Max Mosley’s Alleged “Nazi Orgy”

FIA President Max Mosley has been videoed taking part in an alleged “nazi orgy”, according to the British tabloid The News Of The World. (Source here)

The alleged “orgy” involved Mr Mosley shouting German at as he apparenly lashed five hookers wearing mock uniforms, and played the role of a death camp inmate himself, having his genitals inspected and his hair searched for lice, immitating what the Jews went through at the SS death camps.

Max is, for those who don’t know, the son of Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists, and a friend of Adolf Hitler. Max has often given the impression that he has put his father’s legacy behind him, but this won’t help things.

Now, there’s a couple of things we should remember. Number one – it’s the News Of The World. The paper that so incorrectly reported that then-Arsenal footballer Ashley Cole used a mobile phone as a sex toy, and that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney had physically attacked his fiancee. Number two – it’s the News Of The World. The paper that so correctly revealed the David Beckham and Rebecca Loos fiasco, TV host Angus Deayton’s cocaine and prostitute night-in back in 2002 and Prince Harry’s underage drinking and drug use. Different people have different views on this paper – read the story yourself and see what you make of it. There is a “video” on the site, but it’s difficult to watch without wondering how much of it was faked, and how much of it may have taken place. Nevertheless, Mosley has contacted his lawyers about the story.

If the report is true, Max Mosley should find it within himself to stand down. I’m not one for judging what people get up to in their private lives, but if they’re careless enough to record a five-hour sex-game session and let it get to the sticky hands of the media, they should accept that people may not view them in the same light. The video in question is neither proof here nor there. It’s quite unclear. Let’s not forget, this man is the President of the FIA – probably the most powerful man in motorsport. Let’s hope that this story does not affect the heart of the sport.

FIA’s New Qualifying Rule

Following this story on Toro Bloggo after Sepang, the FIA have decided to do something about it.

You may remember the third session of qualifying at Sepang; Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were relegated five grid places for “impeding” Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld while they were on flying laps. To save fuel, drivers trundle round the track at a fraction of the regular speed, posing a danger to drivers still on their flying lap. Following this, the FIA have decided to impose a rule that states the drivers must complete their in-lap in a pre-determined time.

An FIA spokesman said “Our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time we will set. This could be approximately 120% of the normal time.” There’s no question, cars going round the track in 3 minutes is dangerous, and thankfully the FIA have done something before it’s too late.

Toro Rosso Offer Force India Prize Money

In what is one of the odder F1 stories of the year, Toro Rosso have announced they will be splitting their 2008 prize money with the Force India team.

But, only on the condition that Force India do not finish in the Top 10 this season – ie. last. If Force India actually do better than another team – perish the thought (!) – Toro Rosso won’t be giving them anything.

Is it just me, or is this all a bit… weird. Teams splitting prize money with the lowest placed team? This leaves Force India in a bizarre predicament. If Toro Rosso surprise us and finish fifth or sixth… splitting their fund with Force India would probably provide more income for F.I. than if F.I. finished 10th… so they could just not bother and finish 11th for the season… but then Toro Rosso might only finish 9th or 10th… it’s unnecessarily complicated!

Qatar Wants F1

Well, they say the money’s in the Middle East, and that certainly seems to be ringing very harmonic bells in the minds of F1 bosses. With a race in Bahrain in two weeks time, a race in United Arab Emirates beginning next year, and F1 theme parks set up in Dubai, Qatar wants to cash in on all of this.

But, Qatar may be hoping to agree night-race terms with Bernie Ecclescake. The President of the Qatar Motor And Motorcycling Federation, Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah, said: “We are planning a massive upgrade of the circuit to make it posible to host Formula One races when the time comes.”

The first ever MotoGP night race was held in Qatar recently, and if the circuit goes through with the planned upgrades, we could be seeing night racing at the Losail Circuit soon enough. “They” are speaking the truth, the money is in the middle east, and in a few years, we could be seeing four GPs in the area.

26/03

Alonso Could Leave Renault – Hardly News

Splashed across the front page of the BBC’s motorsport section is the breaking news that Fernando Alonso “could leave Renault at the end of the season”.

