HRT’s team boss has admitted installing KERS is an unlikely goal for the struggling Spanish team this year.

Luis Perez Sala said the new F112 was designed to accommodate the energy-recovery technology, but qualifying comfortably within the 107 per cent rule is a better target for now.

“We have a car we are yet to discover,” he told El Confidencial.

Indeed, HRT travelled to Australia last month having hardly run its new Cosworth-powered car, and failed to qualify for the season opener.

“It is designed to carry KERS but in the short term we will not (use it). We don’t think we’re going to race with it this year,” he added.

“So, in this respect, it’s not perfect. Right now, we have assembled the car in a hurry and so the private testing at Mugello, just after Bahrain, will be very important to us.”

Sala, having rebuilt HRT following the departure of team boss Colin Kolles, was speaking from HRT’s new headquarters at the Caja Magica (Magic Box).

“After Bahrain, we will have the cars here. From the Spanish grand prix, we will begin to function more effectively.

“In China and Bahrain we will improve things in the car and the team, but it is a slow process that will last all year.

“As I sit here (in Madrid), some people are in Valencia, others in Germany, England … the cars are flying to China and we need to address issues of reliability, not just performance.”

It is a tough situation for HRT, but Sala concedes that the ‘paddock perception’ of the team is that it has gone backwards since debuting in 2010.

“It is really our first year,” he insists.

He reveals that Bernie Ecclestone, once a staunch critic of the struggling backmarkers, is “quiet”.

“We have not had any problems, I think he is calm,” said Sala.

It is also a busy time off the track for HRT, as many rival teams are busily signing the new Concorde Agreement for 2013.

“There are teams that are more advanced than others; for us, the negotiations are still at the beginning,” he said.

The most obvious goals right now, Sala insists, are to have “a team that works together, has a reliable car and a small team that can develop it, and we’re around 105pc off the pole”.

 Robert Kubica is back on track yet again, according to the latest reports from Italy.
It emerged a few days ago that the Pole had moved his recovery from serious injury forwards by returning to the wheel of a Skoda Fabia rally car in Liguria, Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport now reports that the former BMW and Renault driver has tested a kart at a circuit in Montecatini-Terme, Tuscany.

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore advises Kubica not to rush his return to F1.

“I have seen him a few times and have told him not to hurry back. You cannot lose your talent, but first you should focus on your health. 100 per cent,” he told Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

Briatore recalled former Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini, who badly injured his arm in a helicopter crash in 1990.

“He hurried back and we all know how that ended,” said Briatore.

“I think Kubica will succeed, but he needs to plan to come back in two years. You can’t be in F1 if you’re not 100 per cent.”

Robert Kubica is going to return to formula one in 2012, according to F1 doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli.

And the same message has emerged this week from the Pole’s manager Daniele Morelli, after Renault boss Eric Boullier imposed a mid October deadline for the finalisation of the team’s 2012 lineup.

“If you keep delaying, delaying, delaying, you end up risking the interests of the team,” Boullier is quoted as saying last weekend by Globo Esporte. “That is why we have to have the deadline.”

But Morelli has told Italy’s Omnicorse this week: “We are not able to predict a precise date (for Kubica’s return) because it is nature taking its course.

“But we are optimistic, very optimistic, and I do not think a delay of a couple of weeks can affect the plans.

“One thing is certain — he is coming back. The only problem now is muscular.”

Dr Ceccarelli, who is heading the 26-year-old’s rehabilitation phase, confirmed: “I would say with certainty that Robert will be a F1 driver in 2012.

“I can not say when he will be ready but it will be between the months of November and January.”

He said the earlier problems with Kubica’s right hand have now been overcome.

“Yes, it’s great, even if this healing is gradual. Not forgetting that Robert suffered injuries to two of the three nerves, and had severs of the tendons and muscles, the feeling has come back to the fingertips,” said Ceccarelli.

The truth at present, however, is that Kubica is not yet ready to return to a single seater, nor even drive a road car.

“It is true, Robert still has an external fixator on his leg and we have not rushed to remove it — the longer the better, and the better result. So as we wait for the healing of the hand and the elbow, there is still no hurry,” said Ceccarelli.

He added that when the fixator is removed, Kubica can get to work.

“The muscles have been inactive for months and so need to recover tone and strength. But the big question – if he can drive in formula one again – has gone.”

