FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Domenicali: Difficult to judge form

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali admits it is difficult to judge where his team is in the pecking order given how unpredictable this season has been.

Five races into the Championship, Formula One has seen five different winners and each of them has driven for a different team.

Added to that, the sport has also witnessed two first-time winners with Nico Rosberg taking the chequered flag in China and Pastor Maldonado this past Sunday in Spain.

And although all the applause was reserved for the Venezuelan and his team boss, Sir Frank Williams, Ferrari also had an impressive afternoon as Fernando Alonso brought his revised F2012 home in second place.

But whether that means Ferrari are now up there at the front of the field, Domenicali says this season is too unpredictable to guess.

"It's difficult to understand the performance of all the cars that is changing," Domenicali said.

"It's really difficult, and this is why the only thing we have to do is to keep the pace of improvement race by race, because we have seen up to now so many cars, so many constructors won the races.

"The classification is mixed up. Red Bull seemed to struggle. McLaren, on one side Hamilton was very good, he did only two stops, he was eighth, Lotus were very, very strong, always there, and Williams was perfect.

"So I take this opportunity to congratulate Williams with this victory. Sometimes it's a sign of God, with this birthday of Frank, having this reward. I'm happy for him."

As for his team's runner-up result, which was a massive improvement on their showing in the previous races - except Malaysia when the rain levelled the playing field and helped Alonso to the victory, Domenicali is confident it will drive Ferrari to do even better.

"I always say I look at the glass being half full. I think that has to be a push for all the engineers at home to make sure they improve the car. That's the only way we have to look.

"If we want to win this Championship we have to do a massive step, keep pushing and keep improving the downforce, mainly.

"With all the problems that we had since the beginning of the season, being let's say being on top of the Drivers' Championship means at least we are there. There's a lot of improvement that we need to bring home, because our target has not changed."

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Hamilton: Going strong despite setbacks

In a season littered with errors, Lewis Hamilton says he "can't really complain" about the small mistakes as he's still third in the standings.

In the last two grands prix alone, Hamilton has suffered no fewer than three times because of mistakes made by his McLaren team.

At the Bahrain Grand Prix the errors were all during pit stops as McLaren ungled the Brit's tyre changes on two occasions. Hamilton finished that grand prix in eighth place.

However, McLaren's biggest mistake yet was made in Spain on Saturday when a mechanic reportedly set Hamilton's fuel rig to pump out rather than pump in the fuel.

Although he turned the switch the right way after noticing, it was too little too late and Hamilton was forced to stop out on track after claiming pole position with a blisteringly quick lap.

Five hours after qualifying, the 27-year-old was not just stripped of his pole position lap time, he was excluded from qualifying and therefore had to start the Spanish GP from the very back of the grid. He finished eighth.

Hamilton revealed that given the mistake, Sunday's 66-lap race was "all about damage limitation.

"But now, looking at the bigger picture, I can't really complain because despite the setbacks I've had this season I'm still only eight points behind the leader of the Championship.

"The team has been working extremely hard and our car is quick, so when things go right I think we'll be in a great position - and it'll come to us before too long."

As for his latest penalty, the 2008 World Champion says he was shocked by the severity of the punishment.

"I was surprised because the team told me I would have my best lap taken away from me," he told The Telegraph.

"So I thought 'OK I can have a race from seventh.' I never had it in my mind that I would start from the back.

"I saw people saying that I would have gained time by having less fuel in the car because 10 kilos is worth three tenths here.

"I only needed a kilo more, maximum, to get back to the pits to provide the sample.

"It was not like we tried to go quicker by running less fuel.

"It was just a very small mistake that could have happened to anyone and we were punished."

After five grands prix, Hamilton is third in the Drivers' Championship on 53 points, eight behind Championship leaders Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso

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Sutil resurfaces as Massa axe rumours louden

Rumours that Felipe Massa is now on his last legs at Ferrari are beginning to gain in volume.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali fueled the speculation on Sunday by insisting Ferrari expects the struggling Brazilian to "fight back starting in Monaco".

"We absolutely need his points to also fight for the constructors' title," said the Italian.

Before Domenicali's words, whispers were already doing the rounds that Adrian Sutil could be set to play a role, should Ferrari bite the bullet and dump Massa.

The former Force India driver could either replace him directly, or replace a driver who moves from his existing team to Massa's cockpit.

It is the latter scenario that seems most likely.

Sutil, trying to resurrect his career after the Eric Lux assault affair, returned to the F1 paddock at the weekend in Barcelona, accompanied by his manager Manfred Zimmermann.

They spent a lot of time at Force India, his old team.

The big rumour, therefore, is that the Anthony Hamilton-managed Paul di Resta could be set to move to Ferrari, with Sutil to fill the Force India vacancy.

But there is also a whisper that Nico Hulkenberg's manager Timo Gans has been spotted in the Ferrari motor home.

"It's important to be here," Sutil told German television RTL at the Circuit de Catalunya. "Hopefully something comes of it.

"It's still very early in the season, so I have to wait a bit, but on the other hand maybe I can get back into a cockpit quite quickly."

He admitted that he spent "most of the time" during the Spanish grand prix with Force India.

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Whitmarsh: 'I was wrong and I'm embarrassed'

Martin Whitmarsh has admitted he was wrong to allow Lewis Hamilton to complete his final qualifying lap, which would later result in him being excluded.

The McLaren driver secured pole position but was told to stop on his in-lap as he didn't have enough fuel to return to the pits and to provide a one litre sample.

The FIA took the decision to exclude Hamilton from qualifying which meant he started from 24th and last for Sunday's race.

Team principal Whitmarsh says he would have done things differently, had he known what the penalty would have been.

"With hindsight I was wrong, but I don't think I or very many people anticipated that, as a consequence, we would be starting from the back of the grid," he said.

"With hindsight I could have called it a different way, and he could have just come in at the end of the out lap. But frankly I did not expect the penalty that he received."

Whitmarsh explained that he and the team only knew about the fuel problem whilst Hamilton was on-track.

"Part way through that last qualifying lap, the data indicated that there was not as much fuel on board as we thought.

"We knew there is a black and white regulation that says you have to be able to give a litre [sample] at the end, so I took a call which was: right, that is a black and white regulation, there is no negotiation, let's make sure we can comply," he continued.

"We stopped the car and pumped out 1.3 litres as it turned out, but we didn't know that until several hours later. It could have been three litres and I would have been moderately embarrassed. Whatever the outcome I was going to be embarrassed."

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Renault surprised to win so quickly with Williams

Renault Sport F1 managing director Jean-Francois Caubet has admitted that he didn't expect the revived partnership with Williams to yield wins so quickly.

Pastor Maldonado's surprise victory in the Spanish Grand Prix came in only the fifth race since the Williams-Renault link-up was renewed and although Caubet was always confident that wins would come, he saw it as a longer-term project.

"We thought we needed three years to win and after five races we did," Caubet told AUTOSPORT. "It's a fantastic feeling.

"The last win was in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve [at the Nurburgring]. It is emotional for Renault. When we signed Williams it was huge news in Renault because we have been in Formula 1 for 45 years and Williams is part of our history."

Caubet is hopeful that there could be further victories this year.

He paid tribute to the quality of the car that the team has produced and credited the team's fighting spirit for it delivering top results so quickly.

"Yes, I think so," he said when asked if the win is repeatable. "In Australia, straight away the Williams was a good, competitive car. We have a good engine and fantastic drivers.

