FORMULA 1 - 2012

[MIKA27]

Williams optimistic as they head to Silverstone

Williams are heading to their home race at Silverstone with high hopes, despite a disappointing European Grand Prix which secured them just a single point.

The Grove outfit looked strong throughout the Valencia weekend, but ultimately contact with other cars for both drivers put them down the order.

The whole team is hoping for a far better race this coming weekend.

"Following our strong showing in Valencia, which unfortunately ultimately ended in disappointment, we head to our home Grand Prix at Silverstone with high hopes," said Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer.

Not only are Pirelli bringing tyres the outfit knows well, having won the Spanish GP utilising the hard and soft compounds, but an upgrade package will also be introduced on both FW34's.

"We will bring an updated aerodynamic package to the event which is imperative given the importance of aerodynamic efficiency around this track and how tight the grid is at present," confirmed Gillan.

Both Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna concur.

"I think the track will suit our car because it's similar to Barcelona," said Maldonado. "The pace of the car in Valencia was very promising and we have a number of updates expected for this race as well so hopefully we can give the home fans a good result."

"Whilst we didn't get the result we were hoping for in Valencia we showed that our car can be very competitive and with more updates planned for this race I’m optimistic about what we can achieve," added Senna.

[MIKA27]

Promoter confirms Spa race alternation idea off

The boss of the Belgian grand prix has confirmed reports the once-touted race alternation with France is now off the agenda.

It had been suggested fabled Spa-Francorchamps would share an annually-rotating single date on the F1 calendar in future with a returning French race.

But after Nicolas Sarkozy lost the recent general election, those plans appeared to lose traction.

And late last week, the Belgian and French news agencies Belga and AFP suggested the Spa/Paul Ricard alternating scheme is indeed "no longer on the agenda".

"The election of Francois Hollande to the French presidency has changed the situation," Spa promoter Andre Maes is quoted by the French language Belgian newspaper L'Echo.

He said it "became clear" that France's new administration has different plans.

"Hence, the (new) proposal we made to Mr Ecclestone," said Maes. "But I am bound by a confidentiality clause, so I cannot tell you."

L'Echo reports that Spa has proposed that the Belgian grand prix contract simply be extended to 2016, possibly with Ecclestone to agree a slight reduction in the race sanctioning fee.

[MIKA27]

FOTA announces Fans' Forum in Stuttgart, Michael Schumacher to attend

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are among the drivers who have been announced as star guests at a FOTA Fans' Forum that will take place in Stuttgart ahead of the German Grand Prix.

The Mercedes drivers will be joined by Nico Hulkenberg, Timo Glock and Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug for the event, which takes place at its Niederlassung venue in Stuttgart on July 18.

Speaking about the event, Schumacher said: "It's great to begin the German Grand Prix weekend with the Fans' Forum. That shows we've got our priorities right.

"And it's especially good that our German colleagues from other teams will be there, too. It's nice for Mercedes to be taking an active role and hosting the event for the other guys."

Further details about applying for tickets for the Fans' Forum can be found at http://www.fota.co/events/

[MIKA27]

MARUSSIA F1 DRIVER DE VILLOTA SERIOUSLY INJURED IN AERO TESTING ACCIDENT:

Maria de Villota, the Marussia test driver, has been seriously injured in a straight line aero test session at Duxford Aerodrome, according to local emergency services.

De Villota was in the early stages of a day of driving the Marussia car for the first time in the programme when she made contact with a truck.

An exact report of what happened has not been issued yet, but it seems she was at the end of an initial run and was manoeuvring close to the team's operations tent, when she ran into the tailgate of a support truck, which struck her helmet.

The resulting injuries were described by the local ambulance service as "life threatening" and she was transferred to Adenbrookes' Hospital in Cambridge, one of the UKs's leading hospitals.

Around midday a report emerged that she was in a stable condition with head and face injuries.

A statement from Marussia at 15:00 BST said, "Since Maria's arrival at the hospital at approximately 10.45hrs this morning, she has been receiving the best medical attention possible at the hospital, which is the region's major trauma centre. Maria is conscious and medical assessments are ongoing. The team will await the outcome of these assessments before providing further comment.

"The team's first priority at this time is Maria and her family."

An earlier statement from the team had announced the accident like this, "At approximately 09.15hrs BST this morning, the Marussia F1 Team's Test Driver Maria De Villota had an accident in the team's MR-01 race car at Duxford Airfield where she was testing the car for the first time. The accident happened at the end of her first installation run and involved an impact with the team's support truck.

"Maria has been transferred to hospital. Once her medical condition has been assessed a further statement will be issued."

Local police added that the accident was "low speed" while an East of England Ambulance service spokesman said, "A woman has sustained life threatening injuries and following treatment at the scene by paramedics, she has been taken to Addenbrookes Hospital for further care."

The Duxford test was a significant one for the team, to confirm the new aerodynamic package on the Marussia, as team principal John Booth explained earlier in the week,

"We have a fairly significant upgrade for this race, comprising a new rear wing, exhausts, floor and side pods. I would have to describe this as our 'first proper wind-tunnel generated upgrade of the season'; this is the first fully developed package that is not just a modification of existing elements.

"That is a big result in itself, aside from the performance step we hope it will bring us, as it means we have caught up with ourselves in terms of the diligent way in which we have approached and developed our Technical Partnership.

