More reports are suggesting Mark Webber could be Ferrari-bound.

One of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents, Raymond Blancafort, wrote in El Mundo Deportivo that “there may be a pre-contract” between the Maranello based team and Red Bull’s experienced Australian driver.

Webber, 35, was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season alongside Sebastian Vettel.

He is now touted as Felipe Massa’s 2013 replacement, not only because of his “experience (and) the consistency of his results” but because “he gets along” with number one driver Fernando Alonso, Blancafort said.

Flavio Briatore also manages both Alonso and Webber.

Following Blancafort’s claims, Spain’s El Confidencial is now reporting similarly.

The publication said Webber has been earmarked as Alonso’s ideal teammate for 2013, perhaps pre-dating Sergio Perez’s move to the team in 2014 when the young Mexican has gathered another season of experience.

That may mean yet another single-season deal for Webber, but it might be better than what he is offered by Red Bull, given the energy drink-owned team’s grooming of youngsters Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.

El Confidencial said Webber is also Spaniard Alonso’s first choice, with a source saying a deal has been “already reached but not signed”, possibly therefore in the form of a letter of intent.

Mark Webber might have signed a pre-contractual agreement with Ferrari, one of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents has revealed.

Raymond Blancafort, writing for El Mundo Deportivo, referred to widespread speculation in the paddock about Sergio Perez’s likely future alongside Fernando Alonso.

“There may be a pre-contract,” he said, “but between Ferrari and Webber.”

Australian Webber was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season.

The 35-year-old was overshadowed by his teammate Sebastian Vettel last year, but he has begun the 2012 season more strongly.

And Webber warned before the 2012 season began that if Red Bull didn’t re-sign him for 2013, “I’d need something (else) competitive (to drive)”.

“Being at the front, is certainly a big, big factor of me staying very hungry and motivated.”

Ferrari may be looking to replace Alonso’s current teammate, the struggling team veteran Felipe Massa, for 2013.

“They (Ferrari) would be able to take advantage of his (Webber’s) experience, the consistency of his results and the fact that he gets along with Alonso.

“Interestingly, Webber is also still involved with Flavio Briatore”, as is Alonso, Blancafort noted.

Well-known Brazilian commentator Reginaldo Leme has defended Felipe Massa, amid the Ferrari driver’s career crisis.

Massa’s Ferrari seat hangs in the balance, and according to his boss Stefano Domenicali, he will have to improve in order to simply stay on the F1 grid with any team next year.

But Leme has pointed the finger of blame at Ferrari’s struggling F2012 car.

“It is very difficult to give an explanation for any driver’s bad phase,” Leme acknowledged on the Redacao Sportv programme.

“The car is very bad. The fact that Alonso is always scoring (points) just shows that the Spaniard is the best driver of this generation.

“No other driver, however good, could get anything out of that car.

“I think that’s what’s happening with Massa,” said Leme.

Massa will drive Ferrari’s heavily updated Barcelona-spec car at the Mugello test next Wednesday, while Alonso will drive on Tuesday and Thursday.

Turning his attention to the 2012 championship, meanwhile, Reginaldo Leme said consistency is more important than ever before, with four separate teams having won races so far.

“Look at Webber — he has been fourth four times and is third in the championship. Hamilton has been third three times and is right in contention.”

Ross Brawn has confirmed reports that Mercedes’ 2012 ‘F-duct’ will not be easily copied by rival teams.

We reported on Thursday that while Red Bull and now Ferrari worked quickly to copy Sauber’s clever exhaust solution, they are crying foul over the Mercedes F-duct.

Is it because they really believe it breaks the rules, or is the system simply difficult to copy?

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey was quoted by Brazilian O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper in Malaysia: “In regard to the aerodynamic (F) duct of the Mercedes, and sending the airflow from the back to the front, it is necessary to review the entire project.”

Mercedes team boss Brawn confirmed: “The opposition is so fierce (because) there’s a recognition it’s quite difficult to do.”

He rejected the rivals’ arguments about cost, however, insisting Mercedes’ system consists mainly of carbon tubing costing no more than thousands of pounds.

“It’s a very simple, cheap system, but not so easy to implement if you haven’t integrated it into your car,” said the Briton.

