Flavio Briatore could be readying to burst back into formula one.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the ousted and formerly banned Italian is busily writing regulations for a ‘GP1′ championship.

They could be adopted should the FIA not sign up to the 2013 Concorde Agreement, according to the report.

Apparently, the political rumblings in F1 at present are not limited to the sport’s planned floatation, or Bernie Ecclestone’s spat with Mercedes.

Cost-control is also a buzzword. As reported recently, the vast majority of F1′s teams want the FIA to enshrine cost-cutting in the actual sporting regulations, even to the point of pushing for a once highly-controversial budget cap.

F1 chief executive Ecclestone, however, is not famously close with the FIA’s new president Jean Todt, and according to Auto Motor und Sport he is not convinced that the Paris federation needs to write and control the rules.

Enter Briatore. The German report said Ferrari will be a fan of the former Renault chief’s rumoured regulations, as they steer away from the premium on aerodynamics.

More reports are suggesting Mark Webber could be Ferrari-bound.

One of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents, Raymond Blancafort, wrote in El Mundo Deportivo that “there may be a pre-contract” between the Maranello based team and Red Bull’s experienced Australian driver.

Webber, 35, was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season alongside Sebastian Vettel.

He is now touted as Felipe Massa’s 2013 replacement, not only because of his “experience (and) the consistency of his results” but because “he gets along” with number one driver Fernando Alonso, Blancafort said.

Flavio Briatore also manages both Alonso and Webber.

Following Blancafort’s claims, Spain’s El Confidencial is now reporting similarly.

The publication said Webber has been earmarked as Alonso’s ideal teammate for 2013, perhaps pre-dating Sergio Perez’s move to the team in 2014 when the young Mexican has gathered another season of experience.

That may mean yet another single-season deal for Webber, but it might be better than what he is offered by Red Bull, given the energy drink-owned team’s grooming of youngsters Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.

El Confidencial said Webber is also Spaniard Alonso’s first choice, with a source saying a deal has been “already reached but not signed”, possibly therefore in the form of a letter of intent.

Mark Webber might have signed a pre-contractual agreement with Ferrari, one of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents has revealed.

Raymond Blancafort, writing for El Mundo Deportivo, referred to widespread speculation in the paddock about Sergio Perez’s likely future alongside Fernando Alonso.

“There may be a pre-contract,” he said, “but between Ferrari and Webber.”

Australian Webber was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season.

The 35-year-old was overshadowed by his teammate Sebastian Vettel last year, but he has begun the 2012 season more strongly.

And Webber warned before the 2012 season began that if Red Bull didn’t re-sign him for 2013, “I’d need something (else) competitive (to drive)”.

“Being at the front, is certainly a big, big factor of me staying very hungry and motivated.”

Ferrari may be looking to replace Alonso’s current teammate, the struggling team veteran Felipe Massa, for 2013.

“They (Ferrari) would be able to take advantage of his (Webber’s) experience, the consistency of his results and the fact that he gets along with Alonso.

“Interestingly, Webber is also still involved with Flavio Briatore”, as is Alonso, Blancafort noted.

 Robert Kubica is back on track yet again, according to the latest reports from Italy.
It emerged a few days ago that the Pole had moved his recovery from serious injury forwards by returning to the wheel of a Skoda Fabia rally car in Liguria, Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport now reports that the former BMW and Renault driver has tested a kart at a circuit in Montecatini-Terme, Tuscany.

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore advises Kubica not to rush his return to F1.

“I have seen him a few times and have told him not to hurry back. You cannot lose your talent, but first you should focus on your health. 100 per cent,” he told Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

Briatore recalled former Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini, who badly injured his arm in a helicopter crash in 1990.

“He hurried back and we all know how that ended,” said Briatore.

“I think Kubica will succeed, but he needs to plan to come back in two years. You can’t be in F1 if you’re not 100 per cent.”

 Flavio Briatore has hit out at formula one by suggesting “any top driver” would have won last year’s title with the 2011 Red Bull.
“It’s only a real show now when it rains,” the former Renault team boss told Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

Briatore, 61, blames the huge role played by technology.

“If you were to take GP2 cars and put the 6 world champions in them, it would be more fun,” he insisted.

“The car is now made in the wind tunnel, the engineers aren’t even at the circuits and they spend 200 million euros making identical machines.

“Last year, the championship was over after the first race, and this will be the same; McLaren are two tenths from Red Bull, Mercedes three, and Ferrari and Lotus 4 to 7.

“Two tenths is like 2-0 behind in a football game. In F1, the Messi is Alonso, but if his car is not competitive, he is going nowhere.”

 Heikki Kovalainen has admitted to relief after signing on with well-known management stable IMG.
The Finn has been handling his own career on and off the tracks since splitting in 2009 with Flavio Briatore in the wake of the ‘crashgate’ affair.

