Formula One 2012

[Lineker]

Red Bull Racing (Renault)

#1 - Sebastian Vettel

#2 - Mark Webber

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (Mercedes)

#3 - Jenson Button

#4 - Lewis Hamilton

Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari)

#5 - Fernando Alonso

#6 - Felipe Massa

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (Mercedes)

#7 - Michael Schumacher

#8 - Nico Rosberg

Lotus F1 Team (Renault)

#9 - Kimi Räikkönen

#10 - Romain Grosjean (Rounds 1-12, 14-) / Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Round 13)

Sahara Force India F1 Team (Mercedes)

#11 - Paul di Resta

#12 - Nico Hülkenberg

Sauber F1 Team (Ferrari)

#14 - Kamui Kobayashi

#15 - Sergio Pérez

Scuderia Toro Rosso (Ferrari)

#16 - Daniel Ricciardo

#17 - Jean-Éric Vergne

Williams F1 (Renault)

#18 - Pastor Maldonado

#19 - Bruno Senna

Caterham F1 Team (Renault)

#20 - Heikki Kovalainen

#21 - Vitaly Petrov

HRT F1 Team (Cosworth)

#22 - Pedro de la Rosa

#23 - Narain Karthikeyan

Marussia F1 Team (Cosworth)

#24 - Timo Glock

#25 - Charles Pic

Rule Changes from 2011

• The 2011 season saw teams running "off-throttle blown diffusers", which created downforce by forcing fuel through the engine to produce exhaust gasses and directing it over the diffuser when the driver was not applying the throttle. This concept was originally banned in incremental phases, with increasingly restrictive rules on what teams could and could not do, with a full ban to be applied from the 2011 British Grand Prix onwards. However, the incremental ban was controversial, with several teams applying for and receiving permission to circumvent the total ban. After discussion between the FIA and engine manufacturers, the original regulations were restored, with the full ban delayed until 2012. The regulations in 2012 will govern the design of the exhaust with the teams agreeing to strict constraints on the position of the exhaust tailpipe. This will result in the exhaust exiting the bodywork much higher up than in 2011, and no longer in the vicinity of the diffuser. In October 2011, a clarification to the amended rules was issued, effectively banning "exotic" engine maps; in November, further amendments were introduced, completely banning the practice of blowing exhaust gasses over parts of the car to improve downforce, following a bid by several teams to allow it under certain conditions
  
• After being banned in 2009, in-season testing will return in 2012, with plans for a test to be held at Mugello on 1 May ahead of the European leg of the 2012 championship. As teams will only be permitted to do fifteen days of testing over the course of the season, the pre-season winter testing schedule has been cut back to accomodate the Mugello test.
  
• At the September 2011 meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, representatives of the member organisations voted to amend the rules for double-waved yellow flags in all FIA-sanctioned championships. The amendment means that double-waved flags will be shown when a track marshall is working on or beside the circuit.
  
• Technical regulations for 2012 include the reprofiling of the car's nose. The pre-2012 regulations allow the nose to be as high as 62.5 centimetres (24.6 in) above ground, but the revisions to the sporting code lower the maximum allowable height to 55 centimetres (22 in).
  
• Faced with several constructors applying for name changes, teams have requested a clearer definition of what constitutes a "constructor". Under the rules set out in the Sixth Concorde Agreement, several teams have been forced to compete under names that do not necessarily reflect their ownership – such as Sauber competing as "BMW Sauber" in 2010, despite BMW withdrawing from the sport at the end of the 2009 season – in order to preserve their status as a current constructor and their claim to a share of the television rights paid to teams that placed in the top ten in the final World Constructors' Championship standings.
  
• At the meeting for the Formula One Commission in Geneva in November 2011, the use of helium in air guns used to change tyres during pit stops was banned. Despite increasing the rotation speed of the air guns by up to 30%, the use of helium was deemed to be too expensive with little competitive gain.
  
• At the final meeting of the World Motorsports Commission in December 2011, a series of amendments to the sporting regulations were published. Chief among these is the re-introduction of a rule that will allow all lapped traffic under the safety car to be released from the queue before the car returns to pit lane, allowing the drivers to unlap themselves and to ensure a clean re-start.
  
• Drivers will not be permitted to leave the confines of the circuit without a justifiable reason, following a spate of incidents in 2011 when drivers were sighted using access roads around the circuit to shorten their reconnassiance and in-laps in order to preserve their fuel and tyres. Similarly, drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.
  
• Races will have a maximum four-hour time limit to prevent the indefinite suspension of a race. This will stop the theoretical possibility of a race lasting more than eight hours. This rule was introduced in response to the rain-interrupted 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, which set a record for the longest race in Formula One history, at four hours, four minutes and thirty-nine seconds.
  
• Any driver in the pit lane when a race is suspended will be permitted to return to the circuit and take up the position on the grid that they were running in at the time of the suspension.
  
• All cars must now pass their mandatory FIA crash tests before being allowed to take part in pre-season testing. Previously, passing the crash tests was only a requirement prior to the first race of the season. Crash tests for the 2012 season will also be more rigorous than in previous years.
  
  Other Changes
  
  
• In July 2011, a joint broadcasting deal for Formula One in the United Kingdom was announced between Sky Sports and the BBC. The new arrangement runs from 2012 until 2018 and will see all practice, qualifying sessions and races being broadcast by Sky, with the BBC televising qualifying and the race live from ten selected venues and extended highlights of the remaining ten on a delayed broadcast. The announcement was controversial, with early promises that the races would not be interrupted by commercials doing little to quell the highly negative reactions from fans and observers. It had previously been believed that the terms of the Concorde Agreement prevented Formula One from being broadcast exclusively on pay-per-view, but the Agreement did not prevent a shared broadcast such as the proposal made by Sky Sports and the BBC. The controversial nature of the broadcast deal led to the House of Commons' Culture, Media and Sport Committee calling Bernie Ecclestone and "senior BBC figures" including director-general Mark Thompson to answer questions over the details of the broadcasting arrangement. In November 2011, Sky announced plans to launch an additional channel, Sky Sports F1, specifically for Formula One coverage.
  
• In December 2011, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari exited FOTA, the Formula One Teams Association, following prolonged debate over the implementation of the controversial Resource Restriction Agreement, though Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reaffirmed his team's commitment to cost-cutting measures and highlighting the team's concerns over certain loopholes in the Resource Restriction Agreement that they felt teams and manufacturers would willingly exploit. One week later, Sauber also left the organisation, though the Swiss team did not publicly give a reason for ending their membership.

[Lineker]

Mercedes-Benz will race as 'Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team' during the 2012 season, the car maker announced on Monday.

AMG has been the performance brand of Mercedes-Benz for more than 40 years.

The Brackley-based team also said its new car, the F1 W03, will not make its official track debut untill the second winter test of 2012, which takes place from 21 February at Barcelona.

Team principal Ross Brawn said: "We are very proud to reveal our new team name today. It adds another strong performance element to our team's identity and, by virtue of being shared between Brackley and Brixworth, will forge even stronger links within our team.

"At the factory, we have been focused for some time on the challenge of 2012, and our very clear ambition to move forward up the grid next year. As always, the winter development and manufacturing processes are a trade-off between time for finding performance in the factory, and time for delivering that performance during pre-season testing.

"We believe that the decision to run the car at the second winter test is the optimum compromise for our design and development programme with F1 W03."

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug added: "Our new team name fuses the proud traditions of AMG and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows at the pinnacle of motorsport.

"These three letters are synonymous with high technology, sporting performance and excitement and this step is a further strong sign of the strategic commitment Mercedes-Benz has made to Formula 1. Sixteen of the 24 drivers on the grid at the season's final Grand Prix in Brazil have, or have had, a connection to Mercedes-Benz.

"In addition to the role of a works team, our commitment to Formula 1 comprises the customer engine programme and supply of the official Safety and Medical Cars."

Sebastian Vettel has conceded it is going to be hard for him and Red Bull Racing to repeat their dominant 2011 form next year - but the world champion says he is going to relish the prospect of a tougher fight.

After a campaign that saw Vettel secure a record-breaking 15 pole positions, and capture the world title as early as the Japanese Grand Prix, the German is well aware that such form is rare in F1 history.

But rather than be downbeat that he is going to have a tough time keeping up the momentum of this campaign, Vettel insists that he cannot wait to be out there battling once again for title glory.

In an exclusive interview, after collecting the International Racing Driver of the Year trophy at the AUTOSPORT Awards, Vettel said nothing would ever beat the feeling of excitement that comes before the start of competition.

When asked how hard he believed it would be for Red Bull Racing to repeat its success in 2012, he said: "Difficult. There have been very few mistakes over this year, nearly faultless, from all of us – so it is never easy. But we will have to push very hard.

"People will catch up, and it will be very tight as it has been at times this year. But I am looking forward to it, and that is what it is all about.

"It would be fantastic to go around in an F1 car against the stop watch every single time – but it is the competition you are looking for: the tension, and the nervousness of standing on the grid when you are about to race."

Vettel believes it would be ridiculous for the team not to target doing better next year, but he also accepted that the outfit had to be realistic in its ambitions.

"I think if you look historically there haven't been many seasons like last year," he said. "Surely we will work very hard, and try to improve on what we had this year.

"It will be difficult as we have done very few mistakes, and that is not easy when you push yourself to the limit. But of course we are looking forward to next year.

"Now, we are looking forward to the break, then to next year and the competition, and when you start the race then your target has to be to win. And if you win, then sometimes it comes as a surprise, but if you expect it? We have been extremely successful the last two years and it would be weird going into the season to say that we just want to finish in the points. It is clear that we want to defend our title."

Vettel believes the way that McLaren delivered good form in the second half of the year points to an increased challenge from Red Bull Racing's rivals in 2012.

"You never go into a season aiming to achieve less than you did the year before. Of course there are still things that we did not achieve 100 p er cent this year. There are some mistakes we can learn from, and I hope we do.

