Rediscover Formula One : Formula One News, Views and Reviews

No more Marlboro , West, Mild Seven , Benson and Hedges. The tobacco companies have been banished from the world of formula one. The billions of dollars they pumped into the sport will be thoroughly missed. Moreover , some cars might even have to change their colours to incorporate new sponsors. Like the Renault team which was being sponsored by the Mild Seven group , The characteristic blue tint on the cars might be replaced by an orange paint job as their new sponsors are ING Vyasya. Whatever be their colour , 2006 was indeed one of the most eventful years for the world of Formula One.

We fare goodbye to the 2006 season and start to prepare for the 2007 season , here is the list of the lineups finalised by the various teams.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes -

• Drivers -
  
• Fernando Alonso
• Lewis Hamilton

• Test Drivers
• Pedro De La Rosa
• Gary Paffett

ING Renault F1 Team

• Drivers
• Giancarlo Fisichella
  
• Heikki Kovalainen
• Test Drivers
• Ricardo Zonta
• Nelson Piquet Jr.

Scuderia Ferrari Team

• Drivers
• Felipe Massa
• Kimi Raikonen
• Test Drivers
• Luca Badoer
• Marc Gene

Honda Racing F1 Team

• Drivers
• Jenson Button
• Rubens Barrichello
• Test Drivers
• Christian Klien
• James Rossiter

BMW Sauber F1 Team

• Drivers
• Nick Heidfeld
• Robert Kubica
• Test Drivers
• Sebastien Vettel

Panasonic Toyota Formula One Racing

• Drivers
• Ralf Schumacher
• Jarno Trulli
• Test Drivers
• Frank Mantagny
• Kohei Hirate
• Kamui Kobyashi

Red Bull formula one Racing

• Drivers
• David Coulthard
• Mark Webber
• Test Drivers
• Not Announced Yet

AT&T Williams F1

• Drivers
• Nico Rosberg
• Alexander Wurz
• Test Drivers
• Narain Karthikeyan
• Kazuki Najakima
  

Spyker F1 Team

• Drivers
• Christian Albers
• Adrian Sutil

* - All others TBA

Scuderia Torro Rosso

* - All are TBA

Super Aguri F1

• Drivers
• Takuma Sato
• Anthony Davidson
• Test Drivers
• Giado Van Der Garde

Last Updated 21st December :-)

A brief account of what all happened this week in the world of Formula One

• Heikki Kovalainen says that he can match Alonso in the Renaults and that he doesnt feel like an F1 rookie

• Germany's Adrian Sutil will partner Christijan Albers at the new Spyker Formula One
  

Sadly little else happened this week as drivers and teams enjoy their break. :P

The FIA released the Formula One 2007 official Calendar, here is an overview of main points

• Season starts at Australia on 18th March 2007 and concludes with the last Formula One race at Brazil on 21st October 2007

• The San Marino Grand Prix and The European Grand Prix have been scrapped from the Formula One Calendar leaving Germany and Italy with just 1 race in the Calendar.

• The above decision means that while Imola is left without a race , the German grand Prix can be hosted either by Hockenheim or by Nurburgring.

• The Japenese Formula One Grand Prix shifts from Suzuka to Fuji.
  

FIA Formula One 2007 Grand Prix Schedule Calendar:

18 March: Australia (Melbourne)
8 April: Malaysia (Sepang)
15 April: Bahrain (Manama)
13 May: Spain (Barcelona)
27 May: Monaco (Monte Carlo)
10 June: Canada (Montreal)
17 June: United States (Indianapolis)
1 July: France (Magny-Cours)
8 July: United Kingdom (Silverstone)
22 July: Germany (tbc)
5 August: Hungary (Budapest)
26 August: Turkey (Istanbul)
9 September: Italy (Monza)
16 September: Belgium (Spa)
30 September: China (Shanghai)
7 October: Japan (Fuji)
21 October: Brazil (Interlagos)

Two time Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso is already in the front seat of a McLaren , Renault gave him permission to test in a McLaren car even before his contract expires at the end of this year. Alonso though was lacklustre and was .250 seconds behind teammate Lewis Hamilton in testing.

"I'm pleased that I was able to drive the McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 car earlier than expected and would like to thank Renault and Flavio Briatore for agreeing to this.

"I'm really excited about the future and would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year."

Well due to off-season and me busy with exams , wasnt able to post this. Hakkinen is back to testing with Mclaren Mercedes , So is he coming back to formula one you may ask , we are not sure :P . He was the slowest of all the formula one drivers that day in testing and was about 3 seconds behind Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer.

"After five years, to come back in F1 and to go very hard, flat out, I think I would make mistakes.

"The risk would be damaging the car. That would first of all not look professional and I don't think I would learn anything then.

"I think it would be unfair for people to automatically expect, after five years, I could go maximum attack and bang in a time."

Career Stats of Mika Hakkinen

Nationality : Finnish
Active years : 1991 - 2001
Team(s) : Lotus, McLaren
Grands Prix : 165
Championships : 2
Wins : 20
Podium finishes : 51
Pole positions : 26
Fastest laps : 25
First Grand Prix : 1991 United States Grand Prix
First win : 1997 European Grand Prix
Last win : 2001 United States Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix 2001 : Japanese Grand Prix

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