Three formula one teams are interested in signing Romain Grosjean, according to Renault chief Eric Boullier.
Frenchman Boullier, who also heads the Gravity driver management company, is reportedly considering his countryman as an immediate replacement for Nick Heidfeld.

But L’Equipe quotes Boullier as saying “three teams” are in the running to have the 25-year-old – who is leading the current GP2 championship – in their 2012 lineups.

And Renault team owner Gerard Lopez admits Grosjean is a candidate to replace Heidfeld in 2012.

“Vitaly (Petrov) has a contract to the end of 2012,” he said. “We could consider Vitaly with Romain, but that doesn’t depend on us. It depends on the health of Robert (Kubica).”

Boullier admits Grosjean struggled in 2009 when he made his F1 debut amid the ‘crashgate’ scandal alongside Fernando Alonso.

“As I am very close to him, I can confirm that he is different now, much more mature than two years ago,” he said.

He told Globo Esporte: “We’re waiting to see what happens with Robert.”

Designer Nikolas Tombazis has revealed that next year’s Ferrari will be very different to the current single seater.
The Italian team recently split with technical director Aldo Costa, admitting Ferrari needs to be more aggressive in order to start championship campaigns on terms with its rivals.

For 2012, Greek designer Tombazis has revealed that “many areas of the car will change.

“The change will be greater than in other years,” he is quoted by Spain’s AS newspaper.

Tombazis is also quoted as saying by Brazil’s Globo Esporte: “I think honestly next year’s car will be neither an evolution from this year or a total change.”

But a difficulty for teams at this point of the season, particularly with Red Bull so far ahead in the championships, is how to split the resources between the two car projects.

A further complication is that a major development area in 2011 is the blown exhaust, which will not be allowed next season.

“Some resources should be used for this year’s car because we want to win some more races,” said Tombazis. “Obviously some things do not apply to next year’s car, but some do.

“So we need to address this, trying to prioritise our resources for the two cars.”

Organisers of the 2012 US grand prix are still yet to access state funding for the Circuit of the Americas project.
The FIA has scheduled a mid-June date for the inaugural Austin event, amid reports race organisers want a different date due to the hot Texas summer.

But time to build the bespoke facility is nonetheless short, with the City of Austin only now filing documents with the state to access the touted $25 million in support.

The Texas comptroller has 30 days to review the request and release the funding from the major events trust fund, according to the local Austin American Statesman.

“It is unclear when the funds … need to be paid to F1 officials,” added the report.

A new wheel nut design was the cause of Felipe Massa’s pitstop problem that cost the Brazilian fourth place at the recent German grand prix.

Massa entered the pits ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel but a delay cost him the place to the world championship-leading German.

Ferrari’s head of track operations Diego Ioverno explained that the team, in the race for faster pitstops in the no-refuelling and multiple tyre-stop era, has been experimenting this year with new methods and equipment.

He said that at Silverstone, a new wheel nut design contributed to Ferrari performing the fastest overall pitstops.

“Then in Germany we were again using this new wheel nut, which does work better, but the system is still not perfect and, at Felipe’s last tyre change, we lost the connection between the wheel nut and wheel nut gun, which cost us around one and a half seconds,” he confirmed.

“So we have more work to do on perfecting it.”

The team has failed to win a race so far in July, but Red Bull remains the favourite for victory this weekend in Hungary.
That is the claim of triple world champion Niki Lauda, who said the energy drink-owned team is usually very fast on the many tight curves of the Hungaroring.

“If normal temperatures prevail, and if everything goes to plan, then yes — he (Sebastian Vettel) is the clear favourite,” the Austrian told APA news agency.

Lauda added that 24-year-old Vettel is “still clearly on course” for the 2011 title, despite Red Bull losing to Ferrari at Silverstone and then McLaren last weekend in Germany.

“He still has a big gap in the standings,” said Lauda. “He need not worry.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso agrees that the championship is still heading Red Bull’s way.

“We did very well in Britain, McLaren won in Germany, but Red Bull is always on the podium, if not with one driver then the other,” he is quoted by La Stampa newspaper.

“They are good on all circuits, so in Hungary they will be competitive. We are the ones who must make further progress,” added Alonso.

At McLaren there is a mix of confidence and trepidation, with Lewis Hamilton winning at the Nurburgring amid the suspicion the MP4-26 might revert to struggling in hotter temperatures.

“We might get to Hungary and be massively off because we might overheat our tyres,” he said.

Paradoxically, Ferrari is looking forward to better weather in Hungary.

