FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Maldonado: We are getting better

Pastor Maldonado believes his third place result in the European qualifying is a sure sign that Williams are on the up.

Maldonado claimed a surprise pole position and victory at the Spanish GP earlier this season, however, since then has failed to score a single point.

This prompted some claims that his Barcelona triumph was a one-off, more a fluke than a sign that Williams are back.

But having finished third quickest in qualifying at Valencia on Saturday, the Venezuelan reckons that's a sure sign that his team's hard work is paying off.

"I think we've been working so hard," he said.

"The car was quite quick yesterday. We were struggling a bit with the option tyres.

"We were a bit confused. The car didn't feel the same as with the prime tyres. For qualifying, we understand [the issue] a bit better and here we are.

"I think we did a good job. Williams are getting better.

"I'm happy for my country and it's a great opportunity to get on the podium and fight for a good result."

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Ecclestone: 'New Jersey won't happen in 2013'

Bernie Ecclestone has claimed that the New Jersey Grand Prix, planned for 2013, won't happen due to concerns the circuit won't be ready in time.

When asked by the BBC if the race will happen as planned next year, the 81-year-old replied: "No. Definitely, no."

When probed further on the reason, he added: "We'll have to see, I need to go and have another look. What I've seen up to now, and what's been going on, I'm not quite as sure as they are. If they can get it completed, and confirm to us it will be done, for sure they'll be on the calendar.

"I think everybody wants us to be there, it seems that all the politicians are happy, I don't think from that point of view there is any problem. If they get the place finished the way we want it, then I'm sure there'll be a big difference, but I don't think they will."

Ecclestone also quashed speculation that the 2013 calendar will feature 23 races: "Not at the moment, no," he said.

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Schumacher against tyre warmer ban

Michael Schumacher has spoken out against a potential ban on tyre warmers in Formula 1.

It emerged earlier in the European Grand Prix weekend that teams have considered banning tyre warmers on cost saving grounds. But Schumacher believes that such a move would be a mistake.

"I think cold tyres are for categories that have low power, maybe Formula Ford, Formula 3," Schumacher said in the Valencia paddock.

"But, quite honestly, Formula 1, being the pinnacle of motorsport, with the power that we have, with the speed that we have... no, I wouldn't like that idea at all, and I don't see a need or reason to do so."

Schumacher's Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said that he felt it was a difficult situation to judge.

"I think it is a close call whether or not we should use them," said Brawn. "I don't think on cost grounds they are incredibly expensive.

"On a sporting point that's a different matter. Cars going out after a pitstop with tyres still cold, and perhaps not being able to bang in a quick lap to defend their position, trying to build the tyres up, that could be a different issue."

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Paul di Resta laments missed opportunity in qualifying for the European Grand Prix

Paul di Resta believes that he missed an opportunity for a strong qualifying performance at Valencia despite making it into the top 10.

The Force India driver was third fastest in Q2 and was on a lap that had the potential to put him in the top five when he made a mistake.

"It's going to take a few hours to reflect on it," he said. "It was a bit of a missed opportunity.

"On the last lap, I tried as much as I could and unfortunately locked the rears and an inside wheel as well at Turn 17. The lap was identical to Q2 at that point and it would have been the same probably."

Di Resta's Q2 time would have been good enough to earn him sixth on the grid, and the Scot suspects that he could have improved on that lap in the final sector without his mistake.

"Looking at it realistically P4 [was possible]," said di Resta. "If I'd improve in the last sector then possibly P3. It was in there.

"The positive side is we've showed we're very competitive, but I don't have to tell, if you look at the sector times, what happened.

"It cost us a lot of positions, but that's the difference from an exceptional lap to the one I had."

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Grosjean says he got the most out of his Lotus car after qualifying fourth in Valencia

Romain Grosjean reckons he got the most from his Lotus E20 after taking fourth position on the grid for the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

The Frenchman and his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen are widely tipped as a dark horses for race victory because of the Lotus's performance in hot weather and race conditions.

"Today we got pretty much the most out of the car that we could have," said Grosjean. "P4 is a good position for the start of the race but of course you want always more and to do better.

"Sebastian did an unbelievable lap and today we could not have matched it. We have improved our qualifying performance but there is still room to do better. Tyre degradation will be more important than what we saw at the last race.

"There will be 57 laps in hot conditions on Sunday; we will see what we can do for a good race tomorrow."

Raikkonen too was satisfied with his fifth position though he felt he may have been able to make it on to the second row of the grid.

"It was very close in qualifying, especially in Q2, so it's good to be fifth on the grid," said the Finn. "The car felt good. If we could have improved just a little bit on my last lap then we could have gained a couple of places, but it is an improvement on last time out so I'm very happy with that.

"We found a few good things with the setup this morning to make the car easier to drive. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

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Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 13: Nigel Mansell

Nigel Mansell was the personification of drama in a Formula 1 car.

Whether it be daring overtaking manoeuvres, his muscular handling of some of the sport's defining cars, or the histrionics and apparent persecution complex that accompanied much of his career, there was never a dull moment when the moustachioed Midlander was around.

Mansell's career coincided - and is inextricably linked - with those of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. He went toe-to-toe with these two titans and in so doing earned his own place in the pantheon.

His exciting, fighting style won him enormous adulation from fans, many of whom were not from the usual F1 audience demographic. But an awkward, complex, demanding personality often made him difficult to work with.

Mansell achieved the vast majority of his success in two periods with the Williams team. But even their boss, Frank Williams, said when Mansell left for the second time: "Nigel is conceited, he's arrogant and he's brilliant," adding: "We'll miss him as a driver but not as a bloke."

