Jun.25 (GMM)  The first practice session of the 2010 European grand prix took place under sunny skies on Friday morning.

In Valencia, expected to remain fine for the whole weekend, Nico Rosberg ended the 90 minute session with the fastest time as Mercedes experimented with its new Red Bull-like exhaust layout and driver-adjustable F-duct.

He was faster than the McLarens, but Renault, Ferrari and Red Bull were all also within a second or so of the leading pace.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel clocked the sixth fastest time, amid breaking news his Montreal-spec gearbox has been repaired, meaning he will not move back five places on Sunday’s grid.

A notable absentee in the Valencia paddock on Thursday was Heikki Kovalainen.

Like many figures in the world of formula one, the Finn has been held up on the way to the Spanish port city by strikes in France.

The strikes, involving air traffic controllers, are about proposed reforms to the French pension system.

Lotus driver Kovalainen’s flight from Geneva was delayed for so long he decided to commence a 1,200km road trip to Valencia.

Mercedes also confirmed that Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher were delayed for the same reason en route to Valencia, “but they are both here now”.

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Jenson Button on Thursday predicted problems this weekend for those teams planning to debut a Red Bull-style exhaust layout.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault are planning to run updated cars, with exhausts pointed towards the cars’ double diffusers, during the European grand prix event.

Button’s McLaren team will not test a similar layout until the British grand prix in two weeks, and the Briton told reporters in Valencia that there is a chance his rivals have got their numbers wrong.

“The floors are going to be getting very hot, so they’re going to get through a lot of floors, I’m sure,” he said, referring to the fact the layout blasts the car’s bodywork with hot exhaust fumes.

Button’s desire to see his rivals stumble with the ‘blown rear diffuser’ concept is because McLaren engineers predict the innovation is worth up to half a second per lap.

On the similar Montreal circuit two weeks ago, the McLarens finished first and second.

“Coming here I thought that momentum could be carried, but looking at all the cars around us in the pitlane – which I had a little nose at earlier on – there is a lot of new bits on cars,” said Button.

His teammate Lewis Hamilton agrees that Ferrari in particular will be “very quick” this weekend.
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Entering formula one will not cause Pirelli to increase its budget, chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera said on Thursday.

The Italian company has won its bid to succeed the sport’s departing exclusive supplier Bridgestone in 2011, but its boss played down suggestions the sport is still extremely expensive for participants.

Tronchetti Provera confirmed that teams are paying Pirelli for service over the next three years, adding that the cost to the marque “will be zero compared to our budget”.

And “the advertising campaign … will be switched from other races where we’ve reduced our presence, first of all rallying, where there are new rules starting next year”, he is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

“We’ll reduce our budget in other racing (categories) and be fully dedicated to formula one,” he said, although Pirelli will also supply GP2 and GP3 next year.

Meanwhile, Pirelli’s director of motorsport Paul Hembrey played down reports the unraced 2010 Toyota car will be used by the marque for F1 tyre testing.

Revealing that a GP2 car will be used instead, he said as “a test-bed, particularly for integrity reasons, reliability and stability, it’s probably a good starting point”.
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Michael Schumacher on Thursday accused British pundits of exaggerating their criticisms in the wake of his performance in the Canadian grand prix.

His former teammate Martin Brundle had said the seven time world champion drove “appallingly badly” in Montreal, while fellow BBC commentators Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard also criticised Schumacher.

“I don’t take them seriously because there are different elements to formula one, and one part is showbusiness,” the 41-year-old is quoted by PA Sport in Valencia, a street circuit on which he has never raced.

Schumacher said he is “quite happy” with his return to F1 so far, and Mercedes team chief executive Nick Fry said he is doing “an excellent job despite what I understand has been said about Michael”.

“All in all,” argued Schumacher, “I don’t think there are many guys around the world who, at 41, come back after a three year break and compete at this high a level.”
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F1 drivers on Thursday sounded unconvinced about the debut next year of moveable ‘proximity’ rear wings.

The scheme, ratified by the FIA this week, will see chasing drivers able to press a button and boost straight-line speed if they are within a designated distance from the car in front, in a bid to improve the chances of overtaking.

