Bernie Ecclestone insists a US grand prix in Texas next year remains unlikely, despite race organisers announcing they are now “ready” to pay the sport its overdue sanctioning fee.
With the Circuit of the Americas project reportedly dying, the organisers issued a statement on Thursday announcing they are willing to make “an immediate cash payment”.

“He (Ecclestone) hasn’t received it yet because the new contract presented to us two weeks ago contained unrealistic and unfeasible demands,” said founding partner Bobby Epstein.

“We have signed and returned a contract similar to what we anticipated receiving.”

He admitted the 2012 race will only take place as scheduled if F1′s 81-year-old chief executive returns the revised contract “in the coming few days”.

That appears highly unlikely.

“I doubt it,” Ecclestone, holding a copy of the Circuit of the Americas statement, told reporters at Interlagos.

Asked about Epstein’s complaint that the proposed deal is “unrealistic and unfeasible”, he said: “Yeah, well they shouldn’t sign it. My advice to them is don’t sign it. And they probably won’t get the opportunity.”

Ferrari will be happy with the move towards even softer tyre compounds for 2012, Pirelli’s F1 chief Paul Hembery has admitted.
The famous Italian team has struggled on the harder compounds offered this year by the sport’s new tyre supplier.

Next year the compounds will be generally softer, Hembery said during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“They will all benefit, but yes in particular Ferrari will,” he is quoted as saying.

“The principle is that the current medium will be next year’s hard, so the compounds are (all) softer,” added Hembery.

He said the intention is also to increase the number of pitstops for the beginning of next season, after the spectacle waned in recent races as the teams and drivers adjusted to the fast-wearing tyres.

“At the start of the season we saw an average of 3-4 stops per driver, but by the end it has fallen to about two.

“Next year we are working on an average of three,” added Hembery.

He said dominant world champion Sebastian Vettel was “clearly” the best performer with Pirelli’s 2011 tyre.

“But also Jenson Button was very good, and then comes the two Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez,” said Hembery.

At least two F1 drivers are still refusing to update their helmets with the new feature designed in the wake of Felipe Massa’s 2009 head injury.
Last month at Suzuka, it was believed all the race drivers were wearing helmets fitted with a bulletproof Zylon strip across the top of their visors.

But because the strips add 50 grams of weight to the helmet, and affect the visor tint coatings and also the tear-off strips, it ultimately emerged that some drivers remained unwilling.

Indeed, Turun Sanomat reports that the zylon visor is not yet mandatory, despite most drivers now using it because it is safer.

“(Michael) Schumacher and (Lewis) Hamilton don’t use it because it saves them an extra 50 grams,” said Japanese helmet manufacturer Arai’s Peter Burger.

“Perhaps with the g-forces it adds up to a bit more (than 50 grams),” he conceded.

He said world champion Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, does use the zylon strip.

“I had to carefully explain to him why to use something that is not actually compulsory,” said Burger.

“It was supposed to become mandatory in Japan but the FIA only sent a letter to each driver strongly recommending that they use it.”

Luiz Razia has admitted Team Lotus’ failure to score a point in 2011 is the reason he is not making his grand prix debut at home in Brazil this weekend.
Throughout 2011, it has been rumoured that Brazilian Razia, a 22-year-old team test driver, will replace either Jarno Trulli or Heikki Kovalainen for the entire Interlagos race weekend.

Instead, Razia will simply be driving in Friday morning practice.

A report by Brazil’s Globo claims it is Team Lotus’ nervousness about losing the coveted tenth place in the constructors’ standings – worth millions in the provisions of the Concorde Agreement – that thwarted Razia’s debut.

Lotus has again been the strongest of the three teams vying for the lucrative tenth place in 2011, but like HRT and Virgin the team nonetheless failed to score a single point.

“I’m not racing just because of that,” claimed Razia. “Just because of an accident or something a team can end up finishing 12th.

“The tenth place is worth millions and I can’t take that from the team. They have to make decisions and unfortunately they can’t afford to lose the tenth place.

“Tony Fernandes has spoken openly about it. I paid the price for them having not scored points. For them it’s a lot of money,” he said in Sao Paulo.

Razia, however, remains hopeful he could make his breakthrough next year.

