Brits on Pole

Toyota F1 rookie Timo Glock has given Lewis Hamilton something to think about on the third day of Jerez winter testing, after beating the McLaren driver’s fastest lap time by more than three-tenths of a second. Plus, David Coulthard got his hands on his new car…

Read this Q&A released by McLaren, in which Kovalainen tackles head on the issues of driver equality, getting on with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso’s exit and the politics which gave his new team such a testing time in 2007.

Will Lewis Hamilton have a potentially championship-winning car at his disposal in 2008? Or will he be forced to compete in a machine that’s been hobbled because it’s considered illegal? That question will not be answered until February – leaving McLaren with less than a month to cope with any consequences before it is required…

Lewis Hamilton had to surrender his top-ranking rookie status at Jerez to Robert Kubica today after the Pole laid down a blazing lap time to easily top the standings. And youth triumphed over experience on a day when the best performance Michael Schumacher could muster was a mere eighth.

Wednesday at Jerez was a great day for the British drivers – with Lewis Hamilton topping the rankings and David Coulthard running him a very close second.

Who on earth does McLaren have in mind to partner Lewis Hamilton in its second car next year? We ask this because Renault’s ace Finn Heikki Kovalainen has said that he still has no idea what he’ll be doing for the 2008 Formula One season.

Brits on Pole would just like confirm that neither of its editorial team will be signing with McLaren to partner Lewis Hamilton next season. And if you’re not either, then that makes three of us. The rest of the world, we’re not so sure about.

There was one nice moment in FIA president Max Mosley’s recent splenetic outburst against Lewis Hamilton, McLaren and anyone else with the audacity to believe Ferrari shouldn’t just be handed the drivers’ and constructors’ trophies on the podium in Albert Park next spring.