The penalty might be harsh, but the loss of Lewis Hamilton’s pole in Spain is just the latest calamitous mistake by McLaren.

That was the tone of the paddock’s reaction to the news late on Saturday that a McLaren gaffe saw the FIA send Hamilton from first to last on the Spanish grand prix grid.

The Sun newspaper called it a draconian “24-place grid penalty” imposed by the FIA after an “astonishing cock-up” by McLaren.

Hamilton was told on the radio to pull over after his pole lap due to a “technical problem”.

Sporting director Sam Michael argued ‘force majeure’, but the stewards ruled that it had been entirely McLaren’s fault that not enough fuel was put into Hamilton’s car to ensure a scrutineering fuel sample.

Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary said the severity of the disqualification “raised eyebrows”, but agreed that “McLaren’s mistake was horrendous”.

He said it has been “a season of errors” by the famous British team, who are yet to get Hamilton’s signature on a new contract beyond 2012.

“Hamilton must be seething,” read an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, while The Times laid out McLaren’s “catalogue of errors”.

27-year-old Hamilton’s “raw talent is being thwarted by mishap and cock-up,” said journalist Kevin Eason.

“McLaren are lovely people but how the hell do they get themselves in this position?” wrote the Mirror’s Byron Young on Twitter.

Even the non-English language media agreed.

“It was another great mistake by McLaren that could eventually cost Hamilton the championship,” wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo.

Italy’s La Stampa called McLaren’s fuel gaffe a case of “harakiri”.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport added: “It was error number 13 for McLaren since last year”.

While highly critical of McLaren’s own-goal, however, the feeling in the paddock is that the stewards’ penalty – although accepted by McLaren – was overly harsh.

“Back of the grid? Way, way too harsh”, said the Mirror’s Young on Twitter.

“Draconian penalty in my view,” agreed PA Sport’s Ian Parkes. “Dropping Q3 time would have sufficed.”

Sky commentator Martin Brundle added: “(I) feel they should have deleted that (Q3) laptime only which would have put him sixth”.

And excluding Hamilton from Q3 altogether would have put him 11th. Now, he will be “lucky to score a point”, Auto Motor und Sport predicted.

In the Independent, however, David Tremayne noted: “Welcome to the draconian world of F1.”

David Croft, the lead Sky commentator, said the FIA stewards had acted correctly.

“A good rule should be one that covers all eventualities with a penalty that acts as a deterrent which in this case is what happened.

“Too little fuel can’t be tolerated,” he added. “It seems harsh but had Lewis taken pole by one thousandth of a second, would it be harsh then?”

The Spanish fans – not Hamilton’s biggest supporters dating back to his spats with Fernando Alonso in 2007 – were happy.

Asked on the El Mundo website whether the penalty was fair, 76 per cent answered yes.

Jenson Button has admitted having a clear number 2 driver is the best approach for a formula one team.
Team orders are now legal in F1 and Eddie Irvine, Michael Schumacher’s clear supporting driver at Ferrari in the mid nineties, recently hailed Briton Button as the sport’s new “best number 2″.

Button, 31, is actually the only driver still in the running with Sebastian Vettel for the 2011 title, and 17 points ahead of his high profile teammate Lewis Hamilton.

He told Die Welt newspaper: “The best way for a team to win the world championship would probably be to have a number 1 driver and a number 2 who is happy to be the number two.

“That’s not what we have at McLaren,” insisted Button.

As for Irvine’s recent criticism, Button hit back with an apparent reference to 1999, when the Ulsterman came close to the championship in the wake of Schumacher’s broken leg.

“It’s (Irvine’s comments) very sweet,” the Briton told PA Sport recently. “All I can say is that it was fun winning the world championship, and I hope to do it again.”

Some F1 teams work to manipulate the performance of their two drivers, according to Fritz d’Orey.
Now 73, Brazilian d’Orey contested grands prix at the end of the 50s and remains an eager spectator.

He said on the SporTV programme ‘Linha de Chegada’ this week that Ferrari manipulated the situation some years ago to ensure Rubens Barrichello was not as fast as his number 1 teammate Michael Schumacher.

“Alain Prost told me at a dinner in Paris that they did it to Barrichello when he was going too strongly in relation to Schumacher,” he said.

Another legendary Brazilian driver, 73-year-old Bird Clemente, agrees: “That’s right. I’m sure it still exists.

“The team as well as the sponsors are making a big investment. To some extent, it is theatre.”

