Sebastian Vettel has defended his former mentor Michael Schumacher.

The seven time world champion has been roundly criticised since last Sunday’s Spanish grand prix, after crashing into Williams’ Bruno Senna at the end of the Barcelona straight.

He called the Brazilian driver an “idiot” on the radio and later defended the outburst, but the FIA did not agree, imposing a five-place qualifying penalty for Monte Carlo for causing a collision.

“For us, that manoeuvre of Michael’s cost us a lot,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Austrian Servus TV.

He said the debris from the crash not only damaged Vettel’s front wing, but led to the reigning world champion having to serve a drive-through penalty due to activating his DRS wing in the yellow-flag zone.

German Vettel, however, defended Schumacher.

“In those situations we don’t have much time of course,” he said, “and you can get very great speed differences (between the cars) on the straights.

“I think it should be classified simply in the category of racing accidents. Unfortunately it happens,” said the reigning world champion.

“Of course you can always say what is what afterwards,” added Vettel, “just as you can say that it always takes two to tango.”

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug was less eager to comment, although he did tell Germany’s Sport1 that the team “accepts the verdict of the race stewards”.

F1′s astonishing season continues to live up to the hype, as a fifth driver and constructor on Sunday won the fifth grand prix of 2012.

Not only is the victory Pastor Maldonado’s first, his walk up the steps at the Circuit de Catalunya was the first taste of the podium in his two-season F1 career.

It’s also the first Venezuelan triumph in the sport’s history, and a hugely popular victory for Williams, the once-great British team headed by Sir Frank Williams, whose 70th birthday was warmly celebrated in the paddock on Saturday.

“Boy did we need that,” said Williams on BBC television.

And asked how he feels on Sky television, he smiled: “Relief.”

“Some said Maldonado was a pay driver and he didn’t deserve his place in formula one but they’ll be eating their words now,” commented former team driver David Coulthard.

“That was a fantastic drive,” added Coulthard, referring to Williams’ first win since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.

Williams enthused: “I didn’t see him (Maldonado) make one single mistake.”

“You can’t really fault him,” agreed Williams’ 1996 world champion Damon Hill.

Amazingly, however, away from the champagne, Sebastian Vettel’s sixth place leaves him at the top of the drivers’ championship, and he is now neck-and-neck with Fernando Alonso, who finished second on Sunday in the improving Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, who finished dead last on Sunday and finished eighth, is third in the points classification, ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.

Finn Raikkonen finished third on Sunday, and is the favourite to become F1′s sixth different winner of 2012 in Monaco in a fortnight.

“We showed we still have the speed,” the Lotus driver said after the Spanish grand prix. “If we had a few more laps, we could have fought for a victory.”

Charlie Whiting has admitted F1′s governing body will likely have to change the exhaust rules yet again for 2013.

Led by technical delegate Whiting, the FIA clamped down hard for this season on the sort of ‘exhaust blown diffuser’ layouts that had become widespread last year.

New exhaust layout rules, combined with new restrictions on engine mapping, have made it much more difficult for teams to achieve an aerodynamic effect from the fast-moving hot gases produced by the engine.

“We are aware, however, that they (the teams) will do as much as they can to direct the exhaust gases down into the area where they want them,” Whiting said in the FIA’s Inmotion magazine.

“I think (the effect) will be 20 per cent of what they had before.”

Among the cleverest and most effective solutions for the 2012 rules has been seen on the Sauber, and so Red Bull has followed suit and it is believed Ferrari will be next.

But Whiting hinted that the 2013 rules will clamp down even harder: “I suspect we’ll have to have another go at it in 2013,” said the Briton.

He admitted, however, that the egg cannot be unscrambled.

Referring to the jet of high-speed gas emanating from the exhausts near aerodynamic surfaces, Mercedes’ Aldo Costa confirmed to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “You can’t ignore a gift like that.”

Whiting explained: “It is a classic case of not being able to unlearn things once they have been invented. The engineers know that there are benefits to be had and there is still some scope for development in this area.

“And we can’t wipe the memories of the engineers like a computer, can we?”

 An Australian federal politician has argued Melbourne’s grand prix should be axed because it bankrolls “Bernie’s billionaire bogan”.
Kelvin Thomson told parliament that much of the fee paid by the Victorian state government to formula one ends up in the deep pockets of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone’s eldest daughter Tamara.

After watching a documentary about 27-year-old Ms Ecclestone, he said she uses a million-dollar bathtub, an elevator for her Ferrari road car, crystal balls for her bowling alley, and a massage parlour for her dogs.

