FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Heikki Kovalainen accepts chances of 2013 Formula 1 seat slim

Heikki Kovalainen is increasingly pessimistic about his chances of being on the Formula 1 grid next year.

The Finn has been driving for the Caterham team - previously Lotus - for the past three seasons and admitted he wanted to stay on for 2013.

But with Caterham delaying its decision on drivers, a sanguine Kovalainen reckons his chances are now slim, especially as he is not interested in trying to find a sponsor to secure the drive.

"I'm not too stressed about it. It is what it is. If it's the last race it's a shame, but the situation is quite tricky for me and there is not much more that I can do," said Kovalainen.

"If that's what it's going to be that's what it's going to be. I'm just fully focused on this weekend and on trying to achieve the best result for the team.

"Who knows what's going to happen, but from my experience it's never good when it's this late in the season and things have not been decided. But that's how it is.

"I know I'm on the list. I still have a very good relationship with Tony [Fernandes] and the team and it could well be that I stay here, but just from my experience I know how things are in Formula 1. And when it gets late it's never a good sign."

Kovalainen admitted he is looking for other options in F1 and beyond, but says he has been asked for money to stay in grand prix racing and dislikes that approach.

"It won't be the end, whatever happens. I have a life. I'm not going to go and kill myself," he said. "Of course we are looking at the options, outside F1 as well, but also in F1.

"But even the other options require some money, and I don't want to go that route. I told my manager not to actively find money. I don't think it leads to anything.

"If you have a big backer like Santander that went with you to a team it's a different thing. But to collect the money for one season doesn't do anything. It's not what it's all about.

"I just don't think there is a structure for it. I think there needs to be a clear plan to go and find money to race in the middle of the grid. It doesn't appeal to me."

Caterham has dropped behind rival Marussia in the crucial battle for 10th place in the championship. Kovalainen reckons recovering that lucrative spot "probably would help" his 2013 chances.

The Finn reckons he has been driving very well at Caterham, but feels that the lack of results has made it hard for other teams to notice him.

"I've reached a good level. I very rarely have bad races anymore. Most of time I get the best out of the car.

"I have a lot to offer but the situation in Formula 1 as it is might not fit me. It might not have room for me.

"There is nothing I can do about it. I can't get any better results to show other teams, and if the results here are not enough to go forward or to stay here then so be it."

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Brazilian GP: Mercedes set to abandon Coanda exhaust

Mercedes is set to abandon its Coanda-effect exhaust for the final race of the season in a bid to try and get a better understanding of its tyre situation.

After Nico Rosberg reverted to the non-Coanda designin Austin to assist the team's 2013 development programme, the team has elected to switch both its drivers to the old version for the final weekend of the season.

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug explained that the team felt its testing of Pirelli's 2013 rubber, which is being undertaken on Friday, would be aided if the team was running the standard exhausts.

"We are definitely starting without [the Coanda exhausts]," said Haug.

"We want to start the tyre tests without any influence. We have proper data that we can compare with what we had at the start of the year, and then we will probably leave it like that."

Haug added that the way the Coanda exhausts were impacting on tyre temperatures left the team feeling that it would gain more running without them.

"We think it still has an influence on heating the tyres," he said. "There is also a little bit of a lack of aero downforce which we could not improve compared to the others.

"We think we will have a more realistic base to what we had at the beginning of the season and we work from there. But it is very clear that you have to have Coanda next year, because it gives you a benefit."

When asked if there were any plans for the team to switch back to the Coanda exhausts for Saturday, Haug said: "Not currently, no."

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Kamui Kobyashi fears hopes of 2013 Formula 1 seat fading

Kamui Kobayashi fears his chances of securing a drive for the 2013 Formula 1 season are narrowing as he continues to search for a sponsor.

The Japanese driver was asked for financial backing in order to stay at Sauber, which is set to announce Mexican Esteban Gutierrez as Nico Hulkenberg's team-mate for next year.

Sauber said it will name its second driver during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.

With Kobayashi still seeking sponsorship, he reckons he has a better chance of being on the grid in 2014 than next year.

"My future? Well, if I could win it would be fantastic," the Japanese driver joked at Interlagos on Thursday.

"This is Formula 1. I need to work it out. Overall I think there is a bigger chance of a top team in 2014. We'll see. I'm working very hard to get a sponsor."

Kobayashi was coy when asked about Sauber's planned announcement this weekend.

"At the moment I think it's very difficult to say anything about the future," he added. "If I say too much there is no point for them to announce anything. Someone said Monisha [Kaltenborn] will announce it this weekend but I don't know. At the moment I can't say anything about it.

"I don't know what they want to announce."

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Lotus F1 simulator now fully up and running

Lotus's hopes of making further progress on track next season have been boosted with its new simulator now fully up and running.

After months of development, Romain Grosjean was the first of its race drivers to try out the new simulator in Enstone ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

The Frenchman said that there was still more calibration work to do before the team could be satisfied it was ready but, by the start of next season, the outfit should be on a good development path with it.

"I did half a day at the factory before Austin and it was my first time in the simulator," said Grosjean, who said previous race preparations had been done on computer games and YouTube.

"We still have some work to do on it, as it is still not an easy tool. But by the time we get it working properly, it should be a good help for us. I was very happy to discover that."

Grosjean believes that having a top-line simulator on tap for 2013 will be as much a benefit for the team's engineers as it will be for the drivers.

"It depends how far as we can go with it," he said. "If we really manage to make it efficient set-up wise, it could be useful for testing the things that we don't have time to test on track.