Fernando Alonso has blamed the British media for his image as a spoilt number 1 driver.

O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio asked the Spaniard if it is true that all is well inside his team so long as he does not share equal status with his teammate.

“That is a belief that was created in 2007,” said the Ferrari driver, referring to his ill-fated single season alongside Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.

“The reason was the contamination of the media, particularly the British.

“I have been in formula one for 11 years. For ten, I was the consummate professional,” he explained. “Engineers, mechanics and my teammates could not say a word against my professionalism.

“But in 2007, McLaren, the English press, week after week, contaminated our relationship, which was not bad. That is what led to this general impression about me.

“But nothing changes for me, my values stay the same. When I went onto the market, the offers I received were as great before and after 2007,” added Alonso.

Another perception is that Alonso, 30, is enjoying a position of privilege at Ferrari due to his links with main sponsor Santander, a Spanish bank.

“Good, no?” he laughed. “Everyone can talk and think what they like, it’s part of the sport — the media too, especially with the internet.”

F1′s next stop is Singapore, where Alonso won not only last year but also in 2008, when his Renault teammate Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed to bring out the safety car.

The Spaniard insists he still counts the victory among his best.

“There is something about the track that suits my driving style,” said Alonso. “I know it’s strange to you, but the victory of 2008 is just as special as the one of last year.”

Sebastian Vettel has once again admitted his desire to race a Ferrari in formula one some day.
The likely 2011 champion has pledged his immediate future to Red Bull but has always admitted his affection for F1′s more famous marques, including Ferrari and also Mercedes.

Fernando Alonso said a few days ago that Vettel, 24, is welcome at Ferrari.

“At the moment we are both bound by contract and I think both of us (are) happy in our teams,” Vettel said in a joint interview with Spaniard Alonso for the German broadcaster RTL.

“But I have already said that I can imagine sitting in a red car at some point. So who knows?” he added.

Vettel is vying for victory on Ferrari’s home soil this weekend but he said doing it with a team “with so much history” would be a “great feeling”.

“In 2008 I had a little bit of that experience with the Italian team Toro Rosso and it was fantastic. I hope I have many years in formula one ahead of me so let’s see what happens,” he added.

Alonso, meanwhile, said he can imagine having Vettel as a teammate, even though both of them are regarded as the unofficial ‘number 1′ drivers at their respective teams.

“Why not?” he said. “At the top teams there is no one who does not want two good drivers.

“It seems as though Sebastian is the number one at Red Bull but I do not say that. For Felipe and me it’s the same; we race with the same conditions and during a season one or the other gets out an advantage.

“Viewed from the outside it’s as though there’s a team leader and a helper, but for the team it’s best to have two top drivers because it increases the chances of winning the world championship,” added Alonso.

Jenson Button has refused to rule out switching to Ferrari.

McLaren has an option for 2012 on the British driver that must be activated within the next few weeks.

If the Woking based team lets the option expire, speculation that he is being lined up as the successor to Felipe Massa is certain to intensify.

Asked about Ferrari by the Spanish newspaper AS, 31-year-old Button answered at Silverstone: “Since I was a boy there are three teams I have dreamed about driving for — McLaren, Williams and Ferrari.

“I fulfilled a dream with Williams at the beginning of my career, and now I am at McLaren.

“I don’t know what my future is, but I want to have a car to fight to win races. You never know what will happen in the future, but at the moment I am happy with what I have.”

Button said he would not have a problem sharing a team with Fernando Alonso, the double world champion who is regarded as the clear number 1 at Ferrari.

“I am sure that if we were teammates, Fernando and I would have no problem. Alonso is a great driver for who I have great respect, and I think we would do great things together,” he said.

Button is more open about his plans to help youngsters start their own F1 careers.

“It’s not just (for) after F1, it’s during F1,” the 2009 world champion told Reuters, revealing his efforts to set up a driver management company with his manager Richard Goddard.

“I think it could be very useful for other people, obviously British kids, but not just them. I think I’ve got a lot to offer. So it could be very exciting,” he added.

Fernando Alonso is among the best in formula one but his situation at Ferrari is unique.

That is the view of Lewis Hamilton, who clashed memorably with Alonso as they were teammates at McLaren in 2007 as the pair reportedly tussled for elusive ‘number 1′ status.

Alonso decided to leave the British team and is now at Ferrari, where he has just signed a new five-year extension to his existing contract.

