Even amid the chaos of the 2012 pecking order, the star performer is obvious.

That is the view of former F1 driver Christian Klien, who confirmed to the Austrian news agency APA that one of his current roles is a simulator driver for the sport’s latest winning team, Williams.

“It (2012) is very open,” he said, “but for me Fernando Alonso stands out.”

Equal with Sebastian Vettel, Spaniard Alonso is at the top of the drivers’ world championship, a full eight points clear of Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard’s car has been the struggling Ferrari F2012, but he has never finished a race this season lower than ninth (China).

He has therefore scored points at every opportunity, even finishing first and second in Malaysia and Spain respectively.

“Alonso has an inferior car,” Klien explained, “but he uses every single little opportunity.

“He is the most complete driver who gets the most out of the package he has.”

Triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart agrees that, among arguably the most competitive grid of drivers since the late 80s, Alonso is the standout performer.

“Right now we have the best generation of drivers we’ve had for a while,” the famous Scot told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“Everyone talks about Vettel, who is a great driver, and also Hamilton of course, but there is also Button, Schumacher, Kimi — all champions.

“There are others like Webber who also have the quality to win, young drivers coming up, many of them are very good, but also it is true that Alonso is fantastic.”

Asked why the Spaniard has not added a title to his tally since 2006, Stewart said: “The explanation is easy — he hasn’t had the luck to get the best car.

“Now he has one that isn’t good, but it’s in those circumstances that you see even more the quality that he has,” said Stewart.

Given Alonso’s push to the top of the championship with a sub-standard car, therefore, all the talk about Ferrari writing off the 2012 championship has been silenced for now.

“We have to keep developing the car,” Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari’s team boss, said after Barcelona, where significant upgrades were brought to the F2012 package.

“We are not yet fast enough to consistently fight for the podium, but that is the only option if we want to be in contention for the title,” he insisted.

Romain Grosjean is a potential grand prix winner.

That is the claim of the Frenchman’s first F1 teammate Fernando Alonso, who shared the Renault team with Grosjean in 2009.

The Enstone based team, however, was imploding amid the crashgate scandal, and Grosjean struggled to perform after being drafted in to replace the sacked Nelson Piquet.

He lost the drive at the end of the season and then found himself in the odd situation of farewelling his girlfriend, the French F1 presenter Marion Jolles, as she departed for a grand prix.

“She was there and I was home,” Grosjean is quoted as saying in Barcelona by the Gulf Daily News. “Honestly, I thought it was over and I would never come back to formula one.”

But, now as the new reigning GP2 champion, he is back in 2012 at the wheel of Lotus’ black and gold E20 — a car tipped by many as the favourite for victory this weekend.

Many naturally tip Grosjean’s famous teammate Kimi Raikkonen as the most likely winner, but Spaniard Alonso rates the Swiss-born 26-year-old as well.

“When his car was not so good he was criticised a lot,” Alonso told RMC Sport, “but when he has a good car he does very good results.

“He has won GP2 and has a fantastic career. He has talent and I’m happy he went onto the podium (in Bahrain).

“He can win a grand prix,” the Ferrari driver professed.

More reports are suggesting Mark Webber could be Ferrari-bound.

One of Spain’s leading F1 correspondents, Raymond Blancafort, wrote in El Mundo Deportivo that “there may be a pre-contract” between the Maranello based team and Red Bull’s experienced Australian driver.

Webber, 35, was also linked with Ferrari last year, before Red Bull decided to sign him up for another single season alongside Sebastian Vettel.

He is now touted as Felipe Massa’s 2013 replacement, not only because of his “experience (and) the consistency of his results” but because “he gets along” with number one driver Fernando Alonso, Blancafort said.

Flavio Briatore also manages both Alonso and Webber.

Following Blancafort’s claims, Spain’s El Confidencial is now reporting similarly.

The publication said Webber has been earmarked as Alonso’s ideal teammate for 2013, perhaps pre-dating Sergio Perez’s move to the team in 2014 when the young Mexican has gathered another season of experience.

