Chilton signs for Marussia

So as 2012 comes to a close the Marussia have become the latest F1 team to confirm their driver line - up for 2013 with the news that Britain's Max Chilton will partner Timo Glock. The news comes just one day after Lotus confirmed Romain Grosjean for 2013.

This leaves just two seats left in F1 for 2013, with Caterham yet to announce Charles Pic's team-mate, meanwhile it is believed that Adrian Sutil is set to rejoin the Force India F1 Team joining Paul Di Resta. The Silverstone based team confirmed today that they will launch their new car on Friday 1st February

Lotus confirm Grosjean for 2013

It may come as a surprise to many but the Lotus team confirmed this evening that they will retain the services of Romain Grosjean for next season. Grosjean endured a very tough return to Formula One in 2012. It was his first full season in the sport after being dropped by Renualt in 2009 having replaced Nelson Piquet Junior.

The French-Swiss driver scored three podium's this season, however he was banned for one race after causing a massive crash at the Belgian GrandPrix. While Grosjean scored three podium's and out qualified Kimi Raikkonen on numerous occasions, he finished the season well behind Kimi. Kimi finsihed the year in third in the championship and won the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix and scored seven podium finishes.

In my opinion, Lotus are right to retain Grosjean as it means that the team has stability for the 2013 F1 season. If Grosjean can get on top of his race craft he and Kimi will be in a fantastic position to challenge for next season's title.

If Grosjean had been able to finish in the points consistently Lotus would have been in contention to challenge RedBull and McLaren at the front.

The other thing is that Kimi and Romain seem to get on well and have proven that they are extremely quick so given a quick car next season Lotus will do extremely well.

In other F1 news, it has been reported that Lewis Hamilton was in Brackley today at the Mercedes factory to start work, this is despite the fact that he doesn't officially start work with the new team until 1st January.

Out going Mercedes Motorsport boss Nobert Haug revealed that the team reached an agreement with McLaren that has allowed Lewis to complete some valuable mileage in the mercedes simulator.

It will be interesting to see if Lewis will make an appearance at the Autosport International Show in January.

With the announcement that Lotus are retaining Grosjean for 2013 it leaves Caterham, Marussia and Force India the only team's left to confirm their line ups. It is expected that Caterham will confirm their line-up by the end of this week, meanwhile it is believed that former Force India driver Adrian Sutil could be on his way back to the team next season to partner Paul Di Resta after the German driver confirmed that he has no travel restriction's despite having been convicted of GBH  in January.

He was given an 18 month suspended sentence.

Lauda to fill the void left by Haug

So with the imminent departure of Nobert Haug from Mercedes, three time world champion Niki Lauda will become a non executive director on the Mercedes board of directors. Lauda held a similar position with Jaguar Racing during the early 2000's taking over as team principal when Bobby Rahal was sacked by Ford.

It is thought however that he will not take up the team principal role at Mercedes as that is currently held by Ross Brawn. It was revealed that Norbert Haug is leaving because of the poor performance's by the team since they took over the Brawn team in 2010

After 22 years Norbert Haug calls time on Mercedes career

It was confirmed today that after 22 year's with the company Mercedes Benz Vice President of Motorsport Norbert Haug will leve his post at the end of the year. Haug was instrumental in Mercedes return to Formula One as an engine supplier with the Sauber team in 1994 before switching to McLaren in 1995.

During this time, Haug oversaw the engine division that resulted in in a Constructor's championship for Mercedes in 1998 and two driver's championship's for Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999. Mercedes also powered Lewis Hamilton to the driver's championship in 2008.

Mercedes also powered Brawn to both the driver's and constructor's championship's in 2009. In 2010 Mercedes to full control of the Brawn team and were renamed Mercedes GP and in 2012 they became known as Mercedes AMG. Since taking over Brawn the team has only managed one victory, however Norbert Haug has been instrumental in Mercedes capturing the signature of Lewis Hamilton from McLaren for 2013.

In is not not yet known firstly if Haug will continue in his DTM role and it has not yet been announced who his replacement will be.

Austria ruled out for next season

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has poured cold water on the possibility of the RedBull Ring hosting a return to Austria next season. The commercial right's holder of the sport has said that the only circuit that he is in contact with is the Istanbul Park circuit in Turkey.

The 2013 Formula One calendar has a hole in it as the proposed race in New Jersey has been postponed until 2014. Turkey was taken off the calendar for 2012 as Texas became the 20th race on the calendar.

Last week, Dr Helmut Marko, RedBull's motorsport director suggested that the RedBull Ring was ready to host an F1 return in Austria, however Mr Ecclestone has said that it won't happen.

In my opinion, it would be fantastic to see F1 return to Turkey. The race is classified as a 'European' race however the circuit is located on the Asian side of Istanbul. The circuit is extremely fast including the incredible turn eight.

So we will have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of week's.

Sauber become first team to pass FIA test

The Sauber Formula One team have become the first outfit to pass the mandatory FIA crash test's. Every team on the grid must pass the crash test's to enable them to go racing. The C23 will be driven next year by Nico Hulkenborg and Estabam Guitterez.

Pre-season testing gets underway on 5th February.

The 2013 Winter Testing Programme looks like this:

5th - 8th February - Jerez, Spain

19th - 22nd February - Circuit De Catalunya, Spain

28th February - Circuit De Catalunya, Spain

1st - 3rd March - Circuit De Catalunya, Spain

Austria could return to the F1 calendar in 2013

Austria could return to the Formula One calendar next season, that is the claim of RedBull's Motorsport director Dr Helmut Marko. The A1 Ring in Austria is now owned by RedBull and has been renamed the RedBull Ring. RedBull have apparently approached the FIA about the possibility of hosting the race as early as next season stating that the circuit is up to FIA standard.

The A1 Ring last hosted a GrandPrix in 2003 and was the scene of Michael Schumacher's controversial overtake on team-mate Rubens Barrichello who was leading the race right at the end of the race. Team order's were banned following this race, however they were reinstated last season.

In my opinion RedBull already have enough involvement in Formula One as it is, with RedBull Racing  and Toro Rosso without promoting a GrandPrix.

I personally think that Istanbul Park should get the nod as it is a fantastic circuit especially with it's mega turn 8.

Shortlist to replace Jake down from four to three

It has been revealed today by the Daily Telegraph in UK that three name's have been shortlisted by the BBC as they search for a replacement for the BT Vision bound Jake Humphrey. The name's being linked with the vacancy are the BBC's Chris Evans... I know that's a big shock, but not surprising that he has been linked to the role, it is well known that Chris is a huge Formula One and is also a car collector owning a many Ferrari's.

However it now appears that Chris has been removed from the list due to his radio commitments with BBC Radio 2. He currently hosts the Breakfast show. Had Chris been given the position it would have been a famous coup as the BBC battle Sky Sports F1HD.

I have heard unconfirmed reports that the BBC will be covering every race live next year, however I must stress that this is unconfirmed.

The other name's being linked with the anchor position with BBC F1 are current pit-lane reporter, I personally would love to see Lee get the role as she has a proven track record hosting the show as she has previously filled in for Jake not to mention the fact that her Dad is F1 journalist Bob McKenzie. Other name's on the shortlist include radio presenter Mark Pougatch and the BBC's former Moto GP presenter Suzi Perry, who quit the role as the Moto GP schedule was too long.

However it has been suggested that the BBC are extremely keen to appoint a female presenter with Suzi Perry apparently emerging as the favourite.

Interestingly enough, if Lee was to take over as the presenter of the Beeb's coverage she would have to leave her role as pit-lane reporter.

The Telegraph reports that a decision on Jake's replacement will be made next week, with their line up being announced.

Turkey unlikely to return

The Turkish GrandPrix appears unlikely to return to the F1 calendar next season after it was revealed that the Turkish government refused to finance the race. So it will be interesting to see what happens. We could have a situation that Bernie Ecclestone may decide to to foot the bill to host the race particularly if it is only for a year but we will have to wait and see what happens.

Over the last couple of year's we have lost some of the great European race circuit's including the A1 Ring in Austria, the old Hockenhiem circuit, San Marino and Magny Cours in France.

Back up to 20

So since my last posting earlier today, the FIA, Formula One's governing body has confirmed that there will indeed be 20 race's on next year's F1 calendar. It has not yet been announced where the 20th race will take place but it is thought that Turkey's Istanbul Park circuit could be in line for an F1 comeback.

Whatever circuit hosts the race they will only in my opinion be given a one year contract, the reason I think this is because New Jersey is set to be on the calendar in 2014 and under the current Concorde Agreement between Formula One, the FIA and the team's there is a provision for only 20 races and I find it extremely unlikely that the teams will want extend the number of race's on the calendar.

The other possible replacement is the potential return of the A1 Ring in Austria. The circuit is now owned by RedBull and has been renamed the RedBull Ring.

The Austrian circuit last hosted a round of the Formula One championship in 2003. So it will be extremely interesting to see what happens when the calendar is finalized.

19 race's on next year's F1 calendar.

So the FIA have confirmed that there will be 19 race's on the F1 calendar next year. Next season's New Jersey race has been postponed until 2014 as circuit bosses have said that the venue will not be ready by next year.

The news means that we could see an extra European race on the calendar next season. The German GrandPrix has been brought forward by a week so this could allow for another race. It is believed that Bernie Ecclestone is keen for the Turkish GrandPrix to return to the F1 calendar so we could see the race return next year but we shall have to watch this space.

I feel that it is a hug shame that we won't be going to New Jersey next season because following the MASSIVE success of the race in Texas, I believe that Formula One would have made a huge impact in NJ and North America is a major market for Mercedes and Ferrari two of the most influential player's in F1 today.

Rolex team up with Formula One

The 2012 F1 season is only just over and we already have our second major sponsorship announcement. Last week it was Lotus who announced that they have signed a major sponsorship deal with Burn, Coca Cola's energy drink brand.

