Formula One 2012

[Lineker]

Spanish Grand Prix boss Salvador Servia has played down talk that the future of the race is in doubt - but admitted its ultimate fate is dependent on it attracting fans back to the event.

Although the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona has a deal to host the Formula 1 race until 2016, there have been widespread media reports in recent weeks suggesting that the government was looking at renegotiating its deal to ensure more favourable financial conditions.

However, Servia insists that the track is not only happy with its current contract – but it is keen to extend it much more longer-term.

"The reality is we have a contract until 2016 and we are working towards the 2012 race," he told AUTOSPORT in an exclusive interview. "Our intention, if we can, is to continue until 2020.

"We have had Formula 1 here for 20 years and the goal is to have it for another 20. As for the rest, no one has said anything. I read news about meetings but officially I haven't been told anything. If we don't say anything official it's because there is nothing going on. That's the only possible position as of today."

Servia also rubbished recent suggestions his venue was looking at agreeing a race-share deal with Valencia – with Bernie Ecclestone having commented last week that Spain should just have one race per year.

"We don't know anything about this. We read media reports which are not always saying the same. We haven't heard anything at all. We have to stop those stories. If something happens one day then we'll say it, but nothing has happened at all. No one has ever told us anything."

Servia concedes that the path to a new Spanish GP deal would be eased by the venue attracting bigger audiences in the future – with last year's attendance having been one of the worst for nearly a decade.

When asked if the current contract was financially viable based on ticket sales income, Servia said: "That's conditional. I always say the same: if the circuit is full we have no problems. If the circuit is not full then we need the public money to survive and it seems you can't count of them at the moment. That's the sad reality."

He added: "The main thing is for the fans to come to the circuit. If the fans come, then there is no problem. But with the crisis, attendance has decreased in all circuits.

"We don't believe it will always be like this, but rather that we've had a few bad years. We are trying to react and trying to see if at least in 2012 we managed to stop the decrease and start a new era, where we start to recover and then have better hopes for the future."

Adrian Sutil has told the German courts that he did everything he could to try and settle a row with Lotus team co-owner Eric Lux after their fight in a Chinese night club last year.

Speaking on the first day of a court hearing in Munich on Monday to examine the incident between the former Force India driver and Lux, Sutil revealed that he even offered to help charity efforts in Africa in a bid to draw a line under the matter.

"I did everything to try to settle this row," Sutil said, according to the Reuters news agency. "I am really sorry, extremely sorry. I never wanted for this to happen."

Sutil is facing charges of bodily harm over the incident that took place after the Chinese Grand Prix last year. He could face a one-year suspended sentence if found guilty of injuring Lux, who required stitches to his neck.

Lux told the court that he wanted a face-to-face apology from Sutil over the matter.

"A phone call is not good enough," explained Lux.

The court hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

McLaren has dismissed speculation that it is considering a tie-up with Craig Pollock's PURE engine company in the future.

The Woking-based team has been the subject of rumours for months that it could opt to change engine partners when Formula 1 switches to V6-turbo power-units from 2014.

Although the team said last November that it was fully focused on ensuring future success with Mercedes-Benz, amid rumours linking it with Honda at the time, that has not stopped a number of reports in recent days suggesting that Pure is now being considered.

Pollock, who was best known as Jacques Villeneuve's manager, has set up a new engine company to provide customer engines from the start of 2014 and is currently on the look-out for teams to join up with.

McLaren has made it clear, however, that there were no negotiations with Pure - and suggested that the option was not going to be pursued.

"McLaren has had absolutely no contact with PURE for many months," said a McLaren spokesman. "Moreover, the contact we did have with PURE, many months ago, was of an entirely informal nature, and was merely a courtesy gesture."

Last November, McLaren's managing director Jonathan Neale had to dismiss reports that the outfit was trying to lure Honda back into F1.

"That is all wide of the mark," said Neale about the Honda speculation. "We are very happy with and enjoying our partnership with Mercedes-Benz. We are not quite sure where that story came from in truth.

"But I can stop the rumour and say that we are entirely focused on our Mercedes-Benz relationship. It is a long one spanning many wins and championships and long may it continue."

McLaren's current engine deal is understood to run until the end of 2015.

Rubens Barrichello got his first taste of an Indycar at Sebring on Monday as the Brazilian began his two-day test programme with KV Racing.

The F1 veteran, whose last hope of racing in Formula 1 this year was dashed when Williams opted to sign Bruno Senna instead, took up the invite to try out an Indycar after conversations with close friend Tony Kanaan.

Barrichello has no commitments beyond this week's outing, but told a Brazilian newspaper over the weekend that a switch to the category could be a possibility.

"I've always wanted to test an Indycar. I love speed so it's natural to want to try this," Barrichello was quoted as saying by O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. "As I have no contract with anyone there's nothing to stop me from testing it.

"I'm going into this test with my mind wide open. If I leave with the passion I have always had as a driver then why not? I love racing."

The Sebring test, which is held on the 1.7-mile short course configuration, will feature a number of IndyCar teams as they continue getting to grips with the new Dallara DW12 chassis.

[Lineker]

Adrian Sutil has been given an 18-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of bodily harm against Lotus team co-owner Eric Lux.

On the second day of proceedings in Munich, Sutil was convicted of causing neck injuries to Lux with a champagne glass following a fight in a nightclub after last year's Chinese Grand Prix.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Sutil was fined 200,000 euros, which will be given to charity.

Sutil said he never intended to hurt Lux and told the court on Monday that he had done everything possible to try and bring the matter to a close. However, Lux made it clear that he had never received the face-to-face apology that he had been after.

The conviction will be a blow to Sutil's hopes of returning to Formula 1 in the future, with the German having lost his drive at Force India to Nico Hulkenberg for this season.

Adrian Sutil says he will take time to reflect and consider his next career move after receiving a suspended sentence for assaulting Lotus team co-owner Eric Lux.

Sutil was given an 18-month suspended sentence and a 200,000 euro fine - which will be given to charity - for injuring Lux in an incident in a Shanghai nightclub following last year's Chinese Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old German does not currently have a Formula 1 seat for 2012, having been replaced at Force India by Nico Hulkenberg and seen Bruno Senna taking the last major vacancy at Williams.

"Maybe I will take some time out now," Sutil was quoted as saying by Reuters as he left the court in Munich. "Maybe I will do something completely different, think about things in peace."

Sutil had argued in court that he had tried to settle the row afterwards, and hoped that this had now been achieved.

"At least I shook Mr Lux's hand," said Sutil. "That's a good thing."

Scuderia Toro Rosso will unveil its new 2012 car on February 6, the evening before its first test at Jerez in Spain next week.

The STR7 is set to run for the first time on February 7, but the team has announced that it will pull the covers off the car in the Jerez pitlane on the day before.

Daniel Ricciardo is set to give the new car its debut test outing, with the team also confirming on Monday that oil giant CEPSA will continue its sponsorship deal into this season.

[Lineker]

Anybody else just watch McLaren launch their 2012 car live on Sky Sports News? Looks good. Will post up more later.

Williams has announced that it will unveil its 2012 Formula 1 car - the FW34 - shortly before the start of pre-season testing at Jerez on 7 February.

The team will not hold a formal launch event, instead taking the wraps off the car in a pitlane photocall just before the winter running commences.

The FW34 is an important turning point for the team, which has slipped down the field in recent years.

It is the first car produced with a large involvement from Williams's revamped technical line-up, and marks the reunion of the Williams-Renault chassis/engine combination. Williams won multiple titles with Renault during their previous association between 1989 and '97, and continued to run Renault-derived Supertec engines for a further two years.

Williams has retained Pastor Maldonado as one of its drivers for 2012, with Bruno Senna replacing Rubens Barrichello in the sister car.

Lotus has boosted its management structure with the appointment of Thomas Mayer as its new chief operating officer.

Mayer will take the position previously held by Patrick Louis, who steps up to the role of chief executive officer.

Both men will work alongside team principal Eric Boullier, who has been in that role since the start of 2010.

Gerard Lopez, who is chairman of the Lotus team, said: "Our fight to return to the front of the grid is a continual process, and we are leaving no stone unturned.

"The contributions that Patrick Louis and Eric Boullier have made so far have been invaluable, and we are now able to better focus their efforts through the addition of Thomas Mayer as chief operating officer.

"Thomas comes to us with over 15 years' professional experience. He has an in-depth knowledge of running large operations incorporating production, logistics and organisational structuring.

"Our efforts are concerted behind our objective to be a contender once more for the 2015-16 championships, to continue the proud heritage of the 1994-95 and 2005-6 world championship titles achieved by Enstone."

[MJB]

Anybody else just watch McLaren launch their 2012 car live on Sky Sports News? Looks good. Will post up more later.

No, but I would have liked to have known that it was being shown this morning.

[Lineker]

Sorry, I am normally on top of these things!! No doubt they'll be looping an abridged version of it throughout the day.

McLaren launched its 2012 challenger on Wednesday as the Woking team took the wraps off the MP4-27 with which it is aiming to return to championship-winning ways.

The Mercedes-powered team finished in second place in the standings last year, scoring six victories with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

McLaren was unable to present a championship challenge, however, as rival Red Bull Racing was the dominant force throughout the season.

With the MP4-27, the team is aiming to put an end to Red Bull's run after having secured all the titles for the past two years.

"I'm very excited," said Button, runner-up in last year's championships, during the launch. "This is the moment we see how hard we have all been working. It's a very exciting day.

"These guys have been flat out since we finished racing in 2011 on improving the car as much as they could in the simulator and I'm looking forward to getting out in it at Jerez.

"I am sure everyone is apprehensive when you start testing and I cannot wait to jump in the car."

Hamilton added: "I think it is fantastic. It's great to be here after a great winter. Seeing hard work going into building this car is inspiring. It is most refined-looking car we have had for some time so we are looking forward to getting back in it."

While the new car resembles the 2011 machine, the team said the MP4-27 chassis has been substantially revised, with all major systems updated or redesigned for the new season.

The most evident differences are a tightly waisted rear bodywork and a revised cooling system. The U-shaped sidepods used last year have also been redesigned to adapt to the FIA's new exhaust regulations.

Lewis Hamilton says a complete break from Formula 1 over the winter has left him refreshed and ready to put his troubled 2011 campaign behind him.

Speaking at the launch of the McLaren MP4-27 in Woking today, Hamilton said team boss Martin Whitmarsh had allowed him to take a longer than usual break post-season and he used it to rethink his approach ready for what he hopes will be a stronger 2012.

"I was over in the cold mountains in Colorado, spending time with family and friends," said Hamilton, who was beaten by a team-mate in the championship standings for the first time in his F1 career last season as Jenson Button took second in the championship compared to Hamilton's fifth place.

"I did lots of training, I didn't miss much, and I was not missing the car too much.

"It was nice to be away from it for a while, just to get the energy back, refresh. Starting anew and getting back into training was fantastic.

"Last year I was training too much and this year I balanced it a bit better. Spending time with family and friends is how you get your energy. I was grateful for Martin for allowing me to have such a good break."

Although Button's improved form in 2011 was partly put down to the car becoming more suited to him in his second year at McLaren, Hamilton is confident the MP4-27 can work well with both drivers' styles.

"We work closely as a team, me and Jenson," he said. "You sometimes have drivers who demand different things. Jenson and I have similar set-ups so we demand the same thing.

"I don't feel it will benefit him more than me - and I think he feels the same. We generally agree with what we need to do."

The Briton said he was particularly impressed by the "refined" appearance of the MP4-27.

"I think it is fantastic," said Hamilton. "Seeing the hard work going into building this car is inspiring.

"It is the most refined looking car we have had for some time so we are looking forward to getting back in it."

[MJB]

That car is beautiful.

[Lineker]

Jenson Button is hoping the new McLaren MP4-27 will hit the ground running and allow the team to enjoy a stronger build-up to the season than in 2011.

The Woking team launched its 2012 car on Wednesday hoping it will allow it to stop Red Bull Racing's run of titles after a dominant 2011 campaign for the team and Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren endured a troubled pre-season last year, with several problems hindering its preparations ahead of the first race.

Button, who won three races on his way to second place in the championship, admitted he never expected to win with last year's car after he first tested it.

Now the Briton is confident the same will not happen with the new car.

"I personally didn't feel we were going to win races last year after the first test," he said during the launch of the MP4-27.

"Normally you get a good feeling from the first test and build on that feeling for the first race. It is tricky, especially when you have new regulations.

"It's difficult to know where you stand. I'm hoping we are in a good position when we wheel the car out in Jerez.

"The most important thing is to get miles done in testing, so we have time to fine-tune car so you arrive at the first race and you are not worried about anything. We are all positive now and hopefully that will continue in testing."

Button, however, is aware that beating Red Bull will not be easy, as he is not expecting the team to build a slow car after the success of the past two seasons.

"Red Bull will be strong," said Button. "You don't suddenly build a bad car after wining the championship for two years. We hope they do - but I would be surprised if they do.

"We don't know where we stand, so the important thing is stay focused on what we do, look at the next few weeks and see where we stand then."

McLaren believes it has not taken a cautious approach to its new MP4-27 over the winter, despite the problems caused by the radical elements it tried in pre-season testing last year.

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said at the launch of the new car that McLaren is not expecting a repeat of last year's poor pre-season. But he was keen to point out that the team had not opted for a careful approach to its development over the winter.

"This year we have not been cautious but we have found some good performance," Whitmarsh said.

"We have set ourselves some tough targets that if we reach we think we can fight for the championship. We haven't reached those targets yet, but with some work we will do.

"We had, by anyone's standards, let alone McLaren's standards, an abysmal testing period last year. I would be happier not to fight those issues, and we have put a lot of work into this car and we are not expecting a repeat of last winter.

"I don't believe we have been inherently conservative. Inevitably there are creative brains seeking to find a Eureka moment that will bring seconds of performance, but sadly in F1 those moments are limited."

Whitmarsh also admitted that, like most teams, McLaren still has a lot to add to the car between its launch spec and the version that will hit the track in Australia for the season opener.

"All teams will develop the cars so the car unveiled as they pull the cloth back is not the car being used in Q1 in Australia," he said. "There will be great evolution in some teams.

"We have set targets that are tough. It is not just about testing or the first race, you have to improve the car through every single race if you want to win the championship. Providing we have a good car at the start of the season then we should do well."

McLaren has no plans to develop its own Formula 1 engine or switch from Mercedes-Benz powerplants, according to team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

The British team's engine supply has been the subject of speculation since the latter part of the 2011 campaign, with rumours suggesting that McLaren could reunite with Honda or even build its own motor to promote its growing road car business.

But Whitmarsh, speaking at the launch of the new MP4-27 F1 car, ruled out a change of supplier, or going down the route of Ferrari and taking engine development in-house.

"Formula 1 is a very, very powerful environment to promote an automotive brand and get brand definition," said Whitmarsh. "But we have no plans - short term, medium term or longer term – to manufacture our own engines.

"We have great respect for what Ferrari have achieved, but we will do things our own way. People will speculate because of our road car programme but it makes no sense for us.

"We have had a great partner for 18 years with Mercedes-Benz, they make probably the best engine in F1.

"The motivation to change is very limited. We enjoy that partnership and intend to continue for a number of years."

Sam Michael believes McLaren's strength in depth is one of the keys to having been so successful in Formula 1 over the years.

Michael, a former technical director at Williams, left the British squad at the end of last year to join McLaren as sporting director.

He says he is already feeling at home with McLaren, and admits working with the team has been made easier because of its synergy.

"I am really proud to be working for McLaren even though I haven't been here long," Michael said during the launch of the MP4-27.

"It is a big family. There are a lot of people here taking good care of relationships, and it makes a big difference in a high pressure environment. More than I expected and it helps you perform.

"One of the drivers used a buzzword, that the synergy of this place is strength in depth. It is bigger strength of this company.

"This strength in depth is not something you buy of shop-floor. It's not like a seven-post rig you can go buy, install and catch up. It is instilled over years, it is ingrained in the company. It is rewarding working around it."

Michael said McLaren is already a well-oiled machine and conceded he hasn't been able to influence the new car much since his arrival.

"I work with the senior management group, my main focus in that group is trackside, sorting out the race team. It's already a very refined machine. It's all about trying to create a new benchmark, work car quality, operational reliability...

"It is early days. I came in at the end of last year and a lot of the car - 90 per cent of it - was already designed. There is different aspects to the way we go racing and had quite a lot of involvement."

McLaren says its new MP4-27 is a 'complete rework' of last year's car - despite its outward appearance pointing to it being an evolution of its 2011 contender.

After the covers came off the new car at McLaren's Woking factory on Wednesday, the main focus points of the MP4-27 were a nose step that was less extreme than some had expected, and the positioning of the exhausts.

Tim Goss, McLaren's director of engineering, said that although outwardly the car was an evolution of the MP4-26, it was in fact totally different under the skin.

"We have set ourselves tough and ambitious targets, and we aim to deliver those by the first race and have a championship-winning car," explained Goss. "This car is a complete rework from nose to tail, and there is very little that is carried over. A bit of the fuel system is the same, but almost everything else on the car has changed.

"There were a few features we have pushed quite hard from the beginning of the project. I am proud of the whole team and the efforts so far, and from now we go to the next phase of the project which is really wringing the performance out of it. We have a good track record of that – we have big plans, upgrades for the front wing, rear wing, floor and bodywork are already planned."

Technical director Paddy Lowe said that the nature of modern regulations makes it difficult for teams to deliver innovation – but that did not stop his outfit believing it had made a good performance step with the car.

"The regulations are trimming us into narrower and narrower boxes," he said. "We don't see big radical changes from one year to the next year.

"This car looks very similar but underneath a great deal of changes have taken place. Every part has been assessed for weight and performance. If you add all that up, you get a car that is quicker. Teams are tasked to find that 1% to 2% performance improvement – but nevertheless there are obvious innovations.

"We have done a lot of work around the back end, and there is a lot more tidy packaging there, and we have had to do a lot of work on exhausts. That has given the aerodynamicists a great challenge, not only to find the downforce but also in creating the right balance. You need downforce but also you have to be able to use it in the right area."

McLaren has moved away from the U-shaped sidepods that it ran last year, because the downwash advantage created by that design is no longer relevant now that blown diffusers have been banned.

Lowe also explained that the outfit never bothered investigating the reactive ride height system being pursued by Lotus and Ferrari and which was outlawed recently by the FIA.

"That was in a family of designs that we have considered often in the past, but in our assessment we would not consider that to be legal," he said. "So we did not get involved in what was being done.

"Our view was that it was not something we would pursue, so it was pleasing to see that avenue shut down according to our interpretation."

[Lineker]

Lewis Hamilton is eager to sort out his future with McLaren early in the 2012 campaign so that speculation about his plans does not overshadow what he hopes is a world championship winning campaign.

The Briton is out of contract at the end of this year and, while it is likely he will remain at McLaren, there have been frequent rumours about a potential switch to Red Bull Racing ever since he held a secret meeting with Christian Horner at last year's Canadian Grand Prix.

But although nothing has yet been sorted, Hamilton has indicated that he will sit down with his McLaren bosses after the first few races to decide on an action plan for the future.

"At the moment the focus is on the preparation we have coming up for the season," he was quoted as saying by the Press Association. "Probably after the first couple of races it's something we will probably want to get out of the way.

"We can then focus on the rest of the year without the team being concerned and without it being something hanging around, so then you guys (the media) won't have to ask questions about it.

"So I'll try to get that out of the way at some stage, probably in the earlier part of the year rather than later."

Hamilton returned to the public spotlight at the 2012 McLaren launch in Woking on Wednesday following a difficult end to last season - dogged with on-track frustrations and difficulties in his personal life.

But having had a winter to sort his mind out, Hamilton reckoned he was going to be much stronger this year than he was throughout the campaign.

"I want to win every race. I think I can," he said. "I think I've the ability to. If the car is where we hope there's no reason why we can't do that.

"The only thing that ever gets in your way is your own mind and your own insecurities or obstacles that you put in your way. The most important thing is to put those things aside and to overcome them, and I think I have.

"So I feel right. Standing right in front of you I feel stronger than I was a few months ago particularly, but even more so than I was last year at the start of the year."

Ferrari has cancelled the launch ceremony of its 2012 Formula 1 car because of the poor weather conditions in Maranello.

As reported yesterday, the harsh wintry conditions had left all of the Maranello area covered in snow.

As it continued snowing today, the Italian squad has decided to cancel its launch event and will now broadcast its car's unveiling on its website instead.

"It is still snowing heavily here in Maranello. Therefore, the launch ceremony of the new F1 car has been cancelled," Ferrari said in its official Twitter account.

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Ferrari is likely to be forced to cancel a planned shakedown of its new car at Fiorano later this week because of snow at Maranello.

The Italian team had intended to run its new car for filming purposes straight after its official launch on Friday morning.

However, wintry conditions have left the outfit's Fiorano circuit covered in snow - which is unlikely to melt over the new few days.

A statement on Ferrari's official website, which confirmed the launch was still going ahead as planned, said: "It now looks as though there is little chance of carrying out the planned promotional filming featuring action shots of the car at the Fiorano track.

"Even if the snow was to stop, it's hard to imagine that the escape roads could be cleared of their blanket of snow which is gradually building up."

Sky Sports have announced that their soon-to-launch Sky Sports F1 HD channel will include live coverage of both the GP2 and GP3 series.

Complementing the channel's coverage of every F1 session from every 2012 race, the announcement is being billed as a chance for fans to receive a glimpse into the future of motorsport with both series rightly considered to be a breeding ground for F1 drivers of the future.

In addition to live coverage, the channel have also confirmed that their weekly magazine show, presented by Georgie Thompson and Ted Kravitz, will also provide coverage, analysis and discussion of the races from the likes of Monaco, Monza and Silverstone, Spa and Singapore.

Executive Producer Martin Turner said: "We are delighted to be showing GP2 and GP3 live on Sky Sports F1 HD. There are six former GP2 champions in Formula 1 this season, including Lewis Hamilton and last year's winner Romain Grosjean. The series promises nail-biting and fascinating racing and we'll track gifted drivers through the ranks as they aim for Formula 1."

The 12-round 2012 GP2 series will begin in Malaysia on 23 - 25 March and follows a global circuit through 10 countries. Sky Sports F1 HD will show the two races per weekend; a feature race and a shorter sprint race.

Really starting to warm up to Sky.

[MJB]

The Sky stuff does sound really good at the moment.

The Lewis situation to me just stinks of 'If you don't give me a good car to start the season with, I won't be signing a new deal'

[Lineker]

Narain Karthikeyan will fill the final racing seat of the 2012 season after he was confirmed at HRT on Friday morning.

The Indian will partner Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa at the team, which will enter its third Formula 1 season this year.

Karthikeyan started the 2011 season as a racing driver for the team, but was dropped after the European Grand Prix, the eighth round of the championship, in favour of Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo.

The 35-year-old from Chennai returned to racing for his home grand prix late in the season after four outings as a Friday driver.

Together with 40-year-old de la Rosa he will form the oldest line-up on the grid this year.

"It has taken a lot of hard work to make this happen but I am absolutely elated to feature on the 2012 grid with HRT F1 team," said the Indian. "I was pleased with our strong performance at the Indian Grand Prix, in front of my passionate home fans and I look forward to building on this result in 2012.

"I have been training hard since the end of 2011, ensuring I was ready for the rigours of F1 if an opportunity arose. I am delighted to have signed with HRT F1 Team. With the new management, Pedro, and the team, there is definite potential for progress.

"We need to understand that F1 is new to India, we hosted our first race only last year which was a resounding success. To build on that momentum, an Indian driver will certainly keep the interest engaged throughout the season. I am proud to secure an opportunity to forge a stronger connection between India and Formula 1 once again."

Team boss Luiz Perez-Sala added: "I am pleased to count with Narain for this season, as he will contribute continuity and stability. He is a quick, intuitive and secure driver who met his expectations despite a lack of continuity last year. Of the eight Grands Prix he contested in 2011, he only failed to finish on one occasion and had a great performance in the last race he took part in.

"I'm sure that the fact that he will continue to work and drive on a regular basis will help him take a step forward this season. And if he advances, so does the team. This is a year in which you could say that the team starts from scratch and everyone's input will be fundamental."

Narain Karthikeyan has admitted that his strong performance in the Indian Grand Prix was key to him remaining in Formula 1 with HRT this year.

The 35-year-old started eight races for the Spanish outfit last year, the last of those on home soil after missing over three months of the season, and was announced as a 2012 driver earlier today.

After qualifying 22 thousandths of a second off team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, he finished 17th in the race. He believes that this performance underlined his speed and enabled him to build a sponsorship package to help land the seat for 2012.

"I wasn't driving the car regularly but got up to speed very quickly," Karthikeyan told AUTOSPORT. "That's when I knew that I should try and stay if there was a possibility.

"Things came together although obviously there was a lot of competition for the seat. Four or five drivers with budgets were trying to get the seat, but the team believes that I am fast."

Karthikeyan added that he is confident that HRT has a bright Formula 1 future under the new management that took over last year.

