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.”

Fernando Alonso kept up a positive outlook on Sunday despite some Italian newspapers describing Ferrari’s situation as a “crisis”.
Melbourne qualifying confirmed the famous team’s winter woes, but Spaniard Alonso fared better in the race.

“After the way qualifying went, ending up with ten points behind the top two teams is good news,” he is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The sports daily Marca described the attitude as Alonso “seeing the glass half-full”.

“For the Ferrari fans I say ‘wait a few races’,” former F1 driver Jarno Trulli told Italy’s Rai Uno television.

“Alonso managed to do something good but Ferrari needs to react, immediately,” the Italian, who was Alonso’s Renault teammate in 2004, added.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali, however, told Finnish MTV3 television that the F2012 will not be in better shape for ‘a few races’ at least.

Alonso agreed that, with one week between Australia and Malaysia, “We will have almost exactly the same car” at the Sepang circuit this weekend.

Added Domenicali: “We know what needs to be improved, but it can’t be done overnight.”

Former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari remarked that the improvement in Alonso’s pace between Saturday and Sunday was significant.

“The opposite of Mercedes,” he told AS newspaper. “I think Alonso once again showed his quality, although clearly they have much work ahead.

“A driver can only win with the best car, but what he can do is demonstrate his quality with a good or a bad car,” he added.

It is on that final point that the pressure on Felipe Massa merely increased in Australia, as the Brazilian had a disastrously poor weekend from start to finish.

“We need to get behind him now as it’s clear he’s under pressure,” Domenicali told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“When people find themselves under pressure you have to find a way to relieve that pressure so they are free to express themselves in the way they can.

“I’ve asked his engineers to work closely with him and analyse the data so they can offer their support,” he added.

Nico Rosberg is set to test a DTM car this weekend.

The event will be a showpiece at Hockenheim as the 2011 German touring car championship kicks off.

According to Bild newspaper, the 25-year-old German will be appearing for Mercedes, for whom he races in formula one.

The report said the outing will be Rosberg’s first proper run in a DTM car.

“As a racing driver I grew up in the DTM, on the programme with the Formula BMW Junior and Formula 3 series,” he said.

“But I’ve never driven a DTM car, except from a few metres at the end of last season for the victory party for Paul di Resta’s championship in Stuttgart,” added Rosberg.

Meanwhile, F1 engines were firing on Wednesday at Duxford (UK) aerodrome, where alongside the Caterham announcement Team Lotus test driver Ricardo Teixeira was straight-line testing the T128.

According to Speed Week, Bruno Senna was also in action for Renault with a similar aerodynamic test at Duxford, and the Brazilian will now travel to Spa-Francorchamps to demonstrate the team’s F1 car during the World Series event.

“I will have the 2010 car on Saturday and Sunday,” Senna confirmed to Globo. “The basic idea is to entertain the crowd but it’s also a chance for me to keep in action.”

Shortly before the initial Friday practice session in warm and humid Abu Dhabi, it rained quite heavily.

To the surprise of many in the paddock, within sight of the huge and sandy Abu Dhabi desert, spray was streaming from the rear of the cars during the Porsche support race at Yas Marina.

“Is it my sleepy eyes or is it raining?” quipped Karun Chandhok on Twitter.

The shower, which began with light rain, eventually passed but the track is likely to still be damp for the beginning of the 90-minute practice session at 1pm local.

Local reports say more scattered showers are possible over the next 48 hours, and the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology confirmed the cloudy forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

Wet weather could play a role at Suzuka this weekend.

Huge amounts of rain have been falling in Japan’s Mie Prefecture recently, but better conditions have prevailed in recent days as the teams set up their garages at the popular circuit.

Indeed, mainly sunny and pleasant weather is forecast for the region for the remainder of the working week, although there could be some showers on Friday.

But Saturday and Sunday could be a different story, with early forecasts predicting up to a 50 per cent possibility of heavy winds and rain.

Meanwhile, a significant change to the Suzuka circuit for 2010 is at the fast double-right corners known as Degner.

The alteration, confirmed by the FIA, follows a number of crashes – including by Mark Webber, Sebastien Buemi, Jamie Alguersuari and Heikki Kovalainen – there last year.

The governing body said a new 25mm “negative kerb” has replaced the old kerb and the green concrete section at the exit of the fast first Degner section.

The Spoon Curve also features modified outside kerbing for 2010, including more artificial grass there and also behind the kerb at the final chicane.

Rain appears unlikely to affect this weekend’s running of the Italian grand prix.

