Ferrari’s title tilt could hinge on the competitiveness of the updated F2012 this weekend in Barcelona.

“What I want is to have a competitive car in Barcelona,” insisted the famous Italian marque’s president Luca di Montezemolo on Tuesday.

“That’s what I’ve asked for,” he is quoted as saying by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

Ferrari had congregated at its Fiorano test track, to watch Jacques Villeneuve drive the 1979 single seater to mark the 30th anniversary of his father Gilles’ fatal crash.

But Montezemolo’s disappointment is with the latest Ferrari, which has been heavily updated since the Bahrain grand prix three weeks ago.

“Our technicians are confident, but we will have to see how our opponents have advanced too,” he added.

O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio claimed “Montezemolo knows” that anything other than a big step forward in Barcelona will mean Ferrari has to “start thinking about” its 2013 project instead.

“Now we have to make a quantum leap, to have a car that is more competitive, less difficult to drive, and gives confidence to the fans,” Montezemolo is quoted by La Stampa newspaper.

“Let’s see how it goes in Spain,” he told Rai television.

“I have asked for an extraordinary response from our engineers,” Montezemolo is also quoted as saying by Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, quoted lead driver Fernando Alonso as saying: “Our goal is to be world champions in November, and if we are to succeed then we must do better than we have done so far.”

Team boss Stefano Domenicali agreed: “We expect a significant evolution that will bring us closer to the step we need.

“The Spanish grand prix is definitely open, as is the championship. I say this because we believe.”

Mercedes is committed to the crumbling teams association FOTA, team boss Ross Brawn insists.
The Geneva based alliance has lost the support of top teams Red Bull and Ferrari, and also smaller outfits Sauber, Toro Rosso and HRT.

It is rumoured Lotus could be the next to go.

But McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh remains the chairman, and media outlets on Wednesday quoted Mercedes’ Brawn as saying the German marque remains “very committed” to FOTA.

“We believe it’s a great shame that we’ve lost some of the members from FOTA because I think we may live ultimately to regret that,” he is quoted by Sky Sports.

Contemplating the reasons for the FOTA split, Brawn explained: “When there is outside pressure it pushed FOTA together. Now, there is not so much, the natural competitiveness of the teams is pushing it apart a bit.

“I hope we don’t regret it … because one of the objectives was to find the right solutions for F1, not just for individual teams.”

(MST) Red Bull’s Adrian Newey, designer talks about the development of divided attention on the RB8 for the 2012 season and planned updates to the RB7

In the midst of a Formula 1 season, the resources of the technical departments will be re-allocated. The development of the new car for next season is in the starting blocks. Especially with teams in the championship fight to divide the resources are useful because they continue to bring updates in order not to lose competitiveness. Nevertheless, should the development of the car for next season will not be ignored.

At Red Bull’s Adrian Newey responsible for the design of the cars. He advocates a split of the development strategy. “We must continue to develop the RB7″, he confirmed more updates over ‘ESPNF1′. “We are not even halfway through the current world championship and must continue to work hard, but we should also start thinking about the car for the next year.”
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In the next race at Silverstone is prohibited by the exhaust gases flowing in a diffuser. “We have a rough idea of ​​what we will lose lap time. But we do not know if all engines are limited equally by the ban and lose some cars more time than others. The rest of the season, we must work to ensure that the car will operate as efficiently as possible. ”

Newey, Red Bull sees it as his last stop in Formula 1 and Ferrari has already distributed several baskets. “I think, since I am in Formula 1 there, I feel very well at Red Bull and I can imagine it not to change the team again,” said the Briton. “What will I do in the future, I can at present not say. I do not think I’ll do something else in motorsports. If I do something else should, it will be something that has nothing to do with motor sport. “

HRT is expected to confirm officially on Friday that Narain Karthikeyan has secured one of the Spanish team’s race seats for 2011.
“I am sure that his experience and speed will be very useful for the team during the season,” team boss Colin Kolles said.

