| Stepney blames McLaren's conduct
Nigel Stepney, the man at the centre of the 2007 Formula One spying row, says he feels no responsibility for what happened to the McLaren team last year. McLaren were fined 50m and stripped of their constructors' championship points after being found in possession of Ferrari data, leaked by Stepney. "I don't feel responsible for what happened to them," he told Sky Sports. "Someone used information more than I thought. It should never have been used to that extreme." Stepney was sacked as Ferrari's head of development after it emerged he had passed more than 700 pages of confidential information to McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan. .
Is Anyone Telling The Truth?
So Heikki Kovalainen reckons he can beat Lewis Hamilton? And Ron says there'll be equal treatment at McLaren? Do PF1ers believe either statement... Got something to say? letters@planet-f1.com It Takes More Than Titles To Be Great
Let's see. Lewis Hamilton is a great driver based on his wins and overall performance in his first season. Kimi Raikkonen won the Drivers' Championship after what, seven years? Michael Schumacher has won the Drivers' Championship seven times. So, if all that counts is Championships, Mssr. Hamilton hasn't won anything. Remember Sterling Moss? Arguably the greatest driver never to win the championship. Moss was a great driver in all categories of racing. Recall one of the few times he hopped in a Ferrari.
Disregard test times, says Coulthard
Mark Webber's Red Bull car has again topped the test times in Spain but teammate David Coulthard has warned against unrealistic expectations at next month's Australian F1 Grand Prix. For the second time in official testing Webber set the pace, working through the team's program in Jerez and relegating the Williams of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima to second and third. But Coulthard, the most experienced driver in F1, said those slick times were unlikely to translate to race pace at Albert Park. "I've done lots of testing over the years and some of those tests have been fantastic and some of them have been s***," Coulthard told AAP. "I wouldn't read anything into it - I think that anyone who expects anything different than McLaren or Ferrari to be setting the pace at the beginning of the season, I would be extremely surprised.
Big-ticket bikes: Why buy a Chevette when you can have a Ferrari?
Sandro doesn't want you to know where he lives, where he works or even what his last name is. He has a secret - a lie, some might call it - that mustn't get out. But here it is anyway: Sandro paid $7,000 for a bicycle. Why the cloak-and-dagger act? "My wife would probably kill me if she knew," he says discreetly from work. "I told her I bought it with my sister." Like many big-spending weekend warriors, he fell for Cannondale Bicycle, a company whose bikes have been ridden to stage victories at the Tour de France and world championships in mountain biking. "Why have a Chevette when you can have a Ferrari?" says Sandro, who rides a few hours a week during the warmer months to keep in shape. On Monday, Montreal-based Dorel Industries announced a deal to buy Cannondale for about $200-million (U.S.).
Heikki Kovalainen gives Lewis Hamilton a run for his money
Kovalainen posted the fastest lap time in yesterday's winter testing session in Valencia, which featured nearly every team's 2008 cars. The Finn, who joined from Renault last month, clocked his best time at 1min 11secs from 92 laps raced at the 2.49-mile Cheste Circuit track. He outpaced Hamilton by more than a second in front of 22,000 fans. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was second with a time of 1:11.662, ahead of team-mate and world champion Kimi Raikkonen with 1:11.850. Hamilton - testing for the first time this week - was fourth with a best time of 1:12.076 from 115 laps driven. .
Kimi blows them away
Kimi Raikkonen, the outsider in the World Championship, won an astonishing victory and the World Championship at Interlagos. The win gave the Finn 10 points and took his total to 110. With Felipe Massa finishing behind him, scoring a Ferrari 1-2, this meant that Fernando Alonso could manage only third place, which took his total to 109. But even that was not good enough to guarantee Fernando runner-up status as Lewis Hamilton overcame several mishaps to fight back to seventh place with a thrilling drive. His two points took his total to 109 and he beat Alonso because he scored more second places in the course of the year. As the evening wore on in Brazil and Ferrari celebrated, it emerged that the fourth, fifth and sixth placed cars were all under investigation for fuel irregularities.
Brawn: No Honda deadline for success
Last season Honda suffered one of their worst campaigns to date, struggling at the back of the field with an ill-handling car and a lack of pace. It was in sharp contrast to the previous season when Jenson Button clinched the team's first grand prix win. Honda, though, have taken steps to reverse the damage, the most noteble being the appointment of former Ferrari tech guru Ross Brawn as their new team boss. But while Brawn reckons he can pull the team out of their slump, he says it will take time and that's Honda's senior management understands this. "As long as there's a sensible argument, they will support the right strategy for the future," Brawn said. "They're not interested in short-term face-saving solutions.
Brazilian GP - Friday - Practice Session 1 Report
The first practice session of the Brazilian Grand Prix resulted in a 1-2 for Ferrari with World Championship challenger Kimi Raikkonen four-tenths of a second clear of local hero and last year's winner Felipe Massa. There was then a massive eight-tenths gap back to the third fastest runner Heikki Kovalainen. Does it mean that this will be a dominant weekend for Ferrari? Who can say? The McLarens played their cards very close to their chests with Fernando Alonso one of several drivers who did not do more than an installation lap as the damp conditions presented more risks than benefits. Lewis Hamilton did just 10 laps because he needed to learn the race track and he ended up fifth fastest, which was a good indication that the cars will be competitive when the team decides to show its hands. With BMW Sauber not bothering to set times this cleared the way for some odd names in the top 10 and so we had Nico Rosberg's Williams in fourth and Ralf Schumacher's Toyota sixth ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso, Mark Webber's Red Bull, Jarno Trulli's Toyota and Tonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso.
Sharp Noses Spur Lincoln Hotel Pot Bust
Hotel employees following the strong odor of marijuana coming from one of their rooms led police to arrest three Florida residents carrying $100,000 worth of pot, Lincoln police officials said.
Lincoln Police officers responded to the Holiday Inn Express on Ferrari Ranch Road just before 7:40 p.m. Saturday after employees smelled marijuana inside a guest's room and called authorities, Lincoln Police Lt. Paul Shelgren said.
Inside, officers found approximately 20 pounds of processed and bagged marijuana as well as $20,000 in cash, Shelgren said. Shelgren said the pot had an estimated street value of nearly $100,000. Police arrested Christopher Hutchins, 29, Abraham Saftchick, 30, and Maria Saftchick, 59, on charges of possessing marijuana for sale.
All three suspects, identified as Florida residents, were booked into the Placer County Jail and each posted $7,500 bail Sunday.
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