"But we need to get to a high level of feeling and understandings and correlation between the track and simulator for that."

Grosjean's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen will not drive in the simulator, because he is not keen on using them.

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Bruno Senna rekons he would be stronger in 2013 if he gets a new deal

Bruno Senna believes he is still in his Formula 1 learning curve and would be much more competitive with a second full season with a competitive team in 2012.

The Brazilian has been overshadowed by his Spanish Grand Prix-winning team-mate Pastor Maldonado at Williams this year.

Qualifying has been a particular issue for Senna, who now faces an uncertain future, particularly given Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas's strong Friday form. The Finn has taken Senna's car for Friday morning practice at most 2012 races.

Senna started his F1 career with HRT in 2010, contesting 18 of the 19 races with the backmarker team. He then replaced Nick Heidfeld at Renault for the final eight rounds of the 2011 season before signing for Williams this year.

"It's been a challenging season with lots of learning, some results and some tough races as well," he said.

"Considering it's my first year in F1 with the small handicap of not doing Friday, in the end most of my races were very strong but starting from a different position to where I should be starting has made me score less points.

"At the end of the day it is learning. You do better at the second attempt so for sure there will be a lot of improvement to be done next year."

He added that he currently had no doubt whether he would retain his Williams seat.

"It is undecided," Senna admitted.

"I think we have to wait until after the season to see what is going to happen, so let's see if it comes in the right way and we can be in a competitive car next year."

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Renault: Red Bull will use new-spec alternator in Brazil

Renault will switch Red Bull on to its newest specification of alternator for the championship decider in Brazil following Mark Webber's failure in the United States Grand Prix.

Webber suffered Red Bull's third alternator failure in a race this year at Austin, dropping him out of third position.

That problem prompted concerns from the team about that area of the car, which has left engine partner Renault in no doubt that Red Bull must switch to the newer spec for this weekend's Interlagos showdown.

Renault's head of trackside operations Remi Taffin told AUTOSPORT about the plans for Brazil: "It is very simple. We go for the new spec. It has passed all the tests."

Red Bull elected not to use the newer specification, which was raced by other Renault teams, because it felt safer using the older specification that had so far proved trouble-free.

When asked why that decision had been made if the newer units had passed all reliability tests, Taffin said: "Because they are human beings and at some point as humans they have some feelings.

"It was a common decision, so we put everything on the table and we decided altogether we should go that way. We had everything to fit either the old or new design.

"But the feeling was generally that there is some sense to keep on using something that we have known for years with low mileage and stuff like that, even if we had a new solution that we knew had gone through all the tests.

"Maybe it is a bit more difficult to understand, but put yourself in the situation where you have to make a decision.

"Sometimes you go into a shop and there are two different things and your head says you should buy this one but your heart says you should buy the other one."

Taffin added that the fact that Renault's other teams had successfully used the revised newer specification of alternator last weekend meant that Red Bull should have no concerns about its reliability for Brazil.

"This is the first Sunday it has been used, but now we are up to 2000km on a few items with track and dyno testing, so there is nothing we would do more on this item before we fit it on the car."

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Brazil could be last lap for dying HRT team

According to strong paddock rumours, Sunday's Brazilian grand prix will be the last lap for ailing backmarkers HRT.

Publicly looking for a buyer, it is reported that staff have actually already been served with pending redundancy notices that will come into effect after the chequered flag waves on Sunday.

"None of us know what will happen," team driver Pedro de la Rosa, who was expected to stay at the Spanish team in 2013, admitted to reporters in Brazil.

When asked about the redundancy notices, he answered: "All I know is that we are here and that everyone here has not received anything.

"What happens after is unknown," added de la Rosa.

"I hope the team continues but at this moment in time I cannot say any more."

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Caterham hints Pic in team's plans for future

Caterham's new boss Cyril Abiteboul has all but confirmed paddock speculation Charles Pic is set to arrive at the team from Marussia for 2013.

And he said that would be part of the Tony Fernandes-owned team's new "three year plan".

On the issue of Frenchman Pic joining Caterham, France's f1i.com quoted Abiteboul as saying: "This is a three year plan that we are working on, and there are still many factors that need to come together so that it is a reality.

"But this project seems interesting for everyone," said the Frenchman.

It appears that highly rated Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen is being pushed out by 'pay drivers' due to Caterham potentially losing lucrative Concorde Agreement income to Marussia.

Kovalainen admitted on Thursday that Brazil could be his last grand prix.

It is believed that the main contender for the seat alongside Pic next year is the sponsored Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde.

"There is at least one more seat open," said Kovalainen in Brazil. "It is still possible that I will get it.

"From my experience, I only know that when things drag on for this long, it's never a good sign," he admitted.

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Caterham to use 2012 chassis next year - Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen claims Caterham is planning to use its current chassis as the basis for the 2013 car.

It is expected the salaried Finn will be pushed out of the team for 2013 by 'pay drivers' Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde.

Asked by the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat how he expects Caterham to go next season, Kovalainen said: "It's hard to say.

"But when the team has decided to continue with the same chassis for the new car, it may not be a good sign," said the 31-year-old, who as Caterham's lead driver has failed to score a single point since the team's inception in 2010.

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Aabar buys into Toro Rosso - report

Aabar, the Abu Dhabi state investment arm, may have withdrawn at Mercedes in order to buy into the Toro Rosso team.

It emerged this week that Aabar had sold back its 40 per cent stake in Mercedes' works team.

But Aabar continues to back Toro Rosso, Red Bull's second formula one team, through its Spanish oil brand Cepsa.

