Lotus did not consider employing team orders in order to boost Kimi Raikkonen’s chances of winning the Bahrain grand prix.

The 2007 world champion ultimately finished second and even had a stab at overtaking winner Sebastian Vettel.

And he might have had an ever better chance at challenging the Red Bull had his Lotus team chiefs ordered teammate Romain Grosjean aside at a crucial moment.

“Yeah,” confirmed Finn Raikkonen, “but there are no team orders and we know the rules.

“I tried to get past as quickly as I can but it’s not easy with two similar cars.

“It’s always easy to say afterwards ‘if we had done that’ but in the end we were not fast enough to win and we have to take the second,” he added.

Despite team orders being effectively legal in F1, team boss Eric Boullier confirmed that Lotus does not follow that policy.

“We don’t want to play team orders, so we let them race normally and what happened, happened,” he is quoted by the Mirror.

The most important thing, according to Spanish commentator and former veteran F1 engineer Joan Villadelprat, is that the former Renault team still knows how to win.

“Maybe they don’t have the best car on the grid, because McLaren and Red Bull and Mercedes are probably better, but Lotus have made a car capable of competing with the best in the right circumstances,” he wrote in El Pais newspaper.

Two authoritative sources have admitted they doubt Adrian Newey was telling the whole truth about the air inlet in the ‘step’ nose of Red Bull’s 2012 car.
Designer Newey, the pioneer of the now-banned blown diffuser solutions seen throughout last year’s grid, insisted that the mysterious letterbox-slot gap in the RB8 is simply to cool the drivers with air.

But the aerodynamic expert’s explanation was met with some initial scepticism, amid speculation the monocoque air could also be flowing elsewhere for a performance benefit.

“The drivers are going to get their feet wet when it rains,” a suspicious unnamed engineer smilingly told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Also unconvinced is Joan Villadelprat, a veteran former formula one engineer who has worked at McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton, Prost and – most recently – heading the operations of the sports car team Epsilon Euskadi.

He wrote in El Pais newspaper: “Personally, I don’t believe Adrian Newey’s explanation that the opening is to refresh the drivers.

“If that’s what they need then Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber must drive half-asleep,” the Spaniard joked.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport speculates that the RB8′s inlet directs air underneath the floor, as per Ferrari’s innovative nose-slot of 2008.

Near the end of his second season since returning to formula one, Michael Schumacher is finally topping the charts once again.

Germany’s Sport1 reports that the seven time world champion ranks first on the list of drivers when it comes to performance on the opening lap of grands prix this year.

The report said the 42-year-old German has recorded no fewer than 42 overtaking moves on lap 1 so far in 2011, which is more than ten passes ahead of F1′s second-best, Sebastien Buemi.

Third is the exciting Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, with 23 first-lap moves.

“Schumacher is getting better,” said Niki Lauda, “but no one is interested because he doesn’t have a competitive car.

“I hope that is different next year. Then we can watch it again from scratch.”

It should be noted, of course, that drivers who qualify exceptionally well are unlikely to feature highly in the first-lap overtaking ranking, like Sebastian Vettel.

The back to back world champion has started from pole an astonishing 13 times out of the 17 races so far, meaning he has only passed two drivers on the first lap all season.

Schumacher’s teammate Nico Rosberg insists he has been the better driver in 2011.

“If you look at who has got the most points, that’s me, and if you look at who is most often ahead in the race, that’s me as well,” said the German.

“It is not true that he (Schumacher) is faster in the race. For sure he is closer in the race than he is in qualifying, but it is not true that he is faster,” Rosberg insisted.

The Rosberg-Schumacher tussle aside, veteran engineer Joan Villadelprat insists the bigger picture is much more crucial at Mercedes.

“There are many people who analyse that Ferrari’s performance has been unacceptable for a team of its calibre,” he wrote in the El Pais newspaper.

“From my point of view there is a more pressing case — Mercedes.

“2012 will be their third season, they have invested a fortune and the officials are not going to keep injecting millions if the effort does not translate.

