Damon Hill has changed his mind yet again on the controversial issue of Bahrain’s return to formula one later this month.

Amid the debate about the island Kingdom’s return to the calendar in the wake of the cancelled 2011 event, the 1996 world champion said initially: “F1 must align itself with progression, not repression”.

But he changed his tune after travelling with FIA president Jean Todt to Bahrain, insisting the situation on the ground had changed since the 2011 protests.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race,” said Hill.

But the Briton has now changed his mind again, apparently after the latest reports of violence on the streets and the reaction in the international media.

Hill is quoted by the Guardian newspaper: “It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for formula one, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race.

“Looking at it today you’d have to say that (the race) could be creating more problems than it’s solving.”

The former Williams driver is scheduled to attend this month’s Bahrain grand prix as a television analyst, but Hill brushed aside any thoughts about his lucrative contract with the British broadcaster Sky.

“Some things are more important than contracts.”

He also expressed misgivings about a recent media briefing in London, in which Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses stood with the Bahrain organisers and insisted the race is going ahead despite the continuing controversy.

Damon said that event was “troubling insofar as it tried to represent the rioting in Bahrain as the result of bad press reporting and as a ‘youth’ issue.

“I hope the FIA are considering the implications of this fully and that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing molotov cocktails, because that’s a gross simplification.”

Writing in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio admitted he thinks it would be “almost reckless” for F1 to travel to Bahrain this month.

“At Sepang,” he wrote, “many team members were very concerned. They said their insurance companies had expressed concern about going to an Arab country in a belligerent state.

“Personally, I don’t think we will be attacked, but it is the goal of the protesters to do anything so that the grand prix is not run.

“The Arab Spring is very much alive in this small country in the Persian Gulf,” he admitted.

And the Times of London’s Kevin Eason wrote on Twitter: “I have been thinking F1 should give Bahrain a chance but I am not convinced now that safety can be guaranteed.”

 Romain Grosjean is hoping for a long stay with the Lotus team.
Then known as Renault, the Frenchman made his troubled F1 debut with the Enstone based team in 2009 but has returned on much better form this year as the reigning GP2 champion.

The E20 car was a standout of the winter season but Grosjean, 25, told Auto Motor und Sport that Lotus’ target for 2012 is “fourth place” in the constructors’ championship.

“We want to go for the world title in 2015,” he added. “I hope I’m still on board.”

Grosjean’s promising return to F1 last weekend in Australia was left in the gravel when he clashed with Pastor Maldonado.

He says he has not met to discuss the incident with the Williams driver.

“Talking doesn’t make the result come back,” said Grosjean.

Venezuelan Maldonado insists it wasn’t his fault.

“The suspension on the Lotus doesn’t seem to be very strong,” he said. “The contact was not intentional. I’m sorry for Romain, but that’s racing.”

Pastor Maldonado attracted praise and scorn from high places after his performance in Melbourne.
As far as Lotus team boss Eric Boullier is concerned, the Williams driver cost Romain Grosjean a place on the podium after their clash during the season opening grand prix.

Asked when the promising black and gold E20 will make its first drive to the rostrum in 2012, Frenchman Boullier told Helsingin Sanomat newspaper: “When Maldonado doesn’t crash into us.”

Venezuelan Maldonado, often criticised for being Williams’ lead pay-driver, had another crash at Albert Park – on the very last lap – which ended his stirring push for a solid fifth place.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who initially admitted to being relieved when Maldonado was no longer hounding him in his mirrors, also said he felt sorry for the 27-year-old.

“He was much faster than me and in the end I might have had problems to defend my position,” he told AS newspaper.

“I think he did a good drive and I felt some sadness when I saw that he had gone from my mirrors because he was about to earn the fifth, sixth, whatever (position),” added the Spaniard.

Nico Rosberg’s father has questioned the decision by Mercedes to delay the launch of its 2012 car.
Nico Rosberg, the German-born son of 1982 world champion Keke, has publicly backed his team’s approach in not running the W03 in anger until now, a full group test after main rivals Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari got their new cars up and going.

“There is definitely some risk,” said former McLaren and Williams driver Keke Rosberg, 63.

“It’s Barcelona and so there could be some snow and the test could even be cancelled.

“Or if it happens to you what happened to Ferrari in Jerez, then you have even a shorter amount of time to fix everything.

“The tests are separated only by days and then there is the last one, and again it could be snowing or raining,” added Rosberg. “It’s not Andalucia, remember, but the Costa Brava.”

Rosberg said the issue for Mercedes and also Ferrari is the risks they are needing to take in order to catch up with last year’s pacesetters, Red Bull and McLaren.

“How could Ferrari be having such problems, when without the exhaust gases last year they won at Silverstone?

“Maybe it’s because they had to take such a leap, but when you do that there’s the risk it will go wrong.

“It’s the same for Mercedes, because last year they were in calm waters with a big gap to the top and the middle groups.”

 Former Williams driver Alex Wurz has returned to the famous British team as a “driver mentor”.
Austrian Wurz, 38, was Oxfordshire based Williams’ Friday driver in 2006, and Nico Rosberg’s teammate the following year, before he left F1 with 69 grands prix under his belt.

Now a Le Mans driver, he will return to the F1 paddock in 2012 to mentor Bruno Senna, Pastor Maldonado and test driver Valtteri Bottas.

“Alex will start his duties at this week’s Barcelona test before accompanying the team to races this season,” said Williams in a media statement.

