Ferrari will introduce a new lighter KERS system, and other aerodynamic and suspension updates, in a bid to improve the performance of its F60 in faster corners at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

The trip to the British Grand Prix will be tinged with nostalgia, as the 2009 version could well be the final F1 World Championship round to be staged at Silverstone, at least for the foreseeable future. In addition, there was a further element of nostalgia at the start of the week as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro conducted a test session: admittedly this “session” was a pale imitation of what the teams would normally have been doing up to the start of this season, when at the behest of the F1 teams themselves, in order to cut costs, in-season testing was banned. Monday at Fiorano was one of the aerodynamic testing days still permitted within the rules: an aero test must only involve straight line testing and the Scuderia actually had to modify the safety barriers at its Fiorano track, as usually, the Armco only presents its “soft” side to the cars depending on their direction of travel around the track. Normally, test driver Marc Gene would have carried out driving duties at this test, however, he was given the day off, having only just finished racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the day before. How did our Spanish tester get on? He won. Therefore, it fell to Felipe Massa to sit at the controls of the F60. The Brazilian tried some new aerodynamic components, including a new front wing and other parts on the front end of the car. Silverstone will also see Felipe run a new chassis, number 277, which in line with the one Kimi has used for the past few races, is lighter than the one Felipe has driven to date. The aero test also saw the F60 run with new front suspension geometry, aimed at allowing a change in the car’s weight distribution, bringing it further forward. The car therefore had to complete another front end crash test, which it duly passed. The new suspension geometry is aimed at promoting more front end grip, which should help overcome one of the car’s Achilles heels, namely the fact it has struggled to get tyres up to operating temperature over one timed lap, which is an essential requirement in Qualifying.

The ability to alter the car’s weight distribution with a more forward bias should also be a help at a track like Silverstone: in simple terms, in fast corners – a feature of Silverstone and the last race in Istanbul – it is best to have the weight moved forward, whereas at slower tracks it is best to have the weight biased towards the rear. This explains why Ferrari was very competitive in Monaco, or in Sector 3 in Turkey, as opposed to the first two sections of Istanbul Park. The F60, mainly due to the installation of the KERS system, has an inherent bias towards the rear in terms of its weight distribution. And, on the subject, of KERS a new lighter version of the package will be run on both cars this weekend. Also appearing at Silverstone will be new wheel flanges and a new mounting system for them, for when the wheels are changed during pit stops. Both Felipe’s and Kimi’s cars will be fitted with all these updates and the data gathered at this Fiorano aero run will come in very useful in setting up the cars prior to the first Silverstone practice session on Friday morning.

Silverstone’s characteristics are similar to the last venue, Turkey, in that it has several high speed corners and fast flowing sections, all leading to a slow final sector. For the British Grand Prix, Bridgestone will be bringing the same tyres as were used in the last round, the soft and hard, although they will be operating at far lower temperatures than those experienced in Istanbul.

Both Kimi and Felipe enjoy the high speed challenge of the English circuit and the Finn’s memories of Silverstone extend back to winning here in his Formula Renault days, prior to his F1 victory in 2007, his first year with the Prancing Horse. Raikkonen has four further F1 podiums to his credit here. Silverstone has proved less successful for Massa, whose best finish here is fifth. The sixty lap race has usually lent itself to a classic two stop strategy, neatly dividing the Grand Prix into three twenty lap sprints. However, as we have seen already this year, the question of tyre durability will have to be studied during Friday free practice before being sure how the race strategy will pan out. At the moment, the weather forecast is for dry weather over the three days of the weekend, which will see the sixtieth running of the British Grand Prix, the 43rd and as mentioned previously, possibly the last at Silverstone. The Northamptonshire track holds many memories for the Scuderia. It was here that Argentina’s Froilan Gonzalez gave the Prancing Horse its first ever F1 World Championship victory back in 1951, the first of four consecutive victories here for the Scuderia. There have been difficult memories, like the 1999 race when Michael Schumacher crashed and broke his leg and unusual ones like the 1998 event, when Michael won the race taking the chequered flag in the pit lane, or the 2003 race, when a priest ran along the track, before Rubens Barrichello made the most of it to win for Ferrari.

Racing on the home track of the majority of Ferrari’s rivals has lost some of its significance, now that the British teams get no more testing here than the Scuderia, but the red cars have always been very popular with the knowledgeable British crowd who have always given the team a warm welcome.

