Williams blocks Michael Schumacher's Plans to Test Car Ahead of F1 Return

Michael Schumacher's bid to step up his comeback by testing Ferrari's current car has been blocked by Formula One rivals Williams.

Ferrari last week wrote to the other nine Formula One teams and the FIA requesting Schumacher be granted a day at the wheel of the F60 ahead of the German legend's return to racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23.

Under current regulations in-season testing is banned, but Schumacher hasn't raced since his retirement in 2006, so Ferrari were hoping the seven-time world champion, who is standing in for Felipe Massa after the Brazilian's horrific crash in Hungary, would be allowed to practise.

Out of courtesy, the other seven members of the Formula One Teams' Association – McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso – gave Schumacher and Ferrari the green light.

Williams, however, see no reason why Schumacher should be given special dispensation, citing the recent arrival of 19-year-old rookie Jaime Alguersuari into F1.

"While we welcome Michael Schumacher back to Formula One, the fact is any form of in-season circuit testing is strictly prohibited, a regulation clearly laid out by the FIA and adhered to by all of the teams," said Williams in a statement.

"It was for this reason Alguersuari, who drove an F1 car for the first time in Hungary, did not have the opportunity to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso before he made his race debut.

"Williams sees no distinction between Alguersuari's situation and Schumacher's and feels any deviation from the rule would create a precedent for the future.

"For the sake of consistency and fairness, therefore, we oppose Ferrari's proposal to test ahead of the European Grand Prix."

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Schumacher Slimming Down for F1 Comeback

FRANKFURT (AP) -- Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher says he is slimming down for his Formula One comeback and the only problem is a little neck pain.

Schumacher's first race is expected to be the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Aug. 23. The 40-year-old is returning to his Ferrari team while Felipe Massa recovers from a recent crash.

"I already lost three kilograms even if it is also important to me to build up muscles. So all in all, the practice works pretty well,'' Schumacher wrote on his Web site Tuesday.

Schumacher had a motorcycle crash in February and sustained a neck injury.

"I only have to admit that my neck pinches a bit. We have to get a grip on that as health has priority - that's the clear arrangement made with Ferrari and, by the way, with my wife, too,'' said Schumacher, whose comeback is contingent on passing a medical checkup.

Neck injuries are particularly problematic for F1 drivers because of the enormous strain on their necks because of the high G-forces they must endure during high speed cornering. Despite his neck problem, the German declared he was eager to get back on the track.

"I really would like to thank all my fans who keep their fingers crossed for my plans for all the positive feedback. It's incredible how much support I get from all over the world,'' said Schumacher, who retired in 2006.

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GreenGT: The Future Of Racing

Good news has been showering the world of the Le Mans GT Racing. With the apparent misunderstandings between several Formula 1 owners and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, some teams are threatening to move to Le Mans, including F1’s oldest citizen, Ferrari. While the racing gene will still be in man’s blood, the type of cars he’ll be racing with is still in doubt. The GreenGT electric racer, however, keeps the future of racing safe. This EV has been certified by the FIA and will sport a carbon fiber chassis with a composite body. It will be powered by a pair of water-cooled 100 kW electric motors delivering up to 450 horsepower. Jolting the electric motors are lithium-ion batteries that could be recharged by the solar cells on the body. The car will weigh just under 1900 lbs and is touted to reach a top speed of 171 mph. News that 22 units will be available to the eco-conscious public with a racing heart just made the GreenGT an even sweeter car.

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Toyota F1 Engine Cover: High-Tech Toy

Like it or not, Formula 1 will still be at the pinnacle of motorsports. The future may be bleak for the most watched sporting event in the world but that’s no reason not to have some F1 memorabilia. Toyota, being one of the few teams who supply both chassis and engine to a racing team, has loads of surplus parts they want the public to have. Several items are available on their online store, the biggest (and most expensive) of which is this engine cover with underfloor and rear wing. Made of carbon fiber, the entire rear half of the car can serve several purposes, it’s all up to you. Convert it to a high-tech gaming station or a simple decor, you be the pit boss.

