Sergio Perez admitted to mixed feelings on Wednesday as he returned to Monaco.

The last time he was in the Principality to race – for his debut grand prix in the fabled Principality – he was hauled away in an ambulance, having been knocked unconscious in a huge qualifying crash.

“To me it’s unbelievable to be back here after such an accident,” the 22-year-old said on Wednesday, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Mexican Perez said Monaco is still his favourite track.

“It is definitely not a good feeling that the walls are so close, but we know the risks. It’s a special place.

“I can remember everything right up to the crash. The next thing I know was that I was on the way to hospital — I was unconscious for several minutes.

“After such an accident it is not easy to come back — I cannot say for sure how I will feel when I come out of the tunnel for the first time. But I think it will be completely out of my head.”

Perez said he really needed “four or five” races to recover from the heavy concussion, but that there was pressure from sponsors to come back as soon as possible.

“I wanted to get back into the car in Montreal, but it was impossible,” he recalled.

“In Valencia it was very difficult for me.”

Now, he is hoping for a very different Monaco weekend, after looking strong last year until his crash.

“Our goal must be the podium. I hope to find a good setup although we have recently had a little problem with the traction.

“We are so close to the top that every tenth can make a difference.

“After our second place in Malaysia, maybe the next step will be victory — I don’t know if we will succeed. But the opportunities are there,” said Perez.

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.

It is believed static electricity could have sparked Williams’ garage fire two weeks ago in Barcelona.

Even in the Monte Carlo paddock, the huge Spanish blaze was still a hot topic.

The British team and the FIA conducted investigations, but there has been no definite finding about the cause of the fire.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported suggestions simple static electricity, caused by the specific weather conditions and the fact a container was not grounded at the time, was the culprit.

Williams has scrambled to be ready for Monaco, but the only obvious sign of the fire on Wednesday was one missing mechanic, who is still recovering from burns.

“He’s on the road to recovery,” said co-owner Toto Wolff.

It is believed the mechanic was pumping fuel from one container to another when the fire started.

Wolff confirmed the static electricity theory.

“This is extremely rare. The weather may have played a role, as we had low pressure over Barcelona that day,” he explained.

Auto Motor und Sport said Williams lost mainly computers in the fire, but the crucial data survived. Of the team’s 150 radios, only 40 were intact.

Wolff said Bruno Senna’s chassis survived because of the partitions at the back of the main pit area.

“They are flame retardant,” he confirmed. “This meant the fire did not come beyond the back (area). The walls melted in the heat, but they didn’t burn.”

And financially, the Oxfordshire based team is completely undamaged, due to insurance.

Heikki Kovalainen is looking for Caterham to move into the midfield, according to his new management company.

Having handled his own career in the wake of Flavio Briatore’s demise, Finn Kovalainen recently signed up with IMG, the sports and entertainment management giant.

The 30-year-old has rebuilt his reputation since 2010 in the wake of mixed tenures for top teams Renault and McLaren.

According to IMG Motorsport’s head of clients Martin Anayi, Kovalainen is now regarded by formula one team bosses up and down pitlane as among the top best drivers.

“He is a great guy,” Anayi is quoted by Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“Heikki’s potential is obvious and he definitely wants to succeed.”

There have been rumblings in the paddock that Kovalainen is disappointed that, despite being consistently the best of F1′s new teams since 2010, Caterham is yet to break into the midfield.

“This is only the team’s third season, so there are still some growing paints,” IMG’s Anayi acknowledged.

“Heikki has a strong desire to compete, and not just with his teammate Vitaly Petrov. The team’s boss Tony Fernandes wants to get in with the middle group.

“This means that the team needs to regularly get into the Q2 stage of qualifying and in the race be aiming for the points,” he insisted.

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.”

Red Bull is lamenting the limited role that can be played in 2012 by F1′s aerodynamic genius Adrian Newey.

For the past few years, the energy drink owned team has enjoyed its dominance largely because of the airflow magic wrought by Briton Newey.

But in 2012, with reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel just one of the five different winners so far, Pirelli rubber is king.

“I doubt Williams really know why they were so strong,” team boss Christian Horner, referring to Pastor Maldonado’s shock Barcelona pole and win last weekend, is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Horner insisted that, rather than the winner being the team with the best overall package at each race, success this season is about “understanding the characteristics of the tyre and the window in which they work”.

“It’s not that the midfield teams have made a quantum leap aerodynamically from last year to this year,” Horner insisted. “But from a performance point of view, this is what they have done.”

The logical conclusion is that aerodynamic cleverness has taken a back seat.

So will Red Bull knock a million or two off Newey’s huge annual retainer?

Horner laughed. “Adrian is not just an aerodynamicist, and aerodynamics are still important anyway. But now it’s about harmonising everything, and these tyres are simply remarkably complex.

“Two races ago Nico Rosberg dominated, but in Spain he was almost lapped. It is very difficult to predict what’s going to happen next — a nightmare for the bookmakers,” he smiled. “A lottery.”

