McLaren
22 Lewis Hamilton 23 Heikki Kovalainen
Testers: Pedro de la Rosa, Gary Paffett
No team in history has ever gone through as bruising a season as McLaren experienced in 2007. First there was the exhilaration of Lewis Hamilton’s early performances, and the on-track fight with Ferrari. Then came the ‘Stepneygate’ spy scandal, followed by internal strife between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. It concluded with a US$100m fine, disqualification from the world championship for constructors, and Kimi Raikkonen pipping Hamilton and Alonso to the drivers’ title in the final race.

In theory, there should be the humiliation of a garage at the wrong end of the pit lane this year, but within McLaren right now there is no looking back. Everything is totally focused on one task, and one task only: winning. The team’s philosophy has always been to win every race; that’s the way to win championships.

In recent testing the MP4-23 set the pace, giving rise to optimism that Hamilton and his new team mate Heikki Kovalainen will be able to take the fight to Ferrari once more. Whether they have the necessary technical savvy, and the strength of character to get on with one another, remain but two of the fascinating aspects of this team’s battle for redemption.

Lewis Hamilton has claimed he and new McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will compete on equal terms.
The 23-year-old had an intense struggle for supremacy with Fernando Alonso at McLaren last season but he has hinted that will not be case with Kovalainen. Hamilton told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We have been hired to win. Whichever driver does it, it doesn’t really matter - for the team at least. “We’re both in our second year and we have the same amount of experience.”

Source www.news.bbc.co.uk 

Jenson Button was upbeat about Honda’s early form in Melbourne after he ended both Friday practice sessions 11th fastest. The Brackley-based squad’s latest RA108 challenger was regularly towards the bottom of the timesheets during pre-season, but the team believes it made a step forward at its private Jerez test last week. And although not wanting to predict the team’s likely spot in the pecking order come qualifying, Button was pleased with how the first day of the new season went.
“Today has been a good day for us,” he said.

Honda
16 Jenson Button 17 Rubens Barrichello
Testers: Alex Wurz, Mike Conway, Luca Filippi
Honda made much of the power of dreams and their Earthdreams programme when they launched their eco-friendly Formula One car last year, but it proved to be an utterly disastrous season that brought the team to their knees. Jenson Button did a fantastic job to maintain his momentum as, for yet another year, he saw his genuine aspirations of mounting a championship challenge crumble the moment the first race started.

Testing times suggest that the new RA108, at least in its current guise, is not going to turn that trick for him either. Insiders say his first comments on the new car were unprintable. At the launch in late January, there was much evidence of brave smiles for the cameras to disguise an ongoing crisis.

But… nobody in the real world doubts that the presence of new team principal Ross Brawn will have a huge influence on the team’s development in the medium term. His record at Benetton and Ferrari speaks volumes, and this major asset will surely lead the team from the wilderness. It will, however, take time.

Ferrari has announced that Stefano Domenicali will replace Jean Todt as head of its Formula 1 team next year, as part of a significant reshuffle of its senior management and technical staff. On January 1 Domenicali – currently the team’s sporting director – will be promoted to director of the Gestione Sportiva, the Italian marque’s motorsport division. Other changes include technical director Mario Almondo stepping up into the role of operations director while Aldo Costa will become the new technical director. Gilles Simon has been promoted to engine director. Meanwhile it remains to be seen what role Todt will take at the team and whether he will stay on as the head of the Ferrari automobile company.  The announcement follows Honda’s revelation this morning that it has signed renowned former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn as its team principal.

Honda Racing has announced that it has signed former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn as its team principal. Brawn has been on sabbatical this year after a 10-year tenure at the Maranello squad, where he masterminded an unprecedented six consecutive constructors’ world championships and five drivers’ titles with Michael Schumacher. He will join Honda as team principal, working alongside Nick Fry, who will stay on as chief executive. Brawn will be given full responsibility for design, manufacture, engineering and race operations, allowing Fry to focus on the business and marketing side and managing the relationship with Honda’s board in Japan.

