F1′s astonishing season continues to live up to the hype, as a fifth driver and constructor on Sunday won the fifth grand prix of 2012.

Not only is the victory Pastor Maldonado’s first, his walk up the steps at the Circuit de Catalunya was the first taste of the podium in his two-season F1 career.

It’s also the first Venezuelan triumph in the sport’s history, and a hugely popular victory for Williams, the once-great British team headed by Sir Frank Williams, whose 70th birthday was warmly celebrated in the paddock on Saturday.

“Boy did we need that,” said Williams on BBC television.

And asked how he feels on Sky television, he smiled: “Relief.”

“Some said Maldonado was a pay driver and he didn’t deserve his place in formula one but they’ll be eating their words now,” commented former team driver David Coulthard.

“That was a fantastic drive,” added Coulthard, referring to Williams’ first win since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.

Williams enthused: “I didn’t see him (Maldonado) make one single mistake.”

“You can’t really fault him,” agreed Williams’ 1996 world champion Damon Hill.

Amazingly, however, away from the champagne, Sebastian Vettel’s sixth place leaves him at the top of the drivers’ championship, and he is now neck-and-neck with Fernando Alonso, who finished second on Sunday in the improving Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, who finished dead last on Sunday and finished eighth, is third in the points classification, ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.

Finn Raikkonen finished third on Sunday, and is the favourite to become F1′s sixth different winner of 2012 in Monaco in a fortnight.

“We showed we still have the speed,” the Lotus driver said after the Spanish grand prix. “If we had a few more laps, we could have fought for a victory.”

Force India deputy boss Bob Fernley has dismissed reports the Silverstone based team could pull out of the controversial Bahrain grand prix.

Two members of the team were allowed to return to Europe this week following a Molotov cocktail attack en route from the Sakhir circuit to the hotel.

There were high-level meetings involving Force India on Thursday, sparking speculation the entire team could follow its frightened members back to the UK.

But Fernley, admitting that security has been ramped up after the incident, is quoted by Express newspaper: “We are definitely taking part, that is decided.”

Bahrain’s information affairs authority also released a statement featuring quotes by Bernie Ecclestone.

“I have no knowledge of any teams planning to withdraw from the race and we are all looking forward to racing in Bahrain,” the F1 chief executive said.

According to Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary, however, another incident like the one involving Force India this week could force F1 to change its decision to go ahead with the race.

“If that happened again and someone was injured then that’s the nightmare scenario for organisers as it might push the teams over the edge,” he said.

Many drivers, like Kimi Raikkonen, have said the situation is normal this weekend in Bahrain, but Cary does not agree.

“Normally there would be PR events in town, you know, ‘meet the fans’ and that sort of thing but certainly as far as I’m aware there aren’t any of those happening,” he said.

World champion Sebastian Vettel said he will be happy when track action begins on Friday.

“I think it’s not a big problem,” the German said when asked about the security situation this weekend, “and I’m happy once we start testing tomorrow because then we worry about the stuff that really matters — tyre temperatures, cars.”

Earlier, Vitaly Petrov’s manager indicated the Russian would only travel to Bahrain if F1 could guarantee his safety.

“If it was dangerous they wouldn’t let us in,” the Caterham driver told The National in Bahrain.

“If they make sure nothing gets thrown onto that track to hurt us, then we’ll be fine. We are here; if it happens, it happens,” added Petrov.

In fact, almost everyone in Bahrain has been reluctant to comment in detail, but there is an obvious feeling of unease.

Peter Sauber told Blick newspaper: “I feel like a guest, and so it is not polite to criticise your host.”

But 1996 world champion Damon Hill allowed himself some criticism of F1, including the sport’s most powerful figures, Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt.

He pointed out that FIA president Todt has said “next to nothing” about the Bahrain saga.

“This I find baffling,” Hill wrote in the Guardian. “Surely it is possible to condemn acts of inhumanity without taking a side?”

As for F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who has consistently trivialised the Bahrain issue, Hill noted that “few” in the paddock “dare to publicly disagree” with the imperious 81-year-old.

“Perhaps we should (criticise him), instead of just muttering under our breath, scared of losing our passes,” said Hill.

Hermann Tilke, the German architect who designed the Sakhir circuit, sees the entire saga as a storm in a teacup.

“It is safe in Bahrain,” Tilke, whose company has an office there, told the Kolner Express newspaper. “I’ve never heard about any problems from our people.

“Of course there is some unrest, but it is protests, not civil war. As Bernie Ecclestone has said, we do sports, not politics,” he insisted.

