F1: Massa: “It will be easier to think of the future when the results come”

Felipe Massa’s future depends on what happens now. At the end of 2012, the contract between the Brazilian and Scuderia Ferrari will come to an end, but the pressure that might build with this expiry date does not seem to have unsettled Felipe.
“I am well aware that in some ways, the first part of the season will be more important than the second,” he said. “When we reach the mid-point of the season, we will talk about my future and see what are the chances of continuing to work with Ferrari: The most important thing is the results: if they are good, making decisions about the future will be much easier and there would be no point in changing a situation that everyone was happy with.

Felipe Massa arrives by helicopter

Photo by: Ferrari Media Center

“I want to read in the papers that Felipe is back, fighting for the wins and to do that, we need everything to be right: if we have a good car then I know I can fight for the title, as I have already done in the past,” continued the Paulista.
“Since 2008, nothing has changed: after my accident, I am still the same. Sure, it bothers me not having won for such a long time and I have a strong desire to win again: however, I am calm because I know what I am capable of and I am 100% ready to manage the pressure that has always been part of my work.”

The most important thing is the results

Felipe Massa

Felipe said he was pleased to hear of the new arrivals, especially that of Bridgestone Motorsport’s former Technical Director Hirohide Hamashimi: “He is a very experienced engineer and being able to count on him is very positive in terms of gaining an understanding about how the tyres work. Pat Fry is doing a very good job: he too is very experienced and has done an excellent job on the reorganization of the team.”

F1: Chandhok to be paid in 2012 'for a change'

2012 will be a novel season for Karun Chandhok as the Indian prepares to collect a pay-packet.

Paid job for Chandhok this year

Photo by: xpb.cc

After two seasons of paying to race with HRT (2010) and serving as Team Lotus' reserve driver (2011), the 27-year-old will actually be paid as he contests FIA endurance sports car races with the JRM team this year.
"For a change, I will get money directly from my team," he confirmed to the Calcutta Telegraph.
"In F1, the money came only from endorsements and not from the team. So it will be nice to race and get paid for it."
Chandhok said he decided to look outside of F1 for 2012 when it became clear he would not find a race seat.

It will be nice to race and get paid for it

Karun Chandhok

"For the first time in my career, there was no catch to any of the negotiations," he said according to the Hindustan Times.
Chandhok said he is still open to splitting his time in 2012 between his new racing foray and a Friday role in Formula One, as only one scheduled date clashes.
"But I'm yet to get into talks with F1 teams," he is quoted by the Times of India. "Now that things are decided I can look at F1 testing options too."

F1: 2012 Ferrari has ugly 'bump' on nose

Part of what makes the 2012 Ferrari "not pretty" is a conspicuous bump on its nose, it is believed.

New Ferrari will have a bump on the nose

Photo by: xpb.cc

The famous team's bosses Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo used descriptions including "not pretty" and "lousy" when describing the physical appearance of the unlaunched new machine, codenamed 663.
"It's not that pretty, because the shape defined by the technical regulations does not leave much scope", admitted Domenicali.
It is believed he is referring to regulation tweaks for 2012 that will reduce the height of the noses, to improve driver safety in the event of crashes. But the maximum height of the dash bulkhead remains the same, meaning that Ferrari's low nose tapers sharply where it meets the front of the monocoque.
Some sources claim to have seen drawings or images of Ferrari's unnamed 2012 car, but Fernando Alonso on Thursday insisted the car "is quite similar" in physical appearance to last year's contender.
"The rules have been clarified a bit in the last two years with the result that all the cars look more and more alike," Spanish reporters quote him as saying.

Lewis Hamilton is back on track according to McLaren

By Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer for the BBC

  Lewis Hamilton on his skiing trip. Photo via his Twitter account

Lewis Hamilton has put a difficult 2011 season behind him and is back on track, his McLaren team say.

