Sauber has become the second formula one team to reveal a brush with Bahrain’s civil unrest.

Force India was involved in a Molotov cocktail attack earlier this week, resulting in two team members returning to the UK and Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta sitting out the second practice session on Friday.

Now, the Swiss team Sauber has revealed it saw masked protesters throwing petrol bombs whilst returning from the circuit to their Manama hotel late on Thursday.

“At 20.50 the 12 mechanics, being on that minibus to the Novotel, noticed fire on the medial strip of the highway,” said spokesman Hanspeter Brack.

“On the opposite lane there was no traffic. The team members saw a few masked people running from there over to their lane where a bottle was burning as well.”

No one was hurt.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone on Friday played down the latest drama, accusing reporters of “wanting a story” and offering to ride in the cars with the frightened Force India team members if they are afraid of Bahrain’s night.

A member of the Force India team is returning to Europe following a firebomb attack in Bahrain.

The BBC reports that an incident occurred near a Force India hire car as members of the Silverstone based team came to a halt in a traffic jam after leaving the circuit.

No one was hurt, but “one team member not involved in the incident asked to return to the UK”, the BBC said.

“A spokesman said they were not the target of the attack, which took place on the outskirts of the capital Manama,” the report added.

The news was confirmed by The Times’ Kevin Eason, who said the incident involved a Molotov cocktail, as well as Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

Cary said Force India confirmed team members were “momentarily caught up in (a) disruption”.

“One team member will go home, they tell me,” he added.

The FIA could sanction F1′s reigning back-to-back world champion for his behaviour during the recent Malaysian grand prix.

Before calling backmarker Narain Karthikeyan a “gherkin” and “idiot” in the wake of their collision, Sebastian Vettel was captured by his on-board camera twice displaying his middle-finger to the Indian driver.

“I think he’s highly frustrated because he’s having a tough season,” Karthikeyan told the Deccan Chronicle on Wednesday.

“It’s completely unprofessional to blame me for the incident. The derogatory remark only goes to show him in bad light.

“Just because he has a good car, he can’t call others an idiot,” Karthikeyan continued.

“I have won races in all the previous single-seater championships I have participated in so I don’t need a certificate from Vettel.”

Reports in Germany, including in the Kolner Express, Bild and Die Welt newspapers, claim that Red Bull driver’s behaviour may have breached the new stricter code of conduct introduced by FIA president Jean Todt.

The FIA has been contacted for comment.

“He has breached the code of conduct,” former F1 driver Marc Surer told Germany’s Sky television. “You sign it when you get the license and then you have to behave correspondingly.

“Any behaviour that hurts other people or the sport is an offense,” added the Swiss.

Asked what the penalties might be, Surer explained: “Anything from a warning to a license revocation. In this case I think it was quite understandable and there will be a mild punishment, if there is anything.”

Hans-Joachim Stuck, however, is slightly less forgiving.

“When you’re overtaking, misunderstandings can occur. I think Vettel needs to learn this.

“With him, the curve was always upwards and now it’s not the case, and he needs to deal with that,” the German legend told the DAPD news agency.

As for Vettel’s description of Karthikeyan as a “gherkin”, Stuck insisted: “It’s better than ‘asshole’.”

Vettel’s attack, however, was sustained, with Kleine Zeitung newspaper now quoting the Red Bull driver as having said: “Maybe formula one is not the place to learn how to drive.”

Stuck responded: “If Sebastian had left more space, it would not have happened. It happens sometimes so it’s a racing incident.

“He (Karthikeyan) didn’t do it on purpose and it always takes two.”

The HRT driver hit back by calling Vettel a “bully”, and even David Coulthard – a Red Bull team consultant – defended Karthikeyan.

“He can’t make his car invisible,” the Scot is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

Also defending Karthikeyan was Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg, who told the Indian press this week: “From what I saw, it was not Narain’s fault.

“So I don’t really understand why he (Vettel) said all that.”

Hukenberg’s Force India teammate Paul di Resta added: “Narain is entitled to do as much on the track in comparison with someone like Vettel.

“Both are F1 drivers and are there to represent their teams.”

 Jules Bianchi’s personal sponsor has signed up with the Force India team for 2012.
The French rookie, also with the strong backing of Ferrari’s development programme, will be Force India’s reserve and ‘Friday’ driver this season.

Without mentioning 22-year-old Bianchi’s name, the Silverstone based team announced this week that Brazilian car parts maker Aethra is a new sponsor.

Aethra was Bianchi’s main sponsor in GP2 last season, when he finished the feeder series in third place behind champion Romain Grosjean and Luca Filippi.

“Particularly after a bad start, it is unfortunate that 2011 did not go as we wanted for Bianchi in GP2,” his manager Nicolas Todt told Italy’s Autosprint magazine last week.

“It was therefore impossible for him to win the title and so similarly (impossible) to find him a formula one race seat with a good team.”

Nico Hulkenberg signed a contract this week to race with the Force India team in 2012, according to reports.
The 24-year-old made a promising grand prix debut in 2010, culminating in pole position in Brazil, but he was replaced by Williams with the well-backed Pastor Maldonado ostensibly for financial reasons.

