Tuesday was a new experience for many F1 regulars; a rare in-season test on an unfamiliar track.

Some teams wanted the three-day session to take place at Barcelona, saving money ahead of the Spanish grand prix at the same venue, but Ferrari pushed hard – reportedly even waiving the circuit rental fees – for its circuit in Tuscany to get the nod.

The day did not start well weather-wise, but the spectators – reportedly 25,000, and visibly more than in Bahrain last weekend – came nonetheless.

“This is my first time here,” Sebastian Vettel, whose teammate Mark Webber kicked off proceedings for Red Bull on Tuesday, told Auto Motor und Sport.

Australian Webber, second fastest after the first morning behind crowd favourite Fernando Alonso, has been here before.

“I once did a sports car race here,” he said.

“It’s a bit too fast (for F1).”

Indeed, of the grand prix circuits, only Monza is faster. Nico Rosberg, in the Mercedes, gave Mugello a big thumbs up.

“1 to 10, I’d give it 8.5,” the German grinned.

It is an important test for Ferrari, but – contrary to earlier rumours – there is no ‘B’ car.

Alonso told La Gazzetta dello Sport that Mugello and then Barcelona next weekend will not make or break Ferrari’s championship.

“We need to catch up race after race,” said the Spaniard. “If we do poorly in Barcelona, it doesn’t mean our season is over.”

Pirelli test driver Lucas di Grassi has defended the F1 tyre supplier following Michael Schumacher’s criticism.

Schumacher attacked the Italian marque’s 2012 product after the Bahrain grand prix, complaining that the tyres wear so fast that drivers often have to take corners at half-pace like the safety car.

“In some ways he’s right,” Brazilian di Grassi, who along with Jaime Alguersuari tests tyres for Pirelli, is quoted by Globo.

“You can’t go at 100 per cent all the time because the current tyres are designed to highlight the strategy during the races.

“Drivers have to think more about what part of the race to make best use of the tyres,” said the former Virgin driver.

Di Grassi, 27, credited Pirelli for the exciting races seen so far in 2012.

“The championship is very balanced, which is good for everyone, especially the public,” he said.

“It’s partly because Pirelli has been able to use the data it collected last year and make good decisions for this year,” added di Grassi.

Also with a view contrary to Schumacher’s is the seven time world champion’s own teammate, Nico Rosberg.

“F1 has become more interesting,” said the Shanghai winner, “as everything has been shaken up — it’s much better than the same cars and drivers always driving away from the front,” he is quoted by German media.

“Due to the tyre situation, the races have been very varied, which is an extraordinary challenge but also very exciting. And we have to get used to it,” added Rosberg.

France’s return to the 2013 formula one calendar is not quite at the finish-line.

Many expected prime minister Francois Fillon’s visit to the Paul Ricard circuit last Friday to coincide with an announcement about the revival of the French grand prix next year.

Some think that was indeed the intention, but ultimately a couple of details were missing at the last hurdle.

The first was the identity of the host circuit that will annually alternate the race date, amid reports Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps is not yet ready or able to agree.

“The formula one management has approved the plan without indicating who would be the other country,” Fillon is quoted as saying in local reports.

Another problem is on the financial side, with Fillon admitting that – politically – there can be no direct government subsidy other than a mere “bond”.

The difference between a deal and no deal between Bernie Ecclestone and the Le Castellet organisers, then, is “about two million euros”, Fillon revealed.

“The formula one organisers’ proposal is reasonable enough,” he said, “but we have to make them remove the ‘enough’,” he added.

“Symbolically it would not be acceptable (for the government) to subsidise a grand prix,” he insisted, “as was the case in the past with Magny Cours.”

Magny Cours, the former French GP venue, reacted with shock and anger, accusing the prime minister of “bias in favour of Le Castellet”, where temporary grandstands will have to be erected to host spectators.

On the other hand, Magny Cours has “all the facilities, infrastructure and expertise needed to organise such an event”, insisted Patrice Joly, president of the conseil general of the Nievre department.