"Surely the competition will be higher and we have seen, particularly McLaren at the end of the year being very strong with Jenson and Lewis [Hamilton]. So it will not be a walk in the park. But I don't think it has been this year.

"The gaps, if you look at the scoreboard, have been quite big. We had a phenomenal start. But then I think the racing has been very close, and I think the real difference – I don't think our car was that dominant this year.

"Last year we had a more competitive car in that regard. This year we were a more competitive team and we were able to race again, and do things in a different way, in a better way, and in the end that led to good start and from a television side maybe a boring race, but it is not that easy at all how these things come together."

Mark Webber says he is very optimistic he will have a very strong 2012 Formula 1 campaign on the back of a difficult year this season.

The Red Bull Racing driver was overshadowed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 2011, scoring just one win to the young German's 11 victories.

Webber, however, is adamant that next year will be very different for him, as he reckons he is still performing strongly despite the difficulties of this season.

"The next most important race is Melbourne and next year will be different to this year, because that's just the way I'm sure things will go," Webber told Reuters in an interview.

"I'm very, very optimistic and positive that I'll have a very, very strong season and that's what I'm going to look forward to. I'm still driving very, very well.

"It's an extremely fine line before you start to unlock a few other things that can make your season go from good, which was this year, to great, and that's what I need to be able to try and do."

Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, something he labelled as a tonic for him after the tough year.

He says his first victory of the year had been close in previous races though.

"I think that (the victory) was brewing off the back of a few events where, on the surface it might not have looked that I might have been challenging, but there were certain things coming that I was getting more confident about," he added.

"Yes, Seb (Vettel) had to manage an issue but irrespective of that, you still need to pounce and capitalise on other people's misfortunes. That's motor sport at the end of the day.

"It's good to have our feet up a little bit, it's a long, long season as we all know. But to be honest I probably wouldn't have it any other way. I still absolutely love my racing and I'm really looking forward to, it's 100 days apparently before we get back to Melbourne, so looking forward to getting back in the car and racing."

Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) members are to meet on Tuesday to discuss where the body goes from here, following the shock resignation of Red Bull Racing and Ferrari last week.

As AUTOSPORT exclusively revealed on Friday, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing elected to quit the organisation in the wake of mounting frustrations following a long-running row over the implementation of the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).

Although their exit, which will become official at the start of February, prompted talk that FOTA could fall apart, high level sources within the organisation say they are actually upbeat about its future now.

One team principal, whose outfit remains a member of FOTA, said that the removal of Red Bull Racing and Ferrari could actually provide some benefits to the organisation - in allowing it to get things done.

"It could now be easier to make some positive decisions, rather than there being this log jam with things constantly being blocked by teams rowing with each other," said the source. "So let's see where we stand after the meeting."

Further support for FOTA came on Monday when Mercedes GP chiefs also backed the future of FOTA – which they felt needed to stay together for the good of the sport.

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said during a teleconference call: "I think it is absolutely vital that FOTA is existing. The aims that we are having, the targets, are very important and I think it is up to the so-called top teams to really balance it out."

Although Ferrari and Red Bull Racing's frustrations are understood to have been caused by the RRA row, both teams are still committed to making the cost control work.

AUTOSPORT revealed last week that the two teams, plus Mercedes GP and McLaren, will get together within the next fortnight to discuss a solution to the ongoing standoff over the RRA.

Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry said: "It's obviously quite a difficult time at the moment and clearly we, Mercedes AMG, are very supportive of cost control in F1.

"It's a difficult thing to achieve when everyone is so competitive but we certainly will work with others to try and fulfil the aim of an RRA. I think even though Ferrari have withdrawn at the moment they also are intent on finding a solution to this.

"We've certainly hit a bump in the road but I believe that work will continue in the background to try and resolve this and we will do whatever we can to support that."

[Katsuya]

Williams are being supplied by Renault next year (Y)

[Lineker]

Indeed they are!

In some sad news, Peter Gethin has passed away.

Peter Gethin, the winner of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, has died following a long illness.

The former BRM, McLaren and Embassy Hill Lola Formula 1 driver, who famously triumphed at the race that featured just 0.61s between the top five finishers, was 71.

The son of a professional jockey, Surrey-born Gethin first came to prominence when he was already in his late 20s, as a front-runner in British Formula 3, but he really found his feet in Formula 5000, winning the British title in 1969 and '70.

It was in '70 that he made his Formula 1 World Championship debut, the death of Bruce McLaren in a testing accident at Goodwood resulting in a call-up to take the vacant seat at the Kiwi's team.

He retired from his debut at Zandvoort after qualifying 11th, but scored his first world championship point at the fifth time of asking in Canada.

Gethin is best-known for his victory at the '71 Italian Grand Prix, which came in just his second start for BRM as a replacement for its star driver Pedro Rodriguez, who had been killed in a sportscar race at the Norisring.

He never reached such heights again in the championship, and rounded out his F1 career with a one-off for Graham Hill's eponymous squad. He finished up with 30 starts, one win, and 11 points to his name.

A versatile driver, Gethin took a pair of significant non-championship F1 wins at Brands Hatch, triumphing in the World Championship Victory Race in 1971 for BRM and the Race of Champions in '73.

In the latter event, he used an F5000 Chevron to beat the whole F1 contingent, which included past or future world champions Graham Hill, Denny Hulme, Jody Scheckter, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt.

He added the '74 Tasman Series F5000 crown, and claimed a last major victory in a Can-Am race at Road America in '77 in a Lola, Gethin having also been a winner in McLaren machinery in the series.

After a spell as a driver manager, he was appointed team manager at the Toleman F1 team in 1984, and later set up his own squad, Peter Gethin Racing, which competed in F3000 in the latter part of the decade.

[Lineker]

Kamui Kobayashi believes his Sauber team was hurt by the rule changes imposed during the 2011 season, something that he believes was the reason for the Swiss squad's difficult second half of the campaign.

The Hinwil-based team started the year strongly, but the FIA banned off-throttle diffusers from the British Grand Prix, and Sauber decided to stop its development.

The ruling body then backtracked and returned to the original regulations, leaving Sauber on the back foot, according to Kobayashi.

"We had a promising winter testing and a strong start to the season," said Kobayashi. "In the beginning we had every reason to be happy with our performance.

"Later, I would say from the British Grand Prix onwards, which was the ninth out of 19 races, we struggled due to the decisions made about the rules and our own technical development.

"We didn't follow the direction of the 'off-throttle exhaust blown diffuser' any further. Instead we worked hard on the direction of development we had decided to go in, but we could not make up for the disadvantage that came from not having the same technology as the other teams.

"I can be happy that I still scored points in the final two races. This was a good achievement under the circumstances."

The Japanese driver had to assume the role of leading driver at Sauber this year, as he was partnered with rookie Sergio Perez this year.

Kobayashi conceded it was a challenging year for him, but he feels he will be stronger next year as as result.

"Certainly it wasn't easy for me. I needed to improve a lot in various areas," he said. "Not only in driving, but also in making decisions with the engineers. The fact that we had to deal with the new tyres from Pirelli, which were different in character compared to what we had before, was challenging for me.

"It was important to find out what was best for the race and how to handle qualifying. There was a big difference in performance between Saturday and Sunday. I think I came to understand many things during this season, and I have got a clearer picture for next year."

Kobayashi finished the season in 12th place with 30 points.

Daniel Ricciardo has fuelled speculation he could race for Caterham next year, after admitting it was unlikely he would be joining Scuderia Toro Rosso's line-up.

As AUTOSPORT revealed earlier this month, Red Bull chiefs have held discussions with Tony Fernandes about the possibility of the Australian racing at his outfit in 2012 if Jarno Trulli is not kept on.

Although no decision has been taken, Ricciardo confirmed on Tuesday that there was a possibility of a move to Caterham.

Speaking to the West Australian newspaper, Ricciardo said: "At the moment it seems like Toro Rosso are going to stay with who they've got.

"It wasn't put down 100 per cent, but it was the wording I was making out. There's a good chance if I'm on the grid next year it's going to be with another non-Red Bull outfit, but I guess the good news is I'm still contracted by Red Bull. They've agreed to continue with me."

When asked specifically about the Caterham rumours, Ricciardo added: "I would like to say there's a chance, but at least for me that's probably all it is for now, just a chance.

"It would be a step up from this year, so it's not really a bad thing. I doubt they'll still be able to fight for points next year. They'll still be towards the further end, but I think they're progressing well.

"If (Heikki) Kovalainen was to be my team-mate, it's someone very good to measure up to. He's won a grand prix before and he's smashed Trulli this year."

Virgin Racing team principal John Booth is hopeful that his outfit will finally be able to make a move up the grid in 2012, on the back of the technical overhaul it undertook this year.

As well as signing a partnership deal with McLaren, which includes use of the team's wind tunnel and simulator facilities, the outfit is now being guided by experienced engineer Pat Symonds.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, Booth said that the involvement of Symonds and McLaren were key to allowing him to believe that the outfit could make good gains in 2012.

"Obviously our goal is to move further up the grid," he said. "We fulfilled part of our expectation this year, when we were much more reliable with the operational side of the team.

"That area improved a tremendous amount, and it was plain to see that we did not move up the grid as we hoped and expected. So for 2012 that is our challenge.

"The first parts of the new car are coming through. The design is headed up by Pat Symonds and other areas are in partnership with McLaren. So we are excited and hopeful we will move forward. I am very confident."

Booth said the team, which famously launched with a car that had been created wholly in CFD, had already been into McLaren's wind tunnel facilities twice with its 2012 challenger.

Speaking about new recruit Charles Pic, Booth conceded that the early part of the season would be a challenge for the Frenchman because of the limited track running he will get in the build-up to the campaign.

"We are very hopeful for the future with Charles," he said. "He did a wonderful job in Abu Dhabi [at the young driver test] and we pushed him pretty hard there.

