Romain Grosjean is hoping for a long stay with the Lotus team. Then known as Renault, the Frenchman made his troubled F1 debut with the Enstone based team in 2009 but has returned on much better form this year as the reigning GP2 champion. The E20 car was a standout of the winter season but Grosjean, 25, told Auto Motor und Sport that Lotus' target for 2012 is "fourth place" in the constructors' championship. "We want to go for the world title in 2015," he […]

Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he travelled to Australia recently unsure if he would be immediately back up to speed in Formula One. The 2007 world champion spent the last two years rallying, after Ferrari ended his last F1 contract a season early. "I always felt I could make a return to grand prix racing," said the Finn ahead of his second race of 2012 with Lotus. "But, I can confess now, I got some good answers (in Australia) to my own minor doubts how quickly […]

Sergio Pérez has branded speculation that he could replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari this season as “only rumours”. The Mexican, who is part of Ferrari’s young driver programme, and who finished eighth in the Mebourne season-opener after starting 22nd, has been tipped as a possible replacement for Massa should Ferrari opt to end his seven-year stint with the team this season. Massa endured a torrid start to the campaign, qualifying 16th and retiring from the race after clashing with Williams’ Bruno Senna. Pérez, however, denied […]

Fernando Alonso has insisted that Ferrari can still challenge for this year’s Formula One titles, despite a troubled start to the season in Australia last weekend. The Spanish driver could only qualify 12th in Melbourne, after sliding off track in Q2, while team-mate Felipe Massa didn’t get that far, being knocked out in the first 20-minute segment of the session and lining up 16th on the grid. In the race Alonso recovered to take fifth but Massa was forced to retire. Alonso, though, believes the […]

Felipe Massa's Ferrari seat is a big talking point in the Sepang paddock on Thursday. Following a dire performance in Australia for the Brazilian, the Italian press has named Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil and even Jarno Trulli as possible candidates to immediately oust Massa. Mexican Perez, the cream of Ferrari's development programme and already at Ferrari-powered Sauber, said in Malaysia: "It's very early to say that or speculate." Very keen for a chance like this, however, is Force India refugee Sutil, who has been left […]

Red Bull has stepped up the technical row with Mercedes by accusing the German team of breaching a gentlemen's agreement. Red Bull and Lotus last weekend threatened to protest the results in Australia, due to Mercedes' innovative new 'F-duct'-like solution. "They are not complying with the agreement of the technical working group," said Christian Horner. Adrian Newey also told Auto Bild Motorsport: "The FIA has allowed the system, but Mercedes has gone against the gentlemen's agreement of the teams." He is apparently referring to a […]

Lotus team ambassador Jean Alesi has tipped Lotus to shine this weekend at Sepang. The black and gold E20 car was a standout of the winter pre-season, but Kimi Raikkonen qualified 18th in Australia while Romain Grosjean was punted into early retirement by Pastor Maldonado. "The car should suit Sepang well," said the Frenchman. "In testing in Jerez and Barcelona it was particularly good in the fast turns, which is what defines the Malaysia track. "Lotus appear to be quicker than everyone except McLaren," added […]

Ferrari has swiftly denied reports Felipe Massa could be dumped even before his 2012 contract runs out. Among the Italian press' hypothetical candidates for the struggling Brazilian's seat are Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil and even the out-of-work Italian Jarno Trulli. But according to O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni dismissed the reports as being "without foundation". Colajanni added that Ferrari is fully supportive of Massa's situation, and has built up a new F2012 chassis for him to race this weekend […]

Caterham's hopes of pushing into the midfield in 2012 are not dead yet. That is the claim of team owner and boss Tony Fernandes, despite the former Team Lotus looking to have once again emulated the pecking-order of the past two years by outpacing only Marussia and HRT in Australia. "We have obviously improved our pace relative to our 2011 speed," the Malaysian businessman said. "But the teams ahead have also improved, so even though we are closer than this time last year we still […]

Felipe Massa's Formula One career appeared in deep crisis on Wednesday, as the Italian press lined up multiple candidates to replace him. Earlier, the weekly Autosprint suggested out-of-work grand prix winner and Italian Jarno Trulli is available to step in immediately to replace the beleaguered Brazilian, whose contract expires this year. Ferrari seemed to clear a path for the 30-year-old's removal by moving to replace his F2012 chassis ahead of Sepang, "to clear up any doubts about the unusual performance of his car" last weekend […]

Hot on the heels of the new F-duct controversy, Mercedes has turned the heat back onto Red Bull. Amid complaints from rival teams including Red Bull about its innovative aerodynamic concept aboard the W03, Mercedes' Ross Brawn admitted he sensed a diversionary tactic. "The discussion about our system has diverted the focus from the exhaust issue," he said in Australia. The FIA has clamped down hard on the exhaust-blown diffusers seen throughout the grid last year, but much pre-season chatter focused on some teams' post-ban […]

Kimi Raikkonen is still up to the task of performing at his best in Formula 1. That is the claim of Pedro de la Rosa, who in 2006 was the famous Finn's race teammate at McLaren just before Raikkonen - now 32 - switched to Ferrari and won the world championship. The so-called 'Iceman' has been out of F1 for two years and on his comeback in Australia last week dropped the ball with a miserable qualifying performance. It has emerged Raikkonen came into the […]