F1 and IRL

F1
Interesting stories during the non practice off week coming from the various team camps. First of all Ferrari seems confident that they will retain the Marlboro sponsorship past the 2006 deadline. All this tells me is that the persistent rumors of the demise of F1 in Europe will come to fruition. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with this one.

More speculation out of Williams regarding their 2005 driver situation. Now it is looking more and more like Mark Webber will get one of the seats. The team would love to have Buttons, but his contract with BAR will probably not allow him to leave. Besides, given the current state of affairs with the teams, why would he want to leave BAR for Williams. Rumors persist about the other seat, but according to sources, Jeff Gordon’s name is being bandied about as someone who deserves a test. Gordon was in Spain for last weekends race, but only said he was a guest of Williams. He also has stated many reasons why he would not go to F1, but then also has expressed that he is not too old to go F1 racing. He feels an F1 ride would be more for US sponsor dollars coveted by F1, but he seems curious.

IRL
Rain washed out a portion of yesterday’s track activity, and when it was all said and done Julio was on top with a lap of 220.3. Julio, first on the track Monday becomes the first driver of the month over 220. Dixon was second at 219.5. Yellows were out for a spin by Marty Roth and for Robby Gordon. Gordon became the first driver to tag the wall this month, but damage on the car was reportedly minor.