That may mean yet another single-season deal for Webber, but it might be better than what he is offered by Red Bull, given the energy drink-owned team’s grooming of youngsters Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.

El Confidencial said Webber is also Spaniard Alonso’s first choice, with a source saying a deal has been “already reached but not signed”, possibly therefore in the form of a letter of intent.

Fernando Alonso was spared the Italian media’s wrath after Ferrari opened its 2012 campaign with the troubled F2012 car.
“Alonso once again saved Ferrari from disaster,” said the authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport, after the Spanish driver drove the car to fifth place in Australia.

The under-pressure Felipe Massa’s opening race, however, “was a nightmare”, the daily newspaper added.

Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver who is now a media analyst, also praised fellow Spaniard Alonso.

“For Ferrari, it is an unique advantage to have a driver like Fernando Alonso,” he told El Mundo newspaper.

“He did a sensational Sunday, with intelligence and ambition, which will push and raise the team, I’m sure.”

Alonso remains confident.

“There may be cars quicker than us now,” he is quoted by Britain’s Daily Mail, “but it’s like Manchester United or Chelsea who play badly for a game but still win 1-0.

“Before this race we were working 24 hours (a day),” Alonso is quoted by Marca, “now it must be 25.”

The Spanish press, however, is livid.

“The fifth place is really a miracle,” said the sports daily Marca. “The car is ridiculous, rendering the team a midfielder.”

Jenson Button, meanwhile, received universal praise from the international press corps, as did the fact that Red Bull’s dominance appears to have been knocked by McLaren.

“That’s good news for everybody except (Sebastian) Vettel,” insisted Corriere dello Sport.

The fight, however, has just begun.

“Vettel turned the middling new Red Bull into a good race car,” said Gazzetta, referring to the German’s performance on Sunday, “which is a warning to the opposition.

“He is still the world champion, and he will be hunting his first triumph of the year in Sepang.”

Tuttosport, meanwhile, said Mercedes – which until Sunday’s race was the talk of the Melbourne paddock – was the “big disappointment” of the 2012 opener.

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.

The McLaren drivers and beaming returnee Romain Grosjean on Saturday looked to have knocked Red Bull from its dominant perch.
“McLaren had an upgrade at the last test and it’s performed here at Albert Park,” said former team driver and BBC commentator David Coulthard.

Lewis Hamilton beat his teammate Jenson Button to pole in Melbourne, but just a few tenths behind is the reigning GP2 champion Grosjean.

Frenchman Grosjean’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen had a dire return qualifying performance by missing the Q1 cut, describing the session as “shit” according to the German press.

In total contrast, Grosjean was beaming: “A few people believed in me through the toughest time and I’m back — almost at the top!”

The surprises continued beyond the top three: Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher is fourth, and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel sixth.

“We are aware we need to improve,” said Mark Webber, who qualified the sister Red Bull in fifth as both RB8 cars had KERS issues.

In much bigger strife is fabled Ferrari, with neither F2012 making it through to Q3.

Fernando Alonso threw his red car into the gravel and Felipe Massa is a disastrous 16th, with Sky analyst Martin Brundle described the handling of the F2012 as “horrible”.

“Forget the reds,” the summary report at Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport website, written by correspondent Andrea Cremonesi, said.

Said Spaniard Alonso: “We need to change the direction quickly if we’re to challenge for the championship. We have to react.”

Meanwhile, Lotus boss Eric Boullier answered “maybe” when asked on Sky UK television if the team will lodge an official protest against Mercedes’ qualifying result, based on the belief the W03′s F-duct solutions are illegal.

Sergio Perez has admitted the possibility he could be paired with Fernando Alonso next year at Ferrari.
The famous Italian team has put Felipe Massa on notice, with Mexican Perez – currently driving for Ferrari-powered Sauber – at the head of Ferrari’s driver development programme.

At the same time, however, Red Bull’s reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel regularly declares his desire to one day race a Ferrari.

