F1 2008 entry list confirmed

[go.pawel]

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has published the official entry list for the 2008 world championship.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen will take charge of the number one car after winning his first world title last season, while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will be numbered 22 and 23 respectively following McLaren’s exclusion from the 2007 constructors’ championship.

Force India are the only team still to finalise their race line-up, with their second seat, alongside incumbent driver Adrian Sutil, still to be confirmed.

The full entry list is as follows:

Ferrari
1 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
2 Felipe Massa (BR)

BMW Sauber
3 Nick Heidfeld (D)
4 Robert Kubica (PL)

Renault
5 Fernando Alonso (E)
6 Nelson Piquet (BR)

Williams Toyota
7 Nico Rosberg (D)
8 Kazuki Nakajima (J)

Red Bull Renault
9 David Coulthard (GB)
10 Mark Webber (AUS)

Toyota
11 Jarno Trulli (I)
12 Timo Glock (D)

STR Ferrari
14 Sebastien Bourdais (F)
15 Sebastian Vettel (D)

Honda
16 Jenson Button (GB)
17 Rubens Barrichello (BR)

Super Aguri Honda
18 Takuma Sato (J)
19 Anthony Davidson (GB)

Force India
20 Adrian Sutil (D)
21 TBA

McLaren Mercedes
22 Lewis Hamilton (GB)
23 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

I guess the silly season has ended. Now it's time for 9 weeks of testing and after that the circus will come to town again

BTW, Williams is said to have resigned from an official unveiling ceremony of their car. It will simply appear on track sometime in January, without any wham-bam smoke-and-fireworks things.

[faksta]

Bourdais finally in F1..interesting. But is it OK for him to race for STR?

[Wouter Melissen]

Bourdais finally in F1..interesting. But is it OK for him to race for STR?

Well being under the Red Bull umbrella can not be bad for him. I think he has to worry more about his team mate, who is quite talented and very fast.

[faksta]

Well being under the Red Bull umbrella can not be bad for him. I think he has to worry more about his team mate, who is quite talented and very fast.

Yep, from the commercial point of view it's great for him - Red Bull is very sound in sport nowadays, but I actually spoke about his results. Tho, who knows how the car will be this season with such amount of money.

[Wouter Melissen]

Yep, from the commercial point of view it's great for him - Red Bull is very sound in sport nowadays, but I actually spoke about his results. Tho, who knows how the car will be this season with such amount of money.

What I meant is that he can easily move up the ladder if his results are good (relative to the car's performance of course).

[JRodrigues]

Well being under the Red Bull umbrella can not be bad for him. I think he has to worry more about his team mate, who is quite talented and very fast.

Oh yes.. Vettel is very very fast. Some said, last year, that he was the btter rookie in front of Lewis Eccles... Hamilton (sorry).. He achieved some pretty interesting performances with a not so very good car. He could have been in the podium if Hamilton hadn't caused the incident between Vettel and Webber.. Definitively one to watch.

[faksta]

Agree. Vettel and Davidson - the ones who are underestimated that year.

[Clivey]

In his defense guys, Hamilton is deserving of most of the praise he's getting. Although yes, I agree other drivers are being overlooked. Kimi did deserve to win last year and I'm looking forward to a competitive championship this time.

I can't wait for this season!

[go.pawel]

Super Aguri spokeswoman said that, despite their presence at the official entry list, Sato and Davidson are not 100% certain as drivers for 2008 season. Their contracts are still being negotiated.

[Wouter Melissen]

Super Aguri spokeswoman said that, despite their presence at the official entry list, Sato and Davidson are not 100% certain as drivers for 2008 season. Their contracts are still being negotiated.

Sato is the team's raison d'etre, so I doubt he will be sacked.

[go.pawel]

Sato is the team's raison d'etre, so I doubt he will be sacked.

I'm 95% sure both he and Ant will stay. She was only clarifying the de iure status.

[go.pawel]

The last piece of puzzle is finally in place. Force India confirmed Fisichella and Sutil will drive for them in 2008, with Tonio Liuzzi as the test driver.

It can be said that Fisico 'returns' to the team, as he drove for it back when it was still called Jordan (scoring their last win in 2003 Grande Premio do Brasil)

Anyway, he said: "Contrary to what people may think, this was not my only opportunity, it was the best one." Yeah, right...