This weekend will be all about local boy Jenson Button and his Brawn team, while Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will be concentrating on making the most of the changes to the F60 package for this weekend, in an attempt to move up the order and out of the unusual position of underdog, which it and other usually front running teams have found themselves in so far this season.

Source: Ferrari

Felipe Massa, Ferrari
2008 Qualifying - 9th, 2008 Race - 13th
“On paper, this weekend’s British Grand Prix takes place at a track with some similarities to the last race in Istanbul, where we were not so competitive. This weekend’s track also features fast corners, flowing sections and a final slow sector and we will have the same two types of tyre from Bridgestone, but that doesn’t mean I think we will struggle as much as we did a fortnight ago. For a start, the new components we have on the car this weekend, including a front wing and a lighter chassis, should make us more competitive. But, more importantly, in Turkey we went backwards over the course of the weekend, after being very competitive on Friday and on Saturday morning. We now know why that happened, which is the most important thing: we believe that with the very high track temperatures, we ran too low on the downforce and should have run with more rear wing, because as the temperature rises, the grip from the tyres went down and we needed to compensate for that. As the temperature gradually got higher, our cars were running slower and slower in the first sector of the track; the one where you need the most downforce. In other words, the problem we had was related to the way we worked, rather than any specific fault on the car.

“So I think we can be more competitive this weekend, with these changes to the car. Apparently this is the last time we will race at Silverstone and I have to say that I have always enjoyed racing here, even if my track record is nothing special, especially in the wet and if you think back to last year, I had a terrible afternoon in the rain. All the same, it is a nice track and I hope that where we go next for the British Grand Prix will be as good as Silverstone in terms of its layout and the pleasure it provides in terms of driving.”

Felipe Massa has dropped a broad hint a breakaway series is on the cards after criticising the "very stupid fights" he believes have wrecked Formula One over the past few weeks.

The sport, as we know it, is currently heading for the rocks unless a late compromise deal can be struck over the next few days between the FIA and the Formula One Teams' Association.

That is now growing increasingly unlikely after motor sport's world governing body today issued another damning statement against FOTA.

After Monday's claiming there was a disruptive element within FOTA seemingly intent on preventing an agreement being reached, the FIA has further criticised the group for the latest breakdown in talks.

Adopting an unusual hard-line approach these past two days, the FIA has placed the blame squarely on FOTA after a meeting on Monday in London designed to discuss the financial regulations ended in deadlock.

In conclusion, the FIA has made it clear the £40million budget cap is to go ahead unchanged, threatening the future of several teams.

Appreciably, frustration is growing amongst the drivers as they can do nothing but sit on the sidelines and look on as the row unfolds.

As Massa remarks, it is slowly drawing to a point where the current eight members of FOTA may be forced to go their own way.

"Whatever happens on the race track this weekend (at the British Grand Prix), the current political situation in the sport is bound to make the headlines again," said Massa.

"When I am driving the car I never think about it. I simply concentrate on my job of driving as quickly as possible.

"But outside the cockpit I think about these problems as they do affect me, as they relate to my future and the future of Formula One.

"We are all very concerned about the situation and I follow the developments closely as they affect my professional life, even if I can have no real influence over how the situation evolves.

"That's down to the people who govern the sport and those in charge of the teams.

"We need our sport to be in better shape, because over the past few months there have been some very stupid fights.

"Everyone needs to work hard to make the sport what it should be for the fans, the teams, the sponsors and the drivers. We don't need this fighting.

"The situation looks bad at the moment, but if agreement can be reached then it can have a healthy future.

"If not, then we need to look seriously at what is the best option.

"As the teams appear to be united, then maybe it is time to look at doing something different that could be better for the sport."

Five teams - McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber and Brawn GP - have until Friday to unconditionally sign up to the cap due to come into force from 2010.

A further three teams - Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - were, against their wishes, entered unconditionally by the FIA on Friday, since when the trio have insisted they remain committed to FOTA.

If FOTA and the FIA are unable to reach any agreement over the next few days, the latter has confirmed more new entrants will be named to make up the 13-team, 26-car grid for next season.

source: planet-f1.com

The FIA says it will press ahead with its planned £40m budget cap in Formula 1 next year after rejecting alternative cost-cutting proposals put to it by the Formula One Teams’ Association.

