Martin Whitmarsh on Friday vowed to support Jenson Button as the reigning world champion pushes for a second consecutive drivers’ world title.

With Lewis Hamilton a lot better placed in the points standings, McLaren boss Whitmarsh earlier said the British team would discuss deploying a strategy for the remaining two races of 2010.

But Button insisted he wants to push ahead while he is “mathematically” still able to win, including next weekend in Brazil.

“Lewis is well placed in the drivers’ championship,” Whitmarsh said in an official preview on Friday.

“While Jenson lies 42 points adrift, he has vowed to fight on. As the reigning world champion, and a great driver, he knows better than most that you can’t lift the title without being a resolute fighter,” he added.

“That’s exactly why we hired him, and we’ll be supporting him fully this weekend.”

F1′s cost-reducing programme has taken what might be regarded as a backwards step.

Known as the Resources Restriction Agreement (RRA), the deal this year includes a clause limiting each team to spending just EUR40 million on external services.

The cap was set to reduce to 20 million in 2011, but Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the teams have agreed to increase the limit next year to 30m.

Moreover, team staff numbers were set to be capped at 350 people, reducing to 280 a year later.

But the latter number has now been increased to 315, with the total agreement extended through 2017. The former agreement was set to expire in 2012.

“The good news is that the teams have agreed to extend the duration of the RRA,” FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh confirmed.

“In doing that, there’s been some adjustment, so it’s been agreed in principle and everyone has signed up to that,” added the McLaren boss.

“In some areas it’s been tightened, in some areas it’s been slackened,” admitted the Briton.

The existing agreement also limits things like staff numbers at grands prix, the use of wind tunnels and CFD, and track testing.

“I think there was a danger that we wouldn’t be able to extend it (the agreement),” continued Whitmarsh. “I think all the teams took a sensible approach to come together and to agree to extend it for a long period of time.”

Ferrari, meanwhile, confirmed that the new agreement will be in place until 2017.

Fernando Alonso is not ready to relax despite leaping into a strong points position with just two races left to run in 2010.

It is true that, now with an 11-point lead over Mark Webber, if the Spaniard wins in Brazil in two weeks and his Australian rival is fifth or lower, Alonso will secure his third drivers’ world championship with a race to spare.

But McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, whose drivers are also still mathematically in the hunt, said: “There is little doubt now the championship decider is going to be in Abu Dhabi.”

Alonso agrees that he cannot rely on another Korea-like outcome before then.

“Red Bull showed us again in Korea that they are stronger than us, and that will be the same in Brazil and Abu Dhabi as well,” the Ferrari driver told El Pais newspaper.

“So what we need is another small step forward to be competitive. We must be on the podium. If someone beats us now, congratulations — winning or losing will depend on who is faster, on reliability and on luck,” added the 29-year-old.

In comments published by Italy’s La Stampa, Alonso said he is not interested in the mathematical possibility of him becoming champion in Brazil.

“Yes, that’s true — and if Red Bull miss their plane to Brazil, that’s another way to be champion,” he joked.

“The odds remain in favour of Red Bull.”

Alonso said the only mathematical certainty is that he cannot lose the championship at Interlagos in two weeks.

“In Korea I have only guaranteed to be fighting in Abu Dhabi in the last race of the season,” he confirmed.

Martin Whitmarsh is reportedly stepping down as chairman of the formula one teams association FOTA.

Italy’s Autosprint claims the McLaren boss will be replaced by Adam Parr, the chairman of the Grove based Williams team.

The vice-chairmanship of the FOTA alliance is also changing hands, with Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost reportedly to succeed Whitmarsh’s current deputy Stefano Domenicali.

Ross Brawn and Christian Horner head FOTA’s technical and sporting arms respectively.

Ferrari on Tuesday confirmed reports that Pat Fry is joining the famous Italian team.

It emerged at the weekend that the 46-year-old Briton, who until recently was heading McLaren’s 2011 car project as long-time joint chief engineer, was linked with a move to the Maranello based squad.

Italian reports had said Fry, although currently on compulsory ‘gardening leave’, will be able to have an impact on Ferrari’s next car.

A team statement on Tuesday confirmed that Fry will begin his new role as assistant technical director, reporting to Aldo Costa, on 1 July.

Ferrari said the “structure of the technical department remains (otherwise) unchanged”.

Fry joined McLaren from Benetton in 1993.

“I think it was probably good for him, the right decision for him to take a bit of a break, take a breather,” McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said last month.

