Ross Brawn revealed on Wednesday he missed the recent Spanish grand prix to have checks on his heart.

After handing over to his Mercedes deputy Nick Fry in Barcelona, fellow Briton Brawn is back in action as the team boss in Monte Carlo.

Rumours hinted there was more to the story, but Brawn insisted to a German newspaper earlier on Wednesday that he was simply advised by doctors to take the weekend off after a night in hospital for checks.

He then told reporters in Monaco his symptoms had been “arrhythmia”, or an irregular heartbeat, insisting he is “back to normal now”.

Brawn, 57, joked the heart problem was triggered by watching an exciting football game on television.

Ferrari has played down rumours it is close to immediately ousting Felipe Massa, insisting it is possible the struggling Brazilian will still be in a red car next year.

On Twitter, the famous Italian team said the latest rumours – including a claim that former Virgin driver Jerome d’Ambrosio is a candidate to replace Massa in 2012 – are “funny”.

But it was Ferrari itself who fuelled the speculation, publishing a statement on its website that read like a warning to Massa.

“It was a very carefully-worded statement, wasn’t it?” said Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

“The way this crazy season is going, I really would not be massively shocked if they ditched him mid-season.”

The Swiss newspaper Blick said Monaco next weekend could be the 30-year-old’s last chance to up his game.

And the candidates are lining up.

“Ferrari knows that I’m ready. If they need me or they want me, then they will call me,” Adrian Sutil, who accompanied his manager to last weekend’s Spanish grand prix, said.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo said some paddock pundits believe “the only reason” Massa still has its seat is because the “name Todt” – a reference not only to Massa’s manager Nicolas but to the FIA president – has a “protective arm” around him.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper this week: “Felipe has the full confidence of the team, starting with our president.

“We have not decided who will be our driver in 2013 but Felipe is not ruled out,” he insisted.

Indeed, while some believe Ferrari has hung a sword of Damocles above Massa’s head, others think the Maranello based team have been patient since the Paulista’s recovery from his near-fatal head injuries of 2009.

“We have no evidence that makes us think that Felipe has slowed down because of the accident. Zero,” Colajanni said.

F1 doctor Gary Hartstein agreed: “An experience like that (Hungary 2009) changes you, but you can’t say that’s why Felipe has not won again.”

Felipe Massa’s formula one career is on the brink of collapse.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali left Barcelona insisting he expects the struggling Brazilian to “fight back starting in Monaco”.

“We absolutely need his points to also fight for the constructors’ title,” he said.

Earlier, the Maranello based team said on Twitter that Ferrari is “disappointed with” the 30-year-old’s performance.

When asked about that comment, a Ferrari spokesman told the Sunday Times: “It was a poor choice of grammar. We are disappointed in the outcome of Felipe but not with Felipe himself.”

But the very latest development is that Ferrari is now making it abundantly clear that Massa needs to up his game immediately.

In a statement posted on its official website, Ferrari said Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso “has always maintained a very high level”.

As for Massa, his “drop off has made itself felt”, the report stated.

“The Brazilian had picked up 49 points two years ago and 24 the following year, while so far this season he has just 2,” said Ferrari.

“Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco grand prix”, the statement concluded.

Even Massa’s strongest supporters in Brazil, like the O Globo journalist Celso Itibere, admit the situation is dire.

“He is at risk,” said Itibere, “his decline is progressive, he is failing to react and he runs the real risk of not finishing the season.

“At this time Ferrari has no one to take the job. Everyone they would like to have there – Perez, Kobayashi, Webber – are not available.”

Tuesday’s edition of the Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport will report that Massa’s ousting is imminent.

And the latest edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport did not even once mention Massa’s name. “It is as though he does not exist,” wrote the Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“Yet it is an Italian newspaper, and he is a Ferrari driver.”

When asked if he fears for his F1 career, Massa said in Barcelona last weekend: “No. I live in the present. What will happen will happen.”

Asked if he is afraid another bad performance will seal his fate, Massa insisted: “I’m not afraid of anything, especially criticism. It doesn’t affect me.”

Bahrain, the controversial island Kingdom, could have been central to McLaren’s decision to agree the terms of the next Concorde Agreement.

