STUTTGART, Germany — Kimi Raikkonen is looking forward to defending his World Championship, and he can’t wait to test and race the new Ferrari F2008.
“We will definitely try to win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship again,” he said. “We have to see how the test sessions and the first Grands Prix of the season will go.
“The most dangerous competitors? McLaren will be there for sure. And then there’s BMW. It will be a difficult year.”
The Finn was speaking to reporters Sunday at the launch of the new car at Ferrari’s base in Maranello, Italy.
Besides improving reliability, one of the main goals of the design team was to get the car to work better on slow and bumpy tracks while retaining the poise it showed in high-speed corners last year.
The new car, codenamed internally as the 659, is the 54th F-1 single-seater created by Ferrari. While it’s an evolution of last year’s championship-winning F2007, it contains some important new facets including the new SECU (Standard Electronic Control Unit) that is produced by MES (McLaren Electronic Systems) and will be used by all teams.
Now that the rules require a driver to use the same gearbox for four-consecutive races, that unit has been beefed up.
The aerodynamic package is completely new, but updates are already in the pipeline so the car will have a different configuration when it appears at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The monococque has been further cut away under the driver’s legs and the sidepods and engine cover are more tapered. The suspension system has been reworked and developed around the new aerodynamics, but the car retains the zero-keel front suspension mounting method adopted last year.
One of the most noticeable things about the F2008 is the bi-plane front wing integrated with a more bulbous nose cone.
Both the wheelbase and weight distribution have been adapted to cope with the new rules, as well as to get better performance out of the Bridgestone tires. Still, while no figures were released, Ferrari stuck with its “long wheelbase” concept used in 2007.
With engine specifications completely frozen for 2008, the 056 is basically last year’s V-8, but auxiliary systems, plus the air and fuel intakes, have been further developed.

• While Ferrari’s F2008 was the first of the new cars to break cover Sunday, many of the other teams are close behind. After saying it would not have an official launch, McLaren did just that here in Stuttgart as National Speed Sport News went to press. McLaren then headed off for private testing at Jerez.
Toyota debuts its car at its team German base in Koln tomorrow, and BMW shows its car in Munich on the 14th and then goes to a private test at Valencia the next day. Red Bull’s official unveiling of the RB3 will be Jan. 16 at Jerez.
Williams, which will not hold an official launch, starts running its FW30 at the Jerez test during Jan. 14–17, which will also see the new Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, Toyota and McLaren cars in action.
The new Honda makes its debut at the team’s factory in England on Jan. 29. Renault’s media launch will be at its Paris headquarters Jan. 31.

• David Coulthard says he would consider competing in NASCAR after F-1 but still wants to stay where he is. “This will be my 15th season in F-1,” he said. “After that? I’ll do this as long as I’m having fun, as long as they keep saying, ‘Would you like to continue?’”

• Toyota’s F-1 team has been given until 2010 to produce results or else.
Exactly what else was not made apparent, but the company is clearly growing tired of the team’s lack of success.
“I have been given two more years,” Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina said in Toyota’s annual motorsport report.
“To become stronger it is more important to improve the level of organization in general rather than to rely on the power of one person. And my job is to mobilize the resources to achieve that. I have been given two more years. So, we will work and fight to make sure we prove ourselves in the 2008 season.”

• French police confiscated Lewis Hamilton’s driving license, fined him $860 and temporarily impounded his car after clocking him speeding at 122 miles per hour in northern France. Juan Pablo Montoya suffered a similar fate in 2003.

• Bridgestone and the FIA have confirmed a three-year contract for Bridgestone to be the sole tire supplier in F-1. The company will also continue its collaboration with the FIA Foundation to promote the “Think Before You Drive” road safety campaign.

• The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has officially closed the McLaren/Ferrari espionage case, and McLaren’s 2008 car has been given the all clear.

• Rumors that Giancarlo Fisichella would bring $10 million in sponsorship to secure a drive at Force India are untrue.

• Kingfisher Airlines and Toyota have agreed to end their sponsorship agreement one year early. This will allow Kingfisher owner Vijay Mallya to concentrate his resources on his newly acquired Force India F-1 team.

• Jimmie Stewart, elder brother of Jackie Stewart, has died at age 76. Jimmie was a successful sports-car racer who also competed in one Grand Prix plus a number of non-championship F-1 races.

• Renault signing Nelson Piquet, Jr. means that there will be three sons of former F-1 drivers competing in 2008. Like Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima, having a famous father has been a mixed blessing on the climb to F-1 for Piquet.
“My father has been, and will be, a great reference point for me and his support was crucial to the early stages of my career, all the way to GP2 Series,” Piquet, Jr. said. “But to get into F-1, you need much more than a famous surname. Renault has given me the chance to race for them, and that is because I have the talent and potential to do so.”

• Etihad Airways signed a three-year deal to be the official sponsor of  the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The first race will be in 2009.

• The FIA has released the official 2008 entry list headed, of course, by new World Champion Kimi Raikkonen who will carry the prestigious No. 1 on his Ferrari.
At the other end of the list is McLaren Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton assigned 22 and Heikki Kovalainen 23. Those are the highest numbers McLaren has carried since the entire field was assigned numbers based on the previous year’s Constructor’s Championship rather than just the No. 1 awarded to the Drivers’ World Champion and the No. 2 to his teammate.
Although the FIA’s list shows Super Aguri’s drivers as Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, the team says it is still finalizing contracts with the duo. The only blank on the list is the teammate spot for Adrian Sutil at Force India.