Today it was the turn of Formula One to announce a new multi year agreement with watch manufacturer Rolex who from next season will become the official time keeper to Formula One. The luxury brand replaces Hublot, who had been the time keeper for the past few season's.

Rolex have a long association with motor racing around the world particularly in America where it is the title sponsor for the Rolex 24 Hour Race.

As part of the new deal, the Rolex logo will appear at all F1 circuits from next year.

What next for Formula One?

So with the apparent demise of the HRT F1 team Formula One heads into the winter break with only 11 team's. HRT failed to appear on the official 2013 entry list published by the FIA on Saturday and in my opinion if HRT can find a buyer which seems unlikely they shouldn't be granted entry to next year's championship unless they were to be snapped up by a car company but I doubt any car manufacturer would want to dive into F1 head first in the current economic climate.

So the sport has a couple of question's to answer. Should a budget cap be put in place to stop team's from folding? Should stricter criteria be necessary for a team to be eligible to entry Formula One? And due to the shortfall of cars on net year's grid should the like's of Ferrari or RedBull be allowed to run an extra car?

So I can answer my own question, they can't run a third car because that would defeat the purpose of a budget cap. However, I think that the larger team's e:g McLaren and RedBull should be allowed to run customer cars to the smaller team's.

In my opinion, this would perfect sense, take Marussia for example, they have a technical tie in with McLaren, The Marussia driver's have been granted access to the McLaren simulator as part of the agreement, the team will as of 2013, be powered by a KERS unit provided by McLaren partner, McLaren Electronics. As a result of running a customer car with Marussia, McLaren could place one of their reserve driver's into the seat to see how they get on.

Meanwhile with Caterham, they have an agreement with RedBull who provide the team with a KERS unit. However RedBull have their junior team in Toro Rosso so maybe a team like Lotus could reach an agreement with Caterham as they both run Renault engines. It's just an idea that I have come up with but it is probably not commercially viable so it's just really a pipe dream but it could potentially happen.

The story about HRT, just reinforces my position on the whole subject of the new team's. I firmly believe that David Richards Prodrive company should have been given an entry into F1 in 2010 as the company had previous experience running a F1 team when the company ran British American Racing. Prodrive also has a rich racing pedigree and heritage. But we shall see what happens.

The ICEMAN's F1 Comeback Part 4

In the final part of my series about Kimi Raikkonen's F1 comeback we head to Singapore for Formula One's only night race. This race was first introduced to the calendar in 2008, and in his two outing's at the circuit for Ferrari The Iceman recored a DNF and a 10th place finish so it is not a circuit that he has done too well at. However this year Kimi was hoping that his luck would change.

In qualifying on Saturday he managed to put the Lotus on the 5th row of the grid in 9th place and went on to finish in 6th place for another strong points finish. The race was won by RedBull's Sebastian Vettel. Following on from Singapore we headed for Suzuka, and the Japanese GrandPrix and a track that the ICEMAN has alway done well at.

On Saturday, Kimi managed to qualify in 7th place, however the Finn was involved in first corner incident with Championship contender Fernando Alonso who was forced out of the race, However despite the racing incident Kimi was able to continue and went on to finish in 6th place albeit 50.4 seconds behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

The two race's in Korea and India were new circuit's for Kimi and when asked in an interview how did he learn a new circuit Kimi's replied in only the way Kimi can by saying "I drive it'.

In Korea, the ICEMAN qualified in 5th place and endured a very quiet race and finished in that place picking up some more valuable points for his championship and the team.

From Korea it was on to India, as I said another new track for the Finn. For this race Kimi started from 7th on the grid and while Sebastian Vettel won his fourth race in a row Kimi once again finished the race in the position he qualified in. So now there are only three race's left in the 2012 season, Abu Dhabi, USA and Brazil and question's are being asked with Sebastian Vettel's form will Kimi be able to win a race this season?

The answer came at the very race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel was forced to stop on track during qualifying with a problem. This meant that the German would start from the back of the grid, however the team opted to work on his car and he ended up starting from the pit lane. Kimi started the race from 4th on the grid and made an incredible start and ended up in second place behind Lewis Hamilton. Kimi was on to finish on the podium in second behind Lewis Hamilton, however the Lewis' car let him down and THE ICEMAN took the lead and begun to pull away from the chasing Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

So the ICEMAN won in Abu Dhabi becoming the 8th different winner in a sensational season. It was also Enstone's first win under the Lotus GP name. It was an incredible drive by the Finn by winning the race he was able consolidate his place in third in the Driver's Championship.

Following the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix we headed to Austin, Texas for F1's first trip to the US since 2007. This was another new race for Kimi with one difference it was new for everyone on the grid. The Finn started the race from 4th on the grid and went on to finish 6th in the race.

So following on from Austin, we headed to Sao Paulo, for the final race of the 2012 season. Kimi started the race from 8th on the grid and went on to finish in 10th place.

So Kimi was the only driver to go the entire season finishing every race and only failing to score points in point. The ICEMAN finished the season in third in championship, and he only won the one race. Lewis Hamilton won four race's, Mark Webber won two race's while Jenson Button won three race's but due to his fantastic consistency this season Kimi finished in third.

In conclusion, Kimi Raikkonen's Formula One comeback was an incredible success.

The ICEMAN's F1 Comeback Part 3

So the European season rolled into Barcelona in May for the Spanish GrandPrix for the first race of the European season. This race would be memorable in more ways then one. On Saturday the massive surprise in Qualifying was Pastor Maldonado who managed to put his Williams on pole position for the race.

In the race itself Maldonado was fantastic leading the race from light's to flag and taking Williams first win in 8 years. It was also the first win for the Williams - Renault partnership. Pastor was followed home by Fernando Alonso and The ICEMAN as Kimi took his second podium in a row with a brilliant drive from fourth on the grid to finish on the podium.

The sport showed fantastic unity after the race as during the post race celebration's in the Williams garage a huge fire broke out sending smoke into the paddock. All the team's up and down the pit-lane came together and rushed to the scene with fire extinguishers and helped to evacuate the pit-lane and the Williams Garage and brought the fire under control until the fire crews at the circuit took over.

The events showed that behind all the competition the team's support each other. For the Monaco GrandPrix team's rallied around Williams and loaned them equipment so that they could go racing.

In Monaco the ICEMAN finished the in 9th place with another great drive. So far Kimi had scored points in every race except China. So following the Monaco GrandPrix F1 made the long haul trip across the Atlantic for the Canadian GrandPrix where Kimi picked up more points for the Lotus team when he finished in 8th place while team-mate Romain Grosjean picked up his second podium of the season as he finished in 2nd place behind Lewis Hamilton.

Following the Canadian GrandPrix F1 returned to Europe for the European GrnadPrix in Valencia. Sebastian Vettel dominated the race however just before the finish he retired with a alternator failure handing Fernando Alonso his first victory in Valencia much to the delight of his home crowd. Meanwhile Kimi picked up yet another podium as he finished second ahead of Michael Schumacher who took his first podium since his F1 comeback with Mercedes in 2010.

Following the European GrandPrix, F1 headed to the UK for the British GrandPrix in Silverstone, the race was won by RedBull's Mark Webber while Kimi continued his consistent run of results by finishing the race in 5th place with Grosjean in 6th place.

It was a return to the podium for Kimi and Lotus as the team's headed to Germany. The race was won by Fernando Alonso. It was a great display by Kimi who remained in third in the championship.

Following on from Germany the F1 circus headed to Budapest for the Hungarian GrandPrix. This was another fantastic race for Kimi as he came within one second of winning the race, however he finished in second just behind Lewis Hamilton. The big question on everyone's lips was with five podium's sp far this season when would Kimi and Lotus get their first win of the year?

From Hungary we headed to SPA for the Belgian GrandPrix, this was the scene of Kimi's last win in F1 with Ferrari in 2009, and is as close to a home GrandPrix for the ICEMAN as it gets as thousands of Finnish fan's flocked to SPA to support Kimi. Unfortunately he didn't win the race however he picked up yet another podium finish with third place just behind race winner Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.

Following on from the Belgian GrandPrix, F1 headed to Monza for the Italian GrandPrix the final race of the European GrandPrix where Kimi finished a fantastic 5th place while Lewis Hamilton won the race for McLaren.

The ICEMAN's F1 Comeback Part 2

So pre-season testing got underway in February and the E20 lived up to all expectation as it proved to be extremely quick as both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean topped the time sheets. However ahead of the final Winter test the team discovered a problem with the E20 chassis which meant they had to send the car back to Enstone to be repaired as a result there were question marks over whether the team would make it to the first race of the season in Melbourne.

To everyone's delight the team made it and not only that but Kimi qualified in 17th place, not a good qualifying on his return to F1 however the Finn drove a brilliant race and finished in the points in 7th place. From Australia it was on to Malaysia where again Kimi did a great job qualifying in 10th and finished in a fantastic fifth place.

Following a strategy error while challenging Nico Rosberg Kimi fell down the order and eventually finished the race in 14th place.

From China, the F1 circus moved on to Bahrain where Kimi qualified down in 11th place but had a fantastic race challenging RedBull's Sebastian Vettel for the lead but eventually finishing the race in 2nd place taking his first podium finish in his comeback season. So in just in just four race's into his comeback the ICEMAN was on the podium, a feat that Michael Schumacher had failed to achieve in nearly three year's since his F1 return.

From Bahrain, F1 returned to Europe where the sport would unite in an incredible way. TO BE CONTINUED

The ICEMAN's F1 Comeback Part 1

Novemeber 2011, Location: Enstone United Kingdom - Home of the Lotus Renault Formula One Team. There are a number of photographer's in attendance at the factory. The BIG question is why? It is two early for car launches. Could the team be announcing a major new sponsor? Or is it something bigger? Whatever it is, it must be extremely important as the Lotus Team principal Eric Boullier has been joined team owner Gerard Lopez.