"We thought we could be about fifth or sixth in the championship and it would take two or three years to win but because of the fighting spirit, we did it now.

"Williams never give up. This is key. We were sure that they would be back and it was clear that the had the budget and the technical people to do so.

"They have the right people. In Formula 1, you must have the right balance between people with experience and [new] people with creativity."

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Why post-Spain criticism of Schumacher is wrong

Michael Schumacher has come under fire following a poor Spanish GP, but it's dreadful luck rather than poor pace that has been his main issue so far in 2012.

Much has been made of the fact that statistically Schumacher has made his worse ever start to a season with only two points to his name so far. However when you look beyond the maths, it's clear to see that his results don't reflect his actual form.

It would also be a bit rich to criticise Schumacher, when apart from his Chinese GP win, team mate Nico Rosberg isn't actually having that great a season either.

Looking at the season so far the seven time world champion's raw pace has been by far the best it has been since his comeback. In Australia he qualified fourth behind the two McLarens and Romain Grosjean.

In Malaysia he qualified a brilliant third and was only 0.172 seconds away from pole position. He then managed third on the grid again in China, which turned into a front row start after Lewis Hamilton's five place grid penalty.

Despite this good pace a number of misfortunes have prevented Schumacher from getting the results he deserves. Certainly a couple of podiums have been lost.

In Melbourne he was running third keeping Sebastian Vettel behind him until he suffered a gearbox failure. In Malaysia Romain Grosjean touched him on the first lap which resulted in a spin, which put him right down the order.

In China he was running in second place but after his first pit stop his right wheel nut became loose due to a mistake in the pit stop. We will never know what he could have achieved in that race. Chances are Rosberg may not have had things quite so easy.

Bahrain was yet another missed opportunity. Due to an issue with DRS Schumacher failed to make it past Q1. On most tracks DRS can be worth over a second on a qualifying lap and more so for Mercedes with their super-DRS, so had it been working normally there is no doubt Schumacher would have easily made the cut.

This was a shame as Mercedes had a car capable of challenging for pole position, and Schumacher had an opportunity for a great result from the front end of the grid.

From the back (after a gearbox penalty) he could only climb up to tenth. However this is more due to the nature of the tyres. It's extremely difficult to race through the field and nurse these difficult Pirelli tyres at the same time.

In Spain this weekend from a similar position Lewis Hamilton only managed two places better in what was a very quick car. It's now very hard to drive from the back to the front due to the delicate nature of the Pirelli tyres. In the circumstances these were both brilliant comeback drives from Hamilton and Schumacher respectively.

Ultimately in Spain this weekend Schumacher does have to take a fair amount of blame for his race ending incident with Bruno Senna. However throughout his career he has had racing incidents. It's always been a bit of a weakness. It should also be said it's the first real error he has made this year.

Unfortunately the subsequent five place penalty at the next race at Monaco couldn't possibly come at a worse track. Therefore Monaco is likely to prove another race where a great result won't come even if Michael is quick.

Whilst Schumacher's season might be under the microscope after a lack of results, you have to question Rosberg's performances so far this year.

He may have finally won a race in China and in fairness to him he did drive brilliantly throughout that weekend. However that breakthrough race merely acts as a cover-up for what has otherwise been a series of average race weekends. The victory has helped him escape the criticism, that his team-mate has started facing in the aftermath of the Spanish GP.

Rosberg also had a chance to challenge for pole position in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain. It was certainly within the car's capabilities on those weekends. However in each of those qualifying sessions he made costly errors on the decisive lap.

In Sepang he locked up going into the first corner, and went a little bit wide heading onto the long back straight. In Bahrain he tried to take too much speed into the final corner and lost a chunk of time putting him down in fifth place.

In terms of the actual races both Australia and Malaysia proved a nightmare for Nico. His races in Bahrain and Spain were solid but you certainly couldn't call them particularly spectacular.

To win the championship you need to perform brilliantly consistently throughout the year, not just at one single event. Plus Rosberg hasn't suffered the miserable luck that Michael has endured so far.

It's certainly fair to say that Schumacher isn't the same driver as he was at Benetton and Ferrari. The fact that there is far less testing, and the tyres are no longer tailor made for him, have taken away a couple of the factors that made him so successful. Plus there is of course much stronger opposition than he had back in his Ferrari championship winning days.

However he is still a decent driver. On a weekend where the car is working really well (such as it did in China) and everything goes smoothly, there is no doubt Schumacher can get podiums and win a race or two. He has already proved this year that in a decent car he does still have good speed.

He is unlikely to win in Monaco (due to the five place grid drop) but he has every chance in Canada and Valencia. Montreal is effectively a series of long straights connected by chicanes. With Mercedes' super DRS and Michael's previous in Montreal this writer is predicting Schumacher to win that race. You read it here first!

Valencia is another track that features long straights where there will be plenty of DRS usage and where Mercedes can potentially be very strong.

Ultimately Mercedes have to ask themselves if Schumacher can win them a championship as that is what the team is striving for. In a great car it's certainly still very feasible.

However he doesn't seem to be able to transcend a car that is off the pace like he could do in his peak, in the same way we are seeing Fernando Alonso currently achieving at Ferrari.

However in fairness looking at the current evidence Mercedes should be asking the same questions of Rosberg too.

With every mistake McLaren make the prospects of tempting Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes will increase. There are also the likes of Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg at Force India who have the potential to do very well in a top team, and would be good long term options for the team.

However if Schumacher's luck improves and he can get the results his pace has been promising, there won't be any reason why he won't deserve to stay on the grid with Mercedes in 2013.

Although you sense that Mercedes are going to have to try to get one of the current proven top drivers like Hamilton if they are to have a better chance at winning the title. Incidentally Lewis has not yet renewed his McLaren contract. If Mercedes want him, now has to be the time to act. A bold and difficult decision may need to be made this year even, if it has to come at the expense of a capable driver.

Both Schumacher and Rosberg may need to be looking over their shoulders in equal measure.

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SAUBER LOOKS TO THE FUTURE WITH KALTENBORN SHARES TRANSFER:

Peter Sauber has put the first stage of his succession plan in place by transferring one third of the shares in his Formula 1 team to CEO Monisha Kaltenborn, citing the desire to retain "continuity" for the Hinwil outfit into the long term.

Indian-born Kaltenborn has been with the Hinwil-based outfit for over a decade having initially joined to head up its legal department but has was given a front-line chief role by Sauber when the veteran retook control of his eponymous team at the end of 2009 following BMW's sudden pull-out, becoming Formula 1's first female chief executive. Sauber has already said he sees the 41-year-old as his successor as team principal when he retires for the second time and today has underlined the faith and trust he has in her by transferring 33% of the long-established operation into her name. Sauber retains the remaining two thirds of equity in the Sauber Group.

The 68-year-old was badly stung by the experiences of late 2009 when, four years on from selling the team he founded to BMW in the belief that this would ensure its long-term future, he felt morally obliged to step back into the breach when the German carmaker pulled out of F1. Sauber says Kaltenborn played a key role in that process and, given she shares his vision for the future of the team, he wanted to reflect that and recognise it in the ownership structure.

"When BMW pulled out of Formula One in 2009, Monisha Kaltenborn was instrumental in the team's survival and since then she has been doing outstanding work in her capacity as CEO," said Sauber in a statement. "Transferring one third of the stake to her represents an important step for me in providing continuity. My desire is to ensure that the company continues to be led as I would want over the long term. Monisha Kaltenborn and my son Alex, who joined the company as Marketing Director in 2010 and has since also been a member of the Board of Management, both embrace this aim. It means we can offer our employees a positive outlook for the future."

