The key backer of the scheduled 2012 US grand prix insists he remains committed to the Circuit of the Americas project.

Construction in Austin, Texas, has continued amid raging local media speculation, as lawsuits are pending and questions are constantly asked about the viability of the project commenced by the now offside promoter Tavo Hellmund.

With 84-year-old billionaire Red McCombs now reportedly in the driving seat, he insisted it is “without question” he will continue to push the project forwards.

“Never has been any question,” McCombs is quoted by mysanantonio.com, after the authoritative Austin American Statesman newspaper had suggested he was on the verge of pulling out.

“I’m there for the full ticket,” McCombs insisted, although he admitted the row with Hellmund is proving a speed-bump.

“I will say we do expect to have some resolution to those issues in a timely fashion, but in dealing with the courts, I don’t know what a timely fashion is.”

He told reporters the circuit is now 60 per cent complete ahead of the inaugural November 18 race date.

Money could be at the heart of the delay in Lewis Hamilton’s re-signing with the McLaren team.

Until now, the British team has indicated it wants the 2008 world champion to stay on board, while 27-year-old Hamilton insists he has no plans to leave and will turn his attention to the 2013 contract soon.

But according to Blick newspaper, McLaren is pushing to cut Hamilton’s existing contract retainer “in half” to “about EUR 10 million”.

The Swiss report said the driver is unimpressed with the negotiations so far, but at least Hamilton’s mood has improved tenfold compared with his calamitous 2011.

It is a full year since Hamilton raged about his “frickin ridiculous” track rivals in the 2011 Monaco grand prix, when he also half-seriously suggested that the stewards were targeting him “because I’m black”.

He is back on top form this season, but still yet to win a race, arguably mainly due to McLaren’s numerous team mistakes.

Reports have suggested boss Martin Whitmarsh, who insists Hamilton “deserves” to win this weekend in Monaco, is worried the mistakes might drive the highly rated racer away.

On Wednesday, however, Hamilton denied he is frustrated.

“I’m not, no. This is the way racing goes sometimes,” he insisted.

“I could easily get frustrated because I could have a healthy lead in the championship — but that’s not the case.

“I don’t want to speak too early but something has definitely changed. Whatever I’m doing is working,” he told British reporters.

“In life, things just seem a lot better and that’s enabling me to get on with my job without having any baggage.”

Sergio Perez has ruled out switching to Ferrari this season to replace Felipe Massa.

It is suggested the famous Italian team is growing increasingly impatient with struggling Brazilian Massa’s poor form.

“I think all this hype about a possible switch is massively blown up by the media,” Perez told F1′s official website.

“Should that situation really come about I would reject it as I would not want to make a switch in the middle of a season.”

Nonetheless, 22-year-old Perez is the obvious favourite, as the cream of Ferrari’s driver development programme and already powered by the Maranello team’s engines at Sauber.

“I think that people should not mix up engines and drivers,” he insisted.

The denials, however, are unlikely to dampen the rumours, with Massa under increasing pressure to perform — and some saying Monaco could be his last chance.

“I hope this weekend is where one can consider that my 2012 championship will begin,” the Brazilian said on Wednesday.

“I have had a few difficult times in my career and maybe the start to this season has been the most difficult so far.

“I have had to deal with the technical side of the problem, but also it causes a mental side, as it is not easy to deal with this situation. But if you fix one, then it is easier to fix the other,” added Massa in Monaco.

Perez tipped him to bounce back.

“He (Massa) is a strong driver and he has a great team behind him. Once he’s bounced back all these stories will die at once,” he said.

Sergio Perez admitted to mixed feelings on Wednesday as he returned to Monaco.

The last time he was in the Principality to race – for his debut grand prix in the fabled Principality – he was hauled away in an ambulance, having been knocked unconscious in a huge qualifying crash.

“To me it’s unbelievable to be back here after such an accident,” the 22-year-old said on Wednesday, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Mexican Perez said Monaco is still his favourite track.

“It is definitely not a good feeling that the walls are so close, but we know the risks. It’s a special place.

“I can remember everything right up to the crash. The next thing I know was that I was on the way to hospital — I was unconscious for several minutes.

“After such an accident it is not easy to come back — I cannot say for sure how I will feel when I come out of the tunnel for the first time. But I think it will be completely out of my head.”

Perez said he really needed “four or five” races to recover from the heavy concussion, but that there was pressure from sponsors to come back as soon as possible.

“I wanted to get back into the car in Montreal, but it was impossible,” he recalled.

“In Valencia it was very difficult for me.”

Now, he is hoping for a very different Monaco weekend, after looking strong last year until his crash.

“Our goal must be the podium. I hope to find a good setup although we have recently had a little problem with the traction.

“We are so close to the top that every tenth can make a difference.