The news comes after the Indian driver, who made his F1 debut in 2005 with Jordan, announced on Twitter that he has been signed thanks to the support of his sponsors.

It emerged late last year that Karthikeyan, turning 34 next week, had up to $8 million to spend on a seat, including the backing of Mumbai-based carmaker Tata who are thought keen to associate with the inaugural Indian grand prix in October.

“Huge thanks to my long time supporters (the) Tata Group. Their support has been instrumental,” he tweeted on Thursday.

After his Jordan debut, Karthikeyan spent some time as Williams’ test driver but more recently has been racing in the Superleague and NASCAR Truck series.

It was rumoured that he had split unpleasantly with Kolles in late 2005, but insists that he has an “excellent working relationship” with the now HRT chief.

“I have always maintained that I have not given up on my desire to return to the top level of motor sport,” Karthikeyan is quoted by Indian media.

The Delhi-based Hindustan Times newspaper revealed that Karthikeyan chose F1 over NASCAR for 2011 even though he “won’t be making any money” personally this year.

“It was a tough call,” he confirmed, “but one I had no qualms making.”

Karthikeyan was asked about the likely competitiveness of HRT’s 2011 car, after the Dallara-built single seater this year proved the slowest in the field.

“The car can’t be any worse than it was last year,” he said. “Ideally we would like to move ahead of the other two new teams Lotus and Virgin.”

HRT owner Jose Ramon Carabante is expecting the Spanish team to have a better season in 2011.

The Dallara-built F110 was the slowest car in formula one this year, but Hispania has inked an agreement to have its next car equipped with a Williams gearbox.

However, an agreement with 2011 car supplier Toyota recently fell through, raising doubts about the likely competitiveness of the team next season.

But Carabante told Radio Marca in Spanish that it is Geoff Willis who has designed the 2011 HRT “and the car he has designed will give us many joys”.

“The car is being made partly in Germany and partly in England and it will be ready.

“We have been working on it for some time and it will be in Bahrain for sure. This year was much more difficult. This time we will be in the winter tests,” added Carabante.

He said HRT’s plans for its 2011 car are similar to Force India and Toro Rosso’s; teams who “work with several suppliers”.

A problem with the Toyota plan, he revealed, was that the Cosworth engine did not work with the Toyota chassis, which has its own power plant.

“The Cosworth did not fit in the Toyota and we couldn’t break the agreement with Cosworth because the clause was that they had to have been one of the least reliable, and they were not,” he explained.

On the financial front, Carabante said many sponsors do not appreciate the full value of formula one.

“In F1 these days there is no need to spend 5 or 10 million,” he said. “You can come in with 1 million or 500,000 euros.”

He lamented that “You go to large companies in this country and tell them that with their support you can have the car of Toyota, the use of their facilities and be in the top eight from time to time but they don’t support you.

“We have a Spanish team which would be even more Spanish with a driver like Pedro de la Rosa, but the companies did not come in.”

But he revealed that “soon we will announce a major sponsor because negotiations are well advanced. It is one of the five most important companies in Spain,” said Carabante.

HRT’s aim for 2011 is “to consolidate and be a step further ahead than this year. It is a long term project and we will see if in two or three years we are established, as was the initial idea”.

On the driver front, Carabante said talks are ongoing with “five or six” candidates but said announcements are not scheduled until the new year.

Whether a Spaniard is among them, he answered: “Maybe.”

Fernando Alonso has tipped key technical rule changes for 2011 to contribute to more “spectacular” racing.

The Ferrari driver admitted that the return of energy-recovery KERS boost buttons next year, and the debut of moveable rear wings usable only by drivers who are closely chasing a rival, are “crucial” to the sport’s next season.

“Each year there are rule changes to encourage overtaking, but I think that the ones in 2011 are really significant,” he is quoted by the Spanish media at an event involving Santander boss Emilio Botin.

