Heikki Kovalainen

Spaniard · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject: Team McLaren-Mercedes

A driver like Heikki needs in his forum a topic about his team Twisted Evil

. I know there are some supporters arround here, so I guess a topic about McLaren is needed.

We've completed half a season and the results achieved until now are pretty acceptable.

About WDC, we have Hamilton leading the championship. He has won 3 races (Australia, Monaco and United Kingdom). It will be enough if the championship finishes on this way. With Hamilton leading it. He is fast, but certain mistakes made him lose valueable points. But, of course, all the rivals have made mistakes, that's why we have 3 drivers with 48 points. Kovalainen's races have a lot of ways to be interpreted. If we take into account the final results only, the season is poor. Just one podium, 24 points and a 6th position in the WDC. Luck hasn't been on his side, 3 or 4 GPs have finished worse than expected due to external factors foreign to Heikki. I hope the philosophy which can always be extracted from Heikki's words will turn into truth in the future. I like it. Personally I trust him pretty much, but I think this year is not his year. Possibly 2009. De la Rosa hasn't tested as much as the previous seasons, but his work is important and it's good to have him just in case of 'difficulties'.

About WCC, logically MP4-23 hasn't been as good as F2008 during these 9 first races... but 24 points is not a definitive difference. This Championship is going to be toughed to be won, but more incredible things have been seen. Sauber-BMW has won more points as a team, and maybe that fact makes the situation a little bit uglier, but we still have 9 races to go.

So... let's the future talks during next races!

Harry1986 · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject:

I often wonder to myself about Heikki and winning a championship. Sometimes i think he's going to end up a bit like Massa, a competent challenger, regularly in the points, sometimes even a strong championship contender.... but never quite able to pull it off.

I don't think 2008 will be heikki's year either, 2009 would be ambitious but i guess perhaps possible. Its just the fact that last years championship was won by a point, and now this year the top three drivers are on equal points with kubica only 2 points adrift. The competition is so SO tough and all of the drivers want it so bad, naturally.

If bmw carries on developing its car and closes the gap with ferrari and mclaren even more then next year is going to be a battle down to the wire. I know bmw were on the up last season but heck, i wasnt expecting them to be this competitive, i figured itd just be a battle against the reds.

The various penalties and setbacks have cost the team in terms of points which is unfortunate for the WCC. i thought the grid penalties in sepang were a tiny bit harsh but then rules are rules and theres probably tons of people who would disagree with me Very Happy

My hopes arent that positive about mclaren in the WCC, unless we get some sort of rythm going and keep bringing the cars home in the points as often as possible. As for the drivers championship... right now... who knows??!!?!! But i do know mclaren, heikki and lewis will do all they can so... just wait for the next race i guess!

_________________

We will not quit

Marat · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject:

Actually there was such a topic Wink

Only registered users can see links on this forum!
Register or Login on forum!

Spaniard · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:51 pm Post subject:

Ah, ok Marat Smile

, but last post there, was written... almost 3 years ago, so we had to build a new house to keep the spirit in good conditions. Twisted Evil

Anyway, if the moderators want to close this one since it's repited, it would be ok, but I don't think the old one is going to be used anymore!

(The new one is almost empty so... Laughing

)

Marat · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:

Agree in most Smile

Going to Valencia on 24th?

Reemz27

Quote:

McLaren Electronic Systems will take on a new partner in Freescale Semiconductors to help develop the team’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) from 2010.

KERS units can be introduced into Formula 1 from the start of the 2009 season and will offer drivers a push-to pass function by recovering energy otherwise lost under braking and converting it into a power boost.

McLaren's new partnership is aimed at improving its F1 KERS unit as well as fulfilling the FIA’s ambition of enhancing hybrid drivetrains on road cars, where Freescale is a market leader.

“This joint KERS development project with McLaren Electronic Systems is on the cutting edge of automotive technology,” said Steve Wainwright, vice-president of Freescale.

“As the leading supplier of automotive semiconductors, Freescale can help McLaren Electronic Systems make a difference in their quest for advanced powertrain control technology and energy-efficient systems.

“Formula 1 is one of the most exciting and fastest moving laboratories for automotive technology.

