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”.

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 indicated that his inconsistency this season has not been all his fault.

Hot on the heels of reports the German marque has warned Schumacher he could be ousted at the end of 2011, the seven time world champion publicly questioned the machinery put at his disposal since he returned to F1 this year.

“The car worked great this time,” said the 41-year-old after a good weekend at Suzuka.

“Unfortunately, I cannot say it has been that way at all the races,” he reportedly told German television RTL.

“There have often been problems, especially on my car, in terms of the consistency, that were not always noticed from the outside.

“You only saw that I was slower.

“Both cars have not always been the same,” insisted Schumacher, who just before Sunday’s Japanese grand prix complained that the F-duct on his car was not working properly at Suzuka.

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug responded to Bild newspaper: “I cannot disagree with Michael.  As far as the car is concerned, he is right.”

Schumacher’s comments also followed a competitive yet frustrating race for the record winner of 91 races, who when stuck behind his teammate Nico Rosberg radioed the pits for assistance.

His engineer Andy Shovlin replied: “There are no team orders, be careful with your manoeuvres.”

On Germany’s other F1 broadcaster Sky, he responded to reports team boss Ross Brawn had openly criticised him in the press.

“He didn’t really criticise me,” Schumacher answered.  “He pointed out that compared to Nico I am a little bit behind, and he is probably right.”

Schumacher added: “I have also criticised myself.  I am still developing, even at 41!”

Sebastian Vettel has vowed to keep attacking in 2010, despite the wave of criticism about his rate of errors in recent races.

The 23-year-old German’s most recent gaffe was his crash into fellow championship challenger Jenson Button at Spa, earning McLaren’s rebuke that he has become F1′s “crash kid”.

But Vettel told German language Speedweek that he is not now going to drive more cautiously as a result.

“Racing is not a coffee break,” said the Red Bull driver.

“I go to the grid to win if it is possible.  But you have to attack, you can’t just wait for it to happen.”

Vettel admits his Spa-Francorchamps manoeuvre on Button went badly wrong, and phoned his British rival to apologise.

But he will be racing with an unchanged attitude this weekend at Monza.

“I always try to attack, so in that way nothing is going to change.  You always have your head switched on and everyone weighs up the risks.

“I know that both myself and my car are fast enough to win,” added the German.

In the eyes of the foreign language media, Michael Schumacher was the bad-boy of Sunday’s Hungarian grand prix.
In English, British tabloids called for the 41-year-old to return to retirement after pushing his former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello towards the pitwall at the Hungaroring.

And even the Daily Telegraph said the Mercedes driver’s “arrogance can no longer be tolerated in formula one”.

In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport said the German finally “went too far” with the violent defence of tenth position.

“The arrogant Schumacher showed no remorse but is the same as ever; never his fault. It was a miracle that this manoeuvre did not end badly.”

The Italian sports daily referred to the fact that the seven time world champion is an ambassador for the FIA’s road safety campaign.

“A little advice for those starting their holidays; if someone tries to overtake you, please to the exact opposite of what the celebrated ex-champion did in Hungary.”

La Repubblica and Corriere dello Sport called the move “madness”, Il Secolo XIX said it marked his “demise”, and Tuttosport said it was “dangerous”.

“Barrichello just avoided crashing into the wall and landing in hospital, if not worse,” added the report.

Corriere della Sera added: “Schumacher the villain, as he has always been.”

Spain’s sports newspaper Marca said: “Schumacher’s return to formula one is one of the darkest chapters in the history of the sport.”

At the same time, Schumacher posted an apology on his website, after viewing replays of the incident.

“I have to say the stewards were right in their decision. My move against him was too hard,” he said.

“I clearly showed him that I didn’t want to let him pass but, looking at it rationally, I wasn’t seeking to endanger him (Barrichello) with my manoeuvre.

“If he feels I was then all I can say is sorry, this wasn’t my intention,” he added.

Charlie Whiting has hit back at Ferrari’s latest criticisms about the timing of F1 officials’ in-race decisions.

After Valencia, the Italian team was furious that Lewis Hamilton’s penalty for overtaking the safety car arrived so late it had little effect on the McLaren driver’s race.

And at Silverstone, this time with Fernando Alonso penalised for overtaking Robert Kubica on the grass, Ferrari said the instruction to allow the Pole to re-pass his Spanish rival came so late he was far behind and already slowing with a technical problem.

