Last Sunday proved that Pastor Maldonado is no mere ‘pay driver’.

“If he was a fool, he would not be with us, no matter how much money he brings,” Sir Frank Williams is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte.

Venezuelan Maldonado, whose links to the state owned oil company PDVSA and president Hugo Chavez controversially deliver many millions to Williams’ Oxfordshire based team, became F1′s fifth different winner of 2012 last weekend in Spain.

It has helped him to shake off the ‘pay driver’ insult, Williams insisting he is now a potential world champion instead.

“Without a doubt. He is very fast and makes no mistakes,” the newly 70-year-old Briton said.

Williams does, however, acknowledge that Maldonado’s money was a key factor in the decision to sign him.

“Yes, it was to some extent,” he said. “I don’t deny that. But he’s also a real driver. He fully deserves to be on the team, with or without money.

“The truth is that if you don’t have money, you don’t get to be in formula one,” added Williams.

Team shareholder Toto Wolff agrees: “If you want to race in GP2, you need a few million pounds. So, the drivers need not only to be fast and talented, but able to attract the sponsors.

“So let’s forget this thing about ‘pay drivers’,” he insisted.

Triple world champion Nelson Piquet, however, has some lingering doubts.

He ran Maldonado in his own GP2 team some years ago, and this week recalled a driver who was often “too aggressive” and made too many mistakes.

“We’re not talking about a guy who shone in his youth, like Nico Rosberg,” said the famous Brazilian, “or someone like Lewis Hamilton, who always had everything he needed thanks to Ron Dennis.

“In GP2, when you don’t stand out in your second year, you begin to be doubted. In Maldonado’s case, he only shone in his fourth year.

“Perhaps because of this he only made it to formula one as a paying driver, without having anything special, apparently. He was perceived as just a good pilot, but clearly no Alonso.

“Now he was at the right place at the right time but he still managed to beat Alonso in Spain as well as another world champion, Kimi (Raikkonen). So hats off to him.”

Former F1 driver Mika Salo believes his Finnish countryman Valtteri Bottas is being groomed by Williams for a race seat — in 2012.

When the Toto Wolff-managed Bottas, 22, was announced as the British team’s 2012 reserve, Sir Frank Williams said he would practice on 15 Friday mornings and then “most likely” be replaced with a “more experienced driver” for the rest of those race weekends.

That more experienced driver would ultimately turn out to be Bruno Senna.

So with Brazilian Senna struggling so far in 2012, Salo has revealed he senses things could be about to change.

“Bottas is incredibly respected by the team,” Salo, now a commentator for the Finnish broadcaster MTV3, said.

“When I spoke with Frank Williams, he praised Valtteri to the skies, and said that he belongs in the races.

“I asked him when and he said it wouldn’t be long.

“Yes, I read between the lines that he means this season,” added Salo.

One major spanner in the works, however, is that Senna brings crucial sponsorship to Williams.

“It is a difficult situation for Williams, where both drivers bring money,” Salo acknowledged.

“But the good thing is that Frank Williams is not a businessman first, he is an old racing driver. He thinks about nothing else but how to make his team successful.

“Although Senna is a nice guy, he is not able to drive at the level that he needs to be at.”

When asked about Salo’s theory, Bottas commented: “I have no information.”

Narain Karthikeyan is not guaranteed his HRT seat for the whole of the 2012 season.

Following what the reporter referred to as a ‘chat’ with the Indian driver, the Times of India claimed Karthikeyan is “a million euros” short of a contract that will see him definitely race through November’s Brazil finale.

The 35-year-old also began the 2011 season for the struggling Spanish team, but was replaced by the Red Bull-funded Daniel Ricciardo mid-season.

The Times of India said securing the extra million in sponsorship is proving “difficult” for Karthikeyan.

“Sponsors are happy to give him money but not to the team, as obviously they do not want to be associated with a struggling outfit,” the report said.

The good news for Karthikeyan, according to the journalist Harish Samtani, is that his sponsorship deal with Tata brings to HRT the Williams gearbox, valued at about EUR 5 million.

The report said the link between Karthikeyan and Williams is the British team’s joint venture with Jaguar, which is owned by the driver’s sponsor Tata.

A major golf tournament is set to go ahead in Bahrain.

The BBC is reporting on Wednesday that “a number” of formula one teams now fully expect next weekend’s Bahrain grand prix to be called off – with the final decision to be made this weekend in China – due to the security risk.

If that happens – despite Bahrain’s contract to 2016 – it could be the end of the grand prix forever, with rules stating that a cancellation for two years running will result in exclusion from the calendar.

