Five races in, F1′s cleverest brains are still yet to decode the mystery of the bizarre and fascinating 2012 season.

As was the case when he utterly dominated last year, Sebastian Vettel is still leading the drivers’ points chase.

But, before last weekend, if he had been told that Williams’ Pastor Maldonado would be the winner of the Spanish grand prix, the German admitted: “Well, I would have put a lot of money on them!

“I think the odds weren’t bad,” he smiled.

Indeed, the major British bookmaker William Hill was taking bets at 500-1 prior to the Barcelona weekend.

A spokesman confirmed that only two bets at 10 pounds or above were placed on Maldonado prior to qualifying.

“I’m sure Williams don’t understand why they just won the race here,” McLaren’s Jenson Button is quoted by the Guardian newspaper.

But the previously-derided ‘pay driver’ Maldonado is not the only potential new winner in 2012, after Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Vettel won the opening four grands prix.

A detailed look at F1′s specialist reporting in the past few weeks shows that Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi are all also widely regarded as genuine victory candidates in 2012.

And given that their teammates have won grands prix this season, even the struggling Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna should be added to that list.

“Dammit, let’s go for (HRT’s) Karthikeyan!” wrote Chris Hockley in the Sun newspaper.

“It’s really quite crazy right now,” Vettel, who despite his young age would count himself among F1′s currently perplexed purists, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“What’s happening is difficult for us to explain,” he added.

The situation has split the F1 audience, with the purists shaking their heads, and others marvelling at the unprecedented spectacle.

“The spectacle has taken over the sport,” said the Paris daily Le Figaro.

“Even the teams can’t be sure who will be the hare and who will be the tortoise at any given track,” wrote Hockley.

Alonso, who is the joint championship leader, is in the purists’ camp.

“Of course it is attractive for the spectators that we are going to Monaco not knowing if we will fight for victory or be left out of the points,” he is quoted by El Pais.

“But in a way, after eleven years in formula one and now I’m at Ferrari, I would like to have more stability,” the Spaniard admitted.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “What’s going on is unbelievable, which I think is the outcome of the new rules, new tyres — I think it’s many factors,” he told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“What’s happening,” said Maldonado’s race engineer Xevi Pujolar, “is that these tyres are allowing teams who do not have the biggest budgets to be eligible for really good results.

“The reason is that the most important thing now is to have a good setup and also some luck with the temperature.”

Pirelli, F1′s tyre maker, has received both criticism and praise for its huge role.

“Pirelli have been both bold and brave,” Sun journalist Hockley said. “It can’t be easy for a manufacturer to make tyres that sometimes wear out faster than you can say Mercedes.”

Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian marque’s company chief, is unapologetic.

“What we have provided is what the teams have asked for, and it was not easy,” Italian language reports quote him saying. “Our engineers have done an extraordinary thing.”

Felipe Massa’s formula one career is on the brink of collapse.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali left Barcelona insisting he expects the struggling Brazilian to “fight back starting in Monaco”.

“We absolutely need his points to also fight for the constructors’ title,” he said.

Earlier, the Maranello based team said on Twitter that Ferrari is “disappointed with” the 30-year-old’s performance.

When asked about that comment, a Ferrari spokesman told the Sunday Times: “It was a poor choice of grammar. We are disappointed in the outcome of Felipe but not with Felipe himself.”

But the very latest development is that Ferrari is now making it abundantly clear that Massa needs to up his game immediately.

In a statement posted on its official website, Ferrari said Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso “has always maintained a very high level”.

As for Massa, his “drop off has made itself felt”, the report stated.

“The Brazilian had picked up 49 points two years ago and 24 the following year, while so far this season he has just 2,” said Ferrari.

“Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco grand prix”, the statement concluded.

Even Massa’s strongest supporters in Brazil, like the O Globo journalist Celso Itibere, admit the situation is dire.

“He is at risk,” said Itibere, “his decline is progressive, he is failing to react and he runs the real risk of not finishing the season.

“At this time Ferrari has no one to take the job. Everyone they would like to have there – Perez, Kobayashi, Webber – are not available.”

Tuesday’s edition of the Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport will report that Massa’s ousting is imminent.

And the latest edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport did not even once mention Massa’s name. “It is as though he does not exist,” wrote the Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“Yet it is an Italian newspaper, and he is a Ferrari driver.”

When asked if he fears for his F1 career, Massa said in Barcelona last weekend: “No. I live in the present. What will happen will happen.”