And Germany's Sport Auto reports that Aabar has now bought part of the Faenza based squad.

"The (percentage) number (of the stake) is between 49 to 61 per cent," the magazine said.

Toro Rosso is yet to comment.

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Angry Dennis absent for Hamilton's McLaren farewell

Ron Dennis did not attend a farewell party for Lewis Hamilton last week in Austin, and he will not be in Brazil for his former protege's last race for McLaren.

The news adds to the perception that Briton Hamilton - who was nurtured through his formative years by the McLaren supremo and brought into F1 in 2007 - has fallen out badly with Dennis over the 27-year-old's Mercedes switch.

Referring to a farewell party in Austin last weekend, Daily Mail journalist Jonathan McEvoy wrote: "Dennis instead chose to attend what a team spokesman described as 'an important cocktail reception hosted by Exxon Mobil executives at which he was guest of honour'."

But after Hamilton won the US grand prix, Dennis refused to wear McLaren's customary 'rocket-red' victory t-shirt.

And the 65-year-old "has decided not to travel to Sao Paulo for Hamilton's farewell race", McEvoy revealed.

Dennis said in Austin last week: "Obviously the media thinks there's some issue between Lewis and I -- there's absolutely no issue between us.

"Sometimes the circumstances in a relationship don't balance, don't match," he told the British broadcaster Sky.

But there are rumours Hamilton and Dennis fell out very badly over the negotiations for a new driving contract for 2013 and beyond.

"I do know what has happened," an unnamed 'senior figure' told the Daily Mail.

"Everyone makes mistakes and Ron made a mistake. Everything went pear-shaped and I don't think it would be fair to say any more than that."

A McLaren spokesman responded: "Ron and Lewis plan to get together socially in the near future, as they've both said a number of times recently."

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Ferrari clamp down on Alonso's social media

Ferrari has clamped down on Fernando Alonso's activities on social media websites Facebook and Twitter, according to the German magazine Focus.

It is reported the clampdown is the result of several controversial updates by the championship-charging Spaniard, including a photo he posted in Austin of himself and Felipe Massa holding a huge gun, with a caption declaring title war on Sebastian Vettel.

"There are a lot of interesting things I could tell the fans during a race weekend, but of course there is also a press department that keeps an eye on me constantly," Alonso said.

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Interlagos needs 'some plastic surgery' - Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone is pushing organisers of the Brazilian grand prix to improve the ageing facilities at Interlagos.

The circuit is regarded as one of the most outdated on the entire F1 calendar, and Speed Week reports that the sport's chief executive will meet with track officials on Saturday.

Interlagos' existing grand prix contract runs only to 2014.

Brazil's Globo reports that Ecclestone recently travelled to Santa Catarina, a state in southern Brazil, to hear about plans for a proposed new formula one venue designed by Hermann Tilke.

Ecclestone, however, denied he is seriously considering dumping Interlagos.

"We do not have that intention," he said. "We like Sao Paulo.

"It's an old race track, a bit tired, but with a good update and some plastic surgery, it'll be alright," added Ecclestone.

"I know it will happen soon."

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Vettel responds to charisma claim by swearing again

Despite the FIA's swearing ban, Sebastian Vettel on Thursday responded to claims he lacks charisma by suggesting Bernie Ecclestone was "taking the piss".

"Sorry," said the reigning world champion after clasping his hand to his mouth. "Maybe he was just taking the 'mickey' out of the newspaper."

It was just a light-hearted moment ahead of the Brazilian grand prix, but with a championship to be decided on Sunday, it's always more serious in formula one.

For instance, reporters noted that, as German Vettel cracked his customary jokes with the media in the FIA press conference, title challenger Fernando Alonso was the only one not smiling.

With a 13-point deficit and an inferior car, Ferrari's Spaniard is deploying every weapon.

When asked about Ferrari's sabotage of Felipe Massa's gearbox in Austin, Alonso said he was "proud" of the decision.

And he hinted Red Bull was guilty of hypocrisy.

"We don't need to go too far back this year where we have had some doubts about teams and which position they will start from, depending on limits they were finding in the regulations," said Alonso.

Vettel however insisted Red Bull takes a "different approach" to the sort of questionable tactics deployed by Ferrari.

And the German also hit back against claims he has been on a title-collecting cruise since 2010 with a superior Red Bull.

"As far as I can remember," he is quoted by France's autohebdo.fr, "there has never been a particularly successful driver with a very bad car."

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Hamilton admits Brazil could be his last chance to win in a while

Lewis Hamilton admits that his final race with McLaren in Brazil this weekend could be his last chance to win a grand prix in a while.

The 2008 Formula 1 world champion will end his career-long association with McLaren after the Interlagos event to join Mercedes next season.

Hamilton was victorious at Austin last weekend, but acknowledges that Mercedes has a lot of ground to make up at present. His 2013 employer has not scored any points since September's Singapore Grand Prix.

"I never know when I'm going to have a car quite as good as this one, so I really hope this weekend I can utilise that," said Hamilton.

"I hope we're competitive enough to fight the Red Bulls."

The Briton said that bowing out of McLaren at Interlagos would be particularly emotional given that he had lost the world title to Kimi Raikkonen there in his rookieseason in 2007, and then claimed it a year later in a dramatic last-lap denouement.

"We've got a great history together. We won and we lost the world championship here," said Hamilton.

"We've been through the highest high and the lowest low together, but we always pulled through it."

He conceded it was taking time for his McLaren departure to sink in.

"When it's on my mind a lot, it's very, very surreal. Very, very strange. Very, very sad in many ways," Hamilton said. "I just want to make sure I enjoy every moment."