“A premium brand such as theirs can only be in the fight for victory, which at the moment is an unrealistic goal. Mercedes cannot afford to be associated with the grid’s middle class,” added Villadelprat.

Two Spanish drivers and a new headquarters could be among HRT’s plans after it emerged Thesan Capital has taken over the Spanish team.
In its first two seasons, Hispania has been effectively based at Colin Kolles’ Greding headquarters in Germany, with no Spanish drivers on the roster.

But it was announced on Monday that the buyout will involve the “search for opportunities to optimise and improve the performance of the team” as well as “progressively making the team more Spanish and definitively settling … in Spain”.

According to the Spanish sports daily AS, Thesan is already developing some ideas along these lines for 2012.

One name mentioned is 23-year-old Spaniard and former GP2 driver Javier Villa, who this year is contesting the World Touring Car series.

And a “longer term” plan may involve 16-year-old Carlos Sainz Jr, the Red Bull-backed son of the famous former world rally champion who has begun a very promising single seater career.

AS said Thesan has “clear ideas” about a Spanish base for HRT, such as the state-of-the-art Epsilon Euskadi facility in Basque Country, amid the Joan Villadelprat-led operation’s current financial difficulties.

“Another of (Thesan’s) priorities will be to have the greatest possible number of Spanish personnel, both technically and logistically,” added the report.

He had a long face on the Montreal podium but Sebastian Vettel might still be cruising to the 2011 title.
The Red Bull driver was gutted after handing his Canadian grand prix lead to McLaren’s Jenson Button almost within sight of the chequered flag.

“If you have got it in your hands and you give it away, it’s not the sweetest feeling,” admitted the German.

But in actual fact, because his closest challenger Lewis Hamilton did not finish, Vettel actually extended his championship lead in Canada,
now over the sister McLaren.

“Vettel is only counting down the time before his new world championship comes,” wrote Italy’s Tuttosport, while Marca said the outcome in 2011 is “practically decided”.

Agreed Joan Villadelprat in his El Pais column: “Make no mistake, the Red Bull is still the best car and Vettel extended in Canada. I’m guessing it’s going to be very difficult to beat him in the coming races.”

Red Bull, meanwhile, said all weekend that Canada is perhaps its “weakest” race of the season with the RB7.

“He should not be too disappointed,” said boss Christian Horner afterwards.

Der Spiegel quotes Vettel as agreeing: “It’s annoying to lose a race because of a moment of distraction just before the finish.

“But when I look at the world championship standings after the seventh race, I am quite satisfied.”

Long-time McLaren team boss Ron Dennis, however, said before leaving Canada that the race had proved “Vettel is not invincible”.

And the RB7′s dominance might be affected by the forthcoming restrictions on blown exhausts.

“The rule changes are going to spice things up,” Lewis Hamilton predicted, according to The Independent.

In the Telegraph, Montreal winner Button agreed: “There’s a lot happening this year in terms of the regulations. It could go our way, it might not. We’ll have to see.”

Joan Villadelprat has questioned Ferrari’s decision to oust its technical director.

Villadelprat, a veteran engineer who in the 80s worked for the famous Maranello based team, had predicted the rolling of heads in the days before it was announced Aldo Costa had “relinquished” his top post.

“The pressure on Ferrari at the moment is brutal,” he wrote in his El Pais column on Monday, after both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were lapped in Barcelona.

“Things must change, that’s obvious. But they must avoid at all costs the rolling of heads, a typical reaction at Ferrari when things are not going as planned.

“Rather, they need to consolidate the technical team and give them confidence to keep doing their job. They are back moving in the right direction but they need more time,” insisted Villadelprat.

Two days later, the Spaniard told the sports daily AS that he does not think the departure of Costa is the right response.

“In a company like Ferrari you cannot succumb to panic. After five races this was not the time to make big changes but the pressure was too great.

“Without doubt, going on now without Costa is a counterproductive measure because he is the same man who last year produced a fantastic car for Ferrari,” added Villadelprat.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Autosprint reported rumours that others at Ferrari – probably those closest to Costa – may also shortly lose their jobs.

