BAR-Talk.com Newsletter 013

By Phil Huff (06/01/2005)
January 6 2005

Formula One may be the pinnacle of motorsport but, in the grand scheme of things, it's absolutely meaningless, something that we were all reminded of following the awful tsunami tragedy in Asia.

Michael Schumacher has been extraordinarily generous, donating an astonishing $10 million to the aid effort. While we can't match that, I would ask you to click on the links to the left of the site and donate what you can.

The site has a few new features for the new year, with the BAR-Talk.com Toolbar making an appearance. It sits on your browser window, just below your address bar, and will bring you the latest BAR news, link you straight to the Message Board, and includes a Google search tool, amongst other useful features. It also has some Toolbar Exclusives, so download yours now.

Not subscribed to the BAR-Talk.com Newsletter? Click here to register now. Once registered, you can also use your details on the BAR-Talk.com Message Board and throughout the rest of SportNetwork.

You could also take some time to download the BAR-Talk.com Wallpapers. We've got one from every race in 2004, and we think it's one of the best ranges of photographs you could get, from a close up of Jenson in Australia, to a sunset lit Takuma in Japan.

Takuma got a gentle blasting from Jenson earlier in the week, with the Japanese driver being labelled as ragged and inconsistent. Button also took a lunge at Sato's now infamous move on Rubens at the Nurbrugring, but did at least concede that he's entertaining to watch. No word on what Taku thought of the comments, but we'll take a few minutes to find out at the launch of the 2005 car next weekend.

We won't be finding out any more details on John Byfield though, as he's 'left' Essentially Sport. Byfield was Jenson's manager, but is now spending more time with his family. Possibly.

Responsible in no small part for the whole 'Buttongate' debacle, we'd suggest that he's quite fortunate not to be facing both Williams' and BAR's legal teams, something that was a very real possibility only a few weeks ago.

Another recent leaver, David Richards, has at least got some reward for his work, with the boss of Prodrive (and ex-BAR boss) receiving a CBE in the new year honours list. He's sure to be delighted, but we can't help feeling that his delight may be overshadowed by the sheer ecstasy of the $15 million pay off he is rumoured to have received from the Brackley team.

Honda must be putting in one shed-load of money...

More opinion in the next newsletter, and I promise I'll make it more cheerful. In the meantime, please do donate.

Phil Huff
BAR-Talk.com