Kimi Raikkonen’s managers have revealed they only now take a back seat in the career of the 2007 world champion.
Britons David and Steve Robertson have guided the famous Finn throughout his motor racing career.

But Steve told Finland’s Turun Sanomat that they only intervene now when the 32-year-old driver requests it — such as when he needed to negotiate last winter with Williams and his ultimate 2012 employer, Lotus.

“We came to the end of the road really in late 2009,” he said.

That is when Ferrari bought out the rest of Raikkonen’s contract, and he headed to world rally.

“We can’t honestly say that we are real rally fans — it’s alien to us, while we know F1 through and through.

“When Kimi wanted to go back to F1, he turned to us for help with the agreement. After a few months Kimi got what he wanted.”

Robertson, however, explained that the father-son duo are no longer involved in the “day to day” running of Raikkonen’s career.

“I have known Kimi for 11, 12 years, and he has become really close to us. When he asks for help, he knows that we are always ready to give it,” he continued.

“I was delighted when he wanted to come back where he really belongs (in F1),” said Robertson. “There is so much nonsense about Kimi’s problems with motivation.

“The truth is that he wanted to come back for one reason only — because he is super-motivated to race in F1 again.

“By taking Kimi, it shows the (Lotus) team’s desire to succeed. I think Kimi and Romain Grosjean are a good combination.

“By changing the drivers the team has showed that it was not satisfied with the level of last year and that they want to come back to being among the big teams,” he concluded.

Peter Sauber has admitted his Swiss team is flattered after Red Bull apparently copied the C31′s exhaust layout ahead of the 2012 season.
Red Bull ran at the initial Jerez and Barcelona tests – and then the two opening days of the final Barcelona test – with its own solution in the wake of the FIA’s blown exhaust clampdown.

“We had a nice surprise on the penultimate day (of winter testing),” Sauber team boss Peter Sauber wrote in his column for Sonntagsblick newspaper.

“Red Bull announced their plans to use a heavily modified car, as it will race in Melbourne.

“Compared to their first version it had a completely different rear, which differs significantly from most cars — but not ours.

“The Red Bull and our C31 have a very similar concept, concerning the management of the airflow at the rear.

“For our engineers, it was an extra confirmation that they have chosen the right development direction. They are convinced that this concept has the potential for further development,” added Sauber.

 Red Bull and McLaren have the quickest cars as formula one teams prepare for the final pre-season test before Melbourne.

That is the view of Sauber designer Matt Morris, despite the Swiss team’s Kamui Kobayashi setting the fastest overall time at last week’s Barcelona test.

“The top teams are yet to show their hands,” read a report in the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

Morris agrees with that assessment.

“If we are to believe our own analysis then Red Bull and McLaren are in front, there is a question mark about Ferrari, and behind them is a very close group of several teams.

“I think the gaps between those in this central group will be smaller this year,” he added.

The F1 world’s real gaze this week will however be on the apparent title contenders, with Lewis Hamilton quoted by the SID news agency as saying: “Maybe Red Bull are a bit quicker than us.”

But McLaren’s team boss Martin Whitmarsh revealed: “We will have a fairly substantial (update) package in Barcelona this week.

“We assume Red Bull will do the same,” he added.

Unlike last year, however, there will be no last-minute technical sensation that determines the pecking-order for the start of the season.

Sauber’s Morris explains: “There will be nothing spectacular; the rules don’t allow it any more.”

But he admitted that the best-funded teams will continue to tinker at the edges, as demonstrated by McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull who have so far run several different exhaust configurations in the wake of the blown diffuser ban.

Morris said: “Any modification in this area is an expensive pleasure, while before we (Sauber) do anything, we have to be sure that it is clearly better.”

It is too soon to be picking the winners and losers ahead of the 2012 season, reigning back-to-back world champion Sebastian Vettel insists.
An early analysis might suggest Ferrari is struggling whilst Lotus could be set to join the pacesetters this season.

But German Vettel, who drives for 2010 and 2010 constructors’ champions Red Bull, said after the Jerez test that it is way too soon to be drawing conclusions about his rivals’ form.

“There is a bit of a reference when you look at what runs they’ve been doing, but if you look at previous years at this time of year it’s all up and down. Nothing really shows yet,” he is quoted by PA Sport news agency.

“Now we wait for Mercedes (to launch their 2012 car) and then we will know a little more, certainly at the last test in Barcelona,” added Vettel.

“The change in rules have also given people an opportunity to catch up, so we’ll see what happens.”

One of those with potential to catch up is midfield team Sauber, but boss Peter Sauber insisted that Jerez provided “no more than a snapshot” with two group tests yet to run before Melbourne.

“For me, any attempt to create a pecking order based on Jerez is no more than reading tea leaves,” he told the Swiss Sonntagsblick newspaper.

