Perhaps prompted by the success of Hamilton and co, the various team bosses opened discussions about bringing on the drivers of tomorrow by opening at least one seat in Friday's practice sessions to rookie candidates. Unhappy with the current regulations governing the two 90-minute sessions, they also talked about doing away with the need to run in race spec. Although nothing was decided, it was ironic to then find that
BMW Sauber intended to dispense with the services of teenager
Sebastian Vettel so that its two race drivers could get more running on a race weekend!
One of the more outspoken team bosses, Flavio Briatore had more than a few things to say between races. As well as proposing that grands prix weekends feature two races in the style of GP2, he also put the boot in to classic tracks such as
Silverstone, claiming that the sport should not be afraid to expand into new territories, even if it was at the expense of its historic venues.
Talks on the legality of so-called ‘customer cars' were ongoing during and beyond the Bahrain weekend, but the idea received an extra support from
FIA president
Max Mosley, who claimed that the concept would ‘safeguard the future' of
F1.
Spyker is still waiting to hear a verdict following its protests of
Super Aguri and Toro Rosso, but future ‘customer' team Prodrive revealed that it had secured a title sponsor for its debut in 2008, and was in talks with three potential suppliers with regard to chassis and engine.
McLaren remains most people's favourites to supply David Richards' outfit, with test drivers Gary Paffett and Pedro de la Rosa tipped to drive.
Ross Brawn's future also made the headlines, although the technical director/strategy guru insisted that he would be talking to
Ferrari before making any other decisions. Should he not find what he is looking for at Maranello, the rumour mill continues to suggest that alternative employment awaits at either
Honda or McLaren – although few teams would dismiss the chance to acquire someone with Brawn's record.
