Toro Rosso is a member of the Red Bull Racing family. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Toro Rosso Gambled To Win Monaco - Tambay: Toro Rosso's gamble could have powered rookie Jean-Eric Vergne to victory in Monaco. That is the claim of French commentator Patrick Tambay, a former Ferrari driver. Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso was ridiculed late on Sunday by opting to pull Vergne from a points-running position on the essentially dry Monaco track in order to fit intermediate tires. But according to Tambay, it was a gamble that could have seen the 22-year-old scythe through the field to victory. In the end, the heavy rain did not arrive until shortly after the checkered flag. "If it had rained, he could have won," Tambay told RMC Sport. "Late in the race, everyone would have been on very worn dry tires with a lot of trouble staying on the track," he added. "Others could have dived into the pits but it would have been risky with so few laps to run. But with his (intermediate) tires, he (Vergne) would have been passing cars one after another. It was quite possible that he could have won the Monaco Grand Prix."

Ferrari Staff Sent Home After Earthquake: Ferrari's F1 staff was sent home on Tuesday, following the latest earthquake in the Emilia-Romagna region. We reported earlier this month that the team's Maranello headquarters were not damaged by the recent magnitude-6.0 quake. At Monaco last weekend, team boss Stefano Domenicali reminded that "the ground has continued to shake" ever since. Reuters on Tuesday quoted a Ferrari spokesman as saying staff had been sent home to be with their families following a reported 5.8-magnitude quake. "We are with you," Domenicali told earthquake victims on Sunday, "in thought and deed, because our roots are there." Ferrari's 2012 single seaters returned to Maranello on Monday. They were "already in the car assembly area ... to undergo the usual post-race rebuild," said the team, ahead of the Saturday deadline for shipping to Canada. Fernando Alonso had been scheduled to work in Ferrari's driver simulator on Tuesday.

Sebastian Vettel's dominance from a season ago is long gone. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Vettel Denies Signing Ferrari Deal: Sebastian Vettel has denied reports he has signed a 'pre-contract' to move to Ferrari in 2014. Two British Sunday newspapers reported the rumor just ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. "Maybe they needed to fill up some space in their newspapers," the reigning world champion, who remains under contract to Red Bull for the foreseeable future, told the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung in Monaco. "I have signed nothing," the 24-year-old German insisted. As for why he was the only missing team member when Red Bull celebrated Mark Webber's Monaco victory by leaping into Red Bull's harbor pool, Vettel answered: "I didn't want a swim. And I didn't have any spare clothes," he smiled wryly. Vettel finished fourth, losing his championship lead to Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Force India Skipped Bahrain Practice For Publicity - Ecclestone: There was an element of publicity in Force India's decision to sit out a practice session in Bahrain last month, Bernie Ecclestone has charged. The F1 chief executive had already denied the Silverstone based team was deliberately ignored by F1's television cameras in qualifying, a day after Force India skipped practice due to security fears. "The protesters weren't there to attack anybody," Ecclestone told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt over lunch in London recently. "They were going to use the event to demonstrate and get their word out." He revealed that, when Force India expressed fears about traveling in Bahrain at night, he offered to accompany the team members without security personnel. "We will drop you and I will come back alone in the car again with no escort," Ecclestone said, recalling his conversation with the Silverstone based team. In contrast, he said he "wouldn't have wanted to go into those streets when we had the problems in London" last year. "Force India wanted people to write about them," the 81-year-old charged.

Alguersuari Not Denying Force India Rumor: Jaime Alguersuari has refused to confirm or deny speculation he might be first in line should Force India have a driver vacancy for 2013. El Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish newspaper the former Toro Rosso driver now writes a column for, mentioned that the Force India rumor had circulated in the Monte Carlo paddock at the weekend. When posed to Alguersuari, the 22-year-old answered: "I have said that I will be in the world championship in 2013, but I did not say where and I will not tell you now." Force India 2012 driver's Paul di Resta has been linked with moves to top teams Mercedes or Ferrari. Alguersuari continued: "As of June, all sorts of rumors start going around in formula one, but they are just that -- rumors."

Mercedes Not Ruling Out Team Orders: With Michael Schumacher succumbing to yet more bad luck, Mercedes is not ruling out team orders. The seven time world champion's pole celebrations in Monaco became just sixth on the grid due to the Barcelona grid penalty, and he had to retire from the race with a fuel pressure problem. "I've never seen such bad luck as Michael is having," triple world champion Niki Lauda told Bild newspaper. Indeed, he still has just 2 points in the bag after displaying solid performance so far in 2012 after six races. Teammate Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, is right in the hunt, just 17 points off the championship lead with his tally of 59 points and another podium on Sunday. So, with almost a third of the season now gone and Schumacher so far behind, what will Mercedes do if Schumacher is ahead of Rosberg in the points in the near future? "We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Norbert Haug is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. "I don't think we would give any orders. But I also think that our drivers know what to do."