Pedro de la Rosa has returned to the head of the formula one drivers’ trade union, the GPDA.
The Spanish veteran was the president of the safety-oriented Grand Prix Drivers’ Association between 2008 and 2010, stepping down when he returned to the grid with Sauber after years as McLaren’s reserve.

Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello were the next to lead the Monaco-based body, but the latter Brazilian veteran has now left formula one to race in Indycar this year.

International media reports, including by the Spanish news agency EFE, said de la Rosa – who will race this year with the back-of-the-grid HRT team – is indeed now returning to the GPDA role.

The report said the GPDA decided last year that in the event of a vacancy, the 41-year-old would once again lead the body.

EFE also said the driver confirmed the news personally.

 Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.
That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.Lotus says losing seat vital ‘shock’ for Petrov
Feb.17 (GMM) Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.

That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.

 Team owner Gerard Lopez has confirmed reports Lotus could change its driver lineup completely ahead of the 2012 season.
Already signed up for next year is Kimi Raikkonen, amid reports 2011 drivers Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov are the main contenders to be the famous Finn’s teammate.

“It’s not just a question of Vitaly or Bruno,” clarified majority team owner Genii Capital’s Lopez.

Other reports say reserve driver and new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean – whose career is handled by Genii’s management arm Gravity – as well as likely Force India refugee Adrian Sutil, are also in the running.

“We will make a decision fairly quickly,” Lopez told RTL Luxembourg radio.

He seemed to indicate that Brazilian Senna, who was drafted in mid-season to replace injured Robert Kubica’s initial substitute Nick Heidfeld, is not the favourite.

“From the second half of the season we had two young drivers in Vitaly and Bruno,” he said.

“They are really good drivers, but the huge problem at the moment is the little testing in formula one. We do not have time to build up young drivers.”

Bruno Senna is hoping he can keep his Renault race seat beyond 2011.
As reserve driver, and with new sponsors in tow, the Brazilian stepped up when the Genii owned team ousted its German regular Nick Heidfeld in August.

But for 2012, 28-year-old Senna – alongside Romain Grosjean, Rubens Barrichello and of course Robert Kubica – is one of several drivers reportedly in contention for the vacant race seat in 2012.

“If Robert can’t come back, I hope I can stay,” he is quoted by formule1.nl.

“Especially in qualifying I think I have shown some good things. I think I have shown that the team can rely on me.

“But as long as you don’t have a contract, you have no guarantee that you’re going to be somewhere.”

The fact Renault seems spoiled for choice for 2012 means that a speedy decision is unlikely.

Senna said: “I believe that the past has proven that it’s not a good idea to wait until the last minute to decide who is going to drive for you.”

Bruno Senna’s stock fell in Korea, mere weeks before Renault is due to decide its driver lineup for 2012.
The Brazilian, who replaced Nick Heidfeld five races ago, had a horror weekend in Korea, qualifying seven places behind Vitaly Petrov and finishing just in front of a Lotus.

With three races to go this season, the team’s fifth place in the constructors’ championship is probably safe, given the 23 point advantage over Force India.

But looking ahead to 2012, with Petrov, Romain Grosjean, Rubens Barrichello and of course Robert Kubica all also in the running for the seats, Senna’s Korean performance was bad news for the 28-year-old.

In his five races since replacing Heidfeld, he has scored points (2) only at Monza.

And “Bruno’s 13th position (in Korea) doesn’t pay justice to the pace of the car”, said Renault engineer Ricardo Penteado in Korea.

An unnamed team official, meanwhile, told Germany’s Speed Week publication: “We need to analyse why Bruno Senna did not come up to speed.”

As Sebastian Vettel drinks in his unprecedented success, two of his German countrymen are hoping simply for a place on the 2012 grid.

Adrian Sutil has been with Force India since the Silverstone based team’s Spyker days, but speculation is mounting that Vijay Mallya is planning to pair Paul di Resta with Nico Hulkenberg next year.

“I still have no contract (for 2012),” the German newsmagazine Focus quotes the 28-year-old as saying this week.

“For sure we’ll have a meeting soon,” Sutil, referring to his boss Mallya, told the BBC last weekend at Suzuka. “I’ll ask his opinion about next year and hopefully he’ll give me a sign.”

Mallya said he will not make a decision until December, but Sutil said the end of the year “is a little late because normally all the other seats are taken”.

Already absent from the grid in 2011 is Nick Heidfeld, who recently lost his Renault race seat to Bruno Senna.

Reports have linked the veteran of 183 grands prix with a BMW reunion in the German touring car series for 2012.

“I am in contact with the DTM teams,” the 34-year-old confirmed, “but my focus at the moment stays in formula one.”

