Valencia will not be on next year’s F1 calendar, Bernie Ecclestone said on Saturday.

He confirmed that, starting in 2013, an annually alternating deal between the Spanish port city and Barcelona will begin.

Barcelona, the scene of this weekend’s Spanish grand prix, will host the race in 2013, before Valencia returns to the schedule in 2014, the F1 chief executive told Reuters.

Less secure, meanwhile, is France’s touted spot on the 2013 calendar, particularly with the country’s new anti-F1 president Francois Hollande now taking power.

Until recently, the F1 chief executive was saying Paul Ricard was set to join the 2013 calendar, annually alternating a race date with Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps.

As for the state of the deal now, the 81-year-old admitted: “I have no idea. No idea what they (France) are doing.

“It’s a funny arrangement they were making anyway. So I just don’t know.”

Ecclestone is also working on a new deal for the popular Canadian grand prix, having told promoter Francois Dumontier that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve needs to be upgraded.

“There are two ways of looking at it,” Dumontier, in the paddock of the Circuit de Catalunya, is quoted by La Presse newspaper.

“Either Bernie requires an annual fee windfall, or he will charge a reasonable fee and ask in return for investment in the infrastructure.”

He said the contract on the table is for 10 more years, taking Montreal’s existing deal through 2024.

Ecclestone said on Saturday that he is sure an agreement will be reached, because Canada is one of F1′s most loved destinations.

“I remember saying to Bernie, ‘New York, Austin, I don’t know why you want to go there. Your sure bet is Montreal’. He knows that.

“He’s been in Montreal for 34 years. And in the 22 years of the grands prix in the United States, they’ve had eight different cities.

“He said ‘You’re right’,” added Dumontier.

Another rumour, repeated by The Times’ Kevin Eason on Saturday, is that the planned 2014 Russian grand prix in Sochi “is doomed”.

Montreal has been warned to spend around $15 million on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or risk losing the Canadian grand prix.

La Presse reports that Bernie Ecclestone has said only a major redevelopment of the circuit will lead to talks about a new contract beyond 2014.

The report said that, in light of the F1 chief executive’s warning, Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay has appealed to higher levels of government for the necessary money.

“Negotiations are underway between the three levels of government and the bodies of formula one”, the report said.

Race promoter Francois Dumontier told RDS: “It’s premature to talk about this.

“There are still two years to go on the current contract. We have started talking, but that it’s out now I find excessive. Honestly, I don’t know where it’s come from.”

He added: “Given that the permanent installations of the circuit, including the control tower and the garages, are nearly 25 years old, it is likely that their repair is an important element in the negotiations for an extension to the current agreement.

“But it seems to me to be premature to talk specific sums.”

Ferrari’s title tilt could hinge on the competitiveness of the updated F2012 this weekend in Barcelona.

“What I want is to have a competitive car in Barcelona,” insisted the famous Italian marque’s president Luca di Montezemolo on Tuesday.

“That’s what I’ve asked for,” he is quoted as saying by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

Ferrari had congregated at its Fiorano test track, to watch Jacques Villeneuve drive the 1979 single seater to mark the 30th anniversary of his father Gilles’ fatal crash.

But Montezemolo’s disappointment is with the latest Ferrari, which has been heavily updated since the Bahrain grand prix three weeks ago.

“Our technicians are confident, but we will have to see how our opponents have advanced too,” he added.

O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio claimed “Montezemolo knows” that anything other than a big step forward in Barcelona will mean Ferrari has to “start thinking about” its 2013 project instead.

“Now we have to make a quantum leap, to have a car that is more competitive, less difficult to drive, and gives confidence to the fans,” Montezemolo is quoted by La Stampa newspaper.

“Let’s see how it goes in Spain,” he told Rai television.

“I have asked for an extraordinary response from our engineers,” Montezemolo is also quoted as saying by Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, quoted lead driver Fernando Alonso as saying: “Our goal is to be world champions in November, and if we are to succeed then we must do better than we have done so far.”

Team boss Stefano Domenicali agreed: “We expect a significant evolution that will bring us closer to the step we need.

“The Spanish grand prix is definitely open, as is the championship. I say this because we believe.”

