Volkswagen, the German carmaking giant, has played down suggestions it could launch a formula one project some time soon.

“There are always rumours about Volkswagen and formula one,” said Jost Capito, who has taken over from Kris Nissen as the head of the Wolfsburg-based company’s motor racing boss.

However, he is quoted by Germany’s Sport1 as insisting that VW is only concentrating on its world rally programme.

“The WRC programme is approved from 2013 to 2015,” Capito insisted. “There is no room to think about anything else.

“It (F1) is not on our radar,” he is also quoted as saying by France’s L’Equipe. “Our hands are full already.”

In the wake of BMW, Honda and Toyota’s departures, the only mass production carmakers in F1 are Renault – as an engine supplier – and Mercedes.

Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Caterham produce niche sports cars.

Robert Kubica’s recovery from horrific rally crash injuries might not take as long as a year.
The 12 month prediction was made by the surgeon in charge of the Polish driver’s nearly eight hour operation on Sunday, but Renault team boss Eric Boullier said on Monday that doctors’ forecasts are always conservative.

“With yesterday’s (Monday’s) news and the medical bulletins, I was worried,” Flavio Briatore, who visited the 26-year-old in hospital, told the ANSA news agency.

“I was prepared for the worst. But when I saw him we even shared a joke and he asked about my son.

“I called Alonso and Bernie and told them I think they will see him on the track before the end of the season.

“He’s a great and tough guy and I am sure he will come back soon,” added the Italian.

“Considering the terrible accident he suffered, he’s ok.

“We didn’t talk about the accident but about formula one and about a quick return. Considering his will and his fitness, I would bet he will come back within five or six months,” said Briatore.

Kubica’s friends Fernando Alonso, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Pastor Maldonado have also visited the hospital.

“He didn’t tell me anything special,” new Williams driver Maldonado told 422race.com, “(except) that he’s quite well.”

La Gazzetta dello Sport tracked down for comment Alessandro Nannini, who was driving for Benetton in 1990 when his right arm was severed in a helicopter crash.

The Italian did not return to F1 but he subsequently raced touring and sports cars.

“His injury is different to the one I had,” the 51-year-old said. “His arm was not completed separated, and the nerves, tendons and muscles will grow back in just a matter of time.

“For sure Robert will come back to racing,” added Nannini.

Kubica’s hand surgeon Igor Rossello is also confident, but he warned that it is “impossible” to make precise predictions.

“With the nervous system, you never know, but if Alessandro Nannini managed to go back, why shouldn’t Kubica?” he said.

Sebastien Bourdais is certain his formula one career is over.
After a dominant career on the American open-wheeler scene, the Frenchman switched to F1 in 2008 but struggled with Toro Rosso.

The junior Red Bull team dropped him mid-way through its next campaign and he has since raced in sports cars and the open wheel series Superleague.

Bourdais, now almost 32, recently tested an Indycar with an eye to a return to the American scene, but in an interview with sports.fr he admitted his F1 career is definitely over.

“For me, F1 is finished, and – anyway – I don’t want to run at the back any more.

“Unless someone comes to me with a very interesting offer, which I doubt very much, I turned the page after the Nurburgring in 2009 and I don’t miss it (F1) at all.

“I had some good races, some bad ones and some terrible (ones). I have the experience but I’ll be 32 soon so I am aware that the time has passed.

“I had my chance, it didn’t go exactly as I wanted, but it happened. Now, I am looking for other challenges,” added Bourdais.

Despite being ousted by two F1 driver development schemes in the space of a year, Mirko Bortolotti is not giving up on his dream.

The Italian began 2010 by being dropped by the Red Bull programme, and last week his new ties with the Ferrari Driver Academy were cut at the end of a disappointing GP3 campaign.

When still a teenager, Bortolotti had first caught attention by setting the fastest ever lap at Fiorano in the 2008 car, and was subsequently linked with a Toro Rosso race seat as well as the then injured Felipe Massa’s Ferrari cockpit.

His run of progress now dashed, he admitted: “The change of course of the Ferrari Driver Academy is for me a bit unexpected and I am disappointed.

“From the F1 test engineers I’ve only had good feedback and they’re always happy with my performance and my work,” Bortolotti, to turn 21 next month, told motorline.cc.

“To be honest, I’ve been thinking about making a career in touring or sports cars. I’m a racing driver, not a dreamer.

“On the other hand, I have had so much encouragement that I am still working on my goal and will not give up. And this encouragement, also from important people in formula one, motivates me a lot,” he added.

Owner-bosses of the Williams and Sauber teams provided letters of support for Ferrari’s team orders hearing in Paris earlier this week.

The existence of the letters emerged after the FIA released the full reasoning for its decision not to further penalise the famous Italian team.

According to reports, the letters – written by Sir Frank Williams and Peter Sauber – were presented to the session by a Ferrari lawyer.

“The judging body of the World Motor Sport Council was made aware that there was clear support for team orders in some quarters,” confirmed F1′s governing body.

The letters contributed to the Council’s decision to order the review of Article 39.1 of the sporting regulations because of the “uncertainty and complexity” that surrounds the issue.

And the FIA admitted there are difficulties in “detecting and policing” the deployment of team orders.

1992 world champion and former Williams driver Nigel Mansell, now occasionally a F1 steward, backed the review.

“Team orders were in F1 from the start and they exist in sports cars and at Le Mans, where a team can switch drivers if one of their cars breaks down,” he is quoted by the Express.

“If it is all out in the open, everyone will know what’s going on and that’s better for F1,” said Mansell.

Renault’s Robert Kubica agrees: “At least then teams would not need to make strange comments on the radio.”

Asked if he would move over if ordered by his team, the Pole told Spain’s El Pais: “I don’t see a problem.

