Refuelling is still allowed this year.
In 2010 engines will have to be changed every 4 races (now every 3)...refuelling will be banned and maybe there will be a standard power-train with kers and engine by Cosworth available for small teams at a reasonable cost.

It's inevitably the end of Formula1 as a sport, in my opinion.
Moreover, if Renault and Toyota don't win a race this year, they won't be present on the grid in 2010 (according to some websites..)

OH NO!!!
i LOVE the pit stops and all the dramas they provide...refuelling included

I think there are other solutions for smaller poorer teams....but Bernie still has his word

and his word is dodgy for the spectacles that result from some of the pit stop dramas

McLaren called to WMSC by the FIA

The FIA has released the following statement:

"Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, to answer charges that, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, it

- on 29 March, 2009, told the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix that no instructions were given to Hamilton in Car No. 1 to allow Trulli in Car no. 9 to pass when both cars were behind the safety car, knowing this statement to be untrue;

- procured its driver Hamilton the current World Champion, to support and confirm this untrue statement to the stewards;

- although knowing that as a direct result of its untrue statement to the stewards, another driver and a rival team had been unfairly penalised, made no attempt to rectify the situation either by contacting the FIA or otherwise;

- on 2 April, 2009, at a second hearing before the stewards of the Australian Grand Prix, (meeting in Malaysia) made no attempt to correct the untrue statement of 29 March but, on the contrary, continued to maintain that the statement was true, despite being allowed to listen to a recording of the team instructing Hamilton to let Trulli past and despite being given more than one opportunity to correct its false statement;

- on 2 April, 2009, at the second stewards' hearing, procured its driver Hamilton to continue to assert the truth of the false statement given to the stewards on 29 March, while knowing that what he was saying to the stewards was not true."

In response, McLaren issued the following press release:
"McLaren acknowledges receipt of an invitation to appear at an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on April 29, received this afternoon. We undertake to co-operate fully with all WMSC processes, and welcome the opportunity to work with the FIA in the best interests of Formula 1.

"This afternoon McLaren and its former sporting director, Dave Ryan, have formally parted company. As a result, he is no longer an employee of any of the constituent companies of the McLaren Group."

formula1.com

i hope this doesnt end like 'spygate'

im already tired of hearing about 'liegate'


also, is there any news on who is going to replace dave ryan?

There are some rumors about Rosberg replacing Heikki at McLaren.
I think they're only rumors and I don't hope these turn out ot be true.

Norbert Haug would like to have a German driver...
but I think Heikki deserves his seat...
and with Lewis as a team mate I think that few drivers could do better than him: even Alonso had to be the "2nd driver" since Hungary 2007, so I think that Lewis & Heikki will go on for other 2 o 3 seasons at least.

i hope that mclaren don't decide to replace heikki
he's doing really well given the difficult circumstances he's been given
its his car that keeps stuffing up

Tssss.

Rosberg sounded at the end of 2008, the same he is sounding now.

We can't deny Heikki results are far from the excellence. It's true that luck hasn't been on his side and it's true that 2009 is a hard year for McLaren-Mercedes team, but of course if you are in McLaren you are expected to be one of the best drivers in the grid. Unluckily, in F1, time is too precious, and if you don't ''produce'' fastly, you place should be in danger.

Heikki was very lucky when he could get the seat he has now. To get that seat you have to be good, but you also have to be lucky. You have to take the seat when it's empty, and since 1997 (13 seasons), there has been only 8 drivers driving a car in a race for the team (Häkkinen, Coulthard, Räikkönen, Montoya, Alonso, Hamilton, De la Rosa and Kovalainen. 9 if you count Wurz (Imola 2006)).

Personally, I like Kovalainen (Well that's why I 'm here, I guess ) and I wouldn't like to see him out of my favourite team. I have my own reasons, and of course they are not related with results (Which is, normally, the fact people choose to support or stop supporting something or somebody). I trust him and results will arrive. But while they are not there, Heikki's position won't be as safety as desirable. In F1 results are the thing that counts.

Fingers crossed!

If the team had supported him more and if luck had been more on his side he would have obtained better results. Anyway McLaren know this and that's why he's still in the team after a bad 2008; I think McLaren know that not many drivers can have better results than Heikki in that position, unfortunately.

However 8 (or 9) drivers are not few, if you consider that McLaren is a top team. For example Ferrari had less drivers since 1997: Irvine, Schumacher, (Salo), Barrichello, Massa, Raikkonen.

i wouldnt be worried about heikki right now.

theres more chance of piquet being kicked from renault since he hasnt really set the world on fire.

i believe that heikki is a strong driver, its just that he needs to prove that he can be consistent.

at the moment though this season is pretty much a write-off unless mclaren can bring some drastic updates to the car, so i dont think its worth judging heikki on this season.


however, if in a years time he still isnt performing... well... thats a dangerous position to be in when there are lots of other young drivers like glock and rosberg who are all gunning for a place in a "top" team.

i dont believe that stuff about mclaren not supporting heikki enough though. mclaren is a good team orientated... team. if you see what i mean.


if mclaren got rid of heikki this season or next season, then it would be bad for the team. (unless it was because alonso decided to come back)

mclaren has a good driver lineup, they just need to put the time in on the car to get back to where we were last year.

I think Heikki will stay another year at McLaren but i'm not sure after that. I think McLaren are more likely to get Nico because they've been chasing after him for years so...

well i think nico definately deserves a better seat than the one he has at williams.

speaking of that, i wonder how long it will be until vettel replaces kimi at ferrari?

another quick german in a red car...... oh no....