Michael Schumacher should stay in formula one for as long as he wants to.
That is the claim of Franz Tost, the Austrian team boss of Red Bull’s second F1 team Toro Rosso.

According to Der Spiegel, Tost knows the 42-year-old German well, and so he was asked about widespread speculation that Schumacher should return to retirement rather than race on in 2012 and beyond.

“First of all,” replied Tost, “Michael Schumacher, the seven time world champion with nothing to prove, should not care whether his teammate Nico Rosberg is faster than him or not.

“What is crucial for him is whether it is still fun or whether the passion is still there. These are questions only he can answer.”

But figures like Eddie Jordan – Schumacher’s first ever F1 team boss 20 years ago – have said they would now dismiss the famous German due to a lack of performance.

Tost responded: “Michael brings so many other advantages that outweigh that. Do you think Mercedes would still be so much in the spotlight if Michael Schumacher left?

“This is a crucial factor. He continues to attract huge amounts of attention and so I see his comeback as anything but negative.”

Eddie Jordan however told Dutch website f1today.nl that Schumacher has “had his day”.

“This sport has had many champions and Michael Schumacher has had his day,” said the Irishman.

“He has had huge success and is a very good driver, but someone should talk to him and try to convince him to let his place be taken by another talented driver.”

Mark Webber insists he is not concerned that it is Sebastian Vettel, and not himself, who is regarded as the star of the Red Bull team.

Australian Webber is better placed in the points standings than his German colleague Vettel, but team figures are insisting upon a situation of driver equality for the remaining two races of 2010.

Experts believe the situation is a reflection of the fact that it is 23-year-old Vettel who is the darling of the Austrian team.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Webber said in an interview with the Italian magazine Autosprint.

“I am 34 years old and I think it’s great that I’m still at the top level and as competitive as I am,” he added.

“If I was ten years younger and was getting the same results, I’m sure you’d all think I’m the superstar.

“I think the only difference is that Vettel is young. I don’t really see him working any differently than, say, Heikki (Kovalainen) at Lotus,” said Webber.

“I think the best way to judge someone is to consider the consistency of their results,” he added.

Only a “disaster” will prevent Fernando Alonso from winning his third drivers’ title in 2010.

That is the claim of his manager Flavio Briatore, who said the championship challenge is now a straight fight between two drivers in his stable: Spaniard Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

“Alonso will lose the world championship only with a disaster,” the Italian told Sky Sport 24.

“For Vettel it’s impossible, Hamilton the same. The only two who can win are Alonso and Webber,” said Briatore.

“And for Alonso I see the chances at 80 per cent, except if Red Bull changes their strategy.

“For Alonso he has always driven the same way, only the Ferrari has become better and more reliable,” he said.

Briatore is highly critical of Red Bull’s refusal to get Sebastian Vettel to fall in line behind Webber, surmising that the Austrian team “have the best car but it seems like they’re trying to lose the championship.

“And they’re getting there,” he added.

Sam Michael has scoffed at Red Bull’s claim that the Renault engines in the rear of the championship-leading RB6 are significantly down on power.

Red Bull has consistently claimed its Renault V8 is up to 30 horse power behind, revealing that McLaren is blocking its move to industry leading Mercedes.

The Austrian team is also openly upset that the FIA will not impose performance parity, with Mercedes refusing to voluntary de-tune its engines.

Bluntly, Australian Michael – technical director at Cosworth-powered Williams – denounces the saga as “bullshit”.

“It’s simply to gain an advantage,” he is quoted by the German language motorsport-total.com.

“This (Renault) engine has often been on pole position this year. You cannot tell me it has not enough power,” insisted Michael.

“They’re just lobbying for an upgrade. That’s ok, because it’s part of the business. These teams are trying to strengthen their position.”

He believes all the engines in F1 at present are separated by “no more than one or two tenths”.

It was believed Williams, like Lotus, was considering switching to Renault for 2011, but the British team has now confirmed it is staying with Cosworth.

Sebastian Vettel briefly suspected he was the victim of clandestine team orders during the recent Italian grand prix.

According to a report in the British newspaper The Telegraph, the German’s instinctive suspicions were raised at Monza when he sensed a problem with his RB6 whilst running ahead of his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.

Australian Webber is leading the drivers’ world champion, but publicly the Austrian team insists he is not now being favoured over his younger teammate.

The media report revealed that Vettel, 23, screamed “Are you ——- with me guys?” over the radio when he noticed a temporary problem – which ultimately turned out to be a brake issue – that allowed Webber to pass him.

“I am emotional,” he is quoted as explaining in Singapore.

“At that moment you are fighting on the limit and I thought that maybe … but I think everything I have done I can be totally honest and straight.

“At the time I believed it was the right decision.  I have no regrets,” said Vettel.