“We will work hard to help ensure that the technologies developed in concert with McLaren Electronic Systems will rapidly find their way into mainstream cars to the benefit of consumers and our automotive customers eager to receive energy-efficient solutions.”

_________________

Reemz27

Quote:

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh says the team is relishing the prospect of helping Force India move up the grid after agreeing an extensive technical partnership with the team.

The two squads confirmed on Monday that Force India would use a supply of Mercedes engines in addition to McLaren's gearbox, hydraulics and Kinetic Energy Recovery System [KERS] from 2009, while also having access to the McLaren Group’s network of suppliers

And while Whitmarsh made it clear following the announcement that the tie-up didn’t mean Force India was now McLaren’s ‘B’ team, he says McLaren is nevertheless prepared to play a key role in the Silverstone-based squad’s future.

“For McLaren I think any new challenge is interesting and exciting,” he said in a video interview on Force India’s website.

“Bringing Force India up the grid is really going to be a great challenge for Force India and McLaren – I think we look forward to that.

“We’ve operated at one end of the grid for such a long time, I think it’s going to be really interesting now to see how we can adapt and how we can contribute to the process of improving the competitiveness of Force India.

“We as McLaren wouldn’t have got into this relationship unless we felt we could contribute.

“The exciting thing over the next few months is to see if we really can.”

While the two teams ran at opposite end of the grids in 2008, Whitmarsh says the fact the whole grid was so closely matched means McLaren won’t be able to help transform the fortunes of Force India overnight.

Instead in addition to the systems the team is providing through the deal, Whitmarsh says it will form a deeper working partnership.

“In addition to that [basic components of relationship] we will be working with Force India to look at their engineering processes,” he said.

“So there is no great secrets – the spread across the grid in Formula 1 is only perhaps 2% performance differentiation – and we’re not going to come along with some trick widget or some trick idea which is suddenly going to transform the fortunes of Force India.

“What we need to do is go back to looking at the engineering process, maybe aerodynamics, CFD, the wind tunnel, the simulation areas.

“These are areas where I think McLaren has a lot of capability and I think we hopefully, by working together, can improve the processes here and consequently improve the performance of the team.”

Whitmarsh also made it clear that he didn’t think the partnership would distract McLaren from its main job of challenging for world championships and would instead actually benefit it in the long term.

“One thing that we must be very careful is that we don’t detract from our own Formula 1 programme,” he said.

“But clearly in a very stable organisation, which I’m pleased to say McLaren Racing is, we have people who need development, need opportunities so we will be seconding people from our Applied Technology company into Force India to strengthen them and that will help develop them.

“And in the coming years I believe that we will become stronger from this experience, we are going to learn things from being here.

“You do in any business challenge, any new environment, you learn something new each day so hopefully this will be something truly synergistic and to the benefit of both teams.”

He added that McLaren is keen to see the new partnership bear significant fruits and would even be happy for Force India to challenge it at the front of the field.

“I think it is unrealistic to believe that by Australia next year we are going to be winning from Force India, but I truly do hope that Force India improves to a substantial extent,” he said.

“If that causes McLaren Racing difficulty then it’s a kick up the backside that perhaps we need in Woking anyway.

"So I think that’s the interesting dynamic.

"I really don’t think McLaren Racing should fear competition, that’s what we thrive on, and I hope that we start to get some, maybe not next year, but in the years to come from Force India.”

_________________

ellen777 · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:55 am Post subject:

well hopefully we'll be able to tell by then

i'll be going to the race in melbourne (coz i live there) so maybe i'll be able to see properly

_________________
YAY FOR FORMULA 1!!!

Reemz27

Quote:

With one winter test session already under their belts, McLaren are fully focused on preparations for the 2009 season and the introduction of some of the biggest and most comprehensive rule changes in Formula One history.

The team’s top engineers, aerodynamicists, engine expert, test team manager and test driver spoke to the McLaren press office to bring you an exhaustive analysis of the changes and the impact they’re likely to have…

The Panel
Pedro de la Rosa, Test Driver
Pat Fry, Chief Engineer MP4-24
Ola Kallenius, Managing Director Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines
Indy Lall, Test Team Manager
Paddy Lowe, Director of Engineering
Doug McKiernan, Principal Aerodynamicist

Q: In terms of scale, just how different is the package of technical changes for next year?
Paddy Lowe: It’s probably the biggest set of aerodynamic regulation changes in Formula One’s history. Almost everything - the front and rear wings, the diffuser, floor and bodywork - is affected. I don’t think there’s ever been that level of change.

