Formula One 2012

[Adam]

Lee McKenzie tweeting that Maldonado has taken a time penalty for crashing with Hamilton, demoting him to 12th and promoting his team mate Senna into 10th place to earn the final point. Seems fair to me.

[Rainiac]

Lee McKenzie tweeting that Maldonado has taken a time penalty for crashing with Hamilton, demoting him to 12th and promoting his team mate Senna into 10th place to earn the final point. Seems fair to me.

Seeing as Williams don't actually lose out as a result of the penalty, I agree. If they had to penalise Maldonado at all, that was the fairest way they could do it

[Katsuya]

Vergne has gone on Twitter and apologised too, presumably he's seen a replay now. It was a bizarre move no matter what.

[Lineker]

Fernando Alonso came through from 11th on the grid to take a remarkable home victory in the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The result made the Ferrari driver the first repeat winner of the incredible 2012 Formula 1 season, and also moved Alonso into the championship lead.

The latter outcome was due in large part to Sebastian Vettel retiring with a mechanical problem on his Red Bull after dominating the first half of the race, and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren retiring late on in a collision with Pastor Maldonado's Williams as they fought for third.

Lotus's Romain Grosjean had looked like a victory threat as he chased Alonso, only to suffer an alternator failure, but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came through to claim second after a late pass on the fading Hamilton, whose incident with Maldonado then allowed Michael Schumacher to make his podium return for Mercedes in third place, chased by 19th-place qualifier Mark Webber's Red Bull.

Vettel commanded the early stages, immediately pulling out a lead of several seconds as the pack behind took several corners to sort itself out. Front row qualifier Hamilton got away slowly, and had to fend off several attackers before establishing himself in second ahead of Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and the fast-starting Alonso.

During the opening stint Alonso overtook Hulkenberg and followed Raikkonen past Maldonado, then jumped Raikkonen and Kobayashi by running one lap longer before his first pitstop.

This group then came out in a long train of yet-to-stop cars, through which Alonso made much more assertive progress than his rivals.

Approaching half-distance, Vettel was leading by 20 seconds over Grosjean, who had overtaken Hamilton with a neat outside-line move on lap 10 and then pulled out a 10s gap over the McLaren, which had Alonso edging closer.

When the safety car was called out to clear debris from a clash between Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso and Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham, most drivers made their second and final pitstops. Hamilton's was very slow, allowing Alonso to get up to third, and the Spaniard then went around the outside of Grosjean into the first corner at the restart to claim second.

Moments later that second place became the race lead, as Vettel's Red Bull suddenly cut out and retired, to the world champion's shock.

Grosjean kept Alonso under pressure and still seemed a likely winner, only for an alternator failure to halt the Lotus with 17 laps to go.

After that Alonso was able to pull clear and become the first repeat winner of the 2012 season, retaking the championship lead in the process.

Hamilton held on to second until the final two laps, when his tyres appeared to wilt. Raikkonen got past after a long battle, but when Maldonado tried to do likewise, the pair clashed, putting the McLaren in the barriers and breaking the Williams's front wing.

That allowed Schumacher through to claim the first podium of his Formula 1 return, as fended off Webber, who made great progress through from 19th on the grid.

Both Schumacher and Webber passed the Force Indias in the closing stages, with Nico Rosberg then getting his Mercedes between Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta's Force Indias to take sixth on the last lap.

Jenson Button had a low-key run to eighth for McLaren, ahead of Sergio Perez's Sauber and the limping Maldonado.

The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa was delayed with damage from a collision with Kobayashi and finished a lowly 16th. Kobayashi, who had already had to change front wings once after hitting Bruno Senna's Williams, had to retire after the incident.

For some of the race it looked like Caterham might score its first point, as solid pace and the attrition ahead allowed Vitaly Petrov to pick his way up to 10th place. But the Russian was pushed back down the order and then tangled with Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS


The European Grand Prix

Valencia Street Circuit, Europe;

57 laps; 308.883km;

Weather: Sunny.


Classified:


Pos  Driver        Team                       Time

 1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    1h44:16.449

 2.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +     6.421

 3.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    12.639

 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    13.628

 5.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    19.993

 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    21.176

 7.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    22.866

 8.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    24.653

 9.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +    27.777

10.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    34.653

11.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    35.961

12.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    37.041

13.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +  1:15.871

14.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +  1:34.654

15.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +  1:36.551

16.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap

17.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap

18.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap

19.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    2 laps


Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:42.163


Not classified/retirements:


Driver        Team                         On lap

Grosjean      Lotus-Renault                41

Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             34

Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               34

Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari           27

Glock         Marussia-Cosworth            1



World Championship standings, round 8:                


Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Alonso       111        1.  Red Bull-Renault          176

 2.  Webber        91        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          137

 3.  Hamilton      88        3.  Lotus-Renault             126

 4.  Vettel        85        4.  Ferrari                   122

 5.  Rosberg       75        5.  Mercedes                   92

 6.  Raikkonen     73        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             60

 7.  Grosjean      53        7.  Williams-Renault           45

 8.  Button        49        8.  Force India-Mercedes       44

 9.  Perez         39        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6

10.  Maldonado     30       

11.  Di Resta      27       

12.  Kobayashi     21       

13.  Hulkenberg    17       

14.  Schumacher    17       

15.  Senna         15       

16.  Massa         11       

17.  Vergne         4       

18.  Ricciardo      2       


All timing unofficial[/code]




Fernando Alonso struggled to find words to describe his feelings after a sensational victory in the European Grand Prix.



The Spaniard had ruled out finishing on the podium in Valencia after qualifying in 11th position on Saturday.



But Alonso charged back into contention from the start of the race, pulling off some bold moves to eventually reach second place at the restart following a safety car period.



The Ferrari driver took the lead of the race when Sebastian Vettel retired and he became the first man to win two races in 2012.



An emotional Alonso found it hard to describe his feelings.



"It's really difficult to express in words what is the feeling at the moment," said Alonso, who moved back into the championship lead.



"Winning the home grand prix is something unique, a very special feeling. I had the opportunity in Barcelona in 2006 with Renault and I still remember that moment perfectly.



"But now I had opportunity with Ferrari, with the grandstands full of red colours. I'm feeling very proud, and winning this race in Spain is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing can compare to this one."



He added: "It is an amazing feeling. I still remember Barcelona 2006 and now six years after the win probably I will have better and better memories of today with time. Right now it's too many things with my feelings and too many things to give to all the team and all the fans."



Alonso, who had previously won the Malaysian Grand Prix, said he never expected such a strong result after a disappointing qualifying.



"After qualifying yesterday you never think you can get a good result or fight for the podium or something like that," Alonso said.



"When you find yourself third after the safety car I said hopefully there is the chequered flag now and I enjoy this podium celebration, but two laps later I overtook [Romain] Grosjean on the restart, then Vettel stopped and it was a very long race from that point.



"You enjoy this moment so much, but it's difficult to describe in words what I am feeling."



With Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton retiring from the race, Alonso now leads the championship by 20 points from Mark Webber.



Pastor Maldonado said Lewis Hamilton was entirely to blame for their collision in the final moments of the European Grand Prix.



Williams driver Maldonado was trying to overtake Hamilton's McLaren for third place when they came together on the penultimate lap, sending the Briton into the barriers and out of the race.



Maldonado said the incident would not have happened if Hamilton had given him more space.



"He tried to put me off the track," said Maldonado. "He didn't leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. I jumped over the kerb and I couldn't avoid the accident."



The Venezuelan felt Hamilton should have accepted that he was going to get overtaken as his McLaren's pace faded.



"I don't know why he drove like that," Maldonado said. "He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me."



While Hamilton's race ended in the clash, Maldonado continued to finish 10th in his damaged car.



Pastor Maldonado has been given a post-race drive-through penalty for his collision with Lewis Hamilton during the European Grand Prix.



The Venezuelan made contact with the McLaren driver on the final lap when trying to take third place away from the Briton.



Hamilton had to retire from the race while Maldonado went on to finish in 10th position.



The penalty, with 20 seconds added to his final time, drops Maldonado to 12th position, with Williams team-mate Bruno Senna getting the final point.



Maldonado had said after the race that he thought Hamilton was to blame for the accident.



"I don't know why he drove like that," Maldonado said. "He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me."



[code]Revised World Championship standings, round 8:                


Drivers:                    Constructors:             

 1.  Alonso       111        1.  Red Bull-Renault          176

 2.  Webber        91        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          137

 3.  Hamilton      88        3.  Lotus-Renault             126

 4.  Vettel        85        4.  Ferrari                   122

 5.  Rosberg       75        5.  Mercedes                   92

 6.  Raikkonen     73        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             60

 7.  Grosjean      53        7.  Williams-Renault           45

 8.  Button        49        8.  Force India-Mercedes       44

 9.  Perez         39        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6

10.  Maldonado     29       

11.  Di Resta      27       

12.  Kobayashi     21       

13.  Hulkenberg    17       

14.  Schumacher    17       

15.  Senna         16       

16.  Massa         11       

17.  Vergne         4       

18.  Ricciardo      2       

Lewis Hamilton said he had no qualms about trying to fend off Pastor Maldonado as his tyres fading at the end of the European Grand Prix - even though the battle culminated in a collision that left the McLaren in the barriers.

Hamilton was holding second behind Fernando Alonso's Ferrari before running out of tyre grip.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen overtook him, and Williams's Maldonado was trying to do likewise when he hit the McLaren on the penultimate lap.

"My tyres were gone," said Hamilton. "I don't know where I would have finished. Over the last lap or so, my tyres just went - it was almost like I had flat tyres at the back."

But asked whether he felt in retrospect he should have let Maldonado go, Hamilton replied: "You never let people past, you've got to race for every position you can get."

The Briton declined to comment in detail on the collision. Maldonado was adamant that Hamilton was at fault for not giving him more space.

"I don't really know what happened, if I'm honest," said Hamilton. "I went into the corner and I didn't come out.

"It happened so fast, I really do not remember what happened. All I remember is sitting in the wall with only a lap to go."

He added: "You put your heart and soul into some things, and when you don't get the results that you feel you worked for, it's very tough, but that's life."

The Valencia result dropped Hamilton from first to third in the standings, 23 points behind race winner and new championship leader Alonso, but the McLaren driver was relieved that he was not the only one to lose ground in Spain.

"It does change a lot, we lost a lot of points today, but fortunately for us a couple of the others that were fighting as well - including Sebastian [Vettel] - weren't able to score either," said Hamilton. "But it does make things a little bit tougher."

Hamilton had been ahead of Alonso until a slow second pitstop. Although McLaren has had several pitstop issues this season, Hamilton defended his team.

"I think we did the fastest pitstop of the whole season in our first pitstop and were a little bit unfortunate in the second."

But he reckons McLaren does need to find more speed from its car, as despite holding second for so long, he did not think victory was ever possible.

"We were a long, long way off today," said Hamilton. "We've got a lot of work to do to try and pick up the pace because we were really struggling today."

Jean-Eric Vergne will drop ten places on the grid for the British Grand Prix after he was handed a double-penalty in Valencia.

The Toro Rosso driver was found to have caused an avoidable accident after he made contact with the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen on lap 12 of the race.

Both cars sustained punctures in the incident.

"In view of the serious nature of the incident the Stewards have decided under Article 18.1 to apply two penalties," said the stewards in a statement.

Article 18.1 of the sporting rules states: "The stewards may inflict the penalties specifically set out in these Sporting Regulations in addition to or instead of any other penalties available to them under the Code."

Vergne, who retired from the race on lap 27, was given a 10-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix and a 25,000 euro fine.

Sebastian Vettel reckons his Red Bull had the pace to win the European Grand Prix at Valencia had his RB8 not lost drive on lap 35 of the race.

The world champion dominated the race from pole position and retained his lead through a chaotic safety car period.

He was re-establishing his advantage when he pulled off the racing line, allowing eventual race-winner Fernando Alonso through into the lead.

"The engine stalled, the engine switched off and there's nothing that we could have done - at the moment we don't know what the problem was – maybe it was similar to the issue Mark [Webber] had on Friday," said afterwards.

"The safety car was obviously not ideal for us and it might be that the retirement in some regards is also down to the safety car so it's a shame.

"It's s**t but you can't change it now," he added. "I think up to that point it was clear that we were very strong and I felt happy in the car. We had the pace and we were very, very quick today. I was surprised, it felt really good. Also after the safety car the initial restart was okay so..."

Vettel told Sky that he was philosophical about his retirement and said that he drew comfort from the improved competitiveness of the upgraded RB8 over the weekend.

"It's okay," he said. "There is not much we could have done better today. It's just reliability. We all work on the limit and so does the car so, surely it's a shame, but I think up to that point we did everything right. Perfect pitstops, perfect start, perfect race. I think everyone has seen what would have happened.

"Would, could, should; I'm standing here and they are still racing so no chance to win today, but a good step this weekend and hopefully we can carry that momentum into the next grand prix."

Kimi Raikkonen declared himself unmoved by second place in the European Grand Prix as he felt Lotus should have had the pace to win.

The Finn battled past Lewis Hamilton's McLaren late on to secure second behind relatively comfortable winner Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

Lotus had been tipped as the pre-race favourite for victory given its form this year at similar tracks and in comparable weather conditions to those experienced in Valencia, but while Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean was pushing Alonso hard before retiring, the 2007 Formula 1 champion did not look like a threat for the win.

"We didn't have speed today to challenge for the win," Raikkonen admitted. "In the end second place is OK but not what we wanted."

Raikkonen had looked like he might get among the leaders off the line, only to run out of space and fall back to sixth, where he stayed through the opening laps.

"We got a good start but I got blocked by [Pastor] Maldonado at the first right-hander and lost quite a few places because of that so I was a bit behind at that point," he said.

"We made a good recovery from that position and had quite a hard fight with people - overtaking and getting overtaken."

Michael Schumacher described his feelings of deep joy at standing on the podium for the 155th time in his career after finishing third in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

It was the first time the seven-time world champion had scored a rostrum result since returning to the sport with Mercedes in 2010.

Afterwards, Schumacher admitted that he had not realised he had taken third sport until after he crossed the finish line.

"I didn't actually think about a podium at all, neither in the end of the race, it was in crossing the line when I asked my guys where we finished," he explained.

"I saw [Mark] Webber's pitboard and close to the end it showed him eighth and seventh and knew I was one place ahead of that one. And then the boys told me third, that's a podium - and I thought I can't believe that.