“I think that, finally, it will be much easier to overtake and hopefully the racing will be spectacular,” Spaniard Alonso added.

Asked what his personal goal for 2011 is, the 29-year-old admitted: “When you are at Ferrari, the world championship as a target is obligatory.

“We will have a better car than this year and the goal remains the same as always,” added Alonso.

“We know how difficult is our task because of the competitiveness of Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, so we need to work hard to find something they do not have.”

Finally, Alonso was asked by a young questioner if he will be drinking Red Bull over the winter period to build his energy for 2011.

“No … no,” he smiled.

A 20-race calendar is too long for formula one, according to former FIA president Max Mosley.

2010′s tally of 19 races was the equal-biggest in the history of the sport, and next year the rally is growing to twenty rounds.

The USA and Russia are set to join possibly more additional grands prix in the near future, moving Sir Frank Williams to recently muse that he can envisage a 22-race schedule before long.

“For me personally, it’s too much,” Mosley told the German newspaper Welt.

“In my opinion that’s too many Sunday afternoons to expect people to dedicate to formula one. At some point, it starts to become tiresome.

“And then if you start skipping a race here and there it can quickly become a habit and it can snowball in terms of the TV ratings,” he added.

Mosley, whose successor as FIA president is the former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, is also worried that F1 team budgets are still far too high.

“In January 2008 I warned that without cost reduction it won’t be only the small teams having problems,” said the 70-year-old Briton.

“It has arrived: Honda, BMW, Toyota and Renault have gone because the budgets are out of proportion.

“This continues to be true and it worries me,” admitted Mosley.

“There is the risk of a crisis in the short term,” he insisted. “Currently, a great season is being celebrated but the future looks bleak.

“For 2011 you need $100 million, with 30 or 40 from Bernie Ecclestone, perhaps 20 to 25 from sponsors or the drivers. I’d say six teams are wondering where the rest is coming from.

“It’s quite possible we’ll lose two or three teams,” warned Mosley.

His final act as FIA president was to entice new privateers onto the grid with very small budgets, but Lotus, Virgin and HRT have been criticised for lacking competitiveness.

“I don’t agree,” said Mosley. “They need to be given time to improve.

“Virgin’s development has been downright revolutionary. Their car was built entirely without a wind tunnel and that’s a warning for the likes of McLaren because their wind tunnels are like running a small town.

“On the other hand Virgin developed a car only with computer simulation and it’s only two or three seconds slower.

“No one can argue that the huge cost of the wind tunnels is justified.”

Mosley said a quick fix to the looming crisis would be a budget cap for 2012 and 2013, requiring teams to tighten their belts immediately.

Luca Badoer is leaving Ferrari after a long tenure as test driver.

The almost 40-year-old Italian has been in the role since the late 90s, and according to Autosprint magazine he accumulated more than 130,000 kilometres at Fiorano in Ferrari’s F1 cars during that period.

But Badoer was heavily criticised for his lack of competitiveness when he replaced the injured Felipe Massa in the Brazilian’s race cockpit mid last year.

Autosprint said Badoer, who raced 58 other times for minor Italian teams throughout the 90s, is now leaving the team.

The magazine said his last laps in a F1 car were during the recent Valencia celebrations, when he reaquainted with the F60 he raced three times in 2009.

Ferrari announced last month that 21-year-old Frenchman Jules Bianchi has been signed as a test driver for 2011.

Also contracted in test roles are Giancarlo Fisichella and Marc Gene.

F1′s three new teams have been “an embarrassment” for the sport in 2010, according to chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

Through additional financial incentives, the 80-year-old Briton actively enticed new entrants into pitlane this year.

But he has told the Financial Times that Virgin, Lotus and HRT have ultimately added no value to F1 because of their lack of competitiveness.

“They do nothing for us, they are an embarrassment,” said Ecclestone. “We need to get rid of a few of those cripples.”

