Nico Rosberg has named Mark Webber as his toughest teammate in formula one so far.

The German made his grand prix debut alongside Australian Webber at Williams in 2006, moving four seasons later to Mercedes.

While at Williams, Rosberg also raced as teammate to Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima.

Rosberg’s Mercedes move in 2010 coincided with seven time world champion Michael Schumacher’s return to formula one at the same Brackley based team, where they have been teammates ever since.

When asked by Germany’s Sport Bild who his toughest teammate has been, he answered: “Mark Webber in 2006, then Michael.”

And he hopes he will be in front of his famous current teammate yet again in 2012, particularly with Mercedes hoping its new W03 is a race winner.

“To be the first German to win in the new Silver Arrow would be an absolute dream for me,” said Rosberg, whose father Keke won the title in 1982.

Andre Lotterer on Friday boasted that his Formula Nippon single seater is faster than the F1 cars produced by F1 backmakers Virgin and HRT.

The 29-year-old German, who is leading the Japanese championship ahead of former Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, won the series’ Suzuka round in May.

“Theoretically, if I would have entered today’s first free practice with my Formula Nippon, I would be nineteenth,” Lotterer, a Jaguar test driver in 2002, said at Suzuka.

In May, Suzuka pole sitter Naoki Yamamoto’s Honda-powered Nippon qualified with a time of 1.40.470, which was faster than any Virgin or HRT driver could manage on Friday morning at the same Japanese circuit.

And that Formula Nippon time is just half a second behind Friday morning’s slowest Team Lotus runner Karun Chandhok.

The 2011 Formula Nippon single seaters are built by American manufacturer Swift and powered by 3.4 litre V8 engines supplied by Toyota or Honda.

A prominent race engineer has returned to Williams for the 2011 season.
Spaniard Xevi Pujolar switched from the famous British team to the new Spanish outfit HRT last year.

At Williams, he formerly worked with the likes of Mark Webber, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher and most recently Kazuki Nakajima, and this year will engineer fellow Spanish speaker Pastor Maldonado, according to virutasf1.com.

Another departed HRT team member is press officer Tabatha Valls, who has moved to Virgin.

Bernie Ecclestone added more fuel to the fire when he made statements regarding the possibility that USF1 and Campos Meta 1 get a place in the grid of the first race at Bahrain. The F1 boss went even further by suggesting the both teams will miss the three first races of the season.
Ecclestone himself revealed there is a clause in the Concord Agreement which allows the teams to be absent at three races during the season. Even though most of the teams will not make use of it –due to the sponsorship contracts-, this could offer an extra period to Campos and USF1 to prepare for their debut in the Formula One.
“I think we won’t be seeing Campos nor the Americans, who are going to request to be absent to three races,” declared Ecclestone to Express. “According to the Concord Agreement the teams are authorized to be absent from three races.”
Both teams have insisted several times that they will run the first race of the season, even though Campos has admitted he is still looking for investors to pay the debts he has with the Dallara chassis manufacturer. On the other hand, the USF1 is ready for his final crash tests, and a number of reports suggest that the chassis is in a very advanced phase.
However, the Serbian, Stefan, who is developing the Toyota’s team F1 2010, is ready to intervene if necessary, suggested Ecclestone, saying that Stefan GP has gotten enough funds to be in conditions to participate in the races. “They have the Serbian government money. I have talked with the Prime Minister.” declared Ecclestone.
Formula One ex-pilots, Schumacher, Kazuki Nakajima and Jacques Villeneuve have been associated with the new team, that will make tests at the Algarve Portimao Race Circuit in Portugal, at the end of the month.

There are rumors that Kazuki Nakajima, Formula One ex-pilot with Williams, could make a comeback to F1 by the hand of the Serbian team, Stefan GP.  The team that aspires to be part of the 2010 World Championship’s grid (provided that someone withdraws), has just announced that he will perform some tests in the Portimao Circuit, in Portugal, at the end of this month.

“The first Stefan GP test will take place at the Portimao Circuit, between the 25^th and 28^th of February.  The identity of the pilots will be announced when the time comes, even though the first pilot has two years of experience in the Formula One,″ it’s indicated in his website.

According to rumors in the paddock, the Japanese already has an agreement for technical advise, and if the Serbian scuderia finally runs, Kazuki Nakajima could take the seat of a single-seater.