2008 is on! Sorry for the delay!

I have been busy lately but I am back to keep you updated on the start to the scuderia’s 2008 season. The prancing horse had a terrible time in Australia losing both cars to mechanical failures but Kimi did manage to pick up 1 point due to a DQ given to Rubens Barrichello.

Malaysia was much better seeing Kimi taking his first victory of the season, and a very dominating one for that matter. We lost a potential 1-2 finish when Massa ran wide on one turn and damaged his car while running into the gravel.

Felipe Massa took a determined and much-needed victory at Bahrain yesterday to kick-start his season ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and the two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld in a race that had plenty of early action. Raikkonen takes the lead of the drivers' championship after Lewis Hamilton failed to score.

Robert Kubica lined up on pole for the first time ahead of Massa, Hamilton and Raikkonen but the Pole's glory was short-lived as Felipe Massa clean beat him off the line to take the lead in turn one. There was action behind though as Hamilton slipped down to tenth and Kovalainen challenged Kimi Raikkonen for third throughout the first three corners, eventually yielding to the Ferrari.

As Massa kept his nose clean at the front, Lewis Hamilton found himself behind former team mate Fernando Alonso and clipped the rear of the Renault, destroying his front wing. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap three, rejoining at the back of the field just as Kimi Raikkonen blasted past Robert Kubica in turn one to set up a Ferrari one-two.

Here are the updated standings for the first 3 races:

• 19 Kimi Raikkonen
• 16 Nick Heidfeld
• 14 Heikki Kovalainen
• 14 Robert Kubica
• 14 Lewis Hamilton
• 10 Felipe Massa
• 8 Jarno Trulli

• 30 BMW Sauber F1
• 29 Scuderia Ferrari
• 28 Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
• 10 AT & T Williams F1 Toyota
• 8 Panasonic Toyota Racing
• 6 ING Renault F1
• 4 Red Bull Racing Renault
• 2 Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari

Ferrari define Schumacher's role

Michael Schumacher says he and Ferrari have finally decided what his role at the Italian squad will be following his retirement from racing.

The seven-time world champion, who stopped racing at the end of 2006, will be in charge of developing cars for Gestione Sportiva - Ferrari's motor racing division.

Schumacher has tested for Ferrari a few times since he retired, and the German says he will do it again in order to help the Italian squad with their new F1 car.

"It took us a bit of time to establish, but now my role inside Ferrari is clear: we had to understand where my presence would be most useful," Schumacher was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I deal with the development of the car inside Gestione Sportiva.

"We haven't yet scheduled the days when I'll drive the car, nothing's decided. We'll evaluate depending on the situations: if the team need me to, I'd like to drive, but not too often.

"The F2008? The car is promising, but it is not yet in its definitive configuration. To give a more grounded opinion we'll have to see what our rivals have done."

F2008 Launched

The F2008 is the fifty fourth single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to take part in the Formula 1 World Championship. The design, codenamed internally as the 659, represents the Scuderia's interpretation of the regulations in force in 2008. A major new element of these is the introduction of a new electronic system to be used by all teams, known as SECU (Standard Electronic Control Unit).

Schumacher wins Massa's kartrace

On Sunday Felipe Massa organised a go-kart race at the Ingleses Kart Track in Florianopolis, Brazil. A total of 23 drivers joined Felipe Massa for the two races. Michael Schumacher won the first race, while Lucas di Grassi won the second race.

Schumacher shone in both races and made the crowd go crazy. In a Monza style madness, hundredths of people invaded the track to join the podium ceremony. Schumacher's presence is guaranteed for next year. Asked if he was surprised with the victory in his first race at the circuit, he answered: "I told Felipe I was worried of getting the last place", he said.

Ferrari to shakedown F2008 in January

The Ferrari Formula 1 team will complete its first laps with the team's 2008 contender on January 14 at Jerez. The news was confirmed by Ferrari's head engineer Luca Baldisserri.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa Baldisserri confirmed the team will bring two new F2008 chassis' to the test in the South of Spain. "The new car is an improved F2007 so you shouldn't expect a revolutionary design. We are building on our current championship winning car."

Schumacher to test again for Ferrari

Michael Schumacher will test again for Ferrari at Jerez, at the beginning of next month. The retired seven-time world champion returned to Formula 1 last week, at Circuit de Catalunya, and immediately was the fastest man on track.

A Ferrari spokesperson confirmed that Schumacher would test for another two days, but the final programme had not yet been confirmed.

Schumacher fastest as he returns to F1

Michael Schumacher is back. The seven-time world champion returned to Formula 1 and immidiatly showed he still knows how to do it. He was the fastest man on track on Tuesday at Circuit de Catalunya, just ahead of his team-mate, Ferrari tester Luca Badoer.

All eyes were on seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. The German returned after one year off and immediately showed he is still on the pace. He completed the fastest time of the day, just ahead of Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer.

He was fastest as well on Wednesday.

Changes at Ferrari

The Ferrari Formula 1 team has announced that Stefano Domenicali will become the team's Director of Gestione Sportiva, a position currently held on an interim basis by Jean Todt.

Domenical will enter his new position as of January 1st 2008. Ferrari furthermore announced that Mario Amondo will become the team's operations director, Aldo Costa as the team's Technical Director and Gilles Simon was announced as the team's engine director.

Where Todt will fit into the F1 outfit next year remains to be seen, as does whether he will move over to the automotive side of the Ferrari business. The team is expected to clarify those matters before the end of the year.

The joy continues for Kimi !

