The names Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg are suddenly being linked with the F1 seat currently occupied by Rubens Barrichello.

With Williams happy with Pastor Maldonado and his links with important Venezuelan backer PDVSA, the Grove based team at present is refusing to say the 39-year-old veteran Barrichello will surely stay beyond 2011.

Increasingly, the Brazilian’s rhetoric is sounding impatient, and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports he is calling a halt to the practice of using his car as a test mule for struggling Williams’ technical experiments.

“Never have I wanted to be a test driver,” he is quoted as saying.

The report said Barrichello, with a conventional setup, was finally back to his dominant self in comparison to Maldonado in Hungary.

But at the same time, rumours swirled in the paddock that Germans Sutil – the current Force India driver – and 2010 Williams rookie Hulkenberg are in the running to replace Barrichello next year.

And Barrichello, the most experienced driver in F1 history, sounds frustrated.

“Our car cooks the rear tyres,” he said. “The driveability of the engine is bad and in slippery conditions it’s even worse. No matter what we do, we can’t make the tyre problem go away.

“We are bringing too many new parts to the car and only confusing ourselves,” he added.

Flavio Briatore has refused to simply rule out speculation linking him with a role at Ferrari.
Recent rumours have suggested the former Renault team boss could be signed shortly by the Maranello based as a consultant, in view of possibly replacing Stefano Domenicali when the ‘crashgate’ ban lifts in 2013.

The flamboyant Italian was asked about the speculation by Onda Cero radio in the wake of last weekend’s Hungarian grand prix.

“I am a Ferrari tifoso (supporter), but in life you never know — anything can happen,” said Briatore, who is still involved in the management of Fernando Alonso’s career.

In 2005 and 2006, Alonso won his two world championships at Renault under Briatore rule.

Briatore insisted: “I think Fernando Alonso can win the championship at Ferrari without Flavio Briatore.

“Fernando deserves to be the best driver in history. He has decided to be with Ferrari until the end of his career and I hope he can get the cars to win more titles than (Michael) Schumacher,” he added.

Briatore said he rates the newly 30-year-old Spaniard higher than any of his current rivals.

“If he had that car,” he said, referring to the Red Bull RB7, “Fernando would be winning by a huge margin. He is one of the few great drivers with Senna, Prost and Schumacher.”

As for the comparison with seven time world champion Schumacher, Briatore said: “They are two totally different drivers.

“Fernando is a little better, because when Michael becomes depressed, he falls back, while in the same situation Fernando’s concentration sharpens.”

Mark Webber has now signed a one-year extension to his Red Bull contract.
The Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat said the 34-year-old Australian’s 2012 deal will be announced in Hungary this week.

Earlier, it was rumoured that another driver, perhaps Lewis Hamilton, might be drafted in to replace Webber as Sebastian Vettel’s teammate.

But team owner Dietrich Mateschitz said recently that Webber, who achieved pole at the Nurburgring and outperformed Vettel all weekend, is staying put.

“I always said that I expect our 2012 driver lineup to be the same,” team boss Christian Horner told F1′s official website, adding that the news becoming official is a “formality”.

“I am very happy with the two drivers we have. They push each other hard and I can’t imagine any other driver in our car, or Mark Webber in any other team’s car next year,” he added.

Michael Schumacher remains a top driver but Mercedes also has an eye on Sebastian Vettel.
The German marque’s top brass Dieter Zetsche is at the Nurburgring this weekend where he was asked by Bild am Sonntag newspaper if Red Bull’s Vettel would be a better bet for Mercedes’ works team.

“If the cars are very competitive, it is the driver who determines the success,” Zetsche is quoted as saying.

“Michael Schumacher has shown that he still has considerable qualities. As for Sebastian Vettel we have a good relationship. Privately he drives a SLS.”

Alongside Schumacher in 2011 is the highly competitive Nico Rosberg, and team boss Ross Brawn on Saturday confirmed the pair both have a contract for next year.

“We need to do our homework with the cars,” continued Zetsche. “We are certainly quite competitive already, but not as much as we had hoped for. We’re working on it.”

Romain Grosjean has emerged as the most likely candidate in the event Robert Kubica cannot return to Renault next year.
Injured Pole Kubica’s current substitute Nick Heidfeld is pushing to keep his seat, but Frenchman Grosjean’s manager is Eric Boullier, the boss of the Renault team and a major player in a government committee to revive France’s presence in F1.

