Allmendinger not interested in USF1

Former Champ Car race-winner AJ Allmendinger says he is focused on his NASCAR career and dismissed the possibility of him being a candidate to drive for the new USF1 team set to be unveiled next week.

Allmendinger, who finished third in the Daytona 500 last week, enjoyed a successful career in open-wheel racing before making the switch to NASCAR at the end of 2006, since when he has struggled to establish himself in stock cars.

Despite that, the Californian says he is currently enjoying his time in the Sprint Cup Series and when asked about the possibility of a future in Formula One, he denied having that as a career goal.

"I'm not focused on that," said Allmendinger. "I loved being a part of NASCAR. Going to all these races and being around the fans, I enjoy being here. I enjoy the racing... I enjoy all that.

"I'm a true American at heart; I like to in-between races...watch my NFL on Sunday and all that. I've learned in this sport, after everything that has happened to me the last couple of years, don't deny anything. Just nod your head and smile and say there's a chance."

The former Red Bull racer admits to being intrigued by what driving an F1 car would be like, and didn't close the door completely on a chance to test it. However he insists that's not where his focus is set right now.

Allmendinger is currently driving for Richard Petty Motorsports in his third season in the Sprint Cup series, but his team still need to find sponsors in order to run for the whole season.

"It has intrigue for sure," he said about the possibility of sampling F1 machinery. "Driving a racecar, no matter what it is, has intrigue to me. That (F1 car) is something that I haven't driven before, so it's intriguing, but it's not my focus either.

"I really do love being here (in NASCAR). I've had a lot of fun during the stressful times. Especially this year with the group of guys that we've put together for the 44 (car) because it was a last minute deal, they are guys that want to be here.

"We're having fun. Through all the stressful times that we had in Daytona, in-between that, I was having a lot of fun. Probably the most fun that I've had at a race track in long time. You don't say 'no' to anything, but that's not my focus."

Allmendinger last competed in single-seaters in 2006, when he switched from RuSPORT to Forsythe Racing halfway through the Champ Car season and proceeded to win five races and leap to third in the championship.

In 2007 he switched to the Sprint Cup series to compete for the new Red Bull Racing Team, where former Formula One racer Scott Speed replaced him last year.

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Future remains 'bright' say Williams

Adam Parr, the CEO of Williams, says he can only see a 'positive' future for his team, despite Wednesday's announcement that major sponsor, the Royal Bank of Scotland, is to quit the sport.

As an independent outfit, Williams have faced a struggle in recent years to match the budgets of the big-money manufacturers - and the loss of a backer like RBS is not ideal.

But Parr remains upbeat that moves to reduce costs in F1 allied to Williams's already strong portfolio of sponsors means there is no reason to feel downbeat about the current situation.

When asked by autosport.com whether he felt that rule changes to reduce costs meant that Williams had a bright future in F1 despite RBS's plans, Parr said: "I do, although I know it is very difficult to paint a positive picture at the moment.

"What you have to think about is this - when I came into the sport a few years ago, I was sitting across from people (in team principals' meetings) who said money does not matter to us. Now, we don't have discussions like that any more.

"In order for Williams to be competitive and be in the frame for the past two or three years, we have had to spend beyond our means. For the next two years we will not do that, and we will be paying off a significant chunk of debt. We are (now) seeing a scenario where our means are not dissimilar to the rest of F1."

RBS has confirmed to the team that despite its pull-out plans, it will stick to its commitment to be a team sponsor until the end of 2010 - even though some of the costs of their sponsorship marketing will be reduced. The bank intends to cut its spending on hospitality by 90% this year and have cancelled trackside advertising for 2010.

The RBS deal is believed to account for 10 percent of Williams's total budget, and Parr said that against the backdrop of the bank's financial problems it was not a total surprise that they were choosing not to remain in F1.

"Obviously it isn't good news for the sport that someone like RBS is withdrawing," explained Parr. "From our point of view we have suspected for some time there was only a slim chance of them continuing beyond their current sponsorship term, and that is the end of 2010.

"The important thing for us is that the board confirmed to us yesterday and confirmed publicly today that they will honour the contract until 2010."

The announcement of RBS is not the only bad news that Williams have suffered recently on the sponsor front – with the team having lost backing from the Baugur Group, Lenovo and Petrobras over the winter.

However, Parr said that with other team sponsors having increased their budgets for this season – the main one being Philips – there were no worries about the short term finances for the team.

"We had 10 of our partners renew with us," said Parr. "Four of those partners that renewed or extended with us were major upgrades, and they at least doubled their investment 2009 compared to 2008.

"So, from a sponsorship revenue side, we came out pretty well year-on-year. The FOM revenues (television rights money) are stronger this year compared to last year, and we have significant cost savings coming through as a result of limited testing and a reduction in engine costs. As an example we are planning on using 20 engines compared to 55 last year.

"Overall we've got a very solid budget for this year. I don't want to claim to you it is everything we would like, but we are in advanced negotiations to bring new partners to the team for this season."

Parr said he also felt bullish that there were companies out there able to step into RBS's shoes and become major backers of Williams in the future.

"We have a budget for this season and it is reasonable budget. For 2010 the position is similar and 90 percent of the budget for this year is contracted for that year. And there will be further cost savings...I am confident that in time for 2011 we will have a very strong portfolio of sponsors in place. We have a broad range of partners and no individual partner is make or break for this team."

He also blasted recent reports in the media criticising RBS's involvement in F1 against the backdrop of the bank's funding from the taxpayer.

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New US team backed by F1 chiefs

The men behind plans for a United States Formula One team insist their effort is totally serious, and say it already has the endorsement of Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley.

Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor officially launched their USF1 outfit in a press conference live on SpeedTV on Tuesday, and say their plans to be up and running by 2010 are far more than a dream.

Windsor, who will be USF1's sporting director, said that his team planned to break the mould for how outfits approached grand prix racing.

"If you look at the way it has gone in the recent past, it has been find an incredibly rich trillionaire and have him dominate the team - and you are lucky enough to get a job when you've put the team together," said Windsor.

"Or you are lucky enough to be invited by a large car company to set up an F1 team for them. Ken and I are lucky enough to have been around long enough not to want to do either of those things - and we always wanted to do our own team our way.

"It sounds very arrogant perhaps, but we have some history and we have some things that we want to bring into the sport that we think we can do well."

Windsor revealed that the pair had already secured a small equity partner to help funding, as they seek sponsorship backing for the outfit.

"The key...was not selling anything more than a very small stake in the team, so we set some unbelievably steep hills to climb, in the recession," he said. "We wanted to sell off a small part of the team and, as we sit here now, we have done that.

"We are two guys who can say we want to do an F1 team because we have the capital to do it, and to some extent the recession has helped us a little bit. For those out there who say where is the money? Where is the huge facility? Where is the money pouring out of the sky? Well, that isn't going to happen with USF1. We have always had a very different approach, and that approach will become visible as time goes on and this year unfolds."

Windsor added that both Formula One Management and the FIA had been informed of USF1's plans.

"I first told Bernie Ecclestone about this in Brazil 2006, and he was his usual specific self. He just said, 'great get it done'. So I said okay lets go and do it.

