World Sport News

2007 Formula One season

The 2007 season is significant in that it will herald the end of the existing Concorde Agreement between the existing Formula One constructors and Bernie Ecclestone. In particular, Mercedes, BMW, Renault and Honda (collectively the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association) have a number of outstanding disagreements with the FIA and Ecclestone, on financial and technical grounds. They had threatened even to boycott Formula One from the 2008 season onwards and instead stage their own rival series, before signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2007 Australian Grand Prix will be the first time since the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix, that there would be a Formula One field without a Cosworth engine.

In 2007, there will be 17 races with the season starting on the 18th of March in Australia and ending on the 21st of October in Brazil. The Belgian Grand Prix returns to the calendar while both San Marino and Europe have been dropped. It is confirmed that the German Grand Prix will alternate between the Nurburgring and Hockenheim.

The San Marino Grand Prix may still be included.

There will be 5 back to back races (Malaysia - Bahrain, Canada - USA, France - Britain, Italy - Belgium and Japan - China.

Alonso tips himself to win title - Fernando Alonso believes he can win a third consecutive world title despite his move from Renault to McLaren.

Three-time world champion Lauda told Austrian broadcaster ORF that the three leading teams could emerge as the standout in 2007 but all have potential problems. The three teams go in with a much-changed driver line-up next season. World champion Fernando Alonso has moved from Renault to McLaren, from where Kimi Raikkonen has shifted to Ferrari to replace Michael Schumacher, and Finnish rookie Heiki Kovalainen is Alonso's replacement at Renault.

"Renault won the last two championships, but Kovalainen has never even started a Grand Prix," Lauda said. "Strong car, but the driver question still needs to be clarified." Lauda also queried whether Raikkonen would be suited at Ferrari. "It will be a difficult task for him, because (Schumacher's) German precision helped Ferrari to triumph for many years," Lauda said. "Kimi is going to have to work very hard, which is something that he doesn't always like to do."

While Lauda didn't question the worth of McLaren's driving combination of Alonso and British rookie Lewis Hamilton, he said the team simply had to produce a better car in 2007 to win.

The governing body for international motorsport confirmed that two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will take his No. 1 to McLaren next season, lining up alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton, who will inherit the No. 2. The Woking-based team will also be officially known as Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes.

Renault will return with numbers 3 and 4 for Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen. The team will also be known as ING Renault F1 next season after signing the international banking and insurance firm as title sponsor to replace cigarette maker Mild Seven.

Renault and McLaren essentially swap their numerical lineup from a year ago.

Ferrari will once again lineup with No. 5 and 6, this time for Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen and the team will be known as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, even though cigarette advertising will be banned from the sport next season.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will take over No. 7 and 8 for Honda, which has not found a title sponsor to replace outgoing Lucky Strike. The team will simply be known as Honda Racing F1 for the time being.

Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will line up with No. 9 and 10 while the Toyota duo of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli will take No. 11 and 12.

Red Bull Racing retain No. 14 and 15 with David Coulthard and Mark Webber while the newly named AT&T Williams team sport No. 16 and 17 for Nico Rosberg and Alex Wurz.

Scuderia Toro Rosso are the only team who have yet to confirm a driver for either No. 18 or 19 but it's believed both Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed will return in 2007.

Christijan Albers is the only driver listed for the Spyker F1 team, which has dropped the Midland MF reference for 2007. No driver is listed for the No. 21 car.

Rounding out the grid are No. 22 and 23 for Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson with the Super Aguri F1 team. The Japanese squad have a TBA listed before their name, indicating that a title sponsor may be coming on board for 2007.

BMW-Sauber confirm 2007 launch date

BMW-Sauber have become the second Formula One team to confirm the launch date for their 2007 challenger. The F1.07 will make its official debut on January 16th at the Valencia circuit in Spain. That is just one day after McLaren launch their all-new contender for the 2007 season. BMW-Sauber enjoyed a strong debut campaign while racing under its own name after taking over the assets of the Sauber team last year. German Nick Heidfeld will be back for a second season while Polish driver Robert Kubica will embark on his first full season in F1 after taking over for Jacques Villeneuve midway through last year.

Hamilton to Be First Black Driver in F1

Lewis Hamilton will race for McLaren next season, becoming the first black driver in Formula One. The team announced Friday that it selected the 21-year-old British driver to race alongside two-time defending F1 champion Fernando Alonso in 2007. Hamilton won this year's GP2 championship, a feeder circuit for F1. In 2005, he dominated the F3 series, winning 15 of 20 races.

''It's a dream come true,'' Hamilton said in a statement. ''To be racing in Formula 1 with McLaren has been the ultimate goal for me since I was very young and this opportunity is a fantastic way to end what has been the best year for me.''

Lewis is of Anglo-Caribbean origin. His father's parents come from the West Indies.

Bridgestone ties up tyre contracts

Bridgestone has finalised contracts with the six Formula 1 teams who used Michelin rubber last season. The Japanese manufacturer will be F1’s sole tyre supplier in 2007 following Michelin’s withdrawal from the sport. Its six new customers – Renault, McLaren, Honda, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso – have been eager to tie up the contracts as they would otherwise be short of tyres when winter testing begins. Now all 11 teams should be able to run on Bridgestones at the next test session in Barcelona, scheduled for 28-30 November.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “We are extremely pleased that we have now reached agreements with the six remaining teams for the supply of Bridgestone Potenza tyres in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. “We are very much looking forward to testing and racing with them all and developing good technical, personal and commercial relationships. “This year has been an extremely positive year for Formula 1 and we look forward to working with the teams and the FIA to ensure F1 has an exciting future. “Our role will be to provide safe, high performance tyres of the highest quality and to ensure fairness of service to all the teams. “We are therefore also particularly pleased that all 11 Formula 1 teams have recently cooperated with each other to agree a balanced programme of testing for 2007 in the interests of fairness and cost efficiency.”