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Piquet Lashes Out After Dismissal From Renault

SAO PAULO (AP) — Nelson Piquet Jr. says he has been fired from Renault and blamed team principal Flavio Briatore for his failure to achieve significant results in Formula One.

Piquet said he was very disappointed with Renault's decision, but at the same time was relieved to put an end to "the worst period of my career."

"I can now move on and put my career back on the right track and try to recover my reputation of a fast, winning driver," Piquet Jr. said. "I am a team player and there are dozens of people I have worked with in my career who would vouch for my character and talent, except unfortunately the person that has had the most influence on my career in Formula 1."

Piquet said in a statement Monday that the "black period" of his career began when he signed a management contract with Briatore, who "threatened" him instead of supporting him. He called Briatore his "executioner."

"On numerous occasions, 15 minutes before qualifying and races, my manager and team boss would threaten me, telling me if I didn't get a good result, he had another driver ready to put in my place," Piquet Jr. said. "I have never needed threats before to get results."

The Brazilian driver's best finish in 28 races was second at the German Grand Prix in 2008. He earned 19 points and his highest starting position was seventh.

Piquet Jr., son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, said he decided to sign Briatore as his manager because he believed the experienced team principal was one of the best people to help him do well in F1.

"A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities," Piquet Jr. said. "In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner."

After a season as Renault's test driver, Piquet got a full ride for the 2008 season alongside two-time champion Fernando Alonzo. Piquet said some "strange situations began to happen" and that he never received "equal treatment."

"I was relegated as 'someone who drives the other car' with no attention at all," Piquet Jr. said. "The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least. There are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself."

The Brazilian driver said Briatore made him sign a performance-based contract which required him to score 40% of Alonso's points midway through the 2009 season.

"Despite driving with Fernando, two-time world champion and a really excellent driver, I was confident that, if I had the same conditions, I would easily attain the 40% of points required by the contract."

Piquet has not scored any points after 10 races this season, while Alonso has 13 points.

The Brazilian driver said he was not allowed to test as much as Alonso, and that the Spaniard was given a significant car upgrade in four of the first nine races this year.

"I was informed by the engineers at Renault that in those races I had a car that was between 0.5 seconds and 0.8 seconds a lap slower than my teammate," Piquet Jr. said.

He said he is already considering his options for a "new start" in his F1 career.

The Estado de S. Paulo newspaper in Brazil reported Monday that Nelson Piquet is negotiating to buy the BMW team in a partnership with Peter Sauber, a move which would secure a place for Piquet Jr. next year.

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BMW announce it will quit Formula One at the end of 2009 season

Already hit by the departure of Honda, Formula One suffered another blow on Wednesday as BMW confirmed it would be quitting the sport at the end of the season.

"The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,'' BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said.

"Of course, this was a difficult decision for us, but it's a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment,'' he said.

"Premium will be increasingly defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead.

"We are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability.

"Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us.''

While rumours of the possible departures of Renault and Toyota have been flying around the paddock all season, that of BMW comes as a surprise.

And it had looked as if the sport's future was assured when the FIA, motor racing's governing body, announced the completion of negotiations between the FOA (Formula One administration) and the 13 teams who will race in 2010.

It had been thought that this Concorde Agreement, meant to link the two sides until 2012, also included the BMW Sauber team.

The FIA said however they regretted the German team's decision and hoped the sport had seen the last departure of a major manufacturer.

"The FIA regrets the announcement of BMW's intended withdrawal from Formula One but is not surprised by it,'' the FIA said in a statement.

"It has been clear for some time that motor sport cannot ignore the world economic crisis.

"Car manufacturers cannot be expected to continue to pour large sums of money into Formula One when their survival depends on redundancies, plant closures and the support of the taxpayer.''

BMW have been badly hit by the current economic crisis with profits tumbling by 89.5 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, and group sales dropping 19.5 percent in the first half of 2009.

It is also believed the company found it hard to justify spending on Formula One following a poor campaign with drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica scoring just eight points this season to leave the team eighth in the nine-team constructors' championship.

BMW arrived in Formula One in 2000 and in 2005 took over the Swiss team Sauber, to become the BMW Sauber stable which now employs 730 people.