“Ah, yes,” Perez told the Spanish sports daily Marca.

So who is the real front-runner for Massa’s seat?

“We will see,” he insisted, “as ultimately it depends on this year, which for me is very important.”

Perez, 22, admitted at least that he is a leading candidate.

“Yes, but this season is yet to even start and everything changes very fast in a year. There are many things that are yet to have been seen,” he said.

“For me, Ferrari is the greatest team for which all the drivers dream of one day winning the championship but … let’s see. I would love to be there some day.”

Perez acknowledged that Spaniard Alonso, Ferrari’s much-loved number one, would be a difficult teammate.

“Very difficult, I would say Alonso is the most difficult on all of the grid to have as your teammate, I respect him a lot,” he insisted.

Reportedly on the cusp of a top seat, Perez is nonetheless still fending off suggestions he is a ‘pay driver’, due to his strong backing by the Mexican sponsor Telmex.

“In these days you do depend more on your support,” admitted Perez, “but I believe the talent remains the priority.

“Even with the drivers having support, I don’t think there are any bad drivers on the grid.

“I was criticised a lot for coming with the Telmex money, but if you look back, a driver who wins five races in GP2 and loses the title by 10 points will normally go in F1 the next year.

“It (Telmex) is an influence, but to say it’s why I’m here is not fair,” he insisted.

After an inconclusive and perhaps even worrying performance at Jerez, the faces in the McLaren garage are looking happier as the second group test progresses this week in Barcelona.
“We’re in a much better position than we were this time last year,” confirmed Lewis Hamilton after Wednesday’s running in the MP4-27, “and also better than we were two weeks ago in Jerez.

“We have learned a lot; the car is much better balanced now. I can say that we have a stronger base than last year,” added the 2008 world champion.

According to Britain’s Mirror newspaper, Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button agreed: “There are no excuses this year. I feel we have everything.

“We’re on target,” said the 2011 championship runner-up. “There’s nothing to say we’re one and a half seconds quicker than anyone, but then there’s also nothing to say we’re not fast.”

Red Bull’s reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel is quoted by the Telegraph as saying he thinks McLaren will be “strong straight from the beginning of the season”.

Added Mercedes’ team boss Ross Brawn: “Red Bull will have a strong car again, and so will McLaren.

“Ferrari seem to be having a few difficulties,” Auto Motor und Sport quotes him as saying, referring to his former Maranello based employer.

Red Bull reserve Sebastien Buemi, having watched from a trackside position on Wednesday, said Fernando Alonso looked uncomfortable with the handling of the F2012.

“I think we are probably not the quickest today,” Spaniard Alonso agreed, “but neither are we the slowest.

“At the moment we are not where we want to be, nor where we want to be in Australia, but I remain optimistic.

“We just have to hope that we have completed this learning process we are going through with a very complex car by the time the season starts,” Spanish reporters quote the former two-time world champion as saying.

Ferrari’s worrying start to the 2012 pre-season got a boost on Friday when Fernando Alonso topped the times in the famous team’s new car.
Earlier, when Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz was in the paddock, he wondered to Blick newspaper: “What’s up with Ferrari?”

Former Ferrari driver Mika Salo answered: “They’re having problems at every corner.”

But although not as quick as the impressive Lotus earlier this week, Spaniard Alonso was faster than all comers on the last of the four-day session at Jerez, including Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who had technical problems.

Typically, Alonso was giving nothing away.

“This time is worth nothing as is the one I set yesterday and those of the previous days,” he said.

He was also not getting excited about Lotus’ potential title challenge.

“I don’t know as even for them it’s a bit early and I would rather just say I am very happy to see Kimi (Raikkonen) back.

“He’s a great driver and a great person,” said Alonso.

Fernando Alonso has played down not only Lewis Hamilton’s recent struggles, but also Sebastian Vettel’s unprecedented success.

“I think Hamilton is not doing so poorly, or that Vettel is going to win seven titles in a row,” the Ferrari driver told EFE news agency in Korea.