“One thing I am absolutely sure of,” said Thomson, “there are better ways to spend $50 million, year in and year out, than bankrolling Bernie’s billionaire bogan.”

‘Bogan’ is an Australian slang term for someone who demonstrates their lower-class background through their speech, clothing and behaviour.

This weekend’s Australian grand prix is seventeenth at Albert Park.

Transportes Azkar S.A., an international integrated logistics operator with its headquarters in Spain, and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration agreement for the renowned logistics operator to become a collaborator of the renewed team, joining as an Official Supplier for the 2012 season.

With a fleet of three trucks that cover more than 16,000 kilometres on the road to European Grands Prix and that transfer cars and material to the airport, HRT F1 Team’s transport needs are very demanding. Therefore, having a first class national partner, such as Azkar, was a fundamental objective.

Alfonso Hostaled, Azkar CEO: “At Azkar we back sports and national companies that wish to open up overseas and that is why HRT’s project as a Spanish team fits in perfectly with our market strategy. Azkar puts at the disposal of HRT logistics services that meet the challenging demands of Formula 1. On another note, through this association, we look to bring our clients closer to this thrilling sport”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal HRT F1 Team: “As a part of the team’s renovation process, we are working on many fronts, all of them being important. There are many aspects besides the car and staff, such as telecommunications and logistics, which are vital for a team to function properly in such a demanding world as is Formula 1. We want to count with first class national partners for this. Azkar is the standout logistics operator and we are very proud to have them as collaborators. In a paddock which is crammed with German and English trucks, to find Spanish trucks aswell is proof that there are national companies with the same capacity as any other company to perform at this demanding level”.

- Ends -

ABOUT AZKAR

AZKAR puts at the disposal of its clients a potent international network for the management of importing and exporting goods, from and to any part of the world. Specifically, in the Iberian peninsula and islands, the company has 87 facilities, with more than 500,000m² built over more than 1 million m²of terrain, a team made up of 5,000 professionals and a fleet of 2,700 trucks.

via: HRT

Jean-Eric Vergne has predicted a good season ahead for Toro Rosso.
Along with Daniel Ricciardo, French rookie Vergne makes up the Red Bull junior team’s new driver lineup, following the ousting at the end of last season of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

Perhaps because their prize could be Mark Webber’s seat at the senior team in 2013, Ricciardo and Vergne set almost identical laptimes last week at Jerez as the new STR7 was tested for the first time.

And according to 21-year-old Vergne, the Ferrari powered car showed promising form overall.

“We hope to be one of the strongest teams in the middle of the classification,” he is quoted by the Italian website Tuttosport.

At the same time, Vergne is not getting carried away ahead of eight pre-season test days in Barcelona, starting next week.

“Barcelona could be different as Jerez was rather cold and the surface is very abrasive. I don’t think there’s much difference between the teams.”

Vergne is quoted by France’s L’Equipe: “What Jerez showed us I think is that we have a good basis.”

AUSTIN, Texas — February 13, 2012— Circuit of The Americas is the newest member of the Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of more than 40 professional and collegiate sports teams and nearly 90 sports venues with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Circuit of The Americas will be the first Formula One™ racing facility to become a member of the Alliance.
“Circuit of The Americas and the City of Austin have taken a bold stand with their sustainability plan for the sports and entertainment complex,” said Martin Tull, executive director of the Green Sports Alliance. “We welcome Circuit of The Americas into the Alliance and look forward to working with them.”
The Green Sports Alliance is a unique coalition of sports teams and venues, professional sport leagues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental and green building experts.
“I applaud the Circuit’s commitment to setting a standard for sustainability in North American motorsports,” said Lucia Athens, chief sustainability officer for the City of Austin. “Joining forces with the Green Sports Alliance will increase their green horsepower and put Austin on the map yet again for its leadership and innovation. The Green Sports Alliance has been providing expert technical assistance to many of the sports leagues, and can now assist motorsports in achieving greener results.”
Members in the Green Sports Alliance share best practices to improve the environmental performance of their venues, saving millions of dollars through energy and water conservation, waste reduction, recycling and composting. By tracking environmental performance, sports facilities learn how they compare to their counterparts and how to maximize sustainability efforts. Alliance members have reported reductions as high as 30 percent in energy usage, 60 percent in natural gas use and more than 20 percent in water use.
“We are excited to be collaborating with the best minds in sustainable facility management,” said Edgar Farrera, sustainability director at Circuit of The Americas. “We look forward to developing new approaches to environmentally sustainable operations at our facility and sharing what we learn with organizations and companies around the world.”
About the Green Sports Alliance
The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Less than a year since its public launch, the Alliance is made up of representatives from over 40 teams from 13 leagues and 90 sports venues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Protection Agency, Bonneville Environmental Foundation and many other organizations.
Its second annual conference, the Green Sports Alliance Summit, will be held on Sept. 5-7, 2012 and will bring together hundreds of facility operators, team executives, league officials,
environmental experts and corporate partners to discuss innovations in environmental performance.
For more information about the Green Sports Alliance visit: www.greensportsalliance.org.
About Circuit of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas will be a world-class destination for performance, education and business. It will be the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the United States designed for any and all classes of racing, from motor power to human power, and be the U.S. home to the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ Nov. 16-18 and V8 SUPERCARS.
The Circuit of The Americas’ master plan features a variety of permanent structures designed for business, education, entertainment and race use. Its signature element will be a 3.4-mile circuit track with capacity for 120,000 fans. Other support buildings will include a medical facility, a conference center, a banquet hall as well as an expansive outdoor live music space. Future proposed amenities include a driving/riding experience, a motorsports driving club, kart track, grand plaza event center and tower, and a trackside recreational vehicle park.

