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.”

Jaime Alguersuari’s father has slammed Red Bull’s decision to axe his son.

Jaime Alguersuari snr said the decision by Dr Helmut Marko to oust the young Spaniard after a strong season and at the age of 21 was “unfair and incomprehensible”.

But “whoever killed him buried him badly,” Alguersuari snr added, referring to his son’s new full time roles as co-commentator on British radio and with Pirelli.

Alguersuari snr, who is involved with the organisation of the Renault World Series, said his son is due to test Pirelli’s 2010 Renault test car next week.

According to EFE news agency, Alguersuari snr also said his son’s career to date has been more impressive than Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, who are Toro Rosso’s new drivers.

Jules Bianchi will kick off his season of Friday practice duties this weekend in China.

Despite remaining under contract to Ferrari’s development programme, the Frenchman was signed to be reserve driver at Force India this year.

The team said 22-year-old Bianchi will practice during “a minimum of nine” Friday sessions this season.

The first will be in Shanghai late this week, according to the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.

The report said Bianchi, who will also race in the Renault World Series in 2012, will take over Paul di Resta’s Mercedes-powered car in the initial free practice session beginning at 10am local on Friday in China.

“I hope it (the role) will put me in a strong position to one day move into a race seat,” Bianchi said in January.

HRT Formula 1 Team announces the incorporation of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua to the Spanish team’s young driver development programme.

The formation programme designed by HRT F1 Team for Ma Qing Hua includes professional assessment in his career as a driver, private tests with cars from different categories and simulator tests. If the results of the partnership are satisfactory, Qing Hua could take to the wheel of the F112 at the Formula 1 Young Driver test.

Ma Qing Hua will perform his first official act with HRT Formula 1 Team on Thursday the 12th of April at a press conference previous to the Chinese Grand Prix (13th to 15th of April), which takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit. The details of the press conference will be announced shortly.

The incorporation of Ma Qing Hua to HRT Formula 1 Team’s driver development programme is part of the Spanish team’s strategy in order to serve as a platform for the formation of professionals in the pinnacle of world motorsport. The driver born in Shanghai has been competing in different categories of national and international motorsport for many years. His incorporation to HRT F1 Team’s Driver Development Programme takes place after some simulator tests and a testing session in Cheste (Valencia) at the wheel of a World Series car. The qualities and attitude of Qing Hua convinced Luis Pérez-Sala of his potential to incorporate him to the programme which Dani Clos, HRT F1 Team test driver, is also a part of.

Ma Qing Hua: “I’m very honoured to form a part of the driver development programme at HRT Formula 1 Team since, with work and effort, it will allow me to become the first Chinese Formula 1 driver. It’s a very special moment for me and it’s hard to express how happy I am. I’ve dreamt of becoming a Formula 1 driver since I was very small. I started in the karting world when I was 8 years old and I worked really hard to learn and become quicker every time. After competing in categories such as Formula campus, Formula Renault and F3, I learned a lot about car set-up, technique on circuits and team work to become more professional every time. And now finally my childhood dream has become true thanks to the opportunity that HRT has granted me to become an F1 driver. And even more so this year with all the drivers who are competing, with 6 world champions amongst them. Driving an F1 car will be the most incredible experience and I’m going to work hard to earn it. Thanks to HRT for offering me the chance to show what I’m capable of. And thanks to my family and everyone who has always supported me. This is only the beginning”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “We are working so that one of the team’s signs of identity is to serve as a platform to launch young drivers, both nationally and internationally. Ma Qing Hua is one those talents in which we believe and we want to help him in his career so that he can make it to Formula 1. We like his conditions and we want to take part in his formation by incorporating him to the team’s Driver Development Programme so that he can participate in races and private tests, with the objective of him being able to take part in the Formula 1 tests reserved to young drivers. Due to my responsibility in the Circuit de Catalunya young driver programme, I’ve been able to follow his progress and personally assisted some tests he did. I knew he had potential, but I was surprised with his speed, safety, adaptation capacity, attitude and professionalism. All these virtues make us believe that his incorporation to the programme will be very positive and will lead to a fruitful and lasting relationship”.

