FORMULA 1 - 2013

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Button: I’m pragmatic about what we’ll discover in Barcelona

Jenson Button says he is keeping an open mind about how big a step McLaren will make with their eagerly-awaited upgrade package for next week’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2009 Formula One world champion, who won last year’s final race in Brazil, has finished no higher than fifth in four grands prix so far this season with a car that has been off the pace of the leaders.

McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh said last month that the Spanish Grand Prix updates had to deliver a real performance improvement in Barcelona if the team were to stay in the championship reckoning.

“It’s been difficult for the team to make consistent progress in the first four races,” Button said in a team preview on Friday. “But I think returning to a circuit where we undertook two of the pre-season tests will give us a useful benchmark of our progress so far.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the importance of next weekend’s upgrades,” added the 33-year-old. “But, as with every upgrade, they’re simply part of the series of continuous improvement that are made across the season.

“There’ll be elements of it that work, elements that perhaps work in a different way to what we’d anticipated and elements that don’t work or perhaps require further work… so I’m pragmatic about what we’ll discover [in Barcelona].”

Button, who was highly critical of his Mexican team mate Sergio Perez after a wheel-to-wheel duel in the previous race in Bahrain, remained hopeful that McLaren would be closer to the front than before at the Circuit de Catalunya. Rivals also expected that to be the case.

“We know McLaren are going to bounce back, they’ve got a huge amount of resources, they don’t lie down,” Force India’s Paul Di Resta said in Bahrain after finishing fourth to put his team ahead of McLaren in the constructors’ standings.

McLaren are sixth with 23 points while Force India have 26. Champions Red Bull lead the standings with 109.

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Heikki: Caterham should beat Marussia

Heikki Kovalainen believes Caterham should be beating Marussia with their CT03, however, admits the car is more difficult to drive than its predecessor.

Having fallen behind Marussia at the start of this season, Caterham recalled Kovalainen to their ranks to help development.

The Finn had his first taste of the 2013 car when he put it through its pace in the opening practice session for the Bahrain GP.

And although Kovalainen admits the car is not as easy to drive as last year's, he reckons Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde should be getting more performance out of it.

"I could feel that the car is more difficult to drive than it was at the end of last year," he toldSky Sports F1.

"Of course things have changed, tyres have changed, the setup has changed as a result and mainly because of these two things the car has become a bit more difficult to drive.

"On the other hand I could feel there was more we could use in this car and I felt that after driving the car we should be able to beat Marussia and now with the updates coming we should be in a position to beat them."

The 31-year-old also denied rumours that he lost his drive with Caterham at the end of last season after falling out with team owner Tony Fernandes.

"No it is false - I never fell out with him," he said.

"I didn't agree with what they were offering me this year, I didn't agree with Tony on that, but I never fell out with him.

"Then at some point, I think it was at the Australian Grand Prix in qualifying when the weather was quite tricky, I sent a message to Tony and said 'I would have been in Q2,' and then we started discussions about it again and he said 'would you like to come and test our car'."

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Sauber: Far below expectations

Peter Sauber concedes the start of this season has not gone according to plan for the Sauber team.

Heading into race five of the Championship, Sauber have managed just five points in the opening flyaway races.

That has put the team down in eighth place in the Constructors' Championship with Williams the only established outfit to have fared worse.

"Not what we imagined," Sauber, who handed the team boss role to Monisha Kaltenborn last year, told Motorsport Magazin. "This is far below our expectations.

"Even the start of the World Championship went horribly awry when Nico [Hulkenberg] could not even start in Melbourne due to a defect in the fuel system."

Sauber, though, is adamant the team is moving forward - however so too are their rivals.

"Since the first race we have continually made changes and also made progress.

"But we still have not moved forward decisively. The fact is that the competition does not stay still."

He added: "I am convinced the potential of the C32 is far from exhausted. Our engineers know where the problem lies so there is some work to do."

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Sauber: Problem is rookies hardly drive F1 cars before they race them

Team boss Peter Sauber has played down suggestions that the Swiss team maybe considering ousting under-performing rookie Esteban Gutierrez and believes that times are tough for rookies coming into F1 as seat time is at a premium.

Having fielded Sergio Perez alongside Kamui Kobayashi last year, Sauber is running an all-new driver lineup in 2013. Peter Sauber, the Hinwil based team’s founder, said he is happy with Nico Hulkenberg.

“He has brought exactly what we expected him to,” he told the Swiss newspaper Blick. ”He is not only quick but also consistent, and provides the engineers with valuable information.”

