Last Sunday proved that Pastor Maldonado is no mere ‘pay driver’.

“If he was a fool, he would not be with us, no matter how much money he brings,” Sir Frank Williams is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte.

Venezuelan Maldonado, whose links to the state owned oil company PDVSA and president Hugo Chavez controversially deliver many millions to Williams’ Oxfordshire based team, became F1′s fifth different winner of 2012 last weekend in Spain.

It has helped him to shake off the ‘pay driver’ insult, Williams insisting he is now a potential world champion instead.

“Without a doubt. He is very fast and makes no mistakes,” the newly 70-year-old Briton said.

Williams does, however, acknowledge that Maldonado’s money was a key factor in the decision to sign him.

“Yes, it was to some extent,” he said. “I don’t deny that. But he’s also a real driver. He fully deserves to be on the team, with or without money.

“The truth is that if you don’t have money, you don’t get to be in formula one,” added Williams.

Team shareholder Toto Wolff agrees: “If you want to race in GP2, you need a few million pounds. So, the drivers need not only to be fast and talented, but able to attract the sponsors.

“So let’s forget this thing about ‘pay drivers’,” he insisted.

Triple world champion Nelson Piquet, however, has some lingering doubts.

He ran Maldonado in his own GP2 team some years ago, and this week recalled a driver who was often “too aggressive” and made too many mistakes.

“We’re not talking about a guy who shone in his youth, like Nico Rosberg,” said the famous Brazilian, “or someone like Lewis Hamilton, who always had everything he needed thanks to Ron Dennis.

“In GP2, when you don’t stand out in your second year, you begin to be doubted. In Maldonado’s case, he only shone in his fourth year.

“Perhaps because of this he only made it to formula one as a paying driver, without having anything special, apparently. He was perceived as just a good pilot, but clearly no Alonso.

“Now he was at the right place at the right time but he still managed to beat Alonso in Spain as well as another world champion, Kimi (Raikkonen). So hats off to him.”

Carlos Sainz jr is on course for a future in formula one.

The 17-year-old Spaniard is the son of Carlos Sainz, the former two-time world rally champion.

Sainz jr, however, has pursued a career in open wheelers, and – now that Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have stepped up – he is the new cream of energy drink Red Bull’s junior driver programme.

And another direct link to the world of formula one for Sainz jr is his new sponsorship deal with Cepsa, the Spanish oil company that is also Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso’s main backer.

Sainz jr’s new Cepsa deal is for his participation this year in the British and Euroseries F3 categories, but “Our intention is to continue (beyond 2012),” Cepsa co-chairman Santiago Bergareche is quoted by Marca newspaper.

“Hopefully everything goes well and Carlos will be in that world (F1) one day,” added Cepsa chairman Alfonso Escamez.

He said the deal does not guarantee Sainz jr a future in f1.

“The sponsors have no say on the teams of the drivers. We can try to influence, to give our opinion, but we are not (able to decide) on that side.

“We hope that it does happen, but it will not necessarily.”

 Williams will not rush into signing a new title sponsor, chairman Adam Parr insists.
The famous British team performed woefully in 2011 and lost its naming backer ATT, yet recently revealed improved turnover and profits.

And Parr told Reuters the Grove based team has more than $45 million in the bank.

“I am very satisfied with what we have done overall with the business,” he said.

“We don’t have a title sponsor at the moment and obviously that’s an important initiative for us. But it’s something that you have to get right because your title sponsor is the most visible of your partners,” Parr explained.

“In many ways, it sets the character of the team. You want a title partner who is very active in the way they promote and activate the partnership.

“This is not something we are going to rush into, this is something we want to get right.”

For the moment, Williams’ main source of income appears to be the controversial deal with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, including Pastor Maldonado as driver.

“PDVSA is an important partner of the team in financial and other respects but it is by no means the only one,” insisted Parr.

 A leaked invoice suggests PDVSA, the state owned Venezuelan oil company, is paying a staggering US$46 million for its sponsorship of the Williams team in 2012.
Despite its authenticity having not been confirmed, the invoice from Williams – includes the Oxfordshire based team’s correct Barclays bank account – requests the full amount in pounds sterling.

Also appearing on the internet in recent months were the full contract between team driver Pastor Maldonado and Williams, and a stamped letter from Venezuelan congressman Carlos Ramos.

The leaking of the documents, with the invoice now published on the website of the Spanish sports daily Marca, surrounds Venezuelan officials’ doubts about the legality of Williams’ lucrative PDVSA deal.

Ramos’ letter to Williams’ communications boss Claire Williams last November referred to an “ongoing investigation” by the Venezuelan parliament.

“You may … be aware that our congress granted no approval to the sponsorship contract between Williams F1 and PDVSA,” he wrote, demanding Williams divulge the “amount disbursed to date to Williams F1 by PDVSA”.

Maldonado is backed directly by PDVSA, and is famously close to Venezuela’s controversial president Hugo Chavez.

Boss Franz Tost as well as Jaime Alguersuari have denied that Toro Rosso’s new sponsorship deal has secured the future of the Spanish driver.
The fact that the logos of the Spanish oil company Cepsa have been added to the livery of the STR6 this weekend was interpreted by some as good news for Alguersuari.

