Kimi Raikkonen has admitted his failed negotiations with Williams ultimately turned out for the better.

When he decided to try to return to F1 this year, the 2007 world champion negotiated at length with Williams.

When those talks faltered, he turned to his second option, and quickly came to agreement with the former Renault team Lotus.

The Enstone based team has been the surprise of the 2012 season so far, and in Barcelona Finn Raikkonen is arguably the overall favourite.

He was asked by Turun Sanomat newspaper if the performance of Lotus, his only actual option for a race seat this year, has surprised him.

“Well, I had another option,” said the 32-year-old, referring to Williams.

“It’s hard to say what kind of results I would have had with Williams. They would have been pretty good as well but perhaps not quite as strong as we are doing now,” said Raikkonen, who finished second in Bahrain recently.

He said he has not been surprised.

“Last year (as Renault) they weren’t bad at the start of the season,” said the former Ferrari and McLaren driver.

“But they had decided to put the exhaust at the front of the car and were not then able to develop the way they needed.”

PRESS CONFERENCE

Kamui, so far this season a couple of good races and a couple not so good. What’s been the difference between them?

Kamui KOBAYASHI: Of course it’s definitely the car. We had quite good performance at the start, quite a good start to the season. Unfortunately, we also some races where the strategy was not really going well. It’s not let’s a bad thing for my season. I had a great start but I think we have to work hard especially on the long runs.

Yesterday, Fernando talked about drivers having more respect for one another. Do you think that’s the case? Should drivers leave more space for each other?

KK: Maybe. I don’t know. It’s always difficult to say.

You’re quite an aggressive overtaker

KK: Yeah, but for me I’m doing something quite normal. It’s not special. I’m just doing my job. Maybe it looks aggressive but I never crash with anyone. I never crash and stop the car. There may be contact but it’s always quite OK. Maybe it looks aggressive but it’s not aggressive in fact.

And of course, you’ve been on the receiving end as we remember from Spa last year.

KK: Spa last year? Where? Ah, with Lewis, you mean? That’s what I mean that was just an accident you know. I didn’t expect both cars to make contact because there was no point. I didn’t expect Lewis to come across and I just stayed on my line. It was just sudden, you know. There was no way to avoid that. That was something special though, it’s not really a racing accident and not aggressive stuff from me, so…

Nico, on paper you’ve been beaten by your team-mate so far this year. How are you feeling about it?

Nico HULKENBERG: Well, the first four races have been quite tough to be honest. I would have liked to take more than two points out of the first four races. We have been quite unfortunate in some races, such as Melbourne, where we had a first-corner incident and there was very little I could do and then a clutch failure issues in Bahrain. These were two races where we potentially could have finished in the points. But I’m looking forward, I’m bedding in well with the team. I think the team is doing a good job in putting everything together and if we get a bit more luck then I think it will be good.

How do you feel about team development? Are the developments coming at a reasonable rate as far as you’re concerned?

NH: Yes, definitely. We bring some new parts, probably like every other team, here and we have to wait and see where the new parts put us but obviously we’re hoping it’s a step forward. I think it is a step forward but just how big a step we’ll see over the next two days.

Pedro, we see a new team that has recently moved to new premises and taken on a lot of new staff. What sort of role do you see yourself playing in the development of Hispania Racing Team?

Pedro DE LA ROSA: As you’ve said, everything is new. We’re establishing ourselves; restructuring the team; we are growing. But really I’m not playing any different role than any other race driver would do. I’m part of the team; I’m a race driver; I’m experienced. If they need my advice on anything, I am there. But I’m not playing any special role other than driving as fast as I can and giving good feedback about the car.

You spent so long at McLaren are you not trying to put some of those influences on the team?

PDLR: Gradually I will. That’s the aim and that’s what I’m here for as well. But so far the team has been extremely busy trying to move into our new premises in Madrid, establish a structure, a ‘basement’ as I say, and after that we will grow gradually and that’s when I think my input will be, if possible, more beneficial. But so far the objective has been clear. We have to establish ourselves, we have to put he ground for building more floors on top of us but so far I’ve been very discreet and not in a very important position.

And where do hope the team will be at the end of the year?

PDLR: I have no idea really. We are improving race by race. We have made the car a lot quicker. Don’t forget at the first grand prix we did not qualify and gradually we have been closing the gap to pole position. That’s what we have to aim for: race by race, closing the gap, making sure that our car is a little bit quicker than it was at the previous grand prix. After that, at the end of the year, we will see. We don’t have to set ourselves any targets other than making the team more competitive race by race.

Kimi, you were plainly a little frustrated that you could have won at Bahrain but didn’t. Is that a true appraisal of your feelings about Bahrain?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, I think once you get so close, you’re not happy with second. If you’re 20 seconds behind then it doesn’t really matter but we had a chance but at least for the team it was a good weekend.

