A third major team has joined the crusade against Mercedes’ so-nicknamed ‘W-duct’ innovation.

Until now, only Red Bull and Lotus were pushing hard for the FIA to ban the drag-reducing system that Britain’s Sky television is calling ‘Super-dooper DRS’.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that Ferrari has now joined the anti W-duct group, providing a new argument about why a driver is not permitted to activate a separate system by pressing the ‘DRS’ button on the steering wheel.

“So far I have heard nothing that convinces us that it is illegal,” the FIA’s Charlie Whiting is quoted as saying.

He is not, however, ruling out an eventual change of heart.

“As we understood more about how the mass damper worked and as more arguments came onto the table, eventually we could no longer turn a blind eye,” said the Briton.

Still, Whiting is not expecting a post-race protest in Malaysia.

“I think everyone understands that that is not good for the sport,” he said.

So far, McLaren is staying out of the fight, with Auto Motor und Sport believing that Martin Whitmarsh “will not wage war against his engine supplier”.

Nonetheless, Mercedes boss Ross Brawn is more than unimpressed with the warring trio.

“There are a massive amount of things we do with DRS, so to pick on one thing and say ‘We don’t like that very much as we haven’t thought about it’, is wrong,” the Briton charged.

McLaren and Mercedes look to be leading the way with the latest technical ingenuity in formula one.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the two teams are set to combine the button-activated DRS system with a sort of additional F-duct at the rear of their 2012 cars.

It was believed F-ducts were no longer legal, but new passive systems have emerged on the front wings of some 2012 cars, pioneered by Mercedes.

As for the rear wings, those F-ducts are also still legal “under certain circumstances”, the German magazine claims.

Combining a legal rear F-duct with DRS could result in a “huge top-speed gain”, writer Michael Schmidt claims, with the Mercedes W03 reportedly racing ahead by a whopping 18kph at the recent Barcelona test.

 A new case of F-duct fever appears to have broken out in formula one.
The issue seemed dead at the end of 2010: the FIA banned the driver-activated systems that stalled the rear wing to boost top speed, replacing it with ‘DRS’.

But towards the end of last year, Mercedes began testing an F-duct style innovation in the front-wing, which because it is entirely passive is legal.

The system is on the W03 car, and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that McLaren’s final Barcelona test specification of its 2012 car, the MP4-27, featured a similar system.

Now, there are rumours Mercedes, McLaren as well as Red Bull and Lotus have designed new F-duct style systems — also for the rear wing.

Asked if this would explain Red Bull’s mysterious letterbox-style slit on the stepped front nose, designer Adrian Newey answered: “I can’t say anything.”

“Some teams have some doubts about the legality of the supposed systems,” journalist Michael Schmidt said. “We have heard that one has made an official request to the FIA about what is and is not allowed in this area.”

Bernie Ecclestone is leading the negotiations as France tries to return to the formula one calendar.
The country’s government is pushing hard to include Paul Ricard on the 2013 calendar, with a deal to alternate annually a single race date with Belgum’s Spa Francorchamps.

RMC Sport reports that Paris has formally requested Ecclestone, F1′s chief executive, send them the contract.

But the report said a crucial detail is missing: the necessary race fee.

As those negotiations begin, it is revealed that Eric Boullier – the Lotus team’s French team principal – met with Ecclestone in London on Wednesday to talk about it.

Boullier had tried to “speed things up”, the French language report said.

RMC added that Spa-Francorchamps’ Belgian promoters currently spend EUR 22.5 million per race on the grand prix, a figure neither they nor France are willing to pay in 2013 and beyond.

“Both have set a maximum of EUR 15 million per race,” said the report.

The responsible Belgian minister, Jean-Claude Marcourt, declined to comment.

 The latest twist in F1′s endless ‘blown diffuser’ saga was reportedly triggered by Mercedes.
Amid last week’s Barcelona test, it was rumoured that Mercedes and Renault-powered teams would have to make tweaks, after a loophole was discovered in the standard electronics software.