Williams’ official launch took just five minutes in the Jerez pitlane on Tuesday, before the new Renault-powered FW34 had a difficult birth.
“Unfortunately testing was cut short with a couple of initial teething problems which we are currently investigating,” said engineer Mark Gillan.

Official testing action burst into life in 2012, with every team except Marussia – and nine all-new cars in action for the first time – kicking off their campaigns.

Returning 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was fastest all day.

“The lap times don’t matter today,” Lotus’ Finn insisted.

“I do have a good feeling, and that was not always the case in my career after the first day of testing,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“But I would rather be P1 at the end of the first race than at the end of the first test day,” smiled Raikkonen.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, with the team’s brand new title-defending car only the third quickest of the 2012 runners, agreed.

“If what we saw today happens in Melbourne, then we’ll talk again,” he laughed, explaining the missed morning of testing as due to a crucial part being held up at an airport shrouded in fog.

The Guardian also reports that a Red Bull truckie was stopped for speeding.

Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, however, is convinced Raikkonen’s speed is real – and his motivation intact – after two years away.

“Believe me, he is there.”

Agreed technical director James Allison: “You can tell Kimi is a class act.”

Like fellow top team Red Bull, the new McLaren also had a low-profile day, with Jenson Button just eighth quickest.

But he didn’t accuse Lotus and Raikkonen of showboating.

“Maybe he (Raikkonen) was running heavy,” said the 2009 world champion. “We maybe haven’t seen eye to eye a lot of the time when we’ve been racing, but he’s a very quick driver, a world champion.

“He’s obviously in a very competitive car, and whatever they did today – low fuel or whatever – it was still quick.”

Struggling on Tuesday was Caterham, whose new car could not be restarted following damage to the engine starter shaft, and Toro Rosso with an oil leak.

And Felipe Massa was just ninth in the new Ferrari.

“It is obviously too early to say if this year we will be able to win or not,” said designer Nikolas Tombazis.

Bernie Ecclestone is certain the inaugural Indian grand prix will run without a hitch late this month.
There have been concerns the Buddh circuit is not complete, that teams and drivers will be heavily taxed, and that angry local farmers as well as regional terrorists may pose security threats.

“I don’t think we can see anywhere in the world where there isn’t a bit of uncertainty these days,” the sport’s chief executive told the Deccan Herald newspaper.

“I don’t think there is the slightest bit of concern, though.”

On the tax issue, Ecclestone admitted: “I don’t think people have understood the structure. People haven’t quite understood the right way to go about it. It’s all pretty clear, there is no real problem.”

And he dismissed suggestions the Buddh circuit will not be ready to host the F1 world in a few weeks.

“Some super reports are coming in,” insisted the 80-year-old. “People are all there and they are doing a fabulous job.

“All these new events are really a learning curve. We are making good progress on the track, and even if we had come in 2012, we would have been in the same position.”

Race organisers Jaypee, meanwhile, dismissed the latest reports about local farmers threatening “protest marches and sit-ins” around the track if they do not receive better compensation.

“People should not be taking these threats seriously,” an unnamed official told the AFP news agency.

“We have spent $400 million dollars and we will spend a few million more if needed to have adequate security in place. We will do whatever it takes to have a wonderful event.”

Narain Karthikeyan has ruled out reviving his formula one career with a seat at Force India.

The Indian will reacclimatise to the cockpit of the HRT car this weekend in Singapore, almost three months after losing his race drive to Daniel Ricciardo.