The long-term long-term plan that the Thesan Capital-owned outfit, now headed by team principal Luis Perez Sala, has put together played a part in his decision to join a team that has struggled for results since coming into F1 at the start of 2010.

"The team changes were good changes," said Karthikeyan. "The new management has a strong structure and financial backing for the project.

"There are a lot of positives. A good example is Pedro [de la Rosa, team-mate]. He could have had an easy life and stayed as a McLaren test driver, but he has come here because he knows that the team has a big future.

"I have a similar outlook to Pedro. Everything is in place and we should be in a good position.

"Things don't change overnight and we will have to wait and see how the new car is, but it will be a decent package."

The team's new car, which unlike last year's F111 will be built around a new monocoque, is scheduled to make its debut in the second pre-season test, which takes place at Barcelona on February 21-24.

Ferrari unveiled the 2012 car on Friday morning that it hopes will return it to world championship-winning glory.

After being forced to cancel its launch ceremony because of heavy snow at Maranello, the team published the first images of its car on its official website instead.

Having promised a more radical approach with its car that it has had in recent seasons, the new Ferrari is the result of a big effort at the factory under the guidance of new technical director Pat Fry.

The snow that forced the cancellation of the launch also means that plans for a shakedown of the car at Fiorano have also had to be abandoned.

It is not clear if the team will be able to complete any mileage prior to the first official test with the car at Jerez in Spain next week.

Ferrari expects its 2012 Formula 1 car to be winning races from the start of the new season, the team revealed at the launch of its F2012 racer on Friday.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said that he believes the changes made behind the scenes at Maranello should yield instant results, following a tough 2011 season for Ferrari.

"I am sure our car will be winning right from the beginning," he said. "We have learned many lessons from the past, and taken some difficult decisions. But I am sure all our efforts will be represented with this car."

The new Ferrari has some extreme elements to its appearance, including a very aggressive step in the nose of the car due to rule changes for this year restricting the height of the nose. Domenicali made reference to the new car having "many novelties" but added that it was not a complete overhaul compared to last year's machine.

"From a technical point of view, we have many novelties in terms of mechanics and also the shape of the car," he said.

"[but] we wanted some continuity here, and hopefully we will reach the right performance. We have only 12 days to work on the car and achieve reliability, and also test the new tyres that have been given to us by Pirelli."

Domenicali also paid tribute to his driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, while Ferrari also revealed that its major sponsorship deal with Santander has extended until the end of 2017.

"I am sure our team will deliver a great effort," he said. For Fernando I don't have to add anything about his skill. In a difficult time last year he extended his relationship with us for many years, so this shows his responsibility.

"Felipe has been here 10 seasons in F1, always with a Ferrari [engine], always with us. A great, great talent and I am sure this year after a difficult season he will show his great value for himself and the whole team."

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is confident his team has all it needs to win the world championship once again.

After unveiling its aggressive-looking F2012 at Maranello on Friday, di Montezemolo said in a video message that he was full of confidence that the efforts put in by his staff would be rewarded.

"We want to win, and we want to have right conditions like we had in the past," said di Montezemolo. "We have all the ingredients for a perfect recipe.

"Stefano [Domenicali, team principal] has been working so hard to get the car ready and get the team ready to improve organisation in the company. These changes are important and give us the possibility to have a highly competitive team."

Ferrari undertook a technical reshuffle last year, with Pat Fry stepping up to the role of technical director following the departure of Aldo Costa.

The outfit vowed to be more extreme with its car than it had been in the past, and di Montezemolo was hopeful that any disputes over teams pushing the boundaries of the regulations would not overshadow the campaign.

"Everything has been improved, and I am sure we will be rewarded," he said. "Our fans and supporters want to see us back to great glory. I am sure in the forthcoming season the regulations will have to be trusted in a transparent way, and we trust the FIA to view these regulations with the right spirit."

Ferrari has also received good news on the commercial front too with an extension of its sponsorship deal with banking giants Santander until the end of 2017.

Fernando Alonso is sure Ferrari will be strong during the 2012 season as the Maranello squad unveiled its 2012 car on Friday.

Alonso won just one race in the 2011 season in a disappointing year for the Italian team, which is aiming to return to championship-winning ways this year.

Two-time champion Alonso is upbeat about his prospects for the season ahead after the launch of the F2012 car.

"It looks very different from what we have seen in the last two years," said Alonso about the car, which features a radical platypus-style nose similar to that used by Caterham.

"My third season at Ferrari and I am going to start with the same strength and determination. I want to do great.

"Of course it will be quite competitive for the whole season, but we want to see red cars on the podium. We start next week in Jerez and we keep working together. I am sure we will do well this year."

He added: "I believe in the skills we have here in Ferrari. We have two months to get ready before the first competition. We have to fight for the title and try and get as many points as possible. We really want to be right at the top of the ranking.

"We have to be as consistent and resolute as possible and I am sure, really, really sure we will be able to get great targets and great responsibility for driving for Ferrari."

Team-mate Felipe Massa is also optimistic Ferrari will be strong from the start of the season with the new car, which he labelled as "really aggressive".

"Let me tell you that it looks really, really aggressive," said Massa. "This was part of my dreams. I know there was quite a lot of brainstorming when it comes to the new car. We always wanted to develop new models so I am impressed with the new car.

"We start in a few days and I am sure the championship will be stunning and very competitive."

The Brazilian, which is facing a crucial year in order to secure his future in the team, said he was feeling very positive ahead of the start of the season.

"It is going to be an important year for me and whole team, 2012, this is going to be the victory year," he said. "We want to fight to get the championship back. I want to be believe in my skills and our car and this is the right thing to do.

"We want to see Ferrari winning as often as possible. Here I feel a strength, I'm focused on winning. There's plenty of positive things in my head and I want to start in the right way and get to the end of the championship in a better way."

Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has defended the look of the new Ferrari amid widespread comments that its stepped nose makes the F2012 'ugly'.

The new regulations for 2012 that force the front section of the nose to be low down - while teams desire the chassis section to be higher up - has led to a number of outfits featuring dramatic step changes along that area of the car.

Ferrari's solution on the F2012 is the most extreme seen so far, but Tombazis does not agree with comments that the new car does not look good.

"There have been some rumours saying that this car is ugly and I have to confess that I am not objective on that, as I don't share that opinion," said Tombazis in a video interview broadcast on Ferrari's website.

"For me I have got used to the bump on the nose. I think the rest of the car has been the fruit of a lot of detail work.

"Ultimately, as far as I am concerned, an ugly car is one that doesn't win and a beautiful car is one that does win. So, for now, I want to believe it is a beautiful car and we will have to review that after the first few races."

Tombazis has promised that the Ferrari is also likely to feature a lot of upgrades before the opening race in Melbourne, with a particular focus being made in pre-season testing of defining its exhaust configuration.

"This car is still destined to change quite a lot before the first race," he said. "We have been working in the wind tunnel and the design office on aerodynamic upgrades of the car - but we also have some very important experiments we want to carry out in the first tests so we can finalise the first race configuration."

Force India has unveiled its new car for the 2012 season, dubbed the VJM05, at Silverstone.

It is the team's earliest car launch since Force India was created in 2008 when Vijay Mallya bought the Spyker team. In recent years Force India has not had its new machine ready for the first test.

The Mercedes-engined car features a nose design similar to that of the 2012 Caterham, and heavily revised sidepods in line with the new exhaust rules. Force India has also dropped its 'blade' style rollhoop design.

It is hoped that the new car will allow Force India to challenge for the top five in the constructors' championship after finishing a best-ever sixth last year. The team has replaced Adrian Sutil with Nico Hulkenberg, while Paul di Resta stays on in the sister car.

"I think every individual in this team has put a lot of effort into his car," di Resta told Sky Sports News. "The momentum we had at the end of last year, hopefully we've manged to carry that over but I must say it is a fine piece of art. Hopefully when it gets to track it'll be able to show what it's capable of."

AUTOSPORT technical correspondent Gary Anderson said the Force India looked extremely promising at first sight.

"I'm impressed and, including what I've seen of the Ferrari, this looks like the best overall package yet," Anderson told AUTOSPORT. "The car looks very good in all areas. The exhausts are a bit non-commital, but that can change easily."

Force India technical director Andrew Green expects most teams to join Force India, Ferrari and Caterham in opting for the 'platypus' nose design.

The new Force India VJM05, which was unveiled at Silverstone this morning, featured the distinctive shelf where the nose joins the higher front section of the monocoque. Despite the McLaren MP4-27, launched on Wednesday, not featuring the drop nose thanks to a lower chassis front, Green thinks most will follow the design concept that his team has chosen.

"We think most will follow our philosophy," Green told Sky Sports News. "It [the lower chassis] is an aero philosophy that McLaren apply to the front of their car, last year they were the only team to apply that.

"There's a regualation change on the nose height and we went with the drop nose. For us, it's not big deal, it's purely asethetics."

Green has set the team the target of challenging for fifth place in the constructors' championship.

This would build on the team's recent improvement, which has seen it finish ninth, seventh and sixth over the past three campaigns.

"It's a big ask for a small team like ourselves but I've got a lot of confidence in the team around me," said Green. "We learned a lot last year and made big strides in our understanding of car performance and aerodynamics.

"We are taking that another step this year, you can see that in the detail on the car and see the new aero philosophies coming through on it. This is another chapter for Force India."

Green confirmed that Force India will experiment with different exhaust solutions during pre-season testing following the ban on exhaust blown diffusers. and that he expects other teams to adopt a similar test strategy.

Paul di Resta believes it is key for Force India to carry its late-season momentum from 2011 into the start of the upcoming season.

The Scot was speaking at the launch of the team's VJM05 at Silverstone on Friday.

Force India recovered from a slow start last year to be one of the on-form teams by the end of the campaign, and di Resta believes that it can take another step in the competitive order providing it starts well this year.

"The big thing we're going for is a stronger start than last year, because the momentum at the end of the year was incredible," he said. "I think the guys should be very proud of what they've achieved.

"We're still on a buzz from that and it would be great to start where we left off. We were very close to coming fifth as a constructor last year and we met our ambition of coming sixth.

"We want to do better, that's the main focus. We'll just keep pushing on."

The former DTM champion added that he knows he will be under more pressure in his second season as he is more experienced and has a new team-mate in Nico Hulkenberg and a new reserve driver in Ferrari Academy driver Jules Bianchi.

"I think there's always pressure in any sport but yeah there's a little more as I'm not a rookie anymore," he said. "There is that nature there to try and beat your team-mate, but we're there to represent Force India and you need to look at the whole team.

"[The threat of a reserve driver] always concerns you, because how stable is Formula 1 at the moment? You need to focus on your own driving. But one thing you can say about what Force India have done - it's a great way to get involved in Formula 1."

[Katsuya]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. de la Rosa and Karthikeyan may be the worst lineup I've ever seen in an F1 team, and I love de la Rosa.

Also, "a top British team" have stolen James Key, Sauber's technical director away from them. DAMN WHOEVER IT IS!

[Lineker]

Testing finally begins tomorrow at Jerez!! 40 days until the new season starts!!

As I've been away over the weekend, I'll split this post into two parts.

Ferrari has confessed to taking more risks with this year's car than previous cars, after unveiling a fairly aggressive F2012 at Maranello on Friday.

Although the most commented-on feature is its stepped nose, the most radical feature is that it is the first car in Formula 1 since Minardi in 2001 to feature front pull-rod suspension.

Furthermore, the team has worked hard on its packaging at the sidepods and the rear of the car and try and make the aerodynamic gains it thinks it needs to get ahead of Red Bull Racing.

Technical director Pat Fry confirmed that Ferrari had deliberately decided on an aggressive approach for this year's car - and had not been afraid of pushing the boundaries.

"A lot of people have said a lot of things, and it is a bit of a step away from where we have been," he told the official Ferrari website. "Certainly we have taken a few more risks on the basic car layout and things like that, but all in all everyone has done a good job.

"But we need to knuckle down and start pushing for the upgrades for the first race and through the year."

Ferrari is planning a major development package to be introduced for the final test at Barcelona in March, as well as further improvements for the first race in Australia.

The F2012 has very little carry over from last year's car, and there are some big philosophical changes in the design approach.

Chief designer Nikolas Tombazis said the team had built on lessons of last year, as well as coming up with new ideas.

"The front wing is evolution of the wing that we introduced in the last races of last season," he explained. "We introduced it there to have some initial lessons about this topic. We understood quite a lot and had further developments, and there will be further developments for the third test and before the first race of the season.

"The nose has an ungainly shape on the top, and that is the result of the regulation that requires us to have the nose quite low but the dynamic desire to have the lower part of chassis as high as possible. Even though it is not aesthetically pleasing, we believe it is the most efficient aerodynamic solution for that area of the car.

"One of the innovations of the car is the front suspension. For mainly aerodynamic reasons, we have selected a pull rod solution. It took us quite a lot of work from the structural and design offices and vehicle dynamics department to regain all the mechanical characteristics we wanted the suspension to have.

"I believe we have achieved that, but we also think we have found an aerodynamic advantage from this solution."

Ferrari has also worked on a different sidepod philosophy to improve the aerodynamic benefits of the turning vanes. The rear of the car is also tighter, and the gearbox package made narrower.

The team has also abandoned its push-rod rear suspension configuration in favour of the pull-rod concept favoured by a number of rival outfits.

Force India's deputy team principal Bob Fernley says the squad has completed its rebuilding phase and is now ready to try and chase Formula 1's top outfits.

The Silverstone-based team is commencing its fifth season in its Force India guise, and is aiming to improve on last year's sixth-place finish in the constructors' championship - when it came within four points of beating Renault to fifth.

Force India launched its new VJM05 at Silverstone today, with a clear aim of breaking into the top five in the championship this season.

"I think the team now has got to a position where the reconstruction plan has really come to the fruition of its objectives," said Fernley.

"We have to look for where we can go to compete with the top four or five. That's another programme and that's what we're discussing."

Fernley admitted that last year's strong performance had raised expectations.

"I don't think Vijay will accept anything less than fifth [in the constructors' championship]," he said.

"I was pleased we didn't finish fifth [in 2011] in some ways because then [the target] would've been fourth...

"It's going to be tough. All the teams out there are capable of fifth, and I think the battle for fifth place is going to be as exciting as the battle at the top. All the teams have got talented people who are just as focused as we are and it's not going to be an easy ride by any means."

Force India's young driver policy has given it one of the most promising driver line-ups on the grid, according to deputy team principal Bob Fernley.

The Silverstone-based team has given regular track time on grand prix weekends to its reserve drivers for the past two years, with both Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg converting those opportunities into race drives for the following season.

Ferrari Academy driver Jules Bianchi is the latest driver to land the reserve role at the team, and Fernley explained at the launch of the team's VJM05 F1 car that driver development is important to Vijay Mallya's outfit.

"No, I don't think we are taking a gamble," Fernley said in relation to Force India's young line-up. "Driver succession is important to us.

"I think outside of, or maybe including, the top four, we've got one of the most exciting driver line-ups, so I'm not worried at all.

"The system Force India operate with bringing them through one year [as reserve drivers] makes the difference with them being able to be competitive from day one. It's a very clearly thought out process."

Hulkenberg, who returns to racing after spending a year on Friday duties with Force India, believes that the role given to him by the team last year has helped him be ready for his return.

"A year on the sidelines wasn't easy for me but I had a great year with Force India," said the former GP2 champion, who raced for Williams in 2010. "They gave me lots of chances to prove my talent on Friday mornings.

"I kept sharp that way and now I'm back. I think I still improved and learned, but in different ways. I picked up some things that might help me in races."

Bianchi, who has joined the team after two years racing in GP2, hopes to be able to follow in di Resta and Hulkenberg's footsteps and prove that he is worthy of further chances in Formula 1.

"For the moment we have a minimum of nine Friday mornings, so it's going to be really important," said the Frenchman. "The track time in Formula 1 is really useful for a young driver like me.

"I will just try to do my best, try to show the team I deserve more. I am reserve driver, I will stay in this position and try to help them as much as I can."

Force India will be one of the big beneficiaries of the decision to ban exhaust-blown diffusers in Formula 1, reckons the team's technical chief Andrew Green.

Although the Silverstone-based outfit finished sixth in last year's constructors' championship, Green felt it did not get properly on top of the exhaust-blowing technology so will lose far less from the ban than many rivals.

"We were a little bit late to the party and I don't think we extracted its full potential by a long way," said Green.

"I think there are teams out there that extracted way more than we did and hopefully that will hurt them more than it's going to hurt us. We spent the winter trying to salvage back all that downforce that it cost us and we're getting closer."

He believes that the rule change will make F1 more competitive overall.

"My feeling is that it should close the field up," Green said. "I think you need to look at Silverstone, where the regs changed for a fraction of a second, and the grid did appear to close up."

While Green believes the blown diffuser ban will be key to Force India's form this year, he also has high hopes for the new aerodynamic direction that has been taken with the VJM05.

"The biggest change for us is the aerodynamic philosophy on the car, starting on the front and the new front wing, which sets up all the basic structures down the car, that's a big step for us," Green said.

"It took us quite a long time getting ourselves out of the old philosophy. We did some testing last year trying to move away from it and then we used that knowledge over the winter to come up with the new concept at the front.

"It's a big departure from where we have been before, and the [wind]tunnel numbers are really, really encouraging so we're quite looking forward to getting on the track and seeing if it does produce what it should do."

Sauber technical director James Key is to leave the Swiss team to take up a role with one of its rivals.

In a statement issued by the Hinwil-based outfit on Friday, Sauber said that the design and development of its 2012 car would now be led by the heads of department for its aerodynamic, design, performance and operations divisions.

Key said: "I've enjoyed the past two years working at the Sauber F1 Team. It has been a very intense and interesting time, in which we had to manage the transition from a much larger team to a smaller one, and everybody handled that very well.

"I think the team is now well set for the future and I wish it the very best. I have been offered a new role back in the UK, which I decided to accept."

The identity of the team Key is heading to has not been released, but Key previously worked at the Force India outfit prior to joining Sauber at the start of 2010 as replacement for Willy Rampf.

Team boss Peter Sauber added: "A qualified team shares the overall technical responsibility. This structure has proved to work well at other racing outfits. Over a period of almost two years, James has accomplished a lot for our team.

"Especially in the difficult transition period from a manufacturer team into a private enterprise, he contributed significantly to ensure the team regained stability. We would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best for his future."

Driver Sergio Perez lamented the timing of the move.

"James Key's exit from the team comes at the worst moment, but we have a great team and we will push forward. There's a great year ahead," the Mexican wrote on Twitter.

Formula 1's first pre-season test will kick off with 11 teams at Jerez on Tuesday, with only Marussia not running.

The Spanish circuit has issued a running order for the opening of the winter tests, with nine news cars set to run for the first time.

Mercedes GP is running last year's car but using its three days of running to evaluate tyres, while HRT is only running Pedro de la Rosa in its 2011 challenger on the first two days.

The full running order is:

Team           Tuesday              Wednesday    Thursday    Friday

Sauber         Kobayashi            Perez        Perez       Kobayashi

Ferrari        Massa                Massa        Alonso      Alonso

Force India    di Resta             di Resta     Hulkenberg  Hulkenberg

Caterham       TBA                  TBA          TBA         TBA

McLaren        Button               Button       Hamilton    Hamilton

Mercedes       Rosberg/Schumacher   Schumacher   Rosberg     -

Red Bull       Webber               Webber       Vettel      Vettel

Lotus          Raikkonen            Raikkonen    Grosjean    Grosjean

Toro Rosso     Ricciardo            Ricciardo    Vergne      Vergne

Williams       Maldonado            Maldonado    Senna       Senna

HRT            de la Rosa           de la Rosa   -           -[/code]


Giedo van der Garde will be the Caterham Formula 1 team's reserve driver for the 2012 season.


The 26-year-old Dutchman has raced in GP2 since winning the 2008 Formula Renault 3.5 title, and was fifth in the '11 GP2 standings. Van der Garde has previous F1 testing experience with Spyker/Force India, Super Aguri and Renault.


Caterham will give van der Garde mileage in pre-season testing and in a number of Friday practice sessions alongside his reserve duties.


"The team is fresh, with some fantastic people here," said van der Garde. "Tony Fernandes is extremely ambitious and he has brought in a lot of very good people in to help grow this team for future success. I'm looking forward to learning and moving forward with the team, in and out of the car.


"It's great for Holland that we again have a Dutch driver who is connected to Formula 1. Being the only Dutch driver now is very good for the sport in Holland, as the interest was perhaps on the decline since the [Jos] Verstappen years, however I hope to generate the same excitement for my country and really bring Formula 1 to them."


Team boss Fernandes added that the squad had been following van der Garde's career for some time.


"He is a very exciting prospect that we have been monitoring since the early days of our team, and we are all looking forward to seeing how he can help us develop throughout the season as we take our next steps towards the established midfield teams ahead," said Fernandes.


"His performances in GP2, particularly in 2011, mark Giedo out as one of motorsport's brightest prospects, and securing him as reserve driver is a real coup for our team."


Jules Bianchi is likely to keep racing alongside his Formula 1 reserve driver commitments with Force India this year.


The Frenchman has competed in the F1 supporting GP2 series for the past two seasons, finishing third in 2010 and '11.


He has landed a deal to drive on Friday mornings on at least nine grand prix weekends, but the Ferrari protege is also closing on a chance to keep racing somewhere in 2012 to stay sharp.


"We are working on it," said Bianchi. "We are not sure yet, but I will try to have another programme as well [as F1]."


Bianchi's manager Nicolas Todt told AUTOSPORT that a race deal elsewhere would complement his F1 responsibilities well.


"I think it's important for Jules to keep driving, keep racing," Todt said. "At least nine [grand prix] Fridays is good, but it's not huge mileage. With Ferrari and Force India we are looking at different possibilities.


"The main thing is I am very pleased that Jules has signed as third driver at Force India, because we have seen in the past it is the best team for giving a chance to young drivers.


"They know how to work with young drivers, and it is the best opportunity he could have apart from a race drive in Formula 1."


Bianchi and Todt would not be drawn on where the 22-year-old could end up racing, but a return to GP2 is unlikely given the proximity of its sessions to F1 running on GP weekends.



Fernando Alonso says he completely backs Ferrari's decision to produce a radical 2012 Formula 1 design, and argued that the F2012 can still be considered beautiful.


Ferrari's 2012 contender - launched in Maranello on Friday - features a dramatic step in its nose, pull-rod front suspension, and major aerodynamic and packaging changes over its predecessor.


Alonso said he had been excited by the unusual design from the outset - and was pleased that Ferrari was doing something different.


"With the new car the first feeling was very good from the beginning," he said in a video interview released by Ferrari.


"I like the shape, the creative shape that we see in this new car. I think when a car surprises you from the first look, it's always a positive thing and I quite like the car. Hopefully it's fast."


Alonso also defended the F2012's aesthetics.


"I like the innovative ideas that the car has," he said.


"I think all Ferraris are beautiful cars. I don't remember any Ferrari that is ugly or any Ferrari that you don't like. The red colour and the passion of each car that Ferrari does make the car beautiful anyway."


Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa said he was also pleased that Ferrari was exploring different design directions to its rivals.


"It's a very aggressive car. Different," said Massa. "I'm very enthusiastic that we're going to have a different car and a car where we go to a different direction in terms of development.


"We still need to get used to this nose, which is very strange due to the new rules. But apart from the nose the car is very aggressive and very nice and I hope we're going to see a very competitive car from the beginning to the end."

[media]
[/media]



Lotus has revealed its 2012 Formula 1 car, the E20.


The Enstone based team chose to launch the machine in an online broadcast from its factory. It will be given some demonstration runs at Jerez tomorrow ahead of the start of winter testing on Tuesday.


The car is outwardly one of the more traditional designs unveiled so far, though it features the stepped nose design now commonplace, and reverts to a traditional exhaust layout - as mandated by the 2012 regulations - after last year's experiment with a forward exiting exhaust. Team boss Eric Boullier hinted that the design featured plenty of subtle innovations.


"It's true that the team's reputation is good in terms of innovation and we brought through the last years some nice ones, and let's say some more delicate ones, but definitely we have some this year," he said.


The car is the first to be entered by the ex-Renault team under the Lotus title after the end of the branding dispute with rival team owner Tony Fernandes, whose erstwhile Lotus squad now runs as Caterham.


The E20 keeps the traditional black and gold colours used by the original Lotus F1 team in the 1970s and 80s, and features prominent new sponsorship from Unilever brands Rexona and Clear.


Lotus has brought 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen back into F1 to drive one of the cars, with '11 GP2 champion Romain Grosjean as his team-mate and ex-Virgin race driver Jerome D'Ambrosio acting as reserve.


Boullier said the priority was to bring a winning spirit back to Enstone, which had claimed championships in its Benetton and Renault eras, most recently in 2006 with Fernando Alonso.


"My biggest hope is obviously to bring this positivity back again and to make sure this team is again at the front of the grid and for many years and a long time," said Boullier.