Whereas both Senna and Prost seemed preordained for F1 glory, Mansell had to convince many doubters along the way.

He battled lack of finance through the junior formulae, where his determination was obvious from an early stage - he broke his neck in a crash in Formula Ford but, despite being told by doctors that he was lucky not to be paralysed, discharged himself from hospital and returned to racing.

In F1, too, his refusal to give up became apparent from the very beginning.

During his grand prix debut with Lotus in Austria in 1980, a fuel leak into the cockpit gave him first and second degree burns, but he battled through the pain and stopped only when a mechanical problem forced him into retirement.

Mansell had a close relationship with Lotus founder Colin Chapman, but found life at the team more of a struggle following the boss's untimely death in December 1982.

Peter Warr, who stepped up from being Chapman's right-hand man to run the team, despised Mansell.

"Throughout his time with the team," Warr wrote in his autobiography, "Mansell made it clear that he felt the whole world was against him.

"It did not help his case that in many instances his demeanour and behaviour did nothing to convince the team that anything they did would help change his attitude to one where he was not continually suspicious of their real intent."

Warr was especially critical when Mansell made mistakes - the most high-profile of which during the Lotus years was in Monaco in 1984.

After taking the lead from the McLaren of eventual winner Prost in the pouring rain, Mansell crashed on the way up the hill - blaming the white lines painted on the road for his error.

Mansell was beaten more often than not during his years at Lotus by team-mate Elio de Angelis, a talented driver and charming man from a wealthy Roman background, and a very different personality from Mansell.

Lotus recruited Senna in his place for 1985 but Mansell was provided a lifeline by Williams. It was to be the making of him.

Williams took on Mansell expecting him to be a decent number two to Keke Rosberg and, for much of the year, the Finn outshone him. But Mansell came good at the end of the season - aided by engine supplier Honda shifting their main efforts from the Finn to the Englishman - and took two dominant wins.

Even so, Mansell was expected to play second fiddle to his new team-mate, the double world champion Nelson Piquet, in 1986.

Instead, Mansell was generally slightly quicker from the start and tensions soon mounted between the two men as they battled for the title in the fastest car in the field.

Their relationship quickly degenerated into one of mutual distrust and loathing, and Williams's refusal to impose team orders eventually led to both of them missing out on the title to Prost. Mansell's hopes were famously dashed when a rear tyre exploded in the final race of the season.

The Williams was so dominant in 1987 that the title was there for the taking.

Piquet won only three races to Mansell's seven - one of which was a thrilling fightback and pass of Piquet at Silverstone - but it was the Brazilian who ended the year as champion, Mansell suffering from worse reliability and some costly mistakes.

After a frustrating year in a normally aspirated Williams against the turbo-charged McLarens in 1988, Mansell moved to Ferrari in 1989 and immediately scored one of his most memorable victories.

The car had F1's first semi-automatic gearbox and it was dreadfully unreliable throughout pre-season testing and in practice before the opening race of the season in Brazil.

So convinced was Mansell that he would not finish that he booked himself on an early flight - which he then missed when the car not only lasted, but completed a most unlikely win.

It earned Mansell immediate adoration from Ferrari's famous fans, the tifosi, who christened him 'Il Leone' (The Lion) for his fighting spirit.

There was another sensational win that year in Hungary, when he fought from 12th on the grid and made an opportunistic pass on Senna's McLaren to take the lead.

But Mansell's relationship with Ferrari soured in 1990 when Prost joined the team to get away from the Brazilian at McLaren.

It was the Frenchman who battled Senna for the title. Prost outscored his new team-mate by five wins to one and the Englishman's frustrations and suspicions built quickly. After his car broke down in the British Grand Prix, he threw his gloves to the crowd and later that day announced that he was retiring.

Few believed he was serious, and indeed he entered negotiations to return to Williams. As before, it was the perfect move.

The FW14 was the fastest car in 1991, but Mansell was unable to recover the ground lost to Senna at the start of the year as Williams battled reliability problems with its new semi-automatic gearbox.

The following year, though, was a different story. Now fitted with active suspension, the FW14B was one of the most dominant cars in F1 history and Mansell cake-walked the season, taking nine wins and 14 pole positions to secure the title many felt he should have won years earlier.

Mansell being Mansell, though, there had to be a drama and sure enough his negotiations with the team over a new contract for 1993 foundered.

The apparent sticking point, unbelievably, was the number of hotel rooms the contract dictated the team would provide for him. But some wondered whether the fact that, had he stayed, he would again be team-mate to Prost might have had something to do with it, too.

Whatever the truth, Mansell turned his back on F1 to race in IndyCars - and stunningly won the title in his first season.

He will be remembered as a magnificent and exhilarating driver - good enough to be one of the best in one of F1's toughest eras.

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IMMACULATE ALONSO BECOMES TWO TIME WINNER, COMEBACK PAIR ON PODIUM:

Fernando Alonso became the first two time race winner in 2012 with a stunning victory in the European Grand Prix.

It was a very valuable win as both his main title contenders did not score points; Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both fell by the wayside, giving Alonso the chance to open up a relatively big points lead. He has 111 points with Webber on 91, Hamilton on 88 and Vettel on 85.

After a dramatic final dash to the line, the two comeback kings got great results; Kimi Raikkonen finished second ahead of Michael Schumacher. It was Schumacher’s 155th podium and the first of his three year comeback.