Financial representatives of the governing body and the teams’ alliance met in London on Monday to try to thrash out a compromise deal that would break the current deadlock over next year’s rules.

But the FIA said no progress was made because the FOTA representatives refused to discuss the existing 2010 regulations, with the result that there was no “proper dialogue” about the two contrasting approaches.

“As agreed at the meeting of 11 June, FIA financial experts met yesterday with financial experts from FOTA,” the FIA said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the FOTA representatives announced that they had no mandate to discuss the FIA’s 2010 financial regulations.

“Indeed, they were not prepared to discuss regulation at all.

“As a result, the meeting could not achieve its purpose of comparing the FIA’s rules with the FOTA proposals with a view to finding a common position.”

The FIA said it did discuss FOTA’s proposals, which involve reducing spending through specific initiatives rather than an overall budget ceiling – and concluded that they would be ineffective in preventing costs spiralling.

“In default of a proper dialogue, the FOTA financial proposals were discussed but it became clear that these would not be capable of limiting the expenditure of a team which had the resources to outspend its competitors,” the FIA said.

“Another financial arms race would then be inevitable.

“The FIA Financial Regulations therefore remain as published.”

The FIA has imposed a deadline of this Friday for the five teams that it has granted provisional places on the 2010 grid – Brawn GP, Toyota, McLaren, Renault and BMW Sauber – to drop the conditions they attached to their entries.

Since the abandonment of the published financial regulations is one of their two key conditions, it appears increasingly unlikely that the two sides can be reconciled before the deadline.

Meanwhile Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams insist they will not be bound by the FIA’s decision to enter them in the 2010 championship unconditionally, arguing that the contracts on which the governing body based its action are void.

Ferrari have increased the pressure on the FIA by reiterating the threat of setting up a rival series to Formula 1.

On Friday, Europe's carmakers backed F1's teams in the row with the sport's governing body over rules and funding for 2010.

"Either we race in an F1 with the characteristics we want to maintain or there will be an alternative," said Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

"Definitely this situation will be resolved one way or the other."

Ferrari have been included on the list of entrants for the 2010 season against the Italian team's wishes over its opposition to the FIA's intended changes to the sport next season, notably the idea of a voluntary £40m budget cap.

"We want stability, clear rules, a clear and transparent system of governance and the possibility to let teams work to cut costs like they've already shown," added Montezemolo.

"I really hope we manage to find a solution. I'm sure there are responsible people inside the FIA who understand the situation."

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association's (Acea) threat of a breakaway series has been seen as an attack on FIA president Max Mosley.

The 69-year-old is expected to confirm later this month he will stand for re-election for what would be a fifth term in office, although his leadership has been questioned over his bitter battle with the F1 Teams Association (Fota) over next season's regulations.

Acea's members include BMW, DAF Trucks, Daimler, Fiat, Ford of Europe, GM Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault, Scania, Toyota Motor Europe, Volvo and Volkswagen.

Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso have also confirmed their loyalty to Fota, despite the FIA granting them an unconditional entry.

McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber and Brawn GP have been given an extra week's grace to submit their own unconditional entries, otherwise the FIA will return to the pool of potential new entrants.

Fota's main complaint concerns Mosley's governance and the unilateral manner in which he announced the budget cap for next season.

On Friday, it sought to bypass Mosley by calling on the World Motor Sport Council and the FIA Senate to intervene in the feud.

Source: BBC

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has made a dramatic intervention in the dispute about Formula 1’s future – calling for a major overhaul of the way the sport is run and raising the spectre of a manufacturer-led breakaway if it does not happen.

On the day that the FIA published the 2010 entry list – provoking a hostile reaction from Ferrari and a renewed statement of intent from the Formula One Teams’ Association – the ACEA’s board met in Brussels to discuss the situation.

The organisation, whose members include all the carmakers involved in F1, said the way the sport is currently administered musty not go on.

It issued a statement saying: “Today, the members of the Board of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association discussed the current situation prevailing in Formula 1, and have concluded that the current governance system cannot continue.

“ACEA has come to the conclusion that the FIA needs a modernised and transparent governance system and processes, including the revision of its constitution, to ensure the voice of its members, worldwide motorsport competitors and motorists are properly reflected.”

