Kimi Raikkonen has been tipped to fight for pole in Australia next month, and the world championship in 2013. "I am quite sure Kimi will fight for the championship," fellow Finn Mika Salo, now a commentator for the MTV3 broadcaster, said. After two seasons in rallying, 2007 world champion Raikkonen returned to Formula One with Lotus last year, finishing the championship third and winning in Abu Dhabi. "Last year he was not able to consistently show good results all of the time, and the team […]

Stefano Domenicali has admitted Ferrari will probably not field the fastest car at the 2013 season opener next month. Indeed, based on the results of the opening two tests of the pre-season, most rivals and pundits think world champion Red Bull is still in the lead. Veteran correspondent Roger Benoit, of the Swiss newspaper Blick, ranks Lotus second in his early 2013 pecking order, followed by McLaren and then last year's runner-up Ferrari. "The target is to be close together with the leading cars," Maranello […]

Hot on the heels of Williams and Caterham's dubious exhaust exit solutions for 2013, trouble could also be brewing for F1's two other Renault-powered teams. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that, after Renault and 'works' partner Red Bull were told to cease using certain 'engine maps' last year, the same issue is now back on the table. Correspondent Michael Schmidt also said the similarly Renault-powered Lotus, who according to most pundits has been the second most impressive team of the 2013 pre-season, is also […]

Having sat out the launch of the new MP4-28, McLaren's technical director Paddy Lowe will now not travel to Australia for the 2013 opener. The news continues the saga of Lowe's uncertain future, with the Guardian newspaper claiming on Monday that a move to Mercedes for the 50-year-old is "a done deal". "He will join the team in time to oversee the massive (rule) changes for 2014," said journalist Paul Weaver. Weaver explained that Lowe will remain under contract to McLaren this year, but he […]

Nico Rosberg thinks Mercedes' 2013 car is a potential winner. The German won last April's Chinese grand prix, but thereafter the Brackley based team suffered a collapse in car development and fell badly off the pace. New teammate Lewis Hamilton has been playing down expectations following the new W04's launch, but Rosberg - who has driven for Mercedes alongside Michael Schumacher since 2010 - is more outwardly confident. "I just want to win races," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper, "and I am very confident […]

Sergio Perez was quickest in Barcelona on Wednesday, but he also admitted that Jenson Button still rules the McLaren roost. Asked by Spain's AS newspaper to rate his adaptation from Sauber to McLaren, the young Mexican answered: "From zero to ten, I would say it is a 6 or a 7." Perez said the "management style and philosophy" of Woking based McLaren and the Swiss team Sauber is fundamentally different, adding that his experienced teammate Button has the advantage of having being involved in the […]

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel saw his running curtailed by a couple of minor issues with his Red Bull RB9. Vettel topped the morning session for the second consecutive day but saw his lap time eclipsed by McLaren's Sergio Perez. "We had some issues with reliability today and we couldn’t do as many laps as we wanted, but I think it’s better that this kind of thing happens today rather than in Australia," he said after completing 84 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya near […]

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen says he slept while Lotus fixed a gearbox problem on his Lotus E21. The 2007 world champion completed only four laps early on in the day before the team discovered a problem with his gearbox. He returned to the circuit with a couple of hours of running remaining. "I had a sleep," Raikkonen said when asked what he did during the wait. "Yes, it’s frustrating and no driver wants to hang around a race track with nothing to do." Raikkonen nonetheless […]

Fernando Alonso says that he is pleased with the Ferrari F138 after the first day of testing in Barcelona. Alonso elected to miss the first pre-season test in Jerez but returned to set the third fastest time of the day. "I feel reasonably pleased with this first day and I can say I share Felipe’s opinion that the car is on another planet compared to the one we began with on the first day of testing last year," he said. "The programme for this first […]

Marussia team principal John Booth says that he has been encouraged by the squad's progress during the first test in Jerez. Drivers Max Chilton and Luiz Razia completed four days of running at the Spanish circuit. "We leave Jerez today feeling very encouraged with the understanding we have achieved of the MR02 and the progress we have made gathering data to feed back into the development cycle," said Booth. "The week has not been without its frustrations, but that’s all part and parcel of pre-season […]

Pastor Maldonado, who in 2013 enters his third F1 season with Williams, thinks new teammate Valtteri Bottas will get quickly up to speed. Actually, 23-year-old Finn Bottas is a rookie, and - once the Grove team gets its 2013 car up and running in Barcelona this month - he will have just four days at the wheel before making his grand prix debut in Australia. But Venezuelan Maldonado said: "Valtteri has been actively involved in the development (of the FW35) and has done a lot […]

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel set the third fastest time as he returned to the track for the first time since his title victory in Brazil. Vettel completed 102 laps on his first day in the Red Bull RB9. "So far, I think we can be pretty happy," he said. "Mark [Webber] had a good couple of days to start with and I took over today. It was great to get back in the car, to get rid of the rust and to get back […]