Heikki Kovalainen is looking for Caterham to move into the midfield, according to his new management company.

Having handled his own career in the wake of Flavio Briatore’s demise, Finn Kovalainen recently signed up with IMG, the sports and entertainment management giant.

The 30-year-old has rebuilt his reputation since 2010 in the wake of mixed tenures for top teams Renault and McLaren.

According to IMG Motorsport’s head of clients Martin Anayi, Kovalainen is now regarded by formula one team bosses up and down pitlane as among the top best drivers.

“He is a great guy,” Anayi is quoted by Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“Heikki’s potential is obvious and he definitely wants to succeed.”

There have been rumblings in the paddock that Kovalainen is disappointed that, despite being consistently the best of F1′s new teams since 2010, Caterham is yet to break into the midfield.

“This is only the team’s third season, so there are still some growing paints,” IMG’s Anayi acknowledged.

“Heikki has a strong desire to compete, and not just with his teammate Vitaly Petrov. The team’s boss Tony Fernandes wants to get in with the middle group.

“This means that the team needs to regularly get into the Q2 stage of qualifying and in the race be aiming for the points,” he insisted.

Just after backing his friend and countryman to bounce back, Rubens Barrichello has refused to rule out returning to formula one to replace the struggling Felipe Massa.

After 19 consecutive seasons in F1, 39-year-old Barrichello had to switch to the Indycar series for 2012 after losing his race seat at Williams.

Speaking to Brazilian television Sportv this week, however, the Brazilian said he cannot rule out returning to the grid — even with Ferrari.

After a six-year tenure, Barrichello left Ferrari at the end of 2005 and – until now – has not looked back overly fondly on his treatment alongside the famous Italian team’s former number one Michael Schumacher.

But in the wake of Massa’s recent performance struggles, Barrichello was voted in an Italian poll as the ideal replacement for the diminutive 30-year-old.

When asked about Ferrari, Barrichello said this week: “I want the fans to understand that I don’t have any hard feelings.

“If they called me today to go drive for them I would go. It was the best team I’ve ever driven for in terms of support, of creativity. But there were definitely some spicy episodes,” he added.

With the backing of sponsors, Barrichello has signed on with the KV team in Indycar for 2012, but he insists he is “completely open” about returning to F1.

“It would be something to think about,” he said in the televised interview on Wednesday.

“I think anything can happen. I’m not saying it will happen, but I have to be ready.”

Barrichello, the longest-serving driver in F1 history, revealed that he still enjoys the backing of Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s influential chief executive.

“He asked me if I was really going to race in Indycar and I told him ‘Yeah, because you didn’t find me a place in F1′,” he joked.

“He said he will see what he can do about it. Really, you just have to see what happens, you have to stay open about it,” added Barrichello.

Mark Webber is yet to secure his place at Red Bull for the 2013 season.
Team boss Christian Horner said the Australian has a “spring in his step” after a strong winter following Sebastian Vettel’s dominance last year.

But as for the future, he said that will only be discussed “in the summer”.

“We’ve extended his contract on a year by year basis, I think that’s something that Mark and the team agreed was the right way forward,” Horner told Sky Sports.

“His motivation is high at the moment, he’s still delivering and undoubtedly will sit down later in the summer to discuss the future.”

The biggest threats to 35-year-old Webber’s place are rookie team Toro Rosso’s new signings, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Horner admitted the young duo is “being groomed for the future”.

But the real tension for Webber will be in the Red Bull garage, as another trouncing by Vettel could signal the end of his tenure.

“(Vettel is) probably one of the best, if not the best driver on the grid at the moment and that’s what Mark Webber’s got to come up against, unfortunately,” 1980 world champion Alan Jones told News Limited newspapers.

“This is why I think Mark’s really got to come out of the blocks flying, he’s got to come out firing.”

