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.
Ferrari was in with a bang, now it looks like the scarlet racers will be out with soggy whimpers: Michael Schumacher has canceled his F1 return due to lingering pain in his neck from a motorcycle accident earlier this year.
Schumacher has been testing in Ferrari's 2007 car at the company's private track in Mugello. After the first test, though, he found that the mere strain of driving aggravated the injuries from a crash he suffered in February while motorcycle testing at a track in Spain. At the time, although he went to the hospital, it was thought that everything was fine. Eventually fractures in his neck were discovered, and that is what is causing the problem now.
After laying its hopes on the 7-time world champion, Ferrari now chooses among its reserve drivers to pilot one of their cars in Valencia in 48 hours: Marc Gene or Luca Badoer – Gene's last F1 race drive was the 2004 British Grand Prix, while Badoer hasn't turned an F1 wheel on race day since 1999, at the European Grand Prix. This morning Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo chose 38-year-old Badoer for the role.
Yesterday's rumors have been confirmed: Michael Schumacher will take Felipe Massa's place for the remainder of the 2009 Formula One season.
A Ferrari spokesperson said Schumi's return hinges on the seven-time F1 champion's ability to pass the FIA's physical (we doubt that'll be a problem) and he'll be back in full-force on August 23 at the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
Schumacher has been under the employ of Ferrari as an advisor to the team since his retirement in 2006, and although Massa is reportedly well on his way to recovering after sustaining a serious head injury at last weekend's race, Schumacher will take his place for the remaining seven races of the 2009 season.
Yesderday during Formula 1 qualifying in Hungary, Ferrari's Felipe Massa suffered a life-threatening head injury when a spring from Reubens Barrichello's car struck him in the helmet. As you'll see in the ESPN video posted after the jump, the impact appears to knock the Brazilian unconscious; immediately after the incident, his car simply drives straight into the runoff area and tire wall.
Massa was reportedly conscious when he arrived at the hospital, where he received a CT scan and underwent successful surgery to treat two skull fractures suffered as a result of the accident. He was placed into an induced coma immediately following the procedure and remains in intensive care. Doctors talking to the BBC described his condition as stable and said there were no complications following the operation. Another brain scan will be performed on Massa later today, after which the medical team will update his condition. Massa's injury comes on the heels of Henry Surtees' death last weekend, the result of the young driver being struck in the head by a flying tire. Massa's on-track incident left some F1 personnel openly wondering whether it's time to make changes that improve cockpit safety for drivers. Fortunately, things appear to be progressing well for Massa, and we wish him a speedy and full recovery. Follow the jump for ESPN's video report on the incident, which includes the on-car-camera view of what happened.
AMG has been involved in Formula 1 for well over a decade now, starting with a Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG serving as the safety car back in 1996. Most recently, the SL63 AMG earned the spot last year, and it is returning for 2009 to set the pace at each F1 race this year. To ensure that it's capable of performing its duties in any situation, the car has been fitted with quite a few upgrades, including an upgraded coilover suspension system, a three-stage traction control system, massive composite brakes – 15.4 inches up front and 14.2 inch in the rear – and additional coolers for the oil, transmission, coolant, and power steering. The overall weight of the car has also been reduced by 485 pounds thanks to carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body components and the removal of the convertible top mechanism.
BMW's little 1 Series has proven itself to be a credible performer that's able to hang with nearly anything else it likely to encounter on the road. But against an Australian V8 Supercar and BMW's own Formula 1 racer? Not a chance. Regardless, these three vehicles will indeed face off at the upcoming F1 season opener Down Under. To help level the playing field, each vehicle will start with a handicap, so the real excitement will begin near the end of the lap when the three cars close in on one another as they sprint to the finish line.
The 1 Series that's taking part in the event will be equipped with the German automaker's potent 3.0L twin-turbo inline six and will wear 18" alloys bolted up to a tuned suspension set up with cross-drilled brakes. A set of tii decals and a full BMW Performance aerodynamic body kit top things off. The race will be repeated 5 times starting on Thursday, March 26th.
Vodaphone is a huge mobile communications company, and it's also the primary sponsor of the McLaren Mercedes F1 team. The video after the jump shows just what their millions of dollars in sponsorship money can buy: a viral video staring Lewis Hamilton. Vodaphone makes the Blackberry Storm mobile smart phone, and the video kicks off with some office nerds who have hacked the Storm to control an R/C F1 car. They use the phone's built-in accelerometer so that turning the phone like a steering wheel controls the car's direction. The accelerator and the brake, meanwhile, are controlled via buttons on the phone's touch screen.
After publishing a video of their office grand prix on the web, the team of programmers is invited to the garage of McLaren Mercedes where team engineers have adapted the system to control Lewis Hamilton's actual F1 car. Hilarity ensues when Hamilton himself takes the car out on the track, sans driver, and does a lap behind the wheel of the Blackberry Storm. It's an amusing viral video and halfway convincing if we weren't willing to swear on our mothers that McLaren Mercedes would never allow its multi-million dollar F1 car to be controlled via a phone, let alone outfit the car with enough servos to actually perform the functions of steering, braking and changing gears.
One of the last Formula One cars for the 2009 season made its public debut. Called the VJM02 – the second new car since Indian businessman Vijay Mallya bought and rechristened the team Force India – the new challenger ditches the red and gold livery from last year in favor of the orange, white and green of the Indian national flag. As we reported previously, Force India terminated its engine supply deal with Ferrari in favor of a new deal with Mercedes-Benz, incorporating the engine, gearbox, regenerative braking system and hydraulics, implemented on the new car, which will be driven by veteran pilots Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil. With all the cars now revealed and Honda returning to the grid as Brawn GP, it's full speed ahead to the season opener in Melbourne, Australia on March 29.
Cost cutting is the driving force behind...well, everything these days, but Formula One especially. Several of the automakers still in F1 raced into the Geneva Motor Show with their latest single-seaters, more of which we'll have for you tomorrow and which all look more or less the same thanks to tight new regs that seek to reduce both expenses and aero downforce.
But Leonardo Fioravanti has his own idea. And why not? He designed more than his fair share of road-going Ferraris during his tenure at Pininfarina, so it was about time he take a stab at a racer. The LF1 concept Fioravanti cooked up for the show takes the streamlining of costs and aero to another level, removing the rear wing that was downsized for this year in F1, while blending the sidepods into partial wheel housings... unthinkable in open-wheel racing, but it's still prettier than any of the current crop of real F1 cars.
Of course, this is just a mock-up with no running gear, which could be why the model at the show stand laughed at us when we asked for a test drive, but that won't stop us from imagining what it would be like to ake the Fioravanti LF1 out for a lap or 20 around our favorite grand prix circuit, and it shouldn't stop you, either
There have been countless attempts to translate the Ferrari spirit from four wheels to two, ranging from sport bikes to choppers and everything in between. But this is the first we've seen with three wheels. That's right, in case your eyes couldn't adjust from the endless see of crimson contours, what you're looking at is a Ferrari trike.
Mirroring the "styling" of a Scuderia Ferrari F1 car, this one-off trike was spotted at the banzai Tokyo Auto Salon by the same people who brought us the no-less-bonkers Lamborghini ATV. Based around a 1.3-liter Suzuki Hayabusa engine and frame, this (thankfully) unique example was built by Trike Japan in order to showcase what they can do. We certainly hope the rest of their portfolio is a bit more tasteful than this showpiece, but we won't be holding our breath.
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