"He has kept in touch ever since and has always been supportive. Anything that we need he has tried to help us with. A good example is the DVD of the lovely edit he did of the 2008 Formula One season, which we have been using as part of our presentation to investors here in the United States.

"It's not for commercial use, but that is a typical example of the sort of help he has been giving us, and that is quite a big thing from FOM.

"The FIA equally have known about this in detail now for about five to six months, and instantly grasped the programme and instantly accepted the way we wanted to do it as, dare I say it, the poster child for how a Formula One team should be going into the next generation."

Anderson said he believed that the decision to base the team in Charlotte would not be a hindrance against F1 rivals' traditional home in Europe.

"Most of the technology from F1 comes from the US to begin with, and on the logistics side, next year less than half the races take place on the (European) continent so there is less reason for being there," he said. "The cost of doing business in the US is significantly cheaper than Europe and there are a lot of good people here."

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Honda team future looking 'good'

Efforts behind the scenes to safeguard the future of Honda Racing remain on course, autosport.com has learned, despite Japanese bosses suggesting on Monday they can see no 'serious buyer' for the outfit.

A statement earlier this week from outgoing Honda CEO Takeo Fukui, following a board meeting in Japan, suggested that the Japanese car manufacturer was losing faith in being able to find someone to take over the running of the outfit.

"There are various offers for the team but we have not seen any serious buyer yet," Fukui said. "We find the sale process difficult."

However, despite those comments appearing to be a blow to Honda Racing's chances of preventing the team being shut down, high level sources have revealed that optimism remains high that the matter can be sorted soon.

A senior figure at the team said that despite Fukui's comments the situation was far from bleak, and in fact looked 'good'.

It is understood senior management made it clear from the start of negotiations that they only wanted to press ahead with an option that would safeguard as many jobs as possible at Brackley, and put the team in a position to fight for a top three spot in the world championship.

The most likely outcome from the current situation remains a management buyout, involving both team principal Ross Brawn and CEO Nick Fry. Sources suggest that rumours that the latter has been forced out are ‘premature'.

The hopes of Brawn and Fry being able to put together a deal have been helped with engine supplier Mercedes-Benz believed to be willing to hang on as long as it can to finalise a supply deal for 2009.

Although there had been rumours that Honda had a Monday deadline to provide guarantees to Mercedes-Benz that they had the finances in place if a deal was going to happen, the German car maker is in fact doing all it can to help ensure a positive outcome for Honda.

As part of its determination to support F1 and help ensure a full grid of cars in Melbourne, it is understood that Mercedes-Benz will hold on as long as it can for a deal to be put in place.

Should a management buyout of Honda Racing go ahead, there is still a chance the team could get some pre-season testing done before the first race in Australia. The group tests take place at Jerez in Spain next week and at Barcelona later in March.

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USF1 to open new doors for fans

Formula One fans will be offered the chance to get closer to a team than they ever been before, by the new USF1 outfit.

Speaking at the launch of the team on Tuesday, sporting director Peter Windsor revealed ambitious plans for a more interactive experience for the public - including television shows and a more open attitude at the factory.

"Well certainly something I have learned just in the time I have been here in Charlotte is how good a job the NASCAR teams do for the fans," said Windsor during the official launch on Speed TV.

"We are in the entertainment business and we want it to be a TV-led Formula One team. We are to be that by definition, being so close to Speed TV, and we are also going to have our own TV production facilities inside our factory headquarters.

"We are going to make this a very fan-friendly team, not only in the States but globally. We are going to design the fan-route - they will be welcome to come to our HQ, they will be able to tour, look at an F1 car being designed and built. They will be able to touch and feel an F1 team for the first time.

"It will be a lovely experience to come here; we will have a state of the art facility that will be as good as anything you'll see in Europe. It won't be McLaren or Ferrari because obviously we have no history but we will do it our way, and that's compatible with being here in the US.

"If you look at guys like Michael Waltrip and the way they operate their team, that is a case study on how to make motor racing fan friendly."

Windsor believed that a change of attitude to the public could be all it took for F1 to finally be embraced by America.

"One of the problems with Formula One, (is that) the way the teams present themselves in America has always been very difficult for the fans to grasp what F1 is all about," he said.

"It is very technical, with lots of money, but nobody ever talks about it and you can never see the technology. Obviously we have an opportunity here to sell Formula One to our fan base and we have got a lot of F1 fans here."

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Heidfeld predicts more overtaking

Nick Heidfeld believes that overtaking should be easier this year thanks to the changes in Formula One aerodynamic regulations.

F1 has undertaken the biggest aero overhaul since 1983 for this season, with engineers having been asked to create ways to help make the racing better.

And although there had been some skepticism about how much of a change the new bodywork rules would make, Heidfeld says his first impressions of the characteristics have been promising.

He says that he got a chance to follow another car closely during last week's test in Bahrain, and was happy with the results.

"I finally got a chance to actually tail another car," Heidfeld told his official website about the Bahrain experience. "I have the impression that the new aerodynamics are going to make it easier to close in on the driver ahead, just as we had hoped.

"This should certainly make overtaking a lot simpler. I'm hoping that this suspicion will be confirmed over the weeks to come."

Heidfeld claims that the rule changes have also made the pre-season testing build-up more exciting than it has been for years.

"Testing this time round has been so much more fun because there are so many new developments to keep up with and I'm learning a lot about the new elements," he said.

"I'm having to adapt my driving style, which partly involves experimentation but also to some extent happens automatically.

"You're always finding new, hidden potential and that's what makes testing so enjoyable. Now I'm looking forward to the next tests in Jerez early in March."

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Australia confirms GP schedule

Australian Grand Prix organisers have confirmed that their schedule for practice and qualifying has been shifted back to later in the day for this year.

With the season-opening race due to start at 5pm, to ensure it will capture more of a television audience in Europe, organisers have also moved back the start time of events in the build-up to the big day.

As well as qualifying now running from 5pm, practice sessions will also start later than has been normal.

Drew Ward, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, said he hoped the new timetable would help attract spectators who would not normally be able to attend practice days.

"The changes to the Formula One session times means that each day finishes on a high note and, for Thursday and Friday, the most anticipated action will happen after school and after work" he said.

"On race-day Sunday the atmosphere and anticipation builds in the lead up to the race which will decide the first Formula One winner of the year. We want to create that kind of build up on the other days also - to save the best action until last and finish each day with a bang."

He added: "In the past, the Australian Grand Prix has been a "morning to afternoon" event - from 2009 it will be a "lunchtime through to sunset" event. This change in timing, together with the scheduling of the best entertainment at the end of the day, should suit everyone – families, workers and those of us who want to get out and about over one of Melbourne's biggest weekends."

2009 Australian GP timetable:

Practice session 1 Friday 1230 - 1400 Practice session 2 Friday 1630 – 1800 Practice session 3 Saturday 1400 – 1500 Qualifying Saturday 1700 – 1800 Race Sunday 1700 – 1835 approx

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Q and A with Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa earned universal praise for his dignified response to being beaten to the world championship in Brazil last year, and four months on from that agonising last-gasp defeat, he remains gracious rather than frustrated.

