Paul di Resta has hinted he would leap at the chance to replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes.

The German marque’s Brackley based chief executive Nick Fry this week earmarked impressive Force India driver di Resta, earlier a Mercedes protege, as an ideal successor should Schumacher not stay beyond his 2012 contract.

Asked about Fry’s comments and the media speculation on Wednesday, di Resta said in Monaco: “It’s always nice to have the press interest and people looking out for you, but I need to stay focused on doing the best job I possibly can.”

He told Sky Sports News: “It’s no secret that I want to be a race winner and world champion — and to do that, I need to be in a great car.”

Ross Brawn revealed on Wednesday he missed the recent Spanish grand prix to have checks on his heart.

After handing over to his Mercedes deputy Nick Fry in Barcelona, fellow Briton Brawn is back in action as the team boss in Monte Carlo.

Rumours hinted there was more to the story, but Brawn insisted to a German newspaper earlier on Wednesday that he was simply advised by doctors to take the weekend off after a night in hospital for checks.

He then told reporters in Monaco his symptoms had been “arrhythmia”, or an irregular heartbeat, insisting he is “back to normal now”.

Brawn, 57, joked the heart problem was triggered by watching an exciting football game on television.

Marussia needs a KERS system to catch up with its direct rivals.

That is the admission of team boss John Booth, who told the Russian website championat.com that he is looking into adding the energy recovery technology to next year’s Marussia package.

“First of all, I want to say that while it is said it (KERS) is a ‘green’ technology, in reality it’s just a serious waste of money,” he said.

“But in our situation it’s time to start thinking seriously about KERS. Of the gap to Caterham, five or six tenths is due to KERS,” added Booth.

“So we are thinking seriously about it for 2013, but so far there is no decision.”

Both admitted the start of the 2012 season has been a disappointment so far for Marussia, which in its first two years was called Virgin.

He said the team has recently completed a phase of serious restructuring.

“We had a good team of people before, but now we have a good team of designers. Though we have been in F1 for three years, I have the feeling that we were actually born in July 2011.”

Both is undoubtedly referring to the split mid last year with former technical chief Nick Wirth, and the relocation to a new headquarters.

Ross Brawn should be firing on all cylinders as he returns to the pitwall in Monaco this weekend.

Mercedes’ team principal sat out the recent Spanish grand prix due to illness, but a scarcity of extra information triggered speculation.

One rumour was that he is seriously ill, whilst another was that his absence may in fact be due to his German employer’s high-stakes spat with Bernie Ecclestone.

The latter theory gained traction since Barcelona, with acting team boss Nick Fry taking a much higher than usual profile, including naming Paul di Resta as a possible 2013 successor for Michael Schumacher.

Explaining his absence, Brawn told Bild newspaper: “On the Tuesday before Barcelona I felt unwell so I went to the doctor and then stayed a night in hospital for some tests.

“When I got home, I decided on the advice of doctors to give myself a weekend off, to be sure that I am fit for Monaco,” the Briton said.

Partly because of Brawn’s deputy Fry’s recent comments, and also due to his paltry points tally and his crash with Bruno Senna, rumours about Schumacher’s future have intensified since Spain.

“A lot has been said and written,” acknowledged Brawn, “but we should not forget that we – the team – have let him down in three of the fives races, not delivering the job we should have.

“We must do better,” Brawn, who worked closely with Schumacher during the seven time world champion’s ultra successful Ferrari era, added.

“We saw Michael’s real quality again in the first race, so it’s for that reason that I believe we will see him on the podium this year.”

As for a possible contract extension for the 43-year-old, Brawn insisted: “When the time comes, we will sit down together and talk about the future.

“I’m sure it will become clear very quickly in what direction we will go.”

A lack of official information has triggered speculation about Ross Brawn’s health.

And another rumour is that his absence in Barcelona could be connected with Mercedes’ billion-dollar dispute with Bernie Ecclestone over the next Concorde Agreement.

The German squad announced on Thursday that Bob Bell is leading the team in Barcelona because regular boss Brawn is back in Britain on doctor’s orders.

Bild newspaper said the 57-year-old was given the advice in hospital earlier this week, following a dizzy spell at his home in England.

“It’s more than the flu,” chief executive Nick Fry is quoted as saying, “but I can assure you that it’s nothing life threatening.”

Indeed, a spokeswoman told us on Thursday that Brawn will be back to work at Monaco in a fortnight.

For Spain, Brawn will watch the action on television.