Bahrain’s ruling family, through its investment arm Mumtalakat Holdings, owns half of the famous British team.

The Times’ F1 correspondent Kevin Eason quoted a source as saying the link “pushed (McLaren’s) Concorde deal over the line”.

In return for signing up, Bahrain reportedly received a “pledge” that last month’s highly contentious grand prix would go ahead.

Eason also said it is possible that one of McLaren’s two Bahraini directors, rather than the obvious choice Ron Dennis, could be appointed to the F1 board once the sport is floated on the Singapore exchange.

Bernie Ecclestone denied the 2012 Bahrain grand prix and the Concorde Agreement deal were linked.

“It was nothing to do with the Bahrain race (going ahead),” the F1 chief executive insisted. “But McLaren liked the deal.”

Intriguingly, however, F1′s post-stock market floatation chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has defended the controversial decision to push ahead with Bahrain last month.

“The race was exploited by the opposition in Bahrain, not vice versa,” he told the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. “That was not interpreted correctly by the media.

“If groups want to exploit sporting events for their interests, then the worst thing you can do is give way.”

Brabeck also compared Bahrain to England.

“In what countries are there no riots?” he asked rhetorically. “A year ago there were riots in London — should the Olympic Games now be cancelled?”

Michael Schumacher has dismissed the attempt to have Mercedes’ innovative ‘double-DRS’ system banned.

Having twice previously rejected rivals’ claims the concept is illegal, the FIA late on Thursday threw out Lotus’ official protest.

Seven time world champion Schumacher, who drives for Mercedes, admitted in China he doubts Lotus really thinks the system breaches any rules.

“If someone has a good idea, we always have this sort of dispute,” the famous German told Bild newspaper.

“It (the dispute is) because it’s going to take too long for the other teams to do the same thing. It’s the normal game,” said Schumacher.

It is believed McLaren and Sauber are working on their own versions of the double-DRS, as are the reigning world champions Red Bull.

“We have been working on it for some time,” a Red Bull source told O Estado de S.Paulo’s Livio Oricchio, “but it’s not easy to get even two small tubes down the entire length of the car, front to rear,” he admitted.

Oricchio said Ferrari is also working on a version, to debut no later than next month’s Spanish grand prix.

Amid France’s push to return to the F1 calendar, it appears Magny Cours is not yet out of the game.

Prime minister Francois Fillon, however, has earmarked Paul Ricard – the well-known test circuit at Le Castallet near Marseille – as the host.

But it was Magny Cours that hosted the French grand prix between 1991 and 2008.

The local Nievre department’s president Patrice Joly last week accused Fillon of “bias in favour of Le Castellet” for the 2013 deal.

He said Magny Cours has “all the facilities, infrastructure and expertise needed to organise such an event”.

Championing Magny Cours’ renewed push to host the 2013 French grand prix is Guy Ligier, the now 81-year-old Frenchman who once had his own formula one team based at the circuit.

“I am trying to lend a hand,” he confirmed to the sports daily L’Equipe.

“I have had Bernie (Ecclestone) on the phone several times, as a friend, and have asked for his advice. We talked about the hotel business around (Magny Cours).

“He said to me, ‘Guy, I know you’re in the know.’

“I have a feeling that Bernie is not going to sign anything before he knows the outcome of the presidential election.

“I’ll tell you honestly what I feel: nothing is lost for Magny Cours,” added Ligier.

Norbert Haug has the ‘F-duct’ debate around by admitting he questions the exhaust solution featured on this year’s McLaren car.

Some teams – notably Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari – have complained loudly about the W03′s aerodynamic configuration, arguing the F-duct ban completely ruled out similar systems that are triggered by a driver’s movement.

Mercedes argues that its new F-duct is entirely passive and is triggered not by the driver but by the activation of the ‘DRS’ rear wing system.

So far, the FIA agrees, but it has led to suggestions Mercedes is only performing in qualifying because of its questionable F-duct, before struggling in the race when DRS use is much more limited.

“We have to live with that,” Mercedes’ motor racing chief Haug is quoted by Sport Bild, “until we are faster in the race, but it’s not true that we do not have a good car.

