The Renault team will keep its current name as well as the black and gold livery in 2012.

Sponsor Group Lotus’ chief Dany Bahar met with reporters for lunch on Friday where he said it is possible the Malaysian-owned carmaker will eye ownership of F1′s Enstone based team one day.

But for now “We are absolutely fine as it is,” he is quoted as saying by Reuters.

Officially, the team is called Lotus Renault GP this year but most commentators and fans refer to Tony Fernandes’ entirely separate Malaysian team as ‘Lotus’.

Bahar indicated he is happy with the Renault chassis name for now.

“If we decide to go for the long term (ownership) then a renaming would be an issue,” he said. “But at the moment it’s out of the question and it’s not something we are pursuing. Out of the question until 2013.”

The reference to 2013 could be because until the current Concorde Agreement runs out, team name changes must be agreed by all rival bosses — including Team Lotus’ Fernandes who is embroiled in a bitter naming dispute with Group Lotus.

A recent court battle allowed Fernandes to keep the Lotus name, while Renault was cleared to keep racing in the iconic black and gold Lotus livery.

“It’s a nice livery that is perceived well by the people, especially on the road car side, so I see no reason why we should change it,” said Bahar.

Hispania team owner Jose Ramon Carabante has been sentenced to three months in jail.
But the 59-year-old Spaniard will not actually serve time, according to reports including in the Marca sports newspaper.

He was, however, convicted of fraud surrounding the sale of land on which the promised construction of homes in 1997 and 1998 was not carried out.

The court in Cadiz, in southwestern Spain, also sentenced some other defendants whilst acquitting others.

At the time in question, Carabante was a director of the land developer, signing the contracts and managing the money.

Today, he is the major shareholder of his struggling formula one team HRT, which is targeting tenth in the 2011 world championship and a step forward for its third season on the grid next year.

Team boss Colin Kolles revealed on Friday that an aerodynamic programme in one of Mercedes’ wind tunnels will begin in July.

“We will switch very soon to the 2012 car,” he said.

The FIA is pressing ahead with its clampdown on blown exhaust technology following a meeting in London.
The technical working group met with Charlie Whiting on Thursday where, despite some controversy, the FIA delegate told teams they will have to severely limit their off-throttle diffuser exhaust blowing from next month’s British grand prix.

It is suggested pioneer Red Bull will be the team most affected by the ban, but Mercedes and Renault are also leaders in the field.

“The degree that a team will be affected is dependent on how much they’re exploiting that technology,” Red Bull chief designer Rob Marshall told The Sun newspaper.

“There are certainly some teams that are exploiting it very vigorously and some that aren’t exploiting it at all. Some will suffer more than others.”

And Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is quoted by Italy’s Tuttosport: “After Silverstone it will be possible to express an opinion about our season.

“All I can say is that I hope it (the clampdown) affects us less than others.”

Red Bull is confident about getting on top of its recurring KERS problems in the near future.
The RB7 has dominated the 2011 season so far, but the team has at the same time struggled consistently with its energy recovery system, having not used the technology when it was first seen in formula one in 2009.

Red Bull has taken a different approach to KERS than its main competitors, reducing the size and weight – and therefore power – of the basic Magneti Marelli unit in order to maximise Adrian Newey’s parameters for the car’s aerodynamic packaging.

“I’m still sure that we’ve done the right thing,” the team’s chief designer Rob Marshall told The Sun newspaper.

“Once we get it to work, we’ll be happy that we’ve made the right choices. We haven’t made any wrong decisions,” he insisted.

However, according to Newey, Red Bull underestimated the challenge taken on by deciding to considerably tinker with the unit that is proving reliable aboard the Renault cars.

“It needs a lot of research, lots of development. It is not really our forte. We are an aerodynamics and, sort of, chassis composite engineering group rather than a KERS group,” said the Briton.

He admitted that Red Bull implemented the project with quite a small group of engineers dedicated to KERS.

“With hindsight (the group was) probably a little bit too small,” said Newey.

Fears have eased that Austin’s city council could scupper the 2012 US grand prix.
It emerged last week that if council members refuse to sign up as “endorsing municipality”, the race organisers’ $25 million in annual state funding for the Circuit of the Americas project is in doubt.

The council agreement would involve Austin contributing $4m per year to Texas’ Major Events Trust Fund, even though the race organisers are pledging to pick up the bill.

Earlier reports had said the organisers were hoping the $4m would be funded by taxpayers in subsequent years, but it now emerges that they have agreed to pay up for the full decade of the formula one contract.

“This confirms what I’ve been saying all along — that the city would be contributing no up-front money, and that the city would not be at risk,” confirmed Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell.

Asked if the agreement will be formalised by the time the council meets next week, he is quoted by the Austin Chronicle: “I would hope so.”

