FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Lauda - triple title feat now unlikely for Vettel

Niki Lauda thinks Sebastian Vettel can start to wind down his hopes of winning an ultra-rare third consecutive drivers' title in 2012.

Only two F1 greats have won three or more championships on the trot -- Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

German Vettel has the chance to do it this season, but F1's legendary Austrian Lauda thinks the Red Bull driver's hopes are now all but dashed with seven races to run.

"These quality problems have cost Vettel the title," he told Osterreich newspaper.

Three-time world champion Lauda, 63, was referring to the alternator failures that cost Vettel victory at Valencia, and valuable points last weekend at Monza.

"An error can occur, but it needs to be fixed immediately and must not occur again," insisted Lauda.

Vettel is now 39 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, meaning he needs to score an average of 5.6 points per race more than the Spaniard to win in 2012.

"Theoretically the championship is not lost for Vettel," said Lauda, "but in practice (it is) ...

"Alonso is clearly on course for the title, Ferrari is very consistent," he added.

Lauda also acknowledged that McLaren has the best car at the moment.

"They have the strongest car, and their speed of development is also the best," he said.

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FIA need to clampdown on ‘Playstation generation’ to improve safety

Motorsport’s governing body – the FIA – needs to crack down on dangerous behaviour in feeder series such as GP2 to improve safety standards in grands prix, according to former F1 driver Alexander Wurz and F1′s elder statesman Mark Webber.

A lively debate has been going on in Formula One since inexperienced French driver Romain Grosjean was banned for last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix after causing a pile-up in Belgium the previous Sunday.Grosjean will be back for Singapore next week and his Lotus team say he has learned a lesson from spending time watching and listening in the garages at Monza whilst Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio drove his car.

The Spa accident saw Grosjean’s car lift up over the front of the Ferrari of championship leader Fernando Alonso, narrowly missing his head, in a collision as the field funnelled into the first corner.

Wurz, lucky to have escaped injury in a similar incident in Australia in 2007 when David Coulthard’s Red Bull flew over his Williams, said drivers coming into Formula One needed more awareness instilled in them in the feeder series.

“Things like the start collision with Romain can and will always happen,” the Austrian, who retired from F1 in 2007 and has a road safety training business as well as acting as a driver mentor for Williams, told Reuters.

“But especially looking at GP2 races, which is the feeder series, the driver standards there are appalling – bad, very bad – and they are coming in to F1.

“It’s something we clearly must work on that the feeder series are very strict and of the same standard as F1. And we have to achieve this and address it very quickly.”

Wurz suggested that this would involve the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) making sure rules and penalties were applied with the same rigour as in F1 by stewards and the race director.

Australian Mark Webber agreed that the newcomers, including Williams’ Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado who has had a string of penalties in F1 this season, needed to be educated about the dangers and to take responsibility.

Grosjean and Maldonado are both ex-GP2 champions and recognised as quick but also very aggressive.

Formula One has not had a driver fatality in a race since Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna died at Imola in 1994. Michael Schumacher, 43 and driving for Mercedes after his glory years at Ferrari, is now the only driver still on the starting grid to have taken part in that fatal grand prix weekend.

A new ‘Playstation generation’ has arrived that is used to seeing racers walk away or escape unhurt from massive smashes.

“In the last 10 years, the level of aggressiveness has ramped up a bit just because guys know that usually they’ll be able to walk away from a crash,” Webber, 36, wrote in a BBC column on Wednesday.

“But you can be aggressive and safe or aggressive and unsafe. I’ve always said F1 is not a finishing school when it comes to racing.”

Webber pointed out that the nature of racing this year, with the Pirelli tyres and DRS rear wing system making it easier to overtake, meant drivers did not have to be so ‘desperate’ at the start.

“You do need to get involved but some guys are having more incidents than the others and they need to take that on board,” said the Red Bull driver. “We should be the best at what we do, racing in all conditions on all kinds of tracks, and driver etiquette has to match that.”

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Sam Bird encouraged by Mercedes updates after two days of testing at Magny-Cours

Mercedes has reason to be encouraged by the progress that it has made with its revamped car at this week's Magny-Cours test, reckons Sam Bird.

Although the team still needs time to analyse the data from the test, where the W03 featured Coanda-effect exhausts and a new double-DRS, Bird thinks that it can be satisfied with the progress it has shown this week.

"It was very productive," said Bird, who has handed over the car to Brendon Hartley for the final day. "We are happy because we got everything done that we needed to.

"We covered the mileage necessary for the testing of the new components, and there is now a lot for the team to go through. That will be down to the guys at the factory, but my feeling is positive."

Mercedes is unlikely to run its new double-DRS until later in the season, but it is possible that the revised exhausts could be on the car for the next race in Singapore if the test has shown they are a good step forward.

The Brackley-based outfit has high hopes that the remainder of the season will provide a lift in its performance - and the importance of the Magny-Cours test was highlighted when Michael Schumacher flew in to oversee proceedings.

Bird said about Schumacher's presence: "It was good to see him here, and nice to see he showed his face. We feed off each other: he wanted to know my feelings and my comments, and we have a good working relationship."