Sauber agreed with Vettel that the final test in Barcelona next month will “lift the fog” ahead of the trek to Australia for the season opener.

“Only at the last test will we see the teams using their technical packages for Melbourne,” he said.

Vettel added: “Lotus looks quite good from what I’ve seen — fast and consistent.

“Ferrari and McLaren are the big unknown, and perhaps us as well,” he is quoted by Spain’s Europa Press.

Sauber’s Monisha Kaltenborn has admitted the Swiss team will return to Bahrain this year if F1 officials say so.
She is referring to the fact that, despite the island Kingdom’s scheduled return to the calendar in April, there are reports the situation inside Bahrain is not yet stable.

“We are not in a position to judge it too well,” Sauber’s managing director is quoted by Europa Press, “so we have to trust the FIA and the commercial rights owners.

“If they believe it is right to go there, we definitely will.”

Agreed Lotus team boss Eric Boullier: “It is not an easy topic. We are currently awaiting comments from the FIA about whether or not to go there.”

Team owner Gerard Lopez added: “What I have heard is that there are a number of guarantees in terms of what will happen, so if things look good there is no reason why we shouldn’t go.”

Lewis Hamilton’s split with pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger will make him a better man and driver.
That is the claim of the 2008 world champion’s father, following the news that Pussycat Dolls singer Scherzinger and Hamilton, 26, have parted after a four-year relationship.

The split would explain Hamilton’s foul mood in Korea just over a week ago, towards the end of arguably the Briton’s worst ever season in his professional career.

But Anthony Hamilton, despite no longer managing his son’s career, indicated the McLaren driver is now steering onto the right track.

“He’s turned a corner in everything he’s done, his life, his loves and his love of motor sport. Next year is going to be interesting,” he is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

“You’ve only seen a young Lewis Hamilton. Now Lewis Hamilton the man is coming,” added Hamilton Snr.

Stefano Domenicali has refused to rule out finding a place at Ferrari for another driver in 2013.
Fernando Alonso is signed up long beyond next season, but his current teammate Felipe Massa will be out of contract at the end of 2012.

At the front of the queue are the two drivers heading up Ferrari’s so-called driver ‘academy’: French GP2 driver Jules Bianchi and 2011 Sauber rookie Sergio Perez.

Asked about Ferrari’s driver plans for Bianchi and Perez in 2013, Domenicali said in Singapore: “For 2013? Ah yes. Bianchi is a great talent and he had a positive season in GP2 but he needs to grow and gain experience next season.

“I cannot say now where he will be,” the Italian told Spanish sports daily Marca, “but for sure we want to invest because we believe in him.

“As for Sergio, he has a contract with Sauber and he also has to grow. It is best not to put any goals at this time. May both of them have a good 2012,” added Domenicali.

Meanwhile, the Italian was asked how much he worries about the rumours Flavio Briatore is waiting in the wings to be the next Ferrari team principal.

Making a circular motion with his fingers, he said: “Zero!”

Sebastian Vettel is likely to break an almost twenty year old formula one record this year.
In 1992, Williams’ Nigel Mansell started from the front of the grid no fewer than 14 times, and Vettel has already won 10 poles in 2011 with six races left to run.

The 24-year-old German, however, admitted that even if he does capture Mansell’s record, he would not consider himself the best qualifier in F1 history.

“I think it (the record would be) nice to hear but I think the most impressive one – and it will probably always be – is Ayrton Senna.

“The amount of poles he got during a year and then for three or four years in a row, I think that’s the real benchmark,” said Vettel.

In addition to the pole record, Vettel could also become F1′s highest ever scorer of points, according to an analysis by Brazil’s Globo Esporte.

So far in 2011, Vettel has won just over 87 per cent of all the points available to him, with the all-time record for an entire season being Michael Schumacher’s 84.71 in 2002.

Fabio Leimer could be a formula one race rookie in 2012.
The Sonntagsblick newspaper reports that the 22-year-old Swiss’ career is backed by Rainer Gantenbein, who says he has spent more than $17 million already.

Leimer is currently ranked 14th in the GP2 championship.

The Swiss newspaper said Gantenbein is in “intensive negotiations with several F1 teams” about the 2012 season.

“If Virgin demands five million (Swiss) francs, then that is what I will raise,” he said at Monza.

The first step for Leimer will be his debut F1 drive during the young drivers’ test session in Abu Dhabi after the penultimate grand prix of the season.

The new Spanish team HRT will use a gearbox supplied by Williams in 2011, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

According to the famous Grove-based team, the deal will be in place “for the lifecycle of the current Cosworth engine technology”, which presumably means until F1′s regulations change at the end of 2012.