"We had a few problems with the car, so he had to show a lot of patience and determination - but his race simulation was fantastic and his feedback was first class.

"That is one day in F1 and he has a lifetime of F1 in front of him. But it will be particularly difficult for him in 2012 because there are only three tests before the season, so that is six days for Charles and six for Timo [Glock].

"When Charles comes to the grid, he will have had a total of seven days testing: so he has to be prepared to make the most of that running."

Virgin Racing's new recruit Charles Pic has admitted he faces a tough challenge to get himself prepared for Formula 1 before the first race of 2012, with just six days of testing pencilled in for him prior to his grand prix debut.

The Frenchman had his first outing in an F1 car during the recent young driver test at Abu Dhabi and, with only 12 days of running available for his team before Melbourne, he will have to split the time equally with team-mate Timo Glock.

But although he is ready to knuckle down, and make the most of simulator work to help him get up to speed, he knows he faces a difficult winter to try and get in the best shape possible.

"I am not worried about it, but I need to be aware of it," said Pic, during a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, about having just six days of running before Melbourne.

"It means I need to set up a timetable to make sure I can learn things in a different way. Six days of testing is a very short period of time, and not quite enough to be ready for Melbourne. So we need to set up a good programme so that the two months in winter can be used for the best."

He added: "I am not afraid of anything, but I am fully aware it is going to be tough, and I will have to work hard. But I am not concerned - I want to do the best job possible."

Pic will travel to Virgin Racing's factory on Wednesday, and is set to get his first simulator run later this week. The GP2 front runner will also be helped in his task of learning about the challenges of F1 by former grand prix race winner Olivier Panis, who is acting as an advisor for the youngster.

Panis appeared at the Paris press conference and reckoned he would be able to give the rookie some valuable advice.

"Of course you need time," said Panis, who famously won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. "F1 is not easy. It is complicated and seven days for tests is not normal, but the partnership with McLaren and the simulator will help him a great deal, so that will have to be put to good use before the first race.

"He was outstanding in how he adapted in Abu Dhabi, and we are lucky to have him here. I won’t need to teach him to drive because he does it very well, but I will help with his approach and what F1 requires - with the media, promotion, and being a member of the team.

"My job will be to help him, maybe not give him comfort – but advise about F1, the politics of it, and make sure he has the right mind set and get better and better all the time."

Speaking about the assistance from Panis, Pic said: "He gives me a lot. He has a long experience in F1, a long career, so I am fortunate to have him nearby.

"He will help me develop and progress further and, of course, some of the errors I might make will be avoided. He will help me get on board and start this new adventure."

Pic also believes that his task of getting up to speed in F1 will be helped by working alongside the experienced Timo Glock.

"I think that is a real opportunity," he explained. "It is an opportunity to have him as a team-mate, because he is a great driver with a great deal of experience.

"It gives me an opportunity to learn things at the beginning of the year – and I will try and learn as much as I can so I can move ahead as quickly as possible early in the season."

[Lineker]

In the first major unveiling for the 2012 campaign, Sky Sports have revealed their team of pundits, presenters and commentators to broadcast every session from all the season's races next year.

In an eagerly-awaited announcement, the station has confirmed that the hugely popular David Croft will join forces with Martin Brundle in the commentary box for each of the 2012's races, with Brundle on air during every day of each grand prix, dividing his time between paddock, pitlane and commentary box. The flexibility means that former F1 driver Anthony Davidson will be reunited with Croft for commentary duties for each of the weekend's practice sessions.

"In Martin Brundle we have the outstanding F1 broadcaster - on the track and in broadcasting, he's proved it time and again," commented Sky Sports Executive Producer Martin Turner.

"Working alongside him, David Croft is a passionate, experienced commentator and Anthony Davidson can bring great technical knowledge to live practice sessions."

In support, both Natalie Pinkham and Ted Kravitz will scour the pitlane in search of the inside scoop on what's occurring, with Kravitz also co-presenting the magazine show that Sky Sports have also announced will be part of their package.

Ted's co-presenter on the magazine show will be Georgie Thompson, a familiar face to viewers of Sky Sports News, while another familiar face to Sky Sports viewers, Simon Lazenby, will host each grand prix weekend.

And last, but by no means least, broadcasting veteran Steve Rider will stage a series of big interviews with racing legends of the past and present for Sky Sports.

"Ted Kravitz has huge knowledge of the pitlane and paddock and he and Natalie Pinkham will get the information and access our viewers need," added Turner.

"And guiding us through the coverage we have the experience of Simon Lazenby and Georgie Thompson. Each has hosted major sports events, from the British Lions to the Ryder Cup - they have trust and respect."

[Katsuya]

Huge blow for the BBC, losing Ted, Crofty and Davidson. Brundle & Croft is something that should have happened from the start, they're easily the best two in the business by far. Would have preferred Lee McKenzie to Natalie Pinkham, to be honest, but there you go.

Never heard of Simon Lazenby, so can't decide on that. It'll be interesting to see who hosts it with him though, whether they ship Georgie out for each grand prix too or not. Steve Rider is a blast from the past >_>

[Lineker]

Isn't there some history between Brundle and Croft?

[Lineker]

Formula 1's ruling body, the FIA, has confirmed the 2012 calendar, with no changes compared to the 20-race version unveiled in August.

The calendar includes the race in Austin, Texas, despite doubts about the construction of the circuit.

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had extended the deadline given to the Austin organisers after they were unable to sort their contract issues in time.

The Bahrain Grand Prix, also in doubt because of the continued unrest in the country, is included in the 20-event schedule too.

Bahrain was withdrawn from the 2011 calendar following months of uncertainty because of the problems in the country.

The 2012 season will kick off in Australia on 18 March and will finish again in Brazil on 25 November.

2012 Formula 1 calendar


18 March            Australian GP

25 March            Malaysian GP

15 April            Chinese GP

22 April            Bahrain GP

13 May              Spanish GP

27 May              Monaco GP

10 June             Canada GP

24 June             European GP

8 July              British GP

22 July             German GP

29 July             Hungarian GP

2 September         Belgian GP

9 September         Italian GP

23 September        Singapore GP

7 October           Japanese GP

14 October          Korean GP

28 October          Indian GP

4 November          Abu Dhabi GP

18 November         US GP

25 November         Brazilian GP[/code]


The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has announced several changes to the sporting rules for the 2012 Formula 1 season.


From next year, all cars will have to pass all the mandatory crash tests in order to be able to take part in winter testing.


The ruling body has also confirmed there will be a three-day test during the season, which is set to allow teams to run with their drivers mid-campaign. Previously, teams were only allowed to run during the season in the Young Driver test near the end of the year.


From 2012, all lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and then join at the back of the field during safety car periods, ensuring a clean restart without slower cars in front of the leaders.


There will now be a maximum race time of four hours during each grand prix, ensuring that lengthy suspensions do not result in events that are longer than that.


The FIA also said that from 2012, drivers will not be allowed to move back onto the racing line after having moved off it to defend their position.


Also from next year, cars which were in the pitlane when a race is suspended will now be allowed to rejoin the grid in the position they were in when the race was stopped.


The governing body has also altered the use of tyre allocations, with drivers now allowed to use all tyres from the start of practice. Previously, only three sets were permitted.


Finally, the FIA said drivers will not be allowed to leave the track - like cutting a chicane on reconnaissance laps or 'in' laps to save time and fuel - without a justifiable reason.


The WMSC also announced that former grand prix driver Gerhard Berger has been appointed as the new president of the Single-Seater Commission.

That change to the racing line rule is going to fuck Massa over even more! But elsewhere there is nice stability, which is good to see.


Sauber has become the latest team to quit the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), AUTOSPORT can reveal, as doubts also emerge about Scuderia Toro Rosso's position in the body.


In the wake of Ferrari and Red Bull Racing's decision to withdraw from the team's organisation last week, sources have revealed that Sauber also notified FOTA members several days ago that it too was leaving.


A team spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday that Sauber was no longer going to continue being a member for reasons, 'that have been fully explained to FOTA and will be kept private for now.'


There are also fresh uncertainties about whether or not Scuderia Toro Rosso has also quit the body - with sources revealing that the Faenza-based team did not send a representative to FOTA's meeting in London on Tuesday.


Although Toro Rosso was unable to confirm its position when asked on Wednesday, its absence from the meeting - allied to the stance adopted by sister team Red Bull Racing - would make it unlikely that the outfit is to remain a part of the organisation.


It is not clear, though, whether or not Toro Rosso has officially informed FOTA of its stance yet.


FOTA's remaining members - which now are McLaren, Renault, Mercedes GP, Williams, Force India, Lotus and Virgin – gathered on Tuesday for a meeting to discuss where the body goes from here.


A FOTA spokesman declined to comment on the outcome of those talks, or where the organisation planned to go from here.


However, sources have suggested that – with Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, Sauber and Scuderia Toro Rosso still having to serve a two months' notice period before they can officially leave – there will be a push to try to get them to reconsider their decisions.


Such a move could be hastened if efforts are ramped up to get the Resource Restriction Agreement, which has dominated discussions and disagreements in recent weeks, outside of FOTA's remit.


AUTOSPORT revealed last week that McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes GP are to meet soon to continue talks about the RRA, to try and agree a framework to move the cost control forward.

No real suprise seeing how close STR and Sauber are with RBR and Ferrari, respectively.


Circuit of the Americas chiefs have announced construction of the track will resume immediately after saying they have reached an agreement with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.


The event, scheduled to host the penultimate round of the 2012 championship, was in doubt after construction was stopped because of problems with the contracts.


Ecclestone gave organisers an extended deadline after failing to meet the original one.


After the race was included in the final 2012 calendar released by the FIA, Austin officials said work on the track will resume right away, and they are confident it will be ready for the grand prix.


"Mr. Ecclestone received his check today. We want to thank the fans supporting us, the local officials and businesses that have encouraged us, the State of Texas, Circuit of The Americas' staff and Bernie himself," said founding partner Red McCombs.


