Today I was reading an interesting article about preparations for the first ever night race in Formula 1. As you are well aware, FIA has already approved the night race, which will be held in Singapore. Moreover, the race will take place in the streets.

The design of the illumination system belongs to an Italian lighting specialist Valerio Maioli. The goal of the system is to maximise visibility for night-race conditions.

More than three giga-watts of power will be necessary to light 1,500 projectors. The overall system uses about 108,423 meter cabling and 240 steel pylons. It is already known that the lighting of the system will be four times brighter that that of sports stadiums.

Bridgestone Motorsport has announced that the company has finalized agreement with FIA. According to the contract Bridgestone will be an exclusive tyre supplier for the next three years (2008, 2009, 2010).

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said:
"Becoming the 'Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship' is a prestigious honour for Bridgestone and we await the start of the 2008 season with great anticipation. Our participation in Formula One is a core element of our company's expansion and development and this is an exciting step for us as a company.

Grand Prix of Canada is the seventh round in the Formula 1 2008 calendar. It will be held at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, Canada. The event will take place on the 6th-7th of June 2008. However, the tickets will be available for purchase from today. To anyone interested in the Royal racing sport, the ticket can make a perfect holiday present.

Source: http://www.paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=74009

Not a long ago Renault confirmed that Fernando Alonso had joined the team. Now, we learn that Renault's ex-pilot Heikki Kovalainen has joined McLaren-Mercedes team.

Norbert Haug, Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport commented: "Heikki is a talented driver who showed his skills during his debut season in Formula 1 this year. Heikki’s most impressive performance was at the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji where he finished second behind Lewis in extremely treacherous wet conditions. He is not only a quick driver but also one of the most consistent having finished in every Grand Prix except the last which puts him in the top five together with our drivers who covered most laps in 2007. Everybody in the team is looking forward to a very fruitful co-operation. Lewis and Heikki will form one of the youngest driver line-ups, and I am convinced that both will be very strong and at the same time co-operative competitors."

This is a great progress for a 26 year old Finn, who joined Formula 1 last year. Moreover, Heikki has a long-term contacts with McLaren.

Source: http://www.fosagold.org/F1SA/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4885&Itemid=2

If you think that I am kidding in this post, then keep on reading.

As you are well aware, Formula 1 teams introduce new models of racing cars in every new Formula 1 season. So, what does happen with the old cars? Pretty legitimate question.

A company named PF1, with ex-Williams engineer Tim Preston and his team of mechanics on board, maintain and market Formula 1 cars. The target market of the company are wealthy racing enthusiasts. While super rich people could have afforded to own Formula 1 cars before, now this luxury has become available for many others.

Don't be a fool to expect to get a Formula 1 car for a price of an Opel (sorry guys, this is what came to my mind quickly) but for a half price of Enzo you could be owning your own Formula 1 car.

PF1 charges customers £300,000, plus £2500 for membership of Club PF1. This is still very expensive, however the price enables you to run your car at four events per year at places like Donington and Spa. So, in the end the offering is not that bad. Also keep in mind that you become a full owner of the car. So you can re-sell it later if you want so. Now, PF1's offer looks more than impressive and we must agree that Formula 1 has become really affordable for ever... well almost everyone :)

The Renault Formula 1 team has just announced its driver lineup for the 2008 season. Double world champion Fernando Alonso is back to Renault. His team mate will be Nelson Piquet Jr.

Renault's sponsor ING looks quite happy with this. The company's Head of Group Marketing, Isabelle M. Conner said:

"With a successful first year sponsorship behind us, we're very much looking forward to the new season and welcome Fernando and Nelson as the 2008 drivers. Their combination of talent and experience will help the resurgent ING Renault F1 Team through 2008, as ING drives its own sponsorship activity, both on and off the track".

It's really interesting to see Fernando's performance in Renault. After all, Renault is the team where Spaniard was grown and has become the world's one of the best drivers.

On Thursday's hearing the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council did not impose any penalty on Renault. The team was found in breach of the International Sporting Code for possessing confidential technical information belonging to McLaren. Moreover, Renault had already admitted that data had entered their factory via a former McLaren engineer, who joined the team in September 2006. However, according to the team, no use had been made of the information.

Detailed reasons for the decision will be issued by the FIA on Friday and along with the transcript of Thursday’s proceeding.

Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/12/7157.html