Toro Rosso has told its new drivers to push hard rather than fear a crash, Daniel Ricciardo revealed ahead of his first home grand prix in Australia.
The Red Bull rookie team has replaced Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi with Australian Ricciardo and newcomer Jean-Eric Vergne.

They are lined up as potential replacements for senior team Red Bull’s Mark Webber in 2013, but at the same time must fear succumbing to the same fate as their instantly-axed predecessors.

“We’re going to be on the edge,” Ricciardo insisted in Melbourne.

“They (his bosses) have said ‘if you make a mistake, it happens. At least we know you’re pushing it’.

“Obviously we’re not going out there trying to crash the car, but sometimes a team needs to see you go off – whether it’s a crash or you run across the grass – to know that you’re trying to find that limit.

“I’m not going to hold back,” he promised.

When ruling out Lewis Hamilton for Webber’s seat earlier this week, Christian Horner said Red Bull was more likely to look “inwardly than outwardly” should the team need to find a new teammate for Sebastian Vettel.

At the same time, Ricciardo feels the pressure to keep his place at Toro Rosso.

“It could be my one and only (year) if it’s not good enough so I’ve definitely got to step up and do as good as I can,” he said.

Stefano Domenicali has refused to rule out finding a place at Ferrari for another driver in 2013.
Fernando Alonso is signed up long beyond next season, but his current teammate Felipe Massa will be out of contract at the end of 2012.

At the front of the queue are the two drivers heading up Ferrari’s so-called driver ‘academy’: French GP2 driver Jules Bianchi and 2011 Sauber rookie Sergio Perez.

Asked about Ferrari’s driver plans for Bianchi and Perez in 2013, Domenicali said in Singapore: “For 2013? Ah yes. Bianchi is a great talent and he had a positive season in GP2 but he needs to grow and gain experience next season.

“I cannot say now where he will be,” the Italian told Spanish sports daily Marca, “but for sure we want to invest because we believe in him.

“As for Sergio, he has a contract with Sauber and he also has to grow. It is best not to put any goals at this time. May both of them have a good 2012,” added Domenicali.

Meanwhile, the Italian was asked how much he worries about the rumours Flavio Briatore is waiting in the wings to be the next Ferrari team principal.

Making a circular motion with his fingers, he said: “Zero!”

It is Red Bull’s “intention” to promote Daniel Ricciardo through the energy drink company’s F1 ranks.

That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, the outfit’s driver manager who in Hungary revealed that Mark Webber will “probably” retire and be replaced by “one of our juniors” beyond 2012.

The other candidates are Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, amid reports Ricciardo travelled recently to Faenza for a seat fitting.

Asked by Australian broadcaster One if HRT newcomer Ricciardo is a candidate for one of the seats next year, Marko admitted: “If he is doing well, the intention is there, yes.”

Budapest was 22-year-old Ricciardo’s third grand prix, and he was closer to the pace of his teammate, the formerly Red Bull-backed Vitantonio Liuzzi.

“I hope there is a bit more to come because I’m close to Tonio on raw pace in qualifying but still not close enough, and definitely not a bit ahead, which of course is where I’d like to be,” he said.

A minor spat has broken out between Renault teammates Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov.

Last month, F1′s Russian newcomer Petrov criticised Pole Kubica for giving him a cold welcome to the sport in 2010.

“You can’t learn anything from him because he’s a closed person,” alleged Petrov.

The teammates came together on Monday as their car for the 2011 season, the black and gold R31, was unveiled in the Valencia pitlane ahead of this week’s testing.

“I don’t want to get too much into the details,” Kubica answered when asked about Petrov’s comments about him.

He then fired a barb at Petrov by joking that he learned something from the Russian last year.

“(I learned) how not to go off the track. I’m joking,” Kubica quipped.

Team boss Eric Boullier also refused to endorse Petrov’s comments, arguing that it is not Kubica’s responsibility to mentor a rookie.

“That is one of the many subjects that we have discussed with him (Petrov), that if he wants to deliver he has to find it by himself,” Boullier, who procrastinated before signing Petrov’s new two-year deal, is quoted by Reuters.