“We will still keep in touch,” Michael Schumacher revealed. “Ross cannot be replaced. That’s simply impossible.”

F1 needs to resolve its dispute with Mercedes before the sport’s multi-billion dollar floatation plans can go ahead.

That is the warning of the German team’s chief executive Nick Fry, as Mercedes refuses to sign up to the new Concorde Agreement because rival top teams Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have been offered better deals.

Fry is quoted by The Times newspaper as admitting that the progress of talks with Bernie Ecclestone are “not as strong as I would like”.

But he warned: “If CVC wish to float F1, I think they need this resolved fairly quickly — possibly more than we need it resolved.”

At the same time, he played down speculation Mercedes is on the verge of quitting F1.

“The mindset is absolutely in capital letters: Mercedes-Benz wishes to be in F1,” Fry insisted. “I would add that F1 also needs Mercedes-Benz.

“I am completely convinced in my mind that if CVC wish to sell some or all of F1, the value they can derive from that would be severely diminished if Mercedes was not a participant.”

But a senior executive of Mercedes denied the spat is about money.

“It is about fairness,” the unnamed official told The Times’ Kevin Eason.

“We are facing a situation in which three teams will between them decide some of the biggest issues in formula one. That cannot be right.”

McLaren tested a higher front nose at the Mugello test last week.

Backmarker Marussia aside, the famous British team is the only team in 2012 to have resisted the temptation of running a high ‘step’ nose, in the wake of new safety regulations.

McLaren was the early frontrunner this season with its MP4-27 car, but Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton struggled notably last time out in Bahrain.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the team quietly tested the significant nose development on the final day of Mugello testing last Thursday, with test driver Oliver Turvey at the wheel.

The report also speculated that McLaren experimented with an adjustable brake duct system at Mugello, which might be used to regulate tyre temperature for the finicky 2012 Pirellis.

The system would have to be adjusted by the mechanics during a pitstop.

McLaren is not yet ready to roll out a Mercedes-style ‘F-duct’ to complement its highly competitive 2012 car.

Despite Mercedes struggling with tyres in the actual races so far, the W03 is a standout qualifying performer, thanks in part to the so-nicknamed front and rear ‘super-DRS’ system.

Red Bull, Lotus and perhaps even Ferrari are threatening to protest, but until now McLaren – with arguably the dominant package of the 2012 season so far – has stayed out of the argument.

“We don’t have a strong view one way or the other,” technical director Paddy Lowe confirmed during the regular Vodafone media teleconference on Tuesday.

The F-duct will remain a hot topic in China this weekend, with Lotus’ technical boss James Allison believed to be armed with two new arguments against its legality.

It was thought McLaren was quite advanced with its own version of the system.

But Lowe revealed: “Until we’ve got clarity it’s difficult for us to commit a huge about of effort in that direction. So that’s where we are at the moment.”

He steered away from suggestions Mercedes, including boss Ross Brawn, have flouted the “spirit” of the recent F-duct ban.

“There’s no such thing as the spirit of the rules,” insisted Lowe, admitting that if there was a ‘spirit’ of the DRS rule, the Mercedes system is “definitely” in breach.

“The debate around whether they can keep that system on the car is not about whether it is in that spirit or not, it’s about whether the text of the regulations means they can’t,” he explained.

F1 team bosses turned out in force as officials insisted next month’s Bahrain grand prix is definitely on.

The sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone joined Sir Frank Williams, Martin Whitmarsh, Christian Horner, Mercedes’ Nick Fry and Pirelli’s Paul Hembery at a media lunch in London.

“Talk about heavy support,” wrote Reuters correspondent Alan Baldwin on Twitter.

The self-described ‘PR offensive’ to promote the forthcoming Bahrain grand prix followed reports earlier this week that said the FIA had decided to cancel the race due to ongoing unrest in the island Kingdom.

“It’s all nonsense. We’ll be there as long as they want us,” said Ecclestone.

“Seriously, the press should just be quiet and deal with the facts rather than make up stories.”

If it was up to the drivers, though, they might give it a miss. Timo Glock is a brave lone voice: “Why should we expose ourselves to unnecessary risk?” he asked rhetorically.

“If it was up to me, we wouldn’t go there,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Bahrain circuit boss Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al-Khalifa, however, dismissed the risk of violence.

“These incidents can happen anywhere,” he told AP news agency. “It’s not going to stop our grand prix.”

Ecclestone added: “I don’t need any personal security, but whatever’s necessary will be looked after.”

