Adrian Sutil has admitted that discovering Lewis Hamilton was not a friend was one of life’s “disappointments”.

Since their F3 days as teammates, Sutil and Hamilton have been arguably the closest pair of friends in the formula one paddock.

That changed, however, when the German driver was charged with assaulting Lotus team executive Eric Lux, and Hamilton was summoned as a witness to the Shanghai nightclub incident.

But Briton Hamilton declined to appear and also changed his mobile phone number without informing Sutil.

Sutil and his father reacted by calling the McLaren driver “pathetic” and a “coward”.

When asked about his former close friend, Sutil told Die Welt newspaper: “Basically I only had a problem with one person, which was Mr Lux.

“He has offered me his hand and said that for him, the issue is finished.

“What Lewis Hamilton does is not decisive for my ambitions to get back to formula one. Just as with defeats, you have to deal with disappointments, it’s as simple as that.

“I think no one should expect to find any friends in the paddock — and I don’t look for them there either. I have enough friends outside of F1,” added Sutil.

Fernando Alonso was spared the Italian media’s wrath after Ferrari opened its 2012 campaign with the troubled F2012 car.
“Alonso once again saved Ferrari from disaster,” said the authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport, after the Spanish driver drove the car to fifth place in Australia.

The under-pressure Felipe Massa’s opening race, however, “was a nightmare”, the daily newspaper added.

Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver who is now a media analyst, also praised fellow Spaniard Alonso.

“For Ferrari, it is an unique advantage to have a driver like Fernando Alonso,” he told El Mundo newspaper.

“He did a sensational Sunday, with intelligence and ambition, which will push and raise the team, I’m sure.”

Alonso remains confident.

“There may be cars quicker than us now,” he is quoted by Britain’s Daily Mail, “but it’s like Manchester United or Chelsea who play badly for a game but still win 1-0.

“Before this race we were working 24 hours (a day),” Alonso is quoted by Marca, “now it must be 25.”

The Spanish press, however, is livid.

“The fifth place is really a miracle,” said the sports daily Marca. “The car is ridiculous, rendering the team a midfielder.”

Jenson Button, meanwhile, received universal praise from the international press corps, as did the fact that Red Bull’s dominance appears to have been knocked by McLaren.

“That’s good news for everybody except (Sebastian) Vettel,” insisted Corriere dello Sport.

The fight, however, has just begun.

“Vettel turned the middling new Red Bull into a good race car,” said Gazzetta, referring to the German’s performance on Sunday, “which is a warning to the opposition.

“He is still the world champion, and he will be hunting his first triumph of the year in Sepang.”

Tuttosport, meanwhile, said Mercedes – which until Sunday’s race was the talk of the Melbourne paddock – was the “big disappointment” of the 2012 opener.

Ross Brawn insists great wealth has not affected his drive to succeed.
As team boss, the Briton bought Brackley based Honda for a nominal pound after the 2008 season, before ‘Brawn GP’ and Jenson Button raced to the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

At the end of that campaign, Brawn sold the team to Mercedes, and the Financial Times claims the Briton – still team principal – collected dozens of millions of dollars.

“I’m obviously a lot wealthier now than before and you wonder if you still have the same motivation to get up in the morning,” Brawn said.

“But it did not alter my perspective or my passion and ambition to succeed in racing.”

His job now is to win for Mercedes, and 2012 is year three, and the end of Michael Schumacher’s initial contract.

“If it does not come off I will have to recognise there is something missing, something I am not able to do that perhaps someone else should have a go at,” revealed Brawn.

Donington Park no longer aspires to host formula one.
The circuit’s bold bid to redevelop the site and host the 2010 British grand prix failed spectacularly, but it is once again the scene of minor category and motorcycle racing.

Managing director Christopher Tate told the BBC: “We have no ambition to run the British grand prix for cars.”

Pedro de la Rosa insists he is not afraid to admit he will tackle next weekend’s Australian grand prix at the wheel of the “worst” car.
“We will have a difficult year,” said the veteran Spaniard, who is yet to actually drive HRT’s newly-launched F112.

“It will also be interesting because the team is 80 per cent new,” added the 41-year-old former Arrows, Jaguar and Sauber driver, who for years was McLaren’s main test driver.

“We should not be afraid to admit that we are the worst, but we must have the ambition to not stay that way,” he told Antena 3 television.

“Our goal is to finish races, stop being the last across the line and to grow, trying to close the gap to pole position.”

The next stop, he said, is the Melbourne pitlane.

“The team is packing up everything and preparing a second chassis. Tomorrow night it is all put onto planes and sent to Australia.

“I leave on Monday,” revealed de la Rosa.

Spaniard Maria De Villota has become a Marussia F1 Team test driver.

Maria has raced in a variety of single-seater and sports car categories, including Spanish F3, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Euroseries 3000 and Superleague Formula Championship.

Maria has also experienced a Formula One cockpit previously, having received a test drive courtesy of the team formerly known as Lotus Renault F1 Team at Paul Ricard in August of last year, where she achieved 300kms of running.