During a promotional visit to South Africa to watch the Kyalami A1GP event and attend the launch of a new Shell fuel, Massa sat down with autosport.com to discuss events since Interlagos, and to share his thoughts on the new season.

Q. Michael Schumacher had a reputation for being a very selfish teammate, but in your case he was very generous. What do you put that down to? Did he like you, did you get on particularly well?

Felipe Massa: Yeah, definitely. I think first of all I was always very fair with all my teammates and everybody I worked with, especially with Michael. For me, he was definitely a rival on the track. I always wanted to beat him. But he was something different, he was something more special. I was looking at Michael more like an older brother instead of really a big rival. And especially after the start of the (2006) season when I knew quite soon that Michael was going to stop, because he was very kind to tell me.

He was very kind with me all the time, through my career, even when I was the test driver. I think it was a good example that I had a future at Ferrari, and I wanted to do anything I could to help Michael to win the championship. And the relationship that we have is very much like a family, we're still very close.

Q. Do you still talk regularly?

FM: Yeah, quite regularly. Not every day, but every month.

Q. What do you talk about - racing, general life, family?

FM: Lately I've talked to him about the bikes, which he's taking too seriously!

Q. Do you think he viewed you as a younger brother in the same way?

FM: Yeah, for sure... I have my brother and my family, but the feeling (with Schumacher) is quite in that direction.

Q. After the Brazilian Grand Prix, how did you really feel the next morning?

FM: The next morning I didn't feel anything because I was sleeping! I woke up quite late...

Q. But when you woke up, your first thought was...?

FM: My first thought was definitely what happened in that race. But I'm not the kind of guy who takes what's happened and brings it with me for my life, because if you do that, you become a frustrated guy. So I take it as experience, and a life experience.

Sometimes life gives you something you don't expect, but for a reason. Even if you look at what happened with Lewis (Hamilton) in the first year, and then suddenly he became champion. Maybe he deserved to win more in 2007 than in 2008, but that's the way it is.

Q. Has it made you stronger?

FM: I think so, definitely. We need to take it as a good example to make you even stronger, not as an example to make excuses. If we win, we win. If we lose, we lose. If we make a mistake, we make a mistake, and that's it.

I think that's also a good proof that the championship was great - we were fighting until the last corner - and we almost won. Almost is not enough, but I think we showed that we were very, very strong during the whole season.

Q. You were the first driver since Alberto Ascari in the 1950s to have a chance to win the world championship on home soil. Accordingly this year, if it goes to the last race, it won't be your home grand prix. What are you going to do to make sure you do win it on home soil?

FM: It would be good to try everything you can to win at the second to last race. We'll try!

Q. When Kimi Raikkonen won the championship, Ferrari was very much Jean Todt's team still. Now it's a Stefano Domenicali team. This will be the second year under Stefano, do you think the team itself will be stronger?

FM: I think so. For sure the idea and the direction is to get better and better all the time. I think Stefano's showed he is a good worker. He's a hard worker. He's a completely different character compared to Jean Todt, but I think he's showed that he is able to do the job and for sure in his first year he was very successful already. Hopefully we can be even more successful in the second year. I have a great relationship with Stefano. I really support him in everything he's doing.

Q. The new car, how do you feel about it? With so many changes, is it very different to what you were expecting?

FM: It's a big change, for sure. It was different to what we expected at the beginning. But then after some laps you get used to the car, and now I think I'm quite comfortable driving the car and I'm getting used to the new rules very quickly. I don't think it will be a huge, huge difference.

Q. Ferrari had a KERS scare with Kimi, you haven't had any problems have you?

FM: I had a small issue, but not something where you couldn't use (KERS) anymore. It was a small issue, maybe something leaking...

Q. Battery leaking?

FM: No, around the car, but maybe caused by the KERS. But it was a small issue, not a big issue like we expected to have, to be honest. The KERS was causing a small issue in other areas, but it was not a big problem.

Q. You haven't had any safety problems?

FM: Not for the moment. We touch wood, but everything is going well.

Q. Do you get out of the car differently?

FM: No because usually the drivers are in the most safe place. Maybe if you have a problem... we've never had a problem and I hope we're not going to have... but if you just need to get out of the car you jump so you're not touching the floor and the car at the same time.

Q. So overall would you prefer to be with or without KERS?

FM: The drivers always like more power, so the KERS gives you more power, so it's nice!

Q. No problems with the new tyres? Can you get the heat in.

FM: We've tried so many tyres, we had three compounds in Bahrain. Two were working very well, and the other one had a higher working range and it was a little bit more difficult to make it work. But we need to know the track we're going to, we need to know the circumstances and the asphalt, and hopefully we're not going to have a problem.

Q. Did you run with the adjustable front wing, and are you comfortable with that?

FM: Yes, no problems.

Q. Do you get the feeling it will be more like Playstation racing this year - a button for KERS, a button for the front wing...

FM: I play a lot of Playstation so it's not a problem! I play everything, Formula One, GT5, and I play a lot of football!

Q. You've got a simulator at Maranello...

FM: We've got a simulator at Torino, with Fiat.

Q. And how does that compare to the Playstation, a lot more advanced?

FM: It's a lot more advanced for sure, but in terms of graphics it's not so far. Playstation is quite entertaining and fun to play.

Q. This year there are less races and a lot, lot less testing. What will you do to stay race-fit?

FM: For sure you need to concentrate a lot more on fitness to be always in good shape when you need to be in the car. Now when you're testing you always need to do more than 100 laps, so you need to be fit all the time. Maybe you need to be a little bit more close to the team, because maybe you're not testing but you are together for the development of the car and how you want it.

I think it will be even more important for the drivers to be close to the team. It's the same for everybody, so we need to get used to the new rules, especially with the economic crisis. It's something we needed to change for the good future of motorsport.

Q. Some of the drivers have said they will do more karting, will you?

FM: Yes, for sure. I love karting and I'm going to practice a little bit more.

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Massa ends Bahrain test on top

The Bahrain test came to an end on Thursday, with Felipe Massa topping the times for his Ferrari team.

The Brazilian posted a best time of 1:32.162 after 113 laps, as he worked on various set-up options for his F60, also concentrating on testing several aerodynamic solutions as well as carrying out reliability work.

Nick Heidfeld was second quickest for BMW Sauber, although the German's day was hindered by two mechanical problems. Despite that, Heidfeld completed 122 laps, the most on the day.

"Although we lost some time due to a sandstorm last week, the long test in Bahrain was very productive," said BMW Sauber's technical director Willy Rampf. "We could work with the cars in temperatures we would not have encountered in Europe at this time of the year, making it good preparation for the first races of the upcoming season.

"We worked mainly on the general set-up of the BMW Sauber F1.09, trying numerous solutions on the mechanical and aero side of the car as well as gaining experience with the three available tyre compounds.

"We also made good progress with KERS. Overall we reached our target of collecting as much data as possible about the car's reactions to changes in the set-up."

Timo Glock's work today was also disrupted by a hydraulics problem in his Toyota, the German managing just 65 laps on his way to the slowest time of the day.

"It was a pity that our last day of work here was disrupted but this has still been a very successful test for us," said Glock. "Today we missed much of the day's action due to a hydraulics problem so it was a shame to lose running time. But the mechanics did a good job and when we made it onto the track we put in some useful work.