Force India pays bills later than most of its formula one team rivals, according to a report.
The Daily Mail said the Silverstone based team, which is owned by the Indian liquor baron, politician and billionaire Vijay Mallya, pays bills on average 30 days past due.

“If Vijay sold his yacht, it would keep the team going for a couple of years,” said an unnamed supplier.

On the other end of the scale, business information firm Dun and Bradstreet found that 2010 drivers’ and constructors’ champions Red Bull is the only team in F1 that pays its bills when they are due.

The report, comparing data from December 2009 to November last year, said Red Bull’s punctuality is due to a recently boosted budget.

On average, however, F1 teams reportedly pay their bills 28 days late, which is four days later than the previous Dun and Bradstreet report.

The worst offender is F1 newcomer Team Lotus, paying its bills 180 days late, but the report showed that even Ferrari and Mercedes usually fail to pay suppliers on time.

The struggling Spanish team HRT insists it is reluctant to respond to Bernie Ecclestone’s latest scathing comments.

The F1 chief executive said this week that while Lotus is worth keeping in F1 and Virgin should simply invest more money, the sport’s newcomers are “cripples” that have been “an embarrassment”.

When asked about the 80-year-old Briton’s jibe, Hispania’s communications boss Alba Saiz said the team prefers “to work, not respond to everyone who talks” about them.

“We have nothing more to say,” Saiz is quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE.

Ecclestone had said F1 needs “to get rid” of its stragglers, but the HRT official said the team is pushing ahead for 2011.

“We are working and already thinking about next year, and in that way we have just announced a partnership with Williams for two years.

“In a couple of weeks we will make a further announcement,” added Saiz.

Bruno Senna, the nephew of the great Ayrton Senna, is in talks to switch for 2011 from struggling HRT to F1′s best new team Lotus.

That is the claim of Brazil’s Globo Esporte, noting that the move would reinvoke the fabled Lotus/Renault/Senna combination of the 1980s.

Rookie Senna, who turned 27 earlier this month, has had a difficult debut season in 2010 at the wheel of the slowest and least developed car on the grid fielded by the Spanish newcomer Hispania.

“Bruno Senna is close to getting something better,” said the Portuguese language report.

“He is in talks with Lotus and these talks are already well advanced,” Globo added, nominating Jarno Trulli as the driver most likely to leave the Malaysian team in the event that Senna is signed.

The report cited sources “close to the driver” as insisting that Senna cannot finalise the deal until his sponsors agree, adding that these talks with “several companies” are also already taking place.

Globo Esporte also said Lotus’ announcement of its Renault engine deal for 2011 will be made next weekend at Interlagos.

Late triple world champion Ayrton Senna won his first grand prix at the wheel of a Renault-powered Lotus in 1985.

He won a further 5 grands prix in a Lotus-Renault, as well as 24 podiums, 16 pole positions and 150 points before moving to McLaren.

Renault and Force India have emerged as the most likely teams to keep Nick Heidfeld’s formula one career alive beyond 2010.

Although returning from Mercedes and Pirelli test roles to complete the current season with Sauber, Heidfeld has not been signed for next season by the Swiss team, who are instead pitting the Telmex-backed rookie Sergio Perez alongside Kamui Kobayashi.

But veteran Heidfeld, revealing in Korea this week that he does not carry any personal sponsorship, has emerged as a candidate to replace the disappointing Russian pay-driver Vitaly Petrov at Renault.

Team boss Eric Boullier, suggesting that a decision could be made by Abu Dhabi next month, told Auto Motor und Sport: “Both Heidfeld and Sutil have a chance.”

Renault’s thinking is that, with a good driver alongside Robert Kubica this year, the team might have beaten Mercedes to fourth place in the constructors’ championship — with prize-money arguably beyond even Petrov’s impressive dowry.

Adrian Sutil, with a solid offer to stay at Force India, is also an interesting candidate, especially with his EUR5 million in Medion sponsorship to offer.

The good news for Heidfeld is that Sutil is also in the running for the Williams seat, and his departure to either Renault or Williams would free up the place at Force India.

“That place is only free if Sutil goes,” Heidfeld confirmed.

And if Sutil does go, the 33-year-old German must be a strong contender.