He added: "It is the end of an era. The end of a great chapter in my life. Hopefully I'll have a good second chapter, or second book almost, to my life.

"But this is a very special one and I really hope I can do it for McLaren [this weekend]."

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Company files $650m lawsuit against F1

A company has filed a $650 million lawsuit against formula one.

Bluewaters Communications Holdings claims it was the high bidder to buy the sport in 2005.

It is claimed CVC, F1's current owner, was the lower but successful bidder because of F1 chief executive Ecclestone's alleged bribes to the now-jailed former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

Gribkowsky, CVC and the German bank BayernLB were all named as defendants in the New York suit, the Financial Times, Bloomberg and cityam.com report.

Bluewaters claims it offered in writing to pay 10 per cent more than all other bidders, but gave "no commitment" to keep Ecclestone in the top job.

But when asked on Monday why the bid failed, Ecclestone said: "No idea. They probably didn't give enough money."

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Perez spills the beans on Gutierrez 2013 Sauber drive

Mexican Sergio Perez named compatriot Esteban Gutierrez as his 2013 replacement at Sauber on Thursday despite no formal news from the Swiss Formula One team.

Sauber have announced the arrival of Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg from Force India but have kept quiet about who will be his team mate, saying only that confirmation would come within the season.

However Perez, who is joining McLaren, appeared to spill the beans in a conversation with Spanish-speaking reporters at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

“The car will be strong because the rules don’t change much, and the team have a good experienced driver in Nico and he will have a strong team mate in Esteban,” he said.

“We are waiting for the announcement,” he added when asked for more details.

Gutierrez’s promotion from a test and reserve role – widely expected given the team’s Mexican sponsors – would mean the departure of Kamui Kobayashi, the only Japanese driver on the grid.

Perez is moving to McLaren as replacement for 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, who will race for Mercedes as the most high-profile signing for 2013.

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Can Perez fill the hole left by Hamilton?

Losing Lewis Hamilton is a hammer blow for McLaren, but they have found the best possible replacement in Sergio Perez.

The question is can he fill the huge void left by the Mercedes bound Hamilton?

To many Lewis is the fastest driver in the sport. In terms of the stopwatch he is absolutely irreplaceable. The best two replacements would have been either Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel.

Alonso is contracted to Ferrari till 2016, and after his troubled season in Woking back in 2007 a return was never going to happen.

Sebastian is contracted to Red Bull till the end of 2014, but many feel he could be on his way to Ferrari before then.

Having arguably the top three drivers in F1 (Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel) as direct opposition is going to represent an enormous challenge for McLaren in 2013.

The team's only option was to find a driver with potential to take on F1’s biggest stars, and become a world champion himself in the future.

Out of the all the drivers in the midfield Perez is the driver who has made the biggest impact this year. Alongside the likes of Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg he is the one who has hit the highest levels in terms of peak performances.

His drives to the podium in Malaysia, Canada and Italy were sensational. He has shown an incredible ability to conserve his tyres, and in Monza, demonstrated that he has brilliant race craft to match.

He appears to have no fear and hasn’t been overawed when he's been running at the front, and going wheel to wheel with world champions.

What’s also very impressive is how mature and level headed he is for his age, and he seems very focussed on his racing. This may well be a very welcome change for McLaren after life with Lewis during the last couple of years.

No other midfield driver has made as big an impression since Vettel’s giant killing performances for Toro Rosso back in 2008. When you look back over the history of F1 there have been many champions who have begun life by shining in a lesser car, just like Perez has been doing.

Think back to 2001 where Alonso shone in a Minardi, or Ayrton Senna’s performances for Toleman back in 1984. In particular his drive to second place in the wet at Monaco which well and truly put him on the map.

The question is can Sergio transfer these great performances to the bigger stage? Life at the front is very different to life in the midfield. Next year the spotlight will constantly be on him, and with that the pressure will be ramped up considerably.

In the midfield when you score a brilliant result you are showered with praise and receive positive attention. On a weekend when you don’t do so well nobody takes any notice, as the focus is mainly on the battle at the front.

At the front of the grid there is nowhere to hide. You can’t just have three or four good weekends a year. You have to be on it at every single event.

Those occasions next year where Sergio doesn’t have a great race may be the first time in his F1 career where he receives real negative media attention. How he deals with that will be one of the key hurdles in his first year with McLaren.

Not all drivers who shine in lesser cars do well when they end up with a great car. Giancarlo Fisichella is a case in point. He spent years achieving great individual results in lesser cars

However when he finally got that big break with Renault back in 2005 he struggled to make a big impact. Although he did win a couple of races for the team he was never a threat to Alonso.

Heikki Kovalainen is another recent example of a driver who has fared better in lesser machinery, compared to his time in a front running team. So far anyway.

Whilst there have been a few great performances this year from Sergio, there have been weekends where he hasn’t featured at all.

His race pace is clearly very strong but there has to be a question mark over his qualifying pace. So far in 2012 he has been beaten 8-6 by team-mate Kamui Kobayashi on a Saturday.

It's also worth noting that Kamui has had the highest two grid slots for Sauber this year. He qualified on the front row in Spa, and started third in China (following Hamilton's grid penalty).

One lap pace is an area where the young Mexican has to improve, if he is to make the successful transition to being a front team driver.

There is also a thought that the Sauber is actually a better car than their drivers are making it look, and that they should actually be featuring near the front more often.

Of course we mustn’t forget that Perez is still very young, and has many years ahead of him. His consistency will improve with time.