Are you surprised? I’m not, and I think it was quite obvious that this was a “gap year” for Fernando as he looks to go to Ferrari in 2009. Fernando is a very good driver, but he moans no end… he did nothing but complain at McLaren (Hamilton was no better, by the way), and after just one race this season, he has written off his and Renault’s Championship hopes, and he now says “I have an option to leave so I can be in the best possible car, and it is clear Ferrari is one of the best.”

At the end of 2007, Fernando stated his intentions to leave McLaren, and the only places it looked like he could go was Renault, Toyota or Force India. He went back to Renault, with the hope their car for this year was better, but it doesn’t seem to have moved forward at all.

The only thing is, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are contracted to Ferrari for 2009. So if Fernando wants that big drive (which he did have last year, but he just couldn’t be bothered with it all), he’s going to have to impress at Renault in the next two years.

Kimi Raikkonen Takes Sepang Win

Photos courtesy of Formula One Administation

Well, it wasn’t quite as eventful as Melbourne, but Sepang threw up a couple of surprises which ended up seeing Kimi Raikkonen on the top step of the podium.Polesitter Felipe Massa was sitting in second place before he span it out half way through the race (Picture, top left). Robert Kubica gained, to take second place, and BMW’s second successive podium finish (Picture, bottom right). Heikki Kovalainen took the final place on the podium, which was a good finish considering he started eighth.

Result of the day, though, goes to Jarno Trulli. Many people had written Toyota off at the start of this year, but he qualified fifth fastest (being promoted to third after McLaren’s penalty) and finished just outside the podium places. Team mate Timo Glock, however, got spun round by Rosberg on the opening lap, (picture, bottom left) and the team didn’t want him to stay out. As for Rosberg, following last week’s superb podium finish, his tangle with Glock meant that he needed a new nose cone, and came in a lowly 17th.

No points either for Toro Rosso or Force India. Sutil limped off after a couple of laps with a mechanical fault, and Fisichella could manage only twelfth. Neither Toro Rosso managed to finish the race, with Vettel’s Ferrari engine giving up (picture, top right) and Bourdais was unable to follow-up his two points in Melbourne.

Hamilton came fifth, meaning that McLaren still managed to get both drivers into point scoring positions. Lewis did have a problem in the pits, when the mechanics were unable to get the front-right wheel off the car. For now, McLaren still have the edge over Ferrari, but after Kimi’s torrid weekend in Australia, he’s turned it around and lies three points behind Lewis Hamilton. The normally-scolding heat of Bahrain is coming up in two weeks time – who will have the edge in Sakhir?

Classification
1. K RAIKKONEN 1:31:18.555
2. R Kubica +19.5
3. H Kovalainen +38.4
4. J Trulli +45.8
5. L Hamilton +46.5
6. N Heidfeld +49.8
7. M Webber +1:08.1
8. F Alonso +1:10.0
9. D Coulthard +1:16.2
10. J Button +1:26.2
11. N Piquet +1:32.2
12. G Fisichella +1 Lap
13. R Barrichello +1 Lap
14. N Rosberg +1 Lap
15. A Davidson +1 Lap
16. T Sato +2 Laps
17. K Nakajima +2 Laps

Not Classified
S Vettel
F Massa
A Sutil
T Glock
S Bourdais

Lewis And Heikki Penalised Five Grid Places

The stewards at Malaysia recieved complains from Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso regarding the slow-moving McLarens at the end of qualifying. According to Nick, Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton were crusing along in the racing line, trying to save fuel. The footage of this can be found here.

The stewards have stepped in, and both drivers have been demoted five places down the grid. McLaren will not be appealing the decision. It boosts Toyota’s Jarno Trulli into third place, and eases some of the pressure on Ferrari at the front.

Here is the revised driver line up for Sunday’s race:
1. F Massa – 1:35.748
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.230
3. J Trulli – 1:36.711
4. R Kubica – 1:36.727
5. N Heidfeld – 1:36.753
6. M Webber – 1:37.009
7. F Alonso – 1:38.450
8. H Kovalainen – 1:36.613 + Penalty
9. L Hamilton – 1:36.709 + Penalty
10. T Glock – 1:39.656
—
11. J Button – 1:35.208
12. D Coulthard – 1:35.408
13. N Piquet – 1:35.562
14. R Barrichello – 1:35.622
15. S Vettel – 1:35.648
16. N Rosberg – 1:35.670
—
17. G Fisichella – 1:36.240
18. K Nakajima – 1:36.388
19. S Bourdais – 1:36.677
20. T Sato – 1:37.087
21. A Sutil – 1:37.101
22. A Davidson – 1:37.481

McLaren Under Investigation As Massa Takes Pole

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is in a perfect position to repeat last year’s victory. He was on pole position in 2007 and went on to take the chequered flag. Kimi Raikkonen makes it an all-Ferrari front row, and if Heikki or Lewis are going to grab a win for McLaren, they will have to fight for it. Jarno Trulli qualified an excellent fifth, and Timo Glock also made the final qualifying session.

