FORMULA 1 - 2013

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Porsche denies latest Formula 1 return rumours

It’s that time of the year again when Porsche is – almost by tradition – linked to a return to Formula 1, which they have denied.

Exactly a year ago, the Volkswagen-linked carmaker denied that its sports car programme – to feature Mark Webber at the wheel in 2014 – was a mere warmup to Formula 1.

Alongside grand prix winner Webber, who has been poached directly from Formula 1′s World Champion team, Porsche has also been busily signing up Formula 1 personnel including Fritz Enzinger, Alex Hitzinger, Mike Krack and Urs Kuratle.

The Weissach facility has also been set up as a world-class motor sport factory complete with wind tunnel.

Now, the correspondent for Auto Motor und Sport, Tobias Gruner, suggests that Porsche has managed to attract those high-calibre personnel “on the prospect of an F1 comeback” in the near future.

Porsche has consistently denied the regular speculation. A spokesman said this week that the marque is “fully committed” to its 2014 Le Mans project, as well as GT racing.

“There are no plans to enter Formula 1,” the spokesman added.

However, a subtle hint may have been dropped in the latest edition of Porsche’s employee magazine.

In it, an article says that because Formula 1 is returning to a turbo era from 2014, Porsche engineers got in contact with Hans Mezger, who developed McLaren’s title-winning TAG-Porsche engines in the 80s.

“This article was surprising, to say the least,” said Gruner.

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FIA in bid to enforce new fuel flow rule for 2014

Formula 1′s governing body is in a race against time to ensure teams obey the revolutionary new rules that come into force next year.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that sensors designed to ensure that teams are sticking by the new maximum fuel flow rate next year have not proved accurate enough in initial testing.

Next year, with the arrival of the new turbo V6 regulations, fuel will only be allowed to flow into the engine at a prescribed rate.

Correspondent Tobias Gruner said a British company called Gill HySpeed was awarded the contract by the FIA to supply the fuel flow rate sensors, which were tested at the young drivers test earlier this year.

“The result was worrying,” Gruner revealed. “Instead of the maximum permitted deviation of 0.5 per cent for the specified flow rate, the error [margin] was actually up to 1.5 per cent.”

The British company has been working to fix the problem, but if the solution is ultimately deemed not good enough, the FIA would have to rely on information provided only by Formula 1′s engine suppliers.

Accusations of cheating would surely follow.

Gill HySpeed’s fix is expected shortly, and could be tested either at the Pirelli tyre test at Vallelunga, or in a forthcoming Friday practice session, because as Gruner explains, “bench testing alone is not enough”.

The sensors will then be supplied to the manufacturers a few weeks before the opening winter test.

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Sauber launches interactive cutaway Formula 1 car video

The Sauber F1 Team has launched a new interactive cutaway Formula 1 car video. The video shows the cutaway model and enables users to click on the different sections of it, which then takes them directly to the relevant footage explaining the purpose of the selected part.

This interactive video is the second of its kind on the Sauber F1 Team YouTube Channel and arguably one of the most innovative videos on YouTube. The team previously released a video featuring an interactive steering wheel that enables users to click the buttons on the wheel, which link directly to relevant videos, other social media channels of the team, and the subscription for the channel.

Letting the fans take over, the interactive steering wheel was a great success with over 25,000 views in just two weeks and significantly increased the subscriptions to the Sauber F1 Team YouTube channel.

Stephen Nuttall, Senior Director, Sports YouTube EMEA at Google said: “The Sauber F1 Team is doing a great job explaining the inside story of Formula One in an engaging and social way. It is giving its fans an engineer’s and driver’s point of view, and what better way to do this than through an interactive steering wheel.” (Sauber)

But enough said, take control and have a play yourself:

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Barrichello concedes that F1 return is highly unlikely

Rubens Barrichello has admitted that a return to Formula 1 is highly unlikely and he is set to stay in Brazil’s stock car championship next year.

Amid reports he had put together a sponsorship package for 2014, the former Ferrari and Williams driver had admitted he was keen to return to Formula 1 after a two-year absence.

But Monisha Kaltenborn then strongly denied that Barrichello, 41, could be paired with inexperienced Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin at Sauber next season.

Barrichello is now hinting he will definitely stay in stock cars in 2014.

“With the team and the sponsors we are thinking of a renewal,” he told Jovem Pan radio at the Curitiba race at the weekend.

“That is the nearest future: a renewal in stock car,” Barrichello added.

He admitted, however, that he often misses racing in Formula 1, after the longest grand prix career in the sport’s history.

“But I am also a very happy person,” said Barrichello.

“Now, when I finish the race, I go home at 5pm to my family. My quality of life has changed for the better, so what you lose on one hand, you gain on the other.”

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Hulkenberg has nothing to report on Lotus future

Another week has begun in which the fervent speculation will surround Kimi Raikkonen’s successor at Lotus.

It had been thought the Enstone based team was close to announcing the arrival of Nico Hulkenberg for 2014, because the crucial ‘Quantum’ investment deal was now on the verge of completion.

“There has been a lot of talk,” admitted team boss Eric Boullier, “and there are a lot of positive things happening behind the scenes.

“We will certainly be shouting from the rooftops when everything is finalised as we should be exceptionally well placed looking to the future.”

German Hulkenberg – who has also been linked with McLaren, Force India, or simply staying with Sauber – also insisted that his future is not yet decided.

“There is nothing to report,” he told German television ZDF, “and nothing is signed.”

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Merc duo 'hungry' for strong results

Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff insists the team have put their Japanese disappointment behind them and are ready to return to the front of the grid.

The Brackley squad lost a bit of ground on Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship as they picked up only four points at Suzuka with Nico Rosberg finishing eighth and Lewis Hamilton forced to retire.

However, there are still four races to go and they are confident of making up the 10 points on Ferrari with Wolff saying Rosberg and Hamilton are ready to challenge for the top places again.

"The last three races have shown us that we have a real fight on our hands to secure second place in the Constructors' Championship - but also that we have the performance to achieve our goal if we consistently deliver the full potential of the car," he said.