“We are a serious team that has to pretend nothing; we have prepared well in winter testing.”

Team boss Ross Brawn said recently he suspects all the fuss about Mercedes’ F-duct is a diversion when it comes to the exhaust solutions taken by some of his rivals in the wake of the blown diffuser clampdown.

Haug agrees that championship leader McLaren’s solution, for example, is “probably not what they (the FIA) had in mind when the blown diffuser was banned”.

But he also said Mercedes is not threatening to protest the “clever” British team.

“It is quite legitimate that we ask the FIA for a clarification, otherwise we could be missing a trick.

“It’s part of the game,” he explains.

Fernando Alonso was spared the Italian media’s wrath after Ferrari opened its 2012 campaign with the troubled F2012 car.
“Alonso once again saved Ferrari from disaster,” said the authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport, after the Spanish driver drove the car to fifth place in Australia.

The under-pressure Felipe Massa’s opening race, however, “was a nightmare”, the daily newspaper added.

Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver who is now a media analyst, also praised fellow Spaniard Alonso.

“For Ferrari, it is an unique advantage to have a driver like Fernando Alonso,” he told El Mundo newspaper.

“He did a sensational Sunday, with intelligence and ambition, which will push and raise the team, I’m sure.”

Alonso remains confident.

“There may be cars quicker than us now,” he is quoted by Britain’s Daily Mail, “but it’s like Manchester United or Chelsea who play badly for a game but still win 1-0.

“Before this race we were working 24 hours (a day),” Alonso is quoted by Marca, “now it must be 25.”

The Spanish press, however, is livid.

“The fifth place is really a miracle,” said the sports daily Marca. “The car is ridiculous, rendering the team a midfielder.”

Jenson Button, meanwhile, received universal praise from the international press corps, as did the fact that Red Bull’s dominance appears to have been knocked by McLaren.

“That’s good news for everybody except (Sebastian) Vettel,” insisted Corriere dello Sport.

The fight, however, has just begun.

“Vettel turned the middling new Red Bull into a good race car,” said Gazzetta, referring to the German’s performance on Sunday, “which is a warning to the opposition.

“He is still the world champion, and he will be hunting his first triumph of the year in Sepang.”

Tuttosport, meanwhile, said Mercedes – which until Sunday’s race was the talk of the Melbourne paddock – was the “big disappointment” of the 2012 opener.

 With one race down out of twenty, F1 teams are now hopping from Australia to Malaysia where the new pecking-order will be immediately tested on a more conventional circuit.
Some paddock cynics suspect McLaren – having dominated qualifying in Melbourne before Jenson Button cruised to victory – played a deft hand of bluff in the winter season in order to persuade Red Bull its former dominance remained intact.

New 2012 championship leader Button, however, insists the British team was surprised in Australia.

“It wasn’t bullshit at all,” he said late on Sunday.

“I actually did pinch myself in the race just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“After qualifying I looked across at Lewis (Hamilton) and said ‘Did you think we would be that quick?’, and he was like ‘No’.”

Another possibility is that, while quick, McLaren may not be dominant.

“We knew from winter testing that McLaren were competitive but I think our race pace was every bit the equal of theirs today,” said Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner, after a betting showing for the reigning champions on Sunday compared to qualifying.

“Malaysia is a very different prospect from here. Here it is short turns, bumpy, not a lot of high-speed corners.

“But Malaysia offers that variant, so I think it will be interesting to see how quick they are in Malaysia,” he added.

Mark Webber was also relieved on Sunday, after a troubled earlier evening.

“It’s never nice to know you might be out of the ball game,” said the Australian, referring to Red Bull’s qualifying performance, “but clearly we are not.”

Yet another possibility is that McLaren will extend their winning streak into Malaysia.

“The Barcelona test showed us that we are better than Red Bull in the fast corners. Their (Red Bull’s) advantage is in traction,” McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Agreed Mercedes’ Ross Brawn: “We could see that the McLaren improved significantly with the introduction of their new aerodynamic specification in Barcelona.”

But the German team’s Norbert Haug warned before leaving Melbourne: “We could see something quite different in Malaysia.”