"I want to thank and commend Bobby Epstein for getting us across the finish line. Bobby's perseverance and leadership kept the project on track despite unfair and unfounded criticism.


"Our investors have believed all along that this project has tremendous benefit for our region, and provides a strong economic engine for the future," stated Epstein, founding partner of Circuit of The Americas.


"We remain committed to reaching our goal of being valuable community partners as we establish a platform for sports and entertainment. We're glad that Tavo's vision of bringing F1 to the people of Texas will become a reality."


"We have a substantial number of fans who have expressed interest in buying tickets and hospitality, so today is a win for all of them as much as it is for Circuit of The Americas," said Steve Sexton, president of Circuit of The Americas, added.


"We encourage everyone to visit our website and register for information. Registered fans will receive the first communication regarding ticket sales plans. In a matter of weeks we will have more exciting news as we unveil our full calendar of world class events."


Nico Rosberg says his belief that Mercedes can not only improve but crucially challenge for race wins was a key factor in his decision to stay with the team.


Rosberg took three podiums in his first year with Mercedes in 2010, but this season counted fifth place as his best finish as the outfit struggled to cope with the pace and development of Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.


The 26-year-old German admitted he had expected more from the team, having joined following its triumphs under the Brawn team name in 2009, but said he remained confident in the team's ability to produce a race-winning car.


"I decided to stay because I'm sure the situation will change," Rosberg told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Mercedes is doing everything to create a winning structure. Ross Brawn has told me Aldo Costa is great and the other new technicians are very good too.


"Almost all my friends are Italian, support Ferrari and ask me when I will drive a red car. But I'm not falling for it, because I'm German and to carry on driving for Mercedes is the greatest thing. I just lack a winning car, but I'm sure I'll have it in 2012. I can't wait."


Asked whether bad luck had prevented him from finishing higher in 2011 - like when he was taken out in a first corner crash at Monza, a race in which team-mate Michael Schumacher was very strong - Rosberg said it was more a case of Mercedes being off the pace.


"Bad luck? It's a word I don't like," he said. "At Monza I could have done a great race, I'm sure. The strategy was right, but instead I was out on the first lap already, because they crashed into me. In the end, we are not competitive enough.


"I've had to race on the defence from the start of the season, because we've never been able to trouble the top three teams. When I arrived in the team, ex-Brawn, it was the world champion team. I told myself: I'll score a few victories and podiums. It didn't happen."


As well as backing Mercedes to improve, Rosberg also downplayed talk of a rift between himself and Schumacher, saying the seven-time champion provided an ideal benchmark.


Asked if he was surprised to be beating his team-mate, Rosberg said: "Very much so, even though I had expected I would do well. I knew it would be very tough to beat him, that's why I'm happy with what I've done both last year and this year.


"He's not what you would call a bastard. When I ask him a question, he never lies to me. You can work with him. That was a nice surprise, after having heard so many rumours.


"On the track I always have the same opportunities he has. I'm lucky to be in such a situation, because in this case too I had expected worse, considering that Brawn and Michael have been working together for a lifetime. Instead Ross is equidistant. He's a phenomenal reference point for me too."


Martin Brundle says Sky's reputation, and the fact it will still be going head-to-head with the BBC for ten grands prix next season, puts pressure on the broadcaster to perform from the very outset of its Formula 1 coverage in 2012.


Brundle, who was official announced as part of Sky's new coverage team, admitted it had been a big decision to leave the BBC but said the promise of commentating live for every race had proved too hard to resist.


"We're going to be head to head with BBC F1, which I know from personal experience is a fantastic group of people making a great show," Brundle told AUTOSPORT in an exclusive interview. "We're going to have to come up with the very best stuff to compete, and these guys know it.


"We're not taking over a sport and moving it on, we're still head to head with the BBC on 10 occasions and that was important to me as well - they have to get it right and I have to get it right for them. I'm confident Sky will throw everything at it to make sure the fan experience is good.


"The key driver for me though was that I wanted to commentate live on all the races. For me, nothing compares to live television and I've always said it gives me a good percentage of the buzz I used to get when I was racing.


"That adrenalin fix, that absolute excitement - when the words leave your mouth they're gone for ever and you have to get it right, and its so exciting to do that. I wanted to commentate live and that was the key driver."


Having signed for Sky a few weeks prior to his official unveiling, Brundle also spoke of his excitement at the team which had been put together, and of his excitements at the increased scope for technical features and analysis offered by Sky's creation of a bespoke F1 channel.


"There's so much scope, so much air time, to do the technical features and other things which I really enjoy but haven't had the chance to do," he explained.


"Normally you make nice pieces and it all has to be cut down; now I can make some really nice pieces that tell the story of a complex and fast-moving sport. What I find when I make those features is that I always learn something - quite a lot actually - and if I'm learning stuff after 29 years doing this then hopefully the fans are too.


"Lets be very clear: BBC F1 was awesome, I loved being a part of it and it was a great privilege. We had a good audience and great people, and I don't think any of us were looking for anything to change so obviously the news we got at the Hungarian Grand Prix was a bombshell.


"Sky spoke to me and when I understood the resource and energy it was putting into this it really appealed to me. Now I am really happy with the team they have assembled. Every day I've been involved I've become more and more confident I've made the right decision."

[Lineker]

Romain Grosjean says he is ready to give up on his ambitions of getting back into Formula 1 if he fails to land a race seat for 2012.

The Frenchman remains a contender for the second drive at Renault next season alongside Kimi Raikkonen, but that deal depends on the team agreeing to part ways with Vitaly Petrov, who has a contract in place.

Grosjean has been testing a BMW DTM car this week, and confessed that if F1 does not happen for him now - having impressed in two Friday outings for Renault - then he will have to be prepared to call time on his grand prix ambitions.

In an exclusive interview with this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, Grosjean said: "Formula 1 is a difficult world. I will keep my fingers crossed, but I think if it doesn't happen this time, it would be the time to think about something different.

"I took the choice at the beginning of this season to try again for Formula 1. The idea was to win GP2 and to get back to the top. But if for any reason it doesn't work out this way, then I think I will turn to an alternative."

Grosjean's opportunities elsewhere on the F1 grid are limited because he does not have major sponsorship backing behind him.

Team Lotus finally confirmed on Thursday that leading aerodynamicist John Iley is to join the Hingham-based outfit as its performance director next year.

Iley, who has most recently been with McLaren, has worked with Lotus's technical chief Mike Gascoyne earlier in his career at both Jordan and Renault.

Riad Asmat, Team Lotus CEO, said: "We are absolutely delighted that John has taken up the challenge we have offered him, to help take us to the next level on and off track in one of the key areas of performance in Formula 1.

"It is a real sign of our growth and development as a serious contender for long-term honours that we can attract someone of John's calibre and we are all very excited about the contribution he will make to our future success from the moment he starts work with our team."

Due to his contractual situation with McLaren, Iley will not be able to join Team Lotus until June 2012, by which time it will be known as Caterham.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "John greatly contributed to the aerodynamic capability at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes but has taken the decision to accept an offer from Caterham F1 team for 2012 and beyond. We enjoyed working with John and wish him well for the future."

Fernando Alonso has no doubts that he and Ferrari will win the title "sooner rather than later", despite having seen Red Bull Racing walk away with both championships since he has joined the Maranello outfit.

The Spaniard came close to capturing the crown in 2010, with only a costly strategic error in the final round in Abu Dhabi leaving the door open for Sebastian Vettel to triumph.

Last year, Ferrari failed to fully get on top of its blown diffuser development and, suffering from windtunnel calibration issues early on, the outfit only took one victory when Alonso triumphed in the British Grand Prix.

But despite the disappointments, which fall short of the ambitious targets that Alonso set when he joined Ferrari, the 30-year-old has insisted that he remains convinced title success is just around the corner.

In an exclusive interview with this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, Alonso said he had no worries over not winning a title since 2006, or Ferrari being without a crown since Kimi Raikkonen's triumph in 2007.

"I don't think about it too much," explained Alonso. "I know that I could have more championships, but you can't move forward by looking back - you need to look at the future and the present.

"I'm totally confident that this championship will come sooner rather than later, because I'm in the perfect team to do that.

"I have more motivation than ever, so it only needs time. Hopefully not many more years because, as you said, I'm 30 - and I don't know how many years I will be here. But at the moment I'm at the peak of my career, and I'm in the best team. I don't have any doubts that championships will arrive."

As well as having faith that Ferrari will be able to deliver him a car that is capable of fighting for the championship, Alonso believes that he is a much better prepared as a driver to make the most of opportunities that come his way.

"Now I am a much more complete driver," he said. "Maybe in a single lap or in a race situation it hasn't changed too much. But in overtaking manoeuvres, at the start, pitstop approach, or in mental preparation to the race, I think in 2005 and '06 I was much weaker than now."

Former colleagues from both Formula 1 and MotoGP gathered to pay tribute to Charlie Moody in a memorial service on Tuesday.

Moody, who passed away last month, first joined F1 as a mechanic with Walter Wolf's team in 1977, staying on through the Fittipaldi era and then moving with driver Keke Rosberg to Williams, where Rosberg won the 1982 title. Moody was also responsible for strapping Ayrton Senna into an F1 car for the first time when the Brazilian legend had his maiden test with Williams at Donington Park in 1983.

Stints at Benetton and Leyton House followed, but it was in 1994 that Moody excelled himself as the very first employee of Simtek, where he played a vital role in setting up the new team from scratch.

Following Simtek's collapse, Moody had a stint working in touring cars before a brief return to F1 with Williams' BMW test programme. He then moved to MotoGP with Team Roberts in 2001, before joining Suzuki in 2008, and becoming just as popular in the motorcycle paddock as he had been in F1.

It was a measure of his popularity that nearly every member of the old Team Roberts and 2011 Suzuki MotoGP teams attended the service, which was held at St Peters Church in Filkins, Gloucestershire.