"Overall we have put a lot of miles on the TF109 this week. We've made good progress with set-up and I'm confident that this can continue."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:32.162 113 2. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:32.225 122 3. Glock Toyota (B) 1:32.445 65 All Timing Unofficial

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Mateschitz: Teams should own F1

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has called for the Formula One teams to be given a share in the ownership of the sport.

At present, private equity company CVC Capital has a majority 70 per cent share in the Formula One Group, with the remainder owned by financial services firm JPMorgan and Bernie Ecclestone's family trust.

Mateschitz, who owns both the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso teams, believes this situation is unhealthy for the sport - especially during a time of economic crisis.

He fears that the financial groups will be more concerned with getting a return on their investment than securing F1's future.

"They have neither expertise nor passion about and for motorsport," Mateschitz told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency.

"Their engagement, which is natural under the circumstances, is simply a financial one, geared towards maximising profits.

"It is the teams that are carrying all the financial risk. It is the teams that not only have the necessary competence, they also have the necessary passion for motorsport.

"There is just one logical and ethically justifiable owner of Formula One and that is the teams. That is the only way that the survival of motorsport is guaranteed on a long-term basis.

"The teams need to maximise their marketing value, but they also need to own the assets.

"Everybody can see that the value of Formula One is not that which it was a year ago."

The F1 teams have become more proactive in their efforts to safeguard the world championship and shape its future in recent months, having set up the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) and worked with the FIA to implement dramatic cost-cutting rule changes.

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FOTA to unveil Formula One vision

Formula One teams are to go public with their vision for the future of the sport in a press conference that has been scheduled for the start of next month.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has been working away behind closed doors to come up with concepts and regulations that it would like to see grand prix racing adopt in the future.

With consensus about new directions for the sport having been reached, FOTA has decided to call a media event in Geneva on March 5 to unveil what the body calls its "plans for the future of Formula One."

The press event will be hosted by FOTA chairman and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who will speak about the teams' plans.

An official invitation sent by FOTA on Wednesday added: "These plans are the result of a series of meetings held over the past few weeks and months, all of them with a common goal: to make Formula One commercially sustainable, environmentally friendly and compellingly attractive for spectators, TV viewers and Internet consumers alike for years to come."

All F1 team principals are due to attend the event, which will be the first public showing by FOTA since its formation last year.

FOTA has commissioned a worldwide market research document to gauge what fans want to see come from F1 in the future, and it is likely the results of this have determined what the teams will unveil.

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis said earlier this year that none of FOTA's members were afraid to introduce radical changes, as long as new ideas were to improve the sport.

"We are not particularly against anything that makes F1 better," said Dennis during a special appearance on the central stage at the Autosport International Show. "But we really believe that it should be driven by knowledge as opposed to intuition and gut feel.

"The teams have financed research and it has been conducted over two months globally, and we will bring into that research the possibility of introducing a new points system, whether it is with medals or whether pole position should carry points to incentivize people to try harder in qualifying, or whether we should adopt monstrously radical things like reversing the grid after awarding points for qualifying.

"That is, for me to say, unheard of. I am a pure motor racer. I am a guy who likes to qualify hard, be the fastest car in front, lead from the front and win by whatever it takes. I am pure. But it can be pretty boring, not to me, but it can be pretty boring for you guys if the race is a procession.

"So we have to be mindful of the fact that those people who are captured by F1, their interest is maintained...we are very, very concerned about playing with the DNA of Formula One and screwing some magic that crosses that audience.

"Our attitude is let's take a scientific approach within the limitations of market research, try and understand what people like about Formula One and play to our strengths, then try to handle our weaknesses."

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Economic state may affect spending

Briatore says Renault have 'solid future'

Renault chief Flavio Briatore is confident his team have a 'solid future' in Formula One despite the impact of losing title sponsor ING at the end of this year.

With Renault having already been surrounded by widespread speculation about their future in the sport because of the increasingly gloomy financial outlook for car makers, the team's situation has not been helped by ING's decision to end its involvement in F1.

However, Briatore remains upbeat that, with F1 embracing a number of cost-cutting measures, he can look to the future with confidence.

"During the past three years, the team and ING have enjoyed a rewarding and successful relationship," Briatore said in a statement on his team's official website.

"ING has been an enthusiastic and supportive partner for the Renault F1 team in all respects. They have been a true success story and have become a brand that is recognised worldwide thanks to an innovative and proactive sponsorship programme with our team and Formula One.

"However, we have been aware for quite some time that the world's current financial climate was calling for a restructuring of our sport and with FOTA we have moved in that direction.

"Drastic cost reductions have been on FOTA's agenda as one of the first priorities and with the ongoing programme of measures we are confident we can guarantee a solid future for our team and for Formula One."

Patrick 'flattered' by USF1 link

Danica Patrick says she has been flattered to be linked to the USF1 project, but the IndyCar racer admitted she hasn't heard from the team.

The team's technical director Ken Anderson said earlier this week that they would be interested in testing Patrick, the first female winner in the IndyCar series.

The 26-year-old said in Toronto on Wednesday, however, that she hadn't had any contacts with the team.

"There weren't any quotes from me because they haven't spoken to me," Patrick was quoted as saying by the Globe and Mail newspaper.

"It's very flattering. I think that any time you are in the same sentence as Formula One, it's a flattering thing."

"I haven't really expressed a lot of excitement and interest in world travel. We'll see what they'll say though. Maybe they'll call."

USF1 are scheduled to unveil their plans next Tuesday in a special television show on SpeedTV.

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Raikkonen tops test despite KERS scare

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time on the second day of this week's Formula One test at Bahrain, as the good weather allowed the three teams present to get plenty of mileage under their belts.

The Finn's day, however, was not without trouble, as he lost three hours due to a problem with his car's KERS cooling circuit.

The problem, however, was used by Ferrari to experiment with an emergency in case of a KERS failure.

Raikkonen ended the day just more than one tenth clear of Toyota's Jarno Trulli - pointing once again to how close the competitiveness between the teams looks.

Trulli completed a total of 149 laps over the course of the day, and was pretty happy with how much progress had been with the TF109.

"This has been a very good test for us," he explained. "I've covered well over 2000km in three days and I feel happy with the car. It seems competitive and reliable so a start like this gives us a solid base for the season ahead.

"There is still a lot of time before the first race and there is plenty of scope for teams to make big steps between now and Melbourne. So we will have to keep pushing hard to keep up the momentum in the factory and at the remaining tests. Still, so far so good."

The only other driver present was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, who spent the day concentrating on mechanical set-ups.

"Today I drove the new BMW Sauber F1.09 in warm weather conditions for the first time, so the most important thing for me was to learn more about the general balance of the car", explained Heidfeld.

"Overall it was a good day because I tried a lot of different set-up solutions. I already feel happy about how the car reacts to changes."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:32.102 103 2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:32.230 149 3. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:32.585 104 All Timing Unofficial

Economic state may affect spending

Best-of-seven series a better test

Raikkonen leads the way in Bahrain

Sepang rules out night race before 2015

Malaysian Grand Prix chiefs have ruled out the possibility of turning their event into a night race before their current contract expires in 2015.