“And if they demonstrate peacefully now, the media will report on it, so both sides benefit.”

Norbert Haug said he is proud Mercedes has reached the top of formula one in a short space of time and with a small budget.

The German carmaker’s works team is often lumped together with F1′s other grandees including Ferrari and McLaren, but Haug insists the Brackley based outfit is in fact “a small team, with a small budget”.

Mercedes’ competition boss, who on Sunday collected the winning constructors’ trophy on the Shanghai podium, also said some of the team’s rivals – undoubtedly Red Bull – “took five years to win”.

“We have done it in two and a quarter,” the German told the RTL broadcaster. “That’s not bad at all.

“And there are other teams that still have not made it.”

So is Mercedes now a contender for the world championship, despite Haug’s earlier protestations that the team needs a few more campaigns under its belt for that?

“It is too early to make a prediction,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “I hope so, but so far we have seen three different winners in three races.”

The newest of those winners is Nico Rosberg, who along with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve are the only sons of F1 drivers to have also gone on to win grands prix.

It is a good omen for Rosberg that both Hill and Villeneuve also won titles.

Rosberg’s former Williams teammate, Alex Wurz, has high praise.

“As a teammate (in 2007) he made my life difficult because he was such a fantastic qualifying driver. In the race it was then always okay.

“But for this (race win) he deserves praise,” Wurz told the Austrian ORF broadcaster, “because he did everything after his pole position also sensationally.”

But in Bahrain, there could be another winner, triple world champion Niki Lauda remarked.

“I have never before seen F1 as interesting as this,” said the Austrian legend. “Every race we see another winner.”

Damon Hill has changed his mind yet again on the controversial issue of Bahrain’s return to formula one later this month.

Amid the debate about the island Kingdom’s return to the calendar in the wake of the cancelled 2011 event, the 1996 world champion said initially: “F1 must align itself with progression, not repression”.

But he changed his tune after travelling with FIA president Jean Todt to Bahrain, insisting the situation on the ground had changed since the 2011 protests.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race,” said Hill.

But the Briton has now changed his mind again, apparently after the latest reports of violence on the streets and the reaction in the international media.

Hill is quoted by the Guardian newspaper: “It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for formula one, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race.

“Looking at it today you’d have to say that (the race) could be creating more problems than it’s solving.”

The former Williams driver is scheduled to attend this month’s Bahrain grand prix as a television analyst, but Hill brushed aside any thoughts about his lucrative contract with the British broadcaster Sky.

“Some things are more important than contracts.”

He also expressed misgivings about a recent media briefing in London, in which Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses stood with the Bahrain organisers and insisted the race is going ahead despite the continuing controversy.

Damon said that event was “troubling insofar as it tried to represent the rioting in Bahrain as the result of bad press reporting and as a ‘youth’ issue.

“I hope the FIA are considering the implications of this fully and that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing molotov cocktails, because that’s a gross simplification.”

Writing in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio admitted he thinks it would be “almost reckless” for F1 to travel to Bahrain this month.

“At Sepang,” he wrote, “many team members were very concerned. They said their insurance companies had expressed concern about going to an Arab country in a belligerent state.

“Personally, I don’t think we will be attacked, but it is the goal of the protesters to do anything so that the grand prix is not run.

“The Arab Spring is very much alive in this small country in the Persian Gulf,” he admitted.

And the Times of London’s Kevin Eason wrote on Twitter: “I have been thinking F1 should give Bahrain a chance but I am not convinced now that safety can be guaranteed.”

A few days ago, Red Bull’s team boss said Jenson Button – not the other McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton – is a more likely championship challenger for 2012.
On the eve of the new season, Christian Horner has now told British reporters that – with Hamilton’s current contract expiring this year – it is “difficult to envisage Lewis in our team”.

Hamilton, the 2008 world champion who had a tumultuous 2011 and was famously beaten by Button in the drivers’ points standings, insists he doesn’t mind.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of (the remarks) but they definitely don’t wind me up,” the Briton is quoted by the BBC.

“There are a lot of opinions, and everybody has their right to an opinion, but it doesn’t really affect me.

“It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day when I go out and do the job.”

In fairness to Hamilton, he sounds confident and refreshed heading into the new season, has patched up his relationship with his girlfriend, and appointed Didier Coton to look after him in the paddock.

“Lewis was a child prodigy — this is the problem,” 1996 world champion Damon Hill told the Sun. “When you have been brought up from an early age to be a product, at some point something will crack.”