"We quickly put the disappointing weekend in Japan behind us and are now fully focused on the final four races of the season. The engineering team has been working hard to extract every last bit of performance and Nico and Lewis are both hungry to achieve strong finishes."

Next up is the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit and Wolff says the track - as well as the other three remaining circuits on the calendar - should suit their W04.

"We have no reason to fear any of the upcoming circuits, as we have been strong on all types of track so far this season," he said.

"That should once again be the case this weekend in India, on a circuit that includes one of the most demanding corners of the year at turn 10. We will aim to do our usual, professional job, maximise the performance of the car and our target for both drivers will be a podium finish."

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McLaren fighting for 'minor points'

It's not something that McLaren drivers are used to, but Jenson Button and Sergio Perez know they will be "scrapping" for points at the Indian Grand Prix.

The Woking squad have had a terrible season by their lofty high standards with Button's fifth place at the Chinese GP back in April their best finish to date.

Although their troubled MP4-28 has improved during the latter stages of the campaign, their drivers are still struggling to get into the points and Button knows it will be no different at the Buddh International Circuit this weekend.

"The last few races have shown that, realistically, we'll once again be fighting for the minor points," the 2009 World Champion said.

"Still, I enjoyed my races in Korea and particularly Japan - where it was both satisfying and unusual to be armed with fresh tyres and able to pick off cars on older rubber, as opposed to the other way round - so I'll be looking to take the fight to some of the faster cars once again next weekend."

It's been a difficult couple of weeks for Perez with the Mexican finishing 10th in Korea and then 15th in Japan, but he is hoping for a better weekend in India.

"After two tricky races in Korea and Japan, in which I had good pace but just seemed to suffer a whole range of misfortune, I'll be hoping for a smoother ride in the next flyaway double-header," he said. "It's been frustrating to see decent results slip away from me, but I'm confident that we'll be able to turn things around quickly.

"With the race skipping a year for 2014, I hope we can help make this year's event particularly memorable. We know we don't have the machinery to fight the top four teams, but there's always fierce competition around the fringes of the top 10; scrapping for points might not be what Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is all about, but it's nonetheless satisfying to nail the set-up and the strategy and drive a perfect race."

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Mallya wary of Sauber threat

Having scored just three points since the summer break, Vijay Mallya admits Force India face a "real fight" in keeping Sauber at bay.

Force India made a flying start to this year's Championship and were even ahead of McLaren in the Constructors' Championship before Pirelli changed the compound of their tyres.

That resulted in a massive slump for Force India, who have netted just one top-ten grid position and only three points in the ensuing races.

"The races after the summer break haven't been very positive in terms of scoring points, but the morale in the team remains strong," Mallya said.

"Korea and Japan were not the easiest of weekends, but everyone in the team is working really hard to recapture our early form

"It's all a matter of finding the right balance with the car - when we do that, we will be back in the points."

As a result, Force India are now under pressure from the much-improved Sauber who are just 17 points off the pace with four races remaining.

"Sauber have been doing a very good job lately," conceded the Force India owner. "They are the in-form team at the moment and they have been taking all the opportunities that were presented to them.

"It's going to be a real fight in these last four races: we need to make a step forward to hold them off, because they can qualify well and they have strong race pace as well."

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Why Are The Two Key Allies of Adrian Newey Leaving RBR?

Although the news that Red Bull’s leading aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou and his right hand man are to leave the championship winning team came as a surprise, further investigation has revealed that the move had been rumoured for a long time on the engineering grapevine.

Prodromou is one of the closest working associates of the design maestro Adrian Newey.

It was reported as news during the Japanese GP race weekend and since then the story has evolved as a clearly irked Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has made it clear that Prodromou has a contract until 2015 and he will not allow him to leave before then.

The central question here however is why would Prodromou want to leave Newey’s side to rejoin McLaren and what does that tell us about Newey’s long term plans?

Red Bull’s success has come in large part by replicating the model created at Ferrari in the late 1990s and early 2000s: a strong and stable management group, based around a champion driver, with huge resources and powerful influence behind the scenes with the governing body and the commercial rights holder. Ferrari won the constructors championship for six consecutive years between 1999 and 2004 and five consecutive drivers’ championships.

Distilled down to its essence, F1 is about money and people and where people are concerned the key is quality and continuity. Like Ferrari before them, Red Bull has managed to build and sustain a team of high quality engineers, to play to the strengths of their star designer Adrian Newey.

Ferrari managed to keep that group together. For Red Bull, losing a key member of the team, not to mention his deputy, destabilises things. The others in the inner sanctum will feel betrayed to some degree. How long a notice period do they hold him to? They might not want McLaren to have him early, but they will also not want him getting sight of their plans too far ahead, into 2015 for example.

With a major rule change like 2014, a huge amount of evolution and development goes on in the first season. A team does not want a man at the helm through that period, who is jumping ship at the end of the year.

F1 is such a sensitive business when it comes to ideas and Prodromou is already an outsider now as far as Newey’s team is concerned.

Newey said in a recent feature interview on BBC Radio 5 Live that he does not have many associates he takes with him wherever he goes, but he was with Prodromou at McLaren in the early 2000s and he was one of Newey’s first hires at Red Bull in 2006.

For Prodromou to want to leave, there must be more than simply money at stake. McLaren is working to build up its capabilities now that Honda is coming back in 2015 and Prodromou is a key signing. But Prodromou must be looking further down the road than next year or the year after. Perhaps he feels that Newey is coming to the end of the road and it’s time for him to stake his own claim.

Newey said in the BBC 5 Live special that he does not know how much longer he will carry on in F1, but that he still enjoys it. He did acknowledge that the pressure is very intense. Like all the great engineers in F1 he no doubt wants to see how the new F1 technology coming in next season evolves, but how far into the future does he see himself at the coal face?

“It’s a good question, one I sometimes ask myself,” he told us for the BBC 5 LIve special last month. “The answer is I still really enjoy it. The pressure can be onerous at times if I’m honest. The hours are long and if you’re not careful it can be all-consuming but you get a tremendous buzz when it goes well. And that’s quite addictive. I’m 54 so I’m too young to do nothing, but equally at some stage I’d like to be involved in something different rather than only motor racing. When that might be and what that might be, I have no idea.”