Asked if he is afraid another bad performance will seal his fate, Massa insisted: “I’m not afraid of anything, especially criticism. It doesn’t affect me.”

The penalty might be harsh, but the loss of Lewis Hamilton’s pole in Spain is just the latest calamitous mistake by McLaren.

That was the tone of the paddock’s reaction to the news late on Saturday that a McLaren gaffe saw the FIA send Hamilton from first to last on the Spanish grand prix grid.

The Sun newspaper called it a draconian “24-place grid penalty” imposed by the FIA after an “astonishing cock-up” by McLaren.

Hamilton was told on the radio to pull over after his pole lap due to a “technical problem”.

Sporting director Sam Michael argued ‘force majeure’, but the stewards ruled that it had been entirely McLaren’s fault that not enough fuel was put into Hamilton’s car to ensure a scrutineering fuel sample.

Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary said the severity of the disqualification “raised eyebrows”, but agreed that “McLaren’s mistake was horrendous”.

He said it has been “a season of errors” by the famous British team, who are yet to get Hamilton’s signature on a new contract beyond 2012.

“Hamilton must be seething,” read an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, while The Times laid out McLaren’s “catalogue of errors”.

27-year-old Hamilton’s “raw talent is being thwarted by mishap and cock-up,” said journalist Kevin Eason.

“McLaren are lovely people but how the hell do they get themselves in this position?” wrote the Mirror’s Byron Young on Twitter.

Even the non-English language media agreed.

“It was another great mistake by McLaren that could eventually cost Hamilton the championship,” wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo.

Italy’s La Stampa called McLaren’s fuel gaffe a case of “harakiri”.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport added: “It was error number 13 for McLaren since last year”.

While highly critical of McLaren’s own-goal, however, the feeling in the paddock is that the stewards’ penalty – although accepted by McLaren – was overly harsh.

“Back of the grid? Way, way too harsh”, said the Mirror’s Young on Twitter.

“Draconian penalty in my view,” agreed PA Sport’s Ian Parkes. “Dropping Q3 time would have sufficed.”

Sky commentator Martin Brundle added: “(I) feel they should have deleted that (Q3) laptime only which would have put him sixth”.

And excluding Hamilton from Q3 altogether would have put him 11th. Now, he will be “lucky to score a point”, Auto Motor und Sport predicted.

In the Independent, however, David Tremayne noted: “Welcome to the draconian world of F1.”

David Croft, the lead Sky commentator, said the FIA stewards had acted correctly.

“A good rule should be one that covers all eventualities with a penalty that acts as a deterrent which in this case is what happened.

“Too little fuel can’t be tolerated,” he added. “It seems harsh but had Lewis taken pole by one thousandth of a second, would it be harsh then?”

The Spanish fans – not Hamilton’s biggest supporters dating back to his spats with Fernando Alonso in 2007 – were happy.

Asked on the El Mundo website whether the penalty was fair, 76 per cent answered yes.

Narain Karthikeyan is not guaranteed his HRT seat for the whole of the 2012 season.

Following what the reporter referred to as a ‘chat’ with the Indian driver, the Times of India claimed Karthikeyan is “a million euros” short of a contract that will see him definitely race through November’s Brazil finale.

The 35-year-old also began the 2011 season for the struggling Spanish team, but was replaced by the Red Bull-funded Daniel Ricciardo mid-season.

The Times of India said securing the extra million in sponsorship is proving “difficult” for Karthikeyan.

“Sponsors are happy to give him money but not to the team, as obviously they do not want to be associated with a struggling outfit,” the report said.

The good news for Karthikeyan, according to the journalist Harish Samtani, is that his sponsorship deal with Tata brings to HRT the Williams gearbox, valued at about EUR 5 million.

The report said the link between Karthikeyan and Williams is the British team’s joint venture with Jaguar, which is owned by the driver’s sponsor Tata.

Ferrari will not run all of its planned car improvements at the Mugello test this week.

“My information is that the new single seater is not ready,” reported Livio Oricchio, the correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

There has been speculation that, following Ferrari’s troubled start to the new championship with its F2012 car, the changes for the forthcoming Barcelona race will be so sweeping that it might be called a “B” version.

But technical director Pat Fry reportedly told Oricchio that Ferrari designers are “staying with the (current) front suspension”; a reference to the Maranello based team’s innovative use of pullrod technology this year.