In a website report on Monday, Ferrari repeated La Gazzetta dello Sport’s claim that F1 had become ‘Formula Lullaby’ because of the slow decision-making.

Ferrari’s controversial website writer described it as a “fact” that “decisions are taken slowly” by F1′s officials.

But Briton Whiting, the FIA’s F1 race director, said on Tuesday that in fact he advised Ferrari immediately after Alonso’s overtaking move that the position should be given back to the Renault.

“On the radio, I suggested to them that if they exchange position again, there would be no need for the stewards to intervene,” he is quoted by Italy’s Autosprint magazine.

“We told Ferrari three times that in my opinion they should give the position back to Kubica,” Whiting added.

“And we told them that immediately, right after the overtaking manoeuvre.  But they didn’t do that and on the third communication they said that Kubica was by then too far back to let him regain the position,” he revealed.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali was quoted on Monday as saying Ferrari needed to wait for the FIA’s final decision about whether Alonso should give back the place, “otherwise we would be accused of being not aggressive enough”.

Red Bull’s F1 chiefs on Sunday backed Sebastian Vettel after the young German’s crash with teammate Mark Webber in the Turkish grand prix.

Australian Webber said the sister RB6 turned into him during the overtaking manoeuvre, but team advisor Helmut Marko pointed a clear finger of blame at the 33-year-old and his race engineer Ciaron Pilbeam.

“Webber was slower and Vettel had immense pressure from Hamilton,” Marko said on German television RTL.

“Unfortunately, Mark was not told about the situation accurately by his race engineer,” he explained.

But Marko was also critical of Webber’s behaviour.

“He had radioed the pits to say he was slower on the straights (than Vettel).  He knew the situation and had just been informed about the pressure Hamilton was putting on (Vettel).

“Vettel was so much faster than he had to pass.  If Webber and he had braked together, then Hamilton would have passed Vettel,” said Marko.

Initially, team boss Christian Horner had indicated he was angry at both drivers, but eventually it was Webber who took the blame.

“It looks as though he didn’t leave Sebastian enough space.  It was very clear he (Vettel) was by his side and in front.  But I still have to speak with both of them,” said the Briton.

(GMM)

One of the three stewards on duty in Monaco last weekend has revealed the officials were too busy to consider giving Rubens Barrichello a penalty.

After Michael Schumacher was demoted six places for illegally overtaking Fernando Alonso on the last lap, it was suggested that Brazilian Barrichello should also have received a penalty.

Television footage during the race showed the Williams driver throwing his steering wheel onto the racing line after crashing, only for it to be collected by HRT’s Karun Chandhok.

The steering wheel was then dislodged in the tunnel, only for it to be run over by the other Hispania car.

Barrichello, 37, has denied he acted recklessly by arguing that he wanted to quickly abandon the burning wreck that was facing the wrong way on the racing line.

But Paul Gutjahr, one of the four Monaco stewards, told Switzerland’s Blick newspaper that the incident did not initially escape their attention.

“Actually, we had Barrichello on the list,” the Swiss admitted.

He explained that the issue simply fell off the agenda in the “hectic rush” to sort out the controversial Schumacher manoeuvre.

(GMM)

Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes teammates have sided with the seven time world champion over his controversial last-corner pass on Fernando Alonso.

After deliberating for four hours in Monaco, the stewards on Sunday evening decided to drop the German out of the points, even though team boss Ross Brawn insists the safety car period had officially ended.

Nico Rosberg thought Schumacher’s pass had been a good one.

“From my perspective it was a really cool manoeuvre,” he told German television RTL, “but apparently it’s not allowed.”

Interestingly, Rosberg revealed that he was also told by the Mercedes pitwall that overtaking between the safety car line and the chequered flag was allowed.

And Mercedes reserve driver Nick Heidfeld told Sky television: “The move was very clean.

“The rules are different this year.  In the past you could only overtake from the start/finish line, now it is from the safety car line.  Alonso was a little bit asleep,” added the German.

(GMM)

May 13 (GMM)  Four years after the ‘Rascasse scandal’, the British media on Wednesday demanded an apology as Michael Schumacher returned to the fabled Monaco circuit.

During the seven time world champion’s last visit to the Principality as a race driver in 2006, he was famously accused of ‘parking’ his Ferrari in the Rascasse corner during qualifying in order to prevent his title rival Fernando Alonso from beating him to pole position.