"We look forward to seeing what this brings, both at Silverstone and at Duxford Airfield beforehand, when we will be integrating the developments into our correlation programme. Duxford is also the first of our Test Driver Maria De Villota's scheduled track days. She has been waiting patiently all year for this date to come around, so we look forward to seeing her in the car for the first time."

[MIKA27]

WHAT LIES IN STORE FOR THE F1 TEAMS AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX:

So far this season we have seen quite a number of races won on race strategy and with uncertain conditions forecast for Silverstone and cool temperatures making the behaviour of the tyres unpredictable, it should be another interesting weekend.

As always there are many things for the teams to consider when planning how they attack the weekend. Here’s how we see it:

Silverstone is loved by the drivers and engineers because of the many high speed corners it offers. It provides a rigorous test of aerodynamic efficiency, like Barcelona.

The track was built on a wartime airfield and is in a windy spot, with gusts that can often upset the balance of the cars.

The circuit has been modified quite a bit in the last few years and various parts of it have been resurfaced, such as the high speed Copse corner. The grip level remains relatively low, but the high speed corners take a lot out of the tyre, especially laterally. The pit lane time is a little longer this year than last due to some modifications to the pit lane, requested by the FIA.

Pirelli is bringing its soft and hard tyre compounds to the race this year, a similar selection to what we saw in Barcelona. They also have an experimental hard tyre for teams to test on Friday. This has a wider operating window of temperature and lasts longer. It’s being developed for 2013 use.

Track characteristics

Silverstone – 5.891km kilometres.

Race distance – 52 laps = 306.198 kilometres. 18 corners in total. A high speed circuit based on an old WWII airfield. Lots of high speed corners, very easy on brakes.

Aerodynamic setup – Med/High downforce.

Top speed 311km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 301km/h without.

Full throttle – 66% of the lap (medium).

Total fuel needed for race distance – 150 kilos (average/high).

Fuel consumption – 2.36kg per lap (high)

Time spent braking: 9% of lap (very low). 9 braking zones. Brake wear- Low.

Loss time for a Pit stop = 15 seconds

Total time needed for pit stop: 19 seconds.

Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.38 seconds (high)

Form Guide

The British Grand Prix is the ninth round of the 2012 FIA F1 World Championship. It has been a very open championship so far with seven different race winners in eight races.

Traditionally Silverstone has been a circuit which suits the Red Bull car, with its aerodynamics very effective in high speed corners. With the major upgrade they brought to their car at the last race in Valencia, they are currently the team to beat. Lotus is also very strong on this type of circuit and must be a strong contender for a podium.

However Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leads the world drivers’ championship and is the only driver to have won two races this season. The Spaniard also won the British Grand Prix last year on Ferrari’s 60th anniversary in F1.

As far as drivers’ form is concerned; Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have won this race once, Fernando Alonso has won it twice and Michael Schumacher has won it three times.

Weather Forecast

The weather in England is notoriously hard to predict. It could be warm and sunny, or cold and wet. This week so far has been of the cold and wet variety in England and it’s forecast to continue, with light rain and temperatures around 15-18 degrees.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations

Pirelli tyre choice for Silverstone: Soft (yellow markings) and Hard (silver markings). This is a similar combination to what we saw at Barcelona in May.

That race was interesting because the leading drivers made three stops and primarily raced on the hard compound tyre, with soft used only for the opening stint. But Barcelona has a rougher track surface, which eats up the rubber more quickly.

At Silverstone, Pirelli is forecasting that the soft tyre will be faster than the hard by up to 1 second in qualifying and around 7/10ths of a second in the race.

The wear rate of the tyres at Silverstone is high because of the lateral loads through the high speed corners, like Copse and Abbey. The surface of the track is not particularly grippy.

The secret to doing well this weekend will be a) getting the right balance of tyre temperatures front and rear, which comes from a good aerodynamic balance and picking the exact point in the wear rate where the tyre performance drops off suddenly, to make a stop. This should be when the tyre is around 70% worn out.

Number and likely timing of pit stops

If the temperatures are high (35 degrees or more of track temperature) then the tyre degradation will be more severe and the race will certainly be a three stopper. It will probably be either a two or three stopper in cooler dry conditions.

Chance of a safety car

Silverstone is a fast, open circuit with lots of run off areas. So for marshals it’s relatively safe to recover a broken car.

The chances of a safety car are 57%, with 0.6 safety cars per race.

Recent start performance

The start of the Grand Prix is absolutely vital in terms of executing the ideal race strategy. A few places gained means a team has more options, while a few places lost usually means switching to Plan B and being more aggressive to make up ground.

As far as 2012 start performance is concerned drivers have gained (+) or lost (-) places off the start line this season, on aggregate, as follows –

Gained:


+26 Massa

+18 Kovalainen

+17 Glock, Alonso

+12 Raikkonen

+10 Perez ***, Senna

+9 Maldonado****

+8 Kobayashi****

+7 Pic

+6 Di Resta

+5 Schumacher*, Hamilton, Vergne

+ 4 Karthikeyan

+ 2 Vettel

Held position:

Lost:

-1 Grosjean** ****

-2 Petrov

-3 De la Rosa ****, Button

-4 Rosberg, Hulkenberg

-5 Webber

-13 Ricciardo

* Senna, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were all involved in accidents on 1st lap in Australia

** Schumacher and Grosjean collided on Lap 1 in Malaysia, Senna and Perez pitted for wet tyres on opening lap

***Perez punctured on lap 1 in Spain and went to back of field

**** Eliminated by or involved in first lap accident in Monaco

Pit Stop League Table

Of course good strategy planning also requires good pit stop execution by the mechanics and we have seen tyre stops carried out in less than two and a half seconds by F1 teams. Here again Ferrari leads the way consistently this year.