"It is something I didn't expect, you sort of lose count because I was pretty busy in those last stages of the race plus, [Lewis] Hamilton and [Pastor] Maldonado had their issue, so I lost counting at that stage."

Schumacher added that experiencing such emotions was the driving force behind his decision to return to F1 and that achieving third in such a dramatic race only made the result sweeter.

"It is those moments that definitely you enjoy deeply and it's just a wonderful feeling to be back after such a long time," said Schumacher, after a 99-race wait to return to rostrum – the last time he stood on one was following his victory in the 2006 Chinese GP.

"We were a couple of times close to it, and finally it happened in a very spectacular way and on a track where it is difficult to pass – but due to various strategies and differences on track it was pretty exciting and that is best way if you manage the way I did today to jump on the podium.

"To do it in an exciting way makes me extra happy.

"But that is what I am here for, to be excited, hearing finally the message P3 is a sweet finish to an unexpected race. Converting from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy meant we had good tyres at the end."

Mark Webber described his progress from 19th on the grid to fourth place in the European Grand Prix as a 'crazy' outcome - but still felt the race would have been even more enjoyable if he had not needed to take care of the Pirelli tyres.

After problems with his Red Bull's hydraulics and DRS saw Webber eliminated in Q1 in Valencia, the Australian made determined progress through the field in the race to finish right on the tail of third-placed Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher.

"Another crazy day. As we're finding out, it's very different to know what's going to happen on Sundays," said Webber.

"Obviously there was a bit of attrition at the front today, with a Lotus, Lewis [Hamilton] and Seb [Vettel] as well. I'll take that.

"It's all part of the championship and yesterday wasn't a great day for me. Maybe if I'd started at the front I wouldn't have had such a good a race as I did from the back."

Webber felt strategy had been the dominant factor in his progress, suggesting that he had still needed to hold back to avoid taking too much out of his tyres.

"Strategy's all about rolling the dice and going on the fly, all the time," said Webber. "Trying to - not guess - but work out what's going on.

"I didn't mind the race, it wasn't too bad - a bit of KERS, a bit of DRS, a bit of fighting here and there.

"But it's still very tricky to race. You can't race that hard because you're looking after the tyres.

"In the end it's a lot of points for me so I'm happy with that from that grid position."

Romain Grosjean is confident he would have had a shot at victory in the European Grand Prix if not for a mechanical problem.

The Lotus driver was running in second position having been passed by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the restart following a safety car, when he slowed down after his car's alternator failed. By that time erstwhile leader Sebastian Vettel had retired and elevated Alonso and Grosjean to a close first and second.

Grosjean said his race had been perfect until that point, and he was hoping the tyre degradation from the Ferrari in front would have given him a chance to get his maiden victory.

"The car stopped, the engine stopped," said Grosjean, who retired on lap 41. "Basically we had an alternator problem and we need to have a deep look into it.

"The race was almost perfect until that point. I had a good start, a good strategy and we pushed when we had to. We had a good performance today.

"It could have been the first win but maybe in the future. I'm sure we are showing good performance and we are getting experience."

The Frenchman was convinced his pace was stronger than that of eventual winner Alonso.

"I think I was looking not too bad and we knew we were quicker than the Ferrari. We just had to wait a little bit to see if their tyres were going away then try to push. But we couldn't get to that stage."

Michael Schumacher's podium finish in the European Grand Prix is under investigation after the German was summoned to see the stewards to explain why he used his DRS in a yellow flag zone at the end of the race.

Schumacher secured the first top three finish since he returned to F1, but he may not keep the result if the stewards deem that he was wrong to have used the DRS in the closing stages of the race while yellow flags were out.

Sebastian Vettel was penalised for using DRS under yellow at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year.

Mark Webber, who finished right behind Schumacher on the road, complained about his Mercedes rival's actions - and Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner said he hoped the stewards would take action over the matter.

"I am sure the stewards are having a good look at it, because if you look at it, it is pretty clear," explained Horner. "Mark was very vocal on the radio that Michael had used the DRS and there is very clearly a yellow flag on the right hand side once Michael had it open.

"We know from bitter experience that you are not allowed to use it. Seb had a drive through in Barcelona, so it is really up to the stewards."

Although video evidence suggests that Schumacher's DRS was open when yellows were out, sources suggest that the German driver had actually slowed for the warning flags as is requested by the regulations.

Michael Schumacher has retained his podium position in the European Grand Prix after stewards decided to not impose a penalty on him.

The German Mercedes driver was under investigation after having used his DRS when the yellow flags were on track on the final lap following the crash between Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado.

Although television images confirmed Schumacher's DRS was open in the yellow-flag area, the race stewards deemed the seven-time champion had slowed down sufficiently and therefore decided no penalty was needed.

"The stewards considered a report that driver #7 used his DRS in a yellow flag zone and that his allegedly constituted a breach of yellow flag regulations," said a statement from the stewards. "Having examined telemetry and video evidence, and heard from the driver and team representatives, the stewards noted that the driver did make a significant reduction in speed on entering the double waved flag zone."

The officials added that Schumacher's incident "differs substantially" from the circumstances in which Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel were penalised for DRS use under yellow at Catalunya a month ago.

Schumacher finished in third position in the race, his first podium since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

Jenson Button believes his disappointing eighth place in the European Grand Prix was more a consequence of other drivers getting better luck than any lack of pace from him or his McLaren.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has had a run of frustrating races since his second place in China in April, and was not a podium threat in Valencia.

But Button reckons his difficulties this time were more due to the race becoming something of a strategic lottery.

"It was a really difficult race to read. Obviously I got a terrible start and I think I was 14th after the start. I just got unlucky," said Button.

"We had a strategy in mind, but nobody seemed to be able to look after the tyres. It just seemed that if you pushed like hell, destroyed your tyres and just kept coming in and getting new tyres, that was the way to go. Normally that wouldn't be because you can't get past people here.

"I don't think we did a bad job in terms of strategy, but I think a few people lucked into their strategies at the end there when they put new tyres on with 10 laps to go and nearly won the race."

Button said he could actually take some encouragement from Valencia even though the result was underwhelming on paper.

"It's still not a good result but I had fun out there, that's the main thing, and the car felt good at some times in the race," he said.

"It's a lot to work with and I really don't think anything went in our favour today. It could have been a very different race for us."

Sergio Perez believes it is vital for his Sauber team to improve its qualifying form in order to achieve better results after finishing ninth in the European Grand Prix.

The Mexican started from 15th place on the grid for the second consecutive race, but made progress to finish in the points again following his podium in Canada.

With Sauber's race pace being very strong, Perez has urged the Swiss squad to up its game in the grid-deciding sessions.

"It was a difficult race today," said Perez. "We risked quite a lot with our strategy and in the end the tyre degradation was huge.

"You can say two points are not a bad result if you've came from 15th on the grid, but the most important thing now is to improve our qualifying performance. I was 15th on the grid for the second consecutive race and there is a lot more to achieve if I could only start further up the grid."

Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi had a day to forget after making contact with Bruno Senna and Felipe Massa before he was given a penalty for his collision with the latter.

The Japanese driver will lose five places on the starting grid of the British Grand Prix.

"I am very disappointed. I definitely had a good start from seventh. I made up two positions straight away and then overtook Pastor Maldonado on lap one. I was fourth and it looked promising. Then at my first pit stop after 14 laps we had a problem with the front left wheel.

"After that I was 11th and still had a good chance. On lap 20 I was following Kimi Raikkonen, who was overtaking Bruno Senna, and then was on the inside next to Senna. I had the wall and nowhere to go when we touched. I had to pit for a nose change.

"Later, when the race was restarted after the safety car period, I was fighting with Felipe Massa for position. Our cars touched and this time the damage was too bad to continue."

Heikki Kovalainen described his race-spoiling collision with Jean-Eric Vergne in the European Grand Prix as a "rookie mistake" by the Frenchman, after a race in which both Caterhams were involved in contact with Toro Rossos.

Kovalainen and Vergne both sustained punctures when they clashed as Vergne tried to pass the Caterham for 17th on lap 12.

Later on, their respective team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Vitaly Petrov came together while battling for 12th.

Ricciardo continued intact despite an airborne spin and finished 12th, while Petrov required a new nose but still came home 13th, one place ahead of Kovalainen. Vergne had to retire with damage from his incident.

"My pace was good but then Vergne made what looks like a rookie mistake, hit me and I had to come in for a new nose," said Kovalainen. "From that point I was just trying to get to the end of the race."

Vergne felt the collision was "just a racing incident", but that he had been in front.

"I felt I was ahead and as I started to turn into the corner, we collided and his front wing clipped my rear wheel," said Vergne. "There was too much damage to the floor and it was impossible to change the damaged rear wheel so there was no way for me to continue."

Ricciardo blamed Petrov's 'aggression' for their tangle.

"I had Petrov going quite slowly in front of me, I went to get around him and he defended by going a bit wide," said the Australian. "So I tried to switch back and I feel I gave him some racing room, but we still made contact because perhaps his move was a bit too aggressive."

Shortly before the clash, Petrov had been running 10th and looking like he might manage to give Caterham its first point. But the Russian was then passed by eventual top-four finishers Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber before being caught by Ricciardo, and said he had never felt scoring was realistic anyway.

"Even though we were running 10th at one point I'm not sure a point was quite within reach today, but it's really encouraging to see how we've progressed here," said Petrov.

Paul di Resta believes that Force India "missed a trick" by persevering with his one-stop strategy in the European Grand Prix.

The Scot finished seventh after stopping just once, but suspects that had he adopted a similar strategy to both Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, who stopped on lap 38 and 41 respectively, he could have finished more strongly.

"I think the result says it all, we clearly missed a trick," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT about how his strategy worked out. "We were fairly aggressive and stuck with it when we probably could have bailed out [of the one-stopper].

"I passed Webber on track, and two laps later he pitted. That was about eight laps after the safety car. He got the last laugh on me.

"Obviously we had it [a one-stopper] in mind before the race. It probably wasn't on the cards right away but then during the first stint they said the strategy we wanted was working so we would stick with it.

"You've got to follow what the guys are saying. I've done nothing wrong there. Unfortunately that's two races where I've been in great positions where things that I can't control have made a difference to the race result."

Di Resta added that he is confident about Force India maintaining its strong form at the British Grand Prix in two weeks' time after the double points finish in Valencia.

The team has made good progress with getting the best out of a major upgrade package introduced in Spain three races ago and there will be further tweaks for Silverstone.

"Ahead of Silverstone we've got some minor upgrades coming which should give us some performance," he said. "I'm quite hopeful of that, so if we can carry on where we are we should be going into it thinking positively."

Renault says it will have to wait until its engines are returned to its base to work out what caused the alternators to fail on Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean's cars in the European Grand Prix.

Both drivers saw their chances of victory taken away when they retired shortly after a safety car period, which had been caused by Jean-Eric Vergne leaving debris on the track following a collision with Heikki Kovalainen.

Vettel retired from the lead on lap 34, while Grosjean was running second behind Fernando Alonso when his alternator failed on lap 41.

Renault Sport F1's deputy managing director and technical chief Rob White said that the French manufacturer was not sure of the causes of the failures - or even if they were identical problems.

"We don't yet know whether it was the same incident on both cars, but it is very, very suspicious to all of us that it happened to both cars at such a similar point in the race," he told AUTOSPORT.

"We need to get the engines, and of course the alternator is on the engines, back to the factory."

White said that there was no indication that the alternator failures were triggered by the safety car period interfering with the operations of the engine.

"We don't think there is any reason to think the safety was involved," he said. "We have seen the consequences of the alternator stopping, but we don't know what caused the alternator to stop.

"So we don't know whether we have had this kind of failure before. We need to get back to the factory to work it out; and obviously we will not dodge the question. When we have an answer we will give it to you."

Post-race press conference:

TV UNILATERAL

Q. Three former Ferrari world champions on the podium but Fernando this is a pretty good weekend to be a Spanish sportsman called Alonso. A fabulous victory for yourself.

Fernando ALONSO: Yeah. It's difficult to express in words what is the feeling now. Winning a home grand prix is something unique - a very special feeling. I had the opportunity to do this in Barcelona in 2006 with Renault and I still remember that day perfectly. And now I did the same here in Valencia, with this special team, Ferrari, with all the grandstand full of red colour and Spanish flags. Here now, with the Euro football championship also, there is a lot of Spanish atmosphere inside all of us. Feeling very proud to be a Spanish sportsman at the moment and winning in Spain this race is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing maybe compares to this one.

Q. You joined in the celebrations a little early Fernando. Why did you stop your car, just to take part in the party?

FA: No, no. We had a problem with the car and we stopped it. It was the right place maybe because we had two grandstands there. It took a little bit of time for the medical car to arrive and we had eight or 10 minutes of all the people saying things about me, saying congratulations. They want me to jump. You know, fun and games and we enjoy a little bit those minutes.

Q. Kimi, it's a third podium position of the season for you. Was a victory possible for you today or were the tyres just not there at the end?

Kimi RAIKKONEN: I think everybody had quite old tyres at that point. I just didn't have enough tyres. I had enough tyres to get past Hamilton on I think it was the second-last or third-last lap. We didn't really have the speed to challenge for the win. I think on the start already I got a good start but got blocked by Maldonado in the first right-hander and lost quite a few places because of that. I was a bit behind already at that point. We made a good recovery from that position. I had quite a hard fight with people and overtaking and then second place. It's OK of course, but not what we wanted.

Q. Michael, they say you can't overtake on this track but your saw your fair share today. Welcome back to the podium. At what stage did you think this podium was a possibility?

Michael SCHUMACHER: I didn't actually think about a podium at all at the end of the race. It was crossing the line that I asked my guys 'where did we finish?' I saw Webber's pit board and close to the end it showed him eighth and seventh and I knew I was one place ahead of that one. And then boys told me 'that's third, that's podium'. I can't believe that! It's something I didn't really expect. You sort of lose count, because I was pretty busy in the last stages of the race, plus Maldonado and Hamilton had their issue. Probably normally one minus one would give us the three but I lose count at that stage.

Q. It's moments like these that brought you back to the sport I'm sure.

MS: Yeah, it's those moments that definitely you enjoy deeply. It's just a wonderful feeling to back after such a long time. We were a couple of times close to it. It happened in a pretty spectacular way on a track where it is difficult to pass but due to various strategies and differences on track it was pretty exciting and that's obviously the best way, if you manage the way I did today to jump the podium unexpectedly makes you extra happy.