The big announcement turns out to be that The Lotus F1 Team have secured the services of THE ICEMAN, Kimi Raikkonen will be back in Formula One in 2012 after a two year break away in the World Rally Championship.

Across the world of Formula One this is massive news, Kimi has returned to sport that he hasn't competed in since 2009 when he was racing for Ferrari. That year turned out to be a disappointment for the Finn as he managed to score just the one win in Belgium. Some sections of the Formula One media felt that it was a massive gamble by Lotus in bringing Kimi back but we shall see what happens.

Winter testing will be underway in the new year, however due to the fact that Kimi has been away from the sport for two years he needs to get up to speed. There is a new tyre supplier in F1. Bridgestone were there when Kimi last drove in F1, now we have Pirelli, who are entering their second season as the sole tyre provider for the sport.

Before he can testing Lotus asked asked the sports governing body the FIA if they would grant Kimi permission to test an old spec Renault F1 car. The FIA agree and in January Kimi and the Lotus team head to Valencia so the Finn can get to grips with an F1 car once again. He is immediately quick and after a couple of laps it is apparent that he has lost none of his speed. The big question on everyone's lips is what will the 2012 Lotus be like? We don't have long to wait as launches are coming up think and fast.

On Sunday 5th February the team launch their 2012 car known as the Lotus Renault E20 as it is the 20th car to be designed and built in their Enstone base. At the launch it is announced that Kimi will be joined at the team by another F1 returnee, French Swiss driver Romain Grosejan will partner the Iceman this year. Former Marussia F1 driver Jerome D'Ambrosio joins the team as official test and reserve driver.

The new E20 looks incredible the question is will the car perform as well as it looks as Winter testing gets underway....TO BE CONTINUED

Chaotic end to an incredible season

So that's it!! The 2012 Formula One season is over. What an incredible way for the season to end with one of the most exciting race's of the season in my opinion. Where do I start?

Heading into the race RedBull Sebastian Vettel led Ferrari's Fernado Alonso by 13 points. Seb started the race from fourth on the grid with Alonso in 8th. Alonso made a cracking start while Vettel was caught up in an accident with the Williams of Bruno Senna which resulted in Senna going out of the race meanwhile Sebastian lost a lot a lot of place's while Alonso had manged to make to make his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Force India's Nico Hulkenborg made an incredible start and managed to overtook Alonso on a damped track to take third he then managed to overtake the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and while other driver's pitted for intermediate tyres the Force India driver and Jenson Button gambled and stayed out on the dry tyres as track conditions began to worsen.

While the battle was hotting up at the front Sebastian Vettel was working his way back up through the field. He had a great battle with his team mate Mark Webber.

Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen was endured a very difficult day at the office as he ran wide at one point and ended up exiting the confines of the circuit but managed to stay calm and return to the track. The ICEMAN kept his cool and yes I know that sounds extremely cheesy but it's true as he collected a single point coming home in 10th place.

It was an unfortunate day for Lewis Hamilton, who driving in his last race for McLaren before he moves to Mercedes next season had started on pole position and looked on target to take his second win  in the space of a week was involved in an incident with Nico Hulkenborg as they were challenging each other for the lead of the race into turn one. The pair collided and as a result Lewis was forced to retire from the race.

As a result of that incident Nico was handed drive through penalty as he was deemed to have caused the crash. So with Lews failing to finish the race, through no fault of his own Kimi Raikkonen finished the season in third in the championship completing an incredible comeback season in F1 after two years away.

The ICEMAN was the only driver to complete every single race this season and with his point's finish in Brazil he only finished outside the points once this season and that was in China where he had been challenging Nico Rosberg for the lead of the race. Kimi finished on the podium an incredible 8 time's this season and that included a win at the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix. He consistent results not only allowed him to finish in third in the championship but it also helped his Lotus F1 Team to finish in fourth place in the Constructors championship.

So with Sebastian Vettel, incurring numerous problem's Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was in the box seat for the championship, however unfortunately for the Spaniard it wasn't to be. Vettel and RedBull recovered extremely well to finish the race in 6th place and with Fernado needing to win the race to secure the championship if Vettel was 6th or lower it was a tough task for the Scuderia and unfortunately for the Italian team they were unable to win the race and Alonso eventually finished second behind Jenson Button and ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa who took a very emotional 3rd place on the podium in front of his home crowd.

The result meant that Sebastian wins this year's championship by just three points. Now it's a fantastic achievement for Seb who becomes the youngest ever triple world champion and I'm not taking anything away from him, however, in my opinion it was unfair of the the Brazilian TV director to cut away from the podium celebration's to show a shot of the RedBull garage particularly as the Felipe was on the podium in his home race but I just feel it took away the fantastic drive by Jenson Button who won the race.

It was a great race for Mercedes Michael Schumacher, who competing in his last ever GrandPrix finished the race in the points in 7th place. I also thought that it was great to see that before the race started he pitted and was given a massive flag that he drapped over his car that said THANK YOU and it blew in the wind as he drove around to take up his grid slot.

It was an unfortunate end to a great season for the Williams team as neither Pator Maldonado nor Bruno Senna managed to finish the race, however in my opinion the team can head into the winter break with their heads held high, in their first season with renewed Renault involvement the team secured a fantastic first win for Pastor Maldonado at the Spanish GrandPrix, the team's first win since the 2004 Brazilian GrandPrix. The team finsihed 8th in the Constructors Championship with 76 points.

In what could have very well ben their last ever Formula One GrandPrix the HRT driver's of Narain Kartikeyan and Pedro Dela Rosa did a great job to finish the race and bring their car's home in 17th and  18th respectively.

It was also a fantastic race for the Caterham F1 Team, who have been battling Marussia F1 all season to be the best of the three 'new team's in F1. The team based in Leafield UK, their was delight as they managed to bring their cars home in 11th for Petrov ahead of the Marussia of Charles Pic and 14th for Kovalainen ahed of Timo Glcok in the second Marussia who finished in 16th place to take 10th place in the Constructors Championship and as a result they have secured a cash and commercial boost for the team.

So at the end of an epic 2012 Formula One season, all that is left for me to say is a MASSIVE THANK YOU of my own to all of you who have read my blog since January. I have absolutely loved sharing my thoughts on this F1 season and I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have writing it.

From next season I will have a new blog as part of a new website that I hope you will all join me on. I will of course be posting details of the new site in due course. But in the mean time as I say THANK YOU!!

THAT HAS BEEN THE 2012 FORMULA ONE SEASON!! MAY 2013 BRING US EVEN MORE EXCITEMENT!!

BREAKING NEWS from Brazil RedBull renamed in 2013

Ok so here's some breaking news from Brazil ahead of this afternoon's season finale in Sao Paulo. RedBull Racing have confirmed an expansion of their technical partnership with Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti that will run until 2016.

The team's technical director Adrian Newey also announced that as part of the deal the two company's will work together to develop a Kinetic Energy Saving system that they hope will be developed by 2014.

Infiniti are part owned by Renault who supply RedBull Racing with their F1 engines. The two company's first came together at the start of last season and as part of the new agreement the team is to be renamed Infiniti RedBull Racing.

In my opinion, this great for Formula One as we now have a new manufacturer involved on a much larger scale in the sport, which as I said when Lotus announced their link up with Coca Cola earlier this week it's great to see that company's are not afraid of getting involved in the sport or indeed increasing their involvement in the sport in Infiniti's case despite the current economic climate and I believe that this a great endorsement for the sport.

McLaren lockout as Alonso struggles ahead of title decider

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took pole position ahead of team-mate Jesnon Button for tomorrow's Formula One finale in Brazil. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was out qualified by team mate Mark Webber and will start the race from 4th on the grid. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso was out qualified for the second race in a row by his team-mate Felipe Massa and he will start the race in 8th place and is hoping for a wet race.

According to reports on Sky Sports F1HD Force India's Paul Di Resta is set to take a five place grid penalty and will therefore start the race from 16th on the grid. It was a frustrating session for the Lotus team as Kimi Raikkonen, following his engine blow up this morning could only qualify in 9th place while team-mate Romain Grosjean was involved in an incident with the HRT of Pedro Dela Rosa. And incident which is currently under investigation by the race stewards.

So in my opinion we are in for an incredible race tomorrow. There are so many questions that need to be answered will it rain and as I write this, it is raining in the Sao Paulo Paddock. The other big question mark is who is going to win the championship? Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso? Eddie Jordan is predicting that the title will swing Alonso's way and in fairness to EJ he has been pretty spot in with his predictions this season.

In his final qualifying session before he retires from Formula One Michael Schumacher could only manage 14th on the grid, however the German has always been a rain specialist so anything can happen, he could pick up points tomorrow. He is in a Sauber sandwich with Sergio Perez starting 13th and Kamui Kobayashi starting 15th in what could be the Japanese driver's final race in Formula One.

Meanwhile down at the back of the grod the battle for 10th in the Constructor's championship hotted up as both Caterham driver's out qualified the two Marussia's and the HRT cars. Both Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov could be on the way out as the team announced on Friday that they had signed Charles Pic from Marussia.

In what could be the team's last ever GrandPrix, HRT'S Pedro Dela Rosa and Narain Kartikeyan will start the race from the last row of the grid.

So who do I think will win the championship? Well firstly I think Lewis will win the race for McLaren and could possible have Jenson Button finishing in 2nd for a team one -two. I believe however that the championship could go Alosno's way as he and Ferrari appeared to have gambled qualifying performance for the team's race pace.

So we are only 71 laps away from crowning a triple world championship but who will it be?