 Jenson Button’s push to prominence at McLaren has been a deliberate attempt to build the famous team around him.
Many commentators viewed the 2009 world champion’s arrival last year to be the highly rated Lewis Hamilton’s new teammate as akin to walking into “the lion’s den”.

But less than two seasons later, Button is poised to beat the beleaguered Hamilton in the drivers’ standings and has signed a new multiple year contract.

The 31-year-old has also driven for Williams, Renault and Honda/Brawn, but it is his tenure at McLaren that is arguably attracting the highest plaudits.

Asked what the secret is, Button revealed: “It’s a lesson I learned many years ago.

“If you look back at F1 there are certain drivers that would always try and build a team around them and it helped them,” he is quoted by The Sun.

“Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost did that, but I suppose Michael Schumacher was the first one of our generation to really do that.

“It was not something I thought about myself when I was younger. But it’s one thing I remember about David Richards when he was team principal at BAR.

“He said ‘Jenson, you have very good speed, but other drivers out there do a much better job of surrounding themselves with the right people and really working at it with the team’. That definitely did stick with me,” he explained.

Stefano Domenicali on Wednesday refused to say whether Ferrari is committed to retaining Felipe Massa beyond 2011.
The Brazilian driver had a bad season in 2010, the year after his near-fatal accident, and team boss Domenicali suggested that he needs to improve.

During a press conference at the ‘Wrooom’ event in the Dolomites, the Italian did not directly answer three questions about Massa’s tenure beyond 2011.

“It would be wrong to say anything at the beginning of the season,” said Domenicali, admitting however that Massa will need to show comparably alongside his teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I hope it will be close between them; that he (Massa) will be as good, or maybe even faster than Fernando. But for sure we need two strong drivers to win the constructors’ title,” he added.

Domenicali’s comments were reported internationally, with La Gazzetta dello Sport quoting him as saying he “expects” Massa to be “always close” to Alonso this year.

Blick in Switzerland quoted Domenicali as saying 2011 “is an important season” for the 29-year-old, and according to Sao Paulo’s O Estado Domenicali said Massa has had talks with Ferrari management “as have other team members”.

“We must all learn from the mistakes of the past year and put it behind,” he added.

“I trust that, as in other situations in which he was under immense pressure and reacted very well, he will do the same now,” said Domenicali.

Luca Badoer is leaving Ferrari after a long tenure as test driver.

The almost 40-year-old Italian has been in the role since the late 90s, and according to Autosprint magazine he accumulated more than 130,000 kilometres at Fiorano in Ferrari’s F1 cars during that period.

But Badoer was heavily criticised for his lack of competitiveness when he replaced the injured Felipe Massa in the Brazilian’s race cockpit mid last year.

Autosprint said Badoer, who raced 58 other times for minor Italian teams throughout the 90s, is now leaving the team.

The magazine said his last laps in a F1 car were during the recent Valencia celebrations, when he reaquainted with the F60 he raced three times in 2009.

Ferrari announced last month that 21-year-old Frenchman Jules Bianchi has been signed as a test driver for 2011.

Also contracted in test roles are Giancarlo Fisichella and Marc Gene.

According to a rumour in the Italian media, Nico Hulkenberg is a candidate to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2011.

La Stampa newspaper said the rumour came from “a voice” within the famous Maranello based team, where Brazilian Massa – who already has an ongoing contract with Ferrari – struggled alongside Fernando Alonso this season.

German Hulkenberg, 23, has not been retained by Williams for 2011, and his manager Willi Weber has strong links within Ferrari due to his former charge Michael Schumacher’s decade-long tenure there.

But another voice at Ferrari insisted: “Felipe is untouchable.”

La Stampa acknowledged that the rumour might have been generated by Weber to keep Hulkenberg’s name circulating while he is on the market.

Italy’s Autosprint reported the same rumour linking Hulkenberg with Ferrari.

Rubens Barrichello is sitting tight in the hope that Williams will call him back for another season in 2011.

