Fernando Alonso has kicked off the new 2012 season with a ‘Samurai’ tattoo on his neck and back, Marca sports newspaper reports.
Publishing a photo of the artwork on the Ferrari driver’s neck, the Spanish publication said the tattoo features Japanese characters.

Marca said the Spaniard and two-time title winner was inspired by the Hagakure, the spiritual guide written by 18th century samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo.

The report said most of Alonso’s tattoo is on his back.

Andre Lotterer on Friday boasted that his Formula Nippon single seater is faster than the F1 cars produced by F1 backmakers Virgin and HRT.

The 29-year-old German, who is leading the Japanese championship ahead of former Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, won the series’ Suzuka round in May.

“Theoretically, if I would have entered today’s first free practice with my Formula Nippon, I would be nineteenth,” Lotterer, a Jaguar test driver in 2002, said at Suzuka.

In May, Suzuka pole sitter Naoki Yamamoto’s Honda-powered Nippon qualified with a time of 1.40.470, which was faster than any Virgin or HRT driver could manage on Friday morning at the same Japanese circuit.

And that Formula Nippon time is just half a second behind Friday morning’s slowest Team Lotus runner Karun Chandhok.

The 2011 Formula Nippon single seaters are built by American manufacturer Swift and powered by 3.4 litre V8 engines supplied by Toyota or Honda.

Karun Chandhok has admitted it would be “fantastic” if he can contest his home Indian grand prix next month.
Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes said this week he would “like” to put reserve driver Chandhok at the wheel of team regular Jarno Trulli’s car in Delhi.

“It’s obviously very nice to hear,” Chandhok, 27, told CNN. “He (Fernandes) is the man who can make it happen. I’ve just got to wait and see what he decides.”

Chandhok’s father Vicky is the president of India’s federation of motor sports clubs.

“I’ve been very involved in the circuit,” said Karun, who replaced Trulli for a one-off race at the Nurburgring in July. “I’ve been visiting the (Buddh circuit) site every month.

“To have the opportunity to drive would sort of complete that circle,” he added.

Chandhok acknowledged that the fact he is now regularly considered for the race seat occupied by Italian veteran Trulli has created some tension at Team Lotus.

“It’s not ideal, there’s no doubt about that. I experienced it last year (at HRT), my drive was given to Sakon Yamamoto in the second half of the season. It’s tough,” he said.

“When they put me in the car in Germany … it’s a very difficult situation. It can be awkward. But I have to say Jarno was fantastic.

“He offered his advice and support all through the weekend. I have to say hats off to him, he was a model professional,” added Chandhok.

Trulli however has already been confirmed for the 2012 season, while Fernandes said this week that Heikki Kovalainen is the team’s “number 1 driver”.

At the same time, Chandhok is hoping for a regular race seat.

“I need to sit and figure things out with Tony and where we are and where we see the future. I’d like to stay with Tony, with Lotus, and in the future race for them full time. That’s my ambition,” he said.

A Canadian is at the front of the queue to become the next reserve driver for the Virgin team.
The role is vacant at present following Sakon Yamamoto’s contract that covered only the first three grands prix of 2011.

The Toronto based Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail said Robert Wickens, 22, is linked with the role given his new backing in the Formula Renault 3.5 series by Virgin’s Russian sponsor and shareholder Marussia.

In the series, he uses a car and overalls coloured in the exact designs of the formula one team.

The newspaper said the former F2 and GP3 driver’s Virgin deal could be in place for the Canadian grand prix in June, and possibly much sooner.

The last Canadian in formula one was 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who lost his BMW seat in 2006.

Team boss Colin Kolles on Wednesday blamed HRT’s lack of success in 2010 on its selection of inexperienced drivers.

The Spanish team, ultimately 11th in the constructors’ championship ahead of Virgin but with the least competitive car in the field, began its debut season with the rookie pairing Bruno Senna alongside Karun Chandhok.

Brazilian Senna contested most of the season but the more experienced Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien also drove for HRT in 2010.

“It was a difficult year but we were the most reliable new team,” said Kolles in an interview distributed by the Spanish team.

“I think the only reason why we did not finish tenth is that teams like Lotus and Virgin had more experienced drivers during the whole season.