It is also clear that the field has significantly closed up in pit stops. The top seven teams’ fastest stops were within 3/10ths of a second of each other in Canada! It shows how much work has gone on in this area.

The league table below shows the order of the pit crews based on their fastest time in the European Grand Prix, from the car entering the pit lane to leaving it. The positions from previous race are in brackets.

Worth noting is that McLaren has been working on its pit stops and they now have the fastest stops of all the teams, by some margin. However consistency is the key and McLaren still had a front jack failure in the race, which undermined all their efforts.

1. McLaren 19.355 secs (4)

2. Ferrari 19.789 (1)

3. Red Bull 20.023 (3)

4. Mercedes 20.041 (2)

5. Force India 20.295 (7)

6. Lotus 20.479 (8)

7. Caterham 20.726 (5)

8. Sauber 20.904 (6)

9. Toro Rosso 21.209 (9)

10. Williams 21.342 (10)

11. Marussia 22.838 (11)

12. HRT 22.930 (12)

[MIKA27]

Force India look to keep momentum

Force India are determined to catch up further with the likes of Williams and Sauber at this weekend's British GP.

After struggling during the Canadian GP, Force India hit back hard in Valencia with Nico Hulkenberg finishing fifth and Paul di Resta coming home in seventh place.

The healthy haul of points has helped the team to move closer their main rivals in the Constructors' Championship, and team principal Vijay Mallya hopes they can emulate that success at Silverstone.

"We arrive back at Silverstone off the back of our strongest performance of the year," he said.

"In fact, the 16 points scored in Valencia are the most we have ever scored in one weekend. Those points have proved to be very valuable, bringing us within a point of Williams and just 16 adrift of Sauber. So we are catching up with our nearest competitors quite quickly. Now we need to keep up the momentum."

He added: "We will have some developments for the car this weekend and we will certainly give our all to try and come away with another strong result. I think our performance in Valencia showed just how much we have learned from the tough lessons of Canada in terms of understanding the tyres and being aggressive with the strategy."

Hulkenberg believes his career-high P5 at the European Grand Prix will give him a boost.

"I think it was a result we needed in order to stay in touch with Williams and Sauber in the Championship," he said.

"It's a boost for me, of course, but I think it was the sort of result we have been expecting for a while now. We thought we could do something similar in Canada, but things didn't work out, so it was good to get some solid points in the bag in Valencia and start showing our real potential."

[MIKA27]

Schumacher contract decision due in six weeks

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has revealed that a decision on whether or not Michael Schumacher will remain in Formula 1 with the Anglo-German outfit past 2012, will likely be made within the next six weeks.

Schumacher hasn't been best pleased with his comeback, but this season has been better than most with a pole position in Monaco (although he was then pushed back five-places), and a podium, his first since his return, in Valencia a fortnight ago.

Brawn was speaking at the FOTA Fans' forum at the Williams factory on Tuesday evening when the subject of Schumacher and his current contract, which expires at the end of this season, came up.

"We will make a decision this summer," confirmed Brawn. "We have not talked in depth about the situation - but we know it is coming and we have to make a decision soon.

"I think it can be driven from many different ways. But this year Michael has driven the best of the three years he has been with us this time, and it has been frustrating when we should have seen better results on track but there have been problems on the car or the way we have dealt with the races.

"I think in the next six weeks or so we will have to think about what we want to do next year - and that is the primary decision. Once that decision is made we will then know if we have to start looking around or stick with the drivers we have."

[MIKA27]

Di Resta and manager Hamilton split

Paul di Resta and his now former manager Anthony Hamilton have parted ways in a surprise split on the eve of the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton, father of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, has managed Di Resta since 2010 when he won the German Touring Car Championship, before securing him a seat at Force India for the 2011 season.

The 26-year-old Scot has been touted as Michael Schumacher's possible replacement at Mercedes when the seven-time world champion decides to call it a day for the second time.

This, and the fact Hamilton has been a driving force behind the advanced talks, built up a strong bond between the pair, therefore making the split somewhat unusual.

[MIKA27]

Horner: 'Vettel isn't in contact with Ferrari'

Christian Horner says Sebastian Vettel has reassured him he isn't in contact with Ferrari about driving for them in the near future.

With the rumour mill fully up and running, the usual candidates have been touted as replacements for Felipe Massa, with the young German currently heading the list.

Whilst Italian media reports that pre-contracts have been signed, Horner is confident that the two-time world champion is staying put for many years to come.

"I have spoken with Sebastian about it and he's made it quite clear that he hasn't had any dialogue and hasn't signed anything with Ferrari,"Reuters quote him as saying.

"I think most of our team has been going to Ferrari at some point this year, whether it be Adrian [Newey], Mark [Webber], Sebastian, even myself at one stage was supposed to be going.

