Thursday, December 4, 2008

Pantano "abandoned" by F1 teams

Pantano abandoned by F1 teams

Giorgio Pantano says he feels abandoned by Formula One with no teams looking at him despite him winning this season's GP2 championship.

The 29-year-old Italian, who raced for Jordan in 2004, beat Bruno Senna and Sebastien Buemi - who are both being considered for F1 race seats - to the GP2 title this year, but has no options himself - the first time since GP2's inception in 2005 that its champion has not found a drive in F1.

"I challenge anyone to have a CV as good as mine," Pantano told Autosprint. "I won two karting world titles, three European, three Italian, German F3, GP2 and was always at the front in F3000. But now I don't have a seat in F1, is this a joke?

"That's what it's like now, if you don't get in touch with people, no one looks for you. I feel abandoned.

"The only person behaving fairly has been Ecclestone. I called him a few days ago and after ten minutes he called me back. The only real drives still available are at Honda and Toro Rosso. Bernie told me that if anything moves, I'll be the first to know.

"But I feel total indifference towards me. I read of Senna and Buemi but, really, what have they done? At this point, a guy in my situation must think that being a racing driver is not advantageous, doing another job would be better."

Pantano believes that a driver's talent is no longer relevant if he cannot bring substantial financial backing to a team.

"Money is becoming the priority in order to race, talent doesn't exist any more," he said. "I think I could still do six or seven years in F1 at high levels.

"I would just like someone to let me test an F1 car. Once the test is done, they'd tell me whether I could be a possible world champion or not. That would give me peace of mind.

"I just want a credible test, a real chance that puts me in the conditions of being properly assessed."



  • Buemi set for Toro Rosso race seat
  • Senna not distracted by F1 rumours
  • Toro Rosso to test trio at Barcelona
  • Nakajima eyes podium finish in 2009

    Nakajima eyes podium finish in 2009

    Kazuki Nakajima is hoping to reach the podium in 2009 following a promising debut season with the Williams team.

    The Japanese driver managed nine points in 2008, after finishing in the top eight five times.

    His performances earned him a new contract with Williams, and Nakajima is aiming go have a stronger season in 2009.

    "To get better results than I did this year and to maybe get a podium. That would be really great," Nakajima told the Williams website in an interview.

    He added: "I've learnt a lot about what it takes to be a Formula One driver, but there's always still more to learn."

    The 23-yer-old also admitted he was pleased with his season, in which he scored a sixth place finish as his best result.

    "I think it was a good first year, although it wasn't perfect, obviously," he added. "It wasn't easy when the car didn't suit the track, but I do feel that I've developed myself throughout the year, which is a really important thing to do in your rookie year.

    "I think my best race was probably Singapore. It was a great event, the atmosphere was amazing and the team got another podium with Nico and I scored a point after quite a difficult race. My worst race was probably Bahrain when my anti-stall didn't kick in at the start.

    "That pushed me to the back of the field, and then I had a spin so I pretty much spent the race fighting my way up from last."



  • Agoos, Williams lend Red Bulls perspective
  • Real avoid nightmare finish
  • Borman’s celebration catches eyes
  • Rosberg ready to re-think future after ‘09
  • Rosberg relying on rain to keep momentum
  • Nakamoto leaves Honda F1 team

    Nakamoto leaves Honda F1 team

    Honda's Shuhei Nakamoto has this week left his position with the Formula One team.

    The 41-year-old, who has worked for the Japanese manufacturer for 25 years, has been involved in the company's F1 activities since 2000.

    He will remain with Honda Racing Corporation as vice president with direct responsibility for its motorcycle racing activities.

    Now based in Japan, he will combine this with roles as operating officer for Honda R&D and as general manager for the motorsports division within the motorcycle R&D centre.

    Nakamoto was heavily involved in Honda's two-wheeled activities prior to working within its car racing projects.

    Nakamoto was the team's chief technical director during 2007, but has played a less prominent role this year, following the appointment of Ross Brawn as technical director.



  • Barrichello: Honda updates a small step
  • Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol
  • Di Grassi hopeful on Honda race seat
  • Wednesday, December 3, 2008

    BMW adamant they will fight for '09 title

    BMW adamant they will fight for 09 title

    BMW Sauber insist their goal for the 2009 season will be to fight for the championship, although team boss Mario Theissen admits he is not comfortable with the idea.