For 2012, the FIA has clamped down on engine exhaust blowing for aerodynamic purposes, but speculation continued to sweep the paddock that some teams had devised ways to minimise the impact of the ban.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that it was Mercedes engineers who found the loophole, in terms of how to utilise the standard electronic software to maximise the off-throttle exhaust blowing effect.

“The FIA has responded by rewriting the software,” read the report.

Auto Motor und Sport said Mercedes was right about the loophole, but that it could only have been exploited at the price of dramatic fuel consumption, and potential damage to the engine.

“We have erred on the safe side,” an FIA source is quoted as saying.

Writing in Spain’s Mundo Deportivo, Raymond Blacafort said the 2012 Red Bull’s exhaust was making a strange sound in the chicane in Barcelona last week.

 Marussia’s new car for 2012 does not feature a ‘step’ on its front nose.
Every team on the 2012 grid, including HRT who are yet to release their 2012 car, responded to the FIA’s new height regulations by designing an awkward ‘step’ between the monocoque and the tip of the nose.

The one exception, until now, was McLaren.

But Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the 2012 Marussia, which will be seen for the first time in Barcelona next week, also has a clean aerodynamic line at the front.

The former Virgin team works closely with McLaren, including using the famous British team’s test rigs and wind tunnel.

“In fact, there was little difference in theory between the two solutions. So why take risks with something that we do not know?” a Marussia team source is quoted as saying.

Timo Glock has already driven the new step-less Marussia in the McLaren simulator.

“We don’t have too much experience with the simulator so we hope that it’s right, but we will not be too optimistic — that’s not to say that I’m disappointed,” said the German driver.

“I think we have a good base to build upon,” added Glock.

“We have been focusing for a long time on finding the errors with the previous car and getting over them,” he is quoted by Speed Week magazine.

 The recently revealed ‘W-duct’ aside, another technical secret has been discovered aboard Mercedes’ newly launched W03.
Rumours insist the German squad was the last to reveal and test its 2012 car because it boasts a few highly innovative ideas that could drive Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to the middle of the podium.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that mechanics working for the Brackley based team are making more efforts than usual to hide the front and rear of the car, and erecting huge screens in front of the pits between test runs in Barcelona.

But a big secret is now out of the bag, and it’s located beneath the rear rain light and being described by insiders as “like a double diffuser”.

Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said the feature is believed to produce an effect similar to the one pioneered by Mercedes’ predecessor Brawn GP in 2009, which resulted in the championship for Jenson Button.

And according to Auto Motor und Sport, the concept differs to the banned double diffuser because the air is channelled through holes at the rear of the engine cover.

The concept, despite complying with the FIA’s blown diffuser clampdown, also reportedly involves the clever redirection of exhaust gases.

And yet another innovation on the Mercedes could be a passive ‘F-duct’-style addition to the car’s new rear wing, working alongside the ‘DRS’ system.

When asked about the ‘ducts’, Rosberg and Schumacher played it coy: “What’s that?” Rosberg answered, while Schumacher joked that it sounds like something that should go “quack!”

“They are a good team,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky when asked about Mercedes.

“They have some good people so it would be foolish to underestimate them.”

Meanwhile, TZ newspaper in Germany reports that the FIA could be set to clamp down even harder in the area of exhaust blowing.

There are rumours Renault and Mercedes-powered teams are still using clever engine mapping techniques for aerodynamic effect.

 Behind the scenes, Lewis Hamilton is quietly concerned about McLaren’s early progress with its 2012 car, according to media reports.
Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the first whiff of the Briton’s worry emerged last week, when the MP4-27 was tested over four days at Jerez.

“When I saw that all the other cars are high at the front, it did make me wonder if we had done the right thing,” the 2008 world champion, referring to the ‘step’ nose trend that McLaren has sidestepped, is quoted as saying.

Hamilton was quicker than his teammate Jenson Button at Jerez, with his 1.19 laptime set on Thursday close to Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull pace on the same day.

The previous day, however, Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber had been the quickest of the 2012 car runners in the RB8.

