Romain Grosjean is a potential grand prix winner.

That is the claim of the Frenchman’s first F1 teammate Fernando Alonso, who shared the Renault team with Grosjean in 2009.

The Enstone based team, however, was imploding amid the crashgate scandal, and Grosjean struggled to perform after being drafted in to replace the sacked Nelson Piquet.

He lost the drive at the end of the season and then found himself in the odd situation of farewelling his girlfriend, the French F1 presenter Marion Jolles, as she departed for a grand prix.

“She was there and I was home,” Grosjean is quoted as saying in Barcelona by the Gulf Daily News. “Honestly, I thought it was over and I would never come back to formula one.”

But, now as the new reigning GP2 champion, he is back in 2012 at the wheel of Lotus’ black and gold E20 — a car tipped by many as the favourite for victory this weekend.

Many naturally tip Grosjean’s famous teammate Kimi Raikkonen as the most likely winner, but Spaniard Alonso rates the Swiss-born 26-year-old as well.

“When his car was not so good he was criticised a lot,” Alonso told RMC Sport, “but when he has a good car he does very good results.

“He has won GP2 and has a fantastic career. He has talent and I’m happy he went onto the podium (in Bahrain).

“He can win a grand prix,” the Ferrari driver professed.

 Heikki Kovalainen has admitted to relief after signing on with well-known management stable IMG.
The Finn has been handling his own career on and off the tracks since splitting in 2009 with Flavio Briatore in the wake of the ‘crashgate’ affair.

According to the broadcaster MTV3, Briatore did not give up Kovalainen without a fight.

“We have had a battle with Flavio for a couple of years,” revealed the 30-year-old Caterham driver. “In the meantime, we had to take care of things ourselves.”

Kovalainen admitted that with his current contract up at the end of this year, his future for 2013 and beyond is open.

“Either we continue with Caterham or pursue at some other place, so in either case this (signing with IMG) is the right solution,” he said.

Even now as Fernando Alonso’s teammate, Felipe Massa is not shy to denounce the result of the Singapore grand prix three years ago.
It was in that 2008 race that Ferrari’s Massa had a problem during a pitstop that was triggered by Nelson Piquet’s notoriously deliberate crash and resultant safety car.

Piquet’s then Renault teammate was Spaniard Alonso, who duly won the race before the ‘crashgate’ scandal claimed the scalps of his bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds.

But the saga also arguably claimed the scalp of Massa’s 2008 world championship, as the Brazilian ultimately went on to lose the title to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

Massa has always been outspoken about ‘crashgate’, but his complaints have got quieter with time and with Alonso now a revered Ferrari driver.

But he was open about his feelings when speaking with Spanish reporters on Thursday.

“Yeah, what happened hurt me because when you lose the title by so small a margin you start looking back and one of the things that was an influence was Singapore,” said the 30-year-old.

“Everyone knows that result was manipulated by what happened. Singapore 2008 was false,” said Massa, according to AS newspaper, “but the result was real.

“Have I spoken to Fernando about it? He knows and I know how the world works.

“The past is the past,” Massa is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte. “I have answered 45 thousand times what I think about it.”

Alonso, who insists he counts Singapore 2008 as a real victory, confirmed to Spanish sports daily Marca that he and Massa have never talked about the controversy.

“Yes, in 2008 Felipe lost points here, but he also lost points in Hungary when his engine failed with three laps to go,” he said.

“When you lose a championship by one point you remember all those things. When I look back at last year I remember all the reasons why I lost the title as well,” added Alonso.

Heikki Kovalainen has denied media reports claiming his former manager Flavio Briatore twice prevented his formula one race debut.

A Finnish newspaper had said the Finn could have raced with Minardi and then Williams in 2004 and 2005, but Kovalainen instead had to wait until 2007 for a race seat at the then Briatore-managed Renault to open up.

Kovalainen, now 29, subsequently split with Briatore after the crashgate scandal, and negotiated his own move from McLaren to Lotus for 2010.