“After our second place in Malaysia, maybe the next step will be victory — I don’t know if we will succeed. But the opportunities are there,” said Perez.

Marussia needs a KERS system to catch up with its direct rivals.

That is the admission of team boss John Booth, who told the Russian website championat.com that he is looking into adding the energy recovery technology to next year’s Marussia package.

“First of all, I want to say that while it is said it (KERS) is a ‘green’ technology, in reality it’s just a serious waste of money,” he said.

“But in our situation it’s time to start thinking seriously about KERS. Of the gap to Caterham, five or six tenths is due to KERS,” added Booth.

“So we are thinking seriously about it for 2013, but so far there is no decision.”

Both admitted the start of the 2012 season has been a disappointment so far for Marussia, which in its first two years was called Virgin.

He said the team has recently completed a phase of serious restructuring.

“We had a good team of people before, but now we have a good team of designers. Though we have been in F1 for three years, I have the feeling that we were actually born in July 2011.”

Both is undoubtedly referring to the split mid last year with former technical chief Nick Wirth, and the relocation to a new headquarters.

It is believed static electricity could have sparked Williams’ garage fire two weeks ago in Barcelona.

Even in the Monte Carlo paddock, the huge Spanish blaze was still a hot topic.

The British team and the FIA conducted investigations, but there has been no definite finding about the cause of the fire.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported suggestions simple static electricity, caused by the specific weather conditions and the fact a container was not grounded at the time, was the culprit.

Williams has scrambled to be ready for Monaco, but the only obvious sign of the fire on Wednesday was one missing mechanic, who is still recovering from burns.

“He’s on the road to recovery,” said co-owner Toto Wolff.

It is believed the mechanic was pumping fuel from one container to another when the fire started.

Wolff confirmed the static electricity theory.

“This is extremely rare. The weather may have played a role, as we had low pressure over Barcelona that day,” he explained.

Auto Motor und Sport said Williams lost mainly computers in the fire, but the crucial data survived. Of the team’s 150 radios, only 40 were intact.

Wolff said Bruno Senna’s chassis survived because of the partitions at the back of the main pit area.

“They are flame retardant,” he confirmed. “This meant the fire did not come beyond the back (area). The walls melted in the heat, but they didn’t burn.”

And financially, the Oxfordshire based team is completely undamaged, due to insurance.

A favourite for victory this weekend, Pastor Maldonado is reportedly lucky to be gearing up to race in the Principality at all.

Bild newspaper recalls that the Venezuelan, who defied his ‘pay driver’ critics by winning for Williams in Spain two weeks ago, was actually banned after an horror incident on the streets of Monte Carlo seven years ago.

Racing in the Renault World Series in 2005, the then 25-year-old ignored yellow flags before striking and severely injuring a marshal.

Organisers of the Monaco grand prix reacted by banning Maldonado from the street circuit for life.

Germany’s Bild revealed that Maldonado’s wealthy father intervened, promising to pay for the marshal’s recovery and rehabilitation from a broken back.

That intervention saved Maldonado’s future formula one career, as no team would hire a regular driver that cannot participate in the sport’s most famous race.

Maldonado is therefore a favourite for victory this weekend, with his Williams now acknowledged as arguably the best in the entire field when it comes to slow-speed traction.

And in his four seasons of GP2 between 2007 and 2010, Maldonado finished on the podium each time, winning and achieving pole position twice. In 2006, he won in Formula Renault.

Last year, in qualifying for his first Monaco grand prix, he qualified his then struggling Williams in eighth place, comfortably ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

“He is very good at Monaco,” agreed Barrichello.

In the 2011 race, Maldonado was fighting for fifth when he crashed with Lewis Hamilton.

“If the last sector in Barcelona is the marker, then the Williams will be unbeatable in Monte Carlo,” Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport quotes Dr Helmut Marko as saying.

The breakthrough success in Barcelona has piqued the interest of Maldonado’s native Venezuela, having not had an F1 points scorer since the ignominious Johnny Cecotto in 1983.

“My country will be following every second of the next race,” Maldonado is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“I love street circuits, this one in particular. My style of driving fits perfectly with Monaco. I am ready to get another great result.”

Ross Brawn should be firing on all cylinders as he returns to the pitwall in Monaco this weekend.

Mercedes’ team principal sat out the recent Spanish grand prix due to illness, but a scarcity of extra information triggered speculation.

One rumour was that he is seriously ill, whilst another was that his absence may in fact be due to his German employer’s high-stakes spat with Bernie Ecclestone.

The latter theory gained traction since Barcelona, with acting team boss Nick Fry taking a much higher than usual profile, including naming Paul di Resta as a possible 2013 successor for Michael Schumacher.