(GMM)

Jun.9 (GMM)  F1 is unlikely to consider three-car team entries while the grid is already healthily subscribed.

That is the insistence of FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh, amid Ferrari’s continuing enthusiasm about entering a third Maranello built car for a driver like Valentino Rossi.

Rossi, however, broke his leg in a MotoGP practice crash last Saturday, and now Whitmarsh has revealed that the issue of three cars has not recently been discussed by the F1 teams association.

“It’s really an idea if you get a reduced number of teams,” said the McLaren boss.

Ferrari is a staunch critic of F1′s struggling new teams, but Whitmarsh insists that FOTA wants the entire current grid to “develop and flourish”.

“McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes would all probably be happy to have a third car, but I think in fairness to the smaller teams it would only disadvantage them further,” he explained.

However, if the big teams were able to enter third cars, Whitmarsh acknowledges that it would be an opportunity for celebrity drivers like Rossi, Sebastien Loeb and NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson.

“So in the event that the number of teams drops below 10 – and at the moment we’re hoping it is 13 next year – it would be a fantastic opportunity,” added Whitmarsh.

Bernie Ecclestone is not happy that the formula one circus departed Turkey last weekend without resolving the issue of tyre supply for 2011.

The sport touched down at Istanbul Park amid strong speculation that Pirelli had been selected and would be confirmed as F1′s new supplier by the time the event was over.

But according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, it was FOTA’s powerful teams McLaren, Ferrari and Renault who invited Michelin’s Nick Shorrock to make a presentation to all the teams on Sunday.

Indeed, Shorrock indicated to Auto Hebdo in an interview that Michelin’s proposal had not substantially changed.

“We realised that it could be helpful to come and explain in more detail to all the teams the detail of our proposal,” he said.

“The goal of the meeting was simply to go into more detail,” added Shorrock.

Williams’ Adam Parr emerged from the 90 minute meeting and said: “It is taking a bit longer than we would have liked but it should be done in the next few days.”

F1 chief executive Ecclestone is unhappy it is taking this long.

“Why keep talking about it; everything has been discussed,” said the 79-year-old Briton.  “We should sign a contract now.”

It is believed Pirelli remains in pole position for the deal, given Michelin’s insistence that the rules be changed to allow the possibility of more than one tyre supplier entering the sport.

“This is more of a philosophical question for Michelin,” FOTA chairman and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said.

“They would be happy to be alone for five years, but on paper they need for there to be the chance of having a competitor.”

(GMM)

Extreme wheel nut and hub designs in 2010 are contributing to failures, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The specialist magazine said technical solutions to speed up pistops this year are related to the most recent failures seen on the Red Bull and McLaren cars last week in Barcelona.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh confirmed this week that a wheel rim failure due to “human error” caused Lewis Hamilton’s deflation and crash on the penultimate lap.

Auto Motor und Sport claims that a mechanic had pulled his gun off the wheel too soon during the pitstop, with Whitmarsh now confirming that the nut subsequently “loosened slightly”.

“The magnesium part heated up and eventually broke,” added the Briton.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Vettel finished the race at the Circuit de Catalunya third, but without touching the brakes in the last dozen laps.

Auto Motor und Sport said the left front brake disc was longitudinally broken, with the team reportedly believing vibrations caused the failure.

The magazine speculated that, as was also the cause of his Melbourne problem – and Michael Schumacher’s retirement in Malaysia – a wheel nut not fitted tightly enough at the pitstop was at the heart of Vettel’s failure.

(GMM)

Fernando Alonso has refused to echo the McLaren drivers’ claims that traffic is set to make Monaco a “disaster” and “nightmare” this weekend.

With four more cars than in 2009 on the grid this season, and six very uncompetitive runners, it is feared that congestion around the famous barrier-lined 3.3 kilometre street layout will be potentially dangerous.

David Coulthard wrote in his latest column for the Telegraph that it is a “serious issue”, with the slow cars potentially posing “a risk both to themselves and others”.

But Alonso said on Tuesday that traffic was “already a problem when we had 20 cars on track”.

The Spaniard wrote on his Ferrari blog that “we must try and look at this situation as an extra challenge, both for us drivers … and for the engineers, who will have to work out just the right moment to send us out on track in qualifying”.

McLaren boss and FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh said he advocated splitting the initial Q1 qualifying phase into two parts, but that proposal was voted down in Barcelona last weekend.

He predicts a “very difficult” weekend for all.

“It has always been difficult but with more cars and a greater performance differential, I think there will be controversy,” the Briton told reporters during a teleconference on Tuesday.

(GMM)