You couldn’t make this stuff up…

In the latest of the drawn-out debacle that is Formula 1, Max Mosely has reportedly written to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and demanded an official apology for calling him, in a roundabout way, a ‘dictator’.According to the Times Online, Di Montezemolo made the comment after the F1 budget cap scheme was dropped on Thursday to placate the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and prevent a split F1 series. It was at this time that Mosley allegedly announced his intentions to retire, and the comments by Di Montezemolo were made.“The satisfaction is that all of our requests have been accepted,” said Di Montezemolo.“To us, three things were most important: That F1 stay F1 and not become F3; that there is no dictator, but that there was a choice of rules, agreed and not imposed; and that whoever had a team was consulted and had a voice.”But these smug victory cries of Ferrari and the six other teams involved in the cap dispute has raised Mosley’s not insubstantial ire. Mosley’s PR machine leaked his response to the jibe to the Times Online:“If you wish the agreement we made to have any chance of survival, you and FOTA must immediately rectify your actions,” said Mosley in the document.”“You must correct the false statements which have been made and make no further such statements. You yourself must issue a suitable correction and apology …. Formula 1 is run entirely by our 25-strong team without any help from me or any other outsider.”“There was no need for me to involve myself further in Formula 1 once we had a settlement.“Given your and FOTA’s deliberate attempt to mislead the media, I now consider my options open.”“At least until October, I am president of the FIA with the full authority of that office. ”“After that it is the FIA member clubs, not you or FOTA, who will decide on the future leadership of the FIA.”We’re sure Mosley can cause much more grief for FOTA and for the sport’s reputation in the three months he has left on the committee…

He is the youngest driver to ever qualify on pole, lead, and win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and he is barely in his 20s – an achievement which has earned him a permanent tribute at the infamous Nurburgring.

‘Vettel corner’ will be located on a corner of the Grand Prix circuit, which adjoins and connects to the Nordschleife ‘ring.His turn is number six of the GP track – six-time F1 champ Michael Schumacher’s name adorns turns nine and 10.“This is a big honour,” said Vettel of the decision.

Though spectator attendances and visitors were down on the previous year, the 2009 Clipsal 500 Adelaide V8 Supercar event has provided the South Australian economy with a handy estimated $33 million kick.

SA Treasurer Kevin Foley said interstate and overseas visitor numbers coming to Adelaide specifically for the 2009 event totalled 13,600 compared to 14,559 for the 2008 race.But he described it as a magnificent achievement, particularly given the impact of the current global financial situation.The visitors appeared to spend more this year.“While attendance numbers were predictably slightly lower this year the economic benefit grew to a conservative figure of $33.5m from $31.32m in 2008,” said Mr Foley.The number of full-time job equivalents (whatever that means!) created as a result of the 2009 event was 420 – up from 409 in 2008 – with some of the increase as a result of work related to the new temporary pit building structure and shaded grandstands.The 2009 event which ran from March 19 -22 was attended by a claimed 272,800 motor racing fans over the four days.It recorded an operating deficit of $693,000.But the Treasurer pointed out that this is a tremendous result in the context of some of the other major events, including Melbourne’s Formula One Grand Prix, being held during this time.

What’s wrong with Casey Stoner?

It was the question many were asking after the 2007 world MotoGP champion was finished exhausted and highly distressed at Assen last weekend – the second race in a row he was in this state – after a gutsy ride to third place.A virus was blamed on his condition at the previous race in Barcelona.Heading into Assen, Stoner pronounced he was good as gold and had resumed training without any issues.But in the 45-min championship race in Holland, he faded quickly after an electric start, the debilitating physical condition that struck him down at Catalunya reappearing during the Assen race.Afterwards, behind the podium, he was seen dry retching and close to collapse. He was excused from participating in the compulsory TV interviews and press conference.“I’ve been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday and I’ve just got worse as the weekend has gone on,” Stoner admitted later.“I’ve taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can’t keep going like this and it is costing us points.”Ducati is very concerned about its young star’s mystery ailment. There has been just eight days between the Assen race and the weekend’s US GP at Laguna Seca, and Stoner can’t afford to drop more points to his rivals, led by the rampant Valentino Rossi.The Italian has certainly capitalised on Stoner’s dramas at the last two races.World champ Rossi goes into the US race in stunning from, with a five-point lead over Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, with Stoner third in the standings.