He has always expressed interest in the America’s Cup and with Sir Ben Ainslie seeking to put together a British team to challenge for it, there is inevitable speculation that Newey may be thinking of that. But equally, he is in the form of his life in F1 at the moment in a team he likes.

As for how Prodromou will fit in at McLaren, he clearly knows the team well from his 15 years there (1991-2006) and he will work alongside chief aerodynamicist Doug McKiernan and head of aero Marcin Budkowski.

McKiernan drives aero development and despite the poor car McLaren has had this year, is very highly rated in F1 circles, while Budkowski joined the team from Ferrari, where he worked from 2002 to 2007.

Prodromou and his right hand man will have to fit into this structure.

It’s a very aggressive move by McLaren and shows that they mean business with Honda. There will no doubt be more aggressive signings soon.

The market for senior engineers is quite fluid at the moment, which is understandable as teams look to learn more about the new 2014 technology. They want to know what work is going on elsewhere and what better way to do that than hire in people from a variety of teams? Meanwhile a major rule change like this offers senior engineers a chance to cash in on their expertise and knowledge.

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Indian GP: Another intense battle like Suzuka on the cards?

Pre-event strategy content: Buddh International Circuit, October 25-27

Although the new Buddh International Circuit, just outside Delhi has proved popular with drivers in its two seasons on the calendar, the event will not take place next year and its place on the calendar from 2015 onwards is in doubt for financial and administrative reasons.

This is a shame, as it is a great circuit for F1 cars with a challenging mixture of fast corners and slower technical corners, which really shows a good car from a bad one.

Strategy wise last year was a bit flat as the tyre choice was too conservative and everyone stopped just once, This year Pirelli has brought the soft and medium tyres and this should make for a fascinating strategic battle like the one we saw last time out in Japan.

Worth noting is that teams have got on top of the new wheel nut safety regulations and we saw two sub 2 second pit stops in the Suzuka race, by Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. This is the first time it’s happened in a race situation, even though several teams have done 1.6 second stops in practice.

The track has some similarities with other new tracks designed by Herman Tilke, but it also has some distinctive features, not least quite a bit of elevation change; the track rises 14 metres from Turn 1 to Turn 3, which contributes to increasing the fuel weight penalty, in other words the weight of every 10kg of fuel you carry slows you down by more than at some other tracks.

Buddh is a combination of mostly slow speed corners and some long straights, which leads to a reasonably high average speed.

The first sector of the lap is stop-start, with two straights intercut with hairpins, while the middle sector is a flowing section featuring some faster corners, including the banked Turn 10/11.

Track characteristics

Buddh International – 5.125 kilometres.

Race distance – 60 laps = 307.249 kilometres. 16 corners in total.

Average speed 210 km/h. A new circuit hosting a Grand Prix for only the third time

Aerodynamic setup – High downforce.

Top speed 323km/h (with DRS open) 310km/h without

Full throttle – 70% of the lap time.

Total fuel needed for race distance – 161.6 kilos (high).

Fuel consumption – 2.65 kg per lap (ave)

Brake wear – average.

Total time needed for a pit stop: 21 seconds

Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried): 0.35 seconds (ave/high)

Form Guide

The Indian Grand Prix is the 16th round of the 2013 FIA F1 World Championship. Sebastian Vettel has won the last five races – every event since the summer break – and needs only a 5th place finish in India to clinch his fourth consecutive world drivers’ world championship.

Vettel is the form man in India too; he has won both of the Indian Grands Prix to date from pole position.

Jenson Button finished second and Fernando Alonso third in 2011, while last year Alonso was second with Mark Webber third.

Weather Forecast

The forecast for the weekend is stable with temperatures likely to be high; between 29 and 31˚Cs and track temperatures up in the 40˚Cs. No rain is forecast.

Likely tyre performance and other considerations

Pirelli tyre choice for India: Soft (yellow markings) and medium (white markings).

Last year Pirelli was too conservative with its tyre choice; hard and soft. The proof is that the four fastest laps in the race were all set on the final lap, so there was plenty left in the tyres at the end.

As a result everyone made only one stop around lap 30.

To counter this and with the interesting strategy battle of Suzuka fresh in the mind, Pirelli is bringing the soft and medium tyre this weekend. This will mean two stops instead of one and some teams might be able to race two stints on the soft, which will be faster than the medium. Lotus and Force India may well try this.

A glance at the tyre selections for the season to date shows that the medium has become the default tyre for F1, used in 14 of the 15 races to date. The only race where it was not used was Monaco.

The circuit provides a similar level of tyre challenge to Silverstone, with 80% of the tyre energy of Suzuka.

The high temperatures should suit the soft tyre, which has problems sometimes with graining if the weather is cool.

Last year there were no problems with wear or degradation,

The surface of the track is not like many other venues and is not particularly abrasive. It is rarely used, so it is usually quite dusty at the start of the weekend and stays fairly dusty. That said, the track does improve quite a bit over the weekend, so tyre data from Friday practice will not necessarily translate to performance on Sunday.

The front-left tyre is usually a limiting factor in the race, due to the layout of the corners, while wheels spinning under acceleration out of the many low speed corners will also take quite a bit out of the rear tyres.

Number and likely timing of pit stops

The pit lane at Buddh is long at 600 metres, but the fastest stops have been in the 20-21 second range, so it’s not as bad from a strategic point of view as might be imagined; a pit stop is not too expensive.

With the soft and medium tyres available, we are likely to see a mixture of strategies, with some cars outside the top ten on the grid opting to start on the medium and trying to come through the field, while some teams may try two stints on the soft tyre for a faster overall race.

The likelihood is that this race will feature two stops, with the front runners starting on the soft tyres from qualifying, pitting around lap 14/15 and then again around lap 35-38, for new medium tyres, or possibly in the case of Lotus, a set of used softs at one of the stops.

The key is to space out the stint lengths so you never run out of tyres. We may see teams trying the undercut before lap 35, which would leave cars touch and go on tyre life in the final laps.

Chance of a Safety Car

As this is only the third race on the track and there was no safety car so far, the probability is yet to be established. A Safety Car at Buddh would help drivers attempting to make one less stop.