As the daughter of former F1 driver and British Formula One Series Champion Emilio de Villota, Maria has always dreamed of following in his footsteps to reach the highest level of motorsport. Her integration into the Marussia F1 Team means she will have the opportunity to work with racing drivers operating at the pinnacle of the sport and, later in the year, the chance to drive the MR01.

John Booth, Team Principal, Marussia F1 Team, commented:

“We are pleased to welcome Maria to our test driver programme, which will enable her to be integrated into a Formula One team environment and gain a vast amount of experience that will be useful to her career progression. We will also provide Maria with the opportunity to sample F1 machinery later in the year, further adding to her racing credentials.”

Maria De Villota had this to say:

“I am very happy to be joining the Marussia F1 Team test driver programme. This is a fantastic opportunity to work closely with a Formula One team and gain important experience to help me progress my career, including the chance to drive the new car later in the year at the Abu Dhabi test. I will be joining the team trackside so I’m looking forward to working alongside them at the first race next weekend and this can only help my future ambition to step up to Formula One racing.”

Jaime Alguersuari has ruled out following his former Toro Rosso teammate Sebastien Buemi to Le Mans.
The pair were axed at the end of last season, leaving Swiss Buemi with the reserve role at Red Bull and a one-off drive in the fabled Le Mans 24 hour race.

21-year-old Alguersuari, on the other hand, will remain in the paddock this year thanks only to his new British radio co-commentary role, amid rumours he could become Pirelli’s test driver.

Le Mans, he insists, is not an option.

“No, that’s avoiding F1,” he told the BBC. “I am working for the radio and I will do some go-kart races to help with my physical training.

“Racing elsewhere is just starting another career. It’s doing something that’s not F1.”

It is clear Alguersuari is keeping his diary clean in the event an opportunity arises to quickly return to the grid.

“In F1 you never say never. Anything can happen,” said the Spaniard.

The BBC is also acutely aware of its acquisition’s real ambition.

Radio 5 Live controller Adrian van Klaveren said: “We are going to make the most of Jaime’s first hand experience right now knowing he could well be driving for one of the teams again in the near future.”

Meanwhile, Alguersuari slammed his former bosses’ explanations as to why he and Buemi were ousted.

“I respect the situation that they don’t want my work anymore, but what they’ve said is absolutely not acceptable,” he told the Daily Mail.

“They said we are good drivers, but we are not winners. It doesn’t make sense if you give me a car that is not capable to be in the top ten.”

Sebastian Vettel has confirmed there might be some place-swapping with his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber towards the end of Sunday’s inaugural Indian grand prix.
The team, already with the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in the bag, has revealed that its last ambition for 2011 is to power Webber from fourth to second in the points standings.

Publications on Thursday quoted team boss Christian Horner as hinting that team orders – now entirely legal in formula one albeit still controversial – cannot be ruled out.

World champion Vettel, who insisted he would “love” to see the Red Bull drivers finish both first and second in the 2011 championship, would be the one asked to move over.

“We’ve seen this year, in particular, races are long and a lot of things can happen in the beginning but also the end — overtaking is definitely possible,” the 24-year-old is quoted as saying by the AAP news agency.

“So the race order may not be clear, five or 10 laps to the end,” he said in India.

“For sure, it depends where you are. So we worry first of all to make sure we’re in a strong position and then I think the scenario-situation comes last,” added the German.

Paul di Resta has admitted he isn’t sure he will still be with the Force India team in 2012.

Team boss Vijay Mallya said recently he has “clear options” to retain the impressive Scottish rookie – who maintains strong links with Mercedes-Benz – beyond this season.

But di Resta told Press Association Sport at the Nurburgring: “There are many things you hear, but you don’t know. I really don’t know where I am next year.

“Of course, I’d like to stay here if this is an opportunity. I came in here with a long term view.”

But there have also been suggestions that Mercedes would like to run reigning DTM champion di Resta at its works team, despite indications Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are both staying on board for 2012.

“Naturally, I’d love to be with a bigger team battling up at the front, that’s my ambition, but Force India is an up-and-coming team,” he said.

“This year has been more difficult than we thought. We’ve not picked up from where we left off last year.

“But sometimes things go down before they go up, and you take one step back to go two steps forward.

“So I certainly hope we can build a future in F1. That’s always been the intention,” added di Resta.

Williams chairman Adam Parr on Sunday refused to deny speculation the struggling team might oust its technical director Sam Michael.
The famous Grove-based squad has had a difficult start to the 2011 championship and Parr told Reuters the main problems are in the technical areas.

“If Sam thought that the right thing for the team is for him to stop, he’d stop tomorrow. He wouldn’t even quibble. He will do whatever is necessary for the team,” he said.

Parr admitted that Williams “will be changing things” in the near future and said only organisational restructuring is not enough.

“You can’t change what we are doing without changing people,” he said, admitting that some of the decisions will be “tough”.

Rubens Barrichello’s FW33 was fitted with a Red Bull-style exhaust earlier in Shanghai but it was removed for qualifying.