Also noteworthy is that in Ferrari’s brief media statement on Tuesday about its “technical side”, chief designer Nikolas Tombazis was not even mentioned.

Sections of the international media have questioned Red Bull’s strategic approach to the 2010 drivers’ world championship.

After Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian grand prix from the team’s points leader Mark Webber at Interlagos, Der Spiegel noted: “Red Bull gives (Fernando) Alonso wings”.

Not switching the places means that Spaniard Alonso can take his Ferrari to just second place this weekend in Abu Dhabi and be champion, whereas the alternative strategy would have set up Webber for a straight fight.

“It is not easy for Webber to drive in a team that considers him a burden to be up against Vettel,” said La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Tuttosport noted that it seems “the Austrian team would be happier to lose than to see Webber beat Vettel”.

“No team orders at Red Bull. Another own goal,” headlined La Repubblica.

Joan Villadelprat wrote in his El Pais column: “Had Red Bull opted for Webber a few races ago, the Australian would probably now be champion.”

Red Bull, however, is unrepentant. Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper that “second under proper conditions can often be more valuable than a first”.

But there is a feeling that the team is not simply giving up the fight for the drivers’ title.

One columnist in Brazil’s Globo wondered if Vettel’s radio message in Abu Dhabi might sound something like ‘So … Mark is faster than you’.

“I’m always in favour of leaving the fight on the track with equal chances for both sides,” said Rubens Barrichello. “But I wonder if they would do that if the situation was in reverse.”

The Brazilian obviously suspects that, if Vettel was the points leader, Webber would unquestionably be playing a subordinate role by now.

“Mark has done a great job this year and he has been told by his team what position he is in,” said Lewis Hamilton. “Against adversity he has kept at it. I want to see Mark win.”

Webber believes that, if a strategy is deployed, it will only be on the “last lap” of the season this weekend.

“Sebastian is part of a team,” said Niki Lauda, who believes Webber should be backed fully by Red Bull. “If he does anything it should be helping Webber and not just on the last lap.”

Webber is quoted by Bild newspaper: “It makes sense. Otherwise it would mean that Ferrari’s team orders would have paid off for Fernando.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hints that sense will ultimately prevail.

“We have already given too many presents to Fernando this year,” he is quoted by Autosprint.

Sebastian Vettel sounds unlikely to voluntarily fall in line behind Mark Webber as Red Bull pushes for its first ever drivers’ world championship.

Although heading for the championship lead in Korea before his engine failure, Vettel is now 25 points off Fernando Alonso.

It means Ferrari’s Spanish driver is the favourite for the title, with Vettel’s Australian teammate Mark Webber the most likely challenger due to his 11 point deficit.

But Germany’s Bild newspaper said it sounds unlikely that Vettel is going to give up.

“Nothing is going to change in my approach to the final two rounds,” he is quoted as saying. “My (engine) failure makes everything more interesting and difficult. But it is still possible.

“I am going to fight until the end,” Vettel vowed.

Like McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh who is in a similar situation, Red Bull chief Christian Horner said before leaving Korea that team strategy will be discussed internally before the season’s penultimate event in Brazil.

Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi thinks Red Bull made a big mistake by not establishing a hierarchy some time ago.

“They needed to take advantage of the fact they had the best car,” the Frenchman told CNR Media. “It’s doubtful they will have the same advantage next year, so you have to say they have mismanaged this season.

“I think they’ve missed a great opportunity,” added Alesi.

Joan Villadelprat, a veteran F1 team manager who now operates his own Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi, agrees.

“There has been a lack of solidarity at Red Bull, who have not been able to manage their superiority and are now giving the title away to Ferrari,” he wrote in his El Pais newspaper column.

“When a double world champion like Alonso takes the kind of advantage he has now, he does not fail,” the Spaniard added.

Joan Villadelprat on Monday insisted he has not given up on bringing his Spanish Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi into formula one.

