F1 and all kinds of Auto Racing

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Mol and Muller Q&A

The men behind the Spyker F1 team

Mol bringing his business know-how to Spyker

Spyker today unveiled its new 2007 challenger, the imaginatively named F8-VII chassis. Michiel Mol, Director of Spyker F1 Team and Victor Muller CEO of Spyker Cars take questions.

Michiel, In the world of e-business you are very established, but you are relative Formula 1 newcomer. What attracted you to the sport?

"There were two sides to the decision. Firstly the change in the sporting regulations, which saw a shift in favour of the smaller teams with the engine freeze, limits on testing and the tyre stability, meant we could stand a good chance of competing and doing well. Secondly the redistribution of the TV income makes the sport now a very viable financial prospect for investors."

You have a huge success rate in business, with your company, Lost Boys, listed on the Dutch and Swedish stock exchanges. How will your business acumen help Spyker?

"I see Spyker as a regular company, just like any of my other businesses. I run my companies in an open and transparent way and I treat sponsors and partners as customers. I’m going to apply this kind of business sense to Spyker F1 too. Besides it being a sport, I can see the huge business potential there for something to grow - financially this is a very good investment."

The partnership between yourself, Victor and the team seems to be working well. How does the dynamic work?

"The dynamic does work well.

Victor concentrates on the Spyker brand and the road car marketing and production, while I am responsible for the F1 team. Colin is the team principal and controls all the operations and movements at the factory, I make sure the communications, PR and marketing side is looked after and Spyker F1 is positioned in the right way. Between the three of us it works very well."

Will we be seeing you at all races this year?

"I certainly aim to go to all the races, but you never know what might pop up at the last minute. Put it like this – I have booked my ticket to come to all 17 events! I want to be there in the thick of it, working with the sponsors, partners and media and open to any questions. I can tell you, I’ll always be available if I’m there!"

Having a Dutch driver in a Dutch car certainly seems to have been well-received in Holland. How proud does that make you?

"I am certainly proud to be Dutch and in this situation, but the reaction at home has been even bigger than I expected. It’s all been positive, but I will only be really proud when we start achieving good results on and off the track. We’re going in the right way, but I want to make sure we do everything properly and then I can admire what we’ve done together."

The team has had some changes of management recently – are you in F1 for the long run?

"Stability is the only way to get results. I’ve never done a deal to make a quick buck or for a short term project. To see results in this company you definitely have to look at it long-term."

Victor Muller delighted to be in Formula One

Victor, how has your Formula 1 experience been so far?

"I’m now four months into my new ‘career’ and I have really enjoyed it. From the outside looking in it’s the most attractive, competitive and sexy sport and that is all true when you get inside. It really is as glamorous and competitive as it looks; there’s certainly no deception there."

Why did you want to become involved in the sport?

"The tipping point was the major change in the sporting regulations so smaller teams could compete, things were now more equal between the big and the small outfits. F1 is now definitely a sport for smaller teams rather than a financial black hole – with these changes, it should be realistic for a small team to do well."

What you hope to achieve from the project as Spyker?

"First and foremost I want the Spyker name to be associated with success. We want to be competitive, it’s our mission. We’re not in F1 just to be there, we want to win. Moreover the exposure we get from the sport will have a very positive effect on the brand and our sales. If you are competitive in motorsport, it generates massive brand awareness."

How does your role as CEO of Spyker Cars fit in with Michiel and Colin’s Formula 1 roles?

"It’s very clear that as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of Spyker Cars N.V that I see this as a project to raise awareness and profile of the brand. F1 obviously plays a major role in our strategy as a company, but I don’t need to get involved in the day to day dealings of the team. Michiel’s role as the Director of F1 is to raise the commercial profile of the team, while Colin, as team principal, has to ensure that the team functions well on an operational level and take strategic decisions."

Is this a long-term project for you?

"We know that we’re not going to see overnight results here. It’s not going to be a short turn around and we have to be realistic about what we can achieve. You cannot change a team in a year, you cannot expect to have podiums in our first season. We have to manage those expectations; we want to aim for points in the latter part of the year. For us, 2007 will be a transition year as we’re laying the foundations for 2008. We’ll see Mike Gascoyne’s influence start to kick in mid-season so the real results of our involvement won’t be seen until next year."