Given the transfer appears to have been a gift rather than having a financial element, the gesture is considerable given 33% of Sauber is likely to be worth a minimum of £20 million. Kaltenborn herself has said: "For me this step is a mark of the greatest possible trust, which I will do everything in my power to justify."

After overcoming initial financial and on-track struggles on his return to the team owner hotseat, Sauber has seen his team make back steady progress back up the grid and at the Malaysian GP in March Sergio Perez's claimed the team's best ever race finish of second under his sole control.

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Mateschitz weighs in on tyre 'lottery' debate

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz is the latest to voice his concerns over the impact that tyres are having on Formula One.

The high tyre degradation has certainly helped to spice up the 2012 Championship so far with five different drivers from five different teams winning the opening five races.

However not everyone is happy and Michael Schumacher stirred the debate when he questioned whether "tyres should play such a big importance or whether they should last a bit longer".

Mateschitz has now weighed in on the issue and, although he is happy that the F1 is exciting, he feels it is a bit of "lottery" to find out in which window the tyres work.

"F1 is more exciting and more unpredictable than ever before," he told Autosport. "Obviously, caused by the rule changes before the season, the top teams moved closer together. I always had confidence in the potential of our RB8 and I still have, no doubt.

"But everyone has to learn F1 again. It has become a kind of lottery to find out the window in which a tyre works.

"And I do not believe this just happens on purpose to create more overtaking and tension in the races. I suppose no-one really understands these tyres."

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Lotus balancing Kimi's PR work

Lotus boss Eric Boullier has described Kimi Raikkonen as "a wild animal" who you have to allow to "run" wherever he wants to.

Raikkonen has made a smooth switch back to Formula One following his two years away from the sport, claiming two podium finishes in the five races to date.

Lotus team principal Boullier feels key to the Finn's success has been the way the Enstone squad have handled his affairs on and off the track.

"We try to keep politics outside and try to give our drivers what they need," he told the official Formula One website.

"We know that Kimi doesn't like PR, doesn't like media. So why should we bother him with it? Sure we need a balance between his demands and the requests from our sponsors. But he knows that we care very much about his schedule and try to minimise his obligations. That's it.

"He is a racer so he races for winning and hardly cares about the rest! Kimi is like a wild animal and you have to let him run the way he wants to go. We don't have to tell him what he has to do because he is a professional and we want him to deliver on track first. That is his purpose. After that there are some obligations.

"Unfortunately for him his personality makes him very attractive to the fans, so he is famous. He and we have to come to terms with the fact that he has many fans, so to a certain degree he is playing the game. We restrict his obligations to the minimum and I see that he is fine with it."

Many believe Raikkonen has been given the No 1 status at Lotus, but Boullier is quick to point out that the 32-year-old and Romain Grosjean are on equal footing.

"Historically, this team has always pushed for one driver - a definite leader," he said.

"But that has definitely changed. It's a thing of the past. I want two fast drivers because that is the way you get ahead in the Constructors' Championship. So both drivers have the same status.

"Obviously Kimi, with his experience, his character and personality, tends to have a certain degree of leadership. But in fact it is not leadership but probably more attention.

"On the other hand Romain is digging a little place for himself nicely and is getting a lot of respect every weekend from the team. You must not forget that Kimi has done something in the range of 160 Grands Prix and Romain has just finished his twelfth Grand Prix this weekend."

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KOBAYASHI RIDING HIGH AHEAD OF MONACO:

Kamui Kobayashi has said that the new aero package Sauber put on the car in Barcelona has made it easier to drive and to get results from and he believes he can better his fifth place result from Monaco last season.

The Japanese driver had another strong drive in Barcleona on Sunday with two stunning overtakes as he fought his way up from ninth on the grid to 5th at the flag. He now has 19 points from five races.

"Our new aero package was working well. It is definitely a step forward," he said. "I think we have improved in the areas we wanted to. The car is better balanced through the corners now. In terms of stability I would say it is about the same, but stability always depends a lot on the track conditions."

Last year Sauber had a bittersweet Monaco weekend, as Sergio Perez was hospitalised with concussion after a nasty accident in the chicane, while Kobayashi had a strong result. Monaco organisers say that they have ground down the bump which was unsettling cars on the run from the tunnel to the chicane, a place where a number of drivers have crashed badly in recent years including Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. They have also removed a tree and moved back the barriers at the rear of the chicane so the impact point is further away from the chicane and less severe.

Kobayashi reckons that the Sauber will go well in Monaco. So do engineers from other teams. The exhaust layout they have adopted gives significant gain in the lower speed corners such as can be found at Monaco.

"In Monaco the car is bouncing on bumps, you have understeer and oversteer when you are driving on the limit and the track doesn't forgive any mistakes. I think our car will be better in Monaco than it was last year because it has improved in slow corners. In 2011 I finished fifth, so the target should be to finish higher up this year. However, even if you are given the best car in Monaco, in the end a lot is down to the driver to get the ultimate tenths of a second out of it."

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MALDONADO SURPRISED BY COMPETATIVENESS, BUT TARGETS MONACO WIN:

Pastor Maldonado took the time to speak to selected media today in a Williams phone in. The Venezuelan sounded upbeat, but also forward looking as he wants to repeat the success again as soon as possible, perhaps in Monaco,

"For sure we will do our best. The teams are so close, the championship is so close, but we are getting better and better," he said. "At the moment we don't have the quickest car in the track. But why not. F1 is changing every time, it will be difficult but we will try.

The Williams looks a front running package for Monaco, certainly in the eyes of their competitors; the car has always worked well in high speed corners, but with extensive set up work in Mugello and on Friday in Barcelona it now appears to also work well in low speed corners. It was comfortably the fastest car in the final sector at Barcelona, which with its tight chicane and slow corners is a good indicator of form for Monaco.

Maldonado is also an ace around the Monaco circuit, with two wins and two podiums from his GP2 races there. Along with Lewis Hamilton, he seems to be the fancied runner for many F1 insiders this weekend,

"I will try to do my best, it will be difficult but we will try," he said.

I asked him about how Williams had turned things around from the embarrassment of last season where they scored only 5 points and finished ninth in the constructors' championship.

"We did a great step forward because we changed a lot of things here in the factory." he said. "The approach when we get to the track is completely different. I have more experience and I feel more motivation in the team. It's a lot of things we are putting together. We changed everything.

"For sure (he's surprised) and not only in the team I think everyone in the paddock is surprised at our performance. We didn't expect to win that race, maybe top five was okay for us, but we got the chance and we did it."

Maldonado's backing comes from PDVSA, the state oil company in Venezuela, which pumps money into the team. A copy of a sales invoice allegedly from Williams for a £29.4 million sponsorship payment appeared on the internet last week and in the aftermath of Maldonado's win and the Venezuelan president's efforts to make political capital out of it, opposition figures in Venezuela have asked why the money is being spent by a socialist government on an elitist sport, rather than on schools and hospitals.

Maldonado handled this question adroitly, "I don't worry. Most of the people are with us. F1 is popular in Venezuela," he said.

"This is something political. We are in the middle of elections (in Venezuela) and some of them are free to say whatever they want. But this is a sport and the government is pushing hard on sport. At the moment we are getting the most important results for Venezuela in sport.