Q. Finally, back to you Fernando. You described this as your best victory. After the disappointment of qualifying to the euphoria or today. How do you explain that, or is it just Formula One in 2012?

FA: That's Formula One. That's the best thing we can say. It's unpredictable. Good results. Still a sport. Sport is about that. Sport is about the ups and downs. Yesterday, we had a tough moment. We were said not being in Q3. But you can never give up because anything can happen in sport in general and maybe more in Formula One. There are many factors inside, there are the cars, brakes, engines – anything can have a failure in the race. There are a lot of things we need to take care: the strategies, the start, the overtaking, manoeuvres. When you put all of these in one thing you have a Formula One grand prix. Today, we had an amazing race, amazing start, some good fights, I think I remember six or seven overtakings where it was very close, we touched each other. I touched Grosjean in the restart. All of those little moments can go on the wrong side and you finish the race in the wall, or you can be the winner at the end. And today, we had all the good factors with us and the luck and we have to enjoy this.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Fernando, well done. Tell us about the pleasure of winning here at home in Spain.

FA: I don't know what to say really. It's an amazing feeling. As I said in the other press conference I still can remember Barcelona in 2006, now, so years after the win. So probably I will have better and better memories of today with time. Right now, it's just too many things on my feelings and too many thanks to give to all the team, all the fans, all the support that I felt all weekend. Especially yesterday after the qualifying, you never think that you can do a good result or that you can fight for the podium or something like that. When you find yourself third in the race after the safety car, I said: 'hopefully there is the chequered flag now and I enjoy this podium celebration.' Two laps later I overtake Grosjean on the restart and you think again 'hopefully the race finishes now'. Then Vettel stopped and it was a very long race until the end and, yeah, I enjoyed so much this moment. But as I said, difficult to out in words what I'm feeling.

Q. Were you worried that the tyres were going to drop off at the end just as they did in Canada?

FA: No, they did. I was not worried. They did. They did, about eight laps from the end. I said to the team 'the tyres are finished, we need to do something'. They said: 'wait one more sector because they are not quicker than you at this moment'. The next sector they were the same as me. So they said: 'wait one more lap to see how much quicker they are' and the next lap they were the same time as us. Wait another lap and wait another and then it was three laps from the end and they were in the same lap times and we went until the end. But the tyres were as finished as in Canada but it was for everybody this time.

Q. You mentioned a problem with the car at the end. Was that something that was also affecting the closing laps?

FA: No, I don't think so. The car felt OK and then on the in-lap I had an emergency call to stop the car. So it was feeling OK.

Q. So do you not know what was wrong with the car?

FA: No, I had too many things to enjoy in that moment to ask what happened in the car.

Q. Kimi, quite a busy race for you too, what with battles with Maldonado and Hamilton.

KR: Yeah, I got a pretty good start but then in the first right-hander, the little kink, I got blocked by Maldonado so I had to back off. I lost quite a few places there, so at that point onwards it was a case of trying to catch up and try to get past people. I managed to pass some, but it was difficult to pass today. I got sight of Maldonado a few times but he pushed me wide. I tried and tried and then in the end I managed to get past some people and after the safety car I managed to get past people also. On the restart, I lost a place to Hamilton. I just got too much wheelspin out of the corner. It was quite a busy race actually. Then, when I was in the third place, a few cars retired and I thought I would try to save the tyres a bit and try to get Hamilton at some point. I saw him sliding a bit. So I think it was the second-last lap or something but I got him in the end. OK the result second after all things we went through in the race but of course you're never happy until you win. And for the team, bad luck. It would have been much nicer to have both cars on the podium.

Q. And your tyres. Were they shot at the end?

KR: Yeah, the rear tyres were pretty bad. Especially in the middle of the circuit. There were three or four corners that were really bad. The rest was not so bad. I think everybody had similar issues.

Q. Michael those last few laps – you took on new tyres 16 laps from the end – must have been amazing, especially with yellow flags and all sorts of things going on. What was it like? Tell us.

MS: Yeah. Certainly I wasn't aware I was going in the direction of a podium. Even crossing the line I wasn't aware at that stage. But, being pretty heavily involved for most of the race in some kind of battling and then having Webber all the time on my tail and needing to fight forward but needing to pay attention to the back, that was very exciting. But that's what I'm here for: to be excited and those guys got me excited, no doubt. And hearing finally the message P3 – yeah, that's a sweet finish to an unexpected end.

Q. Particularly because you and Nico were outside the points. He finished about sixth, picking up about four places in the last few laps. Extraordinary race for you guys.

MS: Yeah, we obviously had a late decision converting from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy, which meant we had good tyres towards the end of the race, when other people either did a one or an early two-stop strategy and therefore struggled by the end because they had no tyres left.

Q. And all those points must be very welcome.

MS: Yeah, I guess it has changed my count a little bit, from the two points I had so far. They're more than welcome.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Fernando, an amazing victory but yesterday you sort of predicted what could happen today, when asked if you were sad or angry, you said 'well, the result is no good, there are two people who are challenging me for the leadership. Vettel and Hamilton are in front but we will have to wait until tomorrow.' You never know what can happen, and that happened.

FA: Yeah, it was another example of Fridays and Saturdays in Formula One, which are OK, are fun, are good to make some grid order in terms of performance of the car and it's good to check where you are exactly, but at the end of the day, Friday practice is one thing, when we all normally test different parts of the car, and then Saturday is OK, it's much better and easier to start on the first rows of the grid, for sure, to make a clean race, but until the chequered flag, anything can happen and until today at two o' clock we had quite a bad weekend and now we have had a very good weekend. It's something that we need to remember, always, that until the last lap in the race, we need to be positive and to trust in ourselves.

Q. (Jaime Rodriguez– El Mundo) Fernando, the last time that we saw you cry was in Abu Dhabi 2010. Now you have been crying again. Can you explain the atmosphere and the team's hard work over the past month?

FA: No, it was more for my own feelings and the people in the grandstands. I know it's not the best time in Spain at the moment, with the crisis and all the problems that people have. To come to a Grand Prix you have to make something extra to come here, so there are families who have made long trips to come here, they sleep in the car or in a caravan or whatever, they try to enjoy the race and yesterday... it's not that you feel sad, we didn't deliver what they were probably expecting, so today I think we paid back a little bit – only a little bit – the support that they gave us and all the problems that they are facing, all the worries that the Spanish people are facing at this time, together with the football team – yesterday we saw all the flags in the windows and on the street etc so there is some kind of pride in being Spanish right now with the sport: with Nadal, with the Spanish football team etc and I felt that I needed to do something and today is a very emotional day.

Q. (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, now you obviously believe in this title because of two impressive victories and some luck this year which you haven't had in other years. Do you believe in this title?

FA: I think we always need to be cautious and we always need to be honest with ourselves first and with our supporters, saying that we will fight, will work day and night to be competitive and to fight for the title which is the ultimate goal for Ferrari. Any championship in which we participate, the championship should be the target, regarding the history and the level of the team. But yesterday we were P11 and P13 so we need to work. It's true that we believe and we will never give up, we will have confidence in ourselves and we will arrive with optimism at every Grand Prix we go to, but at the same time, apart from winning today or finishing sixth today, we know that we are not in the position that we want to be and there are a few cars quicker than us and we cannot be blind to that. We need to work.

Q. (Flavio Vanetti – Il Corriere Della Sera) Michael, you were back on the podium, the first since you came back with Mercedes. Is the feeling what you imagined or is it something different now?

MS: I don't know what I mentioned or didn't mention but the point is that it is a beautiful feeling, not only being on the podium but the way it has happened. It was not at all expected. All weekend, I predicted this to be a difficult one for us and it started to be difficult yesterday in qualifying, mainly because of my own mistakes and to recover from where we are, getting to third position is just awesome. The team and myself have been criticised here and there, particularly lately, and this is the best way to answer criticism, to go back and deliver as we did today, and therefore I'm proud, thankful and very excited.

Q. (Frederic Ferret – L'Equipe) Michael, you said you will think about your future during the summer. Summer is beginning and you begin the summer with a podium. Does it change something for next year?

MS: I don't think I ever said any kind of time, neither did I say summer and if you may apologise, I have no further news on that matter, so give me the time that I need and we will see.

Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Michael, what did you feel when you were jumping on the podium and you saw two guys who were at Ferrari after you and you saw Stella (Andrea Stella, Alonso's race engineer who represented Ferrari on the podium) who was one of the…

MS: Yeah, well that's what we were joking about. Andrea is Fernando's engineer and used to be our engineer in the past and in a way it's the order. The current driver he works for is first, the second last was Kimi and I was the third last. It's a funny coincidence and it's great to see him up there. He's been doing a great job. I still remember those days and I'm happy for Fernando and the team to have achieved what they did today here and particularly the words that Fernando just said, I think everybody can feel with him and I'm just happy for them.

Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) The second question was about the difference between now and in the past. You criticised the tyres a little bit on Saturday, saying 'we can't exploit our potential.' Do you feel that your skill is penalised?

MS: Forgive me if we only think about the positive aspects of what happened today.

Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Fernando it was a complicated race, also for you coming from P11 to P1. When you look back at it, was there one key moment, was there one point where you can say 'if I hadn't done that, I would not have won this Grand Prix'?

FA: I think there are four or five moments in that race which changed our result. Probably the start and the first lap were very aggressive, nearly touched in the first corner, turn four I think I overtook two cars braking on the outside. That, for sure, maybe changed because we had Button… we were fighting in turn one, and then Button was like P14 or something like that. If you finish in his position, maybe the race is more difficult so we were lucky at that moment. We were lucky in some of the overtaking, I think, with Maldonado and with Webber and Michael as well, at the moment we went out of the pits. For sure, Grosjean overtaking me was very risky at the restart. We touched in the first two corners. After we touched each other I felt that the car was not very good. When you have a little contact with someone, for whatever reason you feel that the car is wrong for the next two corners, because you are so worried that something happened and that maybe you convince yourself that something has happened. But then one lap later the times were OK and the car was good. Those were the key moments of the race, plus the last stint, as I said, the tyres were finished so we had to control the tyre wear plus the pressure from Grosjean, the pressure from Hamilton, with Kimi at the end - not a single lap to relax, in a way.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Alonso, did the team tell you that Hamilton had an incident with Maldonado?

FA: They told me yellow flags in turn 12. There was a car on the outside and then I saw it was a McLaren.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Kimi, is it realistic to believe that if you had overtaken Hamilton before that you could attack Alonso?

KR: I would have overtaken if I could. I was not waiting for the last or second last lap. I just didn't have the speed. I just had to wait until he ran out of his tyres. Then I got the chance. I tried to get closer and closer but I was not fast enough earlier on, otherwise I would definitely have tried to overtake. But basically I let him past at the restart. After the bridge, I made a mistake and he got past me. It was my own mistake.

Q. (Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Fernando, given the roller-coaster of emotions, the fact that you've re-taken the World Championship lead, the tyres having gone off, the Spanish situation – how do you rate this victory in your 29 races that you've won to date?

FA: I think from the emotional side this is the best one. The emotions that I felt on the in lap, or during the podium ceremony or right now, I think doesn't compare to anything before. I confirm that this is the best feeling of victory by far, because the whole situation in Spain, as I said, and the grandstands, the weekend in general, how they support us. In terms of the race itself, or driving, probably they were a little better. We pushed, but as we said, these days races are decided by little factors and today we had retirements from Grosjean then from Vettel. We had the tyres, the safety car when we took the opportunity to stop as probably everybody did but we did a stop. I think there are maybe races like this year in Malaysia that I feel more proud of the driving itself.

Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi and Michael, about the championship, if you had to bet some money, would you put that money on Fernando or is there still some room for Vettel and Hamilton?

KR: I don't even know what the points are so it's a bit difficult to say. We've seen how quickly things can change this year. You only need one bad race and the guy wins so I wouldn't put money, probably use it for something else.

MS: Things change so quickly – maybe I put money on myself.

[LUKIE]

If we want to talk about stupid moves, let's talk about Jean-Eric Vergnes move on Kovalainen. That was the dumbest piece of racing I have seen in a long time. He just swerved straight into him at one of the fastest parts of the track. Idiot.

[Lineker]

Absolutely reprehensible. Hence the ten-place grid penalty mentioned in my previous post.

[Lineker]

Ferrari still cannot be satisfied with the job it is doing in Formula 1 this year, despite Fernando Alonso's sensational victory in the European Grand Prix that has helped him edge clear in the championship fight.

That is the view of Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, who believes the fact that the Valencia triumph owed more to his driver's stunning efforts to charge through the field than having a dominant car needs to be taken as a sign that things still need to improve at Maranello.

"The car is at another level from what we were seeing at the beginning of the season, but it is not yet the car that is the quickest," explained Domenicali, who saw Alonso become the first double winner of the 2012 campaign.

"In my view Red Bull, or the Red Bull that I have seen this weekend, is the quickest in terms of pure performance. In the race it was leading comfortably, the pace was very strong. That is something that we need to look at,

"We know what our target is at the end of November, so we know that, in my view, they did something very good this weekend, and they improved the car. They had problems with reliability, but we are not, in my view, at the level that we should be in terms of the performance.

"So we have a lot to do, but we are leading the championship and that is something that will be very helpful for the people at home to keep working with more creativity and ideas."

Red Bull Racing introduced a dramatic update to its RB8 in Valencia - with the car featuring a heavily revised sidepod, diffuser and rear suspension configuration.

Those improvements helped Sebastian Vettel take a dominant pole position, and seize control of the race before being forced out with an alternator problem.

Vettel's retirement left the way open for his rivals to take advantage, and it was Alonso's great efforts – which included a brave move past Romain Grosjean after a safety car restart – to take an emotional victory.

When Domenicali was asked if Alonso ever surprised him, he replied: "We know he is the number one driver. That's the reason why he is here with us.

"I am very happy for him because he had such a pressure. Certain feelings you have just watching the eyes of a man that you know. So I was really so happy from my heart to see him fight like this. And I am also happy for the team because they were working in terms of the right strategy and the right calls; this is the strength of our team.

"But as I said, we need to stay cool, calm. This victory is very important because our main rivals in the championship had some problems. Reliability is a key factor this year, and you need to score points every time."

Red Bull Racing says it takes some 'comfort' from the way in which Sebastian Vettel dominated the early stages of the European Grand Prix - even though he eventually failed to finish the race.

Vettel was in a class of his own in the opening part of the Valencia race, building up a comfortable cushion over the pack and looking set to become Formula 1's first double winner of 2012.