Throughout the summer Brawn was strongly linked with a return to Ferrari, but when negotiations broke down Honda quickly swooped for the Briton and the deal was reportedly signed off last week at a meeting with the company’s bosses in Japan. It is also likely to boost the team’s chances of retaining Jenson Button’s services beyond 2008. Fry said Brawn’s appointment was proof of Honda’s determination to reverse its slide down the grid and build a title-challenging outfit. “One of my main tasks over the past six months has been to attract new talent to the Honda Racing F1 Team and we have made a number of key appointments in the areas of aerodynamics, design, engineering, marketing and on the racing team,” he said. “Today’s announcement that Ross Brawn is to join our team is a very satisfying conclusion to the process of refreshing and revitalising a strong and determined team. Honda Motor Company’s Hiroshi Oshima added: “I am pleased with the structure we have put in place for the future success of our Formula 1 team.

“We look forward to a successful season ahead.” Brawn will begin work with Honda on November 26.

Kazuki Nakajima will make his full-time Formula 1 race debut in 2008 after being handed the second seat at Williams for next season.
The 22-year-old Japanese driver has been promoted from his role as the Grove squad’s official test driver to a race seat he first filled impressively at the 2007 season-finale in Brazil following the retirement of Alex Wurz.

The 22-year-old will partner Nico Rosberg at the Grove-based squad in 2008 after being promoted from his test and reserve driver role at the team which he started in January. He has dovetailed his F1 testing duties this year with an impressive rookie year in the sport’s GP2 feeder series – winning the category’s rookie of the year title after scoring six podium finishes. However while most of the grid’s current GP2 graduates have entered F1 after winning or battling for the championship, Nakajima comes in after finishing fifth in the series at the first attempt.

“I am delighted to confirm that Nico will be racing for the team for his third consecutive year after demonstrating impressive and widely applauded form in 2007,” said team owner Sir Frank Williams.

Fernando Alonso has agreed to split with the McLaren-Mercedes team by mutual consent.  The 26-year-old Spaniard has agreed terms to terminate his agreement with the Woking team after just one season of his three-year contract.
“Today’s decision allows all of us to focus on 2008, and I wish the team, Vodafone, Banco Santander, Mutua Madrileña and all the other team partners who I have worked closely with during the year, the best for the future.” His relationship with team boss Ron Dennis is believed to have broken down after the Spaniard publicly criticised McLaren for not providing him with the support he felt he deserved as a double world champion. This was not helped by the unexpected pace of his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who settled into the team faster and more successfully than Alonso did. The situation became irretrievable when the Spaniard threatened to reveal evidence of the team’s involvement in the ‘Spygate’ scandal during a heated row in Hungary.  In its statement announcing Alonso’s departure, McLaren admitted the relationship had not evolved in the way it had hoped and that both parties had agreed it was better to part ways. “Everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes want to wish Fernando all the best for the future,” read the statement. Alonso is free to join another team in 2008, and his agent said neither party would pay a financial penalty. Alonso’s destination remains undisclosed, though he has been linked with a move to Red Bull Racing, a return to Renault and has received big money offers from Toyota and Honda. Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen and Williams’ Nico Rosberg are both believed to be in the frame to replace Alonso alongside Hamilton.

 Spyker have been granted permission to change their name to Force India Formula One by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA.
The team, bought by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya for £61m, will race under the new name with a logo in the colours of the India flag from next season.  Spyker made little impact in this season’s championships, winning just one constructors’ point. But Mallya is determined to keep German rookie driver Adrian Sutil.  “I am very happy with Adrian Sutil and I’ve told team boss Colin Kolles that we need to keep him,” he said.  The team have undergone their third name change since 2005, when Silverstone-based Jordan was sold to Midland F1, which then became Spyker Cars when the Dutch sports car manufacturer paid £51m a season later. Mallya is chairman and controlling shareholder of the UB Group, which has beer, spirits and airline operations in India.  nd the ambitious businessman claims to have plenty of interest from potential Indian sponsors, although he said an Indian driver for the team was not an immediate priority.  India is set to host its first ever Grand Prix in New Delhi in 2010.