And the well-informed journalist Dimitris Papadopoulos adds that, even though the Mugello-spec Ferrari will have a new nose, sidepods and wings, “there will be no new chassis”.

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he was not happy Bahrain organisers used the acronym ‘F1′ in its political slogan for last weekend’s race.

The F1 chief executive was highly supportive of the island Kingdom’s intensely controversial return to the sport’s calendar, insisting Bahrain will retain its grand prix “forever”.

But when asked about the banners around the Sakhir circuit and the island Kingdom that read ‘UniF1ed’, 81-year-old Ecclestone admitted to the Mirror: “We never put it there.

“We told them to take it down, not to use it. I saw other things, not like that.”

But Sakhir circuit chief Zayed Alzayani wore a cap bearing the slogan throughout the grand prix weekend, even when in Ecclestone’s company.

Briton Ecclestone, however, denied the Bahrain slogan only intensified the opposition’s anger.

“Before they started using that slogan there was trouble about F1,” he insisted.

“People make excuses but there are only two sports where politics come into it; us and the Olympics because the profile is big enough.

“There was a big golf match in Bahrain before F1 arrived and there was no problems there.

“We are not here to tell people how to run their country.”

Ecclestone, however, was angry with some of F1′s British journalists in Bahrain, following their harsh criticism of the decision to push ahead with the race.

“I saw Bernie get angry in the press room with some British journalists,” revealed O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper correspondent Livio Oricchio.

“I had never seen him that angry.”

Force India on Friday will run a shortened second practice session in Bahrain.

The BBC reports that staff members, some of whom were caught up in a Molotov cocktail attack earlier this week, want to pack up early in order to avoid travelling back to their hotels in darkness.

Deputy team boss Bob Fernley confirmed to Reuters that Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta will therefore run limited second practice programmes, and may skip the session altogether.

Other reports quote him as saying Force India will however take part in qualifying and the race.

Respected British commentator and former grand prix driver Martin Brundle, however, thinks the island Kingdom has “never looked better”.

“Clearly, there is some trouble out there,” he told Sky, “but I’ve not seen any of it.

“Some journalists have gone looking for it and unfortunately the trouble found Force India.

“My view is this: F1 can’t run away from this,” Brundle insisted.

A support-race team and a respected journalist have become the next to pull out of this weekend’s highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.

The Porsche Supercup team MRS said its decision to skip the support race in the divided island Kingdom is the “first time in our history that we have had to cancel”.

“In the end we have the responsibility for our employees,” said team boss Karsten Molitor, citing security concerns.

Another withdrawal – joining the sacked Williams catering staff member, and the TV broadcasters Sky Deutschland, Fuji TV and MTV3 Finland – is the respected correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Livio Oricchio.

“I have decided in agreement with Estado to not go,” he said. “We had the tickets for the entire season, except for Bahrain and the United States, because there was a doubt they would be run.

“Like many journalists, I will not be at Sakhir,” Oricchio admitted.

“I always believed that the race would not take place, and I’m still not 100 per cent sure that something will not happen that will lead the FIA or FOM to cancel.”

Indeed, following the sport’s decision to push ahead, the pressure on formula one to cancel at the eleventh hour has only intensified.

Nabeel Rajab, the leader of the government opposition group Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, admitted that the next protests – ‘three days of rage’, to coincide with the race’s three-day calendar – are aimed specifically at F1.

“We’re protesting to show anger at formula one for conducting the race here,” he is quoted by the BBC.

And the wife of a well-known jailed Bahraini activist who is on a long hunger strike, added: “I am not angry with the government… what makes me angry is people like Ecclestone who decide to come to Bahrain because he thinks everyone is happy.”

Italy’s La Stampa reports that F1 personnel have been advised to stay away from restaurants and shops, while “girlfriends and wives stay at home”.

That’s not entirely true, as Felipe Massa touched down at the airport on Thursday with his wife and baby son.

And Giedo van der Garde, the reserve driver for Caterham, said he has found Bahrain peaceful since his arrival on Wednesday.

“I’ve not been here long,” he is quoted by Auto Hebdo, “but everything seems quiet. Obviously, there’s a heavy police presence,” the Dutchman continued.

“But I haven’t seen any trouble or anything. Let’s hope it stays like that.”

Marco Canseco, the correspondent for the Spanish sports daily Marca, said he witnessed a “minor altercation” in the capital Manama on Wednesday.

“Then all the teams and everybody were able to get to the track for work without a hitch, the same on return,” he revealed.

