Money could be at the heart of the delay in Lewis Hamilton’s re-signing with the McLaren team.

Until now, the British team has indicated it wants the 2008 world champion to stay on board, while 27-year-old Hamilton insists he has no plans to leave and will turn his attention to the 2013 contract soon.

But according to Blick newspaper, McLaren is pushing to cut Hamilton’s existing contract retainer “in half” to “about EUR 10 million”.

The Swiss report said the driver is unimpressed with the negotiations so far, but at least Hamilton’s mood has improved tenfold compared with his calamitous 2011.

It is a full year since Hamilton raged about his “frickin ridiculous” track rivals in the 2011 Monaco grand prix, when he also half-seriously suggested that the stewards were targeting him “because I’m black”.

He is back on top form this season, but still yet to win a race, arguably mainly due to McLaren’s numerous team mistakes.

Reports have suggested boss Martin Whitmarsh, who insists Hamilton “deserves” to win this weekend in Monaco, is worried the mistakes might drive the highly rated racer away.

On Wednesday, however, Hamilton denied he is frustrated.

“I’m not, no. This is the way racing goes sometimes,” he insisted.

“I could easily get frustrated because I could have a healthy lead in the championship — but that’s not the case.

“I don’t want to speak too early but something has definitely changed. Whatever I’m doing is working,” he told British reporters.

“In life, things just seem a lot better and that’s enabling me to get on with my job without having any baggage.”

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.

Bernie Ecclestone claims he is close to reaching an agreement with Mercedes over the future of the German marque’s involvement in formula one.

The parties have been at loggerheads over the F1 chief executive’s refusal to offer to Mercedes the same Concorde Agreement deal reached with other top teams Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

In response, it has been suggested not only that the situation threatened the sport’s floatation plans, but that Mercedes could sensationally quit F1 at the end of this year.

“We are now 80 per cent there,” Ecclestone told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag in Barcelona.

“The other 20 per cent, we will get there soon,” he added.

“We have spoken with several Mercedes managers. I am sure we will see more of Mercedes in formula one.”

Bild said the deal being discussed between Ecclestone and the Stuttgart based carmaker will see Mercedes in F1 at least through 2020.

Norbert Haug, however, sounded surprised.

“I have to apologise, but we don’t want to give any information at the moment about the state of the negotiations,” Mercedes’ motor racing vice-president insisted.

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.”

Montreal has been warned to spend around $15 million on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or risk losing the Canadian grand prix.

La Presse reports that Bernie Ecclestone has said only a major redevelopment of the circuit will lead to talks about a new contract beyond 2014.

The report said that, in light of the F1 chief executive’s warning, Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay has appealed to higher levels of government for the necessary money.

“Negotiations are underway between the three levels of government and the bodies of formula one”, the report said.

Race promoter Francois Dumontier told RDS: “It’s premature to talk about this.

“There are still two years to go on the current contract. We have started talking, but that it’s out now I find excessive. Honestly, I don’t know where it’s come from.”

He added: “Given that the permanent installations of the circuit, including the control tower and the garages, are nearly 25 years old, it is likely that their repair is an important element in the negotiations for an extension to the current agreement.

“But it seems to me to be premature to talk specific sums.”

Norbert Haug has denied reports Mercedes is on the verge of quitting F1.

London newspaper The Times’ F1 correspondent Kevin Eason reported that the German carmaker has conducted a study into how the withdrawal could be effected.

He said the reason for Mercedes pulling out would be because, unlike Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, the Stuttgart marque has not been offered a place on F1′s post-floatation board.

When asked about Eason’s report, Mercedes’ competition vice-president Haug insisted to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “There is absolutely no truth to that.”

The report said negotiations between Mercedes and F1 bosses over the next Concorde Agreement are ongoing.

First as an engine supplier only, Mercedes has been in F1 in the modern era since 1993.

The fact F1 has chosen the Singapore exchange for the sport’s high profile floatation does not mean the city-state’s popular floodlit street race is guaranteed.

The night event’s existing five year contract runs out this year, although a two-year notice clause in the deal means Singapore should stay on the calendar at least until 2014.

On the face of it, a new deal seemed a certainty, given it was Bernie Ecclestone himself who chose Singapore as the location for F1′s forthcoming floatation.

“Formula one is known in Singapore, and Asia is thriving. It is a simpler market and not as restrictive,” he said recently.

Talks about a new race deal “are underway”, the local Business Times reported in March, “but it is understood that one sticking point is the sanction fee.”

An unnamed banker commented: “The Singapore government wants formula one to be listed here and for that to happen, it knows the race has to remain here.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t want to pay top dollar again. So the bargaining should continue for some time.”