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Toro Rosso no Red Bull satellite

Teams to compete against each other - Horner

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner has rejected suggestions that Toro Rosso has become a mere 'satellite' outfit for the Red Bull Racing squad.

The energy drink-owned stable, as well as Honda/Super Aguri, have been bombarded with criticism of late and threatened with legal action if they go ahead with apparent plans to effectively share cars in 2007.

Horner is attributed as saying: "Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso are two completely different teams that will compete against one another.

Spyker and Williams have been the most outspoken about the customer car issue, but the feeling runs the length of the pit lane also amid confusion about whether the practice will be fully permitted by the rules in 2008.

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Alonso's team switch is 'brave' - Damon Hill

''The best way to demonstrate true quality''

Fernando Alonso's switch to McLaren Mercedes from title-winning comfort at Renault is 'brave' but exciting, according to the world champion of 1996.

46-year-old Damon Hill, who won his drivers' title at the wheel of a dominant Renault-powered Williams, said Alonso's decision demonstrated that he is a Valentino Rossi-style racer.

"It's a gamble," Hill told the Spanish newspaper Marca, "but he wants to demonstrate his contribution to a team."

"When you are with a successful team for a long time people can start to think that your achievements are a product of the car rather than the driver."

"Fernando wants to show that he can win with a different team, just like Rossi did by changing to Yamaha."

"Yes, it's a big risk, but I think it is the best way to demonstrate true quality.

Alonso has enjoyed a near-perfect start to his new McLaren tenure, as widespread observers agree that the new MP4-22 is so far the most impressive car for 2007, which appears also to be an improvement in terms of reliability.

Hill went on: "If I had to bet money on someone, it would be Alonso. However, even Schumacher changed teams at a similar point in his career and did not win the title in the first year."

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Button and Barrichello happy with progress

Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button are both comfortable with the progress the Honda team has made with its new car over the past week in testing, but are under no illusions of the amount of work still to do.

"We made a step forward this week in our understanding of the car, despite the poor weather which limited the amount of mileage covered on my two days of running," Barrichello said. "We focused on electronic controls work and set-up developments, along with some reliability running, before further new parts become available for the next tests. It is early days yet but I am happy with our current position."

Jenson Button added, "The car has run reliably over the four days this week which has enabled us to cover some further valuable mileage. We still have some work to do in tuning the set-up of the car to the tyres and we will continue that in Jerez next week."

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Spyker threatens legal action

The Spyker F1 team has threatened to take legal action to stop rivals Super Aguri and Toro Rosso from racing customer cars in the 2007 season, team principal Colin Kolles said as he launched his team's new Ferrari-powered car.

"If we don't like the cars then we'll definitely have an injunction," Kolles was quoted as saying by Reuters. "They will have to learn the hard way."

"I don't argue afterwards any more," he added. "We're trying to find a solution and there are some people who think they are super-clever. You will see at the end of the day who has the evidence and the proof and I can tell you that I have them and some people are very naive."

Super Aguri and Toro Rosso are the only teams yet to unveil their 2007 cars.

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Donington sold to private consortium

Donington Park, one of Britain's most historic motor racing venues has been sold by Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Group) to the newly created Holding company Donington Ventures Leisure Limited (DVLL), led by founders Simon Gillett and Lee Gill. DVLL

has simultaneously acquired from Wheatcroft & Sons, substantial surrounding lands and have taken over responsibility for the 'Donington Grand Prix Collection' - the world's largest collection of Grand Prix racing cars. These acquisitions will allow the company to further develop the circuit and motor sport events but also widen the Park's appeal in leisure and entertainment.

Donington Park founder Tom Wheatcroft has agreed to join the company and will assume the role of President with immediate effect. Kevin Wheatcroft also joins the company as special advisor and brings expertise and knowledge that will help develop and promote the Donington Grand Prix Collection.

Donington was host to the British Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1993.

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Sutil not nervous

Adrian Sutil is facing up to his debut season as an F1 driver but says he's not at all nervous about the prospect. Sutil will partner Christijan Albers at the Spyker F1 team.

