The Italian press has pointed the finger at Vitaly Petrov’s “rubles” as Jarno Trulli races out of formula one.
With Vitantonio Liuzzi replaced at HRT by Narain Karthikeyan, and veteran Trulli ousted at Caterham by Petrov, F1 history enters a new phase as Italy no longer has a single driver on the grid.

“If you look,” said former grand prix winner Riccardo Patrese to La Stampa, “the drivers coming in now are from central America and the East.”

The unsponsored Trulli, 37, said he still wants to race but also has his wine and hotel businesses to keep him busy.

“More than anything else, apart from the results, I am proud to have been able to fulfil my dream of racing in F1 for many years and stay on the grid on my own power, without anybody’s help,” he is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Switzerland’s Blick newspaper points out that no fewer than 81 Italian drivers have raced in the modern F1 championship.

And Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio reminded that in 1989, no fewer than 16 drivers in the field were Italian.

Some Italian fans are pointing the finger at Ferrari, annoyed that the famous marque has not signed a full-time Italian race driver for many years.

And why Felipe Massa? “Because we believe in him,” an official of the Maranello based team is quoted by Spain’s Marca newspaper.

“It’s not enough to have an Italian passport to drive for Ferrari,” he added.

Rubens Barrichello is not planning to celebrate his 300th grand prix this weekend.

The Brazilian officially celebrated the unprecedented milestone recently at Spa-Francorchamps, despite some statisticians pointing out that he didn’t actually start two grands prix due to pre-race technical problems during his time at Ferrari.

According to those tallies, it is actually Singapore that will be 38-year-old Barrichello’s 300th race start.

“We had the same problem with the 257th grand prix,” said the Williams driver on Thursday, referring to his surpassing of Riccardo Patrese’s race-start record.

“There are various ways to count. I had my 300th grand prix in Spa. That’s enough,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“I’m not going to celebrate again. But if someone brings a cake, then that’s ok,” laughed Barrichello.

Ferrari has congratulated its former driver Rubens Barrichello for notching up his milestone 300th grand prix this weekend in Belgium.

The veteran Brazilian drove for the Maranello based team between 2000 and 2005, although he often looks back ruefully at the time spent as number two to Michael Schumacher.

But Ferrari’s current team boss Stefano Domenicali said 300 career races, to be achieved at the wheel of a Williams at Spa-Francorchamps, is a “remarkable achievement” for the 38-year-old.

“He was part of our team when it was living through a great period in its history and he made a very significant contribution to our success at that time,” added the Italian.

Since 1993, Barrichello has also driven for Jordan, Stewart and Brawn, although 9 of his 11 victories were at the wheel of a Ferrari.

“I feel very privileged to have been in the sport for such a long time and it feels great to reach this milestone,” said Barrichello, who so far has contested 44 races more than Riccardo Patrese’s impressive previous record.

“I still think I am at the top of my game and plan to continue being competitive long past my 300th,” he added.

One of Michael Schumacher’s former teammates believes Mercedes is working to tailor its 2010 car exclusively to the tastes of the seven time world champion.

After Nico Rosberg had the upper hand for the first four races of the season, Schumacher bounced back onto the pace in Spain, where a raft of updates for the W01 were debuted.

This weekend in Turkey, even more developments will feature on the silver car, moving JJ Lehto to sympathise with 24-year-old Rosberg.

44-year-old Finn Lehto was Schumacher’s teammate at Benetton in 1994, before he was replaced after a handful of races by Jos Verstappen.

“Poor Nico,” he told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport. “Michael is back into the process of building the car and the team around him. Nico suffers.”

Mercedes and even Rosberg insist that the car developments are designed to suit both drivers, but Lehto does not agree.

He said Schumacher “loves a direct front and a loose rear end. At Benetton, Riccardo Patrese, Jos Verstappen and I all had problems”.

Lehto also doubts Rosberg’s claim that he and Schumacher have a similar driving style.

“The young drivers of today drive very differently. I would be surprised if Nico is satisfied with a car that Michael is also satisfied with,” he added.
(GMM)