The situation has split F1 into two camps: those who love it, and those who do not.

“It has become like a GP2 championship,” Maldonado, the junior category’s 2010 champion, is quoted by The National newspaper.

“The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car.”

The bizarre situation has left everyone scratching their heads, like Jenson Button.

He can scarcely believe that what looked a championship car – his 2012 McLaren – was beaten in Spain by Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg, who was almost lapped.

“The Red Bulls did a better job at the weekend than us in terms of points, but still they weren’t quick when you compare them to Williams, Sauber, Lotus and Ferrari,” he told PA Sport.

“Five different teams winning five different races, we really don’t know what’s going on, and I think that’s the same up and down the pitlane.”

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.”

Two days after winning in Spain, Williams is scrambling to put together the equipment it needs to contest next weekend’s Monaco grand prix.

Mere hours after Pastor Maldonado secured the once-great British team’s first victory since 2004, a huge fire broke out in the pits, leaving one team member still in a Barcelona hospital with burns.

“His family are in constant communication and he is in good spirits,” Williams said in a media statement.

The Oxfordshire based team is now making efforts to ensure it can race in Monte Carlo, having lost a lot of equipment in the fire.

Mercifully, however, Bruno Senna’s car appears to have survived, with the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 saying an initial inspection of the chassis showed no devastating damage.

Maldonado’s winning car was in parc ferme at the time of the incident.

“We had a lot of damage and lost a lot of equipment, including IT equipment,” chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said, according to the Daily Mail.

“Over the next couple of days we will be looking at where we are parts-wise.

“We will have everything we need to run operationally at Monaco, but we may be missing a few of the extras because obviously we don’t carry a complete set of spares for everything,” he said.

It is believed more than one rival team has offered to help Williams by loaning the Sir Frank Williams-led outfit any equipment it needs.

A McLaren spokesman confirmed the Woking based team has offered to help.

Germany’s Bild newspaper said Williams’ damage bill runs into the millions.

Team manager Dickie Stanford denied a rumour the fire was caused by a cigarette in the vicinity of Senna’s fuel tank while it was being emptied.

“We don’t know the cause, but we would never allow smoking in the pits,” he insisted.

Williams and F1′s governing FIA are investigating.

The drama stepped up a notch even after the chequered flag in Barcelona.

A couple of hours after Williams’ first win since 2004, something exploded in the British team’s garage, triggering a major fire.

Team members and fire crews battled the blaze as paddock regulars scrambled away from the heavy smoke and police arrived on the scene.

The Telegraph’s Tom Cary said on Twitter there are “multiple injuries”.

It is believed Williams, Force India and Caterham staff – some of whom bravely fought the fire – are being treated in the medical centre, some for smoke inhalation.

An emergency helicopter will ferry others to hospital.

“Couple of our guys got injuries, burns and maybe one broken wrist, no news on Williams guys I hope they’re ok,” wrote Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen on Twitter.

Rumours indicated the fire could have been caused by a KERS explosion, or possibly fuel, as a burned fuel rig was pulled from the gutted garage.

Despite not topping a Friday timesheet in Barcelona, one specialist publication sees Lotus as the favourite for Spanish grand prix victory.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the ‘long run’ pace of the black and gold E20 was studied carefully after Barcelona practice.

“Kimi Raikkonen made a great impression on the critical soft tyres,” the report read.

“First, it (the field) is incredibly close. Second, Lotus could win its first grand prix here.”

If true, the former Renault team would become the fifth different winning constructor in the opening five races of the extraordinary 2012 season.

“Our biggest opponent for Sunday is not Red Bull,” an unnamed McLaren engineer is quoted as saying. “It’s Lotus.”

And another surprise pacesetter is Sauber. “Over 15 laps we were better than Red Bull,” team manager Beat Zehnder enthused.

“If everything goes right, we can be on the podium,” he is quoted by the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Agreed McLaren’s Jenson Button: “The Lotus, Sauber and Williams look very strong.”

But in reality, in F1′s new guise of 2012, no one knows what is going to happen on Saturday and Sunday.

“Lord knows what will happen here tomorrow,” wrote The Times’ Kevin Eason. “Well, perhaps He is the only one who does know what is going on — F1 hasn’t a clue.”

Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona
Friday, 11th of May 2012
Weather: Sunny – Air 30ºC, Track 45ºC

10.00-11.30 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 1
Pedro de la Rosa F112-02 #22 23rd (19 laps) 1:29.107
Dani Clos F112-03 #23 24th (19 laps) 1:31.618

14.00-15.30 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 2
Pedro de la Rosa F112-02 #22 23rd (26 laps )1:28.235
Narain Karthikeyan F112-03 #23 24th (2 laps)

The time has finally come and the highly anticipated Spanish Grand Prix finally got underway today with the first free practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya (4.655 km). The day started with Dani Clos lining up alongside Pedro de la Rosa, making it a historic moment for the team and Spanish motorsport as a whole. The Spanish duo were able to try out the aerodynamic upgrades and compare data until Clos’ car came to a halt as a result of an electrical issue towards the end of the session.

