Kimi Raikkonen has revealed he would like to contest August’s rally of Finland.

F1′s 2007 world champion returned from world rallying to grand prix racing this year.

“Of course I wanted to do better. But I’m not finished. I want to go back, whether for my career or after I don’t know,” the 32-year-old told Motorsport News, according to the official WRC website.

Earlier, Raikkonen admitted he had sidelined his rallying career for now in order to concentrate on F1. Before the 2011 season, Lotus’ (then Renault) regular driver Robert Kubica was seriously injured in a rally crash, and is still yet to return to the sport.

“I’d like to do rally Finland this season as it fits with the calendar but you’ll have to ask the team if it fits in my contract,” Raikkonen said.

Engineer Toni Cuquerella assumes, as of today, the role of Technical Director of HRT Formula 1 Team. Cuquerella, besides being at the head of technical development, will continue to exercise his role as the maximum figure of engineering on the track.

Since Geoff Willis left the team in September of 2011, the position of Technical Director has not been occupied. The decision was then made for the development of the F112 to take place at the team’s technical office in Munich, at the hands of Holzer Group and the Chief of Aerodynamics, Stephane Chosse, under the supervision of the, until last February, Technical Coordinator Jacky Eeckelaert.

With the F112 put on the track, it’s now time to work on its development and evolution and so, the naming of a person to lead this project is necessary. And no one better than Toni Cuquerella, with his experience in Formula 1 and his praiseworthy work at the fore of HRT, to take it on.

The appointment of the Spanish engineer at the head of the technical department is a new step in the new management’s desire to centralize and take control of all the activities related to the design and development of the car. This will optimize the coordination of the different departments, helping to meet the set targets, and also rationalize resources.

Toni Cuquerella, Technical Director: “The role of Technical Director implies a great amount of responsibility in terms of coordination and decision making. That’s why I’m very proud that the management considers me to be the most adequate person to carry it out. Until now there was a lot of dispersion from within the technical team and that had its repercussions in the concept and quality of the F112. My priority is to solve the current car’s problems to then develop it to its maximum potential, whilst also unifying and expanding the technical department, but I’m confident that we have a good work base and a clear direction to advance and have a good project for the future”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “Toni Cuquerella has been a key figure in the team since its inception and, above all, in this new stage. The transition from the previous project to this one hasn’t been easy and a lot of work has been carried out that without vital figures such as him wouldn’t have been possible. The position of Technical Director was vacant and the development of the F112 was carried out at the technical office in Munich. But now, with the car already on the track, it was important to take control and count on someone influential at the head of the technical office. And because of his experience, judgment and knowledge, Toni’s profile fitted in perfectly”.

Profile
Date of birth: 14th of April 1973
Place of birth: Gandia, Spain
Nationality: Spanish

Antonio Cuquerella was born in Gandía, Spain 38 years ago. He did a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica of Valencia.

In 1999 he had his first role as a race engineer for Campos GP at the Open Nissan. After this he worked in various national and international motorsport categories before becoming Chief Engineer of the Toledo WTCC and Leon WTCC projects at SEAT Sport.

In 2006 he arrived in Formula 1 as a race engineer for Super Aguri F1, where he spent two years before moving to BMW Sauber F1 Team, acting in the same role with driver Robert Kubica.

Towards the end of 2009 he decided to take a risk and back Adrián Campos in a project to establish a new Spanish team in Formula 1, becoming the Chief Race Engineer for Campos Meta. Since the team’s first season, Toni has been the Chief Race and Test Engineer and has been a key figure both in the early days and this new stage of HRT and now he assumes an even more important role as the Technical Director.

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

Kimi Raikkonen’s managers have revealed they only now take a back seat in the career of the 2007 world champion.
Britons David and Steve Robertson have guided the famous Finn throughout his motor racing career.

But Steve told Finland’s Turun Sanomat that they only intervene now when the 32-year-old driver requests it — such as when he needed to negotiate last winter with Williams and his ultimate 2012 employer, Lotus.

