Bruno Senna, the nephew of the great Ayrton Senna, is in talks to switch for 2011 from struggling HRT to F1′s best new team Lotus.

That is the claim of Brazil’s Globo Esporte, noting that the move would reinvoke the fabled Lotus/Renault/Senna combination of the 1980s.

Rookie Senna, who turned 27 earlier this month, has had a difficult debut season in 2010 at the wheel of the slowest and least developed car on the grid fielded by the Spanish newcomer Hispania.

“Bruno Senna is close to getting something better,” said the Portuguese language report.

“He is in talks with Lotus and these talks are already well advanced,” Globo added, nominating Jarno Trulli as the driver most likely to leave the Malaysian team in the event that Senna is signed.

The report cited sources “close to the driver” as insisting that Senna cannot finalise the deal until his sponsors agree, adding that these talks with “several companies” are also already taking place.

Globo Esporte also said Lotus’ announcement of its Renault engine deal for 2011 will be made next weekend at Interlagos.

Late triple world champion Ayrton Senna won his first grand prix at the wheel of a Renault-powered Lotus in 1985.

He won a further 5 grands prix in a Lotus-Renault, as well as 24 podiums, 16 pole positions and 150 points before moving to McLaren.

Singapore telecommunications company SingTel has denied it has agreed a deal to extend its naming sponsorship of the city-state’s night grand prix.

“We agreed terms with SingTel for the renewal of their contract for a further two years,” F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was quoted earlier by the local media broadcaster MediaCorp.

The news had followed rumours during Singapore’s third F1 event in September that SingTel was considering ending its association with the grand prix.

“We have companies worldwide that wish to have association in formula one and I always prefer to have local sponsors for the title sponsorship,” added Ecclestone.

A spokesman for SingTel told us on Friday: “We are still in discussions with F1 management regarding the sponsorship of the Singapore grand prix.”

An industry expert said SingTel would be spending $10-15 million on the deal.

“I don’t know what the cost is but I am sure somebody in SingTel must have done a cost-benefit analysis,” said Nervik Singh, chief executive of the marketing communications company Grey Group Asia Pacific.

Kimi Raikkonen’s manager has admitted the Finn is no longer interested in returning to formula one in 2011.

The 2007 world champion had been linked with a comeback next year with the Renault team, but reports this week revealed that talks about extending his deal with the world rally team Citroen are well advanced.

“We are no longer looking out for opportunities for formula one,” manager Steve Robertson told Finnish television MTV3.

“Kimi seems to be focused on rallying at the moment,” he added.

It has been rumoured that an alternative rally team in 2011 for Raikkonen, who currently drives for Citroen with Red Bull sponsorship, is the Monster energy drink-backed Ford team.

“We are having discussions with several different teams and I cannot say more,” said Robertson.

A race contract for an inaugural Bulgarian grand prix in 2012 could be signed as soon as next month, according to the head of the south east European country’s motor racing federation.

A proposed race in Bulgaria has been on the table for some time, including when F1 chief executive met with the country’s economy minister at Monza last month.

If talks with a funding consortium reportedly comprised of Arab, US and Canadian companies and the government go well, Ecclestone could travel to capital Sofia to sign the contract between November 15 and December 15, Bogdan Nikolov told the Sofia news agency Novinite.

The report said Bulgaria aims to be unique on the F1 calendar by having an asphalt surface that can be artificially heated.

Nikolov, chairman of the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation, added that the circuit will bid for both F1 and its two-wheeled equivalent MotoGP.

“We have created a project that meets the requirements of both FIA and (MotoGP governing body) FIM,” he said.

South Korean companies are reportedly holding off before deciding whether to follow the east Asian country into formula one.

The brand new Yeongam circuit hosted its inaugural grand prix last weekend, but the only Korean brand involved as a sponsor was LG.

A range of companies told Korea’s JoongAng daily that they are waiting to gauge the impact of the first F1 race.

And South Korean mobile operator SKT, and the other major telcom KT, “largely expressed disinterest” in F1, the newspaper revealed.

“We have obviously decided not to sponsor the F1 races this year, but the situation might be different next year. It’s impossible to say at this point,” a spokesperson for KT said.

An SKT spokesperson added: “We had not heard of any plans regarding sponsorship (of F1) inside the company.”

And Diageo Korea, the Korean arm of McLaren’s whisky sponsor Johnnie Walker, said via a spokesperson: “We might consider sponsoring next year, depending on the success of this year’s Korean grand prix.”

Gerhard Berger has dismissed as “stupid and unfair” speculation that Red Bull team boss Christian Horner could be set to lose his job.

Media reports, including in the German daily Bild, said the Briton risks being ousted because the team could lose this year’s drivers’ and constructors’ championships despite having easily the fastest car in 2010.

“The rumours are stupid and unfair,” former grand prix winner Berger, a close friend of the energy drink company’s chief Dietrich Mateschitz, is quoted by Auto Bild Motorsport.

“Red Bull are in a position to win both the constructors’ and the drivers’ world championships. An unsuccessful season looks very different to that,” the Austrian insisted.