However, the English language newspaper now reports that F1′s floatation plans, and the expiring Singapore race contract, could be entirely unrelated.

“We are in the process of negotiating a possible renewal of the (race) agreement and the outcome will be announced once discussions are complete,” said a spokesman for race promoter Singapore GP.

Second minister for trade and industry S Iswaran insisted that the mooted floatation will not influence the outcome of the race contract negotiations.

And the Singapore tourism board’s Aw Kah Peng added: “You’ve got to see whether the deal is right in every way.

“We’re hoping everybody sees value in it and we get a so-called good deal for Singapore, in terms of whether all the numbers can work out and everybody takes home something — a kind of a win-win proposition.”

HRT’s team boss has admitted installing KERS is an unlikely goal for the struggling Spanish team this year.

Luis Perez Sala said the new F112 was designed to accommodate the energy-recovery technology, but qualifying comfortably within the 107 per cent rule is a better target for now.

“We have a car we are yet to discover,” he told El Confidencial.

Indeed, HRT travelled to Australia last month having hardly run its new Cosworth-powered car, and failed to qualify for the season opener.

“It is designed to carry KERS but in the short term we will not (use it). We don’t think we’re going to race with it this year,” he added.

“So, in this respect, it’s not perfect. Right now, we have assembled the car in a hurry and so the private testing at Mugello, just after Bahrain, will be very important to us.”

Sala, having rebuilt HRT following the departure of team boss Colin Kolles, was speaking from HRT’s new headquarters at the Caja Magica (Magic Box).

“After Bahrain, we will have the cars here. From the Spanish grand prix, we will begin to function more effectively.

“In China and Bahrain we will improve things in the car and the team, but it is a slow process that will last all year.

“As I sit here (in Madrid), some people are in Valencia, others in Germany, England … the cars are flying to China and we need to address issues of reliability, not just performance.”

It is a tough situation for HRT, but Sala concedes that the ‘paddock perception’ of the team is that it has gone backwards since debuting in 2010.

“It is really our first year,” he insists.

He reveals that Bernie Ecclestone, once a staunch critic of the struggling backmarkers, is “quiet”.

“We have not had any problems, I think he is calm,” said Sala.

It is also a busy time off the track for HRT, as many rival teams are busily signing the new Concorde Agreement for 2013.

“There are teams that are more advanced than others; for us, the negotiations are still at the beginning,” he said.

The most obvious goals right now, Sala insists, are to have “a team that works together, has a reliable car and a small team that can develop it, and we’re around 105pc off the pole”.

New media reports have contradicted claims French PM Francois Fillon will on Friday announce the country’s 2013 return to the formula one calendar.

Le Parisien newspaper on Thursday said Fillon’s visit to the Paul Ricard circuit on Friday is to confirm the successful end to long negotiations to revive the French grand prix.

Those negotiations were for Paul Ricard to annually alternate a race date with Belgium’s fabled Spa Francorchamps.

But the French-language RMC insists that Belgium is “not ready for the alternation”.

“If France has received a contract to organise a grand prix every other year, this is not the case for the Belgian promoters, who are still waiting for the document to send to the government of Wallonia,” the report read.

RMC said the hold-up could be because Spa is having trouble paying its sanctioning fee for this year’s race date in September.

The French magazine Sport-Auto agrees, insisting that Fillon “will not announce the return of the grand prix de France on Friday”.

“The prime minister will travel to the (Paul Ricard) circuit,” an official close to Fillon is quoted as saying by AFP news agency, but Fillon “will not announce the return of the grand prix to the calendar in 2013″.

The official, however, said Bernie Ecclestone as approved “in principle” France’s presence on the calendar every other year, beginning in 2013.

But “It (the alternation) will not necessarily be with Belgium,” the report added.

In an interview to be published by the Nice-Matin newspaper on Friday, Fillon is quoted as saying a grand prix is crucial to France.

“Bernie Ecclestone has just sent us a draft contract,” said the prime minister, “which is the result of negotiations that began several months ago.

“We now have a concrete basis for discussions,” he added.

Ferrari’s new deal for the 2013 Concorde Agreement reportedly involves a $50 million annual fee.

It is believed the Italian team has now finalised its commercial agreement with Bernie Ecclestone.

The same is reportedly true for fellow top teams McLaren and Red Bull, whose annual additional fee is, according to German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, $35m apiece.

Ecclestone wanted to announce the conclusion of successful Concorde Agreement negotiations in Malaysia, but major teams including Mercedes and Williams were yet to sign up.

Instead, the F1 chief executive released a statement saying deals have been done with ‘the majority’ of the teams.

Mercedes, in particular, is more than unhappy.