The McLaren drivers though, have been the source of complaints from Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso. Something that’s cropped up this year which we haven’t seen before are these “three-minute laps” that drivers set once they’ve set their qualifying time. They cruise round at very slow speeds to save fuel, and this can pose a risk to drivers approaching at full speed. Nick and Fernando claim their final hot laps were spoiled by the slow-moving McLarens.

Heidfeld: “Before turn four I lost a lot of time because both McLarens were cruising on the racing line. I think this has cost me about two tenths of a second, which would have meant being third instead of seventh.” Footage of Heidfeld being “impeded” can be found here. Judge for yourselves. Nick also claims he couldn’t brake where he wanted to as a result of McLaren’s cruising. If McLaren are ruled to be impeding, they could both face grid penalties.

After Red Bull’s escapade in Friday practice, the stewards have decided to take no further action. Red Bull did face exclusion from the race after David Coulthard’s car fell apart due to a track rod failure, but team boss Christian Horner has called it an “isolated incident”, and after presenting their case to the race stewards, they are free to race. Good job too, as Mark Webber qualified a very handy 8th place.

1. F Massa – 1:35.748
2. K Raikkonen – 1:36.230
3. H Kovalainen – 1:36.613
4. L Hamilton – 1:36.709
5. J Trulli – 1:36.711
6. R Kubica – 1:36.727
7. N Heidfeld – 1:36.753
8. M Webber – 1:37.009
9. F Alonso – 1:38.450
10. T Glock – 1:39.656
—
11. J Button – 1:35.208
12. D Coulthard – 1:35.408
13. N Piquet – 1:35.562
14. R Barrichello – 1:35.622
15. S Vettel – 1:35.648
16. N Rosberg – 1:35.670
—
17. G Fisichella – 1:36.240
18. K Nakajima – 1:36.388
19. S Bourdais – 1:36.677
20. T Sato – 1:37.087
21. A Sutil – 1:37.101
22. A Davidson – 1:37.481

Red Bull Could Be Excluded From Sepang

After David Coulthard’s huge suspension failure in Friday Practice 1, the race stewards spoke to Red Bull boss Christian Horner and chief technology officer Adrian Newey. If the stewards deem the Red Bull car to be unsafe, the Red Bull team could be disqualified from the event.

Eyebrows were raised in Australia when David’s bodywork crumbled after contact with Felipe Massa. This time, David ran a little wide, over the kerb, where he hit a small divot and his front suspension fell apart. It was a much smaller bump than the one Timo Glock managed to hit in Melbourne, and you would think that the cars should be strong enough to avoid decimation on a slight impact.

According to the FIA, the Red Bull team must verify that “the suspension is such that the car should not be deemed ‘of dangerous construction'”, which is covered in article 2.3 of the technical regulations. Christian Horner says he has no concerns over the safety of the car, saying it was “a brand new component fitted after Melbourne”, and it was an adhesive failure that let to the collapse of the front of the car.

Even so, this will do nothing to put confidence into the people who feel the sport is unsafe.

F1 Going Back To BBC

After twelve years sitting on ITV1, Formula 1 is finally going back to the BBC. It means, thank goodness, that the coverage will no longer be interrupted by unwelcome advert breaks.

But the best news out of all this (apart from that theme tune) is that it looks likely that from next year, James Allen will not be commentating. Martin “Gridwalk” Brundle is set to cross over, however, but favourite for the main job is David Croft, who currently commentates for BBC Radio 5 Live. Jonathan Ledgard’s name has also been thrown around.

Mark Sharman, the head of ITV Sport, is heading out to Malaysia to tell everyone why they’ve lost their jobs. All he’s got to do is show them a picture of a big pound sign with Bernie Ecclestone’s face on.

Wonder if Bernie’s daughter will be reporting for BBC at all?