A warning issued by the Ferrari team stating that it will quit the Formula One racing circuit if the FIA carries out plans to reduce the cost of engine manufacture has shocked the world of sport.

The governing body has stated that it would like all F1 cars to use standard engine parts in an effort to preserve the integrity of smaller teams. Ferrari is adamant that the new rule will suck the life out of F1 racing, reducing the competitive nature of the sport and stifling the development of racing technologies.

Ferrari believes that it no longer has any obligation to compete: “If competition and technological development become obsolete, our administrative council reserves the right to evaluate whether we are committed to the discipline of Formula One.”

Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, and Renault have all joined Ferrari’s crusade but the FIA is refusing to be bullied into submission. Should a deal become too difficult to negotiate, Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, has warned that the governing body will take matters into its own hands.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson identified misinformation as the cause of Ferrari’s woes and pointed out that the ‘standard’ engine is one of three packages available to competing teams.

The FIA wants the bigger fish (the likes of Mercedes, Honda, and Ferrari) to support the independent teams by loaning them power trains for a budget price of around €5m per season. Mr. Mosley explained that whilst Ferrari is seeing regular profits, a few teams continue to be affected by debt and may become unable to compete in future race series.

Ferrari’s tantrums should not be underestimated. The Italian firm has always enjoyed a close relationship with the principal sponsors of the sport. In 1986, Ferrari forced the FIA to scrap plans to ban v12 engines, a move which would have had similar repercussions to the current situation. Had the FIA succeeded in enforcing the rule, there would have been no further development on twelve cylinder racing engines.

However, the situation seems a little childish. The governing body of any sport should not be swayed by the complaints of any team, manager, or player regardless of how much money they have.

Unfortunately, red is the colour of F1 racing and even the most ignorant of sports fans would be able to recognise a Ferrari over a Renault or a Honda. The FIA stands to lose a lot more than pride if Ferrari decides to drive away from Formula One.

The FIA are still open to suggestions and will allow manufacturers to put forward their own ideas regarding the new proposal. However, both Ferrari and the BMW-Sauber team remain convinced that the standard engine is doomed to oblivion in the wake of overwhelming opposition.

Formula One racing is supposed to be a melting pot of technological innovation and international competition but unless something is done to bridge the increasing rift between the racing giants and the independent teams, F1 may soon find itself becoming an exclusive club.

With F1 coming to Brands Hatch - it has come as a surprise that the circuit has lost out on one of its most prestigious races.

The provisional calendar for the 2009 World Superbike championship has been released and, shockingly for British fans of the sport, it does not include Brands Hatch. Jonathan Palmer, who works for MotorSport Vision, revealed the company’s anger at unreasonable financial demands made by event promoters, FG Sport.

Palmer stated that the promoters were demanding over twice the fee paid in 2008, which “is odd given the economic crisis”. This increase would have resulted in the price of a race day ticket rising by approximately £15, which is simply unacceptable in the current financial climate.

Although the choice not to include Brands Hatch in the provisional calendar will disappoint many fans, Palmer believes that it was an unavoidable decision. FG Sport seem to have been unwilling to negotiate with MotorSport Vision, despite a “substantially increased offer”.

Furthermore, it is not just the fans who will feel the loss of the circuit. Brands Hatch usually attracts the biggest crowd of any circuit on the calendar, so both promoters and sponsors will be upset at its absence from the calendar.

Fans of the World Superbike championship may seek some consolation from the news that MotorSport Vision is planning a “major new bike event” that will be held at Brands Hatch. This event will probably be timed to coincide with the traditional World Superbike championship date so fans will still have something to keep them entertained.

The provisional calendar starts on the first day of March in Phillip Island in Australia. In April, the championship will move to Valencia in Spain before finally ending on the 25th of October in Portimao, Portugal.

Written by Charlotte Cook

Lewis Hamilton is a man who is not accustomed to criticism. Since he burst onto the Formula One scene at a tender age, the media have lauded him with plaudits and have praised his maturity and apparent ability to cope with extreme pressure.

However, this trend has changed slightly yet significantly in recent months. The golden boy of Formula One seems to be losing his halo, at least in the eyes of the British press. The most recent criticism has concerned Hamilton’s performance at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He ruined the chance to increase the gap between himself and his title rival, Felipe Massa, as a result of making moves which did not need to be made. He lost the lead on just the first corner and was penalised for forcing Kimi Raikkonen off the track in a desperate attempt to regain pole position.

His increasing tendency to make small but devastating mistakes whilst on the track has been noticed and preyed upon by British journalists. Indeed, the media have been whipped into a frenzy trying to pick apart the psyche of the young star.

This criticism has forced Hamilton to issue a defensive statement concerning his recent performances on the track. The 23 year-old has reminded the general public that he is “only human, and every now and then people make mistakes”.

Hamilton’s problem is that even when he tries to portray his “human” side, his words are manipulated by the press and often end up communicating a message far removed from the one originally intended. Hamilton cited one example of this during his statement. He spoke of how important “communication” is to him and the unfortunate manner in which his words are twisted by others: “there have been lots of different quotes attributed to me.