“It’s up to us now to give him a car to take regularly into Q3 and compete for top positions,” added Sauber.

In almost total contrast, Mexican Gutierrez is struggling so far in 2013.

The 21-year-old rookie has been not only off the pace but also getting caught up in incidents, triggering speculation Sauber might be looking at its options.

Blick named Japanese Kobayashi, Red Bull’s Sebastien Buemi and Swiss GP2 driver Fabio Leimer as potential candidates.

Sauber said: “Esteban has had a difficult start, which has resulted in some critical reactions in the media. Of course we are not happy with his results so far, and neither is he. But after four races that doesn’t lead us to a discussion about the drivers.”

“Esteban has the full support of the team, so that he can turn his talent into results. We have not supported him for several years for nothing,” added the team boss.

Sauber said Gutierrez’s early struggle in 2013 is evidence of the difficulties facing new drivers breaking into Formula 1.

“The main problem is that they hardly drive a Formula 1 car before they have to race it,” said the 69-year-old.

“That’s why I like the idea that has been discussed for a while, with rookies getting an extra set of tyres on Friday morning, allowing them to do more laps. It won’t solve the problem completely, but it will help,” added Sauber.

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Red Bull the team to beat believes Barrichello

With the European phase of the 2013 F1 world championship season now dawning, Rubens Barrichello thinks Red Bull is a step ahead.

Indeed, drivers’ title leader Sebastian Vettel is the only multiple race winner of the season so far, while Red Bull is also off to an early lead in the constructors’ standings.

“Ferrari is very consistent,” Brazilian veteran Barrichello told Totalrace, “and the car is a lot like the Red Bull in terms of pace and consistency.

“But the Red Bull is really the team to beat; they have a little bit more of everything,” said the 40-year-old, a new commentator for Brazilian television Globo.

“The Mercedes is a car that gets the tyres working for a great lap on Saturday,” Barrichello continued, “but in the race they can’t maintain the same pace.

“The Lotus is a very well balanced car that does not have the speed in qualifying, but saves the tyres very well in the races.

“A fifth team that (like Lotus) also looks after the tyres and is quietly achieving is Force India. Their race pace is very good,” Barrichello added.

Also failing to mention usual grandee McLaren, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner fundamentally agrees with Barrichello’s assessment.

“Ferrari is strong,” he is quoted by the Mirror newspaper, “Lotus has a good car, and the Mercedes – certainly over a single lap – is very strong.”

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Coulthard says difficult now for McLaren to push for title

The 2013 F1 world championship title is slipping away from McLaren, according to the British team’s former long-time driver David Coulthard.

On the record, boss Martin Whitmarsh is insisting that the season is not lost for McLaren, despite launching the troubled MP4-28 and falling a long way off the championship lead after the first four races.

“There are a lot of races this season,” Coulthard told Germany’s motorsport-magazin.com.

“But when you look at the last few years, it’s clear that you need to be finishing almost all of them in the points — and in the good points.

“I think it might be difficult for them (McLaren),” he admitted.

McLaren’s big upgrade package for the opening round of the European season this weekend, then, might be seen as the Woking based team’s only chance to put its 2013 campaign back on track.

“We’ve made some progress but we need to make a lot more,” Whitmarsh said after Bahrain.

Officially, lead driver Jenson Button said: “There’s been a lot of talk about the importance of next weekend’s upgrades … but I’m pragmatic about what we’ll discover next weekend.”

However, to Brazil’s Totalrace, the 2009 world champion admitted: “Barcelona is more important than ever for us, but we’re not going to get the seven or eight tenths which is basically what we’re missing in qualifying.

“But hopefully we can go in the right direction, as there is much more we can do with this car.”

Another argument is that McLaren should simply write off 2013 and focus completely on 2014, because shifting resources so early in the season could pay strong dividends for the all-new V6 rules.

Whitmarsh has ruled that out, but Button admitted it “should be something we are thinking about”.

“On the other hand, I don’t know,” the 33-year-old added. “We want to win races this year; our goal is still to fight for the (2013) championship, so first of all let’s focus on what we have to do in Barcelona.”

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Marko: Niki should absolutely try to get Vettel

In what has the makings of an all Austrian tug-of-war, Helmut Marko has admitted he can understand efforts by Mercedes F1 boss Niki Lauda to lure triple world champion Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull.

Speaking to Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Lauda revealed that he has been trying to convince Vettel to join Mercedes, whose current drivers are Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

“I continued what (former motor sport director Norbert) Haug began,” said Lauda, Mercedes’ new chairman and shareholder.