Its only Grand Prix win as BMW Sauber came when Kubica won in Canada in 2008, while he also achieved the team's only pole position in Bahrain, also in 2008.

The team finished third last season behind Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.

Meanwhile, the FIA said they hoped there would be no more departures from the sport.

"This is why the FIA prepared regulations to reduce costs drastically,'' the FIA said.

"These measures were needed to alleviate the pressure on manufacturers following Honda's withdrawal, but also to make it possible for new teams to enter.

"Had these regulations not been so strongly opposed by a number of team principals, the withdrawal of BMW and further such announcements in the future might have been avoided.

"Nevertheless, as a result of a sustained cost-cutting campaign by the FIA, new measures are in the process of being agreed which should make it easier for new teams to enter and enable existing ones to participate on much-reduced budgets.

"Hopefully it will be enough to prevent further withdrawals and provide a solid foundation for Formula One.''

READ MORE - BMW announce it will quit Formula One at the end of 2009 season

Schumacher to make comeback to replace Massa

FILE - In this May 10, 2009 file photo, former German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher watches the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix from the pits at the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain. In a statement released Wednesday, July 29, 2009, Ferrari said seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher will return to the race track to replace the Italian team's injured driver Felipe Massa.

Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is making a comeback for Ferrari to replace injured driver Felipe Massa.

Ferrari said Wednesday in a statement that the German had agreed to get back in the cockpit until Massa is fit to return. The next race is the European Grand Prix on Aug. 21-23 in Valencia, Spain.

"Though it is true that the Formula One chapter has long been closed for me, it is also true that for team loyalty reasons I cannot ignore that unfortunate situation," the 40-year-old Schumacher said. "But as the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge."

The 28-year-old Massa was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier at 120 mph during qualifying Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Brazilian received multiple skull fractures in the accident and doctors say he will not race again this season.

Massa took his first steps since the crash on Wednesday and was later scheduled to leave the intensive care unit of the AEK hospital in Budapest. He also received a visit from Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

Ferrari said Schumacher will undergo a special training program in the coming days to determine whether he will be able to drive in Valencia. There are six races left in the season after the European GP.

"Thanks God, all news concerning Felipe is positive. I wish him all the best again," Schumacher wrote on his Web site.

Schumacher, who had 91 wins in 250 F1 races starts, still acts as a consultant for Ferrari. Since retiring in October 2006, Schumacher has raced occasionally in a motorcycling series but was injured in a crash in February.

Schumacher won his first two F1 titles with the Benetton team. He joined Ferrari in 1996 and won five straight from 2000-04.

READ MORE - Schumacher to make comeback to replace Massa

Save our GP, say Button and Hamilton

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton on Thursday issued an emotional rallying cry to preserve the British Grand Prix.

As Silverstone prepared for possibly its final weekend as the host circuit for the British race, the two Britons united to call for the traditional race to remain on the calendar.

The British Grand Prix is scheduled to move to the troubled venue of Donington Park next year after that track's new management won a 17-year deal to host the event.

But money and development problems have left the project in limbo and F1 commercial supreme Bernie Ecclstone has stressed that there is no way he would return to Silverstone after this weekend.

Defending world champion Hamilton, of McLaren Mercedes, said: "We just want to show our support and show the importance of the British Grand Prix.

"I think perhaps people look at the British Grand Prix and perhaps don't realise what it would be like without it - I think we should all step back and realise what motorsport would be like without it and understand that and then take action.

"We just all need to pull together and support it. I think we need support from the (British) government. We need support from other backers wherever we can get it.

"As long as we have a British Grand Prix then Formula One will always remain a great sport."

Championship leader Button of Brawn GP was equally keen to see his home race retained.

He said: "We both agree that we would love a British Grand Prix and we obviously want it to be at a good venue, but having a British GP is the point that we're trying to push.

"It's not us two sat here I think it's the whole of Formula One. There are a lot of British people that work in Formula One on the racing side of things and on the journalism side of things.

"So to not have a British race would be a real shocker for all of us involved and surprising I think for the fans, especially when we have packed out crowds for the races here."