Luca di Montezemolo has revealed he would be happy to see Porsche on the formula one grid.

According to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Ferrari president made the comments about the German sports car maker this week at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

“I have a lot of respect for Porsche, which I consider to be the main rival for some of our cars. Competition is always welcome, especially when you’re sure you’ll win,” said the Italian.

Unfortunately for Montezemolo, Porsche is unlikely to be seen on the grand prix grids at least in the foreseeable future.

Also at the Frankfurt show, Porsche’s chief executive Matthias Muller said: “Formula one is still not interesting for us.

“It is simply too expensive and doesn’t offer enough in exchange, especially for spectators,” he added, according to Automotive News Europe.

Meanwhile, Montezemolo welcomed Sebastian Vettel’s admission at Monza last weekend that he would like one day to experience winning the Italian grand prix in a “red suit”.

“I can understand Vettel,” he said. “He’s an intelligent person with good taste and he knows what Ferrari stands for, with all due respect to the other teams.”

Montezemolo also appeared to comment on the appointment at new F1 supplier Pure of Gilles Simon, who after designing engines for Ferrari most recently headed the FIA’s engine department.

The Italian suggested he is worried Simon is taking up his new role having worked closely with the existing engine manufacturers on their V6 designs for 2014.

“It is not right that a technician can have the ability to pass on confidential information,” Montezemolo, not referring specifically to Simon, is quoted by Italy’s Autosprint.

Jun.17 (GMM) Recent championship leaders Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton disagree about the likely direction of the 2010 season.

After winning the Turkish and Canadian grands prix in the wake of Red Bull’s earlier dominance, McLaren driver Hamilton said the fight for the title is “tight”.

The statistics so far appear to support his argument, given the five different race winners and the fact they are all separated by just 19 points.

“So it’s the ultimate challenge I’ve experienced in formula one, perhaps in formula one history,” the Briton added.

Australian Webber, however, predicts that the current five-driver championship fight will ultimately become a more regular head-to-head as the season winds down.

“Last year,” the Red Bull driver told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, “Jenson won many races at the beginning. But that’s not usually what happens.

“It is more often the case that until mid-season there are three to five drivers all together.

“70 per cent in there will probably be only three or so in it, and with a few races to go it becomes a duel,” Webber predicted.

“Perhaps the champion will even be known before the last race.”

The 33-year-old also played down suggestions that, given the outcome of the Montreal race, McLaren is now the pacesetter.

Red Bull had predicted after Turkey that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve would not suit the RB6.

“Valencia is another track on which we might not be so good,” said Webber. “But we surprised ourselves in Canada when we were more competitive than we thought we would be.”

Sebastien Buemi drove for the first time in Canada and took a strong eighth four points. After a poor qualifying (starting 15th) are considered the Toro Rosso driver out of all the skirmishes and even led the race at the meantime. This was the 14th since July 1979 when Clay Regazzoni won on a Williams at Silverstone, the first time a Swiss at the top of a Grand Prix. With this result, outdated Toro Rosso this exact Williams team in the constructors’ standings.

“I’ve been to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, known only by the simulator,” said Buemi. “But really to go out is a different story. I like the track very much, because the atmosphere is unique. Nevertheless, our engineers prepared the runway was quite an headache, because the tire situation very critical and provided all with a challenge.”
Despite the strong performance of the 21-year-old remains on the ground of reality. “We have achieved the result with a little luck. The team has worked very well, however, and the strategy was excellent. The biggest problem lies in qualifying. We were even further behind the two Williams. It is clear that we are competitive in the race. We must continue in the top-10 or start the top-12. I think both the team and the drivers do not bring out the maximum from a fresh set of tires. With a full complement of fuel car, we bring the tires much better in the work window. ”

Now, the journey to Valencia, where Buemi had last year with a broken brake disc up early. This season, the direction is clear: “It is obviously difficult before the first practice to make a prediction. Our main aim is qualifying as close as possible to the top 10 to come. We want to take the positive momentum from Canada and Force India catch up in the standings. “

Jun.15 (GMM)  British F1 pundits have rounded on Michael Schumacher after the eighth race of the seven time world champion’s comeback.

