A support-race team and a respected journalist have become the next to pull out of this weekend’s highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.

The Porsche Supercup team MRS said its decision to skip the support race in the divided island Kingdom is the “first time in our history that we have had to cancel”.

“In the end we have the responsibility for our employees,” said team boss Karsten Molitor, citing security concerns.

Another withdrawal – joining the sacked Williams catering staff member, and the TV broadcasters Sky Deutschland, Fuji TV and MTV3 Finland – is the respected correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Livio Oricchio.

“I have decided in agreement with Estado to not go,” he said. “We had the tickets for the entire season, except for Bahrain and the United States, because there was a doubt they would be run.

“Like many journalists, I will not be at Sakhir,” Oricchio admitted.

“I always believed that the race would not take place, and I’m still not 100 per cent sure that something will not happen that will lead the FIA or FOM to cancel.”

Indeed, following the sport’s decision to push ahead, the pressure on formula one to cancel at the eleventh hour has only intensified.

Nabeel Rajab, the leader of the government opposition group Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, admitted that the next protests – ‘three days of rage’, to coincide with the race’s three-day calendar – are aimed specifically at F1.

“We’re protesting to show anger at formula one for conducting the race here,” he is quoted by the BBC.

And the wife of a well-known jailed Bahraini activist who is on a long hunger strike, added: “I am not angry with the government… what makes me angry is people like Ecclestone who decide to come to Bahrain because he thinks everyone is happy.”

Italy’s La Stampa reports that F1 personnel have been advised to stay away from restaurants and shops, while “girlfriends and wives stay at home”.

That’s not entirely true, as Felipe Massa touched down at the airport on Thursday with his wife and baby son.

And Giedo van der Garde, the reserve driver for Caterham, said he has found Bahrain peaceful since his arrival on Wednesday.

“I’ve not been here long,” he is quoted by Auto Hebdo, “but everything seems quiet. Obviously, there’s a heavy police presence,” the Dutchman continued.

“But I haven’t seen any trouble or anything. Let’s hope it stays like that.”

Marco Canseco, the correspondent for the Spanish sports daily Marca, said he witnessed a “minor altercation” in the capital Manama on Wednesday.

“Then all the teams and everybody were able to get to the track for work without a hitch, the same on return,” he revealed.

Many are protesting the race going ahead on moral grounds, others due to security fears, whilst others fear for F1′s image.

“The ongoing debate about Bahrain is the only damage to the high gloss of the exciting 2012 season so far,” agreed Austria’s Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

Sergio Perez honed his wet-weather race craft from a very early age, his father has revealed.

According to the rumour mill, the 22-year-old Mexican has gone straight to the top of Ferrari’s shortlist for 2013 after his strong charge for victory in the changeable Malaysian grand prix recently.

“This ability to drive very fast in the rain is a talent he developed at an early age,” the Sauber driver’s father Antonio, a former champion of Mexican F3, told France’s Auto Hebdo.

“With his brother, he accumulated hours of karting from the age of 6, driving even in torrential downpours that characterise the rainy season in Guadalajara,” Perez snr added.

 Giedo van der Garde is set to return to the track with Caterham during the forthcoming Barcelona tests, reigniting speculation about Jarno Trulli’s future with the former Lotus team.
After the sponsor-backed Dutch GP2 driver was signed on as 2012 reserve driver, he was also drafted into the Jerez test lineup at short notice, bumping Italian veteran Trulli from Thursday’s running.

And France’s Auto Hebdo quotes the 26-year-old as revealing he expects to return to the wheel soon.

“It was not easy for me to fully exploit the new tyres and brakes, but it will be better at the next test.

“The team is happy with my performance. I hope to do another test before the season starts,” van der Garde said.

Also reportedly in the running at Caterham is the Renault refugee and Russian-backed Vitaly Petrov, with Sport Bild claiming Trulli’s 2012 place is “probably not safe”.

“For now I’m safe,” Trulli was quoted on Monday by the Italian website Stop and Go.

Also perhaps feeling nervous at present is Marussia’s new signing Charles Pic, who according to Dutch website f1today.nl is grappling with “sponsorship and payment problems”.

The former Virgin team denied the reports.

“I want to prove to everyone that I have the talent to succeed in F1,” he is quoted by French language RMC Sport.

“Timo (Glock) has a lot of experience and has been on the podium — my goal is to learn from him and try to beat him as soon as possible,” added Pic.