Profile

Date of Birth: 25th of December 1987
Place of Birth: Shanghai, China
Nationality: Chinese

Ma Qing Hua started racing at the tender age of 8 and won the youth National Karting Championship when he was 12 years old. He continued to race and achieve successful results in karting until 2004, when he entered the Asian Formula Renault Series and won the championship. In 2005 he represented Team China in A1 Grand Prix. From here he would move on to Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, before competing in Formula 3 Spain and Formula 3 Spain “Copa de España”, managing two podiums this season. One year later, the Chinese driver took part in various events of the British Formula 3 International Series. In 2010 he represented Team China for two races in Superleague Formula before moving onto the Chinese Touring Car Championship in 2011 where he came away with the title after four wins and four podiums in the eight-race season.

Career Summary:

2011: Chinese Touring Car Championship: 1st in the Championship (4 wins and 4 podiums)
2010: Superleague Formula: Team China
2009: British Formula 3 International Series: Team West-Tec
2008: Formula 3 Spain, Copa de España F3: Team West-Tec: 7th in the Copa (2 podiums)
2007:Chinese National Karting Championship (Super Group): 1st in the Championship
2006:Formula Renault 2.0 NEC: Team Astromega
2005:A1GP: Team China
2004:Asian Formula Renault Series: 1st in the Championship
Formula Campus Asia Championship: 1st in the Championship
Shanghai Karting Grand Prix (ICA Group): Winner
2003:Chinese National Karting Championship (ICA Group): 6th position
2002:Chinese National Karting Championship: 2nd position
Indian International Karting Championship: 2nd position

 Gary Paffett is next in line for a Force India race seat this weekend in Australia.
The Silverstone based team’s new regular Friday and reserve driver, Jules Bianchi, is unavailable this week as he tests ahead of the Renault World Series.

Force India has therefore asked McLaren, its technical partner, for help.

With Pedro de la Rosa now at HRT, Briton Paffett is the famous British team’s new official reserve driver.

He has already been in action this weekend, demonstrating McLaren’s 2011 car to the crowds at Albert Park on Thursday.

And Paffett, 30, will step into Force India’s car during the race weekend, should bad fortune befall the team’s regular drivers Nico Hulkenberg or Paul di Resta.

“I’m happy to be available for Force India for this weekend,” said the DTM driver.

He will not participate in Friday morning practice.

“Of course, it’s unlikely that I will be called up and hopefully it won’t happen, but it’s nice to know that the team thought of me,” said Paffett.

 McLaren has signed up the son of a former team driver to test its 2012 formula one car later this year.
In 1995, Denmark’s Jan Magnussen – also a former McLaren test driver – made his formula one race debut with a one-off McLaren seat.

He moved on to contest 24 grands prix with Stewart until he was stepped down for poor performances in 1998.

Now, the 38-year-old’s son Kevin, who is 19, has been signed up for McLaren’s young driver programme, which will include a seat at the young driver test later this year.

Like Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey, Magnussen will also work in McLaren’s state-of-the-art simulator.

He first caught McLaren’s attention in 2010, and last year finished runner-up in the British F3 championship with eight poles and seven wins.

This year, he will contest the Renault World Series.

“The team has shown great faith in me so far and I feel that this is an important step in my career,” said Magnussen.

He is hopeful, but Jean-Eric Vergne insists he is still not sure if he will make his grand prix debut with Toro Rosso next year.
With his World Series season now concluded, the reigning British F3 champion recently began a new role as the Faenza based team’s Friday practice driver.

The heavily Red Bull-backed youngster is sitting out India because the circuit is new, but will be back in action in Abu Dhabi and Brazil next month.

Frenchman Vergne, 21, said recently he expects to replace either Jaime Alguersuari or Sebastien Buemi in 2012.

Before that, he will drive Red Bull’s title-winning car throughout the Abu Dhabi young driver test.

In France this weekend, he now tells the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur: “I must concentrate on my work, not paying attention to what is being said.