Pat Fry: It’s just a matter of keeping the team focused on its priorities - it’s a lot to juggle. KERS, for instance, if you get it right, will be worth four tenths in qualifying. And on circuits with a long drag down to the first corner, such as Barcelona, it will be worth 20 metres - or three grid slots. So there are reasonable benefits for getting it right. But we’re just applying the same racing philosophy and fundamentals to the task. We’re not changing the way we use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or the windtunnel to test things, we’re just working on a new product and we need time to get used to what works and what doesn’t.

Q: Can you outline the regulatory changes that have been made to aerodynamics for 2009?
Doug McKiernan: All the top-body furniture has basically been removed. The rear wing is a lot higher, the diffuser moves rearwards, the front wing has been moved forwards and is lower and wider. The bodywork no longer features deflectors or hydrofoils. When we first went into the windtunnel with our ’09 model, we’d lost well over 50 per cent downforce - and clawing some of that back is an exciting huge challenge when you don’t have the bodywork rules to allow you to do that.

Q: Is it harder to make aerodynamic changes now that the rules no longer permit appendages to the bodywork?
Pat Fry: Yes, but once everything settles down, I think you’ll see teams doing bigger upgrades. For example, you won’t have three little deflector tweaks, some teams will bring an entire new floor or a whole new bib. For 2009, I think we will see performance spread across the field will be bigger. And there’s also the potential for upset and the normal pecking order to be different.

Doug McKiernan: At the moment, our biggest challenge is understanding the flow structures around the car. When you go and change the front wing it’s a huge challenge to recalibrate the understanding of how that wing’s going to perform through a corner. And that device then dictates the flow structures down the car and how they all interact as they go around the car. The flow is now much less constrained - there used to be very obvious devices for controlling flow structures around the car. Now we’re doing it with other parts - so it’s more difficult. So your objectives are similar but the challenge is harder.

Q: Will there still be the normal upgrade from the launch-spec to the first race?
Paddy Lowe: Absolutely. The launch car package was finished in the windtunnel several weeks ago. The pattern has become that you significantly re-clothe the car between launch and first race in any case - that’s without such drastic changes to regulations. And the launch cars will bear little resemblance to how they appear in Melbourne.

Doug McKiernan: In these early days, the rate of development is high and each team will be finding a lot more performance because the optimisation is still very embryonic. So every time you spend another two or three weeks in the tunnel, you can probably justify a complete new floor. Another few weeks and you’ll definitely have a new front wing. The regulations have basically put a reset button on aerodynamics - and there’s still lots we can play with. That’s what we enjoy!

Q: Do you miss all the aero ‘toys’?
Doug McKiernan: Personally, no; I think this is great. Aerodynamically it’s a great challenge - it’s a big motivator for the team to get stuck into something different.

Coming up in Part Two - KERS, engines, and how the changes will impact the racing.

Only registered users can see links on this forum!
Register or Login on forum!

_________________

Reemz27

Quote:

While McLaren’s engineers are busy preparing the team’s machinery for December’s two remaining test sessions, drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen are preparing for a test of a very different kind; a five-day pre-season training camp at the Kuortane Sports Institute in western Finland.

Kourtane, McLaren’s human performance partner, has helped train some of the world’s top athletes, including Finland’s Olympic hopefuls, for more than 40 years. The training camp also acts as a useful team-building exercise, with mechanics and engineers joining the drivers for group exercises and tests at the campus.

"Travelling to Finland for our winter training camp is one of the best weeks of the year for me; it feels like you’re miles from anywhere and totally cut off from the outside world,” says Hamilton. “It allows me to focus solely on my training, which is great.

"It’s certainly not an easy week: Finland in the winter is cold and icy and we’re pushed hard for day after day. We spend the first part of the week doing tests to monitor our core strength and flexibility and spend the rest of the time building on specific exercises that will help us once we’re back in the car.”

