F1 figures have mixed feelings after this week’s Mugello test.

Amid speculation the Ferrari owned circuit would like a spot on the race calendar, it emerged that the famous Maranello based team pushed hard for the Tuscan facility to host the first in-season test in many years.

“It’s very beautiful and the food is very good,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, “but we are spending a lot of money and honestly we didn’t feel the need to come here.”

Indeed, the only circuits comparable to high speed Mugello on the F1 calendar are Monza, Spa and parts of Silverstone.

And testing at Barcelona prior to next weekend’s Spanish grand prix would have made infinitely more logistical sense.

Lotus team boss Eric Boullier said Mugello was “money spent needlessly”.

Of course, those in the Ferrari camp thought differently.

“I would do more tests during the season,” said Fernando Alonso. “One lap here is worth 100 at other places, without considering that one day here is worth a year’s work on the simulator”.

But Mark Webber said Mugello is too fast for a decent test circuit, but he was among those who enjoyed the layout.

And the Australian couldn’t understand McLaren’s opposition, which extended to both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button giving up their running to test drivers.

“It was an absolute no-brainer for (Sebastian Vettel and I) to be here,” said the Red Bull driver.

“Mileage is so limited these days that it’s good for me to be in the car. Any chance we get to drive the car in the real world, we’ll do it,” added Webber.

Olivier Panis is happy with the early progress of French rookie Charles Pic’s 2012 season.

Panis, the 1996 Monaco grand prix winner and veteran of over 150 formula one races, now manages the career of 22-year-old Pic on behalf of the Lagardere group.

“I had the chance to talk with Ron Dennis on the grid,” the former Toyota racer and McLaren test driver Panis told RMC, “as he had come to see him (Pic).

“It shows that nobody is indifferent to what he is doing so far.”

Panis, 45, revealed that Pic is also spending “a lot of time” in McLaren’s driver simulator, thanks to the technical agreement between Marussia and McLaren.

“He is building an image slowly, which is positive. He has earned the respect of the paddock, and now we have to continue,” Panis added.

Eric Lux has revealed he has forgiven Adrian Sutil for injuring him in a Shanghai nightclub a year ago.
Former Force India driver Sutil received a German criminal conviction and suspended sentence for the incident involving a broken champagne glass, and has been left without a seat on the 2012 grid.

“I forgive Sutil,” Lux, a Lotus team executive, told Bild newspaper in Malaysia.

“I would even be happy for him if he came back to race and had a job to do. For me, everything is past; I don’t have emotions about it anymore,” the Luxembourger added.

Lux still bears a sizeable scar on his neck.

“Whether the penalty was too much or not enough is not up to me,” he continued.

“But if it had been one centimetre different, he would be spending the next 20 years in prison in China,” added Lux.

Singapore telecommunications company SingTel has denied it has agreed a deal to extend its naming sponsorship of the city-state’s night grand prix.

“We agreed terms with SingTel for the renewal of their contract for a further two years,” F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was quoted earlier by the local media broadcaster MediaCorp.

The news had followed rumours during Singapore’s third F1 event in September that SingTel was considering ending its association with the grand prix.

“We have companies worldwide that wish to have association in formula one and I always prefer to have local sponsors for the title sponsorship,” added Ecclestone.

A spokesman for SingTel told us on Friday: “We are still in discussions with F1 management regarding the sponsorship of the Singapore grand prix.”

An industry expert said SingTel would be spending $10-15 million on the deal.

“I don’t know what the cost is but I am sure somebody in SingTel must have done a cost-benefit analysis,” said Nervik Singh, chief executive of the marketing communications company Grey Group Asia Pacific.

F1′s cost-reducing programme has taken what might be regarded as a backwards step.

Known as the Resources Restriction Agreement (RRA), the deal this year includes a clause limiting each team to spending just EUR40 million on external services.

The cap was set to reduce to 20 million in 2011, but Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the teams have agreed to increase the limit next year to 30m.

Moreover, team staff numbers were set to be capped at 350 people, reducing to 280 a year later.

But the latter number has now been increased to 315, with the total agreement extended through 2017. The former agreement was set to expire in 2012.

“The good news is that the teams have agreed to extend the duration of the RRA,” FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh confirmed.

