Formula one is worth about $8 or $9 billion, as the sport’s owner CVC confirmed it has this week sold a 21 per cent stake to new investors.

News of the sale coincided with the launch of pre-marketing ahead of one of the biggest ever sports floatations, data by the financial experts Thomson Reuters shows.

“It’s cheap compared to Facebook,” chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told reporters on Tuesday, confirming that the Singapore IPO looks set to go ahead soon “with no dramas”.

“All the things that have to happen have happened. It will be finished by the end of June,” the 81-year-old is quoted by the Telegraph.

F1′s new one-fifth owners are US managers Waddell and Reed, the powerful Blackrock and Norway’s central bank Norges.

“It’s a great way to start the IPO and lets investors know what they can expect,” said Ecclestone.

The diminutive Briton said he is keeping his 5.3 per cent stake, and staying in charge. His former wife Slavica controls another 8.5pc, the news agency Bloomberg said.

“You might as well have asked Frank Sinatra who he would appoint to replace him,” Ecclestone insisted.

CVC said in a statement that is remains F1′s biggest and controlling shareholder.

Valencia will not be on next year’s F1 calendar, Bernie Ecclestone said on Saturday.

He confirmed that, starting in 2013, an annually alternating deal between the Spanish port city and Barcelona will begin.

Barcelona, the scene of this weekend’s Spanish grand prix, will host the race in 2013, before Valencia returns to the schedule in 2014, the F1 chief executive told Reuters.

Less secure, meanwhile, is France’s touted spot on the 2013 calendar, particularly with the country’s new anti-F1 president Francois Hollande now taking power.

Until recently, the F1 chief executive was saying Paul Ricard was set to join the 2013 calendar, annually alternating a race date with Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps.

As for the state of the deal now, the 81-year-old admitted: “I have no idea. No idea what they (France) are doing.

“It’s a funny arrangement they were making anyway. So I just don’t know.”

Ecclestone is also working on a new deal for the popular Canadian grand prix, having told promoter Francois Dumontier that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve needs to be upgraded.

“There are two ways of looking at it,” Dumontier, in the paddock of the Circuit de Catalunya, is quoted by La Presse newspaper.

“Either Bernie requires an annual fee windfall, or he will charge a reasonable fee and ask in return for investment in the infrastructure.”

He said the contract on the table is for 10 more years, taking Montreal’s existing deal through 2024.

Ecclestone said on Saturday that he is sure an agreement will be reached, because Canada is one of F1′s most loved destinations.

“I remember saying to Bernie, ‘New York, Austin, I don’t know why you want to go there. Your sure bet is Montreal’. He knows that.

“He’s been in Montreal for 34 years. And in the 22 years of the grands prix in the United States, they’ve had eight different cities.

“He said ‘You’re right’,” added Dumontier.

Another rumour, repeated by The Times’ Kevin Eason on Saturday, is that the planned 2014 Russian grand prix in Sochi “is doomed”.

Sauber was the team with the biggest update package as F1′s ultra-rare in-season test began on Tuesday.

Kamui Kobayashi was in charge of the revised C31, which including a new exhaust and front wing represented “the biggest update package” of all the teams at Mugello, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

McLaren, in contrast, have taken “no great updates” to Tuscany, which explains why Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have left the task up to the British team’s test drivers.

It was a similar story in the Mercedes camp.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, however, was in charge of testing a new McLaren-like exhaust for the FW34, while Ferrari also has a new exhaust for the F2012.

On Thursday, as the three-day test wraps up, the famous Italian team will debut other developments, including a new engine cover and sidepods.

A new front wing, nose and floor will only be ready for Barcelona.

There were no radical modifications on display by Red Bull, who instead want to use the Mugello test to work on car setup.

“We still need to learn how to get the most from what we have,” confirmed Bahrain winner Sebastian Vettel.

For that purpose, the Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit might not actually be the best venue.

“It’s great for driving,” said Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, “but for the engineers Barcelona would be a bit better because there are all types of corners.

“At Mugello they are mainly fast, and virtually none at low speed.”

Romain Grosjean has admitted he didn’t try to keep his teammate Kimi Raikkonen behind him at the recent Bahrain grand prix.

In the wake of Lotus’ podium breakthrough, it was suggested Frenchman Grosjean was the victim of team orders.

Team figures, including boss Eric Boullier and 2007 world champion Raikkonen who finished the race second ahead of rookie Grosjean, denied the charge, even though team orders are fully legal.

But it emerged this week that, just before Grosjean was passed by Raikkonen, the French driver was told on the radio: “Kimi is faster than you.

“Do not hold him up,” the radio message, broadcasted for the first time by F1′s official website this week, ended.

Onboard footage of the move also showed Raikkonen briefly waving to his teammate as he completed the easy pass, ostensibly to thank him.

“I think that if I had closed the door on Kimi, or if we had fought, then I could have lost a wing,” Grosjean said this week.