“Contrary to what you would expect from the head of government, the prime minister strives to implement a solution based on partisan considerations and personal issues away from the general interest,” he added.

Teams are making preparations just in case the Bahrain grand prix is called off at the last minute.

That is the claim of Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that the teams could put their back-up plans into action even as late as the Sunday in China — mere days before they are expected to be at Sakhir.

In London this week, F1 chief executive and team bosses stood side by side with Bahrain circuit officials, insisting the race will go ahead despite defiant speculation to the contrary.

But Auto Motor und Sport reveals that the teams will also be ready if the plug is indeed pulled at the last minute — for example, their freight would go not from Shanghai to Bahrain, but back to Europe via Dubai.

And the report also said tickets have been reserved for the teams’ travelling staff, in the event they do not have to hop directly to the island Kingdom.

Michael Schumacher, however, insists he is not worried about going to Bahrain.

“I’m pretty relaxed, honestly,” said the seven time world champion.

“From our perspective, we’re going to be very well looked after, because they (the race organisers) might foresee whatever and be prepared.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to be ok,” added Schumacher.

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.”

 Contrary to recent speculation, McLaren does not yet have a Mercedes-style new F-duct on its dominant 2012 car.
When boss Martin Whitmarsh said in Melbourne that he would not be joining a theoretical protest against the Mercedes innovation, many suggested it was because the MP4-27 is already hiding something similar.

Not yet, although the FIA did take a long look at the silver car in Melbourne.

“If they were looking for an F-duct, we don’t have one,” Whitmarsh smiled to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

In fact, the scrutineers were checking and then re-checking the height of the MP4-27′s front wing.

But the F-duct might be coming.

“All the teams are going to be trying to extract the maximum within the permitted regulations,” confirmed managing director Jonathan Neale in a media teleconference this week.

But he also revealed that McLaren doesn’t yet “understand well enough” how the Mercedes system works.

Melbourne winner Jenson Button and his teammate Lewis Hamilton will therefore race a basically unchanged McLaren this weekend in Malaysia.

But Hamilton’s downbeat mood has been picked up with the news that he was beaten by Button from pole last Sunday due to a minor clutch issue.

“It wasn’t my fault,” said the Briton, “but we now understand and know how to improve in the future.”

As for their differing race performances, Hamilton insists he now understands “the reasons” for Melbourne “and it puts me in a really positive frame of mind” ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian grand prix.

 Mika Salo – a former Ferrari, Sauber and Toyota race driver – has admitted his surprise at how F1 technology has moved on since he retired in 2002.
The now 45-year-old Finn got back at the wheel of a modern grand prix machine last weekend at Suzuka, during the Ferrari Racing Days event.

“The power came as no surprise,” he told the broadcaster MTV3, “but the grip was quite unbelievable.

“It was almost contrary to the laws of nature, how hard you could be pushing on sixth or seventh gear in a corner.

“I would have needed many more days to really get back on terms with it,” said Salo. “I have to admit there is no way I could do a race right now.

“Secondly, my fitness really is not enough — I have such a sore neck and hands now that I could barely carry my bag at the airport,” he added.

Bernie Ecclestone is not close to lifting his foot from the throttle.
That is the view of the outspoken triple world champion and F1 legend Niki Lauda, admit the latest rumblings about the sport’s future beyond the 81-year-old Briton’s long reign.

It emerged on Monday that David Campbell, the new head of F1′s trackside advertising company Allsport as well as the Paddock Club, had left the role after just a year.

He had been tipped as a likely successor to chief executive Ecclestone, and so his departure sparked new speculation about F1′s next ‘supremo’.

But Lauda, denouncing the rumours as “unnecessary”, told Austrian television ORF’s Sport am Sonntag: “The end is not in sight for Bernie.

“This discussion has been around for ten years, since he turned 70 — everyone saying he won’t be around for much longer.

“On the contrary: I met with him just recently, he’s in high spirits and he keeps doing what he is doing for as long as he wants to — and I see absolutely no end,” the Austrian legend added.