Sometimes I’ve said things that have either come out the wrong way or been taken out of context”. Hamilton continued to defend a comment he recently made about his hero, Ayrton Senna.

The young driver was ridiculed in the press for apparently stating that he believed he was more talented than the legendary Senna. However, Hamilton has now denied ever saying this and insists that he would be happy to “achieve just a small part of what he’s achieved”.

Ultimately, Hamilton is trying hard to play down rumours that he is becoming an arrogant star of the sport and is being adversely affected by celebrity culture. This culture has ruined the public image of stars of several other sports, such as Ashley Cole.

Hamilton, however, feels that he has “that area of his life under control”, not seeing himself personally as a “celebrity”. The problem is that the media will undoubtedly do all they can to ruin the young star’s sense of control. Whilst Hamilton recognises this, stating that “you do get people watching you all the time so you have to be careful about what you say or what you do”, he will have to get used to having his words and actions twisted and altered by others who have an interest in selling newspapers.

Written by Charlotte Cook

Since he made his spectacular entrance into the world of Formula One, Lewis Hamilton has displayed an extraordinary maturity that belies his tender age. Pressure seems to have been something of an alien concept to the young McLaren driver and his comments prior to this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix emphasised this view.

Hamilton spoke in public about his ideal preparations for the race as well as his new-found confidence and ability to relax whilst on the track and at home. However, recently it seems that the young driver is doing his utmost to lose the 2008 Formula One world championship.

The Japanese Grand Prix did not go according to plan for Hamilton to say the least. He made a disastrously slow start, losing the lead to Kimi Raikkonen. The tyres on his car were ruined following a somewhat dodgy attempted pass and he was penalised for this move as well. To make matters worse, on the second lap, Hamilton collided with Massa and although this was through no fault of his own, it brought back horrible memories of the closing stages of last year’s season.

Last year’s final two races saw the McLaren driver shockingly lose the championship lead to Raikkonen. The mistakes that were on show during this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix were simply repeats of those on display last year. Perhaps the most notable of these errors came in China, when Hamilton slid off the track whilst on his way into the pits.

Other examples include the error made whilst racing in Brazil. The driver tried desperately to pass Fernando Alonso on the outside and ended up spinning off the track. Mistakes this season have included crashing into Raikkonen in Canada, cutting a chicane in France, and making a disastrous call on tyres whilst qualifying in Italy.

It appears as if pressure manifests itself externally in the mistakes that Hamilton keeps making, particularly in races that should not actually bring too much pressure. The driver has admitted as much to the press, stating that he puts “a lot of pressure on” himself, perhaps “too much”, leading to “mistakes”. McLaren have publicly expressed their desire to make the rest of this season more conservative than their previous campaign endings but Hamilton’s instincts urge him to compete until the end of every race.

This combination of an intense competitive streak and a new-found tendency to feel pressure is potentially catastrophic for the driver’s ambitions of becoming a legend in the world of Grand Prix.

However, Hamilton is still only 23 years old and has many years of racing left ahead of him. He needs to learn how to channel anxiety and nerves into a slightly different style of racing that does not demand him to be ruthlessly competitive during every minute of every race.

The desire to win must still remain but at the moment an excess of this desire, combined with an intense competitive streak is causing the driver to make silly mistakes that are seriously damaging his reputation as a young man capable of handling extreme pressure.

Written by Charlotte Cook

Every single time the stewards seem to make a decision that seem to make it in the favour of the Ferrari team. Poor Bourdais - he did nothing wrong yet lost his 7th place in Japan and quite frankly this sport needs a close look at itself.

If Lewis Hamilton doesn't win then he is constantly moaning. A moan here, a moan there, moan moan expletive moan. Is that all Lewis Hamilton can do?

So Massa drove into him when he probably could've avoided him. So what? Lewis has ran other off the road before and even in the first corner at this race he tried a desperate overtaking manoeuvre when it just wasn't there.

So please Lewis - just shut up and concentrate on actually finishing the job this year.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has dropped the Canadian Grand Prix from its 2009 Formula One calendar, leaving no North American events on the schedule (the United States Grand Prix was cancelled last year).

In the place of the Canadian race will be the inaugural race in Abu Dhabi. The entire schedule of the calendar has been revised with the season now starting at the end of March in Melbourne and the Turkish race being moved from August to the beginning of June, so that the teams can have a summer break. The season will now include 18 races, rather than 19, which would have set a new record.

The loss of the Canadian Grand Prix has come as a shock to some in the sport, including officials in Montreal. The mayor, Gerald Tremblay, expressed his disappointment, “we’ll see in the coming hours what we can do”. Furthermore, organisers stated yesterday that they “learned via the media of the omission” and that they would be in touch with the FIA concerning the nature of the cancellation.

However, it is not just officials in North America who have concerns over this latest move by the FIA. The Formula One teams may become anxious, since North America is an important market place for the road-car manufacturers with whom they are dealing.

The other big news in the world of Formula One comes in the form of Max Mosley expressing his desire to save the sport by encouraging teams to make drastic cuts in spending. Mosley believes the sport is “unsustainable” at the current levels of spending. Furthermore, if this spending is not controlled, he believes the sport will fall into “serious difficulty”.

Written by Charlotte Cook