(With thanks to Paul Denning)

[Lineker]

Mercedes-Benz is set to run its 2014 turbocharged Formula 1 engine on a dyno test bed imminently, AUTOSPORT has learned, as technical chiefs played down concerns the new power units will not sound great.

With development of the new V6 engines pushing on, Mercedes-Benz sources have confirmed that the company's first version of its 2014 engine will be ready 'soon' - although a final date has not yet been sorted.

And with much interest about how these new engines will sound, amid concerns from Bernie Ecclestone and grand prix promoters that they will not be as loud as the current V8s, the man heading the design has no such worries.

Mercedes-Benz engineering director Andy Cowell said: "The engines are high revving. You don't get the maximum fuel flow rate until you are above 10,500rpm, and the maximum revs are at 15,000rpm. Plus, with six pipes going into one turbocharger, a single tail pipe from six cylinders revving at 15,000rpm I think will sound very nice."

The move to V6 turbos for 2014 has also prompted fears about a fresh spending war between manufacturers, but Mercedes-Benz is also confident now that strict technical regulations have kept costs under control.

This means that the idea of an engine-specific Resource Restriction Agreement has been dropped because it is no longer necessary.

Thomas Fuhr, managing director of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, said: "The biggest achievement with this, irrespective of a physical RRA, was to get sensible technical regulations.

"The FIA, together with the manufacturers, did a great job. A lot of things are pre-defined, so you don't spend money developing it - you know there is a single turbo, so it makes things much, much easier. That is the biggest benefit out of these regulations.

"If you control it technically, it is much easier saying you can control it here and there. You see on the chassis front how complicated it has got. The FIA has it in hand with the engines, and there is no way you can go around this topic."

[Lineker]

Romain Grosjean will make a Formula 1 comeback next season after Renault opted to hand the Frenchman a seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen in 2012.

Following intense speculation over the past couple of weeks about the second seat at Renault, the Enstone-based outfit announced early on Friday that Grosjean will replace Vitaly Petrov.

The news, which comes on the back of the soon-to-be-renamed Lotus team causing a stir by signing Raikkonen, also ensures that the outfit keeps hold of major oil and petrol sponsor Total.

"I am thrilled to be one of the team's race drivers in 2012," Grosjean said. "There's a big grin on my face at the prospect of getting behind the wheel of next year's car, and I feel very privileged to be given this opportunity.

"To be racing alongside a former world champion and someone who is hungry and returning to Formula 1 will be a great experience, and I'm sure will help raise my level of performance too. I feel that my successful season in GP2 Series has helped me mature a lot, and I am a much more complete driver than I was last time I was competing in this sport.

"Returning to Enstone as a race driver feels like coming home. I will not disappoint and I wish to thank all the people without whom this return to F1 would not have been possible. Total, which supports me since 2006, and Gravity Sport Management, are first on this list."

Renault owner Gerard Lopez added: "Only last week I reiterated that the team is at the start of a brand new cycle.

"Announcing Romain as our race driver alongside Kimi is great news and will help us achieve our aims of getting back to the very top. The announcements we made today and last week are exciting ones for our team and there is a real buzz surrounding us now."

Grosjean's return to F1 comes at the expense of Petrov, whose future at the team had been in doubt ever since he launched an amazing outburst against the outfit after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Russian had been given several days to decide what he wanted to do with his future, but in the end Renault announced that it was handing Grosjean the place.

The news also means that Bruno Senna, who has raced for Renault since the Belgian Grand Prix, must find an alternative drive in 2012 if he wants to continue in F1.

Team principal Eric Boullier, who has pushed hard for Grosjean to be given another F1 chance, is confident the GP2 Series champion will do a good job next year - as he also wished Petrov and Senna good luck.

"We were impressed when he drove for us in the first practice sessions in Abu Dhabi and Brazil," he said. "We are confident that drafting him in to one of our driver's seats will help us in our rebuilding process. I would like to thank Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for their contribution to the team's performance this year and I wish them all the best for the future."

Romain Grosjean says he is unfazed about the prospect of going up against Kimi Raikkonen at Renault next year - and actually thinks it is him who will have the edge in understanding Pirelli's Formula 1 tyres.

The Frenchman was confirmed on Friday as Renault's second driver for 2012, with the team having announced immediately after the Brazilian Grand Prix that Raikkonen would be joining it.

And although that means Grosjean will face tough internal competition at the Enstone-based outfit, he says that it will be no bigger a challenge than when he raced alongside Fernando Alonso for the latter stages of 2009.

"After Fernando Alonso it is Kimi Raikkonen, so I am getting used to having a world champion alongside me," explained Grosjean in an official Renault team video.

"I think it is a chance because they are really good drivers, [but] they are more than that. You can learn a lot from them but, on the other hand, your first benchmark is your team-mate so if you manage to get to their level then it is very good for you."

Grosjean believes that there will be plenty to gain by understanding how Raikkonen operates, but he also does not think that the transfer of knowledge will be one way inside the team.

"From Kimi, I have plenty of things to learn for sure," he said. "He is a great champion and a very good driver, as everybody knows.

"But maybe I can teach him something about the Pirelli tyres that he never drove, except for the rally cars one. The F1 ones are a little bit different, and it will be a good deal for next year. I am sure we will get on well together and I will learn a lot from him, so let's see."

After failing to impress during his brief F1 adventure in 2009, Grosjean believes he is returning to grand prix racing a much better driver after capturing the GP2 crown this year.

"Romain Grosjean is for sure different to the end of 2009 when I could not get a seat for the following year for Formula 1," he said. "I had no seat in any categories until mid-April, and I think it helped me to realise that the place I enjoy the most everywhere around is an F1 car.

"Sometimes when you lose something that you really like, you realise it is more than you [just] like it – it is vital for you. I have been working very, very hard in these two years to improve myself, my driving and my feedback to the team – and improving everything I can to make it again to F1. Today I am so pleased it works and finally I can get back to a race driver seat."

This has nothing to do with the fact that Grosjean is managed by Lotus Renault team principal Eric Boullier. I feel for Bruno

[Katsuya]

Fucking hell. Shocked that Petrov is gone but I guess they don't need his sponsorship now they have the Lotus deal in place. Got to think it's between him and Sutil for the Williams drive now but it'll be a damn shame to lose one of them AND Rubens next year. Especially when Maldonado still has a drive.

[Lineker]

Sebastian Vettel collected the Formula 1 world champion's trophy for a second straight year at today's FIA Prize Giving Gala in New Delhi's Kingdom of Dreams.

FIA president Jean Todt presented Vettel with the award, while Bernie Ecclestone handed the constructors' trophy to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. Jenson Button and Mark Webber also received their trophies for finishing second and third in the standings.

"It's great to be here in India at the FIA Gala to collect my second drivers' championship trophy," said Vettel. "I have had the trophy in my house all year and didn't want to give it back, so this means a great deal to me.

"It's hard to put into words how it feels to win again; the team stayed focused and made few mistakes and I would like to thank them for all their impressive efforts. I would also like to thank Renault who worked so hard all year.

"The history of Formula 1 means a lot to me and it's special to know that we are now somehow a part of that."

Horner took the opportunity to thank his team for its efforts during an incredibly successful season.

"It's phenomenal what the team has achieved this year," said Horner. "To win 12 races and take 18 pole positions and 27 podiums to defend our title is something we are very proud of. I would like to thank every member of the team, including Mark and Sebastian for all their hard work.

"Receiving the award tonight is fantastic and a great end to what has been an incredible year. Seb's achievement of becoming a double Formula 1 world champion is incredible; the fact he is the youngest ever to do this is testament to the exciting young talent that he is."

The other FIA world champions also received their trophies at the event, with Sebastien Loeb retaining the World Rally honours for an eighth straight year and Yvan Muller officially collecting another World Touring Car crown.

Formula 2 champion Mirko Bortolotti and World GT1 champions Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr were among the other drivers receiving the prizes for FIA title successes at the event.

The BBC was presented with the broadcaster of the year award at the FIA Prize Giving Gala in New Delhi.

The accolade came at the end of the last season in which the United Kingdom broadcaster will show the entire season live.

From 2012, the BBC will share its UK Formula 1 rights with Sky Sports. The latter will show each race live but only 10 rounds will be live on the BBC, with the rest covered in delayed highlights programmes.

The corporation's FIA award was presented by Force India team boss Vijay Mallya.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar says the fact that Kimi Raikkonen is willing to take on the challenge of returning to Formula 1 after a two-year absence is sufficient proof of his motivation.

After two seasons away in the World Rally Championship, 2007 world champion Raikkonen will be back in the F1 field next year with Renault, which will by then be running under the Lotus title.

Bahar, who previously worked with Raikkonen at Ferrari, said in an interview with the official F1 website that he had no worries whatsoever about the Finn's level of commitment and determination, despite many questioning Raikkonen's motivation during his career.

"As with anyone we work with on and off track, we expect him to do his best," said Bahar.

"I fully expect that he will take his commitment to the team very seriously and will do everything he can to bring in points. From what I know of Kimi from previous experience, he is a dedicated and determined driver and he wants results.

"He hasn't taken the decision to return to F1 lightly - he wants to fight to be at front."

Bahar also believes Raikkonen's addition is very good news for the Lotus brand as it prepares to take over full naming rights of the team.

"Kimi will be a great ambassador for our brand," said Bahar. "His fighting spirit and pure competitive nature make him a good match.

"Now we just have to hope that his performance matches the capabilities of the car."

[Lineker]

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says his squad remains committed to cost control regulations despite withdrawing from the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) amid the impasse over the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).

Ferrari, Red Bull, and Sauber have all announced their departure from the teams' body, with Toro Rosso understood to have done likewise, as the group failed to find sufficient common ground in the debate over the spending limit.

Horner said he had no qualms about Red Bull's decision.