"I'm very glad to have a complete country in my back to see me in F1. PDVSA has supported me my whole career. We have one of the biggest sponsors in F1. I don't care about the (pay driver) comments. I just push to do my best.

"I spoke to (Venezuelan president) Hugo Chavez and, in the name of Venezuela, he congratulated our team and saw our improvement. And for sure all of Venezuela take that success as (something) personal."

Interestingly, Maldonado's high profile is leading Venezuelans to take to the road to see him race, with has led to further criticisms of the way the Venezuelan government is handling currency controls.

According to the Financial Times this week, "Venetur, the state tourism agency, is offering Venezuelans the opportunity to engage in "patriotic tourism" by going to watch Maldonado race: next stop, Monaco. It is enabling Venezuelans to buy their all-inclusive bargain tours with local currency, instead of using up their quotas of foreign currency to which everyone is subject thanks to strict currency controls. This has enraged businesses, which complain that they are not allowed to buy enough foreign currency to import things like food and medicine, which are sometimes scarce."

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Webber: The tonic Williams deserved

Mark Webber has hailed his former Williams team, congratulating them on the much-needed grand prix victory they achieved last time out in Spain.

In a season of unpredictability, Williams pulled off perhaps the most unpredictable result of all when Pastor Maldonado took pole position and the grand prix victory at the Circuit de Catalunya last weekend.

The result was a much-need balm to sooth the year's worth of hurt the Grove team suffered last season when they bagged just five points.

"The Spanish Grand Prix was an amazing weekend for Williams," Webber wrote in his BBC column.

"Pastor Maldonado won his first grand prix, Williams's first since 2004, and the team were also celebrating the 70th birthday of founder Sir Frank Williams."

He added: "It's an unreal result considering the last two or three years Williams have had, which have been very difficult apart from the odd highlight here and there.

"Pastor was on for a good result in Melbourne at the start of the season before he crashed behind Fernando Alonso on the last lap, and you just thought: "When are they going to have a tonic?"

"That result in Spain was exactly the tonic they deserved. I think a podium would have been enough. But a win? Bloody hell."

Williams' celebrations were cut short on Sunday when a fire erupted in the back of their garage, resulting in 31 people needed medical assistance of which seven were taken to hospital.

"It was a terrible shame that the fire in their garage just after the race took some of the joy out of the victory," the Red Bull racer said.

"As ever in these cases, it was great to see the camaraderie that exists in F1, with the mechanics from other teams having no hesitation in diving in to help, despite the risks involved, and offers of assistance to Williams subsequently.

"It was, nevertheless, a reminder that Formula 1 can never be totally safe - there are plenty of dangers on and off the track, and we always have to do our best to ensure they are as under control as possible.

"I'm sure Williams and the FIA between them will learn lessons from this, and my thoughts and best wishes for a full recovery are with the guys who were injured."

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Alguersuari: I'll be back next season

Jaime Alguersuari is confident he will be back on the F1 grid next season and will make his return in a competitive car.

The Spaniard, along with then team-mate Sebastien Buemi, was dropped by Toro Rosso in December last year leaving the duo with very little time to secure race-seats for this season.

Buemi landed the role of Red Bull test driver while Alguersuari did succeed in staying in the paddock but did so as the BBC's newest commentator.

Next year, though, he reckons he'll be back on the grid and stronger than ever before.

"One hundred percent certain I'll return in 2013," he told Spain's Mundo Deportivo. "And when I come back I'll be stronger than in 2011."

He added: "I'm have absolute certainty that in 2013 I'll have a good car.

"I am what I am because of Red Bull. I have been loyal to the brand and never spoke ill of it but this is still been the best year of my life.

"That Toro Rosso was not a sporting decision of that I have become increasing clear. It was an internal decision but I don't want to say more."

Alguersuari also spoke of his new job as a BBC commenter, saying that while it was difficult to be behind the microphone instead of in the car, the new role has opened doors for him.

"The first day I stepped on the paddock with the microphone was terrible, a very hard time. I had only ever seen it when answering interviews... I hadn't seen it from the other side.

"But it was not the wrong choice.

"I've met more people now than I did in two years in the World Championship and that is very important in this world.

"I can now walk into any garage without problems and am opening received.

"At Red Bull, as a driver, I lived in a bubble. For example I never spoke to Martin Whitmarsh or the people at Lotus Renault.

"So this was a necessary step. Being a commentator for the BBC also opened door."

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Senna's seat not under threat - Wolff

Bruno Senna's seat isn't under threat, according to Williams shareholder Toto Wolff, despite some less than impressive results.

Speculation has linked Valtteri Bottas to the Brazilian's seat after Williams confirmed he would replace Senna in 15 first free practice sessions this season, whilst Sir Frank Williams has recently been praising the Finn.

Senna's credentials were further harmed following team-mate Pastor Maldonado's pole position and win on Sunday in Spain, whilst Senna qualified in 18th and failed to finish after a tangle with Michael Schumacher.

Wolff though, who holds a 15 per cent stake in the team, rubbished the rumours.

"We are not replacing anybody," he told Autosport. "We have contracts with two drivers, and we are supporting our drivers as much as we can and as well as we can.

"The decision to take on Bruno and Pastor was a very carefully taken one and we will push on - not do some knee-jerk exercise.

"With Valtteri, we are going through a development school and the decision to run him on Fridays was very carefully decided. We are not going to burn him up either by putting him in a situation that we think is not appropriate. So the rumours are rubbish."

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Williams' win genuine or down to crazy season?

Williams will be delighted to be back to winning ways but the question is, what was the biggest contributing factor to their victory?

There is no doubt the new appointments and restructuring at Williams have had a positive impact on the team, and have moved them forward.

On the other side of the equation the nature of the 2012 season with the ban of the exhaust blown diffusers, and the challenging Pirelli tyres have really opened up the field, and given midfield teams an opportunity to usurp the big guns.

So what was the biggest factor? Or was it a combination of both?

In any case huge credit has to be given to the whole team. The car worked brilliantly in Spain and they got the most out of the tyres, whilst others didn't. Nothing can take away from the fact that the race was won on pure merit.

There is no doubt that the FW34 is far superior to the FW33, which scored a miserable five points in the 2011 championship.

The appointment of Mike Coughlan as technical director is clearly an inspired move. He may be most famous for spygate but look beyond that and he is an extremely talented engineer. He has brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to Williams after working for the likes of McLaren, Tyrell and Ferrari in the past.

The role of Technical Director didn't suit Sam Michael's (now Sporting Director at McLaren) main strengths and it was said that he was doing far too many jobs within the team.

With the appointment of Coughlan plus Mark Gillan (Chief Operations officer) and Jason Somerville (head of Aerodynamics) the team has more brainpower, a better structure, is far more efficient and working together better as a unit. You perhaps wonder why Williams didn't make these major changes sooner.

Having the right people in the senior positions is vitally important, as proven at the teams Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey have worked for as an example.

Gillan spoke pre-season to Autosport about the effect Coughlan has had on the team: "Firstly, we had to deal with the situation of the team and he is a clear, no-nonsense engineer who gives a very clear direction of where he wants to take the team technically. That is very welcome from my side."

He added: "And he has given very clear direction in areas of the car to make certain technical innovations. Everybody knows where we want to go, there are clear metrics in place to judge how well we are getting there."