Fellow Austrian Marko, who is Red Bull’s Formula 1 consultant, insisted he has no hard feelings.

“Niki should absolutely be trying to get Vettel,” he said.

The news gives fresh insight into the driver rumblings at Red Bull, amid Mark Webber’s possible exit at the end of the year, and rumours Kimi Raikkonen is being courted.

“Red Bull need to ensure that if Sebastian Vettel gets the mega-offer from Ferrari and leaves, they have their tail covered and Raikkonen would be very capable of that,” technical expert Gary Anderson told the BBC.

“I believe he (Raikkonen) is a perfect fit for Red Bull. I wouldn’t be surprised if negotiations were well down the road for this to happen,” he added.

Similarly, David Coulthard thinks Lotus might be hard-pressed to convince Raikkonen to stay, if powerful Red Bull comes knocking.

“They definitely have good people there (at Lotus),” he told Germany’s motorsport-magazin.com, “but it looks like not the same financial setup (as Red Bull).”

Coulthard said his former teammate Mark Webber is still doing a good job, “but the link between Kimi and Red Bull goes way back”.

“If Mark decides to do something else, in my view Kimi would be the perfect teammate for Sebastian.”

For now, Raikkonen’s public comments on the matter are guarded.

“I don’t have a contract (beyond 2013),” he told Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper, “but at some point I have to think about it.

“I want to win, and at least for the moment, I want to be here (at Lotus).”

Some have named the 2007 world champion as Vettel’s most likely challenger for the 2013 title, but 33-year-old Raikkonen is not so sure.

“It’s going to be hard to catch Sebastian if he keeps taking good results so we need to start taking more points from him,” the Finn said.

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'New hard tyre has a wider window'

Paul Hembery expects the revised hard compound that will be used in Spain this weekend will give the teams a "wider working temperature window."

After several teams complained about the Pirelli tyres, which suffer from high degradation, the Italian manufacturer decided to make changes ahead of the Spanish GP - but just one.

The company has altered the compound used for their hard tyre, which is now more like the 2012 version.

As such Hembery expects the revised tyre will have a bigger working window although it won't be as quick as its predecessor.

"We're introducing a revised version of our hard tyre in Spain, which is closer in characteristics to the 2012 tyre," said the Pirelli motorsport boss.

"This new tyre gives us a wider working temperature window - although it delivers a little bit less in terms of pure performance - but it should allow the teams to envisage an even wider variety of race strategies than before in combination with the other compounds, which remain unchanged this year.

"This is a decision that we've come to having looked at the data from the first four races, with the aim of further improving the spectacle of Formula One.

"In fact this is almost a tradition with us now, as we also introduced a revised version of the hard tyre for the Spanish Grand Prix in 2011, which was our first year in the sport.

"We'd expect the medium tyre to still be significantly faster and this is the one that the teams are likely to qualify on, whereas the hard is likely to be the preferred race tyre."

Hembery also confirmed that the drivers will all have an extra set of tyres to run on Friday.

"As permitted by the current regulations, we'll be supplying an extra set of prototype hard compound tyres for free practice, which will hopefully ensure that all the cars run throughout these sessions.

"It's something we wanted to do to encourage all the teams to run as much as possible right from the start, especially with the rookie drivers, to give fans the spectacle they deserve to see."

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Renault: no backing off for V6 turbo switch

Renault has promised its leading title contenders Red Bull and Lotus that it will push on as hard as it can with the current engines until the end of the season, despite the huge challenge of switching over to new V6 turbos next year.

Formula 1's engine manufacturers face an increased workload this year because of the new 2014 regulations, but Renault has made it clear that it will not allow the switchover to compromise its efforts to deliver more world championship titles this year.

Renault's deputy manging director Rob White said that his company is adamant that it will treat 2013 as it has any other season in ensuring it gives it best right until the end of the campaign.

"We are very conscious that all the teams we currently supply expect us to be fully engaged and committed," White told AUTOSPORT. "I strongly believe that it needs to be business as usual on the race track in 2013.

"There are some upstream processes, because of design, development and supply chain reasons, that are getting more and more dedicated to 2014 activity.

"But in terms of the care and maintenance and going racing right now, we absolutely want to be on top of our game all the way through the season.

"World championships are hard won, race victories are hard won - and we absolutely want to be there with each and every one of our teams that can mark big points with podiums and wins."

The Renault-powered Red Bull and Lotus teams are currently first and second in the constructors' championship, but look set to face a tough challenge from Ferrari and Mercedes over the remainder of the campaign.

Renault is already well advanced with the development of its new V6 turbo engine, which is due to hit the track for the first time next January.