Spaniard Alonso, now overtaken by Vettel as F1′s youngest ever double world champion, baulked at claims the Red Bull driver’s success is “not fair”.

“No, no. It’s always fair,” he smiled.

“What happens is that it is always more and more, whether you succeed or fail. When things go well it becomes easier, and when it goes wrong it gets harder.

“This is a sport with a lot of publicity and a race every 15 days,” added Alonso.

“Everyone thought that when I won the two titles I would win a few more in a row but I did not. Then Hamilton came a point within the championship in his first season, he won the second and he looked like he was going to win 10.

“Then it looked like it would be the decade of the Brawn (team) but they won only once, and Red Bull has won two in a row with a phenomenal job but we will see what happens next year,” he said.

Sebastian Vettel was sworn at by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso after winning the Italian grand prix at Monza two weeks ago.

That is the unconfirmed claim of the German daily Bild-Zeitung, who said Spaniard Alonso whispered in the ear of championship Vettel before the Monza podium: “F*ck you, my boy”.

Earlier, to the passionate Tifosi’s chagrin, Vettel had passed Alonso to lead the race, a move the Red Bull driver described as “very hard but fair”.

Afterwards, the team’s outspoken Dr Helmut Marko said it was “good to show Alonso how the wind blows”.

Double world champion Alonso however denies Bild’s claim that he insulted Vettel.

“We chatted briefly but it was quite normal and friendly,” said the Spaniard.

Bild said Vettel would not comment.

But in an interview with the German broadcaster RTL, he talked about having the respect of his rivals.

“It’s important to me that I can feel it,” said the 24-year-old, “even if you have had an extremely tough race.”

Should Vettel extend his huge lead by another 13 points in Singapore, he will be crowned champion with five races still to run in 2011.

An analysis by Financial Times Deutschland said that with 27 per cent of the calendar to go, Vettel’s achievement will rank among the best in F1 history.

But Jim Clark (1963 and 1965), Jackie Stewart (1969 and 1971) and Nigel Mansell (1992) actually secured those championships in an even more rapid manner.

And the record is held by Michael Schumacher, who won the title with more than 35 per cent of the 2002 calendar still to run.

At least Red Bull figures are now starting to admit the inevitability of Vettel’s 2011 triumph.

“In many ways it’s more of a challenge to defend a title,” said Vettel’s boss Christian Horner. “It’s one thing to win a title, another to stay up there,” he told Die Welt newspaper.

“Sebastian just gets stronger and stronger.”

Flavio Briatore has rubbished speculation he is eyeing a return to formula one management.

Recent rumours have linked the flamboyant former Renault boss, banned from F1 because of the 2009 ‘crashgate’ scandal, with a leading role at Ferrari.

But the Italian told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport: “I do not intend to return to formula one as a team manager.

“Italy is the land of rumours,” said the 61-year-old millionaire. “That’s why I am always brought back in connection with Ferrari, but it’s nonsense.”

In the same interview, Briatore rubbished suggestions Sebastian Vettel might be an ideal next teammate at the Maranello based team for Fernando Alonso.

“I would never want them together,” insisted Briatore, who is still involved in the management of Spaniard Alonso’s career. “It would weaken the team by splitting it into two parts.”

Briatore admitted that he has been impressed with German Vettel, 24, in 2011.

“He is super strong with the right attitude and reminds me of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in that once they had their first title in the bag they then got stronger and more confident.”

On the topic of Schumacher, Briatore continued: “I’d rather reminisce about the Michael of Benetton and Ferrari. Now, he has been out for too long and is fighting to be among the top ten.

“That’s something I find quite sad,” he added.

Sebastian Vettel has once again admitted his desire to race a Ferrari in formula one some day.
The likely 2011 champion has pledged his immediate future to Red Bull but has always admitted his affection for F1′s more famous marques, including Ferrari and also Mercedes.