Livio Oricchio, the correspondent for Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, agreed: “It is prudent to wait and see what happens now in Malaysia.

“It’s a permanent circuit, much more in line with most of the circuits on the calendar.

“But it seems unlikely that we will see something radically different to what we saw in Australia,” he conceded.

 Many team bosses reportedly left the Melbourne paddock angry late on Sunday, amid claims Ferrari and Red Bull have agreed special deals for F1′s future beyond the current Concorde Agreement.
Rumours of the top teams’ deal – part of a reportedly planned $10 billion stock market floatation of the sport – began to swirl following the publication and then retraction of a Sky News internet report.

The report was reportedly based on a leaked copy of the draft 2013 Concorde Agreement, which according to London’s Telegraph newspaper “could hand Ferrari a direct stake in the sport”.

Red Bull, the reigning champions, “also stand to make a huge sum”, the report claimed, adding that the energy drink-owned team as well as Ferrari will be asked to nominate directors for F1′s holding company board.

Team boss Christian Horner revealed Red Bull is “in discussions with FOM” about a new Concorde Agreement, adding that talks are “progressing reasonably well”.

How the other major teams – like FOTA members McLaren and Mercedes – fit into the picture is unclear at present, but the Times newspaper reports that there are “no seats” at the boardroom table allocated for them.

An unnamed senior team executive described the rumoured special deals for Ferrari and Red Bull as “outrageous” and “against every facet of European competition law”.

Ferrari declined to comment.

Horner added: “We want one (a Concorde Agreement) which reaches into the future … a floatation is really down to the shareholders.

“It is not really the teams’ business,” he added. “It is more of a question for Bernie (Ecclestone) or CVC.”

Many paddock insiders, however, believe the deals are already done in principle, leading one angry rival team boss to blast: “Formula one stopped being about racing a long time ago”.

“There will be an end game to this,” he added. “We just have to figure out what it is and what it means for the people in the teams who want to go racing and not be involved in this kind of thing.”

Heikki Kovalainen had heads turning in the F1 paddock on Thursday as he revealed his all-red helmet for 2012.
The Caterham driver and Finn’s new helmet is in the style of the bright red bird from the popular webgame app ‘Angry Birds’, which is developed by the Finnish company Rovio.

“The helmet looks amazing,” said the company’s Harri Koponen.

 Flavio Briatore has hit out at formula one by suggesting “any top driver” would have won last year’s title with the 2011 Red Bull.
“It’s only a real show now when it rains,” the former Renault team boss told Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

Briatore, 61, blames the huge role played by technology.

“If you were to take GP2 cars and put the 6 world champions in them, it would be more fun,” he insisted.

“The car is now made in the wind tunnel, the engineers aren’t even at the circuits and they spend 200 million euros making identical machines.

“Last year, the championship was over after the first race, and this will be the same; McLaren are two tenths from Red Bull, Mercedes three, and Ferrari and Lotus 4 to 7.

“Two tenths is like 2-0 behind in a football game. In F1, the Messi is Alonso, but if his car is not competitive, he is going nowhere.”

 Bruno Senna has confirmed reports he has signed with Williams for a single season only.
We reported recently that the former HRT and Renault driver, reportedly taking EUR 14 million in sponsorship to the famous Oxfordshire based team, is guaranteed the seat for 2012 only.

With countryman Felipe Massa’s Ferrari contract also expiring this year, the situation raises the prospect that there will be no Brazilians in F1 in 2013.

“All drivers, Brazilian or not, have great pressure to deliver results,” Senna is quoted by Agencia Estado.

“Of course it is very important to have Brazilians in formula one, but we always do the best we can, regardless of the duration of the contract.

“I think this is the beginning of my career, as with a good job this year, we can extend the contract and, god willing, keep on getting better in the future,” he added.

“Last year at this time all I could do was work on my fitness, but now I am driving the car, working with the engineers in the team and doing everything else that has made all the difference in this preseason.

“I have got to this stage of the championship with a preparation probably better than last year when I finished the race in Brazil,” he added.

The 28-year-old said Williams’ target for this season is to score points regularly, after a woeful 2011.

“All the teams have taken a leap forward; I think Force India, Toro Rosso and Sauber are strong,” said the Brazilian.