Explaining his absence, Brawn told Bild newspaper: “On the Tuesday before Barcelona I felt unwell so I went to the doctor and then stayed a night in hospital for some tests.

“When I got home, I decided on the advice of doctors to give myself a weekend off, to be sure that I am fit for Monaco,” the Briton said.

Partly because of Brawn’s deputy Fry’s recent comments, and also due to his paltry points tally and his crash with Bruno Senna, rumours about Schumacher’s future have intensified since Spain.

“A lot has been said and written,” acknowledged Brawn, “but we should not forget that we – the team – have let him down in three of the fives races, not delivering the job we should have.

“We must do better,” Brawn, who worked closely with Schumacher during the seven time world champion’s ultra successful Ferrari era, added.

“We saw Michael’s real quality again in the first race, so it’s for that reason that I believe we will see him on the podium this year.”

As for a possible contract extension for the 43-year-old, Brawn insisted: “When the time comes, we will sit down together and talk about the future.

“I’m sure it will become clear very quickly in what direction we will go.”

Even ahead of F1′s Singapore floatation, the sport has some new owners.

Reuters, the specialist financial market news agency, said US-based asset managers Waddell and Reed, Blackrock and Norway’s Norges Bank have bought a $1.6 billion stake from existing owners CVC.

The report cited a source “with direct knowledge of the matter”. The companies did not immediately comment.

It drops CVC’s stake from 63.4 per cent to about 40pc, the source said.

We reported on Monday that the Singapore stock exchange approved F1′s plan to raise as much as $3 billion in an initial public offering.

Other reports said pre-marketing for the listing, likely to go ahead at the end of June, will begin immediately.

“It is not our practice to publicly comment on our dealings with listing aspirants,” said a Singapore bourse spokesman.

Some insiders have expressed concern.

“Look at the muted first-day response to Facebook’s IPO,” an unnamed banker told the Singapore broadsheet Straits Times. “The F1 listing is not nearly as attractive and long-awaited as that.”

More than half of Michael Schumacher’s German compatriots think the seven time world champion will return to retirement at the end of this year.

After three years of retirement, the 43-year-old returned to F1 in 2010 on a three-year Mercedes contract, which runs out in 2012.

SID news agency commissioned the German market research company Promit to carry out a survey as to whether respondents think Schumacher will quit at the end of this year.

55.4 per cent answered yes, while only 26.2 per cent said they think Schumacher should sign on for at least another season.

The winner of a record 91 grands prix has failed to see the chequered flag in three of the five races so far this year, finishing just tenth in both Malaysia and Bahrain.

In contrast, teammate Nico Rosberg’s three top-seven finishes in 2012 included pole and victory in China, netting him 41 points compared with Schumacher’s 2 overall.

“I don’t think we can write him (Schumacher) off yet,” insisted Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary this week.

“His pace hasn’t been bad and he started the season very well. (He) was unlucky in quite a few races, his wheel fell off when he was running second in China and could have had a big haul of points.

“He is making mistakes in wheel-to-wheel racing though. But if he gets a few decent finishes or even wins a race then we could see him continue (in 2013),” added Cary.

Last Sunday proved that Pastor Maldonado is no mere ‘pay driver’.

“If he was a fool, he would not be with us, no matter how much money he brings,” Sir Frank Williams is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte.

Venezuelan Maldonado, whose links to the state owned oil company PDVSA and president Hugo Chavez controversially deliver many millions to Williams’ Oxfordshire based team, became F1′s fifth different winner of 2012 last weekend in Spain.

It has helped him to shake off the ‘pay driver’ insult, Williams insisting he is now a potential world champion instead.

“Without a doubt. He is very fast and makes no mistakes,” the newly 70-year-old Briton said.

Williams does, however, acknowledge that Maldonado’s money was a key factor in the decision to sign him.

“Yes, it was to some extent,” he said. “I don’t deny that. But he’s also a real driver. He fully deserves to be on the team, with or without money.

“The truth is that if you don’t have money, you don’t get to be in formula one,” added Williams.

Team shareholder Toto Wolff agrees: “If you want to race in GP2, you need a few million pounds. So, the drivers need not only to be fast and talented, but able to attract the sponsors.

“So let’s forget this thing about ‘pay drivers’,” he insisted.

Triple world champion Nelson Piquet, however, has some lingering doubts.

He ran Maldonado in his own GP2 team some years ago, and this week recalled a driver who was often “too aggressive” and made too many mistakes.

“We’re not talking about a guy who shone in his youth, like Nico Rosberg,” said the famous Brazilian, “or someone like Lewis Hamilton, who always had everything he needed thanks to Ron Dennis.

“In GP2, when you don’t stand out in your second year, you begin to be doubted. In Maldonado’s case, he only shone in his fourth year.