Germany’s motorsport-total.com reports that the German, who has been Force India’s reserve and Friday practice driver in 2011, will make his return to racing in 2012, replacing his experienced countryman Adrian Sutil.

The report said Hulkenberg has inked a one-year deal with an option for 2013.

“We will make no comment on the driver issue until the team makes a statement,” his manager Timo Gans is quoted by SID news agency.

“Already the current contract includes an option, so either way a new contract does not need to be signed,” he added.

Team boss Vijay Mallya has said he will not announce Force India’s next driver lineup until December.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann therefore denies that Hulkenberg will definitely be Paul di Resta’s new teammate in 2012.

“That is not right. The team – Vijay Mallya and Rob Fernley – confirmed yesterday that this is a rumour in the press and not the truth,” he insisted.

“We are in negotiations with the team,” added Sutil’s manager. “When they are concluded I cannot say, but we certainly will not wait until December the fifteenth.”

Some in the F1 paddock reacted “with cynicism” to Vijay Mallya’s sale of almost half of the Force India team.
Just last week, the Indian billionaire said he was “shocked” to read the media speculation about his negotiations with Sahara’s Subrato Roy.

But on Wednesday, the $100 million deal was announced in Delhi.

“Some in the F1 press are (therefore) unimpressed with him, with rumours persisting that this is merely the first phase in a gradual exit,” wrote Daily Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary in a blog from Korea.

Despite boss Vijay Mallya’s recent denials, the part-sale of Silverstone based Force India was confirmed late on Wednesday.

The team will be renamed Sahara Force India, the Indian billionaire sitting alongside conglomerate Sahara India’s Subrata Roy announced in a Delhi hotel.

“On behalf of the Force India team, I am delighted to announce this partnership,” said Mallya.

“Sahara India will invest 100 million dollars and will have a 42.5 per cent equity share,” he revealed, according to Indian commercial broadcaster NDTV.

 Reports that Vijay Mallya is selling his formula one team Force India will not go away.
When the original reports emerged last week, the Indian billionaire issued two strident denials.

“No question of my getting out of Force India,” he said, when the Asian Age newspaper cited sources that said the buyer is Indian conglomerate Sahara, with a deal “on the verge of being finalised”.

And in a vehement media statement, Mallya later added: “I was shocked to read a media report that I am selling the Force India team. This is completely untrue and without any basis whatsoever.”

But on Wednesday more reports emerged, with CNBC saying the Sahaha deal “will be inked shortly”.

“Mallya is likely to address (the) media later on Wednesday”, the report added.

And the Press Trust of India added: “The two corporate honchos (Mallya and Sahara’s Subrata Roy) will sign an agreement today, which will be followed by an official announcement this evening, according to sources”.

Spokespeople for Force India and Sahara declined to comment.

F1 might end a spate of near-constant driver penalties by installing a permanent race steward. FIA president Jean Todt’s new initiative of having a former professional racing driver on the stewards’ panel at every grand prix has been widely praised. But the system may not be perfect, as the last couple of grands prix indicate. Some observers were amazed that Sebastian Vettel’s swerve against Jenson Button at the Suzuka start last weekend was not penalised. “I am not going to lie. At that moment in time, yes, I felt that it was a little bit more than was needed,” said Japanese grand prix winner Button. Alex Wurz, speaking on Austrian television ORF, said he thinks Vettel was lucky not to have his championship celebrations delayed by a penalty. “He was lucky that (1980 world champion) Alan Jones was the driver steward, because someone else might have issued a warning or even a stop and go,” he said. Agreed a report in Speed Week: “Obviously Alan Jones took a tough approach (at Suzuka).” Like Button, also upset at Suzuka was Felipe Massa, angry that Lewis Hamilton’s latest collision went unpunished. “They (the stewards) have penalised people for much less this year and this time they didn’t do it,” said the Brazilian. Force India team manager Otmar Szafnauer agrees that consistency is crucial so that drivers know how to behave. “If something has happened three times before then he knows the way it is and what has to happen,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

German police visited the Force India team in the Nurburgring paddock on Saturday.

Bild am Sonntag and Express newspapers report that the visit was not connected to the criminal assault charges laid against the team’s German driver Adrian Sutil by Renault co-owner Eric Lux.

Rather, a German supplier is pressing the Vijay Mallya-led team for an unpaid EUR 50,000 bill.

“After a brief interrogation, the officers left the paddock,” said Bild.

Express cited team manager Otmar Szafnauer as reporting that the debt dates back to the pre-Force India days, when the Silverstone based team was known as Jordan, Midland or Spyker.

Another piece of intrigue on Saturday was Sebastien Buemi’s exclusion from the qualifying results when his Toro Rosso was found running illegal fuel.

However, the Red Bull junior team had not cheated. Rather, a chemical inside a new fuel system installed in his STR6 on Friday contaminated the car’s fuel.

Swiss Buemi must now start the race from the back. “What can I do if there is something wrong with the fuel?” he is quoted as frustratingly telling Blick newspaper.

