The key to calling off the rescheduled 2011 Bahrain grand prix is held by Bernie Ecclestone.
That was the claim of the FIA on Friday, after F1 chief executive Ecclestone confirmed the Sakhir race is “not on” and the circuit admitted it will not host the race in October.

Official confirmation from the sport’s governing body, however, is still missing, with the FIA website showing Bahrain deleted from the calendar despite the recent World Motor Sport Council decision and India – originally with the October 30 date – now unlisted as “to be announced”.

“In the light of the statement by the Bahrain International Circuit, we are now waiting for the commercial rights holder (Ecclestone) to suggest a new calendar to the World Motor Sport Council,” a FIA spokesman is quoted by Reuters.

Christian Horner has hinted strongly that Mark Webber will stay with Red Bull in 2012.
Dr Helmut Marko, the energy drink company’s motor racing manager, stirred the nest this week when he said that if the Australian leaves the team at the end of the season, Red Bull is likely to promote a Toro Rosso driver.

But Horner, the Milton Keynes based team’s British principal, told reporters in Canada that 34-year-old Webber wants to stay in 2012, and Red Bull Racing feels the same way about him.

“Mark has made it clear that he wants to drive next year, and conversations with Mark tend to be quite straightforward,” said Horner.

Horner revealed that the conversations will take place later this year, and will involve gauging if Webber still has the right “motivation and desire”.

“We believe he does and we’re happy to continue,” he is quoted as saying by the BBC.

While teammate Sebastian Vettel has roared to a position of dominance so far in 2011, Webber admitted this week that he is struggling with the Pirelli tyres.

“He has had these issues with the tyres that he is working hard to get on top of,” confirmed Horner, “but we are very happy with him in the team.”

Germany’s Bild said on Thursday that Red Bull looked into signing another driver for 2012, with recent rumours pointing to Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg.

“The problem is that no one wants to go up against Vettel,” said the newspaper. “He is just too good.”

The signs are growing stronger that Mercedes are turning their winning ambitions towards the 2012 season.
Although the German squad has not given up on the current W02 car, team boss Ross Brawn said recently Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will need to wait until next season to have truly “excellent” machinery in their hands.

Rosberg confirmed to Auto Motor und Sport that the car’s problems are fundamental.

“It will be difficult to be on top this year,” the German is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. “Our aim must therefore be to get closer.”

Schumacher added: “We’re working on it, and everything that we put in now could be very important for next year.

“We are losing time with the problems we have while the others make progress. So we have to solve it this year or we will drag them (the problems) into next season.”

It is not an abundant quality in the F1 world, but the seven time world champion is calling on those critical to be patient.

“We are in the process of building something new. I am sure that Ross and I know how things are built internally and the approach of this team is in the right direction,” said 42-year-old Schumacher.

“It takes time. Red Bull needed four or five years. With Ferrari that period lasted for five years. We can not play with some magic and do it in half a year.”

Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa have revealed that Lewis Hamilton apologised personally after Monaco two weeks ago.

As well as making his controversial “because I’m black” comments after the famous street race, McLaren’s Hamilton also labelled Maldonado and Massa “ridiculous” and “stupid” in the wake of his in-race crashes.

“I talked to him. He called and apologised,” Venezuelan Maldonado is quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE in Canada.

“It’s a racing thing and it’s over. I think I paid the consequences of a bad weekend he had, but hopefully it won’t happen again,” added the Williams rookie.

Maldonado, who said the lost points in Monaco were “very important” to the British team, praised Hamilton’s “gentlemanly” act of contrition and confirmed he has “behaved very well” since the outburst.

Brazilian Massa, Hamilton’s championship rival of 2008, was not quite as forgiving but he also confirmed Hamilton telephoned to apologise.

“Everything I said about Lewis after the Monaco race is what I felt,” said the Ferrari driver, who had called on the FIA to impose race bans.

“Then he called me and he said sorry and the most important thing is that he understood what he did on track. So, this is fine and the matter is closed,” added Massa.