BREAKING NEWS from Sao Paulo: Williams Pastor Maldonado handed a ten place grid penalty for missing the weigh bridge, as a result Fernando Alonso moves up to 7th on the grid.

Final Practice session of 2012

So here we are, the final free practice session of this incredible 2012 F1 season is underway in Sao Paul Brazil. The latest weather forecast for tomorrow's race is that there will be a sprinkling of rain instead of torrential down pours however this is Interlagos and as always the weather here is unpredictable.

Kimi Raikkonen who had engine problems yesterday has just had a massive engine blow up. So all of Lotus' Romain Grosjean will have to work extra hard to give the team feedback ahead of qualifying. It is the worst possible preparation for Kimi ahead of qualifying as he is locked in a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton to finish third in the championship behind Alonso and Vettel.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are currently topping the time sheets for McLaren with Sebastian Vettel third, however he is on a very fast lap and is set go fastest, however he goes second. Mark Webber has just done a lap and gone 4th quickest. With 31 minutes to go Fernando Alonso has just posted the 9th fastest time.

Lotus confirm via Twitter that Kimi's engine suffered a loss of pressure resulting in the failure. His session is over.

Felipe Massa has just gone from 10th to 6th. With 27 minutes to go Button remains fastest with Vettel second and Hamilton 3rd. Massa is 4th with Webber 6th.

Sky F1 point out that Kimi Raikkonen is something of a Sao Paulo specialist and that if anyone can recover from problems the ICEMAN can. They say that he has finished in the top six here in his last seven outing's including one win. Lotus confirm the engine is ready to go...they just need Kimi's car back lol:)

Schumacher narrowly misses a spinning Bruno Senna. Nico Rosberg has completed a lap and is currently 5th. Vettel pushing haed as he runs wide.

The RedBull's are back in the pits. The track is very quiet with 12 minutes to go, With 7 minutes left the RedBull's are back on track. Hulkenberg just goes fastest for Force India. Button is now fastest with Di Resta second Grosjean now goes 2nd. Webber is on a lap for RedBull and goes 2nd with five minutes to go. Alonso just goes 6th. Vettel returns to the pits and his session appears to be done. He is in 10th. Senna goes 11th.

Vettel's session is not over excuse me, he is back on track and goes second behind Button, Webber is third with Hamilton 4th.

So Jenson Button has topped the time sheets in FP3 ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton was 4th fastest with Romain Grosjean 5th. Fernando Alonso was 8th for Ferrari and will in my opinion be a little disappointed with his morning however qualifying will be all to play for.

Hamilton fastest again in FP2

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was once again the man to beat as the McLaren driver topped the the time-sheets during Friday Practice two in preparation for Sunday's season finale in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Brit finished the day, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Ferrari's Felipe Massa finished ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso who is locked in a title battle with Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari pair finished the day 4th and 5th respectively.

The two Ferrari's were followed by the Mercedes duo of Michael Schumacher in 6th and Nico Rosberg in 7th place. Jenson Button finished the session in 8th place. Meanwhile Romain Grosjean was 9th for Lotus while he team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was down in 12th place following his problem's this morning.

It is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens in qualifying tomorrow and with rain expected on Sunday for race day anything could happen. Fernando Alonso is the clear outsider to take the title, however he just has to look back to Kimi Raikkonen's championship year in 2007 when he arrived in Brazil he was in third place in the championship and finished the season as F1 champion. So it is extremely possible for Alonso to win the title.

The championship is still up for grabs, however Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton are battling over 3rd place to be 'best of the rest'. Kimi is currently 16 points ahead of Lewis so if Lewis wins on Sunday Kimi would have to finish 5th or higher in order to finish the season in 3rd place in the Driver's Championship.

So we shall have to wait and see what happens tomorrow and Sunday.

Lewis fastest as Sauber and Caterham announce driver's

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, topped the time sheets in First Practice ahead of this weekend's final GrandPrix in Sao Paulo. The Brit finished the session just one thousands of a second ahead the RedBull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Jenson Button was fourth fastest in the second McLaren with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa fifth and sixth for Ferrari.

Romain Grosjean was 7th fastest for Lotus with team mate Kimi Raikkonen down the order in 16th place with an engine issue. The team changed his spark plugs however this did not solve his issue. So I believe that the Iceman will be forced into taking a ten place grid penalty which after great reliabilty on Kimi's side of the garage Would come as a disaster for the Iceman as he is locked in a very tight battle with Lewis Hamilton for third in the Driver's championship.

It was a big day on the  driver front with Sauber confirming that Mexican Estabam Guttierez will join Nico Hulkenborg as Sergio Perez' team-mate. This news will come as a blow for Kamui Kobayashi as it leaves him without a drive for next season. Now there is still hope for the Japanese driver as Force India are yet to confirm their line-up and Caterham and Marussia have a seat available.

It is unclear what the situation is with HRT as they may not be on the grid next year. In other driver related news the Caterham F1 Team announced that they have signed Marussia's Charles Pic as one of their driver's for next season however they have not confirmed who he will be replacing.

I will be back this evening with an update from second practice.

Hamilton could return to McLaren...in the future!!

Speaking to the media ahead of his final race for McLaren this weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lewis Hamilton has refused to rule out a return to the Woking based team in the future. Hamilton will join Nico Rosberg at Mercedes AMG next season, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Lewis said that he likens his move to Mercedes as 'going traveling for a while'. He also said that he would always consider McLaren his home. Hamilton joined McLaren's F1 team in 2007 after being brought through the motor racing ranks with McLaren's backing since the 1990's.

He came extremely close to winning the championship in his debut season however narrowly missed out to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. In 2008, with Alonso having returned to Renault, Hamilton won the championship and to date that is his only championship win. He joins Mercedes at a great time in my opinion, as the team will be going through a transition period with Schumacher retiring and the fact that Lewis Has worked with Mercedes on the engine side since he entered F1 he knows the engine and how it works.

He has also worked with Mercedes vice president of motorsport Norbert Haug who was part of McLaren's operation until 2010 when Mercedes bought Brawn GP. Next season will be the first year however that he will work with team boss Ross Brawn so it is going to be very interesting to see how that relationship develops.

When Lewis was racing in the junior category he was team-mates with Nico Rosberg and they get on extremely well. Now it is going to be interesting to see what the dynamic between the two will be like. Since joining the team in 2010, Nico has consistently beaten Michael Schumacher so it is going to be interesting to see if Hamilton can hit the crowd running and stamp his authority on the team from the word go?

Another thing that I think will be very interesting is the identity of Lewis' race engineer. When Schumacher joined Mercedes he inherited Jenson Button's race engineer Andrew Shovlin, so I think it would be extremely interesting to see if Lewis gets Shov (as he is known) as his engineer.

Interestingly enough in Formula One it is not very common for engineers to follow driver's from team to team, this practice is more come in my opinion in the US in IndyCar and NASCAR. However there has been an exception this season in Formula One with Lotus team as Kimi Raikkonen's pld race engineer from when he was with McLaren, Mark Slade is now his race engineer at Lotus.

Do I think that Lewis will return to McLaren one day? I doubt it. The reason for this is because if he happens to be extremely successful at Mercedes over the next years (the duration of his contract) he won't want to go back to McLaren.

New sponsor for Lotus as Coca Cola enter F1

There has been some great news for the Lotus F1 Team ahead of this weekend's F1 finale in Brazil this weekend with the announcement that Coca - Cola's energy drink brand 'BURN' will sponsor the team starting in 2013. The sponsorship announcement comes amid rumors that Kimi Raikkonen and approximately 493 staff members at Enstone are yet to be paid for this season as it is reported that the team are waiting to be paid by Bernie Ecclestone. However I don't believe this speculation that the team are in financial difficulty.

In my opinion the news that Coca Cola are getting involved in F1 again is fantastic for the sport particularly as it is firmly back in the US after the huge success of the United States GrandPrix in Austin, Texas last weekend and to have one of the most recognizable brand's in the world associated with Formula One.

The news that Burn is going to be involved in F1 comes as no surprise to me as a number of energy drinks are  already involved in the sport, there is TNT, Monster and of course RedBull.

So obviously this is the big American sponsor that the team were eluding to last week in the build up to the US GrandPrix.

It is fantastic in my opinion, to see that sponsorship announcements can be made particularly in the current economic climate and it just goes to show that big organizations such as Coca - Cola are not afraid of investing in Formula One.

HRT set to close their doors next week....Report

It has been reported on Twitter today that the HRT GrandPrix outfit will close it's doors on Monday following this weekend's season finale the Brazilian GrandPrix. According to James Allen's F1 website there are apparently only eight members of the team left working in their Madrid HQ and they have been handed redundancy notice's. The team's owner's Thesan Capital announced last week in the vuild up to the US GrandPrix that they had put the team up for sale.

It was also reported that the if a buyer wasn't found by 2nd December the team would be forced to close. According to reports coming from Spanish media the eight employee's and the team members in Brazil are the only people left in the country.

I understood that there were a number of interested parties in purchasing the team but apparently that is not the case. Apparently, the reason for the team closing on Monday is so that they can participate in the Brazilian GrandPrix because if they do not compete in the race they will be subject to huge fines from Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial right's holder.

It is terrible that we are on the verge of losing a Formula One team, however in my opinion, HRT were never really in a position to compete in the sport. When they arrived at the first race of the season in 2010 their car wasn't ready and they hadn't tested it they also failed to qualify for the race.

With the Marussia F1 Team when they started in F1 in 2010 they were called Virgin Racing and were part owned by the Virgin Group and Richarf Branson. The team are now called Marussia F1 and are owned by a Russian car company.

Likewise with Caterham F1, when they came into F1 in 2010 they raced under the Lotus name, however they lost a legal challenge last year and are no longer allowed to race under the Lotus name. Lotus are now what used to be the Renault team and the 'new team' owned by Air Asia's Tony Fernandes and rebranded it Caterham F1 for this season after purchasing Caterham Cars.