"Sebastian is very comfortable in the team, the team is very comfortable with Sebastian," he said. "He's been with Red Bull for over 12 years now and I think he will be us for quite a few years to come.

"I have no concern over Sebastian and where he will be in 2013, 2014 or beyond."

The Red Bull team principal then added that he doesn't believe Vettel holds any emotional ambition to drive for Ferrari, suggesting it isn't a must during his career.

"I don't think Ferrari is a must for him," he added. "He's very happy where he is, achieving great results where he is and he's focused on trying to achieve a lot more."

However, in 2010 Vettel told reporters the following, suggesting otherwise: "Ferrari is unlike any other team - it's a legend. There are other brands that achieve great success, but Ferrari is special. Why not go there in a few years?"

[MIKA27]

Formula 1's penalty system set for an overhaul

Formula 1's driver penalty system is set for an overhaul, after it emerged the FIA is discussing changes to the way punishments are handed out.

Derek Warwick, who has acted as an FIA drivers' steward, said the validity of the current regulations had been discussed during a recent meeting of the stewards' council in Paris, and that "a few changes might be coming" as a result.

"We had a council meeting in Paris which I headed with Charlie [Whiting] and came away with some good ideas," Warwick told AUTOSPORT at the FOTA Fans' Forum at the Williams factory on Tuesday night.

"Whether anything can come of them and they can be introduced, I don't know - this is all a new process, we didn't use to have these meetings. Charlie will go away, analyse it and make recommendations. There might be a few changes coming along in the next few months or year.

"There is a code out there but I don't always agree with it - a drive through is too harsh a penalty for some incidents and not harsh enough for others. There is still room for tweaking.

"There were a few ideas to come out of the meeting with all the permanent stewards which were quite interesting. Charlie will produce an agenda and give it to Jean [Todt], but whether they can be introduced next year I don't know yet. This is all new, we didn't used to have these meetings."

Although Warwick could not disclose the exact details of the rules in discussion, he used the example of a drive through equating to different time losses at different circuits as part of the reason the rules were being reviewed.

"There are penalties inherited over time. Is a drive through at Canada, where you lose about 15s, the same as one at somewhere like Abu Dhabi for example?," he said.

"They all average out eventually, but I think we are always looking at changes."

Warwick also defended having a rotating panel of stewards, saying that the impartiality of the panel is beyond question regardless of who is on it.

"I can look back this year and think certain penalties have been too strong or too weak," he admitted. "If I step back I don't agree with some decisions, but that's because I don't have all the facts.

"I thought Schumacher should have been banned [following his move on Rubens Barrichello at Hungary 2010] but that wasn't the vote of the stewards.

"We haven't got all the facts. In the stewards room we have. We have all the angles, all the data and can make a more correct judgement."

[MIKA27]

Felipe Massa admits Ferrari's Silverstone form hard to predict

Felipe Massa reckons it is very hard to predict how competitive Ferrari will be in the British Grand Prix.

But the Brazilian is hopeful the high-speed nature of the Silverstone circuit will suit the characteristics of his Ferrari.

"It's difficult to have a clear picture of how competitive we should be," said Massa on Ferrari's website on Wednesday.

"Especially this year, we have seen results in the races that we could never have expected. Silverstone is a very different track to the last few, so we need to be ready for everything and arrive as well prepared as possible.

"Who knows, maybe Silverstone can be even better than expected for us. But if you look at Valencia where we had 13 cars in three tenths in Q2, it shows you really cannot make predictions this season.

"However, we believe our car is not too bad in the high speed corners and so I feel we should discover a good F2012 when we start practice there on Friday."

The Brazilian, who struggled in the early part of the 2012 season, insisted he is now feeling much stronger thanks to the changes he and his engineer Rob Smedley have implemented.

"I've worked with Rob since 2006, starting with him as my race engineer at the Nurburgring," he said. "After all this time, he knows exactly what I want and need from a car and he understands everything about my driving style.

"However, every year the car changes, the tyres are different and many other elements change from one year to the next so we always have to learn together.

"This year, for example, the first few races were a bit difficult, but from then on we changed direction in some areas and now, the work in terms of finding the right set-up at every track seems much more automatic. At this point of the season I feel much stronger thanks to this."

[MIKA27]

McLaren not expecting Red Bull to have big advantage in the British Grand Prix

McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael does not believe Red Bull will be able to keep the same kind of advantage it had in Valencia in this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel dominated the European Grand Prix from pole position, opening a comfortable gap over his rivals before he was forced to retire with a mechanical problem.

The German was often nearly a second quicker per lap than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton before his retirement.

And although some expect Red Bull to be the team to beat at Silverstone, Michael reckons the team's advantage was circuit-specific and is expecting the Milton Keynes team to be closer to its rivals this weekend.

"It [Red Bull's advantage] probably has got some circuit-specific nature to it," said Michael during a Vodafone phone-in on Wednesday.

"Valencia hasn't been a track that we have traditionally been very good at and if you look forward to Silverstone this weekend, it definitely fits more in line with where the McLaren car strengths are.

"However, they did take a step forward but I don't think it's as big as the pace that Sebastian showed in that first stint and we will be looking to correct that at Silverstone."

