Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne is excited about what the 2012 season holds. (Photo: Getty Images)

Vergne Predicts Strong Season For Toro Rosso: Jean-Eric Vergne has predicted a good season ahead for Toro Rosso. Along with Daniel Ricciardo, French rookie Vergne makes up the Red Bull junior team's new driver lineup, following the ousting at the end of last season of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi. Perhaps because their prize could be Mark Webber's seat at the senior team in 2013, Ricciardo and Vergne set almost identical laptimes last week at Jerez as the new STR7 was tested for the first time. And according to 21-year-old Vergne, the Ferrari-powered car showed promising form overall. "We hope to be one of the strongest teams in the middle of the classification," he is quoted by the Italian website Tuttosport. At the same time, Vergne is not getting carried away ahead of eight preseason test days in Barcelona, starting next week. "Barcelona could be different as Jerez was rather cold and the surface is very abrasive. I don't think there's much difference between the teams." Vergne is quoted by France's L'Equipe: "What Jerez showed us I think is that we have a good basis."

Bianchi's Sponsor Signs Up With Force India: Jules Bianchi's personal sponsor has signed up with the Force India team for 2012. The French rookie, also with the strong backing of Ferrari's development program, will be Force India's reserve and Friday driver this season. Without mentioning 22-year-old Bianchi's name, the Silverstone-based team announced this week that Brazilian car parts maker Aethra is a new sponsor. Aethra was Bianchi's main sponsor in GP2 last season, when he finished the feeder series in third place behind champion Romain Grosjean and Luca Filippi. "Particularly after a bad start, it is unfortunate that 2011 did not go as we wanted for Bianchi in GP2," his manager Nicolas Todt told Italy's Autosprint magazine last week. "It was therefore impossible for him to win the title and so similarly (impossible) to find him a Formula One race seat with a good team."

Invoice Shows Williams' PDVSA Deal Worth $46M: A leaked invoice suggests PDVSA, the state owned Venezuelan oil company, is paying a staggering US $46 million for its sponsorship of the Williams team in 2012. Despite its authenticity having not been confirmed, the invoice from Williams — including the Oxfordshire-based team's correct Barclays bank account — requests the full amount in pounds sterling. Also appearing on the internet in recent months were the full contract between team driver Pastor Maldonado and Williams, and a stamped letter from Venezuelan congressman Carlos Ramos. The leaking of the documents, with the invoice now published on the website of the Spanish sports daily Marca, surrounds Venezuelan officials' doubts about the legality of Williams' lucrative PDVSA deal. Ramos' letter to Williams' communications boss Claire Williams last November referred to an "ongoing investigation" by the Venezuelan parliament. "You may ... be aware that our congress granted no approval to the sponsorship contract between Williams F1 and PDVSA," he wrote, demanding Williams divulge the "amount disbursed to date to Williams F1 by PDVSA." Maldonado is backed directly by PDVSA, and is famously close to Venezuela's controversial president Hugo Chavez.