Team mate Kovalainen agrees that the camp is no walk in the park, even for athletes of his and Hamilton’s supreme fitness levels, although there is one extra and fairly obvious attraction for the Finn.

“It’s a hard schedule; up early, and training all day - often outside in the cold - but it’s always fun,” he says. “Of course, it helps that it’s in my home country of Finland, which makes it especially relaxing and rewarding for me.

“It’s vital to start the year with very good core fitness because it’s difficult to train as much as you’d like during the season. That means the basic fitness level you reach over the winter is what keeps you going for much of the year. That’s why our training camp in Seinajoki is so important.”

Kovalainen arguably needs to be at peak fitness sooner than Hamilton - while the world champion is not scheduled to get back behind the wheel until the New Year, Kovalainen is due to test at both Jerez and Portugal’s new Algarve Motor Park later this month.
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/12/8750.html

_________________

Reemz27 · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: Heikki: 2009 has already started

Quote:

Keen to put a disappointing 2008 Formula One campaign behind him, Heikki Kovalainen is wasting no time in starting his preparations for 2009 and has confirmed that he will be back on track later this month.

While world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton tries to fit training around the trappings of his success, Kovalainen has already been hard at work with the McLaren team and will take part in both the remaining winter tests before F1 heads into its Christmas break.

The Finn harboured high hopes when he swapped seats with Fernando Alonso and joined a McLaren team keen to bounce back from a traumatic '08 campaign that had seen one falling out within the camp and another with the FIA over allegations of espionage. However, instead of being able to join Hamilton in taking the fight to Ferrari on track, Kovalainen struggled to match the Briton, suffered the brunt of the team's misfortune and took just one, fortunate, win all year. He eventually ended the year down in seventh place in the standings, 45 points adrift of his team-mate.

"For me, 2009 can't start soon enough, and I'm really looking forward to beginning," he insisted, "I'm really looking to getting back in the car and understanding how the new regulations will affect the drivers. I can't wait to get started.

"For me, the 2009 season started as soon as I got home from Brazil. I spent two days at the McLaren Technology Centre having my seat-fitting in the 2009 chassis - which already looks like a very promising car for next year - and I went to Stars & Cars in Stuttgart, then on a short holiday. But I'm really looking forward to getting back in the car after a month out of the cockpit. I'm testing at Jerez and Portimao later this month and then preparing over Christmas for my first taste of the MP4-24."

Kovalainen will join Hamilton and test drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett at a special training camp in his native Finland before heading off to the two group tests, and admits that he is more focused than ever on getting his preparations right.

"The end of the season is a very important time for me, as it's the best time of the year to properly rest and recharge before everything begins again," he revealed, "That's why it's so important for your fitness.

"It's vital to start the year with very good core fitness because it's difficult to train as much as you'd like during the season. That means the basic fitness level you reach over the winter is what keeps you going for much of the year.

"That's why our training camp in Seinajoki is so important. It's just for the team and there are no distractions. It's a hard schedule, getting up early, and training all day - often outside in the cold - but it's always fun. Of course, it helps that it's in my home country...."

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/172286-1/heikki_2009_has_already_started.html

_________________

Reemz27

Quote:

With one winter test session already under their belts, McLaren are fully focused on preparations for the 2009 season and the introduction of some of the biggest and most comprehensive rule changes in Formula One history.

The team’s top engineers, aerodynamicists, engine expert, test team manager and test driver spoke to the McLaren press office to bring you an exhaustive analysis of the changes and the impact they’re likely to have…

The Panel
Pedro de la Rosa, Test Driver
Pat Fry, Chief Engineer MP4-24
Ola Kallenius, Managing Director Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines
Indy Lall, Test Team Manager
Paddy Lowe, Director of Engineering
Doug McKiernan, Principal Aerodynamicist

KERS & Engines
Q: What’s the plan for running a KERS car over the winter?
Paddy Lowe: Before Christmas, we’ll be running one chassis as a KERS car - MP4-23K. We will develop the interim technology on the 23K mule car before the race system is introduced onto next year’s 24A. We’ll also have an additional 23A for running our chassis and tyre programme.