“Anyway, I don’t know anything about next season yet. The decision will be taken after Brazil,” said Vergne. “There is still time.”

Maria de Villota insists “there are real possibilities” she will be a regular in the formula one paddock next year.
The 31-year-old Spanish female driver tested a 2009 Renault at Paul Ricard in August, and earlier this month she re-appeared in the car during the World Series race weekend at Barcelona.

She told the Spanish news agency Europa Press that she is getting “closer” to securing a job in formula one for 2012.

“The first test we did in August went so well that it helped to accelerate more possibilities,” said de Villota.

She said her short-term objective is to “be in formula one in 2012″.

De Villota, the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, said her Superleague races alongside former F1 drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Enrique Bernoldi had convinced her she is capable of contesting grands prix.

“While I have great respect for them, I do not see an uneven playing field,” she said.

“Physically – yes I know – I have to work harder, but as an athlete and a driver I feel that with proper training and with the experience that I need, I think I can do it very well.”

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has admitted four drivers are in the running to fill the team’s two race seats in 2012.
It was already known that the second Red Bull team’s current drivers, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, could lose their seats at the end of the season.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne kicked off his new Friday driving duties in Korea last weekend, and another Red Bull-backed hopeful is the Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo, who currently drives for HRT.

“Jean-Eric is one of four drivers – with Buemi, Alguersuari and Ricciardo – that Red Bull is thinking about placing with Toro Rosso next year,” team principal Tost told the French daily L’Equipe.

“We will take our decision in December. It’s really open and Jean-Eric is a possibility for 2012,” the Austrian added.

Vergne, runner-up in this year’s Renault World Series, said in Korea that he expects to have a job at Toro Rosso next season.

“I like his driving style,” confirmed Tost. “He has already demonstrated in the World Series his mastery of the car and his aggressiveness.”

Tost revealed that another Frenchman is also in talks with Toro Rosso.

“We are negotiating with Charles Pic,” said Tost, referring to the 21-year-old GP2 driver.

“There is a possibility that Charles will run a test with us during the days reserved for young drivers in Abu Dhabi.”

A race seat with Virgin could be the next step for Canadian Robert Wickens.

Driving in Virgin and title sponsor Marussia’s colours this season, the 22-year-old wrapped up the Renault World Series championship in Spain last weekend while F1 raced at Suzuka.

“We look forward to celebrating with him this weekend in Korea,” announced Virgin’s F1 team boss John Booth.

A few months ago, Wickens was announced as the F1 team’s new reserve driver.

And while the formula one world was in Japan last weekend, the Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported that Wickens is in the running for a 2012 seat because he has “more (sponsorship) money” to offer than Jerome d’Ambrosio.

Wickens told the Toronto newspaper Globe and Mail: “F1 has always been the goal in my whole career and now I am the closest I have ever been.

“Definitely, I will switch now to trying to secure a seat for next year.

“At the end of the day, if I could get corporate Canada’s support it would be a dream come true.”

It is possible both Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov will not feature in next year’s Renault team lineup.

That is the claim of the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are in the running for the 2012 race seats.

Pole Kubica is recovering from injury at present and hoping to be ready to start driving once again as early as next month.

The report said he will start his comeback in a road car and possibly then move into a Renault single seater designed for the World Series or GP2.

“The question is whether Gerard Lopez and Eric Boullier want to wait that long,” said Auto Motor und Sport.

Kubica currently has no contract for the 2012 season, with team boss Boullier warning at Monza that he needs to finalise the team’s lineup soon.

Kubica’s 2010 teammate Vitaly Petrov, on the other hand, has a contract for next season.

But Auto Motor und Sport refers to “rumours that the team could go with Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean in 2012″.

Referring to Senna, who has already replaced Kubica’s initial 2011 substitute Nick Heidfeld, the report said the “potential to find sponsors is greater in Brazil than it is in Russia”.

New GP2 champion and Frenchman Grosjean, meanwhile, can be signed “at a discount price, with the hope of getting a subsidy from Renault for the engine”.

Russian Petrov said at Monza that he is not worried.

“My contract is safe for next year,” he insisted.