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Alonso: Destined to be the samurai bridesmaid?

Always the Bridesmaid, never the Bride. An expression we hear often when referring to many situations in life and sport is certainly not excluded.

We've all heard the term "Cinderella story" which some of us used to describe the amazing tale of Brawn GP. Ross Brawn took advantage of Honda's decision to leave Formula 1, bought the team for what was reported to be a single British pound and shocked the world with a car that employed a double diffuser which could not be caught. After winning his championship handly, he sold his team for a pretty penny, commanded a handsome salary and a top position at a world class team which is finding it's way to the top of the standings. This indeed was a perfect example of the "Cinderella story".

So what of of this Samurai bridesmaid then?

I don't recall Walt Disney’s version of the story of a Spanish driver in an Italian team riding a prancing black stallion who follows the phylosophies of the Samurai warrior, wearing a lavendar dress walking down the isle to support the bride. I doubt the thought ever crossed Walt's mind.

Since joining Ferrari, Alonso has placed second in the championship two out of three seasons and he seems poised to make it three out of four. Vettel has won each of those seasons. This season alone, Alonso has occupied the second step of the podium five times. Four out of five times, he has been second to Vettel.

It has been argued that Alonso may have been the better driver over the past four years in an inferior car, however the numbers tell a different story. Recently, Vettel has dominated at a totally and completely new level. Untouchable, uncatchable and unexplainable are the words being tossed about in the paddock. Suggestions that Red Bull are employing some sort of clever traction control or finding a way to provide drive to the car between gear changes are only some of the rumours. In short, rivals must concede that Adrian Newey and his Red Bull army have best put to use the money and resources alotted to them and have paired the creation with a flawless master behind the wheel.

Alonso may be growing tired of this monotenous routine of, as Ayrton Senna once said, being the first of the ones who lose. The Spaniard has been generally calm, controlled, disciplined and unflappable, however some cracks in the Samurai's sheild are starting to show. Words have been spoken about Ferrari’s lack of pace and some criticism of the Italian team was met with distaste from the team's president and some media outlets. Perhaps a reminder to Alonso that no one is irreplacable came in the form of signing former-Ferrari driver and F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Neither driver will accept being the bridesmaid to each other which has many thinking this marriage will end in tears and a nasty divorce. Something Kimi knows all too well as he was asked to sign the divorce papers at the end of 2009 to make room for Fernando the following season while Ferrari picked up the alimony payments for Kimi's year off.

Love him or hate him, Alonso must be regarded as one of the sport's best. He could easily have been a four-time champion himself by now given how close he was to winning in 2010 and 2012. But close is not close enough, and for the Spaniard, the promise of being three-time champion is slipping and the fear of being the bridesmaid yet again must have him believing that this is as good as it's going to get.

If things don't change in 2014, I feel he may well be looking to walk down a different isle.

In the spirit of the Samurai Warrior, I leave you with this quote which is surely one which Alonso has come to terms with by now; "Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature’s grand design – do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things" - Morihei Ueshiba.

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No hurry to discuss Perez's future - McLaren

McLaren aren't in any rush to confirm whether Sergio Perez will be retained for 2014 but team principal Martin Whitmarsh backed the Mexican following a disappointing Japanese Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old signed a multi-year deal with McLaren at the beginning of the current season, but those subsequent years are linked to his performance. McLaren have the option of replacing him should they wish and Whitmarsh believes it's too early to make such a decision.

"There is no hurry," he explained on Friday.

"I had said all along that [we should] let a few races go by, and then let's have a chat. And that is exactly what we are going to do. "There is no tearing rush at the moment to do this. I know it becomes a story and lots more spurious stories stem from it, but there is no hurry for it."

Perez has come in for much criticism this year and the Japanese GP was no different following a crash on Friday and during the race. The McLaren boss though defended his young driver, claiming he has "raced very well" recently.

"A lot of people had problems - it is that sort of circuit," he added. "It is one of those things that happens. It is not great, but it was OK.

"I think Checo was racing well. Where we were, he should have able to get seventh or eighth. Considering where we are at the moment, I think the last two or three races he has raced very well indeed."

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Vettel looks a racing certainty to wrap up fourth F1 world title in India

Never mind ripping up the form book, it would have to be thoroughly shredded – and the remains pulped for good measure – for Sebastian Vettel to be denied a fourth successive Formula 1 title at the Indian Grand Prix.

Everything indicates that Red Bull’s 26-year-old German ace will become the sport’s youngest quadruple champion with a flourish in what may well be Formula 1′s last appearance in India for the foreseeable future.

Since the race made its debut in 2011, Vettel has led every lap in India and arrives chasing a hat-trick of poles and wins at the Buddh International circuit in Greater Noida, south of the capital.

With a 90-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and four races remaining, the German may not even need to finish on Sunday to become only the third driver to win four titles in succession.

Alonso is the only man who can keep him waiting for the second race in a row and even victory will not be enough if Vettel takes at least fifth place. If the Spaniard retires, the matter will be settled on the spot.

Vettel has retired only once this season and finished at least fourth in all the other races. Even if the German fails to score, Alonso must still finish first or second to stay mathematically in contention.

The Red Bull driver is on a roll that could lead to more rewriting of the record books after he notched up the fifth of five wins in a row in Japan this month to become the first driver since Michael Schumacher in 2004 to perform that feat.

Nobody, is ruling out the German winning the remaining races of the year to take his tally to nine in a row and equalling a record set by Italy’s Alberto Ascari 60 years ago.

“If he doesn’t have any reliability issues, I am willing to put money on it,” commented Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after Suzuka.

Alonso meanwhile has not won since his home race in Spain in May and although he has finished second on five occasions this year, Vettel took the chequered flag ahead of him in four of them.

The last time the Ferrari driver finished in the top two with Vettel drawing a blank was in Valencia in June last year – 28 races ago.

Alonso can hope to be third time lucky, after finishing third in 2011 and second last year, but India is very much Vettel’s track and Ferrari’s main concern now is to beat Mercedes and hold on to second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Ferrari are only 10 points clear of Mercedes, with Lotus a further 23 adrift after outscoring both teams in the last two races, in a battle that is about prize money as much as paddock status.