"Also, to have all the people in Enstone enjoying life here and enjoying their passion for motor racing and F1.


"The fear is that we can have anything wrong which you cannot expect or handle and which would slow down this process."



Kimi Raikkonen is adamant Lotus is capable of building a winning car, as the team unveiled its 2012 challenger to the public on Sunday.


The Finn, the 2007 world champion with Ferrari, is returning to grand prix racing with Lotus after having left the sport at the end of 2009 to compete in the World Rally Championship.


Lotus, racing under the Renault name until last year, won its last race in the 2008 season with Fernando Alonso and has struggled to be competitive since.


Raikkonen is confident, however, that the team has what it takes to return to winning ways.


"I think these people know how to build a good car, and even the biggest teams cannot produce a winning car every year," said Raikkonen during the launch of the E20.


"They are very capable people and they have a good feeling about things and they're pushing hard so hopefully we will get good results."


The former world champion said he is not nervous about his return to racing despite an absence of over two years.


"Not really," said Raikkonen, who drove a two-year-old car last month in preparation for his return. "It will be something slightly different to what it used to be when I was in Formula 1 before - with a different team and different regulations, but everybody's different. For some people it's more difficult to get used to new stuff.


"And it depends a lot on the car - if you have a good car it makes your life easier than if you have an average car. I was pretty happy after the first test we did two weeks ago. It felt pretty normal already.


"I think it will be okay but before the first race it's really difficult to say still. We'll wait and see but I'm happy with how everything is going."


Raikkonen will be partnered by GP2 champion Romain Grosjean, who is making a comeback to Formula 1 after a short stint with the team in 2009.


The Frenchman says he is feeling upbeat ahead of his first full season with the team.


"2011 was a fantastic season for myself with the GP2 title and the Friday morning in the car and all the time at the track with the team as the third driver," Grosjean said. "I'm feeling quite good for the season. I'm very proud to be chosen as one of the drivers.


"So far I've a little bit more knowledge about the Pirelli tyres [than Raikkonen] but I think I will be able to get a lot from him. We need to work to bring the team as far forward as possible, which is our main goal. I'm very happy to be alongside him.


"We are all expecting a lot from this year. I've seen the car almost from the beginning to the end of the building, and we're all expectant to see the car on track and after the first four days of testing we will have a good idea of how the season will be."


Kimi Raikkonen insists motivation has never been an issue for him, and reckons he drove some of his best races during his last year in Formula 1.


Raikkonen left the sport at the end of a difficult 2009 season and spent two years in the World Rally Championship.


The Finn is now returning to Formula 1 with Lotus, and says people questioning his motivation are simply wrong.


"There's always talk about my motivation, written by people who don't know me and couldn't have an idea on how strong my motivation is," said Raikkonen as his team unveiled its 2012 car.


"If I didn't feel I had the motivation, I would stop. My feeling is that I probably drove some of my best races in my last season in Formula 1 and I was very happy with my performance.


"I've never had any issues with motivation."


Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, says he is not feeling pressure to win again as long as he feels he is giving his very best.


"I think people expect things from me, but as long as I know that I'm giving 100 per cent and I'm happy with my driving then I'm happy," he said. "If those aspects are true and it's not enough, then it's not enough."


The Finn will start testing Lotus's new car on Tuesday at Jerez.



Lotus team co-owner Gerard Lopez believes getting back into the top four in the Formula 1 constructors' championship is a realistic initial step for the squad in 2012.


The Enstone-based team was fifth in the standings for the past two years under its former Renault guise, having slumped to eighth in 2009. Prior to that, it had been in the top four for seven straight seasons, winning the '05 and '06 titles.


The team had high hopes for last year, but its radical exhaust concept did not work and lead driver Robert Kubica suffered horrific injuries in a pre-season rally crash.


Lopez said he hoped the team could make up for the false start of 2011 and start making progress with the E20, which will be driven by F1 returnees Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.


"The hopes are to be able to get one season together and do what we were expecting last year," he said.


"We hope to have a strong car, and have strong drivers, one of which is of course an ex-world champion. We hope to bring the car up to the front of the pack and probably try to aim for fourth as a reasonable goal for this season."


The car is the first from the Enstone team to bear the full Lotus name after the end of the dispute over the use of the brand in F1.


"We're obviously extremely proud that finally the Lotus name is a clear concept for everybody in Formula 1 now," Lopez added.



Lotus team boss Eric Boullier says 2012 will still be a year of adjustment for the outfit, with 2013 the first season when it will be fully operational.


The team has undergone several changes, including a new ownership, over the last year and faces 2012 with relatively modest goals after a difficult 2011.


Racing under the Renault name, the team finished in fifth place in the standings last year, and Boullier wants to go one better in the upcoming season.


"Obviously 2012 is very welcome after a poor 2011 and very hectic year," said Boullier. "It's clear we've maintained our ambition on track and we want to carry on the full restructuring, progress and change that we started one year ago. We now have a clear target.


"We know that we have a strong commitment from our shareholders, that we want to be a top team and seen as a top team. 2012 will be the year of our final adjustment to be ready and fully operational from 2013 with an ambitious plan.


"For 2012 we expect to be in a position to fight for fourth place for the championship."


He added: "We have conducted a very long and deep process since 2010. You cannot return to being world champion in one day or one month. You need time.


"We had a complete review of our process and structure. 2012 will be the final step towards building a winning and ambitious team, as I've said before; a clear target for 2012 and also after 2014."


Boullier also reckons having signed Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean shows how eager the team is to return to winning ways as soon as possible.


"I think our driver line-up reflects the ambition of this company and this team," he said. "It is clear that to have Kimi back on track - on top of being a nice media and PR action - we need a driver of the calibre of Kimi to be able to fight for the top positions.


"It is also good to have Romain joining us because he has clearly demonstrated his value, talent and speed over the last 18 months. He is definitely now mature and ready. He is good for the French market, for Total and for Renault. It's good to see him with us. He is our future."

[Lineker]

Defending world champion team Red Bull Racing has unveiled the car with which it will attempt to stretch its title-winning run in 2012 - the Renault-powered RB8.

Having taken Sebastian Vettel to the the last two drivers' titles alongside its 2010 and '11 constructors' crowns, Red Bull's latest design is the most eagerly awaited of the new season contenders. Adrian Newey, the man generally regarded as the key to Red Bull's recent domination, is again responsible for leading the car's design.

The car appears outwardly similar to last year's all-conquering RB7, which won 12 of 2011's 19 races, but features a revised nose layout and a different exhaust to accommodate this season's rule changes.

Vettel and Mark Webber continue their driving partnership into a fourth season. Ex-Toro Rosso racer Sebastien Buemi is now RBR's reserve.

Adrian Newey said that the tightening of Formula 1's technical restrictions for 2012 have left him frustrated.

Red Bull's chief technical officer, who was speaking at the launch of the team's new RB8, said that in particular he lamented the clampdown on exhaust rules for this season that have effectively outlawed the exhaust-blown diffuser concept that last year's Red Bull incorporated so well.

"Regulation restrictions like the lost exhaust are a bit frustrating in truth, because they are exactly that, they are restrictions, they're not giving new opportunities or revenues particularly, they're just closing a door," he said.

"Regulation changes I enjoy, regulation restrictions I rather lament.

"[This year] we have lost the exhaust technology with the restriction exhaust outlet position that we were able to develop and perhaps be ahead of the pack on in the last couple of years, that led to a big rethink over the winter.

"Whether that will affect us more than other people is difficult to know of course. We designed the RB7, last year's car, around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so. So it may be that we've lost more than other people through that. Only time will tell, but it will be good to get out to do some testing and to see where we get to."

Newey confirmed that the concept for the RB8 has been altered considerably compared to the title-winning RB7 of 2011, due to the fact that exhaust-blown diffusers are no longer being used.

He said that the resultant change in the positioning of the exhaust outlets - which must be placed in a specific location and at a mandatory angle – has will cause the car to run a lower rear ride-height and therefore a lesser rake angle than the 2011 car.

"RB7 was designed around the exhaust," he added. "[but] this year, knowing that the exhaust position from last year would be taken away, we've had to go back and look at how we developed the car through the last one and two years with the side exit exhaust.

"We've had to, if you like, make sure that the routes we had taken that were only suitable for that exhaust position, had to be re-evaluated.

"Probably one of the key things there is the rear ride height. The [2011] exhaust allowed us to run a high rear ride height. It's much more difficult without that to sustain a high rear height so we have to go back down and have to redevelop the car around that lower ride height."

Red Bull Racing starts 2012 fresh from the most successful car build and winter preparation in its history, according to team boss Christian Horner.

The head of Formula 1's reigning champion team said the creation of the new RB8 - which was revealed online today - had been an exceptionally smooth process.

"This year's car build has gone fantastically well, and I think it's the epitome of continuity... continuity across all areas," said Horner in a video interview released by the team.

"I think we've designed and built this car in a record amount of time, in a ridiculously short amount of time.

"Adrian [Newey] is never famous for his drawings being early, but the design team, the production teams, all the associated departments that go into producing these cars, have delivered, and delivered in a fantastic way.

"We've hit our target of being at the first test so, despite the snow over the latter part of this week, I think we're in great shape for the first test."

Horner feels that the continuity of staff within Red Bull, allied to its run of success, has given the team great momentum that will make it tough for rivals to topple in 2012.

"I think that we've evolved as a team, as a unit," he said.

"I think we have tremendous strength and depth and I think that we've enjoyed great continuity over the last few years.

"As we've evolved and as departments have worked closely with each other you can see, in the detail of the car and the continuity that we've had in our production techniques and our development rate [and] in some of our simulation tools, that [it] all adds up to achieving the kind of team work that we strive for.

"I think we're well set for the season ahead. You can never take anything for granted. We certainly don't underestimate the quality of our opponents, but we're going into 2012 with a lot of determination to keep the two trophies in their cabinets."

Sebastian Vettel believes the tightening up of the technical regulations will make it much harder for Red Bull to repeat its 2011 dominance.

The double world champion stormed to the title last year with the RB7, but he feels that any expectation that the team could enjoy a similar advantage this year would be misplaced.

"We'll always look back to 2011 and think how special it was," said Vettel, speaking during the launch of the new RB8 car.

"But to be honest, you don't start the season having expectations to have the same or similar season again.

"It would be wrong to go into this season and expect 2011 to happen again, as in getting into the lead early and having a very big gap to other competitors in the championship.

"The thing is, at the beginning of last year we didn't really expect whatever happened last year, so I think it's the same again."

Vettel explained that the changes to the technical rules, especially regarding exhaust blown diffusers, reduce any team's chances of gaining a big advantage over the rest of the field.

"Looking at the cars, there's not much room we have left to play with for designers and to find something extra," he added. "The last two years we have had two big things taken away; the double diffusers, plus, for this year, the system around the exhaust.

"So we are missing that and therefore I think it's difficult to really create a difference. Obviously we hope our car is better than all the others but it will be difficult. I think the cars will be fairly similar, and the gaps will be even closer than they have been.

"I think it will be very, very tight this year and anything else would be a surprise to be honest."

Mark Webber says he is looking forward to proving himself again in 2012 after his difficult '11 Formula 1 season.

The Australian only won one race last year as his Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel swept to a dominant championship triumph.

Webber acknowledged that Vettel's form during his title-winning seasons had set a tough benchmark, but said he was raring to get the season underway and show that 2011 was just a blip.

"Many sportsmen or women, when you don't get the most out of a situation, you always want to come back and improve and do a better job," said Webber in a video interview as part of the launch of Red Bull's new RB8.

"The bar has been lifted very, very high in the last few seasons and it's the challenge I'm looking forward to.

"I've had a really good winter and prepared for the season as best I can so I'm looking forward to the new season, I just cannot wait to get racing. We can talk a lot about it but we need to get on the track."

Webber added that he did not feel his 2011 campaign had been as disappointing as it had been portrayed.

"As you say last year wasn't an amazing season, but it wasn't too bad for me," he argued. "I still managed to finish third in the drivers' championship, not far off second with Jenson [button] there, so it was a great way for me to finish the year with the victory in Brazil and many strong results.

"We're always learning as athletes and I'm looking forward to 2012, it's got some great opportunities for me.

"You know the old cliche take each race as it comes but that's how it will be initially and we'll go from there."

Kimi Raikkonen can lead Lotus back to winning ways, according to team principal Eric Boullier.

Boullier believes that the 2007 world champion's experience means that he will give the team the clear direction that it needs to deliver on its potential.

"Clearly, he brings a commitment to winning and he knows what he wants," said Boullier. "He is a proper racer and fits in well with a team that is a bunch of proper racers.

"When he is in the car, he knows exactly what he wants and that makes the team's life easier.

"It means more ambition and more responsibility [for the team] but it is also a different way of working with a world champion. He wants to win again and that's an ambition that we share."

Boullier also believes that it will be easy for him to get the best out of Raikkonen during 2012 and that the Finn proved how committed he is during two days of running in a 2010 Renault at Valencia last month.

This is despite question marks over the Finn's motivation to race in F1 after two years in the World Rally Championship.

"How difficult will it be to me?" he said when asked about motivating Raikkonen. "For me, very easy.

"It was an easy discussion [to sign him up] and when he did the couple of days running he showed the team how motivated and professional he is.

"It was a huge boost for the team morale and the team motivation."

Kimi Raikkonen says he has fewer concerns about adapting to 2012-spec Formula 1 after two years away from the sport following his two-day test at Valencia a couple of weeks ago.

The 2007 world champion, speaking at the launch of the new Lotus E20 at Jerez, said that while Pirelli's tyres were always going to provide his steepest learning curve, he felt that his run on the demo rubber in a two-year-old Renault had displaced any worries about getting up to speed quickly.

"The tyres are probably the biggest difference since I left, and that's what people were saying," said Raikkonen. "But since the test two weeks ago I have less worries about the whole thing than I had before.

"So we will see where we are when the first race comes.

"For me it was nice to get back in the car again. It is very difficult to say how well we went, but I got back all the feeling about driving the car and got used to working with the team. That was really the main goal, to learn.

"It was interesting to drive and get a little bit back that feeling."

Raikkonen, who shook the Renault-powered E20 down during a team filming day at Jerez on Monday, said that in the short period of time that he had been working with Lotus he had been convinced that all the ingredients were in place for the squad to return to a championship-winning level.

"Nobody knows exactly [how long it will take]," he said. "The team has a lot of hunger to do well and to get back their winning ways but it's not easy. If it was, everybody would do it. But definitely there are people who want to get back there and put in the effort for it.

"They have won it before so they have all the tools to do it. It's just about getting everything right and being up there all the time so hopefully it can happen soon, but everybody seems hungry to do it."

Raikkonen said that he was not expecting many changes on his return and that many of the faces in the paddock were similar to those he had left behind when he walked away from the sport at the end of 2009.

Responding to a question that suggested he was no longer enjoying the sport when he left, Raikkonen replied: "That was only your opinion, I would have left earlier if I wasn't having fun.

"I always said that I loved the racing and I have always been very happy to race. There were a lot of stories from all of your [the press] side about my motivation, but I never had any issues with that. This has come from nothing from my mind.

"I don't think I look at Formula 1 any differently," he said. "It's a new year and there are some different things from in the last few years, but I know the sport, I know how things work here.

"The racing is going to be a little different but all the other things are more or less the same. OK from team-to-team it changes in things outside of the racing but I feel sure it is going to be similar experience."

Romain Grosjean is confident he returns to Formula 1 a far stronger and more rounded driver than he was in 2009 - in part as a result of the flak he attracted while contesting the final seven races of that year.

Speaking at Jerez, the Frenchman admitted that he had made mistakes after replacing Nelson Piquet at Renault in late 2009 – after which he was dropped by the team in favour of an all-new line up the following year.

Rather than leaving him with a point to prove in 2012, however, Grosjean says the experience – and the resulting detractors – helped strengthen his determination and therefore aided his return to the F1 fold.

"All I want to say to the people who didn't believe in me is 'thank you'," he said after taking the covers off Lotus's E20. "Thank you for making me stronger, which has helped me get back to Formula 1.

"Every experience can be turned into a good one if you come back stronger. My first season in F1 was not so easy, but now I'm much more ready.

"2009 I made some mistakes – I was up against Alonso, who was quicker, and I didn't do everything right. To be honest that was quite helpful though, and I'm better now than I was.

"I'm living my dream; there's nowhere else I want to be and I'm very proud to have this chance again."

Grosjean said that having Kimi Raikkonen as a team-mate would also be a benefit – both as a personal benchmark and to the team's future development.

"We want to bring Lotus forward as quickly as possible from Melbourne, and I think having Kimi in the team will help us," he explained.

"It will be good for me to have him as a benchmark. We have the same spirit and we want the same thing, and those are the best qualities to develop the squad.

"Maybe I can give him information at the start, but he is a world champion – he won't need that much time to adapt. We can share our thoughts though, and that will be the best way to develop the team."

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier believes that the priority for his outfit is to get back into a "positive spiral" through its on-track performance in 2012.

Last year, the Enstone outfit started strongly with third places in Australia and Malaysia but faded in the second half of the year and finished only four points clear of sixth-placed Force India in the Constructors' Championship.

While Boullier shares the target set out by team owner Genii Capital's Gerard Lopez of finishing fourth in the standings, he feels that it is most important to regain the momentum that it lost last year.

"The real objective this year is to have a positive upward spiral and to make sure that the team is getting better and improves throughout the year building up the ambition we have to be a top team," said Boullier.

"This means that we want to get back to where we were at the beginning of 2011, getting better and better every year and establishing it as one of the top teams in the short term.

"I don't want to put a figure on our ambition because it's difficult to say which position [we want to finish] but we would like to improve and do better. That means being better than the top five."

Boullier has backed the staff of his Enstone team to deliver on that ambition and allow Lotus to score consistently again after managing only seven points in the final nine races of last year.

He has no doubt that Lotus is on the cusp of a good season that can deliver on his expectations.

"It's going to go well," he said. "If you look at the car, you will see that the finish is very nice. It's clearly two steps better.

Technical director James Allison has no doubts that the team has the potential to make the step up to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, adding that the priority is to create a platform to emerge as a title-winning force in the coming years.

"Coming fourth will be a good solid step forward for the team, and a good platform for us to go on over the next two or three years after that to start to have a proper tilt of the title," he told AUTOSPORT.

"It is a tremendously hard step, and coming fourth for the team at this stage in its life would be a very, very good achievement and everybody would be delighted with it."

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier is confident that the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has a strong future, despite the departure of several members.

Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Sauber all decided to quit FOTA at the end of 2011 as a legacy of the ongoing row over the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).

The move prompted doubts over the future of FOTA, but Boullier, who remains as vice-chairman for 2012, is confident that the body can not only survive but also thrive because co-operation with the non-member teams is still ongoing.

"FOTA was created in 2008 by car manufacturers to fight against some people and to maybe go for a breakaway series - that story we know," he said at a Lotus launch event at Jerez on Monday.

"FOTA today faces a different challenge, and to understand if FOTA is relevant, that is the first question. The second question is, what do we want to achieve with FOTA? I think this question has been asked, and we have got a proper answer now.

"Even the teams who have resigned from FOTA are still working with FOTA, in terms of factory shutdown, testing agreement, and RRA. So, from that perspective, there will be no change.

"So at least if we can still work on making F1 better, more sustainable and help F1 to be better, that is what FOTA should be."

Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn said that despite leaving FOTA, her outfit would remain keen to work with the other teams on future plans.

"Our FOTA membership has now come to an end and, because of that, definitely we will be on our own like others are," she explained at Jerez.

"I would not exclude that we will still be talking about points like this because, in other areas, we are definitely continuing our talks with FOTA.

"We are respecting the agreements that were signed under FOTA, even though legally they are not depending on us being a member of FOTA or not – like the RRA. We also agreed on the factory shutdown this year which is again done under FOTA originally.

"So getting out of FOTA does not mean that we have just broken all contacts over there. We had our reasons [for leaving] which we explained to FOTA, but that does not stop us cooperating with other teams."

Kimi Raikkonen said his initial impressions of the new Lotus E20 are good following a rollout with the car at Jerez.

The Finn, whose team unveiled the Renault-powered car yesterday, completed 22 laps of the Spanish circuit, performing system checks at low speed.

Raikkonen will begin testing properly tomorrow, when most F1 teams will begin the preparations for the 2012 season.

Although the former world champion used just first and second gears during the run today, he was pleased with how the car felt.

"It's great to see the E20 at a race circuit and even better to get behind the wheel," said Raikkonen at the end of the day.

"It's always frustrating to be in a new car and not be able to drive it at maximum attack, but thankfully I will have that opportunity for the next two days.

"My initial impressions are good, I fit comfortably in the car and it feels great in first and second gear; now let's see what it can do tomorrow."

Gerard Lopez says his team is fully committed to retaining the Lotus name in Formula 1, even if circumstances play out that the sportscar manufacturer no longer sponsors his outfit.

The future of Lotus has been the subject of intense speculation over the last few weeks with owner DRB-Hicom Berhad suggesting it may sell on the business after buying it from parent company Proton.

Lopez's Genii company has expressed an interest in buying Lotus for himself, but there is also a chance that someone else could step in - and then decide not to continue with its motorsport programme.

When asked at Jerez if the Lotus team would keep its name whatever happens, Lopez said: "Yes we would. We've decided to separate both issues just in case.

"Essentially the name is something that we want and we can carry over regardless. Again, it's an historic brand. We were never going to call it Genii F1 team or something like that. Coming up with a new name was something that we could have done, but being able to associate yourself with an iconic brand, I think it's good business practice and I think more than that it just makes a lot of sense.

"At this stage, we are representing Lotus as a car company. There are obviously ties and so on, through the car company, but we don't pretend to be the company... to run the racing.

"Sure, we represent a car company today, hopefully that will continue to be the case. But if not, it's still a very strong brand to carry."

Lopez admitted in public for the first time that his company would be interested in buying Group Lotus if a deal was good enough for Genii.

"It's a great, great brand," he said. "People have said if there is deal to be had then we would be interested, which is wrong.

"If there is a way that we think that the company can be bought, and run successfully, then of course we would be interested. We are carrying the brand now on our cars, there is an emotional attachment to it, there is also a belief that a number of things we are doing are right in terms of cars. Some things might be better but, overall, I think we would show interest if we believe that there is something good that can be done."

Lopez said he expected the situation to become much clearer in the next few weeks, as DRB-Hicom decides what it wants to do.

Sauber became the sixth Formula 1 team to unveil its car for the 2012 season on Monday morning when the wraps came off the new Ferrari-powered C31.

The Swiss squad finished in seventh place in the standings in 2011 after scoring 44 points following a strong start to the season.

After a drop in performance during the middle part of the year, Sauber managed to keep rival Toro Rosso at bay thanks to two point-scoring results in the final races of the season, thus securing seventh position.

The team will have an unchanged line-up for 2012 in Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez.

The Hinwil-based squad will start the season without its technical director James Key, who announced last week he was leaving the team he had joined at the start of 2010.

"Our goal is to finish regularly in the points so as to put ourselves in a significantly better position in the world championship," said team boss Peter Sauber.

"We are looking forward to another season working with our young and talented drivers. Kamui will be competing in his third full season in F1. Last year we asked him to take on leadership responsibilities within the team and he has grown into the role.

"With his rookie season behind him Sergio is now approaching his second season, which is often the most difficult in a driver's Formula 1 career. Both drivers have huge potential and will work with the same race engineers as in 2011 to continue developing that promise."

The C31 continues with the trend set by other teams and it incorporates a stepped nose.

Unlike last year, the new Sauber features a pull-rod design for its rear suspension, allowing for improved packaging of the rear spring and damper elements.

Sauber's new car is expected to complete its first run at Jerez later this morning.

Kamui Kobayashi says Formula 1's various regulation changes for 2012 should serve as a boost to Sauber.

Speaking at Jerez, where the team unveiled its C31 challenger, the 25-year-old Japanese driver predicted the effective ban on exhaust-blown diffusers would work in his - and Sauber's - favour.

Both were hit particularly hard by last year's diffuser race, with Kobayashi scoring 25 of his 30 points in the first seven races of the year before a mid-season slump coincided with the team's decision to halt development work.

"Last year the exhaust performance affected speed, and we had developed it well but stopped before Silverstone and lost performance," Kobayashi explained.

"This year we definitely have a better chance because this [exhaust-blown diffusers] has gone, [so] we don't have to try something different to find downforce.

"Pirelli's [change in compounds] is also a good direction for us. As you know our performance and race pace is normally quite good. If we have more chance [in qualifying] we can be better."

Kobayashi did however caution Sauber, saying it was imperative that the team found the correct development path as early as possible during the season.

"Last year our biggest problem was with the exhaust [regulations], and we struggled for some points in the middle of the season." he explained.

"Last year we stopped [development] before the middle of the season; this year we have to really focus on how we develop the car.

"We have to really judge what we develop, which parts we focus on - this has to be investigated with the team. Hopefully if we don't miss it we can keep all our performance from beginning to end."