The 21-year-old Spaniard, as well as his Swiss teammate Sebastien Buemi, are under pressure by Toro Rosso’s owner Red Bull to prove they should not be replaced for 2012 by Daniel Ricciardo.

“It’s good that they (Cepsa) have come along, because the team needs the money,” Spanish media reports quote Alguersuari as saying at Monza.

“But I don’t think they have come for me, they have come for Toro Rosso because we are a young team with huge potential,” he insisted.

And Tost told The National newspaper: “Jaime’s future with the team is exactly the same as it was before Cepsa came on board.”

Alguersuari also told Spanish reporters that Toro Rosso’s 2012 car has been in the wind tunnel now for “about a month and a half”.

Meanwhile, he said he quickly got over the Belgian grand prix two weeks ago, when Bruno Senna took him out at the first corner.

“I don’t stay angry for long,” said Alguersuari. “Bruno sent me a message and apologised, which I accept. We can all make mistakes, even big ones like that.

“I hope I never make one that destroys the race of another.”

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.

A deal to host at least seven Russian grand prix in Sochi beginning in 2014 has been reached, the country’s president Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday.

“An agreement with the (sport’s) organising company has been reached,” he told investors in the Black Sea resort city, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was reportedly also in Sochi to sign the contract.

“In order to organise the work properly, we should create a management company here, in our country.  It should consist of private national companies,” Putin added.

The report said some of Russia’s biggest companies, including the state enterprise Rostekhnologii, mobile phone operator Megafon, oil company Lukoil and aluminum giant Rusal will invest in the circuit that could cost $200 million.

Nikolai Fomenko, boss of Marussia, said last month that he planned to bring the Russian sports car maker into F1 in 2012.  The company already sponsors the Virgin team.

“The signing of the agreement to stage a grand prix in Sochi will help put a Russian team in F1,” said Igor Yermilin, an official of the Russian Motor Racing Federation.

State oil company Petronas has extended its title sponsorship of the Malaysian grand prix.

Media statements said the contract extension is for a further five years.

Kuala Lumpur based Petronas also title sponsors the formula one team Mercedes GP.

“I am pleased that Petronas has again used formula one to let the world follow their success in the oil and gas automotive industry,” said F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The first Malaysian grand prix took place in 1999.

GP2 championship leader Pastor Maldonado claims Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez wants him to debut in formula one.

The well-sponsored 25-year-old has been linked with F1 seats several times, including when he was close to inking a deal with the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP.

“We were nearly ready to sign … but at the end it didn’t get an entry,” he told Reuters at Valencia on Friday.

The news agency said Maldonado is backed by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

“Venezuela is pushing very hard for me, to have me in formula one,” he confirmed.  “All my sponsors are from Venezuela so that’s a big support.

“He (Chavez) is pushing.  I know that,” Maldonado, also a contender for a Campos/HRT seat in 2010, added.

He said president Chavez is also interested in hosting a grand prix, possibly off the northeastern coast of the country on Margarita Island.

Renault wants to build its team around Robert Kubica.

That is the claim of the team’s new majority owner Gerard Lopez, amid rising speculation that Pole Kubica is being lined up for a 2011 switch to Ferrari.

In the wake of the French carmaker’s part-withdrawal from F1 at the end of 2009, Kubica has been widely credited for Renault’s solid season so far this year.

The 25-year-old looks particularly impressive on the streets of Monaco, where Lopez admitted that Renault is willing to fully embrace Kubica’s presence into the future.

“He is in a unique position, as a racer, to have a team built around him now and we see it that way,” Lopez, who announced he has sold a share of the team to oil company PetroSaudi CEO and friend Tarek Obaid, is quoted by the AFP news agency.

Kubica declined to comment about his future in Monaco.

(GMM)

Apr.30 (GMM)  The logo of team boss Tony Fernandes’ AirAsia airline could soon feature on the 2010 Lotus car.

We reported last month that because the logos are already seen prominently on Williams’ FW32, Fernandes was instead content to advertise his investment firm Tune Group on the green T127.

But according to a report in Finland’s leading newspaper Turun Sanomat, the situation might be different when the heavily updated cars emerge from the pits in Barcelona next week.

The report said the AirAsia logo “will be displayed” on the Lotus in Spain.

Meanwhile, we also reported in March that the logos of the Brazilian oil company Petrobras might be added to the T127′s livery in Barcelona.

But Turun Sanomat said the deal has not been done in time to debut at the Spanish grand prix.

It is believed the Brackley based team instead wanted to devote its full corporate attention to title sponsor Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned oil company that also owns the naming rights of its home race at Sepang. Mercedes ran a new sponsor on the livery of its 2010 car at Sepang this weekend, despite not officially announcing the deal.

But a new deal had clearly been reached by Mercedes GP with a company called Autonomy, whose name and ‘A’ logo was seen on the monocoque sides as well as the aerodynamic piece in front of the sidepods.

Autonomy is a jointly UK and US-based software company.

GMM