“It is hardly conceivable that Force India will go into 2011 with Vitantonio Liuzzi next to Paul di Resta — one a newcomer and another who has been disappointing,” said the German media report.

Peter Sauber has admitted his ideal driver constellation would be a promising young rookie alongside a steadier hand.

Presently, the Swiss team’s lineup is fiery Japanese newcomer Kamui Kobayashi next to the dependable veteran of 169 grands prix Nick Heidfeld.

But the latter German is currently searching for a job for 2011, after Sauber signed the Telmex-sponsored Mexican GP2 driver Sergio Perez.

“We think he has great potential and is very fast,” Sauber said at his team’s Hinwil headquarters this week, where the 20-year-old Perez was having his first seat fitting.

“But of course there are no guarantees,” admitted the 67-year-old.

According to the Swiss daily Blick, Sauber was asked whether sitting two young newcomers in next year’s C30s is too great a risk for the team still recovering from the loss of BMW ownership.

“It would be better to have an experienced driver beside a younger one,” he admitted, “but Kobayashi has matured and next year can take over the role of team leader.”



McLaren newcomer and reigning world champion Jenson Button has admitted that he has not been as fast as his teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2010.

The 30-year-old, who has won two grands prix compared with Hamilton’s three so far this season, said his countryman has been better at the wheel of an unbalanced car, and over a single qualifying lap.

“I need a car that is more stable than he does.  In that respect Lewis is very strong,” Button said in an interview with The Independent.

But the Briton insists he has not been destroyed this year by 25-year-old Hamilton, who was groomed by McLaren since he was a boy.

“Overall I think it’s been very close with Lewis.  But I am behind him, not in front.  So qualifying is something that I still need to work on,” Button acknowledged.

Some figures in the paddock believe that Button was effectively ousted by Brawn at the end of last year as the re-branded Mercedes GP wanted to pair the seven time world champion with the already-contracted Nico Rosberg.

But Button insists it was his “decision” to switch to McLaren, despite having had no input into the initial development of the MP4-25.

“I have made a lot of wrong decisions but I’m really happy with the one to move to McLaren,” he said.

Pedro de la Rosa lost his race seat because he was not consistent enough.

In Singapore on Thursday, photographers clamoured around the Spaniard’s replacement Nick Heidfeld, who is well known to the Swiss team after two separate tenures in the past.

“Nick will help us assess how good our car really is,” team boss Peter Sauber is quoted on Thursday by Auto Motor und Sport.

“When we looked at the first 14 races, Kobayashi and de la Rosa had approximately the same speed, but not consistently enough.

“With (Kamui) Kobayashi you expect that from a newcomer,” said Sauber, who has retained the Japanese rookie for 2011.

“With Heidfeld, we know that he can drive consistently. But I don’t expect marvellous things from him first time out, because he has to get used to the car and tyres.

“He will show us what he can do at Suzuka,” added Sauber.

33-year-old German Heidfeld, however, said he is not approaching Singapore – his first grand prix since Abu Dhabi last year – as a gentle re-acclimatisation to F1.

He is yet to secure a contract for 2011.

“For me this is my chance to show that I deserve to be here,” said the veteran of approaching 170 grands prix.

Heidfeld said his target is to outclass his new teammate.

“F1 is not kindergarten,” he said. “You always have to beat your teammate and you have to believe that you can.

“Who is too slow is gone, and that’s how the sport is.”

The Italian press rounded on Fernando Alonso after the leading Ferrari driver dropped more than 40 points off the championship lead last weekend.

After showing early promise with the F10′s latest upgrades in practice, the team newcomer qualified just tenth at Spa-Francorchamps before being taken out on the first lap by Rubens Barrichello.

Ferrari then fitted intermediate tyres that had to be changed shortly afterwards, before Alonso lost control over a kerb and crashed.

“An Alonso flop. While Kimi Raikkonen always drove brilliantly at Spa, his successor slipped on a puddle,” remarked the Milan-published Il Giornale.

The sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport said Ferrari’s championship chances “are now gone”.

But that’s not the message being trotted out by the Maranello team’s officials, and La Stampa reports that Ferrari is pressing ahead with development of the car.

In the coming days, a straight line test at Vairano is scheduled.

