Head of Audi Motorsport, Wolfgang Ullrich, is succinct about why Audi feels there is no relevance in F1 racing for them - there’s no link to the development in their roadgoing models. While we think a company like Ferrari, say, might disagree, Audi is apparently sticking to its other racing initiatives to help develop the vehicles its customers want to drive.

In a statement to Car Magazine, Ullrich says:

There’s a very good reason why we are not in F1. There’s no relevance to the road. Audi has always been engaged in motorsport that’s relevant to our customers such as rallying and touring cars, which brought quattro, FSI and TFSI to our road cars. This is why in 1999 we decided against F1. Instead we decided to take on the greatest race in the world. We went for Le Mans.

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After being served a notice and having his Mercedes C 63 AMG impounded, McLaren F1 driver Lewis Hamilton could become the world’s most famous and capable hoon - or at least Australia’s most famous and capable, according to Car Advice. On practicing a few burn outs outside the Albert Park F1 circuit, Hamilton was served a summons and had his car impounded in what will go down as Australia’s most high profile “hoon” arrest.

As Car Advice reports, Hamilton is most likely the most famous hoon ever arrested in the state of Victoria, Australia, and certainly the richest, earning more than 22 million euros a year. He joins a list of famous hoons, including:

Victoria’s youngest hoon, Laney Frankland, 5, whose 49cc minibike was impounded when Victorian police swooped as the girl rode the bike in parkland under parental supervision. The title of oldest Victorian hoon is also hotly contested – on February 28 this year a 90-year-old man stormed past the previous 80-year-old 150km/h record holder to become the state’s oldest hoon after driving drunk at more than 20km/h over the speed limit.

Continue reading: Mercedes C63 AMG impounded: Hamilton world's greatest hoon

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Here’s a huge gallery of Ferrari’s new F1 car, the F10. The Ferrari F10 was presented at Maranello and will be the new prancing horse on the track for 2010. It will be interesting to see how the Ferrari 2010 F1 season develops, but in the meantime, check out these pics of this beautiful F1 car. See more pics on Motorsportblog.it.

Continue reading: New Ferrari F10 Formula One car: all the pics

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This video shows the French Formula One driver at the wheel of the new Dacia Duster crossover, rally driving the new car for its market debut. The Dacia Duster in the video has been designed for driving on ice and there’s plenty of sliding and drifting for the rev heads among you. The Dacia Duster is a low cost model based on the Nissan Qashqai and you can get a closer look of its style in this video.

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Flavio Briatore has been banned for life from Formula 1 after the scandal involving the Piquet crash of last year, with the former Renault team manager banned from any contact with teams or drivers, and prevented access to any operative areas of F1 races. Technical director Pay Symonds gets a five year suspension, while drivers Alonso and Piquet junior have escaped sanctions.

Renault itself is facing permanent exclusion from Formula One, but this sentence has been frozen until 2011, meaning that Renault has these two years to get through without any further infringements. Any illegal acts or infringements will result in that permanent ban being executed immediately.

Renault president Bernard Rey has offered his apologies to Formula 1, and has said Renault will take full responsibility, even paying for the investigations carried out by FIA. The effects of this will certainly reverberate in the F1 world, though perhaps the shreds of credibility are slowing being collected and sown back together. Time will tell.

Source | Motorsportblog.it

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Flavio Briatore is quitting Renault and Pat Symonds is stepping down too as Renault decides not to dispute claims that the Nelson Piquet Junior was ordered to deliberately crash his Formula One car at last year’s Singapore grand prix.

The crash resulted in Renault’s other driver, Fernando Alonso, winning the race. The high profile figures of Briatore and Symonds have quit before Renault appears in front of the FIA to face the allegations.

The Renault Formula One team has released a statement saying: “The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore grand prix. It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore, and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

Continue reading: Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds quit Renault over scandal: breaking news

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Michael Schumacher has withdrawn from his temporary substitution of Felipe Massa in Formula One racing due to neck problems from an injury he sustained while motorcycling earlier this year. Schumacher’s injury is more serious than previously imagined, as he is suffering neck fractures which give him significant pain when under the stress of F1 driving.

It now seems that reserve and Ferrari’s test driver Luca Badoer will take the wheel, although the last time that Badoer raced F1 was back in 1999 at the European Grand Prix. We wish him a successful campaign, and hope he has some fun!

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While we now focus on Michael Schumacher returning to F1 racing, we have a fingers crossed that Felipe Massa will fully return to live his life as previously. Apparently his condition has improved such that he may soon be able to return home to start his rehabilitation.

According to reports, Massa is to check out of hospital on Monday and return to San Paolo for further treatment. His physician has said that Massa has no damage to his right eye and that he will go back to racing as soon possible, saying this is all we need to know of his condition.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher has started training for his first appearance in Formula One since he retired, getting some practice in before Valencia. Schumacher has driven the F2007 of a collector on the Mugello circuit, and been in a simulator to get his body used to this kind of driving again.

The aim is for him to be as prepared as possible for the physical forces of racing, without breaching the stringent testing guidelines of the Formula One competition. Schumacher will drive Massa’s F60 and the plan is to finish the season with the veteran German at the wheel.

Source | Autoblog and Motorsportblog

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Michael Schumacher is set to come out of retirement and race the rest of the F1 season in place of Felipe Massa, who is recovering from his horrific crash. The replacement depends on Schumacher passing the physical required to race, after which he will appear on August 23 at the Valencia Grand Prix.

Schumacher has always been with Ferrari as a consultant since his retirement in 2006, and will have the next seven races in the driver’s seat to finish the season. About the development, Schumacher has said: “For team loyalty reasons I can’t ignore this unfortunate situation.”

Ferrari released a statement saying: “Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race. Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix.”

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BMW has announced it will withdraw from the Formula One at the end of the 2009 season as part of a “restructure” of its motorsports activities. The decision was made at a board meeting, as the company focuses on investing in its sustainability technology such as Efficient Dynamics.

In a statement, BMW has said that it will continue to be involved in other motor sports series, with board chairman Norbert Reithofer saying: “Of course, this was a difficult decision for us. But it’s a resolute step in view of our company’s strategic realignment.

“Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead. In line with our Strategy Number ONE, 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. Mario Theissen has been in charge of our motor sports program since 1999. We have scored a large number of successes in this period, including some in Formula One racing. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mario Theissen and his team for this.”

Redundancies within the BMW motorsports division will follow this decision, after a season that has not brought the success originally hoped for. BMW will continue its activities in other series such as the Touring Car Series and American Le Mans Series, while BMW Motorrad will not be abandoning its Superbike commitment.

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In this very funny and very English video, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen from the McLaren Mercedes team, swap their racing suits to become black cabbies on the streets of London.

The video has been made to promote the new interactive “Taxi Grand Prix” game from Vodafone, official sponsor of the team. The two drivers race around on board two TX4 models with some Formula One extras to the black cabs. Enjoy the video!

Source | Autoblog.com

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Sebastian Vettel has received the Lorenzo Bandini trophy for 2009 at Brisighella, having to drive his formula one car to Faenza to pick up his prize. The traditional formula one drive around the streets of Italy for emerging drivers was completed by Vettel on board his STR3 from 2008.

These pictures show the Formula One car on the Italian streets of Emilia Romagna. The Lorenzo Bandini trophy was started in 1992 in memory of the Ferrari driver who died in Montecarlo in 1967 at the age of just 32 years. The Bandini family presents the prize each year.

Via | Autoblog.com

Continue reading: F1 on the streets of Italy: Vettel drives his Formula One on city roads for the Lorenzo Bandini trophy

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