The unique Montreal layout might weaken his dominance for a weekend, but the general view in the F1 paddock is that Sebastian Vettel is on a stroll to back-to-back titles.
Indeed, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport thinks the 23-year-old could even trouble Michael Schumacher’s record for the most number of wins in a single season.

The record dates back to 2004, when Schumacher utterly dominated by winning 13 of the 18 races on the calendar — 72 per cent. If Vettel wins 8 of the remaining 13 races this year, his winning percentage will be 73 per cent.

Can he do it? “Nothing is impossible,” said the young German.

“It is certainly not impossible,” agrees record-holder and Vettel’s friend Schumacher, “but I don’t think Sebastian is bothered with statistics, only the end result.”

Added Vettel: “If you look at Michael’s records, some of them will be very hard to break. I’m not thinking about it. Each race is very tight, there are too many variables and it’s too far away.”

Schumacher’s 2004 teammate Rubens Barrichello, however, would not bet against the feat.

“There is no limit. Everything is achievable,” said the Brazilian.

Added Nick Heidfeld: “I think the dominance of Ferrari at that time was quite special. For Red Bull it’s a bit more track-dependant and we could perhaps see that for example here (in Canada).

“I do think he could do it, but McLaren in particular is a tough opponent,” said Heidfeld. “If you look at the past few years, they have caught up by the end of the season.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button said the record is “possible” for Vettel in 2011, “but hopefully it’s not realistic”.

“Our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen,” added the Briton.

“Red Bull’s qualifying pace is outstanding but their race pace is not as strong as they would like. On tracks where you can overtake, like here where there is always a good race, we can beat them.”

If Bernie Ecclestone were to bet a few dollars of his fortune on the outcome of the 2011 title, he would safely back his young friend Sebastian Vettel.
The F1 chief executive is famously friendly with the 23-year-old German who last year became the sport’s youngest champion and this year is running away with the spoils.

“Put it this way,” Ecclestone, 80, told the German magazine Speed Week. “Someone else would have to have very good luck to win this world championship.

“When I look at the speed of his car, I think only his own teammate has a chance,” added the Briton.

Vettel has won five of the opening six grands prix so far this season but there are more than a dozen to go.

“Until then, it’s a long way to go,” he is quoted by the SID news agency. “Last year we saw how quickly things can change.”

Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko agrees: “Sebastian has a comfortable lead but there are 350 points to go.”

In reality, Vettel is on target to set a new record for the earliest-decided title, with Michael Schumacher holding the current record for winning in 2002 with 6 races to go.

But he is cautious: “Anything – reliability, mistakes – can happen.”

FIA president Jean Todt hopes so.

“It is obvious for the sport that it would be best to have a different winner at every grand prix, but he has done a great job and has a great talent,” the Frenchman told Spain’s Diario Sport.

Mark Webber has singled out tyres as the crucial difference between his stellar 2010 season and a drop of performance so far this year.
The Australian, famous in the paddock for refusing to roll out “a shopping list of excuses”, was speaking from the St Lawrence river as he did a day of kayaking ahead of the Montreal weekend.

“You’ll never find me fishing. I need to push myself,” said the 34-year-old.

He has sat in the sister Red Bull in 2011 while his teammate and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel won 5 of the 6 races so far.

“I hope I can continue my momentum of encouraging results and I hope to get my first win soon,” he told rds.ca, “because I was winning quite often last year.”

Once again explaining his reluctance to make excuses, Webber pointed to the tyres as a factor in 2011.

“They are very different and the drivers are very sensitive to that (change),” he said, referring to the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli.

“It’s like a golfer or a tennis player changing his equipment. When you’re at this level and trying to gain an edge with tiny details, the small changes can make big differences.

“But it’s up to the drivers to adapt,” added Webber.

By the same media outlet, Vettel on Wednesday was asked what has made the difference for him in 2011.

“There is not one ingredient which, alone, turns the tide,” the German insisted. “It is the details, the little things, that all come together to make a big difference.”

