F1: Grand Prix News Briefs (Update 5)

Formula 1

F1: Grand Prix News Briefs (Update 5)

Felipe Massa is on the hot seat at Ferrari...

SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted March 01, 2012 GMM Newswire

Felipe Massa struggled in the Chinese GP. (Photo: Getty Images)

'Gazzetta' Proposes Perez, Sutil For Massa's Seat: Felipe Massa's Formula One career appeared in deep crisis on Wednesday, as the Italian press lined up multiple candidates to replace him. Earlier, the weekly Autosprint suggested out-of-work GP winner and Italian Jarno Trulli is available to step in immediately to replace the beleaguered Brazilian, whose contract expires this year. Ferrari seemed to clear a path for the 30-year-old's removal by moving to replace his F2012 chassis ahead of Sepang, "to clear up any doubts about the unusual performance of his car" last weekend in Australia. On Wednesday, the authoritative daily La Gazzetta dello Sport said Ferrari is considering dropping a driver mid-season for the first time since Rene Arnoux in 1985. The newspaper said Ferrari development driver Sergio Perez, who is currently at Sauber, is an option, as is the former Force India driver Adrian Sutil. A poll at Autosprint's website, meanwhile, asked readers to nominate a worthy replacement for Massa — Mexican Perez scored the highest, with 44.7 percent of the vote. Second was Trulli with 27.6 percent, followed by Rubens Barrichello at 6.6 percent. Only 1.3 percent voted for 30-year-old Massa, who never returned to form following his serious accident in Hungary in mid-2009.

Williams 'Not Far' From Top Teams - Maldonado: From the depths of 2011, Williams is now "not far" from the pace of F1's strongest teams. That is the claim of Pastor Maldonado, who in the newly Renault-powered and Mike Coughlan-designed FW34 qualified eighth and was pushing Fernando Alonso for fifth in the race when he crashed out of Sunday's season opener in Melbourne on the last lap. It indicated a major turnaround for the formerly championship-winning team that collapsed to a dismal ninth place in last year's points standings. Venezuelan Maldonado hopes last Sunday was indeed the start of a Williams resurgence. He said this weekend in Malaysia "should be interesting. ... McLaren and Red Bull look strong, but we are not far away," he is quoted by Finland's Turun Sanomat. "We were very close to (Red Bull's) Mark Webber in the first and second stints. I think we are faster than Ferrari, Sauber and Force India." Maldonado's last-lap crash in Australia cost Williams a full 10 points — double the team's tally of the entire 2011 season. "We need points in the future," he acknowledged, "but we are also now more relaxed now."

Raikkonen To Be 'Surprise Of Season' - De La Rosa: Kimi Raikkonen is still up to the task of performing at his best in Formula One. That is the claim of Pedro de la Rosa, who in 2006 was the famous Finn's race teammate at McLaren just before Raikkonen — now 32 — switched to Ferrari and won the World Championship. The so-called 'Iceman' has been out of F1 for two years and on his comeback in Australia last week dropped the ball with a miserable qualifying performance. It has emerged Raikkonen came into the pits to change the tint of his helmet visor, and could not get back out for a crucial final qualifying run. According to Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Raikkonen described the incident as "a little (screw) up," and a day later had to be reminded on the radio about the meaning of blue flags. However, De la Rosa — who was a mere spectator in Melbourne after failing to qualify with HRT — said Sunday in Australia was "a fantastic race performance by Kimi. ... Kimi is a phenomenal talent and definitely one of the best drivers I have ever seen," the Spaniard is quoted by another Finnish newspaper, Turun Sanomat. "Kimi and his team (Lotus) look really competitive. My guess is that they will be the biggest surprise of the season."

Singapore Key To F1's Future - Reports: Singapore, the southeast Asian city-state and the scene of F1's annual street night race, could be at the center of the sport's plans for the future. Sky News reports that Temasek Holdings, one of Singapore's principal sovereign wealth funds, has been approached by F1's majority owner CVC with a proposal to buy into the sport. It is also rumored that F1 could be floated on the Singapore stock exchange. F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone admitted last November that, "It would be better (for CVC) to float the company in Singapore than sell it." The Singapore Exchange (SGX) would not comment. "It is not our practice to publicly comment on our dealings with individual entities," a spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

Modern F1 Car Amazes Salo At Suzuka: Mika Salo — a former Ferrari, Sauber and Toyota race driver — has admitted his surprise at how F1 technology has moved on since he retired in 2002. The now 45-year-old Finn got back at the wheel of a modern Grand Prix machine last weekend at Suzuka, during the Ferrari Racing Days event. "The power came as no surprise," he told the broadcaster MTV3, "but the grip was quite unbelievable. It was almost contrary to the laws of nature, how hard you could be pushing on sixth or seventh gear in a corner. I would have needed many more days to really get back on terms with it," said Salo. "I have to admit there is no way I could do a race right now. Secondly, my fitness really is not enough — I have such a sore neck and hands now that I could barely carry my bag at the airport."

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