1980 world champion Alan Jones has backed Caterham’s decision to dump Jarno Trulli.
Despite having extended the Italian veteran’s contract for 2012, the former Lotus team decided at the last minute to sign the well-backed Russian Petrov.

Caterham explained that Petrov brings “fresh impetus” to the team, whilst also admitting that the decision was made “with a realistic eye on the global economic market”.

One French report has calculated the 27-year-old’s sponsorship contributions at EUR 12 million, including money from Russia’s largest petrochemical company Sibur.

But the straight-talking Australian Jones, who won Williams’ first drivers’ title three decades ago, said Caterham was also right to oust Italian Trulli on performance criteria.

Told that Heikki Kovalainen “destroyed” Trulli in 2011, Jones said: “I think he was destroyed by everybody, wasn’t he?”

On Caterham’s decision, he told GMM: “In my opinion Trulli wasn’t doing the job so it would have made it a pretty easy decision to get in this younger guy who is perhaps a bit keener, a big hungrier.

“It’s also a fact that he (Petrov) is bringing in money, so to me it’s a no-brainer,” added Jones.

 A former world champion has dealt Lewis Hamilton a mild rebuke after the Briton refused to appear at Adrian Sutil’s assault trial.
Not only did the McLaren driver defer to his team’s looming car launch date rather than leap to his former friend’s aid in Munich, he has also refused to contact Sutil or answer a single question on the matter posed by the media.

Sutil’s father has called the 2008 world champion “pathetic” while the former Force India driver himself described Hamilton as a “coward”.

“I don’t know whether you’d call him a coward,” 1980 title winner Alan Jones told GMM, “but I don’t know whether I’d like to have him in the trenches with me.”

Hamilton, who recently reunited with his girlfriend Nicole, had a tumultuous 2011 season and so this year will be accompanied to races by experienced manager Didier Coton.

When involved with Mika Hakkinen’s career, Coton worked for the management company headed by Keke Rosberg.

“In the past, Lewis has certainly made mistakes in the professional organisation of his life,” Rosberg, backing the changes Hamilton is making, commented to the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

“You can’t go flying every other week to America when you’re making a serious job of being a formula one driver,” he said.

Keke Rosberg also questioned a recent claim made by the 27-year-old Briton.

“He says he wants to win all the races this season. That’s quite a claim.

“I would think Jenson Button wonders how he will do it when he will probably win a few races in the same car,” said Rosberg.

 Amid all the ‘ugly’ talk, Alan Jones doesn’t mind the look of F1′s field of 2012.
With McLaren the notable exception, every team has incorporated an awkward ‘step’ into its nose design as the optimum solution to new FIA rules.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motor sport director, recently decried the look as “pig ugly”.

But 1980 world champion Jones doesn’t think so.

“I don’t think aesthetics matter, and anyway I don’t really find them (the 2012 cars) particularly ugly,” the Australian told GMM.

“There’s a couple of interpretations of the new nose that aren’t as nice as some of the others, but there are a few out there that don’t look too bad at all,” said Jones.

“And I’ve never seen an ugly car in the winner’s circle,” he smiled.

Meanwhile, another former world champion – 1982′s Keke Rosberg – described McLaren’s solution as aesthetically pleasing, but hopes the British team has not made a mistake by going a different route to the rest of the grid.

“At least it’s nice looking and I wish the others would have done the same,” said the Finn.

“Jenson Button is quite a big guy and he has said he is sitting significantly lower than last year.

“If it (McLaren’s solution) suddenly becomes a problem for them, with the chassis already homologated then that’s just what they’ve got,” he told the MTV3 broadcaster.

 Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.
That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.Lotus says losing seat vital ‘shock’ for Petrov
Feb.17 (GMM) Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.

That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.

Red Bull has set its sights on powering Mark Webber to second place in the drivers’ standings, but the Australian has revealed he is not overly interested.
The achievement will complete a perfect clean sweep for the energy drink-owned team in 2011, comprising the constructors’ championship and first and second places in the separate drivers’ standings.

But Webber, currently fourth, admitted to Die Welt newspaper: “I’m more interested in victories than the overall standings.

“If I have not won a race and at the end of the season I’m second (overall), I won’t be satisfied,” added the 35-year-old.