Sergio Perez is embracing Pirelli's 2012 generation of tyres, which will be closer in performance between the compounds.

He admitted, however, that it is too early to tell whether they will allow him to manage them better than his rivals in the way he could with last year's Sauber.

Perez was one of a few drivers who was able to exploit the degradation of the Italian rubber to his advantage last year, by pitting later or sometimes not as many times as his rivals during races.

Speaking at the launch of the Swiss team's new challenger, the C31, at Jerez on Monday, the 22-year-old Mexican said that he believes Pirelli's decision to close the laptimes between its hard and soft tyres was good for Formula 1.

"I think it will make the races more interesting because you have a more open window to work with, with strategies - which is important," he said. "Definitely the races will be more exciting."

Perez also believes the new rules could even play to the advantage of Sauber, if the new car proves to be as soft on its tyres as its predecessor.

"If you look at some races like Nurburgring last year where it was quite cold and we had the hard compound, there was a very big difference and it affected our team a little bit more because we could not warm up the tyres," he said.

"My style and also the car helped to make the tyres last longer. We don't know how this year's car will work with my style and how it will perform in the races, so we will have to wait and see.

"And even though we are starting testing now the conditions will change a lot once we get to the first race so it is something we will see during the season. We will learn during the season how the tyres work and what the driver can do to save tyres without losing time."

Perez said that his focus for 2012 was to build on his strong rookie season and maintain momentum, which meant scoring points regularly this year.

"I think our team has done a very good job over the winter and also last year developing our car," he said. "I'm confident we have a good car and a strong package. Our target is definitely to improve from last year."

Perez remains a member of Ferrari's young driver programme, but said that while he would continue to work for the Scuderia through 2012, his focus was on delivering as strong a season as possible for Sauber.

"Of course I will be going there sometimes to work with the simulator, but the main objective now if for me here because this is a very important season," said Perez. "I am very focussed on that."

Sauber is confident that its chances of delivering its target of regular points finishes in 2012 will not be dented by the departure of technical director James Key.

The Hinwil-based outfit announced last week that Key was to leave the outfit to take up a job offer in Britain, with fresh speculation suggesting he could temporarily take on a role in sportscars before returning to F1.

The loss of Key, who joined the outfit in the middle of 2010, comes just a few weeks before the start of the campaign but Sauber chiefs are optimistic that the new structure it has in place should not lead to any problems while other staff fill his old responsibilities.

Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn said: "The situation was not fitting well for a while, so you of course start considering what you can do.

"The people who are now in charge of the performance of the car have already been there, they have been in charge of it before as well, so we don't expect any destabilisation to happen. Moreover the car is ready, we know what the plan is, so we really do not expect this."

Sergio Perez also reckons that the team had such a strong technical strength that Key's departure would not hurt it.

"The way I see it is we have already a strong team," said the Mexican. "James was a key person and a good leader, but I think we have very good people at the team who can do the job and the team will be together. I am really confident that the team will be really strong."

Although Kaltenborn did not want to divulge too much background about the reasons for Key's departure, she suggested that both parties realised their working relationship was not panning out as hoped.

"He is not here so, to be fair, for a while both sides have been feeling that things are not working out, and also not the way both sides expected it. I guess this situation is the result of that.

"James Key joined us at the time where we were in the transformation from a works team to a private team, and his contribution was very valuable. So we are very thankful to him for that. We now have a structure in place that we are confident about. It is the right one for the team to go ahead, so it is not any short term solution for us but a long-term structure."

Kaltenborn also denied reports that the team's decision to not seek another technical director - instead using department heads to oversee the car evolution – was down to a lack of budget at the team.

"There are reports around that we will not replace our technical director because we lack funds," she said. "Now just to be clear and open here, if we look back 20 years the team has always lacked funds – sometimes bigger than other times. You will see the day when there is no gap in our budget because then we will be driving more in front, so it is easy to monitor."

Kaltenborn said that talks were ongoing with sponsors, and that she was hopeful new deals could be signed before the start of the season.

"We are also negotiating with new partners so I am quite confident that our livery will look different by the time we are at the first race," she said.

Sauber is confident that it will continue to have a tyre management advantage in 2012 having made retaining that characteristic its "primary" goal with the new C31.

According to chief designer Matt Morris, keeping tyre degradation minimised has been a fundamental part of the design concept for the new car. This is despite tackling the tyre warm-up problems that blighted the team during qualifying last season through changes both to the front and rear suspension.

"That was our primary goal, to make sure that we maintain our good tyre management and also get the flexibility to allow more setup changes, particularly in qualifying," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT if he expected Sauber to continue to have a tyre advantage.

"It is always a compromise between qualifying and the race. We've got some very good guys back at the factory working in the performance group continually trying to understand the tyres and what we need to do in terms of car setup to get the most out of the tyres.

"Last year, we suffered a lot in qualifying, so that [improving setup options] has been a big priority for us this year. We have got new front and rear suspension, which allows us lots more setup tools, so we feel that this is one of the areas that we need to focus on.

"There are a lot of other areas, including how we deal with the exhausts, and again we have spent a lot of time over the winter developing those areas."

Morris added that the car is almost entirely comprised of new parts, but that the design philosophy that drove last year's Sauber C30 has been carried over.

He also confirmed that the team has a busy schedule of upgrades in the works, although the upcoming tests will have a big influence on the schedule for improvements.

"Pretty much the whole car is new in terms of the chassis," he said. "All of the suspension is new, so there is very little carryover.

"In terms of development, we have a very busy three tests ahead of us, which will hopefully give us some direction. It's hard to put upgrade timelines in place, but after testing we will know a lot more.

"The chassis has been designed around a much tighter package, but although it's tight it's flexible in allowing us to introduce lots of different aerodynamic developments that we've got between now and Melbourne. The exhaust regulations have also been a big challenge.

"We have a base car here that we are rolling out to test lots of different options. We feel we have put in place a very flexible car to challenge for points coring positions."

Kamui Kobayashi is confident that Sauber can hit the ground running when testing starts tomorrow after driving the Swiss team's new C31 for the first time at Jerez today.

Kobayashi completed a day of promotional running, as permitted by regulations that allow up to 100kms of track time for filming purposes, and is happy that the car has proved itself to be reliable and ready for a full day of testing tomorrow.

"It's difficult to talk about the car in detail because it's on promotional tyres and it will be completely different tomorrow but the car is working fine," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT about his first impressions of the machine.

"We had no problems and went through the programme so I am happy. It was a good start to us. We can start tomorrow with more detailed testing and are not worried about trouble from the first moment."

Kobayashi said that he had no visibility problems because of the lower nose height dictated by the regulations.

He added that the car did not feel noticeably different from last year despite the change in regulations design to prevent exhaust gases being used to drive the diffuser.

"Nothing changed," he said. "It's difficult to say what is different but it seems [similar]. But I didn't really push today so I don't know."

Scuderia Toro Rosso was the third team to launch its car for the 2012 season on Monday, unveiling the STR7 at the Jerez circuit.

As expected, the car features a stepped nose, similar to that seen in all the 2012 cars unveiled so far apart from the McLaren, which opted for a different approach.

The Toro Rosso, powered by Ferrari engines for the sixth season in a row, will be driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne after the team opted for an all-new line-up for the upcoming season.

Last year, the Faenza-based squad finished in eighth place in the standings with Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi at the wheel.

"On Saturday at 10am when loading the car I wasn't convinced we could do it in time as there was so much snow, but we did it," said team boss Franz Tost during the launch.

"The STR7 is the third car designed, fabricated and assembled completely by Toro Rosso. We have invested a lot of money to build up the infrastructure and I hope the results will be good in the forthcoming season. This investment was only possible because we have strong partners.

"Tomorrow we go out the first time with the new car and it is always something very special. We have two new highly skilled drivers and I am convinced both will do a very good job.

"Last year we finished eighth in constructors' and this year we hope to do better, so seventh or more."

The new car will take to the track for the first time tomorrow, with Australian Ricciardo doing the driving.

Scuderia Toro Rosso is set to revise its nose concept later this year, after technical director Giorgio Ascanelli admitted the version on its launch car was not aggressive enough.

With much focus this year on the stepped nose designs incorporated by teams, Ascanelli believes it is one area of its design where more work needs to be done.

"I think we could have been more aggressive, but at the end of the day the fact that we had to homologate the car before running here just cut down our development time," he said following the launch of the STR7 at Jerez on Monday.

"Really, we got to that point when it was time to launch the impact campaign. There are [other] solutions being studied."

Ascanelli suggested a new nose would appear over the course of the campaign, but he ruled out going as far as needing a new chassis.

"I am not going to do another chassis, but I think I am going to do another nose. Like we did last year, but last year it took a little bit too long. Hopefully this year we are better prepared for it."

Ascanelli has labelled his team's 2012 challenger a 'revolutionary evolution', with the design featuring some aggressive updates of concepts it introduced last year - like the twin-floor.

He said the decision to lengthen the gearbox was the result of the team electing to shorten its chassis for aerodynamic reasons.

"The team has also been able to undercut the sidepods even more than last year, with the radiator inlets being quite small, because it has fitted another cooling inlet underneath the airbox.

"We have raised the sidepods again and moved the cooling behind the head of the driver," he said. "It's a shorter chassis, with a longer gearbox, so we will see."

Daniel Ricciardo says he is ready to assume the role of team leader at Scuderia Toro Rosso if he can assert himself over new rookie team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne in 2012.

The Australian, speaking at the unveiling of the STR-7 at Jerez on Monday, indicated that the team's goal was to be a regular points finisher and that he wanted to be able to deliver that as soon as possible.

"We have gone a step forward, and this is definitely a pretty obvious and big step hopefully towards the big one," said Ricciardo. "Everyone I'm sure has faith in their own team but I've definitely got it with mine. Seeing the work they have done over the winter, I've been in Faenza a few times in January and I know they are very happy with the final product. So now we'll see what it does on track."

Ricciardo added that based on Toro Rosso's form in the second half of 2011, there was strong evidence that the Red Bull-owned outfit could build on that momentum early in the season.

"I think if it's anything to go by how the performance was at the end of last year then we can definitely be realistic about points," he said. "It's probably easier said than done, but I am going to have a pretty competitive car this year, at least more so than I had than last year.

"We'll see tomorrow once testing gets underway and we know what we have got underneath us.

"I know they have just tried to go better than what they had already last year, so if it's an improvement on that then points are realistic."

Asked whether he was ready to step up and lead the team as its most experienced driver - STR sacked both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Algersuari at the end of last year - Ricciardo replied: "Yeah I would love to. That's the goal.

"The team hasn't set out a leader or anything but obviously if I can be the dominant driver I think that's everyone's little aim."

Jean-Eric Vergne says he hopes to thrive under the pressure of moving into Formula 1 with Toro Rosso.

The Frenchman believes competing for a team of more than 200 staff will help drive him forward in 2012 - as will the fact that he is partnering fellow Red Bull protege Daniel Ricciardo, who has the benefit of 11 grands prix with HRT from 2011 to fall back on.

"At the end of the day the driver must make the difference and bring the car home - and in a team with so many people there is obviously a bit of pressure there," Vergne said after unveiling his team's STR7 at Jerez.

"I like that though – it is what drives me forward.

"Being team-mate to Daniel will also help move me and the team [move] forward. I know him very well and he's a really good driver, so it's a great benchmark for me to have - although I am also working to be better than him."

Despite impressing in various test outings for both Toro Rosso and Red Bull in the past two seasons, Vergne - the 2010 British F3 champion - says he is remaining realistic about his prospects in 2012, and insists he has to prove he is worthy of his Toro Rosso seat.

"I have been with Red Bull for the past five years, working a lot with the team, and I also have done Friday practices with Toro Rosso, all of which I think helped convince them I was good enough to be in the car. I need to prove them right.

"I have a lot to learn, and I need to gain as much experience as possible, particularly from testing. It's going to be tough but I'm really looking forward to it.

"It would be nice to finish as many times as possible in the points, but first we have to see how our car compares to others. The team did an incredible job last year though and I hope this year we can do even better."

Jaime Alguersuari has revealed that he turned down another offer for 2012 because he believed his Toro Rosso seat was secure.

The Spaniard and erstwhile team-mate Sebastien Buemi were both dropped when Toro Rosso opted to promote Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne to its 2012 race seats.

Alguersuari insists that he had been assured by the Red Bull hierarchy that he would be kept on.

"I was verbally confirmed during the Brazilian GP," he said. "Hence, being confirmed by Red Bull and STR, I rejected a very good offer."

He added: "On December 13th, when Red Bull Racing told me that I was no longer part of the family I said that I was not going to judge them, neither I was feeling like a victim and that this was not a drama. But let me say just one thing: they hurt me, and moreover, it was unnecessary."

Although there are no more race seats available in Formula 1 for the upcoming season, Alguersuari said he was negotiating for a role with one of the leading teams and was not considering non-F1 options.

"I will never pay for a seat. In January I have had some conversations which might be decisive in my future with one of the top F1 teams," he said. "I must say that I had a very warm welcome, and they pay a lot of respect for me and we have opened a path.

"Obviously I can not reveal the nature of our intentions. All I will say is that I will be fully dedicated to F1 in 2012. My duty is being ready to deliver if the opportunity comes up. And that's what I'm doing now."

HRT and Williams still had vacancies when Alguersuari lost his Toro Rosso seat, and while he said he did not consider Williams - "today, they only need drivers that pay" - he did enter talks with the Spanish squad's boss Luis Perez-Sala before deciding against joining for now.

"We both had the same feeling," Alguersuari said. "HRT does not have a car for me today and I cannot liquidate my heritage at my age fighting to improve a car, which of course will be far behind on the grid.

"HRT is not an option for me now. I cannot bear to be penultimate on the grid every race. Luis did totally agree with me since the very beginning.

"Having said that I believe that [Pedro] de la Rosa has wide enough capacity to develop and improve these cars as well as the team. Maybe this opens new opportunities for the future. I'm convinced that the team that manages HRT will be capable of having a competitive car in the future."

Jacky Eeckelaert has left the HRT team, where he was heading up the design work of its new 2012 challenger.

The Belgian was appointed to the role last October after Geoff Willis left during the summer, but HRT has opted not to give him a new contract after his existing one expired at the end of January.

"It is part of the restructuring of the team and the decision was taken some time ago," a spokesperson told AUTOSPORT.

Chief designer Jean-Claude Martens is now in charge of overseeing work on the new car, which it is hoped will make its debut at the first Barcelona test that kicks off on February 21.

Martens joined the team in the latter part of 2011.

Simon Jenkins, formerly head of production, has also left the team after his contract expired. His role has been taken by Dave Campbell.

The team will start testing tomorrow at Jerez with its 2011 car.

[Lineker]

Kimi Raikkonen posted the quickest time in the first morning of testing in 2012 as the returning 2007 world champion set the pace in the new Lotus E20.

The Finn responded to the hype surrounding his return with four fast stints, and occupied the top spot on the timesheets from the minute he first left the garage.

His fastest time so far, a 1m19.670s, set on his third run using medium Pirelli tyres, was faster than any testing laps at the Spanish track throughout 2011.

Lotus confirmed that the team's programme was simply to put miles on the new car and to give Raikkonen as much time as was possible to get used to this year's Pirelli compounds. By 13:00 local time, the Finn had completed 50 laps.

Paul di Resta was second fastest in the new Force India, having spent much of the morning doing intensive evaluation of the VJM05 which sported a large pylon mounted on the roll-bar.

Nico Rosberg was third fastest, driving a 2011 Mercedes W02 with some modifications. Having initially worked on calibration and installation, the German quickly upped the ante and by lunchtime had worked down to a 1m20.219s lap on Pirelli's soft rubber.

Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest in the Scuderia Toro Rosso having completed a trouble-free 40 laps so far in the STR7, which was revealed to the world at Jerez on Monday evening.

Mark Webber completed just eight laps in the new Red Bull RB8 but finished as fifth quickest.

Kamui Kobayashi was sixth fastest in the Sauber C31. The Japanese driver's only problem was the loss of a small piece of the rear brake duct on his initial run, but the team quickly resolved the issue.

Jenson Button was seventh for McLaren, which took its time working through systems checks and installation runs. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa was eighth quickest for Ferrari. The Brazilian focussed on data gathering in the F2012 - which was also carrying a tall pillar on its roll-hoop.

Heikki Kovalainen completed 18 laps by lunchtime for Caterham - the Finn having achieved a best of 1m23.1748, ahead of Pastor Maldonado in the new Williams-Renault. The FW34 was also revealed to the world in a roll-out just before the start of the test this morning.

Pedro de la Rosa completed the order in last year's HRT.

Morning times:


Pos  Driver               Team                  Time        Laps

 1.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m19.670s    50

 2.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m19.772s    52

 3.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m20.219s    56

 4.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m20.694s    40

 5.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m21.474s     8

 6.  Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari        1m21.534s    29

 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.402s    22

 8.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m23.056s    51

 9.  Heikki Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault      1m23.178s    32

10.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m23.371s    23

11.  Pedro de la Rosa     HRT-Cosworth          1m24.322s    16


All Timing Unofficial[/code]


Kimi Raikkonen got his 2012 Formula 1 comeback off to a perfect start by topping the opening day of pre-season testing at Jerez.



The 2007 world champion went fastest straight out the blocks and was never displaced, as four fast stints in the morning allowed him to get down to 1m19.670s - faster than any testing laps at the Spanish track throughout 2011.



It was also faster than anyone else would manage all day, particularly with the afternoon proving slower than the morning.



Force India's Paul di Resta came closest to displacing Raikkonen at the top of the timesheets, missing out by just over a tenth of a second. A successful day was boosted by the fact that the British driver was able to complete over 100 laps.



Nico Rosberg, in charge of the 2011-spec Mercedes W02 in the morning, finished third fastest, narrowly ahead of Mark Webber in the new Red Bull RB8.



After a delayed start - the result of fog preventing rear wing components from arriving on time - the Australian was able to get within a second of Raikkonen in the afternoon.



Immediately after setting his best time Webber also blitzed the sector one speed trap, topping 300km/h for the first time - suggesting both he and the car have time in hand.



Daniel Ricciardo ended the day in fifth for Toro Rosso, although his session was cut short by a loss of oil pressure that brought about the first of the day's two red flags.



The second came with less than an hour of the session to run when Kamui Kobayashi pulled over on the back straight, having run out of fuel in his Sauber.



Unlike Ricciardo, the Japanese driver was able to rejoin shortly after, but could not improve his time and ended the day in seventh, behind Michael Schumacher – who replaced Rosberg at Mercedes for the afternoon.



Jenson Button and Felipe Massa ended the day eighth and ninth respectively for McLaren and Ferrari – Button 1.8s down on Raikkonen and Massa more than 3s off, having run with a periscope gauge attached to his roll bar for the entire day.



After a promising start, Heikki Kovalainen's day was cut short when his Caterham's starter shaft broke, and he finished the day in 10th. Only Williams driver Pastor Maldonado completed fewer laps – 25 to Kovalainen's 28 – but the Venezuelan was nevertheless able to secure 11th ahead of Pedro de la Rosa's 2011-spec HRT.



[code]Tuesdays times:


Pos  Driver               Team                   Time                Laps

 1.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault          1m19.670s            73

 2.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   1m19.772s  + 0.102  101

 3.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               1m20.219s  + 0.549   56

 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault       1m20.496s  + 0.826   53

 5.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m20.694s  + 1.024   57

 6.  Michael Schumacher   Mercedes               1m20.794s  + 1.124   41

 7.  Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1m21.353s  + 1.683  106

 8.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       1m21.530s  + 1.860   60

 9.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                1m22.815s  + 3.145   69

10.  Heikki Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault       1m23.178s  + 3.508   28

11.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault       1m23.371s  + 3.701   25

11.  Pedro de la Rosa     HRT-Cosworth           1m23.676s  + 4.006   44


All Timing Unofficial

Formula 1 team chiefs have admitted that the current political situation in Bahrain is a concern ahead of this year's race, but they are equally sure the FIA will do the right thing in deciding whether or not the event should go ahead.

The Bahrain Grand Prix returns to the calendar this year after the 2012 season opener was cancelled in the wake of political troubles in the Gulf state.

However, with reports of ongoing street clashes, there have been fresh doubts about whether or not the situation could deteriorate if a high-profile event like an F1 race takes place.

Speaking ahead of the opening pre-season test at Jerez in Spain on Monday, Sauber and Lotus bosses said they were monitoring the situation - but that the final decision on the event would rest with the FIA.

Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn said: "I think everyone, including the FIA and the commercial rights holder, we are concerned about the situation.

"But we, as the Sauber F1 team, are definitely not in the position to judge that very well. We have to trust in the FIA and the commercial rights holder, who have the call on this. And if we think it is the right thing to go there, we will definitely go there."

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier said: "We want to be racing and we want to be racing in every part of the world where we are welcome. Bahrain is one of these places.

"But with the political situation in Bahrain, it is up to the FIA to decide if it is safe to go. Obviously we have commitments with regard to the Formula 1 championship, so it is not an easy decision to take. We are waiting for the feedback from the FIA now on whether or not we are able to go."

Lotus F1 team owner Gerard Lopez reckoned that if guarantees provided to teams were met then he saw little reason for the event to be called off.

"All I can say is that Bahrain is a great country," he explained. "I love being there, the people are nice there, and the events have always been really well run. What I have been hearing is that a number of guarantees have been given in terms of how the things will happen and so on. So, if things look good, then there is no reason why we should not be able to go to Bahrain.

"If everything is run fair that is it. It would be wrong for the sport to be used politically, so if everything is set for F1 to go to Bahrain, then F1 should go to Bahrain."

Williams became the latest team to launch its 2012 Formula 1 car when it unveiled the FW34 in the Jerez pitlane just before the start of the opening pre-season test on Tuesday.

The FW34 is the first Williams to be produced since the major change of technical line-up at the team, which saw erstwhile technical director Sam Michael head for McLaren and co-founder Patrick Head step away from the F1 side of the operation. Mike Coughlan now leads the technical side of the operation.

The new car also sees the reunion of the multiple championship winning Williams-Renault partnership, as the Grove team switches from its previous Cosworth V8s to the engine that powered Red Bull to the last two titles.

On the driver side, Rubens Barrichello has been replaced by Bruno Senna, while Pastor Maldonado stays on and test driver Valtteri Bottas gets an enhanced role that will include some Friday practice mileage.

Williams is hoping that the FW34 will revive its fortunes after an awful 2011 campaign that saw it score just five points and finish ninth in the constructors' standings - the worst ever result for the team's current incarnation.

Pastor Maldonado believes a year of experience in Formula 1 will make it easier for him to help push his Williams team down the right development path with its FW34.

The Grove-based outfit is keen to bounce back from its worst ever season in F1, and it hopes revisions to its technical department and a switch to Renault engines can lift its form.

Although Maldonado has only a single campaign under his belt, he is confident that he now has enough knowledge of F1 to help Williams make good progress.

"I have faith in the FW34 and the Renault engine and so have high hopes for the races ahead," he said. "It will be very important that we develop the car from the start of the season to the end. Now that I have a year's experience, I can help in that area much more now."

He added: "We have many new components in the team so we will need to be focussed and work together well so that we may be stronger every day."

Bruno Senna feels that his contribution to Williams will be more than he has been able to give to his two previous outfits, because he is about to embark on his first pre-season testing campaign.

"I'm very excited to be back in action with the Williams F1 Team in Jerez," he said. "This is my ever first pre-season testing programme since I started in Formula 1 two years ago.

"I'm really motivated and looking forward to working hard and with everyone in the team. I hope we have a successful month testing and developing the car so we arrive in Melbourne as well prepared as possible."

Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan is confident that the team has now achieved technical stability after the upheaval of the past year.

Gillan, who was recruited along with chief designer Mike Coughlan and head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville after former technical director Sam Michael tendered his resignation last year, believes that Williams now has the long-term stability to fight its way back up the grid with the new FW34, which was unveiled at Jerez this morning.

"The key word is stability," Gillan told AUTOSPORT. "You must have good people, but you also need that stability. We have a reasonably new technical management team and that will ensure stability for a period of time.

"We have a huge wealth of experience with people who have been at Williams for a long time and we have bolstered that with key technical recruits in certain areas. That's something that has continued over the last year.

"It's a process that never stops, but definitely the improvement is there."

Gillan paid tribute to the strong design leadership that Coughlan had to bring to the team.

This is reflected both in the recent changes to the team and the new FW34.

"Firstly, we had to deal with the situation of the team and he is a clear, no-nonsense engineer who gives a very clear direction of where he wants to take the team technically," said Gillan. "That is very welcome from my side.

"And he has given very clear direction in areas of the car to make certain technical innovations.

"Everybody knows where we want to go, there are clear metrics in place to judge how well we are getting there.

"The proof of the pudding is the end of the season in terms of points. We have a clear design brief, a technical direction and a much better process in place."

Gillan is also hopeful that Williams will be able to improve on its development rate compared to last season.