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Comparison Between the Old and New Spec W03

I’ve been scouring the internet for any clue as to much of a difference the shiny new upgrades have on the F1 W03. A few fan videos from Magny-Cours have shown that the car sounds, and looks like a completely different animal compared to the one we’re used to seeing this season thus far.

However, even though the team did do a Back-to-Back test on Wednesday, we can’t find any footage of the old spec-v-new spec! So with a bit of digging around from the previous test at Mugello, I may have done it.

I’ve found this footage from the Mugello test back in May, with a similar corner to the one at Magny-Cours.

Go To 1:23 in the clip

And this from yesterday at Magny-Cours

10 seconds into the clip, and you can see, or rather hear clearly how different the car sounds

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Schumi chasing first night points

As F1 gears up for an intense countdown to the season finale, Michael Schumacher is relishing the first of the flyaway races, the Singapore GP.

Having only featured on the calendar since 2008, Schumacher, who returned to the sport in 2010 with Mercedes, has only contested two races at the Marina Bay circuit. And neither was kind to the German.

His first night race saw the seven-time World Champion finish down in 13th place after suffering damage in a crash with another driver while last season he retired after slamming into the back of Sergio Perez's Sauber.

This season, though, Schumacher is hoping for better and his first World Championship points under lights.

"Singapore is a one-off in lots of ways, with the city, racing at night and the circuit itself," he said. "It's a brilliantly unusual race.

"At first sight, everything seems more relaxed because the action happens at night, but of course it's not like that at all.

"The reality is that you have to work hard to stay on European time and in the right bio-rhythms, so that you can perform perfectly in the race - because it's unusual to be competing at this time of day.

"The nice thing is that the circuit is very technically demanding and it's very tricky to get a perfect lap.

"After a reasonably encouraging weekend in Monza, we have good expectations for another promising performance. I'm looking forward to the night race."

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CALLS FOR A PERMANENT F1 MEMORIAL TO PROFESSOR SID WATKINS:

Jackie Stewart has led calls for a permanent memorial for Sid Watkins, the doctor who transformed safety and medical care in F1.

“There needs to be something permanent to recognise his contribution to motorsport, particularly to Formula One,” said Stewart.” Something needs to be done to recognise Sid’s long term of office and how much he did for the sport.”

Bernie Ecclestone has said today that, ““I am pretty sure that he is irreplaceable. You only meet somebody of his calibre once in your lifetime.”

Memorials to Ayrton Senna, the driver with whom Watkins had the closest relationship in his 26 year F1 career, can be found at various race tracks including Imola, Donington and Spa, likewise the great Juan Manuel Fangio is commemorated in a brass statues at Monza, Monaco, Donington, Nurburgring and Barcelona.

It seems entirely fitting that Watkins should be honoured for his immense contribution to the sport, but where should the memorial be?

In his native Liverpool? Aintree Circuit Club’s Mike Ashcroft has already been in touch with the Mayor of Liverpool about a doing something to honour Watkins in the city of his birth.

Perhaps a corner should be renamed after him at Silverstone. The two new corners after the pit straight, Village and Aintree (how appropriate) seem rather weak names (I can never remember them when I commentate at Silverstone!) and Watkins would be far preferable for one of them.

Please send in your suggestions in the comments section below, for the best permanent tribute to the “Prof”.

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Alonso: 'Podiums not enough to stay ahead'

Ferrai must deliver a car in which Fernando Alonso is capable of winning races in, if the Spaniard is to deliver them the championsip.

That is the assessment given by Alonso who, just a few weeks ago, insisted consistent points scoring would be enough to deliver the title. He has now changed his mind and says the focus must now be to win more races, adding to his current tally of three in 2012.

"Managing this points gap is going to be hard, because I think everyone is going to be on the attack," he said during a Spanish media event.

The Ferrari driver currently has a 37-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in second. However, whilst Alonso has managed to gradually extend his lead over the last few races, the performance of the McLaren and the misfortune of others has seen Hamilton jump from fifth to second in just a single race, gaining a 25-point advantage over his former team-mate in just three races.

This hasn't gone unnoticed by the double-world champion.

"The whole situation can change in one race that goes wrong," he added. "So we have to keep developing, working hard, trying to win races.

"We can't be thinking about being fourth or fifth, or doing podiums, or how to manage [the gap], we have to be thinking of winning races. 37 points is nothing."

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Singapore GP: Kamui Kobayashi predicts Sauber will fly again

Kamui Kobayashi is expecting his Sauber team to be strong again in the Singapore Grand Prix after its impressive pace in Italy.

Kobayashi's team-mate Sergio Perezfinished in second position at Monza, while the Japanese driver wound up ninth.

Although the nature of the Marina Bay circuit is very different to Monza, Kobayashi sees no reason why Sauber cannot shine again.

"After our great result in Monza, everybody in the team is very motivated," said Kobayashi. "The [singapore] track is quite demanding with a lot of corners, and mostly slow ones.

"In the past this kind of track didn't really suit our car, but with this year's Sauber C31 things have changed.

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be competitive there."