The change of power unit for next year will mean that the production of V8-specific parts will come to a natural end over the forthcoming months, but White said that would not stop his company working on all the areas it can to help improve car performance.

"Of course there comes a point when the reality of the upstream processes, and the lead time considerations [for new parts] means it is not possible to significantly influence the hardware, and our intention is to race the hardware in the specification it is now until the end.

"But the work that is done by the engine engineers, and the preparatory work done by their colleagues back at the factory, remains with the same kind of approach it has had in previous years."

White believes that the increased need this year for drivers to be gentler on tyres has put an greater emphasis on improved power delivery.

"It brings into the spotlight a key part of the relationship between the drivers of the car and his engine engineer," he said.

"In the accelerating and braking phase there are engine calibration changes that can help get the driver to the best place to look after the tyres.

"In a period where everyone is massaging tyre use, that is important."

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ON TEAM RADIO MESSAGES:

It has been interesting to read comments on Formula 1 forums in response to Jenson Button’s point that the team radio extracts of conversations between drivers and teams can lead to a skewed view of what is really happening within a team.

Team radio in the live broadcast coverage has been around for a while, but its’s noticeable how much more frequently it is employed this season.

And without it, the drama of Button’s tussle with team mate Sergio Perez in Bahrain or the Red Bull driver’s clash in Malaysia would have been a lesser experience for the fans at home.

“The problem with the radio is that my message is not meant for the masses, it’s meant for the team,” said Button. “In a way it’s a pity that TV companies just choose the messages they want, because they can come across in the wrong way.”

This is of course true, but it’s also the case that teams and drivers know anything they say can be broadcast and therefore they need to bear that in mind when speaking.

On the whole, team radio has greatly enhanced the audience’s understanding of what’s going on during a race or qualifying session; it has brought the fans closer to the sport.

Way back during an ITV show, Nigel Mansell’s IndyCar in 1994, it featured team radio from Mansell’s crew chief Jim McGee and it brought the action sequences to life. Radio also featured prominently in the BTCC highlights shows on BBC TV around that time and in coverage of races like Bathurst, where they even spoke to drivers during the race via a radio control camera in the cockpit.

F1 was quite slow to the party, but is making up for it now.

F1 is some way from having the coverage interacting with drivers at the moment, but to eavesdrop on the conversations between pit wall and driver is an enriching experience.

The flip side, as Button says, is that it can present a slanted picture; at Renault in the mid 2000s Pat Symonds used to complain about the coverage given to team messages to Giancarlo Fisichella urging him to push harder, making it look bad for Fisi. Other drivers like Takuma Sato have been made to look hapless by messages which portray weakness.

But there is no doubt that F1 has evolved in the last few years to be more deliberately entertaining as a broadcast spectacle, with lots more team radio, DRS wings to aid overtaking and Pirelli short-life tyres to mix things up. Whereas in the 2000s F1 was like a 1-0 football match, now it’s like an NBA basketball game which ends 94-92. There is so much going on.

Many viewers find it offensive and long for the simple purity of a pole sitter in the best car driving away for a lights to flag victory with perhaps one pit stop along the way. But is that the right product for F1 at the moment, especially with the trend moving more to the NBA model? Even that most conservative of sports, cricket, has introduced a 20 over slugfest, called 20-20, which is proving popular with younger audiences.

F1, led by its broadcasters and commercial rights holders and supported by the teams, has taken the decision to “sex it up” and that is what we have now.

The proof of the efficacy of this strategy will come in the TV ratings; viewers will either be attracted or turned off by NBA-F1.

F1 has a very large and mature fan base, with around 60 million people globally, on average, watching a live Grand Prix and over four times that number watching at least some coverage of a race, whether live or highlights (known as the “all broadcast” audience). This latter figure is up on previous years, whereas the live audience is falling, partly due to the Pay TV deals in Italy, UK and France.

But team radio is at the heart of the modern Formula 1 and it's here to stay, whether the drivers like it or not.

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Lewis: I admire Alonso the most

Lewis Hamilton has once again expressed his admiration for Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.

Although Sebastian Vettel is currently the most successful driver on the Formula One grid having won the last three World Championships, Hamilton rates Alonso above everyone else.

The duo were team-mates during Hamilton's rookie season at McLaren in 2007, but they endured a frosty relationship and the Spaniard left the Woking squad after just one season.

However, things have changed in recent years and Hamilton feels Alonso is the best in the business.

"It's funny, but the driver I admire most is Fernando - for his sheer speed, his simply incredible speed," he told the Daily Mail. "I don't think anyone can match him in the sport.

