Angry students could threaten next month’s Canadian grand prix.

Protests in Montreal, regarding planned university tuition fee increases, have been turning increasingly ugly and even violent, involving the throwing of glass bottles and hundreds of arrests.

According to the French language La Presse newspaper, at least one student association has specifically threatened to disrupt the F1 race, scheduled for 10 June on the nearby Il Notre Dame.

“I cannot deny that we are following this out of the corner of our eye and will continue to follow it in the coming days,” admitted race promoter Francois Dumontier.

The report said students’ chants at recent demonstrations included references to the grand prix.

At a recent meeting, one association of students approved a resolution to adopt “a weekend of disruption” aimed at “the cancellation” of the race, which represents “sexist, non-environmental and elitist” values.

“It is not clear that we will be targeted,” Dumontier insisted, “but we are an international event and are ready with a safety plan ranging from dealing with simple mischief to a wider disruption.

“The grand prix is often targeted because we are a major event. We are not worried but we have our eyes open and will work with the public authorities,” he added.

Sergio Perez has ruled out switching to Ferrari this season to replace Felipe Massa.

It is suggested the famous Italian team is growing increasingly impatient with struggling Brazilian Massa’s poor form.

“I think all this hype about a possible switch is massively blown up by the media,” Perez told F1′s official website.

“Should that situation really come about I would reject it as I would not want to make a switch in the middle of a season.”

Nonetheless, 22-year-old Perez is the obvious favourite, as the cream of Ferrari’s driver development programme and already powered by the Maranello team’s engines at Sauber.

“I think that people should not mix up engines and drivers,” he insisted.

The denials, however, are unlikely to dampen the rumours, with Massa under increasing pressure to perform — and some saying Monaco could be his last chance.

“I hope this weekend is where one can consider that my 2012 championship will begin,” the Brazilian said on Wednesday.

“I have had a few difficult times in my career and maybe the start to this season has been the most difficult so far.

“I have had to deal with the technical side of the problem, but also it causes a mental side, as it is not easy to deal with this situation. But if you fix one, then it is easier to fix the other,” added Massa in Monaco.

Perez tipped him to bounce back.

“He (Massa) is a strong driver and he has a great team behind him. Once he’s bounced back all these stories will die at once,” he said.

Ross Brawn revealed on Wednesday he missed the recent Spanish grand prix to have checks on his heart.

After handing over to his Mercedes deputy Nick Fry in Barcelona, fellow Briton Brawn is back in action as the team boss in Monte Carlo.

Rumours hinted there was more to the story, but Brawn insisted to a German newspaper earlier on Wednesday that he was simply advised by doctors to take the weekend off after a night in hospital for checks.

He then told reporters in Monaco his symptoms had been “arrhythmia”, or an irregular heartbeat, insisting he is “back to normal now”.

Brawn, 57, joked the heart problem was triggered by watching an exciting football game on television.

It is believed static electricity could have sparked Williams’ garage fire two weeks ago in Barcelona.

Even in the Monte Carlo paddock, the huge Spanish blaze was still a hot topic.

The British team and the FIA conducted investigations, but there has been no definite finding about the cause of the fire.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported suggestions simple static electricity, caused by the specific weather conditions and the fact a container was not grounded at the time, was the culprit.

Williams has scrambled to be ready for Monaco, but the only obvious sign of the fire on Wednesday was one missing mechanic, who is still recovering from burns.

“He’s on the road to recovery,” said co-owner Toto Wolff.

It is believed the mechanic was pumping fuel from one container to another when the fire started.

Wolff confirmed the static electricity theory.

“This is extremely rare. The weather may have played a role, as we had low pressure over Barcelona that day,” he explained.

Auto Motor und Sport said Williams lost mainly computers in the fire, but the crucial data survived. Of the team’s 150 radios, only 40 were intact.

Wolff said Bruno Senna’s chassis survived because of the partitions at the back of the main pit area.

“They are flame retardant,” he confirmed. “This meant the fire did not come beyond the back (area). The walls melted in the heat, but they didn’t burn.”

And financially, the Oxfordshire based team is completely undamaged, due to insurance.

A favourite for victory this weekend, Pastor Maldonado is reportedly lucky to be gearing up to race in the Principality at all.