“We knew that we could have a podium as a result and I didn’t want to make a mistake. I didn’t race at my best level,” he admitted to RMC.

James Key could be the next formula one engineer to join F1′s struggling giant Ferrari.

Multiple media sources, including the authoritative Italian specialist newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, say the Maranello based team is interested in Key, a 40-year-old Briton.

Key’s career dates back to the Jordan days, continuing through the transition to Force India, and he eventually joined Sauber in 2010.

He was the highly respected technical director at the Swiss team until earlier this year, and was therefore in charge of the impressive 2012 Sauber C31, amid speculation he had headed to Lotus’ sports car project.

But the media reports, including in the major German daily Bild, say Ferrari is now interested, particularly because Key is already familiar with the Italian marque through Sauber’s use of the Ferrari drivetrain.

However, when asked what truth there is to the Key rumours, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni snapped: “Nothing, nada, niente!”

It was mission accomplished for HRT Formula 1 Team in Malaysia a couple of weeks ago after both cars qualified and completed their first race of the season after a hard start. The F112 accumulated many kilometres and data on the track and the engineers had a lot of information to work on during the two week period between the race in Sepang and China. Having met the team’s targets last time out, HRT now aims to progress from where it left things in Malaysia and continue improving.

The Shanghai International Circuit is made up of sixteen turns, with nine being right-handers and seven left-handers. Cars reach maximum speeds on the 1.2km straight between corners 13 and 14, where they try and take advantage of the length of the straight to overtake. In China, the team will have a new member on board, Ma Qing Hua, who will be joining the outfit for the first time as a member of the driver development programme at his local Grand Prix.

Pirelli have elected their soft and medium tyres for this grand prix.

Pedro de la Rosa, #22: “After these first two Grands Prix we arrive in China much better prepared, with more mileage and having learned a lot, especially after the Malaysian GP. All the data gathered in the last race is very important for us, as we mustn’t forget that we didn’t have a preseason. Now we have a better insight on the areas where we must improve, but the most important thing in this initial stage is to finish races. That is the prime objective in order to learn and improve race by race. The hardest part comes now but we are better prepared. China is a circuit where I have always done well and a place I know well, both in dry and wet conditions. It’s not a particularly hard track for the car or the driver, but aerodynamics are fundamental”.

Narain Karthikeyan, #23: “We took a step forward in Malaysia and our aim is definitely to carry the momentum into China and rest of the season. Although we managed to finish the race, cooling was still an issue at Sepang and once we have it sorted out completely we’ll be able to unlock some more performance from the car. The back straight at the Shanghai circuit is of course one of the longest on the calendar and the tightening first corner is uniquely challenging since the corner entry is in top gear and by the time you exit you’re in second. Plus there are a fair amount of technical slow-speed corners as well, and the high-speed direction change of turns 7/8. Given these mixed characteristics, it is a demanding circuit for traction, aero and braking stability in equal measures”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “The start to the season was very complicated because we were behind schedule with regards to the other teams. We had to put in a colossal effort to be able to get on track in Australia and improve our performance just one week later in Malaysia. There’s still plenty to do and many areas to improve on to be where we should be but at least in these two weeks we’ve had a bit more time to analyse data, prepare and recharge batteries, therefore I’m confident that we’re arriving in China in a much better situation. We mustn’t forget that the F112 is only taking its first steps and, as of today, what we must do is progress without stopping. In Shanghai we’ll have some small updates to optimize cooling and aerodynamics, and the target for this weekend is to check that these adjustments work. To sum up, we have to get more out of the car but must also improve on teamwork and coordination”.

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.

Adrian Sutil has admitted that discovering Lewis Hamilton was not a friend was one of life’s “disappointments”.

Since their F3 days as teammates, Sutil and Hamilton have been arguably the closest pair of friends in the formula one paddock.

That changed, however, when the German driver was charged with assaulting Lotus team executive Eric Lux, and Hamilton was summoned as a witness to the Shanghai nightclub incident.

But Briton Hamilton declined to appear and also changed his mobile phone number without informing Sutil.

Sutil and his father reacted by calling the McLaren driver “pathetic” and a “coward”.

When asked about his former close friend, Sutil told Die Welt newspaper: “Basically I only had a problem with one person, which was Mr Lux.

“He has offered me his hand and said that for him, the issue is finished.

“What Lewis Hamilton does is not decisive for my ambitions to get back to formula one. Just as with defeats, you have to deal with disappointments, it’s as simple as that.

“I think no one should expect to find any friends in the paddock — and I don’t look for them there either. I have enough friends outside of F1,” added Sutil.

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

A third major team has joined the crusade against Mercedes’ so-nicknamed ‘W-duct’ innovation.