The Brazilian veteran has had a solid first season with the British team, but confirmation of the 2011 driver lineup is on hold while Williams tests Venezuelan pay-driver Pastor Maldonado next week in Abu Dhabi.

“My future depends on Williams,” 38-year-old Barrichello is quoted by Globo Esporte in Portuguese.

“I want to stay and we are working on the car for next year, and after Abu Dhabi we will test with the new (Pirelli) tyres.”

He said he will be disappointed if his tenure at Williams ends after just one season.

“My project with Williams was not for one year only,” Barrichello said on SporTV.

“I’ve been talking about my contract for a long time. I cannot announce anything, because it is not signed.

“But I am working on the car for next year already. I don’t see myself leaving,” he added.

Kimi Raikkonen insists he still has not decided whether or not to stay in the world rally championship next year.

The 2007 world champion left formula one at the end of last season despite remaining under lucrative contract to Ferrari, and has since been driving full time for Red Bull-sponsored Citroen.

But in recent days he has been linked with a return to F1 next year with Renault, and the WRC’s official website wrc.com said a sabbatical or a renewed tenure in rallying are also possibilities for the Finn in 2011.

“I’m enjoying it (rallying) so far,” he is quoted as saying on Friday, “but I’ve not made up my mind what I’m doing yet.

“Quite soon I hope I will know but there is no rush,” added the 30-year-old.

According to rumours in the Singapore paddock, the Toro Rosso and Sauber teams could be set for new ownership.

The Basler Zeitung newspaper claims Nick Heidfeld’s new tenure at Sauber could be short-lived because Mexican GP2 driver Sergio Perez stands a good chance of becoming Kamui Kobayashi’s 2011 teammate.

The rumours linking the Swiss team with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who sponsors Perez through his Telmex company, have been circulating for some time.

Sauber has already signed a Mexican, the teenaged Esteban Gutierrez, as its 2011 reserve driver.

Meanwhile, the Swiss newspaper Le Matin reports that Dietrich Mateschitz wants to sell Red Bull’s second formula one team Toro Rosso.

The report said the Austrian billionaire stands to make a handsome profit from the deal, because after buying Minardi for $40 million in 2006, the Faenza based team is now be worth three times that much.

Jacques Villeneuve/Durango was mentioned as a possible buyer.

Sunday at Monza was Pedro de la Rosa’s last grand prix with the Sauber team in 2010, according to a Swiss report.

The Blick newspaper, with close links to the Hinwil based team’s chief Peter Sauber, said Nick Heidfeld will definitely be driving the Ferrari-powered C29 from now on, starting with the Singapore night race in two weeks.

The news will almost certainly result in Nick Heidfeld, who this year was formerly Mercedes’ reserve driver, relinquishing his new role as test driver for the 2011 tyre supplier Pirelli.

It will be the third Sauber tenure for German Heidfeld, 33, who also drove for the Swiss team in 2000-2003 and 2006-2009.

“This makes sense,” wrote veteran Blick correspondent Roger Benoit, “because Sauber wants to make up the 20 point arrears to Williams, in order to finish the world championship in seventh position.”

Compared with rookie teammate Kamui Kobayashi’s 21 points, long-time McLaren test driver de la Rosa has scored just 6 points on his return to the F1 grid this season.

A decision about Martin Whitmarsh’s successor as FOTA chairman has not yet been taken, the McLaren team boss has insisted.

At Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, it was reported that Briton Whitmarsh will be replaced as head of the teams’ organisation by Williams’ Adam Parr.

The Italian report also said Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost will succeed Whitmarsh’s current deputy Stefano Domenicali.

But a report in the Portuguese language Globe Esporte insists that Whitmarsh’s tenure will not end until the end of the year.

However, Globo said it is likely that the next FOTA chairman will represent an independent team, meaning that Williams’ Parr is a likely candidate.

“My mandate runs until the end of the year,” Whitmarsh is quoted as saying.

