Alain Prost has revealed he has no desire to see the highly-lauded feature film about his former nemesis Ayrton Senna.
The award-winning ‘Senna’ movie focuses strongly on legendary Senna’s on and off-track rivalry with Frenchman Prost, who was portrayed as the politicking villain.

“I haven’t seen it and I don’t want to see it,” the 57-year-old told the Russian website F1News.

“I definitely don’t agree with how they went about it,” Prost explained. “I spent a lot of time trying to explain to the makers that they are wrong.”

The Frenchman was also asked about the late Ayrton’s nephew Bruno, who in 2012 will race for Williams-Renault, a combination that in 1993 powered Prost to the last of his four titles.

“Bruno is a great guy and I mean that sincerely,” he said.

“I cannot judge his ability as a driver, because it’s premature to talk about that, but he is a good person.”

Damon Hill has tipped his former championship nemesis Michael Schumacher to soon quit formula one.
The pair fought mercilessly for titles in the mid 90s – famously clashing at the 1994 Adelaide decider – and were never friends throughout the period until Hill retired in 1999.

When the Briton last raced for Jordan, he was 39.

“By then I was too old to go on,” Hill told Italy’s Motorinside. “After a certain age you’re no longer able to be as fast or consistent, much less able to handle the pressure.

“Michael is now 42; in my opinion it’s too old to be competitive, plus he doesn’t have a car for the top positions. He can’t go on like this for much longer,” he predicted.

Anthony Hamilton has criticised his son’s management team as the 2008 world champion returned to the headlines for the wrong reasons.

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton clashed twice with his 2008 title nemesis Felipe Massa in Singapore, and afterwards almost came to blows with the diminutive Brazilian.

“We’re all pretty hot here,” said his boss Martin Whitmarsh smiled and shrugged.

“Felipe grabbed Lewis slightly aggressively but I think Lewis acted with restraint and walked away from any potential confrontation.”

Briton Hamilton, 26, was heard to shout “Don’t touch me, man” to Ferrari’s Massa and then left the circuit in his sweaty overalls without completing his media duties.

“I called to him two times, but he didn’t listen to me, he went past me. He didn’t even look to me,” said Massa.

“I said ‘like that you will win many championships’. Maybe his father can do something about it,” Massa said sarcastically.

According to Bild newspaper, triple world champion Niki Lauda sided with Massa: “I don’t understand how a guy with Hamilton’s talent can be always so stupid.”

Indeed, Hamilton Snr – who split professionally with his son before last season – pointed at a failure of management. Lewis’ career is now handled by celebrity manager Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment.

“You look up and down the pitlane and every driver, except for Lewis, has a driver-manager in his life, not people from a company,” said Hamilton, in Singapore to be with his new charge, Force India’s Paul di Resta.

“Formula one drivers need people personally involved in the driver’s lives because it is a big pressure,” he insisted.

“You sign up a formula one driver, so come and do your job. No disrespect to anybody but that’s how this business is.

“I have seen Lewis and he is fine. It is hard right now but he will come back, there is no doubt about that.”

Michael Schumacher is not about to give up on his new quest to return to winning ways in formula one.

That is the opinion of the German’s 90s nemesis Damon Hill, amid suggestions the seven time world champion has lost his edge and could return to retirement before his three-year commitment to Mercedes is fulfilled.

“Just never write the guy off.  I made that mistake.  You cannot count him out.  He is never out.

“He has always somehow pulled something out of the hat somewhere,” said Briton Hill, now president of the Silverstone-owning BRDC.

Some pundits believe the 41-year-old has lost his desire to excel and allowed his famous attention to detail to lapse, and is now driving only for fun, but Hill only agrees with the latter sentiment.

“He loves driving.  Where else are you going to get the same kind of fulfilment or kick?” Hill told reporters at Silverstone prior to the British grand prix weekend.

“It is not about the money.  He is a perfectionist, very determined to achieve things and he will want to show that it is possible to win at 41.”

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told German media that recent criticisms of Schumacher have been “unfair”.

“He was on holiday for three years, what do you expect after a break like that?” said the 79-year-old.

Red Bull does not share Ferrari’s view about the outcome of the recent European grand prix.

Ferrari is still on the warpath about the Valencia stewards’ reaction to the safety car period, when Lewis Hamilton passed the AMG Mercedes but received only a drive-through penalty many laps later.