Bild newspaper recalls that the Venezuelan, who defied his ‘pay driver’ critics by winning for Williams in Spain two weeks ago, was actually banned after an horror incident on the streets of Monte Carlo seven years ago.

Racing in the Renault World Series in 2005, the then 25-year-old ignored yellow flags before striking and severely injuring a marshal.

Organisers of the Monaco grand prix reacted by banning Maldonado from the street circuit for life.

Germany’s Bild revealed that Maldonado’s wealthy father intervened, promising to pay for the marshal’s recovery and rehabilitation from a broken back.

That intervention saved Maldonado’s future formula one career, as no team would hire a regular driver that cannot participate in the sport’s most famous race.

Maldonado is therefore a favourite for victory this weekend, with his Williams now acknowledged as arguably the best in the entire field when it comes to slow-speed traction.

And in his four seasons of GP2 between 2007 and 2010, Maldonado finished on the podium each time, winning and achieving pole position twice. In 2006, he won in Formula Renault.

Last year, in qualifying for his first Monaco grand prix, he qualified his then struggling Williams in eighth place, comfortably ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

“He is very good at Monaco,” agreed Barrichello.

In the 2011 race, Maldonado was fighting for fifth when he crashed with Lewis Hamilton.

“If the last sector in Barcelona is the marker, then the Williams will be unbeatable in Monte Carlo,” Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport quotes Dr Helmut Marko as saying.

The breakthrough success in Barcelona has piqued the interest of Maldonado’s native Venezuela, having not had an F1 points scorer since the ignominious Johnny Cecotto in 1983.

“My country will be following every second of the next race,” Maldonado is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“I love street circuits, this one in particular. My style of driving fits perfectly with Monaco. I am ready to get another great result.”

Red Bull is lamenting the limited role that can be played in 2012 by F1′s aerodynamic genius Adrian Newey.

For the past few years, the energy drink owned team has enjoyed its dominance largely because of the airflow magic wrought by Briton Newey.

But in 2012, with reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel just one of the five different winners so far, Pirelli rubber is king.

“I doubt Williams really know why they were so strong,” team boss Christian Horner, referring to Pastor Maldonado’s shock Barcelona pole and win last weekend, is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Horner insisted that, rather than the winner being the team with the best overall package at each race, success this season is about “understanding the characteristics of the tyre and the window in which they work”.

“It’s not that the midfield teams have made a quantum leap aerodynamically from last year to this year,” Horner insisted. “But from a performance point of view, this is what they have done.”

The logical conclusion is that aerodynamic cleverness has taken a back seat.

So will Red Bull knock a million or two off Newey’s huge annual retainer?

Horner laughed. “Adrian is not just an aerodynamicist, and aerodynamics are still important anyway. But now it’s about harmonising everything, and these tyres are simply remarkably complex.

“Two races ago Nico Rosberg dominated, but in Spain he was almost lapped. It is very difficult to predict what’s going to happen next — a nightmare for the bookmakers,” he smiled. “A lottery.”

The situation has split F1 into two camps: those who love it, and those who do not.

“It has become like a GP2 championship,” Maldonado, the junior category’s 2010 champion, is quoted by The National newspaper.

“The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car.”

The bizarre situation has left everyone scratching their heads, like Jenson Button.

He can scarcely believe that what looked a championship car – his 2012 McLaren – was beaten in Spain by Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg, who was almost lapped.

“The Red Bulls did a better job at the weekend than us in terms of points, but still they weren’t quick when you compare them to Williams, Sauber, Lotus and Ferrari,” he told PA Sport.

“Five different teams winning five different races, we really don’t know what’s going on, and I think that’s the same up and down the pitlane.”

Ferrari has played down rumours it is close to immediately ousting Felipe Massa, insisting it is possible the struggling Brazilian will still be in a red car next year.

On Twitter, the famous Italian team said the latest rumours – including a claim that former Virgin driver Jerome d’Ambrosio is a candidate to replace Massa in 2012 – are “funny”.

But it was Ferrari itself who fuelled the speculation, publishing a statement on its website that read like a warning to Massa.

“It was a very carefully-worded statement, wasn’t it?” said Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

“The way this crazy season is going, I really would not be massively shocked if they ditched him mid-season.”