Hamilton's three wins last year were interspersed with a series of errors and penalties as he admitted personal problems affected him.
McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said: "I'm speaking to him most weeks. He's getting himself together.
"He's winter training really hard and he's in the right place doing the things he needs to be doing."
Hamilton is believed to be in the United States training in the Rocky Mountains, but will be back in the UK at the end of the month in time for the launch of the new McLaren on 1 February.
Hamilton said at the end of 2011 that he would spend the winter analysing the difficulties he had had last season and ensuring he was mentally back to full strength for the new season.
Neale said: "What he needs to do is get himself in the car. He's only got something to prove to himself. He's his own biggest critic.
"He puts extremely high demands on himself, we at the team are here to support him. It's a tough business, you've got to get the job done."

Red Bull have been good for the last two years, but Ferrari have obviously got a lot to prove this year.

Jonathan Neale McLaren managing director

One of the motivating factors behind Hamilton's difficult 2011 was his disappointment that McLaren had not produced a car that could challenge Red Bull on a consistent basis.
Neale acknowledged that McLaren needed to up their game in 2012 - not just in terms of performance, but on an operational level as well after strong finishes in several races slipped through their fingers because of errors.
"One of the things we measure is our did-not-score rate," he said. "If we had a good car that was capable of scoring good points in that race and we didn't, we go back and ask ourselves why.
"There have been a number of operational issues we've needed to get fixed and some of the changes we're making in our line-up and some of the processes - and bringing people like (former Williams technical director) Sam Michael on board (as sporting director) - are aimed at tackling some of those issues."
Neale said he expected world champions Red Bull to remain strong in 2012, and that he was wary of a revival from Ferrari, who struggled last year partly because they were unable to maximise the year's must-have technology, exhaust-blown diffusers.
This is when the teams channel the exhausts along the rear floor of the car and blow gases through them even when the driver is off the throttle. The technology significantly increases downforce, but has been banned for 2012.
Ferrari's only win in 2011 was at the British Grand Prix, where the technology was severely restricted for one race.
"Red Bull have been good for the last two years," Neale said.
"They sorted out their reliability last year and it's just speculation at this moment (who will have the quickest car).
"Who knows who will come out with what?
"Ferrari have obviously got a lot to prove this year.
"From the glimpse we got of how their car was at Silverstone without the blown diffuser they were quick, so they have some capability there.
"But the whole car hangs together well for Red Bull and, with an evolutionary set of rules, they would be disappointed if they weren't among the front runners."

Formula 1: BBC announces its 2012 commentary team

David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Jake Humphrey all remain with the BBC

The BBC has revealed its Formula 1 presenting team for the 2012 season.

Jake Humphrey remains as presenter, alongside chief analyst Eddie Jordan and co-commentator David Coulthard, while Ben Edwards joins as commentator.
Experienced F1 car designer Gary Anderson has been recruited as technical analyst, while Lee McKenzie remains as pit-lane reporter.
James Allen becomes Radio 5 live commentator, joined by Jennie Gow as radio pit-lane reporter.
Edwards has a wealth of motorsport commentary experience, having commentated on F1 for Eurosport and the former F1 Digital channel.

I'm thrilled to be joining the BBC F1 team. It's a dream come true to be broadcasting from Grands Prix all over the world with such a prestigious broadcaster

Ben Edwards BBC Formula 1 commentator

He has also commentated for Sky on A1 Grand Prix, for Eurosport and ESPN on the US-based Champ Car series (now IndyCars) and most recently on the British Touring Car Championship and Superleague on ITV.
Anderson had a 13-year career as an F1 technical director, starting with Jordan in 1991 before moving to the Stewart and Jaguar teams, plus a second spell with Jordan.
He started his career in the 1970s, graduating to become Brabham's chief mechanic, before moving on to McLaren and then designing cars in other areas of motorsport before joining Jordan for their debut F1 season in 1991.
Since leaving motorsport engineering, he has gained experience in broadcasting, working for Ireland's RTE television station, as well as F1 journalism.
Allen was ITV's lead commentator following Murray Walker's retirement at the end of 2001 until the BBC returned as the UK's F1 broadcaster in 2009.
Gow has previously worked in F1 for BBC Radio 5 live, as well as in MotoGP for BBC Sport.