As recently as two weeks ago, Bernie Ecclestone feared the inaugural Indian grand prix might have to be called off.

The F1 chief executive and other officials have sworn for months that, contrary to eyewitness reports and speculation, the new Buddh circuit would be ready for its late October race date.

But Ecclestone told the Guardian on Saturday: “I was pessimistic a fortnight ago. I was sent pictures of the track and I thought Christ, we’re not going to get it finished in time.

“But what they have done in the meantime – and I’ve been sent more recent pictures – is incredible.”

Added HRT’s Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan, who has been in Delhi this week: “There is still some work being done on the landscaping but everyone is working 24-7 to make sure everything will be fine on the day.”

Red Bull’s 2011 car was perfectly legal at Monza despite some suggestions to the contrary.

That is the finding of a Spanish sports daily in the wake of rumours after the Italian grand prix that the underside of the RB7 seemed to be hiding a suspicious secret.

When Mark Webber’s crashed car was removed from the circuit, photographs and videos of the highly-secreted floor were leaked onto the internet amid suggestions a ‘hole’ could reignite a double diffuser-type debate.

But a report in Spain’s Marca insists the Monza-spec floor of the Red Bull was legal.

“What is evident is the thoroughness of the work Red Bull is doing for each race,” wrote journalist Marco Canseco, “with a nearly always bespoke solution for each circuit.”

A separate report in Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said Red Bull’s development success in 2011 has astonished teams like McLaren and Ferrari in the context of the resource restriction agreement.

“Nearly everything we bring to the race track, works,” said the team’s Dr Helmut Marko. “Our success rate is close to 100 per cent.”

HRT’s new owner is already making changes at the struggling Spanish team.
The sports daily AS reports that the team’s former owner is no longer involved in any way, contrary to earlier speculation that Jose Ramon Carabante’s son Jose would be installed in a senior management role.

The newspaper also said new owner Thesan Capital, a Madrid-based investment company, has dispensed with the team’s media boss Alba Saiz.

And the team name Hispania will no longer be deployed by Thesan in formula one, as a new silver logo bearing the words ‘HRT Formula One Team’ is debuted.

AS said the immediate changes are the result of an analysis carried out by Thesan since early July, involving the visit to Silverstone of former Minardi driver Luis Perez Sala.

The report also said Thesan was upset with the way its takeover was announced by Hispania, such as the claim that the “current team and directors” would be retained.

More changes and the team’s new image are expected to become clearer at the Nurburgring this weekend, AS added.

Pedro de la Rosa looks likely to remain Pirelli’s primary test driver this year.
The Spaniard admitted this week that, contrary to reports, a return to McLaren as reserve driver is unlikely, having failed to compile enough sponsorship to return to the grid with HRT.

It was also reported that his back-up plan for 2011 was to stay with F1′s new tyre supplier Pirelli, even though the Italian marque has not decided how to replace the ageing 2009 Toyota.

“Yes,” answered Pirelli’s Paul Hembery when asked at Valencia if de la Rosa, 39, is staying on board for 2011.

“(He will stay) unless he gets a drive somewhere else in F1, which is not looking likely at the moment.

“He is a great test driver, we’re delighted with what he’s been doing with us,” added Hembery.

Hembery also denied that Pirelli has already decided to visibly distinguish the different compounds this year by using different coloured branding on the sidewalls.

“That is still under discussion with the marketing people,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, contrary to reports that Karun Chandhok has definitely signed to be a reserve driver with Team Lotus this year, the Indian clarified that he has in fact not yet reached a deal.

The former HRT driver was at Valencia wearing a Lotus jacket on Wednesday, but boss Tony Fernandes said he was just a “guest” of the team.

Stefan GP pulled out of the running for the 13th team entry for 2011 because the FIA’s selection process was too slow.

That is the view of Zoran Stefanovic, who after missing out on a place on this year’s grid vowed to try again for the 2011 season.

Alongside other contenders including Villeneuve/Durango and Epsilon Euskadi, the Serbian outfit tackled the initial stages of the selection process, but ultimately pulled out in August.

