A tension has crept into F1 drivers’ relationships, as they look ahead to a fiery meeting at the Barcelona circuit on Friday.

Fernando Alonso had given the first hints about the tension when he hit out at Nico Rosberg’s aggressive tactics in Bahrain three weeks ago.

And earlier this week, the Spaniard insisted there is not enough “respect” between the drivers when they are jostling for position at grands prix.

“Fernando made it pretty clear,” world champion Sebastian Vettel told reporters on Thursday. “He said ‘you have to leave the space — all the time you have to leave the space!’”

Rosberg said he is happy if discussions about his driving take place this weekend, but also in the firing line is Lewis Hamilton, who passed the Mercedes driver on the asphalt run-off in Bahrain.

“I was surprised Lewis was allowed to keep his position,” said Mark Webber.

“I’m sure we’ll talk about it in the drivers’ briefing.”

McLaren’s Hamilton insisted he did nothing wrong, but he added: “I’m not really bothered. It’s good to have clarity.

“Mark is probably one of the most – if not the most – outspoken individuals here (in F1), so that is the least I expect from him.”

Also among the most aggressive – and regularly criticised – drivers is Michael Schumacher, and he insisted that the FIA is fully able to make judgements about incidents.

“If it’s not within the rules the FIA would have taken action,” said the seven time world champion, referring to the incidents in Bahrain. “They didn’t and I didn’t see anything wrong either.”

Michael Schumacher has been pipped at the post in the race to be the world’s richest sportsman.

According to the Sunday Times’ annual listings, the seven time world champion’s (US) $823 million in career earnings is beaten only by golf legend Tiger Woods.

American Woods has earned $869 million in his own ultra-successful career, the newspaper found.

And the Sunday Times said the pair have each earned hundreds of millions of dollars more than other high-earning sportsmen, including Michael Jordan ($516m), Roger Federer ($316m) and David Beckham ($258m).

F1′s two other representatives, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, were way down the top-twenty list, with their respective earnings at about $161 million apiece.

McLaren’s world champions Lewis Hamilton ($89m) and Jenson Button ($85m), meanwhile, appear only on the list for British sportsmen, and they are both outpaced by the $129m earned by former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine mainly through property investment.

However, Hamilton and Button have each earned more in their careers than David Coulthard, Nigel Mansell, former BAR boss David Richards (all $80m) and Sir Jackie Stewart ($67m).

Those earnings, however, are all dwarfed by Bernie Ecclestone’s estimated $4 billion, although the 81-year-old F1 chief executive does not appear at all on the list of the world’s richest overall.

That list is headed by mega-earners like Sauber sponsor Carlos Slim, who according to the Sunday Times is worth $71 billion.

Ross Brawn in Melbourne has admitted he would like to keep working with Michael Schumacher beyond 2012.
The seven time world champion’s three-year Mercedes contract expires this season, and the 43-year-old said on Thursday he has “no timetable” for talks with the Brackley based team.

There have been reports Mercedes sees McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton – also with an expiring contract – as a potential successor to Schumacher.

Team boss Brawn, however, admitted he hopes Mercedes and Schumacher live up to their expectations in 2012.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Michael,” he told SID news agency, “because that would mean we are successful in what we are doing.

“If Michael stays in the team, that would mean that we are coming closer to our goals,” explained Brawn.

“At some point in the season we will decide to continue, or do something else.”

Schumacher, however, denied that 2012 is “any more important than any other” season in terms of his future.

Nico Rosberg has announced he would be happy if Michael Schumacher stayed at Mercedes beyond 2012.
Seven time world champion Schumacher’s current contract runs out this season, and there has been speculation he could either stay or be replaced possibly by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg knows Hamilton well from their karting days, but the German indicated he would be happy to stay alongside Schumacher.

“It is quite possible that he will stay, and that would be a good thing,” he told the DPA news agency.

“Technically, we complement each other well, which of course for the development of the car is always helpful,” added the 26-year-old.

Rosberg, meanwhile, has received a ringing endorsement by F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

“He’s very talented and is capable of winning races. Let’s hope he does this season,” said the Briton.

43-year-old Schumacher, however, is not sure.

“Victory (in Australia) to me is unlikely,” he said on his official website. “I see Red Bull in front.

“Behind them it will be tight, and you can be either hero or zero very quickly.”

Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull’s reserve driver in 2012, spent time watching Wednesday’s Barcelona test action from a trackside vantage point.

“I like the Red Bull and the Force India the best,” said the Swiss, after Nico Hulkenberg set the surprise pace.

“(McLaren’s Lewis) Hamilton and Hulkenberg can brake late and get back on the gas early.

“You can tell that the Red Bull has fuel on board, but still the (RB8) is very good. But you can see that the tyres are old,” explained Buemi.

He was most surprised, however, by Hulkenberg’s Force India, congratulating the Silverstone based team: “They have made a very good car.”

Former third driver Hulkenberg smiled: “I could have gone even faster.”

According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Buemi is also impressed with the McLaren.

“It looks good, it has grip — not quite as much as the Red Bull, but close.”