He added: "If we look back to Barcelona, we were almost six tenths in front of them on the grid before we took the penalty, so looking at the type of track that Silverstone is, we're hoping for a repeat of that."

Michael believes that the fact that Red Bull made such a leap in terms of performance compared to the previous races is proof that its advantage was more than to the nature of the Valencia circuit than to the updates introduced there.

"Because the changes that they made to the car, if you look at that pace it was a second a lap. To find a second lap in F1 through changing some fairly secondary parts on the top surface on the floor, which is where we know they have changed, to get a second a lap in F1 would be pretty impressive.

"When we arrive in Silverstone we will find out if that is the case but I will be pretty surprised if they maintain a second a lap gap on the rest of the field.

"It was very impressive pace, but ultimately we have seen this year that if you get the tyres working properly and you fall into that window then you can generate some enormous amounts of grip. We have seen that four or five times this year and Sebastian was definitely bang on the tyres in that first stint. So it was reflective of that rather than the car upgrade."

[MIKA27]

Romain Grosjean calm about Lotus's lack of a victory so far in 2012 Formula 1 season

Romain Grosjean says he is far from disappointed about how the first half of his Formula 1 season has gone - even though his Lotus outfit is still chasing its elusive first win of the campaign.

The Enstone-based team has come close to claiming a triumph several times this season, but its best result remains the second places that Kimi Raikkonen and Grosjean have delivered.

Despite having had the potential to do more, though, Grosjean sees no reason to be unhappy with the way 2012 has panned out so far.

"In Jerez testing we were very quick," he told the official Lotus website, reflecting on his first run in the car. "Day one doesn't mean much, but we knew the car was well born: we could trust it and push it to the limit. There were no silly things and it was quite easy to drive in a way.

"If they had told me I was going for two podiums in the first seven races I would have signed straight away, so I think we are happily surprised with the car."

Although Lotus is still chasing that first victory of 2012, Grosjean thinks the team only needs to keep working in the way it has so far and one of its drivers will come out on top in time.

"We are trying to get the best of everything we have and working hard," he said. "If you work in a good atmosphere, it gives you extra power to work more.

"We have been working, we have been always there, always at the front, always fighting for good positions, and now we are trying to get the extra bit to go for the win. If we keep working as well, doing and learning, then we can get it."

[MIKA27]

Maldonado vows not to dwell on collision with Hamilton in European Grand Prix

Pastor Maldonado has vowed to not dwell on the rights and wrongs of his collision with Lewis Hamilton in the European Grand Prix - as he insists that his focus is firmly on doing well at Silverstone this weekend.

The Venezuelan was handed a 20-second time penalty in lieu of a drive through for causing the collision – and although disappointed at the decision, he says there is no point going back through events.

"I think it was a hard race, especially for the conditions as it was so warm, and during the race I had a bad start, and the first stint was so hard for us," he said during the latest FOTA Fans' Forum at the Williams factory on Tuesday night.

"I started to recover, a bit late, and it was coming quite good, quite late, and especially in the last stint I was quite competitive. Then I got close to Lewis as he was in trouble with the tyres. I was quicker than him, two seconds or three seconds quicker, and I tried to overtake.

"But we made contact and I was disappointed for that race, for the points and for him as he is fighting for the championship."But this is racing. I am looking forward to this weekend, and it will be important for the team. It is a home race for us, but the team is ready, we will do our best and hope to be competitive again."

Maldonado also sent a message of support for Maria de Villota, who was injured in a testing crash at Duxford earlier in the day.

"It was very bad news this morning when I got to the factory," he said. "I feel very disappointed. For sure she is a great woman and was living the dream this morning and it is awful to hear that – especially when it was [her] first time in the car during the year. So best wishes to her and I hope to see her quite soon on track."

[MIKA27]

DE VILLOTA LOSES RIGHT EYE AND REMAINS 'CRITICAL YET STABLE'

The Marussia team has confirmed that Maria de Villota has lost her right eye and remains in a “critical but stable condition” following her accident at Duxford Airfield on Tuesday.

The Spanish test driver, carrying out her first day of straightline aerodynamic testing for the team, made contact with a support truck at the end of her first installation run in the MR-01 and following treatment by paramedics was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The 32-year-old regained consciousness at the hospital but was confirmed as having sustained serious head and facial injuries.

On Wednesday afternoon Marussia provided an update on her condition, the team confirming that surgeons at the hospital “embarked on a lengthy procedure to address the serious head and facial injuries sustained by Maria in the accident. The operation began yesterday afternoon and she was in theatre until this morning. Maria remains in a critical but stable condition.”

Team principal John Booth thanked the medical team for their ongoing work but confirmed that they had been unable to save de Villota’s right eye.

“We are grateful for the medical attention that Maria has been receiving and her family would like to thank the Neurological and Plastics surgical teams. However it is with great sadness that I must report that, due to the injuries she sustained, Maria has lost her right eye,” he said in the statement. “Maria’s care and the wellbeing of her family remain our priority at this time. Her family are at the hospital and we are doing everything possible to support them.

“We ask for everyone’s patience and understanding with regard to updates on Maria’s condition. We will provide further information when it is appropriate to do so and with consideration for her family.”

Booth also paid tribute to the local emergency services while confirming that an investigation was underway at the team to determine the cause of the accident.