Moreover, the report claimed Horner’s contract is tied to that of his countryman Adrian Newey, meaning that if Horner is ousted, Newey could leave the Milton Keynes based team as well.

Newey is credited as the designer of the widely-lauded RB6 car.

Berger’s dismissal of the rumour is ironic, given that it follows his suspicion that Mark Webber tried to take out his championship rivals after crashing in Korea.

Horner rejected that speculation as “ridiculous” and “absurd”.

Photos of Bernie Ecclestone giving a middle finger salute are complementing reports on Thursday about the F1 chief executive’s birthday.

F1′s chief executive and long-time ‘supremo’ is turning 80, and Red Bull marked the forthcoming occasion in Korea last weekend with a mischievous present.

It was a zimmer frame, featuring a Red Bull front wing and a special F1-style steering wheel with a range of custom buttons.

One of the buttons was labelled ‘Viagra’, another ‘Nurse’, and yet another ‘Pasquale’ — referring to his ever-present assistant Pasquale Lattuneddu.

Posing at the front of the Red Bull garage with Christian Horner and his favourite driver Sebastian Vettel, Ecclestone greeted the massed photographers with good humour and the obscene single-finger gesture.

And according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Ecclestone does not intend to mark the occasion of his actual birthday on Thursday.

“I hate parties,” he said.

When asked what he really wants for his 80th birthday, the Briton was quoted a few days ago by the German weekly Die Zeit: “I just want to get there.”

The latest rumour in formula one is that Rubens Barrichello’s longest-ever grand prix career could be set to end after the 2010 finale next month.

German rookie Nico Hulkenberg admitted in Korea that he was concerned about speculation linking the Venezuelan pay-driver and new GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado with his Williams race seat.

But a report in Auto Motor und Sport reveals that the Oxfordshire based team actually does not intend to confirm either Hulkenberg or his current teammate, the Brazilian veteran Barrichello, until the winter period.

The reason for the delay is Williams’ sponsor situation, with current backers RBS, Philips, AirAsia and McGregor all departing.

Maldonado carries a reported US $15 million in the sponsorship of state-owned petroleum company PDVSA, and the latest rumour is that Williams has not yet decided whether Hulkenberg or Barrichello is the most likely to potentially make room for the 25-year-old.

The rumour about 39-year-old Barrichello was triggered when Patrick Head, Williams’ engineering boss and the team’s second biggest shareholder, said Hulkenberg had done enough in 2010 to justify his seat.

“I think Nico has done enough, both before he entered F1 and since being in F1, to support the view that he is a justified driver,” said the Briton in Korea last weekend.

F1′s cost-reducing programme has taken what might be regarded as a backwards step.

Known as the Resources Restriction Agreement (RRA), the deal this year includes a clause limiting each team to spending just EUR40 million on external services.

The cap was set to reduce to 20 million in 2011, but Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the teams have agreed to increase the limit next year to 30m.

Moreover, team staff numbers were set to be capped at 350 people, reducing to 280 a year later.

But the latter number has now been increased to 315, with the total agreement extended through 2017. The former agreement was set to expire in 2012.

“The good news is that the teams have agreed to extend the duration of the RRA,” FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh confirmed.

“In doing that, there’s been some adjustment, so it’s been agreed in principle and everyone has signed up to that,” added the McLaren boss.

“In some areas it’s been tightened, in some areas it’s been slackened,” admitted the Briton.

The existing agreement also limits things like staff numbers at grands prix, the use of wind tunnels and CFD, and track testing.

“I think there was a danger that we wouldn’t be able to extend it (the agreement),” continued Whitmarsh. “I think all the teams took a sensible approach to come together and to agree to extend it for a long period of time.”

Ferrari, meanwhile, confirmed that the new agreement will be in place until 2017.

Ross Brawn has revealed he is worried about F1′s future without Bernie Ecclestone.

As the sport’s long-time ‘supremo’ turns 80 on Thursday, Brawn admitted he is concerned there is no “structure” in place to replace the diminutive Briton who has steered and shaped F1 for decades.

“We discuss it frequently,” he told the Telegraph. “We don’t have a solution.

“That is one of our fears. A succession plan for Bernie and (F1′s owners) CVC is not clear and is one of the things which teams are always seeking clarity on,” said Brawn.

But Max Mosley, the former long-time FIA president whose career in F1 politics began as Ecclestone’s lawyer and sidekick in the 70s, is confident the sport will not implode without him.

“No, it would just be different,” he said.

“When I wanted to step down from the FIA in 2004 I was told I couldn’t until I had a succession plan. Bernie needs a succession plan too but, secretly, he probably has one,” added Mosley.

Mosley hailed Ecclestone as a “master tactician”, and another long-time colleague Sir Frank Williams is also full of praise for the wily Briton, an “unparalleled negotiator”.

“What would happen if he were gone tomorrow? Well, not to devalue him in any sense, but I would hope formula one would not implode,” said Williams.