The start time of this year's race at Sepang has been shifted back to 5pm, with race organisers unable to justify the higher costs of lighting up the track that would be required for a night event.

And although Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been keen for Malaysia to hold its event at night, race organisers have now confirmed that the 5pm start will now remain until 2015 at the earliest.

Sepang track chief Mokhzani Mahathir was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency: "We have amended the contract. The race will start at 5.00pm. It is another way of saying that there will be no night race until 2015."

Mahathir said the track's resistance to shelling out for a night race had increased because of the worldwide financial problems faced at the moment.

"Bernie said to me that 'we will no longer raise the issue'. I told him that we are facing an economic crisis. The night race may or may not attract more people to the circuit," he said.

Sepang said back in 2007 that, under the contract signed then, the circuit was committed to holding the race at night 'at any time upon notification' of Formula One Management.

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Suzuka on course for April re-opening

The revamp of the Suzuka circuit is scheduled to be finished within the next two months, ahead of its return to the Formula One calendar later this year.

Suzuka's owner Honda has used the opportunity of the Japanese GP's switch to Fuji to undertake an upgrade of facilities at the track.

And Honda has confirmed in a statement about its 2009 motorsport activities that the track will be ready in time for a grand re-opening in April

"Full-scale renovation work will soon be completed," stated Honda, which will host a 'Start Suzuka Opening Thanks Day F1 Kick Off Party' on April 12.

Although Honda has pulled out of F1, the company has made it clear that it remains wholly behind Suzuka hosting the Japanese GP.

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said in December: "The Suzuka GP takes place as planned, and the work has started. We are sorry we are not going to be there."

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Williams against wind tunnel use limit

Team boss Frank Williams says he is unhappy about cost-cutting moves to restrict wind tunnel use that could leave his team at a disadvantage compared to their rivals.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is currently discussing a proposed framework of aerodynamic development restrictions that will help teams reduce their expenditure on wind tunnels and CFD systems. Once the teams are in unison on the matter, it can then be put to the FIA.

However, reaching a deal that satisfies all teams is not easy - and it is understood that Williams and Toyota are not impressed at a push from their rivals to limit all teams to just one wind tunnel - irrespective of their CFD capabilities.

Early drafts of the aerodynamic limits would have allowed teams to choose to balance their work on either wind tunnels or CFD, depending on their resources.

Speaking about the situation, Williams told autosport.com: "I was happy with that until a few of the other teams said 'oh we've only got one wind tunnel, so you should have too' which I thought was a very strong piece of discrimination.

"We all sort of put our cards on the table recently about our CFD capabilities. We came out joint last with Force India. We've got two very good tunnels. Suddenly for some unbalanced reason it's proposed that we are only allowed to use one."

Williams confirmed that he was not the only one not happy about a proposed ban on teams using more than one wind tunnel. When asked if Toyota adopted his stance, he said: "That's right. And, I would imagine, it's Honda's too. A blind man can see it's discrimination against those with two tunnels.

"What about you've got two of these and I've only got one, so you'll have to run with just one driver? Try that one! You can see where it's coming from. There are some very big investments around and those guys with only one tunnel have said 'yipee you can't have your second."

Williams said he felt the situation showed that competitiveness between teams was now expanding beyond the normal areas of track and finances.

"I'm of the view that the competition should take place on the race track," he said. "It now takes place on the race track and at the bank as well. Then there's a third area where they think they can carve up the rights to which equipment they can use.

Despite his unhappiness at the situation, Williams said he felt a compromise settlement would be reached - even though it would restrict his team to one tunnel.

"Under the Concorde Agreement - and I've presumed that in the last three years that we are racing with a new Concorde Agreement in place, otherwise what binds us together? - that if the technical regulations are changed at short notice it must be by unanimous agreement," he said.

"Well there wasn't unanimous agreement and it still got changed. I think we're getting close to a solution, a solution that is quite acceptable...but I repeat we're unhappy about it."

This week's Autosport carries a full-length interview with Frank Williams, where he talks about the shape of F1, the state of his team and how he can see a bright future amid the current financial uncertainty.

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Williams: Technical challenges key to F1

Formula One must not abandon its core technical challenge in the move to reduce costs over the next few years, reckons Frank Williams.

With the teams and the FIA looking at ways to bring budgets under control to help see the sport through the worldwide economic crisis, Williams has expressed his belief that any rule changes should not rob the sport of the factors that have made it so popular.

In particular, he believes the idea of a standard specification car would be going too far - because it could lead to the unintended consequence of driving the best brains away from F1.

"We still want the very best drivers in the world racing the fastest single-seater cars in an F1 world championship," Williams said in an exclusive interview with this week's Autosport.

"If it's to be spec cars, why not just go and buy some IndyCars? Then I think you'd find all the talent and interest would pretty quickly drift away.

"There has to be a greater challenge than that, but nothing like as expensive as it has been. Max (Mosley) was absolutely right in bringing us down from 10 engines a race weekend, to two to one – totally right.

"And everything done on this new drive the teams are all with him. We're all very mindful of having our businesses stay in business. There is some disagreement over the precise menu of changes in some areas, total agreement in others. But please, not spec cars."

He added: "F1 attracts all these extraordinary people because of what it is. It features all these brilliant brains. People such as Ron Dennis, Max himself, Mario Theissen. In this building (the Williams factory) there are some very clever people, in all the F1 buildings. It's a fantastic collection of individuals that makes the world go around. I'd hate for that to be shattered.

"Because if the racing, financial and technical challenges aren't there such people will find something else more challenging. At the same time, the last people who want to drive themselves out of business are the team principals, so I'm sure it can all be achieved."

Williams has said he supports the initiatives being put in place by the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) and the FIA to help reduce costs.

And although he concedes life in F1 at the moment is a 'challenge' for his team, he is optimistic about the future of his outfit.

He says there are no doubts that sponsors currently committed to his team, including the under-fire banking group RBS, will fulfil their commitments.

"A contract is a contract," he explained. "Our existing contracts are okay, as with us and RBS. We have a major new contract (Philips) with one of our existing partners that you will see on the car soon.

"In the summer we had a very good run and I thought 'Crickey this is going well' and a lot of it goes forwards for the next few years. But now the market's pretty much moribund. It's very hard."

This week's Autosport carries the full-length interview with Frank Williams, where he talks about the shape of F1, the state of his team and how he can see a bright future amid the current financial uncertainty.

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Williams undecided on KERS debut

Williams are keeping an open mind about when they will introduce their unique Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) this season - with the team suspecting that bigger performance benefits will actually come from other areas of the car at the start of the campaign.

The Grove-based outfit are alone in choosing to develop their own fly-wheel system for this year, and have set up the Williams Hybrid Power company to bring the technology on tap.

Although reports this week, based on quotes from a Nico Rosberg interview published in Germany, suggested that the team would definitely not be using KERS until the Turkish Grand Prix in May, Williams have clarified that their German driver's comments were taken out of context.

In fact, Rosberg and the team are both well aware that no firm decision has been made about what their plans are for when KERS will be used. The only decision that has been made is that Williams will not run the system at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

After that, the team will monitor KERS progress carefully before deciding when it comes on board for a race. With so much performance still to be gained from a well-honed setup to cope with the new cars and slick tyres, the benefits of pursuing KERS will not be fully realised for a little while anyway.