The Swiss newspaper Blick said Monaco next weekend could be the 30-year-old’s last chance to up his game.

And the candidates are lining up.

“Ferrari knows that I’m ready. If they need me or they want me, then they will call me,” Adrian Sutil, who accompanied his manager to last weekend’s Spanish grand prix, said.

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo said some paddock pundits believe “the only reason” Massa still has its seat is because the “name Todt” – a reference not only to Massa’s manager Nicolas but to the FIA president – has a “protective arm” around him.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni told Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper this week: “Felipe has the full confidence of the team, starting with our president.

“We have not decided who will be our driver in 2013 but Felipe is not ruled out,” he insisted.

Indeed, while some believe Ferrari has hung a sword of Damocles above Massa’s head, others think the Maranello based team have been patient since the Paulista’s recovery from his near-fatal head injuries of 2009.

“We have no evidence that makes us think that Felipe has slowed down because of the accident. Zero,” Colajanni said.

F1 doctor Gary Hartstein agreed: “An experience like that (Hungary 2009) changes you, but you can’t say that’s why Felipe has not won again.”

Charlie Whiting has defended the decision in Spain to move Lewis Hamilton from pole to the very rear of the grid.

Although McLaren was widely criticised for making a grave error, the stewards’ penalty was at the same time described by the world’s press as “draconian”.

“Quite frankly I did not expect the penalty that we received,” said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

Indeed, given that McLaren’s fuel indiscretion occurred only in the decisive Q3, why not simply delete Hamilton’s Q3 laptimes, thereby putting the Briton mid-grid for the race?

“We had no room to move,” Whiting, the FIA’s race director, responded to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport when told that Hamilton’s penalty seemed too severe.

“If there is a violation, it applies to the whole session, not just part of it,” he insisted. “Qualifying begins with Q1.”

Whiting explained that if Hamilton had only lost his Q3 time, a precedent would have been set tempting teams to risk not being checked for the mandatory 1 litre fuel sample in post-qualifying scrutineering.

Auto Motor und Sport said only one or two fuel samples are actually checked after qualifying at grands prix.

Competitors could, therefore, genuinely “run the risk” of using less fuel than is allowed in Q3, if the penalty for being caught is relatively light, Whiting argued.

He recalled last year’s German grand prix, when Sebastien Buemi was sent to the back of the grid because his fuel sample showed irregularities.

As it was not possible to check if the illegal fuel had also been used in Q1 and Q2, the Toro Rosso driver had to be disqualified from qualifying, Whiting argued.

Sebastian Vettel has defended his former mentor Michael Schumacher.

The seven time world champion has been roundly criticised since last Sunday’s Spanish grand prix, after crashing into Williams’ Bruno Senna at the end of the Barcelona straight.

He called the Brazilian driver an “idiot” on the radio and later defended the outburst, but the FIA did not agree, imposing a five-place qualifying penalty for Monte Carlo for causing a collision.

“For us, that manoeuvre of Michael’s cost us a lot,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Austrian Servus TV.

He said the debris from the crash not only damaged Vettel’s front wing, but led to the reigning world champion having to serve a drive-through penalty due to activating his DRS wing in the yellow-flag zone.

German Vettel, however, defended Schumacher.

“In those situations we don’t have much time of course,” he said, “and you can get very great speed differences (between the cars) on the straights.

“I think it should be classified simply in the category of racing accidents. Unfortunately it happens,” said the reigning world champion.

“Of course you can always say what is what afterwards,” added Vettel, “just as you can say that it always takes two to tango.”

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug was less eager to comment, although he did tell Germany’s Sport1 that the team “accepts the verdict of the race stewards”.

Pirelli stands ready to supply special ‘qualifying tyres’ to formula one teams next year.

With the emphasis of the sport’s spectacle now relying on the complex and heavily degrading control tyres, it was the qualifying session that suffered last weekend in Barcelona.

Arguably to the detriment of Saturday’s spectacle, teams took an exceedingly strategic view of the fight for pole position, with some drivers sitting out the decisive ‘Q3′ runout altogether.

One solution, according to Pirelli’s chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, is the return of ‘qualifying tyres’.