If he can develop to the point where he performs like he did at Monza at every grand prix, then McLaren have potentially pulled off a mega masterstroke.

You can be sure they will do everything to help develop their new acquisition. Jenson Button could also be a great and willing team-mate to learn from.

From a commercial point of view Perez is also a very clever signing. Having two British drivers in a British team is very romantic and great for British fans of the team. However commercially having two drivers of the same nationality is a bit limiting.

McLaren will now have the potential to attract sponsorship and interest from South America.

For example Vodafone may well see Perez’s arrival as a great opportunity to have a go at the South American market, rather than leave the team as has been rumoured recently. Or Telmex could become involved.

Now that Mercedes are no longer a shareholder, the sponsorship opportunities that Perez brings could help ensure McLaren stay healthy financially.

This also isn’t the first time that the Woking squad have had to rely on the potential of a midfield driver to replace an outgoing world champion.

At the end of 2001 two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen left the team to go on a sabbatical (which ended up as retirement).

They signed a young Finnish driver called Kimi Raikkonen. He had just completed his first year at Sauber, and impressed immensely despite only a handful of professional races before his F1 debut.

He proved to be a brilliant replacement for Mika. In his second year with the team in 2003, he was in contention for the title despite having a car which was two years old. He lost out to eventual champion Schumacher by just two points.

In 2005 he contested the world championship again against Fernando Alonso. If it wasn’t for McLaren’s poor reliability back at that time Kimi could easily have won two championships with the team. At McLaren he cemented his position as one of the best drivers in the sport.

The team will be hoping Perez can emerge as the next F1 megastar just as Raikkonen did back then.

Although it’s going be harder to replicate what the iceman managed to achieve. The difference between now and 2002 (Kimi’s first year with McLaren) is that F1 is so much more competitive. The field is much tighter, and there are more teams capable of running at the front of the field.

The quality of the drivers is higher too. If Schumacher stays in F1 there will again be six world champions on the grid. On the 2002 grid Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve were the only two active world champions.

If McLaren give Perez a quick car then there is no doubt that he is capable of standing on the top step of the podium. He has already shown this year that he is a potential GP winner when a weekend goes perfectly for him, even in the Sauber.

The question is going to be whether he can deliver every single weekend. That is what McLaren will need from him, in order to compete with their formidable level of opposition in the championship.

Ultimately whoever McLaren picked was going to represent a calculated gamble. However if they can develop Perez and remove all the rough edges, then the potential returns are huge.

In the short term however, as he is still developing and growing, there is no doubt McLaren may be lacking a bit on the driver front in direct comparison to their rivals.

Whilst Button is world class on his day when the car suits him, his form drops off dramatically when things aren’t so well. 2012 has demonstrated that perfectly.

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull know they have a proven megastar they can rely upon, to deliver the car’s full potential at every single race. At the moment McLaren can’t be 100% sure that they are going to have that next year.

How well Perez does could hold the key to McLaren’s chances over the next few years.

Although there are plenty of signs that he could become one of the next great F1 drivers, fireworks are certainly not guaranteed.

A shake-up in the driver line-up is always great for F1. Seeing Perez’s progress is going to be one of F1’s most compelling stories in 2013.

Either Perez will be McLaren’s next star or they will regret failing to retain Lewis. Akin to the time they failed to sign Schumacher from Ferrari all those years ago. Time will tell.

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Button: Alonso deserves the title

Jenson Button believes Fernando Alonso deserves the title more than Sebastian Vettel, saying he has been "consistently quick".

The 2012 World Championship is going down to the wire as Vettel will take a 13-point lead over Alonso into the season finale Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.

Although he didn't have the fastest car on the grid, Alonso led the standings from the European GP until the race in Japan. Vettel, though, has finished the season in blistering fashion, claiming four wins and two podiums in the last six races.

Asked by reporters about whom he thinks is more deserving of the title, Button answered: "Probably Fernando, because he's been there from the word go and he hasn't really made any mistakes this year and he's been consistently quick. He's done a very good job in the car he has.

"Seb's been more inconsistent this year. The last few races he's been fantastic with a great car.

"I think if you look at the season as a whole, consistency does mean a lot, and it's good to see that Fernando has been that good at every race. Very impressive to see that performance every race."

Ferrari have struggled for qualifying pace pretty much the whole season and Button admitted at the start of the year he doesn't fancy Alonso's chances, but he has been forced to eat his words.

"I said after the first race I don't think he's got a chance, and I didn't think he did," he added. "He was a second off in qualifying, or even more. [Ferrari] have done a good job and he's obviously done a great job as well.

"They've done a good job, and he's done a great job."

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VETTEL BECOMES TRIPLE WORLD CHAMPION AS BUTTON TAKES BRAZILIAN GP VICTORY:

Sebastian Vettel has become only the third man in history – and the youngest – to claim three consecutive Formula One World Championship titles after an exhilarating season finale in Brazil, which saw Jenson Button claim victory.

Vettel overcame a first lap collision which dropped him to 17th, three pit-stops and a broken radio which meant the team wasn’t expecting him for one of his stops, to take sixth place and join Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as triple-consecutive World Champions, as his fellow contender, Fernando Alonso, finished second in the race and three points behind Vettel at the climax.

In a three year spell of dominance, Vettel also becomes only the ninth three times world champion, along with Schumacher, Fangio, Senna, Prost, Piquet, Lauda, Brabham and Stewart.

“Only two guys have done that (three consecutive titles) before, you need to be in the right place at the right time, but I also believe that you make your own luck,” said an exhausted Vettel after the race.

