Flavio Briatore could be readying to burst back into formula one.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the ousted and formerly banned Italian is busily writing regulations for a ‘GP1′ championship.

They could be adopted should the FIA not sign up to the 2013 Concorde Agreement, according to the report.

Apparently, the political rumblings in F1 at present are not limited to the sport’s planned floatation, or Bernie Ecclestone’s spat with Mercedes.

Cost-control is also a buzzword. As reported recently, the vast majority of F1′s teams want the FIA to enshrine cost-cutting in the actual sporting regulations, even to the point of pushing for a once highly-controversial budget cap.

F1 chief executive Ecclestone, however, is not famously close with the FIA’s new president Jean Todt, and according to Auto Motor und Sport he is not convinced that the Paris federation needs to write and control the rules.

Enter Briatore. The German report said Ferrari will be a fan of the former Renault chief’s rumoured regulations, as they steer away from the premium on aerodynamics.

It is possible formula one teams will be limited to a budget cap in 2013, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The budget cap idea saw the sport almost implode amid the bitter political war of 2009, when proposed by controversial former FIA president Max Mosley.

But it is back on the agenda in 2012, and according to new rules – where a majority of teams can now push through a change – it could be imposed next season.

“Ten of the 12 teams are in favour,” Auto Motor und Sport said, referring to the push to have cost-cutting moved from the FOTA gentleman’s agreement to the actual sporting regulations.

It means that the two dissenting teams, the Red Bull-owned Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, will have no say.

“The cost to be competitive in formula one at present is too high,” the boss of the energy drink company’s premier team, Christian Horner, said recently. “I don’t think anybody will dispute that.

“The debate is how we achieve it.”

Not only that, the German report said nine teams are in favour of Mosley’s old budget cap idea, with annual expenditure limited initially to EUR 170 million and then diminishing to 100 million over a few seasons.

A spat between two Britons could drive the German giant Mercedes out of formula one, according to a new media report.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone recently confirmed he is at loggerheads with Mercedes over the next Concorde Agreement.

But at the same time, he insisted that the Stuttgart marque is “very important to formula one. I have always supported them and I will always,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Indeed, Mercedes has its own and newly-winning works team, powers the marquee McLaren outfit, and also supplies engines to Force India.

Ecclestone’s dispute is with fellow Englishman Ross Brawn, who is the Brackley based Mercedes GP team’s principal.

“I have spoken to the team manager (Brawn) about it (the dispute) and he seems to believe that the team has won a few world titles and about 80 races since the Tyrrell days,” said the 81-year-old.

Sport Bild reports that Ecclestone is refusing to give in to Brawn’s demands for extra Concorde Agreement entitlements for past title successes and history.

The magazine said the relationship has become so intense that Ecclestone has even refused to give a joint interview with Brawn.

“He (Brawn) was never very nice to me,” the F1 ‘supremo’ is quoted as saying.

The German report said there is a risk Mercedes will, as a result of the ‘ice age’ between the British duo, pull the plug on its entire F1 involvement.

He does not agree with the seven time world champion, but Norbert Haug insists he can understand Michael Schumacher’s criticism of the current generation of Pirelli tyre.

Mercedes driver Schumacher slammed F1′s official supplier after last Sunday’s Bahrain grand prix, saying the 2012 tyres degrade so quickly that they are not good enough for the pinnacle of motor racing.

“We drive around like the safety car. It is not a satisfying situation,” he said.

Schumacher’s boss Haug, however, does not fully agree, insisting Pirelli has contributed to a “very great competition” in 2012 featuring “very good races”.

“Of course, for a driver, there is always a certain frustration when you think you could be going faster, but you are having to be careful,” Haug told German reporters including Sport1.

“That’s just the nature of the racer,” he added.

Haug said Schumacher’s comments also prove that Mercedes does not muzzle its drivers, who may freely express their personal opinions.

Tyres. The political dramas aside, that word utterly dominated the Bahrain grand prix weekend.

Afterwards, Michael Schumacher admitted he was “unhappy” with the situation.