You’re a two-time winner here, both from pole position. Do you think a win is possible here? You’ve said you team will be winners at some stage.

KR: Well, the rules are different, so you don’t have to be on pole now to win. We’ll try. I don’t know how it will go. It’s very difficult to say before the weekend starts. The teams are very close. So if everything goes smoothly then we can be up there. But small difficulties in some areas and you’re suddenly much further back. We try to do everything right and then see what happens.

You didn’t test at Mugello as apparently the team hadn’t brought major modification, but for this race have you at least brought modifications that will at least see you maintain where you were at the opening rounds?

KR: We should have some new parts and we’ll see what happens.

Fernando, another winner here in 2006. How did you feel the Ferrari was in testing? Did you feel it was a lot different?

Fernando ALONSO: No, not really. We didn’t have any big improvements in the car, so what we tested were different set-ups and things we missed from winter testing. It’s been quite difficult for us with a lot of problems on the car and not many laps. The Mugello test was to complete what we had left from winter but in terms of improvements, we had minimum changes on the car so it felt the same?

Did that set-up research, as it were, make you feel more comfortable with the car, more competitive?

FA: Well, we’ll see. Obviously we had some ideas in terms of setup and some different possibilities that we were not introducing in the first four races because we didn’t have the opportunity to test them. So, it was good in Mugello: some of them were positive; some of them were negative so it’s good to know. As much information as you have is better preparation for the next grand prix. Obviously we arrive more prepared now than how we arrived in Australia with only three tests in the winter. But to make the car faster I think in terms of setup you cannot find much. If you want to be running at the front it’s more aerodynamic parts and updates in the car. Hopefully they come but we need to wait.

You know this circuit pretty well, you had a very good start to the race last year – do you think we’re going to see more overtaking on the circuit now, what with more KERS and a longer DRS as well?

FA: I think it will be similar to last year, to be honest. I saw some numbers of previous races here. On average like four or five overtaking manoeuvres in the last nine years and last year there were 57 – so it was a big change. The race this year will be similar to last year because of the degradation, the DRS and the KERS. With all the possibilities that we have now, as we had last year, for sure we will see some more overtaking. This changes also a little bit the philosophy of this circuit. As Kimi said, pole position was 60 per cent of the victories, now pole position is obviously the best starting position but it’s not crucial anymore because with this year’s tyres it’s less important.

Sebastian, you broke the mould last year by winning from second on the grid, where you’ve started for the last three years but you won last year from there. This is such a performance track, is this a track where you’re really looking for an indicator for the rest of the first half of the season? If you’re competitive here you will be elsewhere?

Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think if you are competitive here I think it means that you have been previously. It’s a track that we usually know quite a lot from winter testing, we have some data to compare to, so it’s very familiar. But it doesn’t mean if you are competitive here you are competitive everywhere. Equally, if you are not competitive here it doesn’t mean you will never be competitive. I think it’s similar to other tracks. Really, if you think which sector you’re talking about, which speed range of the cars. I think you have sectors on every track where you could get an indication. As I said, I think it’s the fact that we know a lot about this track, we have a lot of data to compare against, to see if we did a step forward compared to the winter and how big the step was. Surely then you have to consider different temperatures: it’s a different time of year so it’s also difficult to compare black and white – but yeah as a rule of thumb probably this circuit does give you an idea because simply you have all the corners you find somewhere else, you have tight chicanes like in the last sector, hard braking for the hairpin, fast corners like in the first sector. You have a bit of everything.

And yet everyone has been here, everyone knows exactly what sort of setup they would require. Is it perhaps one of the toughest races in that respect?

SV: Yeah it is. But as I said as well, you race here in May, it’s quite different if you look at the temperatures compared to February or March, so yeah, it does have a big change on the setup, so whatever you might have found out over the winter in testing, it might not work in the same way or the same style it did during testing. Also, you need to consider that the cars you launch are quite different to the cars you race at the first race, and then, you know, you race around May or June later in the season. So, yeah, it’s a bit wishy-washy because of that – but overall it’s a track we know fairly well from a driving point of view as we’ve done a lot of laps here. We should know our way around here.

Questions from the floor:

(Alex Popov – RTR TV) Question for Pedro and Fernando, about the Spanish Grand Prix in general because here and there we read about the difficult situation in Valencia, the difficult situation in Barcelona and now we have two grand prix but in the worst situation we will finish with no grand prix at all. Your thoughts about it.

PDLR: I’ve said a lot already since the first time we were told that Spain would have two grands prix, that it was a historical moment and a unique situation and we should be very, very proud of it. I still say the same answer: we still have two grands prix in Spain this year, and we should, all of us, be very proud, very happy and maximise this moment and then wait for the future to tell us what will happen – which is completely out of our hands, you know? This is all I can say. I’m very happy to be here, this is a Spanish Grand Prix, but also a Spanish Grand Prix with a Spanish driver in a Spanish team – so let’s forget about what might happen in the future because, as I said, I have absolutely no control over it.

