Jaime Alguersuari has admitted to coveting the Red Bull seat currently occupied by Mark Webber.

Australian Webber has re-signed with the energy drink company’s main F1 team for 2011 but is “in the autumn of his career”, according to boss Christian Horner.

It means a vacancy alongside Sebastian Vettel might open up for 2012.

“I will not deny that it is very appealing,” said Alguersuari, the Red Bull-backed Spaniard who currently drives for the company’s second team Toro Rosso.

“There is no doubt that it is the place I want to be,” he added, referring to Red Bull Racing.

“For me, Red Bull and Toro Rosso are the same family, and they’ve supported me since I was 15, and trusted me for their formula one programme when I had no experience.

“I would rather win a title with Red Bull than with McLaren or Ferrari, because it’s the team close to my heart, people who have helped me all the way,” Alguersuari told Diario Sport newspaper.

Kimi Raikkonen is reportedly close to deciding to stay in the world rally championship with Red Bull and Citroen next year.

After F1′s world champion of 2007 quelled speculation he is looking to return to formula one next year with Renault, Citroen’s competition boss has now revealed that talks between Raikkonen and his sponsor Red Bull are well advanced.

“I know the negotiations are progressing well for Kimi to stay in the Citroen junior team,” Olivier Quesnel reportedly told Autosprint magazine in Italy.

“I don’t know when something will be officially announced,” he acknowledged.

It had been rumoured that energy drink Red Bull’s enthusiasm for the Citroen junior team project had waned.

More rumours had linked Raikkonen, 31, with a move to Ford, with funding from the Monster energy drink.

Valtteri Bottas has refused to criticise the Williams team for not scheduling a test day for him in November.

The 20-year-old Finn has been a frontrunner in the F3 Euroseries in 2010, whilst serving as the famous British team Williams’ test and reserve driver.

He said earlier in 2010 that he has done some aerodynamic straightline testing in the FW32 this year “and after the season (I will do) the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi”.

But whilst confirming that Bottas is staying as test driver next year, Williams announced this week that it will be F2 champion Dean Stoneman and Pastor Maldonado at the wheel of the car for November’s Abu Dhabi test.

But Bottas is not critical of the team, despite missing out on the test opportunity.

“They need to test someone else,” he is quoted by Turun Sanomat newspaper. “It doesn’t change anything for me.

“I respect their decisions and I’m working as usual to support the team,” added Bottas, who is managed by Mika Hakkinen.

Bottas will still be in Abu Dhabi, having scheduled a test with the GP2 team ART.

Fernando Alonso is in the same league as two of F1′s greatest recent champions, according to Gerhard Berger.

“There are sometimes those special drivers: Ayrton Senna was one, Michael Schumacher was one, and Alonso is one,” said the Austrian and former grand prix winner.

Berger is uniquely placed to compare Ferrari’s Spanish driver with those greats — he was one of Senna’s closest friends, having raced alongside the late Brazilian at McLaren in the 90s.

And he was a contemporary of Schumacher’s during the seven time world champion’s first F1 career, moving away from Ferrari to make room for the German, and then replacing him for the 1996 season at Benetton.

“They are drivers who can win world championships without having the absolute best car,” Berger told Austrian television Servus TV.

Sergio Perez has denied his major sponsor Telmex is positioning to buy control of the Sauber team.

The Mexican telcom will have significant signage on next year’s C30, and its figurehead Carlos Slim – the richest man in the world – has been seen at several grands prix recently.

But boss Peter Sauber earlier this month denied he is considering selling the Hinwil based team, and Slim said the deal is a “commercial alliance” rather than a precursor to a greater involvement.

But when told that the rumours about Telmex buying Sauber still exist, rookie driver Perez said: “No, that’s not true.

“Telmex is entering as a sponsor and nothing more,” he is quoted by the AS newspaper.

The rumours are retaining their strength because Perez will be joined at the team by another Mexican, the test driver Esteban Gutierrez.

“Esteban and I are here because Sauber decided to sign us,” Perez, 20, insisted.

He also backed Fernando Alonso to win the 2010 world championship.

“He doesn’t have as good a car as the Red Bull drivers, but he is the best driver,” said Perez.

Christian Horner hopes Sebastian Vettel’s engine situation does not further dent his championship chances.

The Red Bull driver retired from the lead of the Korean grand prix last Sunday with a sudden and catastrophic failure of his Renault engine.

The 2.4 litre V8 unit that failed was the eighth he has used in races so far in 2010, but it had successfully completed 1600km of its projected life of 2000km.

But the other engines still available to the German are also quite high on mileage, which explains why Vettel did relatively few laps in practice last weekend.