“This is at the heart of the frustration of some of our opponents. If someone could put it on their car easily, I promise you we wouldn’t be having these discussions.”

It emerged this week, however, that despite the FIA having consistently sided with Mercedes on the F-duct issue, Lotus’ technical boss James Allison has come up with two new arguments that will be put to Charlie Whiting next week in China.

“We would obviously be extremely disappointed if someone was to take a different view,” said Brawn.

“The FIA have been fairly consistent over their position so we have faith that they’ll maintain that consistency.”

Former Jordan and Jaguar designer Gary Anderson has singled out Lotus and Force India to impress in 2012.
The Irishman stood trackside at the Barcelona test on Thursday and later told the German-language Speed Week magazine that Mark Webber in the Red Bull suffered from “a bit too much understeer” in the new title-defending RB8.

He admitted, however, that the team may have been experimenting with setup, as the new Red Bull and McLaren have so far been “model students” in terms of handling.

Force India’s Paul di Resta, meanwhile, did not look impressive on the end-of-day timesheet, but Anderson said he was pleasantly surprised with the long-run consistency of the VJM05.

He said both di Resta and Nico Rosberg were both circulating at the same time with medium times, and the Force India was faster than the Mercedes, which was suffering from heavily-degrading tyres.

And Anderson added: “Lotus had to miss last week in Barcelona, but today they could confirm their good impression of Jerez.

“The car is fully sorted and the laptimes are consistent.”

Ferrari, however, is another matter.

“They are still using the coloured (aerodynamic) paint, which for me is a sign that the engineers don’t understand what is happening with the airflow.

“And just before the start of the season, that’s pretty alarming.”

Also trackside on Thursday was Sky commentator Martin Brundle, who confirmed Anderson’s view that the new McLaren looks “very good”.

Similarly, he added: “The Ferrari looks a bit of a handful, especially when it’s coming out of a corner trying to put the power down.

“It doesn’t look as bad as the McLaren did last year, but they’ve got some issues — there’s no doubt about it.”

Brundle also agreed with Anderson that, unlike the cakewalk of 2011, Red Bull could be set for a close fight this season.

“You can see Mark Webber working quite hard at the wheel,” said the former McLaren driver, “so I can understand why some of my mates in the paddock are saying it’s looking really close.”

With Sebastian Vettel now among F1′s great back-to-back world champions, the ‘crash kid’ label of 2010 should be formally repealed. That is the view of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, referring to the label coined last year by his McLaren counterpart Martin Whitmarsh after a spate of incidents for Vettel. A year on, it is 24-year-old Vettel’s consistency that is winning the praise of the F1 world, while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton – who is two years older than his German rival – who might now be referred to as a ‘crash kid’. “I think he’ll have to eat his words, don’t you think?” AS newspaper quotes Horner as saying. Asked by British reporters if he will be eating his words about Vettel, Whitmarsh smiled according to the Mirror newspaper: “I’ll eat them. “Sebastian has driven fantastically this year.” But Whitmarsh also has high praise for Adrian Newey, the brilliant designer of Red Bull’s single seaters. He told Spain’s AS: “I think Sebastian has driven flawlessly a car that was designed very well by Adrian Newey. At all times it was evident that he was driving a car that should easily win the title.” And as for the unkind ‘crash kid’ label of 2010, he explained: “I think it was taken out a context. We were talking about a particular moment in which Jenson was wronged.”

Eddie Jordan suspects Renault team management are guilty of “bullying”.
The former F1 team owner and boss, now a pundit for British television, is referring to Eric Boullier and Gerard Lopez’s outspoken criticism of Nick Heidfeld’s results and leadership qualities.

German veteran Heidfeld replaced injured regular Robert Kubica this season, but now Renault test drivers Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are being linked with the seat.

Irishman Jordan told Sport Bild he has a theory about the pressure being put on Heidfeld.

“It could even be described as bullying,” he said.

“They probably want to wear him down so he throws in the towel voluntarily.”

Jordan, however, has a high opinion of 34-year-old Heidfeld.

“For me, he is Mr Consistency. I know this because Nick drove for me for a year. 2004 was a very difficult year for Jordan financially, and we could not give him the car that he deserved.