But in trouble, according to former Toro Rosso racer Buemi, is Ferrari.

“Oh dear, that doesn’t look so good,” he commented after Fernando Alonso passed by. “He’s playing with the throttle because there’s no traction.”

Like Hulkenberg, Sauber’s Sergio Perez was also setting the pace on Wednesday, but Buemi reveals that the Mexican was running new soft tyres.

“That distorts the picture, just as the level of fuel does.

“For me, Red Bull is in front, then comes Force India and McLaren,” said Buemi. “They are not too far away.”

With Sebastian Vettel now among F1′s great back-to-back world champions, the ‘crash kid’ label of 2010 should be formally repealed. That is the view of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, referring to the label coined last year by his McLaren counterpart Martin Whitmarsh after a spate of incidents for Vettel. A year on, it is 24-year-old Vettel’s consistency that is winning the praise of the F1 world, while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton – who is two years older than his German rival – who might now be referred to as a ‘crash kid’. “I think he’ll have to eat his words, don’t you think?” AS newspaper quotes Horner as saying. Asked by British reporters if he will be eating his words about Vettel, Whitmarsh smiled according to the Mirror newspaper: “I’ll eat them. “Sebastian has driven fantastically this year.” But Whitmarsh also has high praise for Adrian Newey, the brilliant designer of Red Bull’s single seaters. He told Spain’s AS: “I think Sebastian has driven flawlessly a car that was designed very well by Adrian Newey. At all times it was evident that he was driving a car that should easily win the title.” And as for the unkind ‘crash kid’ label of 2010, he explained: “I think it was taken out a context. We were talking about a particular moment in which Jenson was wronged.”

Gerhard Berger has scolded Mercedes for apparently imposing team orders during last weekend’s Belgian grand prix.

Shortly before Michael Schumacher passed his teammate Nico Rosberg at Spa-Francorchamps, the younger German was told by the pitwall to conserve fuel.

Former grand prix winner Berger told Servus TV that the position switch was conceived deliberately to give Schumacher a grandstand finish on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his debut.

“It should have been a race and not a commercial shoot,” the Austrian groaned.

Team orders are legal in 2011 but Berger believes that “in the circumstances it is totally wrong for Mercedes to do such strategies”.

“They should be putting more thought into making a winning car,” he said.

Berger also commented on McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who was involved in two crashes last weekend at Spa.

“He is extremely aggressive and the best overtaker in the field, but at times he overdoes it.

“If he was sitting in the Red Bull, he would not have to take so many risks and so he would get into a lot less mischief,” he said.

Despite making mistakes, being slightly off the pace and beaten by three of his championship leaders, Sebastian Vettel’s huge championship lead dimished by just 3 points at the Nurburgring.
The German finished a distant fourth in his home grand prix, but because his closest challenger, teammate and pole sitter Mark Webber was just third at the flag, the massive 80-point gap shrinks to just 77 after the tenth round of the season.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, fourth in the championship prior to the Nurburgring and now third, brilliantly won the German race, mere seconds ahead of his old nemesis Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

Briton Hamilton called it “one of the best races I think I’ve ever done”, after travelling to the country downbeat following what he described as a “crap” performance on his own home turf two weeks ago at Silverstone.

For Vettel, it ended with successful yet “unsatisfying” damage limitation, following unforced errors and a bizarre last-lap pitstop to relegate Felipe Massa to fifth place.

“I didn’t feel too good all weekend,” said the world champion. “I never got to the pace Mark had in his car.”

Meanwhile, the day at the Nurburgring ended with two technical rules breaches; Webber giving his friend Alonso a lift back to the pits after the Ferrari ran out of fuel, and Hamilton hurdling the parc ferme barriers to greet his mechanics.

Nico Rosberg has admitted he is hoping for some of the Nurburgring’s famous weather to strike this weekend.
“So far we do not have a really top car but the weather could be a chance for us to do a bit better,” the Mercedes driver, during a visit to the DTM show event on Sunday at Munich’s Olympic Stadium, is quoted by SID news agency.

The early weather reports are indeed calling for more rain in the Eifel mountains throughout this week and into the German grand prix weekend.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on Friday recalled his first Nurburgring race in 2007, when a huge downpour struck a few laps in.

“The weather (at the circuit) can turn in a matter of moments — you can have all the seasons in one afternoon,” he said.

F1′s 2011 formula has pulled another key player into the foreground, according to former driver and now Austrian commentator Alex Wurz.

“Now, as well as the driver and the designer, the strategist has a crucial role,” he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

China three weeks ago was a good example; many tyre pitstops and different strategies, and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton emerging with victory despite Red Bull having ultimately the quicker car.

And Mark Webber’s run to the podium from deep on the grid showed the value of compromising qualifying in order to save crucial Pirelli rubber for the race.

“A new set of tyres for the race can be better than two or even three rows of the grid,” agreed Wurz.

“Qualifying is still important but it’s only half the battle. In the past, 90 per cent of the weekend was decided in qualifying,” the 37-year-old added.

Sebastian Vettel’s title triumph vindicates the decision not to impose team orders this season.