Robert Kubica has answered “we’ll see” amid expectations he might be fit enough to return to formula one in the coming months. It emerged this week that the injured Renault driver’s recovery from his horror February rally crash will speed up after another elbow operation this month. There have been varying reports that estimated a return to the grid could take place as soon as November’s Interlagos finale, while Italy’s Autosprint said it is “unlikely” the 26-year-old will be ready for the start of next season. “I always enjoy setting a goal, when circumstances allow,” the Pole is quoted as saying. “We’ll see how my rehabilitation goes over the next few months. “I’m satisfied with what’s been happening until now, there are no complications. There is no hurry. What is important is that Renault is keeping my place.” Renault doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli is quoted by the Sapa-AFP news agency as saying the forthcoming surgery is to improve the mobility of Kubica’s right elbow. “With his elbow blocked, we haven’t had the chance to work on a full recovery programme as we would do normally,” he said.

Robert Kubica has confirmed his desire to return to formula one next year with Renault.
Asked by a fan on the team’s website if he will be ready for the 2012 season and a title fight, the injured Pole answered: “Yes to the first question.

“For your second question, we will have to wait until the first test in 2012!”

There have been rumours recently of disagreements between Renault team chiefs and Kubica’s management, particularly over the timing of the return from his horror rally crash.

“I’m a Lotus Renault GP driver,” insisted the 26-year-old. “Of course, I’m missing not being able to drive this season but I feel that my job in Enstone isn’t finished yet.”

Kubica insisted he is mentally strong but in a physical sense “still a bit weak”.

“But my general condition is quite good,” he said. “My weight has now returned to its normal level and for a few weeks I’ve been able to walk without help. All in all I feel pretty well.

“I am satisfied with how things are proceeding,” Kubica told another online fan.

“The improvement is in line with the expectations, and luckily there are no complications that could affect the recovery time.

“It is still too early to have a clear picture for the timing of my return but the important thing is the final outcome not the hurry.”

Red Bull’s preparations for the FIA clampdown on so-called ‘hot’ exhaust diffuser blowing are well advanced, Dr Helmut Marko has warned.
Marko said on Austrian television Servus TV that he regards the clampdown as a move against Sebastian Vettel’s dominance, after Red Bull pioneered and perfected the technology for its RB7 car.

But team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man on F1 matters warned: “We would not be Red Bull if we did not already have ideas about how to mitigate the effect (of the ban).”

Off-throttle hot-blowing will be effectively banned from Silverstone next month, and on Tuesday it emerged that the FIA has immediately banned teams from running highly aggressive engine maps in qualifying and then switching to a more reliable race mode for the grand prix.

Marko has compared the FIA’s moves with the end-of-season banning of double diffusers and F-ducts, noting that “This time it (the ban) seems to be in a hurry.

“I would say it is about (the dominance of) Red Bull,” he charged.

But the Austrian thinks McLaren will be similarly affected by the clampdown because “they copied our system very well”, while Ferrari “never really got it under control”.

Marko, meanwhile, predicted Renault – with unique front-exiting exhausts – to be hit particularly hard.

But Renault’s technical director James Allison responded: “Some teams will lose more and some teams less; it is hard to know exactly what relative loss we will suffer.”

Meanwhile, a FIA spokesman explained that the immediate engine-mapping clampdown is because the spirit of the ‘parc ferme’ rules was being exploited.

Charlie Whiting’s technical note to the teams on Tuesday insisted that cars “should be raced exactly as they qualified”.

Rubens Barrichello thinks his countryman Felipe Massa is safe to stay at Ferrari.
Veteran Barrichello left the famous Italian team after the 2005 season, at the end of a period of playing the role of undisputed number two to Michael Schumacher.

His memories are therefore bittersweet, but as it emerged on Thursday that Fernando Alonso has extended his contract through 2016, Barrichello admitted Massa might be advised to also push for a new deal.

“I don’t know if Ferrari still operates today as it did ten years ago when I was with Schumacher,” the 38-year-old told radio Jovem Pan.

“If it is the same as then, I would advise him to get out, but I believe Ferrari is quite different today, so I can’t express an opinion.

“There are things that were bad for me and apparently better for him (Massa),” he added.

“Without Schumacher there, Ferrari is a team that is worthwhile going to. They always have a competitive car,” admitted Barrichello.

Alonso’s new five-year extension surprised the F1 paddock in Barcelona, but Barrichello is sure it includes exit clauses.

“The contract shouldn’t be blindly analysed by the press,” said the Williams driver. “For sure he has signed up to 2016, but there must be ways out.

“Such a long contract shows that the team wants to keep Alonso very much, and if I was a leader at Ferrari I would try to do the same thing,” admitted Barrichello.

“But such a long contract can bring benefits as well as harms to a driver.”

When asked about Alonso’s new deal on Thursday, Massa told reporters: “It is not yet contract renewal time for myself and I am in no hurry to see what my long term future will be.”

Despite the opposition of Monza, Ferrari and an apparent majority of local residents, promoter Maurizio Flammini has vowed to push ahead with his plans for a Rome street race.