Starting 11th on the grid, but with the advantage of new tyres saved from missing Q3 yesterday, Alonso gained three places off the start line, fought his way through the field in the opening stint, took the opportunity offered to him by another pit stop problem for McLaren to pass Hamilton. He passed Grosjean for second place then took the lead just after half way through the race.

The race looked to be Sebastian Vettel’s for the taking, the only time he had any company all afternoon was at the start and then mid-race, when the safety car was deployed.

But Vettel pulled off the track soon after the restart and into retirement.

“Difficult to express the feeling, winning a home Grand Prix, ” said Alonso. “It’s unique. To win here in Valencia with this special team, I’m feeling very proud to be a Spanish sportsman. It’s probably my most special victory.

“Yesterday we had a tough moment, we were sad not being in Q3, but we didn’t give up. Anything can happen, today we had an amazing race a good start, 6 or 7 overtakings. We have to enjoy this.”

On the grid, Schumacher, Webber, Perez and Vergne went for the medium tyres, a clear indication that they were planning a one stop strategy. But their decision to pull out of this and switch to two stops late in the race gave Webber and Schumacher great results.

At the start, Vettel got away well, with Hamilton in second, but Grosjean squeezed past Maldonado for third place. Button lost four places to 13th and Rosberg fell to 11th.

Grosjean attacked Hamilton, while Raikkonen had a go at passing Maldonado for fourth, the Finn went off the track but couldn’t get past.

Vettel put in a very strong opening couple of laps to be well clear of the DRS zone by the end of lap two and after seven laps he had an eight second lead over Hamilton.

With Grosjean feeling that he was losing time behind Hamilton, Lotus needed to review their strategy options. But Grosjean passed Hamilton for second place on lap 11 and set off after Vettel. Grosjean’s pass was around the outside after the DRS zone. Grosjean dropped Hamilton by almost two seconds on the first lap in clear air.

Kobayashi had got himself up to fourth place, while both Ferraris gained three places from their grid slot, with Alonso eighth in the opening stint and Massa 10th.

Raikkonen passed Maldonado on lap 13 for 5th place, a great move around the outside again. Both Lotus drivers were very committed in their moves.

Hamilton pitted for mediums, while the other front runners mainly went for another set of softs. Hamilton was suffering from overheating tyres.

Alonso rose to 3rd before his pit stop and he rejoined 9th, just ahead of Raikkonen, who had been two places ahead of him in the opening stint. Alonso passed Webber and then Alonso and Schumacher had a great battle, the Spaniard squeezing past on lap 19 using the extra grip of the new tyres.

Kobayashi made contact with Senna as he tried to come through on new tyres, it put Senna into a spin and Kobayashi needed a new nose.

On lap 24 Di Resta pitted for a set of medium tyres and rejoined 14th.

The top three cars were very spread out with Vettel over 20 seconds clear of Grosjean, who was almost 10 seconds clear of Hamilton. Approaching half distance Alonso started to reel in Hamilton.

On lap 29 the safety car was deployed for debris on the track from an incident between Vergne and Kovalainen. Grosjean, Alonso, Raikkonen and Hulkenberg pitted immediately. Hamilton had a problem with a front jack and another long stop meant that Alonso passed him, as did Raikkonen. Hamilton dropped to sixth place.

Vettel pitted a lap later and rejoined in the lead. Now all the front runners were on the same medium tyres of the same age, which threatened to take away from the drama of the final laps on varying tyres. Although Daniel Ricciardo kept the interest alive by staying out on very worn soft tyres after the restart.

At the restart Alonso forced his way past Grosjean for P2, a move which turned out to be a very important move as a few moments later Vettel pulled off the track with no drive to retire, leaving Alonso in the race lead.

But Grosjean hadn’t given up on the idea of a race win. lap after lap he stayed with him, matching his lap times and biding his time.

Mark Webber had climbed to sixth, but in a few corners on lap 37 was passed by Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Di Resta. He was another driver who made a late second stop for soft tyres and made great use of them; ending up fourth, from 19th on the grid.

The stewards investigated Hamilton for passing under yellow flags, but cleared him. However they penalised Kobayashi for a collision with Massa, five grid places at the next race.

On lap 41 Grosjean pulled off the race track into retirement, leaving Hamilton in second place and Raikkonen third with Maldonado and Hulkenberg giving chase.

With 12 laps to go, the top three started to close up; Raikkonen was told that if he could get ahead of Hamilton he’d have a chance of winning as Lotus expected the Ferrari to struggle on the tyres at the end.

In the closing stages Di Resta on his one stop strategy was vulnerable as Schumacher and Webber went past him on fresher tyres. Schumacher had been trying to do one stop, but a late stop for soft tyres gave him a chance to attack in the closing stages.

Raikkonen attacked Hamilton with two laps to go and passed him for second place. Maldonado tried to follow the Finn, but Hamilton defended robustly despite rapidly fading rear tyres.

Hamilton refused to allow Maldonado through and as he resisted he and Maldonado collided, Maldonado coming back from outside the race track, in a move most commentators saw as Maldonado’s fault – putting Hamilton out of the race. The enmity between the two from last year was clear to see and won’t have been improved by this incident.

Maldonado saw it as Hamilton’s fault, “He tried to put me off the track,” he said. “He didn’t leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. I jumped over the kerb and I couldn’t avoid the accident. I don’t know why he drove like that. He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me.”

This allowed Schumacher to come through to take his first podium of the comeback.

Hulkenberg finished fifth, despite not having KERS from lap seven, which is quite an achievement when considering how important KERS is in both passing and defending.

EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX, Valencia, 57 laps

1. Alonso Ferrari 1h44:16.449

2. Raikkonen Lotus + 6.421

3. Schumacher Mercedes + 12.639

4. Webber Red Bull + 13.628

5. Hulkenberg Force India + 19.993

6. Rosberg Mercedes + 21.176

7. Di Resta Force India + 22.886

8. Button McLaren + 24.653

9. Perez Sauber + 27.777

10. Maldonado Williams + 34.630

11. Senna Williams + 35.900

12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 37.000

13. Petrov Caterham + 1:15.871

14. Kovalainen Caterham + 1:34.654

15. Pic Marussia + 1:36.565

16. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap

17. De la Rosa HRT + 1 lap

18. Karthikeyan HRT + 1 lap

19. Hamilton McLaren + 2 laps

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Emotional Alonso: Best win ever

Fernando Alonso was extremely emotional as he claimed only his second win on home soil, beating Kimi Raikkonen to the chequered flag in Valencia on Sunday.

The Spaniard had previously won the Barcelona grand prix back in 2006 with Renault but after a long wait was back on the top step at home, this time in Valencia and with Ferrari.

"I cannot put into words the special feeling of winning your home grand prix," said the double World Champ. "It is unique and special.

"I had the opportunity in Barcelona in 2006 and did the same here in Valencia.

"The stands were full of colour and Spanish flags and, after the footballers won at Euro 2012, I am feeling very proud to be Spanish at the moment.

"This is possibly the best victory I have ever had."

Alonso's victory on Sunday saw him become the first repeat winner of this season, an impressive achievement given that he started the 57-lap grand prix 11th on the grid after lacking pace in Saturday's qualifying.

"It's unpredictable results, but it's still a sport.

"Sport is about that, sport is about up and downs; yesterday we had a tough moment, we were sad about not being in Q3 but you can never give up because anything can happen in sport in general.

"Maybe more in Formula One, which is something that has many factors inside. There are the cars, there are the brakes, engines, anything can have a failure in the race."

Speaking about his grand prix and the moment after the Safety Car, he said: "When you find yourself third after the Safety Car I said hopefully there is the chequered flag now and I enjoy this podium celebration, but two laps later I overtook (Romain) Grosjean on the restart, then Vettel stopped and it was a very long race from that point.

"You enjoy this moment so much, but it's difficult to describe in words what I am feeling."

Such was the European GP winner's joy that he stopped his car on his in-lap, climbed out and soaked in the applause from the Ferrari and Spanish fans in the grandstands before getting a lift back to the pits in the Safety Car.

The first to welcome him home was Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

"It was an unbelievable race and, for me, it is important that we kept the pace," the Italian told the media.

"Our main competitors lost some important points and I am very happy for Fernando, it was an incredible performance. Yesterday was not easy for us, but it's great for us today."

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Maldonado loses tenth after post-race penalty

Pastor Maldonado has lost his tenth place and one world championship point after the FIA handed him a post-race drive-through penalty.

The Williams driver was deemed to have "failed to rejoin the track in a safe manner," according to an FIA document.

The Venezuelan collided with Lewis Hamilton as the pair battled for third on the penultimate lap. As Hamilton defended his position he pushed Maldonado wide and off-track before the Venezuelan rejoined, running into the side of the McLaren sending Hamilton into the wall and ending his race.

The penalty, a 20-second time addition, pushes Maldonado down to 12th and promotes his team-mate Bruno Senna to tenth.

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Schumacher escapes penalty for DRS use

Michael Schumacher has escaped punishment for using his DRS under yellow flag conditions during the European Grand Prix.

The stewards found the seven-time world champion to have breached the regulations by using the drag reduction system whilst passing the stricken McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, but because he slowed sufficiently, the stewards chose not to penalise the German.

"The stewards considered a report that driver #7 used his DRS in a yellow flag zone and that his allegedly constituted a breach of yellow flag regulations," said an FIA statement.

"Having examined telemetry and video evidence, and heard from the driver and team representatives, the stewards noted that the driver did make a significant reduction in speed on entering the double waved flag zone."

Schumacher therefore retains his third place, making him the oldest driver to stand on the podium and marking his first podium since is comeback in 2010.

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Vergne handed British GP penalty and fine

Jean-Eric Vergne has been handed a ten-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix after causing a collision with Heikki Kovalainen.

The Toro Rosso driver had almost passed the Caterham of Kovalainen during the European GP, but before he was fully clear he widly veered to the right clipping the Caterham's front-wing.

That left himself with a right-rear puncture and Kovalainen with a left-front puncture and also resulted in a safety car for the extensive debris left strewn across the circuit.

Vergne was also handed a €25,000 (£20,000) fine.

Explaining the incident, the Frenchman described it as a racing incident.

"I felt I was ahead and as I started to turn into the corner, we collided and his front wing clipped my rear wheel and there was too much damage to the floor and it was impossible to change the damaged rear wheel so there was no way for me to continue," he said, before adding: "I think it was just a racing incident."

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Kobayashi handed grid drop for British GP

Kamui Kobayashi has been penalised for the British Grand Prix with a five-place grid drop for causing an avoidable collision during Sunday's European GP.

The Sauber driver was deemed to have been at fault by the race stewards for the collision between himself and Ferrari's Felipe Massa during the race restart.

Kobayashi will start the British GP in a fortnight's time five places lower than he qualifies.

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Maldonado blames Hamilton for Valencia clash

Pastor Maldonado has laid the blame fully on Lewis Hamilton for their European Grand Prix clash, which resulted in the latter retiring from the race.

The pair were battling for position with just two laps of the race remaining as Maldonado drew alongside Hamilton, who's tyres had given up the go.

