Formula 1RL
The FIA has released the final 2008 rules, which define a very
IRL-like Formula One: a spec tire, virtually spec engines, the
ability to buy complete cars from manufacturers like Lola and
Dallara and stifled innovation. Mosley's Rules are consistent
with Mosley's rule, and effectively end any hope for a compromise
with the Rebel Alliance of manufacturer-entrants.

Following Formula 1's Money Trail
In attempting to crystal ball what the battle between F1's
powerbrokers and the Rebel Alliance is likely to produce in 2008,
recent financial disclosures, statements by Bernie Ecclestone's new
boss and a little history prove to be instructive.

Max Brings Home the Swag
After declining, for 15 months, to convene a meeting of the Formula One
Commission, FIA president Max Mosley finally found it suiting his
purposes to gather the loyalist and rebel team owners under one roof,
and so he called a commission meeting for October 24th. Scant hours
before the meeting was to start, Mosley released the product of his
"research program" intended to create aerodynamic rules which could
make overtaking easier in 2008. Call the result Max's version of
S&M, for from the press release to the nifty illustrations which
accompanied it, it is all smoke and mirrors.

Bringing Down the Curtain
The Chinese Grand Prix marked the end of an era, as well as a season.
Gone now are the V10 engines, team owners Paul Stoddart and Peter
Sauber, Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier, and the Jordan and Minardi
marques. In their place will come tiny engines better suited to GP2,
more politics and less real racing. We look at the Shanghai race,
the 2005 season, the decline of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, the
rise of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, and the future of the
sport.

In Search of Truffles
Breaking the silence which has enveloped Formula 1 of late, FIA
president Max Mosley has sailed into the manufacturers, again, and
come out in support, again, of cost-cutting and independent teams.
To those ends, he's preparing to rewrite his draft 2008 regulations,
again, to reduce team costs by two-thirds, embracing the technology
he previously ridiculed, and promising 24-car fields and "greater
public interest than ever." If only it were that simple....

Max and the Magic Bullet
Max Mosley, the GPMA manufacturers and the independent teams met in
Milan at the end of August to try to hammer out 2008 rules acceptable
to them all, and keep F1 from fragmenting into oblivion. They
failed. The GPMA brought nothing to the party but rhetoric. Mosley
brought an unworkable, complex solution to what is essentially a
rather simple problem. And the beat goes on....

Max Looks to the Future
Two days after his meeting with all the F1 teams at Milan on
August 31st, FIA president Max Mosley met the press at Monza to
explain what's happened, and what hasn't, with respect to agreement
on a set of 2008 Formula 1 regulations, and his vision of the future.
Herewith, the transcript of that press conference, with our comments
and observations inserted.

The Sounds of Silence
After the FIA vacated guilty verdicts against the GPWC Seven for
failing to race at Indy, we heard a few apparently conciliatory
statements from the protagonists. Since then, there's been mostly
silence, despite the lack of any resolution of the divisive issues of
rules, governance and profit-sharing after 2007. The silence has
many believing that F1 is about to emulate a 1960s-era love-in. The
water may look smooth and inviting, but make no mistake; beneath the
surface, the sharks continue to circle, and they are hungry.

A Glimpse of the Past, A Vision of the Future
With the announcement that Toyota will follow Chevy out of the
Indy Racing League after 2006, the IRL finds itself well down the
path once trod by CART, and about to find out the cost of kicking a
junkie dependence on auto manufacturers' engines and cash.

Max Mosley Press Conference Transcript
FIA president Mosley's comments following the trial of the GPWC
Seven, and his answers to questions from the media.

Curiouser and Curiouser, Deviouser and Deviouser
An enthusiast's guide to the trial of century, F1 style, and why
Formula 1 has failed to capture the popular imagiation in America.

Mosley Q&A
To explain and defend the FIA's position relative to the events of
the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix, and the coming trial of the Michelin Seven,
the FIA has, as usual in such circumstances, released the transcript
of a series of questions president Max Mosley asked himself, and the
answers he gave.

Diary of a Mad Man
The details of the negotiations which led to the withdrawal of the
Michelin Seven prior to the start of the farcical United States
Grand Prix have been the subject of much speculation. Minardi team
owner Paul Stoddart has stepped forward to answer those questions,
providing his recollections of the sad events. FIA president Max
Mosley has indicted the teams over their actions at the U.S. Grand
Prix. Stoddart's account effectively serves as the teams' indictment
of Mosley.

