Formula One 2012

Rich · July 8, 2012

Awesome day out that was, I am soooo tired though, been up since 4am this morning.

Adam · July 9, 2012

Missed it due to the tennis, but yes Mark

I tend to end up missing it one way or another when Mark Webber wins a race, was gutted to oversleep and miss his maiden win at the Nurburgring a few years back. Great to see him currently in contention for the title with Alonso, loved him since Day 1 when he stuck the Minardi in the points in his home race, on his debut.

Lineker · July 9, 2012

Red Bull's Mark Webber trimmed Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 championship lead to 13 points by hunting down and passing the Ferrari in a dramatic conclusion to a totally dry British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Sebastian Vettel completed the podium and almost managed to make it a Red Bull one-two as he gained on Alonso's tyre-troubled car at the end.

Alonso pulled out a five-second lead over Webber in the first stint and maintained it for the majority of the race. But while most of the field used soft tyres early then switched to hards, Alonso waited until his final stint to try the softs, and could not keep up his previous pace.

Webber caught up rapidly and was on the Ferrari's tail with seven laps to go, trying several moves before deploying his DRS on the run towards Brooklands on lap 48 out of 52. Alonso defended the inside as Webber swept around the outside, and after attempting to retaliate at Luffield, the Spaniard had to let Webber go and concentrate on staying clear of Vettel.

The world champion had run fifth in the opening stint before a slightly early first stop helped him jump to third, where he would finish, unable to catch Alonso in the end.

Felipe Massa spent the opening laps trying ever-more creative attempts to overtake Michael Schumacher's Mercedes for third, finally managing at Stowe on lap 11. The Ferrari lost out to Vettel in the following pit sequence, then resisted the fast-closing Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen to take fourth.

Lotus got two cars in the top six despite Romain Grosjean breaking his front wing in a brush with Paul di Resta on the first lap. The resulting puncture and associated damage ended the Force India's race, while Grosjean charged back from last to sixth.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button could only finish eighth and 10th in the McLarens. Hamilton spent a while in the lead and enjoyed a spirited dice with Alonso as he ran a very long first stint on hards, but then did just a handful of laps on softs before switching back to harder Pirellis. The Briton's pace then faded and he lost seventh place to Schumacher late on.

Although Button jumped to 12th at the start, his progress was less dramatic thereafter. In the closing laps he was in the thick of an epic dice for ninth with Bruno Senna and Nico Hulkenberg, won by the Williams. Hulkenberg (Force India) ran wide at Copse in the heat of battle and dropped out of the points.

The other major incident of the race involved Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez. Running seventh and ninth in the first stint, they pitted together on lap 11 but then collided at Brooklands on their out-laps. The furious Perez sustained terminal damage to his Sauber, while Maldonado dragged his Williams back to the pits for repairs and finished 16th.

Completing a bad day for Sauber, Kamui Kobayashi hit several mechanics at his final stop. Initial reports suggested there were no serious injuries and the Japanese driver continued to 11th ahead of Hulkenberg.

Nico Rosberg had a less dramatic bad pitstop during what was already a low-key midfield race, which ended with his Mercedes 15th.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
52 laps; 306.198km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h25:11.288
2. Alonso Ferrari + 3.060
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 4.836
4. Massa Ferrari + 9.519
5. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 10.314
6. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 17.101
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 29.153
8. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 36.463
9. Senna Williams-Renault + 43.347
10. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 44.444
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 45.370
12. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 47.856
13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 51.241
14. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 53.313
15. Rosberg Mercedes + 57.394
16. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
18. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:34.661

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 14
Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 3
Petrov Caterham-Renault 1

World Championship standings, round 9:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Alonso 129 1. Red Bull-Renault 216
2. Webber 116 2. Ferrari 152
3. Vettel 100 3. Lotus-Renault 144
4. Hamilton 92 4. McLaren-Mercedes 142
5. Raikkonen 83 5. Mercedes 98
6. Rosberg 75 6. Sauber-Ferrari 60
7. Grosjean 61 7. Williams-Renault 47
8. Button 50 8. Force India-Mercedes 44
9. Perez 39 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
10. Maldonado 29
11. Di Resta 27
12. Schumacher 23
13. Massa 23
14. Kobayashi 21
15. Senna 18
16. Hulkenberg 17
17. Vergne 4
18. Ricciardo 2

All timing unofficial[/code]

Mark Webber admitted that he thought he was going to have to settle for second place in the British Grand Prix as he did not believe he had any chance of beating Fernando Alonso until the closing laps.

Polesitter Alonso edged away from Webber's Red Bull early on, but his Ferrari could not sustain its pace on soft tyres in the final stint and lost the lead to Webber with four laps to go.

"I have a few wins now, but this one is taking a little bit to sink in," said Webber. "I think it didn't look like a spectacular race with Fernando initially but it was on. There was a little bit of strategy involved, particularly pacing stints on tyres.

"I knew he was running a different way, and I thought after first stint he was in very good shape to close the win out, but it came our way in the last stint and I am absolutely over the moon."

The result saw Webber reduce Alonso's points lead from 20 to 13, but the Australian said he was not thinking about its significance in the title battle at this stage.

"We have a lot of races this year, every single one is important - Melbourne was, as will Brazil be," Webber said. "I have a couple of wins now. I need some consistent results. We know how tight it is, we see Kimi [Raikkonen] finished 10 seconds behind.

"Sometimes I have had bad medicine and it's hard to come back from there. You have to grab what you can. I had a single opportunity to pounce and wasn't going to let it slip."

But he acknowledged that he was feeling in good shape at present.

"I am not low on confidence at the moment, it is going well," said Webber. "We will enjoy today's result, really soak it up, that is what is important. We have to remember how hard we have to work to get these results and tomorrow morning it's [effectively] Hockenheim.

"That is what it has to be about and it is a long, long season and I am not getting too fired up with any particular championship positions at the moment.

"What is for sure is I have a nice haul of points to keep going with - I am not sitting on 20 points trying to start my campaign."

Fernando Alonso said he was happy with second position in the British Grand Prix, despite having led for most of the race.

The Ferrari driver started from pole and stayed in first place until he was passed by Red Bull's Mark Webber with a couple of laps to go, the Australian's pace much stronger than Alonso's.

The Spaniard had to settle for second in the end, but said he was not too disappointed.

"I am happy with second place," said Alonso, the winner of the previous race in Valencia. "Now 10 minutes after having finished and having led the race there is a strange feeling for losing victory.

"I am sure in one hour I will be much happier."

Alonso was encouraged to see Ferrari was strong on a high-speed track like Silverstone, but insisted the team still needs to take a step forward to match Red Bull.

"The car was good in Valencia and here, in a completely different track, it seems to perform very well, so I'm happy with the improvements in the car. We still need that last step to close the gap to these guys. We need to be quicker in some conditions."

The two-time champion saw his championship lead reduced from 20 to 13 points over Webber, but he said it was still a good weekend in terms of points.

"We are still there, that is the main target for us and today we lost seven points to Mark but we gained some extra points on the rest of the field," he said. "So it was good Sunday in terms of the championship."

Sebastian Vettel said the ground lost in his first stint in the British Grand Prix was just too much to recover once he got up to third place.

The world champion spent the opening laps behind Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa's battle for third.

Although he jumped both his rivals in the first pitstops, Vettel could not catch Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso afterwards.

He said his Red Bull had not been comfortable on the soft tyres used for the first stint.

"It didn't perform very well," he said of the tyre. "I was struggling a lot. I was in traffic, which doesn't help, but I really couldn't go any faster than the guys in front.

"In clean air I think we could've done the pace of the leaders at that time, but like that it was difficult.

"We lost too much in the beginning and then we kept closing until the end but it wasn't enough."

Vettel praised his team for getting him ahead of Schumacher and Massa at the earliest opportunity.

"The start was not so good, I lost a little bit and then I got stuck behind Michael. It was a good strategy to come back - we decided to pit early and then use the momentum and came out ahead. So that was a good call," he said.

"All in all, I would be a bit happier if I would have won. But nevertheless I think it is a great result for the team."

With Webber first and Vettel third, Silverstone marked the first time this year that Red Bull got both cars on the podium.

Many rivals had tipped the champion team to start dominating after Vettel's form in Valencia prior to his alternator failure, but despite Webber underlining Red Bull's potential with his win in Britain, Vettel said he had no sense of a definitive pattern forming.

"It's extremely different to years before," he said. "A lot of things might still happen. Obviously it will be key not to retire and make sure you always score points. We think there's still a long way to go."

Sergio Perez has called on the FIA to take action against Pastor Maldonado, after the pair of them collided during the British Grand Prix.

The two were battling for position in the early stages of the race when Perez tried to go around the outside of his Williams rival at Brooklands.

Maldonado appeared to lose control of his car as he turned through the left hander and ran into Perez - with the pair of them spinning on to the grass. Perez retired on the spot, while Maldonado was able to return slowly to the pits for repairs.

A furious Perez hit out at Maldonado afterwards – claiming the Williams driver was a danger to his rivals and calling on the FIA to teach him a lesson.

He said the spate of incidents that Maldonado has been involved in – including one with him in practice in Monaco and one with Lewis Hamilton in Valencia – showed that his rival needed to calm down.

"Pastor is a driver who doesn't respect other drivers. It's just a matter of fact," Perez told the BBC. "I was already in front, and if not he should have given me enough space not to crash, but he tried to push me all the way to the outside. I don't understand the way he is driving.

"I really hope the stewards can make something because the last three or four races he has done something to [other drivers].

"It is not the first time he has damaged my weekend. He did the same [to Hamilton] in Valencia, and they gave him a drive-through, which I think is not enough. This guy will never learn if they don't do something, because he is a very dangerous driver and he can hurt someone."

Perez said he was not alone in feeling concern about Maldonado's driving – on the same weekend when drivers were told by the FIA not to defend positions too harshly.

"Everybody has concerns about him," he added. "He is a driver who doesn't know we are risking our lives and has no respect at all. It is not a matter of close or not. He has no respect at all.

"The way he is driving I think the stewards really have to do something because it is not the first time he has done something. He affects a lot of drivers; I am not the only one."

Pastor Maldonado downplayed his collision with Sergio Perez in the British Grand Prix, despite the Mexican calling on the FIA to take action against the Venezuelan.

The duo made contact when fighting for position early in the race, with Maldonado losing control of his Williams when driving down the inside of Perez's Sauber at Brooklands.

Perez was forced to retire and he slammed Maldonado afterwards, saying the FIA needed to act on someone he thinks is a dangerous driver.

"I really hope the stewards can make something because the last three or four races he has done something to [other drivers]," Perez said.

"It is not the first time he has damaged my weekend. He did the same with Lewis [Hamilton] in Valencia, and they gave him a drivethrough, which I think is not enough. This guy will never learn if they don't do something, because he is a very dangerous driver and he can hurt someone."

But after finishing 16th, Maldonado said that he was not expecting any action against him, as he felt the clash was simply a race incident.

"I don't think much will happen. It was a racing incident," said Maldonado on Spanish TV. "I was coming out of the pits, with cold tyres, I was trying to defend my position. Perez tried to close the door and we were very close to each other.

"At that point I lost the rear of the car a bit and unfortunately we made contact and we compromised both of our races."

The Venezuelan, the winner of the Spanish GP, said he is hoping to return to having positive races after a run of poor results and incidents.

"This part of the championship is one to forget. There are still races left and I hope we can recover well in the second part of the championship."

Pastor Maldonado was handed a 10,000 Euro fine and given a reprimand by the race stewards for his part in a collision with Sergio Perez during the British Grand Prix.

Perez was left furious after the coming-together - urging the FIA to teach Maldonado a lesson following a spate of crashes so far this season.

But after a detailed look at the incident on Sunday, the stewards elected to fine the Williams driver instead.

A statement issued by the stewards said Maldonado was guilty of causing a collision, and because of the serious nature of the incident it was decided he would be hit with two penalties.

Maldonado said the crash with Perez had not been deliberate, and that he had simply lost control of the car on the entry to the corner.

"I think it was unlucky this time because I lost the car on the entry to the corner, right on the apex with the front and then the rear," he told AUTOSPORT.

"It was before I got to the kerb, and it was after I came out of the pits with DRS open. I did the braking on DRS, and I even braked before my normal braking point, and the reason [for the accident is] I think because the angle I had on the inside of the corner was not enough for the tyre conditions."

Kamui Kobayashi apologised to his Sauber team after injuring a few of his mechanics during a pitstop in the British Grand Prix.

The Japanese driver braked too late during one of his pitstops and knocked down three mechanics with the right side of his car.

Sauber said two were taken to the circuit's medical centre for treatment, one for a dislocated thumb and the other for cuts and bruises. They are now back with the team.

The third mechanic suffered a bruised foot and was treated in the team's garage.

"The accident was my fault and I want to apologise to the team," said Kobayashi. "Of course I had to push hard for points, but without doubt I braked too late in the pitlane.

"The front wheels locked, I couldn't control the car, and this is how I overshot the pit box. I am terribly sorry this happened, and I hope the three mechanics I hit get well soon."

Kamui Kobayashi has been fined 25,000 Euro for his incident in the pits during the British Grand Prix.

The Japanese Sauber driver braked too late when coming in for his second pitstop and knocked down three of his mechanics. None were seriously injured.

The FIA decided to impose a fine on Kobayashi for an "unsafe manoeuvre in the pits".

"The accident was my fault and I want to apologise to the team," said Kobayashi. "Of course I had to push hard for points, but without doubt I braked too late in the pitlane.

"The front wheels locked, I couldn't control the car, and this is how I overshot the pit box. I am terribly sorry this happened, and I hope the three mechanics I hit get well soon."

McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button say their car is now a long way off the lead pace and that major steps forward are needed if they are to stay in the title fight.

The British duo could only finish eighth and 10th in their home race at Silverstone.

Asked where he felt his car stood compared to the winning Red Bull, Hamilton replied: "A long way away. But we'll keep working and hopefully try and catch up.

"We are still in the fight, but unless we find a lot of time, it's going to be hard to stay in the fight."

Button came through from 17th on the grid to salvage a point in 10th, but said racing in the midfield had underlined McLaren's deficiencies.

"It's not just the Red Bulls and the Ferraris that are quicker than us, a lot of cars are," he said.

"Our car doesn't feel too bad, but everyone else's must feel really good, because they're a lot faster than us. I was racing the Williams and the Sauber, and you see areas where they're able to put the car and get away with it, and make mistakes and get away with it. I don't understand how they're able to do that.

"The Sauber is quicker in high-speed corners than us, the Williams is quicker in low-speed corners. It's tricky. We don't seem to be exceptionally strong anywhere at the moment, and we did think we would be here. It's a high-speed circuit and we did think that was one of our strengths."

Hamilton said he had a similar feeling after being passed by Michael Schumacher's Mercedes late in the race.

"Today we were very, very slow in the low-speed corners and Michael came past me and he was really quick in the high-speeds," he said. "My car doesn't feel that bad, but theirs must feel awesome."

Hamilton is now 37 points behind leader Fernando Alonso in the standings and is in fourth position, while having only scored seven points in the last six races, Button is down to eighth in the championship, 79 points adrift. But he shared his team-mate's hope that McLaren was capable of recovering.

"There will be a lot of unhappy people here, but we're one of the best teams in the world and we can fight through this," said Button.

Jenson Button has admitted that he has been surprised at the way Ferrari has turned its season around - after the Italian team's pre-season struggles left some questioning if it would even win a race this year.

With Fernando Alonso, the first driver to take more than one victory, currently leading the championship, rivals are in no doubt how strong a threat for the title the Spaniard now is.

Button himself, who won the season opener in Australia, has taken his hat off to the work that Ferrari has done to improve its F2012 – as well as acknowledging how Alonso has made the best of opportunities that have come his way.

"I actually said after the first race I was surprised how far they were off the pace," he said ahead of the British GP. "With Ferrari you always expect them to find the time. But it was a long way [behind].

"So I am surprised how quickly they did turn it around. I think they were fortunate in some places, for example Malaysia, but they have done a great job this year and especially Fernando, he has been consistent and really got the job done when it was necessary.

"They have done the best job with what they have had this year and they have not made a lot of mistakes."

"I have more of a points deficit than Lewis, but you want to be aggressive through the race," he said. "There are lots of opportunities, and you have to race clever.

Force India admitted that the British Grand Prix was a missed opportunity, after failing to score any points at Silverstone.

Paul di Resta was eliminated when first-lap contact with Romain Grosjean's Lotus left him with a damaging puncture, while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg dropped from ninth to 12th with a late mistake at Copse while battling with Bruno Senna's Williams.

Hulkenberg, whose set-up had been geared towards wet conditions, said he had been doing his utmost to fend off Senna and McLaren's Jenson Button on fading tyres.

"It's frustrating to lose points so close to the finish but my tyres were running out of performance and the car was not easy to drive in the final stint," he said.

Di Resta said he did not realise there had been contact before he suddenly went off the road coming out of the Arena section.

"I just turned into Turn 4 and there was no pressure in the right rear tyre so it was clearly punctured and coming off the rim," he said. "All I could do was bring the car back to the pits, but there was quite a lot of damage to the floor.

"I took some fresh tyres and went back out, but I was missing a lot of downforce and I went off the track at Becketts. So the team made the call to retire the car.

"I'm very disappointed because we took a gamble yesterday by running a dry set-up and the conditions today would have been ideal for us."

Team boss Vijay Mallya said the race had been a frustrating experience.

"We should have scored points today so we leave our local race feeling disappointed," he said.

Romain Grosjean believes his first-lap incident with Paul di Resta in the British Grand Prix was a simple Formula 1 start misunderstanding where no one was to blame.

Contact between the Lotus and the Force India in Silverstone's tight Arena complex left Grosjean with a broken front wing and sent di Resta spinning off the road with a puncture.

The Force India suffered too much damage to continue by the time it had got back to the pits, but Grosjean charged through to sixth after repairs.

"There was a little bit of confusion at Turns 3 and 4, and I was on the outside at Turn 3. The Force India came from the inside and just touched my front wing with his rear wheel," said Grosjean.

"It was a shame but there's nothing you can really do in these situations. I think the best thing is to qualify on pole or second place and then it's easier in the first corners..."

Grosjean said he was surprised and delighted with how well he was able to recover after the incident.

"The result itself is not fantastic, but the way the race went, from 22nd to sixth is very good," he said. "To come in the points after a change of nose is quite unbelievable, but the team did a great job to give me a car which was fantastic.

"The strategy with only one stop in the middle was quite risky, but it worked well, and there were some good battles on track with Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. It was very enjoyable."

Michael Schumacher said Mercedes had to be satisfied with his seventh-place finish in the British Grand Prix, as he reckons it was the best possible result.

The seven-time champion reiterated during the weekend that he was hoping for a wet race, as he felt it would help Mercedes's chances.

The rain never came during the race, however, and Schumacher dropped from third on the grid to seventh place.

"We achieved what was possible for us today, and we have to be satisfied with that," he said. "We were pretty competitive towards the end of the race, but overall we knew that the characteristics of this circuit wouldn't suit us in normal conditions - we definitely could have done better in the wet.

"Even so, we managed to score a few points, which can be important for the team. Our attention now turns to Hockenheim, our next home circuit, where things should look better in any case."

Team-mate Nico Rosberg said the weekend's poor performance had been unexpected after finishing down in 15th position.

"The whole weekend just hasn't gone to plan for me which is a bit unexpected and really disappointing," he said. "In the race today, I had a poor start and generally we just didn't have the pace.

"Now we need to work hard to improve the car for our next home race at Hockenheim in two weeks time. Hockenheim is a completely different circuit to here which should suit our car better, and we will hope to put on a great show for all of our fans there."

Caterham's drivers believe that the true potential of the significant upgrade package the team brought to Silverstone has yet to be identified.

Caterham introduced a new engine cover, turning vanes on the sidepods and bargeboards, moved back the radiators, added new brake ducts and tweaks to the floor as part of the package.

But while both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov were unable to make out of Q1 in qualifying, they reported that the changes to the car had worked.

"I think more or less we know we have much more performance to take from it, but [in qualifying] the conditions were so difficult to show the maximum performance from the car," Petrov told AUTOSPORT. "It is quite positive, although the conditions were not as expected, but more or less we are happy and what we are happy about is our aero package working well, and this is important.

"We still maybe are a little bit not understanding how to make it work well so in the moment... But we feel the step.

"It is difficult to understand but when they put new wing and aero package, I felt the balance was completely different. In P1 and P2 I said go down with front wing. Normally you have understeer. Here instead it was sharp - I was not ready for it. I felt this was something!"

Kovalainen admitted he had been disappointed not to make the jump out of Q3, but added that it may be the German Grand Prix before Caterham can extract the new package's true performance.

"The positive thing is the update seems to be working. [To see] how good the update is in the dry condition I think we need to probably wait until Hockenheim. I'm happy that it's working.

"Today it is difficult to read into the gaps of the cars we have a head of us, whether that's realistic or not," he added. "I don't know, it's tough to say, but I think we are very confident they are working – maybe not perfectly optimised but they are not too far off."

British Grand Prix chiefs will take on board the lessons from the traffic and parking problems that have overshadowed the Silverstone weekend, and ensure there is no repeat if the event is hit by such bad weather in the future.

That is the view of Mercedes chiefs Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug, who believe that race organisers did all they could under difficult circumstances to try and ensure that trouble was minimised after car parks and campsites became waterlogged.

Brawn said: "I think there will be some lessons learned from this weekend. It's been a shame that we've had this after 2000 when we had a similar situation, and then there was a tremendous amount of work done with a very strong response from the BRDC [british Racing Drivers' Club] and the management of the circuit.

"It's a shame that we've had these difficulties and I'm sure the group will look at it and see if they can or will improve the situation for the future."

Haug added: "It has rained a lot before; you just couldn't have used the camping sites on a usual basis, and the parking lots. So I think the organisers were a little bit surprised.

"That needs to be changed for the future and I'm sure the responsible guys will be mindful of that. The fans are making the best of it and I find that quite impressive, and I think they deserve for the next year a perfect ending of this situation."

Although conceding that matters were not ideal, Brawn said that Silverstone's troubles should be compared to other major sporting and music events which had to be cancelled because they could not cope at all with the situation.

"It has been an incredibly extreme set of conditions over the past month or so and it's not just Silverstone that has been suffering because of the extreme weather," he said. "All sorts of events have been cancelled.

"Lots of music festivals have had to be cancelled so it is very difficult. I think the fans have been fantastic. They are very enthusiastic here which is one of the reasons we like racing here. They are great, great fans and you could see the support they gave everyone during the period while we were waiting for the rain to stop so we could carry on qualifying. So it is a great place to race."

Team chiefs were not the only ones acknowledging the difficulties that Silverstone has faced, with Force India's Paul di Resta believing organisers did all they could.

"Every sporting event is getting affected in the UK at the moment. Everything is difficult. Hopefully the weather system will change and it certainly needs to change in time for the Olympics," he said.

