From his brief tenure at McLaren, we know that Fernando Alonso has a bit of trouble getting along with his teammates. Especially when he doesn't get the clear preferential treatment as the team's #1 driver. After all, as has often been said, a driver's teammate is his chief rival. So after Ferrari confirmed that Alonso and Felipe Massa would be put on equal footing, we smelled some trouble a-brewin'. But we didn't expect it to start at least until the beginning of next season. Turns out, that was a bit premature, as some cracks in the relationship between the two teammates-to-be have already started to show.
Speaking with a group of journalists in his native Brazil where the F1 circus is preparing for this weekend's grand prix, Felipe Massa said with "absolute certainty" that Alonso knew about the plan to have wingman Nelson Piquet crash to hand him the controversial victory. That's a pretty hefty charge levied by his future teammate, and Ferrari naturally scrambled to issue a clarification (which you can read after the jump) but you can't take back what's already been said.
Massa was suitably – and vocally – upset when the Crashgate story broke, because without Alonso's ill-earned victory, Massa would have won the championship last year, instead of losing to Lewis Hamilton by one point at the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season. Better luck next year, gents.
![Felipe Massa comes home to Maranello, meets the new 458 Italia, laps Fiorano, smiles for fans [w/VIDEO]](http://www.niot.net/blog-images/felipe-massa-comes-home-to-maranello-meets-the-new-458-italia.jpg)
It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but for Felipe Massa, it must feel like it's been an eternity since he's been up to speed. The Brazilian Formula One driver hasn't been at work since July when he suffered a major blow to the head from some flying debris at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A lot has happened since then: his mentor and former team-mate Michael Schumacher prepared for a comeback and then had to cancel it due to health concerns of his own, the Scuderia promoted test driver Luca Badoer for a couple of races before sending him home, and then Maranello hired Giancarlo Fisichella to fill in and stay on as a reserve driver for the future. Then they picked up Fernando Alonso to be Massa's wingman next year, and somewhere in the middle of it all, Ferrari launched its first all-new mid-engine production car in a decade. (Not to mention the new engine chief they hired, the senior executive they lost or the new designer who is said to be taking over).
Now, after his prolonged absence, Massa has returned home to Maranello for the first time since the crash. He got some practice time in the simulator before hitting the track in a privately-owned, retired F2007 with GP2 tires to reacquaint himself with his craft. And while he was at it, he stopped by the production line to check out the new 458 Italia.
Cars and Coffee, the informal and inclusive wheeled hootenanny originated in Irvine, California has been spreading across the country faster than swine flu. There's no stage with bad cover bands, not a trophy in sight, but you're always likely to see some astounding vehicles.
Herb Chambers, New England dealership juggernaut, has thrown his support behind a New England gathering. "Herb himself is a super car enthusiast," says John Covell, Director of Marketing for the Herb Chambers Companies, "He thought that others would enjoy it." A new BMW dealership in Sudbury, MA, where the event is being held this Saturday, October 10th, is a supporting cast member.
Cynics may dismiss this as another ploy akin to inflatable dinosaurs, but when was the last time you were invited out by a car dealership to drink free coffee and ogle a McLaren F1 on a Saturday morning? Running from 7-10 AM, the inaugural event will be over before many people's days get under way. "Herb is passionate about cars and he's passionate about this business. If our customers understand that we share their passion, that's a good thing," sums up Covell. Hey, if he doesn't mind us drooling all over his McLaren, we'll agree.
Ferrari just announced that injured driver Felipe Massa could be back in the saddle as early as Monday. Massa hasn't been in an F1 car since July's Hungarian Grand Prix, when a spring from another car flew up and hit him above his eye, fracturing his skull.
The first time he has even been back on track was last week when he took the wheel of a kart. Because of testing bans in place this season in F1, Massa can't drive the current car he was running until Hungary. As he gets back up to speed, the FIA has granted him permission to drive a 2007-spec car fitted with GP2 tires.
Massa has also spent time on Ferrari's racing simulator. Word has it he's already mastered Barcelona and is working hard at beating the Interlagos circuit now. Before taking the wheel of the 2007 car, he still needs to pass an examination, but once he's cleared, he could be on track in Italy by Monday. This will be testing only as the driver isn't expected to compete for Ferrari any more this season.
First thing this morning, no one knew who'd be replacing Luca Badoer in the second Ferrari alongside Kimi Raikkonen – in addition to Williams test driver Nico Hulkenberg and former Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais, the likes of current BMW driver Robert Kubica had been mentioned. Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella's name has also been persistently mooted, but the scuttlebutt was consistently shot down by team principal Vijay Mallya.
Ah, Formula One. No sooner had Mallya quashed the rumor again that he then turned around and announced that Fisichella was indeed let go to Ferrari. This gives Fisi the race seat for the rest of the year and, according to Mallya, "will secure Giancarlo's long-term future with Ferrari." We have no idea what that could mean for 2010, since Ferrari already has Raikkonen and Massa, and supposedly Alonso to deal with currently.
Financial terms weren't announced, but it is suspected that in return for letting Fisichella go Ferrari forgave Force India's €4 million bill owed the Scuderia for the engine contract that the Indian team terminated last year. While Fisi gets five races to prove his worth in one of the best cars on the grid, now we get to wonder who will be Adrian Sutil's new teammate.