It is interesting, therefore, that organisers of the inaugural Bahrain Invitational – a Pro-Celeb-Am golf competition – are reporting that the two-day event is definitely going ahead this weekend.

“We are looking forward to welcoming all the participants and safety around the event is assured,” said a spokesman.

Sir Jackie Stewart, a triple world champion in F1, backed the continuation of sports in Bahrain, admitting that if the grand prix is cancelled again “they may never get it back”.

“If this race is cancelled then I think it is a very backward position to have in sport,” he told the Herald Scotland.

“Sport is a positive force, it brings people together.”

 After putting his tumultuous 2011 season behind him, Lewis Hamilton has kicked off this year’s world champion in downbeat mood.
The 2008 world champion had put his well-documented personal problems and on-track struggles behind him with a positive approach to his sixth season in F1.

But after his teammate Jenson Button beat him in the 2011 standings, Hamilton could not hide his disappointment on Sunday when the 2009 title winner also beat him to the first corner in Melbourne, before Button and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel filled the top two podium spots.

“I just struggled out there,” confused pole-sitter Hamilton said afterwards.

David Coulthard, the former long-time McLaren driver and now paddock analyst, expressed concern about Hamilton’s “striking” post-race body-language and “stony-faced” performance on the podium.

“Has it (Button’s win) knocked Lewis?” he wondered in his Telegraph column.

Many in F1 are astonished by how Button, described as having entered Hamilton’s “lion’s den” at McLaren two years ago, is now being described by the famous British team as its title-winning hope.

“People underestimate him,” said team boss Martin Whitmarsh. “He’s such a calm, mature and easygoing fellow that people don’t realise necessarily the hunger that’s in him to compete and to win.

“He must now believe he’s in a good chance of a proper title run this year and providing we can continue to improve the car, not make mistakes, be reliable there’s no reason why he can’t do that,” he added.

On Hamilton’s side of the garage, meanwhile, is a downcast driver and an expiring contract.

“On his day, Lewis is unbeatable, and yet I suspect McLaren are wondering whether or not they want to keep him, because he brings so much baggage with him,” another former McLaren driver-turned commentator, Martin Brundle, told April’s Motor Sport magazine.

As for Whitmarsh, McLaren’s team principal insists there is no concern yet that Hamilton has already re-entered another spiral of despair so early in 2012.

Downplaying Hamilton’s post-race mood in Australia, he said: “When he starts getting happy with being third, or beaten by his teammate, then he won’t be the Lewis we all love and admire.”

 Caterham’s team boss insists Vitaly Petrov is just as good as the experienced grand prix winner he replaced.
Just ahead of the 2012 season, Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes decided to oust former Monaco grand prix winner Jarno Trulli with Russian Petrov, the well-sponsored Russian and former Renault driver.

“I think he (Petrov) is as good a driver as Trulli, but he obviously brings a Russian commercial element,” Fernandes told the US cable news channel CNN.

“It gives us the ability to exploit commercial opportunities in Russia. We’ve watched Petrov very closely. He brings in sponsorship. He’s competent enough to be a second driver,” he added.

Fernandes, who also heads the Malaysian airline AirAsia and the English premier league club Queens Park Rangers, said Caterham is once again targeting tenth place in the constructors’ championship for 2012.

“We want to get into the midfield,” he confirmed. “We said it’s going to take us two years, we want to be tenth then we want to be racing.

“And looking at the times right now, we’re there or thereabouts. Maybe half a second, a second away from the midfield pack.”

1980 world champion Alan Jones has backed Caterham’s decision to dump Jarno Trulli.
Despite having extended the Italian veteran’s contract for 2012, the former Lotus team decided at the last minute to sign the well-backed Russian Petrov.

Caterham explained that Petrov brings “fresh impetus” to the team, whilst also admitting that the decision was made “with a realistic eye on the global economic market”.

One French report has calculated the 27-year-old’s sponsorship contributions at EUR 12 million, including money from Russia’s largest petrochemical company Sibur.

But the straight-talking Australian Jones, who won Williams’ first drivers’ title three decades ago, said Caterham was also right to oust Italian Trulli on performance criteria.

Told that Heikki Kovalainen “destroyed” Trulli in 2011, Jones said: “I think he was destroyed by everybody, wasn’t he?”

On Caterham’s decision, he told GMM: “In my opinion Trulli wasn’t doing the job so it would have made it a pretty easy decision to get in this younger guy who is perhaps a bit keener, a big hungrier.

“It’s also a fact that he (Petrov) is bringing in money, so to me it’s a no-brainer,” added Jones.