As Hamilton defended his position he pushed Maldonado wide and off-track before the Venezuelan rejoined, making contact with the side of the McLaren sending Hamilton into the wall.

The Williams driver described the move as aggressive when probed after the race.

"He tried to put me off the track," said Maldonado. "He didn't leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. I jumped over the kerb and I couldn't avoid the accident."

"I don't know why he drove like that. He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me."

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Paul di Resta rues Force India's one-stop European Grand Prix strategy

Paul di Resta believes that Force India "missed a trick" by persevering with his one-stop strategy in the European Grand Prix.

The Scot finished seventh after stopping just once, but suspects that had he adopted a similar strategy to both Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, who stopped on lap 38 and 41 respectively, he could have finished more strongly.

"I think the result says it all, we clearly missed a trick," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT about how his strategy worked out. "We were fairly aggressive and stuck with it when we probably could have bailed out [of the one-stopper].

"I passed Webber on track, and two laps later he pitted. That was about eight laps after the safety car. He got the last laugh on me.

"Obviously we had it [a one-stopper] in mind before the race. It probably wasn't on the cards right away but then during the first stint they said the strategy we wanted was working so we would stick with it.

"You've got to follow what the guys are saying. I've done nothing wrong there. Unfortunately that's two races where I've been in great positions where things that I can't control have made a difference to the race result."

Di Resta added that he is confident about Force India maintaining its strong form at the British Grand Prix in two weeks' time after the double points finish in Valencia.

The team has made good progress with getting the best out of a major upgrade package introduced in Spain three races ago and there will be further tweaks for Silverstone.

"Ahead of Silverstone we've got some minor upgrades coming which should give us some performance," he said. "I'm quite hopeful of that, so if we can carry on where we are we should be going into it thinking positively."

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Renault to look into alternator issues after Vettel and Grosjean retirements in Valencia

Renault says it will have to wait until its engines are returned to its base to work out what caused the alternators to fail on Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean's cars in the European Grand Prix.

Both drivers saw their chances of victory taken away when they retired shortly after a safety car period, which had been caused by Jean-Eric Vergne leaving debris on the track following a collision with Heikki Kovalainen.

Vettel retired from the lead on lap 34, while Grosjean was running second behind Fernando Alonso when his alternator failed on lap 41.

Renault Sport F1's deputy managing director and technical chief Rob White said that the French manufacturer was not sure of the causes of the failures - or even if they were identical problems.

"We don't yet know whether it was the same incident on both cars, but it is very, very suspicious to all of us that it happened to both cars at such a similar point in the race," he told AUTOSPORT.

"We need to get the engines, and of course the alternator is on the engines, back to the factory."

White said that there was no indication that the alternator failures were triggered by the safety car period interfering with the operations of the engine.

"We don't think there is any reason to think the safety was involved," he said. "We have seen the consequences of the alternator stopping, but we don't know what caused the alternator to stop.

"So we don't know whether we have had this kind of failure before. We need to get back to the factory to work it out; and obviously we will not dodge the question. When we have an answer we will give it to you."

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Romain Grosjean certain he could have passed Fernando Alonso for European Grand Prix victory

Romain Grosjean is confident he would have had a shot at victory in the European Grand Prix if not for a mechanical problem.

The Lotus driver was running in second position having been passed by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the restart following a safety car, when he slowed down after his car's alternator failed. By that time erstwhile leader Sebastian Vettel had retired and elevated Alonso and Grosjean to a close first and second.

Grosjean said his race had been perfect until that point, and he was hoping the tyre degradation from the Ferrari in front would have given him a chance to get his maiden victory.

"The car stopped, the engine stopped," said Grosjean, who retired on lap 41. "Basically we had an alternator problem and we need to have a deep look into it.

"The race was almost perfect until that point. I had a good start, a good strategy and we pushed when we had to. We had a good performance today.

"It could have been the first win but maybe in the future. I'm sure we are showing good performance and we are getting experience."

The Frenchman was convinced his pace was stronger than that of eventual winner Alonso.

"I think I was looking not too bad and we knew we were quicker than the Ferrari. We just had to wait a little bit to see if their tyres were going away then try to push. But we couldn't get to that stage."

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Hamilton: No qualms over Maldonado move in the European Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said he had no qualms about trying to fend off Pastor Maldonado as his tyres fading at the end of the European Grand Prix - even though the battle culminated in a collision that left the McLaren in the barriers.

Hamilton was holding second behind Fernando Alonso's Ferrari before running out of tyre grip.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen overtook him, and Williams's Maldonado was trying to do likewise when he hit the McLaren on the penultimate lap.

"My tyres were gone," said Hamilton. "I don't know where I would have finished. Over the last lap or so, my tyres just went - it was almost like I had flat tyres at the back."

But asked whether he felt in retrospect he should have let Maldonado go, Hamilton replied: "You never let people past, you've got to race for every position you can get."

The Briton declined to comment in detail on the collision. Maldonado was adamant that Hamilton was at fault for not giving him more space.

"I don't really know what happened, if I'm honest," said Hamilton. "I went into the corner and I didn't come out.

"It happened so fast, I really do not remember what happened. All I remember is sitting in the wall with only a lap to go."

He added: "You put your heart and soul into some things, and when you don't get the results that you feel you worked for, it's very tough, but that's life."

The Valencia result dropped Hamilton from first to third in the standings, 23 points behind race winner and new championship leader Alonso, but the McLaren driver was relieved that he was not the only one to lose ground in Spain.