The 41-year-old German had already had difficult moments in 2010, but in Montreal – an event he has won a record seven times – he qualified 13th and on Sunday had a calamitous and pointless race.

“I think Schumacher has driven appallingly today,” said Martin Brundle, one of Schumacher’s former Benetton teammates, who now commentates for the BBC.

The Briton was referring to Schumacher being overtaken by Sebastien Buemi, both Force Indias on the last lap, and separate clashes with Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa that Brundle referred to as “naughty”.

“You have to treat the back of Schumacher’s car like the back of a donkey,” added Brundle.  “This is Schumacher’s worst weekend since he came back.”

The usually highly partisan German daily Bild newspaper agreed, describing Canada 2010 as ‘Schumi’s blackest lap’.

“Schumacher was humiliated in his comeback season like never before,” the report added.

Eddie Jordan, who gave Schumacher his initial F1 debut in 1991, commented: “The big story (of Canada) was that Michael Schumacher did not even make the top 10.

“That’s a big, big concern about the Michael Schumacher comeback.”

Former rival David Coulthard pointed out that, in his prime, Schumacher’s talents always shined on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“In all honesty he looked a shadow of his former self on Sunday,” the Scot wrote in his latest column for the Telegraph.

“I’m not beating up on Michael.  But what is wrong with him?  If I had to guess I would say it is F1 that has changed.”

Coulthard refers not only to today’s harder and thinner tyres, but also the V8 engines and 18,000rpm rev limit, offering “no torque”.

Jun.15 (GMM)  After the problems seen at Montreal’s most recent F1 races, the surface of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve did not break up during the running of the 2010 edition.

Before Canada fell off the calendar last year, the track’s crumbling asphalt came in for scathing criticism.

Ahead of the race’s return last weekend, the troublesome sections were resurfaced with Shell Bitumen, whose same product is in use at other grand prix tracks.

“I’ve said that part of the problem was the (grooved) tyre,” new race promoter Francois Dumontier is quoted by the Montreal Gazette.

Before last weekend’s race, the last time slicks were fitted to F1 cars in Montreal was 1997.

“An engineer explained to me that in every corner, the (grooved) tread was pushing the asphalt.  We put down a new surface last year, but I think the improvement is a combination of that and the slick tyre,” explained Dumontier.

“After the first practice session, I sent somebody out to look at our repairs.  It was a relief.”

However, throughout the race weekend, drivers complained about the low grip of the surface and the way Bridgestone’s tyres were uncharacteristically graining and degrading.

Dumontier replied: “I think drivers need to adapt to every track.

“At Barcelona, for example, which is used for testing, they know exactly where to put their tyres.  Our circuit is used just twice a year to race.”

Jun.13 (GMM)  Red Bull suffered two gearbox problems in Canada on Sunday.

With McLaren now leading both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships with victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it has emerged that Sebastian Vettel struggled to the chequered flag with a gearbox problem.

His Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, who finished behind Vettel in fifth place, earlier lost his front row starting place due to an unscheduled gearbox change penalty.

In the wake of recent suggestions the Milton Keynes-based team will walk the 2010 season with a superior car, the Canadian result – featuring a McLaren one-two – could be a turning point.

“I had a gearbox problem from around halfway through the race, which meant I had to slow down,” German Vettel said.

However, race winner and new championship leader Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged that despite the Montreal result, the RB6 is still the superior car on more conventional circuits.

“There is no reason to panic from our side,” Vettel confirmed, “we have a very good car and we’re looking ahead to Valencia.”

Jun.13 (GMM)  Lewis Hamilton has taken the lead of the 2010 world championship after a second consecutive victory.

After winning in Turkey in the wake of the Red Bull crash, the McLaren driver on Sunday won convincingly at the end of an exciting and close race on Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The pole sitter beat his teammate Jenson Button across the line ahead of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, with former championship leader Mark Webber just fifth, behind the sister Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton admitted that Red Bull’s RB6 is probably still the quickest at more conventional circuits.

“We are doing everything we can to close gap to them,” he said.

It means Hamilton now leads the championship by three points from Button, with McLaren also ahead of Red Bull for the constructors’ title.