Some commentators believe the difference between highly rated Vettel and the experienced Webber this year is their contrasting abilities to cope with pressure.

“Do I believe the pressure has got to me?  No,” Vettel said rhetorically.

“Do I believe the criticism is right?  That I am a pole kid who can’t win races?  No.  Why?  Because I know the reasons why I haven’t performed.

“How many mistakes have I made this year?  Probably two.  And if I make a mistake you can be sure I am harder on myself than anyone else,” he added.

Adrian Newey has acknowledged that his Red Bull cars will almost certainly continue to be powered by Renault engines next year.

The Austrian team is concerned about its horse power deficit that began amid the so-called ‘engine freeze’, with Mercedes and Ferrari pulling away in that area.

But technical boss Newey told Germany’s Sport Bild that Red Bull is likely to stay with Renault.

“Where shall we go?” he is quoted as saying. “McLaren has stopped us from getting the Mercedes engine.

“So there’s only Ferrari. But we ask ourselves: if we beat them, will we still have the same specification as the Ferrari team?” admitted Newey.

And although perhaps as much as 40 horse power down, Newey acknowledges that Renault “always respond to our requests”.

He said the French marque “very strongly adhered” to the spirit of the engine freeze, developing its V8 engine less than its rivals.

“This means we now have a gap to Ferrari and Mercedes. And if Renault are not allowed to keep up, I can well imagine them withdrawing as an engine supplier,” added Newey.

The jury is out as to whether Red Bull will bounce back into top form at Singapore in less than two weeks.

According to the Austrian team, the RB6 was simply unsuited to the long straights of Spa and Monza, and will return to dominance on the more conventional circuits that are set to host the last five races of 2010.

But another line of thinking is that the tougher flexible wing and floor tests, introduced by the FIA amid suggestions the Adrian Newey-penned car is illegally bending at high speed, have hurt the pace of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

The Sportwoche publication said the team had to make last-minute changes before Friday practice at Monza, which explains the bright green aerodynamic paint seen initially at the rear of the car in Italy.

“It has been a smear campaign against us,” said Red Bull’s motor racing consultant Helmut Marko, “and now we have the result.”

But other elements at the team insist the new tests have had no impact.

“Red Bull say it’s not making any difference but I’m hopeful,” said McLaren’s Jenson Button.

BBC commentator Martin Brundle commented: “Red Bull absolutely insist that they will be back to their dominant pace in Singapore. We will see.”

Championship chargers McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari appear to all have competitive packages at Monza for this weekend’s Italian grand prix.

McLaren was fastest in the morning practice session, Red Bull in the afternoon, while Ferrari’s F10 was just hundredths of a second off the pace.

Mark Webber, 3 points adrift Lewis Hamilton’s title lead, had a slight afternoon scare with a water pressure alarm.

“We had to turn off the engine to prevent any damage,” said the Australian.

“It’s going well. I need to find some pace in myself but we’re on the pace,” he is quoted by German media.

Last year when KERS proved an additional handicap to Red Bull’s power disadvantage, Monza was a poor circuit for the Austrian team but “it looks much better this year”, said Sebastian Vettel, the fastest around the Autodromo Nazionale on Friday.

“McLaren look extremely strong,” said the German, “and Ferrari are strong as well.”

Fernando Alonso confirmed: “We are there.”

Rival teams are pointing fingers at Red Bull not only because the RB6 is quick, according to Dr Helmut Marko.

Team consultant Marko, Austrian team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man, is referring to the fact that powerful F1 rivals have been complaining all season about the alleged illegality of the Adrian Newey-penned car.

“It is not just our success,” he is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

“We have at most the third biggest budget in formula one.  We are a private team, not a car manufacturer, and that hurts them even more,” added Marko.

He said he has “lost count” of the number of legality tests carried out by the FIA that the RB6 has always passed.

“It is continually suspected that our cars are not according to the rules,” said Marko.

“If we put in the same amount of energy on watching what the other teams are doing, as some of the others do, then our car would not be as fast.

“This is just part of the psychological warfare.  We can only take it in our stride,” he added.

Marko also revealed that the men who have contributed to the success of the dominant RB6 are constantly courted by rival teams.

“All of our top talent have long-term commitments, but they’ve all had other offers,” he said.

“Adrian (Newey) could earn more money somewhere else, but it is with us that he can really work freely.  Our philosophy suits him best, the spirit in our team is unique and we are all aimed in the same direction.”

Even though the leads should arguably be much bigger, Red Bull is narrowly heading both championship tables at present.

“There are seven races left,” said Marko.  “It will be crucial to have no failures, because our goal is the world title.

“And we want to maintain this same level for the next five years,” he added.

Christian Horner does not think Red Bull will need to modify its 2010 car ahead of the Belgian grand prix.

