Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Formula One on the brink as eight teams threaten split
Formula One plunged into its biggest crisis in 60 years on Friday with eight of the 10 teams announcing plans to set up their own championship.
The teams association FOTA said BMW-Sauber, Brawn, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso and Toyota were united in a decision that would split the sport in two if carried through.
“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship,” said a statement.
“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners.”
Formula One can name anything complicated … even a list
How complicated can an entry list be? Very, if its anything to do with Formula One.
On the piece of paper published by the governing FIA on Friday, there are 13 teams entered with a total of 26 cars. Simple as that.
Talking Turkey with Lewis Hamilton
Of all the corners in Formula One this season, turn eight at the Istanbul Park Circuit subjects drivers to the highest G-forces (around 5G, or five times their body weight).
It is a long, sweeping multi-apex corner that yearns to be taken flat out (270kph+) but that will see only a handful — probably only the Brawns, Red Bulls and Ferraris — manage to do it this
weekend.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Poker obsession sweeps the sporting world
I am not exactly sure why being able to kick a ball or drive a car well means you would be good at card games, but the number of sportsmen indulging in professional poker tournaments has now reached ludicrous proportions.
The latest to declare his love for poker is the France soccer team coach Raymond Domenech.
Interviewing Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is resigned to the fact that his formula 1 world title defence could last only a handful more races and the McLaren driver has anointed fellow-Briton Jenson Button as his heir apparent.
“I think Jenson’s got a great chance, a great shot at it so I wish him all the best,” Hamilton told Reuters in an interview at the McLaren factory when asked who was going to win the championship.
Can you imagine Formula 1 without Ferrari?
Ferrari’s threat to pull out of Formula One at the end of the year unless the governing body
backs down on a planned budget cap sets the stage for what will be heated talks at the top of the sport over the coming weeks.
While the step appears dramatic, it is part of a war of wills between International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) led by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.
Air Toro Rosso
Fabulous picture of Toro Rosso’s two Sebastiens going in for a bit of Mutually Assured Destruction at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend . Bourdais is in the air, Buemi underneath. None of the drivers were hurt. Josep Laoso was the man in the right place at the right time to capture this image. Who said Formula One wasn’t dangerous?
Hey Mitch, Formula One drivers are more than talented…
Here’s Reuters motor racing correspondent Alan Baldwin’s reply to Mitch Phillips’ piece above
There’s no sham about the driver talent, just the simple fact that you can’t show it off without having the car as well. But that’s self-evident. The best jockey isn’t going to get anyhere in the Derby on a donkey.
Has time run out for Rubens to shed the number two tag?
It was hard not to feel just a little bit sorry for Rubens Barrichello after his second place behind Brawn GP team mate Jenson Button at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
After passing Button at the start to take the lead, Barrichello’s hopes of a first race win since 2004 were apparently dashed when the team switched the Briton to a two-stop strategy.
Have McLaren been punished enough already?
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh celebrates his 51st birthday on Wednesday and it doesn’t look like being much fun.
You can bet he would rather be anywhere else than appearing before Formula One’s governing body in Paris to take the rap for his team ‘deliberately misleading’ race stewards.