During last year's review of the team, it was decided that too many parts were being tried and a new approach has been implemented aimed at making the factory more effective at serving the race team by producing components that deliver a definite advantage.

"I am very happy about the way that things are progressing there," said Gillan. "We have a very achievable, sensible plan in terms of integration of new components and also the test process before we hit the track in terms of sign-off so that when we get the components they are fit for purpose and ready to go on the car.

"That's a change of operation compared to last year. We need to prove it out that it works in the heat of battle at the track but it's looking very positive."

Frank Williams says the FW34 represents a 'truly fresh start' for the team ahead of the 2012 F1 season.

The team unveiled its car - the first to be produced since a major shake-up of its technical staff - in the Jerez pit lane shortly before the start of the first day of pre-season testing.

With co-founder Patrick Head and technical director Sam Michael departing, and Mike Coughlan taking over the technical side of the operation, Williams says the team's new car signified the new shape of his squad.

"One could say that looking at the Williams F1 Team today we are off to a truly fresh start," Williams said. "We have a new car, new driver line up, new engine and new senior personnel.

"We also have a number of new partners who have joined the team in the past few months. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome them formally and sincerely wish that they have an enjoyable and, most importantly, a valuable experience with us.

"The team has had a good winter at the factory and we feel ready and strong for the fight."

Mark Gillan, Williams's chief operations officer, said that continuous development of the car will be crucial for the team.

"It is imperative that we demonstrate a continuous improvement in our performance and deliver results throughout the season," Gillan declared.

"The factory has worked extremely hard over the winter to ensure that the car met its design, build and rig test targets.

"We will be working hard with our three exciting young drivers to ensure that we maximise and unlock the full potential of the FW34."

Lotus has expressed its disappointment at the FIA's decision to ban its reactive ride system for the 2012 season - but does not believe the move will hurt its performance too much.

The Enstone-based outfit had caused a stir at the start of this year when it emerged it was planning to run a radical system that maintained the ride-height of the car under braking. As well as providing an aerodynamic boost, this would improve stability.

While some other teams looked at developing their own systems, others suggested that the device was illegal – and in the end the FIA advised that it felt reactive ride should not be allowed because it was principally providing an aerodynamic benefit.

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier said he was far from happy that the FIA made that decision, having given his outfit the green light to pursue the concept as long ago as January 2010.

"I have to say it is very disappointing," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT about his team's reaction to the ban.

"We spent a lot of time and energy, plus money as well, to build a group that is bringing innovation and work into the system. It takes time to put this suspension in place, and took us a couple of years.

"Obviously we are not stupid, every time we go through the process, we go to the FIA, and the FIA is backing us up. Then, when you start to use it, to see it banned with no discussion is always frustrating. We have to respect the rule, but it is frustrating."

Lotus technical director James Allison believed that the decision to ban the reactive ride concept was a normal part of life in F1 – with teams constantly trying to push the envelope of the regulations to find an advantage.

"Honestly I think it was just part of the cut-and-thrust of F1 development," he told AUTOSPORT in an exclusive interview. "It is not without precedent, is it?

"There are lots and lots of times where we have been the beneficiary of that type of decision and other times when it has gone against us. But it is part of F1 that you try to come up with ideas that are novel interpretations.

"Charlie [Whiting] can give you an opinion, but then he can hear other arguments and he can then be swung by those. That is just a genuine part of the sport."

Michael Schumacher says he is very happy to have Kimi Raikkonen back in Formula 1, after the Finn completed a perfect comeback to testing on Tuesday.

Seven-time champion Schumacher last raced against Raikkonen in 2006, before the German retired from the sport.

Raikkonen, who finished second to Schumacher in the 2003 season, is back in F1 this year after a two-year hiatus, racing for the Lotus team.

"I'm happy for him, very happy for him," said Schumacher at the end of the day at Jerez, where Raikkonen was quickest.

"It is the first day and let's see at the end of the three days (Sic) and then we can make a proper judgement of what those times were worth. But I am really happy for the team and for him."

He added: "It's great to have so many world champions on the grid. It is going to be a good show for all of us."

Mercedes driver Schumacher completed half a day of work at Jerez today after taking over from team-mate Nico Rosberg, who drove in the morning.

Despite using last year's car, Schumacher said the test was important to gather tyre data.

"Basically to understand the new tyres," he said of the point of the test. "To get the basics right, we can obviously do cambers, pressures, and you can understand the tyres. Yes, ideally you have the new car, but ideally you want to keep the new car in the windtunnel as long as possible.

"So it is this compromise, or this strategy in order to perform the best and we chose a different way than the others. Let's see how it pays out."

The German was happy with how the new rear tyres performed, and said they were more fun than last year's rubber.

"The rear end tyre is certainly better, a real comparison is not possible because we only had new tyres on. They are definitely more consistent and more fun to drive."

Jerome d'Ambrosio has ruled out racing in any other series in between his commitments as Lotus reserve driver role in 2012.

The Belgian, who raced for Virgin last year, said at the launch of the Lotus E20 that he was fully focussed on his position within the team and hoped that it would lead to another race seat in Formula 1 in the future.

"There are really two ways to look at it," said d'Ambrosio. "Obviously I would rather be out driving but you have got to see behind that and definitely it is a good opportunity for me and that's what I believe in, and the people with me and behind me believe.

"So I really am taking this as the next step. I have done one year in Formula 1 with a smaller team, obviously working with a bigger team is very different and I am just trying to make the most of this opportunity to be back in a race seat in 2013.

"But for the moment I am focussed on that and we will see."

He added: "At the moment my programme on the driving is not clearly defined yet, but I am still focussed 100% on Formula 1 and so I have no intentions to race anywhere else for now."

Asked whether he would be able to assist Lotus's two race drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, neither of whom has competed in F1 since 2009, d'Ambrosio replied: "Obviously I have raced with DRS, but that is not so complicated to get used to I think. Probably there is more work behind KERS really.

"And the tyres, I do have a feel for them, but obviously it highly depends on what car you are driving so I guess I will have a different to feeling to the one I had last year with my other team.

"If I can have an input because of my experience last year, or because of rain inters tyres and stuff, then I will definitely do it."

The new Caterham CT01 broke cover at Jerez this morning, with Heikki Kovalainen taking to the track at the start of testing.

The car was the first to leave the pits when the track opened, completing a single installation lap before returning to the pits.

Kovalainen is scheduled to drive the car for the first two days, with recently-signed reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and Jarno Trulli then getting a day of running each.

The CT01 features the platypus nose that most teams have opted for following the change in regulations lowering the height of the nose, as well as more compact packaging around the sidepods.

It also features Red Bull's 2012-specification KERS unit, the first time that the team has used the system, and the reigning champion team's 2011 gearbox.

Heikki Kovalainen is adamant the new Caterham CT01 is a clear step forward compared to last year's car.

The team, racing under the Lotus name last year, was the first to reveal its 2012 challenger last month, and the car took to the track today at Jerez for its first outing.

Kovalainen's early running was hindered by some cooling issues, while his day came to an early end when the car's starter shaft failed, leaving the team unable to get it fired-up.

Despite this, the Finn was left convinced the car is quicker than last year's machine.

"I think I can confirm this car is already quicker than last year's car," Kovalainen told AUTOSPORT at Jerez. "The performance is better, and the rear has more grip, which is positive.

"The steering feels slightly more precise. I have only done three laps so I can't really tell more but, so far, positive feeling."

Kovalainen managed 32 laps before the lunch break, posting a 1m23.178s as his best time by then.

He admitted the difference to the team's first test of 2011 is quite significant, as the car is now fully ready to begin testing properly.

"We are here at the first test and we have all the parts for the car," he said. "Last year we were missing parts like the power-steering and the suspension. We had to compromise the set-up.

"Now we are just fully prepared and the car is ready to go and I believe if we can fix this cooling issue and we can crack on with some longer runs then we can get a better idea of where we are. What I see from the cockpit just feels very solid."

The Finn conceded it was impossible to say where Caterham stands, especially since he hasn't been able to work on the car's set-up.

"We've only done one set-up change so far, so those are the kind of things that we need to start doing and we will be able to see more after that.

"Once we've changed the ride height of the car - that is very important for the grip and we can balance the car for high speed and low speed to get a better idea - we will have some idea how it should work, but you just never know."

Caterham now has the package it needs to join the close fight in the midfield this season, according to Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost.

Although Caterham, under the Lotus moniker, has been the best of the new teams for the past two campaigns, it has not been quick enough yet to regularly challenge the more established outfits.

However, with stability on the engine front and the addition of KERS this year, Tost thinks his Hingham-based rivals should now make a good step forward in 2012.

"The main competitors for us are Sauber, Force India and Caterham," said Tost, during a media briefing at Jerez on Tuesday.

"Caterham, they have now built up a good infrastructure. They have the Renault engine, they have the KERS system from Red Bull, and that means their package from the technical side is quite strong. They have two experienced drivers and I expect them to become a competitor this year, yes."

Tost says that he wants to see his Faenza-based team make progress itself in 2012, with him demanding it finishes better than the eighth place result in the Constructors' Championship it achieved last year.

"Our target is the seventh place. We must be better than last year, where we finished in eighth position."

Daniel Ricciardo gave the new STR7 its first track test at Jerez on Monday and Tost said he was pleased with early progress.

"The car looks nice but the important thing is that the car is fast," he said. "My first impression is that the basis of the car is quite good. I was just on the track in some corners and although we did only a few laps because we still have to do some tests on the car, I think the basis of it is healthy. I hope that we will do a good step forward with this car to improve our performance."

Red Bull's RB8, the car with which it will bid to extend its championship-winning run, took to the track for the first time at midday at Jerez.

Mark Webber completed a single installation lap before returning to the pits.

The Australian is scheduled to drive the car for the first two days, before handing over to the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel for the final two days.

Although Red Bull officially unveiled the RB8 on Monday it had been kept largely under wraps at Jerez until Webber's opening run.

Ferrari, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Force India had all completed more than 30 laps by the time Webber went out.

The car appears outwardly similar to last year's all-conquering RB7, but features a revised nose layout and a different exhaust to accommodate this season's rule changes.

Red Bull Racing's success last year gives no guarantees that its new RB8 challenger will set the pace this season, according to chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

The car ran for the first time at Jerez today in the hands of Mark Webber. But despite the RB8 being the latest step in the evolutionary path that dates back to the 2009 RB5, Newey believes that the rule changes for this season mean that Red Bull does not necessarily carry an advantage over.

"We could well be behind as far as we know," said Newey at Jerez on Tuesday. "We know what we have done over the winter but with things like the exhausts, front wing stiffness [tests] and other things there have been significant regulation changes. Where that leaves us is impossible to say."

Newey believes that the new rules, conceived to prevent teams from running exhaust blown diffusers, is the main challenge facing the design teams for this year.

He claims that it is not possible to replace the effect of the exhaust gases, meaning that the team doing the best job to adapt to the changes will lead the way.

"When double diffusers were banned at the end of the 2010, we were able to largely replace the effect that they had with the exhausts," he said. This time around its' very difficult to replace the exhaust effect - we haven't managed to do it. Obviously, there is a re-optimisation to be done to the car.

"Whether we have done a better job on that than others is hard to know. There is no big grand idea that can replace that. It's about re-honing the car and understanding what is needed from the car with the exhaust gone."

Newey added that the platypus nose of the RB8 was the obvious choice despite being unhappy that it is not aesthetically pleasing.

He also claimed that the hole in the step section of the nose is for driver cooling despite some suggesting that it could have some alternative aerodynamic purpose.

"It's a shame to have to come up with a solution that is not particularly attractive," he said of the nose. "But ultimately performance has to come before aesthetics and this is no exception.

"The slot in the nose is simply driver cooling. Traditionally the driver cooling slot is at the front of the nose, but really for styling as much as anything we moved it to where you now see it to break up the aesthetics of the ramp."

Mark Webber says Red Bull recovered well from losing the first three hours of running on the opening day of Formula 1 winter testing when parts were late arriving.

Fog delayed the flight on which the final components for the new RB8 were being transported, forcing Webber to watch from the sidelines for much of the morning. He managed 53 laps once he was able to join the session, and went fourth fastest, 0.8 seconds behind pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus.

"It's never part of the plan to give up three hours," Webber admitted. "We're an incredibly well-organised team and very, very well-prepared, and that's something that is very unusual for us.

"But sometimes we can't control Mother Nature. We risked a tight schedule and we paid the price - that can happen sometimes."

He thinks Red Bull was able to make up for lost time once the car was ready.

"It was good actually. The recovery wasn't too bad, we got some decent running in," Webber said.

"It's always exciting to understand the new concept of a car, and Adrian [Newey]'s already in there having a look around and seeing if he can make the car quicker.

"Beautiful conditions down here, we're very fortunate with that, and the rest of the week bodes well in terms of getting information."

Webber added that the changes to the technical regulations - headlined by the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers - had not made a major difference to the feel of the car.

"The way that the blown diffuser was working the last year or so was quite powerful on the car's balance," he said. "We knew that was coming with the change in regulation and we were working hard to address it with the new aerodynamic package.

"It's different. Subtle changes, nothing massive."

Mark Webber says he is not concerned that the technical rule changes for 2012 will remove any of Red Bull's advantage or wrong-foot Formula 1's champion team.

Red Bull was felt to have been particularly adept at making the most of the exhaust-blown diffuser technology that has been outlawed for the new season, but after testing the RB8 for the first time at Jerez today, Webber said he was confident his team had found adequate solutions.

Asked if he felt there was less scope for Red Bull to gain an edge now, Webber replied: "Not really, I think we're such a strong team. We have a lot of bloody good people here, and we are constantly adapting, since '09 when we first started to come competitive."

He added: "We completely respect the rivals. There are no guarantees that we're going to go to Melbourne and clean up at all. There are going to be some quick cars out there, as there were today. But I have no doubt about the team here."

Webber admitted that the new rules had had a distinct effect on the feel of the car.

"The car's different on the brakes. The way that we use the engine as well - the engines were part of the aerodynamics, effectively," he said."

The Australian was fourth quickest today, and said his first impressions of the RB8 had been very encouraging.

"I feel good in the car. It's doing pretty much everything that we expected, which is always nice. There's no nasty surprises," Webber said.

"It's incredibly early in the concept of the car, obviously. A lot of questions still, a lot of things to go through, a lot of directions, a lot of ideas to work out what we need to do to put together a full championship, not just here at Jerez, but doing well for the whole season."

Mark Webber has come back stronger this season after struggling to match team-mate Sebastian Vettel last year, according to Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner.

The Australian was handed driving duties for the first test of the new RB8 at Jerez today, completing 53 laps and setting the fourth fastest time overall.

Horner believes that Webber has returned with the "right attitude" as shown in his approach today.

"He has come back learner, lighter and enthused about F1 and the season ahead," said Horner when asked about Webber's mindset by AUTOSPORT.

"He seems to have a spring in his step and is looking forward to getting out there and going racing again, which is exactly the right attitude to be approaching the season with.

"Last year was a tough campaign for Mark, especially when his team-mate was performing at the level that Sebastian was, but he put in some fantastic drives and finished with a win in Brazil, which was the best tonic going into the off season."

Webber shares Horner's view, and insists that he is as hungry as ever heading into his 11th season in Formula 1.

The 35-year-old spent his winter break in his native Australia, although he emphasised that he has no immediate plans to return there despite many continuing to tip him to retire soon.

"I feel refreshed," said Webber. "I feel extremely hungry and motivated for the new season.

"The Brazil tonic was very nice in many ways, but also to have the off-season in Australia, I haven't had that big a break in a long time. It was actually quite nice to do that.

"It's nice to be reminded that I enjoy going there for a break. I'm by no means ready to live there yet. I still have stuff to do but it was great for me."

Webber returns to the cockpit tomorrow before handing over test duties to Vettel for the final two days of the Jerez test.

Jean-Eric Vergne says he is fully focused on giving his best for Toro Rosso without thinking of the chance of landing a seat at Red Bull Racing in 2013.

The Frenchman has been moved up into F1 because his Red Bull chiefs believe he has the potential to develop into the energy drinks company's next superstar after Sebastian Vettel.

And although the fact he and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo have the opportunity to show in 2012 that they are good enough for a seat at Red Bull Racing next year if Mark Webber does not stay on, Vergne thinks it much too early to start considering that scenario.

"First of all I am not thinking about 2013," he said at the Jerez circuit on Tuesday. "I know all you guys maybe want to know about it, and are always talking about Red Bull because obviously there is probably a chance for 2013 with Red Bull Racing, but I will not answer these kinds of questions because I don't want to see too far ahead.

"I am 100 per cent focused on this season, on 2012 with Toro Rosso, and I will do my best for this year. Then we will see what happens in the future."

Although the prospect of a 2013 Red Bull seat means that Toro Rosso's two drivers will be in tough competition against each other, Vergne does not see an intense rivalry developing between the pair of them.

"The competition with the team-mate, that is something normal," he said. "He is the only guy who has the same car as me, so he is the best comparison.

"He is a good driver, so that will be the target of course. But the main one will be that we work really well together to get the best out of the car and get the best results out of the team.

"I think I have a really good team-mate, a strong team-mate, and we will work hard together to get the best out of the car. If we have a good car then that will already be good. But, at the moment, there is no fight. We need to work hard together and we try to get the best car."

Formula 1's leading technical directors are not ruling out the prospect of arguments over the legality of designs that make use of exhaust gases dragging into the start of the season.

Although the FIA made it clear earlier this year that it will not tolerate any aerodynamic exploitation from exhaust blowing this year, some teams are still pushing the limits to see what they are and are not allowed to do.

The location and angles of the new periscope exhausts are strictly defined for 2012, but AUTOSPORT has learned that that has not stopped some outfits from trying to find ways of diverting the flow into other parts of the cars - like specially designed rear air ducts when they can then be reflowed over other aerodynamic devices.

The FIA has said, however, that any device that it believes is diverting air for the principal purpose of helping aerodynamics will not be allowed.

Although the FIA's stance is quite clear, some technical bosses still believe that the matter may drag on into the campaign before it is finally settled.

The FIA's Charlie Whiting arrived at Jerez on Tuesday as part of a fact-finding visit on the 2012 car designs. He is expected to take a look at what teams are up to, and ensure that each outfit is clear on what they can and cannot do with exhausts.

Red Bull Racing technical chief Adrian Newey said at Jerez: "The FIA has been reasonably specific in what they will and won't allow exhaust wise.

"They don't want to see what have been capture ducts scooping the exhaust flow out of a fully enclosed duct, and then using that scoop to duct it somewhere else on the car. Plus, we have the various exclusion zones where you can't have bodywork.

"Providing you satisfy those, hopefully there won't be too much controversy. But there's always a chance that somebody will come up with something that is right on the border and will be subject to interpretation."

Lotus technical director James Allison told AUTOSPORT before the start of the Jerez test that there was likely to be some toing-and-froing between the teams and the FIA over the matter, following a clarification in a Technical Directive that was issued last month.

"I think the wording of the Technical Directive says something along the lines that any designs that re-ingest or redirect exhaust flow for principally aerodynamic reasons will not be permitted," said Allison.

"The rule itself just determines how big the exhaust has to be, where it connects it, what angles it connects it from. But then the directive says you can satisfy the rule, but if we regard the concept of what you have done as satisfying the rule, but nevertheless done principally for downforce generation, then we might have to take a view on that. I think there will be a degree of jostling to work out where the line of acceptable geometries are."

Other team principals were more confident that they knew where the limits were.

When asked by AUTOSPORT about the situation, Ferrari chief designer Nicolas Tombazis said: "We have already had quite a lot of correspondence [with the FIA] and I think it is quite clear what is allowed. I believe what we have is completely legal."

Scuderia Toro Rosso technical director Giorgio Ascanelli added: "Charlie doesn't want any aerodynamic influence from the exhausts. The FIA does not accept it. There is a Technical Directive which limits the amount of energy you can actually channel, and I think this is correct."

Jenson Button believes McLaren has got off to a much better start to its testing programme this year than it did in 2011, having declared himself "very happy" with the opening day of winter running.

A year ago McLaren endured a disastrous winter and had to embark on a major last-gasp redesign, but although Button was only eighth-fastest today, he was very pleased with the MP4-27's behaviour.

"There are no niggly areas with the car, which is nice," he said. "It is quite different to last year. So, I am happy.

"It is still a starting point and we didn't do any set-up work today to improve the balance, and you will never start off with a perfect car. You are just putting some miles on it really. But, I am very happy in the car."

Button added that the difference between today's running and the start to McLaren's 2011 build-up was dramatic.

"It is very different," he said. "When we could do laps [in 2011 testing], for one lap it felt like you could get something out of it. But then the degradation was massive. And we knew that from the word go, so yes it does feel very different to testing last year - which is a good thing really because it is not like we can just stick on an exhaust that gives us two seconds at the first race [this year.]"

Button admitted he had expected the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers to have had a greater effect on the 2012 cars' performance and handling than seems to be the case.

"I was surprised," he said. "I would have thought we would have had more issues under braking because the downforce that the top teams were producing from the blown diffuser last year was staggering and to lose that much, you would think that you would struggle, and the difference between on throttle and off throttle you think would be massive but it is not such an issue.

"I suppose you balance whatever grip you have, and that is what we have done. I don't feel it is a massive issue. It is not something I would point at and say that is a weakness of the car."

He also believes 2012 will see much closer competition than last season.

"The regulations are very different now, so I think you will see the cars a lot more bunched up this season, especially at the start of the year," Button added.

"When racing gets underway and you are always improving the car during the season then the field will split a little more but at the start of the year I think you are going to have a lot of cars that are within a few tenths.

"It is great, great for the sport - it just makes it more complicated and difficult for us."

Button will continue testing the MP4-27 tomorrow before Lewis Hamilton takes over on Thursday.

Ferrari's chief designer Nikolas Tombazis says the team was pleased with its first day of running with the new F2012.

The Maranello squad was forced to cancel the initial shakedown planned for Fiorano after the unveiling of the car because of the poor weather, and the new singe-seater took to the track for the first time this morning at Jerez.

Felipe Massa was in charge of testing duties, the Brazilian completing a total of 69 laps on his way to a discreet ninth fastest time, over three seconds off the pace.

Tombazis admitted there is still a lot of work ahead but was pleased with the maiden run.

"I think any winter is immensely hard work, so to say now that we are at a good point before Australia would be a bit arrogant from our point," Tombazis told AUTOSPORT at the end of the first day of testing.

"We need to do a lot of work, but we think we are at a good point compared to what we are expecting on this first day."

Tombazis insisted Ferrari had no choice but to be very aggressive with the design of the new car in order to try to return to winnings ways following a frustrating 2012 season.

"We decided that the only way forward was to be a lot more aggressive in our design," he said. "I think it is too early to say whether we can win this year or not, but one thing we cannot be accused of is being too tame with this car.

"We have chosen a very aggressive approach and I think that is very much influenced by Pat [Fry, technical director] but also by the analysis of our approach over the last few years."

Jules Bianchi will sample Force India's new VJM05 for the first time at Jerez on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Frenchman, who was announced as the team's reserve driver last month, will get behind the wheel of the car during the morning, before handing over to regular race driver Paul di Resta for the afternoon.

Most of the other teams will run with the same drivers that took part on Tuesday. The exception is Sauber, which will give Sergio Perez his first go in the C31 in place of Kamui Kobayashi.

Michael Schumacher will take on a whole day of driving duties for Mercedes, having relieved Nico Rosberg at the midway point of Tuesday's running.

HRT is hoping to pass its final crash test on Wednesday, so that its new car will be able to run for the first time at the next Formula 1 test at Barcelona in a fortnight's time.

The Spanish outfit is running with its 2011 car at Jerez in Spain this week, because the new car has not yet passed all of the mandatory crash tests. Team principal Luis Perez-Sala said he was keeping his fingers crossed the team would get the green light for its 2012 contender within the next 24 hours.

"We now just have to pass the last crash test tomorrow," he told AUTOSPORT. "That is the last step, and if we achieve that, we will be without problems and ready to run the new car [in Barcelona]."

Perez-Sala also said that he hopes to soon sign off plans for a factory move to Madrid, which could be completed shortly after this year's Spanish Grand Prix.

"The plan, as of now, is that we are in Valencia. But this is only a provisional location," he said. "We have to see if we sign a deal for Madrid or not. Nothing is done yet. Maybe tomorrow things will be different, but it is hard to say what happens before you sign anything. I hope, in the short term, that we can move to Madrid."

[Lineker]

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is upbeat about his car's progress during the first day of the Jerez test, hailing the new RB8's first day on track as 'positive'.

Although it is too early to read anything into the overall laptimes, with Mark Webber fourth fastest, eight tenths of a second off Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, Horner was encouraged that the RB8 was performing as hoped.

"It has been a positive first day," said Horner when asked by AUTOSPORT whether the car was performing as expected. "There is not too much to read into it, but the initial signs are that the car has behaved as expected. Our team is pretty pleased with its first day back in the office.