Amid suggestions the front of the RB6 and Ferrari’s F10 are running too low to the ground at high speed, the FIA has served notice that scrutineering tests will be amended for Spa-Francorchamps and beyond.

It had been expected that most teams would need to make changes in order to pass the new tests, but team principal Horner does not think Red Bull will be among them.

“Based on the correspondence the FIA has sent us, we believe our car still meets those criteria,” he told the print edition of Autosport magazine.

If true, and rival teams do need to make changes to pass the new tests, the Austrian team could find itself with an even bigger performance advantage.

Championship leader and Hungaroring winner Mark Webber thinks the RB6 will be competitive at every remaining circuit in 2010.

“We’re a little bit worried about how the long straights might go at some of the other venues, at maybe Monza,” he said in a Red Bull video interview.

“But the car is very, very strong at most tracks so we’re ready to take on anyone at any venue and I’m looking forward to all the races coming up,” added the Australian.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Several more races could pass before Red Bull is ready to race a McLaren-style F-duct system.

The Austrian team tested an early prototype of the downforce-stalling concept during the practice sessions in Turkey, but it is believed the F-duct will not re-appear at all this weekend in Montreal.

According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, the subsequent Valencia and Silverstone rounds might also pass without a race-able version of the F-duct fitted to Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 cars.

The report said the German round at Hockenheim could be the earliest possible qualifying and race debut for the Red Bull F-duct.

Before then, new iterations of the Turkey-specification F-duct could be tested in practice as soon as the forthcoming European grand prix at Valencia late this month.

Adrian Newey looks set to stay at Red Bull for the foreseeable future.

The 51-year-old Briton joined the Austrian team from McLaren in 2006, and as chief technical officer is widely credited for the success of the dominant RB6.

Germany’s Sport Bild claims Newey, arguably the most sought-after figure in the entire world of formula one, intends to stay put.

“Contractual matters are confidential, but it’s true,” team boss Christian Horner said of the report.

“Last year, Adrian requested to remove a clause that would have ended his contract this year,” he revealed.

Former grand prix winner Gerhard Berger backs the move, insisting that Red Bull will remain on the pace “as long as Newey and Vettel are there”.
(GMM)

Red Bull’s rivals cannot catch up with the dominant RB6 car simply by copying its technical features, Fernando Alonso insists.

On Monday, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was quoted as urging his engineers to study the Adrian Newey-penned single seater in a bid to match its runaway pace.

Asked by Germany’s Die Welt for his opinion about the secret to the RB6′s success, Ferrari driver Alonso answered: “It would be nice if we knew that.

“It is incredibly difficult to figure out why the competition is better here and there. And so it is hard to copy them.”

But the Spaniard admitted that emulating the cleverness of rival teams is commonplace in formula one.

“It can be. But whether it always works is a different matter, because every team also has its own design philosophy into which fits the next elements.

“It means that you have to develop better in your own direction,” said Alonso.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, the back-to-back winner from pole in Spain and Monaco, insists it is too early to conclude that the Austrian team is now a shoo-in for the title.

“I understand you guys (reporters) have to write stuff but no one knows who is going to be in the hunt with a few races to go,” said the Australian.
(GMM)

Red Bull will not favour one of its drivers over the other, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has insisted.

With the dominant RB6 car, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are currently tied for points at the top of the world championship.

Vettel, 22, is seen as the Austrian team’s star and long-term hope, but his experienced teammate Webber has won the last two grands prix from pole.

“We will have no team orders, instead the better one or the luckiest one should win,” billionaire Mateschitz told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Moreover, Red Bull’s F1 advisor Dr Helmut Marko said the rivalry between Vettel and Webber is crucial.

“Neither of them would be where they are today without the strong competition within the team,” he told Austria’s APA news agency.
(GMM)

Mark Webber has indicated he is in no rush to sign a new contract with Red Bull.

In the wake of his two wins within a week in Spain and Monaco, the Austrian team has indicated it is keen to re-sign the 33-year-old for 2011.

But Australian Webber has also been linked recently with a switch to Ferrari, and he told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that he is not certain who his employer will be next year.

“I’ve just won two races, back-to-back, and people are asking me where I’m going to drive next year,” said the joint championship leader.

“I’m very close to the guys at Red Bull, we’ve been through a lot, and I have a great relationship with them. Yet things happen and change very fast in this business, and you never know what’s around the corner,” added Webber.

Interestingly, after boss Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko commented on Webber’s situation post-Monaco, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz is now quoted as wading in on the status of Sebastian Vettel’s current teammate.

“They have different personalities, but when they go into battle they are winners,” the Austrian billionaire told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag.

Mateschitz also described Webber as a “stereotype of the fair, athletic sportsman”.
(GMM)