The teams, the fans and the world’s media will not be the only ones with their eyes firmly on the action at Jerez next week.
It is rumoured Charlie Whiting, the technical delegate of formula one’s governing FIA, has scheduled to attend the first test of the 2012 pre-season.

The news follows speculation some teams are flying too close to the limits of the regulations with their new cars, notwithstanding the banning of blown exhausts.

At the launch of the new McLaren, for instance, the exhausts and the diffuser were carefully hidden.

“The fact of the matter is that exhausts exist on a car, you have to have them, they blow gas,” said the team’s technical director Paddy Lowe.

“That will always generate some performance, a finite level of performance.”

When the very aggressive-looking new Ferrari was unveiled in Italy on Friday, team president Luca di Montezemolo said he hoped arguments about the rules would not overshadow 2012.

“There are reports that … Whiting may travel to Jerez next week due to concerns over the designs of the new cars,” correspondent Tom Cary wrote in the Telegraph.

 McLaren was left the odd-one-out on Friday, as Ferrari and Force India joined Caterham in launching new cars with ‘ugly’ noses.
The odd feature – a quirk of new regulations – is the centrepiece of Ferrari’s new F2012, launched on Friday morning at Maranello, and the Mercedes-powered Force India VJM05, whose covers were pulled off in the chilly Silverstone pitlane.

“(The car) looks very different actually from what we have seen in the past two years,” said Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Agreed Felipe Massa: “Let me tell you that it looks very aggressive.”

Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary, however, had another view, insisting the Ferrari, Force India and Caterham have “nasty nose jobs”.

But McLaren’s new MP4-27 features a clean aerodynamic line at the front.

“It’s a bit of a hot topic this year,” Andrew Green, Force India’s technical director, acknowledged to Sky Sports.

“Obviously a lot of people commented on the McLaren a couple of days ago. For us, it’s not a big deal. It’s purely aesthetics.”

Paddy Lowe, McLaren’s technical boss, said the team had retained a more conventional look because last year’s car already had a “philosophy” in line with the new rules.

“You can’t see performance necessarily by eye, it’s a matter of fine-tuning the balance between all the relevant aspects,” he insisted.

F1 team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has donated a staggering EUR 70 million to a medical research university in his native Austria.
The local ‘Salzburg 24′ reports that the 67-year-old billionaire, whose energy drink company owns the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams, donated the money to the Paracelsus Medical University.

Mateschitz reportedly wants the money to be used for research into incurable spinal injury and paralysis.

The report said the university was founded in 2002 with Mateschitz’s support.

“This is the third highest amount ever donated to a university in Europe by a private person,” said a university official.

“We are very grateful and also aware of the great responsibility that comes with such a high sum.”

The Spanish press quoted the publicity-shy Mateschitz as saying: “It is a very worthy project and I want to help.”

 Bernie Ecclestone has once again backed Mark Webber to shine in 2012.
Australian Webber came close to winning the championship in 2010, but ultimately it is his young teammate Sebastian Vettel who is the reigning back-to-back title winner, having utterly dominated last season.

And it is likely Adrian Newey has penned another field-beater yet again for 2012.

“I don’t want Red Bull to dominate in the same way but I fear that’s what will happen. That’s why I put my hopes on Mark Webber’s shoulders,” F1 chief executive Ecclestone said recently.

Webber turns 36 later this year and many tip Red Bull to replace him with one of rookie team Toro Rosso’s new chargers for 2013.

But Ecclestone insists it is not too late for the Australian.

“I think he could win, yes for sure,” he is quoted by the Herald Sun.

“I think you are going to see a different Mark this year. What he has to do is come to appreciate that Sebastian is quick, and he has to make sure he is quicker.

“(And) get it out of his head that people are not supporting him because they actually are.”

Volkswagen is contemplating a formula one foray, according to German reports.
The carmaker giant’s motor sport representative Wolfgang Durheimer told leading business magazine Wirtschaftswoche he has devised a preliminary plan for the future that includes F1.

“Later this year I will put forward proposals to the executive group for (involvement in) not only the racing series that we do already,” he said.

“It is true — in America, Asia and the Middle East, we are not sufficiently represented in motor sport,” added Durheimer.

The magazine cited sources in saying the first step for VW, already linked commercially with the Red Bull rookie team Toro Rosso, would be to become an engine supplier.

 Adrian Newey is Red Bull’s guarantee to remain a F1 frontrunner, according to Gerhard Berger.
The former ten-time race winner knows the Briton well, having won the 2008 Italian grand prix as a constructor when Sebastian Vettel drove the Newey-penned Toro Rosso to victory at Monza.

“As long as they have Adrian Newey and his technical staff, Red Bull will have either the fastest or the second fastest car,” Berger told this week’s Auto Motor und Sport magazine.