But he wrote on Twitter late on Monday: “(The) news about my management blocking my career (is) so not true.

“We had (a) clear plan since I joined (the) Renault junior programme and stuck to it 100 per cent. Ignore the false headlines originating from Finland,” added Kovalainen.

In other driver news, Williams refused to comment on speculation about its 2011 lineup, following reports that Pastor Maldonado is a candidate to join the team next year if Nico Hulkenberg does not accept the offer of a five-year contract.

“We have no comment to make concerning our driver line up for 2011 at this juncture,” said a spokeswoman.

Flavio Briatore twice blocked Heikki Kovalainen’s formula one race debut, according to a Finnish report.

The Turun Sanomat newspaper said the 29-year-old, who in 2010 is contesting his fourth season with a third separate team, could have made his debut in 2004.

Actually, Kovalainen debuted in 2007 with Renault, then run by his former manager Briatore.

But he tested with Minardi as far back as late 2003 and was almost signed for the following season by the Faenza based team’s boss Paul Stoddart.

At the same test was Jose Maria Lopez, Kovalainen recalls.

“I was clearly faster than him,” he said. “Paul Stoddart would have offered the seat to me, I was ready, but my management had a different view.”

According to the report, another opportunity for Kovalainen came ahead of the 2005 season, when he met with Williams’ Sir Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Sam Michael at Grove.

But Briatore reportedly called off the talks when he decided that Kovalainen should contest a season of GP2 before becoming Renault’s full-time test driver in 2006.

“Of course, each time when you have a chance to go into F1 and you don’t, you are disappointed,” Kovalainen confirmed.

He split with Briatore after last year’s crashgate scandal, and negotiated his own move from McLaren to Lotus for 2010.

McLaren or Force India have been earmarked as possible new employers for Bob Bell.

The 52-year-old Ulsterman has left Renault after a long post as technical boss, and having acted as team principal amid the crashgate scandal.

According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, some insiders think he might soon reappear in Force India colours.

The Silverstone based team has been struggling recently, with some experts pointing as an explanation to the departures of James Key to Sauber and Mark Smith to Lotus.

The report also said a return to McLaren is possible, where Bell worked for 15 years as an aerodynamicist before moving to Enstone based Benetton/Renault.

“He’s certainly a very capable guy,” said Williams chairman Adam Parr at Suzuka.  “I hope he will get a job very soon.”

Two formula one team bosses have indicated they hope Bob Bell will find accommodation after leaving Renault.

The 52-year-old Ulsterman has left the Enstone based team after a long post as technical boss, and having acted as team principal amid the crashgate scandal.

But with the departure of the French carmaker as majority owner, Renault came under new management in 2010 and Bell has now been replaced as managing director by Eric Boullier.

Bell joined McLaren as an aerodynamicist in the 80s before switching to Enstone based Benetton in 1997.

He moved to Jordan in 1999 and returned to Benetton – now Renault – in 2001 as deputy technical director, becoming technical director to replace Mike Gascoyne in 2003.

“He’s certainly a very capable guy,” said Williams chief executive and chairman Adam Parr.  “I hope he will get a job very soon.”

And Mercedes’ Norbert Haug added: “Bob did a good job and I’ve no idea what will happen.

“It’s (team principal) Ross (Brawn)’s job at the end of the day,” said the German.

Max Mosley admits it is “quite possible” Flavio Briatore is gearing up to return to formula one.

The former FIA president last year oversaw the imposition of the ousted Renault boss’ lifetime motor racing ban for the crashgate scandal.

But Briatore overturned that verdict in a civil court, before Mosley’s presidential successor Jean Todt agreed to let the Italian and Pat Symonds back into the paddock in 2013.

It is rumoured that Briatore, 60, could return in a promotional role alongside his friend and business partner Bernie Ecclestone.

“It’s quite possible,” Mosley said in an interview with Germany’s Welt newspaper.

“Should he come back, then it will certainly not be as team boss, but rather as a promoter or a manager of his drivers,” added the Briton.