Indy Lall: For our first proper circuit test we want to make sure the device can ride kerbs and withstand a lot of the bumping that we necessarily haven’t seen in any of our previous aero tests. Equally, up to now we’ve extracted a smaller output of power from the KERS device and our step up to maximum power won’t happen instantly. We’ll build up to it.

Q: How will you develop the KERS programme during the season?
Ola Kallenius: Unlike the engine, there is full development freedom on KERS. And like any new technology it’s only natural to expect the system to develop as you learn more about it. Every team will be updating their systems during the season.

Paddy Lowe: There will definitely be constant development of the KERS device through the year. One thing to bear in mind is that the ultimate idealised performance benefit of KERS is capped - because it’s limited in power and energy. So assuming you’ve delivered to that cap, you’re looking more into the domains of doing it for less weight or doing it more efficiently or more reliably.

Q: Is there a firm plan about how best to exploit the system during races?
Paddy Lowe: Certainly, the variation from circuit to circuit will be different. Also KERS will have more authority at some tracks than at others - so the pecking order from circuit to circuit may change a little bit.

Ola Kallenius: There will certainly be different optimal strategies for different tracks.

Q: How easy is it to use KERS in the cockpit?
Pedro de la Rosa: We are still learning about it. It requires a lot of fine-tuning to the car - especially in the braking. KERS has to recharge itself - so when you press the brakes, it generates an extra resistance that you have to somehow compensate for to balance it out. That means interacting with the engine braking and the brake balance. You just have to find the best compromise; it’s not just fitting KERS and going quicker, you have to balance it into the whole system. If you don’t have it properly tuned, it will be very sudden. The difficulty will be to smoothen all the transitions.

Q: What additional steps need to be done to an engine to extend it from two to three races?
Ola Kallenius: It’s certainly not an inconsiderable task. We are currently analysing the engine’s areas of reliability as we plan what measures we need to take to extend its duty cycle. As you can imagine, there is a reliability buffer built into every engine but it’s not sufficient to easily extend its life from two to three races.

Q: How is Mercedes-Benz approaching the winter’s engine equalisation process?
Ola Kallenius: Like all engine manufacturers, we have until December 15 to submit our proposals to the FIA. After that date, the governing body will decide how best to approach the situation to equalise power between every team.

Racing
Q: What does a 2009-spec car feel like to drive?
Pedro de la Rosa: It’s very different. Obviously, the slick tyres give you a lot more grip - so although we will be running with reduced downforce, the overall grip of the car won’t be that different to what we had. But it’s the balance front to rear that will change - the slick tyres have a very strong front-end going into the corners and they have very good traction coming out. Overall, to simplify things, I think the slick tyres will give us laptime in the low-speed corners and because of the reduced downforce we’ll be slower at high speeds.

Q: Do you think it will make overtaking easier?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, definitely. Considering this is Formula One - if people think the introduction of KERS and the reduction in downforce and slicks is going to transform Formula One, then forget it. It will still be a wide car, there will still be aerodynamic effect and offline will stay dirty. It will be easier, but it won’t be MotoGP. And people need to understand that.

The changes are headed in the right direction. The difficulty comes from having so many changes and a massive reduction in testing for next year. It will make fine-tuning your car between the races very difficult. It’s going to be very interesting - and there won’t be enough time to test everything.

Q: What sort of impact will the regulations have on downforce levels, car balance and laptime?
Paddy Lowe: When the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) package was put together at the end of 2007, its intention was that the cars would be slower than they were in 2008. Of course, that was difficult to predict because a) we didn’t know what that performance would be and, b) there was some uncertainty over the final performance of the slick tyres.

While Bridgestone made some predictions, there’s some thought that they may have been under-estimated - so therefore the offset of the tyres may have been bigger than predicted.

On the aero side, the OWG put some downforce targets into its research programme for half the downforce for the same amount of drag. Even at a research level, that could not be achieved - so the drag was slightly reduced for the halving of downforce. That’s a bit of performance already.

Of course, that target naturally anticipated that the teams would be able deliver well beyond that figure - we factored that into our calculations.

Nevertheless, there was still some uncertainty over what that figure would be. And even today I don’t know that the answer - we have our own internal targets tracking progress through to next year. But who knows what the other teams have as targets or achievable levels?