“The same is true also at the moment of the Lotus-Renault,” he added.

Felipe Massa’s chances of securing another Ferrari contract beyond 2012 appear to have taken a hit.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali told reporters during the summer media event in the Italian Dolomites that Fernando Alonso’s next teammate should be a “talented youngster on the way up”.

The early frontrunners for the seat are Jules Bianchi and Sergio Perez.

Domenicali was responding to a question about whether Lewis Hamilton might switch from McLaren to pair with his former teammate Alonso.

“I don’t think the question will arise,” he answered, “neither in the short nor in the long term.

“For the Ferrari of the future, I believe the right combination is to have one well established driver with great experience, alongside a talented youngster on the way up.”

Spaniard Alonso’s new contract will see him at Ferrari at least until the end of 2016.

He said: “I am very happy to have Felipe as a teammate and we work very well together. If the day arrives when someone else was to come here, that would not be a problem for me, even if it was Hamilton.”

Domenicali said Brazilian Massa, 30, has upped his game in 2011 and is “a very quick driver over a single lap”.

“(But) maybe he needs to improve a bit in terms of his consistency in the races. For us, it is vital for Felipe to be on top of his game, given that for at least another year and a half, he is one of our drivers.”

The Italian marque’s F1 boss Paul Hembery has defended Pirelli after the first test of the 2011 pre-season at Valencia.

Several drivers have complained about the consistency but particularly the poor durability of the tyres supplied to teams at the first of four tests before the 2011 season opener.

Hembery said as the test began that the 2011 compounds are now in a “pretty definitive” specification for the first races.

But the subsequent feedback, at best, was mixed.

“Of the compounds available, some were more consistent than others,” Michael Schumacher told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“I had some awkward moments on the track when I was on tyres that I had not been on for long. It was like driving on ice,” admitted the seven time world champion.

Schumacher, who struggled with departed Bridgestone’s tyres last year, hopes Pirelli is still willing to make changes.

“I think they are still in the testing phase and that they will deal with the situation well,” he said.

Hembery responded to the driver feedback of this week by suggesting that the ambient conditions at Valencia were not ideal.

“The tyres don’t like it too cold,” he is quoted by Turun Sanomat, confirming that Pirelli will make some tweaks ahead of the next tests.

“Another thing we have to remember that all tyres wear out, which is something some people seem to have forgotten in the last few days,” he insisted.

Yet another consideration is that, in the interests of the spectacle, Pirelli was specifically asked by Bernie Ecclestone to produce aggressive tyres for 2011 that force multiple pitstops.

“Some teams here have had a new car, some last year’s car. It is very early to draw conclusions,” Hembery said.

He added: “You can’t make decisions based on one set of comments or data or because someone wants something different, you need to have a general understanding.”

Sunday is Nico Hulkenberg’s last grand prix for Williams, his manager has announced.

“Nico is leaving Williams,” the Cologne tabloid Express quoted Willi Weber as saying on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

German Weber, however, promised that the 23-year-old will return to the formula one grid in 2011 with another team.

Express said Hulkenberg is being replaced by new GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado, who has a sponsor purse of a reported EUR 12 million.

Also on Saturday, Hulkenberg had said the Grove based team is “struggling for some money”. He said he has “other options” for 2011.

“We may have to wait for a decision for another one or two weeks,” added the Interlagos pole sitter.

Williams chairman Adam Parr confirmed that a decision has not yet been made, but hailed Hulkenberg’s performance in Brazil last weekend and hinted it had been a taste of the future.

“Sadly we don’t get those very exciting moments very often, but the taste of it has got everyone rather excited about what is possible in the future,” he said on Friday.

“What we have seen with Nico is him making great progress through the year in terms of consistency and performances,” added Parr.

Mark Webber insists he is not concerned that it is Sebastian Vettel, and not himself, who is regarded as the star of the Red Bull team.

Australian Webber is better placed in the points standings than his German colleague Vettel, but team figures are insisting upon a situation of driver equality for the remaining two races of 2010.

Experts believe the situation is a reflection of the fact that it is 23-year-old Vettel who is the darling of the Austrian team.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Webber said in an interview with the Italian magazine Autosprint.