"It does change a lot, we lost a lot of points today, but fortunately for us a couple of the others that were fighting as well - including Sebastian [Vettel] - weren't able to score either," said Hamilton. "But it does make things a little bit tougher."

Hamilton had been ahead of Alonso until a slow second pitstop. Although McLaren has had several pitstop issues this season, Hamilton defended his team.

"I think we did the fastest pitstop of the whole season in our first pitstop and were a little bit unfortunate in the second."

But he reckons McLaren does need to find more speed from its car, as despite holding second for so long, he did not think victory was ever possible.

"We were a long, long way off today," said Hamilton. "We've got a lot of work to do to try and pick up the pace because we were really struggling today."

[MIKA27]

Kovalainen says Vergne crash a "rookie error" by the Frenchman

Heikki Kovalainen described his race-spoiling collision with Jean-Eric Vergne in the European Grand Prix as a "rookie mistake" by the Frenchman, after a race in which both Caterhams were involved in contact with Toro Rossos.

Kovalainen and Vergne both sustained punctures when they clashed as Vergne tried to pass the Caterham for 17th on lap 12.

Later on, their respective team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Vitaly Petrov came together while battling for 12th.

Ricciardo continued intact despite an airborne spin and finished 12th, while Petrov required a new nose but still came home 13th, one place ahead of Kovalainen. Vergne had to retire with damage from his incident.

"My pace was good but then Vergne made what looks like a rookie mistake, hit me and I had to come in for a new nose," said Kovalainen. "From that point I was just trying to get to the end of the race."

Vergne felt the collision was "just a racing incident", but that he had been in front.

"I felt I was ahead and as I started to turn into the corner, we collided and his front wing clipped my rear wheel," said Vergne. "There was too much damage to the floor and it was impossible to change the damaged rear wheel so there was no way for me to continue."

Ricciardo blamed Petrov's 'aggression' for their tangle.

"I had Petrov going quite slowly in front of me, I went to get around him and he defended by going a bit wide," said the Australian. "So I tried to switch back and I feel I gave him some racing room, but we still made contact because perhaps his move was a bit too aggressive."

Shortly before the clash, Petrov had been running 10th and looking like he might manage to give Caterham its first point. But the Russian was then passed by eventual top-four finishers Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber before being caught by Ricciardo, and said he had never felt scoring was realistic anyway.

"Even though we were running 10th at one point I'm not sure a point was quite within reach today, but it's really encouraging to see how we've progressed here," said Petrov.

[OZCUBAN]

Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 13: Nigel Mansell

Nigel Mansell was the personification of drama in a Formula 1 car.

Whether it be daring overtaking manoeuvres, his muscular handling of some of the sport's defining cars, or the histrionics and apparent persecution complex that accompanied much of his career, there was never a dull moment when the moustachioed Midlander was around.

Mansell's career coincided - and is inextricably linked - with those of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. He went toe-to-toe with these two titans and in so doing earned his own place in the pantheon.

His exciting, fighting style won him enormous adulation from fans, many of whom were not from the usual F1 audience demographic. But an awkward, complex, demanding personality often made him difficult to work with.

Mansell achieved the vast majority of his success in two periods with the Williams team. But even their boss, Frank Williams, said when Mansell left for the second time: "Nigel is conceited, he's arrogant and he's brilliant," adding: "We'll miss him as a driver but not as a bloke."

Whereas both Senna and Prost seemed preordained for F1 glory, Mansell had to convince many doubters along the way.

He battled lack of finance through the junior formulae, where his determination was obvious from an early stage - he broke his neck in a crash in Formula Ford but, despite being told by doctors that he was lucky not to be paralysed, discharged himself from hospital and returned to racing.

In F1, too, his refusal to give up became apparent from the very beginning.

During his grand prix debut with Lotus in Austria in 1980, a fuel leak into the cockpit gave him first and second degree burns, but he battled through the pain and stopped only when a mechanical problem forced him into retirement.

Mansell had a close relationship with Lotus founder Colin Chapman, but found life at the team more of a struggle following the boss's untimely death in December 1982.

Peter Warr, who stepped up from being Chapman's right-hand man to run the team, despised Mansell.

"Throughout his time with the team," Warr wrote in his autobiography, "Mansell made it clear that he felt the whole world was against him.

"It did not help his case that in many instances his demeanour and behaviour did nothing to convince the team that anything they did would help change his attitude to one where he was not continually suspicious of their real intent."

Warr was especially critical when Mansell made mistakes - the most high-profile of which during the Lotus years was in Monaco in 1984.

After taking the lead from the McLaren of eventual winner Prost in the pouring rain, Mansell crashed on the way up the hill - blaming the white lines painted on the road for his error.

Mansell was beaten more often than not during his years at Lotus by team-mate Elio de Angelis, a talented driver and charming man from a wealthy Roman background, and a very different personality from Mansell.

Lotus recruited Senna in his place for 1985 but Mansell was provided a lifeline by Williams. It was to be the making of him.

Williams took on Mansell expecting him to be a decent number two to Keke Rosberg and, for much of the year, the Finn outshone him. But Mansell came good at the end of the season - aided by engine supplier Honda shifting their main efforts from the Finn to the Englishman - and took two dominant wins.

Even so, Mansell was expected to play second fiddle to his new team-mate, the double world champion Nelson Piquet, in 1986.

Instead, Mansell was generally slightly quicker from the start and tensions soon mounted between the two men as they battled for the title in the fastest car in the field.

Their relationship quickly degenerated into one of mutual distrust and loathing, and Williams's refusal to impose team orders eventually led to both of them missing out on the title to Prost. Mansell's hopes were famously dashed when a rear tyre exploded in the final race of the season.