“It’s obviously not an ideal situation,” team boss Horner said when asked about Vettel’s engine situation going forward.

“Hopefully it will have a negligible effect on him,” he added.

Gian Carlo Minardi criticized after the double failure in Korea Red Bull and Ferrari in Brazil see clearly again.
Gian Carlo Minardi is the firm conviction that the events in Korea, Red Bull should consider the move. “With a reasonable strategy Webber team would lead the championship is still at least not such a big gap to the top who” is aware of the Italians. He believes that Ferrari will assume the role as favorite in Brazil and Red Bull in Abu Dhabi. Minardi says: “. Mistakes and mishaps can happen anytime the beginning, it took Ferrari, Hamilton, and then last Sunday just meets Red Bull is all.”

This is not least because the engine, transmission and Co. are brought to their absolute limit. The last two races will show who was badly shattered better. Minardi review in his column on 422race.com: “That’s why I found the strategy of Red Bull crazy because they are forced to repair the damage of both drivers again.”
Escuchar
Leer fonéticamente

Team boss Ross Brawn takes the Mercedes-good benefits from the fact that one understands the vote better, and can optimize performance.

In the last race, Mercedes has well presented, although the development of the W01 is set for a long time and the concentration to 2011. Team boss Ross Brawn sees the good form the fruits of efforts to improve the car and the structures within the team. Michael Schumacher missed the podium but in South Korea, but the speed of Nico Rosberg was up to the involuntary loss of strong and a podium would have been possible.

“We are making progress. It probably took longer than expected, but we see really good progress,” Brawn is of ‘Autosport’ quotes. “We do everything together for next year. Now we get everything to work properly. The F-shaft is good and we have the highest speed on the straights. We do not change many things, but to understand how we need to tune the car. It is a consolidation and a lesson. ”
When asked whether the team will benefit in the coming year, Brawn replied. “Maybe I do not think things can be transferred directly, but we have learned over the past few races a lot.

In South Korea, Rosberg could have the first time in Silverstone again climb on the podium. “He was very happy with the car, but I will not speculate. He was doing very well, has felt the car well and might have looked very strong.”

Gerhard Berger is quite sure Red Bull Racing will not impose teams orders in its final push for the 2010 drivers’ title.

After Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber retired from the recent Korean grand prix, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso drove into a clear points lead.

The situation has sparked speculation that Red Bull must now throw its full weight behind Australian Webber, who has the higher points tally, with young German Vettel to take a reluctant subordinate role.

But Berger, former co-owner of the energy drink company’s second team Toro Rosso and a close friend of Dietrich Mateschitz, does not think Red Bull will take that approach.

“Some of the teams, like Williams or McLaren, operate as a business. In this way it makes sense for them to have a team strategy in order to maximise their championship position,” said the Austrian, referring to F1′s system of revenue distribution.

“But Red Bull has a very different approach, using formula one as a sporting platform to boost its product,” Berger told Austrian television Servus TV.

“And from the sporting approach, the best man wins,” he insisted.

Berger acknowledged the ‘grey area’ of team orders in formula one, such as Ferrari’s escape from the FIA hearing this year with a mere $100,000 fine but 7 additional points for Fernando Alonso.

“Forget grey areas, we’re thinking of morality,” he continued.

“If I know Dietrich Mateschitz, there is no question about the approach. And I think the fans will be grateful. It’s sport.

“It’s not sport however if all year you’re just making tactical moves,” insisted Berger.

Enstone based Renault could reportedly lose control of its formula one team after taking out a bank loan.

The Evening Standard reports that the team, now majority owned by the Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital, has borrowed money from Lithuania’s AB Snoras.

The report said the reason for the loan is a cash shortage after losing sponsors including Mutua Madrilena, Pepe Jeans and Dutch bank ING in the wake of the crashgate scandal.

“It’s not known when the loan has to be repaid by but it is clear that if the team fails to repay, Snoras could call in its security and take control of it,” said the newspaper.

Filed the “triple” extra-European Jorge Lorenzo is back in his Palma de Mallorca for the due and deserved celebrations for winning his first world title in MotoGP. Long celebration, a few days to stop taking the high level of concentration in the shorter distance to Estoril in its agenda.

On the track where he won his first race in MotoGP in 2008, repeating the claim last year dressed as an astronaut … the world champion aims to return to the top step of the podium where missing from Brno: six races, too many for a driver like him.

“Now we have two races in a row, two very special race, “said Jorge Lorenzo. “The first of these two stages is Estoril where I had my best moments in MotoGP over the past two seasons. Here I had never won in 125 or 250, but I won two Grand Prix wins out of two races, is the only circuit where he won twice in this category!