The stewards agreed with the charge and penalised Schumacher, but he has never owned up to having cheated.

“They say that sorry is the hardest word.  Is there any reason you are not able to say sorry for four years ago?” one British tabloid reporter asked the 41-year-old following several questions in the Mercedes driver’s media round on Wednesday.

Schumacher neither admitted his culpability nor denied the charges, insisting only that the F1 world should move on.

“I think you can keep trying, absolutely, but as I said before I am not in 2006 any more,” the German answered.

Asked if he regretted the manoeuvre, Schumacher said: “It doesn’t change things if we go back into it.”

And he said only the reaction of the media marked out the event as a low point in his long and successful career.

“You made it (a low point), yes,” said Schumacher.  “You journalists.  Some of you guys … let’s look forward and not backwards.”

Asked if he would be willing to try a similar move in 2010, he told a BBC reporter: “You’re boring.”

Also on Wednesday, Alonso also sounded unwilling to think about the 2006 controversy.

Asked if he had forgiven Schumacher for 2006, the Spaniard simply answered “yes”, insisting that F1 history is littered with famous on-track incidents.

“There’s nothing really to think about.  It’s a small incident.  That’s all,” the Ferrari driver added.

Lewis Hamilton also played down the media’s attempt to make the controversy a hot topic in 2010.

“That was a long time ago,” said the Briton.  “I wasn’t involved then.  I think we need to look forward.”

In the approach to this weekend’s Spanish grand prix, the Ferrari driver provocatively said Lewis Hamilton is close to being penalised by race stewards for driving infractions.

And the double world champion also said he senses relationship “problems” between Hamilton and his McLaren teammate Button.

“Fernando is having a bit of fun with everyone,” Button said in Barcelona.

“He’s trying to move the focus away from himself a little bit.  I’m very happy and I think Lewis is.  We’re getting on really well.”

Button also sided with Hamilton in disapproving of Alonso’s pit entry passing manoeuvre on his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa three weeks ago in China.

The Italian team and its drivers have dismissed the rumblings about the incident, but Button admitted he would “be gutted if my teammate did that to me”.

Apr.21 (GMM)  Lewis Hamilton has contradicted Martin Brundle’s claim that F1 stewards this year are being too lenient.

Former driver and British commentator Brundle said on Tuesday that Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton should have been penalised rather than merely reprimanded for their wheel-to-wheel pitlane stoush in China.

Brundle also said Jenson Button should have received a penalty for unduly slowing behind the safety car in Shanghai.

But after several years of harsh judgements from the stewards at grands prix, Hamilton said he welcomes the seemingly more hands-off approach of 2010.

“Racing stewards this year have been the best that I have probably experienced in formula one, I think,” the Briton said at a sponsor event at Kyalami in South Africa.

Despite claims by his fellow drivers that the manoeuvres were dangerous, Hamilton was warned but not penalised for weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov in Malaysia two and a half weeks ago.

“More racing has been out there.  You know there are drivers who are (now) not afraid to have a real battle with someone without having the worry of receiving the penalty,” added Hamilton.

Apr.20 (GMM) Ferrari on Tuesday continued to deny a reported rift between its F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

The Italian team slammed “some news outlets” for trying to create “bad blood” between the Spanish and Brazilian pair, after it was suggested Massa had been unhappy with Alonso’s pit entry overtaking move during the Chinese GP.

“There is no dispute between Alonso and Massa, they know well what they have to do and will continue doing it, because they know that they are racing for Ferrari and not for themselves,” said Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo on a statement posted on the marque’s official website.

And in yet another posting on the website, Ferrari quoted Alonso and Massa as being “tired and surprised” when they learned of the media reports after landing in Nice from their flight from Shanghai.

“As it happens quite often, there’s always someone who wants to create some confusion,” said Massa.

“The situation between me and Fernando is the one it always has been and an overtaking manoeuvre won’t change it for sure.”

Asked if he has spoken with Alonso about the move, he answered: “Sure, just like we talk to each other every day when we’re on the track.

“We both know very well what Ferrari wants from us drivers and what we have to do on the track,” he added.

Alonso also said he was “surprise” to learn of the media controversy.

“If someone wants to make a fuss, it definitely won’t ruin the spirit of Ferrari,” said the Spaniard.

