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.

Red Bull love to secured Vettel with long term contract

Red Bull is keen to secure the services of Sebastian Vettel for a long time, team boss Christian Horner has admitted.

The Austrian squad's contract with the 21-year-old German, the only driver apart from Jenson Button to have won a race this year, runs out at the end of 2010.

But Horner told Sport Bild: "We see our future with Sebastian. We want to strengthen and expand our team around him."

Openly interested in Vettel beyond 2010 is BMW Sauber and McLaren Mercedes, but Bernie Ecclestone has made clear he would like to see his driver favourite at the wheel of a Ferrari – no surprise there.

However, Horner said: "Sebastian feels comfortable with us. If we give him cars with which he can drive at the front, there will be no reason for him to move."

Williams expecting more in Monte Carlo

Starting ninth, Nico Rosberg was able to finish Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix one position higher and claim one championship points for the Williams Toyota team, taking their tally to 4.5 from the first five races.

The FW31 proved especially rapid in the opening rounds of the championship, but a few small errors combined with some bad luck went against the Grove-based team who- by their own admission - has been unable to capitalise on their early pace.

"Nico secured a point for the team but we really need to be getting both cars in the points more regularly than we are if we’re going to improve upon our position in the constructors’ standings," stated Technical Director Sam Michael with reference to their eighth position in the constructors' championship.

"There were some positives from this weekend in that it was encouraging to be only 0.3 seconds off the quickest time during Q2, particularly on a track where aerodynamics are the key, and the upgrade package which we brought to the race worked as expected."

While Rosberg was able to finish in the points, team-mate Kazuki Nakajima has yet to qualify in the top ten or score a championship point this year. The Japanese racer started Sunday's race an encouraging 11th however but was forced to pit for a front wing following the inevitable first lap skirmishes.

"That incident caused damage to Kazuki’s front wing end plate so we had to pit him for a new front wing assembly," Michael explained.
"Because the safety car was deployed, it fortunately didn’t cost him as much time as it could have done."

However, stuck behind the Force India Mercedes of Giancarlo Fisichella at the back of the field when the race restarted, Nakajima was unable to make the pass until late in the 66-lap event and this ruined any hopes of his first championship points. He finished a distant 13th.

While the team are disappointed with the results to date, the development race continues and the FW31 will feature further updates for the high-downforce challenge in Monte Carlo is just over a week’s time.

"We will be bringing more upgrades to the car for Monaco, as will all of the other teams," Michael continued. "Our target is obviously to score more points as we haven’t had the conversion rates we would have liked in recent races. We are typically fast on street circuits, so we are looking forward to getting the best out of the FW31 at Monte Carlo."

Mercedes considering adding branding with Brawn GP

Given Brawn's dominance and McLaren's struggles, Mercedes-Benz is considering adding corporate branding to the championship-leading BGP 001.

Brawn GP's use of the Stuttgart marque's engines this year is simply a customer deal, but the package has won four out of the five races so far this season, and is leading the drivers' and constructors' championships.

A three-pointed star was not in Mercedes' original plans for the Brawn linkup, but Norbert Haug said after the Spanish Grand Prix that the scenario is now being ‘considered’.

"We have possibilities and options and it has been offered to us," Mercedes' competition boss, is quoted as saying by the broadcaster RTL.

However, the 56-year-old added that Mercedes does not want to ‘divert’ from its works relationship with McLaren, winner of the 2008 drivers' title with Lewis Hamilton.

Title chances is over for Massa and Hamilton

Last year's championship protagonists on Sunday wrote off their chances of contending for the 2009 crown.

In 2008, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa finished the drivers' title in first and second places respectively. But this year, with Brawn Mercedes and Red Bull Renault leading the pace, the drivers' respective cars are no longer up to the task of joining the battle for the sport's new pecking order.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished the Spanish Grand Prix out of the points and ninth. "It's just a shame they haven't given me a car to defend the championship with," the Swiss resident told the BBC after the race. "The car is that bad. I'm driving the socks off it. There's just no hope."

2008 runner-up Massa fared better in a significantly improved F60 this weekend, but he categorically ruled out having another shot at the championship.

"No, no way," he told reporters in Barcelona, insisting that championship leaders Brawn are poised for the honours. "Even if we improve massively and we are three or four tenths if front of them, they will still score points. So forget it," added Massa.

Vettel slow start ruined his race

Lining up second and fifth for the Spanish Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the former had been the pre-race favourite for many given that his front-row start had been achieved with more fuel on board than pole-sitter Jenson Button.

However, it all went wrong for the Chinese Grand Prix winner at the start as he lost position to the fast starting Rubens Barrichello as well as Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.

Vettel would follow the Ferrari for most of the race, only gaining the position to move fourth in the closing stages as a pit error from the Maranello-based left the Brazilian lacking the fuel needed to go the distance.

“My start wasn’t the best – by the first corner Rubens was first and I was fourth, so obviously we lost some positions – most importantly to Massa," Vettel explained. "I was then stuck behind him for almost all of the race. He was impossible to pass, he did a very good job with no mistakes. It’s obviously disappointing as my car was quick today, but I couldn’t finish on the podium."

Vettel remains third in the championship just four points shy of Barrichello while team-mate Mark Webber made gains today as he made best of a long middle stint to vault team-mate Vettel and Massa in the second and final round of pitstops.

"Sebastian had more trouble with traffic today, but the team got us both home with a lot of points, which is fantastic," Webber stated.