“It’s not ruled out. Today, contracts can be easily broken,” he said.

“As we have seen, Heidfeld went out in the middle of the season, and Ferrari fired Raikkonen, so I am not discounting any possibility for 2012.”

 Lewis Hamilton is “sure” he will be treated badly by some Felipe Massa fans during this weekend’s Brazilian grand prix.
In 2008, Briton Hamilton gutted the excitable and highly partisan Interlagos crowd by pipping Brazilian Massa to the world championship.

And throughout this season the pair have been at odds with a series of on and off-track incidents.

“I have no idea what the reaction will be,” said the McLaren driver before arriving in Sao Paulo for the season finale. “I just know that I have had great support every time I have been to Brazil.

“I am sure there will be a few Felipe fans who will be less happy,” he acknowledged.

“It was tough when I was racing with Felipe for the championship but I think I will be fine. If not, then it will be interesting,” added Hamilton.

Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko could switch the driver agreement with HRT to the Lotus/Caterham team for 2012, according to German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
In the second half of this season, the energy drink company has paid for Daniel Ricciardo to make his grand prix debut with the Spanish team HRT.

But the manager of the programme, Marko, revealed recently that he is not sure if the deal will be extended for 2012.

It is believed Australian Ricciardo will be moved to Toro Rosso for 2012, probably to replace Sebastien Buemi.

The next Red Bull-backed hopeful is Jean-Eric Vergne, who is now tipped to step into the role occupied by Ricciardo this year.

But, given HRT’s signing of Pedro de la Rosa and the fact the other seat will almost certainly go to the highest bidder, Frenchman Vergne is believed unlikely to succeed Ricciardo at the struggling Spanish team.

“Red Bull could park one of their juniors Ricciardo and Vergne at Lotus (Caterham),” said Auto Motor und Sport.

Officially, Caterham’s 2012 lineup is locked out, with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen under contract.

But less than two weeks ago, veteran Trulli’s manager Lucio Cavuto was moved to deny reports the Italian’s 2012 seat was in danger due to “Red Bull dollars”.

“One thing is clear,” said Auto Motor und Sport. “Red Bull will give the Frenchman (Vergne) a cockpit next year.”

Lotus/Caterham will use Red Bull’s gearbox, hydraulics and KERS systems in 2012.

 Virgin’s part-ownership by the British bank Lloyds is threatening to run the struggling formula one team off track.
Part taxpayer-owned Lloyds bought an undisclosed stake in the team – to be renamed Marussia in 2012 – last year.

The Independent now reports that directors risk prosecution by Companies House as a deadline to lodge documents relating to the Virgin investment runs out.

“On 25 October, Companies House sent a notice of dissolution to them and all of the company’s other directors, including team principal John Booth” read the report written by Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid.

Companies House confirmed: “If they’ve promised to file a document and they don’t, it will go through prosecution.

“They go through the courts for prosecution and if they don’t bring it up to date, they could close the company down. So they’ve got until Wednesday really.”

Team co-owner Marussia and Lloyds declined to comment, and a Virgin team spokesman said the story was a “procedural communication from Companies House”.

Luca di Montezemolo insists Ferrari can live without F1′s new back to back world champion.
Asked about the young German – who has dominated the 2011 season – during the La Politica nel Pallone radio programme, president Montezemolo insisted Fernando Alonso is better than the Red Bull driver.

“We have Fernando with a long and stable contract as we did with Michael Schumacher and, with all due respect to all the other drivers, Alonso is the best in the world,” he said.

Notwithstanding his affection for the Spaniard, Montezemolo acknowledged that Felipe Massa’s contract runs out at the end of next season.

“We expect a big season from him next year and then we will evaluate what to do. Let’s say he is playing for reappointment,” said the Italian, amid rumours Ferrari has eyes for the recovering Pole Robert Kubica.

 Ross Brawn will turn his attention to Michael Schumacher’s expiring contract in the middle of next season.
Mercedes’ other driver Nico Rosberg has already inked a new deal beyond next year, but there have been questions about Schumacher’s desire to keep racing and also speculation linking Kimi Raikkonen to the seat in 2013.

“We have a contract (with Schumacher) for next year and if he is happy then I see no reason why we cannot continue with an agreement in 2013 as well,” team boss Brawn told Italy’s Autosprint magazine.

