The calamitous Bahrain grand prix saga has not jeopardised the island Kingdom’s future on the F1 calendar.

That is the strident claim of Bernie Ecclestone, after the F1 chief executive and FIA president Jean Todt displayed rare unity as they insisted the country’s civil and political problems would not affect the grand prix.

But amid the bubbling Bahrain saga, Ecclestone had suggested that Bahrain might face trouble when it comes to negotiating a new contract, with the existing agreement only set to extend for three more years.

However, when asked by Reuters if F1 is going to keep returning to Bahrain despite this year’s troubles, Ecclestone insisted on Sunday before leaving the Persian Gulf: “Absolutely. Forever. No problem.”

Like Todt, he even played down the damage done to F1′s reputation this weekend.

“I think it’s good because people talk about things, you know. You know what they say — there is no such thing as bad publicity,” said Ecclestone.

In truth, reputation damage has undoubtedly been done. But Roger Benoit, the veteran correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick, admitted he is dismayed with how politics interfered with sport so strikingly this weekend.

“On all continents, somewhere, all hell is breaking loose. And as a formula one reporter, you’re flying around this globe two or three times a year,” he wrote.

“We go to countries that are politically explosive. Where human rights are violated, where poverty reigns.

“But we hardly talk about it — not in China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore or Brazil. In 2014, we’re going to Russia.

“Years ago, our circus happily danced around in apartheid South Africa, and the military dictatorship of Argentina.

“Formula one is pure entertainment. Detached from the problems of the world. But here, in Bahrain, every reporter entered the political field, whether he liked to or not,” wrote Benoit.

So that is why Ecclestone is unapologetic, after championing the Bahrain grand prix.

“Because, basically, the problems they have in Bahrain have nothing to do with F1,” the 81-year-old told El Pais newspaper.

“The relevant agencies gave the nod as far as security was concerned, and I think it is clear that they were not wrong.”

He also sees no problem with F1 being used as a political tool.

“Governments want to have an F1 race for the same reason as they want the Olympics. We come to agreements with the promoters and, if that’s good for the country, fine,” said Ecclestone.

Argentina looks set to replace Korea on the 2013 formula one calendar.

That is the claim of Italy’s Autosprint magazine, reporting that the Argentinean national government will sign a three-year contract next month.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said last month that the 2013 Argentine grand prix, last held at the ageing Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez in Buenos Aires in 1998, will take place on the streets of the coastal city of Mar del Plata.

Autosprint now quotes Argentine tourism minister Carlos Enrique Mayer as saying: “The national government accepts the challenge of organising the grand prix of Argentina to promote our country to the world.

“In May, the three year contract between all the parties involved will be signed,” he added.

The report said Hermann Tilke will be responsible for the 5 kilometre city layout.

Autosprint also reported that next year’s calendar will remain at 20 races, so with the addition of Argentina as well as New Jersey, two current grands prix will need to give way.

One place will likely open up due to a new alternating scheme in Spain, with Valencia to wait until 2014 for its next race.

And Autosprint added: “The grand prix of Korea no longer seems able to honour the financial obligations agreed with (Bernie) Ecclestone.”

 The future of the embattled Korean grand prix looks safe for now.
The Korea Herald reports that organisers of the Yeongham event have reached a deal with Bernie Ecclestone to reduce the race fees.

Completing its bespoke circuit at the last minute, South Korea joined the calendar in 2010 but soon bemoaned the huge costs.

Sunday’s media report said organisers will save more than $20 million this year by successfully negotiating a reduced race commission and annual television license fee.

The new deal will last until the end of Korea’s race contract, in 2016.

The Korea Herald said organisers paid almost $40 million to Ecclestone’s Formula One Management last year — a 10 per cent rise on 2010.

The new deal will see the 10 per cent increase scrapped, the report added.

“With the successful negotiation, we’ll be able to save a significant amount of money this year,” said organiser Kang Hyo-seok.

“It’s a still difficult situation, but we’re trying hard to improve it.”

Ferrari’s 2012 car will borrow some ideas from Red Bull and other rival teams in formula one.
That is the admission of chief designer Nikolas Tombazis, who is heading the project of what has been described as an “aggressive” change of direction for the famous Italian team.

But recently in Korea, Ferrari ran a 2012-style new wing that some observers analysed as similar to the philosophy seen this year in Red Bull’s dominant car.

“One can not ignore the competition, nor that Red Bull wins (the championships),” Tombazis is quoted by the website of Italian magazine Autosprint.

“But Red Bull are not the only ones with interesting solutions; there are also solutions to consider on the slower cars,” he said. “We don’t need to hide that.

“However I believe that next year’s car will have lots of different elements, all ours. It would be absolutely unfair to say that it is a Red Bull.