"I think everybody in the UK should feel part of this and I am a proud BRDC member. At the end of the day you can always do more, you can always do less, but nobody knew what we could expect.

"There were independent campsites as well and people bought packages to go and do that. How much of it can be controlled? But when have you ever seen grandstands full, on a Friday, when it's raining? We had a record-breaking crowd attendance."

Post-race press conference:

[spoiler]PODIUM INTERVIEWS

Q. Mark you must be a very happy boy?

Mark WEBBER: Yeah, thanks Jackie. I think it was a very interesting race. I thought at the start Fernando had very good pace. A bit of strategy here and there. Obviously, Fernando started on different tyres. But never gave up, kept pushing and it didn't really work out for Fernando at the end. It was very, very close for him so we were there to capitalise. It's a very, very special victory for the team, just down the road, a local team, so thanks to all the guys, It's incredible for them. And for Renault another victory for them in the UK. So I'm very proud today. Thanks to all the fans for sticking with us for the past few days, it's been incredible.

Q. Fernando I thought you were going to win the race. I won two British Grands Prix, you've won two British Grands Prix. It was pretty hot for a while.

Fernando ALONSO: Yeah it was quite close today the victory. At the end in the last stint Mark was much quicker than us, and he deserved the win, so I congratulate him and congratulate the Red Bull team. But I'm very proud of the Ferrari recovery in the last few weeks and now we are fighting for the victory in the last three or four grands prix. So we're heading in the right direction. As Mark said, thanks to all the fans. We had not so good weather during the weekend and they were cheering all the time for us. I hope they enjoyed the show today and see you all next year.

Q. And what about the championship? You're still leading.

FA: Yeah, still there. It's the main target obviously for us. Today I think we lost seven points with Mark but we gained some extra points on the rest of the field. So I think it was a good Sunday in terms of championship points for us.

Q. Well done, Sebastian, a good race for you.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was an interesting one. The start was not so good, I lost a little bit and lost a position to Felipe. I had a tough fight with him in the beginning. I nearly got past but it was really, really close. It was fun but I didn't get past. Then we brought the right strategy to come back, which turned to be the right thing but obviously later on you always have a little bit of extra on your tyres. All in all, very happy. Mark obviously deserved to win today. Very happy with the result for the team. Thanks to all the fans out there because I think it was quite horrible the last two days not just for us but especially for them but obviously the sun came out today and the British summer showed its best. So looking forward to coming back next year.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q. Mark, well done. Just how much satisfaction did that win give you?

MW: Oh, a lot. I've had a few now which is nice but this one is taking a little while to sink in. It didn't look like a spectacular race maybe between Fernando and I initially, but it was one. A little strategy involved as well, particularly with ourselves, pacing the stints on the tyres, working out if it's going to be two or three stops and how the tyres would behave in the race. Fernando starting on a different tyre and I knew he would have to run a different compound towards the end of the race as we had got the harder [more difficult] tyre out of the way at the start. I thought in the first stint that Fernando had he was in very, very good shape to probably close the win out, but it came our way in the last stint and I am absolutely over the moon, absolutely rapt. For the team, it's local here, Wings for Life, all the photos on the car, great initiative, all that stuff, it's a real good story. The fans here this weekend have put up with some horrendous weather but we've had a beautiful dry British Grand Prix. There'll be some long trips home tonight but overall I'm very proud today. It was a very special victory as I say. I managed to get Fernando in the last few laps which was very nice and we got the win from there.

Q. And the timing is right as well, with three races in four weekend before the break. That's important?

MW: Ah look, we have a lot of races this year as you know. Melbourne was important, as will Brazil be. I've got a couple of wins now and also some consistent results as well. But we know how tight it is. I see Kimi finished ten seconds behind with fourth or fifth place or whatever, so it's tight. As we saw with Seb, he lost a little but of time in the first stint and that can be your undoing. Sometimes I've had some of that medicine and it makes it hard to come back from there. So in the end you've got to grab these ones with both hands and I was very keen to grab with both hands today. I had a single opportunity to pounce and I wasn't going to let that slip.

Q. It seemed to be in the middle sector that you were particularly gaining on Fernando in those closing stages.

MW: I think Fernando, with the front left tyre, if you lose balance around this place, that sector the speed is very, very high, it's very hard for the driver to do something. I could see that when I arrived on Fernando, reasonably close I got to see where he was struggling with his car. It was obvious that he was pushing as hard as possible but the balance wasn't with him. That's when you've got to smell the blood and you've got to go for it.

Q. Fernando so close but so far. When you first saw everybody else's tyres and you were pretty much on your own [on the soft] was that a worry?

FA: Not really. As Mark said before or later he cars will mix again. You have to put for the first 14 or 15 laps the soft tyres or in the last 14 or 15, so it was a similar timed race at the end over 52 laps. So I was not worried. Probably the start was the biggest worry because with the hard compound you know the start is a little bit worse. We tried to defend the position there. After that we were controlling the race more or less OK until the last stint, we were now quick enough and when Mark arrived I think he overtook very easy and there was nothing we can do. I'm happy with the second place. Now obviously, ten minutes after the race there is a strange feeling of losing victory. But it's the same 18 points you get if you are third and you overtake the guy in second on the last lap and you are so happy, so it's the same second place but different feelings in this ten minutes but I'm sure in one hour's time I will appreciate it much more.

Q. And in particular having the pace you had in Valencia as well. That's two races in a row you've been leading the race.

FA: Yeah it was good in Valencia the car and here on a completely different track with a lot of high-speed corners the car seemed to perform very well. Also a fantastic race from Felipe, finishing fourth, so happy with the improvements in the car. I think still there is a last step to close with these guys, maybe they are a little bit quicker in some conditions on some circuits, so we need to improve those.

Q. And an interesting battle with Lewis. It wasn't actually for position but on the road.

FA: Yeah, it was close. I was with new tyres so I had a pace advantage but you know the McLaren is quite quick on the straights, so I overtook him on the exit of the corner thanks to the tyres and then he overtook me again on the straight and it was a difficult moment of the race because if you have a little contact or something you can lose your front wing or whatever and your race is over. You need to be aggressive, you need to try to no lose too much time in those overtakings but at the same time being a little bit careful.

Q. Sebastian, obviously for a Red Bull a great day with you first and third and also confirmation again of the pace you had in Valencia.

SV: Yeah, I think all in all it was a good day. Obviously happy for the team, the factory is just down the road. It's more or less our home grand prix and therefore definitely special and I'm sure we'll have some drinks tomorrow.

Q. And an interesting battle with a group of four of you in the early stages.

SV: Yeah, the start was not too good to be honest, I lost a little bit too much. I had too much wheel slip and I could see the first row disappearing. It was quite tight and with Felipe he had a better start and I lost the position to him. And then I think it was down to turn four it was extremely tight. I tried to defend the position to Kimi who was right behind. I think I damaged the front wing a little bit. Not sure how bad it was. But it didn't turn out to be a massive disadvantage. So from there I got stuck a little bit. Once I got close to get past Felipe but he did a very good job, he very hard but very fair, so I enjoyed that a lot and then we did the right thing coming in a little bit earlier and used to the momentum and got past both Michael and Felipe at the same time, which was good. I was just a little bit too far away to get Fernando at the end so just a little bit off that feeling he described - you're close and you get that second place in the end. I'm sure if the race had been a little bit longer then it would have been different but that's how it is, so I'm very happy with third today.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Congratulations Mark. As you say this season will be nip and tuck but you have points every race but one, you're the second guy to win twice – it must give you confidence that you're going to be in the thick of this championship fight.

MW: Absolutely, I'm not low on confidence at the moment. It's going well. I think in Barcelona we didn't help ourselves with the strategy in qualifying to put ourselves outside the Q3 by being too optimistic about the pace of the car for that Sunday afternoon. So, overall, so far so good. We will enjoy today's result, really soak it up. That's what's important. You have to remember how hard we work for these results and tomorrow morning, it's Hockenheim. That's what it has to be about. I think it's a long, long season. I'm not getting too fired up about any particular championship positions at the moment. But what is for sure is that I have a nice haul of points to keep going with. I'm not sitting on 20 points trying to start my campaign from here. So it's going well so far.

Q. (Leonid Novozhilov - F1 Life) Mark, you are in second place in the championship. Now you're ahead of Sebastian Vettel by 16 points. Will you continue to attack, or let Sebastian Vettel overtake you?

MW: Yeah. I think at Hockenheim we will let Seb through! No, honestly, I will try to give your question some decent respect. Look, it's a championship for all of us. I've had a good run in the last few races. Obviously Seb had a retirement when leading Valencia so that's the way it's been. I've been there to have two very special victories so far this year, albeit in different circumstances. As I say, I would rather have the points that I have than those that some other people have. I'm not looking at who is third, fourth, fifth. I am looking at the little guy next to me and he's going well as well, so we need to keep pushing hard.

Q. (Peter Windsor - ClarkSport)Fernando, a couple of questions: how much did being on pole influence your decision on tyre choice? I wondered whether there was an element of being conservative at the start because you were on pole.

And secondly, your second stint, was the length of that defined by covering Mark? Could you have gone longer in a perfect world in that second stint and perhaps made more use of the tyre at that point?

FA: I think tyre choice was a little bit determined by the pace we saw in FP3, the little dry running that we had. We felt more confident on the hards so it was our preferred choice today. And then, if at any point of the race it had rained and we put on intermediates you didn't have to use the softs any more so it was a better combination of possibilities that the hard gave us today.

And then the length of the stint? I think the second was quite close to the limit of the number of laps. Maybe we could have lasted a couple of extra laps in the first one.

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, this is more or less a similar question: when you stopped on the 37th lap, you had 15 laps ahead of you on the softer tyre. You did only 12 on the harder tyre at the beginning. Did you think you could finish the race in good conditions with the tyres.

FA: No, I was confident in the tyres, to be honest, because Felipe used the soft tyre in the first stint and I think he did 14 laps, so 14 laps with maybe a heavy car in the first stint and we were 15 laps to the end with a light car. So we were quite convinced the softs were OK but they were a little bit slower, obviously a little bit too much understeer, so the balanced changed and killed the performance of the car a little bit and we were a bit too slow. We knew, more or less, that the soft was a little bit slower, so we needed to open up a gap in the first two stints when we were on different tyres to Mark and we knew that that gap was for sure getting closer and closer at the end when we put on the softs, and what we opened up at the beginning was not enough

Q. (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) And for both Red Bull drivers, after the astonishing performance in Valencia, if it hadn't have rained here, did you expect more from the car during the race?

MW: Obviously we got some confidence with our car in Valencia. I think that before then, we'd been finding our way with the new regulations, but I think we understood a little bit more about the RB8 in Valencia, and that has been an on-going process here. Potential is an over-used word but we've got to try and get the most out of the car in all conditions. I think we've definitely improved the car from Barcelona, this is an even quicker circuit, and also what you have to keep in mind is if you're a little bit out of the balance window here – not with the tyres but I mean balance chassis-wise - aerodynamically around here you are in big big trouble, so we had to tune the car as everyone did, as the weekend went on. We learned a lot in P3, the only dry running we had, so I think we're very happy with the car around here. Probably not had the advantage that we had in... obviously Seb had a clean Grand Prix. I was in a bit of traffic but Valencia was probably a bit stronger, but here we won the race. So it turned out OK. Fernando wasn't slow, but I think the team's done a great performance with the car here.

Q. (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Mark, this morning you told me that wet conditions would be better for you, given the temperature. Do you think that the temperature increase at the end affected your performance a little bit?

MW: When I saw you this morning, we only had the (dry) running from P3, which, to be honest, wasn't particularly smooth sailing for us. We had a look at what Fernando had done in that session and he looked very good on balance and his sectors were pretty strong, taking into account fuel loads or whatever, we thought Fernando looked pretty good, so we had that in mind, going into the race, obviously, how we would go. Don't forget last year as well; he gave us a hiding during the Grand Prix as well through balance and overall high speed performance and grip, if you like, so Ferrari has always been pretty strong here, and Fernando as well. So in the end, a little bit surprised that we were maybe as competitive as we were in the dry, but hey, it's a great problem to have and we put together a great Grand Prix today.

Q. (Sean McGreevy – CSMA Club Magazine) Mark, you're consistently successful at Silverstone. What do you enjoy, what do you like about racing here?

MW: Well, this morning I took the dogs for a run. The good thing about going home to them is that they don't know if I've had a shit day or a good day, they're always happy to see me. It's good to be staying at home. All of us know how much we love hotels so it's just good to be at home and even though it's my job and it's all sportsmen and women's jobs to enjoy - whether you're a golfer, tennis player, racing driver – you have to enjoy or get the most out of every venue that you race at but it's only natural that there is... like Fernando in Barcelona, there is that extra little bit that makes you a little bit more relaxed and a bit more comfortable, which you try and replicate at every single Grand Prix, but with all due respect, it's not the same at Hockenheim. I love racing everywhere but here it's extra special. As I say, I won my first race here in '96 in a Formula Ford so the love affair continues.

Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Sebastian, when you look at your lap times, you were OK in sector one and three, maybe even the fastest, but you were consistently lost out in sector two. What was the problem there?

SV: I don't know. I got told we lose a little bit too much in the second sector. We probably had a little bit of trouble in the fast stuff at the end of the race, so I think all in all we were quite competitive, but yes, we lost out in the second sector so we need to see why that was. Generally I felt pretty happy. In the last stint, to be honest, I wasn't so happy with the car, I picked up a lot of vibrations. I don't know why as I didn't have a lock-up or anything. We need to have a look why that was. I have one question: does anybody have a clue about the tennis? What's the score? Three all in the first set.

Q. (Frederic Ferret – L'Equipe) Mark, you said that from the outside the race was not spectacular; what is the main difficulty for you during that race? Managing the tyres, the start, overtaking Fernando?

MW: Yes, understanding the pace to do and to have the range to split the race evenly, for a two stop Grand Prix. That was the main focus, to make sure that I could get to the stop lap which the guys were trying to predict me to hit, which pit stop lap they wanted me to hit, and get there with the best combination of pace and tyre life. Ultimately that is the best way to get to the chequered flag. Obviously you put a lot of faith in the pit wall. The guys are helping you to work out what level of pace you run at, and also balancing the car at the pit stops was important, working with the guys on the front wing. We made quite a big adjustment at the first stop after my first stint and then I was much happy with the car in the second and third stints.

Q. (Manuel Franco - AS) Fernando and Sebastian, is the second victory for Mark and second in the championship a surprise for you?

FA: No, not really. I think Mark had a difficult season last year with a little bit too big a difference than normal with Sebastian, but in 2010 he was leading the championship until Korea so he's not new in this position of fighting for the World Championships. This year, with all the tricky conditions and all the different winners we saw in this strange championship so far, I think Mark is good with those difficulties.

SV: Not much to add. Obviously I have the advantage in that he's in the same team so I can see what he's doing but I don't think it's a surprise.

Q. (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere Della Sera) Fernando, you told us about your mixed feelings: are you more worried to have lost seven points to Mark or you will maybe be more happy to have gained on Sebastian?

FA: I think at the moment, as far as I'm leading, I'm more happy than worried. If Mark was leading the championship, I would be worried about losing another seven points, but at the moment, the weekend in general has been fantastic for us, because we left Valencia with maybe an emotional win, a lot of points in our pocket, compared to our rivals in the championship and we arrived at Silverstone, a completely different circuit, we didn't know how the car was performing here. We had a very difficult qualifying for everybody yesterday and we survived that qualifying with pole position and today we also had a tricky race. We didn't know what the weather was doing and I think the car performed well, we avoided any contact, any accidents that might happen at the start or in some battles. We are again bringing home more points than we probably expected, because when we arrived on Thursday, if someone had told us that we would leave on Sunday with 18 points again, I think we would have been very happy.

Q. (Ted Kravitz – Sky) Is it Federer you're going for Sebastian?

SV: Yes.

Q. (Ted Kravitz – Sky) There was a message on the radio that you should use Torque Five or something like that. Was there a technical reason why you didn't have Mark's pace today, and looking to your home race in Germany, what are your thoughts on that, a race that I don't think you've won?

SV: No, we didn't have any problems. When you face your stint, you know roughly how many laps you want to do etc.d and you try to manage the tyres at their best and you try to use the tools that you have in the car. Obviously you can change your front wing settings at the pit stop, but other than that, once you are out on the circuit, you haven't got that much to play with. You can play a little bit with the diff, obviously adjust your driving and adjust the mapping from the engine point of view. It's hard to bring it down to lap time, but it's just more driver comfort, what you prefer at the time.

And yeah, obviously I'm looking forward to the next race, looking forward to Germany. It should be a very good one for us. I feel the car is picking up speed, so I definitely feel happier since the last race. This one… I think we struggled last year here, in particular. Ferrari had the upper hand so I think this year we had a much better balanced car in that regard. So it seems we are on the right track so let's see if I succeed this year. It's a race like every other. Sure it would be very special to win, but I don't score more points just by winning my home race.

Q. (Mark Fogarty – Auto Action ) Fernando, if there is a change in your team next year, would you like to have Mark as your teammate?

FA: I don't know. I think it's just imaginary pictures. I need to put something on my shoes to be a little bit taller. That would be the only thing if I changed teammates. For the rest, it doesn't matter. I would be happy with any teammate. I say again, I'm extremely happy with Felipe. Today, again, he showed the performance that he can do, with a normal race, trouble free etc. We will see what the team decides.

Q. (Don Kennedy – Hawkes Bay Today) Mark, does today's result make a difference to where you might drive next year, given that you've got number two on your cap and that seemed like a number one drive?

MW: It helps my situation to stay in Formula One. At the start of the year I didn't have a contract, I'm pushing to get a contract for next year. Going reasonably well, got a few points, a couple of wins and I will work very hard to try and stay in Formula One next year. So, the answer is no.[/spoiler]

Katsuya · July 9, 2012

I don't understand why they're fining Kobayashi. "We know you feel bad about hitting your mechanics and costing yourself some points, so have a 25k fine on top of it!"

Gazz · July 9, 2012

British Grand Prix chiefs will take on board the lessons from the traffic and parking problems that have overshadowed the Silverstone weekend

They won't.

Lineker · July 10, 2012

The only plus of it all was that it inconvenienced that cockend Rich.

Red Bull insists that Mark Webber's second Formula 1 victory of the season will not bring forward any contract talks, despite the prospect of Ferrari trying to lure the Australian away for next season.

Webber's victory in the British Grand Prix, which helped him close the gap on championship leader Fernando Alonso, has served to further fuel speculation that the Australian would be the ideal man to drive alongside his Spanish rival at Maranello in 2013.

But although Webber admitted at the weekend that he had had 'light' talks with other teams about next season, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner remains confident that his driver is keen to stay put.

"I think that very simply we have a great relationship with Mark," said Horner. "As always with him, things are pretty straightforward. This is his seventh season with the team. He has had all of his success in F1 with this team and we would like to see that continue.

"Inevitably there is an awful lot of speculation surrounding Ferrari, but we are only focused on ourselves. We cannot control what other people say or do, and I think that Mark feels comfortable in the team.

"Mark wants to be in the team next year and therefore, as we have always stated, during the summer we will sit down and talk about the future. And that period of time is obviously coming up pretty close now, so over the next few weeks we will be talking about 2013."

When asked directly if Webber had told him that he wanted to stay next year, Horner used his words carefully.

"Mark has given me every indication that he is very happy here, and you can see that in his driving," he said. "He is driving very well this year.

"He has won two big races now, the Monaco Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, and I think his drive at Silverstone was excellent.

"It was great for him to win for the team at our local race, and obviously coming from just up the road as well, and to have Sebastian [Vettel] up there on the podium after a difficult first lap again was a double bonus."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says a major upgrade package scheduled for the German Grand Prix must deliver significant improvements after the team's struggles in the British Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button headed into the Silverstone weekend expecting the high-speed characteristics of the track to perfectly suit the MP4-27.

But their form was hit by a lack of grip in both qualifying and the race that left them at the bottom end of the top 10, while Red Bull and Ferrari dominated the fight at the front of the field.

Reflecting on McLaren's struggles after the race, Whitmarsh said that the pressure was now on for the team to rediscover its winning ways, and that developments planned for Hockenheim must be a good improvement.

"I think it's been one of those weekends," said Whitmarsh. "We had lots of stuff on the car, and we couldn't run it properly on Friday.

"We've got a decent, bigger, more visible upgrade package for Germany and we've got to deliver that and make that stick. It's the same old game, we have got to develop the car, and we have got to make sure we use the tyres better."

The upgrades scheduled for Germany are understood to include a new bodywork concept at the rear of the car, as well as further refinement to the adjustable front brake ducts.

Such progress is going to be vital, with Jenson Button suggesting that the outfit had fallen behind Williams and Sauber in terms of overall pace at Silverstone.

Whitmarsh added: "It is always disappointing if you are not competitive and certainly at the end of the race we were not, and through no fault of the drivers. Both of them did a good job.

"We weren't quick enough, period. We didn't get as much data this weekend as we wanted.

"We have got to get that data; we got to make sure we come with the planned decent update for Germany. We've got to work hard to update the car, we have got to understand the tyres and we have got to minimise mistakes.

"The average of all three pit stops was sub three seconds, which is something we have been working on, as I think you know. But fundamentally, good pit stops, a good couple of drivers, solid drives, bad qualifying, but no events upon which we could capitalise. Just not quick enough is the school report."

Ferrari expects the Formula 1 world championship battle to remain wide open, despite itself and Red Bull beginning to pull clear of their rivals.

Fernando Alonso came close to becoming the first back-to-back winner of 2012 at the British Grand Prix, before being denied victory by a late charge from Mark Webber.

But on a weekend where both Ferrari and Red Bull delivered their biggest points haul of the season from a single race, it appears that unless McLaren can produce a big step forward in performance then the title battle could become a straight head-to-head fight.

However, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is not convinced about that being the situation, and he believes both McLaren and Lotus can still mount a challenge

Asked for his feelings on the title fight, Domenicali said: "Very tough. It is great to see Fernando still leading the championship, and it was good from the sporting point of view to see Lewis [Hamilton] losing some points and Sebastian [Vettel] too.

"If we look at the situation of Silverstone, with the first four cars, it means we have done a step in the right direction from the performance point of view. But it is a very open championship.

"I don't believe honestly that the others will stay behind. I am sure McLaren will fight to come back, and the others are very close.

"I was impressed by the pace of Lotus. If you look at Grosjean, if you look at the first lap he pitted and then he finished sixth. So the field is very tight."

Domenicali reiterated that even with the strong results Ferrari has managed so far this season, he will not be happy until he is convinced that the team has produced the fastest car.

"With such a tight competition if you are behind in one area, then it will be a problematic end to the season," he added. "I'm happy to see that the people are concentrated on the job, do not care what [distraction] is all around, and stay concentrated.

"I'm not happy, and [will not be] up to the moment when really our car will be the strongest. At the moment we are not there, but we are getting very close."

Silverstone chiefs believe some good will come out of the traffic chaos that marred the British Grand Prix weekend, because it has highlighted areas where improvements can be made next year.