Raikkonen at the Arctic Rally in Finland this January.

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen is making good use of the Grand Prix summer holidays, making his WRC debut this month in one of the toughest events on the rally calendar – Finland.

The 2007 F1 champ will enter his home town round with Finnish co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, who has directed the likes of Tommi Makinen, in a Fiat Punto Abarth S2000.Raikkonen has actually appeared in three other rallies this year, but this will be his first big test on gravel.We watch with interest…

Following rumours of staff working for free and petitions to the courts by unpaid suppliers, A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited, which looks after the series’ vehicles, has been forced to shut up shop. And no vehicle, no championship…

Though the calendar for 2010 is already set, and the teams will enter their second year of a six-year contract with the new 2004 F1 Ferrari-engine, the long-term future of the F1 feeder series looks clouded.The PR machine was in full swing last week, denying hat the loss of its vehicle operations arm was a threat to the series’ survival.“A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited provided operational services to the series and was one of the companies in the A1GP Group,” said an A1GP spokesperson.“None of the other companies in the group are currently affected,” the spokesperson said.The A1GP is the replacement series for the infamous Gold Coast Indy (for the next five years under contract), which lost its namesake IRL support at the end of last year…

After eight long years and 130 starts in F1, where he has earned the moniker of the unluckiest man in motorsport, Mark Webber has cracked both a pole and a win in the one weekend at the Nurburgring in Germany. It’s the first time the Aussie anthem has played since Alan Jones took out the US Grand Prix in 1981.

Creeping up as high as second place this year (to team mate Vettel), Webber was well overdue for the win, and a first-time pole position on Saturday gave indication that his luck may be changing.Coming into Turn 1, however, it almost fell apart. Contact with Rubens Barrichello was a borderline fault, but the stewards decided to penalise Webber with a drive through penalty.Relinquishing second place to amble through the pits seemed to fire up the Aussie even further, and with the unintentional help of Felippe Massa, who blocked Barrichello’s charge, Webber gained two seconds a lap on the leaders and crawled back to the front of the field. Ironically, Barrichello pitted on lap 32 just as Webber caught up, leaving him a clear track and plenty of fresh air.With team mate Vettel defensively in second place a further nine seconds back, Webber crossed the line in front of his father and a jubilant Red Bull garage. Tuning in to the team radio, Webber could be heard to scream repeatedly – relief and jubilation after eight years of supreme effort.“It’s an incredible day,” Webber said after the race.“I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone, as I thought I had a good chance there, then after yesterday’s pole I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today.“It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so that kept my motivation very high when I was hurting a lot with all the rehab (from a cycling accident in Tasmania before the 09 season)”.“I had great people around me to recover from all the injuries I had and the team have been incredibly patient with me as well.“I’ve had a lot of critics over the years – hello to them too…“It’s just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am today.Congratulations, Mark Webber.

“I won’t retire at 30. Whether I’ll still be driving a racing car after 30 is another thing.”

