Martin Brundle is relieved he will no longer have to use the word ‘Virgin’ whilst calling formula one races.
The BBC’s lead commentator is referring to Sir Richard Branson’s well-known brand, which has had naming rights at the new-in-2010 British team for the past two seasons.

For 2012, however, with Virgin remaining a sponsor, the team has been granted permission by the F1 Commission to revert to the name of its Russian supercar partner Marussia.

The news, including the Renault/Lotus and Lotus/Caterham name changes, has also been rubber-stamped by the governing FIA.

Regarding Virgin, former McLaren driver Brundle wrote on Twitter: “As (a) F1 commentator I’m so pleased Virgin are changing name next year.

“I have a mental red alert every time I mention their car in close action”, he added.

As in India recently, there will be two separate DRS zones in use this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Throughout most of 2011, the first season of DRS deployment in F1 history, the FIA has installed only single detection and activation points for rear wing-assisted overtaking.

But at Monza and India there were two distinct DRS areas, and the same approach will be seen in Abu Dhabi this weekend, it has emerged.

That is particularly good news for Yas Marina, as the otherwise spectacular venue is notoriously difficult to overtake on.

Last year, for example, the layout was blamed for not allowing Fernando Alonso, the championship favourite, to overtake the slower Vitaly Petrov.

McLaren’s Jenson Button said: “It’s usually been quite difficult to overtake in Abu Dhabi, especially last year, but I think that DRS will change all that.

“It would be great to see the new rules turn this circuit into a place where overtaking is more common and more exciting,” he added.

 The unofficial news emerging from the F1 Commission on Thursday was the approval of team name changes and the 2012 calendar.
The sources, however, were much quieter about the big-ticket discussion — the speculated liberalisation of the Concorde Agreement to allow the purchase and sale of full ‘customer cars’ between competing teams.

“In general, but not always, when a controversial topic is discussed by the F1 Commission and the result is not immediately made public, then it has not been approved,” wrote Livio Oricchio in his O Estado de S.Paulo column.

Indeed, Italy’s Autosprint – also reporting after the Geneva meeting broke – thinks the most likely outcome for the future is a further tightening of the existing rules, which could endanger partnerships such as the one between McLaren and Force India.

Upon announcing the extension of its partnership with Williams on Thursday, for example, HRT found the need to state explicitly that the gearbox and KERS deal “strictly follows the terms agreed in the Concorde Agreement”.

The two teams “will compete independently in the formula one constructors’ championship”, added the media statement.

Along with Ferrari, one team arguing in favour of customer cars is Toro Rosso, who last year was forced to become a full constructor despite previously enjoying a much closer collaboration with its parent Red Bull Racing.

“The precise cause of this change in regulation (in 2010) is hard to determine,” team boss Franz Tost told Sportwoche.

“Today, we see big corporations working together, which from an economic perspective makes complete sense. But in formula one a close collaboration between teams is not possible, which to me is absolutely the wrong way.”

So for now, enhancing the Red Bull-Toro Rosso relationship will have to be done within the existing limits, with Tost revealing that “in the medium term it is our goal to have the same engine manufacturer (Renault) as Red Bull”.

Currently, Toro Rosso is powered by Ferrari.

The likelihood of an early 2012 return to the Lotus (currently Renault) team for Robert Kubica appears to have receded even further.
The Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday that the Polish driver, who has already undergone five operations since his February rally crash, is scheduled to have more surgery in the coming days.

The next operation will be on his right wrist and will surely intensify speculation that team boss Eric Boullier has already decided to pair Vitaly Petrov with the new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean next season.

Kubica’s hand surgeon Igor Rossello suggested that the new surgery is relatively minor.

“The mobility of Kubica’s right hand is satisfactory,” he said. “Robert has told me that he has already driven a car. This a miracle of his will.”

But the report said Kubica is still months from the end of his rehabilitation process.

British tabloid The Sun quoted Renault/Lotus boss Boullier as saying: “We have to assess options and are still waiting for Robert to come back to us to say he can test.

“Until we see him and have the confirmation we cannot say anything. And unfortunately we need to keep the option of not having him back,” he added.

The F1 Commission on Thursday approved name changes for three formula one teams ahead of the 2012 season.
Next year, Team Lotus will become Caterham, Renault will be called Lotus, and Virgin will adopt the name of its Russian supercar partner Marussia.

Brazilian Livio Oricchio wrote in his O Estado de S.Paulo column that the Renault team no longer has “anything to do with the French carmaker” and in fact owes money to the Boulogne-Billancourt marque.

And the Telegraph reports that although Virgin will now be known as Marussia, Sir Richard Branson’s brand “will continue to pay money” to the team.

“As part of the new deal, believed to be for four years, Virgin will not have any equity but will continue to pay sponsorship”, the report added.

The changes – voted on by the 26 members including Bernie Ecclestone, Jean Todt, race promoters, teams, manufacturers and sponsors – are pending the approval of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting in December.

Also discussed in Geneva was the 2012 calendar, with events in Austin, Korea and Bahrain reportedly in doubt and Turkey apparently hoping to slot back in with a reduced sanctioning fee.

But a source close to Texas’ scheduled 2012 US grand prix reports that the F1 Commission confirmed next year’s calendar as originally published by the FIA.

HRT will use KERS technology for the first time in 2012, the Spanish team announced on Thursday.

In a media statement, it was confirmed that the Colin Kolles-led team has extended its technical tie-up with Williams, which in 2011 featured the supply of the gearbox.

“Williams F1 will also supply the team with KERS and its related technology for the first time”, said HRT.

The team said the 2012 car, F112, is being designed in Munich.

David Coulthard thinks it is possible Ferrari will soon oust Felipe Massa.
Despite Brazilian Massa having a contract for 2012, recent speculation has linked the race seat alongside Fernando Alonso next year with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.