“We are working hard to get Grosjean there (to F1). France needs a good F1 driver,” Boullier is quoted as saying by Polish publication Wirtualna Polska.

There are rumours, however, that with Vitaly Petrov staying put next year, Boullier does not consider the Russian ready for a leadership role at Renault.

Mark Webber and Felipe Massa are therefore the other names doing the rounds.

It is believed Boullier is hoping for clarity about Kubica’s situation by the end of August.

“The situation is unusual because of Robert, because we want to wait and see how his situation develops and how and when he can come back,” Boullier is quoted by Germany’s motorsport-total.com.

Narain Karthikeyan is tipped to return to the cockpit of the HRT car this weekend at the Nurburgring.
Despite his sponsor Tata’s ongoing backing of the small Spanish team, Indian Karthikeyan was sidelined earlier this month to make way for Daniel Ricciardo’s Silverstone debut.

HRT has confirmed that the Red Bull-sponsored Australian will once again be racing alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi this weekend in Germany.

But according to the auto.cz website, 34-year-old Karthikeyan – who was at Silverstone to entertain HRT’s VIP guests – will be driving Italian Liuzzi’s car during initial Friday practice at the Nurburgring.

“The Tata Group is very supportive of what I do and that’s all that matters,” Karthikeyan told Reuters last week following criticism by Force India chief Vijay Mallya.

A spokeswoman for HRT told us early on Wednesday: “Narain will continue playing his key role in the team and get in the car when he is required.

“This will be decided in the coming days,” she added.

F1 teams have discussed the possibility of allowing some in-season circuit testing in 2012.
FIA president Jean Todt said recently that the current blanket ban is “stupid” and teams should be allowed to do a few tests during the season in 2012.

A report at France’s autohebdo.fr said the teams, who must agree to the rule change for next year, discussed relaxing the test ban during a meeting at Silverstone.

But the talks “have made little progress”, the report said.

Williams technical director Sam Michael is quoted as confirming: “There has not yet been a vote, just some ideas about having a test for young drivers during the season.

“It (testing) was on the table but we had many other things to deal with (at Silverstone),” added the Australian, referring to the V6 engine rules and the blown exhaust saga.

Red Bull is planning to pair Sebastian Vettel with his friend Kimi Raikkonen in 2012.

That is the sensational claim of the high-circulation German newspaper Bild-Zeitung, less than two days after Mark Webber ignored team orders at the end of the British grand prix.

2007 world champion and Finn Raikkonen, 31, left formula one at the end of 2009, and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted on Monday as saying “I believe he has put F1 behind him”.

Bild said the plan to replace Australian Webber with Raikkonen is “top secret” but divulged the information of a source “at the highest level”.

German Vettel remains friends with Raikkonen, the pair often meeting in Switzerland to play badminton. Asked recently who his ideal teammate is, the reigning world champion replied: “Kimi.”

The former Ferrari and McLaren race winner had talks with Red Bull last year and has now “apparently changed his mind” about wanting to stay in rallying and NASCAR.

And referring to Webber, Red Bull’s driver manager Helmut Marko told Bild recently: “We have other options but I don’t want to talk about them now.”

The report also said Raikkonen told a Finnish journalist recently: “I have never said that my formula one career is over.”

Rumours about the health of the team currently known as Renault refused to disappear at Silverstone.
Boss Eric Boullier recently dismissed the rumours, hinting that they were triggered mischievously at Monaco by his predecessor Flavio Briatore.

But six weeks later, there was once again similar talk in the paddock of the British grand prix, not long after Williams was announced as engine supplier Renault Sport’s newest partner team for 2012 and beyond.

Apart from the continuing naming connection, a customer engine contract and their historical links, the French marque is no longer involved with the Lotus-sponsored Renault team.

And Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the team might even be powered by Cosworth engines next year.

“This is fiercely denied by those in charge,” the magazine acknowledged.

However, the Williams situation is perhaps relevant, particularly with the fanfare of the Renault engine announcement involving former works champions Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at the team’s Grove headquarters last week.

As for Lotus Renault, “poor results and apparently still pending payments for the engines do not make things any better”, Auto Motor und Sport added.

Sponsor issues reportedly led to Narain Karthikeyan losing his seat at HRT.
The Indian driver’s main backers, Tata and Base batteries, are still showing at the Spanish team’s website. Hispania has been contacted for comment.