Pedro de la Rosa has predicted a “very interesting” weekend in Canada.
In comments provided by his press office, the experienced McLaren reserve driver said the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a layout on which overtaking can usually be done “quite easily”.

In 2011, the new ‘DRS’ adjustable rear wing system has debuted and for the Montreal race this weekend it will for the first time be deployed twice per lap.

De la Rosa, who has been working in recent days in the McLaren simulator, said Canada will be “extremely interesting for many reasons”.

One reason is DRS, because its influence in Canada will mean teams take different approaches to setup.

“We will have cars with a variety of (top) speeds depending on the aerodynamic settings. With DRS everything has changed so we won’t know if teams are opting to have a fast car for the straights or for the curves,” said de la Rosa.

And the 40-year-old Spaniard predicted qualifying to play a minor role.

“This is the circuit where the importance of grid position is probably least, so it’s better to concentrate on having a fast and consistent car for Sunday.”

Renault test driver Bruno Senna agrees that predictions for the weekend are difficult.

“Our car has been consistently among the five fastest in a straight line,” the Brazilian told Globo Esporte when contemplating the long straights of Canada.

“But downforce is essential, especially for the chicanes. Therefore, it will remain very difficult to tackle the cars that are aerodynamically the strongest, like Red Bull and McLaren,” added Senna.

Bernie Ecclestone could send his own envoy to Bahrain as the 2011 race rescheduling saga becomes a political power struggle.
Some commentators have raised eyebrows this week as Ecclestone, F1′s chief executive, appeared to be back in step with his old sparring partner Max Mosley in the wake of the FIA’s controversial decision to slot Bahrain back into the 2011 calendar.

Ecclestone has admitted recently he is “at loggerheads” with Mosley’s successor as FIA president Jean Todt, whose reign he has described as a “joke”.

The events of the past days means Ecclestone is now also aligned with the F1 teams who have written in a letter their displeasure at the Bahrain rescheduling for late October and the extension of the calendar until December.

On the other side are Todt and the likes of Carlos Gracia, the FIA vice-president whose report – which after his recent visit to Bahrain was described in some quarters as a “whitewash” – has been leaked online.

Mosley this week described Gracia as a “very, very nice man who speaks no English and as far as I know, speaks no Arabic”.

Gracia, speaking in Valencia on Tuesday, said he found Bahrain peaceful when he visited recently but acknowledged that demonstrations and protests have occurred since then.

“That is something that neither I nor anyone else could predict,” he is quoted in the Spanish press.

“We do not want the grand prix held at all costs. Formula one in total is 2500 people and we would not put at risk the drivers, the mechanics, the sponsors, anyone,” added Gracia.

Ecclestone told the Financial Times he might now send his own inspector to Bahrain.

“That is precisely what we should do,” he said. “I wish I knew more. We’ve been told there are no problems. The FIA said everything is fine, that (Gracia) met people. So who do you believe?”

FOTA confirmed it wrote a letter to the FIA, and the latter has now confirmed it was received.

“We have received the letter and we are considering it,” said a spokesman. “The FIA is a transparent governing body and we welcome all input in the matter.”

And a spokesperson told the Telegraph the FIA is “checking the small print” of the regulations in the wake of the World Motor Sport Council’s controversial decision late last week.

A Spanish television station has been ordered to pay Fernando Alonso EUR 73,000.
The case dates back to December 2009, when the channel Antena 3 reported that the double world champion had separated from his wife Raquel del Rosario, the lead singer of the band El Sueno de Morfeo.

La Voz de Asturias and El Mundo said on Wednesday that a Madrid court has finally agreed to 29-year-old Ferrari driver Alonso’s charge of slander.

The judge is ordering Antena 3 to correct the information and, as per Alonso’s request, pay the 73,000 euros in full to the United Nations Children’s Fund Unicef.

With the on-off 2011 Bahrain GP saga becoming farcical, Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday announced his sport “of course” cannot go to the troubled island Kingdom later this year.
Prior to the FIA last Friday controversially rescheduling the race for October 30, F1 chief executive Ecclestone seemed to favour that decision being taken.