“It will be a Ferrari but it will be different in different areas, with new solutions in other areas. It will be a mix,” added Tombazis.

Lewis Hamilton’s split with pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger will make him a better man and driver.
That is the claim of the 2008 world champion’s father, following the news that Pussycat Dolls singer Scherzinger and Hamilton, 26, have parted after a four-year relationship.

The split would explain Hamilton’s foul mood in Korea just over a week ago, towards the end of arguably the Briton’s worst ever season in his professional career.

But Anthony Hamilton, despite no longer managing his son’s career, indicated the McLaren driver is now steering onto the right track.

“He’s turned a corner in everything he’s done, his life, his loves and his love of motor sport. Next year is going to be interesting,” he is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

“You’ve only seen a young Lewis Hamilton. Now Lewis Hamilton the man is coming,” added Hamilton Snr.

 Karun Chandhok and his father on Sunday insisted they still do not know if the Indian will be on the inaugural Buddh grid in seven days.
Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes has said consistently he would like to see the reserve driver contest his home grand prix, but it seems Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen are firmly under contract to race at every opportunity.

“You will definitely see me in Friday’s practice session and there I will definitely give my best,” the Press Trust of India quotes Karun Chandhok as saying.

“But for the rest of the two days, we will have to wait and see.

“It’s a complicated thing because there are contractual complexities as the team has to honour the two contracted race drivers. But from my side I would love to race,” he added.

“Tony Fernandes has said many times that he would love to see it happen. But at the end of the day, one has to understand that F1 is a business.”

Chandhok’s father, federation of motor sports club of India president Vicky Chandhok, was also asked on Sunday if his son will be on the grid next week.

“That’s a question which Karun and Team Lotus have to answer … He has proved himself in Korea, but the question is beyond me,” he said.

Lewis Hamilton has split with his long-term girlfriend, according to British tabloid reports.
The news could explain the 2008 world champion’s uncharacteristically bad mood last weekend in Korea, where he vowed to begin to “redeem” himself after the worst period in terms of form and incidents in his career.

The Daily Mail says 26-year-old Hamilton’s split after four years with American pop singer Nicole Scherzinger, 33, is because of their “conflicting work schedules”.

Separate spokesmen for Hamilton and Scherzinger did not comment.

But the news was also reported by the Daily Mirror and the Sun, with a source saying the pair have “agreed there’s no point as they never see each other”.

Red Bull could hold back some development parts for the 2012 season, designer Adrian Newey has revealed.
Ferrari attracted great attention last weekend in Korea when a radical new wing specification, whose philosophy is destined for next year’s car, was debuted.

With the titles now wrapped up, other teams are also pushing ahead with testing new parts in the remaining few races of 2011.

But Newey has admitted he is cautious.

“All of our research and development is now focused on next year’s car,” he is quoted by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca.

“If there is anything new that we can apply to this year’s car, we may choose to do so.

“But it also depends on whether that would give away any clues as to what we are doing in 2012,” added the Briton.

 Timo Glock is already pressing the throttle for the 2012 season.
He revealed to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that, this week, he has been working on McLaren’s driver simulator for the very first time.

It is part of struggling Virgin’s new tie-up with the famous British team, including use of the Woking wind tunnel.

German Glock says he is also buoyed that, in the wake of technical boss Nick Wirth’s departure, the appointment of veteran Renault engineer Pat Symonds is already bearing fruit.

“My feeling is that we have definitely improved,” he said. “It can’t be easily seen because Lotus have also brought improvements which equalised our step.

“But the data has confirmed what I have felt in the car,” said Glock, referring to the current 2011 single seater.

For 2012, the McLaren simulator tests are now taking place and Virgin’s new wind tunnel programme is back on track.

“There was a little delay but we have caught up now,” Glock revealed.

“We went to Korea with new setup directions, since we have nothing to win or to lose now we can afford to do some development work for next year.”

Bruno Senna’s stock fell in Korea, mere weeks before Renault is due to decide its driver lineup for 2012.
The Brazilian, who replaced Nick Heidfeld five races ago, had a horror weekend in Korea, qualifying seven places behind Vitaly Petrov and finishing just in front of a Lotus.

With three races to go this season, the team’s fifth place in the constructors’ championship is probably safe, given the 23 point advantage over Force India.

But looking ahead to 2012, with Petrov, Romain Grosjean, Rubens Barrichello and of course Robert Kubica all also in the running for the seats, Senna’s Korean performance was bad news for the 28-year-old.

In his five races since replacing Heidfeld, he has scored points (2) only at Monza.

And “Bruno’s 13th position (in Korea) doesn’t pay justice to the pace of the car”, said Renault engineer Ricardo Penteado in Korea.