Arriving separately in the region near Milan late on Wednesday, Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen commented on heavy rain.

“It’s raining in Monza big time and thundering as well, hope it stays like this all weekend,” enthused Lotus driver Kovalainen.

It appears the Finn’s wishes will not come true.

A spell of mild, dry and sunny weather is forecast across all three days of the grand prix weekend, with only a low chance of a light shower on Friday.

And according to the forecast early on Thursday, the chance of rain for Saturday and Sunday diminishes to less than 5 per cent on both decisive days.

A young Mexican driver is knocking on the door of his formula one debut.

20-year-old GP2 driver Sergio Perez, with the backing of the telecommunications giant Telmex, was linked last winter with the available pay-drives at F1′s new teams.

And according to the latest whispers, he may have now attracted the interest of the struggling Virgin team.

The currently Richard Branson-backed outfit is struggling for performance and reliability with a budget of less than $40 million, and Timo Glock is now being linked with a move for 2011.

The Sergio Perez rumours might be linked with the appearance in the Silverstone paddock on Saturday and Sunday of Carlos Slim.

Mexican Slim, one of the world’s richest men, is the CEO and chairman of Telmex, which may be looking to graduate from GP2 to formula one.

It is also believed that Perez’ push into formula one is supported by Jo Ramirez, the retired long time team coordinator at McLaren who was seen in the F1 paddock recently at Valencia.

Perez dominated the Silverstone GP2 sprint race, and he won the feature race at Monaco.

Mark Webber on Friday played down the significance of his engine failure in afternoon practice.

Towards the end of the second session at Istanbul Park, the Australian’s RB6 stopped on track with a failed Renault V8.

But although Red Bull has suffered several reliability problems in 2010, the joint championship leader said the engine fitted to his car was high on mileage.

Drivers are allowed to use any of their allocation of eight engines on a Friday, with one engine only needing to be used consecutively on Saturday and Sunday.

“We were expecting it to be right on the edge,” said Webber.

(GMM)

As the F1 calendar looks set to expand, the sport should consider culling Friday’s 180 hours of free practice.

That is the belief of Williams’ chief executive Adam Parr, who revealed he has proposed to have the traditional race weekend format condensed to just Saturday and Sunday.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone visited the media centre at Istanbul Park on Friday, and smiled broadly when a reporter said he had heard rumours about 24-race calendars in the near future.

But according to Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin.com, the 79-year-old Briton wants F1′s three-day weekend to remain in place.

Parr, however, questions the entertainment value of the current Friday format, and is quoted by The Press Association as suggesting that cutting out Fridays will mean less equipment for the teams to transport.

“I can see the calendar going to 24 over the next two to three years, and I’m not sure whether logistically, with these longer weekends, it will be easy to do,” he said.

Parr said he raised the issue recently in Barcelona, and teams including Ferrari, McLaren and Renault did not baulk at the idea.

(GMM)

It rained shortly after the second practice session in Monaco.

As the GP2 cars qualified at the Principality, moderately heavy rain was falling, following a few drops during F1′s final 90 minutes of Thursday practice.

But Mercedes reserve driver Nick Heidfeld told Germany’s Sky television: “A low probability of rain is predicted for Saturday and Sunday.”

Friday is always a rest day in Monaco.

(GMM)

Monte Carlo’s famous glamour was yet to arrive in the formula one paddock on Wednesday.

It is just two days since the chequered flag waved at the Circuit de Catalunya, meaning that it has been the shortest turnaround between back-to-back races in the sport’s history.

Mercedes and Red Bull sent old motor homes to Spain so that their real facilities were ready for Wednesday, the unofficial first day of the Monaco event given that Thursday will see the initial 180 hours of practice.

It was a different story elsewhere in pitlane.

Renault is this year operating the departed Toyota’s 2009 motor home, and construction was not complete early on Wednesday due to the team still learning the ropes about how to dismantle and erect it.

“It was a bit of a breakneck 24 hours to get the team and equipment to Monaco, but everybody is now working hard to make sure we’re ready to go in first practice on Thursday morning,” said team manager Steve Nielsen.

Ferrari and Williams were also working on their paddock facilities on Wednesday, amid the insalubrious backdrop of cranes, ladders, hammers and drills.

McLaren’s impressive roundhouse motor home was ‘naked’ because the glass panels were not yet all in place, and Virgin was a long way from having its new facility ready to accommodate walls, let alone any guests or team members.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the chance of rain for Saturday and Sunday’s crucial running at Monaco has now subsided to just 30 per cent on both days.

(GMM)