But veteran Rubens Barrichello said in Valencia: “I don’t know if I like the idea that the one in front cannot use it and the one behind can.”

Robert Kubica had already voiced his opposition to the plan, and added on Thursday: “I don’t think there is a lot of entertainment in seeing cars overtake each other on a straight.

“To be honest, it’s a bit like a Playstation game when you have nitro or something.”

Mark Webber agreed: “It is good for the Playstation I think. Overtaking moves should be about pressurising, being skilful, and tactical.

“Yes we want to see more overtaking, but we also need to keep the element of skill involved in overtaking and not just hitting buttons, and not an IRL race where you pass each other four times per lap and everyone gets bored of that.”

And Force India’s Adrian Sutil added: “It’s very good for the show, it’s not so good from a driving point of view, because if you defend your position well it doesn’t really matter.”

Defunct USF1 has been fined EUR 309,000 and barred from ever competing in formula one.

The American outfit, headed by principals Ken Anderson and journalist Peter Windsor, was granted an entry for the 2010 season but failed to appear.

USF1 has since liquidated its assets, and the sport’s governing body joined the list of creditors with a decision made public on Thursday.

A fine “equivalent to the entry fees for the championship” has been imposed, while USF1 is “definitely” excluded from “any competition” for breaching the sporting regulations and the international sporting code.

In a detailed verdict, the FIA said that because USF1 has no “current financial liquidity”, the fine is effectively the forfeiture of the fee already paid.

But USF1 has also been ordered to pay “the costs incurred by the FIA within the context of this disciplinary procedure”.

The FIA revealed that, during the hearing, USF1 claimed that due to “many negative press comments”, the team’s “sponsorship climate deteriorated after last Christmas.

Bernie Ecclestone’s statement in September last year that “possible USF1 are a doubt” was submitted as evidence, but the FIA retorted that USF1 could have countered the statement had the team’s “funding, sponsorship and construction processes been on target”.

USF1 even argued that negative media coverage amounted to ‘force majeure’, but the FIA procedure ruled there was “no evidence” of that.

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Robert Kubica on Thursday said he is reserving his judgement about a Red Bull-like exhaust layout that will debut on the Renault car this weekend.

Like Ferrari and Mercedes, the Enstone based team has also readied a ‘blown’ exhaust setup – as seen on Red Bull’s RB6 this year – in time for Valencia, opening up a bigger channel of air and also directing the engine fumes through the double diffuser.

But Pole Kubica, the highest-scoring runner in a car other than a McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes, told reporters about the update in Spain: “It’s quite a complex thing to make it work and it’s not so easy.

“So there might be some positive effect but also some negative effects, we’ll have to see.”

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Fernando Alonso on Thursday did not back Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo’s latest attack on the new teams.

Montezemolo insists that the grid should be filled by bigger teams fielding three cars, while struggling outfits like Lotus, Virgin and HRT “are supposed to race on Sunday mornings” in GP2.

The Italian also said Alonso’s push for victory in Canada two weeks ago was ruined by the lapping of backmarkers.

Ferrari driver Alonso, 28, was asked by reporters about the comments at Valencia, but said he would have “nothing to say” about the slow teams in Friday’s briefing with Charlie Whiting of the FIA.

“Next year I don’t think we will see the difference that we’ve seen this year,” he answered, referring to the difference in pace between the established and new teams.

“I think the three new teams arrived very late this year and I think next year they will be better prepared and the gap will be closer,” added Alonso.

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Renault and Mercedes will join Ferrari in debuting Red Bull-style ‘low exhausts’ at this weekend’s European grand prix.

We reported earlier this week that McLaren is also looking to emulate the unique rear layout of Red Bull’s impressive 2010 car design.

Ferrari’s F10 car is equipped with its heavily updated car for Valencia, while McLaren and Williams look more likely to be ready by Silverstone.

We reported on Monday that Mercedes’ W01 car might be running the Red Bull-like layout this weekend, and the news has now been confirmed by BBC Sport.

But referring to the layout, the report said the German team is “not expected to use theirs in the race”.