Red Bull can also retain the Constructors’ title for the fourth year in a row on Sunday as an added bonus.

“So far everything has always gone perfectly for us in India. There is also a very nice trophy at the end of the race – so it would be great to hold one again this year,” said Vettel this week.

It could be the last chance anyone has to get their hands on it. India is not on next year’s calendar and although local organisers are talking about a return in 2015 few paddock insiders are optimistic.

The teams and organisers have been vexed by taxation issues while also wrestling with financial problems and slow ticket sales after drawing a big crowd to the inaugural event.

“I think it is very difficult once you leave a country to come back to it – especially where we have not really managed to establish the sport,” said Sauber’s Indian-born principal Monisha Kaltenborn.

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Domenicali: When Alonso crossed the line I reprimanded him in private

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has revealed that he intervened to bring Fernando Alonso to order and defend the team after the Spaniard’s criticism of the Scuderia in July.

Interviewed by two Italian fans in a meeting arranged by the Gazzetta Dello Sport newspaper at the Ferrari factory, he shed light on a period which many believe marks the beginning of the end of Alonso’s tenure at Maranello.

The Spaniard, a double champion with Renault, has been critical of Ferrari’s performance and was publicly reprimanded by Ferrari chairman Luca Di Montezemolo in July.

“When I need to reprimand Alonso, as would also be the case with my engineers, I do it in private and in a harsh manner if need be,” said Domenicali when asked why Alonso was allowed to be so critical.

“But externally, I will always defend the team. When he crossed the line, president Montezemolo intervened and in private, so did I,” he added.

The principal defended the use of team orders in favour of Alonso and also the team’s decision to retain Brazilian Felipe Massa this season despite his dip in performance.

Massa is leaving at the end of the year to make way for the team’s returning 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen.

“If Felipe was unable to deliver the performance we hoped for, it was mainly down to a hyper-sensitivity to a car that was too nervous at the rear, but in 2008 he almost took the title and I consider him as a World Champion,” said Domenicali.

“We took Raikkonen because we wanted more. When we replaced him with Alonso, he was not happy and so he returns with a great desire to do well.”

The Italian did not rule out Ferrari one day having an Italian driver in its line-up, despite a notable aversion to that over the years.

Italy currently has no Formula 1 drivers despite the national passion for the sport’s most glamour team.

“We feel this responsibility, so we created the Academy for youngsters. With Antonio Fuoco and Raffaele Marciello, in whom we are investing, this year we have won two championships,” said Domenicali.

“Will they drive a Ferrari one day? I hope so. But we need to find the right categories to get there.”

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Ferrari: Kubica comeback to Formula 1 will not happen

Ferrari has cast doubt on Robert Kubica ever returning from injury to Formula 1 after recognising that they had been interested in signing the Pole to race alongside Fernando Alonso.

Kubica suffered a near-fatal rally crash before the start of the 2011 season and said only last April that he would “pay all the money I have to be back in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car”.

A race winner with BMW-Sauber, and a contender with Renault, the Pole has raced a specially-modified Citroen in the world rally championship and has also been in the Mercedes Formula 1 simulator.

However, he has struggled to regain the necessary movement in his wrist, after his forearm was partially severed in the accident, for single-seater racing.

“Yes, we were keeping an eye on him,” Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali told the team website (www.ferrari.com) on Wednesday, ahead of this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think he will be back, because with his physical problem, he would struggle in certain limited situations which require reactivity. It’s a shame.”

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Chandhok fears 2014 will be last Indian Grand Prix

The forthcoming 2014 Indian Grand Prix could be the last, the country’s motor sport chief Vicky Chandhok has admitted.

There have been conflicting explanations as to the reason India has dropped off the 2014 calendar, amid reports of scheduling difficulties, tax hurdles and financial problems.

But the New Delhi round is provisionally scheduled to return in 2015. If it does not, Indian motor sports clubs president Chandhok fears India’s Formula 1 foray will be over.

“If it doesn’t come back in 2015, it may never come back at all,” he told the Guardian newspaper. “That is my concern. Once you lose a race it can be gone forever.”

So Chandhok called on Indian locals to make the 2013 race one “to remember”, but organiser Jaypee has admitted it expects its 100 000 capacity circuit to be only half full this weekend, Bloomberg reports.

Sebastian Vettel is likely to secure his fourth title in front of that crowd of 50 000, the news agency added.

“We’re hoping sales will increase as the race nears,” chief executive Sameer Gaur said. “Things should be OK.”

65 000 attended last year’s Indian Grand Prix, down from 95 000 in 2011.

A man selling tickets close to the Buddh circuit this week told the Indian Express that business has been slow in 2013.

“Very slow,” he added. “Today, the booth has been open since 8 in the morning. Nine hours later, we have sold a total of [only] 25 tickets.”

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Alonso to wear special edition points record helmet during Indian Grand Prix

A record is always a record and should be celebrated. Fernando Alonso today showed his Twitter followers the special livery that will adorn his crash helmet for the coming Indian Grand Prix, scheduled for the Greater Noida circuit this weekend.

In full view there is obviously the number 1571, the total points the Spanish driver has won in his career, accompanied by the words: “F1 points World Record”.

There is also a thank you to his fans in three languages (English, French and Italian), all on top of an unusual white background.

We hope, along with all Ferrari’s tifosi, that the total can go even higher as soon as next Sunday, ideally by another 25 points!

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The Big Preview: Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit

If Japan’s Suzuka, scene of Sebastian Vettel’s strategically astute ninth win of the season, is regarded as one of the greatest of Formula 1’s classic circuits, this weekend sees the championship move to a track that has been widely praised as one the finest of more recent additions to the calendar – India’s Buddh International Circuit.

The location for round 16 of the 2013 F1 World Championship features good changes of elevation, two long, fast straights and a technically challenging middle sector that features the tricky multiple apex Turn 10. The circuit has quickly proved popular with the sport’s drivers, who appreciate it having the second highest average speed of the year after Monza, but also the skill required to hook up a good lap around its 5.125 km length.