Perez, who secured his third podium of the season at Monza, is also optimistic the C31 car will be well-suited to Singapore.

"I generally like street circuits and the one in Singapore is physically quite demanding, but I feel prepared for that," he said.

"Also for our car it should be an OK track to race on. I am very much looking forward to it and I want to get in another good result for the team at that very prestigious race."

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Ross Brawn has no retirement plans on the horizon

Mercedes team principal, and Formula One veteran, Ross Brawn has revealed that he is not planning to retire for at least a few more years.

The 57-year-old, who soared to success in past decades as a leading engineer at Benetton and Ferrari, is now the team boss at Mercedes, three years after selling the title-winning ‘Brawn GP’ outfit in 2009.

And amid rumours that Lewis Hamilton could switch to the Brackley based camp for 2013, Brawn has told the Daily Mail he is not going anywhere for now.

“I am not planning to retire at the moment,” he said.

Also being reported at present is that Michael Schumacher could be close to signing a new at least one-year contract extension for 2013.

Brawn said he is motivated by F1′s switch to radical new engine rules in 2014.

“I am very excited about this 2014 engine programme,” he said. “I think it is quite a game-changer in F1.

“I still have a strong engineering passion, so having such a different engine and different package in 2014 is exciting and developing the team is exciting.

“For how long, who knows? But I have no interest in stopping in the near future.”

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Mercedes cartoon: No Lewis, no engine

Amid all the hype surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s supposed move to Mercedes, the German squad appears to be preparing to extend Michael Schumacher’s contract, while a cartoon is doing the rounds suggesting that the Stuttgart manufacturer is playing a role in Hamilton’s future with McLaren.

The German daily Bild said that 43-year-old Schumacher’s negotiations about 2013 and beyond are now “in full swing”.

The report claims that Mercedes is offering the seven time world champion a new contract for 2013, while Schumacher is apparently pushing for a unilateral option that would allow him to decide to keep racing in 2014 as well.

The carmaker’s motor racing president Norbert Haug said: “There is still no decision. We are continuing to negotiate.”

With Nico Rosberg already under contract for 2013, a new deal for Schumacher would appear to lock out McLaren’s Hamilton, who according to Bild is demanding EUR 25 million per year from his next employer.

But Rosberg’s name has also been connected with McLaren in recent days, raising the prospect of a Schumacher-Hamilton driver lineup at Mercedes in 2013.

Mercedes engines might also be playing a big role in the whole affair.

With former works partner McLaren now needing to pay the Stuttgart manufacturer for its power units, a cartoon at motorsport-magazin.com depicted Haug telling Martin Whitmarsh: “Kein Lewis, Keine motoren” (No Lewis, no engines)

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Kovalainen manager summoned to Maranello

Finnish reports say that Heikki Kovalainen’s management team have been summoned to a meeting at Maranello, as speculation regarding Ferrari’s second driver for 2012 intensifies.

The speculation follows Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo ruling out Sergio Perez as Felipe Massa’s 2013 successor, due to his lack of experience.

Finn Kovalainen, 30, is on the market after three years of rebuilding his reputation, at Caterham, following his less-than-shining first three years in F1 at Renault and McLaren.

The Finnish broadcaster MTV3 said that representatives of Kovalainen’s management team at IMG Worldwide will travel to Maranello next week.

However, some consider Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg as a more likely candidate to oust Brazilian Massa.

But, given Montezemolo’s comments about experience, the 25-year-old German is only marginally more experienced than Mexican Perez.

A Ferrari spokesman told Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper: “Do not apply what our president said (about experience) to other drivers.

“He was asked about Perez, and the response was specific to him.”

The newspaper also said it doubts that Ferrari’s 2007 title winner Kimi Raikkonen is a candidate.

“Forget Ferrari. Kimi is not going there,” a source close to the Lotus driver is quoted.

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Horner believes that Hamilton will stay with McLaren

Red Bull F1 team boss, Christian Horner, believes that Lewis Hamilton will in all likelihood stay on at McLaren in 2013.

The F1 grapevine is currently alight with speculation that the 2008 world champion – who flirted with Red Bull until the energy drink-owned team re-confirmed its existing lineup for next season – is about to jump ship to Mercedes.

Boss Horner told Austrian television ServusTV that he is relieved that Red Bull is not caught up in the rumours.

“But it is interesting to look at all the games and see who will be sitting in the seats when the music stops,” the Briton reportedly said.

“If you believe Eddie Jordan then Hamilton’s going, and if you believe Bernie, then Schumacher is going back to retirement,” said Horner.

“As always there’s a lot of talk, but when the music does stop, I don’t think much will have changed,” he insisted.

Former F1 driver Christian Danner agrees with Horner that his “gut feeling” is that Hamilton will stay put.

“The Hamilton story is about his position at McLaren – about how he can market himself to the world and what rights he gets.

“But if he listens to his racing heart, he will stay at McLaren, where he has the best chance to be world champion again. Period,” he added.

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Singapore Grand Prix: HRT preview Marina Bay

With the European part of the season completed, the Formula One World Championship heads east for a swing of five Asian races that begins with the Singapore Grand Prix on the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of September.