(Mike Doodson – Honorary) Gentlemen, Michael Schumacher persistently criticises the Pirelli tyres, or at least the policy of Pirelli. To us and the fans it’s clear that Pirelli has been a major ingredient in the improvement of the quality of the racing this year and last year. Do any of you share Michael’s concerns about the tyres or do you think he’s just making excuses for not winning?

FA: I think Seb should answer, being German.

SV: Yeah? I think, y’know, we get a completely different impression inside the car than you might get outside the car. So, you’re always talking of two different worlds. I think for us quality of racing, if you compare racing today, you have to, I think, look after your tyres a lot more than probably you had to three, four, five years ago. For us, if you take, for instance, 2009 where we were allowed to refuel, we had new tyres and the tyres lasted longer, in that they didn’t see that much degradation. It’s a different quality inside the car because you can push nearly every lap similar to qualifying, whereas now I think the racing is different: we fuel the cars up, they are much heavier, and if you have a heavier car there’s more stress for the tyres, so it puts the whole thing in a different window. If you put a new set of tyres on with 20 laps to go, or 15 laps to go, which is, let’s say, the stint length, earlier, a couple of years ago, it’s a different world for the tyres. The tyres do see more degradation and then we start to slide and then one guy slides more than the other because he puts his tyres on two laps earlier. It creates a different type of racing, more overtaking, which I imagine is seen as better quality from the outside, simply because things happen. I think it depends what you really want. We have more overtaking. Fernando is good with numbers, so like Fernando said earlier. I think the races today – over the last two years since we have changed a couple of things – has become much better. Also for us. I had a race here where I was following – how many laps is the race, 66? – I think I was following Felipe [Massa] for 60 laps out of that and I couldn’t pass. Nowadays you know that your chance will come in the race and that’s changing the position inside the car as well.

Fernando…

FA: I don’t know. I agree with Seb but I don’t agree that Michael has continually criticised Pirelli. Michael said one thing and what has been written in the press has maybe exaggerated what he said. I read what he said and I don’t see any big problem with that.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, you have a very different car from this race. Let’s suppose this car does not correspondent to that criteria…

FA: We’ll see, we’ll see after the race, because we don’t know what car we have. Obviously we have new parts, but everybody has new parts. Because it’s Ferrari, there are quite a lot of expectations every race we go to. It seems like only Ferrari is bringing new parts. We have a step forward, we believe, on what we had in Bahrain, but we also know that it’s not the last step we have to do. It’s a continuous work, that we need to start here in Barcelona, making a step forward and try to improve our qualifying position and our race pace, but in Monaco we have to bring new parts. In Canada (we have to) bring new parts. So we will not bring a new car to every race as it seems that we brought here in Barcelona.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) But just to finish the question: if the car does not correspond…

FA: I answer you on Sunday.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Yes, but just to finish: considering your car has completely new ideas, a revolutionary car, do you think this could be the end of the season for Ferrari and you will start thinking about next year’s car?

FA: I don’t think so. I don’t think so. We need to see how the car works here and if it works fine, it will be a good step, the first step of many that we have to do during the next couple of races. If the step is not good enough, because the others improved the same or more than us so we remain in the same position, we need to work harder, for Monaco and for Canada, and bring more new parts in a more aggressive approach or whatever, because the championship is long and we will never give up in May, after four races.

Q: (Livio Orricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Do you think the basis of this car could be used for next year’s car?

FA: I think so. Yes.

Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) For all of you: if you look at the drivers in 1992, there were only two non-European countries represented. If you look at the same field twenty years later, this year, there are seven non-European countries represented. Is there a chance that in a few more years, the majority of the drivers will come from outside Europe and how do you think that will impact the sport?

KK: It’s difficult to stay. For drivers I think it’s very difficult, everywhere, Asia especially. I don’t know for the future, but at the moment I don’t know how many Europeans there are now? 17. We have to see. It’s very important for a programme for the development of drivers. I think that this programme is quite weak everywhere. I think for the future, they definitely have to work a lot. It’s very difficult to find how young drivers come to Formula One. I don’t know how it can be changed for the future but I definitely think we have to work on programmes for driver development.

Q: A huge German presence on the grid at the moment, Nico. Can you see that being maintained by a young driver programme in Germany?

NH: Which young driver programme? Is there one? I don’t know. We don’t keep track of that statistic. I think it will always be a good mixture between European and non-European drivers in the future.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) To anyone, but Fernando and Sebastian particularly: following the rulings in the two Nico Rosberg incidents in Bahrain – one of which Fernando was involved in – are you clear in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t when it comes to defending your position?

FA: Yes.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) Has your understanding changed between before Bahrain to now?

