Lotus is the “biggest surprise” of the 2012 season so far, Red Bull’s team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has admitted.

In an interview with Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper, the billionaire mogul was mildly critical of the “lottery” that is this year’s championship, with Pirelli’s unpredictable tyres setting the scene.

“That is going to continue,” Mateschitz said.

“Then it will gradually turn into a duel between McLaren and Red Bull Racing,” he predicted.

“Mercedes are still not able to keep doing in the race what they are doing in qualifying. So we are not convinced of their F-duct (double DRS) system and we won’t try to copy it.

“Ferrari needs to try the hardest to catch up. And Lotus are the big surprise for me,” he insisted.

Mark Webber appears headed for a new contract with Red Bull, after receiving a clear vote of confidence from the energy drink company’s chief.

Following speculation the 35-year-old Australian could be headed to Ferrari in 2013, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insisted Webber “is happy to be here, and we are happy to have him with us”.

And the Swiss newspaper Blick has revealed that team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire mogul, is also happy with Webber.

“I hope that he keeps driving with us for a long time,” the 68-year-old is quoted as saying.

Rumours that F1 team owner Genii is contemplating buying the Group Lotus sports car company are continuing to gain steam.

That is despite Genii’s Gerard Lopez confirming recently that the Enstone based team has ended its sponsorship deal with the carmaker, even though the team will continue to carry the Lotus name.

But subsequent media reports indicate that the newly Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom owned Group Lotus is for sale.

“Genii … is thought to be interested, and its boss, Gerard Lopez, is said to have had talks with Hicom, but also with (Group Lotus chief) Mr (Dany) Bahar about a possible management buyout,” read a report in the Independent newspaper.

Bahar is not ruling out the transaction.

“Whatever happens will happen,” he told the local Norfolk publication edp24.co.uk.

“Genii has expressed interest and if there is a good deal to be done, why should they not be interested? I think it would just make sense.”

With F1 currently scheduled to arrive en masse in Bahrain next week, a crisis surrounding the possible cancellation of the island Kingdom’s race is continuing to deepen.

The teams have now denied Bernie Ecclestone’s claim that they can simply choose to skip the event.

“That would not be possible,” said a statement issued by the teams association FOTA. “Teams are unable to cancel (a) grand prix.”

Bahrain, meanwhile, stepped up its campaign, accusing some of deploying “scare-mongering tactics” designed to force the race’s cancellation.

The race organisers released a report conducted by Lotus, following the Enstone based team’s recent reconnaissance mission to Bahrain.

“We came away from Bahrain feeling a lot more confident that everything is in hand,” Lotus is quoted as having reported.

The team, however, reacted angrily, accusing the organisers of having released a “confidential” document.

“Lotus F1 Team is one of 12 contestants of the … world championship and we would never try to substitute ourselves for the FIA”, said the Enstone based team.

Surmised Times correspondent Kevin Eason on Twitter: “(It’s) getting messy…”

At the same time, F1 chief executive Ecclestone became fully immersed in the political situation on Tuesday, reporteding personally phoning Bahrain’s crown prince to express concern about the jailed hunger striker.

An Amnesty International report published this week had called for Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s release, amid claims he is now close to death and being force-fed.

But the Bahrain government, through its information affairs authority, insisted that only police and rioters are being injured in “infrequent and remote clashes”.

Also weighing into the argument was Sir Jackie Stewart, the eloquent triple world champion, who said: “I would go.

“The commercial rights holder has sold a package, at a price, and it is part of the constructors’ agreement that they attend the races that have been published,” he told the Guardian.

“As a team owner I would have to honour my agreement both orally and legally.”

Whatever happens, the Bahrain saga – stretching back now over a year – is not good news for the future of the island Kingdom’s calendar spot.

“Maybe we wouldn’t renew it (the contract),” Ecclestone admitted to the BBC. “We’ll have to look and see.”

F1′s Enstone based team will keep the ‘Lotus’ name until at least 2017.

It emerged late last week that the sponsorship agreement between the team formerly known as Renault, and the Proton-owned carmaker Group Lotus, has ended.

But the team will at least keep its new chassis name for the foreseeable future, the French sports daily L’Equipe reveals.

“We are pleased to keep the name,” said team owner Gerard Lopez, “because it’s a great brand for F1.”

Group Lotus confirmed: “The F1 team uses the strength of the Lotus name to promote themselves, and in return Group Lotus benefits from F1 exposure and the ambassadorship of its drivers.”

The carmaker confirmed that the “financial arrangement” between Group Lotus and the F1 team has ended.

L’Equipe said the Genii-owned team is currently in talks with a major North American company about becoming the new title sponsor.

Group Lotus will no longer sponsor the formula one team that bears its name.

But – as F1′s perpetually bizarre ‘Lotus’ saga takes another twist – the Enstone based team, formerly Renault, will continue to be known as Lotus in the coming years.

Last year, and in 2010, ‘Lotus’ was the name of the team that is now called Caterham, but a bitter dispute soured that relationship as the Proton-owned car company Group Lotus ended the naming license and made its own bid to enter F1.