“Sometimes we are driving only 60, 70 per cent through the corners,” he is quoted by Bild newspaper.

Pirelli did not take the criticism lightly, insisting it has made Canada 2010-style, heavily degrading tyres to order, for the benefit of the ‘show’.

Motor sport director Paul Hembery on Monday ‘re-Tweeted’ a message from a follower accusing the seven time world champion of having thrown “his toys out of the pram”.

Moreover, Pirelli said Bahrain is perhaps “the most demanding” on the entire calendar when it comes to degradation.

“As a result, knowing how to manage the tyres and contain thermal degradation was a vital skill” on Sunday, the Italian marque said in a statement.

On Twitter, The Times’ correspondent Kevin Eason called Bahrain an “excellent race, although I am not sure we haven’t moved from tyre management to lottery”.

The roulette wheel didn’t spin up for McLaren – the team with arguably the best overall car so far in 2012 – on Sunday.

“Nobody has added a second to their cars in just a week after China,” lamented Jenson Button, “but here we were a second off the pace.”

His boss Martin Whitmarsh told Auto Motor und Sport: “Maybe it was the pressures, maybe the temperatures. We really don’t know.”

The German reporter said Whitmarsh’s comment indicates an “uncomfortable realisation” for such a scientifically meticulous team.

Whitmarsh agreed: “It is now more important to understand the tyres than to find a bit more downforce.”

The tyre marque’s test driver Jaime Alguersuari told Mundo Deportivo newspaper that Pirelli deserves credit, not criticism.

“Pirelli is largely responsible for making F1 the most spectacular it has been in a decade,” said the young Spaniard.

Narain Karthikeyan has revealed he is sick and tired of what could be described as ‘cucumber-gate’.

After the Indian collided with Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia three weeks ago, he was twice shown the middle finger, and called a “gherkin” and “idiot” by the reigning world champion.

But that’s when the real fuss began, as the world’s media became involved — a mischievous German reporter even presented Karthikeyan with a cucumber in China.

“It’s done and I would have preferred for it to stay private,” he is quoted by the SID news agency.

But the affair is threatening to drag on even longer, with Vettel telling reporters in Shanghai that Karthikeyan had apologised to him.

He did not say if he has apologised himself.

“Sebastian can say what he likes,” HRT driver Karthikeyan responded.

He said the incident had become an affair of “unbelievable proportions”.

“It’s crazy; I was questioned about it day and night,” he said.

“It’s become too much — I don’t want to talk about it anymore and I’d prefer if I never even thought about it again.”

As ever in the high-intrigue world of formula one politics, what is not said always has more value that what is freedly revealed.
That is doubly true if the shrewd Bernie Ecclestone is at the steering wheel.

Firstly, while some interpreted Saturday’s news as a 2013 Concorde Agreement being done and dusted, the F1 chief executive’s short statement in fact merely said “the terms” of the next contract have been agreed.

And the major keyword was that “the majority” of the teams – including Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull – are on board.

“Bernie’s used the word majority,” McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by the Mirror. “If there are 12 teams, that’s seven or more.

“I don’t know any more.”

The big missing domino is Mercedes, who according to multiple media sources are holding out for now.

Another is the famous British outfit Williams.

“All agreements between FOM and the teams are normally subject to confidentiality clauses,” Red Bull’s Christian Horner is quoted in German reports.

“So I can’t comment.”

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported that, in addition to the aforementioned top teams, also set to sign up for 2013 are Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso and Ferrari-powered Sauber.

Lotus and Force India are reportedly also part of that group.

That leaves just the three slowest teams Caterham, Marussia and HRT as the other teams remaining in the cold.

The problem with Lotus’ 2012 chassis is the front suspension mountings, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport has revealed.
The former Renault team pulled out of this week’s Barcelona test when the flaw with its E20 design was discovered, but officials have kept quiet about the details.

Kimi Raikkonen, who was never able to drive the car at the demanding Circuit de Catalunya this week, reportedly suspected there was an issue recently at Jerez, when he reported to engineers an odd feeling relating to the steering.

“It transpires that the problem area is where the front suspension is attached,” said the German report.