Nick Heidfeld on Friday said he is not so sure his countryman will be crowned champion at the end of the Singapore grand prix weekend.
German Sebastian Vettel only needs 13 extra points to win his second consecutive title with five races to go in 2011.

But in Singapore practice, the 24-year-old – although quickest – was trailed by just a couple of tenths by two-time Singapore winner Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari’s Alonso, albeit 112 points behind, is Vettel’s nearest championship challenger, even though he answered “yes” on Thursday when asked if he has written off his chances of chasing down the leading Red Bull before Brazil’s finale.

“Alonso was second today with quite a bit gap behind him,” Heidfeld, in Singapore to look around for a race seat for 2012, told the German broadcaster Sky. “So I don’t think he (Vettel) will get it.”

Heidfeld, of course, was referring to Vettel’s chances of wrapping up the title this weekend, as he needs to win and then depend on Alonso not appearing on the podium on one of the Spaniard’s favourite circuits.

“It is not really up to Sebastian,” Heidfeld insisted. “He is doing a fantastic job and I expect him to do well here.”

Vettel’s title, if he wins on Sunday, also depends on Jenson Button or Mark Webber not finishing the race in second place. “It’s really up to what the others do,” added Heidfeld.

Former Renault driver Heidfeld, meanwhile, has been linked with a switch to the DTM series with BMW for 2012.

“That (DTM) is definitely an option or an alternative, should I find no reasonable place in formula one,” he admitted. “I have always said that I could imagine it after I am finished in F1.”

Enstone based F1 team Renault plans to have a new driver simulator up and running in time for the 2012 season.
The outfit announced on Monday that the local council has granted permission for the new facility to be situated next to the upgraded wind tunnel.

Renault, whose existing simulator was once derided by then team driver Fernando Alonso as no better than a Playstation, said “building work will begin imminently”.

“The confirmation that our simulator is on the way is further evidence of our continued investment for the future,” added team boss Eric Boullier.

Group Lotus-sponsored Renault has had a difficult 2011 season; trailing the top four teams, batting off speculation of financial troubles and experimenting first with Nick Heidfeld and now Bruno Senna due to Robert Kubica’s absence.

“Well, it has been challenging,” admitted Frenchman Boullier.

“I cannot say all the challenges were enjoyable – going through the difficulties we had after Robert’s crash was not easy – but overall I enjoy being tested with the issues that come my way, and tackling them in the best way I can for the team.

“Overseeing these challenges is part of my job. There’s certainly never a dull moment,” he smiled.

It is possible both Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov will not feature in next year’s Renault team lineup.

That is the claim of the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are in the running for the 2012 race seats.

Pole Kubica is recovering from injury at present and hoping to be ready to start driving once again as early as next month.

The report said he will start his comeback in a road car and possibly then move into a Renault single seater designed for the World Series or GP2.

“The question is whether Gerard Lopez and Eric Boullier want to wait that long,” said Auto Motor und Sport.

Kubica currently has no contract for the 2012 season, with team boss Boullier warning at Monza that he needs to finalise the team’s lineup soon.

Kubica’s 2010 teammate Vitaly Petrov, on the other hand, has a contract for next season.

But Auto Motor und Sport refers to “rumours that the team could go with Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean in 2012″.

Referring to Senna, who has already replaced Kubica’s initial 2011 substitute Nick Heidfeld, the report said the “potential to find sponsors is greater in Brazil than it is in Russia”.

New GP2 champion and Frenchman Grosjean, meanwhile, can be signed “at a discount price, with the hope of getting a subsidy from Renault for the engine”.

Russian Petrov said at Monza that he is not worried.

“My contract is safe for next year,” he insisted.

BMW’s motor sport boss has refused to comment on speculation Nick Heidfeld could move from formula one to the DTM series next year.

German Heidfeld, 34, was appointed as injured Robert Kubica’s replacement for 2011, but Renault has now dumped him in favour of Bruno Senna.

It is being reported that talks between Heidfeld and his former employer BMW, no longer in F1 but to tackle the German touring car series DTM next year, have already begun.

With Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus already confirmed for 2012, there are still four official BMW M3 cockpits to fill.

“We have always said we would look first at the drivers from our own programme,” Jens Marquardt, who has replaced Mario Theissen as BMW’s motor sport director, told the German news agency SID.

When asked if Heidfeld is a candidate, he answered: “We do not comment on rumours.

“I am confident that we will have a competitive driver lineup in 2012,” he is also quoted by sport1.de, denying that BMW will look specifically for a German driver.

Bruno Senna has admitted he will be feeling more relaxed when he races on the fabled Monza circuit this weekend.
The Brazilian made his grand prix return at Spa recently, but a pending court decision could have seen Nick Heidfeld back in the Renault after Monza.