Mosley acknowledged the rumours about Briatore possibly working alongside F1 chief executive Ecclestone.

“Bernie and Flavio are good friends and often go to lunch at a restaurant in Brompton Road, opposite Flavio’s London office.

“That’s all I know,” said the 70-year-old.

Mosley said he is still in contact with Ecclestone “from time to time”, but predicts trouble for the stability of today’s period of peace.

“Within the parties that make up this sport – the teams, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone – there is constant friction. The cooperation is extremely fragile,” he warned.

“Strengthening the balance of this triangle is a major problem requiring a lot of skill,” said Mosley.

Pirelli is F1′s new tyre supplier for 2011-2013, it was announced on Wednesday.

A raft of other decisions were also announced after a meeting in Geneva of the World Motor Sport Council.

As a response to the spygate and crashgate scandals, it is “under consideration” that staff of F1 teams must hold “specific licenses” from 2011 that can be revoked by the FIA.

And in the wake of the controversy involving Michael Schumacher in Monaco, the FIA has ruled that there will be no overtaking even when the safety car pulls in on the last lap of a race.

Lewis Hamilton’s fine and reprimand after qualifying in Canada has resulted in a new rule requiring drivers to stay below a “maximum time” set by the FIA on in-laps

Next year, the 107 per cent qualifying rule will reappear, and the FIA has also banned F-ducts and approved the debut of the proximity rear wing.

“In the race, you can’t use it (the wing) for the first two laps at all, but after that if you’re within a second of the car in front then you will be able to deploy it,” McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe said on Wednesday.

“So that will be very interesting.  That’s a FOTA initiative to improve the show and I think it’s very exciting.”

And for the return of KERS, the minimum car-plus-driver weight will increase by a further 20kg to 640kg.

Meanwhile, a “four-race probationary super license” has been approved for Renault’s official third driver Ho-Pin Tung.

(GMM)

Italian police have handed back Flavio Briatore’s luxury yacht.

The former Renault boss’ 60-metre boat ‘Force Blue’ was seized a month ago on suspicion of tax fraud.

But according to a report in the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport, Briatore has taken back possession with two conditions.

The first is a deposit of 5 million euros, and the promise that the boat will not leave Mediterranean waters.

The Sunday Times said in May that the evasion of millions in taxes could cost Briatore, expelled from F1 for the 2009 crashgate scandal, EUR 40 million in fines or a six-year prison sentence.

The 60-year-old denies any wrongdoing.

“It was a big television production by the police and completely unfair, so we are fighting them now,” he told the Telegraph.

“That boat was a commercial boat with a 50 million euro turnover in the past four years, but the police seem to think that was all for me.”

Briatore does not deny using the boat, and claims he is supported by seven Italian MPs who have written to the government “to find out what happened”.

“Of course, I use the yacht, because if you are going to own a business, it may as well be one you can enjoy — otherwise, I would have bought a funeral home.”
(GMM)

Flavio Briatore’s visit to the Monaco paddock earlier this month was reportedly part of a plan for the Italian to return to formula one.

Due to the crashgate scandal, the ousted former Renault boss is currently banned from holding a direct operational role in F1 until 2013, and he has ruled out returning as a team boss.

But Finland’s Turun Sanomat reports that Briatore, 60, held “subtle negotiations” with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone in Monaco.

The article said 79-year-old Ecclestone is not planning to retire, but does intend to delegate some of his responsibilities and “sees Briatore as a natural successor”.

Turun Sanomat cites British sources as saying Briatore will shortly be responsible for the acquisition of new sponsors with the Ecclestone-led Formula One Management.

The sources said Briton Ecclestone enjoys the negotiations with grand prix hosts, promoters and governments and does not intend to delegate those tasks.

Ecclestone said last month that his personal friend and business partner Briatore could soon “take up a role in the promotion of formula one”.

And at the height of the FOTA/FIA political war last year, when the teams were threatening to set up a rival series, departing president Max Mosley said Briatore “sees himself as the Bernie”.
(GMM)

Pat Symonds could soon be working with the famous British team Williams.