This event stands out because of its singularity as it is the only nocturnal grand prix on the calendar and the European time zone is respected meaning that teams work at night and rest throughout the day. After a special weekend in Italy, the objective of HRT Formula One Team is to maintain the reliability that led both cars to cross the finish line in Monza and progress with the upgrades which will be introduced to the car in Singapore. After a positive debut at the Italian Grand Prix, Ma Qing Hua will step into the F112 once again for the first free practice session, replacing Narain Karthikeyan and joining Pedro de la Rosa.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit has hosted the Singapore Grand Prix since 2008. It’s a slow, bumpy and narrow anti-clockwise track and is also a very physically demanding test for the drivers given the high temperatures and humidity. Pirelli has selected its supersoft and soft tyres for this grand prix.

Pedro de la Rosa: “I’ve never raced at Singapore but I know the circuit because of my simulator work as a test driver for McLaren. It’s a spectacular track and probably the toughest circuit on the brakes in the entire championship besides being a very physically demanding race because of the heat and humidity. We should have a good performance as there are many slow corners and it is quite similar to Monaco. Besides, we’ve got an aero upgrade which should help us to cut down the gap to our rivals. I have to make the most of the practice session to adapt to the circuit but I’m up for the challenge.”

Narain Karthikeyan: “Singapore has a spectacular atmosphere as the race takes place under artificial lighting. The Marina Bay Street Circuit is bumpy and very complicated. You can’t make any mistakes as it is a street circuit. Besides, it’s also very demanding physically because of the high temperatures and humidity. I arrive here extremely motivated and in good form after a good weekend in Italy and we’ve also brought upgrades which we hope will help us improve our race pace a little bit more.”

Ma Qing Hua: “”I’m very happy to drive the F112 for a second time in a row and I really appreciate the opportunity HRT is giving me. It will be very exciting to drive an F1 around the streets of Singapore. It’s a very demanding track for all of us, but it will be even more of a challenge for me as this is only the second time I will be driving the car at a race weekend. But I am looking forward to it and the laps that I added to my tally at the last grand prix in Monza have given me plenty of confidence. I have prepared myself in the simulator as well as doing some specific exercises to be used to driving at night. This is yet again another step in my career and I look forward to getting more experience at the wheel of an F1 car as well as doing my best to help the team to prepare for the race”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “I don’t personally know the Marina Bay Street Circuit but I’m really looking forward to getting to know it since everyone says it’s one of the most beautiful races in the championship. But also because in Singapore we’re incorporating the second major upgrade to the car of the season which we hope will help us take another step forward. Ma will step into the car once more for the first free practice session and the objective is for him to continue learning and improving as he did in Monza, where we were very happy with his work and performance. Pedro and Narain come on the back of a good race in Italy and we hope that with the upgrades they can get even closer to our rivals.”

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Singapore Grand Prix: Marussia preview Marina Bay

The Marussia F1 Team said "Arriverderci" to Europe, in Italy last weekend,and will embark on the first of no fewer than seven long-haul rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship next weekend in Singapore. The sport's only night-race is Timo Glock's favourite grand prix on the calendar, while Charles Pic will race at the flood-lit street circuit for the very first time.

Timo Glock, Driver #24:

"Singapore is a very special circuit, as the only night race on the calendar. I have great memories from this race as I finished on the points in the first year and on the podium in 2009. Every year it's great to come back and without doubt it is my favourite race on the calendar. Over the last races we had some real potential in our package, so I'm looking forward to showing more of that and hopefully we can have a good result there. The next part of the season will be a tough challenge for the team, so I hope we can continue to make good progress to reward all the hard work throughout the team."

Charles Pic, Driver #25:

"I am really looking forward to my first night race at this fantastic circuit, and actually, my first visit to Singapore. I have heard so many great things about this race, from the experience of racing under the lights to the fantastic city, so I'm arriving nice and early to get the measure of everything. We are back into unknown territory for me, which I'm really excited about. The early part of the season and Canada were the same for me, but I am happy with the way I have been acclimatising to new circuits and getting up to speed quite quickly. Singapore adds another dimension due to the transition to European hours, but it's all part of the learning experience, which has been going very well for me. It will be a busy phase for us now and I am really looking forward to the challenge of continuing to make good progress at this later stage of the season."

John Booth, Team Principal:

"It is sad to leave the European venues behind for another season, however we are embarking on a very exciting and challenging period in the calendar. Never before has the sport had so many races in so many continents in such a short space of time and there are even three more back to back races amongst them. Singapore is a very special race and the atmosphere and spectacle are truly unique. The whole team looks forward to going there, even though the conditions are quite challenging for the race team and drivers with the fierce heat and humidity. Timo loves this race and it will be Charles first experience of it, so it will be quite interesting to see what they each bring to it after our recent steps forward, which will be aided by further developments for this race. Far from running out of time in this final phase, we are encouraged by our current level of progress at this stage of the season and optimistic about what we can go on to achieve from here in terms of our targets."

