Todays news
My sources websites as usual
Michael Schumacher is the most unsporting driver in Formula One history, according to world champion Fernando Alonso.
Speaking on his country's Radio Marca, the Renault driver was very critical of the seven-time world champion, who on Sunday announced his retirement from the sport at the end of the season.
"Zidane retired with more glory than Schumacher," said Alonso, referring to the French football player whose last game was marked by a red card following a controversial head-butt in the World Cup final this year.
"Michael is the man with the most sanctions and the most unsporting driver in the history of Formula One," added the Spaniard, who despite his criticism admitted that racing against the Ferrari driver had been an honour.
"That doesn't mean he hasn't been the best driver, and fighting against him has been an honour and a pleasure," Alonso said.
An angry Alonso was very critical of Formula One last weekend after the race stewards penalised him for blocking Schumacher's teammate Felipe Massa during qualifying.
Alonso was relegated to tenth position on the grid and then suffered further misery when he retired from the race with a broken engine. Schumacher won the race to reduce the gap to Alonso to just two points.
The Spanish driver admitted that, after the penalty, the thought of not racing crossed his mind.
"You think about not racing, but it goes away quickly once you put your helmet on," Alonso added.
"I was one hundred percent sure that I could win the race from anywhere on the grid, to keep on scoring points and finish in front. What I'm sure about is that he who laughs last laughs longest."
Despite his anger, the world champion still believes he can win the title, and said he doesn't agree with his team boss Flavio Briatore's claims that the championship has already been handed to Schumacher.
"I don't agree with Flavio. They haven't given the title to Schumacher already. It's true there have been a lot of decisions against some and in favour of other but that's it."
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Kimi Raikkonen will almost certainly have to wait until January to get his first taste of a Ferrari, with McLaren unlikely to release him early from his contract.
Autosport.com understands that Raikkonen's deal with his current employers runs until December 31 rather than the end of the season.
To test for his new team would require Raikkonen to get an early release, something that team boss Ron Dennis has said would be highly unlikely.
"I don't think that any team would feel comfortable with contributing to the advancement of a competitor or driver by early release," he said, talking about Raikkonen's departure from his team.
"It is pretty much unheard of amongst competitive drivers and teams. It is a world championship."
The late start for Raikkonen will not hurt as much as it would have done in other years though, because there will be a very limited December winter testing programme this year.
"Everybody is faced with constrained tyre supply next year so running before January 1 is going to be difficult," said Dennis. "So (Kimi) will likely take a holiday."
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Spyker chief executive Victor Muller says his team could use Ferrari engines next season after taking over the MF1 Racing squad last weekend.
Dutch sports car maker Spyker bought the team for $106.6 million after months of speculation regarding the future of the former Jordan outfit.
Midland are currently using Toyota engines, but the Japanese car maker will only supply the Williams team next season, leaving Spyker with no engine deal yet.
Although a deal with Cosworth seems like the most obvious option for the squad, Muller said using Ferrari customer engines would be a possibility.
"There is a chance certainly," Muller said about using Ferrari engines in 2007, "but there is no chance that a Ferrari engine will be a great opportunity for Spyker. But these discussions are on-going and until we've concluded a deal we can't say anything."
Muller, whose Spyker company is currently making a loss but who expects to be profitable this year, said he hopes to benefit from the exposure of Formula One.
"Formula One is the one single most marketing tool for a manufacturer," Muller added. "Other than that it's sponsoring the grand final of the World Cup.
"This is like having a final every two or three weeks through the year and we are a very small manufacturer and in order to get the resources for marketing - nothing beats entering Formula One."
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McLaren are yet to decide if Pedro de la Rosa keeps the second seat at the team in the remaining three races of the season.
F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, however, said the Spaniard was likely to compete until the end of the year.
De la Rosa, who took the second seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen when Juan Pablo Montoya left the team, was only confirmed until the Italian Grand Prix but Whitmarsh said it made sense to keep him until the end of the season.
"In truth we have not had that discussion but that is our planning assumption at the moment," said Whitmarsh. "We will go and talk to him. There are back-to-back races, Pedro has won three titles in Japan and knows Suzuka very well and that is a circuit where it really helps to know.
"That is a logical decision, we will sit down, we have no particular pressure, Pedro is a balanced individual, we are planning to race him as an organisation we have not sat down and questioned that one. We will confirm it."
De la Rosa has scored 14 points in five races, scoring his maiden podium in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
I will try and post some pics of all the cars on here as sigs.
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