And just like that Jamie Whincup changes this from a straightforward interview to something very different.Usually encounters with youthful racing drivers are heavy on cliché and short on real insight. You know the drill; young man in a hurry, a fierce will to win, God-given talent, devilish good looks and a string of beautiful women left panting in his wake.All these truisms may apply to Whincup. Some definitely do. But there’s nothing orthodox or clichéd about his desire to hang up his helmet at 30 and find another life.Here’s a guy who, in three and a half years at Triple Eight Race Engineering, has won three Bathursts, three Clipsals and is the defending V8 Supercar champion. In the course of achieving all this he has not only eclipsed the likes of Tander, Skaife, Ingall and the Kellys, but also his team-mate, Craig Lowndes, the modern-day icon of the sport.He is just 26 and to modify yet another cliché, surely has the motorsport world at his feet. For him to be contemplating life beyond the cockpit in just four years when his talent may not even be fully realised seems mind-boggling. Crazy even. Seeking a life change is understandable if you’re an accountant, a journalist, or the spin doctor who advised Kevin Rudd to avoid the ‘b’ word. But surely, when you’re as good at something as exciting and as lucrative as racing cars, you hang in there for all you’re worth for as long as humanly possible?“Um.” He starts explaining hesitantly. It’s obvious he’s reticent to really explore this, particularly with someone so sceptical.“Because there’s a lot more to life than motorsport,” he ventures. “It’s something I live and breath; I’ll always be involved in motorsport in some way … but there’s a lot out there. Hopefully I can look at this motorsport thing, tick that box and say ‘hey that’s the majority of my life’. “But there are other challenges out there which I’d love to…” he trails off, thinks, then tries again. “When I get to 60 and I’m old and my kids are wheeling me out in my wheelchair at the retirement village, hopefully I can say I’ve done a lot more than just won a V8 Supercar championship.”There’s a beguiling naivety to this statement as well as an intriguing depth. Naive because 60 isn’t old anymore, something he will learn with time. Depth because there are few race drivers who, at least publicly, acknowledge a bigger picture than the track in front of them; that what they do isn’t really important in the big scheme of things, no matter how important it is to them.At first meeting there’s no hint of what’s soon to be revealed. Whincup offers a friendly face, a firm handshake, a long-vowelled Aussie accent. But he soon veers from the Aussie-bloke norm, tending to be expansive and self-confident in his answers rather than monosyllabic. It’s the manner of someone used to success, yet in our time together he doesn’t cross the line into arrogance. People familiar with Whincup say he has become more assertive of late, but on the whole remains pretty well grounded for someone in such an elite position.Paradoxically, his appreciation of a wider life seems born from his time spent within racing’s narrow literal and metaphorical confines. Father David and uncle Graeme spannered for Allan Moffat, Graeme was also a successful sports sedan racer in the days when the category had a profile. Jamie played in his uncle’s race cars as a toddler and Dad bought him his first go-kart at seven. They progressed successfully from rookies to juniors to seniors and then into Formula Fords.The family funded Jamie’s 2002 national championship-winning Formula Ford campaign with Sonic Motorsport.In the process he beat another young future superstar of V8s, Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom.From there the story is well known; an unsuccessful but valuable learning year with Garry Rogers, a year in the wilderness, reborn at Tasman Motorsport in 2005 and then the transition to Ford with Triple Eight for 2006.“Dad is very competitive – he pumped ‘just win at all costs’ into me, and it continues,” says Jamie of his formative days. “I don’t really care about anything as long as I cross the line first, pretty much at all cost.“It’s everything for me. It’s an experience, a feeling that money can’t buy. Standing on the top step of the podium knowing that everybody else has done the best job they could and you’ve beaten them. That feeling is better than anything.”But Whincup has realised such highs don’t come easily. Success is inextricably linked with hard work and dedication. As he depicts it, his life is stripped down to focus on his job.“I’ve learned that you can’t be the best at everything,” he explains. “My golf is ordinary even though I love the game. I love competing in sport but I can accept not being my best. But motor racing is what I put all my time into and I certainly don’t expect not to be the best because that’s what I dedicate all my time to.”It’s a theme that comes up again when the subject turns to his speed advantage over Craig Lowndes and why he thinks that has come about.“My advantage over him is my lack of outside influences,” he says. “I just live in a little place down on Hope Island and race my car, where he has got plenty of other things going on in his life; kids, family. I can just dedicate more time than he can, that’s all it is.”While his life is no doubt more complex than he makes out, there is no doubting his focus. Triple Eight boss Roland Dane has publicly stated several times over the years that Whincup got the seat ahead of some of Australia’s other best young talents because he was the one who showed the most hunger. Money simply wasn’t an issue, it was an opportunity he wanted to devour.The ‘problem’ now – if you want to call it a problem – is that Whincup’s hard work is netting results. It means the goals he has set himself in his racing career are being rapidly ticked off. And that’s where a new future beckons, Once everything’s been done, Whincup says he has no desire to simply hang around and race for the sake of it.“That’s what motivates me, winning new fresh challenges. I know that if I do achieve what I have in Australia then those new challenges won’t be there and I won’t get the most out of myself, which scares me in a way. I want to keep it fresh, I need new challenges. I love what I have here; I don’t want to leave it. But you only live once and there are plenty of other things in life that I want to explore.”Whincup is talking in the context of making the shift to another racing category overseas, something he’s never done and is reported to be considering for 2010. It’s no coincidence that news stories quoting his manager on this subject have popped up when he’s in the midst of contract negotiations.But later, when the subject of his departure from the sport at 30 comes into light, it’s apparent those comments could apply just as appropriately to that scenario.So what are these other goals and ambitions he has to explore beyond the track? He won’t say, just that an “urge” is driving him away from, well, driving.“The thing is, that urge is there, what it is won’t be decided till I get to that point. What I want to do right now won’t be what I want to do when I’m 30. I still have another three or four years which is a long time.”No, actually it’s not. It will pass like Whincup does on the track – quickly. It’s incredible to think that if he sticks to his plan, five years from now he’ll simply be a name in the record books.Albeit, a frequently printed name, judging by his current rate of success.“There’s another three or four years of my driving career left and I want to make it successful,” he says. “For me it was a great experience and hopefully the next one will be even better. Whatever that may be.”