“We had applied at the beginning but we found out that the process was too long and it didn’t give us assurances on the time when someone will be chosen as the 13th team,” Stefanovic told f1pulse.com.

When the FIA invited expressions of interest for the 13th place in March, the governing body said its decision would be made in July.

But the decision, with the FIA ultimately ruling that the team place should be left open, was made only this month.

Stefanovic said September is “too late to go in and design a car for next year”.

“We think it (the process) should be faster and we think it’s necessary to have a 13th team,” he added.

Contrary to the ‘plan B’ announced by Jacques Villeneuve, Stefanovic said he is not currently contemplating taking over an existing team.

“At the moment we are not doing that thing specifically,” he said. “We will see in the future what we can do.”

Jun.16 (GMM)  According to the latest rumour, Felipe Massa may have agreed a ‘Barrichello-clause’ in the pages of his new Ferrari contract.

As the 29-year-old arrived in Turkey mid last week, the Italian team said Massa will keep racing a Ferrari in 2011 and 2012, contrary to speculation that Mark Webber or Robert Kubica might replace him.

But so far in 2010, Massa has struggled to match the pace of his new Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso, including in Turkey, where he was outqualified before driving a messy race and crossing the line a lap down.

The latest edition of the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell reports rumours that one of the conditions of Massa’s contract renewal was that he agree to be the number two driver.

‘Barrichello clause’ is a reference to Michael Schumacher’s former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, who famously raced to support the championship charges of the team’s favoured driver.

Massa is quoted as responding to the rumours: “Rubbish”, while Alonso refused to comment.

It is a balancing act between being a team needs two strong drivers who drive each other to the limit in order to develop the full potential of the car. On the other hand, an excessive stable rivalry affect extremely destructive, as the Red-Bull-collision between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel showed in Istanbul.

Curiously, it was said before the season benefit that Red Bull from the stable driver pairing and it will be at McLaren with two world champions in the team only a matter of time before the great crash between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton is. But it can not be said – that proved the two in Turkey, as she fought a tough, but risked no collision.
Jenson Button believes that a competitive situation Ohata has a fertilizing effect: If one were to make Sebastian Vettel is now the number one, “would be detrimental to both.” A prime example is called the world champion his own team: “I know one hundred percent that we will be treated equally. And by that I mean not in terms of material, but how people behave in a team.”

An interesting statement, especially since it was precisely in this respect prior years at McLaren massive potential for conflict. 2007, the then-McLaren team boss Ron Dennis confirmed any cases that Fernando Alonso, the same material as team’s Lewis Hamilton get, but the proud Spaniard felt particularly reprehensible human left in the lurch.

A situation that is Jenson Button in a team match with Lewis Hamilton a stranger, “My mechanic want me to win, and his wish that he wins. This internal struggle is really exciting, but it does not go too far. So it should be – and It works well for us. ” The fact that the Briton at McLaren after seven races so relaxed look to the future, can go quite well on his cap. Alex Wurz had predicted before the season: “Put it in the first six races Jenson not enough to beat Lewis Hamilton, then his time is up.” That he is now in the World Cup standings ahead of his teammate, would probably hardly anyone expected.

World Cup chances are even buttons for more than a third of the season completely intact. We amount at the end of a title duel with Lewis Hamilton? The 30-year-old dismisses: “You can not safely say that this may be between Lewis and myself will decide so much happen. If they had with Red Bull after the race in Monaco said, they would have expected to walk, because the distance was so great. In Turkey, we have shown that we are equally fast if not faster, although we have to improve in qualifying. ”
Button expects Material Battle for World Cup crown

Also at the Grand Prix of Canada, the McLaren drivers are to assess strong – the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is contrary to the equipped with the F-bay system silver cars. It also knows Button: “We should be here soon. The course is very fast, but that is no place that forgives even the smallest error, because the concrete walls are so close. That is why this weekend, always unpredictable.”
(MotorSportsTotal)