He may not have a race or even a reserve seat, but Jaime Alguersuari will at least be a regular face in the formula one paddock in 2012.
The axed Toro Rosso driver will be experienced broadcaster James Allen’s co-commentator for British radio BBC 5 Live, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

Journalist Tom Cary said the news will be confirmed officially on Tuesday.

Still just 21, Spaniard Alguersuari revealed last month that he will remain fully focused on formula one this year.

“I am thinking only of F1,” he said. “What I can say is that I will devote myself body and soul to F1 in 2012.

“I will prepare myself, with no contractual relationships with anyone, to be ready and available for any opportunity that arises.”

Speculation that Nick Heidfeld might lose his Renault race seat is heating up.
Already this week, the German sources Bild and Auto Motor und Sport have wondered whether Heidfeld having to give up his Friday practice seat in Hungary is a sign he has lost the support of team boss Eric Boullier.

On Monday we quoted Boullier as having told France’s Eurosport at the Nurburgring that he has been “clearly disappointed” with the performance of the German veteran so far in 2011.

“We rely more on Vitaly (Petrov) for performance, with Nick more suitable for the development of the car,” said the Frenchman.

More of that interview has now emerged at the sports.fr website, with Boullier saying of Heidfeld: “He has not provided the leadership we wanted. He hasn’t taken hold of the team.”

Speculation is now sure to fire up about Heidfeld being replaced in the near future by either Brazilian Senna or the Boullier-managed Romain Grosjean.

According to broadcaster James Allen’s blog, the latter Frenchman could resume his abortive F1 career as soon as he wraps up the GP2 championship.

“He wasn’t ready in 2009 and those seven races alongside Alonso did him a lot of harm,” Boullier said at the Nurburgring. “He’s proved in GP2 this year that he’s a very good driver and he deserves a chance.”

A secret of Red Bull’s superior pace in the decisive Q3 phase of qualifying may have been revealed.

Autosprint’s auto.it website reports that the team has a special electronic setting for the Renault engine that maintains a constant exhaust gas pressure.

When the setting is selected, the stream of gases flow constantly from the exhaust through the double diffuser, even when the driver of the RB6 is not pressing the throttle.

This would increase downforce at slow speeds.

The setting, revealed initially on the blog of the British journalist James Allen, is reportedly used sparingly – for example only in Q3 – because it is damaging to the engine.

The RB6 has been on pole position at 8 of the 9 grands prix so far this season.

At least three media sources are claiming Mark Webber is a contender to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari next year.

Britain’s The Sun, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, and British journalist James Allen all reported the rumour from the scene of this weekend’s Monaco grand prix.

It is already rumoured that Robert Kubica is another contender to replace struggling Brazilian Massa, whose current teammate Fernando Alonso is under long-term contract.

The Sun also said Webber, 33, could retire if he is not retained by Red Bull in 2011 and is unable to find another top drive.

Kimi Raikkonen has been linked with Webber’s seat at the energy drink-owned team, and the newspaper said “the pieces of the puzzle” could be in place by July.

El Mundo, meanwhile, raised the possibility that Massa could simply swap seats with Webber and race alongside Sebastian Vettel next year.

(GMM)