“The first race?” he asked rhetorically during an interview with the Il Riformista newspaper. “I expect it to be in 2013.”

However, Monza and Ferrari want F1 to limit itself to one annual race per country, and a survey published this week shows 80-90 per cent opposition to the Rome event from residents who live near the proposed layout in the capital’s EUR district.

But Flammini said the final plans will be reviewed by authorities by the end of December. “According to the standard procedure this will take at least 60 days,” he said.

“If the project would have been approved by the end of the year, we would have been ready for 2012,” he said.

“In Italy everything is ready (for 2013),” continued Flammini, “and the formula one circus is ready to welcome us. A few days ago I spoke with Bernie Ecclestone and he asked me to go ahead.

“When we are ready, we will close the final agreement.”

It had been reported earlier in 2010 that a final agreement had already been signed.

“We signed a preliminary agreement for at least two years,” Flammini clarified. “(F1 chief executive) Ecclestone is helping us but he is concerned about the delay.

“The competition is fierce, there are at least 30 other circuits that are pushing (to be in F1). If we don’t hurry we may lose this opportunity,” he insisted.

Flammini dismissed some of the criticisms of the Rome project, including fears of increased pollution in the city.

“You must be joking,” he hit back. “We should be thanked that instead of thousands of cars, for a few days there will be only 24 on a 5 kilometre circuit.

“Traffic? A study has shown the increase to be 25 per cent, but we are talking about August, when the presence of cars is well under 50 per cent of the annual average.”

Ex-Sauber driver Pedro de la Rosa to bring in his fellow countrymen of HRT to continue his racing career in position
Originally, Pedro de la Rosa as a prime candidate for a Campos-Formula 1 cockpit, but tilted as the project and was later renamed the HRT was no place for him anymore. He also opted for the Sauber team, which he could at the time the supposed offer better prospects.

Sauber has thrown out the 39-year-old now – and lack of alternatives can imagine the current Pirelli test driver means, 2011 to drive for HRT. He was in contact with the family Carabantes, who runs the Spanish cycling team, he says, and adds to the news agency ‘EFE’ to: “If your project is sporty interesting and ambitious, then I will gladly come to them.” Currently, there is but “no hurry”.
De la Rosa would probably not bring their own sponsors, but his salary was reportedly financed at least in Sauber by the bank Santander. Could also cause a Spaniard in a Spanish team of national interest and bring in this way be indirectly sponsors. It is striking in any case, how much the veteran currently ingratiate the worst team of Formula 1.

“For Spain, it is important to a Formula 1 team to have, and their investment is worth something,” de la Rosa says of the Carabantes. “We have a team, but we do not receive the best value within a few months they have brought a car to the starting line and next year they will again have a car, but the project needs more support -. Not only for companies but also by riders like me and the fans. We need to stand behind them! “

Pedro de la Rosa has expressed interest in returning to the formula one grid next year with HRT.

After a long stint as McLaren tester, the Spanish driver returned to F1 with Sauber this year but was ousted recently and is now testing tyres for Pirelli.

De la Rosa, 39, was in talks with Hispania’s former guise Campos-Meta before signing with Sauber last winter, and he has told Spanish radio Onda Cero he is once again interested in joining the struggling team.

“If their sporting project is interesting and ambitious, I’ll be happy to be with them. So far there is no hurry,” he is quoted as saying by the EFE news agency.

“I am in contact with the Carabantes,” added de la Rosa, referring to the team’s owners.

“We talk a lot. For Spain it is very important to have a formula one team and what they have done so far has much merit,” he said.

“Now we (Spain) have a team but we are not getting the best value. They succeeded in just a few months to have a car on track at the start of the season and will have another car next year.

“But the project needs more support, not only from companies but also drivers like myself, and the fans. We have to get behind them,” added de la Rosa.

Pedro de la Rosa is in close contact with HRT-owner José Ramón Carabantes: Returns to the Spaniards in 2011 actually again?

Pedro de la Rosa has his release with Sauber but suffered a severe setback in the comeback year, but the Spaniard pulls himself up once more. The 39-year-old would next year start a new venture. Currently, de la Rosa continued the Pirelli test work that started his successor Sauber Nick Heidfeld.

“This is not the decisive factor,” former McLaren test driver said of his insider knowledge of the new Formula 1 tires. “This knowledge gives me no cockpit, but I can maybe get a little closer,” said de la Rosa in the radio station ‘Onda Cero. ” Regarding 2011, he is currently working in close contact with HRT.
“I talk to the Carabantes, we are in a lively exchange. Warn me abreast of the progress,” says de la Rosa. “If the project is ambitious and interesting, then I would be happy if I could be there. They know it. But right now there is no hurry.” HRT is said future cooperation with Toyota Motorsport in Cologne.