“Not only has Bernie structured long-term contracts with key parties, but he has placed a robust infrastructure around formula one and helped to populate it with clever people, so a bright, creative successor would emerge, such is the way of the world,” he added.

HRT has reportedly bought Japanese carmaker Toyota’s former formula one team.

The new Spanish team has struggled with its Dallara-built car and a lack of development in 2010.

It was initially believed that Hispania Racing, bought by Jose Ramon Carabante from Adrian Campos before the start of its debut season, had agreed a deal to base its 2011 car on the unraced Toyota TF110.

It is for this reason, according to paddock speculation, that Toyota Motorsport only made available its 2009 car for Pirelli’s tyre testing programme.

It has been subsequently reported that HRT could buy hydraulic systems and gearboxes from the British team Williams for 2010.

But Auto Motor und Sport, citing “reliable sources”, reports that HRT has bought “the expertise, equipment and facilities” of Toyota’s Cologne based team.

At the same time, the magazine notes rumours that Hispania is behind in its payments to engine supplier Cosworth.

Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt met in Korea last weekend and, according to a German report, “smoked the peace pipe”.

There had been speculation that F1 chief executive Ecclestone was supporting a possible power coup organised by Todt’s predecessor as FIA president, Max Mosley.

But Frenchman Todt and Ecclestone had a “long conversation” at the Yeongam circuit, Auto Motor und Sport reports.

“We want to work well together into the future,” Ecclestone, who turns 80 on Thursday, is quoted as saying afterwards.

Todt, meanwhile, said the rumours about the coup had been exaggerated.

“This season has shown that I am interfering as little as possible,” he said. “And If Mosley offers me his advice, this will also be welcome.”

Christian Horner on Wednesday said it is “ridiculous” to suggest Mark Webber tried deliberately to take out his rivals after crashing in Sunday’s Korean grand prix.

Former grand prix winner Gerhard Berger said on Tuesday that the Australian “could have hit the brakes” after crashing out of second place during the rain-hit race in Yeongam.

“Yes, I think that’s very clear,” said the Austrian. “It’s very obvious, you can see his wheels are not locked up.”

Webber actually collected the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, but – according to Berger – he “would have preferred” to wipe title contenders Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton out of the race.

Red Bull team boss Horner responded: “As with every incident in formula one, opinions will always be made without all the facts.

“Just to be absolutely clear — Mark’s intention was not to take out another driver after his crash and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise,” he told the Telegraph.

Horner admitted that Webber’s RB6 was “badly damaged” after his initial contact with the wall, but his attempt to keep the car going was a “natural and immediate instinct” to get back into the race.

“It’s absurd to suggest that Mark would ever deliberately take out another driver,” added Horner.

Red Bull should not take the title, many expect a release Horner as team boss.

After the double failure of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner in Korea is coming under fire. British media speculation already has the replacement of the British should not Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel still get the title. Many find that Horner, not on sympathy, but a lack of assertiveness. The fact is that Red Bull but the strongest and fastest car in the field has, however, this advantage could not always convert into the necessary results.

“Red Bull has shown time and again in 2010, that they can not consistently enter the results that they are with the car actually able to get,” said Andrew Benson criticized in his blog. Mark Webber is currently eleven points behind new championship leader Fernando Alonso. Sebastian Vettel is in the Drivers’ Championship in fourth with 25 points behind. Said the renowned F1 journalist Mark Hughes told the BBC in terms of a stable direction, “Red Bull has to meet two races remaining difficult decisions.”

It remains unclear who will take over after Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1 – FIA president Jean Todt who had no worries and sees a positive future

Bernie Ecclestone is celebrating 28 October 80th Birthday. The Briton has expanded the “Formula 1 to a global stage. In 1958, he was even reported for two races, could not qualify in Monaco and Britain, however. has managed with Jochen Rindt, the Ecclestone for some time, first ideas for the marketing possibilities of Formula 1 were born. As Brabahm manager was happy the man shook hands with quality in the eighties on world title. In the new millennium Ecclestone has expanded the formula 1 in the new markets in Asia. But it is the eternal question: who comes after him?

Ecclestone has no plans to go into retirement. On the question of who will succeed him, he said that “some car dealers. He acted in front of the Formula 1 cars to rise. No one knows if Ecclestone has already organized his successor. Martin Whitmarsh, who currently heads the association FOTA team, says that it is “impossible to predict.”
FIA president Jean Todt believes that the succession is a matter for the CVC, which holds the marketing rights to Formula 1. “The responsibility for the future of Formula 1 is located at more than CVC at Bernie,” is dead by ‘TheHindu.com’ quotes. “It is up to them.” The Frenchman appreciates the CVC bosses as “wise business people” and is not afraid of the future.

“I am confident that Formula 1 has a very strong future. We must not forget that the formula counts one of the major sports on the planet. The World Cup is held every four years. The Olympics are only every four years . Formula 1 is held every year. ”
Todt passes out, however, that the formula may look a nothing for granted. For Ecclestone’s successor might not be easy. “Bernie knows that CVC knows this and we know it,” the FIA president.