Rubens Barrichello has alleged that Ferrari made a threat that might have ended his motor racing career during the infamous 2002 Austrian grand prix.

Ten years ago, the Brazilian led the race at the A1-Ring but eventually, at the very last corner, succumbed to team orders that allowed number one teammate Michael Schumacher to pass him.

Subsequent video footage has depicted then Ferrari team boss Jean Todt asking Barrichello on the radio to simply “let Michael pass for the championship, please”.

But Barrichello, having left F1 at the end of 2011 for a seat in Indycar, says it was not quite as simple as that.

“It was eight laps of war,” he is quoted by Brazil’s Globo.

“It’s very rare that I lose my temper, but I was screaming on the radio. I kept going right to the end, saying I would not let him pass.

“That’s when they said something about something much broader. It was not about the contract.

“I cannot tell you what they said, but it was a form of threat that made me think about re-thinking my life, because the great joy for me was driving,” said the 39-year-old.

 Mercedes’ highly-anticipated 2012 car made its track debut this week during a secret test day at Silverstone.
“Lots of questions about Silverstone and shakedowns,” admitted the Northamptonshire based team on Twitter on Thursday.

Youtube video footage, captured by a trackside observer, showed the ‘step’ nose W03 turning laps at the British grand prix venue, which is located just a 15-minute drive from the German team’s Brackley headquarters.

Mercedes said the test was for “filming” purposes, with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher’s equally sharing the allowed 100 kilometres of running.

Italy’s Autosprint website said the car appeared “fairly conventional”, despite speculation the late test debut is due to the team keeping an explosive technical innovation close to its chest.

Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s car designer, admitted he and Mercedes’ rivals might have a very close look at the W03 if the rumours about the technical secret are true.

“If it comes out and goes three seconds quicker than anybody else, yes of course,” he is quoted by Reuters.

“Other than that, simply because its later doesn’t mean to say you are going to suddenly show more attention at that than anybody else’s.”

Meanwhile, after the struggling Spanish team’s 2012 car recently failed two mandatory FIA crash tests, HRT will sit out next week’s Barcelona test.

Last week at Jerez, Pedro de la Rosa ran at the wheel of the 2011 car.

Lewis Hamilton looks set to be recalled as a witness as the Adrian Sutil assault saga rolls on.
German Sutil, and his father Jorge, described former close friend and 2008 world champion Hamilton as a “coward” and “pathetic” after the McLaren driver did not appear at the recent hearings in Munich.

But with the former Force India driver – and Munich prosecutors – now filing appeals against the judge’s verdict, Hamilton’s personal testimony might be regarded as crucial.

Hamilton is clearly visible in the video footage of the incident with Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub last April, but Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann claims the judge neglected the gravity of the security camera evidence.

“Not asking one of the witnesses to court and other important circumstances have not been considered as well,” Zimmermann charged.

London newspaper the Daily Telegraph claims Hamilton “is happy to testify provided the date does not clash with prior commitments”.

Almost four years after the News of the World scandal first broke, Max Mosley is still chasing the saga in court.
Since early 2008 when Briton Mosley was filmed with five prostitutes, the 71-year-old’s reign as FIA president has ended and the British tabloid closed.

But despite winning a similar case in Britain, his lawyers have been in France’s Tribunal de Grande Instance this week pressing another case against the report’s chief reporter.

Because the News of the World report and video footage was available within France, Mosley sued journalist Neville Thurlbeck for defamation and breach of privacy.

He is seeking EUR 100,000 in damages from both the News of the World and Thurlbeck, according to The Guardian.

“Every copy of the paper distributed was a thorn in the skin of Mr Mosley. Every one was a prejudice,” said Mosley’s lawyer Philippe Ouakrat.

But Thurlbeck’s lawyer told the hearing on Tuesday that Mosley should not be able to sue twice for the same offense.

“Mr Mosley has already gained satisfaction in England,” said Jean-Frederic Gaultier. “This case here is not about justice but about vengeance.”

An HRT mechanic is not seriously injured on Sunday despite a terrifying incident during the Italian grand prix.

Video footage has emerged of a German mechanic called Marcel being thrown violently to the ground by Sakon Yamamoto’s car as the Japanese left the pits at Monza.

The mechanic was adjusting Yamamoto’s radio when the lollipop-man let the driver go too early.

HRT said Marcel never lost consciousness as he was taken to the medical centre.

“The situation is under control and we are waiting for more information,” added the Spanish team.

More information emerged in recent minutes thanks to former HRT race driver Karun Chandhok, who visited Marcel in the medical centre.

“Marcel the radio man is talking and stable awaiting more scans,” said the Indian.

Red Bull’s clear-the-air meeting, to be attended by both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, will take place at the team’s Milton-Keynes headquarters on Thursday.

The meeting comes amid new developments in the wake of last Sunday’s collision of the two RB6 cars whilst they led the Turkish grand prix.

While team figures have backed away from pointedly blaming Webber for the incident, isolated as a scapegoat could be his race engineer Ciaron Pilbeam.

Already heavily criticised by Dr Helmut Marko, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport claims that Pilbeam not only failed to pass on information about the charging Vettel, but actually told Webber to use his overtake button to repel the attack.

Red Bull has said Webber was – unlike Vettel – in a fuel-saving engine mode at the time of the contact, and was also struggling with tyre wear.

And in quotes published by British newspapers The Independent, the Mirror and the Telegraph, boss Christian Horner revealed that Webber asked the team to advise Vettel to back off the lap before the crash.

“There was no way you could do that because of the McLarens being right there,” said the Briton.

And team advisor Marko told Bild newspaper: “Mark had radioed the pits to say he was having problems and was slow.”

Also slow was his pitstop, 33-year-old Webber claimed after the race, joking that his crew “put fuel in, I think”.

According to some German reports, video footage exists of Horner mouthing “pass!” on the pitwall in the moments immediately before Vettel’s overtaking attempt.

Niki Lauda thinks German Vettel, 22, is clearly the team’s number one driver.

“Whoever thought previously that Webber is the number two was well informed,” the triple world champion is quoted by German-language spox.com.

“It was only because the team wanted to influence the race that it got messed up,” the Austrian continued.

Red Bull insists that Webber and Vettel are treated equally, but Marko is quoted as saying appointing a number one would be an “easier” strategy.

“But that is not in the spirit of our team,” he insisted.

Added Lauda: “In terms of the team, Webber is to blame (for the crash) because they wanted him to wave Vettel past.  But that would be team orders and not allowed.”

He also points out the current difficulty, with Vettel apparently favoured but Webber leading the world championship and 15 points clear of the sister car.

“I would be logical for the team to focus on one driver, but usually that would be the one who is in front,” said Lauda.

Webber wrote on his Twitter on Wednesday: “Bloody hell guys, thank you for your support.  Sport can be amazing sometimes, huh, that’s why we love it!

“Head down for Canada,” he added.

(GMM)

Ferrari might modify its F-duct system so that it is easier for the drivers to use.

Team figures defended the ease of use and safety of its solution when it debuted in Barcelona, after video footage showed Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa using their hand to block the cockpit air inlet.

McLaren’s drivers block the air inlet with their knee.

Maranello based Ferrari has already vowed to modify the system for Turkey, after analysis of its use in Spain showed that downforce was being shed even when the F-duct was not being activated.

And Stefano Domenicali told Spain’s AS newspaper: “We are working on different solutions that will be more comfortable for our drivers than the first version.

“We have not yet decided what will be the position (of the cockpit air inlet),” the Italian added.

(GMM)