“And with Vettel in one of the cars, with so much confidence and experience now, he can make the difference even with the second best car,” added the Austrian.

But according to Berger, it is a different story for Germany’s former world-beater Michael Schumacher.

“I don’t think he’s going to extend the contract,” he said, referring to the fact 2012 is the third and final year of the 43-year-old’s existing deal with Mercedes.

“At some point he has to get tired.

“He has no chance against Rosberg,” explained Berger. “He will have to admit that at more than forty years of age he can’t beat a young driver at Rosberg’s level.”

Indeed, young talent is now Berger’s specialty, after he was asked by his former Ferrari boss Jean Todt to head the FIA’s single seater commission.

Berger thinks the junior categories cost youngsters too much.

“What I think would be reasonable is EUR 50,000 at the most for a kart season, 100,000 for an entry-level series, 300,000 for formula 3 and half a million for the last series before formula one,” he said.

Spain’s formula one broadcaster La Sexta has raced off the grid, it emerged on Thursday.
Publico newspaper, linked to Spanish F1 rights holder Mediapro, said other broadcasters can now bid for the coverage due to La Sexta’s inability to pay.

La Sexta held a contract for 2012 and 2013 but Mediapro “has terminated” it with immediate effect, Publico said, citing sources who blamed declining advertising rates.

Mediapro issued letters this week advising that the deadline for interested replacement broadcasters is February 6.

 With Red Bull juniors Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne stepping up for 2012, the spotlight is set to fall on the energy drink company’s next young hopeful.
That youngster is Carlos Sainz Jr, the 17-year-old son of the Spanish world rally legend.

Sainz Jr is now the cream of Red Bull’s junior driver programme, and this week is heading to Milton Keynes to drive the F1 team’s state-of-the-art driver simulator, Spanish sports newspaper Marca reports.

Also in the spotlight this year is Russian 17-year-old Kaniil Kvyat, who like Sainz Jr is the other ‘veteran’ of the Red Bull programme.

Sainz Jr moves into the British F3 championship for 2012; a category previously won by former Red Bull juniors Ricciardo, Vergne and Jaime Alguersuari.

 Sebastian Vettel is the outright favourite, but Red Bull’s rivals are also in the running for spoils in 2012.
That is the claim of Brazilian legend and two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.

“It seems that Sebastian Vettel will be the guy to beat again, since the strong Red Bull project counts on Adrian Newey, who is a genius,” the 65-year-old is quoted as saying by Globo.

“But we can’t forget that Ferrari and McLaren have very big and competent structures, and excellent drivers, with all the conditions to be at the top,” added Fittipaldi.

He also commented on the return in 2012 of former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who kicked off his campaign this week with a test in Lotus’ two-year-old Renault car.

“As a very talented driver, he has the ability to be very fast again, even after two years away,” said the winner of 14 grands prix.

“But he will have to adapt quickly. The first six months will be crucial for him.”

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is hoping Sebastian Vettel’s rivals break the world champion’s run of dominance this season.
The F1 chief executive is an avowed fan and friend of the 24-year-old Red Bull driver, but for the sake of the sport he wants the German to be chased down in 2012 after two consecutive successful championship campaigns.

Asked by Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten at the Kitzuhel skiing event if Vettel will dominate this season, the 81-year-old laughed: “I hope not!

“Of course, Red Bull are still going to be there. I would much prefer a fight for the world title right to the end of the season.”

But if Vettel does dominate again, Ecclestone said the most important thing is that the individual races are exciting.

“The TV viewers care more about the tension of the race than the championship,” he insisted.

It is very possible that Red Bull designer Adrian Newey has penned yet another field-beater, so in that case Ecclestone will be cheering for Vettel’s teammate, Australian Mark Webber.

“I don’t want Red Bull to dominate in the same way but I fear that’s what will happen. That’s why I put my hopes on Mark Webber’s shoulders.

“This year we will see a situation where he can show his talent much more,” said the Briton.

Ecclestone is also crossing his fingers for Red Bull’s rival teams.

“I would be surprised if Mercedes don’t win a race this year. As for Ferrari, I can only hope they improve significantly.

“Alonso is super-talented and deserves a perfect car,” he said.

And as for the occupant of the other Ferrari, 1964 world champion John Surtees said the pressure is on the team’s Brazilian “weak link” Felipe Massa.

“He’ll either have to perform consistently well, or make way,” he told the Sun.

 F1 “must be prepared for problems” as Europe and the world suffer economically.
That is the admission of the sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, when asked if Peugeot’s withdrawal from Le Mans sports car racing could also indicate tough times ahead for F1.

Amid the world’s last financial crisis, F1 lost multiple carmakers including BMW, Toyota and Honda.