So there is an extremely high possibility that we will just have 11 team's on the grid next season so we shall have to wait and see how this story develops over the next couple of day's particularly over the Brazilian GP weekend.

Michael Schumacher

So this weekend's Brazilian GrandPrix marks the end of an era in that Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver in Formula One history will hang up his helmet for the second and last time. The 43 year old German made his debut with the Jordan GrandPrix team at thee 1991 Belgian GrandPrix in Spa.

Schumacher failed to finish the race as he retired with a clutch problem. For the following race in Monza, Italy Schumacher was snapped up by Flavio Briatore and the Benetton Ford team where he finished an impressive 5th place, picking up two points. For the following race in Portugal Schumacher finished in 6th place.

Schumacher picked up his first podium finish in Formula One when he finished in third place at the Mexican GrandPrix. He went on to take his first F1 win with Benetton at the 1992 Belgian GrandPrix. So in his first full season in Formula One he finished in third in the championship.

In 1993, Schumacher won his second race for Benetton when he won in Portugal.

Schumacher won his first Formula One championship in 1994, for Benetton taking 8 wins out of 16 race's winning in Brazil, Pacific, San Marino, Monaco, Canada, France, Hungary and Europe. He beat Damon Hill to the title by one point.

In 1995, Scumacher won his second world title for Benetton, that year he took 8 victories. The 1996 season saw Michael Schumacher leave Benetton along with Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne as they trio headed to Ferrari. They were joined at the team by Eddie Irvine who joined from Jordan. 1996 was somewhat of a transition period for Ferrari and Schumacher with the German taking only three victories due to poor reliability from the Italian team. Despite the problems Schumacher finished in the championship in third place.

1997 was going to be a great year for Ferrari and Schumacher as he challenged Jacques Villeneuve and Williams for the championship. Ferrari were looking for their first champion since 1979. Schumacher brought the title down to the wire in Jerez however at the end of the race Schumacher was foud to have deliberately crashed with Villeneuve taking both driver's out and giving Schumacher the title. So as a result Schumacher was excluded from the championship and Villeneuve won the title.

In 1998, Schumacher fought with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen for the championship and was once again caught up in controversy when he stormed down the pit-lane in Spa following a collision with David Coulthard and attempted to punch the Scotsman who happened to be wearing his helmet at the time.

In 1999, everyone thought that Scumacher would be challenging Hakkinen for the championship, however the German only took two wins and was forced to miss six GrandPrix after breaking his leg following a heavy crash in Silverstone, despite this he managed to finish fifth in the championship.

The year 2000 was the first year of Ferrari dominance and for this season Schumacher had a new team mate in Rubens Barrichello as Eddie Irvine moved to the newly formed Jaguar Racing team. This year Schumacher and Ferrari were utterly dominant taking 9 wins and beating Mika Hakkinen to the championship.

Schumacher went on to win the championship from 2001 - 2004. He was beaten title in 2005 and 2006 by Fernando Alonso and Renault. Schumacher retired from Formula One at the end of 2006 and was replaced for 2007 by Kimi Raikkonen who won the championship for Ferrari that year. Schumacher stayed with Ferrari as a 'Consultant' for 2007.

By the time Schumacher retired in 2006 he had won a total of 91 GrandPrix and was on pole position a total of 68 times. He was on pole position in Monaco this year but was given a grid penalty.

At the end of the 2009 season following Jenson Button and Brawn winning both title's JB moved to McLaren and Ross Brawn announced that he had sold his Brawn GP team to Mercedes and had signed Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg for the 2010 season. Schumacher had signed a three year deal.

His comeback has for the most part been unsuccessful. At the Hungarian GrandPrix in 2010 he very nearly took out Rubens Barrichello he has also been involved in an number of other incident's the most recent with Jenson Button in Austin at the weekend. He had slight success this season when he finished  on the podium in third place in Valencia behind Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.  Schumacher has retired from 7 races so far this season.

Will he end his career with a points finish for Mercedes AMG this weekend? We don't have long to wait. In conclusion, Schumacher was a fantastic driver during his first 'career' in Formula One and in my opinion he has done himself no favours by coming back into the sport because in my opinion, in years to come Schumacher will be remembered for his second career in the sport and it's failure and not the first career.

Brazilian GrandPrix Preview

And so here we are it all comes down to this weekend's Brazilian GrandPrix in Sao Paolo. with the driver's championship up for grab's we are going to have a fight on our hands. Fernando Alonso had an incredible drive in Austin, over the weekend to keep himself in contention as the championship heads for a straight fight between the Ferrari driver and RedBull's reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Both driver's are aiming for their third driver's title's and at the moment the momentum is with Sebastian Vettel and he is clearly favourite to win the championship in Brazil this weekend. However, it is thought that rain could be on the cards this weekend which could play into Fernando Alonso's hands. The Spaniard always performs well as the underdog.

Last year's race was won by RedBull's Mark Webber who took his first win of the year as Vettel had at that point wrapped up his second title. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso finished the race in 4th place.

Mark Webber retired from the US GP with an alternator failure and RedBull have admitted that they are concerned about Vettel's alternator so their engine supplier have decided to give Vettel a new spec alternator to give the German his best opportunity to win the title.

The Brazilian GrandPrix always throw's up a surprise and with this season being so unpredictable with there being eight different winners anything is possible and with the prospect of there being rain it is going to be an extremely interesting weekend.

The race also sees the end of an era as the curtain will come down on Michael Schumacher's comeback campaign that in three year's has seen the German finish on the podium just once when he finished third in Valencia earlier this year. Over at McLaren, it is another end of an era as Lewis Hamilton starts his final race for the Woking based team as he heads off to Mercedes for 2013.

Sergio Perez will be aiming to give Sauber a good result in his last outing for the Swiss team before he heads to McLaren replacing Lewis Hamilton.

Finally Force India's Nico Hulkenberg will contest his last race for the Silverstone based outfit before he moves to Sauber.

So I was going to leave this topic until the flag drops in Brazil however I have decided that I would go ahead and mention it know. This season saw Sky Sports show live coverage of all F1 race's on their dedicated HD channel. At first I didn't particularly like their coverage and I still don't to be honest. I love their commentators, David Croft and Martin Brundle as their partnership is fantastic and Ted's Notebook is great and very informative.

Their pundit team is ok, although I think there is no need to have both Georgie Thompson and Simon Lazenby attending the races. I'm not a fan of Lazenby's, I don't particularly like his style of presenting and while trying to be funny in Monaco he made a distasteful joke about Princess Grace. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sky decide to replace Simon with Georgie. They could then leave Anthony Davidson to do the the Sky Pad by himself.

I believe that their is absolutely no need for the Sky Pad feature as in my opinion they over analysis every detail of the race. I also believe that the fact that the channel are on an hour and a half for race day build up is crazy as they end up running out of things to say. Unlike the BBC's team's there doesn't seem to be any chemistry between the presenters except for Ted and Georgie when they present the F1 Show, they work very well together.

I do like the fact however that Sky send Rachel Brooks to the race's as we get update's from her over the course of race weekend's. The Sky team haven't engaged the fan's this year which is extremely disappointing in my opinion.

As for the BBC, I thought that they had lost a number of key personnel to Sky for this year was going to have an adverse affect on their coverage and of course this season was the first ear that they were 'sharing' the coverage with Sky, however in my opinion that was not the case as the Beeb were only allowed to show 10 races live. I have to say that the quality of their coverage hasn't gone hill at all and they have done a fantastic job.

Lee McKenzie, Jake Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard all stayed onboard this season and Lee has down a fantastic job as always in her role as pitlane reporter. However this season she stepped up to the mark when Jake was away covering the Olympics and Euro 2012. With the Brazilian GrandPrix this weekend it marks Jake's last GrandPrix for the Beeb before he moves on to BT Vision to host the channel's Premiership football coverage. It's a great move for Jake as footbaall is his first love so it was a natural move for him however he is going to be sorely missed next season, however in a recent interview Jake stated that he hadn't completely closed the door on Formula One, however in the same interview he said that it came as a sign as he and his wife Harriott are expecting their first child and the due date just happens to be the day the 2013 F1 season gets underway.

In my opinion, Lee McKenzie will more then likely take over as the presenter of the Beeb's coverage, as she is a natural and did a fantastic job filling in for Jake. So I believe that if she gets the job with the BBC, Georgie will probably step up to the same position with Sky.

The BBC have yet to announce who will replace Jake and no time frame has been given, it is also not yet known what races the BBC will cover next year so we shall have to wait and see.

Who will win the season finale and the title?

So with RedBull Racing wrapping up the Constructor's championship in Austin yesterday the Driver's Championship goes down to the wire and showdown between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. If Alsonso wins the race, Sebastian Vettel needs to finish fourth or higher to take his third championship in only hid fifth season in F1.

However concerns have been raised within the RedBull camp ahead of this weekend's Brazilian GrandPrix over the reliability of their car as Mark Webber suffered a alternator failure resulting in him having to retire from the race.

Fernando Alonso, starting from 7th on the grid drove a fantastic race and brought his Ferrari home on the podium in third place. Im my opinion, when it comes to consistency Alonso deserves to win the title as he has outperformed this year's Ferrari from the outset and has helped the team to be in the position of challenging for the Driver's championship.

On the evidence of yesterday's performance, Sebastian Vettel would appear to be a little rattled as he locked up a number of time's as Lewis Hamilton closed up on him to take the win. However I believe to underestimate Vettel and RedBull would be a huge mistake. The reigning world champion topped the time sheets in every session in Austin but it was far from the dominant performances that we have seen from him during the season.

Following the US GrandPrix despite picking up their third constructor's title in a row when they were being interviewed in my opinion both Christian Horner and Adrian Newey appeared to be a little deflated. In my opinion they had been looking to close out both championships in Austin and as they weren't in a position to do that they are worried about what will happen in Brazil.

