Formula One News — July 2007

British GP - Practice 2 Results

Jenson Button is suffering from back pains and so is to miss the second practice session for the British Grand Prix. It is hoped that Button will be fit enough to be back in the car tomorrow.

David Coulthard has been re-signed for another season with Red Bull Racing. The team is also expected to keep Mark Webber and that means that the young Red Bull drivers at Scuderia Toro Rosso will not be moving up into the main team.

A blustery Silverstone was treated to Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest time of the first session on Friday morning. The McLaren driver lapped the track at 1m21.100s, which ended up being a tenth faster than the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

British GP - Practice 1 Results

The full extent of the scandal, which Formula 1 is now calling "Stepneygate", is about to drag in the Honda F1 team as well as McLaren and Ferrari. There were rumours in the Silverstone paddock on Friday that the Japanese team will make some kind of statement about the situation shortly.

British GP - Thursday Press Conference

There is good news from France regarding Nicolas Duquesne, Bridgestone's director of public relations, who was seriously injured in a helicopter crash at Magny-Cours.

McLaren unveiled its vast new hospitality unit at Silverstone and Ron Dennis explained that the new "Brand Centre" will be a very cost-effective tool in the next five years.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has been talking about the espionage allegations involving Ferrari and McLaren.

The complicated allegations regarding Ferrari's Nigel Stepney, his connections with an officially unnamed senior McLaren engineer - and the details of the investigation into their supposed activities have led to much confusion in Formula 1 circles.

Ferrari yesterday put out a statement that said that "legal action has been instigated in England and a search warrant has been issued concerning the engineer. This produced a positive outcome".

With the full cooperation of both teams, the FIA has initiated an investigation into matters involving Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes. The federation says that the investigation will "focus solely on the requirements of the International Sporting Code and the Formula 1 Regulations".

McLaren has announced that it has completed a thorough investigation and has confirmed that "no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars".

While F1 is fixated on the problems between Ferrari and McLaren, there is action going on at Spyker as well with reports in Holland that the larger shareholders in Spyker want to de-list the company from the Euronext stock exchange in order to restructure. The story appeared in the De Pers newspaper, which is owned by Marcel Boekhoorn, a Spyker shareholder.

McLaren issued a statement this afternoon saying that "a senior member of its technical organisation was the subject of a Ferrari investigation regarding the receipt of technical information' and that McLaren had only discovered about it on that day.

There are reports in Spain that Lewis Hamilton is asking McLaren for a pay rise. Hamilton signed for McLaren this year for a salary which is believed to be around $300,000, with a bonus scheme based on the number of points that he scores.

Nigel Stepney has left Ferrari. The team confirmed on Tuesday that there has been a disciplinary procedure and that Stepney is no longer employed. Stepney says he is innocent of allegations that he tried to sabotage the Ferrari F1 cars in the days before the Monaco Grand Prix.

Minardi Team USA scored its first victory in the Champ Car World Series at the weekend at Mont Tremblant in Canada, with Robert Doornbos, a Champ Car rookie, beating the pack and equalling Sebastien Bourdais in the championship standings.

For the first time in Formula 1 history, fans will be able to watch the Grand Prix live on the big screen, thanks to Vue Cinemas, a cinema chain which will be broadcasting the British Grand Prix directly from Silverstone to 30 multiplexes across the UK. The company says it will create a larger-than-life experience - and there will be no commercial breaks.

Ferrari wins the French Grand Prix! Kimi Raikkonen led Felipe Massa to a Ferrari 1-2 at Magny-Cours, but Lewis Hamilton increased his World Championship lead to 14 points by finishing third.

Further details have now emerged about the helicopter accident on Saturday evening at Magny-Cours. An Alouette helicopter, based in Paris, took off from the circuit at around 7.15pm.

French GP - Race Notes

French GP - Sunday Photos