A spat between two Britons could drive the German giant Mercedes out of formula one, according to a new media report.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone recently confirmed he is at loggerheads with Mercedes over the next Concorde Agreement.

But at the same time, he insisted that the Stuttgart marque is “very important to formula one. I have always supported them and I will always,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Indeed, Mercedes has its own and newly-winning works team, powers the marquee McLaren outfit, and also supplies engines to Force India.

Ecclestone’s dispute is with fellow Englishman Ross Brawn, who is the Brackley based Mercedes GP team’s principal.

“I have spoken to the team manager (Brawn) about it (the dispute) and he seems to believe that the team has won a few world titles and about 80 races since the Tyrrell days,” said the 81-year-old.

Sport Bild reports that Ecclestone is refusing to give in to Brawn’s demands for extra Concorde Agreement entitlements for past title successes and history.

The magazine said the relationship has become so intense that Ecclestone has even refused to give a joint interview with Brawn.

“He (Brawn) was never very nice to me,” the F1 ‘supremo’ is quoted as saying.

The German report said there is a risk Mercedes will, as a result of the ‘ice age’ between the British duo, pull the plug on its entire F1 involvement.

 The BBC’s delayed and edited highlights of Sunday’s Australian grand prix attracted more viewers than the British broadcaster’s live coverage of the same Melbourne race a year ago.
From 2012, F1′s television coverage for Britain is being shared between pay-channel Sky – who have the full-time live rights – and the public broadcaster BBC.

Last year, the BBC’s live coverage of the 2011 season opener averaged 2.13 million viewers.

But the delayed highlights package for 2012, aired hours after the race finished between 2 and 4pm, attracted 2.7 million viewers.

The figures may, however, be a one-off, with Australia usually among the lowest-rating races in Europe due to the very early morning live timeslot.

Sky’s live coverage of the pay-channel’s 2012 coverage, meanwhile, averaged just 526,000 viewers.

A spokesman for the channel refused to comment on whether Sky was disappointed with the figures.

“It is the performance of the whole (F1) channel we are interested in. We are pleased with the launch of the channel overall,” he told the Guardian.

Eight of F1′s 12 teams are based in Britain.

Kimi Raikkonen’s managers have revealed they only now take a back seat in the career of the 2007 world champion.
Britons David and Steve Robertson have guided the famous Finn throughout his motor racing career.

But Steve told Finland’s Turun Sanomat that they only intervene now when the 32-year-old driver requests it — such as when he needed to negotiate last winter with Williams and his ultimate 2012 employer, Lotus.

“We came to the end of the road really in late 2009,” he said.

That is when Ferrari bought out the rest of Raikkonen’s contract, and he headed to world rally.

“We can’t honestly say that we are real rally fans — it’s alien to us, while we know F1 through and through.

“When Kimi wanted to go back to F1, he turned to us for help with the agreement. After a few months Kimi got what he wanted.”

Robertson, however, explained that the father-son duo are no longer involved in the “day to day” running of Raikkonen’s career.

“I have known Kimi for 11, 12 years, and he has become really close to us. When he asks for help, he knows that we are always ready to give it,” he continued.

“I was delighted when he wanted to come back where he really belongs (in F1),” said Robertson. “There is so much nonsense about Kimi’s problems with motivation.

“The truth is that he wanted to come back for one reason only — because he is super-motivated to race in F1 again.

“By taking Kimi, it shows the (Lotus) team’s desire to succeed. I think Kimi and Romain Grosjean are a good combination.

“By changing the drivers the team has showed that it was not satisfied with the level of last year and that they want to come back to being among the big teams,” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton was just two weeks after his triumph in Istanbul once again delighted with the victory. So that the McLaren-Mercedes driver took over in World Cup standings and the lead. For the British it was the second win in the third race at the Circuit de Montréal.

“This was an incredible weekend, it was fantastic,” said Hamilton, who won from pole position. “I arrived here on Wednesday and things have just gone well. I enjoyed the incredible support of the fans are. With so many Britons at the track, which is great to see.”
“The team continues to provide incredible work,” the former Formula 1 world champion. “It was so far one of the toughest races, but that’s also what you want. I am very happy and proud of the team.”

Jenson Button was in second place, the result for the team perfectly, but Hamilton has Red Bull is still more than just on the bill: “We do everything to close the gap on them. On the other courses, where slightly more Downforce is necessary, they may perhaps be a bit forward. But I have no doubt that we will close the gap. ”

Lewis Hamilton is hoping that the positive trend of recent weeks may be maintained: “At the race weekends, we do obviously better job. I hope we can continue with it. For me it is a special day. I have won my first race, and to repeat those three years is really a pleasure. ”
The most exciting moment experienced Hamilton during the pit stop as he drove alongside the Ferrari from Fernando Alonso through the pit lane, “I think I have something against him came on the air, but I was clearly not the best pit stop.”

“I saw how he was let go, and when he left, he was in my blind spot. Suddenly he was beside me, we went on that ground at the first corner and he came up to me. He had a great speed.” After Hamilton was able to overtake Alonso successful on the track.

Jun.12 (GMM) Stefano Domenicali has dismissed claims he is ‘too nice’ to lead Ferrari back to world championship success.

Taking over from the resolute Jean Todt at the beginning of 2008, Domenicali came close to leading Ferrari to that title before the Italian team slumped last year.

This season, the F10 began the season looking a championship contender, but in Turkey two weeks ago it was good enough only to populate the midfield.

The arrival as team boss of Italian Domenicali, 45, came in the same era as Ferrari lost Frenchman Todt, German Michael Schumacher, Britons Ross Brawn and John Iley and South African designer Rory Byrne.

Max Mosley said recently that an increasingly Italianised Ferrari is now “reverting to type”, while Domenicali is often regarded as too nice to succeed with an eminent position.

“I don’t care,” he is quoted by the Guardian newspaper. “I’m not going to change my philosophy of life because some people don’t like my style.

“There is no specific style to be a winner or to be a manager of a group,” insisted Domenicali.

Rather, he points to a new era where Ferrari is adjusting to the need to scale down and restrict spending, while the team’s own Fiorano test track is now hardly used.

“A couple of years ago there was no limit on investment,” he said.

“No limit on anything. Two years ago you wanted one of something you had hundreds. Now you want one of something you have half.

“Formula one is a different environment now, a different culture, and it’s difficult to change the mentality of a big group. This is the biggest challenge for us.”