"Now I'm older, I'm sure we would have a different relationship. There would still be intense moments because we are both quick, so we would be very close to each other, but we've both matured a lot. I think I'm much better at nurturing relationships between team-mates now. It depends on the drivers.

"Put Sebastian with Fernando Alonso and the team would be in trouble straight away, the chemistry would just..."

Hamilton also made light of Red Bull's recent woes when Vettel ignored team orders to overtake his team-mate Mark Webber and win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

"You know, I even think I could drive with Sebastian. I just wouldn't turn the engine down," he joked.

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Mallya: Di Resta is delivering consistently

Force India team principal Vijay Mallya has hailed Paul di Resta following his good start to the season, saying he's "pushing the team on".

Di Resta picked up 20 points in the first four races of the campaign and his best display in F1 came in Bahrain last time out where he was unlucky not to claim his maiden podium.

"Looking at our drivers, the performances of Paul di Resta confirm just how much he has matured as a driver," Mallya said.

"He's delivering consistently every week and we are reaping the rewards of all his hard work. He suffered a difficult end to the 2012 season, but he's shown great mental strength and determination to regroup over the winter and recapture his best form. He's pushing the team on and demanding the best from everyone, which is what we need."

Di Resta's team-mate Adrian Sutil made a good return to Formula One after a year out as he finished seventh in Australia, but things haven't really gone his way since then.

"Adrian Sutil has also shown his speed so far but the luck has not gone his way," Mallya said. "The last two races have been very frustrating because he's been the victim of other drivers' mistakes. Without these incidents he would surely have scored well in both China and Bahrain. His race pace in Bahrain was remarkable because he was one of the fastest cars on track."

Next up is the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona and Sutil is optimistic that he will be able to challenge the front-runners.

"I know Barcelona really well from all the testing we've done there over the years. It is important, after three difficult races without points, to finish the race without any incidents. If I do that, I should have the pace to be among the front-runners.

"I have to do my job, avoid mistakes and hopefully my luck will change. Wherever we have gone so far, the car has been competitive, so the next few races should see us scoring points and close to the podium."

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Ferrari 'not quite where they want to be'

Ferrari are pleased with the start they have made to the 2013 campaign, but chief designer Nikolas Tombazis believes there is plenty of room for improvement.

Fernando Alonso is fourth in the Drivers' Championship and 30 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel on the back of a win in China and a P2 in Australia while the team are third in the Constructors' standings.

However, Alonso also had to a couple of bad races as he was forced to retire in Malaysia and he could only manage a P8 in Bahrain last time out due to DRS problems.

Tombazis feels the team have proved they can challenge for race wins, but says they need to improve further if they want to win silverware come the end of the season.

"I think in general, the first results mean we can be reasonably optimistic about the rest of the season, with a sense that we can fight for wins and the Championship," said Tombazis on the official Ferrari website.

"However, if I was to score our overall performance, I would only give it a 6 out of 10 and that's for two main reasons: one is that we are not yet quite where we want to be.

"In the first four Grands Prix, we were not really able to fight for pole position and that is one of our main objectives at the moment.

Secondly, if you look at the actual results, even if it's true we've had a win, which naturally we can be very pleased about, we have also had two very bad results where we scored very few points. However, I reiterate, that overall, we can be optimistic for the future."

With the four flyaway races out of the way, the focus shifts to the traditional European tracks and first up is the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona this weekend.

Tombazis says the F138 will also have several new components, but they will adopt a wait and see policy before they decide if they will use it on race day.

"I believe most of our competitors will have a significant number of updates in Spain, which is not surprising, as there was a reasonably long gap after the first four races," he said.

"Of course, we too have updates and naturally, I don't want to go into too much detail, but they extend to the bodywork, floor and wings. With any new component, the difficulty lies not so much in its development but in deciding whether or not it is working on track as well as we had hoped.

"Therefore, by Friday evening in Barcelona, our objective is to have a clear view on what we will take forward to use in the race, in the hope of seeing measurements taken from the wind tunnel confirmed on track."

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Maldonado: Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not, this is racing

One year ago, Pastor Maldonado was on top of the world in Formula 1, having broken through for his first grand prix victory.

Now returning to Barcelona in 2013, Williams has suffered a major performance slump, and – backmarkers Caterham and Marussia aside – is the only team yet to score a single point this season.

“At the moment we are living hard moments,” Venezuelan Maldonado, 28, said.

But after the first four ‘flyaway’ races of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix is traditionally the scene of a performance jump for many teams, as major upgrade packages are added to the cars.