Fernando Alonso said a few days ago that Vettel, 24, is welcome at Ferrari.

“At the moment we are both bound by contract and I think both of us (are) happy in our teams,” Vettel said in a joint interview with Spaniard Alonso for the German broadcaster RTL.

“But I have already said that I can imagine sitting in a red car at some point. So who knows?” he added.

Vettel is vying for victory on Ferrari’s home soil this weekend but he said doing it with a team “with so much history” would be a “great feeling”.

“In 2008 I had a little bit of that experience with the Italian team Toro Rosso and it was fantastic. I hope I have many years in formula one ahead of me so let’s see what happens,” he added.

Alonso, meanwhile, said he can imagine having Vettel as a teammate, even though both of them are regarded as the unofficial ‘number 1′ drivers at their respective teams.

“Why not?” he said. “At the top teams there is no one who does not want two good drivers.

“It seems as though Sebastian is the number one at Red Bull but I do not say that. For Felipe and me it’s the same; we race with the same conditions and during a season one or the other gets out an advantage.

“Viewed from the outside it’s as though there’s a team leader and a helper, but for the team it’s best to have two top drivers because it increases the chances of winning the world championship,” added Alonso.

Fernando Alonso has defended Sebastian Vettel amid reports the reigning world champion is “not a real racer”.

As the Red Bull driver runs away with his second consecutive title in 2011, former grand prix winner David Coulthard observed in his latest Telegraph column that doubts remain about the 24-year-old German’s quality.

“He (Vettel) continues to sweep all before him, and yet there are still those who question Seb’s driving,” wrote the Scot. “As if he is simply fortunate to have found himself in a Red Bull. As if he is an average racing driver because he wins races from pole.”

Coulthard however thinks Vettel could go on to be F1′s “best driver ever”, and Alonso – Ferrari’s lead driver and also a two-time champion – also rates the young German highly.

“I don’t understand the criticisms about him, that he is not a real racer,” Alonso told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport. “He is a great champion about to win his second title and has remarkable qualities; a lot of speed.

“Yes he has the best car that gets a good place on the grid, but you need to be able to get the most out of it at every race and Sebastian does that very well.

“Even in difficult moments or when he makes a mistake, he is always fighting for the win. It is proof of his great qualities,” added the Spaniard.

Alonso however also has great respect for Vettel’s team, including the famous designer of the Red Bull car, Adrian Newey.

“They have played to the regulations better than us and the others and this year they have a great car,” he said. “Adrian Newey is obviously the key person but behind him is a strong team.

“Ferrari attracts drivers but also technicians, so if Newey wants to come to us it would be a pleasure to drive his car,” smiled Alonso.

The 30-year-old, meanwhile, has indicated he will keep on signing Ferrari contracts at least until he has added a third world championship to his resume.

“It’s very important to me,” Alonso admitted.

“I will not stop my career until I am champion with Ferrari. If it doesn’t come by 2016 then I will stay in formula one until 2021 — for twenty years like Michael!”

A defeat for Red Bull in the 2011 world championship will no longer require a “miracle”, according to Pedro de la Rosa.
McLaren’s veteran reserve driver admitted the mood had been pessimistic leading into the British grand prix, because Silverstone is a circuit “which appeared to have been designed for the Red Bulls”.

McLaren ultimately had a disappointing weekend, but Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were both beaten to the chequered flag by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

“Perhaps this has been the most convincing victory of the whole season,” he wrote in his column for formulasantander.com.

“The mistake with Vettel’s pitstop and Red Bull’s need to issue team orders to protect their number one invites us to think that the comeback is now not a miracle, it is a possible reality, difficult but possible,” added the Spaniard.

Alonso meanwhile said that while his win is a big morale booster, Ferrari’s new approach – more aggressive than in the recent past – will remain.

“Maybe it will happen that we pay a high price for that (approach) but there is no alternative,” he said.

“We are definitely not giving up, but we must not think about the championship — as Montezemolo said, we are keeping our feet on the ground.”