However, an alternator problem on his Renault engine forced him to retire - and handed title rival Fernando Alonso victory.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said that Vettel's race had shown how 'cruel' motor racing could be, but said the team would return to its Milton Keynes base reflecting on the positives of its weekend.

"It was very, very frustrating, but the comfort we must take out of Seb's performance was that he was in a class of his own today and he was in complete control," explained Horner.

"He had tremendous pace, and we leave Valencia knowing that we have a quick car. Mark [Webber] very much demonstrated that, with his recovery from 19th on the grid to fourth on the road."

Red Bull Racing delivered a host of upgrades to its car in Valencia, which played a part in allowing Vettel to be so quick over the weekend.

But despite the apparent scale of his advantage, Horner is unsure if it will be able to carry such an edge in to future races.

"I think we see form fluctuate circuit to circuit; but we have had three poles from the last three races and that is encouraging," he said. "We were in a commanding position here; tyre degradation looked very low and we were able to match that of our nearest rivals this weekend; so on that side it has been positive.

"Obviously it was very disappointing to have a DNF. I think it was the first mechanical retirement we have had since 2010, so that is disappointing. But together with Renault I am sure we will learn from it and hopefully we will not see a repeat."

Although disappointed to have seen 25 points slip through the team's grasp, Horner reckons that championship leader Alonso will probably also suffer some misfortune this campaign for the Valencia result not to be the crucial factor in the title battle.

"It is a long championship. Fernando has done a tremendous job, he has scored in every single race but statistics say that he has to have one bad weekend in 20. It will hopefully balance itself out over the course of the season.

"Sure it was disappointing to retire from a lead like that, but others had difficult days as well. Lewis did not finish, and we have extended our lead in the Constructors' Championship by a further eight points.

"So we leave Valencia with a positive weekend on a whole despite not achieving the maximum points we deserved today."

Lotus boss Eric Boullier thinks there is no reason for his team to feel disappointed that its drivers did not have the pace to win the European Grand Prix - despite its high hopes before the race.

The Enstone-based outfit had gone in to the weekend as favourites to deliver an eighth different victor in F1 this season, and its best qualifying performance lifted hopes it could achieve that target.

But in the race, Romain Grosjean struggled to match the pace of leader Sebastian Vettel before both men retired, and later on Kimi Raikkonen lost time trying to get past the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton - leaving eventual winner Fernando Alonso clear at the front.

Raikkonen still managed to finish second though and Boullier said that ultimately he thinks the weekend was a positive one for his team.

"You cannot be disappointed with the pace," he told AUTOSPORT. "Everybody has improved their car, so everybody is improving their pace as well. I think it was a good outcome from the weekend.

"We were able to qualify better, and ignoring retirements we had the pace fast enough to have both our cars in the top five in the final result.

"It was disappointing that Romain could not finish the race, because he had a good start, a good qualifying and a good race - but all in all it is very positive."

Raikkonen's podium finish has helped Lotus hold on to its third place in the Constructors' Championship – albeit Ferrari has closed down its deficit - and Boullier thinks there remains plenty of opportunities for it to score victories this year.

"We need to keep pushing to do a very nice result because we can do it," he said. "It is good to be a regular podium finisher - and it is good for the team that we have recovered the ground we lost last year.

"I am disappointed for Romain and disappointed that there were some big points that we missed, but in the end McLaren and Red Bull did not score as much as they wanted. Okay now Ferrari is chasing us, but that is good."

McLaren thinks its failure to fight for victory in the European Grand Prix was purely down to its handling of tyres over the Valencia weekend.

Before Hamilton's late exit from the race put paid to his chances of scoring any points, the Briton had been unable to do anything to stop early leader Sebastian Vettel, or eventual race winner Fernando Alonso, extending their leads.

That performance has left the team mindful about just how much it needs to keep bringing performance to its car - especially in light of Red Bull Racing's aggressive Valencia update – but team principal Martin Whitmarsh thinks that the ultimate speed of its car did not explain what happened in the race.

"It was a bad day in the office and I think we really struggled with the tyres," he explained. "The inherent pace was where you were on your tyres.

"Lewis struggled on the first set and was better on the prime in truth, but ultimately it went away – and that could have happened to Sebastian as well, I don't know.

"When your competitors are showing that sort of pace it is always a concern, but I think we know well this year that what determines the underlying pace of the cars is quite challenging and quite difficult.

"We have to keep pushing. It is a tough old motor racing season this one and this race wasn't helpful, but we will keep pushing and see what we need to do."

McLaren is heading to the next race on the calendar, the British GP, well aware that its car should be better suited to the high-speed swoops of Silverstone, and Whitmarsh sees no reason why it cannot respond in the right manner.

"This championship is just wide open," he said. "Mark Webber is up there as well now, and I don't think anyone was going to predict that at the beginning of the weekend.

"You have to score the points and keep at it. So we have to develop the car, master the tyres, understand them, and keep them in good condition. That is very difficult as we saw here.

"It was a difficult day, and frustrating in many ways, but there is a long old championship ahead and there is no reason why we cannot turn that fortune at Silverstone. That is what we have to do."

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh believes Lewis Hamilton should have been more cautious in handling his battle with Pastor Maldonado in the closing stages of the European Grand Prix.

Hamilton crashed out of the Valencia event after a clash with the Venezuelan driver as they battled for third on the penultimate lap - losing him vital points in the world championship standings.

Although the stewards said that Maldonado was to blame for the incident, and handed him a 20-second time penalty in lieu of a drive-hrough for what happened, that brought little consolation to Hamilton or his McLaren team.

But judging by the difficulties that Hamilton was having at the time of the incident with his tyres, and knowing how aggressive Maldonado is as a driver, Whitmarsh suspects that his man would have been better off giving his rival more room than other rivals he had fought with earlier in the event.

When asked if he thought Hamilton should have defended so hard, Whitmarsh said: "Clearly not, but you are dragging me into the conversation.

"In my mind, you saw him defend with [Romain] Grosjean and with [Kimi] Raikkonen, and he didn't do anything different with Maldonado. It was a different outcome, but he didn't do anything different with those drivers.

"My own view is that it was Maldonado's fault, and it is deeply frustrating – but he is a racing driver and that is it. I am sure in hindsight you have to say that dealing with someone like that you have to take a different approach, but you cannot anticipate it."

Nico Rosberg believes it was wrong for him to try to go for a one-stop strategy in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

The German was one of a few drivers who started the race with the idea of pitting just once, but the high tyre degradation made it impossible and Rosberg dropped down the order.

Eventually, Mercedes decided to call him in to put new tyres on near the end of the race, and Rosberg charged back to sixth position setting the race's fastest lap in the process.

"The first lap didn't go to plan and I just lost a lot of places, so that was really not ideal," said Rosberg in a video blog after the race. "But still, we had planned a one stop (strategy) so I was still very hopeful and I thought it could go really well.

"But it became quite clear soon that one stop wasn't going to work.

"There was no way. We were miles off. Then the safety car came at the absolute wrong time for me. Restarting after the safety car I had really worn tyres and I couldn't get the temperature back again, and I lost a lot of places.

"In the end it was a great strategy call from the team to call me in and put some new options on because then I was flying and I made up a lot of positions. In two laps I took like four or five guys and finished sixth, which is a decent result in the end."

Despite his disappointing race, Rosberg is still convinced Mercedes has the car to win again this year following his maiden victory in China.

"I want to win a race again soon and we have the car to do it, so we are pushing for that," he said.

And the German said he believes that Formula 1's current mixed up nature is great for fans and drivers after yet another thrilling race, despite criticism from some quarters that the sport is too random at the moment.

"I'm sure it was a spectacular race with so much happening," he said. "A lot of people are saying F1 is too random, but I think it's great. Great for racing, and the same people are still winning.

"The picture is becoming clearer on who is going to be favourite for the championship, so I think it's not completely random. It's just very exciting."

[Lineker]

Formula 1's incredibly tight fight at the head of the field has left its main contenders admitting that there is now no point in trying to make predictions about how the remainder of the season is going to pan out.

Fernando Alonso became F1's first double-winner of 2012 with a great victory in the European Grand Prix in Valencia on a weekend when many had expected Lotus to be the team to beat.

But with form appearing to be so variable, and a number of teams all making good of opportunities that have come their way, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says that everyone is now changing their approach to the campaign.

"It is very, very difficult," he explained. "Everyone has given up predicting this season, so we have to accept that you have to turn up at each event and do the best job you can. That is what we will seek to do at Silverstone."

Red Bull Racing says that even it cannot take for granted that the improvements to its car that helped Sebastian Vettel dominate the Valencia weekend before his retirement will allow it to repeat that form at any future races.

Vettel made full use of a heavily revised RB8 at the European Grand Prix to take pole position by four tenths and then run comfortably clear at the head of the field before he was forced out with an alternator failure.

But team principal Christian Horner says that with things impossible to predict, the outfit needs to be on its toes to ensure that it has done everything it can to improve performance.

"Silverstone is a completely different nature to this track, and it will probably be wet," he said.

"I think the car is pretty strong in most conditions now, so we just need to keep pushing and keep trying to put performance on the car.

"Hopefully we can be strong at Silverstone, but Fernando was quick there last year, particularly in the second half of the race. We are not halfway through this championship yet and it already feels that we have done an awful lot of racing up until this point."

McLaren has no doubts it is on the right path with its pitstop performances in 2012, even though a problem in the Valencia pits overshadowed the team's delivery of the fastest Formula 1 pitstop in history earlier in the day.

After much focus on the team's performances in the pits this year, the McLaren pit crew completed a 2.6-second stop at Lewis Hamilton's first stop in Valencia to set a new benchmark in F1.

However, that achievement was followed shortly afterwards by Hamilton losing time at his second stop when the front jack failed after its release mechanism was triggered by the car hitting it.

Although that latter problem was a disappointment - and the team will implement equipment modifications for the next race at Silverstone - McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael says the timing data shows that the crew are doing a better job than the critics suggest.

"The guys are ignoring all the criticism, because they know they are good and we already had the fastest stationary time in Montreal before the Valencia performance," Michael told AUTOSPORT.

"The job they are doing at the moment is spot on, and I have felt it coming for the last two or three races. We've done a lot of work internally on the procedures and equipment, and we've been pushing them on a lot.

"And now we are in a world where we are dealing with milliseconds, rather than tenths. It is as competitive as the aero game now."

AUTOSPORT understands that the time to 'green' - the moment the driver is signalled to go - for Hamilton's first stop in Valencia was just 2.32s. This was 0.11s quicker that what is believed to have been the previous benchmark set by Mercedes in Korea last year for Michael Schumacher's first stop.

But despite the pit crew delivering the record time in Valencia, Michael says the target still remains being consistent – and ensuring that every stop is good.

"It has always been like that, but it just so happens that we have managed to get more pace than our original target," he said. "Our target is not to do a 2.3s stop before the driver reacts – it is to be sub three-second on average. If you look at the areas where we have had mistakes and issues in recent races, they are no longer because we are pushing to try and improve time."

McLaren will have to restructure its pit crew for the British Grand Prix after the right-hand rear gunner cut himself on a wing endplate during the Valencia stops. He will be replaced for the Silverstone weekend.

Force India team boss Vijay Mallya says his squad's Valencia performance proves it is still capable of finishing fifth in the 2012 Formula 1 constructors' championship despite its low-key start to the year.

While Force India's regular 2011 rivals Sauber, Williams and Lotus have all had moments of headline-grabbing success this year, the Silverstone-based squad is yet to make it onto the podium.

But Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta's fifth and seventh places in the European Grand Prix brought Force India to within one point of seventh-placed Williams in the teams' battle.

"We are only one point shy of Williams right now and 16 points away from Sauber, who have had podium finishes. So we are getting there," Mallya told the official F1 website.

"We are definitely on target. I want to finish fifth in the constructors' championship this year and - fingers crossed - it looks like we're getting there."

Current fifth-placed team Mercedes is 48 points ahead of Force India at present.

Mallya is certain that Force India's Valencia form is sustainable, as he reckons the team could have produced the same performance two weeks earlier in Canada had it handled the tyres better.

"Speaking frankly, we should have had the same or a similar result in Canada. But there we completely miscalculated the tyre behaviour," he said.

"We ran the tyres too hot and subsequent analysis confirmed that this was a mistake on our part. We all agreed that it was a mistake and without it we would have left Montreal with a better result, possibly even a double points finish. But that is Formula 1. There is always an element of unpredictability.

"We now have our sights set on Silverstone and we go there with a great deal of confidence, knowing that our car is competitive."

Asked what result he was aiming for in Britain, Mallya replied: "We want to be on the podium. I think we're close to it now."

Formula 1's young driver test at Silverstone is now set to go ahead in the week after the British Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT has learned, but it now may only involve three teams over two days.

There has been much uncertainty about the future of the test after track bosses said they were unable to make the circuit available because of constraints laid down in its contract with Formula One Management.

Discussions have taken place over the past two grands prix to try and resolve the matter, and it now appears that at least three teams - believed to include Marussia, HRT and Williams – are now planning to run on the Thursday and Friday after the British GP. This has been made possible because of revisions made to a Formula Student event that is taking place that weekend.

Talks are ongoing to try and make the Wednesday available as well, which could entice other teams to elect to join the test too.

While the Silverstone affair has no impact on teams like Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso and McLaren that were originally planning to test in Abu Dhabi anyway, other outfits are also now considering switching their young driver test plans to the end of the season.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier told AUTOSPORT: "To be honest I am getting lost myself in all this mess. We will go to Abu Dhabi like most of the other teams.

"So far I have not received any guarantees that the [silverstone] test will happen even for two days so we will not exchange a three-day test for a one-day test definitely. If there is a two-day test we may consider our position, but I think we are now in favour of the Abu Dhabi three-day test."

Ferrari is believed to prefer that a young driver test takes place at Jerez in December, to avoid unnecessary strains being put on personnel by slotting in a test during the end of season flyaway races.

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Gerhard Gribkowsky, the banker at the centre of the corruption case relating to the sale of Formula 1, has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison by a Munich court.

Gribkowsky was convicted of tax evasion, bribery and breach of fiduciary trust. In his role as chief risk officer for German bank BayernLB, Gribkowsky had been involved in the sale of the bank's stake in F1 to CVC.

During the trial, Gribkowsky alleged that F1 commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone paid him 45 million euros in bribes to smooth the CVC sale.

Ecclestone admitted making payments to Gribkowsky, but said he did so because he had been threatened with blackmail.