Mosley's '08 Rules Concepts Released
FIA president Max Mosley has delivered to the World Motor Sport
Council what amounts to an outline for his planned 2008 Formula 1
rules, and a rationale for those changes. The council's approval is assumed to be a mere formality. With the content beginning to leak,
the FIA has now made the entire proposal available. We provide that
proposal, and an initial reaction to its content.

The Girl, The Bear and the Three-Ring Circus
A look at the 89th Indianapolis 500, Danica Mania, her fourth-place
finish, the media feeding frenzy, and what it all may mean to the
Speedway and future of the Indy Racing League.

2005 Indianapolis 500 Final Practice Time Sheet
Practice times and speeds, cumulative grid time of qualified drivers
and unqualified drivers' Friday best projected to a four-lap
qualifying time. Arie Luyendyk became the 33rd uninjured driver to
produce a lap time, and he and the Beck team struggled with the
equipment and a prior lack of track time. Do not expect any bumping
on Bump Day, which we understand is going to be named Excitement Day....

Madmen on the Water
As trial balloons go, it was a beauty. In Monaco, on off-Friday,
everyone was pondering the idea of Max Mosley kicking himself
upstairs so Bernie Ecclestone could take over the part of F1 he
hasn't controlled these last few decades, the racing. Will the
balloon gain altitude, or was it all just an attempt to keep everyone
in turmoil?

The Case of the Glove That Didn't Fit
BAR went before an FIA appellate court seeking justice. What they
found was politics. An analysis and commentary by editor Forrest
Bond details the case for the prosecution, the defense's argument,
what went on well into the night following the San Marino Grand Prix,
and what it all means.

Indy 500 Practice, Day Five
The time sheet for Wednesday, May 18th. Shows the unqualified
drivers as a group, ranked by today's times, and the qualified
drivers, ranked by their grid position and time. Kenny Brack
replaced Buddy Rice today at Rahal-Letterman, and Jimmy Kite is now
in for Paul Dana at Hemelgarn. Arie Luyendyk, Jr. will shortly be
confirmed at Curb-Agajanian-Beck, and will bring the total number of
drivers on the course this month to 33. Rain is forecast for
tomorrow, but not thereafter.

2005 Indy 500 Pole Day Guide and Day 4 Time Sheet
Time sheet for the final day of practice prior to Pole Day, the Pole
Day qualifying order and an explanation of the new qualifying
procedure. Sam Hornish ran over debris from Paul Dana's T2 crash and
got seriously airborne, but is okay to qualify, and his car can
probably be repaired overnight. Dana was less fortunate. He has a
spinal fracture and a concussion, and is done for the month.

2005 Indy 500 Practice Day 3 Time Sheet
The practice times for the first three days of practice for
Indianapolis, with Danica Patrick topping the list, with a tow to
227 mph. All credit to Ms. Patrick, however, as most of the quick
times, if not all, were turned with such as assist.

2005 Indy 500 Second Day of Practice Time Sheet
Our usual format, showing best time from each day, with the list
ordered by drivers' best times so far. Danica Patrick was second
quickest today and overall; the lady is for real. The best times all
appeared to have been turned with a tow from another car, so the
times do not necessarily have much to do with speeds in single-car
qualifying. As noted on the time sheet, Buddy Rice suffered a
concussion backing into the Safer Barrier at T2. He'll have to sit
out for seven days, missing the first two days of qualifying. He's
been held overnight at Methodist Hospital, for observation. Rice
also suffered bruising of his back.

Indianapolis 500 Event, U.S. Television Schedules, Live Timing Info
A complete event schedule for the 89th running of the Indianapolis
500, with U.S. television programming, radio broadcast information
and the live timing URLs.

Indy 500 Day 1 Practice Times, Rookie Orientation Times
The time sheet for the first day of open practice for the
Indianapolis 500, back-up car times and the times from the rookie
orientation.

Mosley for the Prosecution
In wide ranging opening remarks, FIA president Max Mosley discussed
the 2005 and 2006 rule changes and the process which will lead to the
FIA's 2008 Formula 1 regulations, then took questions on the FIA
International Court of Appeal's verdict against BAR-Honda.

Nick Fry Explains
Less than 24 hours after being convicted in an FIA International
Court of Appeal, BAR-Honda's chief executive, Nick Fry, met with the
media to offer the team's defense and explain the decision not to
contest the verdict in civil court.

Before the BAR of Justice
A spectator's guide to the trial of British American Racing.

