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."

Kimi signs up another rally contest

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is set to contest yet another professional rally, his third of the year.

The 2007 F1 World Champion entered two rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship in the winter, driving a Tommi Makinen-prepared Fiat Abarth Grande Punto.

The Finnish media now reports that Raikkonen, currently 13th in the 2009 drivers' championship, will race the same car in the Rally della Marca on the weekend between the forthcoming Monaco and Turkish Grand Prix.

Taking place in northern Italy's Treviso region, it will be Raikkonen's first asphalt rally.

Ecclestone - "Ferrari don't want to leave Formula One"

Ferrari's executive board is meeting on Tuesday to discuss Formula One, but Bernie Ecclestone is not worried the Italian team is planning to call time on its long association with the sport.

The meeting comes amid other teams' 2010 entry boycott threats, and Ferrari and Formula One Teams' Association President Luca di Montezemolo's fierce spat with Max Mosley over planned budget caps.

But Ecclestone told London's Times newspaper: "Ferrari are not stupid. They don't want to leave Formula One and we don't want to lose them, so we'll get to grips with it."

He suggested that the main gripe is with the 'two-tier' element of the FIA's proposed rules for 2010, but that the prospects of that are ‘slowly disappearing’.

Ecclestone also revealed that the teams are uneasy about external auditors probing the teams' accounts to police the cap, but the Briton said the teams will be allowed to oversee their expenditure themselves.

Ferrari considering to quit from Formula One

Ferrari's Board of Directors, chaired by Luca di Montezemolo, held a meeting on Tuesday at their Maranello headquarters to discuss business matters, but high on the order were the recent decisions taken by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council regarding the controversial budget cap option beginning next year.

Under the 2010 regulations, teams opting to limit their budgets to 45 million Euros ($60m US) would enjoy much greater technical freedom than other teams, effectively creating a 'two-tier' series within Formula One.

Many teams find the matter unacceptable as it currently stands, and the FIA's deadline of May 29th in order to file entries for the 2010 championship only added pressure to an already volatile situation with some teams speaking of boycotts.

Today Ferrari has boldly stated that, unless common ground can be found, it will retire from Formula One at the end of the current season.

Speaking of the WMSC decisions, a Ferrari statement indicated that "for the first time ever in Formula 1, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters."

"The Board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari's uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years - the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 - would come to a close."

A long-standing point of conflict has been the FIA's tendency to move ahead with its plans without - from the teams' point of view - taking the considerations forwarded by the teams under serious review.

"The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams," the Ferrari press release continued.

"The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations."

The Formula One Teams Association is not against the principle of budget capping but many teams have been lobbying against the 'two-tier' system on the basis that the sport, like any sport, should have identical regulations for everyone involved. Now Ferrari calls for a change in the way F1 is governed as well.

"The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA's endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future," Ferrari affirm.

"If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship."

"Ferrari trusts that its many fans worldwide will understand that this difficult decision is coherent with the Scuderia's approach to motor sport and to Formula 1 in particular, always seeking to promote its sporting and technical values. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was mandated to evaluate the most suitable ways and methods to protect the company's interests," the statement concludes.

Domenicali consider to quit

Stefano Domenicali has admitted he would consider his position as Ferrari Team Principal if he thought it would pull the Italian team out of its crisis.

Despite a technical step forward in Barcelona, only Williams, Toro Rosso and Force India sit lower than the reigning constructors' champions in the 2009 standings, following more strategic and reliability issues at the weekend.

F1 Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone mused in Barcelona that the team's new top management is the problem.

"I think with (Jean) Todt gone, we've gone a little bit back to the way it was before Todt went there," said the Briton, always keen to jump on any particular bandwagon.

And when asked about Felipe Massa running out of fuel at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, Renault team boss Flavio Briatore told Spain's AS newspaper while laughing: "Fortunately I am not the head of Ferrari!"

Massa’s woes allowed the struggling Alonso to inherit fifth position in the leading Renault.

Quoted by the German broadcaster RTL, Domenicali commented: "I do not think I'm the problem. But if necessary, I would make room."

Flavio vowed to help Piquet

Flavio Briatore has vowed to ‘help’ rather than immediately sack Renault's struggling Nelson Piquet.

Intense speculation has surrounded the future of the 23-year-old Brazilian, including rumours in Barcelona last weekend that Piquet could be ousted as soon as the forthcoming British Grand Prix to make room for reserve driver Romain Grosjean.

But in interview with Spain's Diario Sport, team boss Briatore said Piquet is being given time to prove himself now that the season has begun on the more familiar European circuits.

"He is a good team-mate for Fernando and has always been very loyal to him," the Italian said. "He is experiencing a difficult moment, but when someone is having trouble you help him, not kill him. We have to give him some room for the European races."

Briatore also did not want to address rising speculation that, given Kimi Raikkonen's struggles, Alonso is now being tipped by the Italian media to restore Ferrari's fortunes perhaps as soon as 2010.

"I do not talk about these issues because I have others to solve. These decisions are for another time," he said.