re: The Official F1 Thread
The FIA have said there was nothing to suggest McLaren were attempting to influence the outcome of the race and ave cleared them of any wrong-doing.
In other news, Ralf Schumacher may have been given an ultimatum by Toyota: start performing or start looking for work elsewhere. According to German newspaper Bild, rumour has it that if Ralf doesn't start demonstrating that he deserves his seat by the end of Indianapolis, he may be replaced by another driver. True, Toyota are yet to build a racing car that can be described as anything more than "mediocre", but Jarno Trulli has been out-performing Schumacher all season. Ralf had trouble with the Spykers in Monaco. He seems to think Toyota should honour his contract until the end of the year, but then, he would think that.
I wouldn't be too surprised if Toyota sign Adrian Sutil next year. Despite his tendency to push a little too hard, the kid had postential which is being wasted in the Dutch manufacturer's car. He's been quicker than Christjian Albers even if he shows his inexperience, but he's already demonstrated he can give the other kids that he can give them a run for his money. I'm expecting Albers to be replaced any day now; it's just a question of who gets his seat. Fellow Dutchman Giedo van der Garde would be favourite, but he's the poor-man's Buttongate, locked up in a contractual quagmire with Super Aguri. The other three - Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy, Adrian Valles and Markus Winkelhock - are all too close to call.
In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest Toyota may need two new drivers next year. The team are looking to get Nick Heidfeld from BMW, possibly as a replacement for Schumacher whose contract is up for renewal at the end of the season (I'd be surprised if BMW don't keep Heidfeld after his performances so far this year). Alternately, they could take fellow German Sutil, but if Dave Richards is looking for an "experienced" driver for Prodrive, he may be able to coax Trulli away, especially if he lands the McLaren/Mercedes contract. There's no more experienced driver than Jarno Trulli save for Rubens Barichello and David Coulthard. Sure, Pedro de la Rosa is an option, but Trulli's been around longer, and he's also driven for teams in their infancy. It might seem like a step backwards, but if Prodrive get the McLaren deal, they'll be competitive provided they are competent.
As for Toyota's possible second driver, I'd say one of the Toro Rosso boys might be up for a seat. Scott Speed certainly turned heads in Monaco with 9th place, so while Gerhard berger might not be happy with the American, he'll have to pay attention to that. If Sebastian Bourdais comes into Scuderia Toro Rosso next year, Liuzzi or Speed will have to go. Liuzzi is constant if not spectacular (that accident at Monaco was not his fault, he got tagged on the opening lap) and Speed impresses when he's on form. If Trulli goes to Prodrive (unlikely, but I think it's still a possibility) and Sutil takes Schumacher's seat, that means Liuzzi or Speed might go to the Japanese marque while Bourdais fills in at Toro Rosso and Sutil's Spyker drive is taken by another rookie and Schumacher is quietly shown the door.
Of course, the whole thing could be complicated if Toyota snare Heidfeld (but it would take a lot given BMW's performance) or the rumours that suggest Jenson Button is looking to bail out of his Honda contract early. I don't think he'll go, though, as it would be the second contract he's dishonoured after the incident with Williams. No team boss is going to want a driver who jumps ship at the first sign of the iceberg. Sources close to Button say he's interested in staying with Honda as he's looking forward to 2008; the quest to develop the RA107 has meant Honda have a bucketload of test data that they can apply to building the 2008-spec car.