And Williams – and other underperforming teams like McLaren and Sauber – have higher hopes than most that they can make a big step forward this weekend. But Force India team boss Bob Fernley is not so sure.

“Apart from McLaren, who we know will come back and be as strong as always, for the rest of the teams there is not much (development potential) left in these cars,” he told PA Sport.

“We’ve been pretty stable (with the regulations) for the last few years, so there are not big leaps.”

Maldonado agrees that Williams’ task is more complicated than simply bolting on some ‘go faster’ bits.

“I think we need some time,” he said. ”The problems we have got are quite big but hopefully step by step we’re going to get there.”

He is not hiding the obvious pain that Williams’ 2012-2013 decline is causing, having cut a noticeably downbeat figure in the paddocks so far this year.

“Sometimes you don’t feel very happy,” Maldonado admitted, “but this is racing, you know. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not and we need to do our best when it’s like that to try to improve, to try to survive.”

This weekend is also the one year anniversary of Williams’ Barcelona freak post-race pit fire, and one team member – mechanic Martin ‘Barney’ Betts – is still yet to fully recover from severe burns.

“Barney, with the injuries he sustained, has had to have a significant time off but it is important that he comes back and is well looked after,” deputy team boss Claire Williams told the Sun newspaper.

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De Villota to return to F1 paddock for Spanish GP

Ten months after her near death Marussia testing crash, Maria de Villota will return to a Formula 1 paddock this weekend for the grand prix in her native Spain.

Last July, the 33-year-old was conducting a straightline aerodynamic test at Duxford, UK, when the 2012 Marussia inexplicably accelerated into a truck loading ramp.

De Villota, whose father is the former Formula 1 driver Emilio de Villota, sustained serious head injuries and lost her right eye.

Scheduled to attend this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, she told Europa she is “a little nervous”.

“It’s the first race I’m going to after the accident, so I’m finding it harder to sleep,” she said.

“It’s hard for me, because I miss it, but I want to see all the drivers at home and I think we’ll see a great race, as we have seen lately,” said de Villota.

“I want to thank many people that I have not seen since the accident, and I’ve been unable to acknowledge the support they gave me, like by putting my star on their helmet.”

She admitted she will have mixed feelings when she bumps into Marussia team members.

“I think now they’re working with new drivers, which is the natural cycle of things,” said de Villota. “I was with them, but life goes on.”

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Alguersuari says his future in Formula 1 is bleak

Once so confident he would return to the Formula 1 grid for the 2013 season, Jaime Alguersuari now admits his future as a grand prix driver is clouded.

Dropped suddenly by Toro Rosso team owner Red Bull at the end of 2011, the Spaniard was just 21 but managed to stay in the paddock as Pirelli’s test driver.

He was hopeful he would bounce back onto the grid this year, but drivers with powerful backers and sponsors leapt to the front of the queue.

Now 23, Alguersuari is not so sure he can expect a future in Formula 1.

“The future? I don’t know where I’ll be,” he told Spain’s Radio Marca. ”I had hoped that Formula 1 worked differently, but (in Formula 1) two plus two does not equal four.”

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Lotus believes strong car will make Raikkonen stay on in 2014

Kimi Raikkonen will commit himself to a fresh contract at Lotus as long as the outfit continues to build on its strong start to the campaign, reckons team owner Gerard Lopez.

The Finn is a free agent at the end of the year, and his strong comeback to F1 has already seen him emerge as one of the key players in the 2014 driver market.

But despite speculation already linking him with other teams - including Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari – Lopez says he is 'convinced' that Raikkonen will remain where he is providing Lotus maintains it competitive form.

"Kimi is a fantastic guy," Lopez said in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT. "The thing about Kimi is that he is very thankful we brought him back to where he is.

"And we are very thankful that he has brought the team to where it is now. So it fits nicely.

"To be honest with you, I am convinced, and I don't say this lightly, that if Kimi gets what he wants from us in terms of performance and so on, we will see Kimi moving forward with us.

"He knows that; and he says that. He is not going to get what he gets with us here anywhere else. It doesn't matter if the team has a blue car, a red car or a silver car.

"But this is also racing. So we have to make sure that he has a good competitive car. He has got one. As long as we can give that he will be with us."

Raikkonen has won two races with Lotus since returning at the start of 2012, and is currently 10 points off leader Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' championship.

Lopez said he never had any doubts that Raikkonen would be able to produce such form after being lured back from rallying, even though there were many people sceptical about the choice because of the Finn's relaxed public image.

