Lucas di Grassi has admitted that even his continuing role at Pirelli is not a ticket back onto the F1 grid.

“I’m in the best possible position technically, as the driver with knowledge of the tyres – almost choosing them for next season – it puts me in a very comfortable position.

“Of course I want to race again with a team and I’m working on it,” said the 2010 Virgin driver, who was replaced by the now Marussia team with Jerome d’Ambrosio at the end of his only season in F1.

“The only problem is the lack of sponsorship,” di Grassi is quoted by Globo. “Let’s hope some Brazilian companies want to come in to support.”

Martin Brundle, a former F1 veteran whose son Alex now competes in the lower-tier GP3 series, admitted sponsorship is a problem for aspiring racers.

“Drivers are paying as much as $10 million to be a reserve at some teams,” the British commentator told the Daily Mail.

“Nine men who raced in F1 last year don’t have a drive any more. As soon as the money runs out, they’re replaced by someone who does have money.”

Sauber’s new major sponsor insists it has not bought partial control of the Swiss formula one team.

Telmex, headed by the world’s richest man Carlos Slim, will have significant signage on next year’s C30 car, as well as the Mexican rookie Sergio Perez at the wheel.

But team boss Peter Sauber this week denied he is considering selling the team to Telmex, and Slim’s son Carlos Slim Domit – the chairman of the Mexico City-based company – also insists the deal is for sponsorship only.

Speculation about Telmex’s new influence was triggered by suggestions Sauber would have preferred to pair Kamui Kobayashi with Nick Heidfeld next year.

“We are only an ally,” Slim is quoted by Mexican media.  “The structure and decisions of the team is their business.”

“This is a commercial alliance,” he added.

Slim Domit also denied suggestions the signing of Perez was a condition of Telmex’s Sauber sponsorship.

He said the Hinwil based team had signed the contract with Perez before Telmex decided to sponsor Sauber.

Sauber’s 2011 test and reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez, the first GP3 champion, is also Mexican and sponsored by Telmex.

Group Lotus terminated the naming license for Malaysian millionaire Tony Fernandes’ formula one team because of a dispute about t-shirts, team chief executive Riad Asmat has revealed.

On the face of it, the Proton-owned British carmaker has simply had a change of heart, deciding now to ramp up its involvement in motor sport and regretful that its brand is already separately deployed in formula one.

It emerged last week that Group Lotus has decided to enter feeder categories GP2 and GP3 with ART, and it has now been announced that the carmaker is continuing its Indycar foray in 2011 whilst designing a prototype sports car for the LMP2 category.

Group Lotus also said it is upgrading its test track in Norfolk which will be eligible for “F1 testing”.

“It’s important for people to realise just how committed we are to doing our heritage justice,” said director of motor sport Claudio Berro.

At the same time, Lotus has withdrawn its naming license to the current F1 team Lotus Racing, and has vowed to fight the team’s intention to deploy the alternative ‘Team Lotus’ name in 2011 and beyond.

Group Lotus owner Proton is also withdrawing its on-car sponsorship of Fernandes’ team.

“Unfortunately we never reached the point where we discussed extending that one year deal,” said the team’s chief executive Asmat.

He revealed that the naming license has been terminated due to “some very trivial points”, including “t-shirt design approvals of all things”.

Asmat said there will need to be talks with Group Lotus about the real reasons for the termination because “we thoroughly reject” the marque’s right to have done so.

“Initially there was good cooperation but then issues cropped up after that and it came to a point where they said we were detrimental to their brand and infringed their rights,” he told MediaCorp.

“One of these was about producing t-shirts, which we were told did not follow correct procedures and they terminated our agreement about two weeks ago,” said Asmat.

He indicated that continuing to be called Lotus is crucial for the team, which explains the decision to take the matter to London’s High Court.

“There are livelihoods at stake and we had to take this course of action in the courts,” he said.

Romain Grosjean will replace departing test driver Nick Heidfeld at Pirelli’s next formula one tyre test.

Because Heidfeld has signed to return to racing with Sauber in Singapore and beyond, the Italian marque said the German will no longer work with F1′s 2011 tyre supplier “to avoid favouring any individual team”.

The 33-year-old’s last outing with Pirelli was this week at Jerez over two days.

And the 2011-2013 official supplier’s next outing will be at Monza next week, with former Renault driver Grosjean at the wheel of the Toyota.

“He’s packed a lot of experience into a short space of time, including all our GP3 tyre development, so I’m sure he’ll be able to give us some very useful feedback,” said Pirelli’s motor sport director Paul Hembery.

Swiss-born Frenchman Grosjean, 24, contested 7 grands prix with Renault last year, and most recently has been replacing injured GP2 driver Ho-Pin Tung.

Pirelli’s first formula one test will begin at Mugello on Tuesday.

It was previously reported that the Italian marque would get up and running at the circuit near Florence on Monday, with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel of the 2009 Toyota TF109.

But reports now indicate that the test is in fact just a two-day schedule, to conclude on Wednesday.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat reports that 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was earmarked as a potential test driver, but the Finn wanted to concentrate solely on his rally programme.

