Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus cars have been remarkably reliable this year. (Photo: AFP)

Raikkonen To Complete Comeback With Perfect Record?: Kimi Raikkonen looks set to be the first driver since Nick Heidfeld in 2008 (BMW) to finish every race in a complete Formula One season. The Finn's rare feat, delivering him an almost certain third in the drivers' points standings, has coincided with his return to the sport with Lotus after a two-year rallying hiatus. "Our record shows that the team can build a reliable car and that I know how to drive it," said Raikkonen. Meanwhile, the former McLaren and Ferrari driver gave the same three-word answer — "Never give up" — to three separate questions in an interview for F1's official website. The questions were: "What's been your most valuable life lesson?", "If you could give your younger self some advice what would it be?", and "What's the best advice you have been given?"

F1 To See 'The Real Grosjean' In 2013 - Boss: Eric Boullier has once again played down speculation Romain Grosjean's place at Lotus is in doubt for 2013. At the end of a tumultuous season for Frenchman Grosjean, the 26-year-old admitted this week that he is yet to sign a new deal for next season. But team boss Boullier told French-language f1i.com: "We believe in him. For us he is a long-term project and we consider him to be similar to (what McLaren did with) Lewis Hamilton. He has shown he is able to do superb racing, but then of course there were some errors that sometimes cost him very dearly. More recently he has been a bit more cautious and has been building up again, but I am sure that in 2013 we will see the real Romain."

F1 Heads To Brazil Amid Sao Paulo Crime Wave: A nervous F1 circus has traveled to Sao Paulo for F1's 2012 finale, amid reports of more than 1,000 murders in the Brazilian city this year. Britain's Guardian said the worse-than-usual bloodshed is due to drug-linked organized crime. "We are not staying in gangland, though the track is near there," a team boss is quoted as saying. "But we don't go out in team colors." Jenson Button, who two years ago was the victim of an attempted armed attack in Sao Paulo, admitted this week: "We are having armored vehicles and a police escort." According to the Times newspaper, the US state department is describing the Sao Paulo violence as "critical" and has warned against gangs targeting foreigners. Gangs aside, the F1 world — and title protagonists Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in particular — have their eyes on the weather forecast. The leading Brazilian authority Climatempo is predicting "intense rain" for qualifying and the race. With Ferrari's Alonso hoping desperately for rain in order to pull back the dominance of Vettel's Red Bull, Helmut Marko insisted: "Sebastian is also an excellent rain driver." McLaren's Button commented: "There is a massive chance that it could be chucking it down. It (the title) is definitely not done."

Williams Race Deal Won't Change My Life - Bottas: Valtteri Bottas insists securing a contract to race a Williams in 2013 would not change his life. The young Finn, who this year has been testing on Fridays for the famous British team, is waiting to know if he will debut as expected alongside Pastor Maldonado next year. "I don't think it would change anything," Bottas told Finland's Turun Sanomat, when asked how a race contract would change his life. "I would race just as I have done in other classes. Of course, I would then be racing against the very best in the world's fastest cars, but on the other hand, nothing else changes. This year has been good in the sense that I know now what to expect through a season. I've been all over the place. Of course, it takes more energy to do more driving, and perhaps even more media work as well as more with the sponsors even in the breaks." As for his likely 2013 teammate, Bottas said he has a "good relationship" with Venezuelan Maldonado, and thinks the pair would enjoy a competitive 2013 car. "The rules are staying the same and so I think the balance of power will be pretty much the same as now," he said. "Some though will make small improvements. At Williams we have been developing the car for a long time and we believe that it will certainly be better than this year."

Another Big Loss For Korean GP: There are worrisome signs for the future of the Korean Grand Prix, with organizers admitting yet another big financial loss for the October race. The 2012 edition of the Yeongam event was the third since 2010, and all of them have recorded big losses. The latest loss is $36 million, according to the Yonhap news agency. "Just because the loss was reduced, I am not sure we can call this year's race a success," said South Jeolla council member Seo Dong-wook. "We will need to take some fundamental steps to change it."

Mallya To Pump $80M Extra Into Force India: Vijay Mallya is pumping an extra $80 million into his Formula One team. The news comes amid the well-documented financial struggles of his other business, the Indian airline Kingfisher. Mallya said this week: "We had a board meeting in India after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the board has approved a $80 million capital investment program for the team. We are going to invest heavily in new technology and give more tools to our design team to try and move further up the grid." Because of the Kingfisher crisis, it had been rumored that Force India might also find itself in financial trouble. But Mallya told F1's official website: "As far as Force India is concerned, we are alright. In fact, both (co-owner) Sahara Sri Subrata Roy and myself went to see Bernie Ecclestone in Delhi during the Grand Prix and showed him that Force India was stable and financially safe." The next item on Mallya's agenda is a 2013 teammate for Paul di Resta, with Nico Hulkenberg set to switch to Sauber after this weekend's Interlagos finale. "We are thinking about it, but we are in no immediate hurry because there does not seem to be the kind of quality we need to replace Nico available, either in the current grid or in GP2," he said. Mallya suggested Adrian Sutil, Force India's long-time driver until 2011, is the leading candidate. "Adrian was always a very quick driver — yes, he was out of Formula One for one year, but I don't think that this would be a major handicap," he said.

Alonso Would Be Champion In 2012 Sauber - Piquet Jr.: Fernando Alonso's former teammate thinks the Spaniard could have been this year's World Champion at the wheel of a Sauber. Nelson Piquet jr, who was Alonso's teammate at Renault in 2008 and 2009, thinks the 2012 Ferrari has been outclassed by the likes of Lotus and Sauber this season. "The Ferrari is worse than those two, but sometimes a miracle is done because of Alonso. I think if he was in a Sauber or Lotus he would be World Champion easily," the Brazilian, who switched to NASCAR after the 2009 'crashgate' scandal, told Jovem Pan radio. "I see those cars (Lotus and Sauber) in the front sometimes, but there is always the question: is it the car or the driver?" added Piquet, now 27. The Brazilian looks back at his F1 career with some sadness, but insisted: "Alonso was not guilty of anything. It was great to have a teammate of his level. Before, when I was testing with Fisichella and Kovalainen, I could go at the same pace, but when I started to be with Alonso, I was suddenly half a second slower. Alonso made me work like crazy to find that there was more in me." Of F1's next generation after him, Piquet said: "The two at Force India look good, and those at Toro Rosso seem better than Buemi and Alguersuari." Commenting on some others on today's grid, he continued: "Maldonado has always been fast but makes many mistakes. Perez has done a few good races, but we don't know if that's just because of the car. I think Button will be better than him at McLaren."