Many are protesting the race going ahead on moral grounds, others due to security fears, whilst others fear for F1′s image.

“The ongoing debate about Bahrain is the only damage to the high gloss of the exciting 2012 season so far,” agreed Austria’s Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted F1 teams will breach their contracts if they do not race in Bahrain next weekend.

Earlier, as the controversy surrounding the sport’s continued plans to travel to the troubled island Kingdom deepens, an unnamed team boss admitted his peers would prefer if the event was called off.

The Times newspaper then quoted F1 chief executive Ecclestone as saying that “If the teams don’t want to go, then we cannot make them”.

“We’ve no way we can force people to go there,” he also told the PA Sport news agency on Tuesday.

But in actual fact, teams are contractually bound to race at each event on the F1 calendar, with breaches punishable by exclusion from the sport.

“We can’t say ‘you’ve got to go’ – although they would be in breach of their agreement with us if they didn’t go – but it doesn’t help,” the 81-year-old clarified.

“Commercially they have to go, but whether they decide to or not is up to them,” said Ecclestone.

“I’ve had no one say anything other than ‘we’re going to be racing in Bahrain’.”

He said the local race organisers, and the national sanctioning body, are the ones that could cancel the race.

F1′s governing body, meanwhile, is the FIA.

“I’ve spoken to (FIA president) Mr (Jean) Todt,” Ecclestone revealed, “we keep in close contact, and he’s going out there (to China), so we’ll have a chat then, and we always meet with the teams.”

It also emerged on Tuesday that Ecclestone has phoned Dr Ala’a Shehabi, a prominent Bahraini journalist and activist.

She revealed that Ecclestone wants Bahrain’s government opposition to “have a press conference” at the grand prix “in which opposition can get their message across”.

Shehabi said Ecclestone is “very concerned” about the situation in Bahrain, including the fate of human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who amid his hunger strike in jail is said to be close to death.

Rubens Barrichello has advised his friend and countryman Felipe Massa to remember to enjoy his job, amid rumours the Brazilian is speeding towards the exit at Ferrari.

Speculation is rife that amid his apparently worsening performance slump, Massa will be replaced by the famous Italian team — perhaps as soon as within the 2012 season.

F1 veteran Barrichello, who has switched to Indycar this year after losing his Williams seat, told Brazil’s Globo Esporte that he thinks Massa’s problem is psychological.

“It’s not a speed problem,” he said, “it’s something that he needs to solve within himself.

“He has to close his eyes and enjoy, remembering that he does this because he likes it.

“Every time that I lost a little bit, it was because I had forgotten that I did it because I liked to. So we (drivers) have to relax and improve that way.

“(For Massa) it is just a moment, and every moment and race in formula one is a cycle of life.”

Barrichello’s advice for Massa may be particularly relevant, as he was at Ferrari during Michael Schumacher’s ultra-successful reign last decade.

Now, it is Fernando Alonso who is the Maranello team’s favoured son.

“Of course Ferrari loves Alonso, because he is one of the best, if not the best who is there (in F1) now,” said Barrichello, 39.

“So, it’s tough for Felipe.”

Barrichello also laughed at the results of a recent fans’ poll in the Italian media that showed he would be a highly popular choice as Massa’s replacement.

“It was very unexpected,” he said. “Maybe it was a way (for journalists) to see if Italians would pick an Italian driver, and suddenly I win.

“It is a very public business and shows that I must have left something behind,” added the winner of 11 grands prix.

Now less than three weeks before the island kingdom is scheduled to host its return to formula one, bitter protests and violence have once again erupted in Bahrain.

Witnesses claim a 22-year-old man who was filming the firing of tear gas on protesters was shot and killed by state-supporting militia on Friday.

The death – reportedly the first since last year’s troubles forced the cancellation of the 2011 race and test – intensified the clashes and calls for the forthcoming grand prix to be axed.

The government has denied it is responsible for the death.

“The ministry of interior will do all it can to find the criminal and bring him to justice,” a spokesman is quoted as saying by the Times of London.

The ministry also confirmed that Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has been arrested.

He had said last week: “We are going to use the opportunities that a lot of journalists are there (for the grand prix) and we are going to protest everywhere.”

The protests, however, continued.

“We (object to) holding a sports race that belittles the sacrifices of our children and ignores our suffering and wounds,” said a video statement posted on the internet by a protester.

“Do not tarnish the reputation of the respected auto sport with the blood of Bahrain victims.”