At Silverstone, HRT regular Vitantonio Liuzzi will for the first time share the garage with Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo, as part of a new driver deal with Red Bull Racing.

Karthikeyan is officially still on the books as an official driver, amid rumours he might return for the inaugural Indian grand prix in October.

His sponsors Speed, Tata and Base are still showing on his official website, although the Italian magazine Italiaracing claims “economic difficulties” meant Karthikeyan lost his seat.

“When he learned of the economic difficulties of Narain Karthikeyan, Helmut Marko did not think for a second and reached the agreement with Hispania for the debut of his young protege (Ricciardo),” read the report.

Karthikeyan was not available a few days ago, and his management has once again been contacted for comment.

Confirmation of a new deal for Kamui Kobayashi is likely “soon”, according to Swiss newspaper Blick.
The report said the Japanese, whose exciting racing style has earned him many fans since he debuted for Toyota at the end of 2009, is an attractive prospect for “a lot of teams” but will almost certainly stay at Sauber.

“As long as I drive for Sauber, I give everything for this team, because without Peter Sauber I would not be in formula one now,” the 24-year-old said.

Kobayashi was also quoted as admitting to looking forward to Silverstone this weekend, after three consecutive races on street circuits.

“Monaco, Montreal and Valencia, that was a bit too much,” he said. “Finally we are back to proper tracks with super-fast corners.”

Javier Villa has refused to deny speculation linking him with a race seat at HRT.

With the team’s new owner Thesan Capital vowing to strengthen Hispania’s credentials as a truly Spanish outfit, former GP2 driver Villa was immediately linked with becoming HRT’s first Spanish racer.

Sports daily AS reports that the “first contact” between the team and World Touring Car driver Villa, 23, took place this week in Madrid.

The newspaper said “both parties” denied it is true.

But Villa commented: “I’d love to be the first Spanish driver with Hispania. F1 is F1 and it’s obvious every driver wants to go there.

“I want to see how the project is consolidated, but I am sure it will be serious and strong.”

At the same time, the rumours were played down on Villa’s World Touring Car series Twitter account: “With regards to the news published today, I must say we are very happy with our current program with the WTCC BMW.

“Obviously I’d love to be the first Spanish driver at Hispania, but it’s too soon to say what could happen.”

The Circuit de Catalunya has reportedly kicked off talks to retain its place on the formula one calendar. Although Barcelona has been assigned a provisional date on the 2012 schedule, reports this week said Spain’s only formula one race next year might be hosted by Valencia. Circuit de Catalunya chief Salvador Servia described the reports as “invented” but Spain’s AS sports newspaper indicates that there is some truth to the speculation. For example, the report said Barcelona has commenced talks to annually alternate a single Spanish grand prix with Valencia, the scene of last week’s race on the streets of the port city. At the same time AS said the Valencian government “has already begun to exchange documents” with Bernie Ecclestone about hosting the Spanish grand prix with an early European-season date through 2021.

Mark Webber has been linked with a shock move to Renault.

Red Bull insists it is “very happy” with the Australian driver, but his contract expires this year and Lewis Hamilton has been flirting with a switch from McLaren.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier admits he has spoken with Webber, 34, about moving to Renault, whose undisputed number one driver Robert Kubica is currently recovering from horror injuries sustained in a February rally crash.

“I really like Mark and have known him for a long time,” the Frenchman said in Valencia.

“We have discussed it from time to time but we have never pushed him to ask what he wants to do because that decision is up to him.”

Webber is managed by Flavio Briatore, Renault’s former long-time team boss.

It is believed Sebastian Vettel on Friday morning was testing for the blown exhaust clampdown, set to take effect in two weeks at Silverstone.
The runaway championship leader, driving the apparently identical Red Bull, was a huge 2.5 seconds slower than his teammate Mark Webber in the first session at Valencia.

“There is a fairly simple explanation,” team boss Christian Horner told the German broadcaster Sky.

“We were running different programmes on the cars. We tried several different parts and got some good information.

“We are no longer allowed to test during the season so we only have a chance on Friday to try some things, particularly the first session,” added Horner.

He would not specifically confirm that the parts tested by Vettel in P1 were related to the Silverstone spec exhaust and diffuser, admitting it is “impossible” to know what impact the FIA’s clampdown will have.

“We know what benefit we get but not what benefits the others get. In reality the same teams will probably be at the front, but until Silverstone it’s not possible to predict,” added Horner.