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Singapore Grand Prix: Sauber previews Marina Bay

Boosted by an excellent result at the final round of the European season, the Sauber F1 Team is on the move to Asia. In Monza the Swiss outfit secured its third podium in the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship with Sergio Pérez finishing second. The team scored 20 championship points in Italy with Kamui Kobayashi contributing two points by taking the chequered flag in ninth. During the forthcoming chain of grands prix in Asia, the Sauber C31-Ferrari will receive some updates on a race-by-race basis.

On the weekend of the 21st to 23rd September it will be the fifth time Formula One will race at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore. From the word go in 2008 the spectacular night race established itself as a true asset to the world championship. With its 23 corners the five kilometre track requires a high downforce level and is tough on brakes and tyres. For the drivers it is extremely demanding as well. High humidity and an ambient temperature of more than 30 degrees even at night creates a physical challenge, while the winding circuit with no run-off areas doesn’t forgive the slightest driver error.

Kamui Kobayashi (car number 14):

“After our great result in Monza, everybody in the team is very motivated. Singapore is a truly special event. As a night race it has established itself as a real highlight. Personally I like the place. Also it’s not too far from my home country, and there are always a lot of Japanese fans. The track is quite demanding with a lot of corners, and mostly slow ones. In the past this kind of track didn’t really suit our car, but with this year’s Sauber C31 things have changed. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be competitive there.”

Sergio Pérez (car number 15):

“The Singapore Grand Prix is a very special race on an extraordinary track with an unique schedule. You race at night and you live at night. Also it will be the first round back in Asia after quite a while. The amount of travelling is increasing a lot now. I generally like street circuits and the one in Singapore is physically quite demanding, but I feel prepared for that. Also for our car it should be an okay track to race on. I am very much looking forward to it and I want to get in another good result for the team at that very prestigious race.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering:

“Singapore is a street circuit with lots of corners and short straights. Therefore overtaking is difficult, which makes qualifying particularly important. Good traction is crucial on this stop-and-go track with mainly low speed and just a couple of medium speed corners. In some places the surface is very bumpy – something to bear in mind when setting up the car. You have to keep an eye on the brakes, because they have very little time to cool down between corners. The track surface is not very rough. Pirelli will allocate the supersoft and the soft compounds, which should work well in qualifying, but I don’t expect any chance of a one-stop strategy in the race. Concerning strategy: one thing we have to consider is that the chance of a safety car period is very high on this track. This means we have to bear in mind the tyre requirements and, at the same time, be ready at any moment to change our strategy in case of a safety car deployment. Out of the seven upcoming races I expect this one to be the most difficult for our C31, but we will have our next aero update in Singapore, which should help to compensate for this and still put us in a position for a strong race.”

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Singapore Grand Prix: Red Bull previews Marina Bay

Drivers preview the forthcoming Singapore Grand Prix, Round 14 of the 2012 Formula One world championship, at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Sebastian Vettel: “Singapore is one of the highlights on the F1 calendar, because the atmosphere of a night race is amazing. I also like it because the track is really great to race on – which is partly to do with the fact that we race anticlockwise there. Singapore is a fascinating city to visit and everything seems to be extremely clean and tidy. We all stay on European time for the weekend and because the race doesn’t start until 8pm, most of the drivers tend to get up around 2pm – it’s pretty unusual.”

Mark Webber: “We’ve had some good results in Singapore. It’s a very, very challenging circuit and one that the car should work well on. We’ve been solid on street circuits this year, so that gives us some confidence that the car will be towards the sharp end again. I like going to Singapore, it’s clean and it’s safe. Everyone embraces the event, but I also love the fact that we have a lot of Australians attending, especially from the West Coast as it’s an easy flight from there. That’s quite unique.”

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Singapore Grand Prix: Mercedes previews Marina Bay

The next race on the Formula One calendar is one of the most spectacular of the season. As the sport’s only night race, the Singapore Grand Prix provides a fantastic show under the lights held around the 5.073 km Marina Bay Circuit, and has quickly become a firm favourite with fans, teams and drivers.

• The Safety Car has been deployed at least once in every Singapore Grand Prix since the inaugural race in 2008
• The circuit features nine corners taken below 100 km/h, more than Monaco, and 15 different braking events
• The drivers change gear 80 times per lap – 50% higher than the season average and nearly double that of Monza

Michael Schumacher:

Singapore is a one-off in lots of ways, with the city, racing at night and the circuit itself. It’s a brilliantly unusual race. At first sight, everything seems more relaxed because the action happens at night, but of course it’s not like that at all. The reality is that you have to work hard to stay on European time and in the right bio-rhythms, so that you can perform perfectly in the race – because it’s unusual to be competing at this time of day. The nice thing is that the circuit is very technically demanding and it’s very tricky to get a perfect lap. After a reasonably encouraging weekend in Monza, we have good expectations for another promising performance. I’m looking forward to the night race.

Nico Rosberg:

The Singapore Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the season and it’s such a fun weekend. The city is fantastic, and I finished second in the race here in 2008 which was a great experience and has given me some really nice memories of this event. It’s always seems strange to be driving at night, going to bed at 5am and then waking up in the afternoon but it’s surprising how easy it is to adapt. I really enjoy the Marina Bay track, it’s a street circuit with a difference and with the intense heat and humidity, the sheer number of corners and racing under the lights, it really is a challenge.