“It should be a good race for us to be able to go on holiday after a formidable July,” predicted test driver Marc Gene in El Mundo newspaper.

Hamilton is pushing for a better ‘DRS’ rear wing system for his McLaren, with boss Martin Whitmarsh telling Auto Motor und Sport it will not be ready until Spa after the summer break.

“We don’t have a DRS as efficient as the others,” Hamilton said. “That’s what we need to work on.”

Whitmarsh, meanwhile, thinks McLaren and Ferrari need to unite to combat their common enemy.

“Ferrari is in the same situation as us; we need each other to take points off Red Bull,” the Briton is quoted by Corriere dello Sport.

Talks about Jerome d’Ambrosio staying at Virgin next year have begun, according to a Belgian report.

RTL TVI said that after teammate Timo Glock’s new long-term contract was announced at the Nurburgring, attention is now turning to whether rookie d’Ambrosio, 25, is also staying put.

D’Ambrosio, who is managed by the Eric Boullier-headed Gravity company, insisted he is not worried.

“I am very much supported by Gravity. It allows me to just get on with what I have to do at the grands prix,” he said when asked about the plans for the future.

D’Ambrosio said he left the Nurburgring happy with the weekend.

“It was a slight turn – I hope – in my season, because until now I have had some bad patches, especially on Saturdays,” he said.

“But in Germany I managed to put everything in place and be close to my teammate all weekend.

“I have finished 9 of the 10 races, which is important because it means I have made few mistakes. I have to continue like that,” he added.

The local Walloon government is not ruling out selling Spa-Francorchamps in order to secure the fabled circuit’s future in F1.
Well-connected Belgian motor racing figure Bas Leinders this week suggested there is a serious buyer for the track, amid reports its race might have to annually alternate with a French venue in future.

Leinders referred to a “big investment company”, and Belgian television RTBF suggested it might be Renault team owner Genii.

But the Luxembourg newspaper Wort said both Spa circuit boss Etienne Davignon and Genii have denied the rumours.

The Belga news agency also said Spa chief Pierre-Alain Thibaut played down the link with Genii’s Gerard Lopez.

So too did Walloon government minister Jean-Claude Marcourt, but he admitted to La Libre newspaper that Spa-Francorchamps might be interested in linking up with a private investor.

He told La Derniere Heure: “I am open to any interesting initiatives, even though it is difficult to talk hypothetically.

“But I am interested so long as the private investor takes a substantial financial risk,” he added.

Bernie Ecclestone has proposed to ink a new contract with the Nurburgring with terms equal to those of Hungary’s formula one race.

The new politically-sensitive coalition government has announced it no longer intends to offer funding for the Nurburgring’s grand prix, which alternates annually on the F1 schedule with the other German venue Hockenheim.

Talks about a new contract began at the German grand prix last weekend, and DPA news agency reports that Bernie Ecclestone has offered to lower the sanctioning fee.

The report said Ecclestone is willing to offer a contract identical to that possessed by organisers of this weekend’s race at the Hungaroring.

“The contract in Hungary is definitely cheaper,” a spokeswoman for Nurburgring GmbH confirmed.

It is believed the Nurburgring’s current contract involves a EUR 20 million per race sanctioning fee, and that the race last weekend recorded a loss of 13.5 million.

Force India will wait until long after the 2011 season before finalising its driver lineup for next year.

Team owner and boss Vijay Mallya is openly keen to hang onto impressive Scottish rookie Paul di Resta, whilst also having long-term driver Adrian Sutil on the books along with significant Medion sponsorship.

And in the wings is Nico Hulkenberg, the team’s current Friday and reserve driver whose F1 career began promisingly with Williams in 2010.

“It is way too early,” said Mallya when asked by F1′s official website about the 2012 Force India lineup.

“I will announce my driver lineup around December 15th. Not before that. I want all my guys to focus on the job at hand and not start speculating about their future.”

Red Bull is set to expand its motoring foray beyond the championship winning formula one team.
Autocar reports that the Austrian energy drink company will use its recent F1 team sponsorship with Nissan’s luxury division Infiniti to expand beyond the sport.

Team boss Christian Horner is quoted as confirming Red Bull wants to use its “expertise outside F1″.

“Red Bull used to be known only as an energy drink company, but now it is recognised as an engineering team. It’s a natural evolution for us to get involved in road car engineering,” he said.

The first step will reportedly be a co-developed sports adaptation of an existing Infiniti car.

The Valencian government has not confirmed reports that its street circuit may alternatively share a single annual grand prix with Barcelona.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone admitted at the Nurburgring last weekend that talks are “on” about hosting races at the two venues on alternate years.