Race organisers had to take the unprecedented step of advising some fans not to attend the qualifying day because of fears it could destroy car parks that were required for the 125,000 race fans on Sunday.

That decision was taken when problems with water-logged campsites and car parks led to a breakdown of the traffic system, leaving some fans unable to get to the track at all after queuing for several hours.

Richard Phillips, Silverstone's managing director, said that a detailed investigation would be undertaken to look at what went wrong, and what steps need to be taken for next year to ensure there is no repeat if bad weather hits again.

"There is plenty to reflect on," explained Phillips. "The biggest challenge is to sort out the camp sites properly and have spare capacity. It works fine when the weather is great, but when the weather is not and people come in caravans and camper vans, which don't sit particularly well on grass [compared to tents], then all the campsites close up shop.

"It is not their fault, but that just means there are thousands of campers out there who are just drifting around. We have got to avoid doing that again, and that is one of the biggest lessons.

"We have to put more roadways in, and do what we can to preserve car parking. I think Park and Ride has been a massive success, as we knew we had to go more in that direction and people now probably think it is a good idea. There are lessons to be learned and maybe some good will come out of it as well."

Phillips even suggests that the successful Sunday - when the 125,000 capacity crowd made it to the track with little trouble – owed much to the fact that Silverstone had been forced to keep people away on Saturday.

"We had to make some very hard decisions after Friday and I think they were the right decisions to keep some away on Saturday," he said. "Had we had a good Friday, we might not have made that decision and we might have wrecked race day. So it may have worked for us in a bizarre way."

Phillips estimates that there were 10,000 fans who heeded advice not to attend qualifying, which was enough to ensure the car parks were ready for race day.

And he revealed that despite the traffic problems, Silverstone sold £40,000 worth of tickets for the 2013 British GP on the Friday.

Pastor Maldonado sees no reason to change his approach to racing, despite falling foul of the stewards again for being involved in a collision during the British Grand Prix.

The Williams driver was fined 10,000 Euro and given a reprimand for his part in a crash with Sergio Perez after their first pitstops.

But despite coming off the back of being punished for other clashes with Perez (Monaco practice) and Lewis Hamilton (Valencia), Maldonado says there is no indication from his team that he needs to do things differently.

"I have the team's support because they have the data and when we went to the stewards it is very clear that I lost the car," Maldonado told AUTOSPORT.

"I think I have been unlucky. I accept the penalty from [the clash with] Lewis, although I was a little bit unlucky because I had the kerb and no grip at the front.

"There, it was one and a half laps to the end and I was fighting but here the race was just starting.

"Today we were both racing and both had DRS open. I went to the inside of the track so the position was mine and he braked late, and I was on cold tyres and had no angle to turn and I lost the car and it is clear."

Maldonado also dismissed suggestions that his style is too wild for Formula 1.

"In the previous races at the start of the year I was very clean and I had no problem, and I was fighting more because I was in the middle of the grid," he said.

"Today I was even gentle with Kimi [Raikkonen], giving him the position and I was driving carefully because the race is long and degradation is big and our car is good with degradation."

Nico Rosberg has urged his Mercedes team to start getting its act together if it is not going to see its main rivals start pulling clear at the front of the field.

The German had been one of the strongest points scorers since his team won the Chinese Grand Prix, but he failed to score any points at Silverstone after his most disappointing weekend of the campaign.

And with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari having locked out the top four places in the results, Rosberg thinks Mercedes needs to lift its game if it is not to fall too far adrift in the title chase.

"The others are really attacking now, especially the teams up front," he told his official video blog.

"We really have to get our act together to make sure that they don't get away from us in the mid-season. So I am looking forward to Hockenheim. It is a track that suits us much more, racing at home, and I am optimistic we can do a top result there."

Rosberg said he had headed in to the British GP weekend eyeing a podium finish, but things had simply not gone his way - and he ended up 15th.

"I went into the weekend really optimistic thinking if everything goes well I will be in for a podium," he said. "In the end really it was a weekend of setbacks. The weather was up and down, and generally it was a pretty crazy weekend."

Red Bull says it is too early to believe the world championship battle is boiling down to a fight between itself and Ferrari, despite the recent successes of both teams.

Mark Webber's victory in the British Grand Prix means the Australian has become the second double winner of 2012, after Ferrari's Fernando Alonso achieved the same feat in the European Grand Prix last month.

With Red Bull and Ferrari alone in their fight at the front at Silverstone, there are indications that the title battle is now taking shape. But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is less certain that is the case.

"I think it is far too early to write off anybody in this championship," he said. "You have got the two most consistent finishers leading the championship at the moment, so therefore finishing races is absolutely critical.

"But you cannot write off any of the major contenders, and there is still an awful lot of racing to be done at a lot of different circuits. We have had a very strong weekend, and it goes some way to making up for Valencia."

As well as taking delight at the win, Horner says his team is further boosted by the fact it has had the quickest car at the last two races.

"We take a lot of comfort from Valencia," he said. "We have been quick on two types of circuit now, so hopefully that bodes well for the rest of the championship.

"Ferrari was quick as well here, and Fernando's pace picked up once Mark passed him. We got the result despite the tricky conditions of qualifying and it was great to see, for the first time this year, both drivers on the podium."

McLaren does not fear that its current on-track struggles will deter Lewis Hamilton from wanting to stay with the team next year.

Hamilton's contract is up for renewal at the end of this season, and he has been marked out as a candidate for a switch to either Mercedes or Red Bull if a vacancy appears at either of those teams for 2013.

The biggest hurdle in sorting out a deal at the start of the season, when Hamilton was battling at the front of the championship table, appeared to be finalising commercial terms.

However, McLaren's recent decline in form - which has left the 2008 world champion 37 points adrift of championship leader Fernando Alonso – means that the competitiveness of the machinery available to him is now also an issue.

AUTOSPORT understands that Hamilton has expressed, on occasions, frustrations to those close to him that McLaren has not built on its solid start to the campaign and that it is not giving him a car capable of regularly fighting at the front.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is convinced, however, that Hamilton will take a more considered approach when it comes to finalising his contract.

When asked if he was worried Hamilton would think twice about signing a new deal in the wake of current troubles, Whitmarsh said: "I think he is smarter than that."

He added that he believed Hamilton would reflect on how the whole season has developed, taking into account pole positions in Australia and Malaysia and a victory in Canada.

"My pitch is that he has got to want to be in this team, which I believe he does," said Whitmarsh. "And he knows that racing is highs and lows.

"This hasn't been one of the highs this weekend, four weeks ago it was a different situation, two weeks' time it could be a different situation again. He knows that, I know that.

"We are disciplined enough and battle hardened enough these days to know that you've got to take stock and learn from these weekends. Sometimes you learn more from these weekends than successful ones. We will continue to develop the car and make sure we do a better job in two weeks' time."

Formula 1 drivers will no longer have the ability to use DRS under yellow flag conditions from now on, AUTOSPORT has learned, after the FIA acted to clear up the controversy around Michael Schumacher's final lap in Valencia.

Schumacher had to see the stewards after finishing on the podium in the European Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing claimed he had used DRS after yellow flags had been shown.

The stewards decided not to take action, however, because they judged that Schumacher had slowed down for the warning signals - even if he had used DRS for a short period of time before turning it off.

With that situation prompting discussion among drivers - especially after Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa were punished for using DRS under yellow flags at the Spanish Grand Prix - FIA race director Charlie Whiting agreed to look into the matter over the Silverstone weekend.

It is understood that Whiting informed the drivers before the race about how behaviour under yellow flags would be treated by stewards going forward.

He informed them that from now on, drivers would primarily have to 'demonstrate' that they slowed down sufficiently - with the use of KERS or DRS of secondary importance.

However, to limit the possibility of any confusion about the use of DRS in such a situation, the FIA said from now on it would disable the use of the overtaking aid whenever there was a yellow warning flag displayed in the DRS zone at each race.

The new ban on the use DRS during yellow flag periods was implemented for the first time at the British Grand Prix in the wake of the collision between Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez.

Before that ruling was laid down, Schumacher had said that he was always under the impression that as long as drivers slowed down for yellow flags then there should not be a problem.

"There are two basics to this one [yellow flags and DRS] and people seem to mix them up," he said. "There is no rule that says if you use DRS in a yellow zone that you automatically will be penalised. Depending on when it happens, you can prove that where the accident is you go slow and you significantly reduce your speed. Whether you use DRS or don't use DRS, that is another story.

"But obviously if you use DRS from points A to point B, and you use 100% DRS, then it is likely that you have not slowed down and therefore you get a penalty."

Lineker · July 10, 2012

Mark Webber will stay with Red Bull Racing for the 2013 Formula 1 season, the team has announced, ending speculation that the Australian could be in line for a move to Ferrari.

Webber has been on year-by-year deals with Red Bull for several seasons, and had been linked with a switch to Ferrari to partner Fernando Alonso in 2013.

But the reigning champion team has now completed a contract extension with the British Grand Prix winner, who said staying put alongside Sebastian Vettel was the most logical option.

"I've been with Red Bull Racing since 2007 and have achieved nine grand prix wins during that time," said Webber.

"I'm high on confidence at the moment and firing on all cylinders. I know the team well and I'm very comfortable here; we have grown together over the years and it feels like absolutely the right thing to stay with Red Bull for another season.

"The team is constantly working hard to improve in all areas and we've shown that together we can win races.

"It's great to be able to make this announcement off the back of the win in Silverstone at the weekend and I'm looking forward to competing on the edge and pushing myself in every race again next season."

Team boss Christian Horner added: "Mark has driven very well in the first nine races of this season and his performance has been impressive. Much of his Formula 1 success has been during his time with Red Bull Racing and together we have achieved 10 poles, nine wins and 31 podiums.

"As there was a strong desire from both sides to continue the partnership, it was a logical decision to extend our relationship and it is with great pleasure that we confirm Mark will drive for us in 2013."

Webber joined Red Bull at the start of the 2007 season. The 35-year-old Australian has finished third in the championship for the past two seasons, and was a long-time points leader in 2010. Webber is currently Alonso's main rival for the 2012 title, closing to within 13 points of the Spaniard when he beat him at Silverstone.

Mark Webber claims it was an easy decision to commit himself to Red Bull Racing for 2013 - after confirming for the first time that he did hold talks with Ferrari.

The Australian's British Grand Prix victory proved the catalyst for him and his Milton Keynes-based outfit to finalise a deal for next year, even though team principal Christian Horner suggested at the weekend that they would still hold back for a while before beginning talks.

Webber says the prospect of fighting for the world championship this year, and his in-depth knowledge of the way Red Bull Racing operated, were key factors that made him choose to stick with his current team once again.

When asked if that decision was ultimately an easy one, Webber said: "In the end, yes it was. It's been an interesting few months, but overall the continuity and desire for me to continue at Red Bull Racing was very strong.

"My main focus is on this year's championship, which is very important. In addition it's an amazing bunch of guys and girls at Red Bull Racing and I really, really like working with them. That has a huge effect on me and how I perform in the car and it helped me in my decision."

Talking about offers he had elsewhere, Webber said: "There were discussions with Ferrari, but my decision was to stay here."

With Webber locked in a close title battle, he thinks there will be benefits to wrapping up his contract for next year right now.

"I've been hearing different rumours and reasons for a long time now," he said. "At the end of the day I know everything that has been going on. You want to make sure your focus is clearly on driving the car and the guys that you're working with. It's important the team knows you're 100 per cent with them, which, of course, I am."

Webber also says his future beyond 2013 is open, and ultimately depends upon what he is producing on track.

"I've been asked this question for the past four years and my answer remains the same," he replied when asked if 2013 would be his last season in Formula 1. "It's a results-based sport at the front of the grid so the future lies in my own hands. It's down to me to deliver the on-track results."

Ferrari insists it is no rush to finalise who will partner Fernando Alonso next year, with Mark Webber's decision to commit to Red Bull Racing taking away one of its most obvious options.

Webber held talks with Ferrari about a deal for 2013, but in the end elected to stick with his current team because of the benefits of familiarity.

That move has left Ferrari with a tough choice now to work out who will be best to partner Alonso next season - especially because Felipe Massa has delivered a promising lift in form since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that his outfit would wait before deciding on its plans, but he did suggest that Massa was now back to his best - which suggests he could yet be given another year's contract.

"I have said all the time that we are in no rush," explained Domenicali, speaking before news of Webber's contract extension with Red Bull Racing was confirmed.

"I am happy to see that Felipe was fourth [at Silverstone]. He was very unlucky in Valencia, so I think it [his struggle] is all over.

"I am happy to see after a very difficult start that he is in this shape and I really hope he can keep it up to the end."

Massa has also received some good backing from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who noted that the Brazilian's points at Silverstone contributed to the team moving up to second place in the constructors' championship.

"I am very pleased to have seen that Felipe was very quick, fighting hard and consistently throughout the weekend," di Montezemolo told the Ferrari website. "It was very important for him and for us, because it is partly due to the points he scored that we have moved up to second in the constructors' classification."

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael says the team's pitcrew has reached the speed and consistency that he wanted - but he concedes the pressure is now on for it to stay at that high level.

Michael set an ambitious target at the start of the season for his outfit to achieve an average pitstop time of under three seconds in a race.

That feat was achieved at the British Grand Prix - where the fastest stop of 2.66 seconds was also just slightly slower than the record-breaking 2.60s stop that it did in Valencia a fortnight ago.

Michael is delighted that the crew has now got under that three-second average time, as he looks for it to now produce that performance on every weekend.

"We knew we were there in Montreal, but we had a couple of races with hiccups, where things failed and had problems," Michael told AUTOSPORT. "In terms of the pace and the consistency of the pace, we knew it was coming – and we said that.

"Now, we are definitely there – but we have got to keep on it. If you look at some of the problems that teams had at Silverstone - Mercedes had the wheel nuts again, Sauber with [Kamui] Kobayashi, and Red Bull had a problem as well – it is hard out there.

"So if we can stay away from the problems and average those sorts of times, then we can be there to make sure that we are fast enough when the car is quick enough to win. Then it will become a differentiator. It wasn't at Silverstone, but it can be."

McLaren's pitstop performance at Silverstone was boosted by the late return of its star right rear wheel gunner – who was injured after being cut by Lewis Hamilton's front wing during a stop in Valencia and had looked set to be forced to miss the British GP.

"He was better, he came in on race morning," explained Michael. "He came on Saturday, did that morning's pitstop practice, did 10 stops and was the quickest on those!

"He didn't work [on the car] Saturday, didn't work on Sunday, but came in for the race and we used him. He was good to go!"

Although McLaren was the fastest pit crew at the British GP, Ferrari retains the best average over the season so far.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier insists there is no sense of mounting frustration at his outfit, despite another weekend where it failed to deliver on its full potential.

The pace of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen in the British Grand Prix suggested the car had the potential to fight the Red Bulls and Ferraris for victory - but both men were too far down the order to make the most of their chances.

Raikkonen's efforts in qualifying were compromised by a KERS problem that cost him lap time, while Grosjean had a spin in Q2 and then damaged his front wing on Paul di Resta's rear tyre on the opening lap.

Although both men recovered to finish fifth (Raikkonen) and sixth (Grosjean), their pace suggested that more could have been possible if Lotus had got everything right on each day.

But Boullier says that despite the fact the team could be left ruing another opportunity slipping through its fingers, he says there is no annoyance at what is happening.

"I have to say there is absolutely no frustration," Boullier told AUTOSPORT. "It's just the ninth race of the season. There are 11 races to go, it's going to come. Every race we are there, so it's going to come."

Boullier remains convinced that Lotus just needs to sort out qualifying to finally be able to deliver on its quick car in the races.

"We needed better qualifying from both cars actually," said Boullier, looking back at the British GP. "If we had put the tyres on earlier, maybe Kimi would have qualified better - in the top four - and starting in a higher qualifying position would have allowed us to win this race. And this is definitely the key.

"Again, our guys are fast in the race. We build up on a good strategy, but if we don't qualify better we won't be able to be stronger in the race."

He also thinks that qualifying further up the grid will minimise the chances of his drivers getting caught up in incidents - as has happened to Grosjean a number of times this season.

"If you start lower you cannot help getting involved in these issues," he said. "Each one was a different incident, with different reasons."

Williams believes Bruno Senna has a chance of turning his qualifying struggles around in next weekend's German Grand Prix after an encouraging Silverstone performance.

Senna has lacked qualifying pace throughout his first season at Williams so far, and is yet to start higher than 13th for the squad.

The Brazilian's team-mate Pastor Maldonado has made four Q3 appearances and inherited pole for the Spanish GP when Lewis Hamilton was penalised, before going on to convert that position into Williams's first Formula 1 victory in nearly eight years.

Although Senna started 13th again in Britain, he drove a strong race to ninth place. Williams's chief operations engineer Mark Gillan believes that performance, combined with a focus on single-lap pace in the team's simulator, will help Senna to perform better on Saturdays from Hockenheim.

"Bruno had a very good race and was particularly strong both at the start and in the last part of the race when he was fighting hard for the ninth place," said Gillan.

"We continue to work with Bruno in the simulator and with the race programme to help him optimise his qualifying pace and I think that he can take a lot of positives from Silverstone into Hockenheim."

Gillan reckons Senna would have shown better qualifying form in Britain if he had not been caught out by yellow flags for Romain Grosjean spinning his Lotus into the Vale gravel. Senna admitted that he was particularly cautious around the yellows in the wake of his recent issues.

"He was unlucky not to progress into the final qualifying session when his hot timed lap was severely compromised by the yellow flag," said Gillan.

Marussia has confirmed that Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto will drive its car at this week's young driver test at Silverstone.

With three teams electing to take part in the post-British GP test that takes place on Thursday and Friday - Williams and HRT are also running – the test is going to be divided between a day on the grand prix track and a day on the International circuit.

Chilton has previous F1 experience with Force India from last year’s young driver test in Abu Dhabi, while Haryanto did half a day for the then Virgin team back in 2010.

Marussia will run Chilton on the first morning and the final afternoon, with Haryanto driving on the Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

Williams will run its test driver Valtteri Bottas for both days, while HRT will hand a first F1 chance to Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua.

Lineker · July 12, 2012

Mark Webber says he has no plans to retire from Formula 1 at the end of his contract with Red Bull Racing, having just extended his deal for another year.

The Australian, who turns 36 in late August, secured a new one-year deal with Red Bull on Tuesday and will continue to drive for the squad he joined in 2007 at least until the end of 2013.

Webber, however, insists that despite his age, he is not seeing next year as his last season in F1 and says he wants to continue racing after that.

"Because I'm 36 this summer, people are always asking me when I'm going to retire," Webber wrote in his column for the BBC. "But I'm not thinking about that at all. The contract is just for one year, but I'm looking to stay in F1 for longer than that.

"You know you're closer to the end than the beginning, so you want to make the most of the situation you're in.

"You try to do that bit more, you perform better because you're that bit wiser and you get better results, so you end up staying longer anyway.

"It's an immensely challenging job trying to get the best out of a Formula 1 car and I'm competing with the best drivers in the world."

Webber, the winner of the British Grand Prix last weekend, admitted he was in talks with Ferrari over a possible deal, but said there were too many pros to not continue at Red Bull.

He also said that having the full support from the team to fight for this year's title was a major factor in deciding to stay on.

"I'm sure everyone understands the lure of racing for Ferrari, but in the end there were just too many pros to staying at Red Bull Racing - it was as simple as that," he added.

"I've been there since 2007, just two years after the team was formed, and we have built a fantastic team.

"We've won the last two drivers' and Constructors' Championships and we're right in the fight again this year. It's very hard to turn your back on that sort of performance.

"The fact that I am trying to win the championship this year was also a consideration - it would have been that bit harder to keep the momentum going if I was moving to a rival team. That was a factor, but it was certainly not the biggest one."

Ferrari says no decision has been made on Felipe Massa's future in the wake of Mark Webber having extended his contract with Red Bull Racing.

Webber revealed on Tuesday that he had held talks with Ferrari, with the Italian team yet to announce who will partner Fernando Alonso next year.

The Australian's new deal with Red Bull triggered talk that Massa could be set to stay at Ferrari for another season.

But speaking through its 'Horse Whisperer' channel, the Italian squad insisted no decision has been made yet and that it is in no rush to make it.

"In Maranello, no one is in a hurry to make any decisions and that's for sure," the Horse Whisperer wrote. "Yesterday, one absolute certainty of the past few months was washed away, as we now know Webber is staying put.

"Now the most vociferous and qualified rumourmongers are taking it for granted that Felipe will be confirmed, these generally being the same voices that, not only had him down as being out of the running for 2013, but would have had us believe he would not even see out the season.

"Now coming into bloom are a whole list of possible and potential replacements, with a list of names from A to Z, something Ferrari is well used to. In truth, one letter, the "Z," seems yet to be uncovered, or quite possibly it's Zorro...unmasked."

Force India's drivers are convinced the team is making forward progress and has improved its competitiveness in comparison to its immediate rivals Sauber and Williams.

Paul di Resta retired on the second lap of last weekend's British Grand Prix, while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg fell out of the points in the final laps having qualified fast enough to make it into Q3, though he would later receive a grid penalty for a gearbox change.

But both drivers recognised that Silverstone was not perhaps the circuit most suited to the VJM03's strengths and believe that they can replicate their Valencia from - where Hulkenberg finished fifth and di Resta seventh - in future races.

"Valencia we were very strong and in up and coming events we should be relatively optimistic that we can do something," di Resta told AUTOSPORT. "I think we have made step forward.

"The teams around and about us started very well but we are catching up and so long as we can keep the progression and the level going... the guys are working hard and trying hard to understand it all."

Hulkenberg agreed that the updates the team brought to Valencia have improved the car, but added that Force India must keep pushing if it wanted to stay in touch with Williams (which has won a grand prix already in 2012) and Sauber, which has been on the podium twice thanks to Sergio Perez.

"I would say we have improved step-by-step," said Hulkenberg. "In Valencia P5 was good, but there were four cars in front which dropped out - which normally would have been in front of us and that is also pretty clear.

"We are getting better, but we to as well if we are to compete with the likes of Sauber and Williams – who are our main rivals – and to stay close to them in the Constructors' Championship."

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost says he has been satisfied with the performance of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo so far this season.

The duo replaced more experienced drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi at the Faenza-based squad for 2012 and have endured a mixed campaign so far.

Ricciardo, who made his grand prix debut with HRT last year, has scored two points from his ninth-place finish in the season-opening race in Australia. Vergne, making his debut in F1 this year, has meanwhile managed four.

Though the duo have not scored points since the second race of the season, Tost says both men are showing enough promise to leave him satisfied with their job.

"So far I must say that both of them are highly skilled and both of them, so far, have shown good performance," Tost told the official Formula 1 website.

"Daniel scored points in his first race for us in Melbourne, when he finished in P9 and Jean-Eric finished P8 Sepang, which showed that there is a lot of potential. The progress that both are making is quite promising, so I have to say that so far we are satisfied."