He clarified that the Malaysian team Lotus is worth keeping in F1 beyond 2010, and called for Sir Richard Branson to put some serious money into Virgin.

“Richard should put some money in there shouldn’t he? He could do what (Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz) has done and put some money in.”

The first win after an injury to the Mugello Valentino Rossi has had a special flavor. The 46th with Yamaha, but also demonstrate that they have finally overcome the difficult time that he had influenced in the last race of the season. With the newfound competitiveness in absolute terms for the nine times world champion this weekend is the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, waiting for him.

A very busy and important weekend for the foreseeable future: it is possible to confirm at high levels, but also to verify once and for all the health status of the injured shoulder in one of the more technical circuits and fast the whole calendar champion.

“Sunday was a truly fantastic day, “says Valentino Rossi,”get back to winning was wonderful. It ‘was one of my best victories of his entire career, the 46th with the Yamaha, I’m really happy.

Now I want to try to finish the season and are excited to get to Phillip Island which is one of the most spectacular circuits where race bikes. There are a number of years that I can not win in Australia, I would like to change that.

Many members of my team are Australians, and the audience is always very enthusiastic, so Phillip Island is always a very special race. “

Whether Michael Schumacher can return to full competitiveness next year depends in part on Pirelli.

That is the opinion of his team boss Ross Brawn, as the seven time world champion struggles in 2010 with the performance of Bridgestone’s tyre.

Schumacher is hoping to challenge for the 2011 title with a more competitive Mercedes, but Brawn warned: “It depends on how good the Pirelli tyre is in terms of how he (Michael) can respond in the steering movements.”

However, Brawn told Auto Motor und Sport that the Brackley based team has been working this year to reinforce its staff in the area of car/tyre interaction.

“We have also had access to the experts at Daimler-Benz,” he said, indicating that the team’s situation is better now than when it was privately owned a year ago.

“Back then we had to rebuild our team while fighting for the world title. Those are problems we have not had this time,” said Brawn.

Ferrari had a tough race at Spa-Francorchamps but could be set for a stronger showing this weekend, according to team boss Stefano Domenicali.

The Italian team, whilst trying to recover its championship deficit, brought updates for its F10 car to Belgium two weeks ago that resulted in a backwards step in terms of competitiveness.

Domenicali has made it clear that one more bad result will mean Ferrari switching its focus to 2011, but he also told Corriere dello Sport that he is hopeful of a strong outing on home territory this weekend at Monza.

“Winning at Monza is not unthinkable, because we have understood where we went wrong with the improvements in Spa.

“We know now how to get the best from these parts,” he said.

As part of the last-ditch push for 2010, test driver Giancarlo Fisichella did an astonishing 700 kilometres of straight-line running with the new parts last week at Vairano.

Fernando Alonso, 41 points behind the title leader, admits the situation will mean additional “pressure” in front of the tifosi this weekend.

“It is obvious that this race is very important for us.  There will be some pressure,” admitted the Spaniard.

Domenicali concedes that Alonso has been feeling the pressure all season.

“If Fernando has done some mistakes, it is because he wants to show who he is.  Wearing red overalls is very heavy and a lot heavier than what is seen from the outside,” said the Italian.

Domenicali is also supportive of the other half of Ferrari’s driver lineup, albeit acknowledging that Felipe Massa has things to work on.

“Felipe needs to find the right balance in his relationship with Fernando, and this will happen over time.

“He has grown a lot with Ferrari,” added Domenicali.  “He is a driver whose best comes out at crucial times, when the pressure is the highest.”

Waiting to find official confirmation from Ducati for 2011, Nicky Hayden is ready for the Grand Prix Czech Republic Brno circuit on a track he likes, where he hopes to achieve a good result and to find indications Monday in the positive test day dedicated to the MotoGP teams.