Separately, France’s L’Equipe reportedly suggested that team boss Christian Horner’s eagerness to help Webber in the last races of 2011 has come “late”.

“We will see how the next races go,” he responded. “I have not answered your question!”

The implication is that Red Bull is happy to see him fall in line behind Sebastian Vettel, but the Australian denies he has a bad relationship with his German teammate.

Welt said evidence of their frosty friendship was the missing congratulations after Vettel wrapped up his drivers’ title in Japan.

“That’s not right,” insisted Webber. “On the night he won the title I sent him a text that said ‘Well done, you deserve it’.

“He answered it the next morning, and I thought it was amazing that after the night he had he could still move his fingers,” joked the winner of 6 grands prix.

Pedro de la Rosa has revealed he has “no idea” if he will be called up by Sauber to race on the streets of Valencia this weekend.
The veteran Spaniard, who is McLaren’s reserve driver, was called up at the last minute in Canada almost two weeks ago when Sauber regular Sergio Perez fell ill after Friday morning practice.

Sauber managing director Monisha Kaltenborn this week then said that although Mexican rookie Perez, 21, is now fully recovered from his Monaco qualifying crash, 40-year-old de la Rosa is once again on standby.

“I am being constantly asked if I’m going to race in this (European) grand prix, and actually I don’t have the faintest idea,” said de la Rosa on Wednesday.

“I would like to clarify that I am McLaren’s reserve driver and indebted to them before any other team.

“Whatever happens depends on if McLaren lets me, and actually I don’t want to speculate as I find it a lack of respect for Sergio Perez, who has said he is perfectly well,” he added.

Mercedes is happy to see Nick Heidfeld return to F1 with a rival team in 2011.
After losing his BMW seat, the German kicked off last season as Mercedes’ reserve driver, later becoming the Pirelli test driver before returning to the grid with Sauber.

Once again for 2011, the 33-year-old was facing the prospect of a season on the sidelines, but he was believed close to agreeing to return to his reserve role with Mercedes.

Now, however, Heidfeld will be testing the new Renault at Jerez this weekend, in contention to replace his injured former BMW teammate Robert Kubica.

Mercedes’ motor racing boss Norbert Haug told Auto Motor und Sport that, due to the German marque not having a race seat to offer, he will not stand in Heidfeld’s way.

“If Nick has the opportunity to race somewhere, we are the last ones to throw stones in his path,” he said.

Jerome d’Ambrosio is on the verge of securing his formula one race debut.

The 24-year-old completed the 2010 season as Virgin’s Friday morning driver in the place of Brazilian rookie Lucas di Grassi.

Timo Glock is staying with the British team next year, and the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure and La Libre say d’Ambrosio will almost certainly be his teammate.

The reports said Virgin Racing approved the deal last week, and it must now be signed off by the team’s new Russian shareholder and title sponsor Marussia.

Confirmation is expected before Christmas, and d’Ambrosio admitted he is “confident”.

“I have done what I can, now I am waiting,” he added.

German Glock backed the delay in the confirmation of his 2011 teammate.

“I think it is right to take our time and make sure we have the best combination of youth and experience, plus the best information going back into the team at testing and races to ensure we can develop as quickly as we want to and keep moving forward,” he said.

Bernie Ecclestone has joined Sir Jackie Stewart in tipping Michael Schumacher to return to retirement at the end of 2010.

Half-way through the great 41-year-old’s mediocre return to F1 with Mercedes this year, former triple world champion Stewart said this week he thinks Schumacher “will stop after this season”.

And F1 chief executive Ecclestone added: “If Schumacher doesn’t perform I doubt whether he will want to stay.”

However, the Briton also told the London based business publication City AM that Schumacher is “obviously fit, motivated and talented but the car hasn’t been up to him”.

On other matters, Ecclestone tips Sebastian Vettel to win the championship, while his team Red Bull “deserve to win”.

“Red Bull bought a team (Jaguar) that was no good, it’s not like they bought Ferrari,” he added.

The 79-year-old also hailed Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber, the only driver so far in 2010 to have won more than two races.

“I would never have believed it at the beginning of this year if somebody had said to me he is going to do this,” said Ecclestone.

Jul.7 (GMM) Christian Horner wants to sit down with Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone this weekend and talk about the future.