"FOTA did a lot of good things when it was first created," he said. "It focused on saving costs. In recent months, it has been less effective and more fractured in the way of thinking of how FOTA should move forward and what it is responsible for.

"We have made the decision to step out of FOTA for now and we will keep a watching brief on how things evolve. But for the time being, we are happy to be in control of our own destiny as opposed to FOTA."

Horner underlined that it was the nature of the RRA, not the concept, that had caused Red Bull's frustrations. Rival teams had suspected that Red Bull had been pushing the boundaries of the agreement, while Red Bull was concerned that manufacturer teams could exploit loopholes such as engines not being included in the limit.

"It needs to encompass all aspects of the car," said Horner. "Dealing with equivalence is always quite dangerous. Each of the teams has a different make up, different ownership.

"Some belong to motor manufacturers and some are independent and if you look at the things that work, like the testing, like the windtunnel hours, like the restriction in personnel, the things that you can touch and feel work quite well. But as soon as you start trading equivalence of hours versus external spend, that's where it seems to run into some difficulty.

"There's a willingness from all of the teams to try and contain costs, it's just the manner that you do it. And you can't exclude the engine from that with some teams producing their own engines, so it's important to look at the teams as a whole rather than cherry-picking the chassis."

Red Bull's technical chief Adrian Newey echoed Horner's stance.

"We all agree with budget control, we don't want to get into the arms race that happened with the manufacturers a few years ago and certainly with Red Bull we wouldn't be able to," Newey said.

"But if we can concentrate on the things that are tangible, the windtunnel and CFD restriction works very well because you can measure it. Testing restrictions are exactly the same.

"But with some of the teams involved being subsidiaries of major automotive companies, it becomes a bit difficult to know exactly how their resources are split. It's about transparency, it's about having things that you can genuinely measure. As soon as you can't have that you get all of the accusation."

Horner added that he did not rule out Red Bull returning to FOTA within the two-month notice period that departing teams have to serve.

"There is a two-month notice period and both Ferrari and ourselves have served notice," he said. "Sauber have joined that now. We have a meeting with some of the other FOTA members on Monday to talk about cost control, but we'll see.

"Nothing is ever totally set in stone but for the time being we felt that it was the right decision to take to step out of FOTA."

Adrian Newey is confident that Red Bull Racing is on target to make the first pre-season test on February 7 with its 2012 car.

Mercedes recently confirmed that it would be missing the opening test, but the Red Bull chief technical officer expects his team to be ready.

"The schedule is to make the first test," he said when asked about progress on the RB8 by AUTOSPORT. "As always, it will be tight but I'd be very disappointed if it was not."

Newey admitted that the one potential pitfall was new regulations forcing teams to pass all FIA crash tests before they started testing.

Previously, teams only had to pass the tests before the first race weekend, but the 2012 rules mean that every team has had to bring forward its schedule.

"One thing that is different this year is that we have to pass all of the crash tests before we are allowed to test," said Newey. "For everyone, that is going to be a bit of a concern because sometimes something unexpected can happen.

"This time around, if something unexpected happens and it's too severe, then it could be the first test you miss and it could roll on to the second and third. But apart from that, it's just about getting out and getting on with it."

Bernie Ecclestone says he still hopes there are no obstacles to next year's Bahrain Grand Prix going ahead - but has left the door open to calling the race off if there is clear evidence of atrocities taking place in the nation.

The Gulf event was first postponed, then cancelled, this season due to the political situation in Bahrain during the spring. This week the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved a 2012 calendar featuring Sakhir as round four on 22 April, but there have been concerns over continuing unrest in the country.

"We have been assured that this is not what's happening," Ecclestone told the Guardian when asked about reports that doctors who had treated injured demonstrators were being jailed. "In fact they had a report made, allegedly independent. What did the report say? Yes, there were instances or whatever, but...

"I wanted to go out there. I was happy to go. I'd like to go into the prison or the hospital or whatever and ask: 'What actually happened?'"

Ecclestone added: "I have asked. They said, 'No problem.' The danger is you go out there and they pick you up in a limousine and take you to the best hotel and take you to dinner and then put you back on the aeroplane."

He said he tried to avoid judgements about F1's host nations, but cited the world championship's departure from South Africa in the 1980s as an example of F1 acknowledging political realities.

"It's not easy. But wherever I go, the minute you get off the plane, the minute you go into somebody's country, you've got to respect exactly what their way of life is - their religion, their laws or whatever," said Ecclestone.

"It's not correct to go moving into somebody's country and try to change them. Don't go. If you know something's wrong, stay away.

"We pulled out of South Africa years ago because of apartheid. I witnessed things that had happened there which upset me. I thought: 'That ain't the way to go on.'

"I hope we go to Bahrain and there's no trouble – the race goes on, the public are happy and there are no dramas. That's what I hope."

Asked what he would if presented with 'incontrovertible evidence' of government wrongdoing in Bahrain, Ecclestone replied: "We'd have to give it some serious thought then. But we've been to Argentina when there's been big dramas. There's been dramas in Brazil. Bad things happen there.

"I think you can look anywhere now and it's not all good. You can't really hold England up as being all good, can you? There have been some terrible atrocities that we committed."

Renault says Kimi Raikkonen did not suffer any serious harm when he crashed in a snow mobile race in Austria today.

The Formula 1 returnee was reported to have fallen on an early run in the event and suffered pain from his left wrist, ruling him out of the rest of the weekend.

But the Renault team has issued a message via its Twitter feed underlining that Raikkonen was largely unscathed.

"We just spoke to Kimi," it read. "There's nothing to worry about, he only has a sore wrist. He might have it checked again on Monday, but that's all."

Renault announced last week that it had enticed Raikkonen back to F1 for 2012 after a two-year stint in the World Rally Championship, and has since promoted Romain Grosjean from the third driver role to become his team-mate. The team will run as Lotus from next season.

Lucky escape there from Lotus/Renault, you'd have thought that they would have learnt from Kubica last year!!

[Katsuya]

Heehee. Sarah Holt pointed out that Nick Heidfeld was at the same snowmobile event. We have a constant!

[Lineker]

Mark Webber says his decision on when to retire from Formula 1 will not be based on his age, but on whether he is still delivering results.

The 35-year-old Australian signed a new one-year deal with Red Bull Racing during the summer.

But asked if he felt he was now in a countdown towards retirement, Webber replied: "No. That's not the right attitude. The attitude is to focus 100 per cent on the next race. The results are the important thing, not the age.

"I've had team-mates who don't get the results and they are finished when they are 21. It's a results based industry. If you don't get the results, you don't operate with the top teams."

After fighting for the title in 2010, Webber was often some way off team-mate Sebastian Vettel's pace in 2011, and won just one race while Vettel took 11 victories on the way to a dominant championship.

Webber said he was keen to recharge and put this season behind him, but would soon be impatient to start 2012 and mount a resurgence.

"I haven't started recharging the batteries yet and I'm completely ready to do that," he said. "2011 is over, in my view, so it will be nice to start to recharge soon, to spend some time with the family and relax. But I know that I won't do that for long.

"I get quite impatient to go back racing. Three or four weeks is the limit before I start to get itchy feet so I'm really looking forward to how next year's car is going to roll out. There would be something wrong if you weren't looking forward to that and seeing how we were going to come up against Ferrari and McLaren."

Although his win in Brazil came after Vettel suffered a gearbox problem while leading, Webber said it still had a motivational effect going into the winter.

"It was a nice way to finish the season," he said. "It was a little bit disappointing that Seb had the big problem with the gearbox the night before the race and it wasn't a huge surprise that something might happen the race.

"You've got to be there to win it, so we were, and there were lots of races in the back part of the season that I was reasonably happy with.

"It's nice to finish with the motivation in this direction. I'm very hungry to start the season well next season, it's absolutely possible, and to get the momentum going."

Sebastian Vettel says he is already moving on from his ultra-successful 2011 Formula 1 season and keen to ensure he and Red Bull Racing can be even better in 2012.

The German wrapped up this year's world championship with a 122-point cushion, having taken 11 race victories and 15 poles.

But as he celebrated the achievement in Red Bull's Home Run event in Milton Keynes this weekend, Vettel said he was starting to put 2011 in the past and focus on next year's car.

"We had a fantastic season. It takes some time to realise how special it was," he said. "It has been phenomenal. It will be a season that we will look back on and always be very proud of.

"These kinds of seasons don't happen every year but we're already focused on next season. Adrian [Newey] and the guys are working hard to get the car ready for next year and we move on."

Vettel admitted it would be hard to improve on 2011, but was sure Red Bull would be able to take another step forward.

"You have to say that this year was pretty smooth - maybe faultless because we had no issues with reliability, except for Brazil but we were still able to finish the race in second place," he said. "Other than that, nothing went wrong from a car point of view. The retirements we had were Mark [Webber]'s crash in Monza and the puncture I suffered in Abu Dhabi, but car wise and engine wise it was better than expected.

"Everything is built on the limit, we're pushing in every area and sometimes things might break but this year everything was working fine. The target is to keep that up. Next year the cars will be slightly different, not a revolution but the regulations have changed a bit again so we have to adapt and at the moment we are pushing very hard to finalise the car. Then at the beginning of next year we try to put it together, put it on the track and see how it works.

"Hopefully it will be quite reliable from the start but the most important thing is that the car is fast. It's easier to make a fast car reliable then make a reliable car fast."

He also underlined that all the success he had achieved so far was not diminishing his motivation to keep pushing for more race wins and titles.

"Professionally, the last couple of years have been very successful but we tend to look forward," Vettel said. "I don't think anyone is lacking motivation so we don't have to ask ourselves what we are doing because we have already achieved so much.

"Being 24, it would be sad to say that has been the highlight of my life and from now on it only gets worse! Even if I retire one day I will still wake up in the morning and think that my best day is still to come."

[Lineker]

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has labelled Lewis Hamilton's decision to choose a management company more accustomed to dealing with show business than motor racing as a 'disaster' - after suggesting the former world champion would probably have been better off keeping close ties with his father Anthony.