Getting that perfect lap requires a car that treads a very fine line in balancing the speed needed to get the best from the long straights and good aerodynamic grip and balance for the middle sector.

Vettel’s victory in Japan, his fifth win in a row this year, has given him a 90-point advantage over Fernando Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship and with the Ferrari driver all but conceding defeat in the wake of the race at Suzuka, this weekend could see Vettel crowned Champion. The Red Bull driver needs fifth place or better here to become just the fourth driver in F1 history to win four titles and only the third to win four in a row – alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

Meanwhile, in the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull Racing have 445 points, compared with 297 for nearest rivals Ferrari, so the Milton Keynes-based team can this weekend also conceivably wrap up the manufacturers’ title.

2012 Indian GP podium: Fernando Alonso (second) Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel (winner) and Mark Webber (third)

Buddh International Circuit Data

• Length of lap: 5.125 km
  
• Lap record: 1:27.249 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, 2011)
  
• Start/finish line offset: 0.251 km
  
• Total number of race laps: 60
  
• Total race distance: 307.249 km
  
• Pitlane speed limits: 80 km/h throughout the weekend.
  

Changes to circuit since 2012

• Other than routine maintenance there have been no significant changes.
  

DRS Zones

• There are two DRS zones at the Buddh International Circuit. The detection point of the first is 16 m before Turn Three and its activation point is 350 m after Turn Three. The second zone’s detection point is 10m after Turn 15, with the activation point 36m after Turn 16.
  

Indian Grand Prix Fast Facts

• This will be just the third running of the Indian Grand Prix. The race joined the F1 calendar in 2011.
  
• Sebastian Vettel has not only taken pole position and victory in the two Indian GPs staged so far, he has also led every lap of each race. Last year he also finished in P1 in every practice session. Red Bull Racing have locked-out the front row at both runnings of the grand prix, with Mark Webber second on the grid in 2011 and 2012.
  
• At this season’s most recent race, in Japan, Vettel recorded his fifth victory in a row this season. The last time a driver recorded five or more successive wins was in 2004, when Michael Schumacher won the opening five races of the season. The Ferrari driver then went on to win seven in a row between the European and Hungarian GPs that year, so Vettel will need to win here and in Abu Dhabi to match that feat.
  
• Depending on your view, the outright record for consecutive wins belongs to Alberto Ascari, who recorded nine in a row between the Belgian Grand Prix of 1952, the third of eight races that season, and the same event the following year, when it was fourth on a calendar of nine races. On the way to that tally, however, he did not compete in the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which formed part of that year’s F1 World Championship. To match Ascari’s tally, Vettel will need to win all the remaining rounds this season.
  
• Vettel’s 2011 pole position gave Red Bull a record 16th in a single season. It was the 28th of Vettel’s career. Since then he has been on pole a further 14 times.
  
• Apart from Vettel, the only other driver to feature on both Indian GP podiums is Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver was third in the inaugural race, and second last year.
  
• Jaime Alguersuari scored the last points of his F1 career to date in the first grand prix here. Over a 46-race career, beginning at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the Spanish driver racked up 31 points in total driving for Toro Rosso. The final four points of that tally came with eighth place at the Buddh International Circuit in 2011.
  
• This will be the first Indian GP without an Indian driver involved. Narain Karthikeyan raced in 2011 and 2012 for HRT, while Karun Chandhok participated in free practice for Team Lotus (now Caterham) in 2011.
  
• To cope with the demands of the Buddh International Circuit, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli is this weekend bringing its Soft and Medium tyre compounds. This is a change from the previous two years, when the company brought its Soft and Hard configurations. Soft and Medium tyres have been used this season in China, Germany and Hungary.
  
• Despite being built on relatively flat land, the track has had plenty of undulations built in, with more than four million tonnes of earth moved during the construction of the circuit. The track rises 14 metres between Turns One and Three alone.
  

Indian Grand Prix Statistics by Reuters

• Four different teams have won the 15 races so far this year (Lotus, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes).
  
• Triple Champion Vettel has taken nine wins in 2013. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg have won two races each. Lotus’s Raikkonen and Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton have each won one. Vettel has won the last five races.
  
• Vettel has 35 career wins, Alonso 32, Hamilton 22, Raikkonen 20 and McLaren’s Jenson Button 15.
  
• Ferrari have won 221 races since the championship started in 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114 and Red Bull 43.
  
• Red Bull can win both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in India.
  
• Vettel has a 90-point lead with 100 points still available to be won. If Alonso wins the race on Sunday, Vettel need only finish fifth to clinch his fourth successive title.
  
• Alonso must finish in the top two to have any chance of keeping the championship alive to Abu Dhabi.
  
• If Alonso finishes third and Vettel fails to score, the German’s lead would be cut to 75 points with 75 still to be won. However, Vettel would take the Championship on race wins since Alonso cannot match his tally even if he wins the last three.
  
• If Alonso retires from the race, Vettel will instantly win the title regardless of whether he finishes or not.
  
• At 26, Vettel will be the youngest quadruple champion.
  
• Only three other drivers have won four titles: Germany’s Michael Schumacher (seven), Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio (five) and Frenchman Alain Prost (four). Schumacher and Fangio are the only ones to have won four in a row.
  
• In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull have 445 points to Ferrari’s 297 with a maximum of 172 still to be won.
  
• Mercedes have been on pole eight times in 15 races. Vettel has taken six, and team mate Mark Webber one.
  
• Vettel has 42 poles to his credit and is third in the all-time list (Schumacher had 68 and Ayrton Senna 65). Hamilton has 31 and Alonso 22.
  
• Alonso has not been on the front row in the last 24 races, with his last appearance being his pole position in Germany in July 2012. He has not been on pole in a dry qualifying since 2010.
  
• Caterham and Marussia have yet to score a point after three seasons in F1.
  
• Mexican Esteban Gutierrez’s seventh place in Japan made him the first and so far only rookie to score points this season.
  
• Vettel is the only entrant to have started on pole in India and the only to have won there (2011, 2012). He has also led every lap in India and last year was fastest in every practice session.
  
• Red Bull have swept the front row in qualifying in both previous races.
  
• Alonso was on the podium in India in 2012 and 2011, the only driver other than Vettel to do that.
  