Auto Motor und Sport said Lotus last year recruited a carbon fibre specialist from Red Bull, who perhaps set a too-ambitious target with the aim of reducing the new car’s weight.

Lotus did not confirm the report.

“The good news,” said journalist Michael Schmidt, “is that the E20 will be operational to re-start testing next week on time.”

 F1 grandees Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso have refused to predict they will be in the running for this year’s world title.
An early analysis of the winter test running in Spain might have Red Bull and McLaren at the front, with Mercedes and Lotus possibly challenging Ferrari for the position of F1′s ‘third power’ in 2012.

“I think it’s too far away,” back to back world champion Vettel, referring to the three week gap until Melbourne, told German reporters.

“At the moment we do not know where we all are, which is why I don’t want to talk about the first race or the championship.”

Agreed Alonso: “I think it’s wrong to try to figure out in February if you are going to have a successful season or not. We don’t know,” he is quoted by AS newspaper.

“The feelings I have are that we are faster than the Giulietta,” he smiled, referring to the Alfa Romeo road car.

“I don’t know. Red Bull seems to be strong but we will not know how much until we get to Melbourne,” said Alonso.

According to Finland’s MTV3, McLaren’s Jenson Button added: “I don’t think Red Bull will have the same kind of head start they had at the beginning of last season.

“But Sebastian is of course the favourite, as he should be — he won the past two championships.”

 Alongside step noses, clever exhausts and Lotus’ surprise pace, another point of interest in the Jerez paddock this week is Mercedes’ radical front wing.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the German team, albeit still running its 2011 car, tested a new front wing featuring a passive F-duct style system.

In Nico Rosberg’s hands, the W02 was quickest of all on Thursday, just as it had been when Michael Schumacher was driving earlier.

The German report said air enters Mercedes’ revolutionary nose at the tip, where it is rechanneled onto the front wing.

Auto Motor und Sport said McLaren Whitmarsh estimates the top speed benefit of the system, which first appeared on the Mercedes in prototype form late last season, to be around 5 and 8kph.

“For the front wing, there are no (F-duct) rules,” said the Auto Motor und Sport report. “It is legal.”

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz was in the Jerez paddock on Thursday, checking out his team’s progress and also the new cars fielded by rivals Ferrari and McLaren.

“Now we are all waiting for Mercedes,” he said.

Adrian Sutil insists he has not been ousted by Force India.
Reports are growing strength that the German, who has been with the Silverstone based team since its Spyker days, will be replaced in the race seat next year by Nico Hulkenberg.

Boss Vijay Mallya, however, will not be making the 2012 driver announcement until mid December.

“Vijay has told me that there has been no decision yet and that the (Hulkenberg) news is not right.

“I have no reason to disbelieve him as he has always been open and honest with me,” Sutil told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The magazine, however, is convinced that Sutil’s “marriage to his long-time employer seems over”, with new team co-owner Sahara meaning Force India is “no longer dependent on Sutil’s sponsors”.

His only alternative for 2012 appears to be Williams, with Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann reportedly ruling out a switch to Lotus, Virgin or HRT.

Renault has a vacancy for next year, but Sutil remains locked in a legal dispute with that team’s co-owner Eric Lux.

For its driver choice, Williams is in a position of luxury, with Sutil but also Rubens Barrichello and apparently Kimi Raikkonen all keen on the seat alongside Pastor Maldonado.

Auto Motor und Sport said 2007 world champion Raikkonen has tired of rallying, has some sponsorship in tow and is “training hard” for his F1 comeback.

“A quick decision by Williams, as hoped for by Sutil, is not likely,” said the German report.

Virgin will not be using KERS technology in 2012.
Another of the new-in-2010 teams, Team Lotus, has announced that from next season it will be using the kinetic energy recovery system developed by Red Bull.

“We have done the very best job we can this year but without that extra power we are always competing on a different level to the teams ahead,” said team boss Tony Fernandes.

Virgin is also making efforts to catch the more established teams, including by hiring the highly experienced ‘crashgate’ engineer Pat Symonds.

