Just after backing his friend and countryman to bounce back, Rubens Barrichello has refused to rule out returning to formula one to replace the struggling Felipe Massa.

After 19 consecutive seasons in F1, 39-year-old Barrichello had to switch to the Indycar series for 2012 after losing his race seat at Williams.

Speaking to Brazilian television Sportv this week, however, the Brazilian said he cannot rule out returning to the grid — even with Ferrari.

After a six-year tenure, Barrichello left Ferrari at the end of 2005 and – until now – has not looked back overly fondly on his treatment alongside the famous Italian team’s former number one Michael Schumacher.

But in the wake of Massa’s recent performance struggles, Barrichello was voted in an Italian poll as the ideal replacement for the diminutive 30-year-old.

When asked about Ferrari, Barrichello said this week: “I want the fans to understand that I don’t have any hard feelings.

“If they called me today to go drive for them I would go. It was the best team I’ve ever driven for in terms of support, of creativity. But there were definitely some spicy episodes,” he added.

With the backing of sponsors, Barrichello has signed on with the KV team in Indycar for 2012, but he insists he is “completely open” about returning to F1.

“It would be something to think about,” he said in the televised interview on Wednesday.

“I think anything can happen. I’m not saying it will happen, but I have to be ready.”

Barrichello, the longest-serving driver in F1 history, revealed that he still enjoys the backing of Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s influential chief executive.

“He asked me if I was really going to race in Indycar and I told him ‘Yeah, because you didn’t find me a place in F1′,” he joked.

“He said he will see what he can do about it. Really, you just have to see what happens, you have to stay open about it,” added Barrichello.

Aldo Costa has revealed he is unhappy with Ferrari’s comments in the wake of his departure last year.

The Italian was stepped down as the famous team’s technical director, and he switched to Mercedes before the German marque made a significant step forwards with its 2012 car.

He has remained quiet about his treatment by Ferrari until now, telling Autosprint magazine that the Maranello marque lacked “style and professionalism” as it handled its restructuring.

Asked for more information, he said Ferrari explained “things that not only myself but also the whole world of formula one knows is not the truth”.

Costa confirmed that he was referring to Ferrari’s suggestion that he lacked “creativity”.

Still, he said he is not happy to see his old team struggling to make it into Q3 with the aggressive F2012.

“I still have so many friends in Maranello, but now I want to be 100 per cent engaged on succeeding with Mercedes.”

He said the Ross Brawn-led team has a “different” approach to Ferrari’s “that makes it easier to do things”.

Red Bull has devised a “clever” way of reclaiming some of the downforce lost through the banning of blown diffusers.
That is the claim of Jean Francois Caubet, who is in charge of the team’s engine supplier Renault.

Red Bull, the reigning back to back world champions, and Renault Sport F1 have worked more closely than ever before ahead of their 2012 title defence.

“Formula one is about creativity,” Caubet is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild, “and although the rules have changed, we have worked with Red Bull and found a solution to compensate for the loss of performance.”

Last year, the cars acquired extra downforce through the ‘blowing’ of hot engine exhaust gases into the diffuser, even when the driver was off the throttle.

It is rumoured that, despite the FIA’s ban, some teams have flown close to the letter of the new rules with their new solutions.

“It is not the same as before,” Caubet continued, “but a clever development that could make the difference.”

After the first week of testing at Jerez recently, some observed that Adrian Newey’s new Red Bull RB8 was cornering as though on rails.

“That’s because we all used to play with model trains,” joked team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Added Newey: “The exhaust is one of the areas in which we still have some ideas up our sleeves.”

Williams chairman Adam Parr on Sunday refused to deny speculation the struggling team might oust its technical director Sam Michael.
The famous Grove-based squad has had a difficult start to the 2011 championship and Parr told Reuters the main problems are in the technical areas.

“If Sam thought that the right thing for the team is for him to stop, he’d stop tomorrow. He wouldn’t even quibble. He will do whatever is necessary for the team,” he said.

Parr admitted that Williams “will be changing things” in the near future and said only organisational restructuring is not enough.

“You can’t change what we are doing without changing people,” he said, admitting that some of the decisions will be “tough”.

Rubens Barrichello’s FW33 was fitted with a Red Bull-style exhaust earlier in Shanghai but it was removed for qualifying.

“There are other areas (too) where we’ve just not been smart enough,” said Parr. “We’re not lacking in creativity or ambition but it’s not enough.

“There are other people who are being more creative and more ambitious,” he added.

McLaren needs to get creative if it is to claw back its lead in the 2010 world championships, according to boss Martin Whitmarsh.

With clearly the faster car, Red Bull has taken over at the top of the points tables, but McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is only 4 points shy of leader Mark Webber.

In recent weeks, Woking based McLaren has been working on emulating Red Bull’s blown floor concept, but Whitmarsh said the team’s engineers also need to be more creative during the ongoing development of the MP4-25.

“We have not suspended the diffuser project, but we hope to invent something new,” he is quoted by Autosprint magazine.

Creativity is at the heart of the current front wing flexibility controversy, with Red Bull expecting to pass even the more stringent scrutineering tests at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend.

Whitmarsh said McLaren has an understanding about the regulations that may not be shared by some of its competitors. “The FIA needs to make this area absolutely clear,” he said.

“If clarity does not come, we too can become very inventive and creative,” the Briton is quoted as saying.

Fernando Alonso is still confident about his chances of winning the 2010 championship.

But in Spanish press reports, the Ferrari driver is apparently concerned the current regulations make it difficult for his Maranello based employer to improve the F10.

“The goal is always to win but it’s not so easy,” Alonso, 28, said.

“You cannot invent new things without testing. There is little room for creativity; our technicians have their hands tied,” he added.

Alonso is expecting a closely-bunched field at Hockenheim in just over a week.

“We want to be fighting for pole position in Germany and Hungary,” he said, referring to the back-to-back rounds before the August break.

“The German track has quite simple corners so I am expecting a grand prix with very close times.”