The Williams was so dominant in 1987 that the title was there for the taking.

Piquet won only three races to Mansell's seven - one of which was a thrilling fightback and pass of Piquet at Silverstone - but it was the Brazilian who ended the year as champion, Mansell suffering from worse reliability and some costly mistakes.

After a frustrating year in a normally aspirated Williams against the turbo-charged McLarens in 1988, Mansell moved to Ferrari in 1989 and immediately scored one of his most memorable victories.

The car had F1's first semi-automatic gearbox and it was dreadfully unreliable throughout pre-season testing and in practice before the opening race of the season in Brazil.

So convinced was Mansell that he would not finish that he booked himself on an early flight - which he then missed when the car not only lasted, but completed a most unlikely win.

It earned Mansell immediate adoration from Ferrari's famous fans, the tifosi, who christened him 'Il Leone' (The Lion) for his fighting spirit.

There was another sensational win that year in Hungary, when he fought from 12th on the grid and made an opportunistic pass on Senna's McLaren to take the lead.

But Mansell's relationship with Ferrari soured in 1990 when Prost joined the team to get away from the Brazilian at McLaren.

It was the Frenchman who battled Senna for the title. Prost outscored his new team-mate by five wins to one and the Englishman's frustrations and suspicions built quickly. After his car broke down in the British Grand Prix, he threw his gloves to the crowd and later that day announced that he was retiring.

Few believed he was serious, and indeed he entered negotiations to return to Williams. As before, it was the perfect move.

The FW14 was the fastest car in 1991, but Mansell was unable to recover the ground lost to Senna at the start of the year as Williams battled reliability problems with its new semi-automatic gearbox.

The following year, though, was a different story. Now fitted with active suspension, the FW14B was one of the most dominant cars in F1 history and Mansell cake-walked the season, taking nine wins and 14 pole positions to secure the title many felt he should have won years earlier.

Mansell being Mansell, though, there had to be a drama and sure enough his negotiations with the team over a new contract for 1993 foundered.

The apparent sticking point, unbelievably, was the number of hotel rooms the contract dictated the team would provide for him. But some wondered whether the fact that, had he stayed, he would again be team-mate to Prost might have had something to do with it, too.

Whatever the truth, Mansell turned his back on F1 to race in IndyCars - and stunningly won the title in his first season.

He will be remembered as a magnificent and exhilarating driver - good enough to be one of the best in one of F1's toughest eras.

Great post Mika

As you know Mansell was /is one of my heros in F-1

The whining must be a northern thing a British midland thing

cheers OZ

[Guest Robo]

Great day for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso!

[MIKA27]

Button not displeased with race pace despite disappointing eighth in the European GP

Jenson Button believes his disappointing eighth place in the European Grand Prix was more a consequence of other drivers getting better luck than any lack of pace from him or his McLaren.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has had a run of frustrating races since his second place in China in April, and was not a podium threat in Valencia.

But Button reckons his difficulties this time were more due to the race becoming something of a strategic lottery.

"It was a really difficult race to read. Obviously I got a terrible start and I think I was 14th after the start. I just got unlucky," said Button.

"We had a strategy in mind, but nobody seemed to be able to look after the tyres. It just seemed that if you pushed like hell, destroyed your tyres and just kept coming in and getting new tyres, that was the way to go. Normally that wouldn't be because you can't get past people here.

"I don't think we did a bad job in terms of strategy, but I think a few people lucked into their strategies at the end there when they put new tyres on with 10 laps to go and nearly won the race."

Button said he could actually take some encouragement from Valencia even though the result was underwhelming on paper.

"It's still not a good result but I had fun out there, that's the main thing, and the car felt good at some times in the race," he said.

"It's a lot to work with and I really don't think anything went in our favour today. It could have been a very different race for us."

[MIKA27]

Webber happy after 'crazy' day

Mark Webber delighted with his fourth-place finish in the European GP as he not only came from 19th on the grid but also survived a race of attrition.

Having suffered hydraulic and DRS problems in Saturday's qualifying, Webber was out of position at the start of Sunday's 57-lap race as he was down in 19th place.

The Aussie's fight back on Sunday, though, got off to a slow start before good strategy slowly but surely carried him forward.

Helped by the retirements of the front running Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull racer brought his car home in an impressive fourth place.

"Another crazy day. As we're finding out, it's very different to know what's going to happen on Sundays," the 35-year-old told Autosport.

"Obviously there was a bit of attrition at the front today, with a Lotus, Lewis (Hamilton) and Seb (Vettel) as well. I'll take that.

"It's all part of the Championship and yesterday wasn't a great day for me. Maybe if I'd started at the front I wouldn't have had such a good a race as I did from the back."

Webber added that strategy was the key to his success on Sunday in a grand prix that "wasn't too bad" as he's now up to second in the Drivers' Championship, 20 points behind race winner Fernando Alonso.

"Strategy's all about rolling the dice and going on the fly, all the time. Trying to - not guess - but work out what's going on.

"I didn't mind the race, it wasn't too bad - a bit of KERS, a bit of DRS, a bit of fighting here and there.

"But it's still very tricky to race. You can't race that hard because you're looking after the tyres.

"In the end it's a lot of points for me so I'm happy with that from that grid position."

[MIKA27]

Schumacher holds onto third

Michael Schumacher's 99-race wait for a podium finish ended in Valencia when he finished in third despite threats of a penalty...

Starting 12th on the grid, the seven-time World Champion made the most of different strategies, a Safety Car period and a bit of chaos up ahead to claim the first podium finish of his comeback.

