2007 Formula One World Championship

2007 FIA Formula One
World Championship

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[[2008 |2008]]

• Races by country
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The 2007 Formula One season will be the 58th FIA Formula One World Championship season. Although the calendar will not be announced until mid-way through the 2006 season, it has been announced that the season opener will be held on 18 March at Melbourne. It is believed that the championship will end in October, and between 17 to 20 races will be held.

The 2007 season is significant in that it will herald the end of the existing Concorde Agreement between the existing Formula One constructors and Bernie Ecclestone. In particular, Mercedes, Toyota, BMW, Renault and Honda (collectively the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association) have a number of outstanding disagreements with the FIA and Ecclestone, on financial and technical grounds. They have threatened to boycott Formula One from the 2008 season onwards and instead stage their own rival series.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers have been confirmed or are currently speculated for the 2007 Formula One season.

Team	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Driver	Test driver(s)
Renault F1 Team	Renault	R27*	Renault	B		Giancarlo Fisichella	TBA
						TBA
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-22*	Mercedes	B		Fernando Alonso	TBA
						TBA
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	TBA	Ferrari	B		TBA	Luca Badoer
						TBA
Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF107*	Toyota	B		Ralf Schumacher	TBA
						Jarno Trulli
WilliamsF1 Team	Williams	FW29*	Toyota	B		Alexander Wurz	TBA
						Nico Rosberg
Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA107*	Honda	B		Rubens Barrichello	TBA
						Jenson Button
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB3*	TBA	B		David Coulthard	TBA
						Mark Webber
BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.07*	BMW	B		Nick Heidfeld	TBA
						TBA
MF1 Racing	Midland	M17*	TBA	B		TBA	TBA
						TBA
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR2*	TBA	B		TBA	TBA
						TBA
Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri	SA07*	Honda	B		Takuma Sato	TBA
						TBA

* To be confirmed

Predicted race schedule

Round	Name	Circuit	Period
1	Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	18 March †
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit	8 April †
3	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	15 April †
4	San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	Mid-Late April
5	European Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Late May
6	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya	Late May
7	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	Late May
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Late June
9	United States Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Late June
10	French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	Early July
11	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit	Mid July
12	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Mid July
13	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	Mid August
14	Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Racing Circuit	Late August
15	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Early September
16	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Mid September
17	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit	Late September
18	Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway	Early October
19	File:Flag of the Pacific Community.svg Pacific Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit	Mid October
20	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	Mid October

All above information is speculative. It's highly unlikely that all the above races will take place.

^† The date of the Australian Grand Prix [1] and Bahrain Grand Prix [2] has been confirmed by the promoters, but not officially disclosed by the FIA. The date for Malaysia has been confirmed by the Bahrain promoters, but again, not by the FIA, nor by the Malaysia promoters.

Changes

Rule changes

• Although the FIA had planned to switch to a single tyre manufacturer from 2008, Michelin has announced they will end participation in Formula 1 after 2006, leaving Bridgestone as the sole supplier for 2007.
• Teams will no longer be allowed to run a third driver on Friday following a rule change.[3]

Driver Changes

• 2005 World Champion Fernando Alonso has announced he has signed a deal to drive for Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes starting in 2007. He will have been with Renault for 5 years.
• It was announced on July 9, 2006 that Juan Pablo Montoya would be leaving McLaren to race for Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series for 2007, effectively ending his Formula 1 career.
• On August 2, 2006 Williams announced that test and reserve driver Alexander Wurz would step up to a race seat for 2007, replacing Australian Mark Webber.
• On August 7, 2006, Red Bull Racing announced their 2007 driver line-up of David Coulthard and Mark Webber, displacing Christian Klien
• On August 7, 2006, BMW Sauber announced that Jacques Villeneuve's contract has been terminated immediately.

