Five races in, F1′s cleverest brains are still yet to decode the mystery of the bizarre and fascinating 2012 season.

As was the case when he utterly dominated last year, Sebastian Vettel is still leading the drivers’ points chase.

But, before last weekend, if he had been told that Williams’ Pastor Maldonado would be the winner of the Spanish grand prix, the German admitted: “Well, I would have put a lot of money on them!

“I think the odds weren’t bad,” he smiled.

Indeed, the major British bookmaker William Hill was taking bets at 500-1 prior to the Barcelona weekend.

A spokesman confirmed that only two bets at 10 pounds or above were placed on Maldonado prior to qualifying.

“I’m sure Williams don’t understand why they just won the race here,” McLaren’s Jenson Button is quoted by the Guardian newspaper.

But the previously-derided ‘pay driver’ Maldonado is not the only potential new winner in 2012, after Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Vettel won the opening four grands prix.

A detailed look at F1′s specialist reporting in the past few weeks shows that Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi are all also widely regarded as genuine victory candidates in 2012.

And given that their teammates have won grands prix this season, even the struggling Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna should be added to that list.

“Dammit, let’s go for (HRT’s) Karthikeyan!” wrote Chris Hockley in the Sun newspaper.

“It’s really quite crazy right now,” Vettel, who despite his young age would count himself among F1′s currently perplexed purists, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“What’s happening is difficult for us to explain,” he added.

The situation has split the F1 audience, with the purists shaking their heads, and others marvelling at the unprecedented spectacle.

“The spectacle has taken over the sport,” said the Paris daily Le Figaro.

“Even the teams can’t be sure who will be the hare and who will be the tortoise at any given track,” wrote Hockley.

Alonso, who is the joint championship leader, is in the purists’ camp.

“Of course it is attractive for the spectators that we are going to Monaco not knowing if we will fight for victory or be left out of the points,” he is quoted by El Pais.

“But in a way, after eleven years in formula one and now I’m at Ferrari, I would like to have more stability,” the Spaniard admitted.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “What’s going on is unbelievable, which I think is the outcome of the new rules, new tyres — I think it’s many factors,” he told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“What’s happening,” said Maldonado’s race engineer Xevi Pujolar, “is that these tyres are allowing teams who do not have the biggest budgets to be eligible for really good results.

“The reason is that the most important thing now is to have a good setup and also some luck with the temperature.”

Pirelli, F1′s tyre maker, has received both criticism and praise for its huge role.

“Pirelli have been both bold and brave,” Sun journalist Hockley said. “It can’t be easy for a manufacturer to make tyres that sometimes wear out faster than you can say Mercedes.”

Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian marque’s company chief, is unapologetic.

“What we have provided is what the teams have asked for, and it was not easy,” Italian language reports quote him saying. “Our engineers have done an extraordinary thing.”

Felipe Massa’s formula one career is on the brink of collapse.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali left Barcelona insisting he expects the struggling Brazilian to “fight back starting in Monaco”.

“We absolutely need his points to also fight for the constructors’ title,” he said.

Earlier, the Maranello based team said on Twitter that Ferrari is “disappointed with” the 30-year-old’s performance.

When asked about that comment, a Ferrari spokesman told the Sunday Times: “It was a poor choice of grammar. We are disappointed in the outcome of Felipe but not with Felipe himself.”

But the very latest development is that Ferrari is now making it abundantly clear that Massa needs to up his game immediately.

In a statement posted on its official website, Ferrari said Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso “has always maintained a very high level”.

As for Massa, his “drop off has made itself felt”, the report stated.

“The Brazilian had picked up 49 points two years ago and 24 the following year, while so far this season he has just 2,” said Ferrari.

“Everyone, he more than anyone, is expecting a change of gear starting right away with the Monaco grand prix”, the statement concluded.

Even Massa’s strongest supporters in Brazil, like the O Globo journalist Celso Itibere, admit the situation is dire.

“He is at risk,” said Itibere, “his decline is progressive, he is failing to react and he runs the real risk of not finishing the season.

“At this time Ferrari has no one to take the job. Everyone they would like to have there – Perez, Kobayashi, Webber – are not available.”

Tuesday’s edition of the Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport will report that Massa’s ousting is imminent.

And the latest edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport did not even once mention Massa’s name. “It is as though he does not exist,” wrote the Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“Yet it is an Italian newspaper, and he is a Ferrari driver.”