Asked by Spain’s El Pais newspaper who he regards as the best in F1, Briton Hamilton answered: “We all believe we are the best and that’s what you have to do, unless you like to finish second.

“(The best) are Alonso, Vettel and Rosberg, who I’ve known since I was 13. He (Rosberg) is about to burst through and he will at any time.

“Sebastian is in a great period with Red Bull and has a lot of confidence.

“Fernando is very talented and is fully supported by his team,” continued Hamilton. “The whole (Ferrari) team supports and follows him. It is he who leads Ferrari.

“I’m not saying it’s good or bad, it’s just the route they have chosen,” he added.

Sebastian Vettel did not win the prestigious Laureus prize despite becoming F1′s youngest ever world champion.
The 23-year-old was nominated for the sportsman of the year gong but it was Spanish world number 1 tennis star Rafael Nadal who accepted the trophy on Monday night at the gala in Abu Dhabi.

And the Spanish national football team also beat Vettel’s nominated Red Bull team to the best international team prize.

Representing the world of premier motor racing, however, Valentino Rossi was awarded the world comeback of the year title.

Last year, the Italian took just 41 days to return to the saddle of his MotoGP bike after suffering an exposed leg fracture.

Dr Helmut Marko is defiantly confident after the first two test days in the life of Red Bull’s 2011 car.
Wearing the number 1 on the nose for world champion Sebastian Vettel, the RB7 has been impressive so far at the Ricardo Tormo track near Valencia, Spain.

Wednesday’s action was watched on by the team’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz, but it was his right-hand man Marko who gushed the loudest.

“If a race were held now, we would lap everybody,” the Austrian told Bild newspaper. “How our car goes through the corners is amazing.”

Even the usually-reserved Mateschitz sounded very confident.

“This will be our third strong year in a row,” the billionaire energy drinks magnate predicted.

Said 23-year-old driver Vettel: “I cannot complain as I’m satisfied so far, but all the cars will still change considerably. Whether we’re ahead or not is hard to say.”

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug said: “I don’t think they’re looking too bad.”

And seven time world champion Michael Schumacher jokingly agreed. “The new Red Bull?” said the German. “Looks good. The colour, I mean …”

Sebastian Vettel has revealed that he is yet to think up a name for his new formula one car.
Last year, the 23-year-old won his first title at the wheel of Randy Mandy, after the original RB6 named Luscious Liz was replaced due to damage after Monaco.

The giving of an amorous female name has become one of the Red Bull driver’s several F1-related superstitions, including the sliding of a lucky coin behind his boot laces.

When asked about his new RB7 wearing the coveted number 1 as it was launched at Valencia on Tuesday, Vettel told Welt newspaper: “The number looks good.

“I saw the car in one piece for the first time this morning. So I haven’t got a name for her yet,” he revealed.

Vettel was also asked about reports that his friend Michael Schumacher suffers from motion sickness at the wheel of driver simulators.

As for whether he has also been sick in a sim, he smiled: “Once, but only very briefly.

“I think it’s an important tool with testing so limited, especially with regards to (learning) the tracks,” added Vettel.

Red Bull on Tuesday revealed its new car for the 2011 season featuring the number 1 for reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Photographs of the RB7, which is an evolution of the dominant title-winning car of 2010, were published on the team’s official website shortly before a blue sheet was pulled off in the Valencia pitlane by Vettel – who will drive the car on Tuesday – and Mark Webber.

Mercedes will also reveal its 2011 car at the Ricardo Tormo circuit on Tuesday, as will Toro Rosso, while the new Williams will make its test debut with an interim livery.

No rain and mild temperatures are forecast for the first day of pre-season testing in Cheste, which is 25 kilometres from the Spanish port city Valencia.

The Schumacher brothers are adamant Red Bull must now impose team orders if it wants to win the 2010 drivers’ world championship.

Their young countryman Sebastian Vettel looked set to take the points lead from his Australian teammate Mark Webber, who crashed on the slippery Yeongam circuit, after controlling Sunday’s Korean grand prix from pole position.

But Vettel also retired from the race with an engine failure, leaving him 14 points shy of Webber, who is now 11 points behind new championship leader Fernando Alonso.

With just two races to go, Ralf Schumacher thinks Red Bull’s new strategy should be obvious.

“Now Red Bull need to play a single card; Mark Webber,” the former grand prix winner, in Korea to commentate for German television, is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“Sebastian needs to get as many points as he can, but Red Bull must see to it that Webber gets the title,” Schumacher added.