Group Lotus’ new foray blossomed in 2012 with Renault’s renaming to Lotus, amid speculation team owner Genii was keen to get more involved with the iconic sports car marque.

When asked recently about his team’s relationship with Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen answered clumsily on the Top Gear motoring programme: “Well it’s, er, it (the car) is not a Renault. Lotus is just a sponsor.”

The Autosport website revealed on Good Friday that the sponsorship deal has been “terminated”.

However, “We are happy to carry the Lotus name as we believe it is a good name for F1,” explained team owner Genii’s Gerard Lopez.

“So Lotus are still Lotus despite no longer being sponsored by Lotus?” the Telegraph’s Tom Cary wittily surmised on Twitter.

And in yet another twist, Lopez refused to rule out a scenario in which Genii actually takes over Group Lotus.

“We don’t know yet, because we really do not know what the new owner wants to do with it,” he said.

Peter Sauber is sporting some bumps and bruises this weekend following a fall in Melbourne.
Switzerland’s Blick newspaper reports that the 68-year-old team owner and boss fell at the paddock entrance at Albert Park last Sunday, taking the brunt of the impact with his elbow and wrist.

“It still hurts,” he admitted. “All I could think of at the time was to protect my face.”

Sauber was treated by McLaren doctor Aki Hintsa, who said Sauber was lucky not to have injured himself more badly.

 Caterham’s hopes of pushing into the midfield in 2012 are not dead yet.
That is the claim of team owner and boss Tony Fernandes, despite the former Team Lotus looking to have once again emulated the pecking-order of the past two years by outpacing only Marussia and HRT in Australia.

“We have obviously improved our pace relative to our 2011 speed,” the Malaysian businessman said.

“But the teams ahead have also improved, so even though we are closer than this time last year we still have work to do to bridge the gap in qualifying,” he added.

Fernandes insists, however, that the race pace shown by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov in Melbourne last weekend was “on a par” with some other teams.

Former F1 driver and Finnish commentator Mika Salo, however, is not impressed.

“The Caterham car is neither fast nor reliable,” he told MTV3.

Spain will host only one formula one race per season beginning in 2013, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has announced.
The country’s current two hosts, Barcelona and Valencia, had already admitted the impact of the European crisis and said alternating a single annual race date was a possibility.

And there were rumours Valencia had not yet paid the race fee for this year’s June street race.

“All is well and everything is paid,” Ecclestone told Radio Valencia-Cadena Ser.

“There is no doubt there will be formula one at Valencia on June 24,” said the Briton.

And Ecclestone said that from next year, there will be only one Spanish grand prix per season.

“Both Valencia and Barcelona have agreed that it is best to alternate, so now we are trying to choose the dates,” he said.

As for whether the economic crisis is affecting him personally, the billionaire answered: “No, because I don’t need or spend much money anyway.”

Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez backed the news about Spain.

“It’s better than having no races, which would be a pity,” he told DPA news agency.

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa said it is “normal” for each country to have one race per season.

“Having two is what is not normal,” he insisted.

Eddie Jordan has advised Lewis Hamilton to stick with McLaren.
With the 2008 world champion’s current contract coming to an end this year, he said recently he would address the issue of his future “sooner rather than later”.

“After the first couple of races it’s something we will probably want to get out of the way,” said Hamilton last month.

For the moment, however, there is speculation, after Bernie Ecclestone said he doubts the 27-year-old will stay with the Woking based team forever.

The major German daily Bild then reported that Hamilton has been earmarked as Mercedes’ ‘plan-B’ in the event Michael Schumacher does not stay in 2013.

But Jordan, a former F1 team owner and boss, believes Hamilton should stay put.

“Given their (McLaren’s) resources and level of investment, can you tell me that Lewis would be better off in another team?” he said on Tuesday at a BBC event.

Jordan believes, however, that the famous British team can do a better job of handling Hamilton.

“I think – and this is in some way a criticism – that they will have learned from their mistakes last season,” he said.

One remedy is the placement by Hamilton’s management of Mika Hakkinen’s former manager Didier Coton, and another is the driver’s move from secluded Geneva to bustling Monaco.

Hamilton has also reunited with his girlfriend Nicole, and had a long winter break.

“McLaren appear to have given him a chunk of time off, to go away and to focus,” former long-time McLaren driver David Coulthard said.

Red Bull has devised a “clever” way of reclaiming some of the downforce lost through the banning of blown diffusers.
That is the claim of Jean Francois Caubet, who is in charge of the team’s engine supplier Renault.

Red Bull, the reigning back to back world champions, and Renault Sport F1 have worked more closely than ever before ahead of their 2012 title defence.

“Formula one is about creativity,” Caubet is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild, “and although the rules have changed, we have worked with Red Bull and found a solution to compensate for the loss of performance.”

Last year, the cars acquired extra downforce through the ‘blowing’ of hot engine exhaust gases into the diffuser, even when the driver was off the throttle.