(GMM) Ferrari has hit back at reports that said Felipe Massa was unhappy with Fernando Alonso’s pit entry overtaking move in China.

In a website entry headlined ‘False polemics’, the Maranello based team said the Brazilian driver’s comments were “taken out of context” in an attempt by “some news outlets” to “create bad blood” between him and Alonso.

On Monday, we reported 28-year-old Massa’s comments to the Brazilian media when he said he ran onto the grass to let the charging Spaniard through in order to avoid “an accident”.

But the Ferrari report said the incident “won’t change anything at all regarding the relationship” between the pair, with Massa and Alonso “travelling back to Europe on the same flight”.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali suggested after the clash that Massa might be upset.

“I have to say that Fernando, he is a racer, and I have to say that Felipe behaved very, very well,” said the Italian.

“It is not easy, and I can understand what could be his (Massa’s) feeling, but this episode has not changed our philosophy and for me that is the most important thing,” added Domenicali.

The veteran Italian reporter Pino Allievi said Spaniard Alonso’s aggression could have been a turning point in his relationship with Massa.

“(It was) an abrupt way of reclaiming the team leadership with an unexpected and chilling manoeuvre,” he wrote in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Typical of someone who, behind the peaceful exterior, hides the killer instinct of a champion,” Allievi added.

When it comes to racing or sports that are centered on cars, there are a number of different sports that automatically come to mind. One of those sports is NASCAR. Although NASCAR could easily be considered one of the most popular sports, in the United States, there is another sport that is rapidly increasing in popularity. That sport is known as Formula D Racing or Formula Drifting.
Have you heard of Formula D Racing before? Although there is a good chance that you have, there is also a good chance that you haven’t. This is mostly due to the fact that professional drifting is relatively new in the United States. The first professional drifting event was held in the United States in 2004. That event and the popularity that it generated led to the creation of the Formula Drift Championship series.
Since it was first officially brought to the United States, in 2004, Formula Drifting has been seen by thousands, if not millions of Americans. Many of these Americans choose to watch coverage of Formula Drifting events on television, while others make the journey to see a live Formula D event. In addition to fans, there has also been a general interest in the sport. In fact, many fans want to become professional drifters, just like their favourite drivers. As previously mentioned, you may or may not be familiar with the sport. If you are unfamiliar with Formula D Racing, you may be wondering what all the hype is about. If you are, you are definitely not alone.
When examining the popularity of Formula Drifting, it is important to remember that there are a number of different reasons for its popularity. Formula Drifting has a fairly large fan following. Each of those fans has their own reasons for following the sport, often on a regular basis. Despite the fact that many fans have their own reasons for watching and enjoying Formula D Racing, there are a number of common reasons. Perhaps, the most common reason being the excitement of the sport.
Formula D Racing is unlike a number of other popular racing sports. Drivers must successfully manoeuvre themselves around the course; a course that is regularly filed with a turns. In those turns, drivers must use unique drifting techniques. These techniques, performed by inexperienced drivers could be disastrous, but most professional drivers are able to control their cars, especially when the cars begin to lose control. Formula D Racing events typically comprise of a qualifying race and a head-to-head battle. The qualifying races are individually done, but they are still exciting. The head-to-head battles, also known as tandem battles, are often where the most excitement can be found.
In addition to it action packed excitement, Formula D Racing is also popular because it is easy to watch. As previously mentioned, you can easily watch a live Formula Drifting event or watch coverage of one on television. Formula D Racing has teamed up with G4TV. This popular television network is available with a wide variety of different cable and satellite providers, including Direct TV and Time Warner Cable. By checking your programming guide, you should easily be able to determine whether or not you currently subscribe to the G4TV network. If you do not, in most cases, you should easily be able to upgrade for only a few dollars a month.
Formula D Racing is also popular in the United States, because like with televised events, it is fairly easy to see a live event. Live events take place all across the United States. In 2006, there were seven events; however, it is expected that more will be added in the future. If you are live near one of these events, you will find that tickets are fairly easy to afford. On average, tickets range from twenty to twenty-five dollars a person. Considering the excitement that you will get for the day, the ticket prices are well worth it.
As you can easily see, there are a number of different reasons why Formula Drifting is so popular in the United States. As the sport continues to grow, it is likely that the popularity will as well.