David Coulthard has confirmed he is expecting later this year to become a father for the first time.

"That wasn't the deciding factor because plenty of drivers have children and continue with their careers," he wrote in his column for ITV.

Meanwhile, having endorsed German youngster Sebastian Vettel to take over from him at Red Bull next year, Coulthard also addresses speculation that Fernando Alonso may be on the market for 2009.

"(The seat) should go to the quickest guy with a proven track record who is available," said Coulthard, who will stay at RBR as a team consultant next year.

"That might be Fernando Alonso for instance; if the team could get him that would make sense because he has great credentials as a double world champion.

"But if we assume he's not available, then it's completely logical to take Sebastian Vettel, who is within the Red Bull family, is performing well at Toro Rosso and naturally wants to progress to the larger team," he added.
Source: F1Complete

Sebastian Vettel says he just wants a competitive car to win races and claims he is not interested in earning a lot of money. The German, who made a sensational grand prix debut with BMW in 2006 before moving to Scuderia Toro Rosso last season, has only competed in 17 races but is tipped as one of the stars of the future. He has been linked with David Coulthard's seat at Red Bull Racing next year after the Scot announced his retirement at the end of the current season.

The 21-year-old says he is happy with his current situation, but admits he wants to be with a team who allow him to win races.

"I'm very happy with who I am nowadays, but I am hungry," Vettel said. "I want to achieve more. I'm very happy now with the situation but my target is to be in a competitive car and fight for wins. That's the priority. Everything else for me, as long as I have enough to eat and go out to a restaurant some nights for me the most important thing is the racing. Let's say it like this. If I had to choose between earning a lot of money and driving a medium car or no money, sleeping in a tent, washing your teeth every morning with a bottle of water and having the best car on the grid I would definitely go for the best car on the grid."

The German also claims he has not been worried about the future of his Toro Rosso team, despite the outfit being put up for sale.

"No. It would be wrong if it did," said Vettel when asked if he was worried. "I keep my head down and try to do the best I can. After races like last year in Japan and China everyone said 'ah, you have proven that you deserve to be in Formula One'. I don't know, I tried to do my best and more than that I cannot do. For me, my opinion is as soon as I start to think about all these things too much it is negative for my performance on the track. It maybe sounds stupid - I don't have a lot of experience in F1 but I have done karting a lot and if you don't forget what you learn there it can be very useful. No matter what you do, it's not easy. At the end you just have to focus and do it exactly how you did it in the past. You always have to progress, to learn and to develop as a driver and as a person, then you will get better."
Source: Autosport

The "Nazionale Piloti" Team is ready to play the fifth football match of the season: this charitable event will take place at the Nieder Stadium in Darmstadt - German city in the Bundesland of Hesse, it's about 60 km from Hockenheim circuit.

The purpose of the event is to raise funds for ICM Institute and for German Associations for children "Round Table Children’s wish" and "Ein Herz für Kinder".

Sebastian will be playing along with many other drivers, like Schumacher, Rosberg, Liuzzi and Glock, for example.

CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITY
NAZIONALE PILOTI vs ALL STARS TEAM
Wednesday, July 16, 2008, h 8:30 p.m.
Nieder Stadium - Darmstadt (Germany)

On August 16th, Red Bull X-Fighters (Freestyle Motocross) will take place in Oetelshofen bei Wuppertal. A bit of the taste of what's gonna be was given in Hockenheimring, with Sebastian Vettel as their guest.

Click here to check the images

"It's unbelievable what young people can do with machines", told Vettel eurosport.yahoo.de right after the impressive event FMX-Event with superstar Busty Wolter from Berlin. "I dunno him, but I'm looking forward to", he continued.

The 21 years old driver from Heppenheim was testing in Hockenheim, the new STR along with teammate Sebastien Bourdais. As Vettel just gave one lap after lunchbreak, khe could spend his afternoon at the event.

"When I see these guys can go five or ten meters high with those, it gives me a stiff neck. They can make impressive maneuvers with those machines", said Vettel, that is no specialist in motorcross. "I'd rather sit on my car. It's also fun", he concluded.
Source: Eurosport.de

Sebastian Vettel has welcomed David Coulthard's nomination of him as a worthy successor for the Red Bull race seat in 2009. Retiring Coulthard, 37, earlier this week said that, despite the German's youth, Vettel's 'maturity and approach' makes him the 'best man for the job.'

"I am glad to hear nice things said like that," Vettel is quoted as responding by the German portal Focus. Vettel, 21 and the youngest driver currently on the grid, added: "On the other hand I take the praise soberly, because it doesn't make me any faster."
Source: F1Live

Scuderia Toro Rosso had to end today’s test session early, but it was for the positive reason that, having run pretty much trouble free for the past three days, the engine in the car had reached its mileage limit.

Sebastian Vettel had a full day at the wheel, continuing with preparation work for the German Grand Prix. He evaluated various mechanical and aero set-ups, did long runs to compare the tyre types and also did some work aimed at improving brake performance.

Vettel completed 106 laps of the German circuit with a best lap of 1:15.556s, fifth fastest.
Source: STR