“My impression of him is very good,” driver Timo Glock told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Symonds’ attention to detail is already becoming apparent, with the switch from steel to titanium pitstop jacks, and the use of laser technology for pitstop positioning, seen for the first time in Singapore.

The German report also said the 60 per cent scale model of Virgin’s 2012 car is now complete and will enter the McLaren wind tunnel at the end of next month.

But Glock reportedly confirmed that, when complete, the car will not feature a KERS system.

And he warned: “I don’t think that by the first race of next year we will make a big jump. There just isn’t enough time. But for the start of the European season we are planning a major update.”

Not everyone is impressed with Silverstone’s new pit and paddock complex.

For 2011, the famous Copse corner is no longer at the start of the lap, with the new ‘Wing’ buildings and pitlane making their grand prix debut this weekend.

“Silverstone has lost a bit of his character,” Michael Schumacher told Auto Motor und Sport.

Agreed Nick Heidfeld: “I liked it before and don’t understand why it had to change.”

The German report said the new media centre is “a windowless bunker”, and Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio agreed: “As at Spa, we can’t see the circuit. It makes no sense.”

There is also a ten-metre stretch of grass between the garages and pitlane and the pitwall. “We could play golf on it,” laughed Rubens Barrichello.

David Coulthard also pointed out a “major oversight” in the design of the pitlane.

“The architects in their wisdom designed it lower than the pitwall so the fans in the grandstands may not be able to watch what is happening in the pits,” he wrote in his Telegraph column.

As for the new turn one, however, the drivers are mainly happy.

“Before, we had a flat out corner after the start and by Beckett’s the field was already pretty well sorted for the first braking,” said Lewis Hamilton.

“Now we start with two quick corners but enough space for two cars side by side, and the first braking is much closer to the start. So I expect some position-changing when we’re braking for turn 3.”

The blown exhaust clampdown, taking effect this weekend at Silverstone, could blow the wind out of Red Bull’s sails.

That is the suspicion of Nick Heidfeld, who admits to wondering why the team’s management has been so publicly outspoken in its criticism of the FIA’s mid-season move.

“Maybe they suddenly found that they will lose more than they thought at first,” the Renault driver is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

The German report said Red Bull, as well as its engine supplier Renault, have fought tooth and nail with the governing body over the issue, arguing until mere hours ago about just how comprehensive the FIA clampdown should be.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso sounds more resigned than Heidfeld.

“I do not expect much, really,” the Spaniard is quoted by Diario Sport. “They (Red Bull) have a very elaborate the efficient package that will go well on all tracks and in all conditions.”

Nick Heidfeld has been selected to drive in injured Robert Kubica’s place this season, according to a German report.

Lotus-sponsored Renault has already announced that German Heidfeld, 33, will be testing at Jerez this weekend, but only as “a potential replacement” for car number 9.

But the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung claims grand prix veteran Heidfeld will also be racing in March and beyond.

The newspaper said he has had a seat fitting for the R31 at Enstone.

A Renault source told Bild: “(Vitaly) Petrov is relatively inexperienced. In order to exhaust the full potential of the car, we definitely need a strong and experienced man.

“And the team has already been talking with Heidfeld in the past years,” added the source.

Indeed, Heidfeld was a contender for the race seat alongside Kubica this year, as Renault earlier considered ousting Petrov.

But for the moment, Renault is not confirming the news.

A spokesman told DPA news agency that it would be “inappropriate” to take a decision “while Kubica is still in intensive care”.

And it is still rumoured that Tonio Liuzzi could be called up for an evaluation for the Barcelona test.

“We must wait for the Jerez tests now, and thankfully the Barcelona ones too,” confirmed team owner Gerard Lopez.

Referring to Heidfeld specifically, he added: “We all know that Nick is rather good, but we don’t know what level he is in now, we don’t know how he does with our car.

“Same goes for Vitantonio Liuzzi, same goes – I don’t know – for Bruno Senna, who last year was in a team with a car that could do nothing,” said Lopez.

Nico Hulkenberg’s manager Willi Weber, however, is convinced: “Nick Heidfeld is going to race,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.