The Spaniard tried to acquire the thirteenth and final team entry for 2011, but the FIA ruled that none of the applicants had the financial resources to justify the go-ahead.

But Villadelprat told the Noticias de Gipuzkoa that the 13th entry is not the only route into F1.

“We have not thrown in the towel,” he confirmed.

“The most important thing in formula one is the funding that allows you develop for the long-term. We already have the infrastructure and human capacity.

“We are still working with a range of investors and we hope soon to have a final decision,” added Villadelprat. “If the decision is positive, we have a range of options.

“We can go for the 13th entry in 2012, or for 2011 buy an existing team.”

He ruled out buying the struggling HRT team.

“We are not in contact with them,” said Villadelprat, with decades of experience in F1 with Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton and Prost.

“But we are confident that there are licenses available, because there are several teams in a very delicate economic situation,” he added.

“If we secure the budget for the next four years to take over the project of one of these teams, we will — otherwise, no.”

Joan Villadelprat insists he is not giving up on bringing his Spanish Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi into formula one.

After the FIA said on Wednesday it has decided to leave the 13th team entry vacant for now, Jacques Villeneuve said his partnership with Italian outfit Durango will now try to enter the sport by buying into an existing team.

Villadelprat, boss of the only other applicant, has adopted a similar stance.

“The 13th license was one way but not the only way to get into formula one,” he said.

Villadelprat admitted recently that it had not managed to accrue a full financial package for his F1 team.

“Without this capital it would be unfeasible to carry out the F1 project that we want,” he acknowledged on Wednesday.

“We have the ideal facilities and workforce for formula one and we will keep working to get there sooner or later,” he added.

There are still “three candidates” in the running to occupy F1′s 13th team entry in 2011, according to Joan Villadelprat.

He is in charge of the Spanish Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi’s bid, amid recent rumours the outfit had pulled out due to a lack of funding.

It has also been claimed that Epsilon Euskadi might instead merge with the struggling existing Spanish team, HRT.

“I don’t know where that information came from,” Villadelprat said in an interview with the sports daily AS.

“I spoke with Jose Ramon Carabante about a possible collaboration with us as a technology provider.

“We are looking for clients and it is clear Hispania is a potential client for the type of work that we do, provided there is no conflict of interest.

“But that’s it, there was never any talk of a merger, even though I do not close any doors,” he added.

Villadelprat said Epsilon Euskadi is still vying for the 13th team entry.

“The FIA knows our project well and now they must choose between the three candidates,” he said.

“We explained our situation, including our financial one, making it clear that we have a commitment to provide the necessary budget even if the deal is not yet closed.”

Echoing the claims of Jacques Villeneuve, who is bidding for the entry in collaboration with Durango, Villadelprat said it is possible the FIA will leave the 13th team place vacant.

Asked if he would be disappointed to miss out, he answered: “Not necessarily.

“Epsilon is more than F1; we are 130 people and would not risk our stability to go where we cannot be feasible.”

According to reports in Spain, there might be merger talks afoot between the struggling HRT team, and hopeful 2011 entrant Epsilon Euskadi.

The news agency EFE said the latter’s chief Joan Villadelprat is weighing up two options: the first being acceptance by the FIA to be the 13th team entry in its own right next year.

The second option is reportedly a merger with Hispania, F1′s existing Spanish entrant that is lagging at the rear of the grid and yet to pen a concrete deal for the construction of its next car.

F1 veteran Villadelprat has reportedly already been in contact, some days ago, with Jose Ramon Carabante, the owner of Murcia-based HRT.

Spaniard Villadelprat reportedly asked Carabante “what Hispania needs, what Epsilon can offer and if there is the possibility of collaboration”.

He apparently acknowledged that Le Mans prototype constructor Epsilon Euskadi’s infrastructure rates among “the top five” of the existing F1 teams, but lacks 17 million euros in investment.

The news follows HRT’s split with its 2010 car partner Dallara, and the news that advanced talks were taking place between the team and departed Toyota’s F1 arm Toyota Motorsport.

Joan Villadelprat is eager for the FIA to make its decision about the identity of F1′s thirteenth team for 2011.

