PRESS CONFERENCE

Kamui, so far this season a couple of good races and a couple not so good. What’s been the difference between them?

Kamui KOBAYASHI: Of course it’s definitely the car. We had quite good performance at the start, quite a good start to the season. Unfortunately, we also some races where the strategy was not really going well. It’s not let’s a bad thing for my season. I had a great start but I think we have to work hard especially on the long runs.

Yesterday, Fernando talked about drivers having more respect for one another. Do you think that’s the case? Should drivers leave more space for each other?

KK: Maybe. I don’t know. It’s always difficult to say.

You’re quite an aggressive overtaker

KK: Yeah, but for me I’m doing something quite normal. It’s not special. I’m just doing my job. Maybe it looks aggressive but I never crash with anyone. I never crash and stop the car. There may be contact but it’s always quite OK. Maybe it looks aggressive but it’s not aggressive in fact.

And of course, you’ve been on the receiving end as we remember from Spa last year.

KK: Spa last year? Where? Ah, with Lewis, you mean? That’s what I mean that was just an accident you know. I didn’t expect both cars to make contact because there was no point. I didn’t expect Lewis to come across and I just stayed on my line. It was just sudden, you know. There was no way to avoid that. That was something special though, it’s not really a racing accident and not aggressive stuff from me, so…

Nico, on paper you’ve been beaten by your team-mate so far this year. How are you feeling about it?

Nico HULKENBERG: Well, the first four races have been quite tough to be honest. I would have liked to take more than two points out of the first four races. We have been quite unfortunate in some races, such as Melbourne, where we had a first-corner incident and there was very little I could do and then a clutch failure issues in Bahrain. These were two races where we potentially could have finished in the points. But I’m looking forward, I’m bedding in well with the team. I think the team is doing a good job in putting everything together and if we get a bit more luck then I think it will be good.

How do you feel about team development? Are the developments coming at a reasonable rate as far as you’re concerned?

NH: Yes, definitely. We bring some new parts, probably like every other team, here and we have to wait and see where the new parts put us but obviously we’re hoping it’s a step forward. I think it is a step forward but just how big a step we’ll see over the next two days.

Pedro, we see a new team that has recently moved to new premises and taken on a lot of new staff. What sort of role do you see yourself playing in the development of Hispania Racing Team?

Pedro DE LA ROSA: As you’ve said, everything is new. We’re establishing ourselves; restructuring the team; we are growing. But really I’m not playing any different role than any other race driver would do. I’m part of the team; I’m a race driver; I’m experienced. If they need my advice on anything, I am there. But I’m not playing any special role other than driving as fast as I can and giving good feedback about the car.

You spent so long at McLaren are you not trying to put some of those influences on the team?

PDLR: Gradually I will. That’s the aim and that’s what I’m here for as well. But so far the team has been extremely busy trying to move into our new premises in Madrid, establish a structure, a ‘basement’ as I say, and after that we will grow gradually and that’s when I think my input will be, if possible, more beneficial. But so far the objective has been clear. We have to establish ourselves, we have to put he ground for building more floors on top of us but so far I’ve been very discreet and not in a very important position.

And where do hope the team will be at the end of the year?

PDLR: I have no idea really. We are improving race by race. We have made the car a lot quicker. Don’t forget at the first grand prix we did not qualify and gradually we have been closing the gap to pole position. That’s what we have to aim for: race by race, closing the gap, making sure that our car is a little bit quicker than it was at the previous grand prix. After that, at the end of the year, we will see. We don’t have to set ourselves any targets other than making the team more competitive race by race.

Kimi, you were plainly a little frustrated that you could have won at Bahrain but didn’t. Is that a true appraisal of your feelings about Bahrain?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, I think once you get so close, you’re not happy with second. If you’re 20 seconds behind then it doesn’t really matter but we had a chance but at least for the team it was a good weekend.

You’re a two-time winner here, both from pole position. Do you think a win is possible here? You’ve said you team will be winners at some stage.

KR: Well, the rules are different, so you don’t have to be on pole now to win. We’ll try. I don’t know how it will go. It’s very difficult to say before the weekend starts. The teams are very close. So if everything goes smoothly then we can be up there. But small difficulties in some areas and you’re suddenly much further back. We try to do everything right and then see what happens.

You didn’t test at Mugello as apparently the team hadn’t brought major modification, but for this race have you at least brought modifications that will at least see you maintain where you were at the opening rounds?

KR: We should have some new parts and we’ll see what happens.

Fernando, another winner here in 2006. How did you feel the Ferrari was in testing? Did you feel it was a lot different?

Fernando ALONSO: No, not really. We didn’t have any big improvements in the car, so what we tested were different set-ups and things we missed from winter testing. It’s been quite difficult for us with a lot of problems on the car and not many laps. The Mugello test was to complete what we had left from winter but in terms of improvements, we had minimum changes on the car so it felt the same?

Did that set-up research, as it were, make you feel more comfortable with the car, more competitive?

FA: Well, we’ll see. Obviously we had some ideas in terms of setup and some different possibilities that we were not introducing in the first four races because we didn’t have the opportunity to test them. So, it was good in Mugello: some of them were positive; some of them were negative so it’s good to know. As much information as you have is better preparation for the next grand prix. Obviously we arrive more prepared now than how we arrived in Australia with only three tests in the winter. But to make the car faster I think in terms of setup you cannot find much. If you want to be running at the front it’s more aerodynamic parts and updates in the car. Hopefully they come but we need to wait.