But earlier this month, the Valencia sport minister Dolores Johnson had said it would be “very good” if the port city was the only Spanish venue in F1.

This week, she said she has “no news” about the situation except to insist that it is Ecclestone “who works out the schedule”.

“I reiterate that there is nothing new (to say). As far as the European grand prix (at Valencia) is concerned, the contract that we have remains in force, and as soon as there is anything else we will let you know,” Johnson told the EFE news agency.

When asked specifically about the reports of Barcelona and Valencia alternating annually, she added that the latter venue would support “any possibility to make the grand prix stronger”.

Valencia mayor Rita Barbera, meanwhile, said she is “convinced” that Ecclestone remains fully supportive of the city’s race, even if she could provide no details about whether he “is open to an alternation (with Valencia) or not”.

Mercedes is looking to boost its F1 staff numbers by 100 people, according to German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.
The report said the German marque’s experiment at trying to succeed again with Brawn GP’s modest head-count of 450 at the Brackley headquarters has failed.

Bild said all the other top teams, including Red Bull (525 people), Ferrari and McLaren (both 550) have significantly higher staff numbers.

The news that Mercedes has embarked on a major recruitment drive for its F1 team follows the visit to the Nurburgring last weekend of Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche.

And team boss Ross Brawn was quoted as saying: “The potential of this car has been exhausted.”

Bild said Mercedes GP is advertising for 39 jobs, with several of those positions “to be filled twice or even three times”.

Speculation that Nick Heidfeld might lose his Renault race seat is heating up.
Already this week, the German sources Bild and Auto Motor und Sport have wondered whether Heidfeld having to give up his Friday practice seat in Hungary is a sign he has lost the support of team boss Eric Boullier.

On Monday we quoted Boullier as having told France’s Eurosport at the Nurburgring that he has been “clearly disappointed” with the performance of the German veteran so far in 2011.

“We rely more on Vitaly (Petrov) for performance, with Nick more suitable for the development of the car,” said the Frenchman.

More of that interview has now emerged at the sports.fr website, with Boullier saying of Heidfeld: “He has not provided the leadership we wanted. He hasn’t taken hold of the team.”

Speculation is now sure to fire up about Heidfeld being replaced in the near future by either Brazilian Senna or the Boullier-managed Romain Grosjean.

According to broadcaster James Allen’s blog, the latter Frenchman could resume his abortive F1 career as soon as he wraps up the GP2 championship.

“He wasn’t ready in 2009 and those seven races alongside Alonso did him a lot of harm,” Boullier said at the Nurburgring. “He’s proved in GP2 this year that he’s a very good driver and he deserves a chance.”

Departing technical director Sam Michael’s last grand prix with the Williams race team will be Korea in October.

Jacques-Armand Dupuis, writing for France’s autohebdo.fr, reported that the Australian is not sure if he will then revert to a factory-based job or be sent on ‘gardening leave’ as the British team looks ahead to 2012.

“Most of the technical directors go to the races, but the (new) structure at Williams means that he will not.

“Mark Gillan is the chief engineer and he will be in Japan and Korea and he will then take my place,” said Michael, who has been linked with a move to Force India.

Dupuis reported that moves to Mercedes and Ferrari have also been touted for the 40-year-old.

“Everything is open for the future,” insisted Michael.

Meanwhile, after Williams experimented with a no-KERS configuration for Rubens Barrichello at the Nurburgring, Michael confirmed that the energy recovery technology will return to the Brazilian’s car this weekend.

Karun Chandhok thinks he will get more time at the wheel of the Team Lotus car after replacing Jarno Trulli at the Nurburgring.
It is rumoured the Indian driver’s outing in Germany, with Trulli returning to his car this weekend in Hungary, is part of the deal struck to take his sponsorship money to the Tony Fernandes-led team as third driver.

“I believe I’ll get some more chances because Tony seems quite happy with the job I did, the engineers seem happy with the job I did,” Chandhok, who struggled on Sunday and finished last, told Reuters.

The 27-year-old is also strongly supported by his father Vicky, a leading Indian motor racing official, as well as F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who will be pushing for Chandhok to reappear on the inaugural Indian grand prix grid in October.

The trio, as well as Fernandes, were spotted in conversation on the Nurburgring grid.

Chandhok revealed on Monday that they had “basically told me to go away and leave it to Tony and my dad and him (Ecclestone). I think his (Ecclestone’s) last words were, ‘Get on with your job and leave us to it’.”