That is the view of Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motor sport consultant who accepted the trophy on the podium after his young German charge became F1′s youngest ever world champion.

Marko has been accused of favouring Vettel over Mark Webber in 2010, including by Red Bull not ordering the 23-year-old aside for his points-leading teammate in Brazil a week ago.

“If we had changed the positions in Brazil, Vettel would not be world champion,” said the Austrian in Abu Dhabi.

Indeed, Vettel’s victory at Interlagos was worth 7 points more than second place, and he beat Fernando Alonso to the championship by just 4 points.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton intimated Red Bull had enjoyed “some extra help” on Sunday in the form of works Renault drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov.

Red Bull’s engine supplier and new sponsor is Renault, and in Abu Dhabi it was Kubica delaying Hamilton, and Petrov refusing to give way to Ferrari’s Alonso.

“I guess that’s what happens when you have a couple of other teammates,” said Hamilton.

Russian Petrov, however, admitted he was disappointed by Alonso’s apparent anger after the race.

“I’m here to race. I hope when he cools down he will realise that,” he said.

Nico Hulkenberg gave his chances of retaining his race seat at Williams in 2011 a huge boost at slippery Interlagos on Saturday.

Not only did the German rookie sensationally capture his first pole position, two of his laps in Q3 were good enough for the top spot — with the final margin over the two Red Bulls incredibly more than a full second.

“Nico was better than all of us today,” said fellow front row sitter Sebastian Vettel, and Mark Webber agreed that Hulkenberg’s performance “made the rest of us look average”.

One explanation for the 23-year-old’s pace could be his engineer’s early decision to change from intermediate to slick tyres, but his teammate Rubens Barrichello made the call first and qualified just sixth.

And all the other leading contenders were all also using dry tyres at the end.

“He put the hammer down and did the job fantastically,” said team co-owner Patrick Head on BBC television, adding that Williams’ first pole since 2005 will give team “fresh impetus” to further improve.

And with pay-driver Pastor Maldonado knocking on the door for 2011, Hulkenberg told reporters after qualifying that he is now “confident we’ll have a positive end to that story”.

Juan Pablo Montoya secured Williams’ last grand prix win at Interlagos in 2004.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso qualified fifth, behind Hulkenberg, the two Red Bulls and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Mathematically, the Ferrari driver could secure his third championship on Sunday but the Spaniard insisted that is “not really on my mind”.

“You can get some strange results, but we are concentrating on increasing the gap and if we give away points, making sure it is not too many,” he said.

Eric Boullier is encouraged but not excited about Robert Kubica’s impressive pace at the wheel of the Renault so far in Korea.

The Pole has been inside the top four in all three practice sessions at the new Yeongam circuit, and topped the time sheet on Saturday morning.

“It is encouraging,” the team’s French boss Boullier said.  “It gives us hope for a solid weekend, but we have to remain careful.”

After Red Bull dominated in Japan two weeks ago, the other main teams also believe they are closer to the pace of the RB6 this weekend.

“We’re as competitive as them at least,” said McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, and his teammate Jenson Button agreed: “We’re there.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso said: “We feel that maybe it’s not as easy as it was for Red Bull in Suzuka, even if they are still favourites.”

The problem for Red Bull in Korea is the first sector, comprising essentially the front straight and the ultra-long second straight.

“They’re (the straights) too long for us,” said Sebastian Vettel, referring to the team’s under-powered engine and an F-duct not as efficient as the one seen on the Renault and McLaren.

Saturday at Yeongam has been overcast and mild so far, and the forecast is for possible overnight rain.

The opening sector of the Yeongam circuit in Korea looks set to be a headache for Red Bull this weekend.

Although grounded for most of the opening session on Friday with mechanics working at the rear of his car, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton still managed to top the timing sheet.

The fastest Red Bull was Sebastian Vettel’s, half a second behind and fourth, with the now extremely-efficient F-duct on Renault propelling Robert Kubica to the second best time.

The problem for Red Bull in the first sector is the ultra-long straight, with Ferrari also proving faster there.

“Sector one doesn’t look like our home ground,” agreed Vettel, “but I think sector two and sector three should give us a possibility to catch up.”

His teammate Mark Webber, recalling August’s Belgian grand prix where Hamilton won, added: “It was the same at Spa. We knew that we were going to be quite vulnerable up the hill there.”

Indeed, in Korea, the MP4-25 reached 316kph on the long straight, nearly 10kph faster than Red Bull’s RB6.

F1 indulged in a piece of rare nostalgia on Thursday by recreating a famous scene.

As the 1986 world championship fight came to a head in Adelaide, the four title protagonists – Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet – posed on the pitwall with Bernie Ecclestone for a media photograph.

Two and a half decades later, there are still five drivers in the running for the 2010 crown, so the ever-present F1 chief executive was back on the pitwall for the same sort of photograph.

This time, the scene of the photo – featuring Ecclestone and drivers Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel – was the brand new Yeongam barrier.

“It was good to do the photo with all the guys,” championship leader Webber said afterwards, “going back all those years with some of our heroes obviously in those (1986) photos.”