You know this circuit pretty well, you had a very good start to the race last year – do you think we’re going to see more overtaking on the circuit now, what with more KERS and a longer DRS as well?

FA: I think it will be similar to last year, to be honest. I saw some numbers of previous races here. On average like four or five overtaking manoeuvres in the last nine years and last year there were 57 – so it was a big change. The race this year will be similar to last year because of the degradation, the DRS and the KERS. With all the possibilities that we have now, as we had last year, for sure we will see some more overtaking. This changes also a little bit the philosophy of this circuit. As Kimi said, pole position was 60 per cent of the victories, now pole position is obviously the best starting position but it’s not crucial anymore because with this year’s tyres it’s less important.

Sebastian, you broke the mould last year by winning from second on the grid, where you’ve started for the last three years but you won last year from there. This is such a performance track, is this a track where you’re really looking for an indicator for the rest of the first half of the season? If you’re competitive here you will be elsewhere?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think if you are competitive here I think it means that you have been previously. It’s a track that we usually know quite a lot from winter testing, we have some data to compare to, so it’s very familiar. But it doesn’t mean if you are competitive here you are competitive everywhere. Equally, if you are not competitive here it doesn’t mean you will never be competitive. I think it’s similar to other tracks. Really, if you think which sector you’re talking about, which speed range of the cars. I think you have sectors on every track where you could get an indication. As I said, I think it’s the fact that we know a lot about this track, we have a lot of data to compare against, to see if we did a step forward compared to the winter and how big the step was. Surely then you have to consider different temperatures: it’s a different time of year so it’s also difficult to compare black and white – but yeah as a rule of thumb probably this circuit does give you an idea because simply you have all the corners you find somewhere else, you have tight chicanes like in the last sector, hard braking for the hairpin, fast corners like in the first sector. You have a bit of everything.

And yet everyone has been here, everyone knows exactly what sort of setup they would require. Is it perhaps one of the toughest races in that respect?

SV: Yeah it is. But as I said as well, you race here in May, it’s quite different if you look at the temperatures compared to February or March, so yeah, it does have a big change on the setup, so whatever you might have found out over the winter in testing, it might not work in the same way or the same style it did during testing. Also, you need to consider that the cars you launch are quite different to the cars you race at the first race, and then, you know, you race around May or June later in the season. So, yeah, it’s a bit wishy-washy because of that – but overall it’s a track we know fairly well from a driving point of view as we’ve done a lot of laps here. We should know our way around here.

Questions from the floor:

(Alex Popov – RTR TV) Question for Pedro and Fernando, about the Spanish Grand Prix in general because here and there we read about the difficult situation in Valencia, the difficult situation in Barcelona and now we have two grand prix but in the worst situation we will finish with no grand prix at all. Your thoughts about it.

PDLR: I’ve said a lot already since the first time we were told that Spain would have two grands prix, that it was a historical moment and a unique situation and we should be very, very proud of it. I still say the same answer: we still have two grands prix in Spain this year, and we should, all of us, be very proud, very happy and maximise this moment and then wait for the future to tell us what will happen – which is completely out of our hands, you know? This is all I can say. I’m very happy to be here, this is a Spanish Grand Prix, but also a Spanish Grand Prix with a Spanish driver in a Spanish team – so let’s forget about what might happen in the future because, as I said, I have absolutely no control over it.

(Mike Doodson – Honorary) Gentlemen, Michael Schumacher persistently criticises the Pirelli tyres, or at least the policy of Pirelli. To us and the fans it’s clear that Pirelli has been a major ingredient in the improvement of the quality of the racing this year and last year. Do any of you share Michael’s concerns about the tyres or do you think he’s just making excuses for not winning?

FA: I think Seb should answer, being German.

SV: Yeah? I think, y’know, we get a completely different impression inside the car than you might get outside the car. So, you’re always talking of two different worlds. I think for us quality of racing, if you compare racing today, you have to, I think, look after your tyres a lot more than probably you had to three, four, five years ago. For us, if you take, for instance, 2009 where we were allowed to refuel, we had new tyres and the tyres lasted longer, in that they didn’t see that much degradation. It’s a different quality inside the car because you can push nearly every lap similar to qualifying, whereas now I think the racing is different: we fuel the cars up, they are much heavier, and if you have a heavier car there’s more stress for the tyres, so it puts the whole thing in a different window. If you put a new set of tyres on with 20 laps to go, or 15 laps to go, which is, let’s say, the stint length, earlier, a couple of years ago, it’s a different world for the tyres. The tyres do see more degradation and then we start to slide and then one guy slides more than the other because he puts his tyres on two laps earlier. It creates a different type of racing, more overtaking, which I imagine is seen as better quality from the outside, simply because things happen. I think it depends what you really want. We have more overtaking. Fernando is good with numbers, so like Fernando said earlier. I think the races today – over the last two years since we have changed a couple of things – has become much better. Also for us. I had a race here where I was following – how many laps is the race, 66? – I think I was following Felipe [Massa] for 60 laps out of that and I couldn’t pass. Nowadays you know that your chance will come in the race and that’s changing the position inside the car as well.

