Fernando Alonso finished runner-up in the 2012 World Championship. (Photo: Getty Images)

Pirelli Set To Name Kobayashi 2013 Tester - Reports: Kamui Kobayashi looks set to spend the 2013 season testing tires with F1's official supplier Pirelli. The Italian marque has invited the media to its Milan headquarters on Wednesday for the launch of the sport's 2013 tires and a press conference "with Pirelli's main motor sport protagonists". The French sources F1i and Eurosport are reporting that Japanese Kobayashi, the former Sauber driver, should be announced as the main Pirelli tester for this year. An Italian source is reporting the same. Late last year, when 26-year-old Kobayashi was mentioned as a possible test driver for 2013, Pirelli's Paul Hembery answered: "It's a possibility. "We'll see what happens with him. I imagine he's still trying to get a (race) seat, so we'll wait."

Ecclestone Doing His 'Best' To Save German GP: Bernie Ecclestone has not given up on F1's scheduled return to the Nurburgring in 2013. The financially-embattled venue is scheduled to host the July race, but it is also possible Hockenheim could step in at the last minute. "I am doing my best to make sure we do not lose formula one in Germany," Ecclestone, 82, is quoted by the Allgemeine Zeitung. The newspaper said it knows negotiations are still taking place between Ecclestone and Nurburgring officials, but that a deal is not yet signed. "Whether he (Ecclestone) will sign in the coming days, he did not say," the media report explained. Nurburgring official Karl-Heinz Steinkuhler would not comment.

Webber To Give 2013 Red Bull Track Debut: Mark Webber will give Red Bull's 2013 car, the RB9, its track debut at Jerez early next month.Although his teammate Sebastian Vettel has won the past three drivers' titles for the Austrian team, it will be Australian Webber first at the wheel as the 2013 pre-season begins in southern Spain on February 5 and 6. Brazil's Totalrace added that German Vettel will drive on day three. Webber, 36, also debuted Red Bull's championship winning 2012 car. "I think - especially in the race - Vettel will still have his nose in front this year, but maybe in qualifying Webber can be there," former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld told Speed Week. "The team probably put more into Vettel, as they know now very well that he can deliver the title, and also it's likely that Sebastian is going to stay longer than Webber," he added.

Wolff To Keep Williams Link 'For The Moment': As Toto Wolff gets down to work at Mercedes, the situation at Williams remains unclear. When the Austrian's team switch was announced, Williams made clear that Wolff "will retain his shareholding". It is believed the 41-year-old's Williams stake is worth up to EUR 40 million. Sources have said Wolff owning shares in competing F1 teams - he has bought 30 per cent of Brackley based Mercedes - is legitimate, but it remains to be seen if the situation will change. "For the moment I'm going to keep those (Williams) shares," he said on Tuesday. "I have a responsibility as a shareholder. I can't let everybody else down. I'm going to look at the situation in the next couple of weeks or months. "I am working 100 per cent for Mercedes, as a director of Mercedes and trying to be successful with Mercedes. "But I've had a long interest in Williams and you can't kill an emotion just by resigning from a directorship." It is rumored there could be a silver lining for Williams, with suggestions Wolff's new Mercedes link could deliver a change of customer engine supplier for the currently Renault-powered Grove team. "No discussions have been held," Wolff said.

Heidfeld Backs Hulkenberg's Team Switch: Nick Heidfeld, a former long-time Sauber driver, has backed countryman Nico Hulkenberg's move from Force India to the Swiss team for 2013. Some have criticized the 25-year-old's move on the basis that Sauber might not be seen as a vastly superior team to Silverstone based Force India. Asked if he thinks Hulkenberg's move makes sense, Heidfeld told Speed Week: "When you're not going directly to one of the top teams, it is difficult to know whether you're making the right decision. "Of course, in 2012 Sauber had the faster car, and they have excellent facilities at Hinwil. But they are now doing without designer James Key, who has gone to Toro Rosso. "It's always difficult to judge if you've picked the right car, but I can understand Hulkenberg's decision. "He has been able to assert himself against the established and - in my opinion - the slightly overrated Paul di Resta, and now with this change he will get even more attention. "It can be difficult to have a brand new driver to Formula One as your teammate, but Esteban Gutierrez in my view was quite convincing in GP2," Heidfeld added.

Mateschitz Not Ruling Out Austria GP Return: Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire owner of the energy drink Red Bull, is not ruling out a future on the F1 calendar for his native Austria. Earlier, the former Austrian Grand Prix venue A1-Ring - now refurbished and renamed 'Red Bull Ring' - was touted for the twentieth race date on the 2013 schedule. But Bernie Ecclestone ruled out the venue in Spielberg, a city with a population of about 5,000, on the basis that the local hotel infrastructure would not be able to cope. But Mateschitz is quoted by Speed Week: "There is much in favor of a Grand Prix in Spielberg. "Many conditions and factors could justify it," he added, "but whether it will ever happen again falls into the realm of speculation, and that's something this company doesn't do." The Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso team owner, however, sounds serious about his Grand Prix aspirations, insisting that if he ever agrees a deal, it would have to be for "at least three to five years".