Jun.13 (GMM)  Mark Webber has fallen off the front row of the grid for Sunday’s Canadian grand prix.

It has emerged from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve that the Australian, who qualified behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton but ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, has had to have a last-minute gearbox change.

The unscheduled change results in a grid demotion of five places.

Webber, 33, will now start the Montreal race from seventh.

Jun.13 (GMM)  Sir Richard Branson would like to see a United States grand prix held in Las Vegas.

The British billionaire, sponsor of Virgin Racing, said he welcomes the news that an American race has been scheduled for Texas in 2012.

“The US market is extremely important,” the Virgin mogul told La Presse newspaper at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“We have a cell phone company here in Canada, our airline will fly to Toronto soon and we will invest in the Canadian investment community.

“But we must also go to the United States,” Branson insisted.  “I think the best places would be San Francisco, or the streets of Las Vegas.”

When told that F1 is planning to be in Texas in a couple of years, he answered: “Texas?  Yeah, ok, but I would still go to Vegas.

“Imagine the cars on the Strip,” he smiled.

Jun.13 (GMM) Forecast rain in Montreal on Sunday is expected to stay away until after the Canadian grand prix.

Very early in the morning in the Canadian city, the skies are cloudy but so far not dropping any rain on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

In fact, Sunday’s should be the warmest afternoon seen for several days in Montreal, which is good news for the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.

The race, beginning at 12pm local time, will be staged over 70 laps.

Jun.12 (GMM)  The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday may host the bizarre situation of normal tyre-change pitstops within the first three laps of the Canadian grand prix.

After the overly ‘green’ surface chewed up the tyres on Friday, before overnight and morning rain washed away the rubber on Saturday, the extreme graining and degradation is now likely to feature throughout the Montreal event.

The prospect of a normal one-stop race has been ruled out, while it might seem prudent that drivers will qualify with the more durable ‘prime’ tyre in order to ensure a better product for the first stint of the race.

However, while only lasting a few laps, the softer ‘option’ is likely to still be used by many competitors in qualifying, Mercedes’ Norbert Haug has revealed.

“I think most will go with the soft, because in qualifying it simply means a better starting place,” he told German television Sky.

Haug acknowledged that the soft tyre, which must be used at least once during the race by every competitor, will not last long on Sunday.

“If the track does not pick up a lot more grip, then probably already from laps, three, four, five you will see very early pitstops,” said the German.

Jun.12 (GMM)  Lewis Hamilton cracked Red Bull’s run of qualifying dominance on Saturday by securing pole position for the Canadian grand prix.

But the McLaren driver was using a different tyre in the decisive Q3 segment — the fragile ‘option’ or softer compound, as opposed to the harder ‘prime’ fitted to the next-best Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

The three prior practice sessions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve proved that Bridgestone’s products are struggling this weekend; particularly the option.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said earlier in Montreal that it had fallen apart “like cheese” in Canada, moving some to surmise that by qualifying with it on Saturday, McLaren is gambling on an early safety car.

9 of the previous 12 Canadian grands prix have seen the safety car appear.

“We would hope for an early-ish safety car, but I think the quickest way to run the race anyway is to start on the soft tyre, run a short (first) stint, and run on the prime for most of the race.

“If there’s a safety car it’s a very strong strategy,” team boss Martin Whitmarsh told the BBC after qualifying.

However, Vettel told reporters that he thinks Red Bull is beginning the race on the “right tyre”, because the softer one lasts only “a couple of laps”.

Hamilton acknowledged that the option “goes off quite quickly” but raised the high “possibility of a safety car”.

The 25-year-old Briton had to be delivered to parc ferme in an FIA car, after his engineer told him to stop on the circuit on the in-lap so there is enough fuel left in the tank for a mandatory fuel sample.

“The FIA don’t take kindly to you not having enough fuel to get into the pits at the end of the lap — they’ll be taking a look at that,” predicted BBC commentator Martin Brundle.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is fourth ahead of the second McLaren of Jenson Button, while Vitantonio Liuzzi qualified sixth in what Brundle describes as a “career saving performance”.