A Williams spokesman told autosport.com: "The situation here is that we are working to bring the technology to the car but we are not going to race it in Melbourne.

"The rationale for this is that the greatest performance opportunities are currently in the weight distribution, balance and optimising set-up for the slick tyre. This is where we focus initially. We will introduce KERS as and when we have a system that can improve performance."

Although Williams' decision to develop their own system means it may take longer than an off-the-shelf manufacturer unit to be ready, it should bring more benefits in its potential later on.

Furthermore, it will also increase the chances of the technology spinning off into applications outside of racing – as the FIA has been keen to see.

The spokesman added: "As we are developing our own motor and our own energy storage system, it will take longer and be higher risk, but our approach offers a higher potential reward.

"It also means that the work we are doing for our Formula One programme is accelerating the introduction of this technology for other applications.

"In the medium term, this may prove to be the biggest contribution of KERS as the FIA and Williams hoped from the outset of the initiative. Naturally, the date for the introduction of our system to the car will be kept under review."

Williams' engine supplier Toyota have already announced that they will not be running KERS at the start of the season, while other manufacturers remain unsure about their plans.

‘Frank TV,’ take two

Ferrari still undecided on KERS debut

Hamilton 'more committed than ever'

Lewis Hamilton says he is more committed than ever before, as he faces the start of the season in which he will try to retain his crown.

The McLaren driver became Formula One's youngest ever champion last year and will start his title defence next month in Australia.

Hamilton admits having won the championship has not sunk in yet, but he claims he is working harder than ever in order to clinch another title.

"Winning the world championship in Brazil seems such a long time ago now - things move so fast in Formula One, even when you're not at the race track," Hamilton told the official Formula One website.

"To be honest, I don't really think of myself as world champion yet - I think that will finally sink in when I get to Melbourne for the first race - so I don't put any extra pressure on myself to live up to that.

"Obviously, becoming the champion does take some weight off your shoulders but I don't really look too closely at it: I'm just spending every moment focusing on 2009, improving my fitness, working with the team and testing the car. I'm more committed than ever."

The Briton, whose team boss Ron Dennis will be stepping down before the first race of the season, said he is not expecting any significant changes in the team despite Martin Whitmarsh taking over at the helm of the racing activities.

Hamilton expects the change, however, to be good for the team.

"I know Ron and Martin very well. And I'm sure that the change at the top of the team will only bring us benefits," said Hamilton.

"It will allow Ron to take a step back and concentrate on running the whole group, and it will also allow Martin to get fully involved in the Formula One team. But I don't think you'll see many big changes - there's not much that needs changing, after all.

"I know a lot of people will be watching Martin once we get to Australia, but he's a great bloke; really professional, a good laugh and totally committed. I know he'll do a fantastic job."

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USF1 project sets date for launch

The group behind the new USF1 team are set to officially launch the project on 24 February.

The announcement of their full plans is expected to take place on American television channel SPEED. USF1 founding partner Peter Windsor currently works for the broadcaster's Formula One coverage as a pit lane reporter.

In an interview with SPEED's website earlier this week, Windsor confirmed that 24 February was the likely date for an official announcement, and a countdown clock has now appeared on the team's website indicating that it will happen at 8am Eastern time (the time zone for USF1's likely North Carolina base) in ten days' time.

"Ken Anderson and I have been looking at the possibility of designing and building an F1 car in the USA for the past four years," Windsor told speedtv.com.

"So I guess the real surprise is that we were able to keep it quiet for so long.

"The news broke this week but the real announcement is going to be live on SPEED, potentially on February 24."

Although now established as a broadcaster and journalist, Windsor was formerly the team manager for the Williams F1 squad, while his partner Anderson worked for the Onyx and Ligier teams in the 1980s and is a successful engineer and designer in American motorsport.

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Petrobras keen on future F1 return

Brazilian oil company Petrobras is keen to remain involved in Formula One in the future, despite deciding against a sponsorship deal with Honda this season.

Petrobras was set to switch its backing from the Williams team to Honda for 2009, but the latter manufacturer's decision to pull out of F1 meant that deal will not go ahead.

However Petrobras says it is still open to future opportunities in F1 as it believes the sport provides a valuable development opportunity.

"Petrobras clarifies that it is still interested in participating in Formula One," said a statement.

"The interest in partnering with a team remains, as long as it is possible to develop and provide high-quality and high-tech Petrobras fuels and lubricants.

"The purpose of Petrobras' Motor Sports Programme is to seek to provide company consumers with benefits, using auto racing as a product development lab. In this performance line, on account of its ties with technological progress, Formula One has always had a singular role."

Petrobras has also reiterated that it is not currently involved with Honda should efforts to keep the team alive succeed, and has again dismissed reports that it would provide personal sponsorship to potential Honda driver Bruno Senna.

"The company clarifies it does not have an agreement signed with Honda, or with a future team yet to be formed, for the 2009 Formula One season," it said.

"It also reiterates that pursuant to the guidelines set forth by the Petrobras Motor Sport Programme, it does not endorse individual drivers."

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Senna under no illusions about Honda

Bruno Senna says he would have no qualms about making his debut with Honda Racing should the team survive, even though he would potentially arrive at the Australian Grand Prix with no testing in the new car.

The Brazilian was being evaluated by Honda before the manufacturer pulled out of Formula One and put its team up for sale, and has been strongly linked to a drive alongside Jenson Button if a management buy-out succeeds.

Although the team have yet to secure a deal to either guarantee their future or sign Senna, the former GP2 front-runner is now pinning all his hopes on Honda.

He said he was under no illusions about the scale of the task he would face if he joined them.

"It would certainly be a big challenge: I think no driver in the last few years has had his F1 debut with so little testing mileage," Senna told Autosprint. "However, it's always better to be in F1, even under difficult conditions, than to be out of it. To race in GP2 for another season would have been useless for me.

"It would be a difficult debut, I know, but initially there won't be big pressure or expectations, because at the moment no-one considers the ex-Honda squad a top team.

"So the pressure would be less and I'll eventually adapt in a quicker and easier way. At least I can say I know the (Melbourne) track, having already raced and won there in Australian F3."

Senna is adamant that he cannot afford to miss out on any F1 opportunities - even if the car was not competitive.

"To race in F1 you need to grab all chances with both hands, even when they look very difficult, because you may get no more of them after that," he said.

He admitted that he would be unlikely to get much - if any - testing before Melbourne if he joined Honda, but is confident that the team will be well-prepared.

"Let's just say that, if before the Australian GP I managed to run for at least three, four days, doing about 1,200 kms, then that'd be a dream," said Senna.

"Since Honda announced its retirement, the team have carried on working. Maybe not as intensively as they would have had Honda kept going, but the technicians have nevertheless carried on with the project of the new car according to schedule."

Senna added that he no longer had any links to Toro Rosso, who had previously been considered a likely team for the Brazilian due to his close ties with former co-owner Gerhard Berger.

"During the winter, when talks were ongoing, I got the impression that Toro Rosso were more interested in surviving rather than building something important for the future," he said.