• Force India are the first and only Indian-owned team but have never had an Indian driver. There are no Indian drivers in this year’s race.
  
• Sauber principal Monisha Kaltenborn was born in the Indian city of Dehradun and lived in the country until she was eight.
  
• Pirelli are expecting two stops to be the norm. After bringing Hard and Soft compounds for the past two years, they have switched to Medium and Soft as a more aggressive choice.
  
• Vettel’s win in Japan was his fifth in a row. The last driver to do that was Schumacher in 2004. The Ferrari driver went on to win seven in a row that year.
  
• The record of nine wins in a row was set by Italian Alberto Ascari in 1952/53.
  
• McLaren have still not been on the podium this year. The last time they went through a season without finishing in the top three was in 1980.
  

Indian Grand Prix Race Stewards Biographies

• Dr Gerd Ennser has successfully combined his formal education in law with his passion for motor racing. While still active as a racing driver he began helping out with the management of his local motor sport club and since 2006 has been a permanent steward at every round of Germany’s DTM championship. Since 2010 he has also been a Formula 1 steward. Dr Ennser, who has worked as a judge, a prosecutor and in the legal department of an automotive-industry company, has also acted as a member of the steering committee of German motor sport body, the DMSB, since spring 2010, where he is responsible for automobile sport. In addition, Dr Ennser is a board member of the South Bavaria Section of ADAC, Germany’s biggest auto club.
  
• Englishman Steve Stringwell brings a wealth of experience to the F1 stewarding panel. He began marshalling in 1967 before spending 15 years rallying. Since 1986 he has held a series of posts within the UK’s Motor Sports Association, first as a steward, then chairman of the MSA’s national court and latterly as chairman of the MSA’s Judicial Advisory Panel. Stringwell serves as permanent chairman steward for the Porsche Supercup, World Series by Renault 3.5 and BTCC. He has been chairman of support race stewards at the British Grand Prix since 2005 and was appointed steward to his first F1 race last year when he officiated in Australia. At home in Yorkshire he is a Justice of the Peace and magistrate in the city of Leeds.
  
• Denmark’s Tom Kristensen is the most successful driver in the history of the Le Mans 24-Hour race. He has won the classic endurance event nine times, racing for Porsche, Audi and Bentley. Kristensen, 46, has a broad racing CV, having competed in single-seaters, touring cars and a range of sportscars. He has also tested in F1. A popular and respected figure, he is this year again contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Audi Sport Team Joest. Along with team-mates Loïc Duval and Allan McNish, Kristensen has already helped Audi retain the WEC manufacturers’ title. He and his team-mates currently lead the drivers’ title race, with two rounds of the championship remaining.
  

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Alonso: I’m doing the best races of my life so when I go to bed, I’m extremely proud

Fernando Alonso may have conceded the 2013 Formula 1 World title but the Ferrari driver is not losing any sleep over Sebastian Vettel’s domination on the track.

Red Bull’s Vettel is on the cusp of his fourth successive World title and second-placed Alonso, who trails the German by 90 points ahead of Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix, admitted that it was merely a formality for Vettel to take the crown.

Asked if he found it difficult to accept that he was racing in the ‘Vettel era’, the Spaniard contested: “No. Obviously I’d like to win. I’m still 32, so it’s not the last year of my career.

“I will ensure [that] I will have more opportunities. I’d like to win more championships. In the last four years, I fought for three World Championships. I finished second three times, which is obviously sad but… I’m extremely proud.

“I think I’m doing the best races of my life this year. So when I go to bed, I’m extremely proud.”

Alonso saw no point in trying to delay what appears inevitable and would rather focus on getting more podiums than to try and delay Vettel’s crowning moment.

“I’m not thinking too much about this possibility,” he said outside the Ferrari motorhome in India.

“In the remaining four races, I’ll try to get some podiums, to enjoy the podium ceremony, the champagne and the trophy.

“Then it’s [for] Sebastian who wins here or in Abu Dhabi, it’s more of his problem to be honest. [it] depends when he wants to celebrate, which is [the] best country to celebrate,” he said.

Alonso was not sure if winning four successive titles would make Vettel the greatest modern driver and declined to compare him with fellow German and seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

“I never raced close enough to Sebastian, to be honest,” quipped Alonso, who beat Schumacher to titles in 2005 and 2006 when he was at Renault.

“I’m sure he will try to win the remaining four races and I think he has the potential to win all four.

“We will try to be as close to him as possible and try to fight for the podium,” added Alonso.

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Massa: I am talking with many teams including Williams but I do not pay to drive

Shortly after his arrival in India for the grand prix weekend, Felipe Massa admitted that he is in talks with Williams among other teams.

Earlier, a Brazilian website claimed that Massa, 32, has rescued his Formula 1 career with a five-year deal starting in 2014.

The report said that the Paulista, who has driven for Ferrari since 2006, will replace Pastor Maldonado.

That would tie in with speculation that Massa’s move is being powered by the former Williams sponsor Petrobras, a Brazilian oil company, whose branding would clash with Venezuela’s PDVSA.

PDVSA is locked in a sports backing corruption scandal but with a big money Williams contract until 2015, is reportedly in talks now to exit the deal.

“It’s too early to talk about it,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. ”I am talking with many teams, and Williams is one of them.”

The Diario Motorsport website report earlier on Thursday, however, insisted that Massa will not be a ‘pay driver’.

The Brazilian driver had exactly the same message in the Buddh paddock on Thursday.

“I do not pay to drive,” said Massa. “If a team wants to have me, it’s because of my performance and my experience. I would never go to a team and say ‘I have a sponsor, can I drive for you’!

“First, I want the contract,” Massa explained. “Then if a sponsor wants to join, I will help the team, because any extra money for the team will also benefit me.”

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Petrov emerges as Sauber candidate at expense of teenager Sirotkin

Russia first Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov has emerged as a shock contender to return to Formula 1 with Sauber in 2014.

Auto Motor und Sport said that the Russian, who has raced for Renault and Caterham, is knocking at the Swiss team’s door with a €30 million sponsor.