FA: No, maybe I did…

SV: Fernando made it pretty clear. He said ‘you have to leave the space. All the time you have to leave the space!’

FA: Yes. Yes.

SV: It was clear, no?

FA: As I did last year with Sebastian. In Monza.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC Sport) That isn’t what happened in Bahrain.

SV: He just thought my car was slimmer.

FA: But you passed. You passed.

SV: I think the rule is clear. You can argue. I think there were two incidents with Nico in Bahrain, one with Fernando and I think Fernando made his point clear afterwards. And with Lewis, and I think Lewis got past, so I think you can talk for hours now, but if you saw the situation in Bahrain, it’s exceptional, because you have a kind of asphalt run-off. Yes, it’s pretty dirty but we always try to go on the limit, the one who is overtaking, the one who is defending. Surely sometimes you need to respect that the guy is there and you need to leave the space. I think if it would have been grass, it would have been a different story. You wouldn’t go there in the first place. In Fernando’s case I think he would have made the same point.

Q: (Carlos Miguel- La Gaceta) Fernando and Pedro, if a fan of Formula One in Spain is thinking about coming here on Sunday, what are your goals for the race? What can you offer to the people?

PdelaR: Well, from our point of view, you know our goal is to fight and to improve from where we left it in Bahrain and that’s all we can offer, we can promise. We cannot promise victories – we leave that for Fernando – but we will promise, wherever we finish, we will do it with the pride of being here and doing a serious job, giving it all, and maximising what we have.

FA: Same thing. And giving 100 percent. We cannot promise anything. This is not a mathematical problem, it’s a sport, we all try to do our best so we will work hard, we will take care of every detail this weekend as we do normally, trying to do a serious job and hopefully finishing in the best position possible, but you cannot promise anything.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Leaving aside whether or not it’s a home race for you guys, how much of a difference does it actually make for you to be back in Europe again? Kimi, you don’t actually like the travelling very much out of Europe, do you?

KR: Yeah but I I arrived in China on the Thursday morning, so arriving for a European race on the Thursday morning is no different really.

PdelaR: I’m biased answering this question because it’s back to Europe, but especially it’s back to Spain, so for us, it’s a Grand Prix that arrives a little bit too early in our development programme, as far as I’m concerned. We have been improving since Australia but we probably need more Grands Prix to offer a more competitive show to our fans. That’s the only downside, but nevertheless, we are here, we are in Spain. It’s our home ground and we are very happy to be here. I’m looking forward to it. I used to live ten minutes away from the track and this is something that – when you grow up – you can always listen to the engines, so the Formula One cars, when you wake up every morning during the weekends – for me it’s a very special event, absolutely.

Q: Kamui, not so easy commuting from Japan.

KK: For sure. I’m used to being here a lot of times. I came to Europe 17 years ago and I’ve been here to Barcelona a lot of times. After long trips being back in Europe in Formula One is always great and it’s always great to see the motorhomes in Barcelona. This is always great and it’s always good to be back in Europe for Formula One.

SV: I think for all of us we’re happy to race in Europe. Surely we have races overseas which we enjoy. For instance, we all love going to Australia. Yes, it’s a long trip but once we are there I think we all enjoy being there and it’s the same here. In the end, I don’t think it makes a difference how long you travel. Yes, it is more convenient if you are only an hour, an hour and a half or two hours on the plane rather than twelve and then another twelve. As I said, I think every country we go to, there is a strong culture for motor sport. We hope for a lot of excitement and for a lot of people to come. It makes us feel very special when we are on the grid, to see that the grandstand is packed and usually around here are a lot of fans, cheering, especially for Fernando and the Spanish drivers, but it’s the same when we go to Silverstone, they’re cheering for their drivers. I think we can be very happy everywhere we go, and hopefully put on a great show so that the people enjoy it as well and they come back next year.

Q: (Alex Popov – RTR TV) Gentlemen, after testing at Mugello, Vitaly Petrov criticised the circuit, because he expressed concern about its safety, so do you think he was wrong to express his concern like this? He was criticised by other drivers, because he expressed concern. Is he wrong?

FA: I think everyone will have his opinion. I’m not someone to say that Vitaly is right or wrong. It’s more maybe the safety commission’s job or whatever. Personally, everyone will have their opinion, as I said. I like Mugello, I like the layout, I like the feelings, the emotions that you have driving there. As I said after the test, driving one lap in Mugello is like driving one hundred at another circuit, for adrenalin and how much you enjoy the lap. We were in Italy, with a lot of Ferrari support. I enjoy those three days testing so much, but in terms of how safe the track was or not, I don’t have the information to give an answer.

NH: Personally I enjoyed Mugello very much. I think it’s a very different circuit to all the others that we go to. You always feel like you’re flying there, a lot of fourth, fifth, sixth gear action which is great to have. Like Fernando said, whether you feel safe or not is a very personal thing. I think it was OK.