The report said the eventual selection of Heidfeld will boost the German’s chances of returning to the grid in 2011, after initially signing as Mercedes’ reserve driver for this year.

Pirelli and Heidfeld will also be in action in the forthcoming weeks at Jerez, Monza and Paul Ricard.

Turun Sanomat said F1′s departing official supplier Bridgestone will not be releasing data to Pirelli.

“I am sure Pirelli has acquired its own information for formula one through being the GP3 tyre supplier,” a Bridgestone spokesman is quoted as saying.

Confirmed Pirelli’s Paul Hembery: “We are familiar with most of the grand prix tracks and surfaces, as well as their temperatures.”

The French GP2 outfit ART Grand Prix has withdrawn its application to complete the formula one grid in 2011.

In a statement, the team said it worked on the project for “several months” and had “forged strong bonds with several technical and financial partners”.

“But with unfavourable economic conditions (the team) could not gather the necessary guarantees to ensure the stability of the project in the long term,” said ART.

The team said it has postponed the project to “a later date” and “remains completely focused and dedicated” on its other activities.

Headed by Nicolas Todt, the son of FIA president Jean Todt and manager of the Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, ART also races in the F3 Euroseries and GP3.

Entering formula one will not cause Pirelli to increase its budget, chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera said on Thursday.

The Italian company has won its bid to succeed the sport’s departing exclusive supplier Bridgestone in 2011, but its boss played down suggestions the sport is still extremely expensive for participants.

Tronchetti Provera confirmed that teams are paying Pirelli for service over the next three years, adding that the cost to the marque “will be zero compared to our budget”.

And “the advertising campaign … will be switched from other races where we’ve reduced our presence, first of all rallying, where there are new rules starting next year”, he is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

“We’ll reduce our budget in other racing (categories) and be fully dedicated to formula one,” he said, although Pirelli will also supply GP2 and GP3 next year.

Meanwhile, Pirelli’s director of motorsport Paul Hembrey played down reports the unraced 2010 Toyota car will be used by the marque for F1 tyre testing.

Revealing that a GP2 car will be used instead, he said as “a test-bed, particularly for integrity reasons, reliability and stability, it’s probably a good starting point”.
(GMM)

Pirelli will supply four different dry tyre compounds to formula one teams in 2011, the Italian company has announced.

It was confirmed by the FIA on Wednesday that Milan based Pirelli will succeed the departing Bridgestone as F1′s new supplier until 2013.

It had been expected that – unlike at present with Bridgestone offering super-soft, soft, medium and hard compounds – Pirelli’s compounds would number just three.

But Pirelli has confirmed that on offer in 2011 will be four dry weather tyres, plus a full wet tyre and an intermediate.

“Following current formula one regulations laid down by .. the FIA, the new contract ensures that Pirelli will provide teams with six different types of tyre for the season,” read a statement.

It is believed the reason the “current” rules are remaining unchanged is due to the long delay in the appointment of Bridgestone’s successor.

The F1 teams recently agreed to commence the designs of their 2011 cars on the basis of Bridgestone’s 2010-specification tyre.

Also postponed is the touted move from the current 13-inch wheels to a much lower profile.

But Pirelli said “research into innovative new tyre developments is a vital part of this exciting programme”.

The company will also supply GP2 and GP3.
(GMM)

Jun.18 (GMM)  Another team reportedly in the running to become F1′s 13th team in 2011 is Carlin.

Headed by former Jordan boss Trevor Carlin, the outfit is the most successful in the history of British F3, and also races in GP3 and the Renault World Series.

Since 2007, Carlin has been based at Brabham’s old F1 factory in Surrey, featuring a wind tunnel, and late last year the team was bought by Grahame Chilton.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat said the team, alongside Epsilon Euskadi and ART, is in the running for the 2011 spot made vacant by the demise of USF1.

Jun.17 (GMM)  Gerhard Berger has dismissed claims that Pirelli is a questionable choice as formula one’s new tyre supplier.

Although the news is not yet official, it is now expected that the Italian company will succeed the departing Bridgestone — with confirmation coming possibly at next week’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

The other serious contender has been Michelin, Bridgestone’s most recent tyre competitor between 2001 and 2006 with 43 grand prix wins in this period, and utterly dominant in 2005.

The fact that Pirelli’s proposal is the one that has gained the majority of support has therefore been surprising to some; not only because it has absent from F1 since 1991, but also because the development time for 2011 is now so short.

Moreover, there has been some criticism in the past during Pirelli’s forays in world superbike racing as well as world rallying.  The Milan based brand is currently also the GP3 supplier and tipped for a deal with GP2 for 2011 and beyond.

“This (criticism) is absolute nonsense,” Berger, who won the 1986 Mexican grand prix with Pirelli tyres and Benetton in 1986, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“Pirelli equips the fastest sports cars in the world.  There are also people in formula one who have been successful with Pirelli,” added the Austrian.

Pirelli’s last grand prix win was with Nelson Piquet and Benetton in Montreal in 1991.

On his visit to last weekend’s Canadian grand prix, director of motor sport Paul Hembery declined to comment.