"I was disappointed with their way of dealing: they were only interested in the budget, while before committing I wanted to test in order to get to know and evaluate the car and the team, to see if there was chemistry between us.

"Talks progressively died out after Berger left the team. At that point, without him, my interest in racing for that team went down to zero completely."

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Renault insist R29 will be on the pace

Renault technical director Bob Bell says his team are happy with the performance of the R29 so far despite some underwhelming times in testing.

The new Renault has been near the bottom of the timesheets at most tests so far, but Bell believes that yesterday's result at Jerez - where Fernando Alonso was second-best amongst the 2009 cars and 0.2 seconds slower than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton - was more representative.

"It's still very early days, but I'm becoming increasingly more satisfied with the performance of the car," said Bell.

"Obviously the Portimao test was a disappointment to us as we only had one dry day and although the car ran well from a reliability point of view, we still had lots of unanswered performance-related questions.

"It's true that we didn't look great at that first test, but that was not really a surprise to us as we simply got the car out with an interim set of bodywork so that we could get miles on it, evaluate reliability and get the KERS system up and running. So we didn't really expect to be that competitive, especially as we were learning about the set-up that is needed for this new generation of cars.

"Since then we've put a lot of things right at the Jerez test and I think we've made good progress. Overall I'm encouraged by what we've seen so far.

"From what we've seen in Jerez this week, I don't feel there are any fundamental problems with the car: it's well balanced and is responding well to changes. We're lacking a bit of grip, which is the same for everybody, but that will improve as we fit new parts to the car and continue our development up to the first race.

"Overall I feel we're on course to deliver a good performance in Melbourne."

The distinctive nose section of the R29 has attracted particular comment since the car's unveiling, but Bell said the fact that they had followed different ideas to their rivals did not mean that Renault had got their design wrong.

"With new regulations this year, all the teams have gone away to develop behind closed doors and so it's no surprise that you end up with as many different solutions as there are teams," he said.

"All we can do is be sure that we've done the best job we can and accept that to begin with the cars will look very different. So far I've not seen anything on our competitors' cars that is particularly worrying for us or makes me think we've taken a fundamentally wrong direction."

Renault have now decided to cancel a planned private test in Barcelona next week in favour of running at the Spanish Grand Prix venue in the week before Melbourne - a decision that Bell is very happy with.

"It may be more difficult from a logistical point of view because we've got to get the car to Melbourne the following week, but it buys us more development time to get new components onto the car and tested prior to Melbourne," he said.

"It was something that we had in our minds as a possibility and I think it's a very worthwhile decision."

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Dennis: F1 still attractive for sponsors

Formula One has no reason to fear that ING's decision to quit the sport is a precursor to other high-profile sponsors heading for the exit.

That is the view of McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, who thinks that F1 continues to offer great value for sponsors despite the financial difficulties faced by companies worldwide.

Banking giants ING announced on Monday morning that it had decided not to extend its involvement in F1 beyond the end of the year, having been Renault's title sponsor since 2007 alongside other involvement that included trackside advertising and race naming rights.

And although doom mongers may suggest that ING's decision to turn its back on F1 may be a warning sign that other big backers could walk away, Dennis thinks that the sport's base remains strong.

Speaking to autosport.com about what ING's decision meant for F1, Dennis said: "Clearly, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment specifically on ING's decision, other than to make the observation that it's obviously something of a special case because ING is a bank that has faced particular challenges recently.

"Having said that, I want to take this opportunity to emphasise the fact that Formula One remains a hugely attractive sponsorship proposition, which offers an extremely powerful return on investment for the companies involved.

"Indeed, ING's statement included the following sound bite, reiterating what its marketing executives have said publicly many times: 'Over the past two years, ING has successfully achieved its objectives for the Formula One sponsorship, raising its overall global brand awareness by 16 per cent [March 2007 versus November 2008]. Formula One remains a powerful business driver even in a difficult economic climate.'

"Undoubtedly, that's true. And, working under the umbrella of FOTA, all the Formula One teams intend to do their utmost to power through this economic downturn together, delivering optimum return on our partners' and sponsors' investment as we do so."

ING's decision to leave F1 came after it was forced to make dramatic cost cuts in the wake of an expected one billion Euros loss for 2008.

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Newey ready to rethink future in F1

Famed car designer Adrian Newey has admitted that Formula One's increasingly restrictive technical regulations are forcing him to ponder whether he remains in the sport for much longer.

Newey could be on the verge of one of his most successful seasons for years, with his new RB5 having shone in early testing, but he has conceded that he is already evaluating an F1 exit in the next few years.

Although excited about the raft of regulation changes that were introduced for this year, Newey feels that the challenge will be less in future seasons because the rules are now so tight.

Speaking exclusively to this week's Autosport, Newey said: "I would definitely like to step back in the not-too-distance future. The rules are becoming more and more restrictive.

"While it has been exciting to have such a big regulation change for this year, ultimately those regulations are more restrictive than the one's we've just come away from."

Newey has said if he chooses to pursue opportunities elsewhere, he would still like to retain some links with F1.

"Maybe I'd still be involved as a consultant, but that would have to be on the terms of the team," he said. "It has to be that the engineers at the team would want me to be a consultant, otherwise it just wouldn't work."

Newey added that "within two or three years it will definitely" be time to look elsewhere.

The feelings about restrictive regulations in F1 have been echoed by FIA president Max Mosley, who believes that it has been a mistake to make the sport's rules so tight.

"It's a fault with the regulations," explained Mosley. "They have constricted the areas where they can work to keep speeds and costs under control to the point where you get the best returns by endlessly refining every single component of the car."

He added: "People like (Colin) Chapman, (John) Cooper or (Keith) Duckworth would be lost in modern F1. We have this culture of minimal innovation and endless refinement."

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Raikkonen leads the way in Bahrain

Kimi Raikkonen led the way for Ferrari during testing in Bahrain on Friday, as the weather cleared to finally allow the teams present to get some running.

Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Toyota had all travelled to Bahrain to escape the risk of rain wrecking running in Europe, but have been left frustrated by sand storms instead.

However, the sand clouds finally lifted on Friday to allow the outfits to get some mileage under their belts as they continue preparations for the 2009 season.

It was Raikkonen who topped the times for Ferrari, just edging out Toyota's Jarno Trulli as both completed a large amount of mileage.

"The track was very slippery in the morning, due to the sand, but we managed to go ahead with our programme," said Raikkonen. "It's a pity for the time we lost over the last days, but it didn't depend on us. This happens and you just have to accept it. My first day with the new F60 on a dry track was extremely positive.

"I immediately had a good feeling although it's still too early to say where we are compared to our competitors. The car is improving and there are no especially critical areas. We used the KERS also today and I'm happy with how it works, apart from some minor childhood disease."

Trulli, who completed almost two race distances, said: "This was a good day's work. In the morning the track conditions were still really poor with a lot of dust on the circuit. It was also very windy but the surface cleaned up during the day and got better and better.

"We managed to get through a lot of laps and the car balance felt pretty good. We are still playing around with set-up and other parameters to understand how to get the most out of the package. But it looks promising so far so let's hope we can carry on like this."