Fernando…

FA: I don’t know. I agree with Seb but I don’t agree that Michael has continually criticised Pirelli. Michael said one thing and what has been written in the press has maybe exaggerated what he said. I read what he said and I don’t see any big problem with that.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, you have a very different car from this race. Let’s suppose this car does not correspondent to that criteria…

FA: We’ll see, we’ll see after the race, because we don’t know what car we have. Obviously we have new parts, but everybody has new parts. Because it’s Ferrari, there are quite a lot of expectations every race we go to. It seems like only Ferrari is bringing new parts. We have a step forward, we believe, on what we had in Bahrain, but we also know that it’s not the last step we have to do. It’s a continuous work, that we need to start here in Barcelona, making a step forward and try to improve our qualifying position and our race pace, but in Monaco we have to bring new parts. In Canada (we have to) bring new parts. So we will not bring a new car to every race as it seems that we brought here in Barcelona.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) But just to finish the question: if the car does not correspond…

FA: I answer you on Sunday.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Yes, but just to finish: considering your car has completely new ideas, a revolutionary car, do you think this could be the end of the season for Ferrari and you will start thinking about next year’s car?

FA: I don’t think so. I don’t think so. We need to see how the car works here and if it works fine, it will be a good step, the first step of many that we have to do during the next couple of races. If the step is not good enough, because the others improved the same or more than us so we remain in the same position, we need to work harder, for Monaco and for Canada, and bring more new parts in a more aggressive approach or whatever, because the championship is long and we will never give up in May, after four races.

Q: (Livio Orricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Do you think the basis of this car could be used for next year’s car?

FA: I think so. Yes.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) For all of you: if you look at the drivers in 1992, there were only two non-European countries represented. If you look at the same field twenty years later, this year, there are seven non-European countries represented. Is there a chance that in a few more years, the majority of the drivers will come from outside Europe and how do you think that will impact the sport?

KK: It’s difficult to stay. For drivers I think it’s very difficult, everywhere, Asia especially. I don’t know for the future, but at the moment I don’t know how many Europeans there are now? 17. We have to see. It’s very important for a programme for the development of drivers. I think that this programme is quite weak everywhere. I think for the future, they definitely have to work a lot. It’s very difficult to find how young drivers come to Formula One. I don’t know how it can be changed for the future but I definitely think we have to work on programmes for driver development.

Q: A huge German presence on the grid at the moment, Nico. Can you see that being maintained by a young driver programme in Germany?

NH: Which young driver programme? Is there one? I don’t know. We don’t keep track of that statistic. I think it will always be a good mixture between European and non-European drivers in the future.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) To anyone, but Fernando and Sebastian particularly: following the rulings in the two Nico Rosberg incidents in Bahrain – one of which Fernando was involved in – are you clear in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t when it comes to defending your position?

FA: Yes.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) Has your understanding changed between before Bahrain to now?

FA: No, maybe I did…

SV: Fernando made it pretty clear. He said ‘you have to leave the space. All the time you have to leave the space!’

FA: Yes. Yes.

SV: It was clear, no?

FA: As I did last year with Sebastian. In Monza.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) That isn’t what happened in Bahrain.

SV: He just thought my car was slimmer.

FA: But you passed. You passed.

SV: I think the rule is clear. You can argue. I think there were two incidents with Nico in Bahrain, one with Fernando and I think Fernando made his point clear afterwards. And with Lewis, and I think Lewis got past, so I think you can talk for hours now, but if you saw the situation in Bahrain, it’s exceptional, because you have a kind of asphalt run-off. Yes, it’s pretty dirty but we always try to go on the limit, the one who is overtaking, the one who is defending. Surely sometimes you need to respect that the guy is there and you need to leave the space. I think if it would have been grass, it would have been a different story. You wouldn’t go there in the first place. In Fernando’s case I think he would have made the same point.

Q: (Carlos Miguel- La Gaceta) Fernando and Pedro, if a fan of Formula One in Spain is thinking about coming here on Sunday, what are your goals for the race? What can you offer to the people?

PdelaR: Well, from our point of view, you know our goal is to fight and to improve from where we left it in Bahrain and that’s all we can offer, we can promise. We cannot promise victories – we leave that for Fernando – but we will promise, wherever we finish, we will do it with the pride of being here and doing a serious job, giving it all, and maximising what we have.

FA: Same thing. And giving 100 percent. We cannot promise anything. This is not a mathematical problem, it’s a sport, we all try to do our best so we will work hard, we will take care of every detail this weekend as we do normally, trying to do a serious job and hopefully finishing in the best position possible, but you cannot promise anything.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Leaving aside whether or not it’s a home race for you guys, how much of a difference does it actually make for you to be back in Europe again? Kimi, you don’t actually like the travelling very much out of Europe, do you?

KR: Yeah but I I arrived in China on the Thursday morning, so arriving for a European race on the Thursday morning is no different really.

PdelaR: I’m biased answering this question because it’s back to Europe, but especially it’s back to Spain, so for us, it’s a Grand Prix that arrives a little bit too early in our development programme, as far as I’m concerned. We have been improving since Australia but we probably need more Grands Prix to offer a more competitive show to our fans. That’s the only downside, but nevertheless, we are here, we are in Spain. It’s our home ground and we are very happy to be here. I’m looking forward to it. I used to live ten minutes away from the track and this is something that – when you grow up – you can always listen to the engines, so the Formula One cars, when you wake up every morning during the weekends – for me it’s a very special event, absolutely.

Q: Kamui, not so easy commuting from Japan.

KK: For sure. I’m used to being here a lot of times. I came to Europe 17 years ago and I’ve been here to Barcelona a lot of times. After long trips being back in Europe in Formula One is always great and it’s always great to see the motorhomes in Barcelona. This is always great and it’s always good to be back in Europe for Formula One.