Over at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso has been cool and collected repeatedly telling the media in Austin that he feels he can still win the championship which I believe will enable him to focus on the job at hand and not get distracted.

The weather forecast for Brazil is for it to rain and when it rains in Sao Paulo it is like a monsoon. However it is not just the championship that has to be settled in Brazil. Third place in the championship is still up for grabs, however Kimi Raikkonen is 16 points clear of Lewis Hamilton despite Lewis winning in Austin. The Iceman has had an incredible run this season scoring points in every race bar one and taking that all important win in Abu Dhabi to complete a dream comeback.

So we don't have long at all wait until Brazil where the curtain will fall on what has been in my opinion one of the greatest F1 season's ever.

We are heading for a showdown in Brazil as Hamilton wins in Austin

Well what can I say? Austin certainly through up a fantastic race in my opinion. Firstly we had the controversial decision by Ferrari to break the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox meaning the Brazilian took a 5 place grid penalty, this resulted in Alonso being promoted to 7th on the grid on the clean side oft the track.

After all the talk about how drivers would be hampered off the grid if the started on the dirty side it was actually reasonably okay. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber made tidy getaways with Webber slotting in behind Seb. The big loser off the start was Kimi Raikkonen who dropped back a number of place's however he recovered well throughout the race and had some great battle's with Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenbrrg.

The Iceman pulled off a fantastic overtake of the Force India and went on to finish in 6th place with team mate Romain Grosjean recovering well from an early spin to give Lotus a double point's finish as he came home in 7th place.

It was a great race for the Williams driver's of Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna who finished the race in 9th and 10th respectively. Back at the front Mark Webber suffered his second retirement in as many race's after both his KERS and his alternator both failed which could potentially be a worry for RedBull heading to Brazil next weekend.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa had a great race after starting from 11th on the grid the Brazilian had a great battle with Kimi Raikkonen and after being consistently faster then Alonso all weekend he managed to finish just behind his team mate in 4th place.

It was a disappointing day for both Sauber and Mercedes as neither team picked up any points this weekend. It was particularly unfortunate for Mercedes as the last time they picked up points was in Monza in September.

Sergio Perez had hoped for a great result for Sauber in front of a large home following as thousands of fans from Mexico crossed the border for the GrandPrix. Unfortunately they went home disappointed as Sergio finished the race just outside the points in 11th place with team mate Kamui Kobayashi coming home in 14th.

Over at Mercedes, Nico Rosberg had a disappointing race as he finished in 13th place, meanwhile team-mate Michael Schumacher, competing in his second last race before retiring was involved in controversy as he had a very close call with Jenson Button as he squeezed the McLaren driver out going down the main straight forcing the Brit to take to the pit lane exit to avoid a collision. Schumacher went on to finish the race in 16th place, one lap down on the man who replacing him at Merc next season.

Jenson Button recovered extremely well after a poor qualifying yesterday by finishing in 5th place. Lewis Hamilton drove the wheel's off his McLaren and lap 42 of the 56 lap race he made his move and deployed his DRS and KERS to overtake Sebastian Vettel and take the first race win at the Circuit of The America's track in Austin Texas. It was an incredible race weekend a complete sellout and the officials and race organizers should be delighted with the show that they put on this weekend.

So with Vettel finishing second and and Alonso finishing third RedBull Racing secured their third Constructor's championship in a row but crucially for the championship and more importantly all of us as fan's of the sport we have a TITLE SHOWDOWN next weekend in Brazil with 13 points separating the two title contenders.

Heading to Brazil, Vettel is favourite to win the title however there is an extremely high possibility that it will rain in Sao Paulo and with questions over the RedBull alternator it is all still wide open. It is going to be an exceptional end to an incredible 2012 F1 Season.

Austin has been sensational and Formula One is well and truly back on the map in the US. I can't wait until Austin 2013!!

Who will win in Austin?

So today's the BIG day!! Formula One returns to the US. The question on everyone's lips is will Sebastian Vettel win the championship today or can Alonso fight back to keep the title alive for the ultimate showdown in Brazil next weekend?

Just to crunch the number's again as a quick reminder, in order to win the championship today Sebastian has to win the race and outscore Alonso by 15 points. It's as simple as that.

It is an uphill climb to the extremely tight turn 1 where there is potential for chaos at the start. I don't want to make any bold predictions just to say that it could be an extremely close fight at the front or Seb could lead into turn 1 and dominate he could go either way.

In any case we will have one championship sorted either way at the end of the race as RBR only need 4 points to clinch the Constructors. But as I always say this is Formula One where anything can happen.

Lewis Hamilton said yesterday that he has no intention of getting in Sebastian's way at the start of the race, however he is going to have to try and get ahead of the RedBull driver from the dirty side of the grid so he is going to have to keep a very close eye on Mark Webber who is starting from 3rd on the clean side. Mark has had very messy starts recently and will hope to slot in behind Sebastian at the start to protect Vettel's lead.

Massa accepts penalty

There are UNCONFIRMED reports coming from Austin that Ferrari's Felipe Massa will receive a five place grid penalty for this afternoon's US GrandPrix at the Circuit of The Americas. If this rumor is true it will promote team-mate Fernando Alonso to 7th place on the clean side of the grid.

I will keep you posted on this story in the build up to the race.

UPDATE FROM Austin: Ferrari are considering changing Felipe Massa's gearbox due to an 'unspecified problem' with the Brazilian's gearbox.

UPDATE: Ferrari have confirmed in the last few minutes that Felipe Massa will take a five place grid penalty for today's US GrandPrix promoting team mate and title challenger Fernando Alonso to 7th and the clean side of the grid. Felipe was not happy with the decision but accepted it was the right decision for the team

82,000 flock to COTA for qualifying

Officials at the Circuit Of The Americas estimated that a massive crowd of 82,000 spectators watched Sebastian Vettel take pole position for today's inaugural US GrandPrix in Austin Texas. In my opinion this is a huge boost for Formula One and a fantastic platform on which to relaunch the sport in the US.

It is expected that a sell out crowd of 120,000 fans will attend the race today. For the first race to be a sell out it just goes to show that all the hard work by the organizers, construction crews and race official's has paid off now it's up to Formula One to put on a SHOW TO REMEMBER. Abu Dhabi was great... Now it's Austin's turn.

In my opinion we are in for a real thriller as F1 heads into unknown territory.

Seb on pole as Alonso struggles

RedBull's Sebastian Vettel continued his dominance in Austin today as he took his sixth pole position of the season for tomorrow's United States GrandPrix at the Circuit Of The America's in Texas. The championship leader who could take his third title in a row tomorrow finished a 10th of a second ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who starts from the front row.

Meanwhile Fernando Alonso, Vettel's main championship rival endured a horrible qualifying session and he will start the race on the 4th row on the grid. He qualified in 9th place however he will start from 8th due to the fact that Lotus' Romain Grosjean received a 5 place grid penalty following a gearbox change. Grosjean's woes played into his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's hands as the Finn will start from 4th on the grid behind Mark Webber's RedBull.

It was a great session for one side of the Mercedes garage as seven times world champion Michael Schumacher contesting his second last race before he retires will start the race from 5th on the grid. It was a very disappointing session for Nico Rosberg as the German failed to make it out of Q2 and will start the race from 17th place.

McLaren's Jenson Button also had a difficult day at the office as he lost power and will start the race from 12th place behind the Williams of Bruno Senna. the second Williams of Pastor Maldonado faired better as he will start the race from 10th place just behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who was out qualified by his team mate Felipe Massa who will start from 7th on the grid.

In my opinion, we are going to have an incredible start that could potentially lead to a first lap safety car appearance. I also believe that Fernando Alonso can not be written off as he is extremely quick in race trim and provided he is able to keep away from any potential trouble we will have a championship decider in Brazil as he will make his way through the field.

I also believe that no matter what happens tomorrow, circuit bosses have done an incredible job with this magnificent venue. We certainly have a new permanent home for Formula One in America. Formula One belongs in America and it is incredible and extremely refreshing to see the enthusiasm for the sport amongst the US fans.

Formula One is back where it belongs!!!! Come on Austin serve us up a classic!!!!

Austin..one word..Wow!!

So Formula One is in the US this weekend, for the first time in five year's at the purpose built Circuit Of The America's in Austin, the capital of Texas and I have only one word to describe the circuit...Wow!!

The authorities in Austin, have done an incredible job with the circuit. The facilities look incredible and the COTA tower is fantastic. The pit and paddock complex are great. The circuit itself is fantastic. I have driven the circuit on the 2012 F1 game for the XBOX 360 and I love it.

All the driver's have given their thumbs up to the track despite the lack of grip yesterday. It is the perfect circuit for Formula One to make it's comeback to the United States.

Concerns raised over the lack of grip in Austin

A number of driver's raised concerns with the race officials in Austin yesterday following the opening practice sessions for the United States GrandPrix as they felt that there was absolutely no grip on the track surface.

When there is no grip on a circuit, it is known as 'a green circuit' and makes conditions extremely difficult for drivers. Many of the driver's remarked yesterday after practice that it was so slippery that it was like driving the circuit on a set of intermediate tyres.

The circuit was only recently completed and due to the fact that it is located in the Texas desert there has been little or no rain to in recent week's and this has meant that the cement dust from the construction period has remained on the track surface.

Following Practice yesterday as the sun began to set of of the circuit the race officials sent out out a jet powered road sweeper to help clear and clean up the dust particles on the track. It is hoped that the work done last night will result in the driver's being able to lay some rubber down to get the grip that they need.