Until now, only Red Bull and Lotus were pushing hard for the FIA to ban the drag-reducing system that Britain’s Sky television is calling ‘Super-dooper DRS’.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that Ferrari has now joined the anti W-duct group, providing a new argument about why a driver is not permitted to activate a separate system by pressing the ‘DRS’ button on the steering wheel.

“So far I have heard nothing that convinces us that it is illegal,” the FIA’s Charlie Whiting is quoted as saying.

He is not, however, ruling out an eventual change of heart.

“As we understood more about how the mass damper worked and as more arguments came onto the table, eventually we could no longer turn a blind eye,” said the Briton.

Still, Whiting is not expecting a post-race protest in Malaysia.

“I think everyone understands that that is not good for the sport,” he said.

So far, McLaren is staying out of the fight, with Auto Motor und Sport believing that Martin Whitmarsh “will not wage war against his engine supplier”.

Nonetheless, Mercedes boss Ross Brawn is more than unimpressed with the warring trio.

“There are a massive amount of things we do with DRS, so to pick on one thing and say ‘We don’t like that very much as we haven’t thought about it’, is wrong,” the Briton charged.

Red Bull has devised a “clever” way of reclaiming some of the downforce lost through the banning of blown diffusers.
That is the claim of Jean Francois Caubet, who is in charge of the team’s engine supplier Renault.

Red Bull, the reigning back to back world champions, and Renault Sport F1 have worked more closely than ever before ahead of their 2012 title defence.

“Formula one is about creativity,” Caubet is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild, “and although the rules have changed, we have worked with Red Bull and found a solution to compensate for the loss of performance.”

Last year, the cars acquired extra downforce through the ‘blowing’ of hot engine exhaust gases into the diffuser, even when the driver was off the throttle.

It is rumoured that, despite the FIA’s ban, some teams have flown close to the letter of the new rules with their new solutions.

“It is not the same as before,” Caubet continued, “but a clever development that could make the difference.”

After the first week of testing at Jerez recently, some observed that Adrian Newey’s new Red Bull RB8 was cornering as though on rails.

“That’s because we all used to play with model trains,” joked team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Added Newey: “The exhaust is one of the areas in which we still have some ideas up our sleeves.”

 At the very end of last season, Adrian Sutil had four options to stay in formula one in 2012.
That is the claim of the German driver’s manager Manfred Zimmermann, who has so far failed to secure Sutil a race seat for the forthcoming season after his five consecutive years with Force India.

“We will fight to stay in formula one and we’re still hoping to get a seat for 2012 — even if it is in the course of the season,” he told the Sport Bild magazine.

He played down the impact of the 29-year-old’s grievous bodily harm conviction, insisting there has been “encouragement and support from all sides”.

Zimmermann said that at the very end of last season, Sutil was juggling four concrete options for 2012 that ultimately “slipped like soap” through their fingers.

“Unfortunately in formula one, money is always important,” he explained. “It simply didn’t work out in the end.”

As for the role the assault charge played, Zimmermann conceded: “I can’t really judge.”

However, for Sutil’s career, all is not lost.

“We have had enquiries in the past days from several series such as Indycar and touring cars. In America Adrian is a very highly regarded driver.”

Lewis Hamilton looks set to be recalled as a witness as the Adrian Sutil assault saga rolls on.
German Sutil, and his father Jorge, described former close friend and 2008 world champion Hamilton as a “coward” and “pathetic” after the McLaren driver did not appear at the recent hearings in Munich.

But with the former Force India driver – and Munich prosecutors – now filing appeals against the judge’s verdict, Hamilton’s personal testimony might be regarded as crucial.

Hamilton is clearly visible in the video footage of the incident with Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub last April, but Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann claims the judge neglected the gravity of the security camera evidence.

“Not asking one of the witnesses to court and other important circumstances have not been considered as well,” Zimmermann charged.

London newspaper the Daily Telegraph claims Hamilton “is happy to testify provided the date does not clash with prior commitments”.

 Two young chargers are waiting in the wings, but Mark Webber insists he intends to extend his formula one career beyond 2012.
Among the top names at Red Bull, however, the Australian veteran is the odd one out, with only a one-year contract in his pocket.

At the same time, the energy drink company has appointed two young rookies – Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne – to its junior team Toro Rosso.

“Obviously there is probably a chance with Red Bull, but at the moment I don’t want to look too far ahead,” said Frenchman Vergne this week at Jerez.

Webber will turn 36 this year, but he told Austrian Servus TV he sees himself on the grid “for many years” to come.

“The feeling I had in Australia (over the winter) was the desire to come back here and drive the car,” he said.

Nevertheless, the big rumour is that Dr Helmut Marko – the Red Bull driver manager – decided to appoint Ricciardo and Vergne so that he can assess which one will be Sebastian Vettel’s teammate in 2013.

“I can’t do anything about the rumours — I remember I was going to be replaced way back in 2008. That’s just formula one,” said Webber.