Jerome d’Ambrosio has acknowledged the importance of his teammate Timo Glock to the Virgin team.
German Glock, despite having only 65 grands prix under his belt, made his debut in 2004 and has also raced with the benefit of Toyota’s huge budget until the Japanese marque pulled out of F1 in 2009.

The 29-year-old switched to the startup Virgin outfit last year and he was recently re-signed through 2014.

Belgian rookie d’Ambrosio acknowledged Glock’s leading role.

“He is the reference of the team, and therefore mine as well,” the 25-year-old told France’s Auto Hebdo magazine.

Virgin Racing – and fellow 2010 startups Team Lotus and HRT – are yet to score a point formula one.

D’Ambrosio replaced 2010 Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi this year, but it is believed he is likely to stay put for next season.

“I am really happy with the team and I think they are happy with me as well,” he said, “so at the moment we are speaking (about 2012) and hopefully we will be able to work together again.”

Jean-Eric Vergne has a future in formula one, Red Bull’s driver development chief Dr Helmut Marko insists.

The spotlight at present is on Daniel Ricciardo, the young Australian who is at the pinnacle of Red Bull’s junior driver programme and tipped to enter F1 next year with Toro Rosso.

But Frenchman Verge, 20, is also high in the Red Bull programme and tipped to replace Ricciardo as the F1 reserve driver in 2011.

He comfortably won this year’s British F3 championship, and finished eighth in the Renault World Series despite only replacing the ousted Brendon Hartley in July.

Marko told France’s Auto Hebdo that the success of new world champion Sebastian Vettel “justifies all of our efforts” to develop young drivers for F1.

“What we want now is another driver into F1 who can win,” the Austrian added. “Jean-Eric might be the one!” said Marko, referring to Vergne who recently tested the Toro Rosso in Abu Dhabi.

“He has a completely different character to Seb, but that’s ok so long as his performance is there,” he added.

A month before Christmas, F1 teams and drivers have retired to consider the impact of the sport’s new sole tyre supplier.

The 2010 grid got its first taste of new partner Pirelli’s recent development efforts with a two-day test in Abu Dhabi.

Paying particular attention were drivers like Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, who notably struggled with departed Bridgestone’s tyres this year.

Schumacher’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg raised alarm bells when, asked to compare Pirelli with Bridgestone after his running on Friday, he used words like “worse”, “weaker” and “slower”.

Massa, however, set Friday’s best time and said he was happy, while Schumacher was cautious.

“We were using the 2010 car,” he said on Saturday after almost matching pacesetter Fernando Alonso’s best time, “and it will be all about how these tyres suit our 2011 car.”

But Brazil’s Agencia Estado quoted him as sounding more positive.

“These are not the final tyres but the ones I used today seemed to suit my style a bit more, especially the fronts,” said Schumacher.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi also noticed some key differences compared with Bridgestone.

“We did our best start of the year!” the Swiss enthused to Auto Hebdo when talking about his first impression of the Pirellis.

“You can also brake very hard and very late. On acceleration, the traction is poor and you lose a lot of grip, and the wear also seems higher.

“And on a long run the soft tyres wore much less than the hard tyres. In my opinion, they (Pirelli) made a mistake and they’ve already said they’ll change it.

“The front tyres are good. They respond well,” added Buemi.

To Agencia Estado, Williams’ Rubens Barrichello concurred: “The front of the car grips a little more than the rear.”

Said Pirelli’s Paul Hembery: “According to what we have learned in Abu Dhabi, we will change the compounds, but not the construction.”

And he added: “The drivers especially enjoyed the performance of our front tyre, which is an area that we have worked on considerably.”

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed he still does not know what he will be doing in 2011.

The Australian, who was Red Bull’s reserve driver in 2010, this week stunned the F1 world with record-setting pace in the Abu Dhabi young driver test at the wheel of the championship winning RB6.

The energy drink company’s four F1 race seats are already occupied for 2011, but it has been rumoured a drive at Lotus – to use Red Bull gearboxes next year – is a possibility.

“I called Dr (Helmut) Marko to keep him informed of the developments in testing.

“I asked him if he had any news for next season, but he said nothing has been decided yet,” 21-year-old Ricciardo told Auto Hebdo.

“I am a member of the Red Bull junior team so my future is in their hands.  I have every confidence in them and I know they will decide what is best for me.”

The actual track layout of the impressive Yas Marina venue in Abu Dhabi is “flawed”, according to Martin Whitmarsh.