The team worked hard at midday to solve the problem and get Narain Karthikeyan out on the track on time for the second session. It wasn’t to be but the team continued to fight against the clock and, in the end, the Indian driver was able to get on the track with half an hour to go in the session. But the car said enough was enough immediately and Karthikeyan wasn’t even able to finish two laps. On his behalf, de la Rosa completed a total of 26 laps comparing the two aerodynamic options with the two tyre options.

“I’m happy to have got into the car for the first time today, albeit for a short first encounter. The feeling I had when I left the pits and saw the Spanish crowd, whilst driving for a Spanish team alongside Pedro, was unbelievable. It was my first time in the new car and I wasn’t 100% comfortable since the car is built for Narain, so I had to adapt. We were able to carry out some aerodynamic work and try out some different things on the car so I’m pleased to have completed my job for the team”.

Pedro de la Rosa: “Today was the day to try out the aero package we’ve brought to Barcelona, so we completed various short stints to see how the car behaved with the changes. It was interesting because the car has effectively taken a step forwards, but we need an even bigger step, especially at such a tough circuit as this one where there are many quick turns and where you need to improve the balance of the car. There’s still plenty to do and a lot of data to analyze to have a better understanding of how to get the most out of these upgrades”.

Narain Karthikeyan: “I’m disappointed to have not got any laps under my belt today; it’s certainly not how I was aiming to start my weekend in Barcelona. Tomorrow will be an uphill struggle as we’ve only got one hour in the morning to get the car ready for qualifying in the afternoon, so we’re really going to have to get our heads down and work hard. Hopefully we can make up for the time lost today and turn things around tomorrow”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “Today was a day of mixed feelings. On one hand it was very nice to see Dani make his debut but on the other hand we suffered a lot of electrical issues on Narain’s car. It’s a new chassis and there’s a lot of work to do with any new car so it’s not that strange for things to not work out first time round. It looks like the upgrades we’ve brought have worked well, which makes us optimistic for the future. Now we have to fix our immediate problems and work so that the weekend turns out the best way possible”.

Volkswagen, the German carmaking giant, has played down suggestions it could launch a formula one project some time soon.

“There are always rumours about Volkswagen and formula one,” said Jost Capito, who has taken over from Kris Nissen as the head of the Wolfsburg-based company’s motor racing boss.

However, he is quoted by Germany’s Sport1 as insisting that VW is only concentrating on its world rally programme.

“The WRC programme is approved from 2013 to 2015,” Capito insisted. “There is no room to think about anything else.

“It (F1) is not on our radar,” he is also quoted as saying by France’s L’Equipe. “Our hands are full already.”

In the wake of BMW, Honda and Toyota’s departures, the only mass production carmakers in F1 are Renault – as an engine supplier – and Mercedes.

Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Caterham produce niche sports cars.

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.”

Heikki Kovalainen has admitted some disappointment about Caterham’s progress in 2012.

In its third season of formula one, and despite being clearly more impressive than its direct rivals Marussia and HRT, the Tony Fernandes-led team intended to take a step forwards this year.

Caterham took some upgrades to the Mugello test last week, but according to Finnish sources Turun Sanomat and MTV3, not all of them worked.

“The car has a pretty good balance, but the lap times are not good enough,” Finnish driver Kovalainen is quoted as saying.

“It’s good to drive but it’s just too slow,” he insisted.

“We did not get all the updates to work as we had hoped, so in Spain we have only some things that are new,” added Kovalainen.

The team is yet to score a point.

Kimi Raikkonen is not ruling out victory in Barcelona this weekend.

If he does succeed on Sunday, the Finn will become the fifth different driver, driving for a fifth different team, to win the fifth grand prix of 2012 — an almost unthinkable scenario for formula one.

Not only that, some believe that – despite McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull having fielded the winning cars so far in 2012 – Lotus is actually the favourite in Barcelona.

Raikkonen and his teammate Romain Grosjean were both on the podium in Bahrain, and the black and gold E20 set the pace last week at the Mugello test.

“You would say now that the Lotus and the Red Bull are the cars to beat,” said Melbourne winner Jenson Button on Thursday.

Raikkonen, openly disappointed about his second place recently, hopes so.

“If everything goes smoothly then we can be up there,” he told reporters on Thursday.

He agrees that the car was a true pacesetter in Bahrain and Mugello.

“Let’s hope it works just as well if not better here,” Raikkonen, 32, told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“Then we will at least have the possibility of victory,” he added.

He does not, however, want to talk about the championship.

“It has happened before that I had the best car overall but was still not the champion,” said Raikkonen. “There are so many little things that have to go in the right direction for you (to win the title).

“It’s pointless to think about the championship. Let’s try to do our job well, and see if that’s enough,” the self-described ‘iceman’ added.