“Lotus seems to be strong, Mercedes as well. Ferrari do not seem to have the performance, unless they are hiding their game.

“It seems like McLaren and Red Bull are a little in front of everyone.

“I think the big surprise has been Caterham, who seem to have a reasonable performance. So it’ll be very interesting to see what will happen,” added Senna.

Kimi Raikkonen ended the 2012 pre-season with this year’s fastest Barcelona laptime, but the Finn is not yet predicting a win in Melbourne at the end of next weekend.
“No one will know how fast any of the cars are until we get to qualifying at Albert Park,” said the returning 2007 world champion.

Lotus – fast at Jerez and also at the Circuit de Catalunya – is expected to trail pacesetters Red Bull and McLaren this season.

Yet in reality, the situation is deliberately clouded: Red Bull had a bad final day of testing on Sunday, but when he was running, rivals expected Sebastian Vettel’s RB8 was brimmed with fuel.

And when he came into the pits, there was the odd sight of team mechanics using large umbrellas to hide the car’s newly-added secrets, including the sidepod exhaust.

“I think that’s a question for Charlie Whiting,” said Ferrari’s technical director Pat Fry when asked about the legality of the solution.

Even so, Red Bull’s position of dominance seems to have been somewhat eroded for 2012, with Mercedes chief Ross Brawn suggesting the RB8 is closely matched by its rivals unless the team has been “running a huge amount of fuel”.

Sebastian Vettel told DPA news agency: “McLaren are strong. Mercedes are definitely stronger than last year and Lotus and perhaps some other teams should not be forgotten — Sauber, Force India.

“Ferrari seem to be having some difficulties,” added the reigning world champion.

World champion Vettel’s final comment appears undoubtedly true, with the famous Italian team’s drivers oddly banned from speaking with the media while technical boss Fry confessed that all is not well.

“I’m always pessimistic,” said the Briton, who said a podium for Ferrari in Melbourne is not likely. “I’m disappointed with our performance at the moment.”

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, ignored his media muzzle and told Spanish television at a football game: “In the first races we will suffer — we are not yet at 100 per cent.

“We’re not in as good shape as (Barcelona players) Messi and Iniesta,” he is quoted by Barca TV.

But for now, it’s all talk, and so the reticent Raikkonen summed it up well: “Like I said, I don’t know, probably no one does,” he is quoted by Germany’s Sport1.

“In two weeks, we’ll know.”

The precise pecking-order is clouded, but one thing is clear: 2012 looks set to be a highly competitive season in formula one.
“There are a lot of cars out there that look competitive,” said McLaren’s Jenson Button, on the day Williams’ Pastor Maldonado set the quickest time in the midst of the second group test in Barcelona.

Earlier this week, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was the pacesetter, causing Mercedes’ Norbert Haug to tell Bild newspaper: “That’s great.”

“I didn’t expect that,” agreed world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hulkenberg smiled: “‘Test champion’ gives me nothing. But I am in good shape.”

Vettel continued to Kleine Zeitung newspaper: “This year everything is closer together”, he said, after his teammate Mark Webber admitted there is “no question” Red Bull needs to keep working on the pace of its new RB8.

According to Die Welt newspaper, Vettel continued: “Most of the competitors are difficult to assess. It’s the same old game.”

He is referring to unknown fuel levels, tyre age and differing approaches and programmes — and teams’ deliberate sandbagging or ‘show-run’ efforts.

“I never paid too much attention to direct comparisons on headline laptimes,” insisted David Coulthard, “but on the longer runs you can start to build a picture.”

Williams engineer Mark Gillan told Auto Motor und Sport: “It seems as though the entire field has moved much closer together. It will be a tough fight.”

An early assessment of the pecking order might have Red Bull and McLaren at the front, and Mercedes and Lotus possibly ready to join the fight.

“It looks like Red Bull are fairly stable,” Coulthard agreed to Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency, “(and) McLaren and Mercedes maybe closer than they were.

“Ferrari is a bit of an unknown but I wouldn’t write them off. Let’s be patient, another three weeks of tweaking and then we’ll find out,” said the former McLaren and Red Bull driver.