Q: Has the Overtaking Work Group succeeded in creating a formula that will produce better racing?
Pat Fry: We’ve achieved a very large reduction in downforce - although not what the OWG had targeted - so that will make the car a couple of seconds slower. But we’ll likely have less drag so that will to some extent compensate. Going to a slick tyre allows for a softer compound. When we’ve tested slicks, we’ve previously been up to three seconds a lap faster - just because of the tyre!

So there is a swing from taking away aero and giving you back mechanical grip with the tyres. And anything that gives your tyres more grip and reduces aero sort of makes the car a little less aero-dependent. But in terms of how it affects the car that follows, it’s still too early to know whether we’ll be better or worse off.

Paddy Lowe: As part of the OWG team, I really hope it does make a big difference. I am reasonably confident that the learning we gained through the OWG programme will produce a good step. To say it’s the ultimate solution for overtaking in Formula One would be incorrect but I expect it to make a significant difference. I expect cars to be able to follow and dice with each other more closely. Perhaps drivers will now be able to take greater advantage when the car in front makes a mistake. The rules should allow for more of that - and hopefully to a balanced level.

In the OWG, we discussed how we didn’t want a ‘basketball situation’ [note: where play is rendered less meaningful due to the high incidence of scoring] where as soon as a quicker car catches a slower one, it’s a dead cert that it will get past within one corner - that would make the sport incredibly boring. We hope the regulations will make the sport more entertaining - most particularly at those circuits where it’s notoriously difficult to overtake, because circuit layout still makes a massive difference.
http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2008/12/8754.html

_________________

Reemz27 · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:03 am Post subject: Young Brit wins McLaren test

Quote:

British Formula Renault star Alexander Simms will test for McLaren as part of his prize for winning the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Following in the footsteps of Jenson Button and David Coulthard, Simms received the award after impressing judges during a two day test at Snetterton in mixed machinery last month.

The 19-year-old was presented with the accolade by Damon Hill at the star-studded Autosport Awards on Sunday night.

"To be honest, coming into this night I didn't know what to expect," Simms said after receiving the award.

"I knew I’d done a pretty good job on the track, I just didn't know what to expect though.

“It's a fantastic achievement and I've got to say a massive thank you to my father first and foremost, because he's been there pushing me throughout my entire career."

Simms finished this year’s British Formula Renault championship in second place behind fellow award finalist Adam Christodoulou.

Driving for the Manor Motorsport team, with which Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton became Formula Renault champions back in 2000 and 2003 respectively, Simms took two race wins and 12 podium finishes.
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=44732

_________________

Reemz27

Quote:

McLaren testing 2009 front wing
McLaren has become the latest team to test a 2009-style front wing, introducing the new design at Jerez on Wednesday.

Formula 1’s aerodynamic regulations have been changed for next season in the hope of increasing the chances of overtaking.

The cars will now run lower and wider front wings, taller and narrower rear wings and shorter diffusers producing less turbulence.

BMW, Williams and Honda (before they pulled out of F1) were the only teams to have previously tested 2009-style wings, as all three switched their development programmes to the new rules midway through last season.

McLaren became the fourth team to do so on day two at Jerez, with the new wing on Pedro de la Rosa’s MP4-23A, although the car still featured a 2008 rear wing.

The new wing is a continuation of the testing programme McLaren has been running for next year’s car, which has already seen the team run an operational KERS unit and test the Bridgestone slicks.

McLaren will not launch its complete 2009 package until January 16th and even then it is likely that the car will evolve before the season opener in Australia.
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44746

_________________

Reemz27

Ron Dennis...

Quote:

McLaren boss Ron Dennis says North America will be back on the Formula One calendar before too long.

The U.S. Grand Prix was dropped in 2008 and the FIA has announced next year's Canadian Grand Prix will be dropped, meaning the continent is without a race for the first time since 1958.

Dennis said: "There shouldn't be anybody who feels we are turning our backs on North America.

"We are really trying hard to find the model that works. We just haven't found a solution yet. That's not to say we're going to give up on it.

"We definitely expect to be back in North America within the next three years."
http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/8977110/Dennis-predicts-American-F1-return

_________________