Hamilton endured a challenging 2011 campaign, where issues in his personal life, and a number of incidents on the track, left him out-classed by McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.

Reflecting on the season just gone, Ecclestone believes part of the problem is that Hamilton's decision to join forces with Simon Fuller's XIX Management company - which looks after the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Will Young and Andy Murray - has exposed him to influences that have not helped his performance.

"I think he had some personal problems during the year which affected him quite a lot," said Ecclestone in an interview with the Guardian. "A lot to do with these things, it depends an awful lot on the people you surround yourself with, and who are in a position to influence you.

"I think he just fell into a lot of people that I think weren't good for him. When his dad was looking after him, his dad was a bit more ... obviously it didn't suit Lewis, which was why they split; I think he didn't appreciate how much help his dad was."

He added: "I think it's a disaster. He gets to meet people that probably he wouldn't have met, and [who] have probably the wrong sort of influence on him. He's at the age, perhaps, and he has the amount of money, where when he's influenced, he can carry things through, which he wouldn't normally have done."

Ecclestone was particularly unhappy with the infamous Ice-T McLaren garage video at the Canadian Grand Prix. The rapper swore heavily during the footage of him walking around the car, and mocked the fact that a steering wheel costs more than a lot of fans' homes. The video became a cult hit on YouTube and earned McLaren a letter of complaint from Ecclestone.

"It's our fault, because we tend to encourage celebrities," Ecclestone said about the incident. "It's good. Not so much for those of us who get our hands dirty but for all the sponsors who turn up with their guests and like to say: 'Oh, we saw whoever-it-was.'

"They forget they've come to watch Formula 1. The difference is that we can handle them, because we're not directly involved. He [Hamilton] sees somebody like that, he admires the guy, so he'll start copying a little bit what they're up to."

Kimi Raikkonen will be given all the time he needs to get back up to speed in Formula 1, with his new bosses adamant that there is no expectation on him to deliver straightaway.

With Michael Schumacher having shown since he came back the difficulties that even top-line drivers can face getting dialled back into F1, Raikkonen has been assured that Renault - which will be renamed after sponsor Lotus next year - will be patient with him.

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said on Monday that Raikkonen's two-year absence from F1 will not make it easy for him to produce results immediately - and underlined that all the outfit was looking for was consistent improvement.

"You cannot expect from a driver that was absent for two years to come back and adapt to the new tyres and new regulations from day one, so he needs his time," said Bahar during a lunch with selected media in London on Monday.

"But whether this time is three days, six races or 20 races, we will see. What is important is to see how his tendency goes towards the performance. If it is always improving, then of course we will give him the time."

Although there has been much talk in recent weeks about Raikkonen's motivation levels - and whether or not he will be prepared to knuckle down if the 2012 Lotus is not a frontrunner - Bahar insists that Raikkonen knows fully what he has let himself in for.

"Kimi is a cool guy, and he has grown up," he explained. "He is not as young now. He knows what he does, he knows what people expect from him and I think he takes it a bit more seriously now than when he was at McLaren."

He added: "I think Kimi is a very good guy, he is a very pure guy. I respect him a lot, we respect him a lot and that is the reason he is with us. He has matured a lot in the past 10 years in F1, so he is a grown-up man and he knows his return to F1 is not easy and he knows he has to deliver.

"But he is not the same kid as he was at Sauber and at McLaren. These are different times, he has to deliver and he realises that."

Bahar also believes that, despite there being no guarantee that Raikkonen will produce as much as in his last time in F1, the team made the right call in opting to invest in his services.

"Kimi is Kimi, and he is a world champion in F1," he said. "He deserves definitely to have a higher value than a normal driver, just because he is Kimi Raikkonen.

"Everybody appreciates that – but this is not Ferrari and this is not a world championship winning car at the moment, so you always have to see this side as well, and maybe our team, or any other team in that field, cannot afford to pay that kind of salary now.

"Kimi has realised that, but he will never sell himself under his value. He is too strong a character for that. I think what he is getting now is a fair value for what he delivers, but we have to see the performance on the track."

Renault team boss Eric Boullier said Romain Grosjean earned his return to the squad's Formula 1 line-up by achieving every goal set out for him this season.

Grosjean had previously raced for Renault in F1 in the second half of the 2009 season, as the team was embroiled in the Singapore race-fixing controversy, but did not impress and lost his drive at the end of the year.

He rebuilt his career in first World GT1 racing then GP2, where he took the Asia and main series crowns this year, while also becoming Renault's third driver in F1 and running in Friday practice in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

Last week Renault - which will become Lotus next season - announced that it had decided to promote Grosjean back into a race seat alongside high-profile returnee Kimi Raikkonen for 2012.

"It's a challenging mission," said Boullier of his reasons for picking Grosjean over 2011 race drivers Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna.

"Romain has been with us for quite a few months now and he has had several aims to achieve from the personal, professional and sporting points of view. He had to find his footing again in a team which he left in what were certainly not the most reassuring circumstances.

"He achieved all these aims one by one until we decided to give him the opportunity to drive for us in free practice in the last two races of the season. He proved to the team that he had enough talent, speed and maturity to become one of the works drivers for next year."

Boullier acknowledged that Grosjean's French nationality went down well with team backers like Total, but said it was "absolutely not" the main motivation for his signing.

"It was just another point in his favour," said Boullier. "For our French partners like Total it's a godsend to be able to take advantage of his presence as one of our drivers."

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar says Renault has delivered proof of its resolve to get back to the front in Formula 1 after opting for talent over sponsorship in its driver choice for 2012.

On the back of the bold decisions to lure Kimi Raikkonen back to F1, and sign Romain Grosjean at the expense of Vitaly Petrov, Bahar believes the soon-to-be-called Lotus outfit has shown how committed it is to success.

"It shows the determination that we have, and it shows that there is understanding of what it will take," explained Bahar during a media lunch in London on Monday.

"The team's two main partners [Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux] said, 'look this isn't about commercial matters and going for the highest bidder, it was about going for the best drivers we can get.'

"We did an analysis together and we said, although Vitaly has a sweeter commercial element to him, we shall go for pure racing. It may be more difficult for us commercially but we are up for the challenge. And we will raise the money if it is necessary."

Bahar believes that following a difficult 2011 campaign, where Renault drifted down the order after taking podium finishes in the first two races of the season, a big reshuffle was needed to lift spirits for next year.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt the team needed to act so boldly, Bahar said: "I think it did, and will continue to need this. With last year's performance nobody was really happy, especially with the development it took, so it was in every shareholder and partner's interest to go for the best possible set-up we have.

"We have to make a lot of changes and improvements to the technical areas, but the management knows that and they are working very, very much on that. I am sure it will be better. I am sure."

Bahar has also thrown his full support behind the job that team principal Eric Boullier is doing - despite recent wild speculation suggesting that the Frenchman could be replaced by former grand prix driver Gerhard Berger.

"Eric's job is not the easiest one," explained Bahar. "It is the same as with any football manager, after a not so good year you are often criticised. He will be criticised and it is not the last time he will be criticised, but the important thing is what he learns out of it, and he identifies the areas where he has to strengthen it.

"And he has identified it. He has a clear plan going forward and we trust him to manage it perfectly. There is no reason to doubt him. But, the operational involvement is mainly driven by Genii – Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux – and we trust them, we have a good relationship and they are doing it."

Bahar has recently extended his contract at Lotus by another four years, following meetings with the company's owner Proton last week, and believes with the 'distraction' of the Lotus naming row now over, that there will be a bigger marketing push for his company in F1.

He also suggested that future plans for closer co-operation between Group Lotus and Genii – either through the car company buying into the team or Lopez taking a shareholding in the car company – remained a possibility.

"Talks are always here, and they have been here from the beginning," said Bahar. "There is a road map that he [Lopez] and I put together, and we are following that road map.

"But I cannot tell you more of what, or how it will happen – but what I can definitely tell you is that we are not working against each other, despite the speculations I have seen suggesting one of us is trying to buy out the other one."

Sergio Perez has admitted that it took until the middle of the summer for him to fully get over the effects of his Monaco Grand Prix qualifying accident.

The Sauber driver crashed heavily at the chicane in Q3 in Monte Carlo, sustaining a concussion that ruled him out of the rest of the weekend. Perez attempted to return for Canada a fortnight later, but had to withdraw following practice.

Although those were the only two races he missed, the Mexican said issues from the accident lingered longer, and ultimately compromised his campaign.

Asked in a team interview if he was happy with his rookie season, Perez replied: "Well, I'm happy in terms of the speed I had but I'm not happy in terms of results and points.

"Also because of my accident I missed two races - Monaco and Canada – in which the car and the team performed very well. After I got back into the car it still took me a few more races until I was really a hundred per cent again.

"But regarding my overall performance in F1, I think I can be happy with my rookie season."

Perez admitted he had been surprised by how long it took to make a full recovery.

"Physically I had to wait. This wasn't easy, but it was important," he said. "When I got back into the car for free practice in Canada I realised the difficulties I had. I felt dizzy, so it was impossible to drive.

"Two weeks later in Valencia I felt a lot better and was able to drive. It was better again in Silverstone and at the Nurburgring, but it was only in Budapest that I felt I was completely over it.

"It had been a very heavy impact and I learnt it takes time to physically make sure you feel right after suffering from concussion. Mentally it was a shock too. It helped me a lot to go home to Mexico and it was important to do all that work to prepare for racing again."

HRT has moved to deny suggestions that the monocoque for its 2012 car will be built by an offshoot of rival squad Caterham, currently Team Lotus.

The team initially used a Dallara supplied car as the basis of its Formula 1 machine, but says that its third grand prix contender will be built entirely in-house.

"After the recent information appearing lately in the media, HRT F1 Team is obliged to deny that Caterham Technology and Innovation, a subsidiary company of Caterham F1, will be in charge of the design and fabrication of the F112's monocoque," said an HRT statement.