According to the broadcaster MTV3, Briatore did not give up Kovalainen without a fight.

“We have had a battle with Flavio for a couple of years,” revealed the 30-year-old Caterham driver. “In the meantime, we had to take care of things ourselves.”

Kovalainen admitted that with his current contract up at the end of this year, his future for 2013 and beyond is open.

“Either we continue with Caterham or pursue at some other place, so in either case this (signing with IMG) is the right solution,” he said.

Even now as Fernando Alonso’s teammate, Felipe Massa is not shy to denounce the result of the Singapore grand prix three years ago.
It was in that 2008 race that Ferrari’s Massa had a problem during a pitstop that was triggered by Nelson Piquet’s notoriously deliberate crash and resultant safety car.

Piquet’s then Renault teammate was Spaniard Alonso, who duly won the race before the ‘crashgate’ scandal claimed the scalps of his bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.

But the saga also arguably claimed the scalp of Massa’s 2008 world championship, as the Brazilian ultimately went on to lose the title to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

Massa has always been outspoken about ‘crashgate’, but his complaints have got quieter with time and with Alonso now a revered Ferrari driver.

But he was open about his feelings when speaking with Spanish reporters on Thursday.

“Yeah, what happened hurt me because when you lose the title by so small a margin you start looking back and one of the things that was an influence was Singapore,” said the 30-year-old.

“Everyone knows that result was manipulated by what happened. Singapore 2008 was false,” said Massa, according to AS newspaper, “but the result was real.

“Have I spoken to Fernando about it? He knows and I know how the world works.

“The past is the past,” Massa is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte. “I have answered 45 thousand times what I think about it.”

Alonso, who insists he counts Singapore 2008 as a real victory, confirmed to Spanish sports daily Marca that he and Massa have never talked about the controversy.

“Yes, in 2008 Felipe lost points here, but he also lost points in Hungary when his engine failed with three laps to go,” he said.

“When you lose a championship by one point you remember all those things. When I look back at last year I remember all the reasons why I lost the title as well,” added Alonso.

A group of Russians have scammed former F1 team boss Flavio Briatore to the tune of EUR 86,000.
According to the Unione Sarda newspaper, they got off a superyacht and entered Briatore’s ultra-expensive Billionaire club in Sardinia, charging 90 bottles of EUR 900 Cristal champagne to a Russian oligarch’s account.

Police are now searching for the group.

“We trust our clients and there are some who choose not to settle their bills until the end of the summer,” Briatore’s spokeswoman Patrizia Spinelli told the Daily Telegraph.

“This was a very unfortunate exception.”

Police investigator Giulio Brandanu told The Guardian: “We have seen people here skip out on drinks bills before, but never this much.”

Eric Boullier has hit back at reports the Renault team is not in good financial health.
The rumours began to emerge during the Monaco grand prix weekend, with team boss Boullier suspecting they might have been maliciously spread by his predecessor Flavio Briatore who was conspicuously present in the Principality.

Some media sources claim that Frenchman Boullier is so unhappy about the possibility Briatore could be behind the rumours, including reports of alleged debts to team engine supplier Renault, that he is considering defamation action against the flamboyant Italian.

“The future is very clear and bright,” Boullier insisted to BBC Radio Oxford.

“We have solid sponsors, we have solid owners with a good financial background, we have some good plans.”

As for the source of the rumours, he said: “I understand there is some jealousy around in the paddock and some people who want to tease us.

“Affecting the morale of the people obviously was their target which was a bit naughty.”

Mark Webber has been linked with a shock move to Renault.

Red Bull insists it is “very happy” with the Australian driver, but his contract expires this year and Lewis Hamilton has been flirting with a switch from McLaren.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier admits he has spoken with Webber, 34, about moving to Renault, whose undisputed number one driver Robert Kubica is currently recovering from horror injuries sustained in a February rally crash.

“I really like Mark and have known him for a long time,” the Frenchman said in Valencia.

“We have discussed it from time to time but we have never pushed him to ask what he wants to do because that decision is up to him.”

Webber is managed by Flavio Briatore, Renault’s former long-time team boss.

Fernando Alonso would like to see Flavio Briatore back in formula one, but he denies his arrival at Ferrari “would be like Mou in Madrid”.
The ‘Mou’ reference is to Jose Mourinho, the highly respected Portuguese football coach who arrived at Real Madrid last year and is regarded as one of the best managers in history.

In Turkey last weekend, rumours that Briatore – currently banned from formula one for the ‘crashgate’ scandal – could be heading to Ferrari were mentioned by Sky Italia.

“I would like Flavio to return, we miss him,” Alonso told Spanish broadcaster TV3. “He is an unique character but it wouldn’t be like Mou in Madrid”, he added, possibly referring to Mourinho’s latest controversies.