It was an impressive result from the Mercedes driver, who revealed that he didn't even realise he was in a podium position until he asked his pit wall after crossing the line.

"I didn't think about a podium at all," said the 43-year-old, who now holds the record for the oldest podium finisher since Jack Brabham in 1970.

"I asked my guys at the end of the race where I finished and when they told me third, I couldn't believe it.

"You lose count of where you are, it was busy at the end of the race."

It was also Schumacher's first podium finish since his return to Formula One, ending his 99-race wait.

"It is those moments that definitely you enjoy deeply and it's just a wonderful feeling to be back after such a long time.

"We were a couple of times close to it, and finally it happened in a very spectacular way and on a track where it is difficult to pass - but due to various strategies and differences on track it was pretty exciting and that is best way if you manage the way I did today to jump on the podium.

"To do it in an exciting way makes me extra happy.

"But that is what I am here for, to be excited, hearing finally the message P3 is a sweet finish to an unexpected race. Converting from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy meant we had good tyres at the end."

However, Schumacher was investigated by the stewards in the wake of the grand prix.

Accused by Mark Webber of using his DRS under a yellow flag situation, Schumacher had to face the stewards on Sunday evening.

Team boss Ross Brawn was confident he would not face a penalty, telling the BBC that he had ' personally double-checked the data and Schumacher stopped using is 30m before the yellow flag zone so he's confident there won't be a penalty.'

And after examining the evidence the stewards ruled that Schumacher had slowed sufficiently and he retained his third.

MIKA: Fantastic!!!

He still got it, never doubted he didn't unlike some of the naysayers! Still breaking and or adding to his already legendary tally of statistics. 155 podium finishes, 69 pole positions and oldest podium finisher since JB in 1970.

[MIKA27]

Alonso aware Ferrari not fastest yet

Valencia winner says Ferrari must continue to work hard to improve

Fernando Alonso has warned Ferrari that they must not lose sight of the fact that they still trail some of their key rivals on outright pace despite having become the first repeat winners of the season.

The Spanish superstar claimed his second unlikely race victory of 2012 in Valencia on Sunday, combining some impressive overtaking moves with Ferrari's swift pit stops to come from 11th to first on a track that in the past has been universally criticised for producing dull racing.

With his nearest pre-race championships rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton also retiring, Alonso's 29th career win meant he opened up the biggest lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship of anyone so far this season - 20 points, which is nearly the equivalent of a race victory.

However, despite being delighted with the result, Alonso says Ferrari must remain humble and realise that despite big recent progress their disappointing double Q2 elimination on Saturday showed there was still plenty of work to be done to improve the F2012's overall performance.

"I think we always need to be cautious and we always need to be honest with ourselves first and with our supporters, saying that we will fight, will work day and night to be competitive and to fight for the title which is the ultimate goal for Ferrari," he said.

"But yesterday we were P11 and P13 so we need to work. It's true that we believe and we will never give up, we will have confidence in ourselves and we will arrive with optimism at every Grand Prix we go to, but at the same time, apart from winning today or finishing sixth today, we know that we are not in the position that we want to be and there are a few cars quicker than us and we cannot be blind to that. We need to work."

Although Alonso hailed his second ever F1 success on Spanish soil as the most emotional of his career, particularly as the country is currently being gripped by an economic crisis, he reckons he may have actually given better performances himself on the race track given he recognises he enjoyed some good fortune en-route to his latest win.

"In terms of the race itself, or driving, probably they were a little better," he said.

"Any championship in which we participate, the championship should be the target, regarding the history and the level of the team.

"We pushed, but as we said, these days races are decided by little factors and today we had retirements from Grosjean then from Vettel. We had the tyres, the safety car when we took the opportunity to stop as probably everybody did but we did a stop. I think there are maybe races like this year in Malaysia that I feel more proud of the driving itself."

[MIKA27]

Nico Rosberg has admitted it was wrong for him and his Mercedes to try to one-stop in the European Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg believes it was wrong for him to try to go for a one-stop strategy in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

The German was one of a few drivers who started the race with the idea of pitting just once, but the high tyre degradation made it impossible and Rosberg dropped down the order.

Eventually, Mercedes decided to call him in to put new tyres on near the end of the race, and Rosberg charged back to sixth position setting the race's fastest lap in the process.

"The first lap didn't go to plan and I just lost a lot of places, so that was really not ideal," said Rosberg in a video blog after the race. "But still, we had planned a one stop (strategy) so I was still very hopeful and I thought it could go really well.

"But it became quite clear soon that one stop wasn't going to work.

"There was no way. We were miles off. Then the safety car came at the absolute wrong time for me. Restarting after the safety car I had really worn tyres and I couldn't get the temperature back again, and I lost a lot of places.

"In the end it was a great strategy call from the team to call me in and put some new options on because then I was flying and I made up a lot of positions. In two laps I took like four or five guys and finished sixth, which is a decent result in the end."

Despite his disappointing race, Rosberg is still convinced Mercedes has the car to win again this year following his maiden victory in China.

"I want to win a race again soon and we have the car to do it, so we are pushing for that," he said.

And the German said he believes that Formula 1's current mixed up nature is great for fans and drivers after yet another thrilling race, despite criticism from some quarters that the sport is too random at the moment.

"I'm sure it was a spectacular race with so much happening," he said. "A lot of people are saying F1 is too random, but I think it's great. Great for racing, and the same people are still winning.

"The picture is becoming clearer on who is going to be favourite for the championship, so I think it's not completely random. It's just very exciting."