When asked if he fears for his F1 career, Massa said in Barcelona last weekend: “No. I live in the present. What will happen will happen.”

Asked if he is afraid another bad performance will seal his fate, Massa insisted: “I’m not afraid of anything, especially criticism. It doesn’t affect me.”

The fact F1 has chosen the Singapore exchange for the sport’s high profile floatation does not mean the city-state’s popular floodlit street race is guaranteed.

The night event’s existing five year contract runs out this year, although a two-year notice clause in the deal means Singapore should stay on the calendar at least until 2014.

On the face of it, a new deal seemed a certainty, given it was Bernie Ecclestone himself who chose Singapore as the location for F1′s forthcoming floatation.

“Formula one is known in Singapore, and Asia is thriving. It is a simpler market and not as restrictive,” he said recently.

Talks about a new race deal “are underway”, the local Business Times reported in March, “but it is understood that one sticking point is the sanction fee.”

An unnamed banker commented: “The Singapore government wants formula one to be listed here and for that to happen, it knows the race has to remain here.

“But at the same time, it doesn’t want to pay top dollar again. So the bargaining should continue for some time.”

However, the English language newspaper now reports that F1′s floatation plans, and the expiring Singapore race contract, could be entirely unrelated.

“We are in the process of negotiating a possible renewal of the (race) agreement and the outcome will be announced once discussions are complete,” said a spokesman for race promoter Singapore GP.

Second minister for trade and industry S Iswaran insisted that the mooted floatation will not influence the outcome of the race contract negotiations.

And the Singapore tourism board’s Aw Kah Peng added: “You’ve got to see whether the deal is right in every way.

“We’re hoping everybody sees value in it and we get a so-called good deal for Singapore, in terms of whether all the numbers can work out and everybody takes home something — a kind of a win-win proposition.”

Bernie Ecclestone on Sunday confirmed reports France is definitely heading back to the F1 calendar.

Reports earlier this weekend said authorities had “finally agreed” a figure for the sanctioning fee with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.

“Yes,” the 81-year-old Briton told French daily L’Equipe in the Bahrain paddock on Sunday.

“The deal is done,” said Ecclestone.

“We agreed the financial terms with the sports minister David Douillet, in my office on Tuesday.

“We are still discussing a few things about money: ‘You give me this, I want that’,” he added.

“But, for me, there is no doubt, we will sign it now,” said Ecclestone.

He said the outcome of the forthcoming presidential elections in France will not spoil the deal.

“Whatever happens, I don’t care,” said Ecclestone. “That’s a local issue that doesn’t concern me.”

McLaren remains “the team to beat” despite the topsy-turvy outcome of the recent Malaysian grand prix.

That is the claim of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, having slumped to sixth in the drivers’ standings after a dire weekend in Malaysia.

The formerly-dominant Red Bull driver now lags a Ferrari and even a Sauber, after Fernando Alonso and the unlikely Sergio Perez proved the cream of the slippery Sepang circuit.

Vettel, however, is still thinking silver.

Asked by the French-language RMC Sport to name the ‘best team’ of the moment, the German answered: “There are several.

“But McLaren seems very strong right now. They are the team to beat,” said Vettel.

The trophy enthusiast received a small memento on the Melbourne podium last month, but a more impressive prize was the prestigious Grand Prix de l’Academie des Sports that he collected from FIA president Jean Todt recently in Paris.

“That was my first trophy (of 2012),” he laughed, “but I want much more than that!

“It’s a long championship,” Vettel argued. “We did quite a good job in Australia, and Malaysia was chaotic with the weather.

“We have a good car and the objective is to fight for the title.”

Amid France’s push to return to the F1 calendar, it appears Magny Cours is not yet out of the game.

Prime minister Francois Fillon, however, has earmarked Paul Ricard – the well-known test circuit at Le Castallet near Marseille – as the host.

But it was Magny Cours that hosted the French grand prix between 1991 and 2008.

The local Nievre department’s president Patrice Joly last week accused Fillon of “bias in favour of Le Castellet” for the 2013 deal.

He said Magny Cours has “all the facilities, infrastructure and expertise needed to organise such an event”.

Championing Magny Cours’ renewed push to host the 2013 French grand prix is Guy Ligier, the now 81-year-old Frenchman who once had his own formula one team based at the circuit.

“I am trying to lend a hand,” he confirmed to the sports daily L’Equipe.