The proposal has been made following recent criticism, notably by seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, of Pirelli’s 2012 product.

Tronchetti defended his marque’s approach.

“What we have is many competitive cars, which is what the teams wanted — opprtunity for everyone who is able to win,” he told Italian radio Rai GR Parlamento.

“So it’s fine if someone complains. We are available to the teams. We are ready to make qualifying tyres tomorrow.

“But they are choices that are not ours.”

Preparations for the inaugural Russian grand prix in 2014 appear to have hit a roadblock.

We reported last weekend that rumours were circulating in the Barcelona paddock that the Sochi race now appears “doomed”.

The state owned Moscow news agency Ria Novosti now reports that political issues have created “serious delays” in the race’s preparations, according to an adviser with the Russian Automobile Federation.

The official, Igor Yermilin, insisted that the project is not doomed, but he said very few efforts have taken place following the bureaucratic reshuffling of the local Krasnodar region.

He said some officials of the Omega company, responsible for the F1 circuit project, have lost their jobs.

“In the Krasnodar region there has been have been quite serious changes in the leadership,” Yermilin said, “including people from Omega who signed the contract on holding the Russian grand prix”.

The coastal city Sochi is also scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“The main thing at the moment is the Olympics — the grand prix is on the back burner,” said Yermilin.

Martin Whitmarsh is sure McLaren’s recent errors will not affect contract negotiations with Lewis Hamilton.

The British team’s latest mistake not only cost Lewis Hamilton pole in Spain, it put the 2008 world champion to the very back of the grid.

Asked if he worries that the now seemingly constant flow of team gaffes will damage McLaren’s efforts to re-sign Hamilton, Whitmarsh insisted: “No, I don’t.

“He has got to build the support of the team, he has got to feel comfortable doing it, he has got to want to drive and he is in good shape,” British newspapers quote the McLaren team principal as saying.

“I look forward to working with him for a long time to come.”

But Whitmarsh admitted that, given Hamilton’s tumultuous 2011 season, he was worried the British driver might have despaired last Saturday when the team’s refuelling mistake cost the 27-year-old pole.

“I was concerned,” he said, “because it is a pretty tough thing to happen to a driver.

“But I have to say he showed some greatness I had not seen before. By the end of our chat he was consoling me.

“The relationship between Lewis and the team is stronger and better and hopefully we will work together for a long time,” added Whitmarsh.

Even amid the chaos of the 2012 pecking order, the star performer is obvious.

That is the view of former F1 driver Christian Klien, who confirmed to the Austrian news agency APA that one of his current roles is a simulator driver for the sport’s latest winning team, Williams.

“It (2012) is very open,” he said, “but for me Fernando Alonso stands out.”

Equal with Sebastian Vettel, Spaniard Alonso is at the top of the drivers’ world championship, a full eight points clear of Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard’s car has been the struggling Ferrari F2012, but he has never finished a race this season lower than ninth (China).

He has therefore scored points at every opportunity, even finishing first and second in Malaysia and Spain respectively.

“Alonso has an inferior car,” Klien explained, “but he uses every single little opportunity.

“He is the most complete driver who gets the most out of the package he has.”

Triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart agrees that, among arguably the most competitive grid of drivers since the late 80s, Alonso is the standout performer.

“Right now we have the best generation of drivers we’ve had for a while,” the famous Scot told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“Everyone talks about Vettel, who is a great driver, and also Hamilton of course, but there is also Button, Schumacher, Kimi — all champions.

“There are others like Webber who also have the quality to win, young drivers coming up, many of them are very good, but also it is true that Alonso is fantastic.”

Asked why the Spaniard has not added a title to his tally since 2006, Stewart said: “The explanation is easy — he hasn’t had the luck to get the best car.

“Now he has one that isn’t good, but it’s in those circumstances that you see even more the quality that he has,” said Stewart.

Given Alonso’s push to the top of the championship with a sub-standard car, therefore, all the talk about Ferrari writing off the 2012 championship has been silenced for now.

“We have to keep developing the car,” Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari’s team boss, said after Barcelona, where significant upgrades were brought to the F2012 package.

“We are not yet fast enough to consistently fight for the podium, but that is the only option if we want to be in contention for the title,” he insisted.

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.”