"We must have had 11 choices [for 2012] – and I can tell you from the outside it was by far not the most obvious one. But to us, it was," he said.

"Honestly there is a lot of pride in this team that we made that choice because we were 100 per cent convinced. It is one of those things where you look at people and say, 'I told you so'.

"We were absolutely convinced that he had what he takes. I dealt with him, talked to him and knew what I was going to get myself in to.

"I knew I wasn't getting someone who was going to shoot a commercial every week or whatever. That is not what we want. But a dedicated racer? That was a given."

[OZCUBAN]

the Lotus is strong,and a race winning package ,but if i was Kimi I would keep my options open and hang out as long possible

[MIKA27]

the Lotus is strong,and a race winning package ,but if i was Kimi I would keep my options open and hang out as long possible

Why leave something when they are strong?

Even if they are not, look at Ferrari, not dominant any longer, strong but not like RBR yet, Ferrari is still a team most would love to drive for. Kimi has already done this but why 'Bed-hop' when each season is/can be different?

IMO, Kimi should stay with lotus as they are a great team, strong, and also allow Kimi to do what he wishes during the off season and breaks. No other team would allow this.

[MIKA27]

McLaren look to solve correlation woes

McLaren's technical staff are scratching their head over correlation issues that have dogged the MP4-28.

Expected to challenge for the title this year, McLaren struggled during the first four races as Jenson Button and Sergio Perez picked up only 23 points between them.

The team, though, are hoping to take a major step forward at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya this weekend as they will make a raft of changes to their car.

Managing director Jonathan Neale, though, admits they need to get to the bottom of the correlation problems if they want to not only improve this season, but also want to start next year off on more successful note.

"We are essentially trying to sort out a correlation issue," he is quoted as saying byAutosport during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in.

"It's really important that we sort out the issues with the car and the correlation.

"All of the time you've got that lingering doubt of 'hang on a second, what went went wrong, where did it go wrong and how do we fix it?', you've got the opportunity for it to arise again."

Button was very cautious about this weekend's Spanish GP despite the upgrades to the MP4-28 admitting that he is "pragmatic".

Neale admits it's important that the team don't get carried away by the new developments as things can go wrong.

"There's good reason why both Jenson and I would want to be relatively low key," he said.

"None of us wants to be a hostage to fortune and setting ourselves up for a blow on the chin from [the media] isn't very funny.

"The other thing is we're not working in isolation here, and while of course it's very natural that people want us to predict that we're going to be on pole position, it's a tough sport and the competitors don't stand still. Quite what will be delivered depends on what everybody else will be doing.

"It's impossible to predict and unwise to try to do so."

[MIKA27]

Technical director Allison leaves Lotus F1 team

Highly-rated technical director James Allison is leaving Lotus and will be replaced by Nick Chester, the Formula One team said on Wednesday.

The announcement before the first race of the European season in Spain this weekend will be seen as a blow for Finnish Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who is second in the standings to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

Allison has been with British-based Lotus, previously Renault, since 2005 after previous stints in the 1990s when they raced as Benetton.

No details were given about his likely destination, although early speculation focused heavily on Ferrari.

Allison worked for the Italian team for five years – during Michael Schumacher’s dominant years – overseeing trackside aerodynamic operations prior to joining Renault.

Chester was previously Lotus’s engineering director. He worked for now-defunct Arrows before moving to the Enstone factory in 2000.

“He is already directly involved with this and next year’s cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time,” said team principal Eric Boullier.

“The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the constructors’ and drivers’ world championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year’s development battle,” he added.

“Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead.”

[MIKA27]

Truphone becomes official telcoms provider for Caterham

Truphone, the pioneering international mobile communications company, today announces it has become Official Mobile Telecommunication Provider to Caterham F1 Team.

Truphone will provide all of Caterham F1 Team’s mobile telecommunications through a range of services and handsets, giving the team a competitive advantage with patented technology that improves the quality and speed of their international communications.

With Caterham F1 Team regularly preparing and travelling around the globe to races, Truphone will use its purpose built international mobile network to seamlessly connect the whole team to each other and its HQ at the Leafield Technical Centre in Oxfordshire with a far higher quality voice and a much better mobile data experience.

Sharing Caterham F1 Team’s passion and focus on innovation, Truphone will also work closely with the team’s IT staff to develop new mobile telecommunication solutions that will support Caterham F1 Team’s focus on high performance and gaining a competitive edge.

Rob Jones, UK MD, Truphone, said: “We’re excited to announce that Truphone has become Official Mobile Telecommunications Provider to Caterham F1 Team. We see close similarities between our businesses in that we are both UK based and operating on the international stage, and see the real business need to stay connected with all parts of our organisation.