"It's difficult to predict where you are compared to your rivals. We're trying to ignore the timing screens at the moment and focus very much on our own programme."

Webber completed 53 laps after the team's start was delayed because the rear wing assembly was late arriving at the circuit.

Despite that, the team completed all the typical day one systems check running that it had planned.

"We got off to a slowish start waiting for some components with the rear wing that got delayed a little bit due to the fog in Jerez," said Horner. "The plane got diverted to Seville.

"After that, we got into a programme ticking off all of the new car stuff that you need to go to. It was a positive first day for RB8 and we have a lot of valuable data to go through."

Kimi Raikkonen says that topping the first day of pre-season testing means less to him than the 'positive' first sensations he received from the new Lotus E20 and Pirelli's soft and medium tyre compounds that he tried for the first time at Jerez.

The 2007 world champion played down his headline-grabbing fastest time at the Spanish circuit after ending up 0.1s faster than Paul di Resta's Force India, having completed 73 laps on a relatively trouble-free day.

"It makes no difference," he said when asked how it felt to be quickest on his return to contemporary F1 action. "I mean it's the first day, and it would make a difference if it were a race weekend, but here it means nothing."

But the Finn said that the information he gained using 2012-spec equipment and proper race tyres - as opposed to the demo rubber he had used prior to Tuesday's official running - was hugely valuable as he continued to reacclimatise to the sport.

"The feeling is pretty OK with the car and for sure I've had much worse first days and worse feelings with new cars," he added. "I was quite happy with it."

"The feeling was pretty good with the car. The first feeling is handling quite nicely so... just going with that feeling I'm quite happy, but there are areas that we can improve and that we have to improve. I'm positive about it."

Raikkonen completed 60 laps before the team broke for lunch, and during that morning he completed four stints culminating in a 1m19.670s lap – faster than Rubens Barrichello's best overall time of 2011.

And while Lotus's afternoon was interrupted by the need to change a KERS battery, Raikkonen said he was pleased with the ground he had covered on the first day.

"I did exactly what the team were planning, or not exactly because we missed a few laps when we had a small issue," he said. "We tried different things, we did a few checks.

"But we did also quite a lot of the normal things you have to do on a first day yesterday, so that was a help to get rid of those. But it was a pretty normal first day."

Raikkonen added that he had been pleased with how the tyres had felt: "They are what they are and you try to get the best out of them.

"When they are new they seem to be pretty nice tyres. Of course they probably go away more than in the past, but it's the same for everybody and in a long run you try to save them as much as you can and get the best out of it."

Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan is confident that the FW34 will complete a greater number of laps on Wednesday after its first day on track focused on systems checks related to its switch from Cosworth to Renault engines.

The team was forced to cancel a planned straightline test at the Idiada Proving Ground in Spain last week because of weather conditions, meaning that this was the first serious run of the new car.

Pastor Maldonado completed only 25 laps on Tuesday and Gillan is looking forward to the FW34 completing more long runs now that the initial work has been done.

"With moving to a new engine, you've got a lot more systems checks than you would normally have with the running of a new car, so we are building up slowly," said Gillan when asked by AUTOSPORT about the car's progress.

"We went through a number of short runs just to check the engine installation and also the aerodynamic platform and the cooling side. It's not just about engine integration, it's the cooling systems and the KERS integration.

"We had a few teething problems today, which we were getting to grips with understanding just to make sure that we have a full day's running tomorrow."

Gillan is confident that once the team has sifted through the data gathered, the car will be ready to start to match the other teams for track time on Wednesday.

"There are a few things still to sort out, as you'd expect with the first running of the car," Gillan added. "But we are in a good position.

"The plan is to do some longer runs, do some general mechanical and aerodynamic setup checks and learn a bit more about the car and its usage of tyres."

Pastor Maldonado says Williams has changed dramatically over the winter, describing it as a 'completely different' outfit to the one he raced with in 2011.

The Venezuelan may have completed just 25 laps - the fewest of any driver - during the opening day of pre-season testing at Jerez, but he was in buoyant mood as he hailed the team's new structure and focus.

"Everything is looking very different to last year," Maldonado explained. "This is Formula 1 - you can always improve – but we are more concentrated, we have new people and the team is working very well. It's completely different."

Maldonado said the changes went beyond a shake-up of the technical staff and extended to the entire team – and crucially also to the car itself, which he believes is already a more capable challenger than last year's FW33.

"The car is completely different – we have in our hands a better car than last year, for sure," he added.

"I was quite surprised how good the balance was from the first lap. We were a bit heavy with the fuel and not pushing 100 per cent, but the first impression I had is that the car was working well and I was happy with what we had.

"I'm happy with the engine, and the car is more stable. We need to do more runs to understand the aerodynamics and the mechanics of the car, but the first impression I have is very positive.

"Everything feels more compact and together than last year – everyone is pushing hard, and we feel more like a team. Its more organised and there everyone is working together more - even the drivers, we spend a lot more time in the factory.

"I have a lot of responsibilities now but everyone is pushing, we have two young drivers and I think we can do well this year. We need to be competitive again and I think we have everything to do that."

[Lineker]

Michael Schumacher set the pace on the second day's testing at Jerez as Mark Webber led the way for Red Bull in F1's 2012-spec cars.

Schumacher, driving last year's Mercedes W02 in full trim so that the team could gain as much information about Pirelli's 2012 tyres from a stable platform, set a 1m18.561s lap during the morning that no one came close to beating for the rest of the day.

Webber's time also came in the morning as much of the paddock chose to focus on longer runs in the afternoon.

The Australian's 1m19.184s would remain the fastest time anyone has set in one of the new cars brought to Spain this week.

Daniel Ricciardo impressed in the Toro Rosso, going third fastest in the STR7, having completed 100 laps of fairly trouble-free running. He set his best time around the same period as his compatriot when the track conditions appeared to be at their best.

Jules Bianchi began his Force India career with a fine fourth fastest in the VJM05 before handing over to Paul di Resta for the afternoon and the Scot would complete 69 laps in that time to set the sixth fastest lap behind yesterday's fastest man Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn had a couple of offs today in the Lotus. The first came early in the morning when he ran wide at Dry Sack and required a new plank. He then had another excursion very late in the day as he found the limits of this generation of cars.

He still managed 117 laps, and also got to try out a different steering rack after he found yesterday's one not to his liking.

Ferrari was again far from the top of the timesheet, and late in the day was employing flow-vis to study the effects of aero over Fellipe Massa's rear wing. The Brazilian's time of 1m20.454s was 1.893s off the top time.

Jenson Button was eighth quickest in the McLaren, and like Ferrari, was not seeking any headline performance as it worked on improving the MP4-27.

Sauber's Sergio Perez was tenth in the Sauber ahead of Pastor Maldonado, who spent the day working on reliability with the Williams FW34.

Heikki Kovalainen was slowest of the drivers equipped with 2012 machinery but completed a whopping 139 laps for Caterham as he gathered plenty of information.

Pedro de la Rosa completed HRT's running by setting a 1m22.128s, just 0.618s off the pace of Kovalainen.

Todays times


Pos  Driver               Team           Time               Laps

 1.  Michael Schumacher   Mercedes       1m18.561s           132

 2.  Mark Webber          Red Bull       1m19.184s  + 0.623   97

 3.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso     1m19.587s  + 1.026  100

 4.  Jules Bianchi        Force India    1m20.221s  + 1.660   46

 5.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus          1m20.239s  + 1.678  117

 6.  Paul di Resta        Force India    1m20.272s  + 1.711   69

 7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari        1m20.454s  + 1.893   95

 8.  Jenson Button        McLaren        1m20.688s  + 2.127   85

 9.  Sergio Perez         Sauber         1m20.711s  + 2.150   68

10.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams       1m21.197s  + 2.636   97

11.  Heikki Kovalainen    Caterham       1m21.518s  + 2.957  139

12.  Pedro de la Rosa     HRT            1m22.128s  + 3.567   64


All Timing Unofficial[/code]


Michael Schumacher led the way in the second morning of Formula 1's pre-season test at Jerez, while Mark Webber was the best of the runners in 2012 machinery.



It was the Australian who set the early pace as he dropped down to a 1m19.184s, at the time putting him 1.1s clear of the field.



While all eyes were therefore on Webber and the RB8 - the car with which Red Bull is bidding to defend its 2011 crowns - it was Schumacher who stole the limelight with a series of blistering laps.



A three-lap burst allowed the German to get down to a 1m18.622s, which he duly lowered on his next run, dropping to a 1m18.561s.



That was comfortably enough to put the German top halfway through the second day, with Webber - unable to improve on his early time – finishing second, more than half a second down.



Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to dip below the 1m20s mark, putting him third fastest at the midway mark of a session in which yesterday's pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen suffered an early off at Curva Dry Sac.



The Finn had completed just four laps when he ran wide and into the gravel at the tight right-hander. He was able to rejoin, but damaged his car on the kerbs as he did so.



He also dragged gravel onto the track, leading to the first of two early red flags – the second following shortly after for further checks at the corner.



Lotus took the opportunity to not only repair his car but also adjust the steering column, and when he was able to get back underway he quickly rose to fifth – behind Force India reserve driver Jules Bianchi, who completed 46 laps before handing over to Paul di Resta for the afternoon.



Jenson Button took McLaren's MP4-27 to sixth fastest, more than two seconds down on Schumacher.



Felipe Massa was little more than three tenths further back for Ferrari, with the team again choosing to focus on aerodynamic and set-up work rather than chase outright laptimes.



After competing just 25 laps yesterday Pastor Maldonado enjoyed far more running in the Williams, ending eighth fastest after completing 61 laps in the morning.



Sergio Perez, taking over Sauber duties from Kamui Kobayashi, edged Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen for tenth. The Finn put yesterday's broken starter shaft woe behind him by completing 78 laps, the most of any driver.



Pedro de la Rosa in the 2011 HRT rounded out the morning's runners.



[code]Morning times:


Pos  Driver              Team         Time                Laps

 1.  Michel Schumacher   Mercedes     1m18.561s            53

 2.  Mark Webber         Red Bull     1m19.184s  + 0.623   58

 3.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso   1m19.587s  + 1.026   41

 4.  Jules Bianchi       Force India  1m20.221s  + 1.660   46

 5.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus        1m20.239s  + 1.678   26

 6.  Jenson Button       McLaren      1m20.688s  + 2.127   25

 7.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari      1m21.060s  + 2.499   38

 8.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams     1m21.197s  + 2.636   61

 9.  Sergio Perez        Sauber       1m21.289s  + 2.728   35

10.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham     1m21.518s  + 2.957   78

11.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT          1m23.468s  + 4.907   23

Daniel Ricciardo says that starting the season with Toro Rosso - and therefore having a car he can fully call his own - has boosted his motivation for his forthcoming Formula 1 campaign.

The Australian, 22, had previously tested for the team on grand prix Fridays last year, before landing a seat at HRT for the final 11 races of the year.

While not downplaying such experience, Ricciardo says starting the season for Toro Rosso means he can focus on every little detail of the car and the set-up, giving him renewed impetus.

"There's a bit more motivation now that its my car for the season, which makes you focus 110 per cent on every little detail," he explained. "It's a bigger deal than last year.

"Even when I was a test driver the car is not yours. Now the car is built around you, and you have the comfort of being the driver. It's a nice feeling to have my own car – I'm not sure I'll name it like [sebastian] Vettel, but I will look after it. When something is yours you get that bit more serious – that's just nature."

Ricciardo said it had not been hard to adapt from HRT to Toro Rosso, and said he had been pleased with his first day of running at Jerez.

"It's obviously a new car, but there is still a lot [of similarities] from last year in terms of driveability and what the car is doing. Nothing really took me by surprise [on Tuesday], and I'm generally pretty happy with the install and how the car was behaving.

"I knew what I could do and – after blowing out a few cobwebs – I got into a good rhythm. It was pretty productive, and we pretty much kept up with our programme. The afternoon was cut a bit short but generally, and with a new car, you can't complain.

"We did mostly hard tyre runs all day and that was pretty good too – we didn't get a real long run as planned, but on the shorter runs the tyres seemed to be working well and even in cool conditions we seemed able to generate heat.

"I've got today [Wednesday] too so I'm sure we'll get a few more laps and give it a good run."

Daniel Ricciardo believes that Scuderia Toro Rosso's strong start in testing with the new STR7 is crucial given the inexperience of the Italian team's rookie driver line-up.

Ricciardo has started only 11 grands prix, while team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne will make his race debut in Australia next month. This means that the reliability and driver-friendliness of the new machine has allowed the pair to focus on their driving and improving the car rather than getting bogged-down in troubleshooting.

"Yes, every little bit will help us because we are not that experienced at this level," said Ricciardo when asked by AUTOSPORT if it was particularly beneficial. "We will learn if something happens and we have to solve it but in the early days it's good to have something we can get more comfortable with.

"It's important that we are getting the laps rather than scratching our heads thinking about what we are doing."

Ricciardo, who ended the second day of testing third fastest, one second of pacesetter Michael Schumacher's 2011-specification Mercedes, has found the car relatively easy to drive.

While some teams have found it harder to achieve a good balance, the STR has proved to be user-friendly.

"It has been quite pleasant," said Ricciardo. "We kept it on the track and didn't have any moments that got me too worried. I'm happy with the balance and it's a good base to work from.

"The front and the rear seem to be working well together. It [the balance] is not changing drastically from corner entry to exit with the rear and front not talking to each other. So far, it looks alright."

"It's still early and we don't want to get too carried away but it's nice to feel positive."

Vergne takes over the Toro Rosso on Thursday and will also drive on the final day of the test.

Kamui Kobayashi believes that the new Sauber C31 has already proved itself to be faster than last year's machine.

The Japanese was seventh fastest on the opening day of the Jerez test yesterday. Although his fastest time of 1m21.353s was around three-quarters of a second off his best Jerez lap from last year, he has no doubts that the car will be able to lap faster than that once it is set up.

"Performance-wise, this year is much quicker," said Kobayashi. "This is Formula 1 where always the rules try to reduce the speed but the laptimes get quicker.

"I looked at last year's test times and it [our pace] was off, but the track here is still dirty and my car is still not set up. It [the feel of the car] is pretty similar to last year and the laptime is a lot better."

Kobayashi was also encouraged by the reliability of the new Sauber.

He completed 106 laps on the opening day of testing, more than any other driver, with the only stoppage caused by the team completing an out-of-fuel test run.

"The good thing is that we did over 100 laps, which is pretty good for the first day," said Kobayashi when asked by AUTOSPORT about his progress. "It's very important to get some laps in this car and we had the chance to test some items.

"The target was not performance as we will see about that later, but it was good to start like this. The first impression of the car is quite smooth.

"We have a few things to do with a couple of parts but it's going to take a few more days to judge. But for a first day I'm very happy as we do not even have a baseline setup yet."

Felipe Massa's manager Nicolas Todt is confident 2012 will see a very different version of the Brazilian driver following a difficult 2011.

Massa was overshadowed by Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso last year, as he failed to finish on the podium all season long.

But Todt is optimistic that Massa is refreshed ahead of the start of the new season and reckons the Brazilian - who last won a race in 2008 - is set for a much stronger year.

"Massa's 2011 season was very disappointing, and he's the first one to admit that," Todt told Autosprint magazine. "So, by the end of last season he was conscious a turnaround was needed.

"I've spoken a lot with him, with the engineers and with Stefano Domenicali, trying to analyse everything that could be improved, and I must say that in the first few weeks of 2012 I found Felipe confident once again, with a vigorous approach that demonstrates his hunger for results.

"We need on-track confirmation, but I feel I can say that we'll see a very different Massa compared to 2011."

Todt, who also manages Jules Bianchi, said it was very hard to try to find a race seat for the Frenchman following his disappointing season in GP2.

Bianchi, who is part of Ferrari's young driver programme, is now Force India's reserve driver for 2012.

"In the last few months we've spent a lot of work on finding the right program for Jules, considering that Felipe renewed with Ferrari in autumn and Pastor has a long-term contract with Williams," he added.

"Unfortunately 2011 did not go the way we had wanted to for Bianchi in GP2, especially in its first phase.

"After a few races he had just a tiny amount of points and, even though he recovered in the second part of the season, I knew it was impossible for him to win the title, and likewise finding a seat in F1 as a racing driver for a good team."

Force India driver Paul di Resta believes he has a strong platform with which to start his sophomore season after a strong first day's testing at Jerez on Tuesday.

The Scot ended the day second fastest, a tenth slower than pace-setter Kimi Raikkonen, and said afterwards that while his time was irrelevant from a competitive point of view, the starting baseline for the VJM05 was much better than its predecessor.

"If we look at where we were this time last year and where we are now it's a massive step up the road, it's almost three seconds already, but then the end of last year was very good for us," he said, when asked about his performance by AUTOSPORT.

"All I can say is that has been a very productive day and we can be happy with what we have done.

"We got through all the test programme and we did a bit more actually," he added. "We had a good approach about what we had to do.

"We had some aero stuff this morning that led on to some runs and then we did some long runs in the afternoon and it was all fairly good. I think we can be relatively quite happy about the work we've done over the winter and what the guys have achieved."

Di Resta said that he had been pleased with the initial balance of the car so early in its development, adding that his confidence had been boosted by the consistency of the data between the windtunnel and the track.

"Obviously all the fancy engine modes have gone and the exhausts and essentially you've lost a ton of downforce there," he said.

"But the car is well balanced and where we put it on track is where we ended up, which gives you encouragement about what's going on in the background with simulations and stuff, and that it is working right because that's where we have migrated to."

The Scot added that he felt even better prepared coming into his second season of F1 and that the team seemed to be starting the year from a higher level as well.

"The whole thing seems a lot better, but you know we've achieved 101 laps on the first day out, so the mileage and the reliability was good which is always a positive," he said. "Now all this test is about is gathering information. It's not about performance.

"You know somebody said to me earlier: 'Who was fastest at this test last year?' and I didn't know, and they replied: 'Barrichello'. I couldn't tell you who was fastest at Barcelona last year but I can tell you who was fastest at the first race, and that's all this test is fundamentally about - us correlating what is happening back at the factory to make sure the next upgrade that we bring, hopefully before Melbourne, works.

"So you just need to make sure that the car is saying the same thing that the tunnel is saying. And, on the track it feels relatively balanced and I'm very happy with it. It's a good starting point to work away with."

Formula 1's current generation of 'ugly noses' could have marketing implications in making it harder for sponsors to sell the sport to the casual fan.

That is the view of Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery, who fears that the stepped noses that are a feature on most of the 2012 grid are likely to be a turn-off for followers of grand prix racing who do not know much about the technical reasons behind the designs.

"I think I will have to be in agreement with the general sentiment that they're damn ugly," explained Hembery. "But I guess if you talk to the engineers, they will say that as long as it's quick we don't care how ugly it is.

"From a fan's point of view, they look a bit strange and I don't think beauty is going to be in the eye of the holder. In this case it's not nice, and it's a bit of a shame really.

"You understand why they do it: they are following regulations, which is a part of everybody's job, and they are looking for speed, not beauty. But from a fans' point of view, I think we have to say they look a bit weird and not particularly beautiful. I don't think this season is going to go down as the year of the beautiful F1 car."

When asked if the ugly look of the car could have consequences for the sport's promoters, with sponsors facing headaches in promoting cars that are getting criticised, Hembery said: "Well, I guess there is. A good barometer of this would be something like my son said when he saw them and told me, 'Dad, that's pig ugly!'

"He doesn't give a damn about regulations. He's a 16-year-old who is looking at it from the perspective of someone who loves his cars and loves motorsport. He just looked at it and went 'Dad that's ugly.' I know it sounds a silly thing to say, other than as an analogy, but that is what a lot of people will say who are maybe not as intimately involved as we are.

"But, where do you draw the line? How do you make rules that make cars look good, how do you do that? So that's a tough one as well. "

AUTOSPORT understands that some technical directors have already held discussions with the FIA about the look of the stepped noses, although there has not yet been any move to change the chassis regulations for 2013 to ensure there is a smoother transition to the nose.

Adrian Sutil will appeal the court verdict after receiving a suspended sentence for assaulting Lotus F1 team co-owner Eric Lux last year.

The German driver was given an 18-month suspended sentence and a 200,000 euro fine for causing bodily harm to Lux in a Shanghai night club brawl in 2011.

The former Force India driver, without a drive for 2012, is set to appeal the verdict, it was revealed on Wednesday.

"We are convinced that the judgement handed down is not appropriate. There are many things that went against us," Sutil's manager Manfred Zimmerman was quoted as saying by the SiD news agency.

The SiD report says that state prosecutors have also appealed the verdict as they believe the punishment was too lenient

Prosecutors had requested a one year and nine months of suspended sentence and a 300,000 euro penalty.

Jules Bianchi believes that he has settled in well at Force India after his first day on track with the team at Jerez.

The Ferrari-contracted Frenchman, who will drive in at least nine Friday practice sessions this year, completed 46 laps in the new Force India VJM05 before handing over to Paul di Resta in the afternoon.

"I got used to the team and a new way of working," said Bianchi. "It has been a really important day for me. It's the first day in the car and a really nice sensation.

"The car felt pretty good. We still need some time to get on the limit because we are not pushing very hard at the moment. We are trying to find the set-ups and how the car behaves."

It is the first time that the GP2 race-winner has driven an F1 car other than a Ferrari, which he did most recently during last year's young driver test in Abu Dhabi.

He didn't find it difficult to adapt to his new environment.

"It has been a surprise to me. The car felt really amazing to drive so I am really happy.

"I will take it step by step and try not to pus too much. I just want to do what the team is asking me."

Bianchi added that he does not feel under any extra pressure to deliver despite the fact that Force India's previous two reserve drivers have been promoted into race seats.

"It's pressure, but this is part of the job," he said. "I'm used to pressure as I'm been under pressure in all of my seasons in motor racing. I just have to do my job."

Mark Webber is confident that Red Bull will be competitive in 2012 after his second day of running the car at Jerez today.

But while he is upbeat about Red Bull's progress, he warned that he also expects Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes to be strong, meaning that his team must continue to build on its good start.

The Australian completed 97 laps, ending up fastest of the new-specification cars behind Michael Schumacher's year-old Mercedes.

"The car was pretty competitive in winter testing last year and it's the same again this year," said Webber. "We know that Ferrari and McLaren will be there and Mercedes don't have a car yet but will bring it to Barcelona.

"We feel that we are prepared to do well, but we have to keep improving. Overall, there are no big surprises [with the car].

"We have an idea of what the car can do in terms of time. You are always anxious and nervous still. We are a long way from Melbourne and can't get excited about things today. The team is massively experienced and we don't get hooked up in winter testing [excitement]."

Webber added that the team has still got some work to do to get on top of the new RB8.

The change of regulations for this season, which effectively bans exhaust blown diffusers, requires the team to adapt to a new concept and Red Bull is still exploring the behaviour of its new-specification machine.

"We are chipping away but it's incredibly early," he said. "There was a lot of stuff to go through today, which we did, but you always want more.

"Getting hold of a new regulation as well, the concept of the car has changed quite a bit particularly with the blown diffuser. The leading teams last year had a very good understanding of it and now we've hit the reset button and go again."

Michael Schumacher says he does not necessarily expect Mercedes to build a car capable of challenging for the 2012 Formula 1 championship.

Mercedes is the only frontrunning team - and the only team other than HRT and Marussia - not to bring its 2012 car to the first pre-season test at Jerez. It will instead run for the first time in the second test at Barcelona in less than a fortnight.

Schumacher, running therefore in a 2011-spec car at Jerez, says it will take time for Mercedes to work its way to the front and it is therefore not realistic to expect its 2012 challenger to be a title candidate.

"I don't think we can realistically achieve a championship car immediately from where we started last year, we have to build our way there," Schumacher explained.

"I am confident we can do that, but let's take it step by step. We work longer on our car, but if this was the only secret we should have shown all the cars later."

Schumacher, who set the pace on the second day of testing at Jerez in the W02, nevertheless backed what he said was a valuable unveiling programme.

"Our programme is done in a way we believe in," he said. "We made some very good work with the new tyres, which are certainly much better for a driver – they are more consistent and a lot closer to what you would expect from a Formula 1 tyre.

"Understanding those tyres was our main focus and we had a programme we did pretty well with."

Asked whether he still believed he could win a record eighth drivers' crown, Schumacher said: "Absolutely. I'm still around to fight for the championship. Whether we can or cannot do that is something to be proven this year - or whenever."

Felipe Massa has admitted that Ferrari has a lot of work to do with its new F2012 amid questions about whether or not the new car has delivered the step forward the team was hoping for.

While its main rivals Red Bull Racing and McLaren have been bullish about the early impressions of their new cars, Ferrari has been less forthcoming about the performance of its new challenger.

Speaking after his second day of running at Jerez in Spain on Wednesday, where he completed 95 laps to set the seventh best overall time, Massa admitted that there was a long road ahead for his Maranello-based outfit.