"I'm really happy to be making my debut so I'm not nervous at all," Sutil insisted. "Physically, I have been training very hard, helped a lot by my trainer Alex. I have been out running and cycling every day and in late January I also went for four days warm weather training in Majorca - it was tough with five to six hours or exercise a day, but you have to be fit to do F1 so I don't mind, especially if it makes me more prepared for the first race."

"There is so much to see and pick up and at the factory you can see how everything works and fits together in the team," he added. "It's very important for me to learn about the technical aspects of the car as it makes you a stronger driver."

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Karthikeyan considering Le Mans

Narain Karthikeyan says he's considering entering the Le Mans 24-hour race this year and also participate in at least another A1 Grand Prix race this season to keep himself in top racing condition while testing for the WilliamsF1 team.

"There's a chance I could do the Le Mans 24 hour race," Kathikeyan said. "It's one of the most famous races in the world."

"I still want a long career in F1," added the 30-year-old. "Just being a team's test driver is not the most exciting thing."

Karthikeyan added that he could compete in another A1GP race so long as it didn't clash with any of his F1 commitments.

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Ecclestone wants 20 races

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wants a typical season to take in 20 events by 2009, he said after announcing that Abu Dhabi had signed a seven-year deal to begin in 2009.

"Currently we have five countries waiting to see if they can have a race on the calendar," Ecclestone told reporters in Abu Dhabi. "We're aiming for 20 races, but we're well served now in this part of the world with Abu Dhabi and Bahrain."

Bahrain has also recently extended its F1 contract until 2013.

[LuNo]

DAVID COULTHARD INTERVIEW

David Coulthard is hoping more than most at Red Bull Racing that Adrian Newey's RB3 car lives up to its sky-high expectations.

After a largely frustrating 2006 season, the 35-year-old Scot is ready to move back up the order and as he explained at RBR's launch in Barcelona, he is confident that both he and the team are ready to achieve that goal.

Q: You must be terribly frustrated with last year, with a car that wasn’t being developed and your career inevitably not going anywhere for six months of the year. What’s your mental approach to this year – is it win-or-bust?

David Coulthard: No, not at all because I don’t need to have that approach to my career.

Ultimately I’m here because I enjoy competing, I enjoy working with the team and I enjoy the challenge of Formula 1.

So the primary goal and focus is to enjoy what I’m doing, and of course if you’re getting success on the track that adds to that enjoyment.

I understand that racing can be frustrating at times, but it will only become extremely frustrating if you allow it to.

So I had a very realistic view when I joined Red Bull as to what we could expect.

Obviously I didn’t factor in year two being worse than year one – I expected year one to be the painful year and then to have a steady progression.

But it was the growing pains that I think are inevitable when you’re bringing new people into an organisation and it’s starting to change the way things are done.

So, yeah, it got difficult towards the end of the year and frustrating because sometimes people have got their head buried in the sand, and it takes some public expression of that frustration to get people to wake up.

Q: How close is Red Bull to the level of, say, McLaren?

DC: It’s still a long way away in terms of the facilities and the consistent investment in those facilities; it’s probably got about the same number of people.

But at the end of the day this isn’t about being close, this is about being in front – and that is a massive step.

The first step has to be to get out of the back division, which is where we’ve been for the last two years, and trying to get into the middle division, which means beating manufacturer teams which have been around for longer than the Red Bull organisation.

That has to be the goal. I believe it’s achievable. Only time will tell whether this car can deliver or not.

Q: Can it, from what you’ve seen, or have you not seen enough yet?

DC: We’re nudging ever closer to the lap times that the Honda is doing.

Inevitably there are some issues that mean we’re having to keep stopping the car and not leaving it out there on the track, because we have a completely new package.

The Renault engine is proven, but it’s not proven strapped to the back of a Red Bull, so we need to go through those growing pains of getting all the electronic boxes to talk to each other, cooling and all those sorts of things.

Q: Do you think that’s a job that will take longer than you’ve got in testing? Is it something that will impinge on the start of the season?

DC: No I don’t think so. This time last year we couldn’t run a lap without the thing overheating – so that was really critical.

This [the RB3] will be able to run a string of laps once we get on top of all the other little things.

The Honda’s rolled out and gone straight into testing because it’s an evolution of what they had last year.

We have a new partner so it’s inevitable there’s going to be a few little hiccups.

I don’t know how quick the car is [yet].

