Another pint of strongbow please :)

Racing looks good for the weekend eh lads? ;)

Full letter of Max Mosley's

Mercedes-Benz's Norbert Haug hopes all twenty formula one drivers safely emerge from the 2008 running of the Monaco grand prix this weekend.

The German marque's competition boss warns that, on the tight confines of the famous street circuit, the field will be tested to the limit without driver aids including traction control.

"I hope no one gets injured, but we do have to count on numerous safety car phases," Haug is quoted as saying by Bild newspaper.

"Before the electronic aids were brought in, there were stoppages every ten minutes.

"So I suppose that with the ban now, crashes are more likely than before," he explained.

1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, meanwhile, believes the driver aid-less cars of today will be even harder to control at Monaco than in his own era.

"Now there is less margin for error," the Finn, whose 22-year-old son Nico races for Williams, said.

Rosberg added: "We had longer braking distances and bigger tyres -- the cars today are harder to control."

Source: F1-update motorsport

Mosley letter could be 'war'

Bernie Ecclestone has not ruled out suggestions that a letter written by fellow F1 powerbroker Max Mosley last week was a "declaration of war".

Ahead of the FIA senate's crucial confidence vote relating to the sex scandal, the embattled FIA president warned motor racing club presidents that he should be kept in his role because of "complex negotiations" about the future of the sport.

Mosley revealed that F1's commercial rights holder CVC, represented by F1 chief executive Ecclestone, is trying to renegotiate its 100 year agreement so that it has "control over the formula one regulations and the right to sell the business to anyone".

Mosley also said he is opposed to the push for a new Concorde Agreement that would give non-FIA entities even more power.

"I sincerely hope that it isn't a declaration of war because, if that's what the message should be, then we'll have to defend ourselves," 77-year-old Ecclestone, referring to Mosley's letter, was quoted as saying by the British newspaper The Times.

"I don't want to have a war with Max. I hope he doesn't want one with me," he added.

Ecclestone also rejects Mosley's argument that the confidence vote on June 3 is about anything other than whether he still has the ability to be FIA president after he was caught in a sadomasochistic romp with five prostitutes.

"It's nothing to do with anything else and I don't quite know why he's come out and said these things," Bernie said, also rejecting Mosley's claim that F1 is on the verge of a "major financial crisis" and the loss of more teams.

"I don't see any problems up until a couple of months ago," Ecclestone explained, referring to the News of the World expose.

Following a board meeting that took place this week, Ecclestone said CVC intends to reply to Mosley's letter.

Source: F1-update motorsport

Workers at Ferrari's formula one factory in Italy have been told to keep working despite an outbreak of the infectious disease tuberculosis.

The British newspaper The Sun reports that a staff member was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with TB, a common and deadly disease that - if untreated - kills up to half of its victims.

The Sun said the staff member was a carbon fibre specialist, and Ferrari confirmed that he has a "mild form" of tuberculosis.

It is reported that the 25 technicians whose job it is to build Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa's cars for each grand prix are currently undergoing blood tests to see if they have also been infected.

Ferrari said Raikkonen and Massa will not need tests.

"We're not happy," a British employee is quoted as saying from Maranello.

"We think the lab should be shut down until we get an all-clear. It feels as if Ferrari are putting cars before people."

Source: F1-update motorsport.

Max Mosley will not be welcome at the Monaco Grand Prix in the eyes of the ruling Grimaldi family, according to reports in the UK 'Daily Mail' this morning.

The report claims that Mosley will not be the official FIA representaative at the race either, that role being taken in the Principality by Marco Piccinni.

The news comes in the wake of the on-going scandal involving tabloid revelations about Mosley's private life, and deals yet another blow to his chances of remaining in the presidency when an extraordinary meeting is held on June 3rd.

The Bahrain ruling family requested he stay away from that country's recent Grand Prix, and a request to speak in Tel Aviv - Israel - was reportedly withdrawn shortly after the invitation had been extended.

Mosley - who lives in Monaco - appears to have diminishing support in the wake of requests from Mercedes Benz, BMW, Toyota and Honda - all Formula One manufacturers - that he consider his position in the light of the revelations

Source: F1 Update motorsport