“I am 34 years old and I think it’s great that I’m still at the top level and as competitive as I am,” he added.

“If I was ten years younger and was getting the same results, I’m sure you’d all think I’m the superstar.

“I think the only difference is that Vettel is young. I don’t really see him working any differently than, say, Heikki (Kovalainen) at Lotus,” said Webber.

“I think the best way to judge someone is to consider the consistency of their results,” he added.

Pedro de la Rosa has vowed to catch up with his former team boss Peter Sauber at the end of the season.

The Spaniard raced with the Swiss team in 2010 until last month’s Italian grand prix, whereafter he was replaced for the last five races by Nick Heidfeld.

Sauber said he made the decision in order to gauge the true pace of the Ferrari-powered C29 car.

De la Rosa has told Spanish radio Cadena Ser this week that he will catch up with the 67-year-old after the Abu Dhabi finale “to see if it was the right decision”.

He admits that Sauber’s explanation that it was de la Rosa’s consistency that motivated the decision “hurt me”.

But he said German Heidfeld is a “good driver, but the quality all the way through the field is very close”.

39-year-old de la Rosa also admitted that the occupant of the sister car, Kamui Kobayashi, is “much better than you think”.

He also said that if he had strong sponsors, “I would still be there”.

On the three-race championship fight, de la Rosa tipped countryman Fernando Alonso “but I don’t know if that’s my brain or my heart speaking”.

He also said the layout of the Korean circuit looks “mixed”, with the tighter sections favouring the Red Bull, and the Ferrari to be better on the long straights.

Michael Schumacher has indicated that his inconsistency this season has not been all his fault.

Hot on the heels of reports the German marque has warned Schumacher he could be ousted at the end of 2011, the seven time world champion publicly questioned the machinery put at his disposal since he returned to F1 this year.

“The car worked great this time,” said the 41-year-old after a good weekend at Suzuka.

“Unfortunately, I cannot say it has been that way at all the races,” he reportedly told German television RTL.

“There have often been problems, especially on my car, in terms of the consistency, that were not always noticed from the outside.

“You only saw that I was slower.

“Both cars have not always been the same,” insisted Schumacher, who just before Sunday’s Japanese grand prix complained that the F-duct on his car was not working properly at Suzuka.

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug responded to Bild newspaper: “I cannot disagree with Michael.  As far as the car is concerned, he is right.”

Schumacher’s comments also followed a competitive yet frustrating race for the record winner of 91 races, who when stuck behind his teammate Nico Rosberg radioed the pits for assistance.

His engineer Andy Shovlin replied: “There are no team orders, be careful with your manoeuvres.”

On Germany’s other F1 broadcaster Sky, he responded to reports team boss Ross Brawn had openly criticised him in the press.

“He didn’t really criticise me,” Schumacher answered.  “He pointed out that compared to Nico I am a little bit behind, and he is probably right.”

Schumacher added: “I have also criticised myself.  I am still developing, even at 41!”

Niki Lauda has backed Fernando Alonso to win the 2010 world championship.

Spaniard Alonso is 11 points behind championship leader Mark Webber’s Red Bull, but the Ferrari driver has won two grands prix on the trot from pole.

Triple world champion Lauda was highly critical of Alonso throughout the Hockenheim team orders affair, but he has now told Osterreich newspaper that the 29-year-old is poised to win a third title.

“Why?” the Austrian asked rhetorically.  “Because he has twice been champion, and not by chance.  He is the best driver today.

“When you assess together a driver’s speed, intelligence, ability to take risks efficiently to score maximum points always, he is simply the best,” said Lauda, 61.

Lauda also said Australian Webber has “surprised everyone” this season with his consistency.

But he thinks the Red Bull driver will only beat Alonso if his car is “clearly superior” to the Ferrari.

And despite his misgivings during the team orders saga, Lauda said observers can only respect Ferrari at this decisive phase of the championship because “they will do everything possible to bridge the gap separating them from Red Bull”.

1996 world champion Damon Hill, however, fears that Alonso’s 2010 title might be tainted by his inherited victory over teammate Felipe Massa in Germany.

“There will be people who feel that points should have been taken away from Ferrari and Alonso,” he told the Mail on Sunday.