Two days have passed after the contested races in Valencia and Fernando Alonso’s mood has been heated then cooled. In his blog on the official Ferrari site now he regrets his remarks, which he angrily criticized immediately after the race the stewards and the FIA accused of manipulation. Meanwhile, he sees what happened now with a clear head.

“We had the date on which the safety car came out, a special pitch. Only a few seconds earlier or later and the race would have been very different for us,” recalls Alonso. to ruminate about what has happened then bring, not much, “but I’m much calmer now than immediately after the race.”
“It certainly was not the Sunday, we were expecting us,” he explains. “The safety car is on for us came out worst possible time and ruined our race completely. On Sunday evening I was very angry is about all that has happened. But the anger is now transformed into positive energy that drives me the desire, I fight back, .

“At the time I reacted emotionally and in such a situation is all too quick to propose a sound and says things can be misinterpreted and may give cause to suspicion – something that was not my intention at all,” admits the Ferrari Star one. “I understand of course that the race has a difficult job and that they must make decisions that are not easy.”

was “What I wanted a driver who respects the rules as we were at a disadvantage in this situation, unfortunately, more than those who have broken, even if they were given a penalty,” continued Alonso. He refers here not to a specific driver (Lewis Hamilton, editor’s note), says the Spaniard, “This is a basic thing and I think we should talk about it calmly, to ensure that such something does not happen again. ”

He was delighted that the FIA also reacted promptly and an extraordinary meeting of the sporting working group meet as Alonso added: “I am confident even sure that all the contentious issues can be addressed in detail here.”
For Alonso, the subject is checked to a large extent. Its concentration is now the next race at Silverstone. “There we will try to get all the energy accumulated in our car and us to repeat what was denied us in Valencia, for any reason whatsoever. Even though we know Silverstone is theoretically not a route that our car is. ”

Even if the result of Valencia was not what Ferrari had hoped for, “it has left no irreparable damage,” Alonso continued. “It is true that our backlog is at the top now grown to 29 points, but we have not even reached the mid-season. We lack only a little more than a victory, is therefore still open to everything.”
We have been able to catch up with the updates for Spain on the top teams, he stressed: “I am glad, I’m well aware that we have to enter in the development of the F10 on the gas. Because we need a car, we at the Pole and we can fight as soon as possible before our rivals brings. If we now lie 29 points behind the leader, it means that we need to bring in the next ten races at least 30 points more than the leader. ”

was one of the main points of the race from Sunday, however, that Mark Webber his serious accident, “the fear was spectacular and scary”, has survived virtually unscathed, says Alonso: “This shows once again that the work initiated by the FIA at the Security is absolutely essential and that in this field of sport should never be complacent. “

McLaren has developed this season with the F-bay system with a simple but effective innovation that brings more top speed on the straights, without cost pressure in the turns. Almost all the teams now move to and also develop such systems, but from 2011 these will be banned.

Martin Whitmarsh could not prevent, because the veto has been abolished for individual teams to accelerate decision-making. “Would the F-shaft Vetocarte play one if I had one? Yes, I would. I’m disappointed that the situation is now so? Is yes, I am, I personally,” said the McLaren team boss. The right of veto was abolished, but in the interest of the sport makes sense, because then no one can block improvements from self-interest.
The F-bay system keeps Whitmarsh for “great. It cost no money, is a neat technology, it is clever. We have all the means to build shafts and carbon fiber wing, because it has no complex electronics, no fancy materials, no complicated systems. Anybody can build it – and will continue to do so, of course. And if we want to talk about ‘green’: The F-shaft reduces the air resistance, so is the positive. ”

“But there are inevitably people, particularly in the small teams that say, ‘We are focusing rather on the basics, want this additional challenge not. So must we accept that there is a compromise. That is the nature of the situation, that we have to find compromises that are in the best interest of the sport, “said the Briton. That was not before the veto was the case.

(TMS)

Renault has fought valiantly in the previous eight races. Robert Kubica climbed on the podium twice and Vitaly Petrov has also shown fighting benefits. With six points from China, the Russian is so far even the best rookie. The black and yellow currently see no reason to replace the 25-year-olds.

Team boss Eric Boullier thinks about his discovery: “It meets our expectations and achievements are not surprising. We have chosen for him because he has brought in GP2 good performance. On the basis of which he brings exactly what we by him be expected. It shows that we have made the right choice. ”
As is set Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2012, the speculation has broken about a change of Kubica. Since the other top teams are also occupied the long term, the former BMW driver will have to stay at Renault. His current chief says of the talks: “We speak today. But if you want to set for several years, then you have to overcome the obstacles, so that both parties are happy.”

