2010 options for Rosberg

Negotiations about the future of Nico Rosberg have begun, as the German eyes moving up the Formula One pecking order next year.

The 23-year-old started his career with Williams in 2006, and Sir Frank Williams revealed in February that, after the 2007 season, McLaren had made an offer of "majestic proportions" to sign Rosberg to be Lewis Hamilton's teammate.

Rosberg, however, instead signed a two-year contract extension with the Grove team to take him to the end of this season.

But despite always singing his praises, Williams figures whispered a hint of puzzlement and perhaps miscontent with Rosberg after last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Mere dozens of hours after that, the driver has been quoted in the specialist media as admitting he is currently in the process of "looking at" his options for 2010.

Several times in assessment of Rosberg's Barcelona form, Williams referred to "inconsistency" that blighted his run to an expected fifth place.

Ultimately, he finished eighth, and in a team-distributed review of the Spanish race this week, an interviewer noticed that Rosberg's lap times had been "a bit erratic."

"Nico's lap times were somewhat inconsistent, yes, and we are now looking carefully through all of the data and bodywork parts to determine what caused that," said Technical Director Sam Michael.

Engineering boss and team co-owner Patrick Head, meanwhile, had said immediately after the race: "Nico's pace was initially good but we then struggled to maintain consistency so we'll have to investigate that."

"I had a very good first few laps but, after 10 laps or so, I started to experience a problem at the rear of the car," Rosberg explained last Sunday. "Something inexplicable would just happen and affect the balance which caused a lot of oversteer. Oddly enough, it would then be OK again."

Interestingly, the three extra points for finishing fifth instead of eighth would have leapfrogged Williams ahead of both Ferrari and BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings.

Instead, the team is ahead of only Toro Rosso and the non-scoring Force India.

Michael added: "Even if we think we have a faster car than how we currently stand in that table, the constructors' order is what the overall performance of our team is measured by."

Ferrari drivers agreed to pull out from F1

If Ferrari were to leave Formula One at the end of the season, team drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen will have to look elsewhere to further their racing careers, but both fully support the decision.

For Felipe Massa, who accomplished a lifelong dream when he joined the famous Italian marque, it is obviously far from a perfect scenario. However the Brazilian fully backs Ferrari's plan to leave F1 if the 2010 regulations imposed by the FIA are not corrected to remove the 'two-tier' format.

"I understand the motivation, why the company got to this point," Massa indicated in a statement. "The idea of having a Championship with two velocities, with cars, which for example are allowed to have flexible wings or an engine without a rev limiter, is absurd."

"For a driver racing a Ferrari in Formula 1 is a dream and I made mine come true," he continued. "Since I was a child Ferrari has been the synonym for racing for me; that's why I'm convinced that even if the Scuderia is forced to leave Formula 1, there will be other competitions, where it will be possible to admire the Reds on the track."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, although it is rumoured that his intentions are to retire from the sport at the end of his contract, agrees nonetheless that things would not be the same in F1 without Ferrari - the only team to have participated in every championship campaign.

"It's difficult to think of a Formula 1 without Ferrari," he said. "When I drove for McLaren the Scuderia from Maranello was the benchmark, the competitor you had to be compared with. Since I arrived here I understood that it is much more than just a team, it's a legend, perpetuated via its road and racing cars."

"I always thought of Formula 1 as the pinnacle of motor sports, in terms of competition and technology," the Finn added. "I can't imagine drivers racing each other on the track with cars built according to different rules; that wouldn't be good for the sport itself or for the fans."

"If that should happen, it would be too bad and I understand that a company like Ferrari is thinking about racing somewhere else," Raikkonen concluded.

Ferrari thanks for fans support and ready to quit F1

Since announcing their intention to quit Formula One if the controversial 2010 rules adopted by the FIA are maintained, Ferrari has been receiving generous public support for its position.

The Italian car manufacturer's Board of Directors confirmed their intentions on Tuesday, following which positive messages began to make their way to Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. The Italian wrote a note of thanks on the company's website.

"I want to thank you personally for the numerous messages of support we received from all over the world over the last hours on our website and via email," he began. "It is important to know that we can count on the support of our fans all over the world and that our fans completely share the motivations, which brought us to take such a decision."

"If we were forced to leave the Championship we were part of over the last 60 years of our history and where we set all the records in terms of victories, it is because they want to change the nature of its founding values," he continued, in a reference to the 'two-tier' system ands other items put in place for the 2010 season by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council.

Di Montezemolo assured that Ferrari will be seen elsewhere: "I have to say that our cars will race in other competitions, where - and I am absolutely convinced about that - they will find the enthusiasm and the passion of millions of fans, following us in every corner of the world."

"Racing is part of Ferrari's DNA and this is something that will never change," he concluded.

Mercedes not yet decide to join F1 quit threat

Mercedes-Benz's racing chief insists that rival teams' threats about quitting Formula One are real, but for the time being the Stuttgart marque is not following suit.

Renault issued its quit threat on Wednesday, following Ferrari on Tuesday and BMW, Red Bull and Toyota on the weekend of the Spanish Grand Prix.

But Mercedes, the majority owner of the 2008 drivers' championship-winning team McLaren, is for now holding off -- perhaps because it recently narrowly escaped the wrath of the FIA over the 'lie-gate' affair.

Norbert Haug, Vice-President in charge of Mercedes' motor sport programmes, said: "All the teams agree that there cannot be a Formula One with two different sets of regulations."

When asked specifically by the German news agency SID if Mercedes is also threatening to not enter the 2010 championship, he answered: "We want to achieve a common solution to this and we think that it can be done."

"We will do everything we can to contribute," said Haug.

Haug also insisted that the quit threats, for example that of the legendary Italian team Ferrari, are serious and not mere political posturing.

Renault join Ferrari threat to quit F1

Renault could be the next car manufacturer to threaten to quit Formula One at the end of 2009.

Ferrari, F1's oldest and most famous name, sent the specialist and mainstream media into a spin on Tuesday by announcing that the FIA's budget cap plans for 2010 will lead to its withdrawal from the sport.

Toyota and Red Bull have made similar threats, while Mario Theissen said last week that the new regime would likely lead to the BMW board reassessing its commitment to F1.

Le Figaro is a leading French morning daily, and it claims: "According to our information, Renault will announce the same decision (as Ferrari's) on Wednesday."