Ross Brawn:

With the conclusion of the European races, we now enter a very intense countdown to the end of the season with seven flyaway races in just two and a half months. The first of these weekends is in Singapore for one of our favourite races of the season in the unique conditions that a night race brings. Now in its fifth year, the routine of the weekend with working late at night and on a European schedule has become well-practiced and everyone at the team loves visiting the lively city of Singapore. On track, we concluded our successful Young Driver Test at Magny Cours yesterday, and we have a lot of useful information which is now being studied at our factories at Brackley and Brixworth to help bring improvements to the car for the final seven races of the season.

Norbert Haug:

This year’s Singapore Grand Prix marks the beginning of the final ‘flyaway’ phase of the 2012 season, which will comprise seven races in nine weeks. This will be the fifth edition of the Singapore Grand Prix, which embodies the attractions of modern F1 in a very special way: a spectacular city-centre race, where fans can get close to the action and which is run at night in a unique atmosphere for F1. In spite of relatively slow speeds, the circuit is a tough challenge for the drivers and cars. There are a total of 23 corners, including 10 in the final sector alone, and the drivers will change gear almost 5 000 times during the race. At over 100 seconds, the lap time is the longest of the year and only Monaco has a lower average speed. However, last year’s race in Singapore featured nearly three times as many overtaking moves as the race in Monaco. The demands of Singapore, with a lot of relatively slow corners, are completely different to those of Monza, with its straights and selection of high-speed curves. We have been hard at work since the last race, with Sam Bird and Brendon Hartley testing developments over three days at the ‘Young Driver Test’ in Magny-Cours in order to further improve our car performance.

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Alonso backs Hamilton over McLaren contract saga

World championship leader Fernando Alonso has backed Lewis Hamilton as the 2008 Formula One World Champion considers leaving McLaren at the end of the season.

After just a single season alongside then-rookie Hamilton in 2007, Spaniard Alonso left the British team.

This week during a media event in Spain, the now Ferrari driver said leaving McLaren “was the best decision of my life”.

“So if Hamilton is also evaluating that option, I don’t see why anyone should say it (Hamilton leaving) is not possible.

“McLaren is a great team, but they won the world championship in 2008 only at the last corner of the last race. If we remove that title, you have to go back a long way to find another one,” added Alonso.

Alonso and Hamilton clashed infamously as teammates in 2007, but it is clear the pair now have a great respect for one another.

Alonso confirmed: “I have said he is the only one capable of winning without having the best car. The others win if the car is good, and when it is not [good], they do not [win].”

MIKA: Funny how there are constant flying rumors about all the drivers moving to Ferrari BUT NOT Hamilton... What if, Hamilton goes to Ferrari?

[MIKA27]

MCLAREN LEGEND RAMIREZ ON WHAT LEWIS STILL HAS TO LEARN AND LIFE WITH PROST AND SENNA

Formula 1 sage and former McLaren team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez believes a failure to come to terms with the fact that he had been beaten by team-mate Jenson Button explained Lewis Hamilton’s tweeting of telemetry traces at Spa.

Hamilton endured a miserable weekend in Belgium at the start of this month, becoming embroiled in controversy over several messages posted to the social media site – all of which were ultimately taken down. Ramirez, a mainstay at McLaren for 17 years before retiring in 2001, reckons that the telemetry incident highlighted a general reluctance for the current generation of drivers to willingly acknowledge when they’ve been outpaced fair and square. He also suggested that it showed Hamilton still has to learn that being the quickest driver on outright pace isn’t always enough.

Speaking to the September edition of the JA on F1 podcast (which you can download here), Ramirez said: “Times have changed. I don’t know if it is all the media or the razzmatazz about Formula 1 now that it’s so much difficult for the driver to accept that he’s lost.

“Obviously that decision of who’s going to have the rear wing between Hamilton and Button was discussed among everybody. It’s not that there was only one rear wing, there were two, they were for both. But he decided that he was going to race with that. So he couldn’t live with that and shut up, no, he had to show the world why he’s lost, why his team-mate beat him.

“Perhaps it’s a little bit of political inside fight in the head between them. Maybe Button said ‘well, he didn’t like the other wing so much and he preferred that [high-downforce one] ‘– which was the wrong one – because I think Button is probably more clever on the car than Hamilton is.

“Hamilton is without a doubt much quicker but Button has shown many times, especially last year, that [it’s] not simple to be the quickest one is going to win races. So you need to have everything. “

Although the level of on and off-track the rivalry between the British pair hasn’t come close to that of McLaren’s previous all-world champion line-up of the late 1980s, Hamilton and Button’s contrasting individual driving styles and approaches do bare resemblance to those of their respective childhood heroes Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Ramirez was at the centre of extraordinary two-year Senna/Prost era at McLaren and reminiscing about their first season together on the podcast – when together they won 15 of the 16 race in 1988 – he told a great tale of how when his car was perfect, rather like Button, Prost was unbeatable.