SV: I think for all of us we’re happy to race in Europe. Surely we have races overseas which we enjoy. For instance, we all love going to Australia. Yes, it’s a long trip but once we are there I think we all enjoy being there and it’s the same here. In the end, I don’t think it makes a difference how long you travel. Yes, it is more convenient if you are only an hour, an hour and a half or two hours on the plane rather than twelve and then another twelve. As I said, I think every country we go to, there is a strong culture for motor sport. We hope for a lot of excitement and for a lot of people to come. It makes us feel very special when we are on the grid, to see that the grandstand is packed and usually around here are a lot of fans, cheering, especially for Fernando and the Spanish drivers, but it’s the same when we go to Silverstone, they’re cheering for their drivers. I think we can be very happy everywhere we go, and hopefully put on a great show so that the people enjoy it as well and they come back next year.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR TV) Gentlemen, after testing at Mugello, Vitaly Petrov criticised the circuit, because he expressed concern about its safety, so do you think he was wrong to express his concern like this? He was criticised by other drivers, because he expressed concern. Is he wrong?

FA: I think everyone will have his opinion. I’m not someone to say that Vitaly is right or wrong. It’s more maybe the safety commission’s job or whatever. Personally, everyone will have their opinion, as I said. I like Mugello, I like the layout, I like the feelings, the emotions that you have driving there. As I said after the test, driving one lap in Mugello is like driving one hundred at another circuit, for adrenalin and how much you enjoy the lap. We were in Italy, with a lot of Ferrari support. I enjoy those three days testing so much, but in terms of how safe the track was or not, I don’t have the information to give an answer.

NH: Personally I enjoyed Mugello very much. I think it’s a very different circuit to all the others that we go to. You always feel like you’re flying there, a lot of fourth, fifth, sixth gear action which is great to have. Like Fernando said, whether you feel safe or not is a very personal thing. I think it was OK.

KK: That’s a great circuit. There are a lot of very safe circuits like Abu Dhabi without gravel, but this circuit had gravel and if we made a mistake we ended up in the gravel which is good for drivers and good for training and testing. The test was something we had to try and in the race, of course we have to stay on the track and it’s difficult to take a lot of risks but during testing we can take more risks to improve our driving. It’s great for me.

SV: Well, the first time I heard that he was saying something about safety at Mugello. I think we all loved the track because it’s different – like Nico said, there’s a lot of high speed corners. Sure, if the speeds are high, there is higher risk. There is obviously quite a lot of run-off but surely here and there you would like to have more. As long as nothing happens, everything is fine; if something happens… it’s always easy to say something after there’s an incident and say this and that. I think it was not as if we felt we were scared. We left the garage feeling safe. I think if we would race there one day, potentially yes or no, then surely here or there you can argue to make improvements for safety, but I think they did everything they could on the day.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – Radio Estado ESPN) Nico mentioned that Mugello is different from every other track that you guys race on in the year so does this very fact make it less useful to have tested there instead of somewhere else?

KK: Difficult. I think maybe it’s not really useful for mechanical stuff but definitely useful for aero development at least, because we can test the aero on the straights. Difficult to see the stability in the corner. Basically I think this was a good test.

SV: I agree. I think it was good to test some parts of the car, not for some others, but like all the other circuits. When we test in Jerez, test in Barcelona, we try different things. I remember in the old days testing in Paul Ricard. Some days we test on the 50s lap circuit because we were testing for Monaco Grand Prix: different tyres and different parts, so every test is welcome for different areas of the car, but it’s good. For people who don’t like Mugello there is a very easy solution.

An obvious tension was evident at Mugello when Pirelli’s Paul Hembery was asked about Michael Schumacher.

The seven time world champion had slammed F1′s official supplier after Bahrain, arguing that the 2012 tyres degrade so quickly it makes driving a grand prix car as slow as a safety car.

“We haven’t spoken,” Briton Hembery is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “I’ve just read something on the net about the tyres from his teammate Nico Rosberg which is very different.”

Asked if Schumacher’s criticism was irritating, he answered: “We built the tyres the way we were asked to.

“The FIA, Bernie Ecclestone, even the teams wanted it this way. The spokesman for the teams at the time was Ross Brawn, Schumacher’s team boss.

“There have been four different winners in the four races so far, which alone shows that we must have done something right,” Hembery insisted. “As a fan I would be thrilled.”

Asked if he can at least understand Schumacher’s frustration, he continued: “The four winners this year have not won by chance.

“They were absolutely the best drivers in those races and all of them were faster than their teammates.

“I can understand that Michael was frustrated at the last race. Among the four winners so far were two Germans, and then you had Kimi (Raikkonen), who in the fourth race of his comeback is on the podium.

“Racers are winners; they’re not happy unless they’re winning.”

Hembery denied that tyres have, in 2012, become more important than the cars or drivers.

“That’s a misconception,” he insisted. “The driver has a huge impact.

“Anyway I’m convinced that at Silverstone at the latest the teams will have the problem under control. Just as they did last year.”

Finally, he insisted that Pirelli is not going to make any knee-jerk reactions.

“If there are 23 drivers satisfied and only one dissatisfied, then I don’t think we need to change something,” Hembery is quoted by Bild newspaper.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, however, acknowledged a slight frustration.

“For the top teams it’s a bit frustrating,” he told La Stampa newspaper, “when it’s difficult to exploit all your potential.

“It’s like Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan suddenly playing with the budget of Cesena.”

Martin Brundle has described Red Bull’s lack of pace as the biggest surprise of the 2012 season so far.

After consecutive world championships with Sebastian Vettel, the energy drink-owned team was universally tipped as the pre-season favourite for yet another F1 title.