“I think that in testing we showed quite a good performance in relation to the other new teams,” he added.

Speculation has surrounded the future of Hispania, particularly with the split with 2011 partner Toyota leaving the team precious little time to prepare a better car.

Reports in recent days indicated a possible link with former Super Aguri technical director Mark Preston’s Formtech company, but the Australian has confirmed that he has not been in contact with HRT.

Kolles nevertheless sounds confident.

“We are working to have a better package than last year. Obviously this depends on a lot of factors but we are working to achieve our goals,” he said.

Karun Chandhok on Thursday admitted he is in talks with Force India about the 2011 season.

The Indian made his F1 debut with HRT this year but was ousted by the better-financed Sakon Yamamoto.

Chandhok has links with Force India through his father Vicky, a high ranking motor racing official who knows team boss Vijay Mallya well.

The 26-year-old has missed the past few grands prix but leaves for Abu Dhabi late on Thursday.

“I will be talking to four teams for next season’s contract and yes Force India is one of them,” he told the Indo-Asian News Service. “I am in regular touch with Vijay.

“I am also in talks with my present team Hispania. I hope to seal the deal by the end of December,” added Chandhok.

Christian Klien will be back in action for the HRT team at this weekend’s Brazilian grand prix.

The Austrian also replaced Japanese Sakon Yamamoto in Singapore due to food poisoning, but no reason has been given for the change of drivers ahead of the Interlagos event.

“I am very happy to get a second opportunity to do another grand prix here after Singapore and I hope that we are doing a good weekend with positive results,” said Klien, 27.

He has raced at Interlagos twice before, most recently in 2005 with Red Bull.

The Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung said recently Klien might return to the Cosworth-powered F110 cockpit in Brazil or Abu Dhabi in a last-ditch effort to help HRT beat Lotus to tenth place in the constructors’ championship.

After Sunday’s Korean grand prix, Christian Klien could return to the wheel of the HRT for one or both of the remaining races of 2010.

That is the claim of the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, recalling the 27-year-old’s strong performance with the struggling Spanish team in Singapore recently.

With his apparent food poisoning gone, Japanese pay-driver Sakon Yamamoto returned to the Cosworth-powered car in Japan and Korea.

But Kleine Zeitung said HRT is now considering putting reserve driver Klien back in the car for Brazil or Abu Dhabi, in a last-ditch effort to beat Lotus to tenth place in the constructors’ world championship.

Lotus has been the best of the three new teams in 2010, but neither it, HRT or Virgin has scored a single point.

Lotus is currently tenth due to Heikki Kovalainen’s 12th place finish at Suzuka, but an eleventh for HRT or Virgin at Interlagos or Yas Marina next month would see Lotus overhauled.

Only the top ten constructors share in the annual distribution of prize-money under the provisions of the Concorde Agreement.

Klien said in Yeongam that 2010 has shown that some pay-drivers are not necessarily the best value for F1 teams relying on the lucrative Bernie Ecclestone income.

“There is one at Virgin and Renault, and possibly two at Hispania,” he said.

But Klien acknowledged that a surprise result for HRT with the F110 car is unlikely.

“We are the only team that, since the season opener in Bahrain, has not aerodynamically improved its car,” he said.

He is therefore more hopeful about 2011.

“In March next year, I definitely see myself in a formula one cockpit,” said Klien.

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.

Organisers of the Japanese grand prix say they would like to continue to host the formula one race at Suzuka beyond the 2011 contract.

But with Honda, Super Aguri, Toyota and the popular Takuma Sato all departed, and Bridgestone supplying tyres for the last season, Suzuka and Kamui Kobayashi and Sakon Yamamoto represent a fading Japanese involvement in the sport.

“It’s under discussion, but we would like to continue,” Itaru Yamada, motor sport managing director of the Honda-owned Mobilityland company, told Reuters on Sunday when asked about a new race contract for 2012.

Despite eager fans happily and patiently sitting under Saturday’s torrential rain, the media report said there are 50,000 fewer spectators at Suzuka on Sunday compared with four years ago.

And Yamada said the event is currently only marginally profitable.

Bernie Ecclestone has backed Karun Chandhok to return to the formula one grid next year with a “better car”.

