F1 team owner Red Bull looks set to pull the plug on its NASCAR project.
The failure of the project compared with the energy drink company’s meteoric success in formula one is being blamed for the decision.

Reports in the American media early this week say staff at the Red Bull Racing Sprint Cup team are being told the operation will close at the end of the season.

“We are not at liberty to comment on details while negotiations (with investors) are under way,” said the team.

NASCAR insiders say North Carolina based Red Bull Racing, headed technically by ex-F1 figure Gunther Steiner, has struggled since its debut in 2007.

A report in the Toronto Sun said it is “well known” that Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz has been “unhappy” with the NASCAR effort.

“They never really had the level of success (in NASCAR) that I’m sure they were hoping for,” said F1 marketing guru Zak Brown, according to USA Today.

“And on the flip side, you have enormous success around formula one. I’d probably say it’s a combination of both, and I’m not sure there was ever the same level of excitement and passion (for NASCAR).

“Dietrich is a winner, and he’s not going to go on forever if he doesn’t get the results,” added Just Marketing’s Brown.

He said it is likely Red Bull will chose instead to spend its North American dollars on title sponsoring next year’s US grand prix in Austin.

“Not that the US GP will ever be the size and magnitude of NASCAR,” admitted Brown, “but I’m sure they’re not going to just drop the NASCAR team and not fill the void in another sport or with a title sponsorship. The US is too big a market for them.”

The FIA has moved further to clamp down immediately against aggressive exhaust blowing.

It was already known that so-called “hot blowing”, involving the aggressive blowing of engine exhaust through rear diffusers when the driver is not on the throttle, will be effectively banned as of Silverstone next month.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported on Tuesday that another element of exhaust blowing will be banned immediately.

From Valencia this weekend, teams will no longer be able to use extremely aggressive hot-blowing in qualifying, and then switch to a more engine-friendly setting for the grand prix.

McLaren said recently it suspected precisely that practice was giving Red Bull’s RB7 its qualifying advantage.

Jenson Button told Blick: “They (Red Bull) use the exhaust gases into the diffuser non-stop on a qualifying lap, but not in the race.”

And Auto Motor und Sport quotes team boss Martin Whitmarsh as adding: “With Red Bull’s aggressive qualifying mode, they are gaining a good half a second.”

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko said on Austrian television Servus TV: “If the others cannot copy it, they can try at least to have it banned.”

But the Austrian said he suspects Ferrari will benefit the most from the FIA’s clampdown.

“I think McLaren will be affected less, or similar to us as they have a very good copy (of the Red Bull exhaust),” said Marko.

As in Canada, there will be two ‘DRS’ overtaking zones on the streets of Valencia this weekend, but only one ‘detection point’.

The new-in-2011 adjustable rear wing innovation contributed to a plethora of overtaking on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, ahead of this weekend’s event at Valencia where processional races have been common.

But Canada winner Jenson Button is not sure ‘DRS’ will transform the spectacle of the European grand prix.

“It’s a hard place to pass and, even though there will once again be two DRS zones, I don’t think that’s going to make it much easier during the race,” he said.

The Spanish sports newspaper AS revealed that the DRS ‘detection point’ this weekend will be 130 metres before turn 8, with the first overtaking zone set for the run between turns 10 and 12.

The second zone, also useable by drivers who were within 1 second of their prey at the detection point, is situated between turns 14 and 17.

“Some of the purists believe DRS has made the racing artificial, but the fact is that every race is now absolutely entertaining,” Steve Robertson, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s manager, told Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“Whoever invented this system deserves the most authentic of praise. The cars have kept their speed and at the same time are able to race. Full marks!” he added.

DRS will be deactivated at Valencia this weekend if it rains, but the weather forecast for the Spanish port city so far is for clear and sunny conditions.

Ferrari has rubbished suggestions Jenson Button could be set to switch from McLaren.

A source at the famous Italian team reportedly told the News of the World this week that Button, 31, was being sounded out as a replacement for Felipe Massa.

“The Brazilian is now well used to this ritual, as it began almost before he set foot in the Scuderia,” said Ferrari’s anonymous website columnist The Horse Whisperer, referring to near-constant speculation about Massa’s future.

The latest names linked to his race cockpit have been Nico Rosberg and now Briton Button.

“It goes without saying that, yet again, this is just a load of twaddle, to use a polite word for what I really mean to say,” added the Ferrari columnist.

Indeed, widespread media reports are now saying Button is in fact set to extend his deal with McLaren for 2012 and beyond.

The Daily Mirror is the latest publication to reveal that the 2009 world champion is set to agree a new two-year contract with a $3 million per season pay rise.

“The deal has to be finalised before the end of July, but may be announced at the British grand prix,” said writer Byron Young.

The Mirror report added that German Rosberg, 25, “approached McLaren” about Button’s seat but is now expected to stay at Mercedes.