Force India team owner Vijay Mallya has called for Formula 1's teams to agree on the framework for a Resource Restriction Agreement in order to safeguard the future of the sport.

Discussions between the teams continued over the weekend to agree on cost-cutting measures with the FIA, with the sport currently going through a period of consultation aimed at keeping finances in check.

The sport's governing body announced after the recent World Motor Sport Council meeting that it hoped to finalise the implementation of cost-control measures for 2013 by the end of June - including an FIA-regulated RRA.

"I think that the RRA is something that everybody agrees to, in principal," Mallya said in an interview on the official F1 website. "The concept of the RRA is a must-have if F1 is to survive in the long term.

"Even when FOTA was together – and active – all the teams agreed with the concept of resource restriction," added the Indian billionaire. "In fact I would go one step further and say that the RRA was one of the reasons why FOTA was created.

"And then one by one, teams went in their own directions so we never had the chance to agree."

Mallya, whose team scored it's highest one-race points haul in Valencia (16) with Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta finishing fifth and seventh respectively, reckoned that as well as controlling costs, an RRA would go some way to ensuring that mid-budget teams would be able to continue challenge the big teams – as has been the case for much of 2012.

"It also must provide a level playing field," he said. "Look at the amount of excitement this season. We have had seven winners and only one repeat victor, which is fantastic. The big four teams are dropping down and the midfield teams are getting on the podium.

"For fans across the world this is fantastic compared to a predictable season where one team or one driver is always winning. A level playing field will ensure this tendency stays. So resource restriction is important and the FIA has now taken it upon itself to create regulations aimed at restricting resources.

"At the last World Council meeting it was agreed that we will have a fax vote at the end of June. We at Force India are completely committed to the concept."

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael believes Formula 1's 2012 development war will be the fiercest ever as the incredible closeness of the field forces teams to push for tiny gains that might not have been considered worthwhile in less competitive seasons.

The 2012 F1 season has so far seen seven different winners from five different teams in its first eight races, and reached new heights of competitiveness in Valencia where just 0.3 seconds covered the top 13 cars in Q2.

Michael reckons that with the potential for an improvement worth just a few thousandths of a second to transform a team's qualifying result, the pressure on development will reach a new intensity.

"There's a lot of development still to come and that's going to be the story of the rest of the year," he said. "Every team is going to be bringing it, including us, more and more over the next few races.

"The development rate this year is going to be really fierce. Because in the past there have been things that maybe for half a tenth, you would have lumped it for something else. But 50 milliseconds is one place, so you are going to be bringing gains that are tinier and tinier.

"It would be interesting to look at what the top 10 to 15 is like from the start of the year because it feels like it is getting tighter and tighter."

He feels this is leading to a fundamental change to teams' development priorities.

"The funny thing is that it probably puts more onus on mechanical items because the aero stuff comes no matter what," Michael suggested. "Everyone's aero programmes are massive and they are developing the car aerodynamically.

"Normally the things that are compromised in the short term for aero are mechanical items because you look at something [mechanical] and it's only worth a tenth whereas you can get two and a half or three tenths from aero, but it won't be like that now. It puts the onus on mechanical items.

"Aero is still key, aero is first order, but it just means that you've got to find time to do the rest of it."

Michael added that this focus on time gains from fine detail was also influencing teams' approach to pitstop improvements.

"It's why things like pitstops get a lot of focus because they are differentiators now," he said. "If you dropped a second on a pitstop previously, it didn't matter did it because the gaps were so big you had covered them because car performance was dominant.

"So every tiny little thing is becoming important and it's becoming a very well-refined show. To make a mistake, and it's no different for McLaren, if we make a mistake we pay for it and I guess that's why we put a lot of focus on not making mistakes. The year is going to be about that."

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has warned his team against complacency in the wake of Fernando Alonso's European Grand Prix victory - saying the pace of Red Bull in Valencia should "worry" his squad.

Last weekend Alonso came through from 11th on the grid to become the first man to claim a second race win in the ultra-competitive 2012 Formula 1 season, in the process pulling out a 20-point world championship lead.

But Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had been dominating before the mid-race safety car and his later alternator problem, and in an address to Ferrari personnel at its Maranello base, di Montezemolo said he feared a run of difficult races ahead.

"I am worried and all of us should be," he said. "Yes, I am worried, because I expect three very tough races at Silverstone, Hockenheim and Budapest and because we have seen that Red Bull is very strong, having had four tenths in hand over everyone in qualifying and in the race it was flying away, at least until the safety car. If we want to achieve our goals then we must make a step forward."

Although Ferrari has made great progress since its troubled winter testing period, di Montezemolo echoed team boss Stefano Domenicali's belief that it needs to find more space to defend its championship position.

"Now we must ensure we do everything as well as possible because winning depends solely and exclusively on us," he said. "It would be a big mistake to think the win in Valencia means we have done enough: today we have a competitive car, but to win, we must do even more."

He added: "I don't want outsiders to think that one win is enough for us to put on a fireworks display. I know how much you are working, how many sacrifices have been made, but I am the first to know that that all of us, without exception, must still give something more."

Di Montezemolo paid tribute to Domenicali's handling of the criticism Ferrari faced during its difficult start to 2012.

"Stefano Domenicali has never shirked his responsibilities, even acting as a lightning conductor for all the criticism, protecting his people, while at the same time knowing how to demand the maximum effort, how to build a team and look to the future in a positive way and with the right sense of realism," he said.

Michael Schumacher has been tipped to deliver more podium finishes by his Mercedes team bosses, but they insist his Valencia achievement does not change the timetable for sorting out his future.

The seven-time champion turned the corner on a frustrating run of reliability problems this season to charge through the field in the European Grand Prix and finish behind race-winner Fernando Alonso and runner-up Kimi Raikkonen.

It was the first time that Schumacher has finished on the podium since he returned to F1 at the start of 2010, and Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug reckoned that the result was vital going forward.

"It is important and more podiums will come when we give him the car he needs in terms of speed and reliability," Haug said in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT.

"His lack of results this season are not down to the driver, and in fairness to him he could have definitely had in excess of 60 or 70 points if we would not have had technical issues - which would have been good for him and good for us in the constructors' championship. We did not get it because we got it wrong.

"But I think we have the right to push, and if you push you are more in the risk zone than if you are slower and reliable. So in the third year we are still learning. But considering we have quite a limited budget compared to the others, all in all the job we have done and the direction is good."

Schumacher had scored just two points this season before the European GP, having seen good results in Australia, China and Monaco slip from his grasp through no fault of his own.

Yet with his growing competitiveness pointing towards him electing to sign a new contract with Mercedes, Haug says that plans to wait a while before sorting matters out are unchanged.

When asked if the podium altered the timetable for sorting out the future, Haug said: "No, not really. It is a separate story and we will talk later about it with him.

"We should not be described as being over the moon, but scoring 23 points in Valencia [with Schumacher and Nico Rosberg] is a good result."

He added: "Michael is a great sportsman, and this is even more demonstrated in his second career that he is really open, and open to critical questions. He is a really balanced guy, and a guy who everybody who could look up to because he did not criticise us, did not make any public noises, and he was genuinely pleased in Valencia.

"He could have said: 'I won 91 races, why should I be happy?' But he was genuinely pleased and it was wrong to say it was inherited. With one lap to go he was fifth, but I can tell you a lot of stories where he was fifth and things went against him. What we could see in Valencia was that the genuine speed was there."

Williams's chief operations engineer Mark Gillan says the team's return to podium contention in Valencia was more due to maximising its potential than any development breakthrough.

After ending its victory drought with Pastor Maldonado's Spanish Grand Prix triumph, Williams had tough races in Monaco and Canada - scoring just one point from Bruno Senna's Monte Carlo 10th place.

But in Valencia, Maldonado qualified third and was battling for the same position at the end of the race when he collided with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

"We were frustrated the last couple of events. We had seen through the running that we had been quick, but we never actually got to demonstrate it," said Gillan.

Although Williams brought new parts to Valencia, Gillan said getting the set-up right had been the biggest breakthrough.

"The upgrades are important but it's the balance that has been crucial," said Gillan. "You get a base lap-time, which goes up with how good your base car is, but it's all about getting the balance. Not just the mechanical, the whole balance of the car in the operating window for the tyres.

"In upgrades there may be a tenth or two tenths, but between the tyre working and not working there's multiple tenths. So it is very important. And it's so tight. You saw in Q2 how ridiculously small the gaps are. Two tenths puts you up 10 places."

Gillan said that while Williams was pleased to have turned its form around after several challenging seasons, it was frustrating not to deliver more consistently.

"What's really pleasing from our side is the changes that we made from last year to this year, the evolution or performance of the whole team operation," he said.

"It's very pleasing to be performing well, but we need to do it on a regular basis. We had a very good result in Barcelona, then we had two disappointing results. What was more disappointing was that we knew we could have been better.

"It's a whole team thing. It's strategy, set-up, management, the understanding and the analysis is all very important.

"It's a really interesting year because everybody in the team, including the driver, can make a big impact."

Williams team founder Sir Frank Williams says he opposes any method of 'invasive' cost controls in Formula 1, while pushing for restrictions on driver salaries.

Amid ongoing discussions over the future of F1 spending control, Williams said he did not want to see teams' finances 'interfered' with.

"I am against any kind of interference. I don't want any third-party interference with one's business, to have people sneaking around wanting to check this and that. It's just like waiting for the taxman every day," he told the official F1 website.

"Williams is not pleading for more restrictions. But I have said many times that we have to control driver costs."

He feels people should accept that an element of financial inequality is inherent in F1.

"There are 12 teams and each operates in different circumstances," said Williams. "We have several manufacturer teams. One of them is Ferrari, who seem to have a great deal of money and who are in effect subsidised. But that is fine - they are Ferrari. They are the core of Formula 1 and that is how it should be.

"That is fine with me. Take me, there are so many men in the paddock who have more hair than me and it has always pissed me off, but I live with it! You learn to get on with it."

Williams added: "Well, I am not a unique person, but I know for sure that millions of men would almost kill to be in Formula 1. I am exaggerating, but Formula 1 is so attractive that just to be there and be part of it, people would accept far more disadvantages than being at the far end of the grid."

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So, a little tv segment has spiralled into all this! A London GP???

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he would consider throwing financial weight behind any attempt to stage a grand prix in London in the future - ahead of a promotional event by sponsor Santander on Thursday evening to unveil its idea for a track around the city.

Just a week after it was revealed that one option being considered for the London Olympic stadium is to turn it in to a grand prix venue, Ecclestone has reiterated his belief that the British capital is the perfect venue to hold an F1 race.

Santander is ramping up interest in the British Grand Prix, which it is title sponsor of, by hosting an event that will reveal how a grand prix in London could look – having commissioned a proper evaluation of a potential venue and commissioning a CGI film of how the race would appear on television.

The plans will suggest a three-mile route around some of London's famous landmarks which could play host to more than 120,000 spectators.

Although it is not thought that there has been any serious discussion about turning the idea in to reality, Ecclestone has suggested that he thinks it makes financial sense – and would be willing to fund it himself.

"With the way things are, maybe we would front it and put the money up for it," he told The Times newspaper. "If we got the okay and everything was fine, I think we could do that.

"Think what it would do for tourism. It would be fantastic, good for London, good for England – a lot better than the Olympics."

Any future grand prix in London would have to be in addition to the British GP, as Silverstone has a long-term deal in place.

Lewis Hamilton believes Britain would be justified in holding two Formula 1 races in the future if ever plans for a London GP took off.

With McLaren sponsor Santander unveiling its vision for a potential track around London at an event on Thursday, Hamilton said a possible race around the capital city would not be out of the question as an extra event alongside Silverstone.

"Some other countries have two races like Spain and Germany, and arguably the UK makes an enormous contribution to F1, so I reckon that would be completely justified," he said. "Silverstone is more than just my home race; it is a giant of a circuit, a real racer's track. The idea of a London race presents a completely different possibility and it would be great to reward our home fans with two races, wouldn't it?"

The Santander circuit, which has been created as a CGI video, takes in many of London's famous landmarks including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. The start/finish straight and the pits would be on the Mall.

Jenson Button believes that if an event could ever be put on it could help cement London's place as a sporting capital.

"There have been times when I've been sitting in the back of a black taxi and idly thought to myself, 'This would make a pretty good corner on a racetrack.'" He explained.

"If we ever could have a London Grand Prix, I think it would be spectacular and would be such a great addition to the city's status as one of the world's greatest sporting capitals.

"We did an F1 street demonstration on Regent Street a few years ago, and half a million people came out to watch - I remember the sight of thousands of people on rooftops and balconies on every storey of every building along the route.

"There's a mammoth following for Formula 1 in the UK and a race in the city would be at the heart of everything, easily reachable by public transport. It would be a fantastic race for the drivers and the fans alike."

Timo Glock will be fit to return to action for Marussia at the British Grand Prix, after he was forced to withdraw from the European GP on medical grounds last weekend.

The German driver suffered from an intestinal infection in Valencia and, after skipping qualifying to try and help him get fit for the race, he had to miss the grand prix too.

After returning home to recuperate, Glock is hoping to be able to resume full training later this week - and will be ready to drive again at next month's British Grand Prix.

"Generally I am feeling well again," said Glock, in a statement issued by his management team. "I still feel a bit weak at the knees, but otherwise I am okay.

"It was obviously a pity that I was forced to miss the race in Valencia, but that is the way it goes sometimes. You cannot just ignore such physical signs. I am on my way to a full recovery, and although it will be a few more days before I am allowed to train again."

He added: "I am now looking forward to the upcoming weeks. Included on the programme is my home race with my Marussia F1 Team, which means it will be a busy and demanding period with lots of events and activities. However, by then I should be totally fit again."

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says he cannot rule out German authorities taking further action against him over the Gerhard Gribkowsky affair - even though he insists he did nothing wrong.

Gribkowsky was jailed for more than eight years on Wednesday for taking £28 million in bribes during the sale of F1 – with Ecclestone implicated as a 'driving force' in the matter.

No charges have been levelled at Ecclestone, however, who told the courts that instead he was the victim of coercion by Gribkowsky.

Although Gribkowsky confessed to the courts last week that he had been bribed, Ecclestone has stood by his claims – and reckons there is no reason why he should be investigated further.

"They based their decisions on what he told them. I told them the truth," Ecclestone was quoted as saying by Reuters. "I think Mr Gribkowsky told them what he thought he had to tell them. I don't think I should [face further action] but you don't know, do you?"

