vee8

• Team Monaco enters A1GP - pitpass
• A brief history of pit stops in F1 (video) - F1 Fanatic
  A nice selection of videos looking at pitstops through the ages
• Exclusive interview - Gerhard Berger on Vettel, Bourdais and KERS - The Official Formula 1 Website
• Toro Rosso and Takuma Sato - Can that go wrong ? - F1 Wolf
  F1 Wolf with some very good thoughts on why hiring Takuma Sato would make a lot of sense for Toro Rosso
• Frank Williams awarded Tom Wheatcroft trophy - The Official Formula 1 Website
  "Frank Williams was awarded the Tom Wheatcroft trophy on Thursday in recognition of his contribution to world motorsport. The trophy was presented to the Williams’ team principal by the Wheatcroft family at a ceremony at the team's UK headquarters."
• Facilities and Hype - La Canta Magnifico Blog
  Alianora has hit on the reason why F1's "insiders" rave about circuit facilities while the fans shrug their shoulders
• Phil Hill 1927-2008 - Grandprix.com
  The USA's first ever Formula 1 World Champion has died at the age of 81.
• Inconsistency Strikes The FIA Again - La Canta Magnifico Blog
  Alianora is absolutely spot on about the FIA's dilly-dallying over Felipe Massa's unsafe pitlane release.

  "Either the pit lane release was safe or it was unsafe. If it was safe, then Ferrari should not have been fined a single cent. If it was unsafe, Massa should have received one of the four penalties that Article 16.3 of the Sporting Regulations provides for the purpose (and Ferrari shouldn't have been fined).

  "What I want is quite simple: for the FIA to be bothered to comply with its own regulations. If they can't follow their own rules consistently, what hope does anyone else have?"

• Superleague and Junior Series Marketing - La Canta Magnifico Blog
  Alianora La Canta has spotted some adverts for Superleague Formula on local buses. But why aren't junior series marketed so well in general?
• I, You, He / She / It, We, You, They - Sidepodcast
  When should a driver blame the team, and when should he blame himself?
• Domenicali warns Raikkonen may need to play supporting role - pitpass
  "If necessary, Kimi will help Felipe. We discussed it at the beginning of the year. However, let's see how things evolve over the coming races."

• The driver market - Grandprix.com
  Huge article covering all of the silly season rumours
• Reflections on Valencia - My European GP experience - F1 Wolf
  F1 Wolf reports on his trip to Valencia to see the European Grand Prix.
• In Defense of Valencia - Formula 1 Insight
  "
  The Valencia circuit has been the victim of modern F1 car design, therefore. Had the circuit appeared in the sixties, there can be little doubt that it would have produced some classic races. A touch of rain or a safety car period might also have worked wonders. So we should not despair and classify the track as yet another Barcelona or Hungaroring; I am sure that it has the potential to produce wonderful races in the future. Should the new regulations due to take effect in 2009 have the desired effect, it is very likely that Valencia will become one of the much-anticipated highlights of the year."
• Alonso to experiment with tyres in test - autosport.com
  At last, an answer for Renault's odd behaviour during Saturday Practice recently:

  "Ever since Nelson Piquet showed good pace to score second place in Germany after a period behind the safety car, the team have believed that a slow few laps when tyres first run has improved their consistency over longer distances."

  But Alonso remains sceptical and wants Renault to assess the technique during testing

• Valencia GP set for name change - autosport.com
  "The Formula One round on the streets of Valencia's harbour could be renamed the Mediterranean Grand Prix from next season.

  "The change is set to be made because the race at the Nurburgring needs a different name due to the a disagreement over the German Grand Prix title, that the country's motorsport authority, the ADAC, does not want to pay for. "

• BMW tell Heidfeld to lift his game - autosport.com
  Kubica has been signed by BMW for 2009, but they don't want to confirm it until they know where Nick Heidfeld is at.
• Senna: No F1 deal signed yet - autosport.com
  ""There is absolutely nothing going on in terms of signing with anybody in F1," he told autosport.com. On the subject of possible option deals, he added: "There's not even any negotiations in that sense. First, I still have to understand who has the best options for me to follow. Then we can start negotiating. But at the moment we're still seeking those best options."

  "Senna admitted that he and his management team are in discussions with nine of F1's teams about possible future roles."

• Hamilton takes cautious approach - BBC SPORT
  "McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton says he is prepared to take a cautious approach to winning the Formula One title as the season moves towards its climax."

• Number 1 result in Google for ‘Ferrari International Assistance’. Get in there! http://snurl.com/3k311 #

• Sato seeking berth at Toro Rosso - pitpass
  Sato could prove an attractive prospect for Toro Rosso, who are looking for sponsors for next season
• More Fire in Valencia - Formula 1 Insight
  Clive on the safety of pitstops and refuelling
• Ferrari admit to engine concerns - BBC SPORT
  "The engineers were aware of a potential risk with Kimi's engine.

  "Changing the engine on Kimi's car would have seen him start from far down the grid at a track where it appeared that overtaking was impossible.

  "(It proves) it's not enough to bring Formula One to a street circuit in a fantastic location to produce spectacular racing."

