A win at Monza this weekend will prove Red Bull has erased its final lingering weakness.
Two weeks ago at Spa-Francorchamps, amid suggestions the RB7 will struggle for top speed from its Renault engine, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber duly finished first and second.

But the middle section at the fabled Belgian circuit is suited to Red Bull’s cornering strengths, making the incessant flat-out runs at Monza’s Autodromo Nazionale this week arguably the team’s biggest test yet in 2011.

Vettel’s win in the Adrian Newey-designed Toro Rosso in 2008 aside, the Red Bull cars have usually been vulnerable at Monza to their rivals’ superior engine power.

“That’s why he (Newey) has worked particularly hard on the aerodynamic package for low and medium downforce,” team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Mercedes-powered McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, however, hopes formula one has heard the last of Red Bull’s pleadings about a lack of pace at high speed.

“I hope we don’t hear any more about the supposedly weak Renault engine,” he said.

Agreed Red Bull’s Mark Webber: “We were spoilt with how good the race unfolded in Spa, let’s hope Monza is the same.”

Fernando Alonso has defended Sebastian Vettel amid reports the reigning world champion is “not a real racer”.

As the Red Bull driver runs away with his second consecutive title in 2011, former grand prix winner David Coulthard observed in his latest Telegraph column that doubts remain about the 24-year-old German’s quality.

“He (Vettel) continues to sweep all before him, and yet there are still those who question Seb’s driving,” wrote the Scot. “As if he is simply fortunate to have found himself in a Red Bull. As if he is an average racing driver because he wins races from pole.”

Coulthard however thinks Vettel could go on to be F1′s “best driver ever”, and Alonso – Ferrari’s lead driver and also a two-time champion – also rates the young German highly.

“I don’t understand the criticisms about him, that he is not a real racer,” Alonso told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport. “He is a great champion about to win his second title and has remarkable qualities; a lot of speed.

“Yes he has the best car that gets a good place on the grid, but you need to be able to get the most out of it at every race and Sebastian does that very well.

“Even in difficult moments or when he makes a mistake, he is always fighting for the win. It is proof of his great qualities,” added the Spaniard.

Alonso however also has great respect for Vettel’s team, including the famous designer of the Red Bull car, Adrian Newey.

“They have played to the regulations better than us and the others and this year they have a great car,” he said. “Adrian Newey is obviously the key person but behind him is a strong team.

“Ferrari attracts drivers but also technicians, so if Newey wants to come to us it would be a pleasure to drive his car,” smiled Alonso.

The 30-year-old, meanwhile, has indicated he will keep on signing Ferrari contracts at least until he has added a third world championship to his resume.

“It’s very important to me,” Alonso admitted.

“I will not stop my career until I am champion with Ferrari. If it doesn’t come by 2016 then I will stay in formula one until 2021 — for twenty years like Michael!”

BMW’s motor sport boss has refused to comment on speculation Nick Heidfeld could move from formula one to the DTM series next year.

German Heidfeld, 34, was appointed as injured Robert Kubica’s replacement for 2011, but Renault has now dumped him in favour of Bruno Senna.

It is being reported that talks between Heidfeld and his former employer BMW, no longer in F1 but to tackle the German touring car series DTM next year, have already begun.

With Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus already confirmed for 2012, there are still four official BMW M3 cockpits to fill.

“We have always said we would look first at the drivers from our own programme,” Jens Marquardt, who has replaced Mario Theissen as BMW’s motor sport director, told the German news agency SID.

When asked if Heidfeld is a candidate, he answered: “We do not comment on rumours.

“I am confident that we will have a competitive driver lineup in 2012,” he is also quoted by sport1.de, denying that BMW will look specifically for a German driver.

Bruno Senna has admitted he will be feeling more relaxed when he races on the fabled Monza circuit this weekend.
The Brazilian made his grand prix return at Spa recently, but a pending court decision could have seen Nick Heidfeld back in the Renault after Monza.

The team has subsequently reached a financial settlement with German Heidfeld, confirming Senna as Vitaly Petrov’s regular teammate for the remainder of 2011.

The 27-year-old confided to Brazil’s Agencia Estado that he drove in Belgium with a “sense of insecurity” due to the Heidfeld impasse.

“The pressure for results is imposed mainly by myself, but the announcement (about Heidfeld) at least alleviates the feeling of insecurity — of not knowing what was going to happen next,” said Senna.

“I am delighted. It means I can go to the next race able to take more risks,” he explained.

There remains a chance Imola might return to the formula one calendar. The famous Italian circuit last hosted the San Marino grand prix in 2006, when delayed renovations and an increase in the race sanctioning fee moved Bernie Ecclestone to admit: “I’m sorry, but we have lost Imola.” Since then, there have been changes, including the complete rebuild of the pits, pitlane and paddock overseen by F1 track architect Hermann Tilke. But Imola, officially called the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, was granted a 1T rating, making it usable by formula one only for testing. It now emerges, however, that the track has received the top ’1′ FIA homologation rating after a recent inspection by Charlie Whiting. “We are proud of the objective reached,” said circuit chief Walter Sciacca, “which is a clear sign that we are working in the right direction. “With this approval we are in a position to once again host a formula one grand prix. So we don’t limit ourselves; if we experience the right economic conditions, we are ready to face any challenge.”