23-year-old Vettel is already contracted to Red Bull Racing for 2011, but the Milton Keynes based team reportedly wants a much longer deal.

Germany’s Sport Bild said the team, owned by Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz but run by Briton Horner, is eyeing a deal through 2015.

But when asked precisely how long he would like Vettel to commit, Horner joked: “2028.

“Then he’d be 41, like Michael Schumacher.”

Vettel handles his own contractual negotiations, with only the assistance of his father Norbert.

Horner said: “I know that Mercedes would have Sebastian. Ferrari too, and even McLaren would not be averse. That’s why we want to have him for the long term.”

The media report said a new deal to 2015, with options through to 2018 with a ten per cent retainer increase per additional year, would boost Vettel’s retainer to about EUR 12 million per season.

Said Horner: “Sebastian is the future. He is going to be around, winning, for many years.”

And Vettel commented: “I already have a contract with Red Bull. What happens next, we will see.

“For me, it’s not about the money but about sitting in a competitive car with a team I feel comfortable with.”

Jul.7 (GMM) Renault on Wednesday said Robert Kubica has extended his contract to include the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

The 25-year-old Pole moved to the team this year from BMW, and after an impressive start had been linked with a move either next year or in 2012.

But in a media statement, he said committing to Genii Capital-owned Renault for two more seasons was a “straightforward decision”.

“What’s important for me is to be in the right atmosphere, with a good group of people, where everybody is pulling in the same direction,” said Kubica.

The statement said Renault wants to challenge for the title “over the coming seasons”, and had “convinced Robert” that the team “can match his own high ambitions”.

“To do so (win the title), we need a driver of Robert’s calibre; somebody who is fast, totally committed and doesn’t make mistakes,” said team boss Eric Boullier.

Jul.7 (GMM) McLaren has urged formula one against making a knee-jerk reaction to the safety car rules.

Although Ferrari cried foul after Lewis Hamilton’s drive-through penalty in Valencia – where multiple drivers were also penalised for transgressions – Mark Webber said this week that Red Bull saw the events of the race as “normal”.

And although the Sporting Working Group is looking at the rules as a response to the Ferrari-powered controversy, McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said on Wednesday: “I would be wary of knee-jerking.

“There wasn’t a lot wrong with last weekend (Valencia) and I don’t think we should be doing instant rule-making,” he told reporters during a teleconference.

Meanwhile, after Williams said it will test a blown rear exhaust for its car early this weekend, Neale confirmed that a similar approach will be taken by McLaren at Silverstone.

“If the drivers think it’s good it will stay on and we’ll run it,” he said, after the upgrade for the MP4-25 was tested during a straightline session.

“If not, we’ll continue to develop it.”

Neale also backed Red Bull boss Christian Horner’s view that the effect of the exhaust concept has been overstated.

“I would tend to agree that it’s not a case of bolt on your blown diffuser and then blow everybody into the weeds,” he said.

Jul.6 (GMM)  Williams will decide whether to race a Red Bull-like blown rear exhaust layout at Silverstone this weekend after Friday’s practice sessions.

With official confirmation on Tuesday, the British team will become the third team to emulate on track Red Bull’s low-exhaust concept, with engine gases diverted through the double diffuser to boost downforce.

“We’ll evaluate the exhaust during the practice sessions on Friday and will make a final decision as to whether we race it that night,” said technical director Sam Michael.

In the hands of Finnish test driver Valtteri Bottas, the new package made its debut on the runway at England’s Kemble airport on Tuesday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to simulations done by Sauber, Silverstone is not set to become the fastest circuit on the formula one calendar.

When the British track’s new Arena layout was launched, organisers indicated that Monza could lose its mantle as the F1 venue with the highest average speed.

While actually adding more slow bends to the layout, the new half-mile Arena section is indeed due to make Silverstone faster on average.

But to investigate the claim that Monza could be knocked off the perch as F1′s fastest, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport commissioned a study with the help of the Swiss team Sauber.

A simulation lap of the revised layout processed by Sauber’s famous Albert II supercomputer projected a laptime of 1.31.0, resulting in an average speed of 233.4kph.

Monza’s average speed is about 248kph.

The Sauber simulation, however, shows that the new right-hander at the abolished Abbey chicane will be taken at 279kph, followed by a 281kph left sweep, making it the fastest chicane on the calendar.

(GMM)