“One of the great things about F1 is you can compare your era to the past. We are in Sao Paulo where Ayrton Senna came from and where he was buried and to come here and win the third time, what we achieved today is what we’ve been working for since I arrived (at Red Bull). You do this job because you love the sport and the excitement. The hardest thing is winning after winning. “

Schumacher, in his final race, took seventh place and the first points scoring finish for Mercedes in six races.

The title looked like it could have been settled on the very first lap, as a slow starting Vettel was squeezed by team mate Webber, then tapped in to a spin by Bruno Senna at Turn Four, who damaged bodywork on the left side of Vettel’s car, then hit the rear-right of the Red Bull quite heavily. At this stage Alonso was already in fourth place, which soon became third and for a short time it seemed that he could turn the pre-race near impossible around.

It looked inconceivable that Vettel would not sustain any serious damage but, like in Abu Dhabi, he was able to keep his cool and make his way from last place and in to the points. For Alonso, all he could do was keep it on the black stuff on his way to second, but it was not enough to stop the charging World Champion from gaining the necessary points.

The race lead changed hands throughout as the McLaren duo of Button and Lewis Hamilton both took turns, but could not keep a hard charging Nico Hulkenberg behind. As others were forced in to a change for intermediate tyres Button and Hulkenberg were the only drivers to stay out and hope for a break in the conditions. This turned out to be the case and they found themselves with a forty-five second lead as those behind had to switch back to dry tyres. However, this lead was to be undone by a Safety Car for debris on the circuit, which bunched the pack up and reopened the possibilities for the World Title.

At this point Hulkenberg lead the race, after taking first place from Button around the outside of Turn one, and began to pull away from the McLaren pairing. The Force India driver excelled in the wet conditions on slick tyres, but after a half-spin he lost the lead to Hamilton and had to hunt him down as the rain once again hardened.

On Lap 52, as Hamilton was caught in traffic behind Heikki Kovalainen, Hulkenberg seized the opportunity and tried to out-brake the race leader, braking late and off the racing line he slid in to Hamilton and forced the Briton out of his final race for McLaren.

Hulkenberg subsequently received a drive-through penalty, dropping him to fifth position and dreams of what could have been in his final race for Force India.

Button was the man to gain from the collision in front and he was able to control the race from then on, taking his third victory of the season and 15th of his career.

Completing the podium was Felipe Massa, in the process helping his team secure second in the Constructors’ Championship, worth an estimated $10 million in extra prize money compared to third. He has had a fine finish to the season and his change in form has been very much key to Ferrari retaining that spot ahead of McLaren. Massa sat comfortably in second as the race neared the end but as expected he let Alonso through to take the maximum points available.

Behind the top three Mark Webber also had an eventful race in a Red Bull car as he ran wide trying to overtake Vettel following the Safety Car and then spun at Juncao. He was able to recover to his most common position, taking his sixth 4th position of the year.

Completing the top ten was Jean-Eric Vergne, Kamui Kobayashi and Kimi Raikkonen. Vergne, in particular, produced a very strong drive from a seventeenth place start to take his fourth points scoring position in his debut year. Kobayashi had battled with Vettel and Massa during the middle phase of the race, but spun after a brush with Schumacher and dropped to ninth. Raikkonen, meanwhile, seemed to get lost after running off the track at Juncao and tried to rejoin through an escape road, which turned out to be a dead-end.

In a crucial race for the three tail-end teams, Caterham were able to clinch tenth position as Vitaly Petrov finished eleventh ahead of Marussia’s Charles Pic. With Pic moving to Caterham in 2013 and a substantial amount of money gained by finishing tenth, today’s result could have been due to savvy gamesmanship by the young Frenchman.

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX, Interlagos, 71 Laps

1. Button McLaren 1h45:22.656

2. Alonso Ferrari + 2.754

3. Massa Ferrari + 3.615

4. Webber Red Bull + 4.936

5. Hulkenberg Force India + 5.708

6. Vettel Red Bull + 9.453

7. Schumacher Mercedes + 11.900

8. Vergne Toro Rosso + 28.600

9. Kobayashi Sauber + 31.200

10. Raikkonen Lotus + 1 lap

11. Petrov Caterham + 1 lap

12. Pic Marussia + 1 lap

13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso + 1 lap

14. Kovalainen Caterham + 1 lap

15. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap

16. Glock Marussia + 2 laps

17. De la Rosa HRT + 2 laps

18. Karthikeyan HRT + 2 laps

19. Di Resta Force India + 3 laps

Final Driver Standings

1. Vettel 281

2. Alonso 278

3. Raikkonen 207

4. Hamilton 190

5. Button 188

6. Webber 179

7. Massa 122

8. Grosjean 96

9. Rosberg 93

10. Perez 66

Constructors’ Standings

1. Red Bull-Renault 460

2. Ferrari 400

3. McLaren-Mercedes 378

4. Lotus-Renault 303

5. Mercedes 142

6. Sauber-Ferrari 126

7. Force India-Mercedes 109

8. Williams-Renault 76

9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26

10. Caterham 0 (11th place best finish)

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Bravo! Sebastian Vettel 2012 F1 World Champion

Sebastian Vettel wrapped up his third consecutive Formula One World Championship title by finishing fifth in the incident packed Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, which was enough to ensure that the most coveted prize in motorsport was his, albeit by a mere three points.

