McLaren on Wednesday stopped Lewis Hamilton from responding to former friend Adrian Sutil’s “coward” accusation.
Sutil, the 2008 world champion’s former F3 teammate, has been Hamilton’s closest friend in the paddock throughout their subsequent formula one careers.

But the German slammed his British rival for being “not a man” this week after Hamilton declined to appear as a witness at Sutil’s assault trial in Munich.

Despite sitting alongside Sutil in the Shanghai nightclub last April, Hamilton claimed in a written statement to the court he could not remember the details of the alleged assault on Lotus team executive Eric Lux.

“I do not want to be friends with someone like that,” Sutil, referring to Hamilton, said after receiving a 18-month suspended jail term and EUR 200,000 fine for grievous bodily harm.

A reporter asked Hamilton about Sutil’s anger following the launch on Wednesday of the 2012 McLaren car.

Before the Briton could answer, a McLaren spokesman intervened: “We’ve been told that Lewis shouldn’t really go there because it (the conviction) might go under appeal.

“So can we move on to the next question,” he added.

Hamilton told the reporter: “I’ll listen to him.”

The winner of 17 grands prix had a tumultuous season on and off the track in 2011 but on Wednesday thanked McLaren for granting him a long winter break that left him feeling “fresh” for the new year.

“What I have decided to do this year is just focus on the most important thing and that’s racing,” said Hamilton.

He also hopes to quickly ease rumours about his expiring McLaren contract.

“I think probably after the first couple of races it’s something we will probably want to get out of the way so we can focus on the rest of the year without the team being concerned and without it being something that’s just hanging around for us.

“Then you guys won’t be having to ask questions about it,” he smiled to reporters.

 The assembled world of F1 was surprised on Wednesday when Jenson Button declared the 2012 McLaren “beautiful”.
With the new Caterham featuring a radically-stepped front nose, and Ferrari also preparing to unveil a less-than-attractive single seater, most insiders expected the entire field of 2012 to be ‘ugly’.

“This is a beautiful car,” said 2009 world champion Button when the MP4-27 was unveiled to the media at Woking.

“Many of the others you will see won’t be,” smiled the Briton.

He is referring to the fact that, while the new regulations require a lower extremity of the nose section, the aerodynamic shape at the front of the McLaren remains smooth.

The MP4-27 will be debuted in team youngster Oliver Turvey’s hands at an aerodynamic test this weekend, before Button drives it at the opening of the Jerez test.

“It may look like a direct evolution of last year’s car, but we’ve analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area,” said Button.

 Adrian Sutil’s manager on Tuesday said the German driver is free to return to formula one.
29-year-old Sutil had emerged from a Munich court with a criminal conviction for grievous bodily harm, an 18-month suspended jail term and EUR 200,000 fine.

The former Force India driver also has no job at present.

“I can not say whether anyone in the sport wants to work with me,” he was quoted on Tuesday by the SID news agency.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann, however, said the path is clear for his client to resume his career.

“This (conviction) does not mean Adrian has no future in formula one. There will be no consequences with the FIA and his driving ability has never suffered.”

His conviction is for attacking Lotus team executive Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub last April.

“The only positive thing is that I am now at peace with Mr Lux. At least it’s over,” Sutil said after Tuesday’s hearing.

“Maybe I’ll take a break, maybe I’ll do something completely different.”

The judge Christiane Thiemann said Sutil is lucky not to be heading to jail.

“Penalties exceeding one year are normally not suspended,” said the judge, explaining that Sutil’s current situation and his clean criminal record were taken into consideration.

Thiemann added that the punishment is “sufficient” and would probably have “serious professional consequences” for the F1 driver.

A Munich court on Tuesday found Adrian Sutil guilty of grievous bodily harm, wire news services reported.
The former Force India was on trial for attacking Lotus team executive Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub last April.

The court imposed an 18-month suspended jail sentence and ordered the 29-year-old to pay EUR 200,000 to charity, the BBC, Associated Press and Reuters said.

It is not clear what effect the conviction will have on the status of the German driver’s mandatory F1 superlicense.

 After his Toro Rosso ousting, Jaime Alguersuari could emerge with the Mercedes team in 2012.
The Spanish sports daily AS reports that Ipic, Abu Dhabi’s international petroleum investment company, is unhappy with Red Bull for ousting the young Spaniard from its driver programme.

IPIC owns the Spanish oil company Cepsa, which last year became a major Toro Rosso sponsor.

Alguersuari, according to the report, “had become the image of the company in its international expansion plans”.

Through its investment vehicle Aabar, Abu Dhabi is also involved in F1 as a significant shareholder and sponsor of the works Mercedes team.

AS said the Abu Dhabi link could see Alguersuari, 21, line up as the official reserve driver for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg this year.

The report added that an Abu Dhabi-backed Alguersuari could be important to Mercedes, amid rumours the team’s title sponsor Petronas might leave the sport.

Petronas, the Malaysian oil company, recently stopped sponsoring the Yamaha team in MotoGP.