“It is a great facility and everything else, but as we saw in GP2 and as we saw in F1 it is almost impossible to overtake here,” the McLaren and FOTA boss is quoted by The Guardian.

1992 world champion Nigel Mansell agrees, arguing that the lack of overtaking last Sunday meant an anti-climactic finale to the otherwise thrilling 2010 title.

“The two protagonists, Alonso and Mark (Webber) just didn’t pass anybody,” he told the Daily Mail. “It was a very boring race.

“Alonso is known for his charging, and to have a car which seems to be quicker than the car in front and not being able to overtake doesn’t make sense,” added Mansell.

Whitmarsh said he thinks the Yas Marina layout should therefore be changed.

“I personally would like to see it changed. I think it is a fantastic facility that we come to, but the end of the straight they need a wide challenging corner, not a chicane that has got one line through it,” he argued.

“You could see that when we first saw the plans. There is a massive commitment here to making this a great venue, so in the scheme of things priority should be given to looking at the circuit,” said Whitmarsh.

Circuit boss Richard Cregan did not rule out layout changes for the future.

“We have already extended the exit of turn eight and we are now studying the other various elements that we can improve,” he is quoted as saying by Auto Hebdo in French.

Jean Eric Vergne has emerged as the leading contender to become Red Bull’s F1 reserve driver in 2011.

The 20-year-old Frenchman this year replaced the energy drink company’s ousted junior driver Brendon Hartley, and he said in August he is becoming “more and more” involved in the F1 programme.

“The objective is preparing for grands prix: we try different setups and there is also work on the (2011 car) RB7,” said Vergne.

On Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the new champion of British F3 will conduct the ‘young drivers’ test days for Red Bull’s second F1 team Toro Rosso.

“I am looking forward to it and hope there will be other opportunities to drive an F1 car in the future,” said Vergne.

The French publication Auto Hebdo said Vergne, who in 2010 also raced in Red Bull colours in the Renault World Series, “should be confirmed soon in the position of third driver with Red Bull Racing for 2011″.

Red Bull’s current third driver is 21-year-old Daniel Ricciardo, who is driving the title-winning RB6 in Abu Dhabi this week.

The schedule for next week’s post-season testing in Abu Dhabi shows a fear of technological espionage, according to a report.

Auto Hebdo claims it is no mistake that a full day has been left between next week’s two days of young driver testing (Tuesday-Wednesday) and the first running on Pirelli tyres on Friday and Saturday.

According to the French report, Thursday has been excluded from the on-track schedule so that F1′s departing tyre supplier Bridgestone can pack up and leave no trace of its technological secrets for the incoming Pirelli.

The initial young driver running will take place with Bridgestone tyres, before the F1 teams get their first taste of next year’s Pirelli products later next week.

Auto Hebdo concluded that any “collaboration between Bridgestone and Pirelli, mentioned a few months ago, is decidedly not on the agenda” now.

“It’s been a great time with Bridgestone,” said F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone in Abu Dhabi.

“After so many years with them here, they will be missed, but I thing that Pirelli are able to take over completely.”

Adrian Sutil has revealed he is still likely to remain with the Force India team for 2011.

The German’s plans had become once again clouded in recent days, when Renault team boss Eric Boullier mentioned both Sutil and Nick Heidfeld as potential replacements for Vitaly Petrov.

Speaking with reporters in Abu Dhabi, the 27-year-old said: “I can probably see my future here with this team (Force India). It’s all going in this direction.”

On the other hand, countryman Heidfeld is set to lose his current Sauber seat after Sunday’s race, so he welcomed Boullier’s nomination of him as a candidate for 2011.

“Obviously there are many seats already gone already. I’m still in talks with various teams — also with Renault, as Boullier confirmed,” said the 33-year-old.

Heidfeld acknowledged, however, that his lack of sponsorship dollars is a disadvantage.

“Renault is the best opportunity for me but I must say that talent is not the only thing they seek,” said the German.

“They have Vitaly in the car, who has strong arguments. Looking at his performance on the track this year, we know what those arguments are,” Heidfeld is quoted by Auto Hebdo.

Carlos Ghosn has admitted there are moves afoot to change the nature of French carmaker Renault’s association with the F1 team that currently bears its name.

The marque’s president attended Sunday’s Brazilian grand prix amid rumours Renault is set to further distance itself from F1 as Group Lotus looks to get involved with the Enstone based team.