KK: That’s a great circuit. There are a lot of very safe circuits like Abu Dhabi without gravel, but this circuit had gravel and if we made a mistake we ended up in the gravel which is good for drivers and good for training and testing. The test was something we had to try and in the race, of course we have to stay on the track and it’s difficult to take a lot of risks but during testing we can take more risks to improve our driving. It’s great for me.

SV: Well, the first time I heard that he was saying something about safety at Mugello. I think we all loved the track because it’s different – like Nico said, there’s a lot of high speed corners. Sure, if the speeds are high, there is higher risk. There is obviously quite a lot of run-off but surely here and there you would like to have more. As long as nothing happens, everything is fine; if something happens… it’s always easy to say something after there’s an incident and say this and that. I think it was not as if we felt we were scared. We left the garage feeling safe. I think if we would race there one day, potentially yes or no, then surely here or there you can argue to make improvements for safety, but I think they did everything they could on the day.

Q: (Vanessa Ruiz – Radio Estado ESPN) Nico mentioned that Mugello is different from every other track that you guys race on in the year so does this very fact make it less useful to have tested there instead of somewhere else?

KK: Difficult. I think maybe it’s not really useful for mechanical stuff but definitely useful for aero development at least, because we can test the aero on the straights. Difficult to see the stability in the corner. Basically I think this was a good test.

SV: I agree. I think it was good to test some parts of the car, not for some others, but like all the other circuits. When we test in Jerez, test in Barcelona, we try different things. I remember in the old days testing in Paul Ricard. Some days we test on the 50s lap circuit because we were testing for Monaco Grand Prix: different tyres and different parts, so every test is welcome for different areas of the car, but it’s good. For people who don’t like Mugello there is a very easy solution.

Michael Schumacher has dismissed the attempt to have Mercedes’ innovative ‘double-DRS’ system banned.

Having twice previously rejected rivals’ claims the concept is illegal, the FIA late on Thursday threw out Lotus’ official protest.

Seven time world champion Schumacher, who drives for Mercedes, admitted in China he doubts Lotus really thinks the system breaches any rules.

“If someone has a good idea, we always have this sort of dispute,” the famous German told Bild newspaper.

“It (the dispute is) because it’s going to take too long for the other teams to do the same thing. It’s the normal game,” said Schumacher.

It is believed McLaren and Sauber are working on their own versions of the double-DRS, as are the reigning world champions Red Bull.

“We have been working on it for some time,” a Red Bull source told O Estado de S.Paulo’s Livio Oricchio, “but it’s not easy to get even two small tubes down the entire length of the car, front to rear,” he admitted.

Oricchio said Ferrari is also working on a version, to debut no later than next month’s Spanish grand prix.

It was mission accomplished for HRT Formula 1 Team in Malaysia a couple of weeks ago after both cars qualified and completed their first race of the season after a hard start. The F112 accumulated many kilometres and data on the track and the engineers had a lot of information to work on during the two week period between the race in Sepang and China. Having met the team’s targets last time out, HRT now aims to progress from where it left things in Malaysia and continue improving.

The Shanghai International Circuit is made up of sixteen turns, with nine being right-handers and seven left-handers. Cars reach maximum speeds on the 1.2km straight between corners 13 and 14, where they try and take advantage of the length of the straight to overtake. In China, the team will have a new member on board, Ma Qing Hua, who will be joining the outfit for the first time as a member of the driver development programme at his local Grand Prix.

Pirelli have elected their soft and medium tyres for this grand prix.

Pedro de la Rosa, #22: “After these first two Grands Prix we arrive in China much better prepared, with more mileage and having learned a lot, especially after the Malaysian GP. All the data gathered in the last race is very important for us, as we mustn’t forget that we didn’t have a preseason. Now we have a better insight on the areas where we must improve, but the most important thing in this initial stage is to finish races. That is the prime objective in order to learn and improve race by race. The hardest part comes now but we are better prepared. China is a circuit where I have always done well and a place I know well, both in dry and wet conditions. It’s not a particularly hard track for the car or the driver, but aerodynamics are fundamental”.

Narain Karthikeyan, #23: “We took a step forward in Malaysia and our aim is definitely to carry the momentum into China and rest of the season. Although we managed to finish the race, cooling was still an issue at Sepang and once we have it sorted out completely we’ll be able to unlock some more performance from the car. The back straight at the Shanghai circuit is of course one of the longest on the calendar and the tightening first corner is uniquely challenging since the corner entry is in top gear and by the time you exit you’re in second. Plus there are a fair amount of technical slow-speed corners as well, and the high-speed direction change of turns 7/8. Given these mixed characteristics, it is a demanding circuit for traction, aero and braking stability in equal measures”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “The start to the season was very complicated because we were behind schedule with regards to the other teams. We had to put in a colossal effort to be able to get on track in Australia and improve our performance just one week later in Malaysia. There’s still plenty to do and many areas to improve on to be where we should be but at least in these two weeks we’ve had a bit more time to analyse data, prepare and recharge batteries, therefore I’m confident that we’re arriving in China in a much better situation. We mustn’t forget that the F112 is only taking its first steps and, as of today, what we must do is progress without stopping. In Shanghai we’ll have some small updates to optimize cooling and aerodynamics, and the target for this weekend is to check that these adjustments work. To sum up, we have to get more out of the car but must also improve on teamwork and coordination”.