BBC'S LIVE TV GRANDS PRIX

• China - 15 April
• Spain - 13 May
• Monaco - 27 May
• Europe - 24 June
• Britain - 8 July
• Belgium - 2 September
• Singapore - 23 September
• Korea - 14 October
• Abu Dhabi - 4 November
• Brazil - 25 November

Ben Gallop, the BBC's head of F1, said: "We're delighted to welcome Ben, James, Gary and Jennie to the BBC presentation team. They bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge as well as huge passion for the sport that will help bring the season to life for our audiences on TV, radio and online."
Edwards said: "I'm thrilled to be joining the BBC F1 team. It's a dream come true to be broadcasting from grands prix all over the world with such a prestigious broadcaster and such a talented group of people.
"My first stint as commentator coincided with David Coulthard's first season in F1 as a driver, so I am relishing the opportunity to work with him now in conveying the drama, excitement and passion that is wrapped up in each and every event.
"The prospects for the 2012 season are tremendous, with Lewis Hamilton out for revenge, Ferrari determined to give Fernando Alonso a car worthy of him and Sebastian Vettel attempting to become only the third driver in history to score a hat-trick of titles."
Ten races will be shown live on BBC One in 2012, including the British, Monaco and Brazilian grands prix.
The 10 races shown live on BBC One and BBC HD will be: China (15 April), Spain (13 May), Monaco (27 May), Europe (24 June), Britain (8 July), Belgium (2 September), Singapore (23 September), Korea (14 October), Abu Dhabi (4 November) and Brazil (25 November).
There will be extended highlights programmes on BBC One of the other 10, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on the location of the race.

Under a seven-year deal starting next season, we will be showing 10 of the races in the F1 calendar, plus the corresponding qualifying and practice sessions, live on BBC TV. We will broadcast extended highlights for the rest of the grands prix just a few hours after the chequered flag has been waved

Ben Gallop BBC Head of Formula 1 Read Ben's latest blog

Races in the Far Eastern time zone will have highlights broadcast on BBC One at 2pm, with those in the European time zone getting 90 minutes at 5.30pm.
The BBC's coverage of all the live races will be as extensive as ever, with all the action on and off the track across TV, radio, online, red button and mobile.
There will be full live coverage of both qualifying and race on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, plus a one-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD.
For these live BBC races, all three practice sessions will be shown live on the red button and the website.
The F1 Forum will continue on the red button for about an hour of comment and analysis after the programme. It will also be available on the red button and the website after the non-live races.
The presentation team will be at all the races, including those that are not being broadcast live on BBC television.
All 20 grands prix will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 live or 5 live sports extra.
Allen said: "I'm really happy. Radio 5 live is the default setting on my radio at home and in the car. It's a great institution and I'm proud to be part of it.
"Anyone who has followed my career knows I love a challenge. This is a time of change in our industry and I see great opportunity here, thanks to the unique place Radio 5 live has in this sport."
The full narrative of every grand prix weekend, including live text and 5 live audio commentary of all on-track sessions as well as news, interviews, pictures and highlights, will also be available on the BBC Sport website.
The BBC Sport website and red button will broadcast live coverage of every second of on-track action for all the races that are live on BBC One and will have highlights of the others.

F1 driver Sutil to stand trial over nightclub fracas

Adrian Sutil issued an apology for the incident, but given no further details

Former Force India driver Adrian Sutil is to stand trial in Germany over an incident in China which left the owner of another Formula One team injured.

The German driver is charged with causing grievous bodily harm in the incident involving Renault F1 executive Eric Lux, who suffered cuts.
Mr Sutil has issued an apology over the incident, which happened in a Shanghai nighclub last April.
Prosecutors are requesting a year's suspended sentence for Mr Sutil.
Munich court spokeswoman Ingrid Kaps said two trial days had been set - 30 and 31 January.
Both Mr Lux and Mr Sutil were among guests at a party to celebrate Lewis Hamilton's victory at the China Grand Prix in Shanghai last April.
Mr Sutil's manager told reporters that the driver was looking forward to seeing the truth of the incident come out in court.
The Renault team has since been renamed Lotus. Force India have already announced Germany's Nico Hulkenberg as Mr Sutil's replacement.