Formula one drivers have asked to discuss Lewis Hamilton’s recent driving during a meeting ahead of the Japanese grand prix at Suzuka.
That is the claim of Italian specialist magazine Autosprint after the McLaren driver’s latest run-in last weekend in Singapore, where Felipe Massa physically confronted the Briton.

Ferrari’s Massa sarcastically suggested 26-year-old Hamilton should call upon his father for help, while Anthony Hamilton blamed a failure of support by his son’s new management led by entertainment agent Simon Fuller.

Former driver Hans-Joachim Stuck, meanwhile, has suggested Hamilton needs a “therapist”, while David Coulthard thinks he needs a wise manager like Martin Brundle.

“It doesn’t have to be a manager necessarily,” the Scot wrote in the Telegraph, “but you need someone to be able to sit down and talk to you with complete honesty. To tell you you’re being an idiot.”

Autosprint claims Hamilton’s rivals have asked FIA race director Charlie Whiting to allow a conversation about his overly aggressive driving style during the Suzuka briefing.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh acknowledged 2011 has “not been a good season for Lewis Hamilton” but said the tone of the latest criticism “is wrong”.

“Lewis is still a young guy, he is learning and he will learn from all of this. He will win races and I am sure he is going to win more championships,” he added.

There are fears about the ongoing involvement in the 2012 US grand prix project of the race’s promoter Tavo Hellmund.

Hellmund has been the driving force behind the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, scheduled to host its first formula one race next November.

But the slowing of construction work at the venue has been “noticeable” lately, according to the local Austin American Statesman newspaper.

And it is now suggested that the “promoter or management” could be changed after Texas comptroller Susan Combs this week wrote to F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The letter was written after Hellmund reportedly asked Combs whether “a change in management or promoters” would affect the funding promised by the Texas government.

Ecclestone and Hellmund did not respond to calls or emails on Thursday, the newspaper said.

Some F1 teams work to manipulate the performance of their two drivers, according to Fritz d’Orey.
Now 73, Brazilian d’Orey contested grands prix at the end of the 50s and remains an eager spectator.

He said on the SporTV programme ‘Linha de Chegada’ this week that Ferrari manipulated the situation some years ago to ensure Rubens Barrichello was not as fast as his number 1 teammate Michael Schumacher.

“Alain Prost told me at a dinner in Paris that they did it to Barrichello when he was going too strongly in relation to Schumacher,” he said.

Another legendary Brazilian driver, 73-year-old Bird Clemente, agrees: “That’s right. I’m sure it still exists.

“The team as well as the sponsors are making a big investment. To some extent, it is theatre.”

The government of Valencia has left open the door to annually alternating its formula one street race with Spain’s other grand prix venue Barcelona beyond 2014.
After a meeting with mayor Rita Barbera this week, Valencia sport minister Dolores Johnson told the EFE news agency that the government will honour the existing contract for a race every year until 2014.

Beyond the current contract that is “in force”, Johnson said Valencia intends to extend the deal only “in the best conditions”.

The specialist Spanish media has interpreted the comment as a clear signal that Valencia is considering alternating a single annual F1 date with Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey recently expressed regret that the future of permanent circuits like Barcelona is imperilled by the rise of temporary venues.

“I gather there’s a danger that Barcelona could be lost relative to Valencia and I think that would be a tragedy,” he said.

Robert Kubica and Renault may be out-of-sync on their deadlines as the Pole bids to return from injury to formula one.

His doctor Ricciardo Ceccarelli and manager Daniele Morelli reported the good news this week that Kubica, 26, will almost certainly recover from his horror February crash to contest grands prix in 2012.

But Renault team boss Eric Boullier – also with Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean in the frame – has imposed a strict end-of-October deadline for the finalisation of his driver lineup for next season.

“I have to stick to one deadline,” insisted the Frenchman.

Dr Ceccarelli told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport this week that he will only be able to categorically guarantee Kubica’s readiness for 2012 in early November.

And manager Morelli added: “I speak often with Boullier and will give a response, either positive or negative, in early November when we have a clearer idea.”

Formula one-style motor racing is never likely to be seen at the Olympics.

That is the claim of current International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge.

“The most important thing must be the man, not the machine,” the Belgian said in an interview with Germany’s SID news agency.

“I see no real chance that Sebastian Vettel will be in the race for a gold medal,” added Rogge.

World champion Sebastian Vettel had a high-altitude scare when returning to his home in Switzerland from Singapore earlier this week.