But McLaren dominated in Australia before Ferrari and Sauber surprisingly set the pace recently in Malaysia.

Former F1 driver Brundle admitted the struggling RB8 was the surprise of the opening salvo in 2012, but he also acknowledged that the turnaround might have been predicted.

“When you look at how the regulations have changed, it’s almost like they were designed to slow the Red Bulls down,” the Sky television commentator told the website of the BBC programme Top Gear.

“Doubling the torsional stiffness of the front wings, the way Red Bull were ‘flying’ their car down the track with lots of rake, nose close to the ground, exhausts helping to sort the high rear ride height out, it’s all been taken away from them,” added Brundle.

An unnamed engineer at Red Bull has admitted the team was caught on the hop in the winter pre-season, when it became clear McLaren was better prepared for the new rules.

“McLaren came with a (exhaust) system on the edge of legality,” the engineer told Germany’s Auto Bild, “and it was declared legal by the FIA.

“So (Adrian) Newey had to adapt,” he added, referring to Red Bull’s last-minute decision to change tack at the very end of the pre-season test period.

The message coming from the Milton Keynes based team, therefore, is that Red Bull is playing catch-up.

“We need to understand the car better,” admits team advisor Dr Helmut Marko, “which is why for the next race (in China) we will have hardly any new parts.”

So until he’s back at the front, F1′s formerly-dominant Vettel – who lashed out at backmarker Narain Karthikeyan recently in Malaysia – needs to adapt.

Asked if the German was justified in calling his Indian rival an “idiot”, Brundle insisted: “No.

“That’s just an angry man who hasn’t got a front-running car at the moment. He’s just frustrated.”

The FIA could sanction F1′s reigning back-to-back world champion for his behaviour during the recent Malaysian grand prix.

Before calling backmarker Narain Karthikeyan a “gherkin” and “idiot” in the wake of their collision, Sebastian Vettel was captured by his on-board camera twice displaying his middle-finger to the Indian driver.

“I think he’s highly frustrated because he’s having a tough season,” Karthikeyan told the Deccan Chronicle on Wednesday.

“It’s completely unprofessional to blame me for the incident. The derogatory remark only goes to show him in bad light.

“Just because he has a good car, he can’t call others an idiot,” Karthikeyan continued.

“I have won races in all the previous single-seater championships I have participated in so I don’t need a certificate from Vettel.”

Reports in Germany, including in the Kolner Express, Bild and Die Welt newspapers, claim that Red Bull driver’s behaviour may have breached the new stricter code of conduct introduced by FIA president Jean Todt.

The FIA has been contacted for comment.

“He has breached the code of conduct,” former F1 driver Marc Surer told Germany’s Sky television. “You sign it when you get the license and then you have to behave correspondingly.

“Any behaviour that hurts other people or the sport is an offense,” added the Swiss.

Asked what the penalties might be, Surer explained: “Anything from a warning to a license revocation. In this case I think it was quite understandable and there will be a mild punishment, if there is anything.”

Hans-Joachim Stuck, however, is slightly less forgiving.

“When you’re overtaking, misunderstandings can occur. I think Vettel needs to learn this.

“With him, the curve was always upwards and now it’s not the case, and he needs to deal with that,” the German legend told the DAPD news agency.

As for Vettel’s description of Karthikeyan as a “gherkin”, Stuck insisted: “It’s better than ‘asshole’.”

Vettel’s attack, however, was sustained, with Kleine Zeitung newspaper now quoting the Red Bull driver as having said: “Maybe formula one is not the place to learn how to drive.”

Stuck responded: “If Sebastian had left more space, it would not have happened. It happens sometimes so it’s a racing incident.

“He (Karthikeyan) didn’t do it on purpose and it always takes two.”

The HRT driver hit back by calling Vettel a “bully”, and even David Coulthard – a Red Bull team consultant – defended Karthikeyan.

“He can’t make his car invisible,” the Scot is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

Also defending Karthikeyan was Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg, who told the Indian press this week: “From what I saw, it was not Narain’s fault.

“So I don’t really understand why he (Vettel) said all that.”

Hukenberg’s Force India teammate Paul di Resta added: “Narain is entitled to do as much on the track in comparison with someone like Vettel.

“Both are F1 drivers and are there to represent their teams.”

Mercedes on Tuesday gave the strongest hint yet that Michael Schumacher is set to stay with the Brackley based team beyond 2012.
The seven time world champion returned from retirement with the German team in 2010, and has been widely criticised for failing to live up to the hype of his meteoric initial career.

But 2011 was undoubtedly a better season for the 43-year-old, moving team boss Ross Brawn to hint that Schumacher could receive a new deal for 2013.

“At the moment we aren’t talking to any other drivers,” he told Sport Bild magazine.

“I am also assuming that he is not talking to other teams.

“So if Michael is still enjoying what he’s doing while bringing in the results that we expect, then why not? He definitely has not said that he is toying with the idea of stopping,” added Brawn.

Mercedes’ competition director Norbert Haug added that the great German is “still one of the best race drivers in the field”.

Haug said Schumacher is often as fast or faster than his younger teammate Nico Rosberg, which is impressive “because Nico is undoubtedly among the five best drivers in F1″, he is quoted by FAZ newspaper.

Added Brawn: “It took a little longer than planned for Michael to be where he wanted to be — and even longer than I would have thought.

“The first year was difficult,” admitted Schumacher’s former Ferrari colleague. “I think he did an excellent job in the races in the second year, while Nico was slightly better than him in qualifying.

“I think that really frustrated him (Schumacher),” added Brawn.