The 2012 F1 World Champion spoke afterwards to the BBC: ”It is difficult to imagine what goes through my head now even for myself! I am full of adrenaline and if you poke me now I wouldn’t feel it. It was an incredible race. When you get turned around at Turn Four for no reason and it becomes like heading the wrong way down the M25 it is not the most comfortable feeling. I was lucky no-one hit me but the car was damaged and we lost a lot of speed, especially when it dried up.”

“Fortunately it started to rain again and I felt so much happier. People try to push us in a certain direction when they talk about how we perform when it rains but I think we have proven across the season we like rain conditions as well as dry.”

“It is unbelievable but the most important thing is that throughout the season we always kept believing in ourselves. A lot of people tried to play dirty tricks but we did not get distracted by that and kept going our way and all the guys gave a big push right to the end.”

“We stepped up our game in the second half of the season which allowed us to come back in this championship. I have to thank all the team because there is no-one in our team more important than the next person. We are all a group and fighting next to each other and not against each other. I am very proud of that. It is unbelievable.”

“For all of us in the team and also myself it is unreal. To win that third title here, where one of my greatest idols Ayrton Senna was from. It is very difficult to imagine I join him and other great names by winning three successive titles. My radio was not working, I was crying and you didn’t hear that and I am very happy about that. I just can’t find the right words to describe how I feel right now.”

Since his F1 race debut at the 2007 United States GP at Indianapolis, Vettel has made 101 starts, 36 of which were from pole position, racked up 26 wins, finished on the podium 46 times and now become only the third driver to win three F1 world titles in a row, joining Michael Schumacher (2000-04) and Juan-Manuel Fangio (1954-57) in the record books.

Key Vettel facts:

- Vettel was born in Heppenheim, a town surrounded by vineyards between Heidelberg and Darmstadt, on July 3, 1987. He started out racing karts at the age of eight.

• - The German won 18 of 20 races in the 2004 German Formula BMW championship. The following year he was top rookie in the Formula Three Euroseries, won by a certain Lewis Carl Hamilton.
  
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• - He became the youngest driver to take part in a grand prix weekend when he drove for BMW-Sauber in Friday practice in Turkey in 2006, aged 19 years and 53 days.
  
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• - In 2007 Vettel made his F1 race debut with BMW-Sauber at Indianapolis, replacing the injured Robert Kubica, and finished eighth making him the youngest F1 driver to score a point, aged 19 years and 349 days.
  
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• - Vettel started seven races with Toro Rosso in 2007 and all of the 2008 season, when he set more records. His win at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from pole position made him the youngest driver to start on pole (21 years and 72 days) and youngest ever winner (21 years and 73 days).
  
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• - Vettel switched to Red Bull for 2009 after Britain’s David Coulthard retired. He took the team’s first victory, at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he also handed Red Bull a first pole and led their first one-two finish. He ended that season as overall runner-up to Briton Jenson Button.
  
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• - In 2010, he became Formula One’s youngest champion at the age of 23 years and 135 days. The previous youngest was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton in 2008, aged 23 years and 301 days. Vettel is Germany’s second F1 world champion, after Schumacher.
  
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• - The younger German was nicknamed ‘Baby Schumi’ in his early days.
  
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• - Known as a bit of a joker, with a love of British humour and the Beatles, Vettel has no manager but is close to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, with whom he occasionally plays backgammon. He lives in Switzerland.
  
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• - The German has won five races this season. In 2011 he won 11 grands prix and a record 15 poles.
  
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Button wins and Vettel champion after epic Brazilian Grand Prix

Brazilian Formula One legend Nelson Piquet, charged with MC duties on the Interlagos podium, told Brazilian GP winner Jenson Button that he had just “witnessed the best F1 of his life” – and so it was as the 2012 season finale delivered one of the most dramatic races in memory, packed with incidents. The day saw Sebastian Vettel wrap up his third successive world title.

Button told the BBC, “I’m feeling great. But congratulations need to go to everyone who took part in that race, it was crazy. It wasn’t just about driving the car around – it just felt wrong out there – but I had a lot of fun. It’s a pity Lewis wasn’t there at the end though. It started to clear up and the pace lifted and then the rain came down and it was just about nursing the car until the end. I’m glad in a way the safety car came out.”

But really the day was all about the showdown between Red Bull’s Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

In the end, cutting through an afternoon charged with tension and unbelievable drama, Vettel became Formula One’s youngest triple world champion, at the age of 25, after a wet and wild Brazilian Grand Prix rollercoaster.

The German, who needed only a fourth place to be sure of becoming the first driver to win his first three titles consecutively, finished sixth after battling back from last spot on the opening lap.

It was enough, however, as his sole remaining drivers’s championship rival Fernando Alonso crossed the line in his Ferrari in second place with Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa third.

“You’re a triple world champion. You’re the man. You are a triple world champion,” shouted team principal Christian Horner over the team radio as Vettel crossed the finish line after what must have been one of the most nerve-racking races of his career.

Vettel ended the season with 281 points to 278 for Alonso, who would have been the youngest triple champion (at 31) had results gone his way on a day when the fickle Brazilian weather produced a thriller.

The chaos started right from the off, when Vettel fell back into the pack and was caught in a collision with Brazilian Bruno Senna’s Williams that left him facing the wrong way with a damaged car.

“There is visible damage, it is not the front wing, we cannot fix it,” he was told as he rejoined the chase with the whole race ahead of him.

Four laps later Vettel was assured that the data looked good and Red Bull technical head Adrian Newey had a massive, high-res photograph of the damage, taken at the driver’s pitstop to get a closer look from the pit wall.

Alonso, Vettel’s only real title rival, who had 13 points to make up, looked like he could steal it as the championship pendulum swung both ways over the 71 laps at the Interlagos circuit.