“Perhaps because of this he only made it to formula one as a paying driver, without having anything special, apparently. He was perceived as just a good pilot, but clearly no Alonso.

“Now he was at the right place at the right time but he still managed to beat Alonso in Spain as well as another world champion, Kimi (Raikkonen). So hats off to him.”

Charlie Whiting has defended the decision in Spain to move Lewis Hamilton from pole to the very rear of the grid.

Although McLaren was widely criticised for making a grave error, the stewards’ penalty was at the same time described by the world’s press as “draconian”.

“Quite frankly I did not expect the penalty that we received,” said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

Indeed, given that McLaren’s fuel indiscretion occurred only in the decisive Q3, why not simply delete Hamilton’s Q3 laptimes, thereby putting the Briton mid-grid for the race?

“We had no room to move,” Whiting, the FIA’s race director, responded to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport when told that Hamilton’s penalty seemed too severe.

“If there is a violation, it applies to the whole session, not just part of it,” he insisted. “Qualifying begins with Q1.”

Whiting explained that if Hamilton had only lost his Q3 time, a precedent would have been set tempting teams to risk not being checked for the mandatory 1 litre fuel sample in post-qualifying scrutineering.

Auto Motor und Sport said only one or two fuel samples are actually checked after qualifying at grands prix.

Competitors could, therefore, genuinely “run the risk” of using less fuel than is allowed in Q3, if the penalty for being caught is relatively light, Whiting argued.

He recalled last year’s German grand prix, when Sebastien Buemi was sent to the back of the grid because his fuel sample showed irregularities.

As it was not possible to check if the illegal fuel had also been used in Q1 and Q2, the Toro Rosso driver had to be disqualified from qualifying, Whiting argued.

Jerome d’Ambrosio is the latest name linked with struggling Felipe Massa’s Ferrari race seat.

While Mark Webber or Sergio Perez are the Maranello team’s more likely longer term solutions, Ferrari may be looking simply for a stop-gap solution, having reportedly run out of patience for Brazilian Massa’s lack of pace and results.

The French sports daily L’Equipe named d’Ambrosio, the Belgian driver who lost his Virgin/Marussia seat at the end of last season.

He is managed by Eric Boullier, and now Lotus’ reserve driver.

Also named as potential substitutes for Massa in recent days were Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta and Kamui Kobayashi.

But, according to L’Equipe, d’Ambrosio “has the advantage of being immediately available, giving Ferrari time to find a more permanent solution” for 2013.

Also ready to step in now is Adrian Sutil, the former Force India driver who is putting his career back together after the Eric Lux assault affair.

“I have no money to offer,” the German is quoted as saying. “After five seasons, people know what is my level. I want a normal salary, that’s all.”

Sebastian Vettel has defended his former mentor Michael Schumacher.

The seven time world champion has been roundly criticised since last Sunday’s Spanish grand prix, after crashing into Williams’ Bruno Senna at the end of the Barcelona straight.

He called the Brazilian driver an “idiot” on the radio and later defended the outburst, but the FIA did not agree, imposing a five-place qualifying penalty for Monte Carlo for causing a collision.

“For us, that manoeuvre of Michael’s cost us a lot,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Austrian Servus TV.

He said the debris from the crash not only damaged Vettel’s front wing, but led to the reigning world champion having to serve a drive-through penalty due to activating his DRS wing in the yellow-flag zone.

German Vettel, however, defended Schumacher.

“In those situations we don’t have much time of course,” he said, “and you can get very great speed differences (between the cars) on the straights.

“I think it should be classified simply in the category of racing accidents. Unfortunately it happens,” said the reigning world champion.

“Of course you can always say what is what afterwards,” added Vettel, “just as you can say that it always takes two to tango.”

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug was less eager to comment, although he did tell Germany’s Sport1 that the team “accepts the verdict of the race stewards”.

Pirelli stands ready to supply special ‘qualifying tyres’ to formula one teams next year.

With the emphasis of the sport’s spectacle now relying on the complex and heavily degrading control tyres, it was the qualifying session that suffered last weekend in Barcelona.

Arguably to the detriment of Saturday’s spectacle, teams took an exceedingly strategic view of the fight for pole position, with some drivers sitting out the decisive ‘Q3′ runout altogether.

One solution, according to Pirelli’s chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, is the return of ‘qualifying tyres’.

The proposal has been made following recent criticism, notably by seven time world champion Michael Schumacher, of Pirelli’s 2012 product.

Tronchetti defended his marque’s approach.

“What we have is many competitive cars, which is what the teams wanted — opprtunity for everyone who is able to win,” he told Italian radio Rai GR Parlamento.

“So it’s fine if someone complains. We are available to the teams. We are ready to make qualifying tyres tomorrow.

“But they are choices that are not ours.”