Enraged that the Briton still finished second, the Italian team’s website has now drawn attention to a short comment made on RAI radio by Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera.

The Italian reportedly said it was “a chaotic situation which did incredible damage to Ferrari”.

But Australian driver Mark Webber says his Red Bull team has a different view.

“For me, everything in that race was fine,” he told the BBC.  “I can only go on what my team told me … and they told me the race was handled normally.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton says a word of words about the incident with his former nemesis Alonso is now over.

“We (text) messaged the other day, things are cool,” the 2008 world champion told Reuters.

“He said everything’s cool and he knows how the racing world works and this is a tough year,” added Hamilton.

(GMM)

Jun.11 (GMM)  Jacques Villeneuve says he will make one final effort and then give up trying to return to formula one.

The 1997 world champion was reportedly high on the list for a Stefan GP seat this season, but the Serbian outfit was not granted an official entry to race the 2010-specification Toyota car.

French Canadian Villeneuve, who last raced in F1 with BMW in 2006, turns 40 early next season, and he told reporters on Thursday that 2011 will be his last-ditch effort to come back.

“I’m quite happy right now being busy raising kids,” he said at a road safety event near Montreal alongside his former title nemesis Michael Schumacher.

“I would obviously be happier behind a wheel.  Once you’ve been a racer, I think you’re a racer all your life.

“I worked hard on (trying to return to F1 for) 2010.  I’m giving myself until 2011.  There’s still a few months,” added Villeneuve.

The assembled reporters laughed after asking Schumacher, who retired in 2006 but returned to F1 full-time with Mercedes this year, if he thinks it is a good idea if Villeneuve also comes back.

“I don’t know what is funny about that,” said the German.

“The point is, as Jacques was saying, we are racers, and we have that in our blood.  So, what you have there, you always keep.”

Villeneuve admits it is a difficult task trying to convince F1 bosses to give him another chance.

“The teams don’t want to take a risk.  There comes a point where you’ve been out for too long and the teams just won’t give you a chance,” he said.

Mercedes has decided not to appeal the Monaco stewards’ decision to penalise Michael Schumacher.

As per FIA rules, the German team lodged notification of its intention to appeal within an hour of the publication of the decision.

The actual appeal application then had to be filed within 48 hours.

In a media statement issued on Tuesday, the Brackley based team said it “cannot be happy with the outcome” but has decided not to appeal “in the best interests of the sport”.

Mercedes explained that the governing body recognises “the reasons” for informing Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to race in the final corner of the race, adding that many teams have the same opinion.

The team said its interpretation of the rule will be discussed at the next meeting of the Sporting Working Group, with the FIA also agreeing to listen to Mercedes’ view that the 20-second time penalty was “disproportionate”.

Mercedes also seemed to comment on reports that Damon Hill, Schumacher’s former title nemesis, now feels “uncomfortable” with the concept of former drivers having full voting powers as stewards.

1996 world champion Hill revealed earlier on Tuesday that he had received “hate mail” from those who believe he acted with prejudice.

“Mercedes would like to emphasise that we fully support the inclusion of past drivers on the stewards panel and are completely satisfied that the Monaco grand prix stewards acted professionally, impartially and properly in this matter,” read the statement.

(GMM)

Damon Hill is no longer sure former drivers should be acting as full FIA stewards at grands prix.

The 1996 world champion said he has been receiving “hate mail” ever since he and the three regular stewards signed off on a 20-second time penalty in the wake of Michael Schumacher’s late pass on Fernando Alonso at Monaco.

In 2010, a new initiative by new FIA president Jean Todt has seen former drivers including Alain Prost, Alex Wurz, Derek Warwick and Johnny Herbert act as stewards.

Hill’s duties were at Monaco, where he admitted his former title nemesis Schumacher had a “wry smile” when he walked into the stewards room in the wake of the Monaco incident.

The 49-year-old told British newspapers he has been receiving “stinging emails” accusing him of prejudice ever since.

“I was uncomfortable being put in that position of being a full FIA representative.  My expertise is as a driver rather than a lawmaker or interpreter of regulations,” said Hill.

“Partly my discomfort was because I was called on to make a ruling on an incident involving Michael.