The team have also switched to Renault engines, which has given them more power and better fuel consumption. They have also refined their innovative gearbox, which they pioneered last season.

Williams' activities outside of F1, including Williams hybrid power, have brought funds to the company which in turn has put the team in a better position financially despite the loss of some key sponsors. This will only help the team further when it comes to competing with the big teams.

Back in March Williams announced a profit for the fourth year running. Ex-chairman Adam Parr told Reuters: "I am very satisfied with what we have done overall with the business.

"I think this is the fourth year in a row that we have produced a profit. We have paid off our debt and built up our financial strength. We've been able to invest in the F1 business and new businesses."

Thanks to all these factors Williams have significantly closed the gap to the frontrunners. In normal circumstances this is now a car which is at least at the front of the midfield and able to challenge the big guns from time to time.

However so far the 2012 season has not been particularly normal, and a couple of circumstances have led to the form book being ripped up, and contributed to giving Williams their big chance in Spain.

First of all the ban of the blown diffuser has taken a big advantage away from the top teams. A couple of the front runners were gaining up to a second per lap from the innovation.

Furthermore this is the fourth year of the current aerodynamic regulations which were introduced back in 2009.

When you have reasonably stable regulations for this period of time it's normal to see the time covering the teams close up. The banning of the blown diffuser has further exaggerated that trend this year.

Of course the biggest factor of all is the tyres. Pirelli made alterations to their tyres this year, and the simple truth is that all the teams are struggling to understand them.

With the grid much tighter this season the tyres have been shaking up the competitive order much more, and good strategy has become even more critical.

The key to making them work is getting them in what seems to be a very narrow operating window. If you don't manage to do that then you are going to have a tough weekend. The challenge for the teams is to develop their cars to widen that operating window.

Already this year we have seen teams quick in Friday practice, but then a change in temperature on race day has suddenly seen the pace drop away.

Teams like Lotus, McLaren and Red Bull are performing better when the track temperature is boiling hot. The likes of Sauber and Mercedes are finding good performance in cooler track temperatures.

Getting the most out of the tyres has become the key decider this year to who will come out on top. This has become as important, if not more, than simply who has the best car on a particular weekend.

He added: "But I think it would be wrong to criticise the tyre. I think you've got to look at you as a team and what the drivers are doing and look at how to manage the situation."

Williams simply did a brilliant job of getting the most out of their car and the tyres in Spain. Pastor Maldonado did a great job in both qualifying and the race, whilst the team judged the strategy perfectly.

Below par performances from their rivals also helped Williams. In qualifying Lotus looked like they would be favourites for race victory. However the decrease in track temperature on race day took away their edge, and they weren't as competitive as expected.

Red Bull thought Mark Webber was safe in qualifying but were wrong and he got knocked out in Q2. Had he got through he could have had a crack at the front row of the grid. Sebastian Vettel ran out of soft tyres by the time he got to Q3.

Williams also benefitted from the fact Lewis Hamilton got sent to the back of the grid. Lewis was the only man able to run a two stop strategy. He clearly was very happy with the car and the tyres in Spain and probably would have won had he kept pole.

For Mercedes it wasn't their best weekend mainly due to the lack of long straights at Catalunya and also in part to the track temperature.

If this was a normal season back in the Bridgestone tyre days, which the teams all understood much better, there is no doubt things wouldn't be so mixed up.

There would most likely have been the usual status quo with the likes of McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes being the top teams. However Williams would certainly have been at the front of the midfield not too far behind the big teams. The improvement they have made this season is definitely real. Their improved fortunes aren't just down to the crazy nature of this championship so far.

However it is very important to consider that at the end of the day the rules are the same for everyone as are the Pirelli tyres. It's up to each individual team to get the most out of them.

As Pastor Maldonado told BBC Sport the team have been focusing on the tyres: "We have been working so hard trying to understand these tyres and to develop our car around these tyres.

"We did a very good step forward for this race."

The rules and regulations of previous seasons are irrelevant. In Spain with the 2012 regulations and tyres they simply did a better job than everyone else. They fully deserve their long awaited return to the top step of the podium.

It could be that with Williams' approach of upgrading the car around the tyres that they may be about to out smarten their opposition. We will soon see as we head to the next few races.

The team who understands the tyres the best (and quickest) are very likely to come out on top in 2012. Williams could well be that team.

In conclusion it has to be said the tyres and underperformance from a few of their rivals were the main factor that led to Williams' victory. However the fact that they have closed the gap to the front significantly this year, opened up the opportunity to challenge for victory, on a weekend when they got everything right and others didn't.

There is no doubt that the team have turned a corner, and with the new structure, new personnel and improved finances in place the future is much brighter than it was before.

It may not be long before Williams' won't be needing a tyre lottery or faltering rivals to win races.

Could that even happen at the next in Monaco? Williams were very quick in the twisty final section in Barcelona which is often an accurate indicator for a strong race in Monaco. Maldonado is also a bit of a Monte-Carlo specialist.

Maybe we are about to witness a sensation here.

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Caterham preview the Monaco GP

Heikki Kovalainen: "Monaco's the race everyone in F1 wants to win, and it's not just a famous F1 race, it's one of the biggest annual events in the world. For drivers it's a pretty hardcore race, in and out of the cars, but it's a challenge I really enjoy and racing around the streets is one of the real highlights of being an F1 driver.

"On track it's one of the races where the pack bunches up a bit and that might give us a chance to do something special. Last year I finished 14th, one of our higher finishes of the season, so hopefully we can improve on that this year. We have KERS this year and a car that has good race pace, and as our car is slightly easier on the tyres than some of the teams ahead, maybe that will help us achieve a high race finish."

Vitaly Petrov: "I've raced a lot in Monaco, not just in Formula One. I had a podium there in GP2 when I finished second in 2009, which was good. In F1 I've raced there twice. The first time wasn't so great but last year was pretty good, right up until the point I crashed! That was so disappointing, but I couldn't avoid it. We had a good strategy and I'd had a good race up to that point, but that's how racing goes sometimes. Monaco is an unbelievable place though. Normally, between Barcelona and Monaco we have just one week and I'd leave Barcelona on Sunday night and drive to Monaco, because on the Tuesday of the race week we have the football match for the F1 drivers, which is always great.

"The track itself is always a little bit dirty at the start of the weekend and it's quite difficult to get tyre temperatures up during the lap. It's tricky because the walls are so close. If you make one mistake or have a little bit of oversteer, you don't even get a chance to correct it - you're in the wall. It takes quite a bit of mental preparation and you need to be totally focused for every single lap of every session. The race itself? The atmosphere in the race is incredible. It's just an amazing place to drive a racing car and I really love it."

Mark Smith, Caterham F1 Team Technical Director: "Monaco is a unique challenge, for the drivers and the teams. The fact we are in very different garage conditions to normal, and in a cramped paddock, makes it a tough race for the truckies, the mechanics and the engineers, but it is a race we all look forward to and one that everyone wants to do well at.

"The short length of the lap and the limited high-speed sections means there is much less difference in lap times than at somewhere like Barcelona. We all use high downforce settings, and we have a specific aero configuration we will use in Monaco and probably Hungary, but the days of cars sprouting all sorts of special wings just for Monaco are behind us. The cars may not look hugely different to how they appeared in Spain, but we do have as much downforce as we can find for the whole weekend in Monte Carlo.

