The BBC is reporting that Fernando Alonso has played down speculation that he will move to Ferrari at the end of the season.
The move will do little to quell such speculation as he is reported to be on a release clause with Renault and the story looks set to continue for the entire season or at least until he signs a contract for someone.
When asked if he had a get out clause he replied “No” and later added “I do not remember that clause” but continued "as we saw last year contracts are always very flexible". Seemingly referring to the cancellation/finishing of his McLaren contract.
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According to Autoweek.com, FIA president Max Mosley has called for a meeting of the FIA general assembly in extraordinary session.
Why? "The full membership of the FIA will be invited to attend the meeting at which the widespread publicity following an apparently illegal invasion of the FIA president’s privacy will be discussed. It is anticipated that the meeting will take place in Paris. It will be held on the earliest practicable date. No further comments will be made by the FIA regarding the matter at this stage," according to the statement issued by the FIA. The FIA also stated that Mosley is preparing legal proceedings against the News of the World, the British tabloid which reported Mosley’s involvement with prostitutes and posted a video of his performance on their website.
Here’s the way AutoWeek reports the nature of the video and the response of Mercedes-Benz and BMW in a joint statement issued earlier today:
“The video appeared to show Mosley engaged in sex acts with five prostitutes while role playing as concentration camp prisoners and guards. Mosley denied there was any Nazi connotation to his actions, but German manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz issued a joint statement expressing their disgust with the situation.
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It looks as though Max Mosley’s days as president of the FIA, the sanctioning body for Formula One and other world-wide forms of motorsport, are numbered. On Wednesday, four of the major Formula One teams – Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW – issued statements overtly condemning Mosley and encouraging the FIA to take prompt action against him.
Over the week-end, the British tabloid “News of the World” revealed that Mosley had been involved with a British prostitution ring, engaging in sadomasochistic acts. The tabloid posted a video on its website which purports to show Mosley being greeted by five prostitutes, and then engaging in Nazi role playing during sex acts.
According to the newspaper, the video images were recorded this past Friday. Mosley’s father, Oswald, founded a British pro-Nazi group in the years prior to World War Two.
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British newspapers, particularly the tabloids, have a reputation for giving no quarter when it comes to scandals in high places – especially if the scandal involves sex.
And, the latest one certainly does.
As well as the president of racing’s international sanctioning body, the FIA.
According to the British tabloid “News of the World,” the FIA’s president, Max Mosley, has been involved with a British prostitution ring, engaging in sadomasochistic acts. The tabloid posted a video on its website which purports to show Mosley being greeted by five prostitutes, and then engaging in Nazi role playing during sex acts.
The FIA issued a statement saying that it had no comment, and that the matter was between Mosley and the newspaper, adding that it understood that Mosley’s lawyers were in contact with the paper. Unlike the United States, Great Britain has relatively stringent libel laws and suits against newspapers by celebrities are frequent, if not common, occurrences.
According to the newspaper, the video images were recorded this past Friday. Mosley’s father, Oswald, founded a British pro-Nazi group in the years prior to World War Two.
At the Australian Grand Prix, the unthinkable happened. Both of the Ferrari team cars, that driven by Kimi Raikkonen and that of Felipe Massa, failed to finish.
At the time, both DNFs were attributed to unspecified “engine failure.”
It now develops that the “engine failure” was really a failure of the electronic control unit, the “ECU,” the computer that controls engine functioning.
It’s made by McLaren.
The ECU is a standardized part, specified by the FIA and, thereby, supplied to all the Formula One teams by the same supplier. This year, apparently, a subdivision of McLaren is that sole supplier, having won the contract to supply all teams through 2010.
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Jean Todt has officially left Ferrari, where he served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, having been promoted to that position after being head of the Formula One race team. Todt’s resignation was officially announced at a Ferrari shareholder meeting in Italy yesterday. Todt remains on the Ferrari board of directors.
Speculation is now circulating that Todt’s next stop may be as head of the FIA, the international sanctioning body for Formula One and other classes of racing. Todt ran the Ferrari racing operation for over a decade and a half and is a close friend of FIA president Max Moseley. Moseley’s term as FIA president expires in 2009 and he is not expected to seek another term in that position.
It is not clear how such a move would be received in other quarters, but it is believed by some observers that Todt would have Moseley’s backing, were Todt to seek the office.
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Their sound sends a shrill through our spines on race weekends. The engine that powers a F1 car is different compared to a normal car’s engine. But how different are they? This topspeed.com special article gives you an exclusive insight on F1 engines that should answer all your questions.
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That’s the report from the TimesOnLine.com, the internet version of London’s Sunday Times, one of the most prominent newspapers in Great Britain.
The report comes only days after a Spanish newspaper reported that Mercedes-Benz, one of the largest shareholders in McLaren, was forcing Dennis – who is one of the founders of Team McLaren and the team manager – to leave the company. The report also follows less than a week after British and Italian police raided both Dennis’ residences and McLaren’s offices seeking evidence linking Dennis and other McLaren officers to last year’s thefts of Ferrari team secrets.
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British newspaper The Telegraph is reporting that British and Italian police yesterday searched homes owned by Ron Dennis, team principal of McLaren and searched McLaren headquarters. A Spanish newspaper yesterday reported that Dennis was being forced out of his role with the team by Mercedes-Benz, which owns a large interest in the team.
Police, according to the report, conducted the searches in the early morning hours looking for documents and computer data linking Dennis to the thefts last year of confidential information from the Ferrari Formula One team. It was reported that computer files were removed by Italian authorities from McLaren headquarters.
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That’s what a Spanish newspaper is reporting today. The newspaper, a sports daily called Marca, says Dennis was forced out by Mercedes-Benz and will be replaced by Martin Whitmarsh, who had been the deputy team principal at McLaren.
According to the newspaper, Mercedes acted in response to the espionage scandal last year, a scandal that cost McLaren and Mercedes the Constructor’s Championship, as well as a $100 million fine by the FIA.
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