Gerhard Berger has accused Mark Webber of wanting to take out a championship rival after crashing in Sunday’s Korean grand prix.

Australian Webber, who at the time was leading the world championship by 14 points, spun on a wet kerb whilst running second at Yeongam and struck the wall.

But his Red Bull then rolled back across the circuit, collecting the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

“I don’t understand why Webber didn’t hit the brakes,” said Rosberg. “It was crazy to roll back across the track like that.”

Former grand prix winner Berger said on Monday: “He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car at the wall.

“He took out Rosberg, but it was the wrong one. I think in his mind he would have preferred Alonso or Hamilton,” the former Ferrari and McLaren driver told Austrian Servus TV.

Asked to clarify whether he thinks Webber’s move was deliberate, Berger – a former co-owner of the second Red Bull team Toro Rosso – added: “Yes, I think that’s very clear.

“He goes off and he knows it’s over. In this moment you’re frustrated and a thousand thoughts go through your head.

“It’s very obvious, you can see his wheels are not locked up. Perhaps he had a brake problem, but I don’t think so.”

Red Bull and Ferrari hit back at McLaren on Friday as the flexible wing saga continued to run.

It is the British team that has been the most vocal about the wings on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars this year.

But technical bosses Adrian Newey and Aldo Costa told reporters at Monza that they were ready to agree to an even more stringent flexibility test — and it was McLaren that turned it down.

“We are happy to further increase the stiffness if we want a front wing that is double the stiffness,” Ferrari’s Costa said.

Currently, when weights are placed on the front wings during pre-race FIA scrutineering, the permissible deflection is 10mm.

“It was discussed in the technical working group to have a 5mm deflection, but also engineers who are at this table didn’t accept,” said the Italian.

Also with McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe at the table, the discussion was taking place during the FIA press conference.

“I think it was Paddy who suggested (the test stay at) 10mm,” said Red Bull’s Newey.

Costa admitted he has been frustrated by the entire saga.

“I don’t know why this saga has been created,” he said.

Newey agreed: “The test has been as it has been for several years and suddenly there is a load of excitement.”

According to well-known French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, a notable meeting involving the Mercedes GP team took place on Monday.

Moncet wrote in his Auto Plus blog that the video conference would involve the Stuttgart based Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, and the Brackley based team’s Ross Brawn, Norbert Haug, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

He said the “various statements by members of the team to the media” would be discussed, even though a Mercedes spokesman rubbished the report.

And although Mercedes insists the comments were taken out of context, Moncet could be referring to Rosberg’s quoted claims about being frustrated by a lack of development progress.

There have also been hints from Rosberg, Schumacher and Brawn that development of the 2010 car could be stopped in favour of focusing on next year’s project.

But in a team statement late last week, those figures insisted the team is still working hard on the W01.

“It’s been tough for us over the last few races but we are working hard to improve and I am confident we will get there,” said Rosberg.

However, a headline in the German daily Die Welt said “Expectation and reality are far apart at Mercedes”.

The article included Zetsche’s warning of early this year when he said that “If there are clear indications that we can use our money more effectively outside of formula one, we will have to take a new decision”.

And former Jordan and Jaguar designer Gary Anderson said: “The people around Brawn understand the car they have built for 2010 in the same way they understood it in the second half of last year.”

But Bernie Ecclestone thinks Mercedes needs more time to get up to speed with its own team.

“Of course it takes a bit of time to revive a myth, but I am sure they are on the right track and that the Silver Arrows will come back to full strength,” said the F1 chief executive.

(GMM)

Formula one drivers remain unimpressed with the design of Bridgestone’s 2010 tyre.

Up and down pitlane, ‘getting these tyres to work’ is the enigmatic and universal question, which for some teams and drivers is more of a problem than elsewhere.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, for example, needs warm weather, a soft tyre compound and an abrasive track surface to be as quick as his teammate Fernando Alonso.

“It has little to do with racing when you are so dependent on the tyres,” the Brazilian is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

He is frustrated that some of his rivals, like McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, have the Bridgestone’s working “on the first flying lap”.

Nico Rosberg said in Canada that his problem was getting the car to work with the tyres, and even teammate Michael Schumacher’s vast experience of 256 grands prix is not providing the answer.

“These tires are a puzzle that is very difficult to work out,” said the Mercedes driver.

Schumacher added: “Often it changes from day to day, due to one or two factors.”

It is believed the issue is the design of the tyre carcass, much stiffer than in the past in order to prevent the type of problem experienced by Michelin at Indianapolis in 2005.

But it means some drivers have trouble getting the tyre up to temperature.

“You can see quite clearly that Hamilton’s aggressive driving style means he can get the tyres working more easily than Button can,” said Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn.
(GMM)

un.8 (GMM)  It may be “weeks” before F1′s new tyre supplier for 2011 and beyond is confirmed, Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera said on Tuesday.

Despite a final recent push from Michelin, it is now expected that the Milan based company will succeed the departing Bridgestone as formula one’s sole supplier.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone left Turkey frustrated that a decision is being delayed, but the teams said they expected a solution within days.

“We need to sort this out this week because it is already very, very late for us,” said Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali before departing Istanbul.

On Tuesday, the bulk of the F1 world is busily travelling to Canada, making it clear that yet another race weekend will be dominated by the discussions about tyres.

But in Milan, Pirelli’s Provera indicated that he is not expecting an imminent conclusion.

“The decision will be taken soon.  It’s a question of weeks, not months,” he said.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien published on Tuesday, FIA president Jean Todt also indicated that the process about selecting Bridgestone’s successor still has some road to run.