  So if Ferrari knew it was impossible to overtake in Valencia, where did this "three overtaking spots" gubbins come from? And why did F1 go to Valencia in the first place?

• Valencia: team mate versus team mate - F1 Fanatic
  Analysis of the lap times of the front-runners in Valencia
• IRL to go turbo. F1 to follow? - Grandprix.com
  Grandprix.com reckons it makes sense for F1 to adopt turbo engines
• Teams trying to save summer break - autosport.com
  "Next year's schedule runs from the end of March until mid-November, but does not include a three-week gap in the summer that has been a feature of recent calendars.

  "That move has led to concern from some teams, who fear that they may have to start paying out to rotate team members in a bid not to cause burn-out among their staff."

• Frecce d’argento - Il forum italiano dei tifosi McLaren
  I've discovered this forum dedicated to Italian fans of McLaren. I just decided to link to it because I appreciate that these people are probably in a minority!

Michael Phelps and Robert Kubica use extreme diets to become winners

One of the stories that emerged during the recent Olympic Games was the extraordinary diet of Michael Phelps who won eight Olympic gold medals this year. The swimmer takes in an incredible 12,000 calories per day. Here is his intake for the day:

• Breakfast
  • Three fried egg sandwiches topped with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise
  • Two cups of coffee
  • Omelette made out of five eggs
  • Bowl of grits
  • Three slices of french toast sprinkled with sugar
  • Three chocolate chip cookies
• Lunch
  • Half a kilogram of enriched pasta
  • Two large ham and cheese sandwiches of white bread with mayonnaise
  • 1,000 calories of energy drink
• Dinner
  • Half a kilogram of enriched pasta (again)
  • A whole pizza
  • 1,000 calories more of energy drink

All I can say is, with a breakfast that big I hope he doesn’t have to commute!

This extreme diet reminded me of another extreme diet I read about earlier this year. It is not uncommon to hear about drivers stacking up on the pasta — the carbohydrates do them good over long distances.

But pasta is a big no-no for Robert Kubica nowadays. The pole is among the tallest drivers in F1 at 184 cm. That can be a major disadvantage in a sport where teams are always looking to trim unnecessary weight so that they can put ballast in the best position for the performance of the car.

There is also the fact that the cockpit of an F1 can be quite a confined space. Alexander Wurz was unable to deputise when Juan Pablo Montoya had his “tennis injury” a couple of years back because the Austrian still couldn’t fit into the McLaren car! In 1995 Nigel Mansell also struggled to fit into his McLaren, though that was probably more because he had grown outwards!

Over the winter, Robert Kubica went on an extraordinary crash diet which allowed him to lose an incredible five kilos in just five weeks. That is amazing for someone who looked so gaunt in the first place. This weight loss is said to be a major factor in his competitiveness this season. Here is a typical day in Kubica’s regime according to an article by Peter Windsor in the June 2008 issue of F1 Racing.

• Breakfast: fruit
• Lunch: A 50p-sized piece of chicken with some carrots and a sprig of broccoli
• Dinner: “A forkful of protein”

(A 50 pence piece is 27.3 mm in diameter.)

“No carbs. No dairy. Nothing artificially sweet.”

The prospect of eating so little throughout the day would be bad enough for me, never mind being banned from carbohydrates! Like Michael Phelps, Robert Kubica has had to display tremendous self-discipline and commitment. It is just another reason why Robert Kubica is surely a future world champion.

• Define “Engine Freeze” - Axis Of Oversteer
  "Crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons are not solid but have channels that allow oil to cool parts from the inside as well as provide a lubrication function…

  "This was news to me, so I dug around a little and found s a patent granted for this system (or something very similar in any case) in 2006, right around the time of the freezing of engine specs…"

• Raikkonen engine problem same as Massa - autosport.com
  "Initial analysis of the Ferrari 056 power unit that blew up in Valencia has confirmed that it was a con rod problem - the exact same reason for Massa's exit at the Hungaroring."
• Ferrari F2008 - revised sidepod chimneys and winglets - The Official Formula 1 Website
  "These Valencia changes take on more significance in light of Raikkonen's engine failure… It should be noted that the chimney and winglet on the right of Raikkonen's car were damaged and torn from the bodywork during the accident with the fuel hose at his second stop."
• Dennis not writing off Raikkonen yet - autosport.com
  "Kimi is a fierce competitor, a highly-talented racing driver and I wouldn't levy any criticism at him at all."

  "The bottom line is drivers have good and bad races, and I'm sure he will forget this one, but he is more than capable of winning.

  "So I certainly wouldn't discount him at this stage. With only six races to go, I wouldn't want to make any predictions about him. That's the worst thing we could do."

• Is the city that never sleeps finally waking up to F1? - pitpass
  Pitpass reckons the streets of New York may be a future F1 venue
• Bruno Senna - will he be in F1 in 2009? - F1 Fanatic
  A look at three rumours surrounding Bruno Senna's future
• F1 CRASH - Speed painting by Martin Missfeldt - 5min
  Awesome "speed painting" of Robert Kubica's crash during the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix.

  Found thanks to PodF1 on Twitter.