    "I don't feel comfortable but it's my own goal too and we have clear targets. F1 is definitely no comfort zone," Theissen told reporters during a BMW motorsports event in Munich over the weekend.

    Theissen's comment came following a bold statement from BMW board member Klaus Draeger, who said: "In 2009 we will fight for the championship."

    The German squad scored their maiden victory this year, although they were unable to match the development rate of the top teams in the latter part of the year.

    In the end, BMW finished in third place in the standings.

    Despite the late drop-off, Theissen admitted the team have reached all their goals since taking over the Sauber squad.

    "BMW kept its schedule that was set in 2005 after acquiring Sauber: to be in the points in 2006, to be on the podium in 2007, to be on the top podium 2008," said Theissen.

    "We made the two-way title campaign a three-way battle in the first half of the season. We did not have the fastest car in 2008, but the overall package counts.

    "Reliability was an issue in 2007 and our focus on this in 2008 paid off as we had no single retirement because of a technical failure."



  • Theissen: BMW will learn from 2008
  • Dynamo not resting on laurels
  • Ferrari test Italian F3 trio at Fiorano

    Ferrari test Italian F3 trio at Fiorano

    Three Italian Formula 3 drivers tested for the Ferrari Formula One team on Wednesday, as a prize for their achievements in the Italian championship.

    Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Piscopo and Salvatore Cicatelli were in action at the Fiorano circuit, driving this year's F2008 car.

    Eighteen-year-old Bortolotti was the quickest of the three, posting a fastest time of 59.111 after 40 laps. The laptime was the fastest at Fiorano this year.

    Piscopo finished with a 1:00.336 after 29 laps, while 18-year-old Cicatelli set a best lap of 1:01.243 over 33 laps.

    "I think I made a small mistake during my best lap at the hairpin, and lost a few tenths," Bortolotti told Gazzetta dello Sport. "But it's fine anyway, it was a unique experience and an immense joy.

    "I had some difficulty in the morning in the wet, but in the dry I immediately found confidence with the car.

    "Did I feel emotional? When you put down your visor everything goes through. Whether this is a starting point, the future will tell, but I hope so."

    Ferrari's sporting director Luca Baldiserri admitted he was impressed by the trio.

    "These boys have astonished and surprised me. The extraordinary thing is that they didn't make even one mistake, they were immediately very quick and showed they have enormous potential. It's nice to hear comments and impressions from boys without prejudice yet."



  • Ferrari president pledges Raikkonen support
  • Ferrari to test Italian F3 drivers
  • Hoops hoping to reignite attack
  • Hamilton ends Monza test on top
  • McLaren confirm 2009 launch date

    McLaren have confirmed that they will launch their 2009 car, the MP4-24, on January 16 at their base, the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.

    The team will test a version of this year's car upgraded with 2009 parts at Jerez and the new Algarve circuit in Portugal later this month, before unveiling the new car two weeks into the new year with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.

    McLaren's group head of communications and public relations, Matt Bishop, said: "It won't be a lavish affair of the type we staged in Valencia two years ago, but it'll be slick and professional and there will be an interesting twist to the format."



  • Kovalainen hopeful of step forward
  • Tuesday, December 2, 2008

    Hockenheim's F1 future in doubt

    Hockenheims F1 future in doubt

    The future of Formula One at the Hockenheim circuit is in doubt unless the government decides to help financially, a track official has said.

    "Without grants from the state there will be no more Formula One in Hockenheim," Karl-Josef Schmidt told the Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

    The track will be absent from the calendar next year because it is alternating the event with the Nurburgring.

    According to the newspaper, Hockenheim made a loss of 5.3 million euros this year after hosting the German Grand Prix.

    The Canadian and French Grands Prix will not be on next year's schedule due to financial reasons.

    Schmidt believes only Arab countries will be able to afford hosting a Formula One race if the future unless they start to get better deals.

    "Formula One will disappear not just from Hockenheim but from Germany as a whole. Then it will only be run in Arab countries," he added.

    There are currently five German drivers racing in Formula One, plus companies such as BMW and Mercedes.



  • Hoops pass through draft unscathed
  • Germany preview quotes: Honda
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