Jules Bianchi, Mirko Bortolotti and Daniel Zampieri were earlier this week to try out the Formula 1 Ferrari in 2008. As members of the Ferrari Driver Academy they tested on our own race track in Fiorano, the F2008, the F1 Clienti department of the mark is used. Thus what is not violated in the current Formula 1 Test ban.

“At Ferrari they believe in me,” said Bianchi, who was allowed to slip first into the cockpit. The Frenchman will start otherwise, in the GP2. The next round is on 27 June in Valencia on the program. “Of course I want to win, just because opportunities like this offer a second time.”
On the same weekend Bortolotti will be back in action, but in the GP3. “I’ll tackle the next event with maximum use. Of course, my goal is to win,” said the Italian. Zampieri starts against again this weekend as part of the Renault World Series.

The Ferrari Driver Academy, the young drivers become familiar not only with the technical processes at work in a Formula 1 race car, but they are also trained in other areas. Thus, besides fitness training and English lessons were on the agenda of the three drivers.

Jun.7 (GMM)  Pirelli has won the race to become F1′s new sole tyre supplier beginning in 2011.

The same news was reported by multiple sources prior to the Turkish grand prix, but Michelin then made a last-ditch attempt to woo the teams by calling a meeting in the paddock of the Istanbul Park circuit.

Once again, after yet another non-grand prix week of negotiations, it is believed that Milan-based Pirelli has secured the deal.

As was also the case prior to Turkey, it is more than one source within the Italian media that is hinting at the latest development.

The authoritative daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, for one, claims that the finishing touches are being made to a contract that will be signed by the end of the week.

Prior to Turkey, it was reported that the Pirelli deal for 2011-2013 was to cost teams 1 million euros apiece per season, in exchange for identical attention and service and a range of just three compounds: soft, medium and hard.

At least initially, the tyres will be in a similar 13-inch specification to the current Bridgestone product, with a longer-term ambition being a move to a low profile.

It had also been reported that Pirelli, already the supplier of the new GP3 series as well as world rally, is likely to also supply GP2 next year.

Pirelli was last in F1 in 1991.

Italian media sources are reporting that Pirelli will be F1′s sole tyre supplier in 2011 and beyond.

Autosprint and Italiaracing say the Milan-based marque has been selected by the teams and F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone to replace the departing control supplier Bridgestone.

Reportedly also in the running had been Michelin as well as minor contenders Avon, Kumho and Hankook.

When asked to nominate his preference, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said this week: “As an Italian I prefer Pirelli, but experience tells me Michelin.

“In the end it will be the same for everyone,” he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Autosprint said Pirelli will be paid 1 million euros per team per season in 2011, 2012 and 2013, in exchange for identical attention and service and a range of just three compounds: soft, medium and hard.

At least initially, the tyres will be in a similar 13-inch specification to the current Bridgestone product, with a longer-term ambition being a move to a low profile.

The decision is set to be confirmed shortly by the World Motor Sport Council.

Spain’s El Mundo Deportivo reports that Pirelli, already the supplier of the new GP3 series as well as world rally, is also likely to supply GP2 next year.

Pirelli was last in F1 in 1991.
(GMM)

Luca di Montezemolo has once again repeated his disapproval of F1′s new teams.

In the wake of the carmaker exodus, the Ferrari president expressed his desire to see the big teams be allowed to field third cars.

Instead, new teams including Virgin, HRT and a relaunched Lotus debuted with the support of the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

But earlier this year Maranello based Ferrari ridiculed the new entry list as being more deserving of the name ‘Formula GP3′.

And Montezemolo is now quoted by Tuttosport: “In the 60th year of formula one, Ferrari is celebrating its 800th grand prix.

“Let me say with pride that no one will be able to match this record.

“For us it is a source of great satisfaction and pride because is represents that Ferrari has been here even in difficult times, while other teams have come and have gone.

“I repeat that formula one without Ferrari is not formula one, and this year there are many teams that should be racing in GP2,” added Montezemolo.

(GMM)

ART is not expecting a free ticket onto the 2011 grid, even though the French team’s boss is the son of FIA president Jean Todt.

Nicolas Todt, 32, responded to rumours his Burgundy-based outfit is favourite to win F1′s 13th place in formula one due to the family link to the ruling body.

“My father is anything but stupid,” Todt said in the latest edition of France’s Auto Hebdo magazine.

“For us, we need to do things even better than the best in order to not be open to criticism,” he added.

“Our dossier needs to be better than any others, because I do not expect any gifts from the FIA, quite the contrary,” said Todt.

ART already races in the formative F3 Euroseries, GP2 and GP3 categories.

Todt manages not only Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, but also the French 20-year-old Jules Bianchi, who currently races for ART’s GP2 team and is a part of Ferrari’s driver development programme.

As recently as this week, Bianchi was at the wheel of a 2008 Ferrari at Vallelunga.

Nicolas Todt admitted he would like to see ART enter formula one as a French team with a French driver at the wheel.

“That would be even more enjoyable,” he conceded.

“And even better with French technical partners as well.  France has an enormous reservoir of human talent and enterprise at a very high level.

“There is certainly enough to show the English what we are capable of,” added Todt.

(GMM)