"Contrary to what has been published, the development of the car that HRT F1 Team will compete with in next year's Formula 1 World Championship is being carried out at the team's technical office in Munich by a team of designers under the technical supervision of Jacky Eeckelaert and chief aerodynamicist Stephan Chosse."

The team is also adamant that it will have no difficulty making it to pre-season testing this time, having not run prior to the opening race in its first two F1 seasons.

"Despite the tight deadlines and a rule change for 2012 meaning that crash tests and chassis homologation procedures must be completed before any cars can test, the team is confident that the new car will be ready for preseason testing in February."

HRT has announced veteran Pedro de la Rosa as its first driver for 2012 but has yet to reveal the identity of the Spaniard's team-mate.

[Lineker]

Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes GP plan to hold further talks to try and end a stalemate over Formula 1's Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) after making slight progress on the matter in a meeting earlier this week.

Amid efforts to keep the RRA in place, despite a split within the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), the four major teams gathered in private on Monday to see if they can end their differences before other outfits get involved in the talks once again.

And although no party present at the meeting was willing to comment officially on the outcome, sources have suggested that the talks were positive - but further discussions were still necessary as no final agreement was reached.

Red Bull Racing and Ferrari announced earlier this month that they were to withdraw from FOTA on the back of the long-running dispute about the RRA.

However, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner made it clear last weekend that his outfit remained committed to keeping cost controls in place - despite acknowledging the difficulties of finding an agreement for the RRA that all parties were happy with.

"It needs to encompass all aspects of the car," said Horner. "Dealing with equivalence is always quite dangerous. Each of the teams has a different make up, different ownership.

"Some belong to motor manufacturers and some are independent and, if you look at the things that work, like the testing, like the wind tunnel hours, like the restriction in personnel, the things that you can touch and feel work quite well. But as soon as you start trading equivalence of hours versus external spend, that's where it seems to run into some difficulty.

"There's a willingness from all of the teams to try and contain costs, it's just the manner that you do it. And you can't exclude the engine from that with some teams producing their own engines, so it's important to look at the teams as a whole rather than cherry-picking the chassis."

Tony Fernandes believes Formula 1 needs to do more to promote itself better in new markets if it is to grow its fan base in the future.

Amid an expansion of the F1 calendar outside of Europe - with India and South Korea having been added in the past two years, and Russia coming in 2014 - grand prix racing is facing the challenge of attracting new spectators if the events are to be a success.

And with fresh memories of how some new venues have struggled to attract an audience - with Turkey having been dropped from the calendar because of a lack of support - Fernandes thinks that a different approach may be needed.

Writing in the latest edition of the FIA Institute's IQ magazine, the AirAsia and Team Lotus chief says that efforts have to go beyond the traditional way of trying to create a culture of grass roots motorsport.

"We need to keep the sport simple when it is introduced to new countries," said Fernandes. "Motor racing, and specifically F1, is complicated, but the more understandable we make it, the easier it will be to get the newer countries involved.

"You can't take F1 to India for the first time and treat that audience the same way you would the hugely knowledgeable tifosi at Monza. Italy has 90 years of heritage; India is brand new. Cricket exploded when they made the sport simple and accessible - first with the one-day game and now with Twenty20."

He added: "I also think the teams and the drivers need to spend more time in the countries they're visiting.

"When I was in the music business nothing beat bringing an artist to the country. Touching and feeling the sport is important. And we have to get away from the idea that F1 is a once-a-year thing that then goes away. It can't just be about that.

"There needs to be bigger, wider promotion of the event, more coverage around the event, more TV programming from behind the scenes, as well as more journalists engaging with the event and more television promoting the rest of the season."

Fernandes believes that the benefits of a big promotional push have been proven by the way that the football business grew when television companies started a major marketing effort.

"Football exploded into new markets and got really big when Sky and a few other TV channels came along and promoted it hard," he explained. "There may be a lesson in that."

Ben Edwards will replace Martin Brundle as the BBC's lead Formula 1 commentator next year, ending weeks of speculation about who will join David Coulthard in the box.

With Brundle having switched to Sky for 2012, the BBC has been looking for an experienced broadcaster to join its efforts next year.

Edwards, who has most recently been the British Touring Car Championship commentator for ITV, previously worked in F1 for Eurosport, as well as Bernie Ecclestone's original digital channel back in 2002.

Although there has been no official statement from the BBC about its plans, Edwards wrote on Twitter: "So, it looks as though it's really happening. I will be the BBC F1 commentator in 2012 and I can't wait!

"It took a while for things to be sorted, and thanks to ITV for being so understanding. Really looking forward to working with the crew."

Mark Webber is certain that there will be no repeat of the troubles that he suffered adapting to Pirelli tyres in 2011 next year.

The Australian struggled with tyre degradation during the first part of the year in particular. But he has declared himself to be comfortable with the 2012 development rubber, after sampling the tyres in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

"When I ran those tyres in Abu Dhabi and Brazil, I felt completely at home on them," said Webber when asked by AUTOSPORT about his impression of the new tyres.

"Pirelli did a good job to take a lot of the tyres that they were looking at for 2012 to do some development. It was encouraging for myself and for the team."

Webber is hopeful to make a strong start to next season by carrying the momentum that he built in the second half of the year into 2012.

He pointed to his getting on top of the rubber as one of the reasons behind his improvement along with fewer reliability problems.

"We had smoother weekends, were competitive in most practice sessions and started to get KERS working.

"And I was having to make less pit-stops. Before, I was having to do a lot of racing [because of making more stops], which is not without risks. But as the season went on I was on the same strategy as everyone else.

"It was a good learning curve for me and the team in terms of what we can do to address those small details that make a big difference on Saturday in particular."

Webber also credited teams' improving understanding of the tyres for the calmer races that prevailed in the closing stages of the season.

In the first half of the year, drivers regularly hit trouble with tyre degradation, but as the season went on, strategies tended to converge.

"The biggest thing was that the teams and the drivers got on top of the tyres," said Webber. "It was such a big learning curve for everybody and you saw that with the racing.

"It softened off at the end of the year because everyone got their heads around the tyres."

Bruno Senna is willing to take a third-driver role to remain in Formula 1 next season after missing out on a Lotus drive to Romain Grosjean.

The Brazilian's priority is to land one of the remaining race seats for 2012, but in order to stay in F1 he would consider taking a reserve seat provided it included running in free practice.

"To take a third-driver place it would have to be a similar type of role to what certain people had this year with driving on Fridays," Senna told AUTOSPORT.

"That allows you to be active and do something relevant with the team. It would have to be with the right team, but it could be an option."

Senna did not rule out staying on with Lotus Renault in a third-driver capacity, resuming the role that he had during the first half of last season.

However, it is not clear whether the team would be in a position to offer track time, especially with the inexperienced Grosjean and F1 returnee Kimi Raikkonen needing as much running as possible.

"There is still a chance of that," said Senna. "I still have a good relationship with the engineers and everybody at the team.

"But we would need to discuss terms and see what else is in the market."

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier confirmed that Senna is an option for the third-driver role.

He is keen to have a driver with F1 race experience as a backup for the year and Senna would fit the bill.

"Bruno could be a possibility if he doesn't find a drive elsewhere," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.

"He's very good with his technical feedback and we would need to see how we could give him some running on Fridays. But we would need to balance that with the team because we have two drivers who are new to the current regulations."

Pedro de la Rosa says moving to the HRT team is not a step back, although he concedes it will be a huge challenge getting the Spanish squad closer to the midfield.

De la Rosa, who has McLaren's reserve driver, will return to racing next year after securing a two-year contract with HRT.

The team has been racing at the bottom of the field since its debut in 2010, but de la Rosa insists he does not think he is taking a step back.

He said he is eager to start working on the Spanish project.

"Not at all," de la Rosa told COPE radio when asked if his move was a step back. "We have to leave those things aside and start working, which is what I've always like.

"It's a Spanish project and that to me says it all. It's an honest project. It's a project in which we are not going to be selling smoke. It's a Spanish Formula 1 team. We are last at the moment, but there is a plan for the upcoming two years to make progress and that is all."

Although the 40-year-old is aware that racing with HRT will be a big challenge, he admitted he is really excited about the project.

"It's a huge challenge, and I could have stayed at McLaren, but I wanted to do this a lot more," he said. "It's much harder but it's also much more interesting.

"It's David versus Goliath, but it's also a reason to be proud to be fighting against teams which are much more powerful, with a much bigger budget and who have been building Formula 1 cars for 50 years.

"That's why we are starting from scratch. We have to start with modesty, knowing where we stand, with an ambition to grow, to improve. We are not here to make up the numbers.

"The important thing is to grow and to make progress. There isn't going to be a revolution in Australia, but we are going to improve step by step."

He added: "You can't fool the fans or ourselves thinking that in four days we are going to find three or four seconds per lap. This takes time, and it takes a re-restructuring and getting stronger as a team."

De la Rosa, whose team was unable to test its new cars prior to the start of its first two seasons in Formula 1, conceded the new regulations will make it harder to all teams to be ready for the first test of 2012.

From next year, new cars will have to pass all mandatory crash tests before running in official testing, which means their chassis will have to be homologated earlier than in previous years in order to start running in February.

De la Rosa reckons not only HRT is facing a race against time.

"I don't think there's any team that is convinced what is going to happen in February, because the rules have changed and you have to pass all crash tests and homologate it before the first test. But this is tough for all teams. So others can have the same doubts that we have.

"But we are planning to be ready. If we don't pass the crash tests we will see during January. It's a tough situation and it's a challenge for all teams, not just for HRT."

[MJB]

- BBC Sport

Toro Rosso have named Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne as their drivers for the 2012 Formula 1 season.

Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari make way as the team name an all-new line-up for the first time since their debut in 2006.

More to follow.

Didn't see both drivers being changed, especially after strong races from Jaime towards the end of the season.