An important issue is currently the tire question from next year. Pirelli is in pole position, but still nothing is decided. Boullier can announce as a member of FOTA is no news: “The decision must fall as soon as possible. But we have started based on the current tire course already with our plans for 2011.”

Hamilton was part of the FIA drivers Thursday press conference, marking the start of official activities at the Shanghai International Circuit ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. Here are highlights of Lewis Hamilton’s answers to questions posed to him during the media session.

You have been out and about in Shanghai. You were at the Expo?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, this morning before we went to the track we stopped by the Expo and I got to see a little bit of it and I just have a small tour around the UK’s Expo. It was quite a cool and special building they have created there. But it was just a quick stop and I did a bit of a press conference and that was it.

We are three races in to the so-called rivalry between you and Jenson Button. How is it going?
Lewis: We are doing well. We are scoring lots of points for the team. He is a doing a fantastic job and we are getting on really well. He brings nothing but positiveness to the team and I think he is a very well balanced and well-rounded guy. We get on really well and it is working well for us.

How much of a worry is Red Bull’s pace and your team having to abandon your McLaren ride height system to counter development?
Lewis: We have not had to abandon much. There are so many different things in the pipeline and one of those was to go in a similar direction as perhaps some other teams have done. But it is clear everyone cannot do that now. I don’t know how that affects others but it doesn’t really affect us. We still have updates that we are working on and should be coming in the course of the next few weeks or months. I am looking forward to seeing the updates come but I know the guys back at the factory are flat out. We try to make as many improvements as we can. Last weekend we seemed to be very competitive with them through practice but in the race the Red Bulls pace was a little bit… I don’t know if they were pushing that much, but we have just got to keep our eye on the ball and keep pushing.

Do you think that the F-duct is going to give you the big advantage that many of your rivals suspect or do you see Red Bull as the main team to beat you?
Lewis: I still see Red Bull and Ferrari as the teams to beat here. You don’t know what Mercedes have brought either, so I think it’s the same as every race.

It’s quite tight at the top of the drivers’ standings after three races. Are you expecting it to remain such a tight battle between maybe six or eight drivers as we continue, or do you expect, when we get to Europe, when the development race kicks in in earnest, that we will see people leaping ahead? Sebastian (Vettel) could have won all three races so far.
Lewis: Yeah, you’re right, Sebastian could be quite a bit ahead at the moment, but I think at the moment it is very close, and I’m hoping that it stays like that for some time but undoubtedly, at some stage during the season, whether or not Red Bull continue to have not such great reliability, as Michael was saying, anything can happen and it can happen to any of us. We just have to try and stay as consistent as possible. You cannot afford too many DNFs, so I think that is probably what every team is trying to maintain, try and stay as consistent as possible.

You obviously had a great win in 2008, but in 2007 you remember what happened then, when you came off the track. Do you think that you’ve matured as a driver, that that sort of situation wouldn’t happen today? That you would insist that you should pit rather than stay out on bald tyres?
Lewis: Well, I know where the gravel trap is now, so I don’t think I would be in that position again. Of course, having the experience and being a few years down the line, I think I’m able to understand and make calls for myself, but I don’t think that we as a team would put ourselves in that position again. I’m confident that we won’t be there again.

Steve McCormick, in About.com Guide commented regarding Greg Biffle, “Even the fastest car can’t drive itself.  Greg Biffle brings an impressive resume to Daytona: 1998 Truck Series Rookie of the Year, 2000 Truck Series Champion, 2001 BGN Rookie of the Year, 2002 Busch Series Champion and the winner of last July’s Daytona race.”

“Take a guy who is a proven restrictor plate winner and put him behind arguably the best engine in the sport and you’ve got a potential pole sitter. Can anyone tell me why sports writers are calling his pole winning run “shocking” and “surprising?”

“His name may not be on the tip of your tongue when you think of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup stars but this pole run shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.”

Greg Biffle who was born in December 23rd, 1969, started 7 races in 2002.  His official rookie season was 2003 and he featured a win at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona.  Jamie McMurray beat him for Rookie of the Year honors.

His more outstanding performances have been:

2000 – Craftsman Truck Series Champion.

2002 – Busch Grand National Series Champion.

2003 – Won first NEXTEL Cup Race (July Daytona)

2005 – Finished second in NEXTEL Cup points

Jack Roush picked up Greg Biffle back in the mid 90′s with the idea that with some seasoning he could be great.

Just a few years later Greg rewarded Roush Racing with it’s first NASCAR championship as Greg pushed and shoved his way to the Craftsman Truck Series title. A couple of years after that Greg again came through, this time delivering a Busch Grand National series championship.