Earlier reports also said Renault has a similar upgrade in the works, and the BBC confirmed that the team has its own version of the exhausts “in Valencia”.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso denied he had learned much about the updated F10 during a filming and promotional test at Fiorano last week.

“I think tomorrow (at Valencia) we’ll have a better answer,” the Spaniard told reporters in the Spanish port city on Thursday.

“We expect some step in the car, a little bit quicker but all the other teams will bring new parts here,” added Alonso.

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The two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso is hoping with its much improved Ferrari for a good result in a home match in Valencia: “The feeling is very good. In Tempo 60 is the car very stable,” said the Spaniard, with a grin at the press conference front of the Grand Prix of Europe. Outside the test ban, he had been allowed to rotate at the beginning of the week in the B version of the F10 already in promotional shots for a few laps around the Ferrari test track in Fiorano.

“I’m driving behind a car with cameras and had the helmet and the car ten cameras. I was not really comfortable,” said Alonso. “In addition, it was my first laps in a Formula 1 car at Fiorano.” Conclusions about the effectiveness of the revised cars for the race in Valencia he will not pull so: “I hope we will be a bit faster. But the other teams have in recent weeks certainly looked not just television.”
His anger at the slow backbenchers, who had him last resided in Montreal when lapping and possibly cost the victory, has now subsided, “We have 19 races, there is like from that. It is the same for everyone,” he says. Next year the residue of the three new teams would not be so big: “You are entered in this year at very short notice and are rankommen closer,” said Alonso.

Who has not dreamed of as a VIP to a Formula 1 weekend quite get close to the Grand Prix stars and their cars? The nonprofit United Charity Foundation makes now open.

Until 16 July online can be increased by a VIP package for the Hockenheim Ring, which includes access to Mercedes-lounge including entertainment and catering. There is also on Saturday ahead of qualifying a tour of the paddock and in the evening a visit to the “Night of the Stars” to the all Formula 1 drivers are expected.

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug is a personal goal to help them in the Laureus Foundation. The auction proceeds will be forwarded without a cent deduction to the Laureus charity project “Kick in the boxing ring.”

Team bosses and F1 figures are to appear for a question-and-answer session with fans.

The initiative, organised by the teams association FOTA, will see bosses including McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh and Lotus’ Tony Fernandes front an audience at London’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts next Thursday.

Telegraph writer Tom Cary revealed that Nico Rosberg’s race engineer Jock Clear, as well as Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni and Force India reserve driver Paul di Resta, will also be on the panel.
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Mercedes is still working on its current car but has started to design the W01′s successor, team boss Ross Brawn has revealed.

Michael Schumacher, who is 75 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton, said in Canada that his attention is now turning to 2011.

But while not denying that the next Mercedes car is now on the drawing boards at Brackley, Brawn said the team is not giving up on 2010.

“I think everybody is looking at their cars for 2011,” the Briton is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo.

“But we still have various things to put on the W01 in the coming races.  We are not dropping this car, that’s for sure,” added Brawn.

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A road-crash victim’s foundation is calling for Lewis Hamilton to be banned from Swiss roads.

In the wake of the 2008 world champion’s so-called ‘hoon’ hire-car driving incident in March, his girlfriend told a celebrity magazine this month that the pair remain wild at the wheel.

“He’s like, ‘Babe, you’re driving with your knees!” singer Nicole Scherzinger told Maxim magazine.

“I’m doing my makeup, changing the radio …”

The Pussycat Doll also joked that the pair would be banned if it emerged how fast they had driven in Switzerland, where Hamilton rents an apartment.

In response, the safety group RoadCross revealed it has asked the local attorney general to revoke Hamilton’s Swiss driving license, also because the McLaren driver crashed after running a stop sign last year.

A spokesman said: “Public figures should be conscious that they are role models and adopt exemplary driving behaviour.”

Swiss politician Pius Segmuller told Blick newspaper that he supports the campaign.

“I think they (Hamilton and Scherzinger) show an absolute lack of character.  With these statements, he is a bad role model for all the young people who idolise him.”

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