At least for now, the overtaking innovation ‘DRS’ is here to stay.
“It will stay as long as it’s in the regulations,” smiled the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in Melbourne, indicating it is a certainty for 2013 and 2014.

The concept debuted last year, replacing the driver-operated F-ducts with a standard rear wing flap that can be adjusted by chasing drivers in the midst of battle during grands prix.

Whiting said there are changes for 2012, to better balance the ease or difficulty of passing based on the experience of last year.

“For example, here (in Australia) there is a second zone, and in China and Belgium the zones will be shortened.

“Barcelona is lengthened by 50 metres and Canada there will be no second zone, same with Valencia,” he is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo.

“In Monza the zones will be longer, while for most of the other circuits we are satisfied.”

 Paddock insiders already have a name for Mercedes’ new front wing innovation — ‘W-duct’.
We have reported that the German marque has already tested the F-duct style concept at the front of its newly-launched W03 car.

The Finnish broadcaster MTV3, describing the system as ‘W-duct’, has provided some detail as to how it works.

When the car is being driven in a straight line, air flows into the tip of the silver car’s nose and is dispersed in a W-like pattern across the length of the front wing.

But when the car is cornering, the air flows more predominantly to one side or the other, improving the balance and handling.

Unlike the driver-operated rear wing F-duct, which was banned for 2011, Mercedes’ system is entirely passive and requires no moving parts, and is therefore legal.

Meanwhile, team boss Ross Brawn on Tuesday defended Mercedes’ strategy of employing numerous technical bosses, including Aldo Costa, Bob Bell and Geoff Willis.

“How it works is a mystery to me,” Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko told Die Welt newspaper, “but Mercedes must know what they’re doing.”

The future of the German grand prix at the Nurburgring looks set to race into the courts.
The Rhineland-Palatinate state this week said it intends to cancel the circuit operator’s lease, arguing that a bright future is “not possible” with the existing tenants.

Minister Roger Lewentz said he wants to personally take over the negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone about the future of the F1 race.

But according to the SID news agency, the operator Nurburgring Automotive GmbH (NAG) has announced it will fight back, including demanding “substantial amounts” from the government for the wrongful action.

“There is no reason for this extraordinary step,” NAG’s lawyer is quoted as saying.

The company’s spokesman said the situation is crucial to Germany’s future on the F1 calendar.

“Already, there are many candidates waiting for a (race) date to be available,” NAG spokesman Karl-Heinz Steinkuehler said.

“Without the Nurburgring, formula one would make probably only a guest appearance every two years in Germany, at the Hockenheimring,” he warned.

The minister Lewentz, however, said the government is ready for a fight, despite hoping for “an amicable solution” to the dispute with the operator.

“If not, a lengthy legal dispute cannot be ruled out,” he said. “We consider ourselves well prepared.”

Jun.14 (GMM)Veteran journalist Roger Benoit, long-time correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick, travelled to Montreal on the same Zurich flight as Vettel and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.

He said the pair were seated not a car’s length apart, but neither greeted one another nor exchanged a single word.

Benoit said the reason for the freeze was “clear”: a few days earlier, Rosberg had said Vettel was definitely to blame for his crash with Red Bull teammate Mark Webber in Turkey.

Meanwhile, after Sunday’s Canadian grand prix, 22-year-old Vettel triggered the temper of Force India driver Adrian Sutil.

Vettel, he revealed to the media, had approached the 27-year-old and sarcastically asked if his rearview mirrors had fallen off during the Montreal race.

“He should be quiet.  He thinks he’s a superstar,” Sutil is quoted as retorting.

May 3 (GMM)  Nico Rosberg will soon notch up the first victory of his formula one career, team boss Ross Brawn predicts.

The 24-year-old German finished on the podium just twice during his four-year tenure with Williams, but within four races has already finished in the top-3 twice at the wheel of a Mercedes.

“Nico is very close to winning a race,” Brawn told the Daily Star newspaper.

“Things just need to fall into place — but that will come.  I am sure he’ll do it.  Definitely,” he added.

Rosberg, whose Finnish father Keke won the world championship in 1982, finished third in both Malaysia and China, while his famous teammate Michael Schumacher’s last two finishes have been in tenth place.

“Nico has raised his game,” said former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart, who while a sponsor representative at Williams worked close up with Rosberg.