“It can not be,” a Daimler insider is quoted as saying, “that transparency from our business partners is lacking regarding a contract through 2020.”

 Singapore’s street race could be the key to the stock market floatation of formula one.
The Business Times reports that with the sport apparently wanting to float on Singapore’s exchange, the first step will be a new contract for the Asian city-state’s annual night street race.

The current race contract expires this year.

“Negotiations are underway but it is understood that one sticking point is the sanction fee,” the report said.

The Business Times said the Singapore government currently pays about $40 million for its race every year; a figure “roughly twice” the amount paid by Malaysia.

“The Singapore government wants formula one to be listed here and for that to happen, it knows the race has to remain here,” an unnamed banker said.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t want to pay top dollar again. So the bargaining should continue for some time.”

The banker added that F1 chief executive Ecclestone also holds a strong negotiating hand.

“(He) knows Singapore needs him because the SGX (exchange) hasn’t had any big names in recent years. Being the shrewd businessman that he is, he will play hardball.”

Organisers of the grand prix in Melbourne are reportedly considering sharing the city’s formula one rights with another Australian state.
Under financial strain, Germany alternates the annual hosting rights between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring, and Spain is set to begin a similar scheme for the struggling Barcelona and Valencia organisers.

Under pressure to ease the burden on Victoria’s state taxpayers, organisers of the annual Albert Park race are considering something along those lines, the local Herald Sun reports.

Citing “high placed sources”, the Melbourne newspaper said Sydney or Perth could be the alternate race hosts.

Perth is the capital of Western Australia, and premier Colin Barnett said: “(The) grand prix is a great event, but WA will not be bidding for it.”

A spokesman for Victorian premier Ted Baillieu, however, did not rule it out.

“We’ve got the race until 2015 in its current form,” he said. “Negotiations beyond that will focus on value for money for the Victorian economy.”

Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker, however, described the idea as “a formula for disaster”.

“All of our major events are hard won and we are not about to share ours with another Australian city,” he said.

The rumours are already swirling in the Melbourne paddock.

“I think to move it interstate would cause more headaches than it’s probably worth,” said Australian driver Mark Webber.

“It’s been so successful in Melbourne for so long now. (But) you never say never, nothing is forever.”

A deal to see Barcelona and Valencia alternate a single annual Spanish grand prix is not quite across the finish line.
F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone announced last week that a deal has been struck in principle between the sport’s two current Spanish hosts.

But Vicenc Aguilera, the Circuit de Catalunya president, told Mundo Deportivo newspaper: “We (Barcelona and Valencia) have two completely different business models, making the negotiations quite complex.

“We need to find the balance between the interests of Mr Ecclestone, Valencia and ourselves,” he added.

He said that in the absence of a deal, Barcelona has the annual Spanish grand prix hosting rights through 2016.

But he acknowledged that alternating would be a “good solution” for all parties, “so I hope that in a couple of months we can make an announcement”.

 Valencia president Alberto Fabra has admitted it is possible the Spanish port city will annually alternate its F1 race date with Barcelona.
Amid Spain’s worsening economic crisis, organisers of the Circuit de Catalunya’s Spanish grand prix last year proposed a Germany-style sharing of a single race date, alternating between the venues every year.

Valencia, however, turned down the initial proposal, but Barcelona officials this week suggested that talks are back on.

Indeed, Valencia’s regional president Alberto Fabra confirmed to EFE news agency on Monday that alternating with Barcelona “is one of the alternatives”.

He warned that an agreement “is not yet done”, because the issue will need to involve F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone over the course of “the coming weeks”.

“We’re still in negotiations, waiting for a proposal with Ecclestone,” added Fabra.

Bernie Ecclestone has expressed frustration with the attitude of Australia’s formula one race organisers.
The F1 chief executive is pushing for the Melbourne race, with a contract through 2015, to be held at night for a more favourable live timeslot back in Europe.

He may even be offering a fee subsidy, but formula one remains controversial within the Victorian state parliament, with taxpayers footing $50 million bills annually.

Ecclestone has reacted by offering to sit down and negotiate an early end to the Albert Park deal.

“If the government wanted to, we could certainly come to some terms, I suppose,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun from London.

81-year-old Ecclestone reportedly wants the government, led by premier Ted Baillieu, to come clean about his plans for the future.

“It would just be nice for somebody to say to me ‘Bernie, definitely, 100 per cent, we don’t want to renew our contract’,” he said.

So Ecclestone reportedly warned that Baillieu should begin talks now if he wants to keep the sport in Melbourne.

The premier’s spokesman reportedly said the government will not ‘take an open chequebook’ to the negotiations.