And on Twitter, the hashtags #BloodyF1 and #noF1 are being used to protest against the race and link to graphic photos and videos purporting to depict government violence.

F1 team bosses turned out in force as officials insisted next month’s Bahrain grand prix is definitely on.

The sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone joined Sir Frank Williams, Martin Whitmarsh, Christian Horner, Mercedes’ Nick Fry and Pirelli’s Paul Hembery at a media lunch in London.

“Talk about heavy support,” wrote Reuters correspondent Alan Baldwin on Twitter.

The self-described ‘PR offensive’ to promote the forthcoming Bahrain grand prix followed reports earlier this week that said the FIA had decided to cancel the race due to ongoing unrest in the island Kingdom.

“It’s all nonsense. We’ll be there as long as they want us,” said Ecclestone.

“Seriously, the press should just be quiet and deal with the facts rather than make up stories.”

If it was up to the drivers, though, they might give it a miss. Timo Glock is a brave lone voice: “Why should we expose ourselves to unnecessary risk?” he asked rhetorically.

“If it was up to me, we wouldn’t go there,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Bahrain circuit boss Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al-Khalifa, however, dismissed the risk of violence.

“These incidents can happen anywhere,” he told AP news agency. “It’s not going to stop our grand prix.”

Ecclestone added: “I don’t need any personal security, but whatever’s necessary will be looked after.”

According to a poll in popular British magazine F1 Racing, 60,000 of the 100,000 F1 fans polled internationally said it is “not right” for the race to go ahead.

Looking forward to the event, however, is the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

Nabeel Rajab, the president, is quoted by the Telegraph: “(F1) is helping dictators and we are going to protest.

“We are going to use the opportunities that a lot of journalists are there and we are going to protest everywhere.”

 Hot on the heels of the new technical controversies, the 2012 season has also kicked off in the sport’s high-intrigue world of politics.
A fascinating blog post by Sky News’ City editor Mark Kleinman has been pulled from the internet just hours after it went live.

It was about “F1 finance and control allegedly involving Ferrari, Red Bull and (the sport’s owner) CVC”, according to veteran journalist and broadcaster Maurice Hamilton on Twitter.

“Has someone spoken out of turn?” wondered the Times’ Kevin Eason.

The Telegraph’s Tom Cary said the rumour is that a $10 billion stock market floatation for F1 could be in the works “with Ferrari (and) Red Bull getting special deals”.

“There is no smoke without fire with this one,” added Eason. “No wonder Ferrari and Red Bull ditched FOTA.”

The document that currently governs F1 and its finances, the Concorde Agreement, runs out this year, and now F1′s most famous team – Ferrari – and the reigning world champions are outside the trade union FOTA.

“Coincidence? Highly unlikely,” said Cary.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone insists no deals have been done yet.

“I’d like to try to do something before the season starts,” he said this week. “I don’t want it dragging on.”

As for his take on FOTA, “Ferrari would never go do a deal with those clowns,” the 81-year-old scowled.

 Two formula one journalists are on the board of the Caterham Group, the parent company of the Tony Fernandes-led team.
Team boss Fernandes announced the formation of the Group at the Brazilian grand prix on 27 November last year.

UK Companies House records show that Joe Saward and David Tremayne were appointed as directors just nine days later.

In the company filing, Briton Saward’s occupation is listed as “journalist/consultant”.

“The nature of Saward and Tremayne’s roles in Caterham are as yet unknown, but one would assume Joe will announce something on his popular F1 blog during the next few days,” Steve Davies, of the skiddmark.com website, said.

 A new case of F-duct fever appears to have broken out in formula one.
The issue seemed dead at the end of 2010: the FIA banned the driver-activated systems that stalled the rear wing to boost top speed, replacing it with ‘DRS’.

But towards the end of last year, Mercedes began testing an F-duct style innovation in the front-wing, which because it is entirely passive is legal.

The system is on the W03 car, and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that McLaren’s final Barcelona test specification of its 2012 car, the MP4-27, featured a similar system.

Now, there are rumours Mercedes, McLaren as well as Red Bull and Lotus have designed new F-duct style systems — also for the rear wing.

Asked if this would explain Red Bull’s mysterious letterbox-style slit on the stepped front nose, designer Adrian Newey answered: “I can’t say anything.”

“Some teams have some doubts about the legality of the supposed systems,” journalist Michael Schmidt said. “We have heard that one has made an official request to the FIA about what is and is not allowed in this area.”