The team has subsequently reached a financial settlement with German Heidfeld, confirming Senna as Vitaly Petrov’s regular teammate for the remainder of 2011.

The 27-year-old confided to Brazil’s Agencia Estado that he drove in Belgium with a “sense of insecurity” due to the Heidfeld impasse.

“The pressure for results is imposed mainly by myself, but the announcement (about Heidfeld) at least alleviates the feeling of insecurity — of not knowing what was going to happen next,” said Senna.

“I am delighted. It means I can go to the next race able to take more risks,” he explained.

An out of court settlement between the team and axed driver Nick Heidfeld has cleared the way for Renault to sign Bruno Senna for the rest of 2011.

A media statement said German Heidfeld, who had hoped to return to the R31 in Singapore after a London High Court hearing, has reached “an amicable settlement” with Renault.

The 34-year-old and the team have therefore “chosen to part company with immediate effect”, with Renault boss Eric Boullier describing it a “swift and reasonable solution”.

“Our separation process was already a painful one, and neither of us wanted to go through another legal hearing,” added the Frenchman.

Renault promptly confirmed Brazilian Senna as Vitaly Petrov’s new regular teammate for the remainder of 2011, with new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean as the reserve.

The appointment of Bruno Senna has already delivered two new sponsors to the Renault team.

With Nick Heidfeld contentiously stepped down before Spa-Francorchamps, Senna fended off speculation his sponsors had paid for the race seat.

“If you look at the team then there are no new logos on the car or on myself,” he insisted.

But that was before Sunday, when on the grid Brazil’s Globo Esporte spotted two new logos.

One belongs to the major Brazilian oil company OGX, headed by business baron Eike Batista da Silva who is the eighth richest person in the world.

A spokesman for Senna, the nephew of Brazil’s famous triple world champion Ayrton Senna, confirmed the deal with the holding company EBX.

The other new logo on the black Renault in Belgium was the razor brand Gillette.

Globo said both sponsors “were negotiating with (Senna) for the 2012 season” but the Heidfeld replacement “accelerated the deals”.

After impressively qualifying seventh at Spa, Senna finished outside the points due to smashing into Jaime Alguersuari at the first corner and receiving a drive-through penalty.

He will definitely race at Monza next weekend.

24 hours before the drivers file into the Spa-Francorchamps paddock, there is no confirmation about Nick Heidfeld’s apparent loss of his Renault race seat.
Multiple media sources are unofficially confirming Heidfeld’s former boss Eddie Jordan’s claim this week that Bruno Senna will be in the black R31 alongside Vitaly Petrov this weekend in Belgium and possibly beyond.

Germany’s Bild newspaper said Renault is not denying the story.

“We do not want to comment on speculation,” a spokesperson is quoted as saying.

And Auto Motor und Sport said 34-year-old Heidfeld’s management is also not commenting.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat said the situation is complicated, with Renault apparently already behind in its scheduled payments to the German driver.

The newspaper also said Renault is unable to drop Heidfeld without compensating him, with his contract to replace Robert Kubica in 2011 “skilfully” negotiated by his manager.

It is also reported that Senna will only be given the official green light when his Brazilian sponsors sign on the dotted line.

And with the Genii-linked Romain Grosjean rumoured to be in line for the seat once he has wrapped up the GP2 title, Turun Sanomat said those sponsors “are not so eager to put up money for only two grands prix”.

Michael Schumacher’s home town is not planning an official celebration this weekend.
At Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, the seven time world champion will mark the 20th anniversary of his meteoric formula one debut.

But 70 kilometres away in Kerpen, Germany, Schumacher’s home town will be quiet as usual, mayor Marlies Seiburg told the DAPD news agency.

“We have not planned any events because we have found that the interest of the spectators is no longer on the same scale,” she said, comparing Schumacher’s return to F1 with his ultra-successful initial career until 2006.

Schumacher’s first F1 boss Eddie Jordan has featured prominently in the German media this week; not only revealing Renault’s apparent plans to drop Nick Heidfeld but also calling 42-year-old Schumacher an “old fart”.

The Irishman also contradicted Schumacher’s claim that his manager Willi Weber only accidentally lied about the fact he had never raced at Spa prior to his 1991 debut.

“I asked him (Schumacher) and Weber if Michael had ever been to Spa. Both said yes. Taken literally it might be true but actually it was an outright lie,” said Jordan.

“Had they told the truth, I would not have let him race,” he added.

Jordan also admitted that he only signed Schumacher as jailed Bertrand Gachot’s one-off replacement because “I just needed the money”, referring to the $150,000 paid by Schumacher’s Sauber-Mercedes sports car team.

Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm told Bild newspaper: “It is good if Eddie keeps Michael in the media constantly.”