Wurz made his grand prix debut in 1997, and was also highly regarded as a test driver for McLaren and Honda.

On his new role, he said: “This is a great initiative by Williams and highlights just how hard the team is pushing to optimise its performance.”

Bruno Senna has calmed a wave of fears about his health by declaring “I’m fine”.
Rumours buzzed around the internet that the Williams driver had been injured less than a month before the 2012 season.

In fact, the injured driver is Japanese karter Sakaguchi Sena.

“Guys, I’m fine,” Senna wrote on Twitter. “There’s been a confusion about me hurting myself.

“Whoever it is that actually got hurt, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Nico Hulkenberg has confirmed reports that he will be driving the new Force India on the Friday mornings of grands prix all season.
It had been suggested that the former Williams driver’s new long-term deal included the Friday work, but until now there had been no confirmation.

“I’m still in F1,” said the 23-year-old German at Valencia, where he drove his new Silverstone based employer’s 2010 car.

“I will be driving on every Friday in free practice so the good thing is that I can still show what I can do,” added Hulkenberg.

“I have the make the best of it. I have the year to convince the guys at Force India,” he is quoted by the SID news agency.

Replaced at Williams by the well-funded Pastor Maldonado, Hulkenberg has been visibly downcast at Valencia this week.

“It hurt a lot and it’s no secret that I am very disappointed,” he admitted.

“But I’ve had some weeks to get over it. I am trying to put it behind me and look positively into the future.”

Adrian Sutil has agreed a new deal with Force India but a contract is not yet signed, the German driver’s manager said on Monday.

The 27-year-old has been linked with a move elsewhere for 2011, while at the same time others drivers – including the job-seeking Nick Heidfeld and Nico Hulkenberg – are eyeing Sutil’s seat with the Silverstone based team.

But Sutil was at the wheel of the Mercedes-powered VJM03 at the Pirelli test in Abu Dhabi last week, and manager Manfred Zimmerman insists that a “fundamental agreement” covering 2011 is already in place.

“Once a contract is signed, we will announce it,” Zimmerman is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“This should happen within the next two to three weeks,” he added.

At the same time, it is rumoured that ousted Williams driver Hulkenberg’s best chance of a continuing job in F1 next year is the reserve role at Mercedes GP.

Nico Hulkenberg has revealed that Williams is not his only option for the 2011 season.

Despite soaring to his maiden pole position a week ago in Brazil, the future of the German rookie is still clouded due to the British team not yet finalising its 2011 lineup.

Williams is reportedly considering Pastor Maldonado, the new GP2 champion who carries as much as EUR 15 million in PDVSA sponsorship, for the seat.

Chief executive Adam Parr on Friday hinted in Abu Dhabi that some key decisions about the team’s future have now been made.

“I have missed the last two races as I have been making sure we have the finances we need for next year, and we do,” he said.

Parr insisted that Williams is in “great financial shape”, but 23-year-old Hulkenberg appeared not to agree.

“Obviously they are struggling for some money,” he told Gulf News.

Hulkenberg said Williams’ driver decision will not be made until after Maldonado tests next week at the Yas Marina track.

“We have other options to go for other teams and races. I can’t name them or speak about it now. But for me, the most important thing is to stay in formula one,” he said.

Alan Jones will make his debut as a formula one steward in Korea in two weeks.

At the inaugural Yeongam event, the 1980 world champion will join the ranks of former drivers who have officiated this season alongside regular FIA stewards at grands prix.

“They call on the experience of an ex-driver to help the stewards make a better decision in the event of anything happening on the track,” Australian Jones told SpeedCafe.

“As an ex-driver, the officials simply ask for my opinion,” said the 63-year-old winner of 12 grands prix, and Williams’ first champion.

However, there is still great uncertainty about whether the Korean race will go ahead at all.

The latest word from Suzuka is that Charlie Whiting’s FIA inspection of the track next Monday will in fact take place over two days.

The outcome of the inspection will therefore not be known until Wednesday — just 8 days before the first practice session is scheduled.

This weekend at Suzuka, it is another former Williams driver – Austrian Alex Wurz – fulfilling the stewards role.

The 36-year-old veteran of 69 grands prix, who last competed in 2007, made his debut as an FIA official in China in April.

With just 3 or 4 races to go in 2010, there are no more signs that Red Bull is set to throw its full weight behind championship leader Mark Webber’s title tilt.

The Australian would openly accept number 1 status over Sebastian Vettel, and recently consultant Helmut Marko indicated the team would soon consider the possibility.

But Vettel, who remains 21 points behind Webber, put his campaign back on track with a strong weekend in Singapore, and afterwards announced his intention to push on.

“The drivers championship is still open,” said the 23-year-old German in Singapore.

According to the German newspaper Die Welt, he announced that he and Webber have agreed to a “professional approach” to the next decisive races.

And “We will find out who is better,” Vettel is quoted as saying.

It means that of the three top teams in with a chance of the 2010 title, only Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso can currently count on the backing of his teammate.

“It is almost inevitable with the way the season has swung backwards and forwards that this will go right down to the wire,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

Alan Jones, the last Australian to become world champion in 1980, backed his countryman to beat Vettel in a dog-fight.

“I think if it gets down to a bit of a head-game, I’ll back Mark every time,” said the former Williams driver.

“It’s a fascinating championship,” added 63-year-old Jones.  “We haven’t had one like this for years, where five people could become world champion with four races to go.”