Britain's tax authorities have been in contact with Ecclestone as a result of the matter too.

Speaking about that, Ecclestone said: "After all this, I'd have been surprised if they didn't contact me."

Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean's retirements from the European Grand Prix were both caused by an overheating alternator, engine supplier Renault has confirmed, but the French car manufacturer is still uncertain about why the parts got too hot in the first place.

Renault has conducted a detailed examination of the Red Bull Racing and Lotus engines that failed in Valencia, and its conclusion points to the overheating parts cutting the electrical supply to the power units and forcing both drivers out.

But despite knowing what caused the engines to shut down, Renault is conducting further tests this week to work out why the overheating issue reared its head in the first place.

Renault Sport F1 deputy managing director Rob White said: "We've checked over the parts thoroughly now and it seems that there were no obvious reasons for the failure, so we are conducting further tests on the dyno at Viry to replicate conditions and double checking the findings."

White said that investigations had concluded that the failures were not related to the mid-race safety car period - and in fact Vettel's engine actually lasted longer than it would have done because it had a few laps running slower than normal.

"We had evidence that the alternator on Sebastian's car was showing signs of overheating before the safety car period, but the slower speeds prolonged its life expectancy slightly," he said.

"Of course, when Sebastian went back up to racing speed the problem stepped up again and the result is now well known. With Romain's car, the problem occurred very suddenly some laps after the safety car had been withdrawn."

Renault plans to implement some changes to the alternators for the next race at Silverstone, as well as using another supply batch in case that was a factor in the problem.

"We are looking at several solutions," explained White. "The first is to use another batch of alternators for Silverstone across all our clients, or a slightly modified design.

"We are also looking at returning to an older specification of alternator from 2011. Then we are working across all our partner teams to potentially introduce some mechanical and cooling solutions, or changing a few settings on acceleration maps so the running is less severe.

"All of these will be in evaluated between now and Silverstone, plus we will also look at everything after Friday running and see what additional measures we may need to take."

Formula 1 teams must not be rushed into agreeing cost-cutting changes simply for the sake of it - despite a deadline looming in the next 48 hours to get new regulations in place for the start of 2013.

That is the view of Lotus team principal and FOTA vice-chairman Eric Boullier, who thinks more damage than good will be done if teams are too hasty in coming up with plans that do not work.

The FIA has laid down a June 30 deadline for agreement on a raft of rule changes – including further restrictions on testing, new personnel limits and the governing body getting involved in the policing of a Resource Restriction Agreement.

Although Boullier is encouraged by the fact that all the sport's major players are intent of pushing through cost cuts, he is also wary that bad decisions now could be damaging.

"It is good that everybody in the paddock understands that we need to be thinking carefully about the future of F1," he told AUTOSPORT. "But we definitely need to take the right decision, and we definitely do not need to rush into a decision that we might regret.

"We made some decisions already in the past which cost us money now; and may cost us more money in the future. So we need to make sure that we go the right way and don't rush."

The June 30 deadline is important because it is the last date by which rule changes can be made for 2013 without the need for unanimous approval from the teams.

Currently, Red Bull and Toro Rosso are not in line with other teams over the scope of the RRA – meaning that either could block any changes for 2013if matters are not sorted before July 1.

Boullier is well aware of the importance of a swift resolution to the matter, but thinks that the speed by which the matter needs to be resolved should not be viewed as more important than doing the right thing.

"There is the June 30 limit in terms of the voting system, but it is not because we have to close the debate in a few days. It's that we have to take a decision that has not been carefully thought through," he said.

"We are all in favour of making F1 better, more sustainable and having a long term plan. Cost-cutting is part of the strategy, but we need to do it consciously."

Frank Williams, Ross Brawn, Pastor Maldonado and Martin Whitmarsh are among the guests who are now confirmed for next week's FOTA Fans' Forum at the Williams factory.

The event, which takes place at the Conference Centre at Grove on Tuesday, will also feature appearances on a 'Legends' Panel' with Patrick Head and John Watson in attendance.

The FOTA Fans' events offer a chance for followers of the sport to ask question to some of F1's biggest names - with those lucky enough to get tickets for the Williams event being given the added bonus of being able to view the team's famous museum as well.

Maldonado and Williams will be interviewed on stage, before the panel of team bosses discuss F1 matters with fans.

FOTA has already held events in London, Woking, Montreal, Milan and New York - with further forums scheduled for later this year too.

Only a few tickets are still available for next week's event, with details of how to apply for a place available on the FOTA website.

[Lineker]

Lewis Hamilton says his late-race incident with Pastor Maldonado in Valencia will not have any impact on how he goes racing in next weekend's British Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver was trying to fend off Maldonado's Williams as his tyres faded in the closing laps of the European GP in an incident that left Hamilton in the barriers and resulted in a penalty for Maldonado.

After the race Maldonado suggested that Hamilton should not have fought so hard given his tyre situation, while McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh intimated that Hamilton should have made more allowances for Maldonado's aggressive reputation.

"I am sure in hindsight you have to say that dealing with someone like that you have to take a different approach, but you cannot anticipate it," Whitmarsh said.

But Hamilton said that while losing a podium in those circumstances in Valencia was disappointing, it did not leave him feeling he should do anything different.

"Sometimes you have to accept when things don't go your way in racing," he said.

"Obviously it was frustrating to lose out so close to the finish, but that's motor racing: you put it behind you and move on to the next race - which, happily for me, is at my home circuit of Silverstone.

"It doesn't really alter the way I go racing because I race to win, and that's what I'll be doing, especially at my home grand prix."

The 2008 Silverstone winner said he was as determined as ever to provide another home triumph for the British fans.

"I know we can count on the fans to bring a totally unique atmosphere," said Hamilton. "We're going to give it everything we've got, put on a great show.

"This is an incredible summer of sport for Britain and I want to play my small part in bringing some joy to fans. I will be doing everything possible to get a win for my country on home soil."

Jenson Button is optimistic that he can prove he is fully back on form in next weekend's British Grand Prix, as he reckons circumstances in Valencia masked his progress.

The McLaren driver has struggled for pace since April's Chinese GP, but felt he made a breakthrough in Spain last weekend, although a tyre issue in qualifying and the way the race and strategies unfolded left him a low-key eighth at the finish.

"We've been making progress in a lot of areas and while I wasn't able to show that in terms of the result at Valencia - mainly because I got boxed in at the start, then wasn't very lucky with the safety car – our strategy was fine and the car improved throughout the race," said Button.

The 13-time grand prix winner and 2009 world champion has never finished on the podium in his home race, but said that did not diminish his excitement about racing at Silverstone.

"I always enjoy racing at home because the atmosphere is unbeatable, and while the race itself hasn't always been too kind to me, I come here every year knowing I can count on the support of the many thousands of fans," Button said.

Although Button is upbeat about his British GP chances, McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh was unwilling to make a firm prediction about Silverstone form given this season's fluctuations so far.

"We have to keep an open mind from the minute we arrive to the moment the chequered flag is unfurled," said Whitmarsh.

"The team that best manages the performance delta of the tyres is the one best placed to win, and to do that you have to take every opportunity to gather data and learn from it quickly and effectively. Today, grands prix are no longer sprint races that are won or lost on the first lap.

"While that means hard work for us and for our rivals, it is excellent news for the fans in the grandstands and for those watching at home. It means excitement from beginning to end, and that is what Formula 1 must continue to offer."

Michael Schumacher says he goes into next weekend's British Grand Prix open-minded about his and Mercedes' prospects of success at Silverstone.

Although the seven-time Formula 1 world champion returned to the podium for the first time in his comeback in Valencia last weekend, Schumacher says that with 2012 form so unpredictable he is not assuming that the breakthrough European GP result will mean he is a top-three contender in Britain too.

"I have many contrasting memories of this circuit; good, not so good and some that are even a little strange... as for how things will go this year, I'd prefer to wait and see," said the three-time British GP winner.

"We have already seen plenty of races this year that turned out differently to the expectations before the weekend.

"Of course, we want to take the momentum from our result in Valencia and put on a good show in Silverstone, especially because this is one of our home races. It goes without saying that we want to give everybody in Brackley and Brixworth a result to be proud of this weekend."

Team boss Ross Brawn said Mercedes had been buoyed by Valencia after Schumacher's problems and misfortune earlier in the season.

"Our successful weekend in Valencia has provided a further boost to the team, with a lot of hard work continuing at the factories to further improve our performance, and we look forward to having another strong weekend at Silverstone," he said.

Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he is increasingly frustrated at still being winless eight races into his Formula 1 comeback as his and Lotus's strong form has raised his expectations.

The 2007 world champion, back in F1 in 2012 after a two-year sojourn in the World Rally Championship, is sixth in the points at present and has taken three podium finishes.

Raikkonen said that while he would have been delighted at the prospect of those results before he rejoined F1, the fact that he feels better results have got away is leaving him discontented.

"If you asked me before the start of the season whether I would be happy with podiums I would have said yes, but now I've had some good results, I want more," he said.

"In the last few races the results haven't been as strong as I've wanted. We've finished well but I'm disappointed not to have a win yet.

"We just have to get everything together and I'm sure it can come."

The Finn finished second in the European Grand Prix last weekend, but did not think it was one of his stronger grands prix.

"I think we've been closer to the win at other tracks, but if we see everything going right for us over a race weekend we're not far off," said Raikkonen. "We're certainly getting there."

He added that it would be particularly pleasing if his first triumph with Lotus came at Silverstone next weekend.

"When you win in Silverstone, it gives such a good feeling. You have to get everything exactly right," Raikkonen said. "I won there in Formula Renault and then with Ferrari in 2007.

"It would be fantastic to win again there, especially with the factory just down the road. I'm sure we would have some fantastic celebrations."

The Enstone team's last Silverstone win came in its Renault era, with Fernando Alonso in 2006, while Raikkonen's most recent F1 triumph was for Ferrari in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.

Lotus has now proved it is a 'big team', according to Romain Grosjean, and is capable of consistently going head to head with what team boss Eric Boullier called its 'corporate monster' rivals.

Although the Enstone squad is not among the five teams that have won races in the 2012 Formula 1 season, drivers Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen have now taken five podium finishes and been victory contenders on several occasions, putting Lotus third in the constructors' championship at present, just 11 points behind McLaren.

In Valencia last weekend Grosjean was challenging Fernando Alonso for the lead before retiring with alternator problems, and Raikkonen finished second.

"We made a real step forwards in Valencia, understanding some performance considerations which will help us for the rest of the season," said Grosjean. "I can't wait to put them into practice at Silverstone.

"Ultimately, we didn't finish, but through no fault of our own. I was as sad as the team. The win was there for the taking, but it just got away. I have to be patient. I didn't achieve my first win in Valencia, but I am convinced that it will come.

"It's great to fight with world champions, proper big teams. We are now a big team."

Boullier said Lotus's progress in recent weeks had made the atmosphere at Enstone better than at any time under the current regime.

"One year ago, I felt like everyone was motivated like never before; that every single member of the staff was ready to go the extra mile to see us do well on the track. Well... 2011 doesn't even compare to 2012, as I think we have made another step," he said.

He added: "Recent results have boosted everybody's hopes and commitment in Enstone. The team is united, the expectations are high. The spirit from the late 2009 season is far, far away."

Boullier also believes Lotus's ethos is paying dividends in its on-track performance, suggesting the team has a different approach to its rivals.

"Corporate speeches and political games are not for us," he said.

"We've got nothing to do with the corporate monsters we're fighting against on the track. This is probably why Romain's and Kimi's personalities are expressing themselves so freely at the wheel."

Although Valencia was tipped to be the ideal circuit for the Lotus E20's strong points, Grosjean sees no reason why the team's form in Spain cannot carry over to Britain.

"I think we head to Silverstone with more confidence," he said. "We understand a few more things with the car. It was good to have a really hot weekend all the way through at Valencia as we were able to work on the car and really analyse things.

"Silverstone is very high speed; I'm confident we'll have strong pace and that should lead to a good race."

Kamui Kobayashi believes he can achieve "something special" in the British Grand Prix despite heading into the event with a five-place grid penalty.

The Sauber driver was given the punishment for colliding with Felipe Massa's Ferrari in Valencia last weekend. The incident ended Kobayashi's race - which had already been disrupted by an earlier clash with Williams driver Bruno Senna - and delayed Massa.

Kobayashi says that Sauber's improving form and his affinity with Silverstone will mean he can overcome the penalty in next weekend's grand prix. The Japanese driver finished sixth in Britain in 2010, to take what was then a career-best result.

"I'm really looking forward to this race, and my expectations are quite high," said Kobayashi.

"Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits. Our cars were always good in medium and high speed corners, but with the Sauber C31 we have also improved the performance in slow corners, which means we should have no problems with the new part of the track, which was introduced in 2010.

"Despite the fact I have to cope with a penalty, which will send me five places down the grid, I'm optimistic for this race. I believe we have the potential to achieve something special in England and I hope for a little more luck as well."

Kobayashi's team-mate Sergio Perez was more cautious in his predictions for Silverstone. Although the Mexican believes it could be possible to obtain his third podium finish of the season in Britain, he is concerned that unless he improves his recent mediocre qualifying form, he will not be able to show his pace in the race.

"In my view in Silverstone it is even more difficult to overtake than it was in Valencia, therefore qualifying is high priority on the job list," said Perez, who has started 15th for the last two races. "I need a better grid position than recently."

Dani Clos will return to the cockpit of the HRT at Silverstone next week after the team announced he will take part in opening practice for the British Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, who had his first outing with the team on home soil at Barcelona last month, will replace Narain Karthikeyan for free practice one.

Speaking about his opportunity, Clos said: "I'm very happy to step into the F112 once again in Silverstone, a place where I've got good memories since I've made the podium every time I've been in GP2. After Barcelona I've really been looking forward to this new opportunity.

"The work we're carrying out with the team is positive and I think that I can make a good contribution. I will be able to run in better conditions than in Barcelona because the car was new back then and I had to carry out various aero tests. Now I've got a new opportunity, not to prove anything but to work with the team and evolve as much as we can."

Heikki Kovalainen says the British Grand Prix cannot come soon enough, with the latest batch of Caterham upgrades set to deliver another step forward in performance.

The Hingham-based team enjoyed one of its most competitive Formula 1 weekends yet in Valencia as new parts helped Kovalainen make it through to Q2 on merit.

And with further developments - including new rear bodywork, a revised exhaust layout and other aerodynamic details – expected to help bring more performance, Kovalainen is eager to find out what his team can achieve this time out.