When the Indian rookie signed up for his debut season with HRT this year, he thanked F1 chief executive Ecclestone for being “a superb pillar of support to me and my family”.

However, it is now expected that Chandhok, 26, will sit out the remainder of the season in deference to the Japanese pay-driver Sakon Yamamoto.

But crucially, one of Chandhok’s sponsors is Jaypee Sports, who are bringing formula one to India next year at the circuit currently under construction 40 kilometres southeast of New Delhi.

Ecclestone in 2010 described India as one of “the most important and powerful players in the world of business, culture and sport”.

The Briton is now quoted by the Times of India: “Having an Indian team (Force India) is obviously a big help. An Indian driver will be an even better deal.

“I definitely want to see Karun in a better car next year,” said the diminutive 79-year-old.

Ecclestone said of Chandhok, who now travels to the grands prix to commentate for British television: “He served his apprenticeship in a car that he could do nothing about.

“He really needs to be in a team where he can show his potential because I think he can be very, very good if he gets the right car,” added Ecclestone.

He said he plans to visit the site of next October’s inaugural Indian grand prix after the forthcoming race in Brazil.

“The rains would’ve stopped by then (November),” said Ecclestone. “Work has really suffered I heard.”

On a PR visit to India last weekend, Lewis Hamilton also backed Chandhok to shine at the wheel of a better car.

“Karun is a very good driver,” said the 2008 world champion. “He understands the nuances of the sport very well and if he is able to get a better car, he would be able to make a big difference.”

The mechanic injured during Sakon Yamamoto’s Monza pitstop is still in hospital, the HRT team has revealed.

The German radio mechanic, whose first name is Marco, was nursing broken bones and concussion after being struck violently by Japanese Yamamoto’s rear wing and wheel.

He is “recovering positively”, the Spanish team said in a statement late on Monday.

“He is supposed to leave the hospital in Italy soon, where he was kept under observation and go back to Germany, his home country,” added Hispania.

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.

Bruno Senna at Monza said he is expecting to keep his race seat at HRT for the rest of the 2010 season.

The Brazilian sat out the British grand prix in July in deference to the highly-sponsored Sakon Yamamoto, but after returning at Hockenheim insisted he will finish the season with the struggling Spanish team.

But Yamamoto, now replacing earlier HRT regular Karun Chandhok, said recently that while he is staying put in 2010, he is not sure whether Senna or Chandhok will be in the sister car.

“I am assuming I will be in the car until the last race,” Senna said.

“I have a firm place all the way to Abu Dhabi.”

But beyond that, he admitted his place for the 2011 season is not yet secure.

“I would like it to be in the bag, but that’s not the case,” said the 26-year-old. “Hopefully I can find a place soon.

“All I can do is my best, as I have done, and hope it’s good enough to continue in formula one,” added Senna.

He also said he is refusing to look on the negative side of HRT’s situation, with a lack of finances meaning the F110 is not being developed.

“It’s not really ideal but I’m making the best of it,” Senna explained. “That’s the only way to be in this situation.

“If I look at it negatively, I’ll lose motivation. I need to be doing my best for whoever will hire me (for 2011).”

Karun Chandhok is excited about his home country hosting a grand prix next year, but first must secure a 2011 race cockpit.

The Indian rookie is currently under contract to HRT, but unlikely to reappear for the struggling Spanish team in 2010 due to Sakon Yamamoto wielding more powerful sponsors.

But that could be set to change, after the FIA on Wednesday confirmed that Delhi will host its inaugural formula one race next October.

“Almost all commercial partners involved with formula one see India as a key market and this is a great way to bring them into our country,” Chandhok is quoted by the DNA news agency.

“To be the first Indian driver on the grid at the Indian GP will be a huge thing to have on my CV and we’re all working hard to secure the best option for 2011,” he said.

Previously, the 26-year-old has said he is unlikely to team up with his countryman and billionaire Vijay Mallya, who heads the Force India team.

But Chandhok is now sounding more bullish, with the team’s Adrian Sutil linked with a move elsewhere.

“At the moment it’s still a bit early to say,” remarked Chandhok to indiancarsbikes.in. “I’m still contracted to HRT and we’ll see what the future holds.”