Michael Schumacher's run of bad luck in 2012 is hard to fathom, according to Peter Sauber. Team boss Sauber, who was instrumental in bringing the seven time world champion into F1 in the early 90s, said that in the third year of his comeback with Mercedes, Schumacher is finally at the wheel of a worthy car. "But I have to say that Schumacher's bad luck is incredible," Sauber told the Swiss newspaper Blick, referring to yet another technical problem for the 43-year-old in Canada. In […]

Montreal is on the verge of securing a new long-term contract to host Formula One until at least 2024, the Quebec newspaper La Presse reports. It had already emerged that Bernie Ecclestone met at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last weekend with race and government officials. F1 chief executive Ecclestone confirmed that the new deal for 2014 and beyond is almost complete, with only a few details left to resolve. "The annual fee is done," the 81-year-old said. "That's not a problem. "All they need is […]

Charlie Whiting sounded happy after inspecting Austin's new Formula One circuit early this week. The FIA's race director, who is also in charge of homologating the venues ahead of their respective grands prix, touched down in Texas immediately after the weekend's race in Canada. The Circuit of the Americas is still under construction, and has been subject to delays, legal trouble and intense speculation that its inaugural race in November might be in danger. But Briton Whiting said after his inspection: "It is clear that […]

With only just over a third of the season now in the past, Fernando Alonso thinks the championship is already slipping away from some drivers. The Ferrari driver lost his bid for victory and also the lead of the points standings in Canada, but he was calm after Sunday's race in light of his consistency in 2012. "No one can win the championship in seven races," Alonso told El Pais newspaper, "but some are starting to lose it." He was disappointed to lose the victory […]

Ferrari has defended itself amid claims its race strategy in Canada on Sunday was "suicidal". Despite the Maranello team stepping forward again in performance terms, the Italian press was highly critical after Fernando Alonso's bid for victory went awry in Montreal. La Stampa called persevering with the one-stop strategy a case of "Harakiri della Ferrari". La Repubblica, meanwhile, said the strategy was "pazza, davvero pazza" (crazy, really crazy). Team boss Stefano Domenicali, however, said it is easy to see the strategy was wrong in hindsight. […]

Former championship favourite Jenson Button is being swallowed up by F1's fascinating 2012 season. The first winner this year, Briton Button's form has been sliding recently and it hit rock bottom in Canada, where he finished sixteenth whilst Lewis Hamilton won in the sister McLaren. He admitted afterwards that he leaves Montreal "confused and very lost". He has qualified tenth or lower throughout May and June, and has only half of championship leader Hamilton's points tally, and is just eighth in the title standings. "There […]

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won a tense and tactical Canadian Grand Prix, making it seven winners from seven races in 2012. Hamilton took an unshakeable grip on this race after the first round of pitstops. Sebastian Vettel had been leading for Red Bull Racing but he was jumped by both Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari who went a few laps further. Those front three, Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel pulled away from the field and were having a race all on their own. Hamilton came in first […]

Canada is in the grip of F1 fever, but in the Montreal paddock, it is football fever that is rampant among the sport's travelling circus. That is because Euro 2012, UEFA's European football championship, has kicked off in Poland and the Ukraine. On Saturday, Germany's match against Portugal was set to kick off just minutes after qualifying. When asked a mundane question about his helmet design immediately after taking pole on Saturday, an impatient Sebastian Vettel smiled: "It (the answer) might take too long ..." […]

There is little good news to report about the Lotus F1 team at present. The UK financial website thisismoney.co.uk reports that the Enstone based team has recorded a $32 million pre-tax loss for last year. It is however an improvement on the $63 million loss of 2010. But the news of the latest loss followed the dismissal by the team's former sponsor Group Lotus of its controversial chief executive Dany Bahar. Business journalist Christian Sylt said Group Lotus' Malaysian owner DRB-Hicom is contemplating "whether to […]

Sebastian Vettel has taken the 32nd pole position of his F1 career after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton completes the front row, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Michael Schumacher - who felt he was compromised on his fastest lap - and Jenson Button round out the top ten. It was a disappointing session for Kimi Raikkonen; the Finn could manage only twelfth as he failed to […]

Friday showed there are many favourites for Canadian grand prix victory this weekend. As F1 seeks an unprecedented seventh different winner for its seventh different round of 2012, the top teams will need to keep an eye on dark horses Sauber and Williams, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports. Much less than a second separates much more than half of the entire field. "Last year it (the gap) was two and a half seconds," said Peter Sauber. Red Bull's Christian Horner predicted: "Q2 is going […]

Team co-owner Toto Wolff on Friday defended Bruno Senna, after a bad day in Montreal for Williams' Brazilian driver. Senna, never higher than 17th quickest on Friday, had several off-track excursions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before crashing heavily at the notorious 'wall of champions'. His questionable form threatens to intensify rumours Williams might replace the struggling 28-year-old with reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, who is managed by Austrian Wolff. Wolff, however, defended Senna, insisting the driver does not need a dressing-down because "he is the […]