But Ghosn said Renault has actually expanded its involvement as an engine supplier by agreeing a deal with 1Malaysia for 2011, and said the carmaker will continue to be involved with both the engine and chassis at Renault F1.

“Beyond this, there may be financial agreements, marketing agreements, to suit our interests,” he is quoted by Auto Hebdo.

“There may be some developments, but for the moment there is nothing,” added Ghosn.

“What I can tell you is that, increasingly, we will be technology suppliers to many teams that are involved in formula one,” he said.

Amid rumours Renault F1 could become Lotus-Renault in 2011, Ghosn also left the door open for a change of team name.

“Name changes are everywhere,” he said.  “The key is to preserve the Renault name.  Apart from Renault F1, yes, there may be other associated names.

“We don’t want to give the impression that we are an exclusive team.  We are now developing our technology with multiple teams,” added Ghosn.

As for whether Renault SA might sell more of its minority stake in Renault F1, he answered: “I am not going to give a running commentary about discussions that have or have not occurred.

“But everything concerning our financial participation in this team or another, is tactical.  We are not in F1 to have a particular team but to promote the name and the technology of Renault.

“We will do whatever is necessary to do so at a lower cost and less investment.  We will not put in more resources that is necessary for that purpose.

“What is important is the expansion of our role as an engine and technology supplier.”

A report in the O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper estimated Group Lotus’ likely naming sponsorship of the Renault F1 team at EUR $60 million over three years.

Jarno Trulli has dismissed reports he is set to switch to NASCAR in 2011 rather than stay another season with Lotus.

The Italian veteran has bemoaned his abysmal run of reliability with the new team this season, and travelled straight from the recent Korean grand prix to Miami.

There, the 36-year-old met up with his old friend Juan Pablo Montoya, rekindling memories of when Trulli tested a NASCAR late last year when his future was also uncertain at the end of Toyota’s F1 foray.

It Interlagos on Friday, he was asked about his latest US visit.

“I know that Juan Pablo was testing somewhere a few days before but honestly no, I was there for a holiday and I think people are just making up rumours,” said Trulli.

Lotus technical boss Mike Gascoyne hinted strongly on Friday that both Trulli and his current teammate Heikki Kovalainen are staying put for 2011.

“I think a decision is imminent,” he added.

Trulli even admitted to France’s Auto Hebdo in Brazil that he played a role in advising Lotus to switch to Renault power for 2011 and beyond.

“Honestly, yes,” he is quoted as saying.

“I talked with Mike and Tony (Fernandes) about my experiences with Renault in the past.

“I am very happy about it because I’ll be working again with Renault, with whom I get along really well.

“We seem to be doing the right things for the future so I think we can expect a good season next year,” added Trulli.

Robert Kubica is travelling to Korea this week in podium-winning form.

At the weekend, between the Japanese and Korean grands prix, the Pole and rally enthusiast took part in the Rallye d’Antibes in the South of France.

The rally, with Kubica at the wheel of a Clio S1600, is part of the FIA European Rally Championship.

According to French language sources including Belgian television RTBF, the 25-year-old finished the rally in third place overall.  Auto Hebdo described it as “an excellent performance”.

F1 Renault driver Kubica reportedly finished ahead of many faster S2000 cars, topped the times in three separate stages, and won the A6 class outright.

A month ago in Italy, he took his first class victory in the Rally d’Alipi Orientali.

But at Suzuka just over a week ago, Kubica retired his F1 car from second place behind winner Sebastian Vettel when his R30 shed a rear wheel.

He was, however, buoyed by his pace in Japan.

“I didn’t expect to be as quick as we were,” he admitted.

Charlie Whiting has admitted qualifying will not take place in Saturday afternoon’s heavy rain.

With the session already officially delayed for 90 minutes beyond the scheduled 1400 start-time, the FIA will wait until 1630 – when the light will be fading – before announcing the postponement of qualifying to 10am on Sunday.

But as bored drivers and team personnel pushed makeshift boats down the pitlane stream, the BBC ceased its live broadcast and the Virgin drivers played poker in the garage, race director Whiting all but admitted the Sunday postponement is now a certainty.

“With so much rain, we cannot start qualifying — not in these conditions,” Whiting told France’s Auto Hebdo website.

He said he will recommend to the stewards that qualifying be held on Sunday morning.

“That’s feasible because there is no minimum time between qualifying and the race,” the Briton confirmed.