Early in his NEXTEL Cup career Greg has proven that he can get the job done. His first victory in NASCAR’s premier division came under the lights in Daytona as Greg won the Pepsi 400 during his 2003 rookie campaign.

There are surely more championships in Greg’s future.  Those stories are still to be written but clearly he knows what it takes to win titles and he is with a top-notch team in the form of Jack Roush.

Even though it may “sound crazy,” it’s a commercial agreement that Williams F1 has announced today after the signature of a license agreement exclusively with a US Golf equipment company, Golf Club. The aim is that with this union “Williams” succeeds in the golf business.
The combination of engineering capability of Williams F1 with the design established by Golf Club and the Sports Williams team production expertise, is going to create a partnership that will upgrade golf clubs’ design to a new level in 2010 and beyond.
The purpose of this partnership is the injection of Formula One Williams’ technology for the design and manufacture of golfing equipment. The initial areas will the aerodynamic profiling of golf club shafts and the application of composites and alloys materials science in club design.
With current limitations on modern golf club design, aerodynamics and materials are now the most important aspect of research and development.
Aerodynamics and carbon fiber compound technology are fundamental in Formula One. Aerodynamics is Formula One’s performance key differentiation factor. In addition to the traditional experimental disciplines, as the wind tunnel tests, the sport brings together predictive capacity based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
The sport has also pioneered the application and use of low weight, high strength carbon fiber since the 1980s, developing race cars that withstand ten annual penetration, static and dynamic crash tests to ensure driver safety while not compromising performance. Together with carbon fiber, several other materials that are critical for racing car performance will be presented in Sport Williams product line. The clubs will feature tungsten inserts that will be used for fine tuning of weight distribution, which is a process used in Formula One. High nickel content super alloy, used in the manufacture of the lightweight racing car exhausts, will be the featured material in the Qualifier Series of Williams Sports irons.
Frank Williams, Williams F1 Team Principal, said: “We are at the start of a fascinating period of business development. [..].I have great hopes for its potential to revolutionize design in golf equipment.”

The Ferrari pilot, Felipe Massa said a few words after the conclusion of the first day of official debuts of the new Formula One season at the Cheste Circuit(Valencia), as he described the good sensations that the ‘Cavallino Rampante‘ single-seater made.

“Today’s balance is quite positive.  The car is easier to drive than last year’s, where it was always difficult to find the adequate rhythm and direction,” Massa explained, feeling “very happy” with the single-seater’s performance, the new F10.

Still, the Brazilian pilot prefers to keep his feet on the ground and underlined the relevance of improving the performance permanently to be ready for the World Championship beginning. “In spite of today, there’s still a lot to do; a lot of work to improve the car as the first race approaches and which is what really matters,” he assessed.

In the Ferrari’s pitbox, he made some comments about his ex-teammate –currently in the Mercedes ‘Scuderia’-, Michael Schumacher’s helmet.

“It’s a bit strange to see a silver colored car with a pilot in red,” the Brazilian teased, and added that passing the German pilot was “fun”.  “We had a great moment when we had the cars side by side and then I passed him,” Massa declared.

And with this, the first debut day closes and will see what tomorrow brings.  Many people from the media were looking for the “pilot from Asturias,” Fernando Alonso, who has his debut day-after-tomorrow.

The first day of tests in Valencia has just concluded.  First contact of seven of fourteen ‘Scuderias’ that will compete in the 2010 Formula One World Championship.

Felipe Massa, continued boasting about a solid single-seater in a race with great rhythm completing 102 laps in total.  The Brazilian established the best time with 1:12.574, closely followed by the surprise of the day, the Spaniard, Pedro Martinez de la Rosa who in his comeback stopped the clock at 1:12.784. Behind them, Schumacher completed the trio with 1:12.  No other pilot managed to lower his reference times.

The best

Worth of high lightening is the most veterans’ comeback to the racetracks.  The seven-champion German who managed to climb to third position of the table with only 40 laps at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, while De la Rosa made the second best time.

There was joy with the performance of the BMW Sauber during the first day of official tests.  No doubt that the season’s start up begins with high hopes.

The worst

The Renault, now in the hands of Robert Kubica looked slow and heavy.  It seems to be dragging last year’s deficiencies.  However, there’s still time left for tests and adjustments.  Let’s hope the Polish can take the most advantage possible from the R30.

This is the time table at the end of this first day:

1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:12.574 (102 laps)
2 .Pedro Martinez De la Rosa (Sauber) 1:12.784 (74)
3. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 1:12.947 (40)
4. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:13.543 (39)
5. Gary Paffett (McLaren) 1:13.846 (86)
6. Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 1:14.449 (75)
7. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 1:14.762 (18)
8. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:15.000 (69)