"Actually there is a lot of work," said the Brazilian. "It is a brand new car and it is not a car that we had in the last year - even at the start. It is a car that needs a lot more work, and a lot more things to try as well.

"Today I did so many laps, just trying such different things on the car. It was a day where we had to concentrate so much on the little stuff, the little things that we need to understand, where we need to collect a lot of data. And I am sure it will be like that even tomorrow - even to concentrate on the next test."

When asked if he had experienced any unwelcome surprises during testing, Massa said: "You always get them with a new car. Sometimes you don't see the result that you expect. Plus some other parts as well, you have a different direction. So I think it is just the beginning of a big job to have a consistent and competitive car."

Massa said that the fact Ferrari has embarked on such a different philosophy with its car meant that there was likely to be a pretty intense testing plan for the team over the next few weeks.

"It is a lot of work, for sure. As I said, we tried so many things different in the car and so many runs – we go out with not everything in the car. We go out to collect data.

"It is different than in the past. The programme is much more different and more complicated, also for us because we try so many things just looking for the performance of the things in the car that we are trying."

The HRT team has confirmed it will move its headquarters to Madrid's Caja Magica, a sports structure in Spain's capital.

HRT said it will use 11,000 square meters of the structure, which also hosts the ATP Master Series of tennis on a yearly basis.

The team had originally considered Valencia, where it's currently based, but it has finally reached a deal with the Caja Magica, where will locate its permanent headquarters.

"For us it is fundamental to have a headquarters that, apart from uniting the team and ending with the dispersion, is beneficial from a logistical and industrial point of view," said team CEO Saul Ruiz de Marcos.

"But that also enables us to maintain a closer relationship with our fans, suppliers and sponsors. Madrid and the Caja Magica facilities fit perfectly with the standards we were looking for.

"In the last few months we have assessed different options, looked at their pros and cons, and we feel that the decision to establish our permanent headquarters in Madrid was the best one. I want to thank Madrid Espacios y Congresos for the interest they have shown in this going ahead and I'm sure that this relationship will be very beneficial for everyone."

According to the team, the headquarters won't only be a technological centre, "but also a way of getting closer to the public, sponsors, suppliers and collaborators with accessible areas such as a future museum, guided tours or a conference area, whilst also becoming a formation centre."

Team principal Luis Perez-Sala added: "We've been working hard for months and establishing our permanent headquarters was very important. Finding a space in which we could all work together was vital, in order to optimize work and generate a good team feeling, a sense of belonging.

"When the adaptation of the facilities is completed and every department starts working under the same roof in a few months, we will only have one step left to take, which is to have the design department in Madrid too.

"All this implies not only becoming a place to feel identified with and carry out activities for the team, its sponsors, suppliers and fans, but also an important reference in technology and R&D in the centre of Madrid."

Lewis Hamilton has received a behind-the-scenes boost with the appointment of highly-respected manager Didier Coton to help look after him.

Coton, who is most well-known for looking after Mika Hakkinen during the most successful period of his career, has been taken on by Hamilton's XIX Entertainment management company.

The move to appoint someone with vast experience of F1 comes after a season when Hamilton's management came under scrutiny following the on and off-track problems the former world champion faced.

Speaking about the move, Hamilton was quoted as saying by The Press Association: "Simon [Fuller, XIX Entertainment owner] is committed to creating a team that will help me achieve my ambitions for 2012 and beyond.

"Didier's appointment builds on the existing strengths of XIX and I am delighted to have him as part of the team. I'm positive about the season ahead and can't wait to start."

Kimi Raikkonen says he has the answers he was looking for from his first experience of the new Lotus E20 after completing 180 laps during two days' testing at Jerez.

The Finn did not match his pace from the opening day of the test, where he hit the headlines by going quickest of all. But Raikkonen declared himself satisfied by what he learned from the car and Pirelli's tyres.

He now hands over to team-mate Romain Grosjean for the final two days of the test.

"I think the main thing was to get a lot of mileage right now," said the 2007 world champion when asked by AUTOSPORT for his summary of the test. "The car feels pretty OK straightaway, and I think we improved it today, but today the conditions were a bit more tricky than yesterday.

"I'm happy with what we did over the two days."

Raikkonen added that the starting point for the E20 appeared to be positive when he could get the Pirelli tyres in a good operating window, as he continued his education process with the Italian rubber.

"Some compounds worked better than others," he said. "When they are new they are always good but once they get used... and it was quite cold so some of them were slightly better than others.

"But when they worked the car feels quite good so... I have no idea what the others are doing but I was quite happy about how things went."

"If the conditions are good for that compound and they get heat in them it seems to be fine but then some of them don't like it when it's cold and the tyre just doesn't work," he continued. "But when they work normally it's not too bad, at least here, but it can be a really different story in Barcelona."

Raikkonen had a couple of off-track moments during his second day in the car and was delayed in the morning when he ran over a kerb and damaged the plank under the chassis - which then needed to be replaced.

"I ran wide under braking for Turn 6, and just driving back in the gravel the edge of the kerb on the circuit was very high and it hit the front of the floor and we damaged that," he explained. "So it took a while to fix it. Unfortunate."

Former Sauber Formula 1 team technical director James Key is set to join the motorsport division of Lotus Cars.

The Briton, who resigned last week to take up a job offer in the UK, is believed to have accepted an offer to become technical director of the racing programmes run by Lotus Cars. His new position could be announced within days.

It is understood that Key's focus when he arrives at Lotus headquarters at Hethel in Norfolk will be on the British sportscar manufacturer's planned GT3 contender.

This car, likely to compete for the first time in 2013, will be based on the Evora chassis already racing in the GTE and GT4 categories. It is likely to be powered by a V8 engine rather than existing cars' Toyota-based V6.

Key will also have an involvement in the Lotus LMP2 programme with the German Kodewa squad, which has one entry for the Le Mans 24 Hours with a Lola coupe powered by a Lotus-badged Judd V8. The 40-year-old worked with Kodewa founder Colin Kolles during his stint at Midland F1 (nee Jordan).

There is also a possibility that Key could be involved in the LMP1 category. Lotus is exploring another badging deal similar to the arrangement it has with Kodewa. Rebellion Racing, which is running a pair of Toyota-engined Lola coupes in 2012, is favourite for the deal.

Lotus motorsport boss Claudio Berro would not comment on the likelihood of Key joining the company.

McLaren is adamant that it has not made a mistake with its nose design for 2012 - even though every other team so far has opted for a stepped version with their new Formula 1 cars.

The low-chassis concept that McLaren has pursued in recent years means the British outfit has not needed to feature a stepped nose section like its rivals.

But the fact that the team is alone in going down that route has prompted questions about whether it has done the right thing.

Technical director Paddy Lowe has dismissed concerns though, and said that his outfit evaluated the alternative and decided that the solution it eventually chose was better overall.

"This new rule came along and, like every year, you do revisit this stuff," he said in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT. "So we revisited it, did our sums again and decided that we would stick with the philosophy we have got.

"Different teams will come out with different answers to those equations always, because they have different sensitivities. There is no good or bad way - so that rule has not affected us.

"For those teams that went down that [high chassis] trend, which Red Bull Racing started off, pushing particularly the front of the chassis and the nose high, they have continued to pursue that policy. And being the quickest car, it is no surprise that it became fashionable as a direction. A lot of people have migrated in that direction now, although I don't think it was so true last year.

"They, then, are the ones that have been affected by the new rules and have had to drop the nose and introduce a compromise to that concept because you have got a step. Some people have some interesting ideas around the use of that step, and we are looking with interest at all of that stuff."

He added: "My model of it is that it's not a case of us missing some trick. It is not a trick or a loophole that we did not spot. We have always known that you can lift your chassis there, but have chosen to not do it now. We did not do it before either, when there was not nearly the same constraint that you have now. That is the philosophy we have gone with."

McLaren thinks it has delivered Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button the car they need at this stage of the season.

With the outfit having openly declared that it was vital to avoid a repeat of the testing troubles that blighted the build-up to its 2011 campaign, McLaren is quietly upbeat about the platform it has given itself.

In an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT, McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe said that the fact that Button has already been so positive about the car is a good indication that there will be no repeat of the testing nightmares of last year.

"I think Jenson is pretty happy so, so far so good," said Lowe. "I think the way he put it best was, 'this is a car that I can work with'. And that is what you need for a championship, so you cannot say better than that really."

Lowe believes that the situation McLaren finds itself in at this early stage of testing is already much better than it was after the conclusion of pre-season running last year - during which McLaren suffered reliability troubles with what it has now revealed to be a 'Fan tail' exhaust.

"We never, throughout the three track tests we had - which was 12 days - reached the point that we have reached here of feeling we had a platform we can work with, because we were fighting the exhaust reliability all the way through," he said. "Not even until the very last day. It was only when we went to Australia, did we suddenly find in P1 and P2 that we had a car that could go around."

He added: "The trouble last year was that we had not got through the very process that I have just described. We didn't actually have a platform that we could work with, because the car was inherently unreliable in terms of exhausts."

Paul di Resta described Wednesday's second day of testing at Jerez as one of his more difficult days in a Formula 1 car despite being pleased with the progress that the team is making with the Force India VJM05.

The Scot took over from reserve driver Jules Bianchi in the afternoon, ending the day sixth fastest after completing 69 laps despite weather conditions making life difficult.

"It was one of the more difficult days in terms of driving I have had in a Formula 1 car," said di Resta. "The wind seemed to get very intense from midday on.

"But we got through all of our objectives and got a clear direction on a couple of setup things."

Di Resta added that he has no doubts that the car has the potential to achieve Force India's stated aim of improving on last season's sixth place in the constructors' championship.

The VJM05 has proved to be reliable and the team has been happy with what it has got out of the car after two days of testing.

"We have got ambitions and as long as it is better than last year, that is the main focus," said di Resta. "That would be fifth as a constructor and that's achievable.

"But at the same time we are going to have a bit of a job to maintain sixth because we have got some good teams around us.

"Everybody [at Force India] has good momentum at the moment. There's a good vibe about the team and the car seems to be performing. So we are fairly optimistic we can achieve that [aim]."

Pirelli is closing in on a deal to secure a much-needed test car for the year ahead, as it now focuses its efforts on getting hold of a 2010 chassis.

The Italian tyre manufacturer has been without its own test machine since the end of last year, because the modified 2009 Toyota it was using is no longer contemporary enough to provide it with good data.

Despite a push to try and get Formula 1 teams to agree on a solution that will allow it to continue track testing in 2012, no agreement that was satisfactory for everyone could be reached.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery is hopeful that the stalemate can be averted, however, and that it will soon have in place plans for his company to get its hands on a 2010 machine.

"There is some ongoing progress, but I cannot tell you anything about it yet," said Hembery. "It would appear that you can run a 2010 car without contravening any rules and regulations."

One option that Pirelli could be looking at is putting out for tender an offer to individual teams to provide it with a 2010 chassis for the year ahead, with the company then picking the best option.

Although having use of a single team's car could leave some rival outfits unhappy, Hembery is adamant that Pirelli has to do something.

"In the end we've got to do our job," he said. "We're not trying to help any particular team; we're just trying to do our own work.

"At the end of the day, as long as we can ensure that the data position that we are gaining and our decisions are based on what we want to do, and not by individual pressure from any team, then I think we are maintaining our partiality. And that's what we intend to do.

"In the end, time is running out and if a team wants to sell us a car at a very good rate, with good technical support then we're interested."

Pirelli wants a car deal in place within the next few weeks because it is eager to start testing its 2013 development rubber on track at the end of March.

Heikki Kovalainen believes that Caterham's decision to use KERS in 2012 could make the difference in the team's quest to score its first points.

The Finn, who completed two days' testing at Jerez this week before handing the car over to reserve driver Giedo van der Garde on Thursday, reported few problems with the Red Bull-developed unit, adding that it could boost performance by around 0.4 seconds per lap on average over the season.

"Last year we were not in a position to fight for points, but whenever we were in a position to fight with one of the Renaults or Williams, whenever I got close to them, I just couldn't attack them into the overtaking area because I had no boost," said Kovalainen.

"It will definitely make a difference if we are in the same situation, fighting with the cars ahead of us, then I will definitely be able to overtake.

"Whether we score points or not, I can't tell you yet. That has to be the target, but the most important thing is to join the group and be battling with the other middle to back teams, if you like, being clearly in that group and not being a step behind."

Kovalainen added that he quickly re-acclimatised to using the system after completing a mammoth 139 laps on the second day, having been forced to finish early on day one due to a starter issue.

"For me it ran really well today," he said. "I was expecting some troubles at the beginning [with it]. I had some experience from the past with McLaren and I remember from the early days there that it was not easy to get it running, but Red Bull has provided a really good system and it ran faultlessly all day.

"I was quickly back in the habit of using it and we were able to monitor different temperatures and see how the batteries are living their life in the car and all fine, so a pretty good day today."

"It will be very valuable," added the 30-year-old. "It's probably three or four tenths on average at every circuit, some maybe even a bit more, some a bit less.

"But where it really counts is in the racing situations, at the starts, defending, overtaking, that's where it will be really crucial and I can see it's a good boost and a good tool to have and it's working very well in the car."

Television coverage of Formula 1 in Spain has found a new home with confirmation that the Antena 3 channel will cover the sport for 2012 and '13.

Previous F1 rights-holder La Sexta had a contract through to the end of 2013 but the deal collapsed early, raising concerns over the sport's television coverage in the homeland of popular double world champion Fernando Alonso. Spain is also currently the sole nation to host two F1 grands prix per season, with races at Catalunya and in Valencia.

Commercial channel Antena 3, which is set to merge with La Sexta, has now been announced as the new Spanish F1 broadcaster, beating competition from rival Telecinco, which holds MotoGP rights.

[Lineker]

Nico Rosberg ensured Mercedes ended day three of pre-season testing at Jerez on top, while Romain Grosjean's Lotus was the fastest of the 2012-spec cars.

Times fell little in the afternoon of day three, which was as notable for driver changes as it was for on-track action - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso among those getting their first taste of their new machines.

Grosjean too made his first appearance in the Lotus E20, but needed little time for adjustment as he got down to a 1m18.419s - the fastest time from a 2012 car thus far in testing – before the midway stage.

That left him a healthy eight tenths clear of his 2012 competition, which was headed by Vettel in the RB8 and Hamilton in the MP4-27.

The Briton had the advantage over Vettel as the unofficial lunch break loomed, but the German found time in what was generally a slower afternoon to jump back in front, ending the day 0.167s ahead of Hamilton.

They were all left trailing by Rosberg however, with the German comfortably fastest on what was Mercedes's final day of testing at Jerez – and the final day for their 2011 car, with this year's challenger set to be introduced at the next test in Barcelona.

Jean-Eric Vergne ended the day fifth fastest for Toro Rosso, just 36 thousandths ahead of Sergio Perez, whose day was interrupted by an oil transmission issue. The Mexican's fastest time was set on medium compounds and in the cold conditions of the early morning.

Those conditions caught out Jules Bianchi, who assumed driving duties in the morning for Force India.

The Frenchman lost the rear end and skipped across the gravel at Sito Pons, bringing out the first of the day's three red flags – the second coming after Giedo van Der Garde beached his car in the gravel and the third just before the chequered flag as Grosjean stopped out on circuit.

Force India was unable to repair the damage, with Nico Hulkenberg therefore unable to take over in the afternoon. He will hope to get his first taste of the car tomorrow as the team scrambles to get parts out from the UK.

A throng of Spanish fans didn't have too much to cheer as home favourite Fernando Alonso could only finish seventh, the Spaniard completing 67 laps in another low-key day for Ferrari.

Bruno Senna in contrast completed 125 laps – the most of any driver – for Williams, ending the day in eighth.

Van der Garde, who was able to rejoin once his car had been recovered, was ninth, with Bianchi – unable to register a time – in tenth.

Todays times:


Pos  Driver         Team            Time                Laps

 1.  Rosberg        Mercedes        1m17.613s           118

 2.  Grosjean       Lotus           1m18.419s  +0.806   117

 3.  Vettel         Red Bull        1m19.297s  +1.684   96

 4.  Hamilton       McLaren         1m19.464s  +1.851   80

 5.  Vergne         Toro Rosso      1m19.734s  +2.121   79

 6.  Perez          Sauber          1m19.770s  +2.157   48

 7.  Alonso         Ferrari         1m20.412s  +2.799   67

 8.  Senna          Williams        1m21.293s  +3.680   125

 9.  Van der Garde  Caterham        1m23.324s  +5.711   74[/code]


Nico Rosberg kept Mercedes at the top of the timesheets at the midway stage of day three testing at Jerez, with Romain Grosjean and Lotus this time the fastest of the 2012 runners.



Cold conditions produced a slow start to the morning, with only Sergio Perez able to break into the 1m19s early on.



The conditions also caught out Force India's third driver Jules Bianchi, who lost the rear and skipped sideways through the gravel at Sito Pons, leading to the day's first - and so far only - red flag period. Force India is yet to get back underway.



Grosjean moved into the ascendancy at the restart, topping the timesheets with a 1m18.901s before lowering his own benchmark several times. He eventually ended on a 1m18.419s, the fastest lap seen thus far from a 2012 car.



That looked good enough to keep the Frenchman fastest at the half-way point, only for Nico Rosberg to go fastest in all three sectors - producing a 1m17.613s to go clear at the top.



As was the case yesterday with Michael Schumacher however, Rosberg's time came in the 2011-spec Mercedes, being used to evaluate Pirelli's new rubber before the team debuts its 2012 challenger at the first Barcelona test.



Lewis Hamilton, taking control of the McLaren MP4-27 for the first time, finished third fastest but found himself more than a second down on Grosjean.



Jean-Eric Vergne, also getting his first taste of the Toro Rosso, was less than three tenths back in fourth, with Perez's early benchmark good enough to keep him fifth.



Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel managed 28 laps in Red Bull's RB8 but did not match team-mate Mark Webber's pace Wednesday pace. He currently lies sixth overall with a low 1m20s his best effort.



A large crowd had gathered for Fernando Alonso's first day in Ferrari's F2012, but they saw precious little of the Spaniard in the first two hours as Ferrari battled with hydraulic issues.



When he was able to get out he got down to a mid 1m20s, putting him seventh.



Bruno Senna and Giedo van der Garde joined today's list of new drivers, slotting in at Williams and Caterham respectively.



Senna ended eighth, more than three seconds off Rosberg, with van Der Garde - Caterham's third driver – a further two seconds back.



Bianchi rounded out the top ten, although he did not register a time due to his early crash. He is due to be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg for the afternoon.



[code]Morning times


Pos  Driver         Team            Time               Laps

 1.  Rosberg        Mercedes        1m17.613s           74

 2.  Grosjean       Lotus           1m18.419s  +0.806   53

 3.  Hamilton       McLaren         1m19.464s  +1.851   38

 4.  Vergne         Toro Rosso      1m19.734s  +2.121   41

 5.  Perez          Sauber          1m19.770s  +2.157   31

 6.  Vettel         Red Bull        1m20.154s  +2.541   28

 7.  Alonso         Ferrari         1m20.412s  +2.799   29

 8.  Senna          Williams        1m21.293s  +3.680   61

 9.  Van der Garde  Caterham        1m23.505s  +5.892   40

The FIA has been urged by a group of British politicians to reconsider its decision to let the Bahrain Grand Prix go ahead, in the wake of fresh troubles in the Gulf state.

While Formula 1 chiefs are unmoved about the ongoing situation in Bahrain, the topic returned to the news agenda on Thursday when reports emerged of a British man having his fingers chopped off after being attacked in Karranah, which is near Manama.

With matters being far from calm in Bahrain, members of the House of Lords have written on open letter to The Times newspaper to make clear their views on the situation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, Lord Alton, Lord Avebury, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Lord Hylton, Caroline Lucas and Lord Boswell all backed the call for the FIA to think again about letting the Bahrain GP go ahead.

"Sir, We note with concern the decision by Formula 1 to go ahead with the race in Bahrain scheduled for April," they wrote in The Times.

"The continued political crisis in Bahrain is a troubling source of instability in the Gulf region, and the lack of any move towards political reconciliation concerns those who wish to see Bahrain move in the direction of greater democratic accountability."

After explaining that they had hoped the outcome of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) would have helped calm the situation, they said that in fact the opposite had happened.

"Two months on we see an entrenchment of the positions of both sides which risks letting more extreme voices dictate the progress of the conflict," added the letter. "Given the current dire situation, with daily street protests and the deaths of more civilians, we do not believe that the time is right for Formula 1 to return to Bahrain."

They added: "Bahrain is a major trading hub and financial centre in the Middle East but this brings greater responsibility. Human rights and economic stability go hand in hand and the government of Bahrain must do more to persuade international events and corporations that Bahrain is a stable place to do business.

"Until it takes concerted measures to reform the electoral, penal and judicial processes, international observers as well as ordinary Bahrainis can have little confidence that Bahrain is on the path to reform and political stability. We urge the FIA to reconsider its decision to continue with the race."

The FIA and F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone have so far appeared unmoved by the situation in Bahrain.

Last month, Ecclestone suggested that the troubles in Bahrain were nothing to be concerned about.

"Everyone talks a lot about this part of the world, but Bahrain is the country in the region where there are the fewest problems," said Ecclestone in an interview with the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

Nico Rosberg is expecting the new Pirelli tyres to play a major role in the type of racing in the 2012 Formula 1 season after his second day of running in the Jerez test.

Mercedes has brought its 2011 car to the first pre-season test with the focus on evaluating the new tyres and Rosberg, who ended today fastest, eight tenths ahead of the best 2012 car of Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, believes that Pirelli has achieved the targets that it set itself.

"It is going to have a big impact on the racing because the compounds are closer now," said Rosberg when asked by AUTOSPORT about the new tyres. "It is difficult for me to foresee how that will go, but it will be different.

"The [the compounds] are much closer together now. Degradation is still a big issue and the rear tyre seems a bit strong. Overall, Pirelli has done a good job."

Rosberg believes the data that Mercedes has collected on the new Pirellis during the test will allow it to hit the ground running when the new car takes to the track at Barcelona on February 21.

"It's important to understand the tyres properly because there are some quite big differences to last year," he said.

"It's a good thing because now we know exactly what the car does [on the new tyres]. We will have a direct comparison when we put the new tyres on the new car."

Ferrari has admitted its new car is not delivering what it had been hoped for so far - but it has faith that it can get on top of its issues before the first race of the season.

After three days of extensive evaluation of its new F2012 at Jerez in Spain this week, Ferrari has confessed it is not yet in a position to feel totally comfortable with the progress it is making.

While main title rivals McLaren and Red Bull Racing have both openly declared their satisfaction with the early indications from their car, Ferrari is more circumspect about where it is at with its new challenger.

When asked by AUTOSPORT about whether Ferrari was where it wanted to be at this stage of testing, technical director Pat Fry said: "I am not happy with where we are at the moment.

"I think there is a lot of room for us to improve from where we are. Reliability wise it is good. Performance wise I think we are okay, but we can play around with the performance and improve [the car in] some corners and some particular parts of the corner, but I would not say I am happy yet until we get the whole thing working."

Fry suggested that the biggest issue Ferrari was facing was in trying to understand how to get its car into the perfect set-up, having opted for a radical design this season.

And, with just two more tests after this week's running in Jerez, Fry admitted that there was pressure to get on top of matters quickly.

"Certainly the three tests rather than four does compress things a little bit," he said. "I think we have got a lot of work to do.

"The basic platform is okay. We are looking at the various characteristics – and all the bits we have to test. We can play around with the through corner characteristics, so we can do different things at corner entry, mid corner to exit, and it is really trying to find the right balance of those things.

"We are working through a reasonably large matrix here, so on each run we are trying almost a different configuration. There is a lot of analysis here and then back at the factory. We are using the simulation and the simulator to make sure everything ties in, so we can put the right package together."

He added: "I think everything is a lot more compressed, so there is a lot of pressure on everyone. You have to try and make decisions quickly.

"We have a one-week break coming up, but then it is two solid weeks and then you are packing the freight for Melbourne. So there is a lot of work for everyone to do. It is the same for every team up the pit lane."

Fry said that there was no interest from his team in chasing headline-grabbing quick laptimes because, having lost a shakedown test to snow last week, it needed to maximise its running over the next few weeks.

"We are not concentrating on taking the fuel out and trying to set a laptime. With only 12 days of testing before the next race, we have to make the most of all the time we have got.

"We were set back a little bit by the foot of snow in Fiorano, certainly the first morning of Felipe [Massa] was spent doing what we would have done there, so we are now trying to play catch up. Right now, it is about trying to get the right package together."

Fry made it clear, however, that the difficulties the team was having with the car were not related to its decision to run a pull-rod front suspension.

"The front suspension is not that a big a deal to be honest," he said. "It is a small aero benefit, a small centre of gravity benefit, and I know it is different from what people have done in the past - but it is not that big a risk to be honest.

"With a sensible structure to come you sort it out. We have gone for every last little bit of performance. That was a small benefit and it cost us a small amount of weight, but the weight is low down and in the end it was the right thing to do."