“Sometimes in life you have to do things you don’t like. Many kids don’t want to do their homework, but they have to.”

Sauber driver Pedro de la Rosa has a similar opinion.

“Team orders have always existed, they still exist and everyone has been using them when they were banned. For me it’s important that we’re telling the truth because at the moment we’re deceiving people,” he said at Monza.

Jun.17 (GMM)  Gerhard Berger has dismissed claims that Pirelli is a questionable choice as formula one’s new tyre supplier.

Although the news is not yet official, it is now expected that the Italian company will succeed the departing Bridgestone — with confirmation coming possibly at next week’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

The other serious contender has been Michelin, Bridgestone’s most recent tyre competitor between 2001 and 2006 with 43 grand prix wins in this period, and utterly dominant in 2005.

The fact that Pirelli’s proposal is the one that has gained the majority of support has therefore been surprising to some; not only because it has absent from F1 since 1991, but also because the development time for 2011 is now so short.

Moreover, there has been some criticism in the past during Pirelli’s forays in world superbike racing as well as world rallying.  The Milan based brand is currently also the GP3 supplier and tipped for a deal with GP2 for 2011 and beyond.

“This (criticism) is absolute nonsense,” Berger, who won the 1986 Mexican grand prix with Pirelli tyres and Benetton in 1986, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“Pirelli equips the fastest sports cars in the world.  There are also people in formula one who have been successful with Pirelli,” added the Austrian.

Pirelli’s last grand prix win was with Nelson Piquet and Benetton in Montreal in 1991.

On his visit to last weekend’s Canadian grand prix, director of motor sport Paul Hembery declined to comment.

For the first time since 1994, the name Senna in Formula 1 start list. The season opener went for Bruno yet resinous. In eight races of the Brazilians saw only twice in 16th the checkered flag. The HRT is not only slow but also difficult to control. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old is happy to be a member in the premier class. Well, must follow the next step.

“Formula 1 is so difficult that one can not imagine. One can only react,” Senna is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport ‘. “In the first two or three races I had severe adjustment problems of the sports cars I’ve driven in the past year, back on formula cars. At a certain point, I got my normal F1 driving style found again.”
The greatest successes celebrated Senna in the British Formula 3, which he finished as joint Ritter (2006), and in the GP2. In the junior formula, which is held under Formula 1, missed the youngster the title in 2008 only just. “I was always one of the top drivers. Therefore, it is now very ugly for me so far to go back. Especially the Überrundetwerden is bad because you can focus fully on your race and not your strategy.”

Talk big, triple world champion Ayrton’s nephew Senna has already beaten around. This includes the announcement that he may be in a better car champion. “What is clear is that easy to say but difficult to put into practice. But I think basically because I have the potential. Whenever I had to take another step, I’ve done.”

Sport fans tend to follow the sponsors of their favourite team or player. The same can be said with auto racing; the only difference is that these players are referred to as drivers. In fact, with auto racing, this is most commonly seen with NASCAR. It has been said that NASCAR has the largest group of loyal fans. Fans not only support the sponsors of their favourite drivers, but they also tend to purchase merchandise or services from them. The same can be said with Formula Drifting.
Formula Drifting is a sport that is relatively new to the United States. Despite the fact that the first professional event was held in 2004, the sport still has quite the fan following. Like many NASCAR fans, these fans are loyal. That is why a large number of sponsors, also commonly referred to as product manufacturers have made the decision to become involved with the sport. When it comes to Formula D, the sponsors that most often first come to mind are tire manufacturers.
Tire manufacturers do not just get their name on a driver’s uniform, but they also provide that driver with tires. With Formula D, the tires used are extremely important. In fact, to create a drift the tires need to loose tractions with the ground. This essentially helps to create the perfect drift. Since tires are so important to the sport of drifting, there are a large number of tire manufacturers who have inserted themselves into the sport. In fact, it has been noted that Formula D has the most tire manufacturer sponsors of any other motor sport; which includes NASCAR.
Nitto Tire is one of the many tire manufacturers that is involved with Formula Drifting. This manufacturer, like many other tire manufacturers, makes tires for all different vehicles and all different driving conditions. While they are well known for their tires for traditional vehicles, such as cars, SUV, and trucks, Nitto Tire is most well known for its racing tires. One of these tires includes the NT 555 RII. This type of tire is used primarily with road racing and other competitive sports, such as Formula D.
BF Goodrich Tire is another tire manufacturer that participates in Formula Drifting. This tire manufacturer is one of the most well known manufacturers in the United States. As with Nitto Tires, BG Goodrich Tires has a wide variety of different tires, available for all different uses. When it comes to sports cars and Formula Drifting, quite a few BF Goodrich Tires are ideal for the sport.
Maxxis Tires, another sponsor and tire manufacturer involved in Formula D, is also a well known tire manufacturer. Although they are not as well known to most everyday individuals, they are well known to those involved in auto sports, such as auto racing or Formula Drifting. In fact, most of Maxxis Tire’s focus is placed on auto sports, including Formula Drifting.
Perhaps, out of all of the tire manufacturers and sponsors, for Formula Drifting, Bridgestone is the most well known. Bridgestone’s tires are not only used in Formula D, but other motor sports as well. These additional sports include, but are not limited to, Formula 1, supercross racing, and monster truck racing. Bridgestone is not just popular among racing, but it is a company that is known by just about everyone. In fact, there is even a chance that you have Bridgestone tires on your personal vehicle.
In addition to the above mentioned tire manufacturers, Toyo Tires, Falken Tires, Cooper Tires, and Dunlop Tires are also Formula D sponsors. To add interest or extra excitement to your next Formula D event, keep an eye on the tires being used. While all of these tire manufacturers come highly recommended, you will often find that the tires used makes all the difference in the world.