"I had a very long second stint and was much happier with the car than in the first, although the tyres had nothing left for the last ten laps. We planned to be long in the second, as we knew Felipe would be one lap longer and his drive would be the key to my race."

Team Principal Christian Horner admitted to some frustration that Vettel’s race was essentially compromised by the fast starting Massa.

"It was frustrating for Sebastian as unfortunately it was the second race in a row where a KERS car has cost him dearly," said Horner. "Massa stopped on the same lap as Sebastian for his first stop and then, despite us bringing his middle stint very short, they picked the same lap for Massa as well, so he spent 63 laps looking at the back of a Ferrari! As soon as he was released from him, his pace was obvious."

With a third and fourth finish in Barcelona, Red Bull Renault extend their lead over Toyota in the battle for second behind the all-conquering Brawn Mercedes team.

Barrichello wasn't happy to finished second

Rubens Barrichello on Sunday made clear he is no longer willing to play second fiddle to any teammate.

The Brazilian veteran finished second to Brawn Mercedes teammate Jenson Button in Spain, after the team decided to switch the championship leader to a two stop strategy.

Barrichello, who passed Button at the first corner and led early, remained on his three-stopper. "I had the race in my hands and I was quite surprised when they told me they were switching Jenson to two," the 36-year-old said.

"I would like to understand why they changed that," he added, explaining that his third set of tyres also slowed him down.

For six years at Ferrari, Barrichello was Michael Schumacher's 'number two', ceding to team orders on many occasions, including the infamous radio call of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.

"If that happens I won't follow any team orders anymore," Barrichello told reporters in Barcelona. "I'm making it clear now so everyone knows."

The intimation is that Brawn deliberately changed Button's strategy to favour the championship leader over Barrichello, but Button denies it is the case.

"We are all here to win, and today it just went my way and it didn't for him," the Briton said. "It could swing around for the next race, that's the way things go in F1."

Spanish GP Race - Button's another victory

Jenson Button extended his lead at the head of the drivers’ standings after a dominant display once Brawn Mercedes team-mate Rubens Barrichello’s hopes of victory had been dashed courtesy of a strategic error. The championship leader took the chequered flag 13 seconds clear of the Brazilian with Mark Webber making good use of strategy to finish third in the leading Red Bull Renault.

The start of the 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix saw Barrichello get the jump on both Button and Sebastian Vettel who started second. Felipe Massa was also on the move getting ahead of Vettel, a move that would severely compromise the German’s race. As the Brawn Mercedes duo stormed away at the front of the field, Jarno Trulli triggered an accident that would eliminate four runners on the very first lap.

Battling with Nico Rosberg, Trulli found himself running off track exiting the second turn and as he re-joined the circuit, his Toyota made solid contact with Adrian Sutil’s Force India. Behind, Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais were forced to take avoiding action and the two Toro Rosso drivers made heavy contact.

The race resumed on lap six once the damaged cars had been removed and Barrichello was able to hold off Button at the front of the field . This would soon become academic however as the team switched Button from a three stop strategy to a two stop, leaving Barrichello on three stops.

This made it an impossible task for the Brazilian veteran who was able to pull out a 15 second advantage over Button at one point, but with the extra pit stop, dropped well behind. It was a strange tactical move from Brawn Mercedes and Barrichello must be wondering why his race was so severely compromised, effectively handing his team-mate the victory.

Mark Webber made good use of a long middle stint to vault ahead of both Felipe Massa and Sebastien Vettel and put in a good charge to the chequered flag. The Australian finished less than a second behind Barrichello. Vettel, who lost out to Massa at the start of the race, shadowed the Ferrari until the very closing stages of the race before gaining the position when Massa was forced to slow. Vettel will be frustrated that his poor start cost him any hope of a podium position.

Fernando Alonso had a relatively lonely race and looked on target for a sixth position finish.

However, an error in the Ferrari pit meant that Massa did not have enough fuel to run at full speed to the chequered flag. Massa backed off, dropping ten seconds a lap allowing the Renault star through to take the fifth position.

Massa finished a disappointed sixth while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made gains early on in the sister F60 before his car developed a mechanical issue taking him out of the race. Nick Heidfeld made up ground at the start and was able to finish seventh for the BMW Sauber team with team-mate Robert Kubica having a tough race to 11th, one position lower than his starting position.

Nico Rosberg took the final championship point in his Williams Toyota while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima had a poor race. The team called in the Japanese racer whilst the safety car controlled the field, exiting the pits behind Giancarlo Fisichella. Nakajima would spend most of the race tailing the Force India driver, eventually getting the position in his third pit stop. He finished 13th ahead of just Fisichella.

The Spanish Grand Prix was always going to be a tough event for the McLaren Mercedes team but Lewis Hamilton at least was able to go the distance and finished ninth, albeit lapped, after a long battle with Timo Glock. Heikki Kovalainen’s miserable season continued as his MP4-24 suffered a gearbox failure on lap seven.

With Trulli eliminated at the start, Glock carried the Toyota flag but despite his best efforts could finish no higher than tenth. The result sees the German-based team drop 12 points behind Red Bull Renault in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship. With Kubica 11th in the second BMW Sauber, Nelson Piquet finished 12th ahead of Nakajima and Fisichella.

With four wins from five races, Jenson Button now enjoys a commanding 14 point advantage over Barrichello in the drivers’ championship while the Brawn Mercedes team has almost a 30 point lead in the constructors’ championship heading to Monte Carlo..