“A vote is likely to happen between November and December,” he added.

Luca di Montezemolo on Thursday revealed he resisted the urge to invite Michael Schumacher to play at a football game.

The seven time world champion is Ferrari’s most successful ever driver, winning five world championships during his 1996-2006 tenure.

But after retiring four years ago, the 41-year-old returned to the grid this year with Mercedes, and the tension between the German and his former camp has been obvious.

“We had beautiful years together and I gave him back his desire to race,” said Ferrari president Montezemolo, referring to the offer of a temporary seat last year to replace the injured Massa, which subsequently became a full return with a rival team.

“At times I miss Schumacher, he gave so much to Ferrari, but he also received a lot,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

He then referred to the forthcoming Partita Del Cuore charity football match, to be played in Modena early next week and featuring current Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Said Montezemolo: “A few days ago I was tempted to call him (Schumacher) to ask him to play for us.  But as the team carries the Ferrari name, I avoided it.”

(GMM)

Felipe Massa insists he is not being affected by the speculation predicting his Ferrari tenure will end this season.

The Brazilian’s contract runs out this year, and amid rumours that Robert Kubica could be set to replace him in 2011, 29-year-old Massa is currently struggling to match the pace of his new teammate Fernando Alonso.

“For sure I am happy to stay (at Ferrari) if they want me, I trust Ferrari and in the end I have no interest in what people are saying.

“What I care about is working hard and fixing things as quickly as possible,” Italian reports quote him as saying.

Corriere dello Sport suggested that Massa might be headed to Red Bull next year, to replace the possibly retiring Barcelona winner Mark Webber.

“In this world you hear so many things every week and every month,” said Massa, who became Michael Schumacher’s last Ferrari teammate in 2006.

The Massa/Red Bull rumour comes in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s assertion two months ago that 33-year-old Webber might retire at the end of 2010.

It is further rumoured that while Kimi Raikkonen was earlier expected to return to F1 in Webber’s place next year, the 2007 world champion might in fact be content to prolong his new world rallying foray.

To Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper, Australian Webber has once again played down the Hamilton comments.

“They came about from when we were on a plane together back from the Japanese grand prix last year,” he revealed.

“We were talking about getting the timing right in terms of retirement, in sport in general.  When I do call it a day – and I really don’t think that it will be at the end of this year – I want to do so on a good note.

“But I’m driving well enough and I believe I can still bring a lot to the plate in the next year or so — meaning next year,” Webber insisted.  “I’ve got a few years in me yet.”

(GMM)

May 3 (GMM)  Nico Rosberg will soon notch up the first victory of his formula one career, team boss Ross Brawn predicts.

The 24-year-old German finished on the podium just twice during his four-year tenure with Williams, but within four races has already finished in the top-3 twice at the wheel of a Mercedes.

“Nico is very close to winning a race,” Brawn told the Daily Star newspaper.

“Things just need to fall into place — but that will come.  I am sure he’ll do it.  Definitely,” he added.

Rosberg, whose Finnish father Keke won the world championship in 1982, finished third in both Malaysia and China, while his famous teammate Michael Schumacher’s last two finishes have been in tenth place.

“Nico has raised his game,” said former triple world champion Sir Jackie Stewart, who while a sponsor representative at Williams worked close up with Rosberg.

“The boy has extraordinary skills.  I think Michael has been taken aback by that.  It must be affecting him,” added the Scot.

Rosberg’s former boss Sir Frank Williams told the Daily Mail: “Nico is a very self-confident young man with a reasonable amount of justification for being so.

“He won’t be overawed in Michael’s presence.”

But a report in the Telegraph newspaper expressed concern that Mercedes’ decision to alter the wheelbase length of the W01 car could affect Rosberg’s momentum.

“Instead of helping Schumacher get back up to speed, could it just upset Rosberg, costing him the chance to compete for the world title?” wondered writer Tom Cary.