Reigning V8 Supercar champion and current series leader, Jamie Whincup, and Australia’s most popular tin-top driver, Craig Lowndes have re-signed with TeamVodafone for another three seasons, meaning the team-mates will be partners for a minimum of seven years.

Vodafone Hutchison Australia has also announced it has renewed its sponsorship of V8 TeamVodafone under the Vodafone brand. The new agreement extends Vodafone’s participation in the sport until at least the end of 2012.TeamVodafone has been the standout outfit of recent seasons, winning a total of 39 races in addition to its 2008 driver and team championship titles and two Bathurst 1000 crowns.With drivers and primary sponsor locked in, the only piece in the jigsaw left to put in place is what product TeamVodafone, a Ford stalwart until dumped by the Blue Oval, will be racing into the future.There have been rumours that the glamour squad may usurp the role of the Holden Racing Team as the factory squad for the red team.And of course V8 Supercars Australia has been desperate lobbying for other brands to join the two-make category and bring much-needed variety and an economic boost. So… Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Great Wall of China…?Team principal Roland Dane said the strategy to extend the naming rights partnership in combination with the re-signing of both drivers was a positive move for the Queensland operation.“Continuity from sponsors, drivers and team personnel has been one of the key factors to our incredible success over the past three seasons,” said Dane. “Today is a historic day and we are very pleased and proud to extend our involvement with Vodafone at least until the end of 2012, along with securing both of our drivers for the same period.“Today’s announcement will give us the best chance to remain at the forefront of the category as it continues to evolve over the coming years,” he continued.The announcement also triggered the predictable feel-good quotes from the two drivers, replete with countless mentions of the sponsor’s name…Whincup, who recently and mysteriously suggested he may quit the sport by the time he turns 30, said the decision to re-sign with TeamVodafone until 2012 would be career-defining.“I am overwhelmed with the opportunities that have arisen since winning my first V8 Supercar Championship and I am thrilled to have agreed on a multi-year deal that will see me stay with the world famous TeamVodafone until the end of 2012.“The main factors that helped me decide my future were the great people at TeamVodafone, a fantastic major partner in Vodafone and the opportunity to remain driving alongside my good mate Craig Lowndes.“For me the focus is on results, so it is essential to have the most powerful sporting team behind me. Thanks Vodafone; your commitment is safe with us,” he added.Multiple Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes said since the team had become TeamVodafone they had rewritten the V8 Supercar history books.“It is fantastic to be part of TeamVodafone until at least 2012. I have enjoyed every minute since joining the team and I am looking forward to even more success.“This extension will see me at TeamVodafone for a total of eight years which will be the longest period I have spent with any team.“The continuity between Jamie and I will serve the team well into the future and having a global brand like Vodafone behind us will really help us to continue our quest to remain at the top of our game both on and off the track,” he added.There was nary a mention of Ford at the announcement.

No one can accuse Will Power of not fully capitalising on his opportunities. Brought into Penske Racing to sub for Helio Castroneves when the hapless Brazilian was in a US court facing tax charges, Power did enough to earn five further drives with the glamour team.

Last weekend in Edmonton, Canada, the Queenslander nailed his first win in the Indy Racing League, converting pole to a super win after leading for most of the race.Power is making it very hard for Roger Penske to discard him at the end of the year, and is putting pressure on the full-timers Castroneves and fellow-Aussie Ryan Briscoe.It’s been suggested that embryonic grand prix team USF1 could do itself a favour by signing Power, who has been a success in every formula he has touched.Wheels put the idea to USF1 team co-owner Peter Windsor, who replied: “Yes, I rate Will, but someone should put together an Australian F1 team”. That way all the good young Aussies can have a chance.”Great idea, but could it happen?