Karthikeyan, 34, will be driving in the first Friday practice session before returning to the grid in his native India next month, but for 2012 his future is clouded.

He told The National newspaper in Singapore that he will not be creating an Indian dream-team with his countryman Vijay Mallya, owner and boss of Force India.

“I never even approached Mallya,” said Karthikeyan. “The vibes from the camp have been extremely negative and I want to make it clear that I am not interested in driving for Force India.”

Jenson Button has laughed at reports linking him with a move to Ferrari in 2012.
The speculation was triggered by the British driver’s protracted talks with McLaren over next year and beyond, and spurred on last week by a report in the Brazilian press.

It is said Button wants to be contractually free at the end of next year so as to be available when Felipe Massa comes out of contract.

“It’s hilarious because it’s not true,” Brazil’s Globo Esporte quotes the 2009 world champion as saying.

“I don’t know who put it out but it wasn’t us and it wasn’t Ferrari,” said Button.

The Briton admitted that the rumours are only gaining wings because of his lengthy talks with McLaren.

“Hopefully it will be sorted out as soon as possible. I hope it is anyway because I don’t want to be talking about it for too long and I don’t want to leave people hanging,” Button is quoted by PA Sport.

“I actually don’t mind being asked about it (the Ferrari story) because I find it quite fun,” he smiled.

At Ferrari, meanwhile, Brazilian Massa said he is determined to stay beyond next year.

“I have a contract until the end of 2012 and after that we’ll see,” he told the Singapore newspaper Today. “I hope to stay here a long time.”

Fabio Leimer could be a formula one race rookie in 2012.
The Sonntagsblick newspaper reports that the 22-year-old Swiss’ career is backed by Rainer Gantenbein, who says he has spent more than $17 million already.

Leimer is currently ranked 14th in the GP2 championship.

The Swiss newspaper said Gantenbein is in “intensive negotiations with several F1 teams” about the 2012 season.

“If Virgin demands five million (Swiss) francs, then that is what I will raise,” he said at Monza.

The first step for Leimer will be his debut F1 drive during the young drivers’ test session in Abu Dhabi after the penultimate grand prix of the season.

Giedo van der Garde has won a long legal battle with Force India.

The Dutch driver had pressed for a $2 million refund because, when the team was known as Spyker in 2007, he did only 2270 of the 6000 kilometres of testing that he was contractually promised.

Media reports reveal that a court has agreed that Force India must pay van der Garde $1.865 million.

Fascinatingly, van der Garde’s manager Jeroen Schothorst said the ruling could help in his talks with Force India about a race seat in 2011.

“A few years ago this topic was a disadvantage, now it could be beneficial to us,” he said.

Allan McNish is confident that Paul di Resta will get a place in Formula 1. Only the political game must play the Scot well.
As the replacement and occasional Friday driver for Force India Paul di Resta has already one foot in Formula 1, the last step is still missing, and many believe that to follow the Scot Tonio Liuzzi as a race driver with Force India will be. But nothing is certain yet, but the former Formula 1 driver Allan McNish believes his compatriot will do it, he should have the political side of the elite class under control.

“If you look at the error looks to have made the Sutil and Liuzzi in the last race, one might say, Paul has good arguments to out there are. Unfortunately, there is much politics in the motor sport and Formula 1 is now completely on the top, it is not about the drivers’ performance. But I hope that Paul will be classified soon in the list of the Scots in Formula 1, “said McNish, the Daily Record.
TMS

World Championship leader Mark Webber will leave nothing to chance in South Korea and will work in a fresh Yeongam Renault unit
Mark Webber advantage in South Korea? The Australian racing driver and his Red Bull gave RB6 already in free practice for the Grand Prix in Yeongam clear the pace, now sets the championship leader once again for: in qualifying and the race is the 34-year-old resort to its last new engine. This should Webber on the long straights a little better on the road.

The Red Bull driver is in fact the only one from the ranks of the five remaining candidates for the title, which can still rely on fresh power – both Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull must) in the final sprint of the season to make do with second hand units. Quite easily ran the kick-off for Webber not.
In free practice, the championship leader but classified in the first place, was spotted during the session but for some time with a stationary front wheel in the air. This did not deter the Australians, however, continue to attend consistently fast laps. In the press conference admitted team boss Christian Horner finally one that a defect had occurred.

“There was a problem with Mark’s car, we were able to fix during the session. He was even on three wheels in a position to mark a very competitive time,” Horner replied to the question of ‘motor-Total.com’ expert Marc Surer, who had believed in stabilizing the cause. “This presumption of truth comes pretty close,” said Horner. “It was no big deal.”