When asked if he was also satisfied with his drivers' development rate, he said: "Absolutely."

Tost is also hopeful his drivers will be able to enjoy a stronger second half of the season if the team can get its car to be more competitive.

"Both now have a bit more experience, they know the team better, the car better and the weekend procedure, so now I think it is up to us, the team, to provide them with a good car and make a step forward with new upgrades. Then I am convinced that we - hopefully - will have a successful second half of the season."

Tost, whose team's decision to drop Alguersuari and Buemi came as a surprise, denied he gives youngsters a hard time at the team, claiming some drivers simply do not work hard enough.

"Okay, let me put it this way, a driver has a hard time with me if he is not focused and if he is not finding the right-hand pedal. It is as easy as that. We push very hard and we do our best, but you know sometimes young drivers come into Formula 1 thinking that they've made it. And that's bullsh*t.

"To come into Formula 1 means that you are willing to start working very hard. Everything that you've done before is kindergarten (laughs). Being in Formula 1 you must live 365 days a year and 24 hours a day for Formula 1.

"And if I feel that one of our drivers doesn't do this then he runs into trouble. Then I give him trouble because either you are a professional or out you go. It is as simple as that."

Valtteri Bottas says he is eager to get behind the wheel of the Williams Formula 1 car when he tests for two days at Silverstone from tomorrow.

The Finn, who has been the Grove squad's third driver this season, will take to the British track alongside the Marussia and HRT teams for the young driver test the three teams are carrying out at the British circuit.

Bottas will be in charge of driving duties on both days.

The test will take place on the Grand Prix Circuit on Thursday and the International layout on Friday.

"I'm really looking forward to the test this week," said Bottas. "In total I've only had four full test days in a Formula One car alongside the FP1 sessions this season, so I really want to get some good mileage in.

"We have some interesting things to test this week as well as a longer race simulation planned, which, provided the weather stays good, will be a great experience for me.

"I'm looking forward to being able to do some longer runs in the FW34, as well as strengthening my relationship with the engineers. It was wet on Friday at Silverstone so I hope it will stay dry this week as the track is really good fun to drive.

"I know the Grand Prix circuit quite well, but the International circuit will be a new challenge."

Conor Daly will return to the wheel of a Formula 1 car when he tests with Force India at Imperial War Museum Duxford on Thursday.

The American, who had already worked with the team in May at the Cotswold airpor, will conduct more straightline running.

"The test programme on Thursday is one of the full-size aerodynamic tests that teams are allowed to complete during the course of the season," said the team.

"The focus is to measure aerodynamic forces to correlate with wind tunnel data."

Lineker · July 13, 2012

The Formula 1 young driver test at Silverstone has got underway with Williams, HRT and Marussia all testing on Thursday and Friday.

The test had been in doubt after Silverstone circuit bosses said they were unable to make the track available due to constraints laid down by Formula One Management.

However, Williams is running Valtteri Bottas, HRT is testing Ma Qing Hua and Marussia has brought Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto, who both drive for its GP2 team.

Bottas will run for both days while Ma will drive on Thursday and Friday and Chilton and Haryanto will share duties over both days, with Chilton starting on Thursday morning.

The test will take place at the Grand Prix circuit today and at the International layout tomorrow.

Bottas has taken part in six Friday practice sessions for Williams this year, including the British Grand Prix while Chilton has previously tested a Force India in the 2010 Abu Dhabi young driver test. Haryanto tested for Virgin in 2010 while Ma will get his first taste of F1 machinery at the test.

Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets for Williams on the opening day of Formula 1's young driver test at Silverstone.

Each driver set his quickest time on the soft compound in dry and sunny conditions in Northamptonshire.

Bottas did 50 laps, completing aerodynamic testing early on and lapping consistently in the 1m32s bracket before moving onto setup work. He eventually got down to a 1m31.436s lap and will be running a race simulation in the afternoon session.

Max Chilton, driving the Marussia, completed seven installation laps before setting his first proper time of the day, a 1m38.596s.

The British driver eventually worked his way down to a 1m36.558s lap but the air valve system sensor on the engine malfunctioned towards the end of the session, bringing out the red flags and causing the Marussia to be returned to the pitlane on the back of a transporter.

Rio Haryanto will take over in the afternoon and is not expected to lose any time due to the failure.

Ma Qing Hua did 55 laps for HRT having never driven the new Silverstone Arena circuit before. He finished with a 1m39.462s lap having worked his way down from lapping in the high 1m50s bracket early in the day.

The Chinese driver will complete setup work in the afternoon after working with a base setup in the morning session.
Morning Times


Pos  Driver                 Team                    Time       Gap

 1.  Valtteri Bottas        Williams-Renault        1m31.436s

 2.  Max Chilton            Marussia-Cosworth       1m36.558s  + 5.122s

 3.  Ma Qing Hua            HRT-Cosworth            1m39.462s  + 8.026s


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




Valtteri Bottas finished the opening day of the young driver test on Thursday as the fastest driver in the Williams.



His time of 1m31.436s, posted in the morning session, was comfortably faster than Marussia's Max Chilton and Rio Haryanto or the HRT of Ma Qing Hua.



The first drops of rain fell at 16:30, bringing in Bottas and Haryanto, but the Finn still went out for a final run before the flag fell.



Bottas concentrated on longer runs during the afternoon, completing a race simulation and taking his tally of laps for the day to 120.



Haryanto finished the day 0.846s slower than Chilton had gone in the morning session in the Marussia, but only completed 19 laps, 15 less than the British driver had done.



His quickest lap (1m37.404s) was done after he had to return to the pits to adjust his brake pedal box, which was not set up to his liking, costing 20 minutes of track time.



Chinese driver Qing Hua went faster in the afternoon on soft tyres, posting his fastest lap of 1m37.829s during a qualifying simulation, although the team reported that he locked his brakes on that lap and lost several tenths of a second.



The rest of the session was spent conducting a mixture of long and short runs on hard and soft tyres and included a spin as Qing Hua activated DRS on the exit of Village.



[code]Thursday Times:


Pos  Driver              Team                   Time     

 1.  Valtteri Bottas     Williams-Renault       1m31.436s

 2.  Max Chilton         Marussia-Cosworth      1m36.558s + 5.122s

 3.  Rio Haryanto        Marussia-Cosworth      1m37.404s + 5.968s

 4.  Ma Qing Hua         HRT-Cosworth           1m37.829s + 6.393s


All Timing Unofficial

Maria de Villota is out of sedation and talking to her family, the Marussia team said on Wednesday evening.

The team said that, despite the injures she suffered eight days ago in her testing accident, her recovery has been "remarkable".

"Following two successful surgical procedures in the days following the accident, last Saturday the medical team at Addenbrooke's Hospital began to gradually reduce the level of Maria's sedation," Marussia said in a statement.

"By Sunday morning, Maria was awake and able to speak to her family, which provided a very important - albeit early - indication that there were positive signs for Maria's recovery.

"Since that time, Maria has been making small but significant steps.
She was moved out of the Neurological Critical Care Unit on Monday and is no longer receiving sedation. Her family remain by her side and she is communicating freely with them and the medical team. Medical assessments are ongoing to monitor Maria's improving condition."

De Villota was involved in a freak accident while carrying out straight-line testing for the team at Duxford airfield on July 3rd.

She lost her right eye in the accident.

Formula 1 drivers have been advised of new driving standards guidelines in relation to defending positions, AUTOSPORT has learned, following some controversial incidents earlier this year.

Nico Rosberg came under fire at the Bahrain Grand Prix after he robustly tried to fend off attacks from both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso during the race.

In the end the stewards decided to not take any action because Rosberg had moved in a continuous manner and no 'significant' part of either Hamilton or Alonso's cars was alongside the Mercedes driver at the time.

However, with racing being so tight this season, drivers have continued the debate with the FIA about what is acceptable - and what is the proper definition of a 'significant' part of the car.

A few hours before the British Grand Prix, FIA race director Charlie Whiting wrote to all the teams informing them of new guidelines that will be used from now on in judging incidents.

In the note, a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, Whiting said that "any driver defending his position on a straight and before any braking area may use the full width of the track during his first move provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason."

To further clarify the situation he later added: "For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'."

Speaking about the Bahrain incident at the time, Rosberg said he would be happy for the FIA to provide clarification on driving standards.

"It is driver safety and we need to do the best we can so that we can move forward. We could look at implementing more rules in that situation because it is not very clear, but it can be looked at," he said.

"Rules such as a car width [when a driver is moving back towards the racing line after making a block] is very good because we need that clear situation to penalise drivers when there is a need to."

Mercedes insists it will not consider any other options on the grid until it has sorted out whether or not Michael Schumacher is staying with it for next year.

Despite Mark Webber's new Red Bull Racing deal meaning that Mercedes is left in a strong position to lure Lewis Hamilton if the Briton elects to leave McLaren, the Brackley-based team says its priority instead is to work out Schumacher's next step.

Team principal Ross Brawn said ahead of the British Grand Prix that he wanted to make progress on Schumacher's situation by the end of the summer break - and he has now made it clear that he will not think about any other drivers until that matter is finalised.

"We are focused on Michael for as long as it takes - and for whatever it takes," explained Brawn. "Then we will see where we are elsewhere."

Schumacher is driving at his best since he returned to F1 at the start of 2010, and he delivered the first podium finish since his comeback in the European Grand Prix.

Brawn reckons that there was every indication Schumacher was enjoying his time in F1, which would point towards the German electing to sort out a contract extension when his current deal comes to an end this year.

"We haven't discussed it, but he enjoys himself and, if he enjoys himself, why not?" said Brawn about the prospects of Schumacher's continuing.

Although Brawn has said he is happy to wait, he does concede that matters will have to start moving fairly soon – because of the length of time it can take for contracts to be sorted out.

"Inevitably you come to a point where you have to say: let's have the discussions because these things can sometimes take some time, and you have to have the discussion and you have to reach a conclusion in order to plan for the future.

"But there is no deadline or critical point where he or we have said that we must have a decision by then. It must be the right decision: that is the most important thing.

"It will be a mutual decision, I think when the time is appropriate we will sit down and we will go through all the considerations and come to a conclusion," he said. "I think knowing Michael as I do, it will be a logical and sensible conclusion, driven by passion of course because he enjoys what he does."

Should Schumacher elect not to continue, then Mercedes' options appear to be either making a big-money swoop for Lewis Hamilton – whose contract with McLaren runs out later this year – or opting for a promising youngster like Paul di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says he is not worried about the prospect of any potential friction between his two drivers later this year - with it looking likely the pair are going to be involved in a tight world championship tussle.

With memories of the troubles of 2010 still fresh - where Webber and Vettel clashed on track in Turkey and had a row over a front wing at Silverstone - team chiefs are mindful about the potential troubles that could lie ahead.

But Horner believes that the situation between his two men is much better now, which means both they and the team will be better able to cope with any difficulties that could come their way.

"It is a nice headache to have," explained Horner. "But just as we always do – we will do our best to support them and it is down to what they do on the track at the end of the day. Mark won the race [british Grand Prix] because he deserved to win it."

Horner suggests that life has moved on for both drivers since the flashpoints of 2010 – and their increased experience will help defuse any potential trouble.

"I think they have spent more time racing each other. They sit in hundreds of hours of meetings together, working on developing the car. They work as team members and then it is down to what they do on track.

"There is a genuine respect between the two of them. Sebastian has achieved so much in such a short space of time, but he knows in Mark that he has got a very genuine competitor. And Mark knows that Sebastian is the benchmark, or has been the benchmark for the last few years.

"It is a healthy situation for them, and it is a healthy situation for the team."

Horner, whose team has just extended its deal with Webber for 2013, has praised the manner in which the Australian has recovered from a disappointing campaign last year.

"I think 2011 was a very tough year for Mark but, all credit to him, he has gone away, reflected on that season and come back and got himself in great shape," he said. "I think he is very comfortable in his approach and in his mind.

"Possibly some of the regulation changes have helped as well, but he is very much a championship contender. We are in a fortunate position where we have both of our drivers as genuine championship contenders."

Pastor Maldonado sees no reason to panic about his run of bad form in Formula 1 - even though he has failed to score a single point since his Spanish Grand Prix victory.

The Williams driver has courted controversy in recent races – being involved in incidents at the last four grand prix events and earning a number of penalties and fines.

But despite his lack of recent good results, the Venezuelan feels that he and his team have the potential to get themselves back to the form that helped them battle right at the front in Barcelona.

"I am passing through a bad and unlucky moment," Maldonado told AUTOSPORT. "I haven't got any points after the victory, and it is frustrating, but the championship is long.

"We have lost a lot of points, but we have everything in the right place to get some points from the next race and the second part of the season.

"We can recover and it is not the end of the season. I have a lot of confidence in the team and they have confidence in me and we need to keep on pushing."

Maldonado's recent run of incidents include him getting a penalty for crashing with Sergio Perez in Monaco practice, hitting the wall in qualifying in Canada, clashing with Lewis Hamilton in Valencia and being fined and reprimanded for a collision with Perez again at the British GP.

Lineker · July 14, 2012

Valtteri Bottas was fastest for Williams in mixed conditions on the final morning of the Silverstone young driver test, posting a 49.241s lap on the International circuit.

Rio Haryanto meanwhile completed 79 laps in the Marussia with a best time of 50.405s. Max Chilton took over for 22 laps before lunch, posting a 51.229s lap.

The circuit dried out through the session but was damp enough initially for Haryanto to go out on intermediate tyres before switching to slicks after an hour. The Marussia team coated the car in fluorescent aerodynamic paint in order to gather some data from the test.

Haryanto had been aiming to complete 300km over the two day test in order to get his Formula 1 super licence and the team confirmed that he had achieved the required number of laps.

Bottas spent the first hour of the test completing engine temperature testing before heading out for an extended run totalling 62 laps. The Williams team fitted external measuring equipment to the rear diffuser for the later run.
Morning Times


Pos  Driver              Team                     Time     

 1.  Valtteri Bottas     Williams-Renault         49.241s

 2.  Rio Haryanto        Marussia-Cosworth        50.405s + 1.164s

 3.  Max Chilton         Marussia-Cosworth        51.229s + 1.988s


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheets for Williams on both days of the Formula 1 young driver test at Silverstone.



The Finn posted a 48.963s lap on the International circuit on Friday afternoon in overcast but dry conditions.



Bottas completed 170 laps on Friday to add to the 120 GP circuit laps he drove on Thursday when he did a 1m31.436s laptime.



Williams worked on aerodynamics and data gathering during Friday afternoon, running with a number of small holes in the nose cone linked to tubing which flowed out over the front wing.



Both Marussia drivers concentrated on getting enough mileage to gain a superlicence, with both drivers achieving the required 300km.



Chilton completed 52 laps and dipped below the 50-second barrier in the afternoon with a 49.932s lap, only 0.969s behind Bottas, while Haryanto's 50.405s time from Friday morning stood as his quickest time of the day after not going out in the afternoon session.



[code]Friday Times:


Pos  Driver               Team                   Time     

 1.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault       48.963s

 2.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth      49.932s + 0.969s

 3.  Rio Haryanto         Marussia-Cosworth      50.405s + 1.442s

Romain Grosjean will have to take a five-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after his Lotus team discovered a problem with his gearbox after last weekend's race at Silverstone.

The Frenchman had charged from the back of the field to finish sixth, but on the last lap he encountered an issue with his gearbox - which would have forced him out of the race if it had struck earlier.

Analysis of the gearbox by Lotus has shown that it will need replacing, which means he will face a grid drop in Hockenheim.

Lotus technical director James Allison said: "It was a gearbox problem and we are very fortunate that Romain didn't have the problem earlier in the race.

"Unfortunately for Romain it means he'll take a five place grid penalty at Hockenheim, but he certainly showed at Silverstone that dropping down the order won't stop him challenging at the sharp end."

Although Lotus has shown good speed in races, the grid penalty will be a big blow because the team has often found it chances on Sunday compromised by poor qualifying performances.

Before news of his penalty, Grosjean himself reckoned that the team will only realistically have a shout at victory if it can qualify on the first two rows.

"We need to put everything together," he said. "We've been saying that for a while now, but I'm sure it's going to come. If we can manage a good qualifying - in the front two rows - then I'm sure we can get the win."

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe is adamant that there is nothing 'fundamentally' wrong with the team's car - and reckons recent struggles are down to it simply not finding a good enough set-up.

The team has endured two frustrating weekends in Valencia and Silverstone, where it has been forced to see main title rivals Ferrari and Red Bull Racing emerge as the teams to beat.

But despite struggling at times to even match the pace of Lotus, Williams and Sauber, McLaren thinks its situation is not as bad as it appears.

"You don't look at it and say 'okay, the car is a disaster in terms of its fundamentals," explained Lowe, when asked by AUTOSPORT for his reflections on the particularly difficult British Grand Prix

"It was once again a story how do you get the most out if it all the time? The car was very strong on full wets over the weekend, so if you didn't have good downforce you couldn't instantly create that performance. It's a matter of the consistency that we're struggling with."

McLaren introduced a raft of updates at Silverstone that it hoped would allow it to fight at the front - especially as the track's high-speed swoops were expected to play to the strengths of the MP4-27.

In the end, the team left the event with just an eighth place for Lewis Hamilton and a tenth place for Jenson Button – with both drivers worried about the form of the team.

But Lowe believes that fact that Silverstone was so bad in terms of overall pace – which comes just two races after Lewis Hamilton triumphed in Canada – means it cannot be a true picture of where McLaren is at.

"Of course it's a development race amongst the teams, and we've been bringing updates, and so have other people. Certainly there are a good number of teams that were quicker, and several that didn't make it to the finish.

"If you were pessimistic you'd say we did well to get eighth and 10th, because we were fortunate with the loss of the Saubers and Maldonado, who I think would have finished ahead of us.

"I struggle to say that all of those teams have put a massive amount of performance on to their cars in the last month relative to us. I think we just have to keep doing the homework with regard to how we're tuning the car."

McLaren is planning further upgrades for the next race in Germany – which a more visual change expected to its rear bodywork – and other developments are in the pipeline for Hungary.

"We have a big programme of upgrades for those two races," he said. "It will be very hectic, because everybody's gearing up for that push before the break. That Hungary race is a great one to win, just emotionally. We've won it two out of the three years we've had the summer break. You're only as good as your last race in F1, aren't you?"

Jenson Button thinks it vital that McLaren makes the most of the next two races as it bids to get itself back to the front of the grid.

The Woking-based team has endured frustrating weekends in Valencia and Silverstone, and is keen to ensure that it delivers in Germany and Hungary so it does not lose any further ground in the title battle.

With F1 teams facing a summer shutdown after Hungary, Button says there is added significance to the next two grands prix.

"The final back-to-back before we head into the summer break will be important for the whole team: coming off the back of a couple of disappointing weekends," explained Button. "It's important that we capitalise on the opportunities available in Germany and Hungary."

With the team convinced that recent difficulties owe more to set-up issues that a performance deficit with the car, Button too thinks that a clearer picture of where McLaren stands should emerge.

"Performance-wise, I still think it's difficult to accurately predict where we stand in the competitive order - Valencia and Silverstone were certainly difficult races for us, but I don't think they were truly representative of our pace," he said.

"This year, you really need a problem-free build-up to the race if you're going to maximise the car's potential – and that's exactly what we'll be hoping for in Germany next weekend."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh claimed that everyone at the outfit was focused on ensuring the team delivered better performance in Germany.

"There is a huge resolve within the operation to ensure that our aggressive development strategy is upheld across the summer," he said. "We are determined to narrow the gap to the championship leaders before the start of the summer break."

Lewis Hamilton will celebrate his 100th grand prix in Germany.

Michael Schumacher says Mercedes has sets it sights on giving its home fans something to cheer about in the German Grand Prix - as it heads to Hockenheim confident about its chances.

Despite failing to capitalise on a second-row grid slot in Silverstone last weekend, Schumacher believes that his team should be stronger next time out with the long straights and tight corners perfectly suited for the W03.

"This year is the first time that our Mercedes works team has been capable of racing right at the front, and because of that, we're hoping for lots of support from the fans and to reward them with our performance," said Schumacher

"Hopefully we will see a lot of Mercedes colleagues in the grandstands, and we want to do particularly well for them. We have set ourselves the clear target of giving everybody a reason to celebrate next weekend."

Team principal Ross Brawn says the important thing for Mercedes is to rediscover the previous consistency in its performance, on the back of its struggles in Britain.

"Our performance has been up and down recently, ranging from podiums to lower points finishes, and we need to work hard to improve our level of consistency and ability to challenge at the front of the field," he said.

"The Hockenheim layout should be more suited to the F1 W03 than the high-speed Silverstone layout, and we are bringing some further improvements to the car which should help our performance. It would be very special to achieve a good result in Germany, so we will be working hard to achieve just that."

Lotus will try out what it calls some 'interesting' developments at the German Grand Prix next weekend, as it bids to find that extra element to help it deliver a victory.

The Enstone-based team has challenged near the front of the field several times this year, but has never quite put together all it needed to come out on top.

However, with the Hockenheim layout and weather set to play to the strengths of the E20, the team has revealed that some updates could boost its chances.

Technical director James Allison said: "I'm quite excited about it. The season seems to be getting stronger for us race-by-race. We should see pretty warm weather conditions in Germany, and nothing about that track should do anything other than fill us with confidence, so I'm feeling positive in that regard.

"I'm excited too because we've got some interesting new updates for Germany and we're looking forward to see how they work out."

With Romain Grosjean facing a five-place grid penalty for the weekend because of a gearbox change, the team's best hope of getting a car near the front of the grid will rest with Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn is upbeat about being able to produce good form there - even though he has never won in Germany during his career.

"We've got a good car, we understand the tyres quite well, we've shown that we can be fast and race well... there's no reason why we shouldn't be fighting for another podium," he said.

"Some hot weather would be good. Usually in Hockenheim it has been very hot and everybody has had problems with the tyres going off. Obviously, for us, the hot weather suits the car fine. Our car prefers the hot temperatures and in the long runs it's not that hard on tyres. Let's have some real summer weather in Hockenheim."

Sauber says there are no excuses for its car not to be delivering points at every race, after it left the British Grand Prix with neither of its drivers in the top ten.

The Swiss-team's C31 has proved to be quick at most circuits, but Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi have struggled at times to capitalise on that performance - either through poor form in qualifying or getting involved in incidents in the race.

And although Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn says there is little point ruing over what might have been in previous races, she suggests that there is no reason why the team should not deliver on all occasions going forward.

"We have failed to score points this season several times and for a variety of reasons," she said. "In hindsight it doesn't help to pine for those points, as now we have to move forward.

"The Sauber C31 has proved to be quick on all types of circuits. Plus we've got two strong drivers – Sergio has been on the podium twice this year, and Kamui has been able to shine with a fourth in qualifying and a fifth in a race. Both have a fastest race lap to their names.

"We have everything it takes to wind up the first half of the season in a positive way, and that's our aim for Hockenheim."