McLaren has played down reports its cars could be powered by engines produced by Craig Pollock’s new venture Pure in 2014.
Former BAR founder Pollock is targeting at least two customers for his new turbo V6 engine, and Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said there has been contact between Pure and McLaren.

With Mercedes now running its own works team and no longer even a minor McLaren shareholder, the Woking based team faces the prospect of paying for its power beyond this season.

Gazzetta said the change in engine rules would be the ideal time for McLaren to switch.

“McLaren has had absolutely no contact with Pure for many months,” a McLaren spokesman told Reuters.

“Moreover, the contact we did have with Pure, many months ago, was of an entirely informal nature, and was merely a courtesy gesture.”

In late November, reports linked McLaren with rumours Honda is looking to return to F1 in 2014 as an engine supplier.

“We are very happy with and enjoying our partnership with Mercedes-Benz,” team managing director Jonathan Neale insisted at the time.

Indycar’s boss has admitted he would “love” longest-serving F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello to switch codes for 2012.
Having lost his race seat after a record-setting 19 consecutive seasons, the 39-year-old Brazilian is this week testing the 2012 Indycar in Florida, with his close friend and KV team driver Tony Kanaan also in action.

Barrichello has previously ruled out racing on dangerous American ovals, citing a promise to his wife Silvana, but now he is not ruling out the switch.

“By the time he gets out of the car he’ll have a pretty good idea what he wants to do,” countryman Kanaan said.

“Right now, we don’t have anyone signed for the other two cars. You can tell by his face he’s having a lot of fun.”

Indycar chief executive Randy Bernard is hopeful Barrichello will make the decision to race in 2012.

“He’s a champion, a driver who would be a tremendous addition to a series,” he is quoted by the Associated Press. “Indycar would love to have him.”

Bernard is quoted by racintoday.com: “If there is a transition, I want him to know that we’re here to help him.”

Robert Kubica’s comeback could be at the wheel of a turbocharged 2010 Ferrari, according to reports in the Italian media.
It emerged this week that, despite the recent setback of a re-broken leg after an icy fall, the Pole could be only months away from attempting some laps in a F1 simulator.

As for his track return, it is rumoured Ferrari sees Kubica as a potential test driver, with a view to ultimately becoming Fernando Alonso’s teammate.

The new Italian reports say a private test at Fiorano in June or July at the wheel of a two-year old Ferrari equipped with the marque’s 2014-specification turbo V6 prototype has been set as a tentative target.

The same reports suggest some sort of agreement may have been signed.

The unknown factor is the final phase of Kubica’s recovery, with the 27-year-old believed to be still unable to fully rotate his right arm that was almost severed in his rally crash last February.

 Adrian Sutil offered to drive for Lotus this year with a discounted retainer, it emerged on Monday.
In Munich, the ousted Force India driver’s two-day assault trial, surrounding injuries sustained by Lotus team executive Eric Lux last April, began.

T-Online reports that the German driver and his management proposed “various solutions” for an out-of-court settlement, including payments to Lux’s African charity.

Another proposal was a race seat at Lotus featuring a “reduced salary”, according to the report.

Lux recently dismissed as “a joke” earlier speculation Sutil – charged with causing a nine centimetre cut on Lux’s neck with a broken champagne glass – might drive for Lotus in 2012.

The hearing concludes on Tuesday but SID news agency reports the possibility of an eleventh-hour settlement.

The report said Sutil and Lux’s lawyers had private talks at the conclusion of Monday’s proceedings.

A last-minute settlement would have to be approved by the prosecutor, Nicole Selzam, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

The report revealed previously unheard details of the incident, including Sutil telling Lux in the Shanghai nightclub: “Don’t you know I’m a formula one driver?”

Lux said he replied: “Don’t you know I’m a formula one team owner?”

Video surveillance footage of the incident showed Sutil seated on a couch next to Lewis Hamilton, who declined to appear as a witness, before Lux approached.

Sutil responded with a gesture – a “nudge” according to the driver – towards Lux’s neck. A doctor testified that the injuries necessitated a movement with “medium power”.

2008 world champion Hamilton said in a written statement to the court that he could not remember the details of the scuffle.

Former Virgin driver and new Lotus reserve driver Jerome d’Ambrosio, however, did appear, testifying that he heard a glass break.

According to Sutil, it also emerged that Lux demanded a “double digit million sum” in compensation and a voluntary multiple-race grand prix ban in the midst of last season.

Sutil’s lawyer put it to Lux that it would have been an opportunity for one of his team’s Genii-managed drivers to drive for Force India.

“I never thought about that for a second,” Lux hit back.

(Yallaf1) Michael Schamucher spent a few days getting into shape, ahead of the forthcoming Formula 1 test in Jerez, by pounding around the South Garda Karting track in Lonato, Italy.

Driving a KZ category Tony Kart, Schumacher was accompanied by his son Mick who was testing a KF3 category Tony Kart.

Italian website 422Race reports that Schumacher was not hanging about as he recorded a lap time of 41.80 seconds which is an outright lap record.