According to a poll in popular British magazine F1 Racing, 60,000 of the 100,000 F1 fans polled internationally said it is “not right” for the race to go ahead.

Looking forward to the event, however, is the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

Nabeel Rajab, the president, is quoted by the Telegraph: “(F1) is helping dictators and we are going to protest.

“We are going to use the opportunities that a lot of journalists are there and we are going to protest everywhere.”

A third major team has joined the crusade against Mercedes’ so-nicknamed ‘W-duct’ innovation.

Until now, only Red Bull and Lotus were pushing hard for the FIA to ban the drag-reducing system that Britain’s Sky television is calling ‘Super-dooper DRS’.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that Ferrari has now joined the anti W-duct group, providing a new argument about why a driver is not permitted to activate a separate system by pressing the ‘DRS’ button on the steering wheel.

“So far I have heard nothing that convinces us that it is illegal,” the FIA’s Charlie Whiting is quoted as saying.

He is not, however, ruling out an eventual change of heart.

“As we understood more about how the mass damper worked and as more arguments came onto the table, eventually we could no longer turn a blind eye,” said the Briton.

Still, Whiting is not expecting a post-race protest in Malaysia.

“I think everyone understands that that is not good for the sport,” he said.

So far, McLaren is staying out of the fight, with Auto Motor und Sport believing that Martin Whitmarsh “will not wage war against his engine supplier”.

Nonetheless, Mercedes boss Ross Brawn is more than unimpressed with the warring trio.

“There are a massive amount of things we do with DRS, so to pick on one thing and say ‘We don’t like that very much as we haven’t thought about it’, is wrong,” the Briton charged.

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.

 Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez has hit back at suggestions Kimi Raikkonen’s public image is an accurate reflection of the true 2007 world champion.
While the winner of 18 grands prix with Ferrari and McLaren is undoubtedly among F1′s most naturally gifted drivers ever, he also has a reputation for being lazy, unmotivated and uncooperative with the media and sponsors.

But after signing the 32-year-old Finn – who is nicknamed the ‘iceman’ – for his return to F1 in 2012 after two years in world rallying, Lotus insists it is more happy with Raikkonen so far.

“We feel very good with him and he clearly feels at home,” team owner Lopez is quoted by the Sun.

“He smiles a lot when he’s with us. But most importantly he says he feels like part of the family.

“I think Kimi has a public image that honestly from what we’ve seen does not translate into how he really is.

“He’s a very hard worker, very good at providing feedback and has a good team spirit.”

Lopez hinted, however, that he and team boss Eric Boullier did have some doubts about Raikkonen when they were considering their 2012 lineup.

But “Once we talked to him, once we understood why he was coming back to F1, we really felt comfortable,” he insisted.

“If you look at what happened at the (Jerez) test nobody can say he’s not on the pace.”

Marussia intends to keep Charles Pic, the team’s new French rookie, for more than a single season.
When known as Virgin, the team ousted Timo Glock’s 2010 and 2011 teammates – Lucas di Grassi and Jerome d’Ambrosio respectively – after a single season each.

The latest in the pay-driver hotseat is GP2 driver Pic, 21.

“I think there is some long term potential for him,” said team chief executive Andy Webb.

“I’m looking really to see if he can go forward for more than one year,” he told the Daily Mail.

With its 2012 car not yet ready, Marussia is the only team sitting out this week’s Jerez test.

Although also without new single seaters launched yet, Mercedes and HRT are running this week with their 2011 cars.

“I think it is a setback,” admitted team boss John Booth.

“We’ve taken on a huge challenge following the exit of Nick Wirth and to build a new car from scratch is demanding, but we are certainly up for that challenge.

“We have decided that it is the best thing for us to reach Barcelona initially with the 2011 car, and then for the second Barcelona test with the 2012 car. That’s the plan.”

Vitaly Petrov on Tuesday named three leading contenders to become his new teammate for 2011.

After visiting his injured teammate Robert Kubica in an Italian hospital, the Russian named “(Bruno) Senna, (Tonio) Liuzzi and (Nick) Heidfeld”.

Petrov was speaking at the Santa Corona hospital, quoted by ivg.it.

“We were with him for about a quarter of an hour. We joked and found him very well,” said Petrov, who was with their Renault team boss Eric Boullier.

“Of course he immediately wanted to know the team schedules for the season. Meanwhile we will look for his replacement.

“The team is close to Robert and we are waiting with open arms and hoping he can return by the end of the season,” he added.

Kubica will have surgery on his shoulder and foot this week, to be followed by an elbow operation.