“Senna was absolutely unbelievable on a qualifying lap, nobody could race that much of the car in a single lap like he could. Taking a second out of Prost in places like Spa or Monza where Prost used to set the standard was absolutely unheard [of] – incredible,” he recalled.

“But when you gave Prost a car that was completely to his liking no one could beat him, not even Senna. But how many times you have a car that is 100% to how you like it? Very seldom. But Senna used to adapt to the car. Whatever the car was doing, if he couldn’t change it, he would just adapt himself and that’s why he was so much better than Prost in those situations.

“The things like the French Grand Prix, when I’m saying about having the perfect car, Alain had the perfect car in the circuit at home where it gives you an extra adrenaline being at home. He took the car, put it on pole, came back, got off the car, took his helmet off and put his jeans and his T-shirt on and I said ‘you’re crazy, what are you doing? There’s still half an hour to go. We still have two sets of qualifying tyres.’

“‘No, no,’ he said, ‘I done the perfect lap. If he [meaning Ayton] can do better than that he deserved the pole. I cannot do any better’. The more Senna tried [to beat him] the slower he got and Prost got the pole. That was fantastic and Senna did the same to him in Portugal. To live that together it was an indescribable year.”

[MIKA27]

THE TWO TEAMS LEADING THE PUSH FOR SOLAR POWER IN F1

Innovation in F1 can take many forms and there is some very interesting work going on at the moment in alternative energies, with solar power companies attracted into F1. It’s not an obvious fit one might say, but they are drawn in by the opportunity to innovate and to align with a sport which is all about high tech.

The prospect of drivers helmets and even the entire surface of an F1 car being made of solar panels is not far away.

On a bigger scale, Sauber and Lotus F1 team are pushing ahead with developments in solar power at their factories, aimed at reducing the team’s carbon footprint. This is an interesting step in many ways, not least at the present time, as it provides an alternative view to the push towards increased KERS and energy regeneration in F1 racing itself.

No-one would disagree that F1 could and should do more to appear more in step with the times on sustainability and carbon footprint. A lot of teams have made steps to make their factories carbon neutral. But there’s no getting away from the massive footprint from the amount of travel the teams, cars and freight must undertake every season, not to mention the spectators travelling to the events.

There is a debate going on at the moment about the rights and wrongs of introducing the new 2014 engines, which will be three to four times as expensive for teams to lease from manufacturers. estimates range from €15-20 million per season. This is because they feature new technologies which are aimed at reducing fuel consumption by over 30% and harvesting more energy from braking.

Many teams feel that this is a wrong use of funds at a tough time economically and that it would be better to adapt the current V8 engines to run with fuel flow meters. They argue that the environmental impact of the new V6 engines will be minimal anyway.

Far better, some argue, to do more long sighted projects to reduce footprint; projects like the ones Sauber and Lotus have undertaken with solar energy. Lotus has been at it for some time now with its partner Trina Solar, they recently installed panels to power the simulator.

The target for the Enstone plant is 33 megawatts of power for a year and in four months they have reached almost half of that. “This is an example of how we can associate F1 with cleaner, greener energy,” said Lotus F1 boss Eric Boullier. “And we can increase our expectations. We have some new projects on the dyno where we will integrate more and more solar energy.”

The Enstone factory is carbon neutral and also has the status of Site of Scientific Interest with the local council.

The Lotus motorhome is partly powered by solar and next year the team will build a new motorhome which will have solar panels in the roof, where the target will be to provide 40% of the electricity needed for the motorhome.

Sauber has today unveiled its new solar park at the team’s headquarters in Hinwil, Switzerland, working with its commercial partner Oerlikon.

It features 1,573 thin-film silicon photovoltaic modules, stretching over an area measuring 2,249 square metres. A roof of one of the factory buildings has been fitted with solar modules and large sections of the company’s car park are now covered.

Sauber claims that the installation delivers 155,600 kilowatt hours of power per year – equivalent to the electricity needs of 44 households – and generates peak power of 173 kWp.

“We are extremely proud of this sustainable extension to our company headquarters,” said Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn. “For us, local power generation via a photovoltaic installation not only represents another contribution to fulfilling our environmental responsibilities, it also makes financial sense. The installation is cost-efficient and also allows a large number of vehicles to be parked under cover. On top of that, it fits in well visually with our factory as a whole, which is already highlighted by the modernistic glass architecture of the wind tunnel building’s façade.”

Looking a bit further down the road, Trina Solar are looking at fitting photovoltaic cells into the surface of a driver’s helmet, with the objective of powering the pit to car radio.

Also researched, together with Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the technique of blending photovoltaic materials into complex laminates such as carbon fibre, to make it photovoltaic. The whole surface of an F1 car could become a solar panel. Getting the cells to be flexible is one of the challenges. Trina Solar believe that they will be able to bring this to F1 in two to three years.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: A lot of 'rubbish'

Lewis Hamilton says he won't be distracted by the "rubbish" that's around as there are "a lot of stories that aren't true" being printed about his future.