Meanwhile, Renault F1 PR representative Andy Stobart was struck by a car whilst cycling in Germany prior to this weekend’s Nurburgring race.

Now walking wounded in the paddock, he is sporting cuts to his eyebrow, chin, cheeks and torso after being knocked unconscious and hospitalised.

Paul di Resta has admitted he isn’t sure he will still be with the Force India team in 2012.

Team boss Vijay Mallya said recently he has “clear options” to retain the impressive Scottish rookie – who maintains strong links with Mercedes-Benz – beyond this season.

But di Resta told Press Association Sport at the Nurburgring: “There are many things you hear, but you don’t know. I really don’t know where I am next year.

“Of course, I’d like to stay here if this is an opportunity. I came in here with a long term view.”

But there have also been suggestions that Mercedes would like to run reigning DTM champion di Resta at its works team, despite indications Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are both staying on board for 2012.

“Naturally, I’d love to be with a bigger team battling up at the front, that’s my ambition, but Force India is an up-and-coming team,” he said.

“This year has been more difficult than we thought. We’ve not picked up from where we left off last year.

“But sometimes things go down before they go up, and you take one step back to go two steps forward.

“So I certainly hope we can build a future in F1. That’s always been the intention,” added di Resta.

Boss Vijay Mallya has admitted Adrian Sutil could lose his Force India race seat due to the Shanghai nightclub incident of last month.
The Force India team owner revealed to reporters in Monaco that German driver Sutil would be in breach of contract if Renault co-owner Eric Lux, injured in the neck with a broken glass, successfully prosecutes for criminal assault.

But Mallya insists that, as yet, Lux has not taken the matter beyond a press release.

“We have not heard of any formal complaint being registered in any country for any sort of misconduct by Adrian,” he said. “So it would be highly inappropriate for us to presume that he did something.”

Mallya admitted, however, that Force India will take “appropriate action” if a complaint about Sutil is formally filed.

“You know, contracts do not supercede misconduct so unless I’m convinced that there is misconduct the contract shall prevail,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened there (in China), none of my people know what happened so there’s a due process of law.

“If and when he’s charged, I will assess the situation,” he added.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann confirmed in Monaco that they are yet to hear anything official from Lux, his lawyers or any authorities.

“The situation is unchanged,” Zimmermann, who last addressed the media in Spain a week ago, is quoted by DPA news agency.

“We are still awaiting a response from the other side. So far we have not heard anything.”

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore said he was very pleased at the news the Force India team is to give a race seat to the Scottish driver Paul di Resta.

He said, “I am delighted to see Paul reach the pinnacle of his sport by landing a drive with the Force India team. He will be the only Scottish driver competing in Formula One this season and the first since David Coulthard retired.”

“The whole country should be proud of him and his achievement. Paul is the latest in a long line of Scottish Formula One stars, inlcuding the legendary names Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart.”

Moore added, “I have no doubt the hard work, dedication and speed that Paul has shown throughout his career will stand him in good stead. I wish him all the best for the coming season and what I hope will be a long career at the top of his sport.”

Adrian Sutil has revealed he is still likely to remain with the Force India team for 2011.

The German’s plans had become once again clouded in recent days, when Renault team boss Eric Boullier mentioned both Sutil and Nick Heidfeld as potential replacements for Vitaly Petrov.

Speaking with reporters in Abu Dhabi, the 27-year-old said: “I can probably see my future here with this team (Force India). It’s all going in this direction.”

On the other hand, countryman Heidfeld is set to lose his current Sauber seat after Sunday’s race, so he welcomed Boullier’s nomination of him as a candidate for 2011.

“Obviously there are many seats already gone already. I’m still in talks with various teams — also with Renault, as Boullier confirmed,” said the 33-year-old.

Heidfeld acknowledged, however, that his lack of sponsorship dollars is a disadvantage.

“Renault is the best opportunity for me but I must say that talent is not the only thing they seek,” said the German.

“They have Vitaly in the car, who has strong arguments. Looking at his performance on the track this year, we know what those arguments are,” Heidfeld is quoted by Auto Hebdo.

Narain Karthikeyan has emerged as a contender to race with the Force India team in 2011.

Before Karun Chandhok made his debut in 2010, 33-year-old Karthikeyan was India’s first grand prix driver, contesting the full 2005 season with Jordan.

The Silverstone based team has since been re-branded as Midland, Spyker and is now Force India, headed by the Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya.

Force India’s current driver lineup is reportedly not secure for 2011, with Adrian Sutil eyeing a move to a bigger team, Vitantonio Liuzzi struggling to keep up with his German teammate, and reserve driver Paul di Resta thought likely to move into a race cockpit.

And the latest rumours from Italy, including a report in Autosprint magazine, is that Karthikeyan is a possibility for 2011.

It is suggested his sponsors have up to $8 million in total to spend on the seat, including Mumbai-based Tata Motors who are thought keen to associate with next year’s inaugural Indian grand prix.

On his visit this week to the Delhi site of next year’s race, Bernie Ecclestone said he hoped there would be an Indian driver on the grid.

“If an Indian driver is in Vijay’s team or a good team it will be superb,” he said.