With the pecking-order still not entirely clear after two races, it could be set to change all over again in the near future.

That is the view of Peter Sauber, the Hinwil based team’s owner and boss who witnessed his Mexican driver Sergio Perez display almost race-winning form at Sepang recently with the impressive new C31 car.

He argues that the real key to 2012 is ongoing car development.

“The decisive factor of course is how quickly can the teams develop their cars,” he wrote in his column for the Swiss newspaper Blick.

“Most will have small improvements in the next two races in China and Bahrain, before the major development stages are triggered for the start of the European season in Barcelona.

“Then, the balance of power could change,” said Sauber.

Currently fourth in the constructors’ championship, Sauber has after just two races in 2012 already scored almost 70 per cent of the final points tallies collected by the formerly BMW-owned team in the past two seasons.

But not only Sauber has been impressive, so too has almost the entire field of 2012.

“The quality in formula one has never been as great as it is today,” he said. “If you don’t get everything right in qualifying, you lose a number of positions.

“Also, the midfield has moved significantly closer to the front, which can mean an unusually mixed order on the grid,” said Sauber.

 Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.
That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.Lotus says losing seat vital ‘shock’ for Petrov
Feb.17 (GMM) Losing his race seat could be the “shock” that causes Vitaly Petrov to up his game.

That is the claim of Gerard Lopez, owner of the Lotus team that has ousted the Russian driver after two seasons.

He told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that Petrov, who is now seeking an alternative race seat but may have to be content with the Pirelli test role, felt too comfortable in 2011.

“We had the feeling that he thought ‘If I keep delivering my sponsors’ money to the team, I’ll be there for the next five years’.

“But that’s not the way formula one works,” added Lopez, “where you have to work hard at everything.

“So I think Vitaly needed an electric shock — whether he has to pause for a year now or he gets something at another team, it (losing his seat) will help him.”

Lopez said Romain Grosjean, the new GP2 champion who is replacing Petrov, got his ‘shock’ at Renault in 2009.

“Romain was in a similar situation to Petrov,” said the Luxembourger. “He believed everything would take care of itself. Afterwards, we watched him very carefully.

“Then we thought he had earned a second chance,” added Lopez.

Yet another similar case, the businessman argues, is Bruno Senna, who was drafted in last year to replace Nick Heidfeld but for 2012 has had to switch to Williams.

“I remember in India he was about to go to the grid in fourteenth place and he was in good spirits. I thought ‘this cannot be’.

“When you’re 14th in qualifying you need to be annoyed, wondering what has gone wrong,” said Lopez.

 Caterham on Friday finally confirmed speculation that Vitaly Petrov will replace Jarno Trulli in 2012.
It has been rumoured Petrov, the Russian driver ousted by Lotus (formerly Renault) after two seasons, was waiting on his sponsors to decide whether or not to pay out veteran Trulli’s contract.

37-year-old Italian Trulli, permanently in F1 since 1997 and the 2004 Monaco grand prix winner, said mere days ago that he expected to race this season.

He tested Caterham’s 2012 car at Jerez last week.

“It was not an easy decision to bring Vitaly in to replace Jarno, but it was one we made to ensure that we give fresh impetus across the whole team and with a realistic eye on the global economic market,” said team boss Tony Fernandes.

The Malaysian businessman said an “agreement” was reached with Trulli to end his contract, “but he will always be part of our family”.

“I understand the decision the team has made and I want to wish to the whole team the very best of luck for the season ahead,” said the former Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota driver.

Petrov, 27, had a seat fitting at Caterham’s Hingham factory on Friday and will test the car in Barcelona next week.

 Romain Grosjean says he understands the initial preference in 2012 given to his famous Lotus teammate, Kimi Raikkonen.
Frenchman Grosjean, with just 7 grands prix under his belt in 2009, is paired this year with Raikkonen, who has spent the last two seasons in world rallying.

Although they have both been away from the F1 grid for the past two seasons, it is Raikkonen who was granted an exclusive re-acclimatisation test recently, and the first two days of official testing this week at Jerez.

Grosjean, 25, insists to Le Matin newspaper: “It’s going well between us.

“It does not shock me that he began the testing for marketing reasons. He was world champion and he will also need some time to adjust to being back in the game.

“Together with Kimi, we want to do everything so that Lotus is in the best possible position on the grid and I do not intend to fuss over topics that I cannot control,” he added.

A hot topic in India this weekend is the rumoured return to formula one next year of 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Reports suggest the 32-year-old Finn, who left Ferrari to try his hand at world rallying and NASCAR two seasons ago, could come back in 2012 with the beleaguered Williams team.

The famous British squad’s chairman Adam Parr was asked directly about the speculation in India on Friday by Finnish journalist Heikki Kulta.