“In doing that, there’s been some adjustment, so it’s been agreed in principle and everyone has signed up to that,” added the McLaren boss.

“In some areas it’s been tightened, in some areas it’s been slackened,” admitted the Briton.

The existing agreement also limits things like staff numbers at grands prix, the use of wind tunnels and CFD, and track testing.

“I think there was a danger that we wouldn’t be able to extend it (the agreement),” continued Whitmarsh. “I think all the teams took a sensible approach to come together and to agree to extend it for a long period of time.”

Ferrari, meanwhile, confirmed that the new agreement will be in place until 2017.

The FIA has reacted swiftly to drivers’ concerns about the pit entry in Korea.

Numerous drivers on Friday warned that the fact the entry to the new Yeongam circuit’s pitlane is on the racing line in a fast corner is a safety issue.

“Someone coming into the pits will be slower than the guy behind who is staying on the track,” said Sebastian Vettel.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that, after meeting with the drivers late on Friday, race director Charlie Whiting has agreed to a quick fix.

The white line on the pit entry is being removed overnight, meaning drivers coming into the pits can remain on the power through the fast corner and then sweep into the pits at the last moment.

“So the difference in pace between those coming into the pits and those staying out is not so great,” confirmed Mark Webber.

It is also believed that a kerb at another fast corner is being slightly relocated, while the height difference between the kerbs and the track at turns 16 and 10 will also be attended to in the future.

“I am sure it’s just teething problems and people will look at that and see what they can do,” said McLaren and FOTA boss Martin Whitmarsh.

More generally, following the media’s horror stories of the past months, the F1 paddock seemed surprisingly happy with the venue on Friday, and the drivers gave the actual layout a big thumbs-up.

Nico Rosberg said Yeongam is “very interesting” with “some great combinations of corners”, and Fernando Alonso agreed the layout has “a bit of everything”.

And the venue itself was also being praised on Friday, despite some minor earlier complaints about electricity and gas supply issues, and internet dropouts in the media centre on Friday.

“With the government and organisers spending this kind of money we need to be thankful as it is something amazing, no doubt about it,” said Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali.

The most genuine complaint is about the accommodation, even though the well-heeled drivers and management are enjoying the five-star Hyundai Hotel.

Buzzing around the paddock are stories told by journalists and mechanics about sex toys in vending machines and rooms that are obviously frequented by prostitutes.

“Maybe they (the organisers) can work on that for the future,” said Vettel.

Formula one teams have agreed a budget cap for operational spending in 2011 and beyond, according to an Italian media report.

Earlier this week, we reported that team bosses discussed the so-called Resource Restriction Agreement in Singapore last weekend.

There are signs that, despite the cost-cutting pact negotiated at the end of the 2009 political war, some teams – notably the new and independent ones – are still struggling financially.

Italy’s Autosprint reports that a new operational budget limit was therefore agreed within the FOTA group, with engine and transmission costs not included.

The report said teams may no longer spend any more than EUR 20 million each on operational elements, while team staff numbers have been capped at 415.

Jun.12 (GMM) Stefano Domenicali has dismissed claims he is ‘too nice’ to lead Ferrari back to world championship success.

Taking over from the resolute Jean Todt at the beginning of 2008, Domenicali came close to leading Ferrari to that title before the Italian team slumped last year.

This season, the F10 began the season looking a championship contender, but in Turkey two weeks ago it was good enough only to populate the midfield.

The arrival as team boss of Italian Domenicali, 45, came in the same era as Ferrari lost Frenchman Todt, German Michael Schumacher, Britons Ross Brawn and John Iley and South African designer Rory Byrne.

Max Mosley said recently that an increasingly Italianised Ferrari is now “reverting to type”, while Domenicali is often regarded as too nice to succeed with an eminent position.

“I don’t care,” he is quoted by the Guardian newspaper. “I’m not going to change my philosophy of life because some people don’t like my style.

“There is no specific style to be a winner or to be a manager of a group,” insisted Domenicali.

Rather, he points to a new era where Ferrari is adjusting to the need to scale down and restrict spending, while the team’s own Fiorano test track is now hardly used.

“A couple of years ago there was no limit on investment,” he said.