"The other challenges are managing the brake cooling and tyre wear. Even though it's a stop start lap, the brakes are not put under huge strain as the speeds never get as high as a normal track, but there is a real emphasis on making sure we cool the brakes as efficiently as possible, and that is something we worked on at the Mugello test, so we are happy we have a good solution for that.

"For the tyre wear we have planned as well as we can, but we have seen so far this season that until we are actually out on track it's almost impossible to know which teams will be hard on the tyres and which teams will be able to manage the degradation levels well. We have the soft and the supersoft compounds in Monaco, and if the wear rates on the softs are anything like we saw in Spain, strategy will be critical."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal, Caterham F1 Team: "Before looking ahead to Monaco I want to talk about what happened after the race in Spain. We performed well in the race itself - both cars ran faultlessly and Heikki and Vitaly put in strong drives, managing their tyres well and getting as much performance as they could from the cars that afternoon.

"After the race I was absolutely delighted for Sir Frank and the whole Williams F1 Team that they won their first race in eight years. Williams is one of the cornerstones of F1 today and Sir Frank and Patrick have served as mentors for me in F1 so I owe them a great deal. When I saw what then happened in their garage I was obviously concerned for the safety of my team and all the people from teams up and down the grid who showed incredible bravery, putting themselves in the middle of a very dangerous situation to help a fellow team.

"Since the team returned to base I have received a very gracious communication from Jean Todt, thanking our boys for helping put the fire out on Sunday. The actions of the Williams team, people from our team and everyone else who helped out, stopped the situation escalating and it makes me incredibly proud to be part of a sport that shows such bravery and spirit. For us, teams like Williams set the standards we must reach on track, but we showed on Sunday that when faced we adversity we behave like a championship winning team. That spirit is at the heart of our team and it is what we will call on to keep progressing and keep fighting to emulate the teams ahead."

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Raikkonen: Refuelling ban has bigger impact on racing than tyres

Kimi Raikkonen says that too much has been made of the impact of tyres on the racing this year - and thinks that it is the ban on refuelling that is playing a huge factor in shuffling up the order as well.

The competitiveness of the F1 field this year has meant elements like tyres are playing a bigger role in the outcome of races, with Pirelli having faced criticism that its products have now become too important in defining results.

However, Raikkonen is not convinced that Pirelli should have been singled out as the key element - because he reckons that the ban on refuelling is a big contributing factor too.

"I don't think the nature [of F1] is different because of that," Raikkonen told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat about the impact of Pirelli.

"It's because of the amount of the fuel on board. I don't think there would be that much problem with these tyres, if we would race with 50 or 60 kilos, when we start.

"Previously the pitstops were made usually after every 20 laps, while we had less fuel. I think it would have been the same situation with Michelins and Bridgestones if we would have this much fuel as we have now.

"These tyres are good in qualifying: they have a good grip and all in all they are good tyres."

Refuelling was banned at the start of the 2010 season that witnessed four different winners in the first five races, and produced a four-way championship finale in Abu Dhabi.

MIKA: This is what I believe also! F1 should have refuelling return, it was part of the spectacle of F1 IMO.

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Newey no longer key to success in 'new' F1

Red Bull is lamenting the limited role that can be played in 2012 by F1's aerodynamic genius Adrian Newey.For the past few years, the energy drink owned team has enjoyed its dominance largely because of the airflow magic wrought by Briton Newey.

But in 2012, with reigning back to back world champion Sebastian Vettel just one of the five different winners so far, Pirelli rubber is king.

"I doubt Williams really know why they were so strong," team boss Christian Horner, referring to Pastor Maldonado's shock Barcelona pole and win last weekend, is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Horner insisted that, rather than the winner being the team with the best overall package at each race, success this season is about "understanding the characteristics of the tyre and the window in which they work".

"It's not that the midfield teams have made a quantum leap aerodynamically from last year to this year," Horner insisted. "But from a performance point of view, this is what they have done."

The logical conclusion is that aerodynamic cleverness has taken a back seat.

So will Red Bull knock a million or two off Newey's huge annual retainer?

Horner laughed. "Adrian is not just an aerodynamicist, and aerodynamics are still important anyway. But now it's about harmonising everything, and these tyres are simply remarkably complex.

"Two races ago Nico Rosberg dominated, but in Spain he was almost lapped. It is very difficult to predict what's going to happen next -- a nightmare for the bookmakers," he smiled. "A lottery."

The situation has split F1 into two camps: those who love it, and those who do not.

"It has become like a GP2 championship," Maldonado, the junior category's 2010 champion, is quoted by The National newspaper.

"The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car."

The bizarre situation has left everyone scratching their heads, like Jenson Button.

He can scarcely believe that what looked a championship car - his 2012 McLaren - was beaten in Spain by Shanghai winner Nico Rosberg, who was almost lapped.

"The Red Bulls did a better job at the weekend than us in terms of points, but still they weren't quick when you compare them to Williams, Sauber, Lotus and Ferrari," he told PA Sport.

"Five different teams winning five different races, we really don't know what's going on, and I think that's the same up and down the pitlane."

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A QUICK LOOK INTO THE FUTURE:

“Formula 1 is all about innovation,” (Ross Brawn, Team Principal Mercedes)

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in F1 at the moment, with the preparation of the new powertrains, which are set to come in under new rules for 2014. These feature small capacity 1.6 litre turbo engines with a high degree of hybrid energy regeneration, stored electrically.

There are over 120 sensors on an F1 car and managing the data and control systems is the Electronic Control Unit, which is designed and manufactured for F1 by McLaren Electronic Systems. In Barcelona at the weekend MES and its semi conductor supplier Freescale gave a briefing of what lies ahead in this fascinating area.

The ECU is the brain of the racing car. It won’t go anywhere without one and it’s the device which , because it’s standardised across all the teams, allows the FIA to ensure that no-one is cheating with traction control or other banned electronics and no one can do any illegal testing without one. In the four years since MES started as ECU supplier, no car has retired from a race due to ECU failure.

The ECU is the primary logger on an F1 car, recording over 500 different parameters and it streams live data via telemetry back to the pit garages. 750 billion pieces of data are sent in real time by each car during every Grand Prix. The data is sent over a telemetry system which has 100% coverage around every track, even through the tunnel at Monaco and the forest of the Monza track in Italy.

F1 has long been an innovator in the field of high speed mobility, connecting cars to fixed networks. But here it’s set to really push things on in terms of connected cars.

Now the challenge for MES is to innovate around the 2014 power units. The push is towards smaller, more powerful and more efficient microprocessors. They are based around Freescale’s 32 bit MCU, which is built on four, 200 megahertz Power Architecture cores.

The new ECU will be the same size and weight as the existing one but will have five times the processing power of the existing units and will be able to log over 1,000 parameters. The new ECU will run on the existing V8 engines next season, before transferring to the new generation 1.6 litre V6 Turbo Hybrid F1 engines in 2014. These engines will have a fuel flow control, managed by the ECU, and will have to be 33% more fuel efficient than the existing engines; they need to be able to cover a race distance with 100 kilos of fuel instead of the 150 kilos needed today. The winner in the new generation will be the engine manufacturer who manages the energy sources the best. But all of them will be controlled by the same ECU.

The next requirement for the teams will be to find a way to get larger bandwidth into the pit garages to make the most of the new ECU and its capabilities by managing to send the data back in real time to their factory bases.

Freescale and MES, which also provides the standard ECU in IndyCar and NASCAR, see F1 as a platform to innovate in four key areas, which also have relevance to the road car industry: efficiency, enhanced safety, mobility and connected vehicles.

