One half of the cutest couple in F1

Meet Gabriela Constantino, the girlfriend of Nelson Piquet Jr. She’s done a spot of modelling and she comes from a rich Brazilian family. And she’s 18 years old… and very cute. Shit negro, that’s all you had to say.

More photos if you step into our virtual office:

Four new boys to choose from. Pick one…

With F1 so very competitive in 2008, which of the four rookies (we don’t count Seb Vettel and Adrian Sutil, both of whom competed in several GPs in 2007) caught your eye?

Your contenders are: Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), Timo Glock (Toyota), Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) and Nelson Piquet (Renault).

Vote below:

Nando going nowhere

After months of speculation, Renault has announced that Fernando Alonso is staying with the team for another two seasons - no surprise really, although we thought Nando wanted to sign for just one season, before switching to Ferrari - his dream team - in 2010.

Nelson Piquet, who struggled in the first half of his rookie season, gets one more year to prove himself.

Put on your blue-tinted specs and decide…

Nelson Piquet’s future at Renault appears to still be in doubt after team boss Flavio Briatore said that the Brazilian’s fine drive - from 12th to fourth - at Fuji last Sunday was not enough to guarantee the young Brazilian a seat for 2009.
In fairness, Briatore also praised Piquet’s performance in Japan, but he is doing his absolute best to keep Piquet honest:

“We will decide only at the end of the year what we are going to do,” Flavio said. “A single race is not really going to change our thoughts. It seems to me only natural that he should be performing.”

Brazilian significantly shortens his Renault

Footage of Piquet’s nasty collision with barriers on both sides during last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. Of course, it was all a ploy to set team-mate Fernando Alonso up for victory!

Why do Kimi and co. love Spa so much?

Ask any F1 driver today what his favourite circuit is, and the majority will answer Spa. You can see why. It’s fast, long, scenic, challenging and uncontrived - in short, it’s a stone-cold classic track. Above all though, it has a whiff of danger that so few tracks possess these days - f**k up at Spa and the consequences can be serious. No F1 driver wants to risk his life in a car, but they all love the turbo boost of adrenaline that comes with taking a corner like Eau Rouge flat out.

With the Belgian GP just a few days away, here’s what the key players have to say about Spa. And it’s all good:

Thursday is walkin’ day

None of the F1 drivers has had a chance to actually drive a full lap of Valencia yet - that chance will come tomorrow. For now though, it’s time to don a pair of sensible shoes and walk around the circuit:

Fernando Alonso checks out his second “home” track of the season.

More photos below…

Lewis and co. preview Spain’s new street circuit

What do the drivers think about Valencia? Here’s what:

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
“I know Valencia, because we’ve done several tests here last winter, but now we’re racing in the city on a new track: I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere. I’ve seen the new track only from the position of an on-board camera and it seems to be very fast for a street circuit. I always love to drive on new tracks and I am always very quick to know them. I can’t wait to race at Valencia.”

More selected driver quotes after the jump…