“No limit on anything. Two years ago you wanted one of something you had hundreds. Now you want one of something you have half.

“Formula one is a different environment now, a different culture, and it’s difficult to change the mentality of a big group. This is the biggest challenge for us.”

Jun.10 (GMM)  Mercedes is reportedly considering a 10 per cent cut to its formula one budget.

According to the well-known French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, the German marque’s board of directors met on Monday to discuss spending on formula one.

Moncet, whose blog is published by France’s Auto Plus, said Mercedes will review its budget after July’s Hockenheim race with a view to a 10 per cent reduction in 2011-2012.

He also writes that the Mercedes directors discussed supplying customer engines to a fourth team in 2011.

Ross Brawn has revealed that he is “happier” now than when he was solely in charge of a team bearing his own name.

In the wake of Honda’s shock exit at the end of 2008, the Briton and a group of team management took over and won last year’s title.

But for 2010, Brawn GP was bought out to become Mercedes’s new works team, with the 55-year-old staying on board as team principal.

Brawn’s passion and focus has always been on the engineering side, and he told the Financial Times this week: “To perform in the best possible way, I’m happier not being the majority shareholder.”

He said he only ever owned the team “by default”, and while able to run the highly-competitive chassis designed with Honda’s huge resources, was financed only by the Japanese marque’s parting EUR2 million gift.

Brawn explained that F1 teams usually work “to a budget that is guaranteed two to three years ahead.

“But here I was in a situation where there was no budget.  You had to do as well as you could and make the company as viable as possible while spending the minimum amount of money doing it.”

(GMM)

The team’s new reserve and test driver is quoted by motorline.cc as confirming that his contract is for the entire 2010 season.

Despite contesting 48 grands prix dating back to 2004 and spending three full years as a test driver with works squads BMW and Honda, he received his new super license mere minutes before the 90-minute morning session began at Barcelona.

“The team has brought me in so I can give feedback to the engineers and compare the car with BMW and Honda,” said the 27-year-old, who was half a second quicker than race regular Bruno Senna.

“The car is obviously not up to formula one-standard,” added the Austrian.  “It has much too little downforce and the details are not as good as with the other cars.”

He explained that the Dallara-built car is “very difficult” to drive, insisting the Cosworth “engine is not the main problem”.

(GMM)  Karun Chandhok is perhaps not too upset about sitting out Friday morning’s initial practice session at Barcelona.

The Indian rookie’s cockpit will be occupied by Christian Klien for the 90 minute session as HRT looks to benefit from the input of a more experienced driver.

But Chandhok might not be too upset about the decision after feeling ill for the past few days.

He explained on Wednesday that he spent “most of the day” in his Spanish hotel with a stomach bug.

And after spending Thursday at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday, he added via his Twitter account: “Feeling a bit better now so (teammate Bruno Senna) thinks I should attempt a real meal for dinner.

“Hmmm, well, I do have the morning off to recover!” Chandhok joked.

It rained overnight in Barcelona, and Friday morning was chilly and overcast.

(GMM)  Costs in formula one must be further cut so that the sport’s newly arrived teams do not fall at the first hurdle, Jean Todt said on Tuesday.

While announcing that he is pushing for KERS to return to the grid in 2011, the FIA president vowed to support new teams Virgin, Lotus and HRT, on the same day he intended to visit the Spanish headquarters of hopeful entrant Epsilon Euskadi.

“We must ensure the survival of those teams who have just entered the championship,” the Frenchman is quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“That doesn’t mean I’m thinking about a spending cap for each team.  There are many ways to reduce costs,” added Todt.

A report in El Universo newspaper said Todt is hoping the reintegration of KERS will make F1 “the ambassador of new technology” and entice sponsors to return.

He admitted that Ferrari is never likely to support budget caps but said “there is obviously great disparity” in the funding of the current teams.

He also said drastic changes to the aerodynamic regulations must accompany the sport’s new engine formula for 2013.

Spain’s Diario Sport quotes Todt as saying: “These (current) rules give excessive prominence to aerodynamics and make overtaking too hard.

“Unless there are difficult weather conditions, then the car in front stays there throughout the race and this is mostly due to the aerodynamics,” said Todt.

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