“In addition to reviewing solutions for Monza, engineers will try to understand why the innovations introduced at Spa-Francorchamps did not work as expected,” said the La Stampa report.

Ferrari acknowledges it is running out of time.

“Everyone in Maranello is aware that if more ground is lost, it could compromise any chance of a comeback,” said the team.

Team boss Eric Boullier has played down claims Vitaly Petrov is not under consideration for the seat alongside Robert Kubica in 2011.

It is rumoured that a plethora of drivers, including Kimi Raikkoen, Nick Heidfeld, Kamui Kobayashi, Heikki Kovalainen, Christian Klien, Adrian Sutil and Timo Glock, may already be in talks with Renault about next season.

Boullier has been quoted as admitting some of the names mentioned are “realistic because there are already discussions”.

But Russian Petrov, who brings millions in funding to the Enstone based team including the sponsorship of carmaker Lada, said last weekend that his talks with Renault will only take place “later”.

However, Boullier is now quoted by Brazil’s Grande Premio as boosting rookie Petrov’s chances of retaining the seat.

“We are very pleased with what Vitaly has done so far,” he reportedly told a Russian television network.

“The learning curve is still steep, but this is normal for any newcomer.  Every new driver in F1 needs time to understand and do his best, and that is hard,” added Boullier.

“But he has worked well so far, so we’re waiting to see how it evolves.  Before the end of the season, I’m certain we will begin discussing plans for next year,” he said.

After a run of poor results for the Maranello based team, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali says he wants to see a “strong reaction” this weekend at Hockenheim.

“Whoever does not believe we can win the world championship should find another job,” he insisted.

Domenicali said abandoning the 2010 car to focus on its successor is not yet a consideration.

“Before making calculations we must take home podiums and victories,” he said in an interview with La Stampa. “There is a tide of points at stake.”

Domenicali said he can understand some recent criticism of Ferrari, but reveals he was “hurt” when it was suggested the team is in “disarray”.

One criticism is that while Red Bull pioneered the blown diffuser and McLaren the F-duct, Ferrari has recently been light on innovation.

“We have done less visible things: the wheels, some aerodynamic. But I do accept the criticism: some striking solutions have come out.”

He defended the arguably erratic performances so far of team newcomer Fernando Alonso.

“Driving for Ferrari has a different weight. Some say that once you are in the car it is all the same, which is absolutely not true: the pressures on our team are not comparable to the other teams, Red Bull, McLaren or Mercedes.”

Domenicali believes Ferrari is simply in a period of “renewal”.

“To win, you need to go through those periods. After a wonderful time, the basic rules have changed: at first everything was unlimited but now you must think about budgets and simulations.

“Imagine that tomorrow all football is played on synthetic grass; the sport is the same, but the preparation, the materials, the techniques would all change.”

Jun.18 (GMM) Luca di Montezemolo has continued his sustained attack on formula one’s new teams.

The Ferrari president thinks the grid should be filled by the bigger teams fielding three cars, rather than by opening the doors to newcomers including Lotus, Virgin and HRT.

Next year, another small team is likely to make its debut.

Spain’s El Mundo newspaper this week claims that the budget of the new Spanish outfit HRT is ten times smaller than Ferrari’s.

“In modern F1 races cars with GP2 levels of performance shouldn’t be allowed to participate — they are supposed to race on Sunday mornings,” Montezemolo is quoted by Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Montezemolo argues that Fernando Alonso’s push for Montreal victory was ruined by the lapping of backmarkers, an apparent reference to his delays behind Jarno Trulli’s Lotus and the HRT of Karun Chandhok.

But while it is true that, earlier this year, the small teams were vastly off the pace, all of the six cars were faster by multiple seconds than the entire GP2 field in Turkey recently.

And in Canada last weekend, Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus qualified just two tenths behind the Ferrari-powered Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi, while Virgin and HRT runners were also easily within 107 per cent of the pole time.

The new teams’ laptime deficit in Canada was between 3 and 4 seconds, compared with Giancarlo Fisichella’s 2.2 second qualifying deficit in a Ferrari-powered Force India at the same circuit two years ago.

A report at Italiaracing said: “It should be noted that the only complaints this season about the smaller teams have come from Ferrari.”