Fry said that Ferrari was flying out new hydraulic parts overnight to ensure there was no repeat of the problem that prevented Alonso running for a part of Thursday.

"The first two days we did not really have any reliability issues as such. Today there was a small hydraulic issue. We will get some new bits this evening which hopefully will see that one put to bed.

"That side of it, I think – the car, reliability wise, seems quite good as normal. Performance wise, it is literally trying to get the right bits together so a lot of analysis is needed."

Asked for what his message would be to Ferrari fans, Fry said: "We are all working very hard..."

Jules Bianchi has apologised to Force India after crashing early on in the third day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Jerez.

Bianchi, Force India's third driver, was scheduled to complete the morning session on day three and then hand over to Nico Hulkenberg, giving the German his first taste of the VJM05.

He fell foul of bitter morning conditions however and, after completing just two installation runs, lost the rear at Sito Pons, skipping across the gravel and making contact with the tyres.

Though the car was recoverable and the damage relatively minor, the team was unable to get back underway as they require parts to come across from their UK base.

"I made a small mistake on my second run. The tyres were a bit cold and I spun into the gravel and touched the wall with the right rear wheel," Bianchi explained.

"It was not a very big impact, but it caused some damage. I'm very sorry because my mistake has cost the team a lot of time and effort.

"Going away from here I want to focus on the positives because we had a very good day yesterday and I've really enjoyed working with the team this week."

Force India's technical director Andrew Green admitted the delay was frustrating, but said the team's productive start to the test - and the knowledge it will be back underway on Friday - helped alleviate the disappointment.

"[it's] a bit frustrating to lose some track time today, but we will take it on the chin because we had two very productive days earlier in the week with plenty of mileage," Green said.

"The damage to the car was not that significant, but a lack of spares at this time of year meant we could not go back out in the afternoon.

"The car will be ready for tomorrow morning when Nico gets his test programme underway. We will resume the aero work we started this morning and make the most of the tyres that we saved from today's limited running."

Sebastian Vettel says it is way too early to judge how competitive the new Red Bull is after his first day behind the wheel of the car.

"It's too early for that," said Vettel when asked if he believed the car was good enough to fight for the championship.

"We have to look at ourselves and focus on our car. There's hardly any time to watch what the others are doing."

He added: "Now we wait for the Mercedes and then we know a little bit more, but at this stage is clear that it should be very tight again, if not tighter than last year."

Vettel took to the track for the first time today after team-mate Mark Webber had completed the two first days of testing.

The world champion had a slow start to the day but managed 96 laps on his way to the third quickest time.

"This morning was pretty chilly and quite slippery," he said. "It's been two months not inside the car and it takes a couple of laps just to get back in the rhythm. The car feels fine.

"Obviously it's more or less what we expected. There is quite a big loss in grip because of the change in regulations but you get used to it fairly quickly. So far I think we can be quite happy. We had a couple of issues that stopped us for a little while, but it's normal."

He insisted there is still a lot of work to before Red Bull is ready for the first race of the year.

"There's a long way to go. It's the first day. There's a lot more to come and we need to understand how the car works and then we can address the problems properly and hopefully take the development in the right direction.

"But for now it's just about understanding what is the main point for this year and what are the weaknesses and where we can improve."

Lewis Hamilton described his first day of running in the 2012 McLaren as "all positive so far" - expressing his cautious satisfaction with the speed of the car and his relief that it was proving much more reliable than the 2011 model had at this stage.

McLaren has enjoyed a much smoother start to its winter than 12 months ago, when its car required a massive last-minute redesign after relentless reliability problems in testing.

Hamilton took over the MP4-27 from team-mate Jenson Button today and ended the session fourth quickest.

"I'm happy to be back and it was a day without any troubles and quite a few laps compared to last year. All positive so far," said Hamilton.

"I was a bit cautious going into today because looking at the times Jenson was experiencing over the last couple of days, I wasn't really sure where we were going to be.

"But when I got the new tyres on I was able to extract the grip quite easily and felt there was definitely something we could work with."

He warned that McLaren still had a long way to go to fine-tune the new car and claw back downforce lost to the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers.

"This car is definitely not predictable at the moment, being brand new. We haven't yet figured out the right set-up of the car," said Hamilton. "There are lots of different test items that we're going through.

"It feels like an evolution of last year's car but also there are some things that are not so good. The downforce on the rear for instance, is not as good through the high-speed corners as it was last year, but I'm sure we'll get that back.

"The car's better on the braking this year for some reason. Corner entry seems to be quite good."

Hamilton added that he expected last year's champion team Red Bull to remain strong based on its RB8's times so far, and reckoned Lotus's impressive pace this week was probably genuine.

"I think you can see the Red Bull looks quick. The Lotus looks quite impressive," he said.

"You never know what fuel loads people are on. I think we've been quite aggressive with our fuel loads."

Lewis Hamilton says Didier Coton's experience of Formula 1 and the McLaren operation will be a big asset to his management team.

Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment firm, which looks after Hamilton's affairs, announced yesterday that Coton - formerly double world champion Mika Hakkinen's manager - would be joining the team behind Hamilton this season.

"I thought it was a good idea. Me and Simon wanted to strengthen the team a little bit, and we wanted someone who could potentially have a bit more racing experience," Hamilton explained.

"Didier's been a good friend of mine for many years and he's got great experience of my team and the F1 paddock. I thought it would be good to have him just there when I need him. That's generally what he's there for."

But Hamilton insisted he was not implying that XIX was short of motorsport expertise.

"Simon knows quite a bit about Formula 1. He was here back in the day with BAR," said the McLaren driver.

"It was not necessarily having someone who knows more about Formula 1, but having someone there who I can offload a lot of stuff to. Last year I didn't always have someone there. I wanted to make it our goal to make sure we have someone there at grands prix. And we have Didier."

Near the end of a troubled 2011 season, Hamilton said he wanted to emulate the "great bubble" of people his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button had around him, and felt the appointment of Coton was part of this process.

"It's definitely a step towards that direction," said Hamilton. "I think I'm closer to having that already."

Romain Grosjean is upbeat about the performance of the new Lotus E20 after his first day of testing with the car at Jerez on Thursday.

The Lotus driver was quickest of those in 2012-spec machinery today, finishing second to Nico Rosberg and ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull RB8.

Grosjean downplayed the times, but said he was very happy with how the new Lotus handles.

"For sure it's better to be first than last, that's clear," said Grosjean at the end of the day. "But the main thing is that the car is quite good.

"I enjoyed the day a lot, which is the main thing. The car is good to drive, so we are trying to keep working and improve ourselves and see what we can do until the first qualy in Melbourne."

The Frenchman admitted the predictable handling of the car was giving him the confidence needed to push to the limit and extract vital tenths of a second.

"I think this one is much more predictable to drive and the handling is really good in the fast corners," he added. "You can really trust the car and push it to the limit and if you make a small mistake it's not a big issue and you are not going to spin hopefully.

"So that's the first good point. You can trust the car, which is very important to go fast. It's really what you want to have when you are in Formula 1. If you are not confident you are not getting those last tenths."

Grosjean suggested, however, that his fastest time today was set during a low-fuel run.

"We had some fuel in the car. We had fuel to run it [the lap]. The car looks good on track and it's good to drive."

The French driver will continue at the wheel of the car in tomorrow's final session.

Bruno Senna says Williams already has confidence that its new car is good enough to help it bounce back from its worst ever season in Formula 1.

On the back of a switch to Renault and a major technical restructuring, Williams has pinned hopes of drawing a line under its disastrous 2011 campaign with an improved FW34.

And although the team has not yet pushed for laptimes in testing to show the full potential of its new car, Senna says that the early impressions are good - but that it is too early to say yet just what it can achieve in the forthcoming campaign.

"I think the team is confident we can achieve more with this car," said Senna. "The team has been putting good attention to the detail, and this car has been very reliable, which is always a great feature.

"But we need to learn more about it, to learn what the real potential of the car is and then work on the deficiencies of the car. We have identified some, we are working on them and already talking to people in the factory, the design team, to make it an all around strong car."

Although the Williams appeared twitchy on track, Senna thinks that the car is fairly easy to drive - and actually needs to be made more 'edgy'.

"It is only my first day so I cannot say that I know the car fully well," he explained. "I know there is still more lap time to be extracted from the car, and again today's objective was not to be the fastest on the track, but to have good consistent work.

"We achieved that. We had many long runs that we got some good information from and, when the time comes to push hard and do a fast lap, we can show some good stuff.

"Any car comes out with strong points and weaker points and I think it is nice to drive car. It is very docile, so definitely if we can get it a bit more edgy, but without going over the edge, it will be a much faster car."

Former Force India chief race engineer Dominic Harlow has moved to Williams.

Harlow has been appointed to the role of senior operations engineer with the Grove based team and is attending this week's Jerez test in his new role.

"Race weekend support is an area that we are very keen to enhance," said chief operations engineer Mark Gillan when asked by AUTOSPORT about the move.

"Dominic is a strong new addition to the team coming into the race operation side. He's already bringing good new ideas so I'm very pleased to get him on board.

"We are always looking for good talented engineers."

Harlow had been with Force India since joining it in its Jordan guise in 2005 and held the role of chief race and test engineer from 2007.

Pedro de la Rosa thinks HRT can get itself in good shape for the start of the season, on the back of his first track experience with the team at Jerez in Spain this week.

Although the outfit is still awaiting the green light to run its new car, which depends on it passing crash tests later today, de la Rosa believes the right infrastructure is being put in place for the restructured team to be where it needs to be for the early part of the campaign.

"We are a brand new team and there are a lot of new members, so we have taken our time to work as a team, and it has been interesting," de la Rosa told AUTOSPORT, referring to the transformation HRT is undergoing with its move to a new base in Spain and the arrival of Luis Perez Sala as team boss.

"There is an interesting mix of experience, and people with little experience, so it has been very important to be here. Although we have been testing with the old car, which is in a way not relevant, it was good to go through the tyre compounds from Pirelli. There is something that you always learn; now we are looking forward to the new car.

"I don't think we will need much time to get up to speed. I am comfortable that we can look to Barcelona quite optimistic."

De la Rosa concedes that the 2011 car he was trying in Spain did not deliver the kind of performance he got used to during his years at McLaren, but he is still confident the team could make good progress over the course of the campaign.

"Let's say that there is a lot less grip than what I am used to," he said. "When you look at the lap times, they show everything. It is general lack of grip compared to a competitive car, and we just have to work very hard on every aspect. It is not only aero.

"There are very little small details that make a difference in this sport, so we just need more time and we need to start from zero again.

"With the new car, we know it is a step forward. We just need to quantify how much and prove the correlation with the windtunnel results is correct. There is a lot to come.

"We need time, and we are not looking for performance straight away. Right now, we are just trying to operate as a team and have a car that is reliable and workable. It is not that we are looking for the last tenth at the moment. We just need to create the base level."

De la Rosa is keeping his fingers crossed that HRT gets the green light to get its new car out for the next test at Barcelona, with the outfit hoping to finish off its crash test programme later on today.

"It all depends on how the crash tests go," he said. "Then we will know if we are in a position to test at the first Barcelona test. That would be a really big help for us.

"It is a new car and we need to not only look for performance, but also reliability. It is a new car, so let's cross our fingers. All crash tests have a big risk, and even big teams are nervous when they go to a crash test. And when you do it so late, it increases the risk of having a small issue and everything being delayed."

The new HRT car is set to make its debut in the third and final test of the pre-season after the Spanish squad's plans were delayed because it didn't pass all the mandatory crash tests this week.

HRT was aiming to get its new car on track for the first time at Barcelona on February 21 if it passed all the FIA crash tests, which are mandatory this year in order to be able to test.

AUTOSPORT has learned that out of the 17 mandatory tests, the new car passed 14, failed two and was unable to do one.

The new chassis passed all the tests, in what team insiders said it was a boost for the squad.

HRT has failed the roll-hoop and a lateral nose test by "very small margins", according to a team source.

A front impact test could not be carried out because of the failure to pass the lateral one.

A team source said having not passed those tests was not a worry, especially because the main concern was the chassis test which was passed successfully.

HRT's plans, however, have been altered as a result because it needs to manufacture new parts to pass the tests again in about a week's time.

That means the team will not be able to have the new car ready in time for the second Barcelona test, but it is still confident of making it to the third test on March 1.

HRT tested with last year's car at Jerez this week.

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Lotus will bring the very best out of Kimi Raikkonen, reckon team bosses Eric Boullier and Gerard Lopez, who believe the 2007 world champion is a much more dedicated team player than his past reputation suggested.

Raikkonen has impressed Lotus since joining the team for his Formula 1 comeback after two years in rallying, and was quickest on the first day of winter testing at Jerez last week.

Lopez said Lotus had found Raikkonen to be a totally different character to how he was presented during his last F1 stint.

"For most people it's probably one of the big mysteries, because you hear the hearsay and so forth, but we feel very good with him and he clearly feels at home," Lopez told AUTOSPORT.

"He smiles a lot when he's with us! But most importantly that says he feels more like part of the family."

Lopez added: "I think Kimi has a public image that honestly from what we've seen does not translate into how he really is. He's a very hard worker, very good at providing feedback, and has a good team spirit.

"Once we talked to him, once we understood why he was coming back, we really felt comfortable. If you look at what happened [at the test], nobody can say that he's not on the pace."

Boullier reckons the way Lotus works is proving ideal for Raikkonen.

"We tried to handle his personality and make sure that we don't bother him too much with too many intrusions, and he's a real racer," said Boullier.

"This team is full of proper racing people and he has fitted very well because we speak the same language.

"We are flexible, but our system is very racing-orientated, and that suits him very well."

Jarno Trulli says he is confident his seat at Caterham is safe going into the 2012 Formula 1 season, despite ongoing uncertainty over his position.

Vitaly Petrov was linked with Trulli's drive during the winter, with the team known to have held discussions with funded drivers. Caterham's new reserve Giedo van der Garde has also been rumoured to be a candidate for Trulli's race seat. The Dutchman tested the new Caterham CT01 at Jerez last week, the day before Trulli's first run in the car.

But asked if he would be racing in F1 this year, Trulli replied: "We are safe, yes."

He acknowledged that economic considerations might play a part in Caterham's driver decisions at some point, but said he had no indication so far that he was in jeopardy.

"I do understand the position of some teams and that unfortunately, economically we are going through a very tough time worldwide and there are some teams that are running into trouble," Trulli said.

"I don't know the real situation of the teams but I do know that they have to look for sponsors and paying drivers, so at the moment all I can say is I am contracted with the team and I will be testing.

"If something different happens I hope that someone from the team comes and talks to me earlier, but so far we never had a talk about it through the winter."

Trulli played down the significance of van der Garde trying the car before him.

"At the last moment they signed van der Garde and it is important for the team to have a third driver with a bit of experience, so they let him drive," Trulli said.

"He did a reasonable good job in mileage and from there we will start programming the next few tests because I was scheduled to drive at the beginning."

Giedo van der Garde believes he can start exploring the potential of the Caterham CT01 when he next gets a chance in the car after a productive debut test for the team at Jerez on Thursday.

The Dutchman has previous Formula 1 test experience with Spyker/Force India, Super Aguri and Renault, but prior to Jerez had not been in a car since last September's Monza GP2 event. He said that meant the Caterham test was largely a reacclimatisation experience.

"Because it was the first day for a long time, they had a programme for me to come down and see how everything's going," said van der Garde. "This was all to know the stuff that happens in Formula 1."

He believes the new Caterham can take the team forward, and that he will be able to make a bigger contribution now he has had a day to settle into the test. Van der Garde is set to drive in several Friday practice sessions this year, and hopes to get more pre-season test mileage too.

"The car is running very well and I think there is a lot of potential," he said. "For me to get used to the peak of the new tyres and the braking was a big deal, but the next test will be better.

"I'm happy to be back and the team was happy with my performance. They asked me to do a lot of things, and we did everything.

"I hope to still do one more test before the season starts, we'll see if that's going to happen."

Kamui Kobayashi says the reliability issues that struck Sauber in the first week of winter testing are nothing to be concerned about.

Although Sauber had a trouble-free first day of running at Jerez last week, it lost mileage to problems on each of the following three days of testing.

But Kobayashi said all the glitches were typical new car teething problems.

"This is just four days with the new car, problems happen sometimes. It's a new car. This is why we are here," he said.

"We need to get lots of mileage and investigate problems. We had a couple of problems and we have to improve that. The mileage for four days is quite a lot so this is quite natural stuff.

"In my first season in 2010, we hardly had any problems in the winter, but once we started the races we had big problems. Compared to that, I think we are in good shape. We just had a couple of troubles and we just have to understand that."

He added that Sauber had yet to do much performance work on the C31, but that he felt the car's basic potential was good.

"We're still checking the aero numbers and the small changes to check everything for development. We haven't worked for the set-up, so I don't know how much potential we have, but we can definitely improve a lot," said Kobayashi.

"This is the first step of development. They're going to check the numbers and let's see. But for me, I'm happy with the car.

"The balance was pretty good for me. I think the platform itself is good."

GP2 front-runner Dani Clos has joined HRT as its reserve driver for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

The 23-year-old Spaniard drove for the team at last November's young driver test at Yas Marina, and has now signed a deal that will involve him taking part in several Friday free practice sessions during the year.

He will support race drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan and believes that his new role will help him progress as a driver.

"I'm very proud to be a part of HRT Formula 1 Team. It is a great step in my career, something that I have dreamt of all my life and, finally, my dream is starting to come true," Clos said. "I'm very impressed with the job the team is doing; they're achieving fantastic things in a short space of time.

"The team has changed a lot since we met at the Abu Dhabi tests and I think it's a great opportunity and an honor to form a part of this new team. What they're achieving is very important for motorsport in our country and has a lot of potential.

"Also, being alongside Pedro de la Rosa is very important for me, since he and Karthikeyan can positively contribute to me becoming a better driver."

Clos has spent the past three years in GP2, winning once in the main series and once in the Asia Series. Fourth place in the 2010 championship for Racing Engineering marked his best season.

Prior to that he was a podium finisher in the F3 Euro Series and the 2006 Italian Formula Renault champion.

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An All-Party Group from the British parliament has expressed its disagreement with calls to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Last week, members of the House of Lords wrote to the FIA to urge the governing body to cancel April's grand prix amid continued unrest in the kingdom.

In another letter published by The Times today, the UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group said it believes that the grand prix is an incentive for Bahrain to prove "its sincerity in the cause of reform" of the country. The letter argues that the cancellation of the grand prix would do the cause of reform "no service".

All-Party Groups are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within parliament.

"Bahrain has been conveniently lumped together with other nations and labelled part of the 'Arab Spring'," the group said in a letter published by The Times.

"Yet the response of the government of Bahrain has been notably different. Bahrain invited independent human rights lawyers, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), to investigate and has started to implement its recommendations.

"In addition to elections that have led to a four-fold increase in women elected to parliament, Bahrain has also asked John Timoney, the former New York police chief, and John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to overhaul policing, Sir Daniel Bethlehem, the FCO's former principal legal adviser, to review judicial processes, and opened detention facilities for inspection by the Red Crescent.

"Those who want Bahrain to continue on the path of genuine reform will do the cause no service by cancelling the Grand Prix this year.

"Indeed, surely the presence of thousands of Western visitors and journalists in the run-up to and during the event will act as an additional incentive to the authorities in Bahrain to show the international community its sincerity in the cause of reform and that their support for Bahrain is well placed?"

Meanwhile, violence escalated on the anniversary of last year's uprising. The BBC reports that security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters who gathered in the kingdom's capital Manama.

Lotus technical director James Allison says that his team was happy to run the most laps of anybody in the first pre-season Formula 1 test at Jerez last week.

The team topped the first day of the test with Kimi Raikkonen, and ended the week with Romain Grosjean setting the quickest time of all the new cars present.

It racked up 404 laps over the four days without much in the way of mechanical dramas, leaving it at the top of the mileage chart.

Speaking to AUTOSPORT about the amount of work Lotus got through at Jerez, Allison said: "Pretty pleased because we've spent a lot of time on the track instead of in the garage, last year it was the other way round so that's been good."

"We had done quite a lot more running than everybody else so I think that's very, very helpful. The car seems to work quite well, we're pretty happy."

The new Lotus E20 has already gained praise from rival teams and drivers. And while Allison is keen not to get carried away, he accepted that the car had got off to a good start.

"I think everyone can work out we're not at the back and it looks reasonably positive," he said.

"Everyone down the pitlane will say that it doesn't matter, but it's good fun and good gossip. Everyone enjoys trying to guess what everyone is doing and we enjoy it as well, but honestly it doesn't mean much until we get to Melbourne.

"Only thinking about this car and the context of this car, we've been fortunate that it's been well behaved pretty much from the first lap. Not just mechanically; both the drivers had a good feeling with it straight away."

Allison also praised the work carried out by reigning GP2 champion Grosjean as the Frenchman prepares to return to F1 race action for the first time since his 2009 outings with Renault.

"Romain looked very, very fast straight away, and we've got a very good driver line-up," he said. "I think Roman is very fortunate to have a team-mate like Kimi, and he can have a benchmark to judge himself against."

Bruno Senna thinks the second F1 test at Barcelona will show a truer picture than Jerez about where his Williams team stands.

The majority of the Formula 1 teams ran with their new cars at Jerez last week, in the first of three pre-season tests in 2012.

Senna was the busiest man during the test, covering a massive 250 laps, and finishing as 15th quickest overall out of 23 drivers.

He reckons, however, that it is very hard to tell where his team stands, although he believes Williams is on par with other teams in the midfield.

"It's hard to say. We were not following the same sort of testing programme as everybody else," said Senna of the competitiveness of the Williams.

"I think we are there together with other guys in the midfield but we will only find out for real in Barcelona when people start doing more straightforward test programmes and then we will see."

He added: "I think we have a strong platform and we have a few ideas in terms of what we want to do with direction, but you know each track is different. Jerez is very unique track in terms of how it makes the car behave, so for sure we are going to get to Barcelona and learn a bit more about the traditional circuits."

Senna is confident Williams's car will be stronger in the next test at Barcelona as a result of the productive work done at Jerez.

"Well we have been testing a lot of stuff in the car to try and improve tyre consistency, to improve it in the high and low speed, every test we did had an objective and we getting to know the car better and this is the main objective of this test at Jerez.

"And now when we come to Barcelona we know the car better, we know the tendencies and the most important thing to know is which direction to go in when we face a problem."

Peter Sauber believes parting ways with technical director James Key was the only option the team had after the ex-Force India man decided that he wanted to leave the team.

The Hinwil team announced earlier this month that Key was leaving the squad he had joined in April 2010.

Sauber has decided not to bring in a replacement technical director and has instead opted to create a new structure instead.

Key had played a key role in helping Sauber with the transition from manufacturer-backed operation under BMW ownership to a private team again.

Sauber said that with Key keen to leave the team to return to work in the UK, there was no choice but for the relationship to end.

"James joined us in a phase when we had to undergo the painful transformation from a manufacturer to a private team, and he was one of the key factors behind returning stability to our squad," said Sauber.

"In the phase that followed it became more and more obvious that the cooperation was not working as both sides had hoped. As James wanted to leave the team, it was the logical conclusion to let him move on."

Sauber reckons his team will need to use its development resources better this year in order to avoid the kind of slump it suffered last season following a strong start to the campaign.

"2011 was divided into two very different parts. We had a good first half and a difficult second one," he told F1.com.

"This year we will have to allot our development resources in a way that will help us improve over the whole course of the season and help us keep and defend our position."

And the team boss says the goal for the upcoming season is to maintain a consistent level of performance all year long.

"We had a good start and a disappointing end. This season we want to have the same start as last year but we want to keep that level of performance throughout the whole season. If we are able to do that then the final count will look more pleasant."

McLaren has announced that Kevin Magnussen will have an extended role this year as a member of the team's Young Driver Programme.

The 19-year-old, son of former grand prix driver Jan, will start working in McLaren's simulator alongside Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey, and will also take part in the Young Driver F1 in Abu Dhabi later this year.

Magnussen, who finished runner-up in the British Formula 3 championship last year, joined McLaren's development programme in 2010.

"Racing is the core business of McLaren," said team boss Martin Whitmarsh. "By enabling talented drivers to fulfil their potential, our Driver Development Programme is a strategic investment in the future of that business and the sport as a whole.

"We've been delighted by Kevin's progress, aptitude and work ethic thus far. The time was right for him to take the next step and we look forward to helping him gain the experience he requires."

In addition to his McLaren role, Magnussen will compete in the Formula Renault 3.5 series with Carlin this year.

"I'm really pleased by this new agreement with McLaren," he said. "The team has shown great faith in me so far and I feel that this is an important step in my career.

"F1 is a highly pressured, data-driven environment, and anyone who wants to get there and succeed within it has to master all the technical aspects of the discipline. This is a great opportunity and I look forward to working with the team and playing a part in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' future."