“In the meantime, we would all like to take this opportunity to praise the emergency services at Duxford Airfield, who were on stand-by yesterday, as is usual procedure for a Formula One test,” he said. “With regard to the accident, we have embarked on a very comprehensive analysis of what happened and this work continues for the moment.

“Finally, we have been overwhelmed by messages of support for Maria, her family and the team and we would like to express our sincere gratitude for those.”

[MIKA27]

LOTUS'S SOLAR POWERED SIMULATOR AND A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE:

Formula 1 will move into a more environmentally-friendly era when the next generation engine formula is introduced in two years’ time and amid on-going attempts by teams to improve their own sustainability and efficiency Lotus has unveiled its new solar-powered simulator building.

The construction of the new state-of-the-art race facility adjacent to the main building at its Enstone base, which has been fully operational for the past few months and was revealed to the media this week, has been used as a platform to further reduce the team’s dependency on traditional energy sources, which has been ongoing since the Genii Capital-owned team joined forces with China-based Trina Solar in 2010.

Lotus had already become the first F1 outfit to introduce solar panels onto its team trucks and European race paddock motorhome prior to the construction of the simulator. The new building’s roof features 128 solar panels which can generate 33,000 kWh of electricity over the course of a year, enough to supply 75% of the power the new facility requires.

Speaking during this week’s media event, Lotus F1 Team CEO Patrick Louis said of the team’s desire to be more environmentally conscious: “Formula 1 as a sport will never be a green sport – just forget it. It’s petrol driven engines in the next future. But rules are changing, we can reduce the consumption. On the other hand we should not make it all black or white. Each flight leaving Heathrow for New York is creating more emissions than all the F1 cars in one season. So we thought about a couple of years ago, how can we react? And the only controlling method we have is the factory, is the paddock area, so that’s where we started then to be more intelligent than others might be.”

Intriguingly, while Trina Solar’s innovations with Lotus have so far been confined to use of traditional large flat solar panels, the firm has taken a look into the future to see what might theoretically be achievable as technology in the sector develops over the years ahead.

Although still in its relative infancy on a mass consumer scale, large reductions in the cost of solar installations over recent years and improvements in battery capabilities have come on stream and research is ongoing to see how silicon and its solar properties can be blended into laminate and composite materials. With that work in mind, one of the F1 concepts put forward by Trina is a silicon-coated race helmet that could generate enough power to work, for example, the in-car radio system.

Marketing director Jerome Mazet also told JA on F1 that the firm is scheduled to unveil a concept F1 car with solar-powered elements at Monza, while one more easily achievable innovation for the sport in the more immediate future could be solar-powered pit wall gantries.

F1’s own sense of innovation has given rise to increasingly advanced and accurate race simulators in recent years and Lotus chief Louis believes his team’s new one compares favourably to those used by rivals such as McLaren and Ferrari. JA on F1 were among the invited guests given a unique chance to see the driver-in-the-loop simulator and its impressive high definition graphics in action during a live session with Lotus’s test driver Jerome d’Ambrosio, with the Belgian completing laps around a virtual Silverstone ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

The engineers working on the simulator said that in an average day in the build-up to a GP weekend a driver would be able to complete 100 laps of a circuit like Silverstone, with breaks factored in for drivers to take account of the demands placed on them by the very different work environment.

The team is also able to run a physical standard ECU unit in the computer servers, meaning young drivers in particular can get to grips with such processes as anti-stall, while the cockpit contains the latest steering wheel used in the real E20.

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Lotus teams up with Batman for Silverstone

The Lotus E20's will both feature the 'Dark Knight Rises' logo at the British Grand Prix to coincide with the upcoming Batman film release.

The team's garage, driver helmets and overalls will also feature the graphic whilst fans can enjoy a promotional event on Thursday when the famous Tumbler vehicle will run on-track at 12pm.

Team principal Eric Boullier made a connection between the team and the film, saying: "This season we have been the dark horses in the championship fight, so this partnership with The Dark Knight Rises is a fantastic match."

He added: "Our car, the E20, looks superb with the Batman branding and we are looking forward to seeing the reaction of our numerous fans when it takes to the Silverstone circuit this weekend.

"We are certainly hoping for an epic conclusion for The Dark Knight Rises E20 in the Grand Prix."

Josh Berger, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros Entertainment UK & Spain added: "We are delighted to be working together with Lotus F1 Team. We wish them every success this weekend. Formula 1 fans are often Dark Knight fans too, so we are confident this partnership will be warmly received around the world."

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BUTTON WORRIED FANS WON'T SEE MUCH ACTION AT RAIN HIT SILVERSTONE:

Jenson Button has been managing expectations for fans who will pack the grandstands at Silverstone, as he believes that heavy rains on Friday will restrict track action.

Torrential rains are forecast for central England, with risks of flooding.

As Silverstone bosses revealed that they have extensive contingency plans in place to deal with the threat of car parks turning into mud holes with heavy rain forecast for Friday, Button says that the drivers will not do many laps in practice

"As far as I can see it's going to rain all weekend. The problem is we are restricted in tyres we are allocated so I don't think you are going to see much running if it rains as forecast tomorrow," said Button on Thursday.

"Which is disappointing as we will have a lot of fans here and they are braving it in the rain. We're not able to put on much of a show. But we'll do as much as we can without hurting our race weekend."