Michael Schumacher is not as good as Sebastian Vettel or Nico Rosberg, but he’s still up to speed with Mark Webber.
That is the view of former ten time race winner Gerhard Berger, who until 1997 shared the circuits with F1′s only seven time world champion.

Der Spiegel quotes the Austrian as saying Schumacher, while once the fastest driver in the sport, no longer holds that mantle.

The case in point is qualifying, where Rosberg has utterly dominated Schumacher this year at Mercedes.

“In my opinion Rosberg is on the same level as Vettel; in the right car he could win races and titles,” said Berger.

“Schumacher can no longer beat them, but he is still as good as – for example – Mark Webber.”

Berger is therefore highly critical of the apparent place-swapping between Rosberg and Schumacher at Spa recently, with the younger German dropping behind to save fuel while Schumacher drove ahead on the 20th anniversary of his debut.

Norbert Haug denies Mercedes imposed team orders, also insisting that Schumacher “would not accept such gifts”.

But given the safety car period in Belgium, the German team’s claim about Rosberg running out of fuel has been ridiculed.

Former Sauber driver Karl Wendlinger told Servus TV: “Without the safety car you would have to believe that Rosberg would have run out of gas with ten laps to go.”

Added Ferrari engineer Dieter Gundel: “It is possible to make an error in calculating the fuel level before a race, but you then have to wonder why Mercedes made the error only with one car.”

Teams are not getting enough time to respond to the FIA’s decisions about DRS, according to Sauber’s James Key.
For the first time in 2011, there will be two independent DRS overtaking zones at Monza this weekend, each with a separate activation point.

“It’s going to be a pretty major asset for a following car,” predicted McLaren’s Jenson Button.

But with top teams bringing special rear wings to Monza for the Italian venue’s uniquely high speed layout, Key is not so sure the full potential of the DRS will be seen this weekend.

“They FIA always let us know about the DRS areas a week before the race,” said the Swiss team Sauber’s technical boss.

“It is very important in the development of the wing to know how often we will be able to use it. But the design (for Monza) was already set in July.”

Auto Motor und Sport also quoted Key as revealing that Sauber expected there to be only one DRS zone at Monza.

“We don’t know yet how effective the DRS will be,” the Briton continued, referring to the fact that rear wings for Monza are already designed to severely reduce drag and produce less downforce.

“We think the effect (of DRS at Monza) will be half the normal amount,” added Key.

F1 has a new “crash kid”, according to Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko.
After Sebastian Vettel crashed into Jenson Button at Spa last year, McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the young German “is a crash kid”.

“It is not what you would expect to see in formula one,” he added.

A year on, it is McLaren’s own Lewis Hamilton who is attracting the headlines for his on-track incidents, while Red Bull’s Vettel cruises to his second title.

“‘Crash kid’ was a McLaren media construct,” the energy drink company’s driver manager Marko is quoted by Auto Bild Motorsport.

Referring now to Hamilton, who crashed twice over the recent Belgian grand prix weekend, the Austrian added: “Now they have a crash kid in their own team.”

Another Austrian, the outspoken triple world champion Niki Lauda, agrees that Hamilton might now learn from the unflappable Vettel.

“You can’t win championships if you are crashing,” he told the Sunday Express. “Look at Sebastian Vettel, he is not making any mistakes or crashing, and that is why he is going to win the title again this year.”

Williams’ former marketing boss has said he doubts the famous British team will ever again win in formula one.
With its 7 drivers’ and 9 constructors’ championships, Oxfordshire based Williams is one of F1′s most successful teams but the outfit has not won a single race since 2004.

Not only that, the team is ahead only of the three backmarker teams Team Lotus, Virgin and HRT in this year’s constructors’ standings and the Daily Telegraph reports that its share price on the Frankfurt exchange is crashing.

Williams floated 24 per cent of its shares in March at EUR 24.38, but the current price (EUR 15) represents a 40 per cent decline in six months.

Former marketing chief Scott Garrett, now vice president of brands at Heinz, admitted he does not believe Williams “will ever have the budget” to win again in F1.

“The sorry state of the WF1 equity price indicates a team that is more desperate than confident, and confidence is critical when presenting oneself to sponsors and asking them for money,” he said.

Williams is reportedly considering replacing its highly experienced lead driver Rubens Barrichello for 2012 with another driver able to bring sponsorship dollars to the team.

Rookie Pastor Maldonado’s place is considered safe due to his lucrative backing by the Venezuelan state owned oil company PDVSA.

“My feeling right now is unless Williams have money problems, they should stick with what they have right now”, the news agency AFP quotes Barrichello, 39, as saying.

“To have two kids for next year is the wrong thing to have,” added the Brazilian.

Narain Karthikeyan is “trying” to secure a seat for one of the three races leading up to next month’s Indian grand prix.
The Indian is still an official driver of the Spanish team HRT, but he was replaced in the racing role mid-season by Red Bull-sponsored Daniel Ricciardo.