Sauber introduced a car update at the British Grand Prix, but the team does not know how much of an improvement it is because bad weather at Silverstone hampered running.

Kobayashi said: "We are not totally sure how the updates we took to Silverstone work, as we haven't really been able to confirm these in practice in dry conditions. Maybe we need to do some more fine-tuning on these, so it will be interesting to see how this happens in Hockenheim."

Caterham technical director Mark Smith is confident the team is making the progress it needs to if it is to secure that elusive first point, even though a big upgrade package at the British Grand Prix did not deliver all that was expected.

The team had high hopes that aerodynamic developments introduced at Silverstone could help it challenge the outfits ahead - but the mixed weather conditions over the weekend meant its full potential could not be seen.

Even so, Smith believes that the team has been making more progress than it has been given credit for – which leaves him optimistic for the second half of the campaign.

"The gap between the guys behind us and the guys in front has been quite a big gap," Smith told AUTOSPORT. "Everyone has bunched up at the front, and there is this big gap, and that makes it difficult to demonstrate that you have made progress because people see progress by position, and it hasn't translated in to that yet.

"But we are fairly confident that we are closing the gap, and that is statistically a fact. I think we have quite a lot of momentum behind us now, so we feel that Toro Rosso are right within our sights.

"But we cannot control how they develop and I have no idea what they are doing or what they are planning to bring to races. I think we are closing the gap and I think the things that we have in mind going through to the second half of the season will keep us going in the right direction.

"We want to get one or more points this season, and we want to race with people like Toro Rosso and maybe one or two others on merit consistently. I think then we will have established ourselves at least as part of the tail end of that group."

Analysis of the Caterham qualifying times shows that the team has improved its performance compared to the fastest time in Q1 at every venue other than Malaysia and Britain this year.

As evidence of its progress in Monaco it was 1.48% off the quickest Q1 time this year, compared to 2.84 per cent last year. The comparison in Canada were 2.14 per cent against 3.96 per cent, while Valencia was 1.27 per cent against 3.30 per cent in 2011. In Britain it did worse this year in the rain-hit qualifying with a 2.58 per cent deficit, compared to 2.43 per cent last year.

Smith claims the start of the campaign was in line with personal expectations, even though hopes had been high that the team could make the jump to challenge the midfield teams from the start.

"If I am honest, I don't personally think it was a great deal less than I expected," he said. "The reality of it is, if you look at the gradient of aerodynamic development that we were able to sustain throughout 2011, and project that forward to 2012, the guys ahead of us had a reasonable step advantage.

"And actually, when we tracked them throughout 2011, the majority of them were developing at a slightly higher rate than us anyway. So to overcome a step and a steeper gradient was always going to be a challenge."

Smith says that Caterham elected to take more time focusing on big developments, rather than trying to rush step changes through at the start of the campaign.

The next big update is planned for Singapore, although further upgrades will come over the next races too.

"What we have done is try to bring things to the car every race if we can," he said. "We haven't waited and rolled things up in to a bigger package, and one of the issues there is that occasionally we bring fewer parts to an event than we would like to.

"But we feel that is the right thing to do. As we go to Germany and Hungary there are still further updates, and we will try and keep that going. But it is probably fair to say that we would expect to make the next bigger package in Singapore."

Lineker · July 17, 2012

Lewis Hamilton wants to settle his Formula 1 future with McLaren over the summer break - because he feels that would be the best time to make the most sensible decision.

Ahead of what will be a key decision for his future with his contract running out later this year, Hamilton insists that current frustrations with the competitiveness of his McLaren team would not play the decisive factor in what he does - although he admits that the priority is to keep on winning.

With options at Red Bull Racing and Ferrari appeared to be closed off, Hamilton's main options for 2013 appear to be recommitting to McLaren or moving to Mercedes if the outfit is left searching for another driver should Michael Schumacher elect not to continue.

In an exclusive interview with the Russian news agency R-Sport in Moscow at the weekend, where he was participating in a street demonstration, Hamilton said that talks with McLaren would open soon - despite having said as recently as the Canadian Grand Prix that he could wait until the winter.

"We haven't sat down and discussed anything yet but I'm sure over the summer break, when we have the summer break, it would be nice to get something in place," he said. "That would be a time when we can be more relaxed and make the most sensible decision for the future."

When asked about the factors that would influence his decision, Hamilton said: "To be honest, you have to base your decisions on much, much longer than such a short period of time.

"Only half a year cannot decide six years of partnership, or actually 13 years of partnership. I've been with them since I was 13, so it's 14 years, so it's much more than these small details, it's a much, much bigger picture."

He added: "There are lots of things to take into account. These people have supported me; these are the people that got me into Formula 1. But, you know, I want to win.

"I'm not that young any more so I want to make sure that whatever I do I make the right decision so I can maximize my career, you know. I just need to make sure that I'm winning. That's what I exist for, that's what I train and work for every day."

Looking at this season, Hamilton still saw plenty of opportunity for success - and pinned his hopes on upgrades due to be arriving for this weekend's German GP.

"I've been ready all year to win. We should have won a lot more races than we have, but there are many more races to go. We still have a lot more chances to get some wins and I think it's possible.

"Up until now we've not developed as fast as other people. Other people have brought some more upgrades in the past than we have, but we have a big upgrade coming for the next race, so let's hope that it does the job and gets us in a fighting position."

Formula 1 teams and the sport's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone must ensure that the FIA is part of the Concorde Agreement when it is put in place for the start of next year.

That is the view of McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who believes that grand prix racing would benefit from having the kind of tripartite agreement that it has operated under for a number of decades now.

"You can have a purely commercial agreement [between the teams and Ecclestone], but if you are competing in the FIA championship then if you don't have a tripartite agreement it can be inherently confusing," Whitmarsh told AUTOSPORT.

"I think it would be good to have an agreement that involves all the teams, the commercial rights holder and the FIA. I hope we will work towards that."

Whitmarsh's comments come in the wake of suggestions from Ecclestone that the framework of a new Concorde Agreement could be different, with teams rather than the FIA laying down the regulations.

The way the current negotiations have unfolded - with Ecclestone trying to get all the teams signed up before pushing for agreement with the FIA - is also a departure from how things were done in the past.

Whitmarsh does not see any reason why Ecclestone will not involve the FIA in a final deal, however.

"In the past, the mechanism of negotiations was a simultaneous process that meant we all came together and signed. But that is not how some teams and the commercial rights holder have tackled this. It has been done in an incremental manner.

"Most of the teams are signed, those that have not signed are close to signing, and I think Bernie feels he is close to signing the remaining teams and signing a deal with the FIA – and we have to loop that together into a common agreement."

Marussia has ruled out a problem with its car as the cause of Maria de Villota's recent testing accident, after concluding its own investigation into what happened.

De Villota lost her right eye and suffered facial and head injuries in the incident at Duxford, when she crashed at slow speed in to the back of a truck as she conducted straight-line aerodynamic work.

Alongside an investigation being conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and another commissioned by Marussia for an independent forensic body, the team has also completed its own in-depth look at what happened.

And although the specifics of what caused the accident have not been confirmed yet, Marussia issued a statement on Monday revealing that the crash was not caused by a failure on the car.

Team principal John Booth said: "We are satisfied that the findings of our internal investigation exclude the car as a factor in the accident. We have shared and discussed our findings with the HSE for their consideration as part of their ongoing investigation.

"This has been a necessarily thorough process in order to understand the cause of the accident. We have now concluded our investigatory work and can again focus on the priority, which continues to be Maria's wellbeing. In that regard, we continue to support Maria and the De Villota family in any way we can."

De Villota is now out of sedation in hospital and able to talk to her family as she continues her recovery.

Felipe Massa sees no reason why he cannot secure his future at Ferrari if he continues to deliver the kind of step forward in performance seen in recent races.

A change in approach to set-up and improvements to the F2012 helped Massa transform his season from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards - and he delivered his best result in two years with fourth place in the British Grand Prix.

Although Ferrari is still keeping its options open regarding future plans, with Massa's contract due for renewal at the end of the year, the Brazilian feels that his future is now back in his own hands.

"I think if we keep working like that and keep improving the car and working, I don't see a reason why I cannot be here," explained Massa.

Although Ferrari did hold discussions with Mark Webber about a contract for next year, there are not many obvious options to replace Massa if the team elects not to continue with him – which is why it can wait some more time before deciding.

Massa himself feels that he can show over the remainder of the campaign why he is worth keeping, now that he is much happier with the car.

"I feel much more comfortable, and driving in the direction that I like," he said. "I feel there is a lot more to come.

"This is the direction we need to keep working; to improve the situation every race and to make a different championship for myself from now until the end of the season."

Vijay Mallya believes his Force India team will still need some good luck before it can convert the speed it has shown in recent races into potential podium places.

The Silverstone-based outfit has delivered some promising pace in the last few events, but hopes of it moving forward from its fifth and seventh places in Valencia were dashed by misfortune in the British Grand Prix.

Paul di Resta was forced to retire after a first lap collision with Romain Grosjean, while Nico Hulkenberg lost out on points after his wet-weather set-up proved not ideal for the dry conditions.

Despite that disappointing afternoon, Mallya is encouraged by the recent progress the team has shown - as he looks for it to make progress in the Constructors' Championship.

"It's satisfying to see that we are consistent top ten performers," he said. "We need that little bit of extra luck to get on the podium.

"Having said that, our immediate competitors didn't have too much luck either – [sergio] Perez and [Pastor] Maldonado were both going well, but they didn't score. Sauber didn't get any more points to increase their lead over us.

"We are still only three points adrift of Williams and 16 behind Sauber, so we have reasons to be optimistic going forward."

Mallya also believes that the competitiveness of the field this year means there is no chance for the team to ease off at any event this year.

"We have no time to take things easy," he explained. "We have to take every race very seriously, with the same intensity and do everything we possibly can to earn more points."

Caterham's technical director Mark Smith is confident his team will be able to extract the maximum from its aero upgrades in this weekend's German Grand Prix.

The team introduced a new aerodynamic package in the previous race at Silverstone, including a new engine cover and new turning vanes on the sidepods and bargeboards.

However, Caterham admitted it failed to deliver the full potential from the updated package, and Smith is hopeful Germany will see to that.

"The back to back weekends in Germany and Hungary mark the last races before the summer break and both should give us a chance to get back to the performance levels we have targeted for this stage of the season," said Smith in a team preview.

"In Silverstone we did not maximise the new aero package we brought but the specific demands of Hockenheim definitely give us a chance to do so. Obviously we will have also had more time to analyse the data we generated over the weekend so I am reasonably confident we will be able to get back to where we want to be."

Heikki Kovalainen agrees with Smith that there is still much more to extract from the updates, but concedes the lack of dry running in Britain was the main cause of that.

"One of the main objectives for us will be to have as much track time as we can to keep working on the upgrades we brought to Silverstone," he said.

"We definitely didn't get as much out of them as we had hoped, mainly due to the lack of dry running we had, so hopefully we'll be able to have a dry Friday so we can work through the set-up options and unlock more of the speed we know is there."

Dani Clos will be back at the wheel of the HRT Formula 1 car next Friday when he drives in the opening practice session of the German Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, who has already driven the car in Spain and Great Britain, will replace Narain Karthikeyan once again in his third outing with the Madrid-based outfit.

Clos admitted he is hoping to get more running than at Silverstone, where the poor weather hindered his session.

"I'm happy to be getting into the car again just a few weeks later; it's another very good opportunity for me," said Clos.

"I wasn't able to do much mileage in Silverstone because of the weather but my sensations and the work we did were very positive both for me and the team. We did a great job on a wet track and, although it was brief, it was very intense."

Formula Renault 3.5 championship contender Robin Frijns had his maiden outing in a Formula 1 car on Saturday in a Red Bull RB6.

The Dutchman, who earned the run in the 2010 world championship winning car for being the highest placed FR3.5 driver not connected to an F1 team, had to wait until Saturday for his first laps as his planned acclimatisation run on Friday was cancelled due to a storm at the new Moscow Raceway.

Frijns, who took to the Russian track in the Red Bull just one hour after taking pole position for Saturday's FR3.5 race, completed a handful of laps, and will do the same again on Sunday.

"It was awesome," he told AUTOSPORT. "OK, it was on demo tyres, and it had a bit of understeer, but it was a great experience."

He also admitted that he was not too disappointed to have had his F1 running cut short this weekend, as it enables him to focus more on his FR3.5 racing.

"It was a shame about the storm, but I was a bit worried about driving the F1 car too much because it could affect me when I go back to the 3.5," he added.

"I don't want to get back in my race car and start having to think about braking points and how fast I can go round certain corners because I have to adapt and get used to it again. So maybe it's not such a bad thing."

Lineker · July 19, 2012

A bid to turn the Olympic Stadium in London into a Formula 1 venue has now been officially received for consideration by officials, who will now examine it before deciding what happens to the site in the future.

After weeks of speculation about the idea of holding a grand prix around the Olympic Park, the London Legacy Development Corporation confirmed on Tuesday that the bid to host an F1 race was one of four that was now being considered.

In a statement, it said: "Following an extension to the bidding period, the Legacy Corporation can today reveal that it has received four bids for the venue. Bids from West Ham United, Intelligent Transport Services in association with Formula 1, UCFB College of Football Business and Leyton Orient will now be assessed to ensure they are compliant, before being evaluated ahead of negotiations."

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said last month that he had been consulted by the Intelligent Transport Services company about the plan - which would involve F1 using the stadium for a race rather than owning it.

Speaking to the Telegraph at the time, Ecclestone said: "This is a firm that happened to be bidding for use of the stadium, not to own it. They came up with a scheme whereby Formula 1 would race around the stadium, inside it, outside it. They wanted to make sure I would be interested."

Ferrari is confident it will be fighting at the front of the field at this weekend's German Grand Prix, as it bids to help Fernando Alonso further extend his lead at the head of the world championship.

With the team having made impressive progress from its disappointing pre-season performance, Alonso's triumph in Valencia and pole position and podium finish at Silverstone have left the team bullish about its chances this time out.

In an interview with Ferrari's official website, Alonso's race engineer Andrea Stella said: "The car was good in Valencia, it was also good in Silverstone. And as Hockenheim is a mix of the slow speed of Valencia and high speed of Silverstone, I would expect Ferrari to be competitive in Germany."

Although Alonso has been battling near the front of the points' table for much of the season - thanks to some inspirational performances earlier in the campaign – Stella confesses that being in the position it is in right now would have been hard to predict in the build-up to the campaign.

"At the start of the season it would have required one to be extremely optimistic to imagine such a situation," he explained. "But in this sport, things can change very quickly and we have always maintained a positive attitude. The current situation is the result of this attitude combined with a lot of hard work."

Despite the progress – which has helped Alonso open up a 13 points lead over Mark Webber – Stella says there remain areas of big improvement that Ferrari can chase, with the main one being its lack of top speed.

"You always want to get more and more top speed as it brings benefits in terms of reducing the lap time and it makes life easier during the race," he said.

"But of course, top speed is the counterpart to downforce and in a way, if we are limited when it comes to top speed, that is partly because our car is performing well when it comes to downforce. However, it is definitely an area where we are trying to improve for the future."

Pirelli will leave it up to the Formula 1 teams to decide if a new experimental hard tyre is brought into use at races this year, ahead of plans to test it at the German Grand Prix this weekend.

After plans to trial the new compound at the British GP were dashed by the weather, Pirelli has rearranged its schedule to give each driver two sets of the rubber for use in Friday practice at Hockenheim.

The new tyre has a wider operating window than the hard version that has been used up until now - and this characteristic should make it easier for the teams to work with.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said earlier this year that he is reluctant for the new tyre to automatically replace the current hard, because he does not want it to have an impact on what is a tightly fought world championship battle.

However, speaking ahead of the Hockenheim weekend, he has made it clear that if the majority of the teams would prefer the new rubber to be introduced for racing then his company would oblige.

"The new hard tyre is not a big evolution, but it has a slightly wider working range, which should make it easier for the teams to get the tyres up to temperature and maintain them in the correct operating window," explained Hembery.

"We're running them in Friday free practice only as with the championship so finely balanced, we feel that it would be unfair to suddenly alter one of the fundamental parameters that the teams have made a lot of effort to understand and get the most out of.

"But we enjoy a very productive dialogue with them, and we will always take into account the wishes of the majority. It's certainly going to be interesting hearing what they have to say about the new tyre, and seeing if their impressions match up to the conclusions that we have drawn from our private testing."

Pirelli has already nominated the soft and medium tyre compounds for use at its first visit with F1 to Hockenheim.

Valtteri Bottas feels ready to step up to a race seat in Formula 1, now that he has had half a season of testing for the Williams team.

The Finn has impressed during his Friday outings for Williams, and gained further valuable experience as he topped the times in last week's young driver test at Silverstone.

And although he may still have to bide his team before being given the nod to move up to racing - with Williams having to carefully balance its sponsorship needs - Bottas is in no doubts about how prepared he is for when an opportunity comes.

"I would like a race seat in F1, I think that is my next goal," Bottas told AUTOSPORT. "I think next season I would be ready, or even now if someone asked me to race, for sure I would do it.

"I would feel happy to step in to the car. But every time I am in the car, I am learning all the time and getting better all the time. But for sure at some point you have to have your first race."

Bottas elected not to race in either GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5 this year alongside his Williams commitments, but he is confident that a year away from competing will not be a hindrance in his bid to secure a full-time F1 drive.

"I miss racing because I have done it all my life, but I think one year out is about right," he said. "Our main goal is the race seat, but if we don't get that then I have to keep on driving. I have time; as I am 22 years old and the ideal is to stay here."

Caterham has confirmed it has started work at the Leafield Technical Centre where the Formula 1 team will move later this month.

The team, currently operating in Norfolk, will start moving to the ex-Arrows and Super Aguri base in Leafield following the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The factory will be the new base for all the Caterham arms, including the F1 team, Caterham Racing (GP2), Caterham Cars, Caterham Composites and CTI (Caterham Technology and Innovation).

A renovation of the factory has now started, the team has confirmed.

Caterham's technical director Mark Smith is hopeful the move will not affect the team's performance on the track.

"We don't expect a great deal of disruption," Smith told AUTOSPORT. "If you think about the race team, it can go anywhere in the world and be fairly self sufficient, so that side of the business moving to Leafield I don't see as a big issue.

"The side of the business that [includes] our IT infrastructure in terms of design, CAD systems and dynamics, we should be able to do that physical move and get the infrastructure up and running. We use the second wind tunnel at Williams so we are closer to that, so that helps. It is really the manufacturing aspect of it, and what we plan to do is leave a reasonably strong core of that at Hingham.

"The primary structural composite side of the business, the bit that we regard as important to have on site, will be at Leafield, but there will be a manufacturing base at Hingham as well. We are thinking it will be fairly painless."

Jules Bianchi will drive again for Force India in the opening free practice session for the German Grand Prix.

The Frenchman, who has driven at four events so far for the Silverstone-based team, will take over Paul di Resta's car for the morning to work alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

So far this season, Bianchi has driven in China, Spain, Europe and at this month's British Grand Prix.

Lineker · July 19, 2012

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh believes his team and Lewis Hamilton will have no problems reaching a long-term deal that keeps the British driver onboard.

Hamilton's contract expires at the end of the season, and the Briton said he is aiming to sort out his future over the summer break.

Although he has been linked with drives elsewhere, it is widely expected he will remain at McLaren despite the team's current slump in form.

Whitmarsh says both McLaren and Hamilton are very relaxed about the situation despite the media buzz, and he reckons the Briton will be extending his deal.

"I'm expecting that we will [reach a long-term deal]," Whitmarsh said during a Vodafone phone-in on Wednesday.

"I've obviously known Lewis for a long time. We have been concentrating on the season. I think there has been more speculation, more concern, more interest in this situation within the media than perhaps within the team and within Lewis's mind.

"We appear nowadays to be often asked questions about it, but I don't think it occupies as much time in our minds as it does in column inches."

Whitmarsh also downplayed suggestions that his team's current form will make it harder for it to convinced Hamilton to stay.

"No, I don't, because I think we are going to the next two races trying to win as we go to every race. Lewis is more intelligent than that and I'd hope, so is most of the media."

Despite Hamilton saying he is hoping to settle his future during the summer break, Whitmarsh admitted there was no timeframe to conclude the deal.

"I don't think we should put any timeframe on it. I think for both parties it's something that has got to be determined, preferably before the end of the season, but I don't think there is any need to give ourselves a tight timescale for that resolution."

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is hopeful that "noticeable" updates the team will introduce to the MP4-27 at this weekend's German Grand Prix will help turn around its form after two disappointing races.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button struggled for competitiveness at Silverstone last time out, having scored just four points in the race prior to that in Valencia.

The team will have several new updates for this weekend's event at Hockenheim, including new sidepods that will make the car look different.

"The sidepods from the front to rear are quite different so you'll notice those," Whitmarsh said during a Vodafone phone-in. "There are other bits and pieces that the sharper eyes will see and clearly there are some parts that are transparent to the naked eye so that is the main area of modification and it's reasonably noticeable."

Whitmarsh admitted managing this year's tyres properly is proving to be a "substantial challenge" for his McLaren team and its rivals.

But the Briton reckons the last two races, where the team struggled for pace, were simply "unusual", and hopes things will get back to normal at Hockenheim.

"Formula 1 changes very quickly and your fortunes can change from being very strong in Canada, which we clearly were, to a disappointing couple of last races,"

"I think they were unusual. Silverstone was an unusual weekend. But our thrust is always to be developing the car, we've got quite a lot of new components and some quite noticeable ones on the car that we will have in Germany.

"For everyone, not just McLaren, trying to understand and exploit the tyres correctly is proving quite a substantial challenge, so I think keeping ourselves focused, seeking to eliminate mistakes, improving the performance of the car, understanding the tyres, seeing if we can exploit them better are all top of our to do list."

The construction of the circuit that is set to host the inaugural Russian Grand Prix is on schedule, according to organisers, who have revealed images of the site.

Russia, which secured a seven-year deal to host a grand prix from the 2014 season, has allocated nearly $200 million to build the track in Sochi.

Organisers said the medical centre, the pit building and the pitlane are under active construction. Works on strengthening the soil and preparing the foundation for the track are also being carried out.

The construction is expected to be finalised in time for the Winter Olympics in 2014.

"The Russian round of Formula 1 World Championship is destined to happen," said Alexander Bogdanov, general director of 'Formula Sochi'. "We are pleased to be here in Moscow, and to present our project at Moscow City Racing Road Show.

"The Formula 1 Grand Prix will be a significant event for our country. I'm glad that I and my team have the honour to hold this event, we are ready to do it on the international level. "

Nicholai Buturlakin, deputy governor of the Krasnodar region, added: "Today in Russia we can see the rapid development of motor racing, and the Formula 1 project in Russia arouses great interest.

"We are confident that the circuit in Sochi will be a respectable addition to all the other prestigious sporting events as the Winter Olympics 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018, which will be held in our country."

