Team owner Gerard Lopez says Lotus Renault GP is still weighing its options for its second race seat. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Owner Hints At All Change For 2012 Lotus Lineup: Team owner Gerard Lopez has confirmed reports Lotus could change its driver lineup completely ahead of the 2012 season. Already signed up for next year is Kimi Raikkonen, amid reports 2011 drivers Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov are the main contenders to be the famous Finn's teammate. "It's not just a question of Vitaly or Bruno," clarified majority team owner Genii Capital's Lopez. Other reports say reserve driver and new GP2 champion Romain Grosjean — whose career is handled by Genii's management arm Gravity — as well as likely Force India refugee Adrian Sutil, are also in the running. "We will make a decision fairly quickly," Lopez told RTL Luxembourg radio. He seemed to indicate that Brazilian Senna, who was drafted in mid-season to replace injured Robert Kubica's initial substitute Nick Heidfeld, is not the favorite. "From the second half of the season we had two young drivers in Vitaly and Bruno," he said. "They are really good drivers, but the huge problem at the moment is the little testing in Formula One. We do not have time to build up young drivers."

Mercedes Expects Other Teams To Test 'Old' Cars: Norbert Haug doubts Mercedes will be alone in taking its "old" car to the first pre-season test at Jerez in early February. The German team announced this week that its 2012 challenger, the W03, will not be given its official track debut until the Barcelona test two weeks later. Mercedes said the extra time can be better spent designing and developing the car. "We can do a lot in those two weeks," the carmaker's motor racing chief Haug is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. From 2012, new cars must pass all the FIA crash tests before they can be tested. In the past, the FIA tests only had to be completed before the race season began. Referring to the late track debut, Haug revealed: "I doubt we will be the only ones who will do it that way." The strategy, however, gives Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg just four days each to try the W03 before it is shipped to Australia for the first race. "We can now simulate so much at our factory in Brackley," team chief executive Nick Fry said. Haug, meanwhile, confirmed that there was no opposition to Mercedes' application to add the 'AMG' moniker to its official name for 2012. "The governing body and FOM have been informed and there were no objections," said the German.

Berger Admits To 'Looking At' GP2 Team: Gerhard Berger has played down rumors of a return to the Formula One pitwall, but admitted he expressed interest in a GP2 team recently. The former 10-time Grand Prix winner, BMW motor sport director and Toro Rosso co-owner has rejected reports he is considering an offer to work with Lotus, amid rumors Eric Boullier's position as team boss is in doubt. "One should never say never, but right now there is nothing on the horizon," Berger, 52, told Austrian television Servus TV. However, the former Ferrari and McLaren driver did admit to sniffing around a GP2 team recently. "It's true, a few weeks ago I looked at a GP2 team," he confirmed. "It was Super Nova." Berger denies that he is set to become the British team's new boss. "It was brought to my attention so I did come to look more closely, but in this case I have to say — clearly no," the Austrian insisted.