Formula One News — October 2006

Local hero Will Power is on pole for the Champ Car at Surfers Paradise. The young Australian stayed ahead of all challengers, helped by a couple of timely red flags as others were doing their fastest laps.

Formula 1 goes to Interlagos each year because it needs a venue in South America, even though everyone knows that the facilities at the Sao Paulo track are way below the standards demanded elsewhere in the world.

Justin Wilson is out of the Champ Car Series for the rest of the year, having broken a bone in his wrist in qualifying for the race in Surfers Paradise. Wilson suffered the injury when he spun into a tyre barrier and the impact went up through his steering.

Alexander Wurz set the fastest time of the afternoon session in Sao Paulo, beating his constant testing rival Anthony Davidson a tenth slower in his Honda. The duo were two tenths faster than BMW's Sebastian Vettel.

Brazilian GP - Friday Press Conference

Brazilian GP - Friday Photos

Brazilian GP - Friday Team Quotes

Brazilian GP - Practice 2 Results

There has long been a joke in F1 circles that Ferrari can get away with whatever it pleases because of a mythical FIA regulation which is called "The Red Car Rule". Read any F1 forum and you will see endless references to the fact that the FIA and Ferrari are seen to be too close.

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timesheets in Brazil on Friday morning with a best lap of 1m13.764s, a tenth faster than Honda test driver Anthony Davidson and Williams's Alexander Wurz.

Brazilian GP - Practice 1 Results

As we revealed some weeks ago Williams has been busy building up its technical staff with the appointment of Renault's deputy head of aerodynamics Jon Tomlinson becoming head of the Williams aero department in March. He will be joined by former McLaren senior aerodynamicist Amit Chakraborty.

The news that Williams has signed a title sponsorship with American telecommunications giant AT&T is great news for the team, whioch has been struggling through difficult times in recent months.

Mario Andretti (66) will be awarded the title of "Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana" by Antonio Bandini, Italy's Consul General in New York on Monday in recognition of his remarkable career and good character, which have reinforced a positive image of Italians throughout the world.

Brazilian GP - Thursday Press Conference

There is to be a change of management in the Bridgestone Formula 1 programme at the circuits with our spies telling us that Dutchman Kees Van der Grint. taking a more active role. Van der Grint is a wellknown Bridgestone figure, having spent the recent years working closely with Michael Schumacher.

The FIA World Coucnil met in Barcelona today and decided various bits and pieces to confirm decision that have been agreed recently. The fine levied on the Turkish GP remains with the race organisers MSO having paid $2.5m and the automobile club TOSFED owing the remainder.

The FIA World Council has agreed to the calendar as previously published, despite the fact that the dates make little sense at the start of the year with the Australian GP by itself on March 18 and then a three-week gap before Malaysia on April 8 and Bahrain on April 15.

British American Tobacco exits Formula One at the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend after eight years of Lucky Strike sponsorship, bringing to an end links to motorsport dating back to the 1960s.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team has announced that it will keep the same driver line-up in 2007 with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica being joined by third driver Sebastian Vettel. It remains to be seen whether or not the team will nominate a second test driver as well.

Yu Zhifei, the Chinese official who has been responsible for the construction of the Shanghai International Circuit and the running of the Chinese Grand Prix has been called in for

CVC Asia Pacific has bought into a company called PBL Media in partnership with James Packer. The new company will include a number of media outlets including Channel Nine, ACP Magazines, which owns most of the automobile magazines in Australia

Chip Ganassi Racing has confirmed that Juan Pablo Montoya will make his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Memphis Motorsport Park on October 28. To date Montoya has competed in two ARCA races, similar but slower than the Busch Series.

Nelson Piquet Jr has admitted that he is now managed by Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore.