Move over Fernando Alonso because the latest world champion rumored to be making a move in Formula One for 2010 is the Frenchman and 5 time World Rally Championship winner Sebastien Loeb. According to the upstart USF1 team’s sporting director Peter Windsor, "Somebody representing Loeb called us but I won’t give details of the conversation…he is an incredible talent and he would definitely make things interesting in F1. We are looking more on the American side but are going to take him seriously." According to recent interview with the French sports daily L’Equipe.
What is interesting is that ever since Loeb tested last year’s Red Bull F1 car, his current employer, Citroen, has been denying any talks about a move to Formula 1 for the Frenchman. However according to the multi champion Loeb, "I wanted to know if a team was really interested in me for F1. Someone contacted this new team but I don’t know what happened…I am enjoying myself in the WRC and am on the verge of extending my contract with Citroen. But if I get the opportunity to do a couple of races in 2010 when the calendars don’t clash then why not?"
So it looks like Loeb is happy where he is at for the moment, and that a ride with the USF1 team would only occur when the Formula One and WRC schedules permit. It is more often that you hear of retired Formula One drivers looking to continue challenging their car control skills by going sideways in an all wheel drive turbocharged rally car, not the other way around, but if anyone can pull it off it should be Loeb.
It is amazing what you will find on the Internet. Just the other day we came across this outlandish city car dressed up to look like a McLaren Formula 1 car on the online media sharing site, Flickr. There are times when tuners go a bit too far; this particular Smart car is one such example. Obviously this Smart owner is a fan of McLaren’s F1 efforts from the turn of the century painting his compact city car in the traditional silver and black livery of the car that took Finish Formula One racing legend to back to back world championships, noted by the very exceptional number 1 on the bonnet. Aside from the paintwork, the Smart car is mostly stock, except for the massive aerofoil found at the nose of the car and the blistered fenders in the back.
However, there are a few similarities between the Smart and the McLaren Formula 1 car. They are both powered by an engine that came from Mercedes Benz that is mounted in the mid ship position somewhere in between the front and rear wheels and it is rear wheel drive, albeit a lot less powerful. Come to think of it, the F1 car didn’t have that nice of an interior.
The Grand Prix of Europe has just wrapped up, and unfortunately for the sole Spaniard in the race for the 2010 Formula One Championship he was unable to allow his fans in Valencia to hear La Marcha Real, or the Royal March, Spain’s national anthem especially considering that he wasn’t even able to finish the race last year. It was the Brazilian Rubens Barichello who stood atop the podium when the bubbly was handed out with last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton coming in second and the focused Fin Kimi Räikkönen piloting hist F60 Formula One car to a much needed podium finish.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed – and we suspect it won’t be until a few more months – word on the Formula One paddock has it that Fernando Alonso may be switching teams again next year, this time to those red jumpsuit-wearing boys from Ferrari. According to an interview done with BBC Sport, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren’s team boss, the two-time world champion is expected to move to Ferrari by season’s end. We’ve heard this rumor before but it really never gained enough steam because Ferrari’s incumbent drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are both still under contract with Scuderia until next year.
Continued after the jump.
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The Formula 1 season is about to get back underway this Sunday August 23rd when the lights go off at the start of the Grand Prix of Europe from the streets of Valencia on the east coast of Spain. While most of the drivers have been jet setting around the globe, Panasonic Toyota Racing’s driver, Timo Glock has been keeping focused on the rest of the 2009 F1 championship season. In this candid question and answer session with the racing team’s Chief Engineer Race, Dieter Gass, Glock gives his thoughts on the upcoming race, shares his thoughts on Michael Schumacher’s testing and responds to questions from fans directly from the circuit in Valencia. The one thing that both Timo and Dieter can agree on is that it’s going to be hot inside and out of the TF109 on Sunday afternoon.
Michael Schumacher’s return to Formula One is over.
Much to the dismay of F1 fans all over the world, the seven-time World Champion has decided to drop his intended return to the sport after lingering neck pains stemming from a motorcycle accident back in February forced him to abandon all efforts in his comeback attempt.
The news is a bitter blow to Schumacher, Ferrari, and Formula One, which was drawing major news time after Schumacher decided to return in place of the injured Felipe Massa. But due to his neck injury, Schumi’s planned comeback is now officially on the shelf.
For now, Kimi Raikkonen will be joined by long-time test drive Luca Badoer, according to Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo.
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