It’s clear that the worlds of racing, automotive and communications. are coming closer together through innovative work like this.

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Schumi 'quite confident' for Monaco

Michael Schumacher believes Mercedes will be on track for a good result in Monaco as the street circuit will suit his W03.

The seven-time World Champion has had some mixed performances this season as while he has looked to have pace, he has lacked the results.

The German has bagged just two points from five grands prix and could struggle in Monaco as he is set to begin the grand prix with a five grid slot penalty for his Spanish GP crash with Bruno Senna.

Schumacher, though, is determined to "make the best" of the weekend on a circuit that while dangerous, he believes is "fun" to drive.

"Monaco is just a circuit of its own very unique character. In a way, you could look at it with a big portion of irony with regards to the contradiction that, for so many years we have successfully campaigned for more track safety, and then we deliberately race in Monaco," he said.

"But in my view this is justifiable once a year, especially as the circuit is really so much fun to drive. Every time you go there, you just look forward to finally getting out and driving the track.

"Of course, knowing that I will lose five positions on the grid does not add to this feeling but this just means that I will have to try even harder.

"I'm actually quite confident that we should look reasonably good in Monaco due to the hard work that everybody in the team is putting into the development of our car. So let's make the best out of the weekend."

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'Fans may get sick of unpredictable F1'

Mark Webber fears that while fans are enjoying the unpredictability of this season, they may soon get sick of it as they want "rivalries" and title fights.

This season has seen five different winners come from five different teams in what is the most unpredictable season in recent history.

And although this is causing a lot of excitement amongst Formula One fans, Webber fears too much of a good thing could quickly turn bad.

"Five different winners in five different races, many different people getting points," the Red Bull driver told sportal.com.au.

"It's very tight at the top, 10 or so points covering the top five or six drivers.

"It's very unusual, normally in seasons gone by you had a clear break of people who were going to be favourites for the Championship but it's very difficult to know which teams or drivers are going to be in the best position with three or four races to go."

He added: "I think for the fans it's interesting for them, but I don't know if they will get sick of seeing so many different winners.

"It's nice to have so many different winners but also it's always good to have rivals, people fighting for the Championship and having lots of different people always fighting.

"Let's see as the season goes on maybe there will be some rivalries that come in the end, some battles, for the Championship."

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Red Bull preview the Monaco GP

A "special" and "challenging" circuit, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber believe focus is the key to success in Monaco...

Sebastian Vettel: "It's something special to race in Monaco; it's tight and there's no room for error. It's rough and, as it's a street circuit, the road surface is uneven so you get shaken in the car and there is no room for mistakes. You have to push yourself and the car to the limit to be fast, you have to push as hard as on other tracks, but there's no room. You can almost feel it when you are just missing the wall and just get through - but it's a nice feeling. You need to be fully focused on track, it's a special thing to win in Monaco."

Mark Webber: "Monaco is a really special track, it's an old circuit in terms of when it was first designed and the layout hasn't changed too much since. It's got a bit easier from when I first joined Formula One ten years ago, but it's still a test of man against the track and with the car. You're racing other people, but it doesn't always feel like it because the track is always asking you to give more. If you bite and try to give it more then you crash so it's a very, very challenging circuit mentally. Physically it's quite straightforward, but in the mind you need to be very disciplined and that's the challenge around Monaco."

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McLaren preview the Monaco GP

Rated as one of the most significant grands prix to win, both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are chasing P1 in Monaco...

Jenson Button: "My win at Monaco in 2009 remains one of my favourite victories in Formula 1. Monte-Carlo is a place where every driver wants to win, but achieving it is so satisfying because you know you've conquered one of the toughest circuits in motorsport. Winning the Monaco Grand Prix will always be really special. I remember last year having a fantastic car beneath me and feeling really confident that I could challenge for the win. As it happened, circumstances beyond our control worked to pull that opportunity away from us, but I go back to Monte-Carlo with a little bit of unfinished business. I'd love to win for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, the team has a great history around Monaco and I'd love to add my name to McLaren's Monaco winners' list. This year, we'll be running Pirelli's Supersoft compound for the first time - which should be interesting. And while our car isn't especially suited to the tighter confines of a track like Monaco, I'm optimistic of getting on top of the balance issues that have affected me for the past two races. It's going to be a fantastic weekend."

Lewis Hamilton: "Monaco is a very special circuit. It's up there with Silverstone as the place where I most want to do well at. Even though Monaco has the slowest average speed of all the circuits we visit in a season, it always feels incredibly quick. That's because the acceleration is so rapid and the walls so close: there really is no room for error. Apart from the run-off at Ste Devote, and the tiny escape roads at Mirabeau and the harbour chicane, there's no room to make a mistake. But when the stakes are at their highest, I just find it more exciting. Still, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that, despite pushing for the win, consistency and scoring decent points is currently the most sensible way to tackle this world championship. I've scored points at every race, and I'm only eight points off the lead of the championship. That's a really encouraging statistic and it's reassuring to see my approach is paying off. Nevertheless, I'm coming off the back of two relatively disappointing results and there would be no better place for the cards to fall in my favour than at Monaco."

Martin Whitmarsh - Team principal: "I'm incredibly proud of the team's record at Monte-Carlo. We've won the Monaco Grand Prix more than any other team, and it's a race we all regard as incredibly special, and integral to the sporting image of Formula 1. This is a unique event in so many ways - it places unique demands on the driver, the car and the team. Accordingly, winning in Monaco is considered a more significant victory than a win at other circuits. Both our drivers will arrive in the paddock feeling particularly determined this year: Jenson, because he will be determined to set the record straight after losing a victory in 2011 that many felt he rightfully deserved; Lewis, simply because he has been driving brilliantlys all season and a victory at his favourite circuit would be just reward for all his speed and commitment. For the entire Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, too, we travel to the south of France feeling determined to string together a faultless weekend and to demonstrate our full potential. I have absolutely no doubts that the team is feeling very strong, and a win at Monaco would be the perfect fillip for their efforts."

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Mercedes preview the Monaco GP

Michael Schumacher is "quite confident that we should look reasonably good in Monaco" while Nico Rosberg says it is "one of the most interesting races"...

Michael Schumacher: "Monaco is just a circuit of its own very unique character. In a way, you could look at it with a big portion of irony with regards to the contradiction that, for so many years we have successfully campaigned for more track safety, and then we deliberately race in Monaco.

"But in my view this is justifiable once a year, especially as the circuit is really so much fun to drive. Every time you go there, you just look forward to finally getting out and driving the track. Of course, knowing that I will lose five positions on the grid does not add to this feeling but this just means that I will have to try even harder.

"I'm actually quite confident that we should look reasonably good in Monaco due to the hard work that everybody in the team is putting into the development of our car. So let's make the best out of the weekend."

Nico Rosberg: "It's a great feeling to be driving at home, knowing that all my friends and family are watching. I have always been quick around the streets here, and I believe a good result is possible for us next weekend.

"The nature of the track should suit our car but as we have seen at every race so far this season, tyre management will be crucial. With five different winning teams so far this year, at least ten drivers have the chance to win in Monaco so this could be one of the most interesting races there for years."

Ross Brawn: "The uniqueness of Monaco makes it one of those tracks where anything can happen. Particularly in a season that has proved to be almost impossible to predict so far.