The seven times F1 world champion was assisted by the Tony Kart factory team and accompanied by the kart manufacturer’s boss Roberto Robazzi Brescia.

Schumacher will be back in F1 action when he takes to the track during the first official pre-season testing at Jerez which starts on 7 February and runs until 10 February.

The 43 year old, who made his grand prix debut in Belgium in 1991, will compete in his 19th F1 season with Mercedes GP.

Note: KZ1 is a kart racing class using 125cc watercooled two-stroke engines equipped with a 6-speed gearbox (about 42 hp)

Sauber’s 2012 car has an ugly bump on its nose, boss Peter Sauber has hinted.

Before the launch of the unseemly Caterham, Ferrari officials admitted their own Maranello built car is also “ugly” due to new regulations.

For this year, the FIA is requiring the pointed nose of the cars to be lower, while the actual monocoque height stays the same.

In the wind tunnels around Europe, it is believed most teams have found that the best solution is to radically taper the nose, despite the fact it is not pretty.

“Yes, for reasons of aerodynamics, this step in the nose is almost inevitable,” admitted Peter Sauber, a week before the Hinwil-built C31 is revealed.

The Swiss said the Ferrari-powered car has passed all the mandatory FIA crash tests and will be fired up for the first time this week.

What about the livery colour?

“That is a secret of course,” Sauber smiled to the Sonntagsblick newspaper. “All I can say is that the basic colour is white, but the overall impression is dark, with red.

“In short, it is different (compared to 2011). I remain a friend of the colour white, although often on television some cars cannot be well distinguished.”

Force India has confirmed reports it has chosen Ferrari reserve driver Jules Bianchi to replace Nico Hulkenberg in 2012.

German Hulkenberg, the official reserve and ‘Friday’ practice driver last year, has moved into a race seat with the Silverstone based team.

Frenchman Bianchi, a GP2 driver last year, will now sit on the sidelines at Force India in 2012.

Like Sergio Perez, the 22-year-old is a Ferrari development driver, handled by Felipe Massa’s manager Nicolas Todt.

“For sure we want to invest (in Bianchi) because we believe in him,” Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said late last season.

Force India said on Friday Bianchi, to make his test debut with the team next month, will also practice “in a minimum of nine Friday practice sessions” this season.

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

Bianchi, along with Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and his 2012 successor Davide Rigon, is currently attending a Ferrari fitness camp in the Canary islands.

“Jules will still be part of the Ferrari driver academy,” confirmed the Maranello based team.

Ferrari added that Italian GP2 driver Rigon, 25, “has recently extended his relationship” with the team.

He “will be on call for all racing and promotional activities also for the 2012 and 2013 seasons”, said Ferrari.

Timo Glock has described Marussia’s plans for a short 2012 pre-season as “a shame”.
The former Virgin team has admitted its new single seater is facing a delay, with the MR01 to only hit the track at the final Barcelona test in March.

And Glock and his rookie teammate Charles Pic will sit out the forthcoming Jerez test altogether.

“It’s a shame we are getting the new car late and therefore only a short preparation (for the season) is possible,” German Glock is quoted by DPA news agency.

He insists the team, ahead of its third consecutive season on the grid, will therefore suffer a “hard time” in the “first third” of the 2012 calendar.

Auto Motor und Sport magazine said the car will receive its first significant update for May’s Spanish grand prix, but there will be no KERS system at all in 2012 for “cost reasons”.

Glock, however, insists he is confident.

“I am positive about 2012,” said the former Toyota driver. “Of course, our goal is to keep developing progressively.”

 HRT is in talks with the city of Madrid to relocate its headquarters to Caja Magica.
Otherwise known as the Magic Box, the facility houses the Madrid Open tennis tournament, the Spanish Olympic Committee and – until last year – the Real Madrid basketball team.

After its first two seasons under the German-based Colin Kolles’ management, the former Hispania team has now entered a new phase with an increased Spanish identity.

Madrid regional officials told the Europa Press news agency that negotiations with HRT are underway.

The team “has approached the city with regards to relocating its headquarters to one of the spaces at the Caja Magica”, an official confirmed.

“At the moment there is nothing fixed, nor any pre-agreements signed,” the spokesman added.

HRT would not comment on media speculation.

Former Virgin driver Jerome d’Ambrosio will be the third driver for Lotus in 2012.
The 26-year-old Belgian’s career is handled by Gravity, the management arm of the former Renault team’s owners Genii.

He will “attend all races” this season and be ready to replace Kimi Raikkonen or Romain Grosjean if required, Lotus said in a media statement.

“Of course, I would love to be racing, but racing with a top team,” said d’Ambrosio.

“Being associated with Lotus F1 team should be more beneficial and this is the choice I have made,” he added.

D’Ambrosio was the Enstone based team’s reserve driver in 2010, before making his grand prix debut last year.

Just before the Lotus announcement on Tuesday, his manager Benjamin Mignot told Le Derniere Heure: “They (Lotus) are conscious that if they are going to announce Jerome as the third driver, they should do it before HRT reveals its second driver.”