The Brackley based team has finished 2011 fourth in the constructors’ standings, but the W02 car was below the German marque’s expectations.

Asked what went wrong, Brawn answered: “We thought it was important to have a rather short wheelbase but the reality with the exhaust systems showed that we were not right.

“So we did not start with the right basis.”

Schumacher’s former boss at Ferrari Luca di Montezemolo is not sure the 42-year-old German is the right man for Mercedes.

“This last two seasons has not been about a driver (Schumacher) representing modern motoring,” he told the La Politica nel Pallone programme.

“He made the choice to come back, and I don’t think he had a competitive car, but to me it’s a shame that a champion like him is not even on the podium.

“I would wish to see him close the second phase of his sporting life with a much greater satisfaction,” added Montezemolo.

Pedro de la Rosa had to be convinced to break his multi year McLaren contract in order to join back-of-the-grid Spanish team HRT in 2012.
The Spaniard told reporters in Madrid that he began talking to former F1 driver Luis Perez-Sala, now an advisor for the team’s new owners Thesan Capital, in July.

“To begin with, I didn’t contemplate joining,” said the 40-year-old, who explained that he was eventually convinced by the “serious and realistic approach” taken by Sala and team chief executive Saul Ruiz de Marcos.

Interestingly, team boss Colin Kolles was not present at the news conference.

“It’s no secret that I had a contract with McLaren for the next few years so this was only possible because of them,” said de la Rosa, who has been the main test driver for the famous British team for many years.

El Pais quotes him saying: “There were months of negotiations.”

Added de Marcos: “From day one we got straight down to work to try and convince him and after four months of negotiations I am very proud to have achieved it.”

Sala agreed: “It wasn’t easy as he was very happy at McLaren but, in the end, he decided to join us and I’m very proud to have him on our team for the next two years.”

According to El Mundo newspaper, de la Rosa arrives with a few personal sponsors but is hoping to attract even more backing.

“I come to stay but I need the support of the media and national companies,” he said.

He is quoted by Marca: “I must make it clear that McLaren agreed to end my contract and I thank them.

“Another reason for coming (to HRT) is because a test driver cannot test any more. F1 is now the only sport that doesn’t let you practice and it’s a shame also for young drivers who are not getting the opportunity.

“At Singapore (in September) I remember looking in the mirror and saying ‘I can’t take another year of sitting on the pitwall watching the other drivers pass by’.

“I think at McLaren they understand me well, that I want to race and their response was spectacular.

“Martin (Whitmarsh) was surprised but he told me he was proud to have a reserve driver who has the passion to keep racing.

“It’s a very mature decision and I am so happy because I would have had qualms leaving a team in a bad way.”

De la Rosa clarified that he will remain with McLaren in Brazil this weekend and then throughout the month of December.

ROC 2011 will feature two of the brightest stars in rallying as Intercontinental Rally Challenge duo Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký join the field
Finland’s Hänninen, the 2011 S-WRC champion and 2010 IRC champion, will team up with Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen for Team Nordic
Czech driver Kopecký, IRC runner-up for the last three years, will partner F1 star Vitaly Petrov in Team Slavic, the first ROC pairing from Eastern Europe

Next month’s Race Of Champions will feature two of the most successful drivers from the Intercontinental Rally Challenge as Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký have signed up for the event at Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena on December 3-4.

Both Skoda works drivers, Hänninen and Kopecký have impressive records in recent years in the IRC. Hänninen won the championship last year before embarking on an ambitious schedule of rallies in 2011, combining his IRC campaign with a successful bid for glory in the Super 2000 class of the World Rally Championship.

That form has now earned Hänninen a drive in the Race Of Champions. The Finn will also partner Le Mans great Tom Kristensen for Team Nordic in the ROC Nations Cup as Sweden’s Mattias Ekström has a clash of commitments on Saturday. Ekström will still try to regain the ‘Champion of Champions’ crown in Sunday’s individual race.

Kopecký meanwhile has an incredible IRC record, finishing as the runner-up for the last three years – including a total of six podiums and two victories for Skoda in 2011. Hailing from the Czech Republic, he will now team up with Russian Formula 1 star Vitaly Petrov for Team Slavic, the first ever ROC partnership from Eastern Europe.