“We came to the end of the road really in late 2009,” he said.

That is when Ferrari bought out the rest of Raikkonen’s contract, and he headed to world rally.

“We can’t honestly say that we are real rally fans — it’s alien to us, while we know F1 through and through.

“When Kimi wanted to go back to F1, he turned to us for help with the agreement. After a few months Kimi got what he wanted.”

Robertson, however, explained that the father-son duo are no longer involved in the “day to day” running of Raikkonen’s career.

“I have known Kimi for 11, 12 years, and he has become really close to us. When he asks for help, he knows that we are always ready to give it,” he continued.

“I was delighted when he wanted to come back where he really belongs (in F1),” said Robertson. “There is so much nonsense about Kimi’s problems with motivation.

“The truth is that he wanted to come back for one reason only — because he is super-motivated to race in F1 again.

“By taking Kimi, it shows the (Lotus) team’s desire to succeed. I think Kimi and Romain Grosjean are a good combination.

“By changing the drivers the team has showed that it was not satisfied with the level of last year and that they want to come back to being among the big teams,” he concluded.

Kimi Raikkonen has argued he is back in the mood for F1 by revealing he would have kept racing in 2010.
“I was never planning to leave the sport in the first place,” the 2007 world champion told the Times of India. “I had a contract for 2010 anyway.”

Indeed, at the end of 2009, Ferrari bought out the Finn’s deal so that Fernando Alonso could arrive early with the backing of the Spanish bank Santander.

Raikkonen headed off for two years of world rallying but is back with Lotus in 2012, fending off all the old questions about his motivation.

“Since I started in F1, I have always preferred the time we spend in the car from anything else happening in the paddock. It’s still the same,” the 32-year-old insists.

Even now, he would prefer to split his F1 racing with more rallying, but has agreed to abide his team’s wishes that he stay off the gravel.

“Ah, it’s normal with formula one they try to ban everything,” he told London’s Telegraph. “Unfortunately with what happened to Robert (Kubica) last year … but even before that it was written into contracts.

“Maybe in the future if you can do some good results you can get a release or something. I still love it,” said Raikkonen.

“If I could do it this year at the same time as formula one I would. I think it’s good practice and it’s good fun.”

 Robert Kubica is back on track yet again, according to the latest reports from Italy.
It emerged a few days ago that the Pole had moved his recovery from serious injury forwards by returning to the wheel of a Skoda Fabia rally car in Liguria, Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport now reports that the former BMW and Renault driver has tested a kart at a circuit in Montecatini-Terme, Tuscany.

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore advises Kubica not to rush his return to F1.

“I have seen him a few times and have told him not to hurry back. You cannot lose your talent, but first you should focus on your health. 100 per cent,” he told Italy’s Sky Sport 24.

Briatore recalled former Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini, who badly injured his arm in a helicopter crash in 1990.

“He hurried back and we all know how that ended,” said Briatore.

“I think Kubica will succeed, but he needs to plan to come back in two years. You can’t be in F1 if you’re not 100 per cent.”

 If not for Robert Kubica’s predicament, Felipe Massa would have lost his Ferrari seat by now.
That is the view of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

He told Austria’s Der Spiegel that Kubica, still recovering from horror injuries sustained in a rally crash in February last year, would have replace the struggling Brazilian Massa.

“I think, for them (Ferrari), it’s a question of alternatives,” said Ecclestone.

“Who, of those available to them, are better than Massa?

“I am very confident that Robert Kubica would be sitting in that Ferrari now if a year ago he would not have had that horrible rally accident,” the 81-year-old opined.

Italy’s Rallyemotion reports that Kubica tested a Skoda Fabia rally car last Thursday in Liguria.

Meanwhile, Ecclestone backed Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali, amid expectations the famous Maranello based team will struggle early in 2012.

“Ferrari’s problems have nothing to do with the leadership,” he said.

“The problems are on the technical side. But instead of firing someone, they should buy someone: Adrian Newey.”