Sauber wants to ease Esteban Gutierrez into formula one rather than throw him in the deep end with a last-minute race seat.
That was the explanation of team boss Peter Sauber on Thursday following the Mexican teen’s disappointment about not being called up in Montreal to replace the ill Sergio Perez.

To official reserve driver Gutierrez’s chagrin, he was not even summoned to Canada before his McLaren counterpart Pedro de la Rosa, 40, sat in for Perez.

“I understand the question, but we have a responsibility to Gutierrez,” Sauber is quoted by Germany’s Speed Week.

“It is important to bring him slowly towards formula one,” added Sauber, whose Hinwil based team is backed considerably by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s companies.

Engine supplier Renault has confirmed its serious concerns about the dithering over formula one’s engine regulations for 2013.
FIA president Jean Todt wants to push ahead with the ‘greener’ four-cylinder turbo route, but has admitted the rules might be delayed due to concerns expressed by Cosworth, Ferrari and Mercedes.

Managing director Jean-Francois Caubet has signalled this week that if Renault’s competitors succeed in postponing the new rules, he fears the French carmaker’s commitment to F1 would be in doubt.

“We want to know what to do rather than delay or defer,” he is quoted by Autosprint’s auto.it.

“It seems to me that the situation is losing control. We understand and respect the ideas of Ferrari, Mercedes and Cosworth, but we are not willing to accept delays or to see things change in this way.

“The matter is becoming a problem,” insisted Caubet. “It is not clear who is managing the sport.”

Todt admitted last week that “those responsible at Renault tell me they will go out of F1″ if the engine rules do not come into effect in 2013.

If Sergio Perez has to sit out a third consecutive race, Pedro de la Rosa will occupy his Sauber seat.
Mexican Perez, 21, withdrew ill from his seat after initial Friday practice in Canada, two weeks after suffering concussion in a Monaco qualifying crash.

Sauber’s managing director Monisha Kaltenborn on Thursday said the rookie is currently training in his native country.

“He is doing very well. We see no reason why he shouldn’t drive in Valencia,” she told Germany’s motorsport-total.com, referring to next weekend’s European grand prix.

Sauber’s technical boss James Key, meanwhile, confirmed that if Perez is not fit enough for the streets of the Spanish port city, then Spaniard de la Rosa will occupy the seat.

“He did a great job for us,” confirmed the Briton, referring to the 40-year-old McLaren reserve driver’s race at short notice in Montreal.

Speaking to the Spanish press on Thursday, the country’s motor racing president Carlos Gracia hoped de la Rosa will be in the Sauber cockpit next weekend, “without wishing ill on anyone”.

Team Lotus’ latest sponsor deal will mean the outfit runs KERS technology in 2012.
Team owner and boss Tony Fernandes announced this week the green T128 cars will begin running General Electric branding from Silverstone in July.

Asked by CNN if the wide-ranging agreement will lead to Team Lotus running energy-recovery technology in F1 next year, he said: “Without a doubt. Definitely, next year, we will have KERS … so it’s a big plus, not only financially, but technologically”.

In 2011, Team Lotus is one of only a few teams not already using KERS technology.

Ferrari’s new Marlboro deal is worth almost half a billion dollars to the famous Italian team.
The Maranello based team, officially known as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, said in a brief statement this week that Philip Morris International had extended its existing contract to the end of 2015.

The original deal was set to run until the end of next year.

The anti tobacco-advertising rules in F1, Europe and most of the rest of the world means that Marlboro’s actual red and white branding cannot be displayed on the Ferrari single seaters.

But Sportspro reports that Philip Morris is still pledging $160 million to Ferrari for the F1 sponsorship each year.

The new deal follows Ferrari’s inauguration of a new F1 logo for this year, with its angular red and white colours and black wording closely resembling Marlboro cigarette packets.

Bruno Senna could soon replace Nick Heidfeld in injured regular Robert Kubica’s Renault race seat.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, team owner Gerard Lopez spent some time before the Canadian grand prix in reserve driver Senna’s native Brazil.

The Luxembourg businessman was reportedly looking for sponsors, on the assumption 27-year-old Senna is drafted in to replace German Heidfeld, who is under pressure by the Enstone based team to up his pace.

Renault figures have played down recent rumours of financial trouble, but the German magazine insists the team “desperately needs money”, including to pay outstanding bills to its engine supplier.

It is believed, however, that 34-year-old Heidfeld’s place is not immediately in doubt, despite him crashing out in Montreal after hitting the rear of Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber.

“Until the crash, his race had been perfect,” said team boss Eric Boullier.

McLaren is hoping the blown exhaust crackdown gives the MP4-26 a big performance boost in qualifying.
With their race pace now close, McLaren believes a big reason for its qualifying deficit is due to Red Bull’s perfection of the blown exhaust strategy on Saturday.