Team changes

• McLaren will change their name to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes after signing a primary sponsorship deal with the telecommunications company late in 2005.
• British American Tobacco's Lucky Strike and 555 brands will cease to sponsor the Honda F1 team, leaving them to seek another primary sponsor.
• Mild Seven has confirmed that they will not renew their contract with Renault following its conclusion at the end of 2006 and current European tobacco laws. [4] As a result of losing the Mild Seven sponsorship Renault could revert back to their old yellow and grey colours last seen in the 1980's.
• Williams will change their engines from the Cosworth engines to Toyota engines in a three-year deal. [5] Contrary to recent speculation, the engines will not be rebadged as Lexus. [6]
• With the loss of Vodafone, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has picked up a sponsorship with the world's largest diamond mining company, De Beers[7]

Races

• After twenty years, the Japanese Grand Prix will move from the Honda-owned Suzuka Circuit to Toyota's rebuilt Fuji Speedway, a circuit that F1 has not raced at since 1977.
• Imola has started work on modifications to change the layout of the track, including the removal of the "Variante Bassa" chicane, and a new pit lane and garages. These changes will be done in time for the 2007 San Marino Grand Prix.

Speculation

Rule changes

• The FIA and teams are attempting to fast-track the engine homologation plan, in order for it to come into force in 2007. It was previously set to be introduced in 2008.

Drivers

• Michael Schumacher is yet to renew his contract for the 2007 season. Several other teams have expressed interest. However, it is likely that he will retire after the 2006 Formula One season. The German's manager, Willi Weber, says it is 50-50 that Schumacher will race in 2007. [8] At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix Bernie Ecclestone told ITV Sport that he believed that the future of Schumacher in Formula One was linked to those of Ross Brawn and Jean Todt.
• Kimi Räikkönen has also been linked strongly with Ferrari. This has been backed by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, who stated that "Kimi Raikkonen will replace Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 2007" [9]. Michael Schumacher has also said that he would welcome Raikkonen as a team-mate. [10]
• However, going against the rumor of a Ferrari deal, Alain Dassas, President of Renault F1 has announced his team's intent to sign Räikkönen as a replacement for the outgoing Fernando Alonso. [11].
• Giancarlo Fisichella, who will stay at Renault for a third year [12], says that his teammate in 2007 will be a Finn, meaning possibly Räikkönen or Heikki Kovalainen.
• Although Juan Pablo Montoya announced he would leave Formula One for NASCAR next season, he would consider staying in F1 if Renault or Ferrari offered him a contract.
• The one remaining McLaren seat, if Kimi Räikkönen does not stay, may be filled by Gary Paffett or GP2 driver Lewis Hamilton.
• MF1 are keen on extending Christijan Albers's contract at the team. [13].
• Adrian Sutil, current test driver for Midland, is being looked at for a possible race seat with the team next year.
• According to Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat Ferrari has taken his option on Kimi Räikkönen to race for the Italian team next season. The Finn would have signed a five-year-contract. The story is based on the Finnish tabloid's reliable sources close to Kimi Räikkönen. According to the source Räikkönen's contract is worth around €160 million Euro and thus see the 26-year-old earn €32 million a year.

Teams

• MF1 has stated that they are open to negotiations with engine builders, including the possibility of becoming a factory backed junior squad for the likes of Renault, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW. This follows the announcement that Toyota will supply WilliamsF1 with engines for three seasons starting in 2007.
• It has been rumoured that Ferrari technical driector, Ross Brawn, is to take a sabbatical year for 2007, Autosport quoted unnamed sources as saying it was 100% certain that Brawn would take a break next year after 10 seasons at the Italian team. Ferrari say that "it's just speculation. We will know the structure of the team [for 2007] only after the end of the season."

Races

• As both F1 races in Germany are currently running at a loss, consideration has been given to sharing a single German GP race in between both Hockenheim and Nürburgring for the future. A similar proposal is also in place for the two races in Italy.
• Following it's removal from the 2006 season, the Belgian Grand Prix is likely to return to the calendar due to high support from drivers, fans and FIA President Max Mosley.
• Suzuka is in negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone on staging a race at the circuit again. It would likely be a revived Pacific Grand Prix, or possibly named the Asian Grand Prix.