BMW Sauber test driver Christian Klien was third fastest as he got his first taste of the new F1.09. He was pleased the team could finally get on with some of the test programme that had been mapped out from the start of the week.

"In the morning the track was still slightly wet as a result of being cleaned after yesterday's sandstorm," said the Austrian. "Because of this it took some time to build up a proper grip level. That gave me the opportunity to get used to the BMW Sauber F1.09, which I drove for the very first time.

"In the afternoon the track conditions were much better and we were able to go ahead with our test programme as scheduled."

The teams will resume testing in Bahrain for four more days next week.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:33.325 105 2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:33.429 127 3. Klien BMW-Sauber (B) 1:33.666 125 All Timing Unofficial

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Gillett: Donington GP remains on track

Donington Park CEO Simon Gillett has dismissed reports of a rift between himself and Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd president Tom Wheatcroft, and has reasserted his claims that all of the circuit's preparations for the 2010 British Grand Prix remain on track.

A story in today's Telegraph claimed that Gillett had been served a writ by Donington Park founder Wheatcroft over unpaid rent, however Gillett said there was no war between himself and the 85-year-old.

"Far from it," he said. "The Wheatcrofts and I get on incredibly well. Tom is our president, and we are working with them. Tom is as wedded to the success here as we are.

"It's interesting. It's that point in our project where people are looking to make some gain out of what we have. We are on track, we have got the money, we're going forward, and as we've said, at the end of March we'll be coming out and telling you exactly how it is all being done."

Gillett also elaborated on his rebuttal of media reports from earlier this week claiming that DVLL had debts of £66.7 million and made a loss of £12.4 million last year, based on company reports that were said to have been filed at Companies House.

On Monday Gillett denied the claim and questioned where the figures had come from, insisting that the company's reports had not even been filed yet. But speaking at Donington Park today, he said that the figures represented the acquisition costs of the Donington facility.

"What they are reporting is our 2006/7 account," he explained. "When we bought the business, we paid a certain amount of money for the business and in that year we decided that all the acquisition costs, we'd write off in one year. So is it actually a loss? No. It's an accounting treatment; how we treated the acquisition costs of the business in that year.

"Financially, we are where we said we would be. We are in rude health, and we are ready for our financing round coming up at the end of March."

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Q and A with Renault's Bob Bell

Conducted and provided by the Renault press office.

Q. Bob, after two test sessions, are you pleased with the performance of the R29?

Bob Bell: It's still very early days, but I'm becoming increasingly more satisfied with the performance of the car. Obviously the Portimao test was a disappointment to us as we only had one dry day and although the car ran well from a reliability point of view, we still had lots of unanswered performance-related questions. It's true that we didn't look great at that first test, but that was not really a surprise to us as we simply got the car out with an interim set of bodywork so that we could get miles on it, evaluate reliability and get the KERS system up and running.

So we didn't really expect to be that competitive, especially as we were learning about the set-up that is needed for this new generation of cars. Since then we've put a lot of things right at the Jerez test and I think we've made good progress. Overall I'm encouraged by what we've seen so far.

Q. What are the drivers' verdicts on the car - what feedback have they given you?

BB: They've both been very positive and the biggest surprise for them was perhaps the KERS system as we felt that initially we would have a lot of problems with it and getting the drivers used to it.

In reality it has been quite a straightforward transition. In terms of the car's basic characteristics, the dry week in Jerez has helped us get a much better set-up on the car, fit new development parts and both Fernando and Nelson seem happy with the balance of the car.

Q. The R29 has not been topping the time sheets in testing. Is this a sign of underlying problems?

BB: What matters is performance relative to other teams and at the moment it's very difficult to judge because everybody is running different programmes, interim bodywork and different fuel loads. I think things will become clearer when we approach the final winter test, but for now it's too hard to judge.

However, from what we've seen in Jerez this week, I don't feel there are any fundamental problems with the car: it's well balanced and is responding well to changes. We're lacking a bit of grip, which is the same for everybody, but that will improve as we fit new parts to the car and continue our development up to the first race. Overall I feel we're on course to deliver a good performance in Melbourne.

Q. A lot of attention has been paid to the front end. Are you confident you've taken the right approach?

BB: You can never be totally confident and there simply aren't enough hours in the day to test all possible combinations of designs. With new regulations this year, all the teams have gone away to develop behind closed doors and so it's no surprise that you end up with as many different solutions as there are teams.

All we can do is be sure that we've done the best job we can and accept that to begin with the cars will look very different. So far I've not seen anything on our competitors' cars that is particularly worrying for us or makes me think we've taken a fundamentally wrong direction.

Q. Comparatively the team has completed less mileage than its competitors. Is this a concern and will it cause the team to slip behind in the development race?

BB: I don't think so. Going back to KERS, the team has done an absolutely remarkable job to develop the system largely on test benches and get it onto the car and running as reliably as it has been.

In terms of normal car development and proving our general reliability, I think it's fair to say that all the teams are suffering from the fact that there is a lot less testing this year, but I don't feel that we are any more disadvantaged compared to any other team. Yes, we may be slightly down in terms of relative mileage, but we had a strong end to the Jerez test and completed a race distance on Thursday and Friday without any dramas so it's not causing me any great concern at this stage.

Q. The team's testing schedule has shifted recently with a preference to test the week before Melbourne, rather than next week. Why did you take this decision?

BB: We did originally schedule a test next week in Barcelona, but when we started our testing programme we realised that it is actually better to delay that test and move it to the middle of March. It may be more difficult from a logistical point of view because we've got to get the car to Melbourne the following week, but it buys us more development time to get new components onto the car and tested prior to Melbourne. It was something that we had in our minds as a possibility and I think it's a very worthwhile decision.

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Hamilton sets 2009 cars pace at Jerez

World champion Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in 2009 machinery on the penultimate day of testing at the Jerez circuit.

But the Briton was shadowed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who finished just 0.001 seconds behind in the RB5, as the car continued to show its potential in only its fourth day of running.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais, in his first test since he was confirmed for the 2009 season, posted the quickest time of the day in the 2008-spec car, finishing over two seconds ahead of Hamilton.

The McLaren driver, taking over from teammate Heikki Kovalainen, managed 93 laps at the wheel of the MP4-24 and was left pleased with his day's work.

"Today's test gave me the first opportunity to drive MP4-24 in warm, dry conditions - and I'm very encouraged by what I felt," he said.

"The car feels strong, very similar to last year's car, in fact. It doesn't take long to get used to the new buttons in the cockpit [KERS & front-wing flaps] but the real test for everyone now is to understand the slick tyres ahead of the first race in Melbourne next month."

Vettel completed just one lap less than the Briton as he continued with the development of the new Red Bull.

He finished ahead of Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso in the Renault, the Spaniard the busiest man today with 133 laps.

"Today was all about getting mileage on the car, especially with the new KERS system," said Alonso.

"It was my first full dry day in the car and so I was able to learn a lot. We completed lots of laps, which is encouraging and now we will start working on the set-up of the car so that I can get more comfortable with it."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:18.493 128 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.737 93 3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:20.738 92 4. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:20.898 92 5. Alonso Renault (B) 1:21.307 133 All Timing Unofficial

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