“It’s quite possible we will close up in qualifying by half a second (if there is a ban),” McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

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.”

The FIA’s intention to clamp down on the technology for Silverstone in mid July will be discussed between bosses and Charlie Whiting on Thursday in London.

It has even been rumoured that Red Bull is not ruling out challenging the FIA’s decision.

“This is about an interpretation of the rules,” said Force India’s Otmar Szafnauer.

“If the interpretation is different to the FIA, the teams can appeal, but on the other hand the court’s ruling will be the interpretation of the federation.”

Red Bull’s Adrian Newey has expressed surprise and anger that the FIA seems to be pressing ahead with a mid-season technical rule change on the grounds of something other than safety.

But a Pirelli source told O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper: “The (Red Bull) exhausts are too close to the tyres.”

The source said teams have been told that, on safety grounds, there should be at least a 40cm distance between the exhausts – producing on average 700 degrees C – and the tyres.

Not long after some were calling time on Michael Schumacher’s poor comeback, the seven time world champion raced almost to the podium in the chaotic Canadian grand prix.
“That’s sport; the situation changes quickly,” said Mercedes’ motor racing vice-president Norbert Haug.

“It showed he can still do a good job if we can give him the right car,” the German is quoted by Italy’s Tuttosport.

Haug told L’Equipe: “It’s like what happened with his brother Ralf in DTM. He had a lot of criticism but is now doing good results.”

Indeed, during the weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve rumours abounded that Schumacher, 42, was set to sign a two-year extension to his current contract, which is set to expire at the end of next season.

The rumours were based on the German’s claim that it will probably be after 2012 that Mercedes will reap the benefits of the groundwork being laid now.

“I heard the speculation and it was an interpretation of my comments,” said Schumacher. “I still have the three seasons to complete and will decide my future soon also on the basis of the results.”

Also on his “five years” comments, L’Equipe quoted Schumacher as saying: “It (a contract extension) is not what I meant.

“At the right time we will talk about the future.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he had noted Schumacher’s performance in Canada, in which he came the closest so far to securing a comeback podium.

“I find it incredible that in a year in a half he has failed to do so,” the Italian told Sky Sports 24.

“I was pleased to see him up there and do not forget all that he gave to us,” said Montezemolo.

Bernie Ecclestone has leapt to Lewis Hamilton’s defence amid criticism of the 2008 world champion’s recent driving tactics.
Commentators including Niki Lauda have harshly criticised the 26-year-old for his recent aggressive driving, including crashes and controversy at the most recent grands prix in Monaco and Canada.

But F1 chief executive Ecclestone insisted: “People have been wrong to rubbish Lewis.

“What we want is people racing, and all the people who watch it want that,” he told the Independent.

Hamilton’s boss Martin Whitmarsh also urged Hamilton, who collided with his teammate Jenson Button in Montreal, to keep racing rather than worrying too much about crashing.

“If he holds hold back for fear of having contact then he won’t be the great racer he is and do the job he has to do,” said the McLaren team principal.

Former F1 driver Jos Verstappen wrote in his De Telegraaf newspaper column that the criticisms of Hamilton in recent days have been “exaggerated”.

“He has had two unfortunate races, but each incident must be viewed separately,” said the Dutchman. “In Monaco with Felipe Massa, he did something stupid.

“But the collision with Button last Sunday was not Hamilton’s fault. I could understand his overtaking attempt there and Button could have given him more space.

“Despite all the commotion Hamilton is a great driver. He just needs to empty his head now and get luck back on his side,” said Verstappen.

Christian Klien thinks there is no chance Hamilton will change any time soon.

“He is just a very aggressive driver; a thoroughbred,” the Austrian told Red Bull television Servus TV. “We (F1) need that and it’s because of that many races are so exciting.”

The 2011 Bahrain grand prix saga came to a conclusion on Wednesday when the FIA confirmed Sakhir will not host a race later this season.

Without actually mentioning the troubled island Kingdom, the governing body said a fax vote of the World Motor Sport Council had ratified the calendar that was “originally proposed” for the 2011 world championship.

The FIA said the vote was “unanimous”, even though the same word was used for the recent reinstatement of the Bahrain race for 30 October.

However, India will now host its inaugural grand prix on its original 30 October weekend, with the season ending a month later rather than in mid December.

Bernie Ecclestone revealed to the Independent newspaper that Bahraini officials travelled to Montreal last weekend to urge the F1 chief executive to consider rescheduling the race for 30 October, or 4 or 11 December.

“I told them that I thought withdrawing was the easiest way to handle the situation,” he said.

Bahrain will however be involved with the 30 October race this year, with the Sakhir circuit’s medical team tasked with training and assisting its Indian counterparts, according to the Gulf Daily News.