“I know most people will believe me when I say I acted entirely properly and correctly, but perhaps it might be more appropriate for drivers to act as consultants to the stewards rather than as stewards,” he added.

Schumacher said he believes Hill would have acted appropriately.

“I know Damon.  He is a good guy,” said the German.

(GM)

F1′s media and pundits are divided over Michael Schumacher’s late overtaking move on Fernando Alonso in Monaco.

The stewards, including Schumacher’s former title nemesis Damon Hill, penalised the seven time world champion for illegally passing the Spaniard during a safety car period.

But the safety car had actually pulled into the pits, prompting the message ‘track clear’ on the official monitors, and video evidence showed green flags and green lights.

Former driver Marc Surer told the German news agency SID: “I think the stewards have made a mistake, because they had shown green (flags).”

He insists there was at the very least no “clear” breach of the rules, given that the stewards took more than three hours to decide to impose the 20-second time penalty.

The Italian press was less sympathetic.

“Is he not 41 years old?” read an editorial in the Tuttosport newspaper.  “He should know the rules by now.”

Epsilon Euskadi boss Joan Villadelprat wrote in his El Pais column that Schumacher’s was a “monumental error”, but former German F1 driver Christian Danner said the mistake was the FIA’s for ordering that green flags be waved.

Bild newspaper published a photo proving that Schumacher drove past a green light in the Rascasse corner prior to passing the Ferrari, even though Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali argues that the race ended “under yellow conditions”.

But Alonso insists he was “immediately certain” that the Mercedes driver would be penalised.

“That’s why I let him go,” the Spaniard told spox.com.

“My team had told me that you can’t overtake.  I had wanted to try to pass Lewis Hamilton but they told me I could not.”

And Sebastien Buemi told the Swiss newspaper Blick that Toro Rosso ordered him to hold position.

“I was surprised when the team told me not to attack Liuzzi, because there were green lights flashing everywhere!” he said.

(GMM)

Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn are confident there will no post-race penalty applied by the stewards in the wake of a controversial last-lap incident.

The seven time world champion passed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the last corner of Sunday’s Monaco grand prix, after the safety car that had been deployed for the Jarno Trulli/Karun Chandhok crash pulled into the pits.

There is a new rule in 2010 that allows overtaking between the safety car line and the finish line.

Where the confusion arises is that if a race finishes under the safety car, there is no overtaking allowed even though the safety car itself pulls into the pits.

“We were advised before the end of the race that the safety car was coming in,” Brawn told the BBC.  “There was no instruction that the race was going to finish under the safety car.”

Schumacher told German television RTL: “We saw the message ‘Track Clear’ officially on screen two.  So that means the safety car goes in and the race is back on.”

The 41-year-old laughed that it is “interesting” that his former nemesis Damon Hill is the driver-steward this weekend.

(GMM)

Apr.29 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve says he is happy for his former teammate Jenson Button, as the reigning world champion continues to lead the world of formula one.

The pair had an initially acrimonious relationship as BAR teammates in 2003, but Villeneuve has since declared his admiration for the Briton’s talents.

French Canadian Villeneuve, 39, said he has been particularly impressed this year with Button’s driving in the wet, including wins in Australia and China that have given him the world championship lead.

“Jenson was always quick in the rain but now he’s becoming increasingly recognised as the best in the field,” he told Canada’s Rue Frontenac.

“Michael always had that reputation in the past but I think Jenson has passed him now in the minds of observers,” added Villeneuve.

“But I also don’t forget about Alonso, who did an exceptional race on the wet track of Shanghai,” he said.

Villeneuve said Button’s “really great start” to 2010 with McLaren proves his world championship was well deserved.

“To change teams and stay among the best shows that it was no fluke,” said the winner of 11 grands prix. “I am really happy for him.”

As for his former nemesis Schumacher, Villeneuve thinks the seven time world champion’s comeback so far has been “disappointing”.

“This is his first big disappointment. He did well at first for a guy who has not raced for three years, but then the results were disappointing.”

But he still thinks Mercedes was right to entice the 41-year-old German out of retirement.

“Michael is useful even if he’s not winning, and nobody can take away his seven titles or that he is one of the best in history.

“And when Rosberg beats him with the same equipment, it cements Nico’s reputation much more than if he were beating someone else,” added Villeneuve.