Button admitted he would be sad not to race at Silverstone again.

"It is a very special race. The British fans are fantastic and we have so many fans in Britain for motorsport and Formula One," said Button.

"Last year was a sell-out crowd and I'm guessing it's going to be the same this year and you don't get that in many circuits around the world, especially with the way the economy is at the moment.

"This is a circuit that I love. It's a fantastic fast-flowing circuit like Spa, Suzuka - it's one of the true greats and has been through the last few decades."

READ MORE - Save our GP, say Button and Hamilton

F1 reaches compromise; Mosley to step down

PARIS (AP) — A breakaway Formula One series was averted Wednesday when Max Mosley ceded to the rebel teams' demand that a planned budget cap be scrapped and the FIA president said he won't seek re-election.

Mosley will immediately take a back-seat role until his 16-year reign ends in October — a move that will help to end the acrimonious atmosphere that has blighted F1 in recent months.

STANDINGS: Formula One points

"There will be no split. There will be one F1 championship in 2010," Mosley said at FIA's Paris headquarters.

"They've got the rules they want and they've got the stability. We've got the new teams and we've got the cost reduction."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Renault | McLaren | Bernie Ecclestone | Max Mosley | BMW Sauber | British Grand Prix | John Howett | Luca di Montezemolo | Team Toyota Europe

Mosley backed down on the voluntary $65 million budget cap at the World Motorsport Council. Instead, teams were given a watered-down order to reduce costs to early 1990s levels.

But the Formula One Teams Association, which instigated the breakaway, had already implemented a series of cost-cutting measures themselves this season amid the global economic downturn, restricting on-track testing and the use of wind tunnels for aerodynamic testing.

Further efforts to create savings on engines and gearboxes in the next three years had already been announced by FOTA in May to help attract new teams. Campos Meta, Manor and Team US F1 will make their debuts next season. Additional cuts are expected to be agreed to Thursday at a FOTA meeting in Bologna, Italy.

"I am pleased FOTA's proposals have been endorsed and approved by the WMSC today," said John Howett, FOTA's vice chairman and Toyota Motorsport president. "We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula One and its millions of fans around the world."

FOTA's members — Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP — opposed the budget cap because it would have given those who signed up greater technical freedom than those who refused, creating a two-tier championship next season.

"We're very happy that common sense has prevailed as I always believed it would because the alternative was not good at all," said Bernie Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder. "Everything is in good shape."

The FIA also expects the teams to sign on to a new Concorde Agreement, the confidential commercial document governing the sport.

Last weekend's British Grand Prix had been overshadowed by the split between the FIA and FOTA members, some of whom were branded "loonies" by Mosley after their decision to form a rival series.

Mosley announced plans to sue FOTA on Friday, but backed down 48 hours later when he insisted that a deal was close.

What will help heal the rifts is the departure of the often divisive Mosley after four terms. His leadership style was criticized as too autocratic and was blamed by many of the teams for precipitating the split between FOTA and the FIA.

Even as the crisis intensified over the weekend, Mosley was still planning to run for a fifth term.

But he said Wednesday: "The teams were always ... going to get rid of me in October. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their taste than I am remains to be seen."

Mosley has been the president of the FIA, the international automobile federation that governs Formula One, since 1993. FIA Senate president Michel Boeri will effectively be in charge until the election.

"It is a great relief and that is going to enable me to take a step back for the summer," Mosley said. "I will be able to look at Formula One knowing it's peaceful and stable, and I will be able to stop — as was always my intention — in October of this year."

"This for me is an enormous relief," Mosley added, referring to "personal difficulties" he has faced.

His son, Alexander Mosley, was found dead at his luxury apartment May 5 after an accidental drug overdose.

The 69-year-old FIA president, the son of former British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, was at the center of a media frenzy last year when a tabloid newspaper reported he took part in a sadomasochistic orgy with five prostitutes in London. A video of the incident was widely circulated on the Internet.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World for invasion of privacy.

The episode brought calls for Mosley's ouster as FIA president, but he won an overwhelming vote of confidence to stay on.

READ MORE - F1 reaches compromise; Mosley to step down