Jaime Alguersuari has announced he will be absent from the formula one paddock in 2012.
After two and a half seasons and at just 21-years-old, the Spaniard has lost his Toro Rosso race seat.

And the final spot on the 2012 grid, at the Spanish team HRT, has been secured by Narain Karthikeyan.

There has been speculation Toro Rosso sponsor Cepsa was unhappy with Red Bull’s decision to dump Alguersuari, but the Faenza based team announced that the Spanish oil company is staying on board for 2012.

It has also been rumoured Cepsa’s Abu Dhabi links could see Alguersuari become third driver at Mercedes this year.

Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo said an announcement about the driver’s plans is due imminently.

“You will not see me there this year but I am content with the super experience formula one has given me for my life,” Alguersuari wrote in Spanish and Castilian Spanish on his Twitter page.

“Thank you all very much for your support,” he added.

Adrian Sutil looks set to keep his motor racing career alive in a category outside of formula one.
The 29-year-old has been fully focused on F1 since 2006, when he was a test driver with the Midland (now Force India) team.

He moved into the Silverstone based squad’s race seat the following season, but lost his place for 2012 as Nico Hulkenberg stepped up from the reserve role.

German Sutil has also run into legal trouble due to the Eric Lux assault affair, resulting in a criminal conviction for grievous bodily harm.

His best option to keep racing this year, therefore, could be an offer from a World Touring Car Championship team, German newspaper Bild reports.

Another offer on Sutil’s table is from an Indycar team, the report added.

“Our focus is on returning to formula one,” his manager Manfred Zimmermann commented.

 While his teammate’s plans beyond this year are unclear, McLaren driver Jenson Button is sure his career is on the right track.
Lewis Hamilton has been making headlines this week after saying he wants to think about his future beyond 2012 – when his existing contract expires – soon.

“Probably, after the first couple of races, it’s something we will probably want to get out of the way, probably in the earlier part of the year rather than later,” said the Briton.

2011 championship runner-up Button, however, inked a new multi-year contract last season, now telling the Sun newspaper that at the age of 32, it is too soon to think about retiring.

Agreeing that 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s return to F1 this year is good for F1, Button said: “It also tells me not to leave F1 too early.”

Also among the six world champions on the 2012 grid is Michael Schumacher, who returned two years ago at the age of 41.

“Two of the six champions have left and come back again. You always think the grass is greener but you’ve got to be careful about when you retire,” said Button.

The quality of the 2012 grid is also making predictions about the outcome of the world championship particularly difficult.

“It will be close,” agreed McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh. “It’s a massively competitive championship these days.

“No one, in my view, is going to run away with this victory, not us, not anyone else.”

With the launch event at Maranello cancelled due to heavy snow covering the entire area, the reveal of the Ferrari F2012 was done through a series of online streaming interviews with key players including Fenando Alonso who spoke about the new car and the season ahead.

“It looks very different from what we have seen in the last two years,” said Alonso of the F2012 which features a ‘platypus’ style raised nose which first broke cover when the Caterham CT01 was revealed to the world last week.

The Spaniard, who won the Formula 1 world title in 2005 and 2006, is motivated as ever, “This is my third season at Ferrari and I am going to start with the same strength and determination. I want to do great this year.”

“Of course it’ll be quite competitive for the whole season, but we want to see red cars on the podium. We start [testing] next week in Jerez and we keep working together. I am sure we will do well this year.”

“I believe in the skills we have here in Ferrari. We have two months to get ready before the first competition. We have to fight for the title and try and get as many points as possible. We really want to be right at the top of the ranking,” said the Spaniard who has 27 grand prix victories under his belt.

“We have to be as consistent and resolute as possible. I am sure, really, really sure we will be able to achieve great targets and fulfil the great responsibility of driving for Ferrari.”

Adrian Sutil deserves to keep his formula one race career alive.
That is the claim of Nico Hulkenberg, the driver who is replacing his German compatriot at Force India in 2012.

Sutil, 29, has failed so far to secure an alternative seat, and days ago was dealt a further blow with a Munich court convicting him of grievous bodily harm for an assault on Lotus team executive Eric Lux last year.

He did, however, have a strong 2011 season, outscoring his teammate Paul di Resta – the Scottish rookie who has retained his race seat – by 15 points.

“Adrian definitely deserves a cockpit — more than some of the other current race drivers,” Hulkenberg, who steps up from the reserve role after losing his Williams race seat at the end of 2010, said.

“There is absolutely no bad blood between us,” the 24-year-old, referring to his relationship with Sutil, told Sport Bild magazine.

He blames the situation – with drivers like Sutil and Rubens Barrichello out in the cold – on ‘pay-drivers’.

“I was one of the few drivers in formula one who don’t need to bring any money,” said Hulkenberg.

“But that so many experienced drivers are without seats shows just how brutal the sport can be.”

His plan for 2012, therefore, is to ensure a place on the 2013 grid.

“At the end of the year I don’t want to have to worry about my seat for the next season,” insisted Hulkenberg.

And he said helping Force India to secure fifth place in the constructors’ world championship – one position better than in 2011 – is another goal for his second season in F1.

The Mercedes-powered VJM05 will be launched on a chilly Friday morning at Silverstone.

 The likelihood is rising that Rubens Barrichello will switch from formula one to Indycar for the 2012 season.
Left without a race seat after 19 consecutive seasons of grands prix, the 39-year-old Brazilian has been testing this week in Florida with the team of an Indy driver he describes as his “brother”, Tony Kanaan.

Barrichello was scheduled to test at Sebring over two days, but he completed yet another half-day on Wednesday, the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo revealed.

“I don’t know how things are going to move forward now,” he told the correspondent Livio Oricchio. “I have not spoken with (owner) Jimmy Vasser about racing in the season.”

Much has been made about an earlier promise Barrichello made to his wife Silvana about never racing at high speed on American ovals — the kind that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon late last year.

“She has come here (to Sebring) now,” Barrichello revealed, “and today she was supporting me, seeing how happy I am.

“Silvana even joked with Tony, saying that he was to blame for all of my enthusiasm,” he laughed.

The 15-round 2012 season, featuring four oval tracks including the fabled Indy 500 in May, and a city race in Barrichello’s native Sao Paulo, kicks off at the end of March on the streets of St.Petersburg, Florida.

“What is certain is that it (the speculation) will not last long. Whether I race or not will be known soon.

“There is a lot of work still to do and KV (Racing) needs to know its driver,” said Barrichello.

 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.

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.”

 Jules Bianchi has thanked Ferrari for helping him make the next step in his formula one career.
On the face of it, the Frenchman’s switch from Ferrari to the same reserve role at Force India is a backwards move.

But the new deal involves driving on the Fridays of grand prix weekends, while in the same role last year Nico Hulkenberg successfully found his way onto the race grid for 2012.

Some reports have suggested Ferrari wanted to clear the reserve role so that it is free for Robert Kubica to step in this year with a view to replacing Felipe Massa in 2012.

While Kubica’s Ferrari link could be true, the famous Italian team is undoubtedly still pushing on 22-year-old Bianchi’s career.

Indeed, he has been training in the Canary islands in the past days with Ferrari’s Massa and Fernando Alonso.

And “Jules will still be part of the Ferrari driver academy” in 2012, the team confirmed.

Even Bianchi reinforced the fact the Ferrari connection is still very much alive.

“I’m very happy. I want to say thank you to Ferrari who have been working hard for me,” he told the French-language RMC Sport.

“It was very important to find a team and the aim now is to find the way to keep going,” added Bianchi.

 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)