Reluctantly, because it will be to the detriment of his friend Vettel, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher also said a team strategy must now be taken by Red Bull for the remaining Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.

“I’m sorry for Sebastian,” he told German television Sky. “I have to recall almost a decade ago, when everyone thought we at Ferrari were crazy to be thinking about the championship so early.

“But if Red Bull had done the same, their worry lines would be much smaller now,” added the German.

His reference to “almost a decade ago” must surely be about 2002, when Ferrari was roundly condemned for moving Rubens Barrichello aside so that Schumacher could take maximum points from the Austrian grand prix.

Ferrari implemented a similarly controversial strategy at Hockenheim earlier this year, and on Sunday Fernando Alonso moved to the head of the drivers’ title standings.

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted on Sunday as saying he will not be making Webber the number 1 driver for the rest of 2010.

But he also told reporters at Yeongam: “I haven’t had time to look at all the mathematics and scenarios. It’s something that obviously we will look at pretty closely between now and Brazil.”

Vettel, however, made clear he is not personally ready to give up, even though his engine failure seriously dented his charge in Korea.

“It is very significant for the championship situation, but I am the last to give up,” German media quote him as saying.

Stefano Domenicali has admitted it will be “interesting” to see how Ferrari’s rivals tackle the remaining three races of 2010.

Of the title contenders, only the Italian team is solely focused on a single driver, while Red Bull and McLaren still endeavour to provide equality to each of their race drivers.

“In the other two teams they have both drivers that will fight (each other),” said team boss Domenicali, contrasting Felipe Massa’s role for the rest of the season in support of Fernando Alonso’s title challenge.

“I think it will be very important to see how all the drivers approach the next few races mentally, within the teams and against the other drivers — it will be very interesting,” he added.

The most obvious negative example of a team’s commitment to equality is 2007, when McLaren’s acrimonious duo Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso tied on points but both lost the championship against the odds to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Flavio Briatore, who is Mark Webber’s manager, insists Red Bull should order the Australian’s teammate Sebastian Vettel to fall in line.

“With only three races left, Red Bull should make Mark their number 1 driver,” he said in a new interview with the Times of India.

He thinks team orders and the notion of number 1 drivers have an obvious place in formula one, whose biggest prize is the individual drivers’ title.

“If I had been at Ferrari, I would have done the same thing,” said Briatore.

Luca di Montezemolo on Wednesday confirmed Felipe Massa’s hopes that he is not set to retain his subordinate driving role beyond the 2010 season.

Earlier on Wednesday, it emerged that Brazilian Massa had told German magazine Sport Bild that if he is expected to give way to Fernando Alonso beyond the current championship, “I will stop driving for Ferrari”.

Days ago, Ferrari president Montezemolo urged Massa to “shave points off the rivals” in the last races of the season, insisting the “decision to focus on Alonso has been proven to be right”.

Ferrari revealed on Wednesday that Montezemolo spoke to Massa, and separately to Alonso, by telephone as the pair prepared in Japan for this weekend’s event.

“Felipe is and will always stay a number one driver for Ferrari,” said the Italian.

“I expect the performances of a number one driver from him — both in the next four races and, with different tyres, next year.

“Those (performances) will be crucial to bring us wins next season and to take important points from our opponents in the battle for this world championship,” added Montezemolo.

Luca di Montezemolo has spelled out Felipe Massa’s supporting role in the 2010 world championship, showing no regret for the decision to put the “focus” of the Ferrari challenge on number 1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Speaking at the Paris motor show on Thursday, the Ferrari president urged Brazilian Massa to show a better performance at the decisive races, having struggled with the F10 recently.

“I have waited for Felipe with great perseverance in the last four races,” Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I want a strong Massa who will shave points off the rivals,” he added.

On the other hand, Spaniard Alonso has won the past two races from pole, and has been in Ferrari’s box seat at least since July’s German grand prix, where Massa was controversially moved aside whilst leading.

“The decision to focus on Alonso has been proven to be right,” said Montezemolo.

“He is extremely strong and very close to the team, and has been able to blend in well from day one despite the concerns of some,” he added.

Montezemolo showed no regrets about Ferrari’s stance; a philosophy not so openly embraced by the Maranello based team’s championships rivals Red Bull and McLaren.

“Those who race for Ferrari don’t race for themselves, but for the Ferrari team colours,” said the Italian.

“One who wants to race for himself will have to face his team,” Montezemolo insisted.