Clash of the Titans
As the dispute over the future of Formula 1 entered it's fourth year,
the focus shifted from money to politics. Bernie Ecclestone's next
few billion dollars are still in play, but in Melbourne, the focus
shifted to 'governance' and FIA president Max Mosley. There,
Minardi's Paul Stoddart, carrying the spear for the Gang of Nine team
owners, mounted the beginning of an attempted coup d'état, and as the
drama unfolded, it seemed increasingly certain that Mosley will be
deposed by ballot in October, or that he and the FIA will be stripped
of the empire's most valued asset. We examine the events which
brought the sport to the edge of the precipice, and then look over
the edge.

Fertilizer, Delivered
With Formula 1 descending into chaos in Australia, FIA president Max
Mosley has attempted to get ahead of the curve, having the FIA
release his answers to a series of questions which he effectively
posed to himself. We provide the transcript, but will withhold
specific comment for the moment. Suffice it to say for now that
Mosley's view of facts and events is routinely at wide variance with
what has actually taken place.

Ferrari F2005: Going for Six and Seven
Ferrari's bid for a sixth consecutive drivers' championship and a
seventh straight constructors' title rest on the F2205, though it
won't make its race debut until probably the fifth race of the
season. If appearances are any guide to track performance, the
FIA might as well have the awards ceremony now.

2005 Race Calendar
A combined 2005 season race calendar for Formula 1, MotoGP, the Indy
Racing League and Champ Car. Also included are individual series
caledars, entry lists (not yet available for Champ Car), the pro
forma event schedule information for Formula 1, and at the end, the
basic U.S. television schedule for the first two Grands Prix, in
Australia and Malaysia. As usual, we'll provide more detailed race
and U.S. television schedules prior to each event throughout the
year.

Independents' Days
Dietrich Mateschitz and Alex Shnaider have become Formula 1’s latest
wealthy sportsmen-entrants. As evidenced by the new RB1, they face
an uphill struggle to make the former Jaguar and Jordan teams
respectable, but they’ve already done much to secure the value of the
retirement portfolios of existing team owners, and to scuttle Max
Mosley’s attempts to 'save' Formula 1 from its profligate ways.

Renault R25: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
After a year in which the team met its forecast of finishing third
in the constructors' championship, Renault's designers opted for
an evolution of last year's R24. The result breaks little new
ground, but appears to be a logical approach to the new
regulations. Whether that's enough to meet this year's goal --
beating Ferrari to some race wins -- remains to be seen.

Williams FW27: Honey, I Shrunk the Race Car
After the disaster of the walrus-nosed FW26, Williams' design
team, under the direction of Sam Michael, reverted to basics and
massive computing power, creating what looks like a 7/8-scale
version of the previous car, with the addition of Renault-like
sidepods.

Drawing a Line in the Sand
Following a meeting in London, the GPWC manufacturers (less Ferrari)
were joined by Toyota and Honda in what amounted to an open letter to
Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, calling on them to abandon their
demands that the teams acquiesce to future regulation changes and
commercial terms respectively proposed by the duo. The statement
amounted to a manifesto for the future of Formula 1, and represented
the most common sense proposal yet seen. The unity afforded by the
Japanese automakers finally coming off the sidelines, and the
consistency of the manufacturers' approach with that of the teams has
finally given the sport a better than even chance of ending the
divisions which have beset it, and of realizing its considerable
potential.

You See One, You Seen 'Em All: McLaren MP4-20 Breaks Cover in Spain
Following the major design theme of 2005 and the imperative of the
new rules, the new McLaren has more tapered sidepods, but some
nice details distinguish it, if in subtle fashion, from the other
2005 cars seen so far.

BAR-Honda 007: Variations on a Theme
Following the successes of 2004 -- second to Ferrari in the
constructors' championship and third behind Maranello's drivers in
their contest -- technical director Geoff Willis logically opted for
a major refinement of last year's car. Under the skin, there's a
brand new engine from team co-owner Honda. If appearances aren't
flattering to deceive, this could be the car to finally keep Ferrari
honest.

Sauber C24: Targeting the Big Five
In 2004, Sauber finished 30 points behind McLaren in the makes
championship. The C24, a product of the team's new wind tunnel and a
CFD supercomputer, and heavily influenced by the 2004 Renault, is
meant to close the gap, if not erase it, as was the hiring of former
champion Jacques Villeneuve to lead the team.

Toyota TF105. In Pursuit of Podiums.
After two years fending off the backmarkers, Toyota has set its
sights on front-half grid positions and podium finishes. In
response to that imperative, and the new rules, Mike Gascoyne has
created the TF105. Not surprisingly, the 105 bears a more than
passing resemblance to Gascoyne's 2004 Renault. We look at the
car, and what it and the rules suggest about the 2005 season's
excitement factor.