Q: Is it a case of being reliable and consistent this year, or aiming for outright performance?

DC: We’ve got to aim for performance, because reliable will clock up finishes but it won’t necessarily score you lots of points, so we need a quick package.

Q: You’ve driven Adrian’s cars before obviously. Do they have particular handling characteristics that make them comfortable to drive or give you confidence in them?

DC: Quick cars tend to be difficult to drive. I think a lot of people think that if you’ve got a quick car, it’s easy to drive and if you’ve got a slow car, it’s difficult.

It’s actually the opposite way round: the quicker it goes, the more it’s extracting from the tyres and of course it’s taking that tyre to the edge.

So what I want to feel is that this car is twitchy and responsive and has your attention the whole time.

And if we get that then I’ll feel pretty good.

Q: Both you and Mark are quite tall drivers, and Adrian has a reputation for liking to package his cars as tightly as possible – is the car comfortable to sit in and drive?

DC: It’s definitely a lot tighter and narrower around the hips than we experienced last year, so we’ve had a bit of difficulty – more so for Mark because he’s taller – getting the exact position in the car that we’d like.

But it won’t be a problem once we come to race it.

Q: You’ve generally got on well with your team-mates; how’s it going with Mark?

DC: Unlike Kimi, for instance, who I knew nothing about when he joined McLaren, Mark and I have worked together as fellow directors of the GPDA and all those sorts of things off-track, so I know him already and it’s just a continuation of that.

Obviously what we don’t know is how we both react to each other in a competitive environment, and we won’t know that until Melbourne.

But I don’t expect to have any issues with him because I’m not looking to have any issues.

I understand how the dynamic is with your team-mate and basically you have teams within teams – you can’t get away from that when you’ve got two cars out there racing on the track.

Q: I can remember a couple of instances where you and he had run-ins during races and there were a few harsh words afterwards. Are those behind you?

DC: Well that’s the thing, you’ve got the benefit of youth and your memory works! I don’t remember having a run-in with Mark.

I think he’s made some brave overtaking attempts that have ended up not coming off.

Usually when you attempt things like that you’ve got a 50-50 chance, which isn’t really good enough odds – when you want to get to the finish you’ve got to make sure you make a clean, decisive move.

Q: What’s your impression of the Bridgestone tyres on this car?

DC: I don’t have an impression because I did only six laps on Wednesday.

But looking at the tyres on Mark’s car it looks like there’s a bit of graining on the rear and very clean on the front, which is the same as what the Honda looks like as well, and it’s a consequence I think of the very cold track conditions.

The very unusual thing is that the tyres we have here are the tyres we will be racing during the season.

Under normal circumstances the manufacturers always bring the right tyre for the track conditions, so in the winter they bring a tyre that has a low operating temperature.

Here we’re stuck with a tyre that we’ll run on a track temperature of 40-50 degrees [and it’s] completely out of its window.

The consequence is that with all these regulation changes the teams end up spending a lot of money to go testing in Bahrain because you’ve got to go where the weather gives you the chance to work with these tyres.

So for every change which is there to help reduce costs, there’s a knock-on effect.

We’re restricted in how many tyres we have and how many test days we have, so let’s going and spend hundreds of thousands going to Bahrain because then you get your one chance of trying to get some good temperatures.

Q: How much difference does it make having an experienced driver alongside you rather than a rookie or near-rookie, and how important do you think that will be in helping to drive the team forwards?

DC: I fail to see how it can be anything other than a positive.

I honestly don’t feel a real difference so far, because we did a couple of tests together at the end of last year and interest level in the RB2 was not particularly high for either of us.

The interest for me was in getting used to the Bridgestone tyres – I wanted to get a feel for the grooves, the wets and the intermediates, which I was able to do, and that was as much as I wanted to achieve from that little winter testing situation, and for Mark likewise.

He’s obviously got experience of the Bridgestone tyres so for him the different characteristic of the tyre probably wasn’t such a shock.

It doesn’t have anyway near the front potential of a Michelin, so I now understand why the Bridgestone runners were always locking up, under-rotating the front tyre into the corners.

You very rarely saw that with the Michelin runners – it’s a different way of achieving the goal.

Q: Everyone is saying that the Holy Grail for Red Bull this year is the car, but do you think the team is operationally up to the job in terms of strategy and chasing time over the weekend?

