prefer to just CELEBRATE!

Until I think: It's possible that someone/thing worse can take over. And then I cry.

In other F1 News:

Robert Doorknob is going to be Friday Driver for the Bovines of Crimson. Aren't they lucky? They deserve him.

Narain Karthekeyain's sponsor in India, Tata Motors, is apparantly giving thoughts to getting into auto racing in a big way... read: maybe F1-level big.

Super Aguri F1 still is laboring to get ready for next year. Rumors are saying that either A) they'll be using last year's BAR-Honda chassis, or 2) the 2002 ARROWS chassis. Great googly mooglie, what's next? The six-wheeled March/Lola? The 1970s-era John Player Special? (Please? Pretty please?)

Midland-Jordan is no longer Midland, Jordan, or any combination thereof. They are now officially MF1. Hold all "M-F" jokes, please. They've got a snazzy paintjob, if nothing else.

...and I'm tapped out for today. Lots of backstage stuff in F1, little that's interesting, though. Until next time, Make Mine Minardi!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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According to the Agency France Presse, Giancarlo Fisichella has lost his driver's license.

For speeding.

I'm withholding all obvious jokes.

Really.

Doesn't mean you guys can't make some in the comments, though.

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The F1 circus now has another kingly butt to kiss: Prince Albert of Monaco was crowned King of that teeny country today.

Rah.

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BMW, who recently decided to run their own F1 team, has decided to name the team "BMW Sauber."

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said "It reflects the make-up of the team - run by BMW but with a core of almost 300 Sauber employees. Plus, the 2006 car was developed by Sauber's proven engineers."

So Sauber won't be entirely gone from F1 in 2006... would it have been so hard for the Brick Brahmas to include "Minardi" in their team-name???

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Click HERE to see the new Ferrari. It's amazing.

If they really field this one, winning the Constructors Championship'll be a snap!

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...to bring you the stunning news that Adrian Newey, The Car Designer (note capitals) of Formula 1, is leaving McLaren at the end of December for the Crimson Steers. It's unknown at this moment which team of the Bloody Bullocks he'll be working with, of if he'll be the designer for both.

This likely won't have any effect this season; if the Carmine Longhorns don't have a car already built and ready for testing by now, they'll suffer VERY badly in 2006. However, he'll be able to tinker and tweak the car they have, while working on the 2007 vehicle.

It's rare that one person can make a huge difference in a F1 team. It's even more rare when that one person ISN'T a driver. However, Newey is one of those freak talents that could take a mediocre team and make it great. It may take a couple-three years, but this is huge news for the Maroon Brahmas.

Conversely, McLaren has GOT to be unhappy as all get-out. The MP4-20 is a 100% Newey design. I'd assume the... MP4-21?... is as well. But then what for them?

At least he didn't go to Jordan... MIDLAND. I've got to remember that.

Oh, speaking of which, Tiago Montiero is apparantly going to be teaming with Christijan Albers next year. THAT'S gonna be a fun pair to watch....

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Okay, so here's the news of the weird, with hat-tips a-plenty to the good folks at GrandPrix.com.

So, Takuma Sato hasn't yet been signed to SuperAguri, but that's pretty much a sure thing. Here's the more interesting part: SuperAguri might turn out to be an all-Japanese-driver affair, and I've even heard of this guy! His name is Kosuke Matsuura, and he was the IRL's rookie of the year in 2004. Seems to be a good one, he does. Of course, we all know Takuma (Suicide) Sato. As near as I can tell, this combination may very well make the greatest Japanese pair of drivers on one team ever.*

But what I'm really the happiest about is the official announcement of Christijan Albers to Team Jorda... er... Midland. I don't think it's any secret that I think that he's gonna be a solid driver in the future. Heck, he's shown it already... just surviving a year with Minardi, and raising eyebrows with his mad driving skillz, shows that he's got some ability.

Speaking of Minardi... the thing that I was most looking forward to next year was Minardi using a "detuned" V10 against all the V8 engines out there. See, I suspect that a V10, even a "dirty" one, will have higher torque, and a better top-end, all things being equal, to the V8s... just imagine a Minardi having a higher acceleration than everybody else, along with a competetive top speed.

I note that The Emperor and Darth Bernie have been trying to get dirty V10s to be the standard for a while. I think this whole "you can use a clean V8, or a dirty V10 engine" thing was just a way for them to back-door their desires. I'm guessing that somewhere around the halfway point of the season, you'll find maybe half the teams using 2005 engines again... if they can figure out how to shoehorn them into the cars.

But then, I'm just a duck, what do I know from F1 cars?

*note: this is like having the best team of Dutch drivers ever, like Minardi had this year... i.e., there's never been two Japanese (or Dutch) drivers together before.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Team Super Aguri is GO!

Long rumored, Honda's B-Team was officially announced today, and "reportedly" Takuma Sato is up for the #1 driver slot.

22 cars on the grid? Be still my heart!

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1 Yay, more teams the better. Was watching the Bathurst a few weeks back, and 40 car grids are so much more fun

Posted by: flotsky at November 01, 2005 08:52 PM (6T2ID)

2 Ain't that the truth?

Posted by: Wonderduck at November 02, 2005 05:52 AM (+rGmJ)

3 Whoohoo! Takuma Sato back in the mix.

Posted by: Mallory at November 02, 2005 07:02 AM (ywZa8)

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