Reportedly, Petrov could oust countryman Sergey Sirotkin, even though it was believed the 18-year-old Russian was a key element of Sauber’s financial rescue package.

AM&S, however, reports that Sirotkin’s backers are already behind in their payments to the Hinwil based team.

Petrov’s backer could be Gazprom, one of the biggest companies on earth. Until now, Sauber has said it intends to field Sirotkin next year, but the team has refused to actually officially confirm his seat.

“Our goal is to prepare Sergey for Formula 1,” Monisha Kaltenborn is quoted as saying on Thursday. “But we have some flexibility in our activities with him.”

It is now reported that Sirotkin could now spend 2014 as the reserve driver.

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Ecclestone: We don’t know how many titles Senna would have won, but Vettel is probably the best

Gerhard Berger thinks that Sebastian Vettel is the best driver on the grid today, while Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has gone as far to say that the German might be Formula 1′s all-time greatest.

If Fernando Alonso fails to finish either first or second in India on Sunday, Red Bull’s Vettel will be guaranteed his fourth consecutive Drivers’ World title.

Bild newspaper said that the 26-year-old will scoop a € 5 million title-winning bonus, while each Red Bull employee will go home with an extra € 12 500 in their regular pay.

Berger, who was the team boss at Toro Rosso when Vettel won his first ever grand prix in, 2008, thinks that the German is now the class of the field.

“I have always put Vettel behind Alonso,” he told APA news agency, “but I think at the moment Alonso is focused too much on himself, becoming unstable.”

“So while he is occupied with himself, Vettel gets one title after the next,” added former Ferrari and McLaren driver Berger. ”I think Vettel is clearly the best driver in Formula 1 now.”

Michael Schumacher agrees that Alonso has done himself no favours recently.

“He put himself on a path of stones,” the seven time world champion told Bild newspaper, without elaborating.

“Things have happened that were not constructive,” the former Ferrari driver added, still referring to Alonso.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner would not disagree, saying that the fate of Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber over the past few years proves Vettel’s class.

“Mark Webber is a very good driver,” he is quoted by Spox.

Michael Schumacher with Fernando Alonso in 2006

“Before Vettel came into the team, [Webber's] reputation was as a future champion. But this year in qualifying, Sebastian Vettel has beaten Mark 14 times and won nine [races] times.

“If it was all about the car, we would be first and second in the Drivers’ Championship, but we are not,” Horner insisted.

“For me, he is now on par with Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher,” Horner added.

Formula 1 chief executive Ecclestone thinks Vettel is even better than that.

“People don’t know how many titles Senna would have won,” he told Bloomberg, “but Vettel is probably the best we’ve had.”

Ecclestone admitted that Vettel’s dominance has hurt TV ratings slightly.

“People complain about him winning everything,” he said, “but the racing is good. It’s a bit like with Roger Federer or Muhammad Ali.

Vettel is the best there is and people want to be there when he gets beaten.”

Vettel, however, has not been a universally popular figure this year, but Schumacher thinks that is more Red Bull’s fault than his.

“If you win with a traditional team, a brand full of emotion and history, that is the ultimate. And that would certainly change one or two things in [Vettel's] situation,” said the great German.

“Whether he would have had the same successes with Ferrari,” Schumacher acknowledged, “is a different sheet of paper.”

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Mercedes fastest crew in F1 beats Red Bull’s pitstop record

Mercedes has overtaken Red Bull as the team with Formula 1′s fastest pit crew.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that the Brackley based crew did a 2.02 second tyre pitstop at Suzuka, which was 0.04 seconds faster than the previous record, set earlier in 2013 by Red Bull.

Team manager Ron Meadows said that the Japanese stop could have been even quicker.

“The mechanism of the jack was too slow,” he said. “If it had worked properly, the time would have been 1.93 seconds.”

Meadows said that he is sure that the magical two second barrier will be smashed this season.

“In practice we have done a 1.68 second stop,” he revealed.

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Di Resta arrives in India unwell and makes way for Calado in FP1

On the eve of the Indian Grand Prix weekend it has emerged Paul di Resta has arrived feeling unwell and is set to make way for James Calado in FP1 at the Buddh International Circuit.

Earlier, it was no surprise when word got around the paddock in India that reserve driver Calado will be driving the Scot’s car in initial Friday practice.

“FP1 will see James Calado make one of his Friday appearances,” the Silverstone based team said on Twitter. “He will sub for Paul, who will be back in the car for FP2.”

But Briton Calado said on his own Twitter account: “Due to Paul being unwell I will be driving tomorrow morning’s FP1 session.”

Di Resta appeared sprightly on Thursday as he spoke to reporters, fending off suggestions his future is looking particularly uncertain.

“I think in the midfield, nobody’s certain anywhere at the moment,” he said.

It is reported the Scot could have the dreaded ‘Delhi belly’. German reports suggested Felipe Massa’s engineer Rob Smedley may be similarly afflicted.

At the same time, di Resta’s Force India teammate Adrian Sutil seemed to be dropping hints about his own future.

“How do you know that I’m without a contract for 2014?” the German smiled to Formula 1′s official website.

When asked again about his chances of a 2014 deal, Sutil added: “Maybe it’s already solved. Hopefully I can say more in the coming weeks.”

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Indian court to hear plea to cancel this weekend’s race

An Indian court will on Friday hear a petition to cancel this weekend’s grand prix at Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi.

Indian reports say a supreme court judge agreed to hear the petition that was filed by a public interest campaigner by the name of Amit Kumar, on the grounds that organisers have not paid enough tax.

“We will hear the petition tomorrow,” the judge said.

Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh government was in the supreme court seeking the withdrawal of entertainment tax exemption for the beleaguered Indian Grand Prix organisers.

The exemption had been achieved for Formula 1 by the former Uttar Pradesh government.

While it is unlikely Friday’s court action will succeed, Indian motor racing official Vicky Chandhok admitted the 2013 race could be the country’s last.

He told British broadcaster Sky that he is only 70 per cent sure the race will return to the calendar in 2015, after a one-year hiatus for reported “logistical” reasons.

“I am really disappointed about not having it 2014, but I hope to be [back] in 2015 and 2016,” said Chandhok. “But the price has to be right.”