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Brainy

Formula 1 Thread

By Brainy, in General Football and Sport

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Brainy

Brainy

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Countdown to launches gets underway...Although 2008 may be less than a week old, the Formula One teams are already looking forward to the coming season and many have plans in place to launch their new challengers this month.

Ferrari are expected to kick off proceedings at their Fiorano test track this weekend with their F1 2008. The Italian squad’s latest design, the successor to the championship-winning F2007, is due to be unveiled in Italy on Sunday, ahead of a shakedown run the following day.

McLaren will follow Ferrari’s lead a day later in Germany. Despite previously announcing they had no plans for an official launch, the British team have now revealed that the MP4-23 will make its debut at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart on Monday.

Elsewhere in Germany, Toyota plan to reveal their 2008 car, the TF108, at the Japanese team’s technical centre in Cologne on January 10. The squad’s drivers, including new-signing Timo Glock, will be in attendance, alongside members of the team’s management.

The BMW Sauber F1.08 will also be unveiled in Germany. The German-Swiss squad will take the wraps of their new car at BMW Welt, a new BMW vehicle delivery centre in Munich on January 14. The 2008 challenger will then make its test debut in Valencia, Spain, a day later.

Red Bull are next in line, with the Austrian squad launching their new car, the RB4, during testing at Jerez in Spain on January 16. Meanwhile, Honda will reveal the RA108 at their UK headquarters in Brackley on January 29, with CEO Nick Fry, new team principal Ross Brawn and race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello all present.

As they did in 2007, Renault have again planned a two-pronged launch for their new challenger. The R28 will be officially unveiled at the French team’s corporate communications headquarters in Paris, France, on January 31. However, the media will get its first sighting of the new machine a week earlier, as the car is expected to be in action during testing in Valencia.

Williams are yet to announce their plans, although it is understood that the British team may choose to eschew an official launch in favour of a low-key test debut for their new Toyota-powered challenger. There has also been no official word yet from Super Aguri or Force India. Rival team Toro Rosso are expected to start the new season with an updated version of 2007's STR02, before debuting their new car later in the year.

The launch line-up:

January 6 - Ferrari F1 2008, Fiorano, Italy

January 7 - McLaren MP4-23, Stuttgart, Germany

January 10 - Toyota TF108, Cologne, Germany

January 14 - BMW Sauber F1.08, Munich, Germany

January 16 - Red Bull RB4, Jerez, Spain

January 29 - Honda RA108, Brackley, UK

January 31 - Renault R28, Paris, France

General Smuts

General Smuts

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Like the look of the new Mclaren i think they'll be the team to beat this year especially if Lewis Hamilton does as well as he did last year (without smegging up in the last race :P)

SamL

SamL

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I'm quite looking forward to this season actually. Hopefully the Championship will go right down to the wire again with Lewis Hamilton hopefully being amongst the podiums. The singapore night race will definately be highlight of the season for me, will look awsome.

Bring on the 14th March. :scarf:

Might actually try to get down to good ole' Silverstone this year. Bit expensive though but would be worth it.

isaidno

isaidno

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I believe this season will be a classic. You've got 5 drivers who should be challenging for the title. ( Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton, Kovalainen & Alonso. Honda should be better now they have Ross Brawn, Red Bull have Adrian Newey, Williams improving. I think Raikkonen will win it again but Hamilton will push him all the way.

isaidno

isaidno

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Giancarlo Fisichella has signed a deal to race for Force India in 2008, while Tonio Liuzzi has landed the test driver role at the team.

Renault exile Fisichella had been the firm favourite to take the one remaining seat on this season’s grid following a test shootout in which the renamed team tried out a host of experienced drivers.

Team co-owner Vijay Mallya confirmed his decision to plump for the Italian via a live webcast from a glitzy ceremony in India on its official website, with Liuzzi also announced as its test and reserve driver following his split with Toro Rosso.

Fisichella will partner young German star Adrian Sutil in what will be his third separate stint with the Silverstone-based squad, having raced for it in its previous guise of Jordan.

"Obviously it’s nice to be back again under the same roof as in 1997, 2002 and 2003," he said during a press conference.

"The most important thing is to see some of the same mechanics as in 1997, and the atmosphere is still fantastic. It’s really familiar.

"It was like coming back home - I felt comfortable straight away as soon as I went to the factory to fix the seat.

"I’m happy about that and I’m sure we can achieve success."

Despite Force India appearing to be his only option for 2008 following his departure from Renault, Fisichella says he did have other options.

But he believes he has picked the right one and is looking forward to the new challenge.

"At the test in Jerez, I was very impressed with the team's professionalism and commitment to move forward and I hope that my experience will help them achieve these goals," he said.

"Contrary to what people may think, this was not my only opportunity, it was the best one: with new owners and a competitive budget, I really think we can shake things up next year.

"I feel motivated and ready to help Force India get points on a regular basis."

Liuzzi meanwhile is confident his test driver role will allow him to progress his F1 career, despite losing out to Fisichella in the race to take the second race seat.

"I am very pleased to be able to help Force India in their testing and development programme this year," Liuzzi said.

"With increased resources there will be much more input and emphasis into the team's testing, and the test driver's role will be crucial to helping progress.

"I know I can play a big part in the team as it grows, which is a good opportunity for me going forward."

DanTheFox07

DanTheFox07

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I believe this season will be a classic. You've got 5 drivers who should be challenging for the title. ( Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton, Kovalainen & Alonso. Honda should be better now they have Ross Brawn, Red Bull have Adrian Newey, Williams improving. I think Raikkonen will win it again but Hamilton will push him all the way.

Raikonnen was lucky to win last year, Hamilton is gonna wipe the floor with them this year mark my words

isaidno

isaidno

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Raikonnen was lucky to win last year, Hamilton is gonna wipe the floor with them this year mark my words

Raikkonen was also very unlucky, retired from good positions in Germany & Spain.

AoWW

AoWW

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Can't wait for the Singapore night race! Gonna be awesome!

Very, very tempted to go to this. :cool::smile:

AoWW

AoWW

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The Valencia street race will be awesome aswell

Hmmm, good point. Much cheaper and easier to get to than Singapore. And Valencia's lovely. :)

billabob

billabob

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Well why i was being unemployed i applied for a job at Force India, not really expecting anything to come of it, i start monday :D sorry, i'm quite exicted and like telling people!

Floating Fox

Floating Fox

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Well why i was being unemployed i applied for a job at Force India, not really expecting anything to come of it, i start monday :D sorry, i'm quite exicted and like telling people!

What are you doing?

Any chances of some passes/tickets? :whistle::D:cool:

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