“They had good reasons to go and save their money because they just weren’t successful enough and didn’t get the media coverage they wanted.

“Simple as that,” Ecclestone told Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

So, with Peugeot pulling out of Le Mans and grand prix promoters considering the future of their races due to the costs, Ecclestone was asked if he is worried F1 could now lose more of its marques and sponsors.

“Due to the length of our contracts, we are almost immune,” he insisted.

“But if the situation does not change globally, we must be prepared for problems,” admitted Ecclestone.

A report in the UK newspaper Express said every one of F1′s twelve competing teams unusually failed to pay their bills on time last season.

“The findings … show that the recession has hit the motorsport”, wrote journalist Christian Sylt.

“The five slowest paying teams all have backing from carmakers, which could indicate that in the current economic climate F1 may not be sustainable for them,” he added.

F1′s governing body has banned the 2012 innovation known commonly as ‘reactive ride height’.
The concept, pioneered by Lotus and first spotted in action at last November’s young driver test, was also reportedly being worked on by teams including Ferrari, Mercedes and Williams.

The system, until now deemed legal by the FIA, cleverly adjusts a car’s ride-height under braking via a passive method in the suspension.

But the BBC said the Paris federation changed its mind about the legality following “further investigations and representations from rival teams”.

Some team figures are believed to have said the intention is only to improve braking stability, but some rivals argued that the primary function is aerodynamic.

One F1 regulation says “any car system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited”.

An FIA spokesman told Reuters that Whiting sent the directive on Friday following “a number of technical enquiries from teams” about the legality of the Lotus-type concept.

Former F1 driver Jos Verstappen will be released from jail in his native Holland on Friday, the German news agency SID reports.
The 39-year-old, a former teammate to Michael Schumacher in the 90s, faced an attempted murder charge after his ex-girlfriend is alleged to have been struck recently by Verstappen’s car.

He has been in police custody for two weeks.

The Dutch news agency ANP said the attempted murder charge has now been withdrawn, and his lawyer is quoted as saying there is also no evidence of attempted aggravated assault.

“The court granted the request for Jos Verstappen’s release, partly because of the lack of evidence,” a statement provided by the lawyers read.

 The Senna family is fully supportive of the famous name’s return to Williams.
18 years ago, Brazil was in mourning over the death at the wheel of a Williams of the great Ayrton Senna.

The tragedy also halted for many years the young Bruno Senna’s formative karting career, as the sporting world’s attention moved to Italian courtrooms, where Williams bosses were accused of manslaughter.

So almost two decades on, how did the Senna family – including Ayrton’s once grief-stricken and angry parents and sister – react to Tuesday’s news that their grandson and son had inked a deal to drive for Williams in 2012?

“Everybody is ecstatic,” the 28-year-old told reporters.

“I spoke to my grandparents before even I spoke to my mother (Viviane) yesterday when I got the news and my grandmother was so happy, my grandfather had a great laugh.

“In the family everybody is smiling, everybody has worked very hard for it. It’s very much a family business in our case and we have a great unity and everyone is super-happy about it,” insisted Senna.

His next responsibility is to safeguard the reputation of the family’s name, after his first two seasons with HRT and Renault did not set the F1 world alight.

And Bruno also faces the task of shaking off “the stigma” of being arguably a pay-driver, Ayrton Senna’s 1994 teammate Damon Hill said on Tuesday.

But Senna insists he is not a pay-driver.

“Initially they (Williams) wouldn’t even talk about any type of sponsorship. They just wanted to assess me before anything else,” he said.

“The only way they would ever give me this chance was if they were comfortable with my performance.”

According to former F1 driver Luciano Burti, however – now a pundit for Brazil’s TV Globo – the situation is “not ideal” for Williams.

“For Bruno it’s very good for him to be able to continue his career. As for Williams, at least theoretically the situation is not ideal.

“The team now has two inexperienced drivers, although in practice Maldonado has shown some speed and Bruno has also shown that he can do a good job,” he said.

 F1′s controversial “DRS” innovation is staying put for 2012, according to an Italian report.
While many hailed the moveable rear wing flaps’ contribution to overtaking last season, others criticised the drag reduction system for compromising the purity of wheel-to-wheel racing.

According to Autosprint, DRS is staying this year.

But the FIA will reportedly modify the number and length of the overtaking zones at some circuits.

“The reason is to facilitate overtaking by extending the zones at those circuits where it proved too difficult, and shortening them where the passing was too exaggerated,” the Italian language report read.

One DRS supporter is the Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.

“The important thing is that we are overtaking — who really cares why?

“However it is good to optimise everything, especially where it has been possible to gain 50 metres (on a rival) by the end of a straight.

“It’s better that it (passing) is a bit more difficult than too easy,” the German said.