"Honestly, I can't wait to get back in the car and see what we can do at this year's British Grand Prix," he said. "At the last race in Valencia we clearly made improvements, enough to help me put the car into Q2 on merit and we have more upgrades coming for Silverstone.

"For this race it's important that we carry our qualifying speed and good reliability through into Sunday as issues like the KERS problem I had in Valencia impact all the hard work the team is doing at the factory and in the windtunnel to get us where we want to be. If we can do that I think we can have another very good weekend and I'm really looking forward to giving our home fans something to cheer for."

Team-mate Vitaly Petrov believes that with Scuderia Toro Rosso now in the team's sights, Caterham has been filled with a fresh sense of enthusiasm about the remainder of the campaign.

"As we'll be bringing more new parts to the British Grand Prix I think it's another race where we'll be able to take a step forwards," he explained. "I'm sure everyone else will be bringing upgrades so we need to make sure that we don't just make gains, but we improve more than our nearest rivals.

"That's a big challenge but after seeing the gap to Toro Rosso shrink in Valencia we have a clear target just ahead and that gave the whole team a real boost.

"Hopefully we'll be able to make similar levels of progress at Silverstone – if we do I think the British Grand Prix could be very interesting. The team made great progress in Valencia and I really hope that we will continue in the same manner at the next race."

Marussia is optimistic that it will be able to deliver an immediate upturn in performance in next weekend's British Grand Prix when it introduces what it describes as its first proper upgrade package since adopting windtunnel technology.

Team boss John Booth said he was pleased both that the car was likely to get more competitive, and that Marussia was proving it could deliver substantial updates.

Last year the team split with original design partner Wirth Research and commenced a new technical collaboration with McLaren, and ended its all-CFD approach and began to use windtunnels for the first time. The upgrades will be tested in a straightline session at Duxford airfield before Silverstone.

"We have a fairly significant upgrade for this race, comprising a new rear wing, exhausts, floor and sidepods," said Booth.

"I would have to describe this as our first proper windtunnel generated upgrade of the season.

"We've had some smaller parts in Malaysia and China, and a few small iterations recently, but this is the first fully developed package that is not just a modification of existing elements.

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

"We look forward to seeing what this brings, both at Silverstone and at Duxford Airfield beforehand, when we will be integrating the developments into our correlation programme."

The Duxford test will also be Marussia test driver Maria de Villota's first outing for the team.

"She has been waiting patiently all year for this date to come around, so we look forward to seeing her in the car for the first time," said Booth.

[Lineker]

Formula 1 teams are set to be given another three weeks by the FIA to formulate cost cutting measures for 2013, AUTOSPORT can reveal, despite no agreement between teams on new rules having been reached by Saturday's deadline.

Although that FIA had hoped to implement amendments to the technical regulations for a fax vote by its World Motor Sport Council before the June 30 deadline to bring costs down, AUTOSPORT understands that no consensus could be reached on any proposals.

This means the F1 technical regulations for 2013 are now almost certain to remain unchanged because any amendments will now need unanimous support from the teams. That is unlikely to be achieved because of disagreements between Red Bull's two F1 teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and their rivals over issues like the scope of a Resource Restriction Agreement.

However, while meetings between the FIA and finance directors of the teams are continuing to try and make some progress, sources have revealed that the governing body is prepared to leave the door open on alternative proposals to be accepted at a later date.

It is understood that the teams will be told that if there is majority approval for rules to mandate the FIA to police a Resource Restriction Agreement, as well as sporting regulation changes that will reduce costs, then these will now be accepted up until July 24 for approval by the WMSC.

This gives the teams a little over three weeks to try to agree on a path forward, which comes at a time of growing concern about the expense of competing in F1 allied to the costs of major regulation changes for 2014.

The implementation of any such changes into the 2013 sporting regulations could theoretically be delayed until September 30, which is the closing deadline for entries to next season's F1 world championship.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier told AUTOSPORT earlier this week that he felt it more important that the right changes were made for F1, rather than the sport be rushed into hitting the June 30 deadline.

"It is good that everybody in the paddock understands that we need to be thinking carefully about the future of F1," he said. "But we definitely need to take the right decision, and we definitely do not need to rush into a decision that we might regret.

"We made some decisions already in the past which cost us money now; and may cost us more money in the future. So we need to make sure that we go the right way and don't rush."

[Lineker]

Sebastian Vettel says he would be happy for Mark Webber to stay at Red Bull beyond this year, despite admitting that he does not have a great relationship with the Australian.

Webber's future could be key to the driver market for 2013, as he is out of contract at the end of this season. He occupies one of the most desired seats on the grid at Red Bull, and has been linked to a move to Ferrari.

Vettel, who has won back-to-back world championships while the two have been paired at Red Bull, believes that they work well as a team even if they are not particularly close away from the track.

"I can understand why people are thinking that there is a problem between Mark and myself," Vettel said. "Yes, we might not be best friends, but I have no problem with him and he has no problem with me.

"We work well together and we are both trying to pull the team in the same direction. We have a similar view for the car, it's not as if one likes the set-up in the opposite way to the other.

"I think that is helping us, and so far it is working quite well. I'm not sure of his contract, but at the moment I think he is doing a very good job."

Vettel added that he does not expect to have any say in who his team-mate is, following an admission from Fernando Alonso that he does have a say over who drives the second Ferrari.

"It's Christian [Horner, team principal]'s call and the team's call, not my call," Vettel added. "I could say what I would like but I don't know if that would be taken into account."

Pastor Maldonado believes that he has a better understanding of Pirelli's 2012 Formula 1 tyres than he did with last year's rubber.

This season's tyres have been the subject of much discussion, as teams battle to get them to work. That has resulted in fluctuating form throughout the field.

But Maldonado, who won the Spanish Grand Prix for Williams and was fighting for a podium finish in Valencia before colliding with Lewis Hamilton, is happy that he knows what to do to get the 2012-spec compounds working.

"I think I understand the tyres very well," said Maldonado. "Much better than last year. Even if they changed for this year, I have a great feeling.

"I know exactly what to do to look after the tyres, how to manage the race to get a longer life from them. I am always trying to improve, but I think the combination between me, the car, and the tyres is good at the moment."

Maldonado explained that he has worked hard to get an understanding of the Pirellis because of how close the competition is in F1 this year.

"These tyres are working with a small window of temperature," he added. "As soon as you are slightly out of that range, you are nowhere.

"It is very difficult to put a lap together, and the gaps are so small. As soon as you lose two tenths, it is difficult even to get into the top 10.

"We have been working so hard to try to understand the tyres, to help them, and to get the car working in different conditions and different set-ups."

[Lineker]

Formula 1 teams must realise that getting a cost-cutting deal in place by the end of this month is 'vital' for the future of the sport, reckons Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug.

As AUTOSPORT revealed over the weekend, the FIA has given teams until July 24 to try and come up with much-needed sporting regulation changes for 2013 that will help keep expenditure in F1 down.

Furthermore, the door remains open on implementing a way that the governing body can police a Resource Restriction Agreement.

But with ongoing disagreements between teams about what regulations changes should be made, allied to how far-reaching a RRA should extend, there remains scepticism about the necessary majority consensus being reached.

But Haug thinks the matter needs to be treated with the utmost urgency, and teams should not ignore the importance of the opportunity they now have.

"This is vital to the future of Formula 1," Haug told AUTOSPORT. "It cannot just be a spending competition. Look at us; we spent three times in 2005 in F1 what we did in 2010. Be it engine, aero or whatever; reducing the costs is vital for the future of F1."

Haug thinks that all the interested parties needs to take on responsibility to pushing through what is needed, with teams having missed a deadline to produce technical regulation changes for 2013.

"There are lots of ideas, but we need a common decision," explained Haug. "The FIA needs to be committed to it and FOM needs to be fully committed to it if we are to have 10 teams or more in F1.

"To have those 10 teams plus, we need to have binding rules. For now we have a binding contract. The governing body needs to look at it. That's not a political statement from Mercedes either, it's from my heart. It's what I feel."

The FIA has held a series of meetings with teams over recent weeks to try and push through cost-cutting regulations, and those talks are likely to continue ahead of the July 24 deadline.

Pirelli test driver Lucas di Grassi believes teams will find the new experimental hard compound tyres that will be evaluated at Silverstone this weekend a step forward - even though the Italian manufacturer will not be rushed in to racing it in case it favours an individual team.

As AUTOSPORT revealed last month, Pirelli is to try out a new hard compound in Friday practice for the British Grand Prix. The new tyre should have a wider operating window, which will make it easier for teams to use.

Di Grassi has first hand experience with the tyres, and suggests there will be little doubt among the teams about its advantages.

"I tested the experimental hard compound tyre in Jerez earlier this year: it's a similar concept to the current hard but with improved combined grip and better wear," he said.

"It's particularly effective in warm weather and when the track conditions are poor - so you end up with a tyre that is quicker and lasts longer."

But although teams may welcome the new rubber, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has reiterated that careful thought will be given to any idea of racing it because of the competitive implications it could have.

"The new tyre has a slightly wider working range, which should make it easier for the teams to get the tyres into the right operating temperature window," he explained.

"But with the championship so finely balanced, our priority is to ensure that no one team is handed any particular advantage.

"We want to keep the performance of the tyres at the highest level for as long as possible, so this is a valuable opportunity for ourselves and all the teams to gather more information about the potential effect of a new compound, and gain some data for the future."

Williams has 'high hopes' that it can maintain its strong 2012 form heading into the team's home race at Silverstone this weekend.

Pastor Maldonado, who ended Williams's eight-year winless streak at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, was heading for another podium in Valencia when he collided with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton while the pair contested third place.

And a combination of a new aero package and the fact that the British GP venue has some similar characteristics to Barcelona, has the team's chief operations engineer Mark Gillan believing Williams could be in contention again in Britain.

"Following our strong showing in Valencia, which unfortunately ultimately ended in disappointment, we head to our home grand prix with high hopes," said Gillan. "Pirelli bring their hard (prime) and soft (option) tyres to this race, which is the same pairing that we used successfully in Barcelona.

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

"The long range forecast doesn't look particularly promising, predicting a reasonable chance of rain and strong winds throughout the weekend, which could lead to an eventful qualifying and race."

Maldonado thinks a points finish is a strong possibility after his curtailed run at the European Grand Prix: "I think the track will suit our car because it's similar to Barcelona and it's also very fun to drive with sections like Maggots and Becketts which really test you as a driver.

"The pace of the car in Valencia was very promising and we have a number of updates expected for this race as well so hopefully we can give the home fans a good result."

Maldonado's team-mate Bruno Senna shared the team's confidence ahead of Silverstone.

"It is one of my favourite tracks because it’s high speed and flows really well," said the Brazilian. "Our car has good pace at the high down force tracks and is good on high speed corners as well so it should suit Silverstone.

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

Heikki Kovalainen sees only a bright future for himself in Formula 1, as he waits to see whether the improving Caterham team can deliver him the step forwards he wants to see.

The Finn is out of contract at the end of this season, but is willing to give Caterham a few more races to show that it is on right path to move forwards before he begins considering any other options.

But despite his speed making him an attractive option elsewhere, Kovalainen says he is happy to bide his time before deciding on what he does, because he knows that whichever path he takes will result in him driving competitive machinery.

"The future will be good for me," he explained. "I feel very comfortable here in the paddock. I know that many people know that I'm performing well. I've regained the confidence that I lost a little bit during the McLaren years.

"I have regained all of that back. Physically and mentally I'm in a great place now. Wherever I am next year, the future will be good."

Although there are other attractive options available for Kovalainen next year, he also is aware of how happy he has been at Caterham - and suggests if it keeps improving then there will be no reason to leave.

"We don't have any serious talks with anyone yet. It's a bit too early," he explained. "We need to wait and see first where Caterham is going. I haven't spoken to them yet, they haven't spoken to me, so it's a bit too early. Let's wait and see for the next few updates and try to bring the team forward.

"I've been very happy here and I've been able to perform well here. I've been able to find my swing again, which is good. We wait a few more races and see what happens."

Key to convincing Kovalainen that Caterham is the place to be long-term will be how much a major development upgrade for Silverstone delivers - with the first stage of that update having helped the Finn make it through to Q2 in Valencia.

Speaking about his hopes for the new parts, Kovalainen said: "We know it's going to be significant, probably half a second to one second, but I think before talking about it too much we need to put it to the car and see if it performs.

"In the past we've maybe talked too much and not been able to deliver. It's better to be slightly pessimistic and cautious. At the same time, we are tidying the car everywhere.

"We are making the quality of the car better so I think all of that is helping to get performance in the car. The surfaces and especially the aerodynamic performance is getting better because the car is being manufactured better."

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

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

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

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

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

[MJB]

F1 car crashed during testing in Cambridgeshire.

The female test driver, believed to be Maria de Villota, was hurt while driving a car for the Oxfordshire-based Marussia team at the Imperial War Museum, in Duxford.

The car hit a lorry which had been used to take it to the track. Villota is believed to be seriously injured.

Emergency services have been called to the scene.

BBC Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann, who witnessed the crash, said the car had completed a circuit when it "suddenly accelerated" into the back of the lorry.

The crash happened at the start of two days of Formula 1 testing at the site.

Marussia entered the sport under the name Virgin in 2010, backed by businessman Richard Branson.

Russian car company Marussia acquired a controlling stake in the team toward the end of 2011.

In 2012, the team rebranded as Marussia, and drafted in Charles Pic to race alongside Timo Glock.

The team has not scored any points so far this season.

The Health and Safety Executive has been informed because the incident happened on private land, Cambridgeshire Police said.

Not looking great for poor Maria

[GA!]

Injuries are reportedly life-threatening.

[Adam]

I hope she pulls through, of course. That's horrible. She actually seems closer than any other woman to getting an F1 race seat at the moment as well.

[Katsuya]

You have to question what went wrong either with the car or why the lorry was anywhere near it. Hopefully she's okay.

ETA: Somebody has pointed out that it's possible the anti-stall kicked in, which automatically turns the throttle up to 50%, so if she was going a lot slower coming in to stop or something, it could have mis-read it as a stall and jerked her forward.

[Lineker]

Hopefully she'll pull through this stronger than ever. She's awake and stable now, at least.

Maria de Villota is conscious and undergoing further medical assessment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge following her testing crash on Tuesday morning.