Former world champion Jackie Stewart believes he can help Romain Grosjean improve his driving after his accidents this season.

The Lotus driver has enjoyed an impressive return to grand prix racing, proving to be a good match for Kimi Raikkonen and having finished on the podium twice already.

The Frenchman, however, has seen chances of strong results vanish due to on-track incidents.

Three-time champion Stewart believes Grosjean could use some mentoring in order to improve his driving.

"I just said to Romain Grosjean the other day, it would be a good idea if you came up home one day for lunch so we could have a bit of chat," Stewart told AUTOSPORT. "It is ridiculous that in Formula 1 we don't have coaches.

"In tennis there are coaches and boxing, golf, skiing... everybody has one, but we don't. I am not looking to be a coach, but I know I can help him. Racing drivers historically have not been great listeners, but I think I might be able to help."

Stewart reckons the Williams team set a good example in hiring former GP driver Alex Wurz as a driver mentor for this season, when the Grove team is using two inexperienced drivers in Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna.

"That I think is a very good thing. Maldonado is very fast but he needs help. He shouldn't have the number of collisions he has had, and neither should Grosjean. That is not all bad luck, you're in the wrong place, alongside the wrong people.

"That is a trait they can change - categorically. Having said that, I am impressed with Romain's speed, and actually I think he will win a race this year. What they have got to do is not get into trouble, and not make poor starts."

Felipe Massa says he is still aiming to finish in the top five in the drivers' championship this year despite the gap to the top.

The Brazilian Ferrari driver currently sits in 13th position in the standings with just 23 points scored in the first nine races of the season.

Fifth-placed Kimi Raikkonen is on 83 points.

Massa, who endured a very slow start to the season, says the drivers' championship is still important to him, although he concedes reaching the top five may be a difficult task.

"For sure, the drivers' is still important to me," Massa said on Ferrari's website. "Looking at where I was just before Silverstone, I am aware that are a lot of points still available over the coming eleven races. It is very important for me and I want to fight to get back into the top six or top five.

"That might be a difficult target to achieve, but you always need to set yourself a hard challenge. In addition, the Constructors' Championship is very important to us and the better I do in the drivers' the more I help Ferrari."

Massa also insists he has no worries about his future as long as he can continue to perform as he has been doing recently.

The Ferrari driver's position has been in doubt because of his lack of form in the first races, with the team even having talks with Mark Webber.

But following his turnaround in form, Massa thinks he has no reason to fear for his future.

"Of course I keep an eye on what is going on with other drivers, just as anyone likes to know what is going on in whatever work they do," he said. "But the only thing that is important for me is that I keep performing in the same way I did in Silverstone.

"In the two grands prix prior to that, in Montreal and Valencia, I should have been entirely capable of finishing in the top five or on the podium, but for various reasons - a spin in Montreal and a problem with the floor of the car in Valencia - that did not happen.

"Without that, since Monaco, I would have been fighting for the top five at every race. I'm sure that driving the way I am now is the only thing I can do and need to do to ensure my future.

"What happens in the drivers' market does not have a significant effect on my position. If I carry on performing the way I did in Silverstone, then I don't feel too worried about my future."

Heikki Kovalainen has suggested Caterham will need to start posting stronger results if he is to stay with the team after his current contract expires.

The Finn is tied to the team until the end of the season, but has previously admitted he is yet to sort out his future.

Caterham has failed to deliver the kind of results it expected ahead of the start of the 2012 season, having targetted a move into the midfield.

And Kovalainen told Autosprint magazine in an interview that he needs to see some progress soon.

"Good question," he said when asked what he wanted to do in the future. "I feel good here but I would like to do more results-wise, and soon. At the moment we aren't there yet.

"I don't know what the future holds for me, perhaps my current team doesn't even want me anymore... I let my results do the talking, and up to now they seem fairly good to me. That's the best way to present myself."

The Finn, who turns 31 in October, is convinced he still has much to offer in terms of performance, and is happy people are seeing him as a strong driver despite the lack of results.

"I still have plenty of racing in my blood. I feel I haven't given everything yet, also because things didn't go well at McLaren and I still need to demonstrate something. I'm not even interested in what position I am, what's important is that there are people realising I can do better than 16th or 17th."

Kovalainen made it clear he is only interested in securing a competitive drive and is relatively unconcerned with financial motivations.

"Money is the thing that interests me the least, really," he said. "The important thing is to find a good team, here or elsewhere. Now I think I'm able to do that."

Lineker · July 20, 2012

Mark Webber says his victory at Silverstone did not have any influence on his contract extension with Red Bull Racing.

Talks were already well underway before the British Grand Prix according to the Australian, despite he and his team suggesting otherwise at Silverstone.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insisted that discussions over a new deal with Webber would wait until the summer break, but just two days later the squad announced that it was retaining the British GP winner for 2013.

Webber said that hinting talks were on hold had been a deliberate tactic to diffuse speculation. The Australian had also been in discussions with Ferrari before committing to a seventh season at Red Bull.

"I'm not going to tell you guys if I'm doing [the deal] in two days am I?" Webber said in a press conference at Hockenheim.

"We get ready to announce it when we are ready to announce it. We need to keep the situation calm. The tactic worked OK.

"We needed to deal with this stuff in lots of different situations and many different aspects. This was one of them in a contractual sense.

"It was pretty straightforward really. Stay at Red Bull, [or] move on."

Webber is currently championship leader Fernando Alonso's closest rival, and said he had been keen for his future plans not to interfere with the title battle.

"This year is obviously going pretty well and there's a reason to keep the focus on that as well so the continuation of that moving into next year is helpful," he said.

Red Bull has become the pacesetter in recent races, with Sebastian Vettel dominating in Valencia before an alternator problem, and Webber than overcoming Alonso's Ferrari to triumph at Silverstone.

The team pushed to get a substantial upgrade package ready for Valencia, and Webber said the timing had made a big difference, allowing Red Bull to fully get to grips with its updates before the challenge of a more traditional venue like Silverstone.

"They were two different venues with two different temperatures, so it was important for us to get those parts to the track in Valencia to validate a few things and give us a direction," he said.

"It's always nice if you get them earlier than a race later because you learn so much earlier. Ultimately, it was a very good decision. It was very, very difficult to get the equipment to the track and Valencia was the first step to understand some new stuff with the RB8."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes that Mark Webber's efforts over the off-season last winter played a big part in earning him a contract extension at the team.

Webber has bounced back from a tough 2011 campaign alongside a dominant Sebastian Vettel to fight for the championship again this year. And Horner believes that the Australian had to work hard over the winter to return to form.

"Mark has come back with renewed energy and enthusiasm for Formula 1 this year," said Horner at Hockenheim on Thursday. "The win [in Brazil] at the end of last year did him a world of good and he wintered well.

"He has been very competitive and he is second in the world championship. He is one of only two drivers to have won two grands prix so he's back at the top of his game.

"It was evident to us that he came back after the winter with a refreshed approach and it was obvious that he put a lot of thought and hard work into his winter programme and came back with a renewed enthusiasm."

Horner added that it made sense to finalise the contract extension earlier than the team had initially planned to given Webber's current form.

"We had an agreement in principle so we had the opportunity to talk," he said. "But in the aftermath of Silverstone it was very easy to conclude rather than wait, and to get on with it rather than have the distraction of speculation.

"Mark's confidence is high. Being the team-mate of a guy who is the youngest ever double world champion would be tough for any driver. Sebastian is the benchmark but Mark has the strength of character to deal with that.

"Mark has made it very clear that he wants to compete and win championships and he obviously felt that his best chance to achieve that was to remain with Red Bull."

Felipe Massa says that he is not concerned by the fact that Mark Webber held talks with Ferrari before deciding to extend his contract at Red Bull for 2013.

Webber admitted after his 2013 deal was confirmed that he had spoken to Ferrari, which highlighted the fact that the Italian team is considering replacing Massa.

But the Brazilian told reporters in the Hockenheim paddock on Thursday that Webber's admission has had no effect on him.

"No, definitely not," Massa said when asked if Webber's comments were unsettling. "I'm sure not just Mark, but many drivers talk to Ferrari.

"I'm sure more than 50 drivers call Ferrari. It is a big team, and most of the drivers would love to drive for Ferrari. So nothing is a problem for me.

"The only thing that is a problem for me is to think about my results. That is the only thing I care about, not talks. Talks don't do anything for me. The result is what is really important."

Massa added that he feels he can take control of his destiny in Formula 1 beyond this year if he can continue to turn his form around and start scoring regular good results.

"[strong finishes] are the key for my future," he said. "When you have the results, you are always more important.

"It is better when you have some years on your contract so it's something you don't have to think about. But it is part of our job.

"The time will always arrive where it is the last year of your contract, and you have to think forward and think about next year.

"You always have pressure when you are in a big team, with or without a contract [for the following season]. This is part of working here, so I don't think about it."

Paul di Resta believes that the Formula 1 driver market is still wide open as the season approaches its summer break.

Mark Webber's recent deal to stay on at Red Bull has prompted speculation that there will not be many changes in the top teams for 2013, which would in turn lead to many drivers further down the grid staying put.

But with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa yet to sign deals to stay on with Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari respectively, di Resta thinks there are still a lot of options for anybody looking to move.

"There's a lot of talk about drivers moving at the moment," di Resta told reporters in the Hockenheim paddock. "There are drives everywhere.

"It's fairly confusing what is going on at the moment, even with Lewis. I don't think anybody has got an indication of who is going in which direction.

"I honestly don't know where everything is. It's about seeing what stability is around and what is happening with everybody."

Di Resta, who is without a manager at the moment after splitting with Anthony Hamilton, confirmed that he is still working alone, but that he was taking advice from various parties including Jenson Button's management. And he added that his prime focus was making sure that he stays in Formula 1 for a third consecutive season, rather than chasing a drive at a particular team.

"You need to weigh up your options at any given point, and the biggest thing for me is making sure I am in a Formula 1 car next year," he said. "We are only halfway through the season, and I am trying to get the best results for Force India.

"There's still two [race] weekends to go and I believe [after] that is the time when you start to make sure you are putting yourself in the right places and making sure you know what you are doing.

"It is a crucial decision. I'll need to decide pretty quickly what way I want to go. It's in the background and I'm dealing with it when I've got time."

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it would feel "abnormal" to race in Formula 1 for a team other than McLaren, in a firm hint that he was leaning towards extending his contract.

The 2008 world champion's future has been in doubt all season, as he is in the final year of his current deal.

Hamilton has been linked to most of the top teams on the grid, but ahead of the German Grand Prix he strongly intimated that staying at McLaren is his preferred choice.

"I have a lot of faith in this team, we're like a family," Hamilton told reporters in the Hockenheim paddock. "Anything different would feel very abnormal.

"For me, when you are in a position like this for the first time, you have to do due diligence, and you have to make sure that you look at the whole grid. You have to look at all your options and know all your plans, and not rush into things.

"Some of the worst decisions are generally the ones that are rushed."

Hamilton added that he hopes that he can still be at McLaren the next time the Woking squad hits one of its successful patches.

"It's been a tough 10-15 years for this team," he added. "So I'm looking and waiting for that period to come where they have their highest point.

"They had it with Mika [Hakkinen] in the late 90s, and I hope that at some stage it's our turn.

"I definitely feel that I can do it, and I'm constantly boosted by the team when I go back and see how hard they are pushing. This team never gives up, I never do, and hopefully at some stage we will be rewarded for that."

When asked if the missed opportunities in races this year have caused his faith in McLaren to slip, Hamilton dismissed such suggestions.

"I don't think so," he said. "They come back all the time. The support I have had at this team - not many people get to see it.

"From Ron [Dennis], from Norbert [Haug], from Martin [Whitmarsh]. Going through good times and bad times, they stay with you. True, loyal people. So I don't take that for granted."

Lotus is set to give a track debut to its version of double DRS at Hockenheim on Friday, AUTOSPORT can reveal, with the team hoping to gain as much valuable test mileage on it as possible.

The Enstone-based outfit has been working on its concept ever since its protest against the Mercedes design was rejected by the race stewards at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

A big effort by the team has resulted in it giving the green light for it to be trialled by Kimi Raikkonen in the opening free practice for the German GP.

The team wants to use the test to check on the benefits of the design, but it is unlikely to race it this weekend. However, it is hoping to use it later on in the season when it could be valuable at the higher downforce tracks.

Although the exact details of how the Lotus system works are not known, it is understood to operate in a very different way to the Mercedes design - despite making use of the same 'loopholes' in the regulations as its rival.

Instead of flowing air through the car to the front wing, its main aim is to influence the airflow over the rear wing - helping to stall it for a straightline speed boost.

It is expected to use new inlet holes on the engine cover, which are likely to be a part of the new double-DRS system.

Lotus has not confirmed its plans for the DRS system, but technical director James Allison did reveal in the build-up to Hockenheim that his outfit was set to trial some 'interesting' developments.

Back in April, Allison also made it clear that the outfit was looking at exploiting the double DRS regulations after the Mercedes ruling.

"We are at the point of making estimates of how big the gain might be and assessing the difficulty in actually realising that gain," he said. "It's anyone's guess how powerful any existing system is, but that's not the issue: it's how powerful we think we can make any system which we can develop now we know how the rules can be interpreted.

"There are systems like Mercedes has, but the interpretation allows other permutations too. So it could be an interesting time for developments in this area."

Kimi Raikkonen says he would not rule himself out as a title contender going into the second half of the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Nine races into his comeback campaign with Lotus the former world champion sits fifth in the standings, 46 points behind leader Fernando Alonso.

Although Raikkonen said he was not thinking of himself as being in the middle of a title fight, he feels he is currently still in contention if Lotus can improve or maintain its form.

"I have no reason to say I wouldn't try," said Raikkonen. "I'm not here just to drive around. But I have no idea if we're going to be up there in the end or not.

"We'll try to give ourselves a chance and do as well as we can. We know that we have to improve on certain things.

"We're still not 100 per cent happy with how things have gone on all the weekends, but I would say that's what I was expecting. You don't think that everything will be perfect.

"It's still quite early days in the season and we are still up there. You can't rule anything out."

He believes Lotus has the potential to remain with the frontrunners until the end of the season.

"I think overall we've been pretty strong everywhere," Raikkonen said. "We just have to work and improve. If we do everything 100 per cent right we can improve the car at the same rate as the others and then we should have a chance."

Raikkonen remains convinced that Lotus had the pace to be among the leaders in the last round in Britain had he not lost ground on the first lap.

"Without that, I'm sure we would've had the speed to fight at the front," said Raikkonen, who ultimately finished 10 seconds behind Silverstone winner Mark Webber in fifth place.

"We've just ended up losing out at the start in the last two races for different reasons and if you put yourself in the wrong position unfortunately you cannot use your speed."

Romain Grosjean says he does not need a driver coach at the moment, after Jackie Stewart said he could help the Lotus driver in his preparation.

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Stewart told AUTOSPORT earlier this week that he felt Grosjean should consider using a driver coach and invited him to lunch in order to discuss some of the incidents Grosjean has been involved in this season, including a spin in qualifying at Silverstone.

But Grosjean feels this is unnecessary. The reigning GP2 champion has shown strong pace this season in comparison to Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and has already recorded two podium finishes.

"You can always learn and I used to work with a coach, but I don't feel that I need one today, but it can change week to week. At the moment we are pretty happy with the way everything is going," said Grosjean.

"I spun in qualifying in Silverstone and that was my fault but I don't think we have been involved in many accidents this year," he added.

The 26 year-old emphasised the importance of data analysis as part of the learning process.

"We have data and computers which is the best coach from the driving point of view. I think other sports people have a coach to say give more lift or more slice but we have the computer and a team-mate so it is a bit different."

Grosjean also believes his driving will naturally become more comfortable as he settles in better at Lotus.

"Some teams like Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren have been working with their drivers for four or five years and they know each other so when they go into the race they know where they want to start," he said.

"When we start the race weekend we start with last year's data but it wasn't you in the car."

The Frenchman believes that he had the pace to win at Silverstone, where he recovered to sixth a first-lap collision with Paul di Resta. A gearbox problem was later found on Grosjean's Lotus and he will take a five-place grid penalty at Hockenheim this weekend.

"In a perfect scenario we could have fought for the win, the car was quick and consistent in the race but then you could say that if you had a gearbox issue two laps earlier then I wouldn't have finished at all," he said.

Sergio Perez says he has not changed his stance on rival Pastor Maldonado's 'aggressive' driving nearly two weeks after the pair collided during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Mexican admitted that emotion got the better of him in the immediate aftermath of the crash - which caused him to retire - when he angrily called for the FIA to take action against the Williams driver. But Perez still feels that Maldonado must change his approach.

"It was an unnecessary crash," he said. "I was very angry at that moment and probably said things that I would not have liked to have said, but it is already said now, so in the end I still share my opinions from last time."

Asked if he was presented with the same situation again whether he would elect to pass the Venezuelan in the same manner around the outside, given that he has now had two collisions with him, Perez replied: "You have to attack in Formula 1 these days, you don't have that many opportunities. So if you have the opportunity you have to take it.

"Pastor was driving in a very aggressive way, more than aggressive, so I think now he will change his style because he is a very intelligent driver and a quick driver. That's why he is in F1.

"He probably has realised that he has given away too many points because of this aggression."

When informed that Maldonado has stated that he has no intention of changing his style, Perez added: "In my opinion I think he should not change his style, but he should think about why he is getting so many reprimands and so many penalties, but in the end it is up to him to decide and if he wants to keep it that way then I respect it."

Perez believes that the collision cost him a strong result at Silverstone.

"It's always very difficult to know but we definitely had a very good pace and we were quite competitive, probably we could have fought for the top five for sure," he said. "Then from then on you never know, maybe the podium was reachable, but we were in a good position."

Maldonado for his part remains unrepentant in spite of three incidents in the last four races involving another car (twice with Perez's Sauber).

Perez indicated that he would speak to Maldonado during this weekend's drivers' briefing, but Maldonado felt that the air had already been cleared when the two met in the stewards office at Silverstone - where he received a 10,000 euro fine and a second reprimand.

"We spoke for two or three minutes when we went to the stewards," said Maldonado. "All clear. Everybody saw that I lost the car and it was nothing intentional - even him.

"But we have been big contenders in the past, especially GP2 and here again. I understand his point; he was hungry, he lost the race but on the other side I lost my race as well. I am not here to do polemics. I am here to race, to win, to put my team at the top and to work hard with them. It doesn't matter what the other drivers are saying."

Pastor Maldonado has vowed to improve his consistency after scoring points only twice in nine races so far this year.

Aside from his victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Williams driver has only an eighth place in China to his name and, despite regularly running in the top 10, has scored just 29 points, leaving him 10th in the championship.

Clashes with Lewis Hamilton at Valencia and Sergio Perez at Silverstone have cost him strong finishes in the last two races and Maldonado is now focused on converting his pace into regular results.

"Yes," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT if consistency is now his priority. "We have not been very consistent this year for many reasons.

"I made a couple of mistakes, especially in the first race [Australia] where I went out on the last lap when I was sixth. In the last couple of races, I made a couple of mistakes but there are still races to come.

"I made some mistakes in the past and need to improve and learn from those mistakes."

Maldonado believes that Williams can expect to continue to run near the front for the rest of the season, but emphasised the need to string together complete race weekends to make good on the pace he has shown.

But despite this, he does not plan to back off to achieve his target of consistency and is still happy to attack when the chance arises.

"We need to find some points to recover, but there are enough races to come," he explained. "We need to put everything together because we didn't do that in the last few races.

"Points are very important for the team and for me as well, so we will see [how much to attack in the races]. If I have the chance, I will go for it, but I will evaluate the situation."

Jenson Button is hopeful that McLaren's major upgrade package for the German Grand Prix will put the team back in contention near the front of the field.

The Briton, without a top-five finish since China, believes that McLaren's recent struggles are down to the team not matching the development pace of its rivals.

He expects comprehensive updates to move the team closer to Red Bull and Ferrari, insisting that extra downforce will help solve its tyre management problems.

"The more downforce you have, the fewer issues [you have] everywhere else," he said. "You can get tyre temperature, so you can take away the parts of the car we have had to put on to help, which will give us more downforce again.

"Downforce just helps everything: it covers up issues you can't solve any other way. I don't think we have had a big enough update before to be in the mix. Here we have that update and I hope that it takes us back to the front.

"Our long-run pace is definitely a weakness: if you look at our degradation compared to some of the quicker teams, which also includes Sauber, we are weaker in that area. Some of it is because they have got more downforce than us."

Button is confident that technical meetings at McLaren's Woking base on Tuesday have helped to give the team a clear idea of the direction it needs to take.

He expects that the new parts will work when they run on track for the first time during Friday morning practice at Hockenheim.

"Obviously there were quite a few negative comments because we're not doing as well as we would have liked," he said.

"There is a lot of positive energy and excitement about future races because here we come with mechanical and aero upgrades. Hopefully they will work well; I believe they will because they're very straightforward.

"Whether it's enough or not I don't know, but it's a pretty good chunk and should hopefully take us closer to the front."

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton is also positive about the upgrades and admitted that he is excited to get behind the wheel on Friday.

"We'll find out tomorrow how competitive we are," said Hamilton. "But I'm really excited - I know what we have and how much we have, and I'm excited to feel it and experience it. I really hope it gives us a chance to at least fight for the win.

"The team have been under a great amount of pressure to bring upgrades and we have been under pressure to get the results. But the guys have not given up and they keep pushing.

"We've hopefully got some upgrades this weekend that will put us back in the fight. It definitely will make the car better than it was."

Fernando Alonso believes he is driving and training better than he ever has done previously in Formula 1.

The Spaniard, currently leading the 2012 world championship by 15 points, reckons his driving has improved as a result of experience and the lessons learned from past mistakes.

In addition, he says his physical condition is better than it ever has been, and that he is no longer experiencing the leg and shoulder pain he has suffered in silence in recent years.

"I think this year is my best condition in my career," he told reporters at Hockenheim. "You are a better driver every year because you improve from mistakes; you always learn constantly in Formula 1.

"Physically it's also my best season so far because in previous years, you didn't know, but all the leg and the shoulders, something always had some pain or I didn't have good preparation.

"This year so far, and hopefully it stays like this, I have arrived 100 per cent at every race, so it's good. I'm quite pleased with my performance."

Alonso admitted that fortune had sometimes favoured Ferrari during the early races of 2012, but said he felt Red Bull had moved to the fore over the most recent grands prix.

"It's true also that the factors that play around this championship so far have been good for us," he admitted.

"I made a mistake in Q2 in Australia. Apart from that mistake, I probably wouldn't change too many things that I've done so far, so this is good news, because you always have mistakes here and there.

"Red Bull has been a little bit quicker than everybody else, not for just the last two or three grands prix, I think since Bahrain. They lost pole position in Barcelona and at Silverstone, but the rest [of the poles] were all Red Bull.

"In the last six grands prix they have had pole position in four, so they are definitely a little bit ahead in terms of performance and who we need to catch up."

