Esteban Gutierrez sounded upset on Friday after missing the opportunity to make his formula one race debut.

The Mexican teen was signed by Sauber to be the Swiss team’s official test and reserve driver at all races in 2011.

But the reigning GP3 champion, who now races in the F1 support category GP2, was not in Canada on Friday when his countryman Sergio Perez had to withdraw from the event due to illness.

Instead, Sauber turned to in its 2010 driver Pedro de la Rosa after hurried negotiations with McLaren, who now employ the veteran Spaniard as its reserve driver.

Despite Perez’s hospitalisation, concussion and bruised thigh in Monaco, and the fact FIA doctors only cleared him to race on Thursday, Sauber was caught so unprepared that de la Rosa was wearing McLaren overalls when he took to the C30 in afternoon practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

And Gutierrez, apparently in his native Mexico, wrote on Twitter that Sauber displayed a “lack of transparency” in informing its official reserve of the situation.

“I learned from Twitter,” he said on the social networking website.

“It’s a shame to hear about Montreal, I hope ‘Checo’ (Perez) recovers soon,” added Gutierrez in Spanish.

“I never received any instructions to prevent this situation. I was ready,” he said.

The Renault cars did not immediately run in Friday afternoon practice while the team investigated the technical failures of the initial session at Sepang.
Team boss Eric Boullier confirmed at the Malaysian circuit that neither Nick Heidfeld or Vitaly Petrov would return to their R31s until the problem is understood and rectified.

“Best to be on the safe side,” the team said on its official Twitter.

Heidfeld had returned to the pits in the first session with a blocked wheel, before Petrov spun into the gravel after a catastrophic failure on his left corner.

It was initially believed the problem was related to brakes, but the later theory was that the fault was in the suspension upright.

Half-way into the second session, it is believed the problem has been found and the cars will return to the track shortly.

Meanwhile, Boullier confirmed that German Heidfeld sat out some pre-weekend events this week with a throat infection.

“It’s not serious,” he told Bernama news agency. “He wanted to rest and be ready for free practice.”

A Woking based team member has been dispatched on a 9,000 kilometre race from Britain to Suzuka.

He must reach the Japanese circuit in about 21 hours, in order to beat the parc ferme deadline so that Lewis Hamilton can be back up and running with the MP5-25′s new rear wing for qualifying and the race.

The Briton broke the new wing’s left endfence in his morning practice crash, and the only other version in Japan is fitted to Jenson Button’s sister car.

When Hamilton returned to the track with 9 minutes of the afternoon session remaining, his car was fitted with the old wing as he drove to the 13th quickest time.

At the same time, a team member had been dispatched from the UK to bring new endplates to Suzuka in his hand-luggage.

“We can repair the wing with the new end plates,” team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

At the track, Hamilton’s mechanics are also facing a long night.  The 25-year-old’s chassis has also been damaged, and – after a patch-up job for the few afternoon practice laps – a new car will be built up overnight.

Mercifully, Jenson Button’s similar Degner spin did not result in contact with the tyre barrier, and Michael Schumacher and others also had moments in the same section.

“The bumps in the first part are worse than last year,” said Sebastian Vettel, despite the organisers having modified the kerbs after last year’s multiple crashes there.

Mark Webber’s Red Bull ground to a halt during the final quarter of the afternoon practice session at Monza.

The championship contender pulled off the track with a water pressure problem that should be easily fixed, a representative of the Austrian-owned team said.

His teammate Sebastian Vettel fared better, adding a P1 to his competitive time set in the earlier morning session.

And the Ferraris were also on the pace in the afternoon, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren, who was running an F-duct-free MP4-25 in order to compare it with the downforce-stalling configuration on teammate Jenson Button’s car.

With the F-duct, Button was mere hundredths slower than Hamilton in the afternoon.

“Our car works very well in low downforce,” said Button. “We should be fighting at the front.”

Red Bull’s dominance seemed apparent on Friday, as the controversy about flexible front wings looked set to continue.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were a second clear of the next best runner, Robert Kubica’s Renault, in the morning practice session in Hungary.