All the driver's on the grid have said that their first impression's of the circuit are great and that they can't wait to race there. I was absolutely delighted to see that during second practice there were huge crowds in the grandstands. RedBull's Sebastian Vettel led both the morning and afternoon session's despite missing half an hour of the session with a water leak, his team-mate Mark Webber suffered an identical problem during FP1.

Despite this however Seb managed to top the time's in second practice he lead a team one - two with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in third place. So if the race tomorrow was to finish with Sebastian winning, Mark second and Alonso third we would have a title showdown in Brazil next weekend. The Constructor's championship will be wrapped up this weekend as RedBull only need to score four points to take their third consecutive championship.

It is still all to play for.

First blood to Seb and RedBull as track action gets underway in Austin

So Austin, roared to life this morning with he sound of 24 V8 Formula One engine's flying around the Circuit Of The Americas track as team's got to grips quiet literally with the new circuit. Formula One is back in the US. This morning's session was really a sighter for all the team's and driver's to see what the track surface was like and to how close to the limit they could push their cars.

In some cases, driver's were right on the edge with many of them going off the circuit at turn 19, the second last corner. At the start of the session, many of the driver's were complaining about the severe lack of grip on track.

The circuit has had no proper action despite a demonstration run by Mario Andretti and Jerome D'Ambrosio in the Lotus F1 Car at a promotional event to celebrate the official opening of the circuit.

And unlike other circuits that the F1 circus travels to there are no support races this weekend in Texas, despite this however there was a Ferrari Track Challenge a couple of day's ago. With the temperature's in Austin for the time of year being unseasonably low the team's and driver's are going to have to work extremely closely with Pirelli to make sure that they can get the most out of the medium and harder compound tyre that have been brought to the track.

So to FP1, there were no real surprises as the session went on. RedBull's Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of 1m 38.125s a massive 1.4 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. Sebastian's title rival Fernando Alonso was third fastest with a time of 1m 40,337s with Jenson Button 4th in the second McLaren.

However I have learned, to take the time's from Friday Practice 1 with a pinch of salt as they are in a way meaningless as the team's are just evaluating the track conditions and particularly in Texas as it is an unknown entity. I mean you can gather all the data you want in the simulator however it is not until you actually drive the circuit for the first time that you begin to understand it's characteristics and how the car feels and reacts to the track surface.

In my opinion, it will this afternoon's session that will provide the real test for the team's and driver's as the begin to run race simulations and work on tyre and car set ups for the race.

In my opinion, the Circuit Of The America's is going to provide a real challenge for the drivers. And I firmly believe that out of all the new circuits that have been introduced into Formula One in recent season's this circuit is the best of the lot. The reason I say this is because the lay out of the track has managed to incorporate some of the greatest corners from other tracks without it being a complete copy of other tracks on the calendar.

I also believe that the circuit could prove to be one of the more demanding one's on the drivers, for starters it is anti clockwise and this is always an added challenge to any racing driver.

Title rivals face off in Austin Press Conference

It is going to be an extremely interesting Thursday FIA Press Conference in Austin later today that I would love to be a fly on the wall for as the two remaining title contenders, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel will both be in attendance.

It is going to be interesting to see if Sebastian will be asked to respond to the comments made by 1997 championship Jacques Villeneuve who accused the German of reacting like a child when things don't go his way.

I would be very interesting to see the body language from the two of them. Fernando is certainly the more chilled out of the two. The obvious explanation for this is the fact that he is the chaser and not being chased. In my opinion, it doesn't seem to take a lot to get Vettel rattled. He is still favourite to win the championship but anything can happen.

The championship challengers will be joined at the press conference by the Lotus driver of Kimi Raikkonen, winner last time in Abu Dhabi  Other driver's attending the press conference will be HRT's Pedro Dlea Rosa, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who was denied a guarnteed victory in Abu Dhabi as a result of technical problems. Sauber's Sergio Perez will also be present. The Mexican, has failed to score a single point since his move to McLaren was announced last month.

The Mexican will be hoping that he can reverse his fortunes in Texas on Sunday.

On track action gets underway on Friday morning and can been seen on Sky Sports F1HD at 3PM, Practice 2 gets underway at 7PM.

On Saturday FP3 gets underway at 3PM with Qualifying getting underway at 6PM. The race gets underway on Sunday evening at 7PM.

The BBC will show extended highlights of the race at 10.25PM on BBC 1 HD

Hartstein's contract not renewed

The FIA's head doctor American Gary Hartstein took to Twitter today to announce that he was informed by the FIA president and the head of the FIA Medical Commission that his contract will not be renewed into 2013.

The New Yorker was appointed to the FIA in 1990 and worked alongside F1 doctor, Professor Sid Watkins. In 2005, following Sid Watkins retirement Hartstein was appointed as the FIA's Chief Medical delegate to Formula One.

It will be interesting to see who the FIA will pick to replace Hartstein. In my opinion, the timing of the announcement is no coincidence as Formula One returns to the US this weekend for inaugural United States GrandPrix at Circuit Of The Americas in Austin Texas.

Vettel can win the championship this weekend if..

So Sebastian Vettel can win his third championship in a row this weekend in Texas if he wins the race and Alonso finishes lower then 4th. If he finishes second he needs Alonso to finish in 9th or lower. And finally if he finishes the race in third he needs Alonso not to score points. He could also win the championship if Alonso fails to finish the race.

In my opinion however the title fight will go down to the wire at next weekend's Brazilian GrandPrix.  The circuit in Austin is new to everyone in Formula One so it is a complete unknown to everyone in the paddock.

So what will the weather do in Austin this weekend? It not expected to rain over the weekend and temperature's are expected to be between 18 and 20 degrees.

It is likely that RedBull Racing will wrap up the Constructors Championship this weekend, However 2nd and third could still be up for grab's with McLaren just 22 points behind Ferrari who are in 2nd and Lotus are 30 points behind McLaren. Realistically unless McLaren have a disaster end to the season they are likely to hold onto third in the championship but absolutely anything can happen after all this is Formula One and there are always last minute surprises.

New joint sponsor for Sauber and Chelsea FC

The Sauber F1 Team and Chelsea FC are set to announce a major new joint sponsor next month that is according to reports coming from the United Kingdom today. The two sporting icons announced a major joint venture back in April and this resulted in the Chelsea FC logo featuring prominently on the engine cover of the Sauber F1 car.

The company's are hoping that the venture will help both company's to reach a wider fan base. For Chelsea it is a move that gives them access to potentially 19 new markets and for the Sauber F1 Team it will help them in merchandising and promotion.

It is not yet known who the new sponsor is, who ever it is it will be extremely interesting to see how the  partnership progresses into next year and beyond. Chelsea's current jersey sponsor is Samsung, however I believe that they are not the new sponsor as the new deal to be announced is going to be a new company not currently involved with either company.

With Formula One returning to the USA for the first time in 5 years this weekend I would not be surprised at all if the new sponsor is an American company.

The announcement of the new sponsorship agreement comes as rumors are circulating around the F1 paddock that the Lotus F1 Team are set to announce a major new sponsorship deal this weekend with an American company. If this is true it comes at a perfect time for the Enstone based team in my opinion as they have just come off the back of winning the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix. The first win for the Lotus name in Formula One since ironically the 1987 United States GrandPrix.

It has also been suggested that Coca Cola could be looking to break into the F1 market as a sponsor with one of their brands. The last American sponsorship agreement that the Sauber F1 Team had was a minor logo agreement with Burger King.

So it is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks. There appears to be an increase in the number of sponsorship deals to be announced for next season.

In my opinion, following this weekend's US GrandPrix there will be a massive influx of American company's getting inovolved in Formula One and this will lead to the massive success of Formula One State side.

Rossi misses out on Texas role

Caterham F1 tester American Alexander Rossi will not be taking part in Friday Practice for this weekend's United State's GrandPrix in Austin Texas, the team confirmed today. Rossi had hoped to get an outing with the Leafield squad at the weekend, however the team felt that it was more important to give their race driver's Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov as much time in the car as possible as it is a brand new track for everyone on the grid.

In my opinion it is a shame that Rossi won't be able to drive for the team a his home event, however, having said that I completely understand where the team are coming from. They want to give their driver's the best possible on track opportunities they can.

Rossi was with the team in Abu Dhabi last week taking part in the official young driver test programme. As the circuit is brand new for  all team's on the grid it is the perfect opportunity for Caterham to take advantage of this and score their first ever Formula One points. As we all know absolutely anything is possible in Formula One.

I am extremely excited about Formula One's return to the United States and the circuit looks like an incredible challenge and I am sure that with the championship so finely balanced we are in for an absolute classic.... The perfect way for Formula One to announce it's return to the US.

Changes afoot as HRT put up for sale

The HRT GrandPrix team has been put up for sale the outfit's owners Thesan Capital the company confirmed today. Thesan bought the team from Jose Ramon Carabante in July of last year. Since the buy out the team have moved to a new factory in Madrid.

The team entered Formula One in 2010, along with Caterham F1 (Then Team Lotus) and Virgin Racing (Now Marussia F1). Hopefully a buyer can be found for the team because it is terrible in my opinion that the team has struggled since they entered the sport in 2010.

Here is an interesting thought, I noticed that Prodrive boss Dave Richards was in Abu Dhabi at the weekend for the GrandPrix. It is thought that Richards may be interested in purchasing Cosworth who supply engine's to Marussia and HRT and who were put up for sale. Could we see Prodrive put in a bid for the HRT team?

I think it would be fantastic to see David Richards back in Formula One. Prodrive had put in a bid for a place on the F1 grid in 2010 however they lost out to HRT in the bidding process. So we shall see what happens in the next couple of week's.

It is being reported that if a buyer is not found by December 2nd the team will be dissolved, however this has not been confirmed. So as I say it is going to be an extremely interesting few weeks.