Hänninen said: “It’s an honour to be competing at the Race Of Champions. Finland has an impressive ROC record dating all the way back to Juha Kankkunen who won the first event in 1988. I’ve taken three wins in each of the S-WRC and the IRC this year, but I’m the only Finn in the ROC line-up so far – so no pressure then! Hopefully Tom and I have a blend of racing and rally experience that will work well as we try to take the ROC Nations Cup back to our part of the world.”

Kopecký added: “It’s been a strong 2011 for me and this chance to race against the world’s best drivers is the perfect way to cap off the year. I actually used to race touring cars before I switched to rallies so hopefully that can help me with the quick car changes. I’m looking forward to joining up with Vitaly for Team Slavic and I hope we can perform well in the ROC Nations Cup on behalf of Eastern Europe.”

The Race Of Champions is an annual end-of-season competition that brings together the world’s greatest drivers from all motor sport’s disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery on a specially constructed parallel track. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday 3 December, before the individual Race Of Champions takes place on Sunday 4 December.

ROC race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: “The Race Of Champions started as an event for rally drivers before we opened up to other racing series. So we are thrilled to be able to add two more rally experts to our line-up for Düsseldorf. Juho and Jan have both performed well in recent years and they’ll both be tough opponents for anyone who has to race them in December.”

Get the latest updates on the Race Of Champions on Twitter (@raceofchampions) and Facebook (Race Of Champions). For information about tickets (starting from €19) please visit the website www.raceofchampions.com.

Drivers confirmed for the 2011 Race Of Champions:

Sebastian VETTEL, 2010 and 2011 Formula 1 World Champion
Michael SCHUMACHER, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion
Jenson BUTTON, 2009 Formula 1 World Champion
Andy PRIAULX, three-time World Touring Car Champion
Travis PASTRANA, four-time Rally America winner and X-Games legend
Brian DEEGAN, 13 X-games medals including Rally Cross gold in 2011
Tom KRISTENSEN, eight-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner
Mattias EKSTROM, DTM star and triple ROC Champion of Champions
David COULTHARD, winner of 13 Formula 1 grands prix
Sébastien OGIER, winner of five WRC rallies in 2011
Romain GROSJEAN, 2011 GP2 Series Champion
Martin TOMCZYK, 2011 DTM Champion
Vitaly PETROV, Formula 1 driver for Lotus Renault GP
Timo GLOCK, Formula 1 driver for Marussia Virgin Racing
Timo SCHEIDER, 2008 and 2009 DTM Champion
Jan KOPECKÝ, three-time Intercontinental Rally Challenge runner-up
Juho HÄNNINEN, 2011 S-WRC champion and 2010 IRC champion

Pedro de la Rosa was officially presented today as an HRT F1 Team driver for the next two seasons. The act took part at the “Consejo Superior de Deportes” in Madrid and was attended by Saúl Ruiz de Marcos (HRT F1 Team, CEO), Luis Pérez-Sala (HRT F1 Team, Sports Advisor), Carlos Gracia (Real Federación Española de Automovilismo, President) and Matilde García (CSD, General Director).

Pedro de la Rosa: “This is a very special day and I’m very happy to be in the company of, not only Luis and Saúl as representatives of HRT, but also Carlos Gracia and Matilde García, who are the maximum representatives of two organizations that have backed me since I started my career. Returning to the active competition is something that makes me very happy and even more so to do it with a Spanish team. The first time we spoke in July I didn’t see myself as part of this project. However, meeting Saúl and the fact that Luis, one of my idols, is part of the team, finding out more about the project and to see that, little by little, what they told me was materialising is what convinced me. I said to myself, I have to be there! It’s a huge task but also a fascinating and meditated one. We know that it’s not going to be easy but I’m going to contribute work, experience and effort to grow together. And I hope that we can receive everyone’s support so that in the near future we can feel proud of ourselves. I’ve come to stay and I want to thank HRT for trusting in me, but also Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes because without them I wouldn’t be here and thanks to them, today I am a better driver”.