“Truphone has a history of launching ground-breaking patented technology and we share the same values with Caterham F1 Team, with innovation and agility underpinning everything we do as a business.

“We understand the importance to an organisation of communicating without barriers and are really excited to work with the team over the coming years.”

Bill Peters, Head of Group IT, Caterham F1 Team, said: “We have long held the ambition to drive innovation in F1 and bringing Truphone into our team as Official Mobile Telecommunications Provider forms a key pillar of this strategy. We’re looking forward to working closely with Truphone to improve the effectiveness of our mobile communications and improving the efficiency of the team.

“Truphone provides a seamless solution and connects our team so they can focus on driving performance. Because of its international structure, Truphone has a dedicated help team which is available 24/7, meaning our team can always communicate and stay in touch, wherever we are in the world. We live and breathe innovation by making sure that all parts of our team are constantly connected and communicating at all times.”

Truphone’s global network has been well received by enterprise customers around the globe. Its current customers include FTSE 100 and Fortune 1000 companies, including Tier 1 financial institutions, energy, mining corporations, and a wide array of small and medium sized businesses.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull chooses McLaren affiliate to supply alternator

After dumping Magneti Marelli Red Bull’s new alternator supplier is an affiliate of their arch rival McLaren, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

We reported last week that, after being dogged by recurring reliability faults with its Magneti Marelli units last year, Red Bull had instructed engine supplier Renault to seek a new supplier.

Italian reports identified that new supplier as ‘Tag’.

It seems those reports were actually referring to Techniques d’Avant Garde, or TAG – the well-known McLaren-affiliated company.

The Auto Motor und Sport headline reads: “Red Bull reliable, thanks to McLaren”.

The report said Renault confirmed the news, insisting that – no matter the supplier of components – Red Bull’s French engine supplier remains responsible for the adaptation and installation of the alternator.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull extend partnership with Siemens

Infiniti Red Bull Racing has extended its Innovation Partnership with Siemens PLM Software, a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, after agreeing a new multi-year agreement.

Through the partnership, Siemens will continue to provide its NX CAD/CAM/CAE software to Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s design office, as well supplying its industry-leading Teamcenter PLM software to the team’s engineering and manufacturing staff. This software is the backbone of the team’s digital product development and manufacturing process and aids in accelerating the design and development of the race cars.

The on-going partnership builds on the strong relationship between Siemens and Infiniti Red Bull Racing, which started with the launch of the team in 2005. Since then, the number of design changes applied to the car each year has significantly increased relative to the number of designers. Hence, good management of the engineering process is essential in ensuring that up-to-date information flows from design through simulation, manufacturing, inspection test, and finally onto the car.

Of the partnership extension Infiniti Red Bull Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner said: “The Siemens partnership is a critical one for us because it’s an integral part of our design process. Through our relationship with Siemens we’ve come to rely on their critical tools to generate creative design solutions, thus ensuring that we field the best grand prix cars we possibly can. In no small part Siemens has been a key contributor to our success in recent years, and the six world championships we have achieved.”

[MIKA27]

Chester replaces Allison as Lotus technical director

Lotus F1 Team announced the promotion of Nick Chester to the position of Technical Director. Nick will replace the departing James Allison, who will leave Enstone after working with the team most recently since 2005 and previously from 1991-1992 and 1994-1999.

Nick has worked at Enstone since 2000, most recently as Engineering Director, and previously as Head of Performance Systems, Head of Vehicle Performance Group and Race Engineer. Prior to coming to Enstone, Nick worked for Arrows Grand Prix for five years.

Nick Chester, Technical Director, Lotus F1 Team: “I have worked at Enstone for over twelve years and am delighted to take on the role of Technical Director. I am grateful to the management at Enstone for the faith they have in promoting me to this position. I am very aware of our need to keep pushing development of this year’s E21 whilst developing next year’s car to a set of very different regulations. There are some exciting times ahead for Enstone and I’m honoured to be part of it.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “We are pleased to announce Nick Chester as our next Technical Director. Nick is well known to everyone at Enstone having been with the team for over twelve years. He is already directly involved with this and next year’s cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time. It’s an illustration of the strength and breadth of talent at Enstone that we can draw on personnel of the calibre of Nick and it’s something of an Enstone tradition for new Technical Directors to be promoted from within. He assumes his new position at a tremendously exciting time for the sport. The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year’s development battle. Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead. As a team and individually, we would all like to thank James Allison for his efforts during his three stints at Enstone and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”