It is rumoured that, despite the FIA’s ban, some teams have flown close to the letter of the new rules with their new solutions.

“It is not the same as before,” Caubet continued, “but a clever development that could make the difference.”

After the first week of testing at Jerez recently, some observed that Adrian Newey’s new Red Bull RB8 was cornering as though on rails.

“That’s because we all used to play with model trains,” joked team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Added Newey: “The exhaust is one of the areas in which we still have some ideas up our sleeves.”

 HRT on Friday refused to guarantee Narain Karthikeyan will race the full season with the struggling Spanish team.
Albeit with different team ownership and management, HRT began the 2011 season also with Indian Karthikeyan at the wheel, but he was replaced mid-season for the Red Bull-backed Daniel Ricciardo deal.

Reportedly with millions in sponsor backing, 35-year-old Karthikeyan is back on track for this season — but perhaps not guaranteed a place at all twenty races.

“The idea as of now is to race him the whole season, but nothing is taken for granted in F1, you have to work for your place in every race,” team boss Luis Perez Sala told the Indo Asian News Service.

“But as things stand, Karthikeyan and Pedro will race the entire season,” the former Minardi driver added.

While Karthikeyan’s teammate Pedro de la Rosa was testing the 2011 car last week at Jerez, HRT’s new single seater failed two of the FIA’s mandatory crash tests.

That means the team will sit out next week’s Barcelona running altogether.

“We have a new car and a new team. That means, to start with, we will be a little bit behind,” said Sala.

“But we believe that sometimes to improve you must go backwards firstly, we have taken one step backwards in order to take two forward. Our target is to grow little by little as the season goes on.

“If we can stay ahead of Marussia, we will be happy and if we get closer to Caterham, then we will be delighted, but our first objective is to get things under way, improve on reliability and progress as the season advances.”

 Lotus could become the next team to withdraw from the formula one teams association FOTA.
Already departed are HRT, Sauber and Toro Rosso and also the top teams Red Bull and Ferrari, leaving fellow grandees McLaren, Mercedes and the others on the wrong side of their competitors’ former unity.

Now, this week, team owner Gerard Lopez has been quoted as admitting that Lotus is contemplating pulling out.

The reasons for the withdrawals appear different, with Red Bull having been accused of breaching the gentleman’s Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) and Ferrari rumoured to want to use its individual power to shape the future of the sport’s rules and structure.

The formerly BMW-owned Sauber, however, insisted that recent cost-cutting in formula one has not made it easier for smaller teams to survive.

“The RRA was a step in the right direction, but now other steps must urgently follow,” he told F1′s official website.

“It definitely has not become easier for the smaller teams.”

But beneath the surface, unity has not broken down completely, argues McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh, who doubles as the FOTA chairman.

It is true, for example, that the new non-FOTA members will continue to respect aspects of the body’s agreements, such as the summer factory closure.

“I’m not too hung up on the brand ‘FOTA’,” Whitmarsh said recently.

“I think what’s important is that the teams realise there are critical issues within this sport where it will be better if we cooperate and take sensible decisions, and I hope and believe that we’ll continue to do that.”

He added last month: “Relations between McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari remain very good indeed.”

Dietrich Mateschitz has left open the door to Mark Webber receiving a new contract to keep racing with Red Bull beyond 2012.
The Australian is the only significant member of the championship-winning team who is not yet already signed up for the 2013 season.

But billionaire team owner Mateschitz this week backed Webber, 35, to return to Sebastian Vettel’s pace this year, insisting the pair will receive no more or less than equality in 2012.

At the same time, however, Webber was utterly dominated by Vettel last season, causing some experts to predict that Red Bull will replace him for 2013.

Indeed, Mateschitz said at the Jerez test last week that “Our primary goal is to put one of our juniors in the car”.

He told the German-language Speed Week magazine: “That’s one reason why we changed the drivers at Toro Rosso.

“Both (Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne) are highly talented and have great potential, but the question will only arise if, for example, Webber stops at the end of 2012.”

Jean-Eric Vergne has revealed he will try to keep the “tension” down to a minimum inside the Toro Rosso garage in 2012.
Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz this week has admitted that, beyond Mark Webber’s 2012 contract, “Our primary goal is to put one of our juniors” alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

With Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari ousted by the energy drink’s Faenza based secondary team after 2011, those most eligible juniors are now French rookie Vergne and his new Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

At Jerez last week in the new STR7 car, their rivalry got off to a fascinating start.

By the end of the four days of running, their fastest laps were separated by no more than one hundredth of a second — with Ricciardo enjoying the miniscule edge for the moment.

With a Red Bull seat up for grabs, 21-year-old Vergne admitted to RMC radio that the stakes are high.

But “There was not too much tension,” he insists. “You have to forget about all those different aspects when you think about the work you need to do.

“We had four good days of testing. The engineers are working now for the next test in Barcelona at the end of the month.

“There is a competition with my teammate but at the same time we can’t (let it) go in the wrong direction.

“You always want to beat everybody but my teammate is also the only other person who is working on the very same car as me,” added Vergne.