The forecast for Friday is terrible, while Saturday should be better, but a rainy Sunday is in prospect.

FIA sporting regulations say " no driver may use more than four sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet‐weather tyres." during a race weekend, unless FP1 and FP2 are declared wet, in which case an additional set of intermediates is made available, but these must be returned before the start of FP3 on Saturday morning.

Button's point is that if we are faced with four hours of wet practice followed by a wet qualifying and a wet race, teams will have to be careful to leave enough new sets of tyres for the sessions which count, namely qualifying and the race.

And that will mean very limited running in practice.

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Mansell joins Silverstone panel

Nigel Mansell has been chosen as the drivers' representative on the stewarding panel for this weekend's British Grand Prix.

The 1992 World Champion has been selected several times since the FIA opted to put a drivers' rep on the panel and already filled the role this season at the Monaco GP.

Mansell is also a four-time British Grand Prix winner with three of those races being run at Silverstone.

The FIA also confirmed that the DRS zone for this weekend's race will be activated 45m after Turn Four, The Loop, with the detection point just before Turn Three.

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Maldonado vows not to change

Pastor Maldonado has vowed not to change his aggressive style despite yet another race weekend being hampered by a crash.

The Williams driver's second season in Formula One has seen several highs and lows ranging from his victory in Spain to his penalty for crashing into Lewis Hamilton at the last race in Valencia.

Maldonado, though, is adamant his latest incident won't result in him changing his approach.

"For sure, I will drive in the same way and so we need to push," Maldonado told Autosport.

"The gaps are very close and I think the drivers are making the difference at the moment."

The Venezuelan also insisted that his accident with Hamilton was nothing more than a racing incident.

"I saw the chance to get on the podium when I had a very difficult race, especially at the beginning when I was P10 and then I had a good race and I was looking forward to getting on the podium as well.

"One and a half laps from the end I saw the chance to take the position against Lewis and he tried to defend and I tried to attack and it was normal racing contact I think.

"I was disappointed because they were good points for the team and for me but there are many races ahead and the season is still long."

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Vettel clarifies European safety car comments

Sebastian Vettel has defended comments he made a fortnight ago at the European Grand Prix, in which he supposedly claimed the safety car had been brought out to erase his vast lead.

The German, speaking at this weekend's British GP, clarified his comments to reporters, explaining that whilst he didn't believe it to be deliberate, it wasn't necessary at the time.

"I never said it was deliberate," he said. "I said from my point of view it was not necessary. But I'm not making the decisions. The race director is making that decision, they decide when it comes out. If they consider it to be necessary, we accept it."

The Red Bull driver, who at the time enjoyed a 20 second lead to Romain Grosjean in second, says the amount of debris on circuit following an incident between Heikki Kovalainen and Jean-Eric Vergne, wasn't enough to warrant the safety car.

"I've had time to look again at the cause for the safety car, and we had pieces of debris on the track before, and nothing happened, then we had a couple more [pieces of]...

"But, it's not my decision. So I'm not saying the decision is right or wrong, in my opinion we could have continued racing without [the safety car]. But I had less overview at that moment than the race director."

Vettel later retired from the race a few laps after the safety car returned to the pits.

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De Villota family statement on Maria's condition

Issued by the Marussia F1 Team on behalf of the De Villota Family

Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge

5 July 2012, 20.00hrs

STATEMENT

“Maria remains in a critical but stable condition here at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. While there is no further news than that at present, we have at least been able to take encouragement from the fact that Maria has remained stable throughout since the accident, particularly during the first night following such a lengthy surgical procedure as she experienced yesterday.

We, the family, are supporting each other here at Maria’s side and we take great comfort from the remarkable medical care she has been receiving. We remain positive and this is due, in no small part, to the overwhelming expression of love and support for Maria from every corner of the world. We would also wish to thank everyone at the Marussia F1 Team for all the care and attention they have shown us over the past few days.

With our sincere gratitude.”

Isabel De Villota

Representative of the De Villota Family & Maria’s Sister

Source: Marussia F1 Team

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Horner denies claims he could replace Ecclestone

Christian Horner has emphatically denied suggestions he might be the next Bernie Ecclestone.

Already very close to the sport's 81-year-old 'supremo' Ecclestone - who is at the middle of a potentially-damaging corruption affair - the name 'Horner' is often mentioned in the paddock as perhaps Ecclestone's preferred successor.

Briton Horner, 38, a former F3000 driver, was central to the transformation of the hapless Jaguar team into the juggernaut of energy drink Red Bull's formula one domination.

He has already been linked with the top job at Ferrari, and now British newspapers are musing that Horner is in line for the very top job of all.

Writing in the Times, journalist Kevin Eason said even the FIA believes Horner is the frontrunner to replace Ecclestone.

A source at the Jean Todt-led federation said: "What more can Christian achieve as a team principal? He is too bright not to get bored with doing the same thing every year.

"I think he will fancy it."

Horner moved swiftly to quash the speculation.

"I cannot imagine it," he said. "I wouldn't be equipped to deal with that role.

"I am totally happy with what I am doing," Red Bull's team principal insisted. "I don't think there is any one individual who could do what Bernie does. At the rate Bernie is going, it will be a long time anyway."

Eason said Mercedes' chief executive Nick Fry could be another contender.