“It ‘nice to come back after two weeks of vacation and Brno is a beautiful track where again, “says Hayden. “I think like all the drivers because it’s fast, open and very smooth, very different from the last track where we raced, Sachsenring and Laguna, both very narrow and very curved from the second.

Opened the second half of the season in which, after a series of good results, we take another step forward. It is not easy with the level of competitiveness that has achieved this season but I think we should always try to progress.

After the race there is a test day that I hope will give us the ability to work well for a second part of the growing season.

Almost every formula one team will need to beef up the rigidity of their front wings before the Belgian grand prix late this month.

With the Red Bull and – to a lesser extent – the Ferrari wings visibly bending towards the track at recent races, the FIA advised all teams last Sunday that it will be revising the flexibility load tests.

Previously, the wings had to bend no more than 10mm with 50kg of weight applied to the endplates, but from Spa-Francorchamps the test will double to 100kg/20mm.

The implication is that Red Bull and Ferrari had devised a way to pass the 50kg test with wings that flex only when under proportionately higher loadings.

Italy’s La Stampa cited “anonymous sources” in reporting that “almost all teams” will need to adjust their current designs in order to pass the new tests.

A Ferrari source is quoted as saying: “We will adapt but it will not affect our competitiveness.”

La Stampa said Fernando Alonso spent all Tuesday on the driver simulator, working on a new aerodynamic package.

“In the seven remaining races, whoever gets six or seven podiums will be the champion,” he is quoted by the Spanish press.

Discussions on the team orders at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso leave you cold – the Spaniard is focused solely on his car

Fernando Alonso has been addressed in the run up to the Grand Prix of Hungary, of course, the team orders at Hockenheim. The global debate on the approach of cold Ferrari let the Spaniard. His focus remains on winning the World Cup. In Hungary, a further step in this direction succeed.

“Of course it does not affect me. Not at all,” Alonso replied Hungary, as he is addressed to the discussions in the week after Hockenheim. “There are a Grand Prix to talk always something, not only in Germany. In every race there is an anecdote. One is the Red-Bull-collision in Turkey, at other times I’ve Massa overhauled at the pit entrance. We which can not devote too much attention. ”

“If we lose only one percent of our focus, we have lost,” the Spaniard continued. “There are many opinions and it was in the past few days a lot of talk. For us it is only important that the car is competitive and we deliver that in Hungary a good job. Everyone has their opinion, the drivers and team bosses, but it is their opinion, we can respect. We wish to concentrate on our work. ”

About the team tactics in Hockenheim Alonso can elicit any details. “I do not think that there is a number one or number two in the drivers there. I think driving is more about respect each other and to the respect for Ferrari may be. It means a lot,” says the double world champion team-mate Felipe Massa, it’s clear who said in Hungary that he was not number two.

Many fans at Hockenheim and in front of TV sets felt cheated after the race. “Of course, some fans are unhappy about some race, not only in Germany. There were other races. Some fans will also be quite regardless,” estimates Alonso. “I arrived today in Hungary. The airport and the hotel were filled with people. All have cheered for us. Maybe I see some other fans, but so far these were the only ones.”

Therefore, the Hockenheim winner is also certain that his reputation has not suffered from the incidents. “I do not think anything has changed for me, or something will happen to me. I am the same and would always fight for the best things for the team and for the sport. I hope I do it in my career, always good .

Yet it is not clear when the motor sport World Council deals with the Hockenheim-events. Alonso cares not: “We’ll see. Need Now the pilots to concentrate on driving. It is a very interesting race. We have to deliver in Hungary good opportunities in a strong performance. It’s not in our hands what the World Council in future will decide. ”

After Alonso has referred to this subject, he comes finally to evaluate the strong performance of the car. “We can be pleased with the competitiveness of the F10 in the last race. At last we have in Germany celebrated a double victory. There were no problems and we collected many points.”

“But at Silverstone and Valencia, the car was good. We want to implement this momentum in Hungary. All these discussions are in the past and there is nothing to add. We have already said everything in Germany.”