DC: I think that those things are absolutely key to how a team operates.

We had a new team manager last year who has obviously had time to draw on his experience from Renault, put new working into place and get everyone to buy into it.

It takes time because a grand prix team is like a big old oil tanker – you don’t just spin it round on its nose, it takes time to put all the instructions in and get the reaction and get the thing going in another direction.

I’m not saying it was a bad team before, but it had a history of finishing seventh in the constructors’ championship, and that’s not good enough.

And if you just keep putting the same processes in, the same situation, the same people, you’ll get the same result – logically – so you need to change things and shake it up.

Q: So do you see Red Bull being up there in the second division this year, as opposed to nipping at the heels of the top three?

DC: Yeah, I think nipping at the heels of the top three is maybe a bit optimistic.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t be there in certain circumstances but to be in that second division battling with Toyota, Honda, whoever it happens to be [is the aim].

I’m just presuming the big three will remain McLaren, Ferrari and Renault because logically that’s what you’d expect, but none of us know.

Q: Do you think the levelling out of the tyres and the engines means that there is going to be a wider variety of teams with a chance of winning races this year?

DC: Logically you would think so, but when we’ve had one-make [tyre] formulas in the past you’ve still had a reasonable spread across the grid.

But at that time of course the engine formula was more open and cars were less reliable and all the rest of it.

I think that looking at how more cars finish grands prix than at any time in the history of the sport, if we’re all on one tyre then that takes out [another variable]…

Although we’ve got this silly rule that you have to run the other tyre at one point during the race.

Everyone will do the same thing on that. If you’re doing three stints you’ll run your two quickest sets of tyres and you’ll put your slowest set on for the end, because typically there’s no overtaking at the end of a grand prix.

So there’s not exactly going to be a great deal of suspense: you know, are they going to start the race with the slow tyres and give themselves two racey sets for the end? No they won’t.

Q: Do you not think that it might pay to run low fuel in qualifying to get a good grid position and then do a short first stint with the soft tyres, which presumably will have a higher wear rate?

DC: I don’t think tyre wear will be an issue. I’d love it if it was. If we had tyre wear issues that’s great because that means we’ve got a developed tyre, we’ve got something that’s really on the edge.

We know the six tyres that we have for the year and Bridgestone have just said ‘there you go, here’s your tyres, thank you very much’.

They don’t want to support too many separate tests because that means a lot of extra manpower and expense.

They’ve won the world championship, so they have no incentive at all to do anything other than supply tyres and market the fact that they’re the world champions, which they can start doing today.

Q: You were team-mates with Kimi for a number of years. What do you think of his move to Ferrari?

DC: I think it’s great for me, I think he’ll have success there.

Clearly he is just a quick racing driver. I don’t think he could ever have been criticised for lack of pace in terms of not having won more at McLaren – he was let down by reliability and various other issues.

I think he’ll do well there.

Q: You were perhaps too far away from the Renaults last year to be able to assess them, but where would you put the Renault among the top engines in terms of horsepower?

DC: I’d just be guessing, but I’m guessing that it’s in the top three.

It’s not just about pure horsepower though. We believe that we’ll have better fuel efficiency from this engine and better heat rejection, and that means we can run smaller radiators and use less fuel over the duration of the race. They’re both things that give you real performance.

So for the Americans it might not read very well in terms of horsepower and quarter-mile times or whatever, but we want an efficient package that allows us to take the most out of every situation and I think the Renault will give us that.

I’ve worked with Renault before and I know how they work when they supply the second team – when I was part of what was effectively the works team at that time in Williams – so it’s no surprise the way they’re approaching the supply of engines to Red Bull.

Q: You’re happy you will get equal treatment to the works team then?

DC: I believe it will be as equal as it ever can be given that we are the second team.

It’s quite clear their focus and goal is for a Renault 1-2 and then in an ideal situation they’d have Red Bull-Renault following them home.

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Renault not worried with rival's pace

Renault's team chief test engineer Christian Silk has said he is not worried by McLaren and Ferrari's pace. Both team's showed impressive lap times at the test sessions.