Jaime Alguersuari has revealed he has heard bad news about Robert Kubica’s condition.
With official news about the injured Pole scarce, one of his friends said last week Kubica is close to returning to a normal life, raising hopes he might soon be back in formula one.

But former Toro Rosso driver Alguersuari has heard something very different.

“I think Robert is and was a fantastic driver, fast and complete. I am sure that he could have been a world champion without a doubt,” he said this week when he was revealed as a co-commentator for British radio in 2012.

“At the moment the latest information I have about him is not very good,” the Spaniard admitted. “He can not drink using his hand — I mean he cannot take a glass and drink, so it doesn’t look too good.”

Kubica, formerly with BMW and Renault, crashed during a minor Italian rally early last year, forcing a metal barrier through the car.

Alguersuari revealed that Kubica’s co-driver, Jakub Gerber, initially saw such horrific injuries that he “thought he (Kubica) was dead”.

More than a year on, “I think his injury is worse than expected,” the 21-year-old continued.

“Of course I would like him to come back, because without a doubt he deserves to be in F1.”

Pirelli will use the former Renault team’s 2010 car for private track testing this year, the sport’s official tyre supplier announced on Wednesday.
Until now, the Italian marque has tested with Toyota’s 2009 car, the TF109, which was deemed now too outdated to use for the next generation of Pirelli tyre.

“The Toyota is no longer able to generate the same sort of forces that we need to simulate in order to meet the current requirements of formula one,” said motor sport director Paul Hembery.

Another reason is that the Toyota’s fuel tank was not big enough to simulate a race-load of fuel, for the current regulations that came into force in 2010.

Pirelli said the Renault R30, originally raced by Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov, will be run in plain black carbon, driven by a test driver whose identity will be revealed “later this month”.

The car will be adapted to simulate this year’s regulations, and run by Pirelli’s own technicians, “with no team member connected to a current formula one team” in order to “ensure complete impartiality”.

Pirelli said it will test four or five times this year, beginning in May, with an observer from each F1 team invited to attend.

A friend of injured driver Robert Kubica admitted the Pole is still months from knowing when he can return to the wheel of a F1 car.
The former BMW and Renault driver suffered horror injuries in a rally crash more than a year ago, but there are reports he might be well enough to return some time in 2012.

A close friend of the now 27-year-old said in the Barcelona paddock: “Robert is close to leading a normal life.

“He drives his road car and goes out by himself,” the friend, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC.

“He is still building up the strength in his right arm. It will be June or July before it can be determined if he is fit enough to test a F1 car.”

Robert Kubica is still in the running to return to formula one with Renault in 2012.
Originally, team boss Eric Boullier imposed a rigid mid-October deadline for the injured Pole to let him know if he will be able to race next season.

That deadline has now passed, but Frenchman Boullier admitted in Korea that he has agreed to wait a little longer.

The new deadline is the “end of October”, he is quoted by Germany’s motorsport-total.com, “and maybe even longer.”

It seems the deadline is a moving target.

“It also seems that way to me,” smiled Boullier, “but if Robert can go back to formula one, then I want him to drive for us. So I have to give him a chance.

“We will be flexible to the point where we cannot.”

Boullier does not deny that a time will eventually come when he has to overlook Kubica for the good of the team.

“No, no, I will not act against the interests of the team,” he insisted. “If I see that something is going wrong with next year’s driver lineup, we must make a decision.”

Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean, Rubens Barrichello and others are reportedly also all in the running to race for the team in 2012.

Boullier said in Japan recently that he intended to call Kubica in the next few days.

“I spoke with (his manager) Daniele Morelli,” he revealed. “They are very confident that Robert will return, which is good to hear.”

Boullier said the 26-year-old is in the midst of his rehabilitation process but could be ready to sit in a driver simulator “perhaps within a month”.

Enstone based F1 team Renault plans to have a new driver simulator up and running in time for the 2012 season.
The outfit announced on Monday that the local council has granted permission for the new facility to be situated next to the upgraded wind tunnel.