The Marussia Formula 1 test driver was rushed to hospital earlier in the day following an accident shortly after her first run for the team at a straightline aerodynamic test at Duxford Airfield.

According to eyewitness reports, after slowing down as she prepared to return to the temporary pit awning, de Villota's car lurched towards the rear of a team transporter, and collided with a tail-lift at the rear of the truck.

Emergency services were called immediately and, after being extracted from the car, she was transferred with what the ambulance service called "life-threatening injuries" to hospital, where she arrived in a stable condition.

Marussia issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon indicating that her life was not in danger, but saying that it was too early to assess the extent of her injuries.

"Since Maria's arrival at the hospital at approximately 10.45am this morning, she has been receiving the best medical attention possible at the hospital, which is the region's major trauma centre," said the statement.

"Maria is conscious and medical assessments are ongoing. The team will await the outcome of these assessments before providing further comment. The team's first priority at this time is Maria and her family."

The F1 community has sent its best wishes to de Villota, whose only previous experience of grand prix machinery was when she tested a 2009 Renault last year.

Fernando Alonso wrote on Twitter: "I just got home and found out [about] Maria's accident, we called the family and hopefully we will know more soon! All my energy with you!"

Jenson Button also wrote: "Terrible accident for Maria de Villota, Marussia F1 team test driver. My thoughts are with Maria and her family at this very difficult time."

[Lineker]

Marussia Formula 1 test driver Maria de Villota has been taken to hospital after a crash during a straightline test at Duxford airfield on Tuesday.

The Spaniard was scheduled to begin two days of straightline work for the team as part of her test driver role with the outfit.

Marussia has confirmed that she was involved in an accident and collided with a stationary vehicle.

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

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

A statement from local constabulary Cambridge Police said: "We were called by the ambulance service at 0925am with reports that a racing car had been in collision with a lorry at low speed at Duxford Airfield. We have since discovered that the driver has a serious injury. We have notified the health and safety executive because the incident was on private land."

De Villota's Duxford outing was her first test for Marussia. She was set to give the major upgrade package that the team is introducing for the British Grand Prix its first run.

The 32-year-old is a former World Touring Car Championship and Superleague Formula driver, and daughter of ex-Formula 1 racer Emilio de Villota.

Her first taste of F1 machinery came at Paul Ricard in 2011, when she tested a Renault R29.

Marussia Formula 1 test driver Maria de Villota suffered 'life-threatening injuries' in her accident that took place at Duxford airfield on Tuesday, according to the local ambulance service.

The Spaniard collided with the back of a team transporter as she returned to the pits following her first straight-line run.

Medical personnel were called to the airfield to attend to de Villota, who was swiftly transported to a nearby hospital by road.

A statement issued by the East of England Ambulance Service said it received an emergency call at 9.17am, and dispatched an ambulance and specialist medical crew to the scene.

Spokesman Gary Sanderson said: "A woman has sustained life threatening injuries and following treatment at the scene by paramedics, she has been taken to Addenbrookes Hospital for further care."

The Magpas air ambulance charity, which attended the accident, said after returning from the hospital that de Villota was in a "stable" condition having suffered injuries to her head and face.

Marussia has said that it will release a further statement about de Villota's medical condition once details are known.

Maria de Villota is conscious and undergoing further medical assessment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge following her testing crash on Tuesday morning.

The Marussia Formula 1 test driver was rushed to hospital earlier in the day following an accident shortly after her first run for the team at a straightline aerodynamic test at Duxford Airfield.

According to eyewitness reports, after slowing down as she prepared to return to the temporary pit awning, de Villota's car lurched towards the rear of a team transporter, and collided with a tail-lift at the rear of the truck.

Emergency services were called immediately and, after being extracted from the car, she was transferred with what the ambulance service called "life-threatening injuries" to hospital, where she arrived in a stable condition.

Marussia issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon indicating that her life was not in danger, but saying that it was too early to assess the extent of her injuries.

"Since Maria's arrival at the hospital at approximately 10.45am this morning, she has been receiving the best medical attention possible at the hospital, which is the region's major trauma centre," said the statement.

"Maria is conscious and medical assessments are ongoing. The team will await the outcome of these assessments before providing further comment. The team's first priority at this time is Maria and her family."

The F1 community has sent its best wishes to de Villota, whose only previous experience of grand prix machinery was when she tested a 2009 Renault last year.

Fernando Alonso wrote on Twitter: "I just got home and found out [about] Maria's accident, we called the family and hopefully we will know more soon! All my energy with you!"

Jenson Button also wrote: "Terrible accident for Maria de Villota, Marussia F1 team test driver. My thoughts are with Maria and her family at this very difficult time."

Michael Schumacher's future in Formula 1 will be sorted out within the next six weeks, with his Mercedes team now preparing to make a decision on what it wants to do with its drivers for next year.

The seven-time champion's contract with the Brackley-based team runs out at the end of this season, and both he and the team have been open-minded about whether they will continue or decide to call time on his career.

Speaking at the FOTA Fans' Forum at the Williams factory on Tuesday night, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said he expected a decision before the end of the summer break about Schumacher's future.

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

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

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

In the event of Schumacher not staying with the team, Mercedes has been linked with Paul di Resta - and Force India's team principal Bob Fernley said his outfit would not stand in the way of its driver leaving if he was keen to move to a more competitive outfit.

"Vijay [Mallya] has said in the past that we know we are not a championship winning team at this point, and we know we have two good drivers in Nico [Hulkenberg] and Paul.

"If one was encouraged to join the top four we would have to sit down to effect a commercial arrangement. We would not get in the way of the career of a driver but there would have to be commercial agreement in place."

Sebastian Vettel has reassured Red Bull Racing that he is not in talks with Ferrari, says RBR team principal Christian Horner, who expects the double world champion to remain with his squad into the future.

Speculation that Vettel could join Ferrari from 2014 has intensified in recent weeks, prompted in part by Ferrari chief Stefano Domenicali saying he could envisage Vettel and Fernando Alonso 'co-existing' as team-mates very successfully.

But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Horner insisted there was no truth to rumours that Vettel had already committed to a Ferrari future - or that he was even negotiating one.

"I have spoken with Sebastian about it and he's made it quite clear that he hasn't had any dialogue and hasn't signed anything with Ferrari," Horner was quoted as saying by Reuters. "The rumour mill always will continue...

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

Horner said he did not envisage Vettel wanting to leave Red Bull in the near future.

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

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

He added that he did not believe Ferrari held any real emotional pull for Vettel or that the German held any particular ambition to drive for the legendary Italian team during his career.

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

Red Bull Racing's true advantage over the rest of the field will become clear at this weekend's British Grand Prix, reckons Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, - amid concerns from the champion team's rivals that its performance in Valencia is a sign that it could now be clear at the front of the field.

Sebastian Vettel dominated the European GP weekend before retiring with an alternator failure – and the ease with which he controlled the event has left some worried that the German could be about to return to a period of dominance now t

But Brawn wants to see how the Red Bull cars perform at Silverstone, because he thinks some of its Valencia advantage could have been down to exploiting tyres rather than outright aerodynamic performances.

"It was certainly a very impressive performance by Vettel in the last grand prix in Valencia," said Brawn during a FOTA Fans' Forum event at Williams on Tuesday night.

"RBR are a team that are strong on the aero side. They have a creative group there, and they have always been extremely competitive in their strengths.

"But my only slight reservation was that if you get these [Pirelli] tyres to work and get them in the window, you can have a huge gap to those that don't. In our own case, Nico [Rosberg] was comfortably on pole in China and could drive the race he wanted to, whereas with the same car and tyres we struggled at other races.

"I don't think that is the case with Red Bull but I hope it is. They were clearly in a strong position with that car and those tyres. Silverstone has traditionally been a good race for them, it's high speed with high speed corners... so let's see how it evolves.

"It has been a great year for variation, and it was a great performance from Red Bull in Valencia, but I hope it is not an omen for future."

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley echoed Brawn's belief that Silverstone will show just how competitive Red Bull is – and what task its opposition faces.

"I think RBR have clearly made a big step in their aero package for Valencia," he said. "I don't think we saw the full potential of it [in Valencia].

"Silverstone is a circuit that features for the aero side, and we will see where Red Bull is at that point. I expect them to be quick and it will challenge all teams to look at what they are doing."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug has labelled the uncertain situation surrounding Formula 1's young driver test as 'ridiculous' - with a number of teams now unsure about where they will run.

F1 squads had failed to reach agreement on a single venue for the annual test, so a compromise deal was thrashed out for teams to choose either a post-British Grand Prix test at Silverstone or a run at the Yas Marina circuit after the Abu Dhabi GP.

However, those plans were thrown into disarray when Silverstone informed teams that it could not make the circuit available as planned because of its British GP contract with Formula One Management.

Frantic efforts to try and reshuffle the three-day test did not come off, and in the end just three outfits - Marussia, HRT and Williams – have now provisionally agreed to run at Silverstone for two days at the end of next week.

Other outfits are now considering joining the Abu Dhabi teams, or even waiting until a test at Jerez at the end of the season.

The uncertain situation has left Haug unhappy, because he does not understand why F1 teams spent so much time failing to agree on something that appeared to be so simple.

"We'd love to have had it at Silverstone, but now we obviously need to find an alternative solution," he told AUTOSPORT. "It's honestly quite ridiculous to waste time over issues like this."

When asked if he would like the matter sorted out soon, or if Mercedes could wait until the end of the season, he said: "I'm not sure. As soon as possible."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa is a totally different driver now to how he was at the start of the season, and needs just a tiny improvement to be fighting right back at the front of the Formula 1 grid.

That is the view of Massa's race engineer Rob Smedley, who thinks Massa's results in recent races do not do justice to the progress he has made since a difficult beginning to the campaign.

"Right now, going into Silverstone, there is very little that Felipe is lacking for him to be back where he was in terms of driving and confidence in the car," Smedley told the official Ferrari website.

"You need things to go your way and at the last race we didn't have that. Going back to Canada, he made a little mistake at the start, which changed everything and in Monaco he was stuck in a train of traffic for 70 laps.

"However, in terms of his pace in those recent races and the way he was driving and his confidence, he is a different driver to the way he was at the start of the season. So, we are missing very little, maybe a tiny one per cent to make it all start happening for us."

Smedley believes the high-speed characteristics of Silverstone, which put a premium on aerodynamics, should suit the Ferrari F2012 well.

"I think our chances are good at Silverstone this weekend, even if it's no secret we still need to develop and have a quicker car," he said. "In Valencia we didn't have the quickest car, but compared to the start of the year, we had a much improved car, which is down to a great job from the whole team.

"However, our car has always been particularly suited to high speed corners and Silverstone is dominated by high speed turns for almost two thirds of the track. I hope therefore that we can go and make the most of it; not only all the recent development work we have done on the F2012, but also the fact that our car is fundamentally good in high speed corners. That is why I feel we are in with a very good chance this weekend."

Kimi Raikkonen says he is revelling in the atmosphere at Lotus - because it is a team that prefers racing over politics.

Although there have been reports of tensions between the former Formula 1 world champion and the Enstone-based outfit – especially because of his niggles about its power-steering system – the man himself is adamant that he is loving where he is.

"I've felt good here since the beginning," said Raikkonen in an interview with Italian magazine Autosprint. "The people are fine, very relaxed. They want to race and don't want to do too much politics."

When asked about why the power steering issue has been a season-long issue for him and the team, Raikkonen said: "It's just that in previous years I drove cars with really good steering systems. I know there are some details here that could be worked on to improve them. That's the only reason why I insist."

Raikkonen also opened up a little in the interview about his spell at Ferrari, as he suggested that his departure one year before his contract was due to finish was a situation that could have been avoided.

"I felt good with them," he said. "I won a world title and now I have no more feelings towards them, neither good nor bad. I'm happy with what I got.

"Things could probably be done better, but what does it matter now? Yes, I know the reasons why I didn't stay with them, but I don't feel like talking about that now. As I said, I have no hard feelings towards anyone."

Asked if he also regretted not signing for McLaren for 2009 amid rumours that talks collapsed because he wanted too much money, he said: "That's not true. The point is that I could see no reason for signing for a certain number of months. I wasn't that desperate, it's not as if I would have done anything to stay in F1."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But we made contact and I was disappointed for that race, for the points and for him as he is fighting for the championship.

"But this is racing. I am looking forward to this weekend, and it will be important for the team. It is a home race for us, but the team is ready, we will do our best and hope to be competitive again."

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

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

Force India believes it is vital that it maintains the momentum from its breakthrough European Grand Prix result in its home grand prix at Silverstone this weekend.

The team, which is based at the British GP venue, finished a season-best fifth and seventh with Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta in Valencia, closing to within one point of Williams and 16 of Sauber in the constructors' standings.

Prior to Valencia, team boss Vijay Mallya had expressed concern that Force India was losing touch with its regular rivals as the likes of Sauber and Williams fought for podiums and victories, and now urged his squad to "keep up the momentum" at Silverstone.

"We will have some developments for the car this weekend and we will certainly give our all to try and come away with another strong result," said Mallya.

"I think our performance in Valencia showed just how much we have learned from the tough lessons of Canada in terms of understanding the tyres and being aggressive with the strategy.

"The aim this weekend is to deliver a repeat performance, pick up points and keep pushing hard to move up the championship table."

Hulkenberg's fifth place in Valencia represented his best Formula 1 finish. The German said he had always been confident Force India could deliver that sort of performance.

"It's a boost for me, of course, but I think it was the sort of result we have been expecting for a while now," said Hulkenberg.

"We thought we could do something similar in Canada, but things didn't work out, so it was good to get some solid points in the bag in Valencia and start showing our real potential."

Formula Renault 3.5 racer Robin Frijns will get a prize demonstration run in a 2010 Red Bull RB6 Formula 1 car at the next World Series by Renault meeting in Russia.

The Dutchman has earned the outing for being the highest placed driver not associated with one of Red Bull's F1 rivals at the mid-point of the FR 3.5 season.

"It's a huge opportunity to be able to take the wheel of a world championship-winning Formula car, and it will be my first experience of F1," said Frijns, who is the reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion.

The 20-year-old will get 25 minutes of track time on the Friday of the meeting at Moscow Raceway (July 13-15) to get acclimatised to the car. He will then perform his demo run after the first race the following day.

Frijns is in fact tied on points at the top of the FR 3.5 standings with Sam Bird, and the Briton leads the series on countback. However, Bird was ineligible for the Red Bull test as he is contracted to the Mercedes F1 team as reserve driver.