But the 80-year-old Briton has now isolated president Jean Todt by urging the teams group FOTA to write their letter, demanding a new vote of the World Motor Sport Council, and now coming to the obvious conclusion that F1 must stay away for now.

“Hopefully we can return in the future, but of course it’s not on,” Ecclestone told BBC Sport.

“The schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants — they’re the facts.”

The FIA did not immediately comment.

It is likely a Toro Rosso driver will step up if Mark Webber does not stay at Red Bull beyond 2011, the energy drink company’s motor racing chief Helmut Marko has admitted.
While most key players including teammate Sebastian Vettel, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey recently had their contracts extended, Red Bull Racing is holding off re-signing Webber until his ongoing performance and motivation is gauged.

Already fighting for survival at the junior team Toro Rosso, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi are therefore also dicing for arguably the most coveted seat in F1 at present.

“This is by design,” Marko, the manager of Red Bull’s driver development programme, told the Italian magazine Autosprint.

“We will try to do what we did three years ago with Sebastian Vettel, when David Coulthard retired,” he said.

“Of course, this will not be automatic,” insisted Austrian Marko. “If a driver does not meet all of the professional requirements, we will not offer him the opportunity to drive at Red Bull.”

As in Canada this weekend, there will also be two ‘DRS’ overtaking zones for Valencia’s grand prix later in June.
The news was confirmed by European grand prix organiser Valmor Sports’ Jorge Martinez Aspar in the Spanish port city on Tuesday.

Valencia’s street circuit has usually not hosted the most spectacular formula one races but the adjustable rear wing innovation could change that, Aspar said in Spanish reports.

“Hopefully it will be a great show,” he told El Mundo newspaper.

The organisers have reduced ticket prices for 2011 by 12 per cent with the goal of attracting 80,000 race-day spectators and breaking even financially.

“We have a contract until 2014, with the option to renew for five more years until 2019, and we believe that we will meet the deadline,” he is quoted by Europa Press, playing down rumours one of F1′s two Spanish hosts might make way to reduce the size of the sport’s swelling calendar.

Spanish motor racing federation president Carlos Gracia said the situation could be helped by the Barcelona and Valencia races having more space between them on the schedule.

But he insisted: “The two Spanish races have contracts in force and I know they are current in their payments and want to fulfil their contracts.

“We might have to change the date so they are not so close together but two grands prix in Spain can live together perfectly well.”

A stormy weekend of weather has been forecast for Montreal’s Canadian grand prix.
That is one more variable thrown in the face of Red Bull’s current dominance, alongside expected high tyre degradation, two ‘DRS’ overtaking zones for the first time and the fact that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton dominated a year ago.

“I’ve always got on really well with the track, the layout seems to suit my driving style,” said the Briton, referring to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“We have a great engine, the best KERS system in the sport and excellent traction out of slow corners. I’ll be looking for a strong result on Sunday,” added Hamilton.

As in Canada last year, 64-year-old former double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi will be the driver representative in the stewards’ room.

The FIA will have broken its own rules if the Bahrain grand prix goes ahead in October without the teams’ consent.
That is the claim of the governing body’s former president Max Mosley, as the intrigue surrounding the rescheduled race in the troubled island Kingdom deepens this week.

Last Friday, the FIA – now led by Jean Todt – stunned the F1 world by announcing October 30 as the new date for the 2011 Bahrain grand prix, shunting India to an unprecedentedly-late December 11 season finale.

But Mosley told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme on Tuesday that he thinks there is not “the slightest chance” the change will ultimately stick.

Indeed, Bernie Ecclestone is now pushing for a new vote of the World Motor Sport Council, while the F1 teams FOTA group is understood to have written a letter to the sport’s authorities asking for the same.

Mosley, also opposed to Bahrain on political grounds, said: “Apart from anything else you cannot change the calendar in the way it has been proposed without the unanimous agreement of the teams.

“So until written agreement of the teams is forthcoming, you can’t actually change the date. It can’t be done,” he said.