The authoritative Italian magazine Autosprint is linking Renault’s former long-time executive director of engineering with the Grove based team.

With his five-year crashgate ban reduced to three years in a recent deal with the FIA, 56-year-old Briton Symonds said recently that his company Neutrino Dynamics could be engaged immediately for F1 consultancy work.

Autosprint said Symonds could be a consultant for the design of Williams’ FW33 car for 2011.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s recently departed chief engineer Pat Fry is also being linked with other formula one teams.

He has just begun a compulsory six months of so-called ‘gardening leave’, but Finland’s Turun Sanomat is already linking him with possible moves to Red Bull, Mercedes, Toro Rosso or Force India.

(GMM)

In a sport and a paddock from which he is supposed to be banned, Flavio Briatore is making his presence solidly felt this weekend in Monaco.

With the crashgate scandal still fresh in the memories of F1 regulars, Briatore’s huge yacht Force Blue was spotted earlier this week in the Monte Carlo harbour.

The 60-year-old, implicated in the Singapore 2008 race-fixing scandal and banned for life by the FIA last year, then made his first personal appearance of the event by attending a party on Vijay Mallya’s nearby Indian Empress yacht on Thursday night.

With Jean Todt now in charge of the governing body in the wake of Max Mosley’s reign, a recent ban settlement means that Briatore and his crash conspirator Pat Symonds will be allowed to work in F1 again in 2013.

But the original World Motor Sport Council ban had ordered officials “not to permit Mr Briatore access to any areas” at FIA-sanctioned events.

On Friday in Monaco, Briatore lunched with Bernie Ecclestone, the Italian’s friend and business partner who has issued the ousted Renault boss a paddock pass as his personal guest.

Todt told the Associated Press that Briatore, wearing a blue t-shirt, is “free” to be inside the paddock because he does not have an “active role” with a team.

Meanwhile, spotted aboard his yacht ‘Iceman’ in the Monaco habour on Friday was the Citroen rally driver Kimi Raikkonen.

(GMM)

British banking giant Barclays is looking for a road into formula one.

Sources told Marketing Magazine that the London based bank, which according to Forbes is the world’s 25th largest company, is in talks with Red Bull Racing.

Barclays denied the report.

The bank is currently title sponsor of England’s Premier League football competition, with its three-year deal estimated at close to EUR100 million.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is pulling out of its Williams deal at the end of this season, and Holland’s ING left Renault amid the crashgate scandal of 2009.

But Spain’s Santander is strongly involved with both Ferrari and the British team McLaren, having successfully expanded its European and UK operations.

May 4 (GMM)  Barcelona could be a turning point in Renault’s 2010 season.

Despite the tumult of the crashgate scandal and the pre-season period, the Enstone based team – and particularly Robert Kubica – has had a surprisingly strong start, trailing Mercedes by just 14 points after four races.

But some teams – notably Mercedes – will use vastly upgraded cars at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

Pole Kubica admits Spain could be a “big test for us” because the R30 will not be fundamentally different to the car raced in China two weeks ago.

“We are not planning to bring any huge updates, but we will keep gradually improving the car, just like we did during the first four races,” he said.

“We have to wait and see how we compare with the others; maybe the order of the teams will be quite different compared to the start of the year,” added Kubica.

Moreover, the last winter test at Barcelona was not a good one for the yellow and red car, and chief engineer Alan Permane admits that Mercedes might make a step away from Renault this weekend.

“Mercedes may move away from us a little bit but we’ve got a new front wing and some other new aerodynamic parts that should help us make another step forward,” he said.

“It’s not the biggest update we’ve had this year, but it continues our approach of adding new parts at each race,” added Permane.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil on Tuesday told spox.com that Renault “are within striking distance”.

But the German is not expecting the pecking-order to change radically in Spain, despite some reports predicting a huge step forward for Mercedes.

“If that happened, then I would cease to understand a few things about formula one,” said Sutil.