If you've been following the 2008 Formula One World Championship and watched the last few races from Japan Singapore and Italy, you've likely grown accustomed to some serious white-knuckle, wheel-to-wheel racing. This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix bore little resemblance to those topsy-turvy, order-upsetting races, and more like a centrally-planned parade that Red China has grown accustomed to. So if you missed today's race from Singapore Shanghai, don't fret.
The French are getting screwed out of their Formula One fix. A little over a week after French Canadians began mourning the Canadian Grand Prix's cancellation from the 2009 F1 calendar, word comes that the French Grand Prix has also been nixed. The GP's promoter, the Federation du Sport Automobile (FFSA), announced the race's cancellation yesterday and blamed it on finances, though we find it hard to believe that even an F1 race in Europe can't make money in these tough economic times. With the race at Circut de Nevers Magny-Cours scrapped, the 2009 F1 calendar has now been whittled down to just 17 races. The French GP began in 1906, and has run continuously since 1950 except for 1955 when it was cancelled after a horrible accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year's cancellation is not expected to be permanent, however, as the FFSA loses its promotion rights in 2010, and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has expressed his wish to see it moved from the Magny-Cours track, where it's been held since 1991, to somewhere closer to Paris.
Wildcards. That's what racing fans want, isn't it? Yet so many seasons in the recent history of grand prix racing have been down to just a handful of drivers – just one or two, in many cases – contending for race victories and ultimately the championship. Last year's four-way face-off between Kimi Raikkonnen, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso put the racing world on notice. But even that free-for-all is paling by comparison to this season, with no fewer than seven drivers (Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, BMW's Robert Kubica, McLaren's number two Heikki Kovalainen, double world champion Fernando Alonso and even perennial back-marker Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel) taking turns on the top step of the podium, turning the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship into a heated battle the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time. This weekend's Japanese Grand Prix was no exception.
Everyone's surprised as the FIA has announced it is canceling the Canadian Grand Prix. Those in the world of F1 racing have come to know the event as a staple of the F1 calendar. Racing fans in Montreal, this writer's home town that has hosted the race for the past three decades, are shocked to lose the event. And that includes the race organizers, who apparently learned of the news the same way the rest of us have. The cancellation of the race leaves a month-long gap in the race calendar in August of next season, and with the U.S. Grand Prix off the schedule the past few years, means F1 will stay completely out of North America. And save for the Brazilian Grand Prix, out of the Western Hemisphere altogether. But the trip across the Atlantic for the one race cost the teams dearly, and the sport's organizers have been on a crusade to cut costs. No doubt the officials at le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be burning up the phone lines to Formula One Management and the FIA, and organizers in far-flung Rio de Janeiro and Melbourne will be waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.
Ford's Ka has always had an expressive design, and the second generation of the little city car is set to continue that trend with three new custom packages that will debut with the new model in January. All three of them make quite a statement, though we'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good or a bad thing.
Ka Digital: Hi-Liter green is the name of the game, with an offset stripe across the top of the car and on the sides, along with a glow-in-the-dark colored grille. Inside, that same shocking color is applied liberally throughout, appearing on the dash, doors and seats.
Ka Grand Prix (above): Traditional red and white racing colors make a more subdued impression than the green of the Digital, and the two colors cover all the same features on the Grand Prix. A rear spoiler and white alloy wheels round out the racing-theme.
Ka Tattoo: For Ed Hardy fans, Ford rolls out the Tattoo edition of the Ka with a large decal on the roof and a smaller matching one on the fender. Metallic colors and trim cover the interior, which gets tattoo-like embellishments on the seats and floor mats.
All three special editions will be available on the Zetec model, though pricing has yet to be announced. If we were forced to choose one as our favorite, it would definitely be the Grand Prix, if only by default. Check out the gallery below for high-res shots of each.
The U.S. team hasn't had much success in the A1 Grand Prix, which pits nation teams against each other rather than automakers. The Stars and Stripes team has finished 16th, 9th, and 12th in the first three seasons. The 2007-2008 season saw increased levels of accomplishment, with the team capturing its first victory and reaching the podium two other times. Things are looking even brighter now, with Andretti Green Racing announcing that it will be running the team now, starting this weekend at the opening race at Zandvoort. Andretti will even be on hand at the race to announce the driver lineup. Andretti Green Racing brings a winning formula to the team, having captured three championships, two Indy 500 wins, and a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Opening night can be the worst time to see a new production. But it can also be the most painfully entertaining, watching all the actors trip over their toes and forget their lines with the pressure to perform bearing down and the bright lights glaring in their eyes. This weekend's Singapore Grand Prix wasn't just the first race on a new track and in a new host country. It was also the very first Formula One race held at night. No problem, you might figure, for these are the most professional drivers in the world. Well, not quite. But opening night was still highly entertaining; probably more so as a result. If you've recorded the race and haven't watched it yet, move along. But if you haven't, or even watched part and skipped out before the end, you'll want to follow the jump to see how Formula One's foray into the nocturnal panned out for this year's crop of championship hopefuls.
This weekend Singapore will host Formula 1's first night race, and SPEED TV has created a computerized lap of the course narrated by Mark Webber taking you through the 24 corners. Perhaps the best part of this brand new track in a brand new host country at a brand new time of day night is the knowledge that there are three spots for overtaking, which hopefully means this will be more than just a two-hour parade lap. If nothing else, McLaren might be packing a surprise. Follow the jump to check out the video.
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If you're not familiar with the GP2 Series by now, think of it as the formula racing equivalent to college football. It can sometimes make for an even more engaging spectacle and gives a chance to preview who will make it into the big leagues of Formula One next. Since the series inception in 2005, each year's champion has earned a race seat in F1. And more than that, every year the runner-up has secured a testing role with the Renault F1 team. Considering that the drivers who have graduated from GP2 in the past few years have turned out to be some of the most talented young rookies in F1, any formula racing fan worth his lug-nuts keeps a keen eye trained on GP2. This year's championship just wrapped up this weekend in Monza where the F1 circus came to race the Italian Grand Prix, providing a secondary spectacle for racing fans who braved the rain to get a glimpse of the action. Each stop on the GP2 calendar includes two races: the feature race on Saturday, and the reverse-grid sprint race on Sunday. To find out who took the honors and who you should watch in the big leagues for next year.
Racing fans are used to tuning in on the Saturday of a grand prix weekend to find the words "Scuderia" and "Ferrari" at the top of the qualifying list. But interrupted by the words "Toro Rosso"? Never. But that was only the first of many surprises at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel shockingly secured his first pole position thanks to some exceedingly brilliant driving joined with good strategy on the part of his Ferrari-powered Scuderia Toro Rosso team, which wisely stuck with the extreme wet tires on the rain-soaked Monza circuit while others experimented with intermediate treads. The young German's unprecedented qualifying performance put him in the record books as the youngest driver ever to secure a pole position, supplanting Fernando Alonso's previous record. But with so many other drivers with more experience and backed by teams with immensely bigger budgets, surely Vettel's lead would quickly be stolen by an established front-runner.