“The boy has extraordinary skills.  I think Michael has been taken aback by that.  It must be affecting him,” added the Scot.

Rosberg’s former boss Sir Frank Williams told the Daily Mail: “Nico is a very self-confident young man with a reasonable amount of justification for being so.

“He won’t be overawed in Michael’s presence.”

But a report in the Telegraph newspaper expressed concern that Mercedes’ decision to alter the wheelbase length of the W01 car could affect Rosberg’s momentum.

“Instead of helping Schumacher get back up to speed, could it just upset Rosberg, costing him the chance to compete for the world title?” wondered writer Tom Cary.

The McLaren driver’s weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov in Malaysia was a theme throughout the Chinese GP weekend, discussed at length in the media and in the drivers’ briefing by many of Hamilton’s opponents.

The 25-year-old – as well as Sebastian Vettel – was then reprimanded by the stewards in Shanghai for a pitlane incident, but it was Vettel who complained, saying afterwards that Hamilton “was keen to touch me”.

Referring to the Sepang weaving saga, Hamilton told reporters in China that he did not understand “why everyone was fussing about it”.

Asked if he thought the issue was overblown, he answered: “Yeah — they seemed to be talking about it for some time.”

F1 chief executive Ecclestone also thinks Hamilton’s rivals should focus harder on their own driving.

“What are they talking about?” he is quoted as saying by the Mirror. “Isn’t this sport all about racing?

“I thought Lewis had a fantastic race. He drove really well and they should stop complaining and get on with the racing.

“I loved watching his performance in Sepang. I bet the fans did too. It (the reaction) was a whole lot of moaning about nothing,” Ecclestone added.
(GMM)

Slowly but surely, Jamie McMurray has realized his victory in last Sunday’s Daytona 500 wasn’t a dream.  It’s real, and he’s enjoying every minute of it.  More than six hours after the start of the Daytona 500, McMurray joyfully hoisted the famed Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway.  McMurray endured lengthy delays for potholes that surfaced on the track, survived a crash-filled affair in the closing laps and held off a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap.

Last year, McMurray didn’t know for whom he would drive in 2010 after his Roush Fenway Racing No.26 team folded tent at the end of the season.  He landed a ride with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing in the No.1 car shortly after, and what a debut he made with the team.

With his second-place run, Earnhardt Jr. was the highest finisher among the four Hendrick drivers.  Earnhardt Jr., hoping to snap a 57-race winless streak, charged from 10th on the final two-lap overtime restart to second on the last lap, but McMurray held him off by 0.12 seconds.  California has not been one of Earnhardt Jr.’s best tracks, based on his previous performances there.  ”I don’t like going out west, but it’s much easier to go there after you run good somewhere else,” Earnhardt Jr. said.  Earnhardt Jr. has finished 25th or worse in three of the last four races at California.

McMurray celebrates his Daytona 500 victory with several obligations in Los Angeles this week previous to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Jamie McMurray is somewhat digesting Sunday’s Daytona 500 victory with the help of the great number of interviews he has given.

But the signs of appreciation must soon give way to the task of adding to it, particularly running well on the intermediate-length tracks that make up the bulk of the Sprint Cup schedule.  Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway (2-mile track) in Fontana, Calif., begins a three-race run at 1.5- to 2-mile tracks, and McMurray aims to add to his breakthrough 2002 win at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With experience from Dodge and Ford, he’ll copy the Chevrolet setup used by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who mostly ran well on those tracks last year in making the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Most of McMurray’s success at Auto Club came in his first stint with Ganassi with four top-10s in five starts; 13 starts have resulted in an average finish of 16.4.

“It will be important to run well this weekend,” he said during a teleconference. “That’s honestly a really good track for me. I haven’t been in one of their cars on a mile-and-a-half.

“I expect to get to Fontana, be able to unload with the setup that Juan ran last year and be really close.  Juan Pablo Montoya ran great there last year (11th and third).”

Finally, the Silverstone circuit has the approval to utilize the new section of the circuit for the 2010 British Grand Prix.

The “complex stage” was originally designed for MotoGP, but when Silverstone recovered the contract to hold the British Grand Prix at Donington, it immediately approached FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) to be able to run in the new racetrack.  Today, Thursday, the FOM consented on the use of this new area, which the organizers hope will improve the view for the audience.

“The circuit was always designed for two and four wheel competitions,” explained Silverstone’s managing director, Richard Phillips. “We have been very careful, together with the marshals and pilots to insure that we are improving and increasing what Silverstone has to offer – one for the pilots and another view for the audience.”

The F1 circuit will keep most of the high-speed racetrack, but will lose Chicane Abbey, Corner Bridge and the left in Priory –all of which have been left untouched to provide an alternative design.  Contrary to this, the drivers will now turn to the right at the Abbey, before entering a 90 degree right turn that opens in two at the left to again go to the existent National Circuit and, finally, the F1 circuit.  It is expected that the extra length will increase the F1 times per lap in four seconds.