Renault, whose existing simulator was once derided by then team driver Fernando Alonso as no better than a Playstation, said “building work will begin imminently”.

“The confirmation that our simulator is on the way is further evidence of our continued investment for the future,” added team boss Eric Boullier.

Group Lotus-sponsored Renault has had a difficult 2011 season; trailing the top four teams, batting off speculation of financial troubles and experimenting first with Nick Heidfeld and now Bruno Senna due to Robert Kubica’s absence.

“Well, it has been challenging,” admitted Frenchman Boullier.

“I cannot say all the challenges were enjoyable – going through the difficulties we had after Robert’s crash was not easy – but overall I enjoy being tested with the issues that come my way, and tackling them in the best way I can for the team.

“Overseeing these challenges is part of my job. There’s certainly never a dull moment,” he smiled.

Romain Grosjean insists he is ready to return to Europe to replace the injured Robert Kubica.
The Swiss-born Frenchman, who along with Bruno Senna is a third driver at Renault this year, is currently in Abu Dhabi for the start of the GP2 Asia series.

But at Jerez, Senna is driving the R31 this week, as experienced drivers including Nick Heidfeld, Pedro de la Rosa and Vitantonio Liuzzi are considered for the injured Kubica’s race seat in car number 9.

“I am ready to answer the call, but for now I’m here to race in GP2,” Grosjean, who tallied an unremarkable 7 debut grands prix with Renault in mid 2009, is quoted by L’Equipe.

“My goal and (management company) Gravity’s goal is for me to be in F1 in 2012, and we will work towards that step by step.

“If they do call me (for Kubica’s seat), I’ll go, but if they have something else in mind, I accept it as a member of the team.

“I will always support the team and, at the moment, all of my thoughts are with Robert,” added 24-year-old Grosjean.

Another candidate reportedly discounted for Kubica’s seat by team boss Boullier is Force India reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg.

“In my eyes, he is the best person available,” former driver Jos Verstappen wrote in his latest column for De Telegraaf newspaper.

“I see the German with great potential; very fast, a hard worker and a winner in many classes of racing.”

Speaking to reporters at Jerez on Thursday, however, Boullier said Hulkenberg is not a candidate because of his lack of experience.

Vitaly Petrov on Tuesday named three leading contenders to become his new teammate for 2011.

After visiting his injured teammate Robert Kubica in an Italian hospital, the Russian named “(Bruno) Senna, (Tonio) Liuzzi and (Nick) Heidfeld”.

Petrov was speaking at the Santa Corona hospital, quoted by ivg.it.

“We were with him for about a quarter of an hour. We joked and found him very well,” said Petrov, who was with their Renault team boss Eric Boullier.

“Of course he immediately wanted to know the team schedules for the season. Meanwhile we will look for his replacement.

“The team is close to Robert and we are waiting with open arms and hoping he can return by the end of the season,” he added.

Kubica will have surgery on his shoulder and foot this week, to be followed by an elbow operation.

Although Robert Kubica’s condition is serious, the amputation of his hand injury has been ruled by the attending medical team at Hospital Santa Corona in Pietra Ligure.

According to the latest medical report, the operation on his injured hand of Robert Kubica will continue until late at night. Italian media speculated that the amputation appears to have been discarded. However, labor mobility is not yet known until after completing the operation, “it is too early to make accurate diagnoses,” said Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli Renault team and the specialist Igor Rossello.

The manager Daniele Morelli said: “Surgeons are trying to reconstructed by Robert’s right hand.”

“Now they have to worry about muscle function, but Robert is a tough guy. He will succeed, “said Morelli.

His co-driver in the accident, Jakub Gerber said: “Robert was conscious. I still woke up several times, without really knowing what had happened. ”

Meanwhile, the accident triggered worldwide messages of great consternation. Many brokers sent their best wishes to Polish through Twitter, surprised by the tragic accident. “I’m thinking of Robert and hope to see you soon on the tracks, especially off the court, as a friend”, published Timo Glock.