Instead, Alonso said Ferrari has important questions to ask itself regarding its overall approach to designing its single seaters.

“I think Ferrari has to try to change a little bit the way we work, risking more and being more innovative,” he said. “From now on we have to start inventing.”

The Spaniard insists the 2011 season is still long but acknowledged the challenge of chasing down Red Bull’s runaway Sebastian Vettel.

“We will not give up so soon but we are aware of the difficulty of having this championship,” said the 29-year-old.

Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa also said it will take some more time before the 150 Italia car is a winner.

“Probably in Barcelona we will take another step forward,” he told Diario Sport, “but we will have to wait for some more races to fight for victory.”

Mark Webber should never have revealed that he drove the last races of the 2010 world championship with a shoulder injury, his manager has admitted.
After his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel won the title, Australian Webber revealed in a book that he had contested the decisive final four races with a fractured shoulder caused by a cycling fall before Suzuka in October.

Webber, who did not even tell his team about the fall, insisted his injured shoulder did not affect his performance.

But Italian Briatore, who still heads Webber’s management in F1, said: “It would have been better to leave it with no excuses at all, or to have said it when it happened.

“The truth is that Mark lost the championship only because of the mistake in Korea. Otherwise, he would be champion,” Finland’s Turun Sanomat quotes Briatore as having told the Italian media.

The famous Italian also manages 2010 championship runner-up Fernando Alonso, and Briatore backed the Spaniard to be even stronger this year.

“Fernando is very motivated and Ferrari have promised to give him a car that he deserves which is in front of the others,” Briatore reportedly told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“In addition to that, the organisation changes made are a sign of Ferrari’s trust in their driver,” he added.

Heikki Kovalainen has denied media reports claiming his former manager Flavio Briatore twice prevented his formula one race debut.

A Finnish newspaper had said the Finn could have raced with Minardi and then Williams in 2004 and 2005, but Kovalainen instead had to wait until 2007 for a race seat at the then Briatore-managed Renault to open up.

Kovalainen, now 29, subsequently split with Briatore after the crashgate scandal, and negotiated his own move from McLaren to Lotus for 2010.

But he wrote on Twitter late on Monday: “(The) news about my management blocking my career (is) so not true.

“We had (a) clear plan since I joined (the) Renault junior programme and stuck to it 100 per cent. Ignore the false headlines originating from Finland,” added Kovalainen.

In other driver news, Williams refused to comment on speculation about its 2011 lineup, following reports that Pastor Maldonado is a candidate to join the team next year if Nico Hulkenberg does not accept the offer of a five-year contract.

“We have no comment to make concerning our driver line up for 2011 at this juncture,” said a spokeswoman.

Flavio Briatore twice blocked Heikki Kovalainen’s formula one race debut, according to a Finnish report.

The Turun Sanomat newspaper said the 29-year-old, who in 2010 is contesting his fourth season with a third separate team, could have made his debut in 2004.

Actually, Kovalainen debuted in 2007 with Renault, then run by his former manager Briatore.

But he tested with Minardi as far back as late 2003 and was almost signed for the following season by the Faenza based team’s boss Paul Stoddart.

At the same test was Jose Maria Lopez, Kovalainen recalls.

“I was clearly faster than him,” he said. “Paul Stoddart would have offered the seat to me, I was ready, but my management had a different view.”

According to the report, another opportunity for Kovalainen came ahead of the 2005 season, when he met with Williams’ Sir Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Sam Michael at Grove.

But Briatore reportedly called off the talks when he decided that Kovalainen should contest a season of GP2 before becoming Renault’s full-time test driver in 2006.

“Of course, each time when you have a chance to go into F1 and you don’t, you are disappointed,” Kovalainen confirmed.

He split with Briatore after last year’s crashgate scandal, and negotiated his own move from McLaren to Lotus for 2010.

Bernie Ecclestone has played down suggestions formula one might be sold to the public.

A few years ago, the F1 chief executive said an initial public offering “would probably be the right way to go” for the sport.

But he has now told the Financial Times: “There’s no way I would sit in front of a load of shareholders.

“It wouldn’t float under me,” insisted the 80-year-old.

F1 is currently majority owned by private equity investor CVC Capital Partners, with Ecclestone holding 5.3 per cent.

The report said the Briton values the organisation at $6 or $7 billion, but he is not worried about who will run F1 in his stead.

“Somebody will emerge when I’m not there,” said Ecclestone. “I think two or three people may come out the woodwork but I don’t think it could be carried on in the same way as it has.”

He said there is “no truth” to the rumours Flavio Briatore is a leading candidate.

Ecclestone also admitted that he would like Red Bull’s Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel to win the 2010 title, so that there are five active world champions on the grid in 2011.