And when referring to his 1.19, Hamilton admitted that the lap was set while McLaren was being “aggressive”, implying that he was light on fuel.

If so, the MP4-27 is at least a full second off Lotus’ Jerez pace.

There are more clues: asked about the change in blown diffuser rules, Briton Hamilton said the MP4-27 is “difficult to control in the fast corners”.

That contrasts with Vettel’s comment that, “In the fast corners I don’t feel very much difference to before (in 2011)”.

Moreover, Spain’s Marca sports daily claims Hamilton confided to his former McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen at Jerez that he is “disappointed” with his new car.

On the record, he said: “I feel quite positive about where the car is at the moment and I’m confident that the guys can push it forward.

“You’ve got to remember that everyone is just focusing on their own programmes. It’s not a contest for who’s the fastest at the moment,” Hamilton insisted.

“Over the coming weeks we’ll get a better indication of where everyone is.”

All F1 drivers will be wearing safer helmets at Suzuka this weekend.
Earlier in 2011, some drivers tested a bulletproof Zylon strip across the top of their visors in order to prevent injuries like Felipe Massa’s in Hungary two years ago.

By Singapore, 12 of the 24 drivers were using the strip.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that the visor opening size has also been reduced to a new minimum for the mandatory standard that debuts in Japan this weekend.

The helmets are 50 grams heavier than before, and some drivers are reportedly unhappy that the strip damages the visor tint coatings when removed.

The tear-off strips are also smaller and harder to fit.

Additionally, Auto Motor und Sport reports that the sponsors are not happy that the black Zylon strips are taking up space above the visors.

McLaren may have got it wrong when designing its bespoke rear wing for Monza, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.
“If you walk up and down the pitlane you’ll see that some cars have a wing on that looks like the thickness of two sheets of paper,” said the team’s Jenson Button.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that McLaren’s is visibly the biggest of them all.

Last year, Button surprised the paddock by performing strongly with a notably big rear wing at Monza, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton – and the rest of the field – wore traditionally-thin Monza wings.

Button’s decision paid off in 2010 because of the drag-shedding F-duct, which could be deployed anywhere around the circuit, with the big wing producing more grip in the corners.

But in 2011, the similar ‘DRS’ system for the rear wing can be used in the race only in its designated zones.

Another difference with 2010 is that with the exhaust-blown diffusers now producing much of the rear downforce, running more wing at Monza is not as beneficial in terms of the top-speed trade-off.

Williams’ technical director Sam Michael, however, is not sure.

“On Friday we will test a Monza wing against a Spa wing,” he revealed. “My gut feeling is that more downforce may be the better solution.”

In a further blow to Red Bull’s hopes ahead of the Italian grand prix, Pirelli has issued yet another clampdown on its guidelines about tyre camber.
It had already emerged that, after the tyres on the winning RB7 cars worryingly blistered at Spa two weeks ago, F1′s official supplier had told teams to limit their camber angles to just 3.75 degrees at Monza.

Previously, the recommendation was 4 degrees, with designer Adrian Newey admitting that the camber on the Red Bulls in Belgium was set slightly higher.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the camber directive issued by Pirelli for Monza is actually just 3.25 degrees.

As recently as Hungary in late July, the recommendation was 4.5 degrees.

Pirelli chief Paul Hembery said Monza is “very hard” for the tyres, with aggressive camber increasing the risk of overheating “especially with the hot weather that is predicted”.

McLaren’s Jenson Button thinks the new cautious approach “will put some people in trouble” in terms of lap time.

Nico Rosberg has admitted he has had to delay for now his hopes of becoming a grand prix winner.

The German driver, who contested his 100th formula one race in Hungary, said in an interview with Spain’s El Pais: “No one could win with my car.

“There are three teams – Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren – who are ahead of the others. I need to wait to get a better car.

“Later this year or early next year I will start to think about winning,” said Rosberg.

Mercedes GP entered the 2011 season with high hopes, but Auto Motor und Sport reports that the Brackley based team has now acknowledged that key technical aspects were flawed.