Michael Schumacher is confident that Mercedes will be more competitive at Hockenheim than it was in the British Grand Prix.

The 43-year-old finished seventh at Silverstone after qualifying third in wet conditions, but is certain that the German Grand Prix venue will be better suited to the characteristics of the Mercedes F1 W03.

"The most difficult race we have behind us, which was Silverstone," said Schumacher. "Hockenheim will suit our car much more naturally. Obviously, I'm a lot more optimistic.

"If one or two of us could be on the podium, that will be great."

Team-mate Nico Rosberg insists that Mercedes' season has not gone off the rails and believes that if the team can extract the maximum from the car then results will improve.

The Chinese Grand Prix winner expects Mercedes to find it easier to manage the tyres at Hockenheim after he failed to score points at Silverstone.

"We haven't maximised what we had in the last few races and Silverstone didn't really suit our car," he said. "So it is maybe not the right picture.

"I still think we have a good car and I still think if conditions suit us and we get a grip on the tyres here in Hockenheim, which should suit our car a lot better, we should be able to do a much better result."

Germany's Formula 1 world champions Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel have expressed their concern at the financial plight of the Nurburgring.

The track, which now hosts the German Grand Prix in odd years as part of a race-share deal with Hockenheim, faces an uncertain future amid mounting political and financial problems.

Current F1 title-holder Vettel said that the Nurburgring was as iconic a venue as the sport's Italian home Monza.

"It would be a real shame to lose Nurburgring as a race," he said. "We hope that Nurburgring will recover quickly.

"It's one of the most traditional races we have on the calendar so it will be a big loss. Similar to if we lose Monza for the Italians, for instance."

Seven-time champion Schumacher agreed, saying that the circuit, which has existed in various forms since 1927, was extremely important to Germany's motorsport heritage.

"There is a lot of history for all of us German drivers that relates to the Nurburgring race," said the Mercedes driver. "We just wish the situation well and hope that we find solutions to be back there as soon as we can."

Vettel has never won his home grand prix either at the Nurburgring or this weekend's venue Hockenheim, and admitted it would be "incredible" if he could achieve the feat this year.

The Red Bull driver scoffed at suggestions that his record of never having won a grand prix in July had any impact at him.

"Obviously it would be very special to win here," he said. "First of all to have the chance to race in your home country is something very special and being able to win would be incredible.

"We try again this year, but I don't believe in a bad month or a bad day in that regard."

Paul di Resta believes that Force India is capable of repeating the form it showed in the European Grand Prix as it fights with Sauber and Williams in the Constructors' Championship.

The team's VJM05 was a top 10 contender all weekend around the streets of Valencia, with di Resta and team-mate Nico Hulkenberg both making Q3 and scoring points.

Force India went into the British Grand Prix with high hopes of another strong performance, but it failed to score any points, with Hulkenberg coming home 12th and di Resta retiring after a collision at the start.

However, ahead of this weekend's German Grand Prix, di Resta said in the Hockenheim paddock that he expects his team to keep producing strong performances like it did in Spain two races ago.

"We're coming here still having to learn a lot [about recent updates]," he said. "Valencia was a strong weekend, and I think that would be more reflective [of potential] for us.

"I don't think we were happy with where the car was [at the start of the season], but as a team we've given ourselves the chance to fight for some strong results. Now, it's about getting those results more regularly, and making sure we are in the mix. And I believe we can do that."

The Scot added that he expects the midfield battle to swing from race to race as different circuits suit different cars.

"It's close," he said of the battle with Williams and Sauber. "It seems to change a lot as well. I think it's all about if your car suits a track more than the others, that's the difference between whether you are in front of your main competitors or not.

"Williams aren't out of touch [in the championship], but they have been strong in the last couple of races. It's hard to fight where Sauber are [16 points ahead], but there is certainly no reason why we can't take it to them.

"We are a team that tends to start slower and then come on and develop more through the year. I'm not going to say we're going to beat the other guys because the next races might be good for them too. But for us, scoring points is a realistic target."

Lineker · July 21, 2012

Jenson Button set the pace in the first free practice session for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim as McLaren used its updated MP4-27 on track for the first time.

The Briton's 1m16.595s lap was 0.498s faster than his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with championship leader Fernando Alonso third on the timesheets for Ferrari.

Intermittent rain showers rendered times fairly irrelevant in terms of determining form, with teams frequently having to cut short evaluation runs for the updates they have brought to Germany. Button's time was set when the track was completely dry in the first 20 minutes of the 90.

Of the established runners, only he and Lotus driver Romain Grosjean got their programmes running before precipitation played its part.

When Sergio Perez, Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen all then ran wide, however, it was a clear signal that the asphalt was no longer dry and this set a pattern for the rest of the session.

With short, sharp showers dampening the track and then warm ambient temperatures quickly drying it again, the surface became dry enough for teams to continue, if somewhat stutteringly, with their programmes on the medium and soft compounds. During this point, Nico Hulkenberg and Alonso improved to go second and third behind Button.

Unsurprisingly, almost every driver had a moment at some point as the grips levels changed constantly.

The heaviest of these showers came 20 minutes before the end, prompting Sauber's Perez and Kamui Kobayashi - who had a significant moment running across the gravel early on - to try intermediates. That plan was swiftly scuppered though after an exploratory lap each.

The last 10 minutes provided some of the driest running and also a flurry of activity on the timing board as Hamilton went second quickest to make it a McLaren one-two. Alonso improved again to go third with Michael Schumacher's Mercedes fourth.

Perez also squeezed ahead of Hulkenberg before Valtteri Bottas crashed Bruno Senna's Williams at the Sachs Kurve with three minutes to go. That scuppered any hope of anyone going quicker through the final sector - including Hamilton, who was fastest of all through S2 on his final lap.

Nico Rosberg was seventh ahead of Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Grosjean.

The Red Bulls had a low-key session, with world champion Sebastian Vettel 12th and Webber 20th. Kimi Raikkonen was 15th in the Lotus, running with the new double DRS system, having only completed 14 laps in total.

FP1


Pos  Driver                Team                    Time              Laps

 1.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m16.595            27

 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes        1m17.093s  + 0.498  22

 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m17.370s  + 0.775  21

 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes                1m17.382s  + 0.787  20

 5.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari          1m17.413s  + 0.818  28

 6.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    1m17.599s  + 1.004  17

 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m17.915s  + 1.320  27

 8.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 1m17.995s  + 1.400  22

 9.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault        1m18.020s  + 1.425  20

10.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault           1m18.130s  + 1.535  21

11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari          1m18.226s  + 1.631  22

12.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m18.339s  + 1.744  21

13.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault        1m18.422s  + 1.827  28

14.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m18.709s  + 2.114  30

15.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault           1m18.831s  + 2.236  14

16.  Jules Bianchi         Force India-Mercedes    1m18.972s  + 2.377  21

17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m19.039s  + 2.444  34

18.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault        1m19.674s  + 3.079  24

19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault        1m19.963s  + 3.368  24

20.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        1m20.122s  + 3.527  27

21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth       1m20.169s  + 3.574  20

22.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth       1m20.539s  + 3.944  18

23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth            1m21.138s  + 4.543  24

24.  Dani Clos             HRT-Cosworth            1m21.740s  + 5.145  27


All Timing Unofficial[/code]




Pastor Maldonado emerged fastest from the second Friday practice session for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, as rain showers meant the order was largely decided by who was on track at the right moment.



Heavy rain before the session meant a distinct lack of Formula 1 cars on track at first, bar Bruno Senna doing an installation lap in the Williams that Valtteri Bottas had crashed in the morning.



It was 20 minutes in before Jean-Eric Vergne, Charles Pic and Nico Rosberg came out and got the afternoon underway in earnest. Conditions were steadily improving at this stage, and a quarter of an hour later Rosberg switched from full wets to intermediates on his Mercedes, a move everyone else soon followed.



With the track getting quicker by the moment, the top spot then changed hands constantly after the next 25 minutes before the rain returned, ending the run of relatively quick times. Maldonado put his Williams on top with a 1m27.476s just before then, and that stood as the fastest of the session.



Most drivers came back out after the second shower passed, but found the track too wet to improve their times. There was still time for some incident though, as Michael Schumacher crashed the other Mercedes on the way into the stadium section, prompting a red flag with four minutes left that effectively ended the session.



Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo also hit trouble late on, sliding into the gravel at the Sachs Kurve and getting beached.



Rosberg ended up classified second, ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, Sergio Perez's Sauber and Romain Grosjean's Lotus.



Everyone managed a reasonable amount of running despite the conditions, with the exception of Pedro de la Rosa, who spent a long time in the garage while HRT worked on his car's brakes, meaning he missed the best of the weather.



[code]FP2


Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps

 1.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m27.476             14

 2.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m27.564s  + 0.088   24

 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m27.902s  + 0.426   24

 4.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m28.402s  + 0.926   26

 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m28.420s  + 0.944   20

 6.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m28.495s  + 1.019   22

 7.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m28.513s  + 1.037   23

 8.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m28.516s  + 1.040   16

 9.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m28.877s  + 1.401   21

10.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m29.327s  + 1.851   22

11.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m29.364s  + 1.888   26

12.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m29.719s  + 2.243   15

13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m29.785s  + 2.309   24

14.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m30.090s  + 2.614   19

15.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m30.220s  + 2.744   16

16.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m30.291s  + 2.815   22

17.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m30.331s  + 2.855   26

18.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m30.437s  + 2.961   14

19.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m30.617s  + 3.141   16

20.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m31.207s  + 3.731   20

21.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m32.241s  + 4.765   22

22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m32.349s  + 4.873   17

23.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m32.777s  + 5.301   18

24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m42.566s  + 15.090   8


All Timing Unofficial

Mark Webber will be hit with a five-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix because of a gearbox change.

Red Bull broke the overnight curfew at Hockenheim to investigate a problem that had been detected in the gearbox.

It was found that the issue could not be resolved, therefore Red Bull opted to change the box, which will trigger the five-place penalty. Gearboxes are required to last for five events between changes.

Webber is the second driver to run into gearbox trouble this weekend as Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg will also be penalised. Lotus's Romain Grosjean is also carrying the same penalty for a post-Silverstone gearbox change.

Regulations introduced last year prevent teams from being in the circuit for a six-hour period overnight between. At Hockenheim on Saturday morning, this ran from two o'clock until eight o'clock, but Red Bull needed the time to analyse the gearbox.

This is the first time that Red Bull has broken the curfew this season. As each team has four exemptions, no action will be taken.

At Silverstone two weeks ago, McLaren, Caterham and Marussia also broke the curfew.

Nico Rosberg says he is confident going into his home grand prix weekend despite picking up a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change prior to practice at Hockenheim.

The Mercedes driver, who won the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this season, said that he was pleased with his day's work, having set the seventh fastest time of the day and finding a reasonable balance with the W03 in all conditions.

"I learned a lot because it was dry at some points this morning so we could do some dry running and I found an initial balance there, then very wet this afternoon, then quite dry with the intermediates so there was really everything," said Rosberg.

"So I have a good understanding and I am very already for tomorrow and Sunday. Tomorrow looks like it is going to be wet and Sunday is looking like is going to be dry.

"I am going in a good direction and I am quite happy with the car initially. I like driving this track wet or dry it's always good."

Rosberg admitted that the penalty was a frustration for him.

"The only thing that makes it a lot more difficult is that I had a gearbox issue at Silverstone so we have had to change that and put a new gearbox in, and that means then that I get five places on the grid for Sunday - that doesn't make it any easier, especially since it is my home grand prix so that is not a nice thing."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner cannot be certain that his team will set the pace in this weekend's German Grand Prix despite encouraging performances in the last two races.

The Red Bull RB8 won the last race at Silverstone and would have won at Valencia but for Sebastian Vettel's car suffering an alternator failure, but Horner believes that the unpredictable nature of the season means that his team cannot afford to be too confident.

"We were the car to beat at Valencia and we won the British Grand Prix, even though it was a lot closer, but it is difficult to predict form and we don't know how good we are," said Horner.

"We hope to be competitive here but maybe it will be one of our rivals who will be a step ahead this weekend.

"It is encouraging that two different circuits and temperatures we were quick at two very different venues so that we draw a lot of encouragement out of."

Although Red Bull is cautious, drivers' championship leader Fernando Alonso believes that Ferrari needs to take a big step to close the gap.

He cited the reigning constructors' champion team's pace from Bahrain onwards as evidence that the RB8 is currently the strongest car.

"Red Bull have been a little bit quicker than everybody else, not for just the last two or three grands prix but since Bahrain," said Alonso. "They lost pole position in Barcelona and at Silverstone but the rest were all Red Bull. So in the last six grands prix, they have had position in four.

"Definitely, they are a little bit ahead in terms of performance so we need to catch up."

Horner expects Alonso to remain in contention for the title and does not believe it likely that one team will dominate in the second half of the season, even though he anticipates the traditional top teams and drivers will be the ones fighting for the title.

So far, Red Bull has won three races, the most that any one outfit has achieved.

"For the teams, it has been very tough but for the fans it has been great this year with many winners," he said. "But the guys at the front of the championship have been there for a number of years and I think they will be the contenders in the second half of the year.

"To have pole position at every race bar one and win 12 out of 19 races [which Red Bull achieved in 2011] doesn't happen every year. This year, there are a lot of contenders."

Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are not concerned by the pace of the updated McLaren at Hockenheim.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session for McLaren on Friday ahead of the German Grand Prix, in what turned out to be the only dry running of the day.

While reigning world champion Vettel, who was 12th quickest, admitted that Red Bull was not capable of going that quickly during that session, he told reporters at Hockenheim that his team had no reason to panic.

"They looked very competitive this morning, no doubt," Vettel said of McLaren. "We couldn't go that pace, but we were not entirely happy this morning.

"It's a Friday, and it's difficult to draw conclusions. [McLaren] looked competitive at Silverstone on the Friday as well and then their weekend was not so good. We have to wait and see tomorrow."

Team-mate Webber added that the changeable conditions made Friday's running very hard to judge. The Australian was 20th in the dry morning session.

"We can't control the weather, and it's tricky for everyone to work out where to put your energy and set-up time," said the Australian. "When the track is moving around this much, every lap basically, the laptimes are all over the place and people are very inconsistent with their times.

"In the end, we did a lot of laps, and got everything we could have out of those sessions."

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael is confident that the car upgrades McLaren ran for the first time in Friday morning practice at Hockenheim today are a major step forward.

The new package includes modified sidepods and exhaust, as well as tweaks to the diffuser and other aerodynamic modifications. There are also some mechanical changes.

Michael described the first morning of running as "positive" and believes that the new parts will allow McLaren to fight at the front.

"Obviously with the session that we had, it was quite difficult to analyse everything, but we had probably the best session we could have in terms of a wet session," he said when asked about his impressions of the car by AUTOSPORT.

"We still got through all of the programme on the cars and the engineers are busy going through the data to find out what's what. So far, it looks positive.

"We expect to be fighting for pole position here and winning the grand prix. We would come here with that approach whether we had this upgrade or not. But the upgrade obviously gives you more incentive."

Michael is confident that if the upgraded car performs as expected, McLaren will be able to climb back into strong title contention.

"We are only halfway through the season and it's not that far a gap to the guys in front," he said. "If you win a race and the teams we are up against have a DNF, then that can put you right back in the frame.

"It's going to be like that this year, going up and down for everybody. It's a result of the grid being tight, which means it is putting much more emphasis on development rates through the season.

"So every time you bring an upgrade to the track, it doesn't matter how big or small it is, you look for correlation to the windtunnel to make sure that it works properly and so far the signs are good from today."

He added that he is hopeful that the upgrade will improve the way that the team is using the Pirelli tyres.

This is after Jenson Button said yesterday that more downforce is always an advantage in masking tyre problems.

"It's something you are always working to improve," he said. "You are always working to improve degradation and often the lap time. All these parts should help that as well.

"Every time you improve the general grip of the car you will improve that. But there is also the understanding of how you are working the tyre. That's an important factor."

Jenson Button says he has no fears for Sunday's German Grand Prix despite his struggles in recent races.

The McLaren driver has not finished higher than eighth in the last six grands prix as he struggled with tyre degradation.

His team has introduced several new components for his car this weekend, and Button was quickest in Friday's opening practice.

Button is now hopeful things will be better for him on Sunday.

"The last couple of races have been difficult for both of us in terms of not being quick enough," said Button. "I don't fear the race. I'm excited about the race.

"Hopefully with the new parts and a few new ideas that we have for the car we should have a much better degradation [rate]. You have to be positive."

He added: "I wouldn't be quick on Friday if I wasn't confident in my ability and in the car. It hasn't worked out for me, but you have to keep pushing all weekend and hope to have a good race.

"Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you luck out of it and sometimes your car works, and we haven't had that lately, but hopefully we will this weekend."

Button was optimistic about the performance of the new parts introduced by his team, and said the day had been very productive despite the rain.

"The package that we have on the car today, we are happy that is working. We got a lot of useful information."

The Briton admitted, however, that McLaren is still facing a challenge in wet conditions, and says the team has to find improvements to ensure it does not struggle in qualifying if Saturday is, as expected, wet.

"We tried a lot things, and some of them are working, which is good, but there's still a lot more work to improve there. The first session was dry and we got a lot of useful data out of P1.

"P2 was difficult. We proved that we are still struggling to get the tyres working in those conditions. A lot of work needed in that area so we can be quick in the wet, because I think it could be wet tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton says that his 100th race in Formula 1 has come around much quicker than he expected.

The 2008 world champion will make his 100th start in Sunday's German Grand Prix.

And speaking about reaching that landmark in his five and a half years in Formula 1, Hamilton told reporters at Hockenheim that the time had passed very quickly.

"To think that I have done 100 grands prix, it just feels so unreal," he said. "Of course it means something; to get to 100 is very important.

"I didn't notice my 10th, my 20th, my 50th, or any of the others. It just went by so quickly. When you're having a good time, time flies by. And the years have gone by very quickly."

Hamilton added that his time in Formula 1 seems to be going by quicker than the years did when he was racing in the junior categories.

"I'm in my sixth year of Formula 1, that's insane," he said. "It feels like it's gone quicker than my Formula Renault years, Formula 3, and GP2. My six years in Formula 1 feels as long as my two years in F3.

"It feels very similar to that, but obviously it's a lot more races. It's great, and hopefully I have many more races to do in the future."

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are his main championship rivals now.

Alonso holds the lead in the Formula 1 standings as the season reaches its halfway point after this weekend's German Grand Prix. The Spaniard is 13 points ahead of Webber, with Vettel 29 behind and Hamilton a further eight adrift.

Although the championship has so far been incredibly open - with seven different winners in the first seven races - Alonso has singled out the Red Bulls and Hamilton as the main contenders for the title.

"Hamilton and the Red Bulls," Alonso told reporters when asked about his main rivals. "It hasn't changed much. Lotus is probably strong and they have good races when they are quick, but they always lose some points on Sunday. [Nico] Rosberg started out strongly too and I think he can have a good championship too, but he has dropped down a bit.

"So as of today, the most feared rivals are Hamilton and the Red Bulls. We'll have to see how it evolves in the next races and if someone else joins the group."

The two-time champion, the only double winner alongside Webber this year, believes Red Bull continues to have the edge over its rivals but, unlike last year, Alonso reckons the gap can be erased.

"They have a bit of advantage now, but we can catch up, unlike last year, when it looked like they were racing in a different league," he said.

"This year we have the feeling that if we manage to find an improvement for the car we can match them, not sure about qualifying, but I'm sure in the race."

Fernando Alonso is confident that Ferrari is well prepared for the expected changeable conditions of German Grand Prix qualifying, but admitted that the team did not get any real chance to evaluate its latest upgrades as rain hit practice at Hockenheim on Friday.

The opening day of track action in Germany was hit by repeated rain showers and limited dry running. Similar weather is forecast for Saturday, although Sunday is tipped to be dry.

"All in all, I am reasonably pleased with how things went," said Alonso, who was third in the morning behind the two McLarens.

"We ran in various conditions, going from the dry to a damp track and then a completely wet one and tomorrow, at least according to the weather forecast at the moment, we could have a very similar scenario to today when it comes to qualifying.

"The car behaved well in all conditions, which is always a good thing and we were also able to see how the various types of tyre worked and when was the right moment to switch from one to another."

Alonso said Ferrari now had to hope that it had chance to put more miles on its latest parts on Saturday.

"We did not have enough time to evaluate them in depth," he said. "Let's hope we can do that tomorrow."

Technical chief Pat Fry agreed with Alonso's assessment.

"Unfortunately, we were only able to do a few laps on the dry tyres this morning, however, not many of these were useful, because the rain kept making an appearance," said Fry. "From what we could see, the car seems to be more or less alright in terms of balance, both in the dry and the wet.

"Some of the updates we have here proved to be OK right from the start, while in order to evaluate the others fully, we need to analyse carefully what little data we were able to gather today.

"Tomorrow, the possibility of having another wet qualifying seems quite high, while for the race, it is meant to be dry. At Silverstone, we were competitive in both conditions - let's hope the same applies here too."

Mercedes and Ferrari are considering running their young driver test days at former French Grand Prix venue Magny-Cours the week after the Italian Grand Prix.

AUTOSPORT understands that the idea to run at Magny-Cours instead of Yas Marina after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was raised by Mercedes. Other teams were subsequently offered the chance to run.

Ferrari is considering taking up the offer, although the details of such a test have yet to be set in stone. The regulations permit teams to run for up to three days.

Mercedes told AUTOSPORT that it is "looking into" running at Magny-Cours, while a Ferrari spokesperson also confirmed that the Scuderia is evaluating the possibility of running there.

This comes in the wake of Williams, HRT and Marussia running at Silverstone last week. The Abu Dhabi test would still go ahead, although none of the teams who opted to appear at either Silverstone or Magny-Cours would be permitted to run.

Michael Schumacher admitted he was simply not fully focused when he lost control of his Mercedes during second practice for the German Grand Prix.

The German crashed in the stadium section with some four minutes of the session left when he drove over the white line in the tricky conditions. His car suffered heavy damaged on all four corners and practice was red-flagged.

The seven-time champion said the accident was his fault.

"Basically I've not been fully concentrated. I was on the radio and I was doing some other changes to the car and touched the white line," said Schumacher of his crash.

Schumacher finished in 23rd position on a very tricky day for the teams, with rain coming and going both in the morning and the afternoon.

The German conceded the changeable conditions meant the day was not too useful.

"It didn't help us a lot, because the conditions were so inconsistent that we couldn't learn a big deal," he said.

He said, however, that it was worth running in the wet as qualifying is also expected to be hit by rain on Saturday.

"It is what it is, so you have to make the best of it. We are going to qualify probably in wet conditions so that's why it makes sense to go out and try the car and get the set-up right and so on. But it's guesswork for Sunday, definitely."

Norbert Haug is confident that the Nurburgring has a sound future as a motorsport facility despite its current financial and political problems.