We're heading State Side

So after a break of five years the wait is nearly over as Formula One makes it's eagerly awaited return to the USA next weekend for the inaugural United States GrandPrix at the Circuit of The Americas purpose built facility in Austin, Texas. Everyone in the Formula One community can't wait for the sport to return to America.

I have no doubt what so ever that the sports return to America will be a massive success. The race is a sell out and that is a fantastic endorsement for the circuit and for the race organizers. Lewis Hamilton won the last time Formula One was in America, and I wouldn't count him out to take the win next weekend in Texas particularly after his disappointment in Abu Dhabi last weekend.

As I have said in a previous post, the Circuit of the America's has all the ingredients to be a huge success. It has the longest straight in Formula One and has sections in it similar to Turkey's turn 8, Silverstone's Maggot's and Beckett's turn.

The circuit also has very high elevations and that is going to be fantastic to watch.

So a lot of people have been saying that the circuit will suit RedBull Racing. I believe that the Lotus team could do very well in Austin having won the last race in ABu Dhabi. The team will also be running an updated version of their coanda exhaust in Austin.

You can't discount Ferrari either as Alonso is in a gripping battle with Sebastian Vettel for the championship with two race's to go. I absolutely love the new circuit in Austin and in my opinion, aswell as being a favourite amongst the driver's it will also become a fan favourite.

Will Sebastian take the title in Texas?

So the big question on everyone's mind is with two race's to go in 2012 can Sebastian Vettel win the championship in Texas next weekend or will Fernando Alonso drag it out to a final race showdown in Brazil? So last weekend in Abu Dhabi, Seb had a dismal weekend. His RedBull team under fuelled him for the final part of qualifying and he was forced to start from the pitlane after stopping out on track.

However he recovered brilliantly finishing the race on the podium in third place behind Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. He is now 10 points ahead of Alonso with two race's to go. By finishing second Fernando was able to close the gap to Vettel by three points.

So here's how it stands heading to Texas, Sebastian Vettel is leading the championship on 255 poiints with Fernando Alonso on 245 points. Now Seb can wrap up the title in Texas IF he manages to outscore Fernando by 15 points, however the only way he can manage to do that is if Alonso fails to finish the race.

In my opinion, we are heading for a title decider in Brazil and as is often the case in Brazil there is a very strong possiblity that it could rain over the course of the race weekend and I believe that if this happens that this could play into Alonso's hands as he is able to get the best out of the Pirelli wet weather tyre's.

So as I say I don't believe that Vettel will wrap up the title in Texas, however I believe that RedBull will wrap up the Constructor's Championship in Austin.

It is also very possible that we could have a very dramatic fight on our hands for third in the championship as McLaren and Lotus are separated by 30 point's now I know that sounds like a very big margin and in someways it is however with two race's to go their are still a maximum of 50 point's up for grabs and the momentum is very much with Lotus at the moment as the team took victory in Abu Dhabi granted with a bit of luck, but that's the name of the game right? It's all about being in the right place at the right time and a win is still a win no matter how it comes, and I was delighted to the ICEMAN back on the top step of the podium.

It was also great to see that the three top team's RedBull, Ferrari and McLaren all seemed genuinely pleased that the Enstone team took their first win as Lotus which to me just shows that behind all the politics and rivalries in the sport there is great sportsmanship amongst the team's.

It was also fantastic to see that with Kimi's win on Sunday we have had 8 different winner's this season and the top five team's in the championship have all taken wins which in my opinion is great because all the team's in the top five can say that they deserved to finish where they did in the championship. However with two race's to go there is still a lot to play for and I have no doubt that F1 2012 will trow up a few more surprises.

Gutierrez in Kobayashi out at Sauber for 2013...Report

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has all but confirmed that Esteban Gutierrez will partner Nico Hulkenborg at Sauber next season. If the report is true it means that Japan's Kamui Kobayashi will be without an F1 drive for next season.

Gutierrez is part of Sauber's young driver programme and is the team's test and reserve driver. He had his first official outing for the team during Practice for the Indian GrandPrix last month. With Sergio Perez heading to McLaren next season, Carlos Slim's company Telemex who is a team sponsor has said stated they will stay with team next year.

I believe that the company would not have committed to the team for another season if they did not have a Mexican driver in place with the team.

I believe that if the reports are true it is going to be an extremely interesting season for the Sauber F1 team in 2013 as they have two new drivers. Hulkenborg has an awful lot of F1 experience having driven for Williams and Force India so if Esteban is joining Sauber the Hulk will be able to pass on his knowledge to the young Mexican.

So it is going to be extremely interesting to see what happens. If Kobayashi loses his Sauber seat I could see him replacing Vitaly Petrov at Caterham next year as it is being reported that the Russian driver has been unable to come up with the funding needed to keep his drive with the Caterham team.

Is Hamilton regretting Mercedes move?

So with only two race's left with McLaren before Lewis Hamilton makes the move to Mercedes AMG for the 2013 season, is Lewis Hamilton regretting his decision to move? Since the announcement that Hamilton was joining Mercedes on 28th September Mercedes have failed to score a single point and are currently in 5th place in the Constructor's championship, 152 points behind Lotus.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes that Hamilton is beginning to regret his decision to leave the has been associated with since he was 13. I was extremely surprised when I heard that Lewis had signed for Mercedes. The reason for this is because when you look at the two team's like for like performances this season, Mercedes have only won one race whereas McLaren have won 5 races this season.

As I have said before I can understand why Hamilton is joining Merc, becayse he wants a new challenge after being with McLaren for so long. I also believe that he will get on extremely well with the team and his new team mate Nico Rosberg.

Like everything in life it will take a bit of time for Hamilton to settle into Mercedes however I believe he will do well at his new team.

Driver's warned about foul language

The FIA has written to all Formula One team's to warn them about their driver's conduct during media interviews. In a letter addressed to all the team's the FIA stated that the use of foul language is not acceptable.

The letter comes in the wake of the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix podium interviews where both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel swore while being interviewed by the BBC's David Coulthard. After winning his first race since his comeback in Abu Dhabi Kimi mentioned that he won't have to take s**t from you guy's (ie the media).

When Sebastian Vettel was being interviewed on the podium he told DC that we was glad the team hadn't f***ed up to which David Coulthard apologized to fan's by reminding us that English is both Kimi and Vettel's second language, still it was no excuse.

In my opinion Formula One should adopt a similar system to what is currently in place in the NASCAR Series in the US. In June of this year NASCAR star Kurt Busch was suspended for a week for a rant at a reporter where he threatened to beat the c**p out of the reporter.

Formula One should considering bringing this in for next season's championship. The sport has become so media orientated with each team having their own press officer and media relation's people. For example in 'The Pen' as it's known where all the driver's go after the races for the post race interviews they each have a media rep who records the interviews.

The BBC confirmed today that they received 22 phone complaints about the language used. So it will be interesting to see how this story develops.

Changing of the Guard

The Caterham F1 Team confirmed today that CEO Cyril Abiteboul will take over from team owner Tony Fernandes who will step down at the end of the season.

The 35 year old was appointed to the position of team CEO two months ago. The Frenchman has previously worked for Renault, Caterham's current engine supplier. The French manufacturer has just announced a major partnership with Caterham cars. It is believed that the two company's will begin working on compact cars and Tony Fernandes will be focussing his attention on that side of the business.

In recent years we have had 'the new generation' of team principal's entering the sport. In 2005, Christian Horner became the youngest F1 team principal when he took the reigns of RedBull Racing the age of 32. Stefano Domenicali became Ferrari's team principal in 2008, taking over from current FIA president Jean Todt.

In 2010, when the Renault team was sold to Gerard Lopez and his firm Genii Capital he appointed Eric Boullier as team principal. The Frenchman took over from former Renault technical boss Bob Bell who  took over from the disgraced Flavio Briatoire who was sacked.

In 2009, Martin Whitmarsh took over as McLaren team principal from Ron Dennis who stepped down to concentrate on the company's Automotive business.

Then earlier this year Sauber team principal Peter Sauber announced that he was stepping down from his role and had appointed Minisha Keltonborn as team principal. Monisha became the first female team boss and is doing a great job with the team who are currently in 6th place in the Constructor's Championship.

I think it is great about these changes in Formula One and the sport in my opinion has a great future ahead. At 35, Cyril Abiteboul becomes the youngest F1 team boss. It is going to be an extremely interesting transition for the Caterham F1 team.

Kimi's comeback complete

So on Sunday Kimi Raikkonen capped off an incredible comeback season by winning the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix and there are still two race's to go this season. The Iceman, competing in his first season in F1 after year's away from the sport in the WRC has now been on the podium 7 time's this season and has finished every single race this year.

Raikkonen's great form and consistency mean that he has been able consolidate his position in third place in the Driver's championship. With both Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton failing to finish in Abu Dhabi and Kimi taking maximum points from the race he now 31 points ahead of Mark Webber and is 47 points behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with 50 points still available with two race's to go.

So if the Iceman could win either of the final two race's this season he could end the year in second place in the Driver's championship. If not however third in the championship is a fantastic achievement in my opinion when you think about Michael Schumacher, who in his comeback season with Mercedes GP in 2010 finished the championship in 9th place with 72 points.

As I mentioned Kimi has also collected a fantastic 7 podium's for team Enstone in one season whereas Michael Schumacher has only claimed one podium in three season's with Mercedes AMG.

His Lotus team are on target to finish the season in 4th place in the Constructors championship which is an improvement on last year. The team finished the 2011 season in 5th place on 73 points and already this year they have three time's as many points as they did this time last year as they currently have 288 points and are only 30 points behind McLaren who are in second but they are currently experiencing reliability problems.

The Lotus or Renault team as they were last year managed to pick up just two podium finishes however so far this season they have picked up nine podium,'s including the win.

It is also great for the fans, the team and the Iceman himself that he has just signed a new deal to remain with the team for next season.