Media reports say the Singapore Airbus A380 carrying the Red Bull driver, as well as other F1 personalities including Peter Sauber, encountered a problem just before landing in Zurich.

The pilots diverted to Frankfurt, and Bild newspaper said it was a failure of the aircraft’s instrument landing system (ILS).

Passengers recalled that as the plane descended for landing, the pilots suddenly pulled back up at full power.

“We were never scared, because we were given very good information from the cockpit,” Sauber is quoted as saying by the Swiss newspaper Blick.

“But during the approach I did think, oops, the forest down there is looking rather close. Then we went back up.”

Said Vettel’s press manager Britta Roeske: “The captain came immediately to Sebastian and explained the electronic defect. Sebastian was very relaxed and even let himself be photographed with the crew members and passengers.”

Red Bull has no plans to scale back its involvement in formula one, owner Dietrich Mateschitz insists.
Red Bull Racing’s Nascar equivalent is being wound up but it is a different story in F1, where Sebastian Vettel is on the verge of being crowned the youngest ever back to back champion.

Mateschitz told the Independent newspaper he is even happy with his second F1 team Toro Rosso.

“No,” he insisted when asked if the Faenza based team is for sale, “although partnerships would not be ruled out, as long as the partner is the right one.”

Also not being sold is the premier Red Bull team, even though “a forecast is difficult and a decision always depends on the wider picture, the politics, influence of F1 shareholders and many other factors”.

He played down the supposed cost-drain of being involved in F1.

“The total marketing investment for (the) Red Bull (brand) is 10 times as much as in F1,” said Mateschitz.

There is, however, no title sponsor as it is “difficult to find one due to the strength of the Red Bull brand”.

Pirelli’s tyres for the 2012 season are up and testing this week in Barcelona. The official supplier’s test driver Lucas di Grassi has revealed he is in action at the Circuit de Catalunya. So how do the 2012 tyres feel?: “Can’t tell you, sorry,” the Brazilian said on Twitter. The F1 teams may get their first taste of next year’s rubber during the young drivers’ test at Yas Marina after the penultimate grand prix of the season in mid November. “We will use the 2012 tyre if the teams want,” said motor sport director Paul Hembery. The driver lineup for the rookies’ test in Abu Dhabi is taking shape, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. While Jean-Eric Vergne will appear for Red Bull, the energy drink’s sister team Toro Rosso is reportedly selling its test seats for $200,000. Williams will have its Finnish test driver Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes will have Sam Bird, and McLaren intends to run Gary Paffett. Jules Bianchi will be in action for Ferrari, while Esteban Gutierrez runs for Sauber.

Virgin will not be using KERS technology in 2012.
Another of the new-in-2010 teams, Team Lotus, has announced that from next season it will be using the kinetic energy recovery system developed by Red Bull.

“We have done the very best job we can this year but without that extra power we are always competing on a different level to the teams ahead,” said team boss Tony Fernandes.

Virgin is also making efforts to catch the more established teams, including by hiring the highly experienced ‘crashgate’ engineer Pat Symonds.

“My impression of him is very good,” driver Timo Glock told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Symonds’ attention to detail is already becoming apparent, with the switch from steel to titanium pitstop jacks, and the use of laser technology for pitstop positioning, seen for the first time in Singapore.

The German report also said the 60 per cent scale model of Virgin’s 2012 car is now complete and will enter the McLaren wind tunnel at the end of next month.

But Glock reportedly confirmed that, when complete, the car will not feature a KERS system.

And he warned: “I don’t think that by the first race of next year we will make a big jump. There just isn’t enough time. But for the start of the European season we are planning a major update.”

Formula one needs to accept the steady move away from its traditional European homeland.
That is the claim of Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa, whose employer McLaren is based in the UK close to seven other formula one teams.

The other four teams are based elsewhere in Europe but, next year for example, no fewer than 12 of the 20 scheduled races will take place on other continents.

De la Rosa wrote in his latest formulasantander.com column that F1 is moving with the times of the world.

“We all know that the grands prix are usually contested in those countries which can permit it, and nowadays, the majority of countries which can permit it are now in the Near East or on the same continent, Asia,” he said.

The next traditional host in danger of losing its F1 races is Germany.

“I find it hard to imagine a season of formula one without Germany,” the Nurburgring’s Karl-Josef Schmidt is quoted by the DPA news agency this week. “I think it’s the same for Mr Ecclestone.”

Schmidt is trying to negotiate a lower race fee for the circuit’s next scheduled race in 2013.

But de la Rosa said F1′s traditionalists need to accept the future has arrived.