It would be “sad” and “unwise” if reports the BBC is considering dropping its live coverage of formula one in Britain are true.
That is the claim of McLaren and FOTA chief Martin Whitmarsh, following the Sunday Times article about the broadcaster axing F1 after 2013 in order to save money.

He said he and other “insiders” were surprised about the report that contains “significant inaccuracies” about the sport’s television viewing figures.

Meanwhile, media analysis of the Sunday Times article has pointed out that the newspaper is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, who has been reportedly interested in getting involved in F1, perhaps with his pay television network Sky.

Another possibility is that the BBC is kicking off negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone about reducing the value of its contract.

“One thing is clear,” wrote correspondent Tom Cary in the Telegraph, “the BBC will never pay as much as it did last time.”

Cary said he believes negotiations have begun amid the backdrop of Fuji (Japan) and Rai (Italy) managing successfully to renew their deals at lower rates.

Said Whitmarsh: “I think it would be very sad, and most unwise, if the BBC were to disappoint so many millions of British sports fans by axing it (F1), and that’s why I don’t believe for a moment that they’d seriously consider doing such a thing.”

Paul Pietsch on Monday becomes the only living former formula one driver with a three-digit age.

The German, born on 20 June 1911, drove Alfa Romeos and Maseratis in the modern world championship’s earliest years, failing to win a race or even score a point.

But he is also remembered for founding the authoritative magazine Auto Motor und Sport, and in his more recent years for refusing to use a walking stick or a hearing aid because they are “for old people”.

Ironically as a 100-year-old now, Pietsch’s nickname was ‘Rennbaby’ (baby racer), due to his spending much of his earlier career as the youngest in the field.

When his career stalled due to flagging finances, he founded a publishing company in a bid to get back on track.

“I wanted to race again. We had to get the funding somehow, by selling something. I said to myself that I could sell my knowledge about motor racing,” he told the FAZ newspaper.

Sebastian Vettel insists he is not overly worried about the FIA’s controversial clampdown on blown exhaust solutions.
The reigning world champion has run into a clear lead in 2011, with his Red Bull said to benefit the most from the so-called ‘hot blowing’ of engine gases through rear diffusers.

But that practice will be severely limited as of Silverstone next month, and team advisor Helmut Marko obviously feels Red Bull’s dominance has been targeted as he noted the mid-season timing of the ban as “pretty strange”.

The German news agency SID, however, quoted 23-year-old Vettel as reacting coolly when asked about the possible impact of the clampdown on his so-far impressive 2011 campaign.

“I don’t believe it will hit us harder than anybody else,” he said.

“You can argue about why it is happening in the middle of the season, but in terms of the world championship there is still a very long way to go.

“An awful lot can happen very quickly, as we saw last year,” added Vettel, who in 2010 led the world championship for the very first time only as he crossed the chequered flag at the Abu Dhabi finale.

He won last year’s Valencia race, scene of this weekend’s European grand prix.

“We had a good race there last year and the car should be good,” said the German.

McLaren is willing to give Jenson Button a pay-rise to stop him moving to Ferrari, the Daily Mail reports on Monday.
The 2009 world champion revealed last week that the Woking based team he joined last season “has an option on me for next year”.

At the same time Button, 31, said he is reluctant to agree a new long-term deal, despite boss Martin Whitmarsh admitting he would “quickly” ink a new multi-year contract with the former Brawn driver.

The latest twist in the story was a Ferrari source telling the News of the World newspaper that Ferrari has “checked” with Button’s management to see when Button is available as a replacement for Felipe Massa.

Hours after that report was published, the Daily Mail said McLaren is “ready to hand Jenson Button a pay rise”.

The newspaper said the British team is taking up the 2012 option on Button “but are so happy with his performances” that in the next few weeks McLaren is “likely to offer him an extended deal on improved terms”.

Historic Monza is more important to formula one than Rome, the Italian capital’s mayor Gianni Alemanno has admitted.
Rome came close to joining the sport’s annual calendar until Bernie Ecclestone ruled that each country should host only a single formula one race per year.

That scuppered the chances of a street event in the EUR district, and Alemanno confirmed to Italian LA7 news that he only wanted to bring F1 to Rome if it could have complemented the historic Italian grand prix at Monza.

“We proposed to have a formula one grand prix in Rome when it was practicably possible to have two grands prix in Italy; one at Monza and another in Rome,” he said.

“Then Ecclestone told us there could only be one grand prix in Italy and we said that the history is more important, so it (F1) was more important to Monza,” added Alemanno.

He added that Rome does not “steal things around Italy”.

“We respect the country just as we want respect for the role of Rome,” said Alemanno.

Bernie Ecclestone has organised a meeting of the F1 Commission in an attempt to formally scuttle the proposed engine rules for 2013.
That is the claim of the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, revealing that the meeting will take place on Wednesday.