Silk said about his competitors: "McLaren and Ferrari have both confirmed that they're quick. It's not really a big surprise! But we're a strong team too and these performances don't worry us. As I've already told you our programme was probably quite different. The out-and-out lap times during the winter are almost impossible to analyse. One is quicker at Valencia; another is in front in Barcelona. That's not what you need to focus on at this stage."

Silk furthermore believes the upcoming test in Bahrain will be very important for the team. Many teams will travel to Bahrain at the end of this month to get their cars ready for the season under hot temperatures. Speaking about the test in Bahrain Silk said: "It's certainly the most important test of the whole winter because we can run in high temperatures at last. We're in the process of putting the finishing touches to our programmes and producing the parts we need. We're working round the clock. We must be ready for the first race."

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Melbourne to host Ferrari street demo

The organisers of the Australian Grand Prix has set-up an event for all the Formula 1 fans to catch some early action ahead of the F1 season. On Saturday, 3 March, two weeks before the start of the Australian Grand Prix, Lygon Street will play host to the Ferrari festival.

The family festival is a combined celebration of the 60th anniversary of the legendary car and Melbourne's love affair with the annual Australian Grand Prix. The day will feature a range of Grand Prix and Ferrari themed activities for everyone to enjoy.

The showpiece of the day will be the unique sight and sounds of a Ferrari Formula One car driven as part of a low speed demonstration down Lygon Street.

Tim Bamford, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, is urging all Melburnians to turn out in force at the carnival, which will run from 10am to 8pm. "Everyone who has ever heard a Formula One car will be familiar with the adrenalin rush it induces," said Mr Bamford. "For those that have not witnessed the majesty of these machines, I invite you to come to Lygon Street on 3 March to get an up close and personal taste of Formula One - the world's most exhilarating sport. To experience the excitement of a Ferrari Formula One car, surrounded by its passionate, vocal supporters, will make this an event not to be missed."

The Formula One Ferrari will conduct a low-speed controlled demonstration drive on a closed section of Lygon Street, between Pelham and Faraday Streets.

More than one kilometre of steel barriers will be installed along the perimeter of the street to ensure there is no safety risk to the public, with additional barriers to be erected at either end of the course. An exclusion zone around the perimeter of the course will also be created, with marshals and security personnel ensuring that the viewing public is kept well clear of the course.

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Button: Honda still has work to do

Jenson Button says Honda still has a lot to do before the season opener in Australia, but insists his early impressions of the RA107 have been positive despite its low-key start in testing.

The Brackley-based squad failed to make an impact towards the top of the timesheets with its 2007 challenger in the year’s first group test at Valencia last week – with the new car’s best time of the week nearly two seconds off Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren benchmark.

But the Briton, who has only driven the car on three occasions, says although more progress will have to be made over the next month, he has been encouraged by the RA107 right from its run at Barcelona last month.

“I drove the car for one day only in Barcelona but it was very productive,” he said in an interview with Formula 1’s official website.

“The main focus of the day was about running through all the simple things with the car such as basic set-up changes and getting the balance to my liking.

“We achieved that pretty early on and were able to cover a good number of laps, so it gave me a solid understanding of the car.

“The first race is some way off and there is a lot to do and improvements to be made, but it was been a productive start for us.”

While poor weather conditions hampered the team’s planned testing programme in the first part of last week in Spain, Button was able to clock up 172 laps over the course of the final two days as the car ran reliably.

And he says last week’s Valencia test further strengthened his view that the team had made a solid start with the RA107.

“Rubens [barrichello] and I completed over 820 kilometres of running in the RA107 during its first test at the Barcelona circuit in the three days that the new car was on-track, so it was a good first outing overall and last week’s Valencia sessions supported that view,” he said.

[SerbianBoy]

There is no point watching F1 when Schumy is retired...

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Albers debuts Spyker F8-VII

Christijan Albers completed the first laps in the Spyker F8-VII today at Silverstone. The Dutchman began Spyker's private test session at the British track this morning with a damp track.

It is the first outing for the Ferrari powered Spyker F1 car today. Christijan Albers will be in the car for the rest of the day. On Wednesday Spyker will also be testing at Silverstone.

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Schumacher's Ferrari future still vague

Michael Schumacher's role at Ferrari's Formula One team is still pretty vague the German admitted. He will most likely hunt for young racing talent, but his exact role with the Italian team has yet to be decided.