After his banishment from cleaning the Spaniard with initial air his frustration. “I have my opinion and she knows Peter Sauber. That counts for me. I respect the decision, but that does not mean I think they are good. Now, we continue with Pirelli.” Neither de la Rosa still Heidfeld for 2011 a place in the Swiss free – Sergio Perez is new on board. “A good driver with good results and the important support of Telmex,” says de la Rosa.

As the 2010 season speeds towards its mid-way point, Kimi Raikkonen is still not ruling out taking a seat on next year’s grid.

The 2007 world champion stepped out of his Ferrari last year and into a full-time debut in the world rally championship.

“Yes, I watch races on television, but I don’t miss anything except for the driving,” 30-year-old Raikkonen is quoted as saying by Italy’s Autosprint.

“I will make my decision completely calmly and without outside pressure,” said the Finn, who has been linked with the Renault seat alongside Robert Kubica.

“I have only a one year contract (in 2010) but I don’t have any hurry to make any decisions,” he added.

(GMM)

Mar.24 (GMM – YF1) Lewis Hamilton has revealed he received “a lot” of applications to become his new manager.

It emerged before the 2010 season opener that the McLaren driver will no longer be handled professionally by his father Anthony.

Martin Brundle and Mika Hakkinen were both touted as potential replacements.

“Honestly, I have received a lot of applications but I’m not in a hurry to decide,” the 25-year-old Briton said on Wednesday in a joint interview with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

“I am with a fantastic team, with many competent people, so at the moment I have no need for a manager,” Hamilton told F1’s official website.

Ecclestone, 79, advised Hamilton to remain unrepresented.

“A driver doesn’t need a manager,” said the sport’s ’supremo’, who joked that he has offered to manage Hamilton.

“Gerhard Berger is the prime example of that. He managed himself and was making more money than anybody else at the time he was racing,” Ecclestone added.

The Toro Rosso’s pilot, Jaime Alguersuari is already at the Ricardo Tormo, where he assured he has not yet talked with the team about the season’s objectives.  Anyhow, , “it’s all the same to me whomever has to make demands on me, because I’m concentrated on my own business and know where I have to be at,” he explained.

The Catalan is optimistic.  “This year I’m running because I have the tools to do it,” he pointed out with relation to the poor experience prior to his debut in the race.  “As the season advances, I’ll have more tools,” he added..

Alguersuari established as his main “personal” goal to be ahead of Buemi” his Toro Rosso’s team-mate.  “One has to be realistic and know where he is at, but I’m in no hurry to be ahead;”, he assured.  Regarding him being ahead of Buemi, he stated that the Swiss “is racing with advantage until the first half of the championship,” because he didn’t make it last year.

However, he did not venture any clear results. “When the tests are over, I’ll say the position we’re in.  It will not be easier than last year.  As a matter of fact, I think it will be quite complicated,” he announced in advance.

In spite of the difficulties he assured he’s “ready.”  “It’s complicated to win because we don’t have the economic resources that others do –Ferrari or McLaren–, but we’re trying to do our best.”  The pilot recognized he thinks that it will be possible to “get pole positions” and even win a race.  Why not?”, he inquired.

Alguersuari thinks that in the Valencia’s tests it will be possible to see “who goes fast and who doesn’t.”  “The target is that the car does not have any problems, that it’s reliable and that it does not break down, allowing it to finish the race.  Once that is achieved, we’ll expect it to go fast,” he declared.

“IT’S A POSITIVE THING THAT THERE ARE SO MANY SPANIARDS.”

The pilot described as “positive” that there are “so many Spanish pilots in the F1 grid: himself, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and De la Rosa (BMW Sauber).  “The rivalry will be among all the pilots and not only between the Spaniards.”  The pilot indicated that he’s glad that Pedro Martinez de la Rosa “has a wheel, because its something he wanted for a long time,” he recalled.

Alguersuari analyzed the fact that next season it will not be possible to refuel the cars during the race.  “This way we’ll see a different type of Formula One.  From the fans’ point of view, it’ll be more fun,” he predicted.  The pilot believes there will be “more surprises” and that there will not be strategic games.”  “There will be a real  ‘pole’ in the ranking and not a fictitious one, because the quantity of fuel is the same for everyone.”

The pilot thinks the new single-seater ‘STR5′ is a “longer and higher car in its front, but the base is similar to last year’s.”  “A good base is the safest thing for everybody,” he added.  The idea of the team is to do 500 kilometers by day so to arrive to Bahrain with a good base.”

The Spaniard was asked about Michael Schumacher’s comeback to the competition.  “His presence is important at technical level and as a professional athlete,” he answered.  In addition, he’s a man with “passion for this sport and very few pilots like this can be found.”