“In formula one, anything’s possible,” said former grand prix winner and now British pundit Coulthard, appearing on Austrian television Servus TV.

“I’ve learned that in my 17 years (in F1),” he added.

Coulthard said that when it comes to one of the most coveted seats in the sport, only performance matters.

“He’s a very nice, likeable guy who drives with his heart,” said the Scot. “But he no longer shows the sort of performance he did before his accident in Hungary (2009).

“Ferrari probably have no choice but to look for another driver.”

Coulthard agreed that, in India last weekend where Massa clashed again with Lewis Hamilton and twice broke his suspension over kerbs, the 30-year-old seemed to be buckling under the pressure of his situation.

“In formula one you’re always under pressure,” he insisted.

“Even Sebastian Vettel is under pressure, just a different sort. Massa may know that his formula one career is slowly coming to an end. With these results, he will not be at Ferrari for many more years.

“Ferrari will be looking seriously at the two drivers it has and deciding what is the strongest possible package they can have for 2012,” added Coulthard.

 Most Italians do not believe Sebastian Vettel will ever trouble Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships.
But a significant 45.4 per cent of respondents answered ‘yes’ when asked by La Gazzetta dello Sport if the Red Bull driver, the youngest ever back to back world champion, will smash Schumacher’s record eventually.

54.6 per cent of the almost 9000 survey respondents answered ‘no’.

In India last weekend, Vettel beat Nigel Mansell’s old record for the number of laps led in a single season.

“I love what I do,” said the German when told about the record. “I think we all do so it is great and in a way we don’t want this (season) to end.”

Force India has a new billionaire as a co-owner, but the team’s founder had no idea.
Eddie Jordan, now an expert pundit for British television BBC, walked up to Sahara’s Subrata Roy in the Buddh paddock last Sunday and asked: “You’re a guest of (team boss) Vijay’s (Mallya)?”

Roy answered: “I’m his brother.”

Jordan: “You’re a brother? Well then I know your mother, and we go to the same Indian restaurant in London, how cool is that?”

Mallya chimed in: “Actually, Eddie, this is Mr Subrata Roy Sahara, our new partner.”

Jordan added: “Oh, indeed, it’s a great pleasure, because new sponsors are not that easy to find these days, are they?”

Mallya hit back: “He’s more than just a sponsor, he’s an equity partner.”

Auto Motor und Sport reports that billionaire Roy gifted each member of the 60-strong Force India race team a EUR 4000 present in India, including a Tag Heuer watch and Montblanc wallet.

 Sebastian Vettel has a crucial task to complete before next weekend’s Abu Dhabi grand prix.
After every race victory, the Red Bull driver retires his helmet design, adding it to a growing personal collection.

But ahead of Abu Dhabi, where he could win his eleventh grand prix of the season, the back to world champion must come up with a brand new design.

“I have no others now,” the 24-year-old smiled to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport after winning in New Delhi. “I need a new one urgently because I don’t wear them again after a win.”

Formula one is likely to tweak the safety car rules for the 2012 season.
The team bosses got together in India last weekend to discuss forcing lapped drivers to pull ahead of the safety car and join the back of the queue.

When that rule was last in place, there were complaints that ‘cleaning up’ the string of cars behind the safety car took too long, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

But when the race finally resumed, there was no danger the slower cars could affect the contests at the head of the field.

“Both ways have their advantages and their disadvantages,” said Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder.

Richard Branson’s Virgin brand is staying with the team even after a name change in 2012.
It has emerged that, just as Team Lotus and Renault have applied to be called Caterham and Lotus respectively next season, Virgin wants to become ‘Marussia’.

But even though it suggests a further move away from Virgin to the team’s new Russian supercar partner, reports insist Branson’s famous brand is staying put.

Virgin “will remain involved in future projects and Virgin logos will still be seen on the cars”, The Sun correspondent Chris Hockley writes.

Agrees France’s L’Equipe: “Richard Branson’s company remains one of its main partners”.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, however, does not think teams should so easily be able to change their names.

“It’s bad for identity and it’s bad for formula one when a team changes its name,” he is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

This week’s events have raised the possibility Turkey could return to the F1 calendar next year.
The race has been dropped from the 2012 calendar because the Istanbul organisers and Bernie Ecclestone could not agree to a revised sanctioning fee.

But we reported in September that, given renewed uncertainty about Bahrain’s return to the calendar next year, Turkey “is on standby” for 2012.

This week, it has emerged that the inaugural US grand prix in Texas, and the Korean event, are also in doubt for 2012.

Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio wrote in O Estado de S.Paulo: “Turkey said it could not afford to pay $26 million to FOM and therefore lost the race.

“But now, so that F1 does not have to lose so many (2012) races, it (FOM) could accept the $13 million they (Turkey) paid before.”

Williams is almost ready to announce Kimi Raikkonen’s return to formula one for 2012, according to media reports.
“(The) Raikkonen (agreement) is almost there,” a source inside the famous British team is quoted by FAZ newspaper.

Italy’s Autosprint reports that the funding is coming from Qatar.

Williams on Wednesday hinted at the deal by revealing that a memorandum of understanding with Mowasalat, a Qatari company, was signed in Doha for the use of the team’s simulator technology.

“The funding for the ‘Iceman’ is coming from the heat of Qatar,” said the Italian magazine.

The Finnish broadcaster MTV3 said the sponsorship of a Qatar bank is the next step.

That will validate a contract that Raikkonen, 32, reportedly signed recently “and the announcement will be made in Abu Dhabi” next weekend.

The Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell said the 2007 world champion is Williams’ “first choice” to be Pastor Maldonado’s new teammate.

“He (Raikkonen) has been at Grove several times for talks,” the report added.