Karthikeyan, however, will be back in the car in his native India thanks to a new long term sponsorship with the Hero automotive group, which is controlled by the Indian billionaire Munjal family.

And he told the Indo-Asian News Service: “I am trying hard to get myself a race before Delhi. It will be a good warm-up for me heading into the home race.”

HRT’s driver lineup has already been announced for Monza, but before the inaugural race at the new Buddh circuit F1 will travel to Singapore, Japan and Korea.

As well as his new deal with Hero, 34-year-old Karthikeyan is also still sponsored by Tata, India’s largest multinational.

“I want to drive in F1 as long as possible,” he is quoted as saying by Reuters. “How and when, that will come up in due course.”

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he was “very tempted” to buy Renault’s formula one team when the French carmaker pulled out as an owner.
Actually, the Enstone based team was bought by its current owners Genii Capital, but there are reports of financial trouble and rumours a group involving David Richards might step up to take over.

F1 chief executive Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph he was interested in buying Renault two years ago but was talked out of it by Donald Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, the CVC director in charge of the F1 ownership, is the newly appointed chairman of the formula one holding company.

Referring to his interest in buying Renault, Ecclestone said: “Donald said to me, we just can’t. If we owned a team it would cause us trouble.

“Every time that team was on TV people would say we were favouring it.”

Thailand has become the latest country bidding to join the ever-expanding formula one calendar.
The Bangkok Post said media reports have been confirmed by Thailand’s official promotion arm the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.

The agency’s president Akapol Sorasuchart said businesses have called on Thailand to organise major events in order to enhance its reputation.

He said experts will be called in to study the proposal.

“Building an F1 circuit is very costly but it would be useful after the races end,” said Mr Akapol.

“(And) I think that street racing is interesting for Thailand because it involves lower investment.”

He said a street layout would likely include the capital city Bangkok’s Ratchadamnoen road, built in 1899 to link the royal palaces during King Rama’s reign.

A new management company involving Jenson Button would consider handling the career of another formula one driver.
That is the claim of the McLaren driver’s manager Richard Goddard, who has set up London-based Sports Partnership in collaboration with 31-year-old Button.

Goddard told the Gulf News that Button would have no problem being involved in the management of a fellow F1 driver.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Of course Jenson wouldn’t want a business relationship with a direct rival — but he would enjoy working with a young guy, somebody who has just come into F1 or who is on the brink.”

2009 world champion Button, who is likely to stay at McLaren in 2012, thinks his involvement could help the career of a fellow athlete.

“I fully understand the pressures of being a high profile international sports star and I have learned how to operate with the media and sponsors,” said the Briton.

Two drivers on the F1 grid stand out above and beyond the rest, according to Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.
The Italian was asked by the German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag if reigning world champion and runaway 2011 title leader Sebastian Vettel can lay claim to the mantle of a true team “leader”.

“Really, there are only two and they are Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher,” said Domenicali. “I see no others.

“Vettel is still not a leader. He is on the way there, but it’s not like Michael and Fernando. He is simply too young and lacking in experience,” he added.

Domenicali said he sees “many parallels” between Schumacher, the winner of 5 of Ferrari’s last 6 drivers’ titles, and the famous Maranello squad’s current undisputed team leader Alonso.

“Both are fighting like lions to bring their teams to the front,” he explained. “They take care of the details that others don’t even notice.

“Sebastian is getting close, but right now there are only two (leaders).”

24-year-old Vettel, who currently drives for the dominant Red Bull team, has expressed a desire in the future to switch to Ferrari.

Domenicali is non-commital: “It’s too early to tell,” he said when asked if the young German is a future Ferrari driver.

“It depends on many developments to occur in the next few years. Currently we do not need a leader. At some point we may and so then Sebastian is a candidate. As I said, there are not many.”

Domenicali rejected the criticism often directed at seven time world champion Schumacher, who is currently struggling to keep up with his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

“You will not hear anything bad from me,” he insisted. “He is driving on a very high level; it is the Mercedes that is not good enough. If Michael was in a Red Bull or a Ferrari, then he probably would have won races in the last two years.”

And finally, Domenicali commented on Red Bull’s current domination of formula one, and the lessons that Ferrari might learn from the maker of an energy drink.

“Well, with all due respect, they have a title and we have 16, so if Red Bull do half of what we have done then maybe we will have a rethink. The question is who has the better foundation.

“I don’t know if what has happened at Red Bull is because of one or two good people. For us, we are currently building a new Ferrari. And then we will start a great period,” he said.

An out of court settlement between the team and axed driver Nick Heidfeld has cleared the way for Renault to sign Bruno Senna for the rest of 2011.

A media statement said German Heidfeld, who had hoped to return to the R31 in Singapore after a London High Court hearing, has reached “an amicable settlement” with Renault.

The 34-year-old and the team have therefore “chosen to part company with immediate effect”, with Renault boss Eric Boullier describing it a “swift and reasonable solution”.

“Our separation process was already a painful one, and neither of us wanted to go through another legal hearing,” added the Frenchman.

Renault promptly confirmed Brazilian Senna as Vitaly Petrov’s new regular teammate for the remainder of 2011, with new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean as the reserve.