“I am afraid there is only one answer to that question, which is that our race drivers are Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello and if, and when, that changes we will make an appropriate announcement,” he answered.

Parr was later asked a nearly identical question in the Buddh paddock by MTV3, Finland’s television broadcaster.

“Kimi has been one of the most competent drivers in the last few years,” acknowledged Parr, “and I think everyone would like to see him back in F1.”

The Former McLaren driver is notoriously unforthcoming with the media, but German-language reports this week have quoted Raikkonen as responding to a question about a hypothetical return to F1.

“Of course you always want a winning car,” he said, “but as we have seen this year, there is only one team that really has that.”

 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.

 Nico Rosberg has overcome a chink in his armour, Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn has revealed.
When Brawn GP became Mercedes’ works team ahead of 2010, the former Williams driver was signed to be the returning Michael Schumacher’s teammate.

Nearly two seasons on, despite an improved turn of form by Schumacher in the last three or four races, it is 26-year-old Rosberg who has been the faster.

But team boss Brawn did spot a weakness.

“I have to be honest, when Nico first arrived from Williams there were times when he was not fit enough,” he is quoted by the Telegraph.

Rosberg has since blitzed fellow amateur triathlete Jenson Button’s best time at the multi-sport discipline, and regularly posts Youtube videos proving his high fitness.

“I can’t criticise him at all on that score now,” admitted Brawn. “He goes above and beyond.”

Brawn’s praise comes amid speculation rival teams have expressed interest in Rosberg beyond his 2012 contract, with Mercedes’ Norbert Haug revealing he would like to sign him up for the long term.

Rosberg says he is buoyed by the team’s acquisition of well-known technical directors Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis.

“Mercedes are in the background and they are pushing flat out. Whatever it takes,” he said, admitting it would be special to succeed with what is effectively a German national team.

“The other thing that is special is I know that this team is betting on me; counting on me to deliver once I have the car to do so. And I’m very confident that I will be able to. I just have to be patient,” said Rosberg.

“Michael, of course, isn’t getting any younger. So theoretically it is all set up perfectly for me here.”

Nico Rosberg is reluctant to commit to Mercedes beyond his current contract, according to a Spanish sports newspaper.
The 26-year-old has consistently outperformed seven time world champion Michael Schumacher in the last two seasons, but is yet to record a single grand prix win.

The Marca daily said Mercedes is desperate to re-sign him for 2013 and beyond, but claims the young German is stalling for now as he watches the driver market.

With Jenson Button now committed to McLaren beyond next season, Rosberg could emerge as a leading candidate to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari.

“Marca has learned that Rosberg wants to wait on renewing his contract with Mercedes in order to try his luck in negotiating with Ferrari next year,” said the report.

Mercedes’ motor sport president Norbert Haug admitted at Suzuka that the German marque wants to tie up Rosberg.

“I have Nico until 2012 and, if I had my way, for much longer,” he said.

A few weeks ago, there were reports Rosberg was set to commit to Mercedes until 2016, but Marca says he is now pushing for a year-on-year deal.

Red Bull has expressed the wish to extend Sebastian Vettel’s contract for a further two years.
The reigning world champion, and likely back-to-back 2011 title winner, already has a deal with the dominant team to the end of 2014.

But Dr Helmut Marko has revealed to Sport Bild that he wants to add a further two seasons to the contract.

“We made a contract with Sebastian to 2014 because both sides assumed that we would have two years together under the new engine rules. That has now changed,” said the Austrian.

Marko is referring to the fact that, subsequent to the signing of Vettel’s 2014 deal, F1 decided to delay the debut of the new engine regulations from 2013 to 2014.

“That is why we have also extended the agreement with our engine supplier Renault to 2016,” he explained.

Vettel has expressed the desire to one day switch to Ferrari or Mercedes, but Sport Bild quotes him as sounding open to extending his Red Bull stay beyond 2014.

“I feel very, very comfortable where I am at the moment and there is no reason to change. We’re like a family,” said the German.

Fourteen years ago, Jacques Villeneuve won the title after Michael Schumacher was found to have deliberately driven into him at Jerez.
But now the French Canadian, on a visit to Brazil at the weekend to race stock cars, has defended the seven time world champion amid criticism of his return to F1 in the last two seasons.

“It makes no sense to criticise him,” Villeneuve is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo.

“He was a tenth of a second faster than Rubens and Eddie (Irvine) at Ferrari and now he’s a tenth slower than Nico Rosberg, so not much has changed.

“The criticism is bad for the sport and the young drivers. It would be better to say he is very good and he is being beaten than to say he is bad and that’s why he loses now.”

Villeneuve added that “It can always happen when things do not fit together perfectly as a driver for a season or two”.

A staunch critic of “artificial racing” produced by deliberately degrading tyres and DRS, he admitted that he no longer sets “an alarm clock” in order to watch grands prix on television.