“I understand that it is very hard for all those who, like me, grew up watching F1 races at the Nurburgring, at Brands Hatch, Estoril or at the Paul Ricard circuit,” he said.

“But it is as obvious to recognise that the investment of Asian countries is supplanting and even replacing the tradition of European countries.”

Karun Chandhok is today a shadow of the boy who a decade ago dreamed of emulating his heroes.

On a trip to Delhi this week, he revealed to the Daily Pioneer that when he left high school he peaked at 96 kilograms.

“I was told that if I wanted to race I had to lose weight in order to first fit in the car,” said Chandhok, who as Team Lotus’ reserve driver is tipped to contest India’s inaugural grand prix late next month.

“So I lost 26 kg in less than six months and went on to win the Indian national racing championship. I guess that was the turning point for me,” added the now 27-year-old, who graduated to British F3 and then GP2.

A month before the first Indian grand prix, F1′s complete driver lineup for the Delhi race is not yet clear.
At HRT, Narain Karthikeyan’s sponsors have paid to put the Indian back in a race car for the country’s inaugural F1 event, but who his teammate will be is not publicly known.

Karthikeyan began 2011 alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi, whose manager said recently the Italian has a solid contract for every grand prix this season.

In the other car now is Daniel Ricciardo, thanks to a collaboration deal between the struggling Spanish team and the Australian rookie’s backer Red Bull.

The 22-year-old will be in Delhi this weekend to demonstrate a Red Bull F1 car.

He confirmed to the Times of India that he will be returning in late October “for the race”.

“I will probably spend some time in the city and have a look around and then get down to business,” said Ricciardo.

HRT has been contacted for comment.

At Team Lotus, meanwhile, rumours are still swirling that team regular Jarno Trulli will sit it out so that India’s other F1 driver can race in Delhi.

“Hopefully when the time comes I will be sitting on the grid waiting for the lights to go green,” reserve driver Karun Chandhok told the Daily Pioneer on a visit to the Buddh circuit this week.

Red Bull has not written off Mark Webber despite his struggle to live with his teammate Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
While Vettel, 24, has raced to a certain back-to-back title with nine wins so far this season, Australian veteran Webber has failed to win a single grand prix.

But even though there might be question marks about his motivation to again take on the young German next season, Red Bull has signed up Webber for another campaign.

“Well, he’s still motivated enough to beat anybody except Sebastian,” team boss Christian Horner told F1′s official website.

“It seems all too convenient to underestimate Mark when comparing him against Seb. But that is definitely a huge mistake. Mark is undervalued right now.”

Also not writing off 35-year-old Webber is Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s chief executive.

“That Sebastian is better than Mark we know by now. But who is there who is better than Mark?” wondered the Briton.

“I think it is not right to belittle Mark. In context, driving with Sebastian, he hasn’t got the easiest of jobs, because in my view Sebastian is the best driver on the grid right now.”

Robert Kubica is going to return to formula one in 2012, according to F1 doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli.

And the same message has emerged this week from the Pole’s manager Daniele Morelli, after Renault boss Eric Boullier imposed a mid October deadline for the finalisation of the team’s 2012 lineup.

“If you keep delaying, delaying, delaying, you end up risking the interests of the team,” Boullier is quoted as saying last weekend by Globo Esporte. “That is why we have to have the deadline.”

But Morelli has told Italy’s Omnicorse this week: “We are not able to predict a precise date (for Kubica’s return) because it is nature taking its course.

“But we are optimistic, very optimistic, and I do not think a delay of a couple of weeks can affect the plans.

“One thing is certain — he is coming back. The only problem now is muscular.”

Dr Ceccarelli, who is heading the 26-year-old’s rehabilitation phase, confirmed: “I would say with certainty that Robert will be a F1 driver in 2012.

“I can not say when he will be ready but it will be between the months of November and January.”

He said the earlier problems with Kubica’s right hand have now been overcome.

“Yes, it’s great, even if this healing is gradual. Not forgetting that Robert suffered injuries to two of the three nerves, and had severs of the tendons and muscles, the feeling has come back to the fingertips,” said Ceccarelli.

The truth at present, however, is that Kubica is not yet ready to return to a single seater, nor even drive a road car.

“It is true, Robert still has an external fixator on his leg and we have not rushed to remove it — the longer the better, and the better result. So as we wait for the healing of the hand and the elbow, there is still no hurry,” said Ceccarelli.

He added that when the fixator is removed, Kubica can get to work.

“The muscles have been inactive for months and so need to recover tone and strength. But the big question – if he can drive in formula one again – has gone.”