Schumacher is currently visiting a golf tournament in Dubai. Speaking to reporters he said: "There is not a very clear definition made to my role in Ferrari so far, simply for the fact that I don't want it to be. I am very lucky to have a team like this. They still want to keep me involved and they still want to use my abilities. They're happy enough to leave it up to me where I want to be involved and where not, so with time that will develop."

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Albers enjoys Spyker-Ferrari debut

At Silverstone Christijan Albers completed his first laps in the Spyker-Ferrari car. The Dutchman completed over 30 laps with only minor problems during the team its first outing with the new car.

"Our day went really well at Silverstone," Albers said after his day of testing. "I have to say I'm really proud of the guys in the factory who made it possible to drive this new car."

It was the car's debut with Ferrari engines and fortunately for the team without any problems. "The Ferrari engine and our new gearbox worked great. It all looks very promising. We did have some minor issues with our car but those are just small problems we can fix easily. At a first test of the car you always find all sorts of things you can improve."

On Wednesday Adrian Sutil will take over from Christijan Albers at Silverstone. The next test session will be next week at Circuit de Catalunya. "I can not wait to get more mileage in the car. Next week we'll travel to Barcelona and hopefully I can complete more laps there to improve the car and get it ready for this year's first race in Melbourne."

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Gascoyne: Shakedown was very successful

On Tuesday the Spyker Formula 1 team enjoyed its debut with the team's 2007 contender. Spyker's technical director Mike Gascoyne was pleased with the day's work that was done under cold circumstances.

At Silverstone Christijan Albers completed 200km and focussed on testing systems and gathering data on the new car in advance of the first proper test in Barcelona next week.

Freezing and icy conditions limited track time, however chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne, was pleased with the team's progress throughout the day. "We've had a very successful shakedown despite the cold weather and icy track, which limited our running to between 11am and 4pm, and we had no major mechanical problems," he said. "It's a tribute to the hard work of the guys back at the factory that we got the car ready on time and everything ran very smoothly. We expect similar track conditions tomorrow, when we look to continue testing the systems and picking up as much data as we can for Barcelona."

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Zonta makes Renault debut

Renault began three days of testing in southern Spain, at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit yesterday. New test and reserve driver Ricardo Zonta made his debut with the team, and primarily focused on getting to grips with the new car, and perfecting his driving position in chassis R27-01.

The Brazilian also spent time meeting the members of the test team he will be working with this year, and learning about the working methods of the world champion team. It was a day focused on adaptation, during which Ricardo was able to find his feet before launching into a full programme tomorrow.

Across the garage, Nelson Piquet Jr., driving chassis R27-02, continued the development programmes begun last week in Valencia. He conducted endurance testing, completing several long runs without any problems.

Chief Test Engineer Christian Silk commented: "The track was a little dirty on this opening day of running, and we therefore chose to work on an endurance programme. Nelson covered a race distance in the morning without any problems, and everything went well. As for Ricardo, his day was focused on finding his feet and he will be ready to make good progress with his programme on Wednesday."

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Berger not worried over customer cars issues

More and more is being said about Toro Rosso and Super Aguri using a chassis build by another Formula 1 team. Mainly Spyker and Williams are the teams who believe Toro Rosso and Aguri are not following the FIA's rules. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger though believes his team is 100% legal.

Speaking to F1.com Berger said about the issue: "I am not worried because there is nothing we can do. We checked very carefully on the legal side, on the FIA side. We have checked very carefully the wording of the Concorde Agreement, and it shows very clearly to us that what we are doing is absolutely correct - that we are inside the regulations. We went on a route that even if we wanted we could not go back. It is done."

And thus Berger believes his cars are not illegal at all. "If somebody from the other teams have that impression, that's the nature of competition. But it is not up to them to judge whether what we are doing is right or wrong. I respect their comments, but in our view we are a hundred percent fine. It is basically Williams and Spyker who are worried and I know the reason for that - they fear our competitiveness."

And thus Berger wouldn't mind taking this to court if Williams and Spyker would want like to do so. "If they want to do so, fine, then we will fight it out. But again, we checked our situation very carefully, and we don't see the slightest hint that we are not fulfilling the wording of the regulations."