“This is a logical partnership given Williams and Hispania’s mutual relationship with Cosworth,” said Williams chief executive Alex Burns.

The struggling HRT team has emerged as a likely customer for technical support by Williams in 2011.

Last month it was reported that famous British team Williams could be set to supply its hydraulic systems and gearboxes to one or more of the sport’s small new teams.

In 2010, the standard Xtrac systems have proved outdated and unreliable, and Lotus broke ranks to arrange of a supply of Red Bull’s technology for 2011.

“We’ve had enquiries for our hydraulics and gearbox, we’re open to supplying it, but nothing has been agreed at this point,” a Williams spokesman told us in September.

The Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat believes Hispania Racing (HRT), the back-of-the-grid Spanish team, has been in talks with Williams about the systems.

According to the latest rumour in the F1 paddock, Karun Chandhok may be in talks with Lotus about joining Tony Fernandes’ team for 2011.

The rumour was aired on British television on Saturday morning from Korea, with pit reporter Ted Kravitz saying the Indian driver could become reserve driver before moving into the race cockpit in 2012.

Kravitz quoted a Lotus team member as admitting that the 26-year-old Indian, who made his debut with HRT this year before being sidelined by the better-funded Sakon Yamamoto, is a “great guy”.

Chandhok said this week that he is hopeful his F1 career has not floundered permanently after just half a season.

“There is a lot to discuss for next year with the HRT team, but also with other teams to see what other options are available for me, but I do feel good about my prospects,” he is quoted by The National newspaper.

UK-based Chandhok has not attended the most recent Japanese and Korean grands prix.

F1 drivers and engineers canvassed Karun Chandhok for his impression of this weekend’s new grand prix venue in Korea, the Indian has revealed.

Chandhok, 26, contested the first half of 2010 with the HRT team, and was later deployed by Red Bull to the new – then incomplete – Yeongam layout for a demonstration in an F1 car.

So, as the only driver in the world to have completed real laps in Korea, Chandhok revealed to Reuters that title contenders Mark Webber and Jenson Button have asked him about the circuit’s nuances.

“You’d expect people to be calling, really,” said Chandhok, who is not travelling to Korea this week.

The report said technical people from various teams, and his former teammate Bruno Senna, also asked Chandhok questions about his laps in Korea.

“To be fair, a lot of people have very good simulators and they have a lot of faith in their simulators and simulation software,” he explained.

“I think a lot of them tend to believe that more than anything else.”

But he said Australian Webber spoke to him about Korea.

“Obviously he was very curious to see what I thought about the place and what the circuit was like,” said Chandhok.

And a more recent discussion was with Button.

“We were chatting about this and that and he was quite curious about Korea,” added the Indian, revealing that the McLaren driver asked him about the camber of the corners.

“I think some of that stuff is not so apparent until you get there. So he had questions about that sort of stuff,” said Chandhok.

Pedro de la Rosa is in close contact with HRT-owner José Ramón Carabantes: Returns to the Spaniards in 2011 actually again?

Pedro de la Rosa has his release with Sauber but suffered a severe setback in the comeback year, but the Spaniard pulls himself up once more. The 39-year-old would next year start a new venture. Currently, de la Rosa continued the Pirelli test work that started his successor Sauber Nick Heidfeld.

“This is not the decisive factor,” former McLaren test driver said of his insider knowledge of the new Formula 1 tires. “This knowledge gives me no cockpit, but I can maybe get a little closer,” said de la Rosa in the radio station ‘Onda Cero. ” Regarding 2011, he is currently working in close contact with HRT.
“I talk to the Carabantes, we are in a lively exchange. Warn me abreast of the progress,” says de la Rosa. “If the project is ambitious and interesting, then I would be happy if I could be there. They know it. But right now there is no hurry.” HRT is said future cooperation with Toyota Motorsport in Cologne.

After his banishment from cleaning the Spaniard with initial air his frustration. “I have my opinion and she knows Peter Sauber. That counts for me. I respect the decision, but that does not mean I think they are good. Now, we continue with Pirelli.” Neither de la Rosa still Heidfeld for 2011 a place in the Swiss free – Sergio Perez is new on board. “A good driver with good results and the important support of Telmex,” says de la Rosa.

Bernie Ecclestone boosted the hopes of F1′s global television audience on Sunday by indicating the sport will be broadcast in high definition next year.

Earlier in 2010, despite the FOTA fan survey showing that 70 per cent of fans wanted HD broadcasts, F1 chief executive Ecclestone said 2011 was “too soon” for the introduction of the newer technology.

“I think we’ll be moving to high definition probably next year,” he told BBC pundit Eddie Jordan in Singapore on Sunday.

It is believed this year’s on-track action is being filmed in HD, although that feed is not yet offered to broadcasters.

Many sports have been broadcast in HD for years.