For instance, the W02 car has recently switched to a Red Bull-like exhaust/diffuser layout, while boss Ross Brawn admitted that for 2012 “we will build a longer car”.

Rosberg’s goal for now, then, is to finish just behind the aforementioned three teams at grands prix.

“With this car, to me seventh place is like winning,” said the 26-year-old.

Asked which areas of the car need to be improved, Rosberg added: “Everything. In general it’s the aerodynamics, mechanically in terms of reducing weight.

“The engine is fine,” he continued, “but the blown exhaust system, which is a very important part of the aerodynamics now, can be improved a lot. We’re working on it.”

Rumours about the health of the team currently known as Renault refused to disappear at Silverstone.
Boss Eric Boullier recently dismissed the rumours, hinting that they were triggered mischievously at Monaco by his predecessor Flavio Briatore.

But six weeks later, there was once again similar talk in the paddock of the British grand prix, not long after Williams was announced as engine supplier Renault Sport’s newest partner team for 2012 and beyond.

Apart from the continuing naming connection, a customer engine contract and their historical links, the French marque is no longer involved with the Lotus-sponsored Renault team.

And Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the team might even be powered by Cosworth engines next year.

“This is fiercely denied by those in charge,” the magazine acknowledged.

However, the Williams situation is perhaps relevant, particularly with the fanfare of the Renault engine announcement involving former works champions Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at the team’s Grove headquarters last week.

As for Lotus Renault, “poor results and apparently still pending payments for the engines do not make things any better”, Auto Motor und Sport added.

Bernie Ecclestone could be plotting his next move to retain control of his formula one circus.
The 80-year-old, who has bought and sold the commercial rights several times since revolutionising the sport decades ago, is rumoured to be considering buying back full control from F1′s current owners CVC.

The move follows Ecclestone’s rejection of the interest shown by News Corp and Ferrari shareholder Exor, after it emerged the other major teams might be interested in adding weight to that consortium.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that CVC’s managing partner Donald MacKenzie made a rare visit to the Barcelona paddock last weekend.

The report said he was in Spain amid rumours Ecclestone could be heading a new consortium intending to bid for F1.

Part of the consortium could be Paddy McNally, the recently retired head of trackside advertising company Allsport, who like Ecclestone is among the richest men in Britain.

Another powerful player potentially in the mix is Aabar, the Abu Dhabi state-owned investment vehicle that already owns part of Mercedes-Benz and its Brackley based F1 team.

Aabar stepped up its F1 involvement in recent days by sponsoring the Toro Rosso team through its Swiss bank Falcon Private.

“Is Aabar/Abu Dhabi looking to buy another team?” wonders Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

The future of another senior member of Williams’ technical team is reportedly in doubt.

On the back of a near unprecedentedly bad start to the famous British team’s 2011 season, it emerged that chairman Adam Parr is heading a radical restructuring that could result in technical director Sam Michael losing his job.

And Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that other personnel changes could be implemented, possibly as soon as next weekend’s Turkish grand prix.

The report said Williams’ 38-year-old chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson could be set to leave the Oxfordshire based team.

He entered F1 with Jordan in 2000 and has also worked with Renault.

Auto Motor und Sport also said team co-founder, shareholder and long time engineering director and Patrick Head is looking to step down completely.

“This would start a whole new era for Williams’ technical department,” read the report.

The rumours are reportedly circulating not only in F1 circles but also among those in the know at the Frankfurt stock exchange, where Williams’ shares have been in decline.

The team’s senior driver Rubens Barrichello is quoted by Speed Week as defending Sam Michael, the Australian who turns 40 on Friday.

Michael joined Williams in 2001 and three years later replaced Head as technical director.

“I have known Sam since our days at Jordan,” said Brazilian Barrichello. “The problem is not that he is the wrong man for the job, but that he has too much to do.”

Speed Week said the feeling in the Shanghai paddock two weeks ago was that Williams should not be looking to blame Michael for its current situation, but rather chairman Parr.