Alonso, who has not won a race since round 10 in Germany, reflected, ”First of all I’m very proud of the team. We lost the championship before today, not in Brazil, this is a sport after all. When you do something with your heart and do it 100% you have to be proud of yourself and your team and we’ll try again next year.”

The Spaniard added, “I feel satisfied with the job and I feel proud of myself and the team. I think we gained so much respect from everybody this season. It was a good season. It was 20 races close to perfection, but we missed a little bit of performance through lack of ideas but we enjoyed it and fought until the end. We have to feel proud. We finished second today but it just wasn’t enough.”

Massa, who was very emotional on the podium, said, ”The second part of the year was preparation for next year. It was so emotional to race here and I think the race was fantastic. For sure, it could have been a better position than I finished but I don’t know what to say or feel. I just started crying, it is so amazing.”

The safety car was deployed twice, there were crashes, collisions, botched pitstops and constant uncertainty about the weather with black clouds overhead, occasional rain but not the torrential downpour that many had worried about, just as some had hoped for it.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had led from pole position but could not shake off team mate Button, who made a wise decision to do a long first stint, along with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Hamilton’s last race for McLaren before he joins Mercedes ended when he and Hulkenberg collided on the 54th lap as they came up to lap back markers into turn one.

Hamilton said after his final race with McLaren, ”A big congratulations to Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. They did a fantastic job. I feel OK. I am happy for the team that we got a win and feeling good for the future. I feel numb, a little bit like I did in 2007, it is mixed emotions at the moment. Sad that we were leading and I didn’t get to see through the race and also that I am leaving. But I am excited for the future and hopefully I will have a little bit of luck at some stage.”

As for the incident with Hulkenberg, Hamilton said, ”The dude did not even come and say sorry. That is what happens when you are racing with the less experienced.”

Hulkenberg, who had led for much of the race, was able to rejoin but was given a drive through penalty that ended his hopes of a podium finish.

Australian Mark Webber finished fourth, ahead of Hulkenberg, in fifth in his last race for Force India before moving to Sauber.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher took a surprising seventh place for Mercedes in his last race in Formula One.

Schumacher was the first to congratulate Vettel when the newly crowned triple world champion climbed out of the cockpit of his Red Bull, and said afterwards, “I think it’s a nice ending I’m finishing off and he [sebastian Vettel] is clinching his third title. I’m very proud of him and he’s a good friend of mine and lets see what happens in his future.”

As for life beyond F1, he added, “My emotions are under control at the moment, maybe later having a drink and hugging the mechanics it’ll become more sentimental but I’m looking forward to life after F1 now.”

Out of the points, Caterham celebrated 11th place for Russian Vitaly Petrov that lifted them back ahead of Marussia into 10th place overall in the championship – a finish worth millions of dollars to the team.

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Fernandes: We have done it

Tony Fernandes is celebrating a healthy deposit into Caterham's bank account after Vitaly Petrov clinched 11th in the Championship.

Having dropped behind Marussia in the standings in Singapore, Caterham faced a race against time to retake the position from their fellow newcomers.

And Petrov did just that in Brazil on Sunday.

Leaving it to the very late race of the season, the Russian brought his car home in 11th place in a wet-dry grand prix.

And that meant Caterham finished ahead of Marussia in the Constructors' Championship, earning the team millions in prize money.

"We have done it. We have done it. We have have done it," Fernandes Tweeted.

"Came 11th and got back to 10th. Worth a lot of money to us. Well done everyone at Caterham."

[MIKA27]

Fry: We need to learn from the mistakes

Ferrari technical director Pat Fry has urged the squad to learn from the mistakes they made at the start of this year.

Fernando Alonso came agonisingly close to winning the 2012 Championship at the Brazilian GP on Sunday after finishing on second on the podium behind Jenson Button. However, he fell short by four points as Sebastian Vettel secured sixth place to become Formula One's youngest-ever triple World Champion.

The Italian outfit, though, knows that their slow start to the year and their poor qualifying performances cost the Spaniard dearly this campaign.

Fry says the team have been working on their 2013 challenger for several months, but he hopes they don't repeat the mistakes they made this year.

"There are lots of things that, with the benefit of hindsight, we would have done differently," Fry said.

"We did the best we could, but we need to build a quicker car for next year. The people at the factory are already focusing on next season's car and have been for several months already. We need to learn from the mistakes we made at the start of the year."

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Alonso: We lost it before Brazil

A proud Fernando Alonso concedes that Ferrari lost the title long before the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard missed out on the 2012 Championship by three points to Sebastian Vettel after he finished second at Interlagos with the Red Bull driver coming home in sixth place.

Although the season went down to the final race of the year, the Ferrari man had just about managed to hang onto Vettel in the standings as the German won four of the previous six grands prix while he finished on the podium in the other two.

Alonso, meanwhile, managed five podiums and a retirement in that same time.

The 31-year-old concedes that the title wasn't lost in Brazil, but he is nevertheless proud of the Maranello squad's performance.

"First of all I'm very proud of the team," he said.

"We lost the Championship before today, not in Brazil, this is a sport after all.

"When you do something with your heart and do it 100% you have to be proud of yourself and your team and we'll try again next year."

He later added on BBC Sport: "I feel satisfied with the job and I feel proud of myself and the team.

"I think we gained so much respect from everybody this season. It was a good season. It was 20 races close to perfection, but we missed a little bit of performance through lack of ideas but we enjoyed it and fought until the end.

"We have to feel proud. We finished second today but it just wasn't enough."