Having yet to commit to McLaren - or any other team for that matter - Hamilton's future remains a hot topic in Formula One with plenty of speculation about where he may end up.

The latest batch of rumours have the 27-year-old heading to Mercedes as Michael Schumacher's replacement with Sergio Perez reportedly being lined up by McLaren as Jenson Button's 2013 team-mate.

For now, though, all that is just speculation as Hamilton has yet to decide where his future lies.

"I don't have a timeline. My focus is on trying to win this World Championship," Hamilton told Reuters.

"Of course I do have to have those things sorted out but I do have people in the background working on those contract negotiations.

"There's a lot of speculation, there's a lot of stories that aren't true."

He added: "I think we're all wise enough to understand that people write things and that what is written is not necessarily what is true.

"I think the most important thing is that I'm 100 percent focused on winning with this team and taking them forward.

"I've been with the team since I was 13 and we've worked so hard since 2009 to try and win this Championship and hopefully, finally, we're in the position where we can.

"So the most important thing is that I do not get distracted by all the rubbish that's been around."

As for the Championship race, Hamilton climbed to second in the standings when he secured his third win of the campaign last time out at Monza. The McLaren driver trails Ferrari's Fernando Alonso by 37 points with seven races remaining.

"We're in a very, very strong position, we're getting stronger and we will get stronger through the rest of this year," Hamilton concluded.

[MIKA27]

Wolff: Williams line-up undecided

Toto Wolff insists there are no guarantees that Valtteri Bottas will race for Williams next season as the team's line-up is "all open at this stage."

Wolff, who was named as Williams' executive director in July this season, not only owns shares is Williams but is also a financial backer in Bottas' motorsport career.

This has prompted some speculation that Bottas will race for Williams next season, replacing either Pastor Maldonado or Bruno Senna.

However, for now Wolff is adamant that nothing has been decided at the Grove-based team.

"I think Valtteri is going to end up in Formula One, that's for sure, and I think the question is are we going to have him in one of our cars or somebody else going to sneak him up," the 40-year-old told ESPNF1.

"This is a decision we have to make together in the next couple of weeks or months and decide which direction the team is going to head in; are we continuing with the current drivers or are we going to change one of them or two of them?

"So it's all open at this stage."

But when the discussions are had, Wolff says he will excuse himself given his financial involvement with Bottas.

"I don't have a role in his management - I leave that to others - but I have a participation, let's say a financial investment.

"I would say that if Williams is not part of his future next year then because of that conflict of interest I will refrain myself from interfering and then it's up to Mika [Hakkinen] and Didier [Coton] to look what the best for Valtteri would be."

[MIKA27]

Kimi: Unfinished business

Kimi Raikkonen reckons he has "unfinished business" in Singapore having never scored at Formula One's flood-lit grand prix.

Having been away from Formula One for two seasons, Raikkonen has only twice contested the night race, 15th in 2008 and 10th in 2009, the last season in which only the top eight netted points.

"I have some unfinished business after my two GPs there so far, as I have never scored a point," said the 32-year-old.

"That doesn't mean I'm not quick there as I've been told I still hold the lap record from 2008.

"I crashed while fighting for fifth place that year and finished down in tenth in 2009, so I want better this time."

However, this year Raikkonen doesn't just want points, he wants a top-three result.

"Obviously, the podium is a target again. We have had six podiums so far and scored as many points as the top guys in last few races.

"We have managed to get everything out of our package. Hopefully we are able to carry on in the next races, too."

As for the Championship, Raikkonen is now up to third, just 38 points behind Fernando Alonso and with a total of 175 still to play for sees no reason why he can't clinch his second Drivers' title.

"We've lost some points to Fernando which is not so good, but we still managed a decent result in Italy and it's good to be up to third in the Championship.

"It's impossible to say how this season will turn out, but we're very close to second. We'll see what happens in the next few races."

[MIKA27]

McLaren in the dark over Button DNF

Martin Whitmarsh has revealed that McLaren are yet to establish the exact cause of Jenson Button's Italian GP retirement.

The McLaren driver had been running in second place behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton when his MP4-27 gave up the ghost, forcing the Brit to park on the side of the track.

And although it was clear that the problem related to the fuel system, Whitmarsh says the team has so far failed to figure what exactly went wrong.

"This is very unusual in my experience," the McLaren team boss told Sky's F1 Show.

"What we do know is that there were 50 kilos of fuel in the car, but it wasn't where we wanted it - i.e. being put into the engine.

"I can't recall now in the last few years where we haven't been able to get to the bottom of it (a problem).

"It's a fuel system that the fundamental design hasn't changed for five years, it's very complex."

However, the good news is that even though they have yet to establish the cause, McLaren are confident there won't be a repeat in Singapore.

"Clearly as you would imagine, there won't be one single component that was used in this car in Jenson's car in Singapore so in all probability we will never see the problem again but that's not quite as satisfying as saying 'actually, we know exactly what it was.'"

MIKA: Maybe Hamilton has an anti-teamate DNF button on his steering wheel!

[MatthewB]

Becoming very tired of hearing about Hamilton.......

The boy needs to grow up.

Thanks once again for the great updates mate.