Another pundit, former McLaren driver David Coulthard, urged Hamilton not to be put off by Red Bull’s apparent lack of interest in his services.

“I don’t think Lewis will ever be out of demand for the top teams,” said the Scot.

“What are Lewis’ other options? I don’t think Mercedes are waving around a cheque book — I’d be surprised if Michael (Schumacher) and Nico Rosberg are in the top-four earners in formula one.

“You also want a competitive car and if McLaren give him that, then he will probably stay,” said Coulthard.

Damon Hill has backed Bahrain as the island Kingdom returns to the F1 calendar this year.
After last year’s race was cancelled, the 1996 world champion travelled to Bahrain with FIA president Jean Todt and afterwards said he supports the decision to give the Sakhir circuit its April 22 date for 2012.

However, as some clashes between protesters and police are still taking place, there are some who believe strongly that Bahrain is not ready to host F1 again.

The teams are mainly quiet, but Red Bull’s Christian Horner said last week that, “As far as I’m aware, we’re definitely going.

“As of today there’s a race committed to Bahrain and we’ll be there,” he added.

Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary added: “I have decided I will be going to Bahrain if the race goes ahead.”

Briton Hill, the winner of 22 grands prix, thinks Horner and Cary are right.

“Everyone wants things to move in the right direction in Bahrain,” he is quoted by The Sun.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race.”

 It is not certain Lewis Hamilton will stay at McLaren beyond this year, according to 1996 world champion Damon Hill.
Although 2008 title winner Hamilton regularly pledges his loyalty to the famous British team, his contract runs out this year and last season he had talks with Christian Horner in the Red Bull motor home.

“It may be he will seek to move from McLaren,” pondered 51-year-old Hill, according to the Telegraph.

Earlier this week, former Williams driver Hill urged fellow Briton Hamilton to better manage his F1 career alongside his often troubled private life.

Part of improving that focus might involve leaving McLaren, suggested Hill, referring to the Woking based team that began grooming Hamilton for F1 stardom when he was a boy.

“It (leaving) may be something he feels he needs to do, which will be a bit like leaving home as he’s been there since he was 13,” said Hill.

“If I was Bernie (Ecclestone) I would probably want to see Lewis at Red Bull with Vettel.”

1996 world champion Damon Hill will return to the F1 paddock in 2012 as an expert television pundit.
The 51-year-old has signed up with Sky as part of the broadcaster’s new split British broadcasting deal with the BBC.

Hill will appear on-screen as a pre and post-race pundit at ten of the 20 grands prix, including the season opener in Melbourne.

“It’s a few years since I stopped driving but I’ve never stopped looking at F1 and never lost interest. It’s a sport that I love,” he said.

Damon Hill has tipped his former championship nemesis Michael Schumacher to soon quit formula one.
The pair fought mercilessly for titles in the mid 90s – famously clashing at the 1994 Adelaide decider – and were never friends throughout the period until Hill retired in 1999.

When the Briton last raced for Jordan, he was 39.

“By then I was too old to go on,” Hill told Italy’s Motorinside. “After a certain age you’re no longer able to be as fast or consistent, much less able to handle the pressure.

“Michael is now 42; in my opinion it’s too old to be competitive, plus he doesn’t have a car for the top positions. He can’t go on like this for much longer,” he predicted.

Sebastian Vettel’s rise to the top of formula one has been meteoric, but three other grand prix drivers achieved even more in their first 73 races.
That is the finding of the veteran Swiss correspondent for Blick newspaper, Roger Benoit.

Vettel, 23, is the youngest ever race and title winner in F1 history and very likely to add a second consecutive championship to his impressive tally in 2011.

But in terms of how much he has achieved in his first 73 grands prix, Sir Jackie Stewart ranks slightly higher with his 18 race wins and two titles in the same period.

Vettel, by comparison, has only one title and 16 wins.

Achieving even more than Stewart in the 73-race period was Michael Schumacher, who had 19 wins and two titles.

And Damon Hill tops that list, amassing a single championship but no fewer than 21 wins within 73 races — an almost 30 per cent strike record.

However, Vettel has achieved more in his career so far than had Alain Prost, Lewis Hamilton, Niki Lauda, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in the same period, while the great Ayrton Senna in his first 73 races won just 13 times and had failed to secure a title.

Nigel Mansell, meanwhile, only won his first grand prix at the 72nd attempt, while Mika Hakkinen was approaching his 100th race before he finally broke through at Jerez in 1997.