The report said F1 chief executive Ecclestone, a staunch critic of the proposed rules, believes FIA president Jean Todt improperly introduced the four-cylinder turbos by bypassing the official bodies including the F1 Commission.

Despite Renault’s apparent threat to quit F1 over the controversy, Ecclestone is understood to have attempted to overturn the rules with a recent vote of the World Motor Sport Council.

The rules narrowly survived and Wednesday’s F1 Commission is his ‘plan B’ according to Auto Motor und Sport, with the 80-year-old also not ruling out a legal challenge.

Sauber has confirmed reports Pedro de la Rosa will step in once again this weekend if Sergio Perez is not well enough to race.
Spanish veteran de la Rosa, despite being McLaren’s official reserve driver, took Perez’s place in Canada after the Mexican rookie felt ill before the second Friday practice session.

The 21-year-old flew from Montreal to his native country to recover with well-known physio Josef Leberer.

“I feel perfectly well and I’m very much looking forward to racing in Valencia,” said Perez.

Team boss Peter Sauber last week defended his decision to call up de la Rosa in Canada rather than the Swiss team’s own official reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez, who is 19.

“Pedro did a very good job,” confirmed managing director Monisha Kaltenborn, according to Tuttosport.

“In Montreal he got into our car, driving it without knowing it well. He did a great job for us.”

As for the forthcoming Valencia street race in a week, Kaltenborn continued: “We see no reason why Sergio should not drive.

“By the time of the European grand prix he will have recovered, but if he has not then we will make use again of Pedro, because of his vast experience,” she added.

The BBC’s F1 anchor Jake Humphrey has dismissed reports the British broadcaster is looking to drop its coverage of the sport beyond 2013.

The Sunday Times, citing “senior sources”, is reporting that BBC chiefs are aiming to use the money saved by axing its expensive formula one coverage to avoid shutting down a digital channel.

“I have no inside information on its (the coverage’s) future,” host Humphrey wrote on Twitter.

“But I know little else gets the audience share and the millions that we do. BBC F1 is a huge success.”

He added that there were “many inaccuracies” in the Sunday Times article.

Ferrari is eyeing Jenson Button as an ideal replacement for Felipe Massa, according to a British press report.

A source at the Maranello based team told the News of the World tabloid that there has been “a lot of talk” about 2009 world champion Button, who is currently Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren, joining Ferrari alongside Fernando Alonso.

The news follows Button’s claim last week that, despite Martin Whitmarsh saying he would extend the 31-year-old’s McLaren deal, he sees “no sense” in signing a new long-term contract.

The Ferrari source said: “They (Ferrari) have already checked to see if he would be available.

“The team realise they need a stronger partner for Fernando Alonso than Felipe Massa if they want to win the title again.”

Hong Kong has taken its “first step” towards the formula one calendar.
That step was a F1 single seater demonstration put on by Red Bull in the Chinese city-state featuring Jaime Alguersuari.

Automobile association president Wesley Wan is quoted by AFP as admitting Hong Kong is interested in staging a proper grand prix “one day”.

“This is the first step in gaining the support of the people,” he told the South China Morning Post.

“My dream is that Hong Kong, like Singapore, Malaysia and China, will be a stop on the grand prix circuit,” added Wan.

He revealed that Hong Kong was singled out as a potential F1 venue prior to 1997.

“And as far as a street circuit is concerned, if Monte Carlo and Singapore can have it, why can’t Hong Kong?” he said.

Reports on Friday also said former F1 hosts Argentina, eyeing the renovation of the Velociudad circuit in Zarate, and Mexico, which was recently visited by Charlie Whiting, have been earmarked as potential future venues for grands prix.

The Mexican link is particularly interesting, given the involvement at Sauber this year of the world’s richest man Carlos Slim, who is already backing the Swiss team’s Mexican rookie Sergio Perez.

After sitting out Canada in the wake of his Monaco qualifying crash and hospitalisation, 21-year-old Perez said on Friday he hopes to return next weekend.

“I feel perfectly well and I’m very much looking forward to racing in Valencia,” he said.

Dr Helmut Marko has questioned the timing of the FIA’s blown exhaust clampdown.
Charlie Whiting told the teams in London on Thursday that restrictions on the sophisticated off-throttle systems will apply as of Silverstone in July, ahead of a total ban in 2012.

Some commentators have seen the mid-season ban as an attempt to curb the dominance of Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull team pioneered the current technology.

“Inventions such as the double diffuser and the F-duct were both banned at the end of the year,” Marko, Red Bull’s motor racing consultant, told German Bild-Zeitung newspaper.

“Now we see a ban in the middle of the season. That’s pretty strange.

“What we hope now is that it doesn’t hit us any harder than it does Renault, Mercedes and McLaren, while Ferrari is most certainly looking to gain an advantage,” claimed Marko.