Red Bull is set to expand its motoring foray beyond the championship winning formula one team.
Autocar reports that the Austrian energy drink company will use its recent F1 team sponsorship with Nissan’s luxury division Infiniti to expand beyond the sport.

Team boss Christian Horner is quoted as confirming Red Bull wants to use its “expertise outside F1″.

“Red Bull used to be known only as an energy drink company, but now it is recognised as an engineering team. It’s a natural evolution for us to get involved in road car engineering,” he said.

The first step will reportedly be a co-developed sports adaptation of an existing Infiniti car.

Bruno Senna could soon replace Nick Heidfeld in injured regular Robert Kubica’s Renault race seat.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, team owner Gerard Lopez spent some time before the Canadian grand prix in reserve driver Senna’s native Brazil.

The Luxembourg businessman was reportedly looking for sponsors, on the assumption 27-year-old Senna is drafted in to replace German Heidfeld, who is under pressure by the Enstone based team to up his pace.

Renault figures have played down recent rumours of financial trouble, but the German magazine insists the team “desperately needs money”, including to pay outstanding bills to its engine supplier.

It is believed, however, that 34-year-old Heidfeld’s place is not immediately in doubt, despite him crashing out in Montreal after hitting the rear of Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber.

“Until the crash, his race had been perfect,” said team boss Eric Boullier.

Ferrari is not happy with F1′s reported plans for a four-cylinder, 1.6 litre turbocharged engine formula for the 2013 season and beyond.

It emerged this week that the broad outline of the sport’s future rules has been essentially decided and agreed by the majority of the teams.

According to Italy’s Autosprint, the famous Ferrari outfit is not among them.

Instead, the report said the Maranello based team wants formula one to revert to a 1.8 litre V6 engine design, which would be much easier to adapt from the current 2.4 litre V8s.

Ferrari’s engine boss Luca Marmorini reportedly insists there is not enough time to design a completely new engine for 2013 “with the necessary reliability to have only four units (per driver), as they would like”, he said.

Marmorini also argues that a 4-cylinder design would require a complete overhaul of the chassis designs.

Amid Ferrari’s staunch opposition last year to the proposed budget cap rules, the team threatened to quit formula one.

In a new interview with Corriere dello Sport, team boss Stefan Domenicali said anyone who thinks F1 would be the same without Ferrari “is wrong”.

He warned that, “depending on how the rules are configured”, Ferrari is open to seeking new challenges in “Le Mans or the major American championships”.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has admitted he would like to see formula one overturn its ban on team orders.

Germany’s Bild newspaper said the Italian answered with a clear ‘yes’, adding: “F1 is a team sport.”

Currently, article 39.1 of the sporting regulations explicitly prohibits team orders, but the subject is now the topic of hot debate, given Felipe Massa’s reluctant move to let Fernando Alonso win the recent German grand prix.

Peter Sauber agrees with Domenicali: “Team orders should be allowed, because in formula one, ultimately the interests of the team are at the fore.”

Mercedes’ Ross Brawn added: “We understand that the fans are unhappy. But the teams need to work together with the FIA for a solution that takes into account the competition as well as the interests of the team.

Christian Horner’s stance against team orders is well known, and Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost agrees: “To have a fair sport, team orders must be prohibited.”

HRT’s Colin Kolles adds: “Team orders must stay banned. Otherwise the sport aspect is damaged.”

Interestingly, McLaren declined to answer Bild’s team orders survey.

The bosses and drivers of the British team have been fervently referring to the philosophy of fairness and ethics within McLaren, but others recalled Hockenheim 2008, when Heikki Kovalainen moved over for Lewis Hamilton in much the same way as Massa did for Alonso.

Kovalainen, now driving for Lotus, did not want to talk about that incident in Hungary.

“I don’t remember that,” said the Finn. “For me, there’s no point in going into the past, actually. I’m just here to race with Lotus and that’s all I can say.”

Like McLaren, bosses for Lotus, Williams, Force India, Renault and Virgin also declined to answer Bild’s survey.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone insisted he is happy with the publicity being generated by the saga.

“Everyone is talking about formula one — what more could you want?” the 79-year-old told Blick newspaper.