World championship leader Lewis Hamilton posted the quickest time on the final day of the three-day test meeting at Monza. Hamilton’s McLaren was nearly half a second quicker than his nearest rival, dirty stop out Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. The only bad news for Hamilton was that both Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and Nico Rosberg’s Williams beat his time of 1:22.967 during yesterday’s session.
The test has been an opportunity for all of the F1 teams to work an their aerodynamic low-downforce packages ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks time. Full listings of the final day times after the jump…
If Red Bull gives you wings, Renault must give you a fish tail
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Raquel Del Rosario, pop star wife of Fernando Alonso, is the new voice of Disney. Mrs Alonso has been brought in to sing on the soundtrack of the Spanish version of the new straight-to-DVD Little Mermaid prequel Ariel’s Beginning. Raquel seems thrilled with her involvement revealing that the original feature length film “marked her childhood” and that singing the song is a “dream come true”. Steady on, love.
 Audi’s supercar available to GT3 teams from next year
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Audi has announced that a customer-orientated version of its hugely successful R8 racer will be available from next autumn. The 500bhp machine is seen as a competitor to Porsche and Ferrari in the GT3 racing class. The new Audi R8 will meet all of the FIA’s production-based GT3 motorsport regulations that allow the car to be entered in numerous national and international race series, which will mean a conversion to rear-wheel drive as four-wheel drive are banned.
“The R8 is the first production Audi to bear the name and genes of a successful racing sportscar and is therefore an excellent base from which to build our first big customer sport program,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “Ever since the R8 was unveiled we’ve been inundated with inquiries about a racing version. We will offer customers a racing sportscar equipped with the best technology and the typical Audi qualities, but it will be easy to handle.”Â
On the grid Formula One drivers are said to be focused and in the zone, but it never seems to affect their arrogance levels, does it? Then again, if I had as many crashes as David Coulthard I would want all the safety equipment I could get my hands on!
The new Mazda Kazamai has been turning all the heads at the Moscow International Motor Show this week. Touted as the future of compact 4×4, the Kazamai is certainly eye-catching. It remains a concept car for now but rumours persist that it (or at least some very distinctive aspects of its design) will make it into mass production as early as 2011.
“The Kazamai signposts the way to our next generation of vehicles,” Mazda design chief Laurens van den Acker said. “It is a very realistic concept car.” It is very sleek and curvy, and incredibly futuristic in design. In fact, it is a bundle of contradictions. It looks bulky but sleek, big but compact, friendly but slightly menacing, white but black. We like it a lot.
Phil Hill, the only American-born driver to win the Formula One title, died yesterday aged 81. He passed away at the Community Hospital, Monterey Peninsula, of complications arising from Parkinson’s disease. Hill won the F1 title with Ferrari in 1961, and he won the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race on three occasions.
“I, as well as all employees of Ferrari are extremely saddened by the news of the passing of Phil Hill, a man and a champion who gave so much to Ferrari,” Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said. “Phil and I have always kept in touch throughout the years and I know I will miss his passion and love for Ferrari very much.”
Drivers on the British Touring Car Championship have been warned to clean up their act amid concerns that the meetings are becoming competitive bumper car races. Ahead of a decisive meeting at Silverstone this weekend, former world champion Tim Harvey has voiced his displeasure at the increasing levels of car-to-car contact.
“Nobody likes to see all those beautiful machines with hammers being applied to them and panels being replaced,” said Harvey, who is now a commentator for ITV. “It is up to the officials to decide if there is too much contact. You have to say that on occasions it does go too far.”
German paper claim Kimi’s partying is affecting his driving
Ferrari drive Kimi Raikkonen is starting to take more flak over his poor form amid reports that he partied in Ibiza while team-mate Felipe Massa prepared for the European Grand Prix in Valencia. German tabloid Bild claims that the Finnish driver spent three consecutive nights on the dancefloor with friends in the Balearics, while his goody two-shoes team-mate was busy putting all his effort into working on the race simulator for the new track at Valencia.