An unnamed team official, meanwhile, told Germany’s Speed Week publication: “We need to analyse why Bruno Senna did not come up to speed.”

The race failed to yield even a podium place for the famous team, but Korea showed that Ferrari is getting back on track.
That is the claim of team boss Stefano Domenicali, who referred to the successful debut of a new front wing raced to fifth place by Fernando Alonso.

The part, based on the 2012 car philosophy, was not necessarily much faster than the conventional wing run to sixth place by Felipe Massa.

But according to Domenicali, the “data obtained in the wind tunnel matched the data seen throughout the (race) weekend, so it’s a good sign. There is no doubt,” AS newspaper quotes him as saying.

He was referring to Ferrari’s earlier troubles with the correlation of information between the wind tunnel and the track.

Spaniard Alonso hopes the team can provide him with a good car for 2012.

“I do not need the best car to win the world championship, just a competitive one,” he is quoted as saying.

Red Bull’s championship spoils are worth tens of millions of euros, according to a report.
Germany’s Sport1 claims the 2011 constructors’ champions will earn EUR 60 million for the feat, even though the detail of the sport’s income distribution system is protected by the confidential Concorde Agreement.

But “The difference between first and second places is around ten million euros,” the team’s consultant Dr Helmut Marko is quoted as revealing.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais claims the world championship is worth as much as EUR 72 million to Red Bull in official F1 income.

The report said second place gets EUR 50 million, and third 36m, with the amounts then dropping proportionately by several million dollars for the lower placings down to tenth.

“For the small teams, a higher place in the constructors’ championship is very important because it means a lot of money,” said Spanish engineer Toni Cuquerella.

As for Red Bull’s millions, a lot of that money is already assigned to the development of next year’s single seater, demonstrated by designer Adrian Newey’s absence in Korea.

“He’s in the UK and focused on the RB8,” revealed team boss Christian Horner last weekend.

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has admitted four drivers are in the running to fill the team’s two race seats in 2012.
It was already known that the second Red Bull team’s current drivers, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, could lose their seats at the end of the season.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne kicked off his new Friday driving duties in Korea last weekend, and another Red Bull-backed hopeful is the Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo, who currently drives for HRT.

“Jean-Eric is one of four drivers – with Buemi, Alguersuari and Ricciardo – that Red Bull is thinking about placing with Toro Rosso next year,” team principal Tost told the French daily L’Equipe.

“We will take our decision in December. It’s really open and Jean-Eric is a possibility for 2012,” the Austrian added.

Vergne, runner-up in this year’s Renault World Series, said in Korea that he expects to have a job at Toro Rosso next season.

“I like his driving style,” confirmed Tost. “He has already demonstrated in the World Series his mastery of the car and his aggressiveness.”

Tost revealed that another Frenchman is also in talks with Toro Rosso.

“We are negotiating with Charles Pic,” said Tost, referring to the 21-year-old GP2 driver.

“There is a possibility that Charles will run a test with us during the days reserved for young drivers in Abu Dhabi.”

Ferrari has joined Red Bull in questioning the viability of the formula one teams alliance FOTA.
Amid fears some teams are breaking the gentleman’s cost-limiting agreement and faltering talks in Korea, Red Bull chief Christian Horner said the group needs to shape up “or we’ll stop”.

According to a French language report by the AFP news agency, his Ferrari counterpart Stefano Domenicali also has grave concerns.

“In terms of the cost cutting (disagreement), we can no longer afford to continue like this,” said the Italian, referring to the burgeoning debate.

“If there is no trust, there is no need to go forward,” added Domenicali.

“We know why FOTA was put together so we need to understand whether we still need it. What are the objectives for the future of FOTA, if it has a future?”

The news of the fracturing alliance will be music to the ears of Bernie Ecclestone, who would prefer to negotiate separately with the teams as F1 looks towards its next Concorde Agreement.

Korean carmaker Hyundai could become interested in formula one in the coming years.

That is the view of a spokesman for the Korean grand prix, following the country’s second formula one race last weekend.

The inaugural 2010 event was a shambles and circuit officials recently revealed financial concerns about the future of the event.

Late on Sunday, the Yeongam organisers revealed a race day crowd of 84,174, causing Red Bull’s official Twitter to wittily observe: “That must include mosquitos. And fish. And those were counted twice.”

A report by the Associated Press claims a Korean driver or team might help in the future, powered by the involvement of a local carmaker like Hyundai or Kia.

“Hyundai has been enthusiastic about the idea around the middle management levels, but the CEO has yet to be convinced,” said Korean grand prix spokesman Shin Young.

“In the future though, I think it will happen. I hope so.”