Questions have been raised about the Nurburgring's ability to continue to operate in the long-term amid serious financial losses following an attempt to expand it into a non-motorsport attraction, but the Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss is certain that the problems can be overcome.

"The hiring of the track and so on is very successful," said Haug. "I think that should continue and there will be solutions in place.

"DTM will take place in August so the circuit will continue. This does not mean that there will be no racing. It is obviously a concern, but to my knowledge the normal business goes on.

"It's a shame, what is happening, because the region there is really dependent on motorsport.

"The basic idea was a good one. The plan was to create some attractions and obviously it did not work according to plan. The plan was supposed to be a positive one but not enough people outside motorsport came."

Haug is unsure as to what effect the Nurburgring's plight could have on the future of the German Grand Prix, but is confident that the event will continue.

Currently, the race alternates between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring, with neither track able to hold the race every year. With Hockenheim very unlikely to take over the race full-time, it could lead to the race being held in alternate years, possibly sharing a slot with the Belgian Grand Prix, which might also have to switch to running biennially.

"It's too early to say," said Haug of what Nurburgring's problems mean for Mercedes's home grand prix. "The news only came on Wednesday. We will see what the next steps will be.

"Germany is still very interested in motorsport in general and F1. It's still huge and I'm sure that a solution can be found."

Lotus's new double DRS system, which it trialled today during free practice at Hockenheim, is unlikely to be the subject of any protests from rival teams.

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael indicated that he was confident Lotus had gone through the correct procedures to ensure the system's legality.

"I'm sure that the legality of that is fine", said Michael. "I wouldn't question that. I'm sure that they have done all due process."

According to AUTOSPORT technical correspondent Gary Anderson, the Lotus double DRS system could work through the placement of two intakes at the top of the airbox, flanking the main air intake. This airflow runs into a tube that runs to the back of the engine cover.

When the DRS is not deployed, the air continues through an outlet at the rear of the engine cover. But when the DRS is activated, as with the Mercedes system, a hole is exposed on the inside of the rear wing. This creates a low pressure 'switch' diverting the air into another tube that connects to the underside of the rear wing, through a sealed chamber in the main plane and into the endplate.

This then blows across the rear wing, causing some of the airflow passing over the wing to separate from it, therefore reducing drag when the DRS is open.

While the Mercedes system takes air in from the nose, the Lotus system uses the same basic concept of a hole exposed by the DRS being deploying allowing the air to escape onto the rear wing that has been given the go-ahead by the FIA despite complaints from rival teams earlier this year.

Lotus is unlikely to gamble on continuing to run its new double DRS system for the rest of the German Grand Prix weekend.

The team tried its own version of a rear-wing stall system, as pioneered by Mercedes, on Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus E20 during free practice at Hockenheim, but team principal Eric Boullier said that he prefers not to take risks on a system that is as yet unproven.

It is anticipated that, provided the system works as planned, Lotus might not run it competitively until after the August break, which was always likely to be the case.

"We are still looking at the data now but the issue is when you build a prototype, you don't want to have an issue [in a race] because we can't make any reliability tests," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.

"We don't want an issue during the race. If we have strong from and can finish both cars in the points, we want to be safe. We need to validate it before we keep it on the car."

Boullier confirmed that its double DRS system was put into development as a result of Mercedes successfully running such a concept from the start of this year.

Lotus was among the teams that considered the Mercedes to be illegal, but once it was approved by the FIA gave it the green light. Its design is based on the same principle.

"At the beginning of the season, Mercedes came with a device which in our view wasn't legal," said Boullier. "We went to the protest because we wanted to hear from the FIA what was the exact understanding of how to interpret the regulation.

"Once we got it, we had the green light for one of our projects, which is a system with the same principle. We tried to get some data with the development and see if it works."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he was able to get a good idea of any performance benefits the system brings, Raikkonen said: "I don't know yet. We need more track time.

"Unfortunately there were not very good conditions, so we just tried different things. It's a new thing, and you have to try it. But when the weather is like this you don't get as much benefit as when it's dry."

Valtteri Bottas has taken responsibility for his crash towards the end of Friday morning practice at Hockenheim.

The Williams test driver lost the rear end of his car under braking for the Sachs Kurve, which spun him round and into the barriers.

Williams managed to get the car ready for Bruno Senna to get a full session of running in the afternoon, and Bottas later admitted that he had been to blame for the incident.

"After it happened I was not really sure if it was my mistake or something on the car," said the reigning GP3 champion. "But we've had a good look at the data and it was a combination of things.

"I braked a bit too hard, my brake bias was a little too much towards the rear, and I had gone a bit wide on the damp in the previous corner. It was my mistake."

Bottas added that he hopes he can learn from his error and make sure that the rest of his Friday running goes well this year.

"It was a good day for learning, but I'm sorry for the mechanics," he said. "Of course I would like to aim for perfection and not to do any mistakes. But I think everyone knew that at some point you are going to go off.

"We are all humans and we make mistakes. I just need to minimise those. That was my first mistake this season, and I hope it is my last as well."

Scuderia Toro Rosso's technical director Giorgio Ascanelli is set to part company with the team.

Ascanelli, who joined Toro Rosso in 2007 and oversaw its maiden race victory with Sebastian Vettel at Monza a year later, is not at the German Grand Prix and is officially "on holiday".

But sources indicate that he is unlikely to return to action with the team.

AUTOSPORT understands that the move comes as a result of disagreements between Ascanelli and Toro Rosso ownership over the car's development approach after a disappointing season. It is believed that the situation came to a head over the British Grand Prix weekend.

"I can only tell you that Giorgio Ascanelli is on holidays," said team principal Franz Tost when asked by AUTOSPORT about Ascanelli's status. "There is confidentiality between the two parties, that's all I can say."

When pressed for further details, he added: "Sorry - I have said everything."

Moves are underway for changes in the technical management of the team, although given the short amount of time since Ascanelli's departure, nothing is yet finalised.

Tost believes that the team, which has not scored a point since Jean-Eric Vergne finished eighth in Malaysia, can turn things around in the second half of the year.

"We started the season quite well and we scored points at the beginning," he said. "Then in Monaco, Jean-Eric was in seventh place 10 laps from the end but it started to rain and di Resta and some others could pass him. In Valencia, Daniel had a good chance to score points but then he had a crash with Petrov.

"We will come up with some new upgrades for the next races and hope that it's wet tomorrow here and on Sunday. It looks like the car and the drivers are quite competitive.

"I'm quite positive and optimistic for the second half of the season."

Heikki Kovalainen expects Caterham to take a step forward at Hockenheim this weekend after a successful straightline test of the team's upgraded car on Wednesday.

GP2 driver Rodolfo Gonzalez completed the test at Lurcy-Levis in central France on Wednesday and the data gathered has convinced Kovalainen that the car will perform on track as was predicated in simulations.

Caterham did not have time to hone the set-up of its upgraded machine, which features modified exhausts and sidepods, a new radiator exit, a modified front wing, floor tweaks and a new engine cover, at Silverstone because of the lack of dry running.

"Had we had more dry running, we would have been able to attack this problem earlier," said Kovalainen. "Before the race, we had been planning to do some straightline testing which we weren't able to do because it was raining because we didn't really have any numbers to work with.

"Before this weekend, we were able to do a proper aero run to get some numbers and an idea of how we want to balance the car. Hopefully we will start here with a better-balanced car and then extract more.

"It [the correlation] has been pretty much in line with what we expected. When you are working with the exhaust, it's a tricky area because it depends on the aero speed and the thrust you develop. This is partly why the car was not balanced at Silverstone at certain speeds."

Kovalainen's experience at Silverstone has convinced him that the car does have more downforce than it did previously.

But the priority at Hockenheim today is to improve the balance through a combination of further minor aerodynamic tweaks and a better setup.

"We had relatively too much rear grip at Silverstone, so the car was understeering, especially in the high speed" said Kovalainen. "It hurts your tyre wear so you need a good balance.

"At Silverstone, I had a coming together with [Jean-Eric] Vergne into Turn 6. I damaged the left side of the car and the front of the floor was damaged, so I lost a reasonable amount of performance.

"But the car was also out of balance. I was not able to attack the high speed like I wanted to and that's the reason why the performance level in the race was quite disappointing. We have an opportunity to do better than that."

Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery reckons the firm's experimental hard tyre will not be seen again until October's Japanese Grand Prix weekend at the earliest after rain spoilt its evaluation in Hockenheim practice.

Although some teams ran the new hard on Friday morning, the intermittent rain meant no conclusive data could be gathered. Rain had previously prevented Pirelli from trying the tyre in Silverstone practice as it had originally hoped.

"We had a few laps, but we learned absolutely nothing, basically. That's it for that one," said Hembery.

"We'll have to think of doing something later in the season. Ideally I'll like to take it to Suzuka and have a go there if we can get them rebuilt in time. Or failing that, certainly Brazil, or something at the end of the year.

"There's not really much point in Monza, and we haven't got time for Spa."

Pirelli does not intend to introduce its revised hard this year as it does not want to interfere with the title battle in the event that the tyre spec proves more suitable for some cars than others.

The company's priority is to get data to evaluate how differently the 2012 Formula 1 cars use the tyre compared to the 2010 Renault it uses for development testing.

"We wanted to try and better understand the correlation between what we see on a 2010 car and on this year's cars, because this year's cars have been so different, it's been hard for us to correlate what we see on our own test car with what we see on the track," Hembery explained.

"We don't see the same temperature deltas between front and rear as we've seen on some cars here. We haven't maybe seen the sensitivities that some cars have had.

"But having said that, the cars are evolving very quickly and we're maybe starting to see a return to a bit more equilibrium in the way that we had last year. We expect over the next few races to see the order changing as it normally does."

Friday's press conference:

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Mark SMITH (Caterham), John BOOTH (Marussia), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Norbert HAUG (Mercedes), Peter SAUBER (Sauber).

Q. Mark, if I can start with you. First of all, we've seen a certain number of developments over the last couple of races. How promising were those? Are we going to see further upgrades in the coming races as well?

Mark SMITH: We took an upgrade to Silverstone. We were hoping for some dry running, which obviously was forecast very early on not to happen. That hampered us quite a lot actually. We genuinely believed we'd have the opportunity to have some dry running in Hockenheim and we've had very little so far. So really, we're struggling to develop the car around the updates that we have, predominantly because of the lack of dry running. We know from the running we did at Silverstone we have performance on the car but we probably extracted about 40% of it at most.

Q. You have a team move coming up: how disruptive is that going to be? Obviously it's planned to be as least disruptive as possible but it is mid-season.

MS: It is mid-season, but it is during the two-week shut down, so it's never going to be ideal but I think it will be fairly painless. One of the biggest challenges is probably the IT infrastructure. Work is already underway with respect to that. Things like CFD clusters represent the biggest challenge in that respect. The rest of it? If you think about the race team, they can live out of an F1 facility and operate anywhere in the world fairly self-sufficiently. So for the race team, post-Hungary, they'll go back to Leafield and the rest of us will move after the shutdown on August 20th. The majority of us.

Q. John, you had updates at Silverstone as well, despite a difficult development period leading up to that. Did they show the promise you were hoping for and will they lift Timo back into the peloton as it were?

John BOOTH: As Mark said, it was pretty difficult at Silverstone and again here to verify where we think we are. The upgrades were substantial and significant in that it was our first upgrade derived from the wind tunnel programme and our partnership with MAT. Some of it looks very promising so we take heart from that and we also have a few more bits here to give Timo that extra boost.

Q. It's been 13 days since Maria's terrible accident and everyone in the press room is very appreciative of the statements you've put out, particularly the last one, but in terms of questions still unanswered, there are still one or two. So where does that leave us, the press?

JB: We had two priorities immediately after the accident, first being Maria's welfare of course, that was foremost in our minds. The second was to start to investigate the cause and clear the car of any part of that of course, with Silverstone coming up. We established that but then revisited our findings straight after Silverstone and now we're 100% confident that the car was not to blame in the slightest. As for the wider investigation, that is ongoing and will be a very long process, as in England it has to be, it's taken very seriously there, as you know. It will be some time before we know the final outcome. It would inappropriate for me to comment any further on that.

Q. Question for the front row regarding German Grands Prix. We have representatives of Germany, Switzerland and Austria - how important is this German Grand Prix to you?

FT: For me the German Grand Prix is a classic grand prix. In Europe from the history we have four grands prix which are very important. That's Silverstone, one grand prix in Germany at the Nürburgring or the Hockenheimring, it's Monza and Spa... and of course also Monaco. The German Grand Prix has a high level of importance and also, if you think how many German drivers in the meantime in Formula One and also Germany is a very healthy country from the economical side and therefore it's very, very important that this grand prix takes place here in this country.

Q. Norbert, obviously very important for Mercedes…

NH: Yeah, absolutely. It's very special for us. We have more that one home grand prix: we have the British Grand Prix; we have another home grand prix in Abu Dhabi where our shareholder Aabar is at home but this, just 100km from the main facilities of Mercedes, from Stuttgart… I personally have great memories from when I was a young boy already I was here, looking mainly at motorbike races, so Hockenheim is just home turf – and it's of course it's good having a good performance here – we try. I remember winning 2008 with McLaren-Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, which is a great memory. And yeah, there's a lot of spectators, a lot of guests, the Mercedes grandstand, a great programme there, a very busy weekend for all of us. It didn't start in a typically Hockenheim way: normally it's hot; today it was more the Silverstone way, which we experienced a fortnight ago. So, it seems to be the same tomorrow: rain again, and probably sun on race day – so parallel to what we experienced two weeks ago. But still, a very important race of course.

Q. Peter, is this as close to a home race as you get?

PS: Yes, I think it's a home race – similar to Monza, both grands prix are very close to the factory in Hinwil. But I have a special relationship with Hockenheim. I drove many, many races here. I started I think in 1967 with my first race here, with a Volkswagen Beetle.

Q. Question then to all of you again, on a similar subject: how important is the Nürburgring? It's got problems of it's own at the moment, can they be solved? How important is it that they are solved and it remains one of the homes of the German Grand Prix.

FT: The Nürburgring as well has a very, very interesting and important history. Everybody in the world knows the Nürburgring who's involved in motor racing. I just hope that all the politicians find a solution to get the money together that the Nürburgring will survive. Because in the meantime a fantastic infrastructure has been built up around the Nürburgring with all the hotels and, apart from this, there are many workshops where parts for racing cars have been produced. It would be a shame if people would lose their jobs from this. There are many, many races over there: the 24 Hours for example, and a lot of other races, and especially Formula One. I just hope that in future we will also have a race there because the Nürburgring is history for motorsport in general and especially for Formula One.

Q. And a huge heritage again for Mercedes, Norbert?

NH: Yes, absolutely. There is a great heritage and I hope and think it will continue. We definitely have a DTM race at the Nürburgring after the summer break, the 19th of August, so that is confirmed. And I think there are good chances for a grand prix in the future – but it's probably too early to talk about that and to speculate. I think they built great facilities and probably the plan was a good one but it didn't turn out in the right way. I think what is very important to know is that the Nürburgring is booked in a fantastic way – so the industry has lots of bookings there, not only Nordschleife but also grand prix circuit where the Grand Prix takes place. I think this is a positive development for the Nürburgring: I just think they got in financial problems but hopefully they are solvable.

Q. Peter, I'm sure Saubers have raced there. Did the Beetle make it that far?

PS: Not just the Beetle. '86 we won the first sportscar race, together with Mercedes. I think with Pescarolo and Thackwell on the car. I think it's important for this very traditional race track that the responsible people find a solution to save the situation.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q. (Edd Straw - Autosport) Franz, we understand that Giorgio Ascanelli is out of the team or should we say on his way out of the team, and is certainly no longer in active service. Can you confirm exactly what his status is and what the reasons are behind this move, please?

FT: I can only tell you that Giorgio Ascanelli is on holiday and there's confidentiality between the two parties. That's all that I can say to this.

Q. (Edd Straw - Autosport) Can you just, in general terms, make any comment as to whether it's sensible to let your technical director be on holiday during a Grand Prix? Obviously we can read into this the fact that there is something clearly going on.

FT: Sorry. I've said everything.

Q. (Sonya Kreye - Speed News) Norbert, the season is wide open - this is a more general question - is this for you more enjoyable or does it put stress on you?

NH: Well, I would say it's positive pressure and you grade your pressure inside the team. None of the guys you see here on the podium doesn't like to be in the best possible position, and the best possible position is ultimately P1, but you need to work very hard. This is a very very competitive environment. We've seen very very good races this year. We've seen surprising results. We saw guys winning who nobody probably thought would win, so it's very good for the spectator. I think we have seven or eight teams that are in a position to clinch podium positions and as far as I can remember, that was never the case in Formula One. All the teams of course want to finally dominate. This is the plan but first of all you have to score points, then podiums then race wins, and it's a very very good mixture for the spectator this year and yes, it is demanding but I think we all do what our destiny is, what we want to do and we are not forced to do this but we enjoy it; not every second, not if you have bad results, if you do not achieve what you wanted to achieve, but this is part of the game. Even more, you can enjoy the good part of it if you really got on the podium, if you get a race win, if you get a feeling like China, with Nico, that's fantastic. I'm sure Peter can describe his feelings from Malaysia, fighting for victory which was a deserved result and a very positive surprise.

Q. (Dieter Rencken - The Citizen) To the four team principals: during the Silverstone weekend, an article was published in The Daily Mail in London in which Mr Ecclestone was quoted that commercially the Concorde Agreement was all agreed, saying that the commercial terms for the replacement of the present Concorde had been agreed with everybody. Could you four team principals confirm that you have actually signed a document with Mr Ecclestone, which forms part of the replacement for the 2013 Concorde?

FT: Toro Rosso signed a Concorde agreement.

NH: I'm not one of the four.

PS: I think... we have an agreement with Bernie, yes. We have signed an agreement with Bernie.

JB: We haven't signed an agreement.

Q. (Dieter Rencken - The Citizen) Mr Haug, you may not be a team principal but you are here as a Mercedes Benz representative. To the best of your knowledge has Mercedes signed a document with Bernie.

NH: Well, I can only tell you that we are in constructive discussion still, so that implies that we didn't sign yet.

Q. (Matt Coch - pitpass.com) In terms of younger drivers coming up, how actively do you look at the supporting categories and the feeder series and how much interest do you take and how active a part do you play?

FT: From my side, I only look at Formula Three races, Formula Renault races, the two litre and 3.5 litre, GP3 and GP2 of course and to get an overview of skilled drivers, because, as you know, Toro Rosso is a team which is responsible to Red Bull to provide good, young, skilled drivers.

NH: Well, I'm looking at it, traditionally, as much as I have time. I'm following it as well as I can, if I'm not busy.

PS: With Esteban Gutierriez we have a test and spare driver in the GP2 series, but for us, it is not possible to support some drivers and some teams in this series.

MS: As a team we are obviously involved in the formulae and look closely at potential young drivers. As an individual, I have limited time to do that.

JB: Yes, we are actively involved in GP3 and GP2 and in fact we gave our GP2 drivers a run out at Silverstone last week in the young drivers' test, so we watch all categories but particularly GP2 and GP3.

Q. (Gary Meenaghan - The National) Following on from the young driver testing, I was wondering if the other four guys could talk about where they're planning their young driver test this year. I understand Mercedes is considering running in France. Is that correct?

NH: No. It's probably not finally decided.

PS: We will test in Abu Dhabi, I think so. I hope we can do the test there with three different drivers and with Esteban Gutierrez of course.

FT: As it looks now, we will also drive in Abu Dhabi, but it's not 100 percent decided with which drivers we are running there.

JB: We had a look at the calendar at the end of the year and Abu Dhabi would have meant that the mechanics were working or travelling for five consecutive weeks and five weeks away from home. We didn't feel that we had the necessary manpower or human resource or parts for the car to conduct that kind of the test, so we opted to use Silverstone last week.

MS: We plan to be in Abu Dhabi.

Q. (Edd Straw - Autosport) Franz, this season has been a little bit disappointing for Toro Rosso. Could you just give an overview of what you think has gone wrong with the team, and where you can maybe improve to get the kind of results that you would expect?

FT: The season's not over yet. So far we started the season quite well. We scored points at the beginning and then we struggled a little bit. For example, in Monaco, Jean-Eric Vergne was in seventh place ten laps from the end but then it started to rain a little bit and di Resta and some others passed him. In Valencia, Daniel had a good chance to score points but then he had a crash with Petrov. I think that we will come up with some new upgrades for the next races and I hope that it's wet tomorrow here and on Sunday because it looks as if the car and the drivers together are quite competitive in the wet. And I'm quite positive and optimistic for the second half of the season.

Q. (Stefan Skolik - Mannheimer Morgen) Can you comment on Michael's accident at the end of practice, Mr Haug?

NH: He just lost it. He was on the radio and he said 'not fully concentrated.' Things like that just happen, it's not an ideal situation but we can recover, I'm sure.

Q. (Vanessa Ruiz - ESPN Radio) Norbert and Peter mainly; we're now reaching the middle of the season; how do you see the development? Do you believe that we already have the top three teams in a situation where it will be difficult for the others to catch up? Or do you understand that it's still open as many people say, in terms of winning races?

PS: I think it's still open. It's not so easy for us. Maybe it's easier for Norbert, I don't know.

NH: I think it's still open, and if you look, there were possibilities. I think Peter can tell some stories and has some memories of that. I have some where we didn't score the points which were possible. Probably other people as well. But I would not say that there is a big gap at the moment. You really need to get your act together, get the set-up right and then, as I said before, we can have quite a few cars that are very competitive and I can see the situation not changing in the short term.

Q. (Dieter Rencken - The Citizen) Talking about the young driver test - and here I'm talking generally, not a specific, this year situation - but if we have a look at some teams testing at Silverstone, some at Abu Dhabi, I believe that some are going to Magny Cours after Monza, others are looking at Jerez in early December; is it impossible for 12 teams to actually agree on three days out of 365 to go testing?

FT: We were discussing this for a long time and as John just mentioned before, one of the main arguments against Abu Dhabi for some teams was that the mechanics would have been out for five weeks and then we decided, OK, to split the test with Silverstone, because teams which are situated in England wanted to do the test at Silverstone and OK, now a third race track, Magny Cours, has come into the plan and normally we should say OK, let's do the test altogether, three days at the end of the season, but you know we are in a democratic world and therefore it was decided to split it.

Rich · July 21, 2012

The only plus of it all was that it inconvenienced that cockend Rich.

I only just noticed this.

next time I see you I am going to throw some bacon on the floor, stamp on it and shout in your face "No pig for you Jew face".

:angry:

Lineker · July 21, 2012

FP3 is underway.

Katsuya · July 22, 2012

Red Bull under investigation after the stewards noticed their engine mapping was looking odd.

Katsuya · July 22, 2012

Haha, this is a Lewis I can love, unlapping himself against Vettel and Alonso. Looking good for my Sauber boys :wub:

LUKIE · July 22, 2012

I laughed so much when he got the puncture and was like "That's it guys, let's just retire the car".

What a dick.

Formula One 2012

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