Another F1 season, another argument
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-02-02 14:58
The first big row of the Formula One season is brewing already, with the opening race in Australia still six weeks away and the new cars barely out of their boxes.
After years of bickering between the major manufacturers and the sport's governing body, peace has broken out on that particular front.
This time it is the 'independent' teams -- former champions Williams, newcomers Spyker, tail-enders Super Aguri and Toro Rosso -- who are at loggerheads over cars that have yet to see the light of day.
Expect Frank Williams and Colin Kolles, the Spyker team principal, to have a few choice words to say when they launch their new racers on Friday and Monday respectively.
The suspicion is that Honda-backed Super Aguri and Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso's eventual offerings will stretch the interpretation of the rules to breaking point. Both teams reject the accusations.
Rivals believe that the Super Aguri, due to be unveiled in Tokyo on the Monday before the March 18 season-opener in Melbourne, will be simply an evolution of the Honda RA106 that Jenson Button drove to victory in Hungary last year.
The Toro Rosso meanwhile could be a carbon copy of the Renault-powered Red Bull designed by Adrian Newey, whose cars won a string of titles for Williams and McLaren in the 1990s, albeit with a Ferrari engine.
The RB3 was unveiled in Barcelona last week with Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger also in attendance, prompting paddock wags to joke that the Austrian had come to see his new car.
Toro Rosso have yet to confirm their drivers, let alone a launch date.
| 1 | 2 |  |
|
||
|
||
|
|