Slow-motion replays captured by the sport’s broadcaster Formula One Management highlighted the extent to which the extremities of the RB6′s front wing bend towards the track.

The highest-placed Ferrari was Hockenheim winner Fernando Alonso, 1.8 seconds off the pace, amid suggestions the team has decided not to run its flexible wing at the Hungaroring.

“We will see what we will end up using,” said chief engineer Chris Dyer.

Red Bull’s Christian Horner told the BBC: “I’m sure the Ferraris will be quick around here — but I’m also sure the circuit will suit our car, and our drivers like driving here.”

According to the official weather forecaster, there is a chance of rain for the afternoon practice session.

Jun.12 (GMM)  Sir Jackie Stewart has admitted he has been disappointed with Fernando Alonso and Ferrari so far in 2010.

The famous Scot, who celebrated his 71st birthday at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday, admitted he openly wanted to see the Spanish double world champion move to Maranello based Ferrari this year.

“He is a very clever driver and he has the necessary qualities to do the job that Schumacher once did.  He is a leader,” former three-time F1 title winner Stewart told Spain’s AS newspaper.

But after Alonso won his first race with the famous Italian team in Bahrain, the results have not flowed.

“It is taking more time than I had expected,” Stewart explained.

“He has made more mistakes than is usual, and the car is also falling short,” he added.

Alonso, 28, said in Canada that he refuses to accept his Ferrari title challenge might need to wait for the 2011 campaign.

“I think we are in a good position to fight for this championship,” he said after going second fastest in Friday’s afternoon practice session.

“There were some races better than others but we need to be not too high when we win and not too low when we don’t perform.”

Mark Webber on Friday played down the significance of his engine failure in afternoon practice.

Towards the end of the second session at Istanbul Park, the Australian’s RB6 stopped on track with a failed Renault V8.

But although Red Bull has suffered several reliability problems in 2010, the joint championship leader said the engine fitted to his car was high on mileage.

Drivers are allowed to use any of their allocation of eight engines on a Friday, with one engine only needing to be used consecutively on Saturday and Sunday.

“We were expecting it to be right on the edge,” said Webber.

(GMM)

Two touted contenders for victory in Sunday’s Turkish grand prix had a troubled afternoon practice session at Istanbul Park.

Frustrated Barcelona/Monaco winner and joint championship leader Mark Webber, although second fastest behind Jenson Button, suffered what is suspected to be a failed engine failure.

After skilfully reversing his Red Bull through a gap in the fence, the Australian then amusingly lost his temper with Turkish marshals who could not decipher his desire for a fire extinguisher to be used to chock the wheel.

2006-2008 Istanbul winner Felipe Massa, meanwhile, had the canvas showing on a set of his soft Bridgestone tyres after spinning sideways in the challenging Turn 8.

(GMM)

May 6 (GMM)  One of the innovations on the Mercedes car for the Spanish grand prix is the abolishment of the traditional ‘airbox’.

The airbox – an inlet for the normally-aspirated engines – has traditionally been part of the roll-hoop structure immediately behind and above the drivers’ head.

But the rollover structure of the revised W01 is now sharp as a knife, with air to now be fed to the 2.4 litre V8 engine via two symmetrical inlets on either side of the engine cover.

Also spotted in the Barcelona pitlane on Thursday was Christian Klien, having his moulded seat and settings fitted to the HRT car usually belonging to Karun Chandhok.

The team’s newly-appointed third driver will hand the F110 car back to Indian Chandhok ahead of Friday’s afternoon practice session.

Meanwhile, in the paddock, Virgin’s new double-storey motor home won the race as the most impressive of F1′s three new teams.

Sauber has taken over BMW’s imposing paddock structure of 2009, while Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel walked behind the Circuit de Catalunya pits sporting a new haircut.

Also spotted on Thursday was Joan Villadelprat, who is hoping his Spanish Le Mans outfit Epsilon Euskadi will be given a green light to race in formula one next year.