An unnamed paddock insider told the Guardian: "Eventually, I don't think there is anyone who can replace Bernie. He will ultimately be replaced by an executive board.

"But I think Christian can play a part on that board. Looking at the other team bosses, he is the only one."

The insider, however, said Horner is not popular among his fellow bosses because "he seems to say 'no' to everything".

David Coulthard backs his former boss.

"He (Horner) has proved himself as a team principal and he's capable of going on to do something beyond that.

"But I'm not sure anyone could replace Bernie Ecclestone," said the ex Red Bull and McLaren driver.

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Rosberg says Mercedes 'very close' to title challenge

Nico Rosberg has admitted Mercedes' is not the fastest car in 2012, but insists he is in the running for this year's title.

The German won his first grand prix in more than a hundred attempts this year in China; a breakthrough also for Mercedes after a 55-year victory drought.

27-year-old Rosberg said recently that the W03 car is perhaps the fastest overall on the 2012 grid.

Was he correctly quoted?

"No, no. It's not the fastest car," he said in an interview with Marca newspaper, conducted with Rosberg in Spanish.

"It's a good car, and in some races it's the fastest, and anyway we're in a good situation.

"We have to take a small step forward and then, yes, we can fight to win every race," said Rosberg.

His optimism might raise a few eyebrows, but perhaps they shouldn't, given he is only being beaten in the drivers' standings so far by grandees Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Why, then, is he not considered a real 2012 championship contender?

"Because the others are with teams that have won championships, while I'm with ... we are a team that is growing," said Rosberg.

"If we can win again then people will start looking at us as contenders."

The interviewer pointed out that at a team featuring multiple title winners Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher, it is "curious" that Rosberg is the one best poised to succeed now.

"Curious?" Rosberg answered. "I was sure that I could do well with this team, but I'm not happy to be ahead of Michael. He is having much less luck than me.

"His car has not reached the finish line four times this year even though he is driving very well -- better than the other years."

Arguably most importantly for Mercedes, however, is that the former Brawn team is now being once again regarded as a leader in F1 innovation, chiefly because of the novel F-duct system seen in 2012.

But Rosberg insists that there are other "very smart things" on the W03 as well.

"That's the difference between this year and previous years," he said. "Before we were copying and now we are inventing things that are working very well for us.

"Ross is still very smart," smiled Rosberg.

So perhaps Mercedes and Rosberg will be fully equipped to win the championship together in 2013?

"Perhaps this year," the German smiled again. "We are close; we are very close."

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FRUSTRATION ALL ROUND FOR TEAMS, DRIVERS AND FANS AT WASHED OUT SILVERSTONE:

The first day of the British Grand Prix weekend brought the wash out that had been feared yesterday.

And on Friday night Silverstone bosses were forced to call for fans not to travel to the track on Saturday, to give them a chance to prepare the car parks for Sunday. It’s been a very tough and embarrassing weekend for Silverstone.

Although standing water on track was blamed for the lack of running, many drivers also said that tyre allocations, whereby FIA Sporting Regulations allow for only three sets of wet tyres per car, meant that teams were reluctant to cover much mileage. All restricted themselves to using just one set of wets and doing very limited laps through the day.

The rules allow drivers to get an extra set of intermediate tyres on Friday if it is wet, but this was academic as it wasn’t an intermediate condition today.

There were calls from teams for FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting to allow a change whereby teams could have an extra set of wets instead of intermediates. Pirelli’s motor sport boss Paul Hembery said that tyres were available at the company’s logistics base in Didcot and could be brought across quickly, but it needed a directive from the FIA. These would be the Hockenheim wets, so teams would have to agree to having fewer wet tyres there.

Whether it is considered to still be worth exploring for the remainder of this weekend, time will tell. But it led to massive frustration for fans, who had endured horrendous weather conditions and severe traffic delays getting into the circuit, only to be treated to a handful of laps.

“As a team we feel guilty that we weren’t out there running. even if we’d had the tyres we wouldn’t have been out there because the risk to reward makes it not worth it,” said Force India’s Bob Fearnley. “What happened about them getting into the circuit, I’m not aware of and I sympathise with them. I regret today we couldn’t put the cars out there as we weren’t going to learn anything.

“I think it’s a shame how little running they (fans) have seen but that’s the British weather for you.,” said Lotus F1′s James Allison

Silverstone were on alert for car park problems, due to the rain, but poor car park signeage led to confusion and there were massive delays in getting cars onto hard standing. It meant that many people were stuck for up to 6 hours in traffic jams outside the circuit, many still stuck long after the session had ended.

Silverstone organisers blamed campers who had turned up without booking and when turned away, were sent back into the traffic causing tail backs. But the traffic was already severely backed up from 7-30am.

Fans were braced for more problems on Saturday and Sunday as the grass car parks are sodden and more fans will be arriving for qualifying and the race. That said, the police will be overseeing traffic at those times.

Heavy rain fell throughout the day, with the early part of the second session sufficiently bad for teams not to be able to run at all. For a long time the cars were in the pit lane while Bruno Senna crashed soon after the teams ventured out again with 30 minutes of the session remaining.

Many teams had upgrades to their cars, but the weather meant that they could not measure their worth; Ferrari’s technical director Pat Fry said, “In these conditions it’s impossible to do any sensible evaluation.”