RTM belum start race yet LOL
Midnight .
Fkers 

then wat if alonso's engine blow in spain?

Malaysia has won an extension to keep hosting a Formula One Grand Prix until 2015, despite concerns about its course and talk of a bid from Singapore, the head of the Sepang circuit said Sunday.

"We have secured a five-year extension from 2011 to 2015," Mokhzani Mahathir, chairman of the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), told AFP.

The announcement comes just weeks after Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone took SIC to task, saying the Sepang facility was 'shabby' and needed to be updated.

"There is rubbish all over the place and it's not really a good sign for Malaysia. We're on worldwide television and it needs to look good, much like in the beginning," Ecclestone said.

Mokhzani said there were plans for a major upgrade that would include building an 'automotive-related theme park with bike and go-kart tracks.'

It was not immediately clear what effect the announcement would have on hopes of neighbouring Singapore securing the rights to host a Formula One race.

But Malaysian Sports Minister Azalina Othman said earlier this month that while there was 'no concern' about Singapore hosting an F1 race, there should only be one race in Southeast Asia.

Singapore is keen to host a Formula One race and the government has already given its blessings pending ongoing negotiations between Singaporean tycoon Ong Beng Seng and Ecclestone.

Ong is bidding for the right to host an F1 race in Singapore which would be a city circuit, unlike Malaysia's purpose-built Sepang race track.

"If it comes to Singapore, it will be a complementary relationship with the F1 in Sepang," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said earlier this month.

Meanwhile Sepang has been mulling the possibility of night races as early as next year, and Mokhzani said he was waiting to hear from Formula One about the lighting standards that would be needed.

"With race cars running at speeds above 320 kilometers, you need lights close to daylight," he said.

Ecclestone has spoken of including night races in Asia on the F1 schedule as early as next season to boost TV audiences, especially in Europe.

E.A.
Source AFP

but virgil, the date of the news is 6th April. anyone knows the latest news since Sepang extend the contract to 2015?

Organisers of the Malaysian Grand Prix have not yet signed a five-year contract extension with Formula One officials, it has emerged.

We reported at the weekend that the event at Sepang will be a fixture of the annual calendar until at least 2015, due to the existence of a new agreement extending the current deal, which ends in 2010.

But the local newspaper Straits Times insists that the Malaysian government has not yet decided whether to sign the Formula One document, which has been received by circuit chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir.

"We have not signed it yet," he confirmed, explaining that the contract contains several new clauses, probably relating to necessary improvements to the circuit that was described recently as 'shabby' by Bernie Ecclestone.

Relations between Malaysia and Ecclestone may also be strained due to the possibility of a Grand Prix in nearby Singapore; Sepang officials think the region should have only one race.

But Mokhzani insisted that the improvements will be made to the slightly outdated venue near Kuala Lumpur as soon as a new contract is signed.

E.A.
Source GMM

F1's governing body has not yet given a green-light to night racing, according to the FIA President Max Mosley.

Speaking at the launch of the UN's inaugural Global Road Safety Week in London, the 66-year-old on Monday said the dangers of the innovative idea still need to be fully assessed.

"We would not sanction night racing for Formula One without a very careful investigation," Reuters quoted him as saying.

The night racing concept for F1 is the brainchild of Bernie Ecclestone, who wants to create a better European TV timeslot for races by staging them after sunset in Asia.

Singapore, Australia and Malaysia could be among the first night races as early next season.

"So far there hasn't been an application but if there is a serious attempt to run a night race then we will have a very careful look at it," Mosley revealed.

"It would be a big step and we wouldn't want to make a mistake."

E.A.
Source GMM

The Italian press on Friday cleared up two separate pieces of F1 speculation.

The first, in the magazine Autosprint, is that world champion outfit Renault's focus has already shifted to its 2008 car, after the current R27 proved not a match for 2007 frontrunners Ferrari, McLaren Mercedes and BMW Sauber.

"We are already working on next year's car," team boss Flavio Briatore revealed. "Whatever we discover on this project, we can eventually use it on the current car."

The sports broadsheet La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, quoted Michael Schumacher as admitting that he will probably attend his first Grand Prix as a retired driver at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya next month.

"I think so," he said after a visit in his advisory role to Ferrari's Maranello factory.

Schumacher warned the specialist media, however, that he is unlikely to want to talk about Formula One at the scene of the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix.

"Up to now I've always preferred not to speak about F1 as a sign of respect towards the team, and maybe I'll carry on this way," Schumacher said.

E.A.
Source GMM