“My father held at bay four drivers for the whole race at Jarama (1981) and everyone remembers that race as the most spectacular,” said Villeneuve, in a rare reference to his late father Gilles.

Heikki Kovalainen has admitted he is no longer so keen on rallying. Before signing with Team Lotus last year after two seasons with McLaren, the Finn insisted he would “make sure that as well as formula one I am allowed to drive rallies”. The 29-year-old has contested several minor rallies in the past, but he told motorline.cc that F1 rival Robert Kubica’s horror crash in February had dimmed his enthusiasm. “I like to watch the rallies on TV,” he said, “but right now I definitely don’t have the time to pursue it actively myself. “We all saw what happened to Robert, and for this reason the rally driving is not in my plans at the moment,” added Kovalainen.

Two Spanish drivers and a new headquarters could be among HRT’s plans after it emerged Thesan Capital has taken over the Spanish team.
In its first two seasons, Hispania has been effectively based at Colin Kolles’ Greding headquarters in Germany, with no Spanish drivers on the roster.

But it was announced on Monday that the buyout will involve the “search for opportunities to optimise and improve the performance of the team” as well as “progressively making the team more Spanish and definitively settling … in Spain”.

According to the Spanish sports daily AS, Thesan is already developing some ideas along these lines for 2012.

One name mentioned is 23-year-old Spaniard and former GP2 driver Javier Villa, who this year is contesting the World Touring Car series.

And a “longer term” plan may involve 16-year-old Carlos Sainz Jr, the Red Bull-backed son of the famous former world rally champion who has begun a very promising single seater career.

AS said Thesan has “clear ideas” about a Spanish base for HRT, such as the state-of-the-art Epsilon Euskadi facility in Basque Country, amid the Joan Villadelprat-led operation’s current financial difficulties.

“Another of (Thesan’s) priorities will be to have the greatest possible number of Spanish personnel, both technically and logistically,” added the report.

Sebastian Vettel is a brilliant driver and his countryman Nico Rosberg is in the same league.
That is the view of Gerhard Berger, who watched Vettel’s first grand prix win in 2008 as the team co-owner on the Toro Rosso pitwall.

“He is a killer,” the great Austrian told Bild newspaper, “and his great advantage is he doesn’t look like it. He looks like a nice young man from your neighbourhood.”

Two years older than 23-year-old Vettel is fellow German Rosberg, who has not yet won a single race despite having almost two seasons more experience.

But the son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg has consistently beaten Michael Schumacher at Mercedes, prompting Berger to observe: “I see him on a par with Vettel.

“All he lacks is a fast car.”

Nico Rosberg insists he is not getting complacent after proving stronger than his famous Mercedes teammate in the past two seasons.
Ever since seven time world champion Michael Schumacher returned from retirement in 2010, it has been 25-year-old Rosberg regularly setting the pace at the wheel of the Silver Arrows.

Calls for Schumacher, 42, to quit have intensified since his performance in Turkey, where after the race the German admitted he is missing the “big joy” of F1 at present.

But Rosberg has defended Schumacher, insisting he still respects the winner of an unprecedented 91 grands prix.

“He is and remains the most successful racing driver of all time,” the German told Auto Motor und Sport.

“It is still very difficult to be faster than him and I must work hard in every session. Everything needs to fit together for me to stay ahead.

“I’m happy that it has worked well for me against him so far, but I also know that at the next race it may be difficult,” added Rosberg.

The next race on the calendar is in Barcelona, where at the final test of the pre-season the W02 car seemed right on the pace.

But Rosberg warned: “The tests are far in the past and therefore now basically meaningless. In the last few races we have seen exactly where we stand.”

Pat Fry is the most obvious change to Ferrari’s personnel structure for 2011, Luca di Montezemolo reveals.

After starting work on McLaren’s 2011 car, Briton Fry switched to the famous Maranello based team mid-season to become deputy technical director.

There has been speculation since the race strategy blunder in Abu Dhabi that Ferrari would be making other major changes ahead of the marque’s next championship campaign.

But president Montezemolo told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “We will not repeat the mistakes of the past.

“There will be a few job changes and adjustments but nothing dramatic, just the normal process of good people from the second row moving forward.

“With Pat Fry from McLaren, we have only brought in one man from the outside, and this happened long before Abu Dhabi,” added the Italian.

Montezemolo said Ferrari’s goal for 2011 is to end the habit of the past two seasons of kicking off a new campaign without possessing the best car.

“Even though we won the first race this year, we did not have the best car from the start, we won (in Bahrain) only because Red Bull had a problem.

“We improved significantly this year compared to 2009, but – as was the case the previous year as well – Red Bull had the best car,” he admitted.

“Next time we must have the best car from the first race.”