The track I like very much and I seem to run into the house because there’s a lot of fans from Spain and I always feel their support. Also for me it will be the first time in a circuit ‘home’ by World Champion: I want to try to win maybe even repeat performance of 2009 when the astronaut arrived!”.

Jorge Lorenzo’s early in the last few days in Estoril will present a surprise to his devoted fans: what is it? We’ll find out only in the race weekend …

There are no physical problems, the shoulder surgery was postponed in mid-November, so between Estoril and Valencia Valentino Rossi will conclude the seven-year experience with Yamaha. Hopefully in the best way to 9-time world champion, trying to win starting with the Grand Prix of Portugal where it does not rise to the top step of the podium since 2007, only 4 th last year.

“The last three races have been positive, “says Valentino Rossi. “I won three podiums, including a victory, I was happy because the bike has improved the health of my injured shoulder. Now we return to Europe and I feel very strong, I want to have fun in these last two races trying to win again.

Estoril for me last year was not a good race, we had some problems and am not on the podium, so we will try to change history this year. After Phillip Island in Portugal the weather is definitely better, even though the weather can change very quickly in Estoril It will be a factor to be reckoned with. ”

Potentially still in the race for third place in the championship, it should be noted that Valentino Rossi in the last three races has collected more points than all: the best way to present at Estoril and Valencia, for the first test with Ducati on 9-10 November .

Gerhard Berger has accused Mark Webber of wanting to take out a championship rival after crashing in Sunday’s Korean grand prix.

Australian Webber, who at the time was leading the world championship by 14 points, spun on a wet kerb whilst running second at Yeongam and struck the wall.

But his Red Bull then rolled back across the circuit, collecting the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

“I don’t understand why Webber didn’t hit the brakes,” said Rosberg. “It was crazy to roll back across the track like that.”

Former grand prix winner Berger said on Monday: “He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car at the wall.

“He took out Rosberg, but it was the wrong one. I think in his mind he would have preferred Alonso or Hamilton,” the former Ferrari and McLaren driver told Austrian Servus TV.

Asked to clarify whether he thinks Webber’s move was deliberate, Berger – a former co-owner of the second Red Bull team Toro Rosso – added: “Yes, I think that’s very clear.

“He goes off and he knows it’s over. In this moment you’re frustrated and a thousand thoughts go through your head.

“It’s very obvious, you can see his wheels are not locked up. Perhaps he had a brake problem, but I don’t think so.”

Fernando Alonso is not ready to relax despite leaping into a strong points position with just two races left to run in 2010.

It is true that, now with an 11-point lead over Mark Webber, if the Spaniard wins in Brazil in two weeks and his Australian rival is fifth or lower, Alonso will secure his third drivers’ world championship with a race to spare.

But McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, whose drivers are also still mathematically in the hunt, said: “There is little doubt now the championship decider is going to be in Abu Dhabi.”

Alonso agrees that he cannot rely on another Korea-like outcome before then.

“Red Bull showed us again in Korea that they are stronger than us, and that will be the same in Brazil and Abu Dhabi as well,” the Ferrari driver told El Pais newspaper.

“So what we need is another small step forward to be competitive. We must be on the podium. If someone beats us now, congratulations — winning or losing will depend on who is faster, on reliability and on luck,” added the 29-year-old.

In comments published by Italy’s La Stampa, Alonso said he is not interested in the mathematical possibility of him becoming champion in Brazil.

“Yes, that’s true — and if Red Bull miss their plane to Brazil, that’s another way to be champion,” he joked.

“The odds remain in favour of Red Bull.”

Alonso said the only mathematical certainty is that he cannot lose the championship at Interlagos in two weeks.

“In Korea I have only guaranteed to be fighting in Abu Dhabi in the last race of the season,” he confirmed.

The union of formula one drivers, the GPDA, revealed in Korea last weekend their push for more influence in the sport’s decision-making processes.

According to the German magazine Speed Week, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association – now headed by president Rubens Barrichello – met at the Yeongam circuit with FIA president Jean Todt.

“We want a permanent dialogue with the governing body,” Brazilian Barrichello, accompanied to the meeting by fellow GPDA directors Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa, is quoted as saying.

According to another German language report in motorline.cc, Barrichello and his colleagues believe some of the problems in Korea – like troublesome kerbs and the dangerous pit entry – would not have been encountered if the drivers were more seriously canvassed.

“It was ok,” Barrichello said after the meeting with Todt.

“We discussed three or four things and he was very open. All we want is for the GPDA to be able to contribute more to the future of the sport,” he added.