For Kimi Raikkonen it's finally holiday time, the first holidays as a World Champion. But before he flew off, the last weekend was dedicated to celebrating with the Ferrari World Finals at the Autodromo del Mugello.

"These were joyful days with many celebrations. It seems I can't stop smiling," said Kimi. "Wherever I go there are people who congratulate me. It seems that everybody in Italy is as happy as I am! Wednesday in Maranello was wonderful, when we celebrated the wins of the two Championships with everybody from the Scuderia. But I have to say that yesterday in Mugello was even better. In front of thousands of fans and numerous Ferrari clients."

"When I was going to the race track in Tuscany I remembered the first time I drove a race car, back when I was driving in the Formula Renault and then my first race in Formula One with Peter Sauber. I remember these feelings, but it is really something else driving the car, with which I just won the Championship, here at Mugello: it was like a second triumph. I was really happy and very proud being part of the Ferrari family when I saw all the fans celebrating. Thank you all so much, with all my heart!"

"There was a great surprise waiting for me after the celebrations at Mugello. I should have gone back to Switzerland but Jenni and my friends had planned something else. We went to Helsinki and celebrated the win with people who have always been close to me. This was a great way of coming back home for the first time as a World Champion. Now I'm on holiday. I'll try to chill out as much as I can and charge up my batteries. I drove almost every week during the last season and now is the time to think of something else than four wheels. I'll try to forget Formula One a bit, but that will be difficult. This year was really special to me. I can say that I fell in love again with this sport. I won't go to the tests in November in Barcelona, but I might be back on the track in December. It will be great to start my second year with Ferrari now that I won the title.

It will be a new challenge, even more exciting, because I want to feel this joy again, one more time!"

Ferrari Finali Mondiali 2007

Ferrari team boss Jean Todt told reporters at Ferrari's weekend celebrations at Mugello that he wouldn't have bet on Kimi Raikkonen becoming world champion earlier in the season.

"To be honest, I wouldn't have bet on Kimi winning the drivers' title in his first season as a Ferrari driver," Todt said. "To win it is a demonstration of our approach of never giving up and to believe in it as long as it is possible."

"The last race was incredible," he added. "We knew that we had to finish first and second and Kimi had to finish before Felipe in order to keep Alonso back and Hamilton had to be in the best hypothesis 6th. And this is what happened. All these factors had to come together and this is what happened in the end; our capacity to reach an extraordinary double-win."

Ferrari celebrates unexpected title in Brazil!

Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix to take the Drivers' World Championship title, the first of his career and the fifteenth for Ferrari in Formula 1. This was win number 201 from 758 Grands Prix entered by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the fifteenth from 122 race starts for Kimi. The Scuderia's number of wins in this race is now nine.

"A dream that it seemed would be impossible to come true was transformed into reality at the end of a race which the drivers and the team managed superbly, which is self evident from looking at the details of the race," said team boss Jean Todt. "We had to get a one-two and then see what our main competitors could do. We needed a "helping hand" from others, both those in the running for the title as well as those out of the running to bring home both titles. And yes, because not only have we taken the Drivers' title with Kimi, but we also numerically confirmed the Constructors' title that we acquired after the decision of the FIA World Council back on 13 September. Two titles, nine wins, four one-two finishes, nine pole positions, twelve fastest race laps: these are exceptional figures in a season which included some difficult moments, but in which we never gave up the fight. Today was our reward for all this work. I wish to congratulate Kimi and thank Felipe, who again today demonstrated his loyalty to Ferrari: without his help, we would have not reached this result."

Ferrari celebrates 200th win in China

Kimi Raikkonen secured Ferrari's two hundredth victory from 757 Grand Prix entered in the Formula 1 World Championship. It is Kimi's fifth win with the team, his fourteenth from 121 races. It is Ferrari's eighth victory of the season and its third in four runnings of the Chinese Grand Prix.

"It is great to be able to celebrate Ferrari's two hundredth victory in Formula 1, here in Shanghai, at the end of a difficult race, further complicated by the unpredictability of the changes in the weather," said team boss Jean Todt. "Kimi brings his total tally of the season to five and this is the team's eighth. He drove an extraordinary race, without committing the slightest error. Felipe had a good race, helping us to see how the dry weather tyres were working at a critical moment. Unfortunately, the rain returned for a brief period, which affected his race. All the team had taken badly what happened at a difficult weekend in Fuji which we left with much less than we deserved. I also wish to congratulate our friends at Toro Rosso, who picked up some important points: it is great to see four Ferrari engines in the top eight. We know our aim of bringing home the Drivers' title will still be very difficult to achieve, but we will give it our all, right up to the last lap of the last race!"

Kimi 3rd in Japan, Massa 6th

Ferrari had hoped for more from the Japanese Grand Prix after Kimi Raikkonen managed to recover to third and Felipe Massa finished the day down in sixth place.

"In light of the weather forecast we had obtained, we chose to start on standard wet tyres but, after a few laps, we were informed of a decision of the stewards that demanded the use of extreme wets," explained team boss Jean Todt. "The team had not been informed and only after the race, did we find that an e-mail had been sent to Stefano Domenicali which arrived after the start of the race. We were amazed and had to immediately call in the drivers to the pits to change tyres. From then on, our target was to make up for lost ground in a manner that was somewhat perplexing. After a strong climb up the order both drivers managed to get back into the points, with Kimi ending up on the podium in third place. Clearly, given the result, the situation in the Drivers' Championship is now compromised with only Kimi still in the hunt. It will need a miracle, but what is certain is that we will do our utmost to win the final two races of the season."