“It (the FIA) will soon launch a tender, with the commercial promoter of the championship, Bernie Ecclestone,” he said.

“FOTA may suggest that it decides, but the strong man is not he who speaks the loudest,” added Todt.

Two touted contenders for victory in Sunday’s Turkish grand prix had a troubled afternoon practice session at Istanbul Park.

Frustrated Barcelona/Monaco winner and joint championship leader Mark Webber, although second fastest behind Jenson Button, suffered what is suspected to be a failed engine failure.

After skilfully reversing his Red Bull through a gap in the fence, the Australian then amusingly lost his temper with Turkish marshals who could not decipher his desire for a fire extinguisher to be used to chock the wheel.

2006-2008 Istanbul winner Felipe Massa, meanwhile, had the canvas showing on a set of his soft Bridgestone tyres after spinning sideways in the challenging Turn 8.

(GMM)

Michael Schumacher accepted an apology from his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the hours after qualifying at Monaco.

After the seven time world champion told reporters he had been blocked in Q3 by the younger German, Rosberg later said: “I apologised because I realised that it wasn’t ideal.”

The Brackley based team also took a portion of the blame, admitting that the radio and GPS systems have not been working well in the Principality.

Boss Ross Brawn conceded that Schumacher, who has been outqualified by Rosberg at every grand prix venue this year except Barcelona a week ago, was initially “annoyed” about the incident.

“But when I explained to him what happened he was ok, just frustrated,” said the Briton.

And he said it was a mistake to have the two W01 cars circulating nose-to-tail, following a problem getting “Nico’s car out of the garage”.

“We cocked up,” admitted Brawn.

(GMM)

Schumacher, Mercedes GP driver part of the FIA drivers Thursday press conference, here are highlights of Schumacher’s answers to questions posed to him during the media session.

Do you still feel Mercedes is a little bit behind? Where do you feel it is?
Michael Schumcher: I guess you have Red Bull and Ferrari being a little bit up front and then probably it is right to say that McLaren is a little bit up front on us although the last race could not really show it. We are probably still in fourth position at the moment.

How is the development coming along from your point of view?
Michael: As you expect in Formula One every kind of race you being new things and it goes step by step. I am quite happy with the general development trend. Naturally as probably most of the teams we will have a little bit bigger upgrade in Barcelona due to time availability and so on, so we are all look forward to that.

You’ve now been back for three races. Have you found things very different since you left F1 three years ago?
Michael: Well, the number of questions and style of questions and all this sort of thing is pretty much the same. Driving the car, in a way, as well. It’s natural that there are some characteristic changes but at the end of the day, every year, you get a new car, and you just adapt and work the car around your needs. Yes, it has taken a little bit of time after being out for three years, it does need a little bit more time, especially with less winter testing available. But I’m feeling pretty good, I have to say. It’s worked out almost quicker than I expected it to do and I feel very comfortable in the car now and I look forward to when things get to the end to show a little bit better.

Do you think a younger Michael Schumacher might have been more frustrated with the time it’s taken to get back right to the very top? You seem more relaxed…
Michael: It depends what age you’re talking about, because when I came into Formula One I would have obviously been very happy with the results we’ve had, because you haven’t had a ranking or a position. If you talk about after winning certain championships, then naturally you would have been a little bit less happy, but with having all this kind of experience, coming back after this break, I feel more than happy with what’s going on. One of the big and interesting things is working with the team to develop the car and being involved in this kind of process. That is so much of the fun. The driving is fun as well but you get used to that pretty quickly, but working on the details, that’s what makes it up for me.

Are you not a little disappointed because of this wave of criticism which has been rising up over the last few days, because a lot of people are impatient that you don’t win?
Michael: You see, I’ve been around long enough to know what I call the wave of emotion. During the winter everybody was every emotional and very supportive and positive and once you’re up on this edge of the wave, there’s a natural happening that you start to fall over the edge and whether you are the reason for it, or whether it’s just a natural happening, it’s not always important and because the results have not been as great as some people have expected and even myself, yes, I would have loved to have better results but then the competition is very high and in this respect it’s a natural happening to not have the same positive feedback in the media. But you know, I know exactly what I’ve been doing, I know what’s been going on and I’ve no reason from my side to be disappointed, quite honestly. I still feel very happy. Whether people like it or not is their own choice.

Considering the situation that you explained very well, yesterday Fernando said that in his opinion you are still in the fight for the championship this year. Do you agree with him?
Michael: Indeed, yes, I do, because if you take the points system, and you have seen that Fernando had a retirement in Malaysia for whatever reason, it can happen to all of us. I had my retirement in Malaysia, so at one point in the season, most likely, that will hit the guys who are fighting for the championship. If we have a quick enough development pace, there’s no reason why we can’t fight for the championship, it’s far too early and there’s such a long season ahead. Development is so important, and we all know how fast the rate of development is. I’m pretty sure we have good potential to develop this car, so it’s far from feeling and thinking that this season is over, for Nico (Rosberg) and even for myself.

This is the second time you have been in Shanghai over the last four years; do you have any special feelings about this city and also for your professions here?
Michael: Well, it’s been a while that I have not been here, but it’s quite impressive to see the development. I stayed in town for a couple of nights and I’ve been around a little bit. It’s impressive to see this. It’s always been one of the Grands Prix you enjoy coming to because  the enthusiasm of the fans is pretty extreme, so the reception I got when I’ve arrived at the airport or when I arrived at the hotel has been interesting, so naturally we look forward to hopefully performing well for the fans that we have here.