"Despite the logistical challenges of the weekend, Monaco is a race that everyone on the team and the drivers really enjoy, and the experience of winning in Monaco is something very special indeed.

"After Nico's win in China, we have had two more difficult race weekends, but I am confident that we will start to see an improvement in Monaco as the developments that we have brought to the car recently take effect."

Norbert Haug: "It has been an exciting and unexpected first quarter of the 2012 season. Now Formula One visits the most atypical circuit of all, Monaco. It makes unusual, one-off demands of the cars: there are fast and narrow sections, but also eight corners taken at under 100 kph and over 4,500 gear changes during the race. It is also incredibly challenging and rewarding for the drivers.

"In Monaco, more than any other circuit, the driver can really make the difference, especially on a single qualifying lap. Both Nico and Michael have shown a great feeling for the circuit and the ability to master it in recent seasons.

"After all the talk of unpredictability of the teams' performance levels this year, there are also clear facts: three of five races have been won from pole position, including Nico's victory in China. What's more, the five drivers who have completed every race lap are all in the top seven in the current championship standings. Strong qualifying speed has been rewarded at every race, and consistently finishing races appears to be even more important in 2012.

"In the last three races, Nico has scored a total of 41 points, the second highest total in the field after Sebastian Vettel with 43. Our focus in Monaco will be to extract the maximum from our further developed technical package. Giving the drivers a car they can trust and feel confident in is worth more here than at any other circuit on the calendar."

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Lotus preview the Monaco GP

Kimi Raikkonen reckons there is "nothing like Monaco" while Romain Grosjean is hoping for a "pleasant surprise"...

Kimi Raikkonen

Q: Barcelona was your second podium in a row for the team; how was it from your perspective?

KR: To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I expected us to be a bit stronger in the race, especially at the beginning. In the last stint we were very good, but it was too late. We were not fast enough to race and that's why we couldn't fight for a win. But we showed in the end that we have good speed.

Q: You were flying at the end - was there anything more you could have done to catch Fernando?

KR: Our strategy was to be fast at the end of the race, and we were. When you're in this situation you wish the race was a little longer, but if it was longer then the other teams would have used different strategies. I was pushing as hard as I could and to catch up almost 20 seconds felt good, but there's a little bit of a disappointed feeling afterwards, as in just a few more laps you could have been fighting for first place. That's racing and at least we scored some good points. We're going in the right direction.

Q: Second and third already; do you feel a win is around the corner?

KR: To be on the podium twice already is good. Unfortunately you're not always going to get there. If you get the chance, you should take it because it's not every race that you will be able to fight for that position. Hopefully we can keep doing what we're doing now and at a certain point I'm sure that things will go exactly right and we'll get there. So far we've made good steps forward and the car has been strong everywhere.

Q: How are your prospects heading to Monaco?

KR: Monaco is a little bit different and it's hard to say how it will go there. The team has done a good job so far and we still have work to do and things to improve. So far it's going well and I'm happy with it. OK, we're not 100% satisfied with it because we are not winning but that's a very normal thing and I'm pleased for the team.

Q: How do you define the Monaco Grand Prix?

KR: It's useless to put races in different categories, because all of them are as important to me. However, as a special race there is nothing like Monaco. There is no better feeling than to get things going well in there. To race in the streets of Monte Carlo is really different from everywhere else; a challenge I look forward to every year. It is very, very difficult, almost impossible, to have a clean weekend there.

Q: You won in Monaco in 2005 - how did that feel?

KR: I've only managed to get it right once before, you really do get the greatest feeling by winning it. My win in 2005 ranks up there with my most memorable. So to win it again would be just as special.

Q: What's the challenge behind the wheel?

KR: It's such a twisty and narrow track. You have to be extra sharp and focussed in every single metre you go fast there. It gives such a good feeling a fast lap in Monaco. Overtaking has been almost impossible there in the past so to really enjoy racing there you have to be at the front.

Q: What about the atmosphere?

KR: Monaco is always special. It's an interesting place to go to, with a lot of fans and a lot of parties going on - or so I'm told. It's a completely different atmosphere from anywhere else.

Q: What's your approach to the weekend?

KR: We have to focus on qualifying. It's a difficult place to race as it's so narrow and passing is nearly impossible. I was stuck behind Rubens [barrichello] in 2009 and we had KERS then, but you just couldn't get past. We'll have to see how the tyres perform and if there are any good strategies to be made, but the most important thing is qualifying well. It's difficult to know how good the car will be in Monaco as you can't simulate its characteristics, certainly not at any of the circuits we've visited so far this year. We can say the E20 has been fast everywhere else so let's hope it's also fast at Monaco.

Romain Grosjean

Q: How do you feel after another strong result in Spain?

RG: I think we can be quite happy with the result. Not satisfied, but happy. Both cars in the top four is good for the team and good for the championship. It's good for me as well to finish another race, and to gain some more experience at the front of the field. We have also shown ourselves to be one of the most consistent teams in the paddock, which is a very good strength. We can still improve our car and that's what everyone is working hard for.

Q: Did you feel any pressure after missing morning practice and having to go straight into qualifying in Barcelona?

RG: For sure, missing the third practice added a little bit of pressure for qualifying, but then what can you do? That's racing. Sometimes you have issues but it didn't cost us much in qualifying; maybe a little bit more in the race - because the set-up could have been slightly better. Not much, but slightly. I think we can learn from that, be happy about the recovery we made and feel optimistic about the future.

Q: How difficult was it racing with a damaged front wing?

RG: My start was okay but not fantastic.into the first corner Sergio [Perez] was on my outside, but then he tried to open through turn two for turn three. Unfortunately I was on his left and he came into my car and I touched his rear wheels with my front wing. He had a puncture and it cost me quite a lot of downforce, which we tried to recover in the pit stop, but never managed completely. It didn't help especially as we were struggling with the front tyres, so it was worse than it should have been. It was quite a lot better after the pit stop I have to say. The first stint didn't look fantastic, but then I could play with the brake balance and diff to help the car to suit me a bit better. For sure it was not a dream, but it was okay. It was good enough to keep the Mercedes of Michael [schumacher] behind me and then go on to pass Nico [Rosberg], and also set the fastest lap so it can't have been too bad!

Q: How do you feel heading to Monaco with a car that's we've seen has been good this year?

RG: I think Monaco is going to be a fantastic event and it is a special race for me for sure. There are certain to be a lot of French fans, and I'm looking forward to their support. It's also a very special event in its own right, and the atmosphere is quite crazy! As a driver you have to stay calm and relaxed and try to do your job. It's a track that doesn't allow any mistakes. You have to respect it and that is the key there I think. Hopefully we can have another good result.

Q: It's a very particular and distinct track, how do you think the E20 will perform there?

RG: Well this is what we will discover. I think Monaco is a specialist track and it's very difficult to say if a car will suit there or not. It's bumpy on the straights and it's a very low grip track surface. All these things mean that you never know what to expect. On a more normal racetrack you know more what you are going to have. I hope we will have a pleasant surprise and that the car will suit Monaco's unique challenges. That would be nice.

Q: How have you been finding this year - your comeback, first points, first podium. It's building and building...

RG: It's nice, for sure. That's why we enjoy Formula 1: for the pressure, for the bad news but sometimes the good results. It is all of these up-and-downs that make it special. Honestly I enjoy the life in Formula 1. I hope I can stay here for a while because this is where I feel quite happy professionally. I hope one day I can have my first victory, then more and then win the world title.