After the first tests we have been able to see the F10 with more detail, the new Ferrari is a longer car.  Comparisons with the Renault R30 show that the Italian single-seater must be a little more than 5 meters long.  Is length this Ferrari’s secret?

A car like this has several advantages, including the possibility to have a soft air flow around the single-seater.  Naturally, together with a great distance between axles.  This is peculiar because McLaren found that the more distance between axles was inefficient for it in 2009.

If we try to guess the reason for this length, maybe it was motivated by the need to include a larger fuel tank … Is it possible that the fuel tank size forced this decision?

The nose’s cone is sharp and it marks a great difference from all the Ferraris of the last 10 years.  The tip extends at the forefront of the front wing, being bigger than the F60’s.  The top part, as was expected, is a copy of the Red Bull RB5’s V shape, with the outer sides of the nose higher than the middle part.

Around and behind the pilot’s position, all parts have had an evolution (if not to say they’re totally new.)   The sidepods’ cooling openings haven’t had almost any modifications nor the airbox or rear part of the car.  The engine’s exhaust contrary to Renault’s has been transferred farther to the front.

Specifications

• Chassis: Molded carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb composite monocoque.
• Gearbox: Ferrari longitudinal gearbox, semi-automatic, electronically controlled sequential – fast gear change
• Differential: Limited slide differential
• Number of gears: 7 + backward gear
• Brakes: Brembo
• Suspension: independent suspension, activated push-rod with torsion bar and front and rear damper units
• Weight: with water, oil and pilot: 620 kg
• Wheels: BBS tyres (front and rear): 13 inches

Engine

• Type: Ferrari 056
• Number of cylinder: V8 a 90 °
• Cylinder block: aluminum
• Number of valves: 32
• Overall cylinder: 2398 cm3
• Piston bore: 98 mm
• Weight: at least 95 kg (FIA regulation)
• Injection: electronic fuel injection
• Fuel: Shell V-Power

Oil: Shell Helix Ultra

In its striking silver and black, the new nose of the single-seater does remind us of Brawn’s BGP01, but if we look closely it’s very different.  The middle part of the nose is much higher, reaching above the front wing, together with the typical V shape of the Red Bull RB5 V.  The car has its nose edge higher at both sides right up to the cockpit opening. (look at the detailed picture below.)

The underside of the nose is rounded off, also as the RB5, but with less height in the front suspension mounts which are joined to the chassis by a small keel.

Around the driver, the sidepod entries have changed less, maintaining the air inlets that are now bulky in comparison to what McLaren and Ferrari have presented in 2010. The wing mirrors have been kept very simple.

Front detail of the Mercedes W01

This racing car may be one of the most innovative, not having anything to do with the adjustments made for his official presentation in Germany.  The airbox, apart from being an air inlet, its main objective is to be a roll hoop for the pilot in case of a crash.  Due to this, the teams usually reinforce the airbox walls with carbon fiber so that it matches the required strength.  Up to here there’s nothing we don’t know, but Mercedes has gone a little farther applying a completely different concept.

W01 Airbox

Here, the team has chosen to build the roll hoop as a vertical column providing a thick support on the centerline of the car.  So an air inlet must also be provided.  If you watch closely, the airbox is divided in two, with an air opening much larger than we are used to.

A little more to the back, there is a small opening on each side of the airbox, providing cooling air for some components that sit more rearward in the car.  It is understood that Mercedes and several other teams have chosen to move some components to sit in the low rear to make place for the larger fuel tank.

Despite the fairly bulky shape of the sidepods with a remarkable lack of undercut, the rear end of the car is extremely mince, leaving most of the suspension components open to free airflow. The team have made the bodywork so narrow that many of the components protrude.

Specifications

• Chassis: Construction Molded carbon fiber and honeycomb composite structure
• Suspension: Wishbone
• Dampers: Sachs
• Wheels: BBS forged magnesium
• Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza
• Brakes: Brembo calipers, discs/pads Carbon/Carbon
• Steering: Power assisted rack and pinion
• Electronics: FIA standard ECU and FIA homologated electronic and electrical system
• Gearbox: Seven speed unit with carbon composite maincase
• Gear selection: Sequential, semi-automatic, hydraulic activation
• Clutch: carbon plate

Dimensions

• Overall length: 4800mm
• Overall height: 950mm
• Overall width: 1800 mm

Motor

• Type: Mercedes-Benz FO108X
• Capacity: 2,4 liters
• Cylinders: 8
• Maximum rpm: 18.000 (maximum FIA regulation)
• Bank angle: 90 °
• Piston bore: 98 mm (maximum FIA regulation)
• No. of valves: 32
• Weight: 95kg (minimum FIA regulation weight)