Rumours about the health of the team currently known as Renault refused to disappear at Silverstone.
Boss Eric Boullier recently dismissed the rumours, hinting that they were triggered mischievously at Monaco by his predecessor Flavio Briatore.

But six weeks later, there was once again similar talk in the paddock of the British grand prix, not long after Williams was announced as engine supplier Renault Sport’s newest partner team for 2012 and beyond.

Apart from the continuing naming connection, a customer engine contract and their historical links, the French marque is no longer involved with the Lotus-sponsored Renault team.

And Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the team might even be powered by Cosworth engines next year.

“This is fiercely denied by those in charge,” the magazine acknowledged.

However, the Williams situation is perhaps relevant, particularly with the fanfare of the Renault engine announcement involving former works champions Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at the team’s Grove headquarters last week.

As for Lotus Renault, “poor results and apparently still pending payments for the engines do not make things any better”, Auto Motor und Sport added.

Damon Hill has urged formula one to take the moral high ground and resist the urge to take Bahrain’s money and reschedule the 2011 Bahrain grand prix.

The FIA will meet in Barcelona on Friday to discuss reshuffling the inaugural Indian grand prix to December to squeeze the troubled island Kingdom into this year’s F1 calendar.

Martial law in Bahrain ended on Wednesday, but reports of violence continued to emanate and Hill, the 1996 world champion and president of the British grand prix organiser BRDC said F1 should not go there this year.

“You can’t just base your decision to hold a race in a country on that country’s ability to pay,” he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“Formula one cannot put its head in the sand concerning the Bahrain grand prix because it is a very volatile situation out there and F1 is involved,” said the Briton.

Hill scolded F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone for taking a flippant approach to Bahrain so far.

“I think sometimes Bernie doesn’t express himself in the way that he really means. You can’t always talk about serious issues in a light hearted way,” he concluded.

Nigel Mansell will reprise his F1 stewarding duties this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

The 1992 world champion debuted in the official role, alongside three of the sport’s regular stewards, at Silverstone in July.

An early weather forecast is predicting the possibility of rain throughout the Belgian grand prix event. “When didn’t we see water at Spa?” said Felipe Massa on Tuesday as he left his native Brazil after the August break.

“Actually it can be very good fun in the wet,” added the Ferrari driver.

Jul.6 (GMM)  McLaren’s British drivers on Tuesday responded to a claim their battle for team supremacy can be likened to an Aesop’s Fable.

Recently, Lewis Hamilton’s use of the Fable “sour grapes” was misinterpreted by the Spanish press as his accusation that Fernando Alonso is jealous of the 2008 world champion.

And on Monday, 1996 world champion Damon Hill used another of Aesop’s Fables to describe Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button — ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’.

Although Button takes the role of the tortoise in Hill’s eyes, it was interpreted as a compliment.  “He (Button) is not at his maximum the whole time,” Hill said.

“Will Lewis mature and be circumspect when he needs to be?  I don’t know if that’s his style.”

Hamilton told reporters on Tuesday: “I don’t really have a reaction.

“It’s always very, very interesting to hear past world champions talk about present drivers and world champions, and then it’s interesting to see how it plays out and see whether it’s true or false or whether they actually know what they are talking about or not.

“We will find out later on in the year I guess,” said the 2007 world champion.

Button distanced himself from the suggestion he can be likened to a tortoise.

“Those are his words not mine.  But if I win the championship then I don’t care.  I know I won the championship last year because I was quick,” he said.

Michael Schumacher is not about to give up on his new quest to return to winning ways in formula one.

That is the opinion of the German’s 90s nemesis Damon Hill, amid suggestions the seven time world champion has lost his edge and could return to retirement before his three-year commitment to Mercedes is fulfilled.

“Just never write the guy off.  I made that mistake.  You cannot count him out.  He is never out.

“He has always somehow pulled something out of the hat somewhere,” said Briton Hill, now president of the Silverstone-owning BRDC.

Some pundits believe the 41-year-old has lost his desire to excel and allowed his famous attention to detail to lapse, and is now driving only for fun, but Hill only agrees with the latter sentiment.

“He loves driving.  Where else are you going to get the same kind of fulfilment or kick?” Hill told reporters at Silverstone prior to the British grand prix weekend.

“It is not about the money.  He is a perfectionist, very determined to achieve things and he will want to show that it is possible to win at 41.”

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told German media that recent criticisms of Schumacher have been “unfair”.

“He was on holiday for three years, what do you expect after a break like that?” said the 79-year-old.