To that end, the ACEA backed FOTA’s demand for F1’s rule-making process to be clarified and enshrined in a new Concorde Agreement – one of the key conditions the members of the teams’ alliance attached to their 2010 entries, which resulted in their being declared provisional by the FIA.

The manufacturers’ body also indicated that it is unhappy with the current distribution of F1’s commercial revenues and wants the teams to receive a greater share.

“The ACEA members support the activities and objectives of the Formula One Teams’ Association to establish stable governance, clear and transparent rules which are common to all competitors to achieve cost reductions including a proper attribution of revenues to the F1 teams, in order to deliver a sustainable attractive sport for the worldwide public,” it said.

The ACEA ended its statement with a thinly veiled warning that it would explore the possibility of forming its own breakaway series if its demands for regulatory reform were not heeded.

“Unless these objectives are met, the BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Toyota along with the other teams are determined to find an alternative way to practise this sport in a manner which provides clarity, certainty of rules and administration, and a fair allocation of revenues to the competing teams,” it said.

The Brussels-based ACEA was founded in 1991 and represents the interests of the 15 European car, truck and bus manufacturers at EU level.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn currently serves as president of its Board of Directors.

Earlier this week Ghosn told the French National Assembly that it was time for the teams to “take back control” of F1 and criticised the fact that 50% of the sport’s revenues go to the commercial rights holder rather than the teams.

“Today we pay to be in Formula 1; that is not normal,” Ghosn said.

“The middle men have made enough money.

“We want to take back control of Formula 1.”

Following the completion of the applications process for teams to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the following teams have been confirmed.

2010 Team list

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO   
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO   
RED BULL RACING   
AT&T WILLIAMS   
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM   
CAMPOS GRAND PRIX   
MANOR GRAND PRIX   
TEAM US F1   
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES*   
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM*   
RENAULT F1 TEAM*   
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING*   
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM*

*These five teams have submitted conditional entries.The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19 June.

All 10 current Formula 1 teams have been included on the list of entrants for the 2010 season, though five of those are on a conditional basis.

Brawn GP, McLaren, Renault, Toyota and BMW Sauber have until 17 June to submit an unconditional entry for the season.

And Ferrari are still adamant they will not race under the planned rules as the teams and the governing body continue to row over the future of F1.

Campos Grand Prix, Manor and US F1 have been accepted as new teams next season.

However, it is still unclear which teams will be joining them on the grid as the teams and the FIA are still at odds over new budgetary and technical regulations.

Eight of the current F1 teams applied to be on the grid for the next campaign on the basis that plans to implement a £40m budget cap were altered or waved, unlike Williams and Force India, whose applications were unconditional.

The teams, though committed to reducing costs in the sport, feel the budget constraint is too harsh and too soon and say the FIA's plan to reward those teams who operate within the £40m budget with relaxed technical restraints would create a two-tier championship.

The Fota teams show no sign of backing down on this issue, and are expected to pursue more negotiations with the FIA aimed at ending the impasse, after 11th-hour negotiations on Thursday proved unsuccessful.

Fota also want the published 2010 regulations to be rewritten, while accepting the principle of a slower 'glide-path' down to FIA president Max Mosley's budget cap figure over the next couple of years.

Mosley has now apparently split the Fota teams into two groups - the five asked to return with unconditional entries or face missing out on the new season, and then Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Red Bull whose entry has been confirmed unconditionally.

The FIA argues that Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso are contractually obliged to be involved.

Ferrari are standing firm with the rest of the Fota teams, though, as they say the FIA invalidated the contract, agreed in 2005, when Mosley failed to consult the teams over the proposed rule changes.

"Ferrari submitted on 29 May an entry to the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship which is subject to certain conditions. As of today, these conditions have not been met," read a statement.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, Ferrari reaffirms that it shall not take part in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship under the regulations adopted by the FIA in violation of Ferrari's rights under a written agreement with the FIA."

Five Live's F1 commentator David Croft reported: "The highlight of this is that current leaders Brawn GP, Lewis Hamilton's team McLaren, along with Toyota, Renault and BMW, might not be around in 2010 if they can't resolve their current dispute with the FIA.

"It doesn't mean that Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have lifted the conditions they entered with - more that the FIA have seen fit that the contract they think have with those three teams overrides any disagreement they currently have and have accepted their entry without a problem."