“I have had Bernie (Ecclestone) on the phone several times, as a friend, and have asked for his advice. We talked about the hotel business around (Magny Cours).

“He said to me, ‘Guy, I know you’re in the know.’

“I have a feeling that Bernie is not going to sign anything before he knows the outcome of the presidential election.

“I’ll tell you honestly what I feel: nothing is lost for Magny Cours,” added Ligier.

 Rumours are swirling in the Melbourne paddock that Red Bull and Lotus are preparing to lodge a post-qualifying protest.
“I’ve heard something like that,” confirmed Mercedes’ motor sport director Norbert Haug to German Sky television.

They are reportedly unhappy with the new ‘F-duct’ solutions seen on the W03 car.

British television Sky confirmed that team boss Eric Boullier has confirmed that Lotus will protest the outcome of Saturday afternoon’s qualifying result.

“The FIA has its opinion and so do we,” Haug added.

“I remember the noise made about the double diffuser; a noise, incidentally, that came from the same place,” said the German.

Sauber’s departing technical boss James Key appears headed for Lotus.
On the eve of its 2012 car launch, the Swiss team announced that it will not replace the departing Briton Key, who has accepted an offer to work in the UK.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said it is rumoured Key is headed for Lotus.

Not the Enstone based F1 team, however, but sponsor Group Lotus’ motor racing programme, including Le Mans.

Sauber managing director Monisha Kaltenborn denied the Hinwil based team cannot afford to replace Key.

“If we look back 20 years, the team have always lacked funds,” she insisted.

Kaltenborn defended the bare look of the 2012 car’s livery.

“We are in negotiation with new partners so I am quite confident our livery will look different by the time we hit the first race,” she said.

As for Key, “For some time both sides had the feeling that things were not working any more, and what has happened is the outcome,” La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes Kaltenborn as saying.

Christian Horner has revealed it is “very, very likely” Mark Webber will be signed up to stay at Red Bull in 2012.
Australian Webber, one of the only key members of the Austrian team not already contracted for the foreseeable future, has struggled this season alongside Sebastian Vettel.

Speculation has linked Lewis Hamilton with a high-profile switch from McLaren, but team boss Christian Horner told Servus TV that the most likely outcome is a new deal for Webber.

“Well, that’s very, very likely,” said the Briton. “We have agreed to sit down a bit later and then focus on next year,” Horner told the Red Bull-linked Austrian broadcaster.

As for the Hamilton rumours, Horner smiled: “I really don’t think blue is his colour. For Red Bull, the most important thing is the harmony.”

But according to former F1 winner Johnny Herbert, Red Bull should think hard about its driver choice for 2012.

“He (Webber) is showing none of the fire that he showed last season, which helped him fight Vettel and make the championship so exciting. Until he finds it again I do not see him competing for wins,” he wrote in a column for The National.

Nick Heidfeld on Thursday said it would be a shame if the team orders saga is seen to have influenced the outcome of the drivers’ world championship.

With two races to go, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is 11 points ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber in the points standings.

7 of those points were earned in Hockenheim, where Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa was controversially moved aside despite team orders being banned in F1.

Ferrari was fined $100,000 for the move but Alonso kept his points.

“If Alonso wins the championship with a margin less than the 7 points, it would devalue the championship — that’s a personal view,” said former FIA president Max Mosley.

Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner agrees, stating that seeing Alonso win because of the extra points would be “frustrating”.

Sauber driver Heidfeld said in Brazil on Thursday: “From a team’s perspective, it (team orders) is perhaps understandable.

“But it would be a shame if the championship is decided by the fact that Red Bull has followed the rules while others see it maybe differently.

“If that happens, I would really hope that Red Bull’s behaviour is seen in a positive way,” the German is quoted by the news agency SID.

Earlier this week, McLaren team boss and FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh refused to say a title win for Alonso would reflect badly on the sport.

“I think we’ve had a very good championship and that’s what we should think about, full stop,” he said.

Fernando Alonso is not ready to relax despite leaping into a strong points position with just two races left to run in 2010.

It is true that, now with an 11-point lead over Mark Webber, if the Spaniard wins in Brazil in two weeks and his Australian rival is fifth or lower, Alonso will secure his third drivers’ world championship with a race to spare.

But McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, whose drivers are also still mathematically in the hunt, said: “There is little doubt now the championship decider is going to be in Abu Dhabi.”

