Pedro de la Rosa is predicting a close race to the 2013 title. Red Bull, McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari have all looked quite closely matched in pre-season testing. New Ferrari tester and veteran F1 driver de la Rosa said: "The championship will be decided in the last race. "The differences between the teams is minimal, and so it is the details that will make the difference," the 42-year-old Spaniard is quoted by Speed Week. "The one who wins will have made the fewest mistakes, […]

Caterham has revealed their CT03, the car which will compete in the 2013 Formula One season. The car will be driven by an all new driver line-up as Charles Pic joins from Marussia. 2012 reserve driver Giedo van der Garde steps up from GP2 to join Pic at the team. "CT03 is the first car we have produced in the Leafield Technical Centre so it marks an important milestone in the development of our team," said technical director Mark Smith. "The season ahead presented us […]

Ferrari has travelled to India with some improvements for its 2012 car, test driver Marc Gene has revealed. Despite admitting its wind tunnel has not always been up to scratch this year, the Italian team remains determined to fight back after Fernando Alonso lost his long-standing championship lead to Red Bull's on-form Sebastian Vettel two weeks ago in Korea. Spaniard Gene is quoted by the EFE news agency as admitting Ferrari has brought "a number of improvements" to India, the fourth-last stop on the 2012 […]

Lewis Hamilton admitted that the Korean Grand Prix left him 'exhausted' after a struggling run to tenth place. Hamilton battled a car problem for most of the race that left his McLaren struggling. "I’m exhausted. I was told after the race that my car had suffered a rear anti-roll bar failure a few laps into the second stint", he said. "It was safe to drive – and I was trying my best with it, pushing all the way – but it was extremely hard to maintain […]

World champion Sebastian Vettel insists he and Red Bull will keep their eyes on the ball in 2012, despite the rocky road of the opening half of the season. The 25-year-old German began the season bidding to join very illustrious company, with Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher the only other drivers in modern F1 history to have won three drivers' titles on the trot. But with half of this year's grands prix now in the past, Vettel is 42 points adrift in the 2012 […]

McLaren is considering following Ferrari's lead and introducing innovative pull-rod front suspension for its 2013 car. That is the claim of the Spanish sports daily Marca, citing the information of multiple Italian specialist sources. Ferrari raised eyebrows early this year when the aggressive F2012 was launched with pull-rod suspension: a configuration not seen since Fernando Alonso raced a Minardi more than a decade ago. The Italian team's early struggles sparked rumours Ferrari could scrap the experiment, but the subsequent giant strides of progress have now […]

F1's big teams continue to stride ahead, with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren using big car developments on the streets of Valencia on Friday. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said arguably the biggest development of all was seen on the Red Bull, whose designer Adrian Newey "has once again read the rules perfectly". The report said the development is a sort of "double floor", opening up beneath the sidepods to improve airflow to the rear of the diffuser. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of […]

'2012 tyre lottery' is not a term one would hear seriously deployed this season within the garages of traditional midfield teams including Sauber, Lotus and Williams. Until now, as an unprecedented seven different winners scooped the honours at the opening seven grands prix of the year, top teams including McLaren and Red Bull have referred constantly to the tiny 'window' of operation of Pirelli's 2012 tyres. But "The window for the tyres has not become smaller," Sauber's technical director Matt Morris is quoted by Germany's […]

Ferrari might be gearing up to incorporate a 'double-DRS' setup aboard its improving F2012 car. If true, the famous Italian team would be the first team to successfully emulate the controversial Mercedes system, which has been declared fully legal by the governing FIA. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said a new rear wing was among the very last upgrades to be tested by Fernando Alonso as the Mugello test concluded late on Thursday. "The wing has only minor changes. You have to look closely," read […]

Charlie Whiting has admitted F1's governing body will likely have to change the exhaust rules yet again for 2013. Led by technical delegate Whiting, the FIA clamped down hard for this season on the sort of 'exhaust blown diffuser' layouts that had become widespread last year. New exhaust layout rules, combined with new restrictions on engine mapping, have made it much more difficult for teams to achieve an aerodynamic effect from the fast-moving hot gases produced by the engine. "We are aware, however, that they […]

Ferrari is planning to follow Sauber's lead when the first major development of the disappointing F2012 car is unveiled soon. "No doubt about it," Fernando Alonso said after winning the Malaysian grand prix, "they (Sauber) were quicker than us." The Italian magazine Autosprint have mischievously christened the updated Ferrari a 'Ferrauber', explaining that the rear of the 'B' F2012 will be very similar to Sauber's impressive C31. Right at the end of the pre-season test period, Red Bull rolled out a Sauber-esque solution at the […]

Norbert Haug has turned the 'F-duct' debate around by admitting that he questions the exhaust solution featured on this year's McLaren car. Some teams - notably Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari - have complained loudly about the Mercedes W03's aerodynamic configuration, arguing the F-duct ban completely ruled out similar systems that are triggered by a driver's movement. Mercedes argues that its new F-duct is entirely passive and is triggered not by the driver but by the activation of the 'DRS' rear wing system. So far, […]