Last week, Mosley wrote to the teams advising them to submit unconditional entries so that they might be guaranteed a say in framing next season's rules

He added that if they did so, he would sit down with all the confirmed entrants and listen to their proposals with regard to the shaping of the regulations for next season.

If Brawn GP, McLaren, Renault, Toyota and BMW Sauber fail to submit an unconditional entry, the FIA will return to the pool of potential new entrants as they are determined to have a 26-car grid in place for next year.

They will pick from the rest of the 10 new teams that lodged applications to join the grid from next season.

Among the hopeful applicants were an outfit using the historic Team Lotus name, British race-car constructor Lola, and Prodrive, the company owned by former Benetton and BAR F1 team boss David Richards. 

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is adamant that the FIA cannot include his squad in the list of confirmed entrants for next year’s world championship unless it accepts FOTA’s conditions.

With just two days remaining before the governing body reveals the composition of the 2010 grid, and still no resolution to the dispute over next year’s rules, the Formula One Teams’ Association met to discuss the situation in London on Wednesday.

The eight FOTA members have lodged conditional entries for next year – which they say will only be valid if the FIA agrees to drop plans for a budget cap and gives new guarantees over the sport’s rule-making process – while a host of prospective new teams have entered unconditionally.

The FIA and Bernie Ecclestone claim Ferrari is contractually obliged to compete in F1 until 2012, but the Maranello team argues that the governing body has in effect torn up the contract by forcing through rule changes unilaterally.

Should no agreement be reached on the wider dispute with FOTA as a whole by Friday, some expect the FIA to include Ferrari on the 2010 list anyway as an ‘automatic entry’, citing its alleged contractual obligations.

Domenicali, however, says the governing body has no right to do so.

“Ferrari’s position has not changed,” he said in an official statement.

“Back on 29 May, we put in a conditional entry with the other teams that make up FOTA.

“Along with this entry, we put forward to the FIA a package of proposals which included among other elements, a significant reduction in costs.

“As always, we will do all we can to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties.

“If this is not possible, then the FIA will not be able to include Ferrari in the list of teams entered for the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.”

FIA president Max Mosley extended an olive branch to the FOTA teams earlier this week by telling them that their proposals will receive serious consideration provided they sign up to F1 unconditionally first.

But given that they would need to win unanimous support for any changes to the published rules, the teams may be wary of ceding their bargaining power in advance.

Kimi Raikkonen has insisted Ferrari still have the potential for strong results this season, despite a disappointing outing in last weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix. After strong progress in Barcelona and Monaco, the world champions came away from Istanbul with just three points.

Raikkonen admitted the team were bettered on race pace by more rivals than they'd have liked, but believes that with the F60’s slow-corner performance much improved, the team now just have to keep up the hard work to make the car truly competitive.

“We definitely expected more from the Turkish GP and it doesn’t make any sense to hide it,” the Finn - who finished ninth - told Ferrari’s official site. “We knew that the situation would be complicated compared to the previous race at Monaco, but after the good qualifying we didn’t think that the race would be so difficult.”

The start proved decisive in Raikkonen’s race. On the dirtier side of the track and with the short sprint into Turn One negating any potential KERS advantage, he lost one position when the lights went out and another in the first corner. His front wing was then damaged during a duel with Fernando Alonso, causing a loss of downforce.

“We changed the nose during the pit stop, but it was too late to improve. If that hadn’t happened maybe I would have gained a place in the points. We weren’t fast enough in the race, not only compared to the Brawn GPs and Red Bulls, but also compared to the Williams and Toyotas, also due to the high temperatures.”

Team mate Felipe Massa had a slightly better race, finishing sixth, but it was far from the result Ferrari fans had been expecting. The high-speed Silverstone circuit, venue for the upcoming British Grand Prix, will be another stern test for the F60, but Raikkonen insists Ferrari just need to hold their nerve.

“The team is continuing with its hard work improving the car and closing the gap to the leaders,” he added. “The situation is much better in slow corners, where we are really competitive, while we’re suffering in the fast ones. We don’t have any reason to give up, we just need patience. We have the potential to achieve a good result, I know it.”

Seven rounds into the 2009 championship and Ferrari lie fourth in the constructor standings on 20 points. Raikkonen is 10th in the drivers’ table with nine, while Massa is eighth, level on 11 points with Alonso.