Alonso agrees that he cannot rely on another Korea-like outcome before then.

“Red Bull showed us again in Korea that they are stronger than us, and that will be the same in Brazil and Abu Dhabi as well,” the Ferrari driver told El Pais newspaper.

“So what we need is another small step forward to be competitive. We must be on the podium. If someone beats us now, congratulations — winning or losing will depend on who is faster, on reliability and on luck,” added the 29-year-old.

In comments published by Italy’s La Stampa, Alonso said he is not interested in the mathematical possibility of him becoming champion in Brazil.

“Yes, that’s true — and if Red Bull miss their plane to Brazil, that’s another way to be champion,” he joked.

“The odds remain in favour of Red Bull.”

Alonso said the only mathematical certainty is that he cannot lose the championship at Interlagos in two weeks.

“In Korea I have only guaranteed to be fighting in Abu Dhabi in the last race of the season,” he confirmed.

Mark Webber has rubbished attempts to pre-empt the outcome of the five-driver race to the 2010 title.

With three races to go, the Australian driver has a comfortable 14 point lead, and a complicated formula devised by a doctor of physics at the UK’s Reading University has tipped Webber to still be in front at the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, a Spanish newspaper this week used another probability formula to calculate the percentage changes of the five world championship protagonists

And even the more mathematically-challenged statisticians have surmised that another win and a couple more podiums will be enough for Webber to guarantee his first title.

But the 34-year-old said in Korea: “It’s ridiculous to start calculating things because a lot of things can happen.

“As you say, I win the next two races, it’s all over anyway. Just keep doing our best, that’s the most important thing,” added Webber.

Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, echoed a widespread view in the paddock that Webber would be a very popular champion.

“For some reason, I’m with (supporting) Webber,” the Brazilian said on Thursday.

“I think since Silverstone, when he spoke his mind and strengthened his position in the team, probably many people think the same,” he revealed.

Even if Singapore decides against extending its current F1 race contract, the Asian city-state will host at least four more grands prix.

Last month it emerged that the government was yet to decide whether to extend its current race contract beyond 2012.

Senior minister of state S. Iswaran said the government wants to “make sure the economic benefits are justifiable going forward”.

But even though Singapore’s contract expires in 2012, Formula One Administration has a five-year option to extend the deal, according to Singapore news network Channel NewsAsia and the Straits Times broadsheet.

The reports said that even if the government decides against a new contract, it will have to serve notice and host the sport until at least 2014.

Trade and Industry minister Lim Hng Kiang said in parliament on Monday that the government’s decision about F1 “will be based on an assessment of the costs and benefits to the economy over the long term”.

He said the outcome of the review might not be known for a year.

Red Bull does not share Ferrari’s view about the outcome of the recent European grand prix.

Ferrari is still on the warpath about the Valencia stewards’ reaction to the safety car period, when Lewis Hamilton passed the AMG Mercedes but received only a drive-through penalty many laps later.

Enraged that the Briton still finished second, the Italian team’s website has now drawn attention to a short comment made on RAI radio by Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera.

The Italian reportedly said it was “a chaotic situation which did incredible damage to Ferrari”.

But Australian driver Mark Webber says his Red Bull team has a different view.

“For me, everything in that race was fine,” he told the BBC.  “I can only go on what my team told me … and they told me the race was handled normally.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton says a word of words about the incident with his former nemesis Alonso is now over.

“We (text) messaged the other day, things are cool,” the 2008 world champion told Reuters.

“He said everything’s cool and he knows how the racing world works and this is a tough year,” added Hamilton.

(GMM)

A Madrid arbitration court has moved to freeze the assets of HRT team owner Jose Ramon Carabante.

Due to a payment dispute with Trinitario Casanova, from whom Carabante bought the Grupo Hispania in 2008, the case was referred to Madrid’s Arbitration court.

The pair are each claiming the other owes them multiple millions of euros, but the finding of the court was that Carabante’s properties be preventatively frozen due to a 23 million euro debt, the El Mundo newspaper said.

However, it is believed that the HRT team is not one of the affected assets controlled by Carabante.

And he told the Diario La Verdad newspaper that the arbitration outcome does not worry him.

“I know what I owe him (Casanova), and what he owes me. The judge will decide,” said Carabante.

Court sources confirmed to the newspaper that the decision is not definitive.