This was the scene of your last Formula One victory before you retired in 2006. Could you talk about the last time you experienced that winning feeling, feeling what that race was like for you, memories of that race and perhaps how you could carry that forward into a lovely result on Sunday?
Michael: I’m not a person who looks too much into the past, quite honestly, so forgive me if that’s not in myself. I would rather look forward and have slightly better races than I have in the past two races, which were a bit out of my control. But the track and car and situation should be good enough to have a good race. The track is a little bit particular, because there are quite a few corners that, depending on whether you have a good balance in the car, are good fun. If your car struggles in terms of balance, you get really angry because in turn one or 13, it’s going to be a mess if you don’t have a good balance and it’s going to be great fun if things work out. It changes your emotion quite a lot.

Auto Hebdo (magazine)  reports rumours that Ferrari could be eyeing Renault’s Robert Kubica as a possible new teammate for Fernando Alonso in 2011.

When the Pole Kubica switched from BMW-Sauber at the end of 2009, it was suggested that he had signed a single-year contract in order to be free for 2011 to join his friend Alonso in the red garage.

Magazine Auto Hebdo, who said a preliminary agreement may already have been signed, made clear that its report was not an April Fool’s joke!

Massa’s contract runs out at the end of 2010, and Alonso told Italian media in Malaysia that he was not frustrated by having to follow the Brazilian to the chequered flag in Melbourne a week ago.

“Frustrated? No, because team orders are not allowed,” said the Spaniard.

GMM

The Brazilian pilot, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) declared he believes he’s going to have a “very good relationship ” with his new mate, the Spanish Fernando Alonso, because, in these first days he has already talked with him more than with Kimi Raikkonen in three years.”
“Things have begun very well; we have spoken a lot about the car and on what to do to make it competitive.  I have talked more with Fernando these days than with Kimi in three years.  Of course, that’s not difficult because Kimi doesn’t like to talk a lot, but I also worked very well with him, even without the need to talk,” clarified Massa in a press conference that took place in Madonna di Campiglio, where the Ferrari team 2010 ‘Wroom’ is being held.
Hence, the Brazilian considers that they can both “work very well together,” because the opposite would be “negative,” both for themselves and for the team.  ”We’re in a very important team.  We know what we have to do.  And we know that if we work well together we can have a better car in the racing track,” he added.
In this way, Massa wanted to clarify the questions that arose on how his relationship with the ‘Scuderia,’ would be, after the clashes between both pilots.  ”We have discussed the problems.  It’s similar to when you go and speak to your mother and once you tell her your feelings and ask her to forgive you, everything gets back to normal.  Personally, I don’t have any strange feelings or opinions towards Fernando,” he stated.

“I FEEL BETTER THAN PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT.”

On the other hand, the pilot from Rio de Janeiro made reference to his recovery following the accident he suffered last year in Hungary’s Grand Prix and which forced him to loose the last eight races.  Massa pointed out that he’s “very well,” that he’s had “a very good” recovery and that he’s even better than prior to the accident.”
“I’m motivated and looking forward to begin the year.  I’m also going through a very important moment in my life with the birth of my first son, ‘Felipinho’”, Massa said.  “My goal is to become world champion,” he made clear.
“Everybody knows I was frustrated because of 2008’s events, due to many things that revolved around the championship, and which I hope will never happen again in Formula One.  I want to fight and become world champion,” he declared sententiously.
Even though the Brazilian experienced tough moments after his accident, according to what he confessed, he never once thought of retiring.  ” I never thought I would have to stop competing; I was convinced that I could be back in Valencia, already.  The accident has not changed my approach on work and my way of thinking, because I’ve had to face many difficulties in my life and I have always learned a lot from them,” he explained.

“SCHUMACHER COMEBACK IS GOOD FOR FÓRMULA 1″.

Another topic that the Ferrari pilot touched was the comeback of his ex-mate, the German Michael Schumacher, who will reappear in the competition but now with Mercedes.  ”When he ran he was happier than when he didn’t.  His comeback is interesting and good for the racing sport,” he pronounced.
In addition, Massa described the German pilot as “a friend” and considers that it was “very important” for him to have him as a mate, because he helped him “to improve.”  “In the track we will fight one against the other, but outside the races our frienship continues;” he indicated.
Massa’s point of view is that ‘Schumi’ did a “perfect career, retiring in the right moment.”  ”Now, he has wanted to come back and it’s very difficult to tell if his decision is correct.  It will surely be strange to see him race for another team after running so many years in Ferrari, but just now, there were no more options for his comeback because the decision of who the two pilots will be has already been taken,” he specified.

“EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008 AND NOTHING IS GAINED BY LOOKING BACK.”

Finally, the Brazilian talked about the 2008 Singapore’s Gran Prix events, with the intentional accident brought about by ‘Nelsinho’ Piquet -who was then in Renault-, and which allowed Fernando Alonso to win, taking away some points from Massa which were later decisive for the championship’s result.  Lewis Hamilton would take the title with only one margin point with respect to Ferrari’s.
In the wake of the scandal, Renault’s former director, Flavio Briatore, was declared guilty by the FIA and banned for life for ordering Piquet’s accident.  The ban was recently overturned by the Paris Court.
“Honestly, if you see something that’s not alright in the racing sport, and that, one way or the other, goes against the rules, I don’t think it’s difficult to change the result, even if that would not be good for the sport,” Massa concluded.  “Everybody knows what happened and that nothing is gained by looking back:”