British F3 champion Felipe Nasr is hoping his new title, and well-connected manager Steve Robertson, open doors for him in formula one.
Brazil’s Globo Esporte reports that McLaren and Ferrari are both interested in signing up the 19-year-old from Brasilia to their young driver programmes.

“I can not say anything,” Nasr said. “I have mentioned these two teams because of Steve’s very good relationship with them.”

Robertson, who formerly managed Jenson Button, was Kimi Raikkonen’s manager throughout the 2007 world champion’s race-winning stints at McLaren and Ferrari.

Nasr continued: “I know that in time he (Robertson) can negotiate an opportunity to test. I think at the time Steve sees that I am ready, he will contact those teams.”

The report said Nasr’s most likely destinations for 2012 are the Renault World Series or GP2, but with the latter category less likely due to his shortage of sponsors.

He said he turned down an opportunity to join Red Bull’s roster of young development drivers two years ago.

“Actually I preferred to be managed by Steve Robertson, whose resume includes two champion drivers (Raikkonen and Jenson Button).

“He is 100 per cent focused on me, which is different from Red Bull who are looking at five or six drivers at a time,” added Nasr.

Franz Tost has confirmed reports that French youngster Jean-Eric Vergne is set to rev up his formula one career with Toro Rosso.

It emerged earlier this weekend that the 21-year-old is set to drive the STR6 on Friday mornings once the Renault World Series wraps up in October.

Alongside Daniel Ricciardo, Vergne is the new cream of Red Bull’s driver development programme, putting pressure on the current Toro Rosso lineup comprising Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

The second Red Bull team’s boss Tost confirmed Vergne’s forthcoming Friday programme to autohebdo.fr.

“It’s a chance for him to come on board to develop his experience of F1, to know our team, to work with the press, gain knowledge of the technical aspects — everything he needs to know about being a formula one driver,” said the Austrian.

Red Bull will not decide Toro Rosso’s 2012 driver lineup until after the current season.

“We will only decide who is driving with Toro Rosso next year after this season,” confirmed consultant Dr Helmut Marko to the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean on Saturday moved another step towards his return to formula one by sealing the GP2 title at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Now that we are champions, I will have a look at what is going on upstairs (F1), but at the moment, my main concern is to find a good contract for 2012 and nothing else,” he said.

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he must do a “more than respectable” job if he wants to be promoted by Red Bull for the 2012 season.
The Australian is the current cream of the energy drink company’s young driver programme and since July has been placed with the small HRT team.

But in his three races so far, he has only once outqualified experienced teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi.

While most the F1 world slumbered in August, 22-year-old Ricciardo was in action at the weekend at Silverstone in the Renault World Series.

He has been linked with a move up to Red Bull’s secondary Toro Rosso team for 2012.

“I’ve got to do a more than respectable job at HRT this year and then we’ll see what opens up for next year,” Ricciardo is quoted as saying by the West Australian newspaper.

“I obviously have a link with Red Bull but nothing is really guaranteed for the long term.”

Daniel Ricciardo is not getting excited despite his boss Helmut Marko saying the Australian is scheduled to make his F1 debut by 2012 “at the latest”.
The 21-year-old is the cream of Red Bull’s current junior development programme, and will drive on the Friday morning of grands prix this year with Toro Rosso as well as racing in the Renault World Series.

And whether he is drafted in to replace the Red Bull-owned team’s regulars Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari before the 2011 season is out, Marko told Motorsport-Total.com that it “depends on the parties involved”.

Ricciardo, in Perth with his family this week, told the West Australian newspaper that he had not read Red Bull advisor Dr Marko’s comments.

But he insisted: “I can’t really rest on that, that I’ll be in (F1) next year. If I have a bad year this year, I’m sure he’ll change his mind.”

Ricciardo confirmed that he will be driving on the Friday in Bahrain, and at three of the forthcoming pre-season tests.

“I’m not sure (exactly) what testing I’ll be doing,” he said.

“The Toro Rosso guys have told me that I’ll be in the car for testing before Bahrain,” added Ricciardo.