The formula one veteran, who has worked at Tyrrell, McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton and Prost, is now pushing to bring his own Le Mans prototype and junior single seaters team Epsilon Euskadi onto the grid.

It is believed the Azkoitia-based outfit is in competition with Villeneuve/Durango and Stefan GP, but it is also possible that the governing body will deem none of the applicants worthy of the 13th place.

It is also rumoured that many more than the three aforementioned projects are still officially in the running for the entry.

“We are already working with our wind tunnel model,” Villadelprat is quoted by the Italian language Al Volante.

“From the economic point of view we have an interesting budget but not yet what I would want to have for the formula one programme.

“Before investing a lot of money, our possible partners want to be sure that we have been chosen (by the FIA), but this (situation) will end in August,” he added.

Indeed, the FIA’s decision about the 13th team entry is due late this month.

Hopeful Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi has begun wind tunnel testing a scale model of its 2011 formula one car.

The Azkoitia based team, involved in single seater categories as well as Le Mans with a prototype car, has applied to fill the 13th F1 team entry for next year.

It is believed the FIA has already turned down some 2011 applicants, while the GP2 team ART and American group Cypher have pulled out of the running due to lack of funding.

It emerged this week that the governing body will interview the remaining contenders – probably Villeneuve/Durango and Stefan GP – in Paris next Friday.

It would also appear that Epsilon Euskadi, headed by former F1 team members Joan Villadelprat and engineer Sergio Rinland, is still in the running.

Rinland told the Argentine publication Corsa: “Last week we put the model in the wind tunnel for the first time.

“It went alright.  The design is well advanced,” added the former Williams, Brabham, Forti, Benetton, Sauber and Arrows engineer.

Rinland said Epsilon Euskadi has not even begun to think about a driver lineup.

“We have absolutely no thoughts (on drivers),” he said, albeit admitting that it would be “fantastic” if his Argentine countryman Esteban Guerrieri won the seat.

“But as I said, the issue of drivers is not being contemplated at this time,” added Rinland.

According to Mercedes chief Norbert Haug, a line should now be drawn underneath the recent criticisms of Michael Schumacher.

With his detractors already questioning his competitive struggles in 2010, the seven time world champion sparked a new line of attack with his aggressive driving against former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello in Hungary.

The condemnation was near-universal and stinging, and preceded a rare show of contrition by the 41-year-old German.

“Michael has apologised and accepted his penalty,” competition boss Haug is quoted by Der Tagespiegel.

“It should now be accepted from everyone else and a final line be drawn under this topic,” added the German.

But for some, drawing that line will not come until the safety implications of the move are well documented.

“He’s a seven time world champion, he knew exactly what he was doing, he did it absolutely deliberately,” said Alex Wurz.  “A collision could have been fatal.”

Joan Villadelprat, writing in El Pais newspaper, agreed: “Obviously he cannot argue from the angle of inexperience.  What he did to Barrichello is intolerable.

“If it had gone wrong, the crash would have been at 300kph and could have ended in tragedy,” added the Epsilon Euskadi boss.

And Ferrari test driver Marc Gene wrote in El Mundo newspaper: “I still have shivers after watching that move.  It was unnecessary and very dangerous.”

Triple world champion and F1 safety pioneer Jackie Stewart said: “It was one of the most blatant abuses of another driver that I have seen.

“It is a terrible example from a man who has seven world titles — bully-boy tactics,” he is quoted by the Sun newspaper.

Another former driver John Watson added: “He’s a proud man and didn’t want to be overtaken but he reverted to an ugly animal instinct.”

Sebastien Buemi was unhappy with Schumacher after Hungary for a different reason.

“At the start he pushed me to the grass,” Blick newspaper quotes the 21-year-old as saying.  “I had to brake or I would have hit him.  I am disappointed; I would have expected more from him.”

UK bookmaker William Hill is taking bets that the German will retire before the Belgian grand prix (33/1), and that he will return to retirement at the end of the season (evens).