“There are other areas (too) where we’ve just not been smart enough,” said Parr. “We’re not lacking in creativity or ambition but it’s not enough.

“There are other people who are being more creative and more ambitious,” he added.

Daniel Ricciardo has been appointed Toro Rosso’s reserve and ‘Friday’ driver for the 2011 season.

The 21-year-old will alternate between the cockpits of the Italian team’s regular drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi in the initial practice session at grands prix next year.

“I have to say thanks to Red Bull for this great opportunity,” said the Australian in a statement.

Ricciardo is now the leading driver of Red Bull’s junior driver programme, and comfortably led the pace at the recent young driver test at the wheel of the title-winning RB6 in Abu Dhabi.

“I am sure that having a hungry youngster on the books will keep our current driver pairing nice and sharp,” said Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost.

Ricciardo will also contest the Formula Renault 3.5 championship in 2011.

“My ultimate aim is to be a full time formula one driver and this new role has to be the best step toward achieving that ambition,” he said.

It will be “difficult” for Sebastian Vettel to defend his title in 2011 because Fernando Alonso is F1′s best driver.

That is the view of 63-year-old Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, who like Spaniard Alonso is a double world champion.

When asked by Germany’s Die Welt newspaper if German youngster Vettel will win again in 2011, he answered: “It is possible, but it will certainly be very difficult.

“Ferrari will be improving their car for 2011 to make up the little missing piece from this season.

“And Fernando Alonso is currently the most complete driver,” insisted Fittipaldi.

“He has so much experience and as much ambition, and he doesn’t like to lose,” he said.

Fittipaldi also thinks Michael Schumacher will be back to full strength in 2011.

“Before the race in Sao Paulo I had breakfast with (Mercedes bosses) Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug and they assured me that the next car will better meet Michael’s style.”

“I believe in Michael Schumacher,” he admitted.

“I remember having a talk with Ayrton Senna when Michael was at Benetton. Ayrton found it extremely hard to race against him. That, you do not lose. I won my last major race when I was 49.”

Joan Villadelprat on Monday insisted he has not given up on bringing his Spanish Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi into formula one.

The Spaniard tried to acquire the thirteenth and final team entry for 2011, but the FIA ruled that none of the applicants had the financial resources to justify the go-ahead.

But Villadelprat told the Noticias de Gipuzkoa that the 13th entry is not the only route into F1.

“We have not thrown in the towel,” he confirmed.

“The most important thing in formula one is the funding that allows you develop for the long-term. We already have the infrastructure and human capacity.

“We are still working with a range of investors and we hope soon to have a final decision,” added Villadelprat. “If the decision is positive, we have a range of options.

“We can go for the 13th entry in 2012, or for 2011 buy an existing team.”

He ruled out buying the struggling HRT team.

“We are not in contact with them,” said Villadelprat, with decades of experience in F1 with Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton and Prost.

“But we are confident that there are licenses available, because there are several teams in a very delicate economic situation,” he added.

“If we secure the budget for the next four years to take over the project of one of these teams, we will — otherwise, no.”

Ross Brawn has admitted he has begun to think about retiring.

The Briton has played down rumours he is at loggerheads with Norbert Haug, but acknowledged that if the 2011 car is disappointing, his role as Mercedes team principal will be in danger.

As for next year, the 55-year-old told the Telegraph: “I will definitely be there next year. 100 per cent. I don’t have any ambitions to be anywhere else.”

But Brawn, who stepped down from Ferrari a few years ago before taking a sabbatical and returning with Brackley based Honda, also admitted that “I will retire one day”.

“For the next few years I will focus totally on getting this team to the front of the grid and then, almost like at Ferrari, I want to start working on a succession plan so that I can ease back a bit,” he added.

Brawn said he plan is to stay in F1 “but maybe not have to come to 20-odd races every year”.

Red Bull has pledged driver equality for the 2010 title fight, whilst openly admitting that Sebastian Vettel is regarded as the man of the future.

“The main thing now is that we become world champions,” said Helmut Marko, who was accused earlier this year of wanting Vettel to beat Australian Webber to the top spot.

But with Webber 14 points clear, and Vettel level-pegging with Ferrari’s chasing Fernando Alonso, the Austrian-owned team must give the 34-year-old an unimpeded run to the chequered flag.

For the future, however, Red Bull’s ambitions are well known.

“I repeat: we are building the team around Sebastian,” team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Auto Bild.

“Sebastian has a long career ahead of him and hopefully he will spend it with us,” said the Briton. “Mark is in the autumn of his career.

“He wants to retire while he’s at the top, not when he’s past his peak like some other drivers,” added Horner.

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, however, thinks Red Bull are making a mistake by giving 23-year-old Vettel so much cover.

“Just look at the differing seasons Mark and Sebastian have had,” the French Canadian is quoted by the Telegraph.

“Vettel has shown he has an impetuous streak but if he makes a mistake and the team don’t tell him it was his fault, he won’t learn.

“It’s Red Bull’s fault for spoiling him,” insisted Villeneuve.