When Felipe Massa was taken out of commission at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, the questions on everyone's mind was who would replace him and when he'd be back. With regards to the former, Ferrari is one of the few teams on the grid that doesn't have a junior driver development program in place. The team doesn't usually have a problem getting the best drivers, but when disaster (literally) struck, the Scuderia was left without options.
Michael Schumacher prepared to come out of retirement to fill his prodigy's seat, but his own lingering physical issues prevented that, leaving Ferrari with little choice than to promote one of its aging test drivers – finally opting for Luca Badoer after his ten-year hiatus from active racing instead of its other test driver, recent Le Mans winner Marc Gene – with less than satisfactory results. After finishing just about dead last in both of the races he's contested so far, Ferrari has admitted that it's looking at other options for the rest of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella is said to be one possible Ferrari driver and could stay on in the long term to replace Badoer as test driver as well. Robert Kubica is being touted as another, while still more reports suggest that Fernando Alonso could bolt from Renault a bit early and take up residence with Ferrari.
If these rumors seemed at first a little odd with Massa first rumored to return by the upcoming Italian Grand Prix and then readjusted to the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix – the home races for the team and driver respectively – it now looks like Felipe won't be back this season at all. After undergoing tests at the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Massa is scheduled to undergo plastic surgery to repair a fractured section of skull resulting from the incident in Hungary. Tellingly, Ferrari says they're looking forward to Massa's return for the start of next season.
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Ferrari has had plenty of time to get its hands on Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian driver has been on the grid since 1995 when he started as a test driver for Minardi, and later driving for Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault and now Force India. But the Scuderia wasn't interested. Not until its fortunes were down, and Fisico's were up.
The 36-year-old driver pulled off a shocking command performance at this past weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, grabbing pole position and a relentless second place behind Ferrari's own Kimi Raikkonen. All the while, Ferrari itself has been struggling with its veteran test driver Luca Badoer, who has been suffering from a difficult time readjusting to the competition. The team's test driver, promoted to the race seat after ten years of developmental duties when Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher were both knocked out of commission by head-eye injuries (as has now been revealed), has finished the two races he started so far in 17th and 14th positions. Ferrari is plainly disappointed and embarrassed, but with no junior driver in place for a rainy day, Maranello has been left with little choice.
For his part, Ferrari's outspoken former triple world champion Niki Lauda has called on the team to poach Fisichella from Force India, which is experiencing financial troubles and would surely take the money and run. One way or another, Fisichella's in for a hero's welcome at his home race at Monza into two weeks. And Ferrari will have an experienced Italian driver behind the wheel for the Italian Grand Prix. Exactly which one that will be, however, remains to be seen.
It's anything but business as usual this year in Formula One, and this past week has been no exception, with one team scrambling to secure its future, another receiving the go-ahead to continue racing, and others re-submitting applications in the hope of joining the grid for next year.
First up is BMW, which announced it would be withdrawing its support from the Sauber team at the end of this year. After the team's eponymous founder failed to put the cash together to buy his team back from the Bavarians, the outfit is going ahead with its program to launch successive updates to its current car for Valencia this coming weekend and Singapore later this season in to demonstrate its capabilities in the hope of finding a new buyer before the season's out.
The FIA isn't holding its breath, however, and has informed seven outfits that submitted so-far unsuccessful bids to participate in F1 next season that there'll be another spot opening up on the grid for next year. In addition to BMW Sauber, reports suggest that Epsilon Euskadi and Prodrive are vying for the spot.
Luca Badoer is gearing up for his first grand prix in ten years. The veteran Ferrari test driver (who got the nod to fill in for the injured Felipe Massa after plans for Michael Schumacher's temporary return were put on hold) will get to test the Ferrari F60 which he helped develop before the upcoming European Grand Prix in Valencia after all, as Ferrari gets permission to run some "demonstration laps" around its own Fiorano circuit. But according to the latest reports, Badoer shouldn't get too comfortable in that cramped cockpit as Massa may be back sooner than expected.
Team principal Stefano Domenicali visited the downed Brazilian pilot and was encouraged by his progress, prompting reports in the Italian press that Massa could make a sensational return in time for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza at the beginning of September. Massa would need to pass a medical exam at the FIA headquarters in Paris before getting the green light to race again, and may need to wear extra protective gear. In the meantime, Domenicali insists that everyone be patient while Massa recovers.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been researching where the bottlenecks are inside lithium-ion batteries that limit charging and discharging rates, and they've learned some interesting things. Lithium iron phosphate chemistry is particularly promising in terms of high charge and discharge rates. Researchers found that some new processes for manufacturing the lithium phosphate coating on lithium iron phosphate crystals could provide better access to the lithium ions, allowing them to move around more readily. This all sounds similar to the premise behind the lithium iron phosphate batteries produced by A123 Systems and the lithium titanate cells produced by Altairnano. The increased surface area of material allows more ions and electrons to move in and out without heating up as much as traditional lithium cobalt oxide cells. The result is that cells made with these materials can be charged at very high rates without degrading the charge capacity over time. Imagine charging your electric vehicle in two minutes rather than 12 hours and you can understand the significance of this research. The bigger issue remains the power needed to actually charge an automotive sized battery pack in a few minutes. A five-minute charge would require 180 kW or more, which is not something that's available at home or any existing charging stations.
