Ferrari team principal Stefano Domencali insists that a podium in next weekend's Australian Grand Prix would provide a good platform on which to mount a season-long title challenge. Ferrari's recent record at Albert Park has been poor, with just one podium - Felipe Massa in 2010 - to show from the previous five races in Australia. "I expect that the teams who finished in the top positions in Sao Paulo [2012] will repeat that in Melbourne, probably with a reduced advantage – that’s what we […]

Having consistently played down his expectations for 2013, Lewis Hamilton is now predicting a win. Until this weekend, most pundits had been forecasting a Red Bull versus Lotus battle for the forthcoming season opener, with next-best McLaren and Ferrari perhaps slightly off the ultimate pace. But on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton exploded to the top of the times with the winter's best laptime. Nico Rosberg then went even quicker in the first half of Sunday, the last day of running before the circus heads off to […]

Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey has said that the RB9, the car which the team hopes will take them to a fourth straight title, is en evolution of the RB8. Red Bull unveiled the RB9 at their Milton Keynes factory on Sunday. "It's a tribute to all the hard work of the guys over the winter because we had a very tight championship battle last year," said Newey. "It was difficult trying to continue development of last year’s car while also doing research into […]

The opening races of this season's world championship will be crucial, according to Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali. In 2012, runner-up Ferrari had a dire start to its campaign, while eventual champion Red Bull also took some time to establish its full potential. But with the sweeping rule changes of 2014 looming large, Domenicali said the dynamics of this season's battle will be different. "Next season (2013) will be decided in the first races," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. "The teams […]

F1 2012 remains an increasingly distant memory, but fear not. Here's what to look forward to this year.

Luca di Montezemolo on Thursday admitted reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel is next in line for Ferrari's 'number 1' race seat. "If, tomorrow, Fernando would withdraw for any reason - let's say he moves to Hawaii with his girlfriend - then I would want Vettel," laughed the fabled Maranello based team's president, according to Auto Motor und Sport. Spaniard Alonso, however, is tied up contractually for years -- and Ferrari is more than happy with him. "I'm incredibly happy with him," Montezemolo agreed. "He is […]

Reflecting on the 20 races of 2012

Bruno Senna has admitted he has a "plan B" in the event Williams decides to replace him for 2013 with Finnish rookie Valtteri Bottas. Agencia Estado quotes the Brazilian as admitting he and Bottas, the team's Toto Wolff-linked 2012 reserve driver, "are in the same battle" for a single race seat for next season. "As soon as we saw that the battle was strong, we saw that we needed a plan B, because you can't wait until the end (of the year) to see whether […]

Long time Brazilian Grand Prix race leader Nico Hulkenberg admitted he is disappointed to miss out on a podium. Hulkenberg led the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton before making a mistake and spinning. The German then collided with Hamilton when he attempted to re-pass him, with a penalty dropping him to fifth. "That was a lot of fun - very entertaining and there was so much happening all the time! We had a great chance to finish on the podium today, but it slipped away, which […]

Vitaly Petrov's eleventh place in the Brazilian Grand Prix has given Caterham the elusive tenth place in the championship. "What an incredible race", said the Russian. "I’m so pleased for the whole team and I want to thank every single one of them for doing such a fantastic job in the conditions today. Seeing what regaining tenth place in the championship meant to everyone when I got back to the garage was really special and I think we deserve it after all the hard work […]

Daniel Ricciardo believes that a wet set-up on his Toro Rosso could pay dividends on Sunday. Ricciardo starts from sixteenth place, with wet weather forecast. "Today, we ran at more or less the same pace we had since the start of Friday. When the rain came just at the start, I was hoping it would stay, as I feel we have a better chance in the wet", he said. "In fact, given the forecast, that’s the reason, I’ve opted for a set-up that will favour […]

Just 0.013s separated Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Both drivers are under pressure for 2013, with Charles Pic already confirmed as a Caterham driver for next season. "I’m very pleased with the result today", said Petrov, who finished nineteenth. "It wasn’t quite enough to get into Q2 but in the conditions today I think we can be happy with where we ended up". "Tomorrow’s going to be really interesting – we showed yesterday and today that the gap […]