Pedro de la Rosa audio file

Saúl Ruiz de Marcos, HRT F1 Team CEO: “I’m very excited to have been able to announce Pedro as an HRT driver. Since we arrived a few months ago, one of the pillars upon which we wanted to base the project was having Pedro on the team. From day one we got straight down to work to try and convince him and after four months of negotiations I am very proud to have achieved it. We are on the right path, taking every step at a time and turning the project we had in mind at the beginning into reality. We are working discretely, with humility and analysis and every decision made has been premeditated to ensure that it is correct. I think we are on the right track to becoming a great Spanish team in one year’s time”.

Luis Pérez-Sala: “We joined this project back in August and tried to convince Pedro to come on board from day one. It wasn’t easy as he was very happy at Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes but, in the end, he’s decided to join us and I’m very proud to have him on our team for the next two years. When we took on this project in August, we thought that it was necessary to define a strategy and set some solid bases and Pedro was a key factor for this project to be viable. He is a driver with a lot of talent and his experience of over 12 years in F1 will help us to grow in the right path”.

Carlos Gracia, RFEdA president: “Today is a very important day for Spanish sport and for motorsport in general. First of all, I would like to thank Saúl, Luis, Matilde and, above all, Pedro. I believe that our nation’s sport is going through different phases and this project which we are presenting today is a new one. From the RFEdA we fully support HRT, a team that is here to stay and that we all want to see grow and consolidate itself. Pedro is my friend and my passion, a home grown product that I’m terribly proud of. I’m sure that HRT have got it right signing Pedro, because with him the team’s credibility will grow”.

Nico Hulkenberg will this weekend return to the asphalt that delivered his maiden pole position a year ago.

Interlagos was the penultimate race of 2010 and also the second-last in the 24-year-old’s rookie season with Williams — and he duly conquered qualifying in tricky damp conditions.

One race later, he was soon to be replaced over the winter off-season by Pastor Maldonado, Hulkenberg’s successor as GP2 champion and backed by millions of Venezuelan dollars.

The gutted Hulkenberg decamped to Force India, where in 2011 he has been driving the Mercedes-powered car on most Friday mornings.

“Yes, I am replacing (Adrian) Sutil (this weekend) — for 90 minutes,” Hulkenberg laughed to Blick newspaper, aware of the raging speculation that he will be replacing his experienced countryman full-time in 2012.

One of his 43,000 followers on Twitter commented: “Poor choice by Force India. Everybody knows you perform way better on Saturdays in Brazil.”

Agreed triple world champion Niki Lauda: “We need to see this fast guy in a good race car next season.”

Hulkenberg said: “I have to race in 2012. I want to prove what I can do.”

With Pedro de la Rosa confirmed for one seat, attention is now turning to which of HRT’s existing race drivers will be ousted after this weekend’s 2011 season finale.

Vitantonio Liuzzi revealed last time out in Abu Dhabi that he has a contract with the Spanish team for 2012.

“We knew when we started that it could not be just a one-year situation if we wanted to improve,” said the Italian, a former Force India and Red Bull driver.

“The team hired me to help them develop and bring experience in the team and I think everything is going well and everything is looking positive for the future,” added Liuzzi.

His teammate at the moment is Daniel Ricciardo, who was placed at HRT earlier this year after the team reached an agreement with Red Bull “as a support for the development of its driver”.

It is believed that the current agreement with HRT is only for 2011, and that Red Bull driver manager Dr Helmut Marko has not decided if it will be renewed for 2012.

If it is, Ricciardo could stay but the Australian might also graduate to Toro Rosso, with newcomer Jean-Eric Vergne placed alongside de la Rosa.

Yet another candidate for HRT could be Dani Clos, a 23-year-old GP2 driver who alongside de la Rosa would complete an all-Spanish lineup for HRT in 2012.

He tested the current car in Abu Dhabi last week and afterwards insisted he is “prepared to take the step” into full-time F1.

“But there are many factors that decide whether a driver makes it into F1 or not,” Clos conceded.

“It’s not impossible and I would love to be involved at some level, if it’s not as an official driver then as a test driver, whilst also competing in another category.”

As for HRT, he said the 2012 project “looks very promising”.

“I think they are changing their car, headquarters and a few other things which will make the team more stable and attractive. Without a doubt these changes are for the better,” added Clos.