Adam Cooper F1

Jenson Button is confident that McLaren will have a “reasonable” weekend in Singapore, at least in terms of the team’s usual 2013 form.

However he cautioned that managing ride height could be a problem, since all season the team has found it hard to run the car low enough to be aerodynamically efficient.

“We haven’t driven high downforce for a little while,” said Button. “Hungary we did, and we had a good package on the car there. But the problem was that with the package that we had we had nowhere near enough front end to put into the car so we couldn’t benefit from the downforce we put on the car. Now it’s a different situation. I do feel that we should be alright here, I’m quite excited about driving it.

“The only thing is we’ve got to be careful with the ride quality of the car, because it’s very bumpy. That’s obviously been a weakness over the whole season, really. It has got better, and we just have to hope that we can put the car somewhere in terms of aerodynamics that keeps us off the deck, because that causes us a few issues. If we can do that then I’m positive that we can have a reasonable weekend. It’s never going to be a good weekend at the moment, but I think it can be reasonable.”

Felipe Massa insists that he wants to find a competitive seat for 2014, and doesn’t want to be in F1 just make up the numbers.

Massa has been linked with Lotus, in effect making for a straight swap with Kimi Raikkonen, although there is a lot of competition for the drive.

“We are talking with some teams,” said the Brazilian in Singapore today. “I hope we find the best direction for me. I know I have a lot to do, still. I want to find a good car, as I’ve said many times I’m not interested to be part of F1 just to be there on the grid, just to be there on the picture. I want to be there for the good opportunity, to fight for the best results possible. Starting the race just to be there on the grid, I’m not interested.

“I want to find the best car, I want to be in the best opportunity to fight for victory, to fight for the championship, and to fight for the best for me. That’s what I’m looking for, so I hope we can find this direction. We’re trying everything I can, and I know I have a lot to give to a team, to the drivers as competitors on the track, that’s what I’m looking for.”

Massa is hoping to end this season on a high.

“I think the expectations are always to try to do the best that I can in these last seven races. I think I had a fantastic career together with Ferrari for a long time. It’s part of my story. The most years of my career were with Ferrari, so eight years as an official driver, but also a few years as a young driver.

“I lived in Ferrari in 2003, I was going every day to the team, to the track, so I know everybody who is working there. I have a lot of friends inside the team. So I want to finish in the best way possible these seven races. I will try the best I can to have the best result. A victory will be fantastic, to finish these seven races. I always push very hard for that.”

Meanwhile Massa was asked about a comment he made in Brazil to the effect that he will be driving for himself until the end of the season, and chose to answer in a jokey manner, no surprise given that Fernando Alonso and Stefano Domenicali were sitting alongside: “About Fernando, I don’t help Fernando for sure, I never help, I don’t help anything, I don’t help Fernando, I don’t help Ferrari, I don’t help anything, I just help myself!”

The FIA’s recently appointed Director of Communications Pierre Regent has resigned, the Frenchman has confirmed to this writer.

He will now be able to focus  on Jean Todt’s re-election campaign.

Regent, who formerly worked closely with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy as press and communications advisor, was given the FIA job by Todt only at the start of June. He replaced Norman Howell, who went to work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Regent was also previously the FIA’s International Relations Advisor and Action for Road Safety Project Manager.

Under FIA statutes staff members are not allowed to participate in the election campaign of a specific candidate. Todt’s rival David Ward recently wrote to the FIA in order to clarify that this was the case, saying: “I note also that the Election Guidelines requires the FIA Administration to maintain ‘a strict duty of neutrality and equality at all times’ and that they should limit ‘their relations with the candidates strictly to the content of their mission.'”

Regent told this blog: “I was doing my duty as director of communications until the end of mobility conference week last week, and as of this week, I am working on the campaign.” He denied that the move was in response to Ward’s letter: “It was planned well before that because we always knew that we needed to have a different campaign team.”

Kimi Raikkonen is the man of the moment for obvious reasons, but before he rejoins Ferrari in 2014 he still has a championship to fight for. Lotus has issued this Q&A with the Finnish star about his prospects for Singapore.

Q: It’s now been announced where you will drive next year; how does that affect the rest of your season?

“Hopefully it means I won’t be asked so much where I’m driving next year, but maybe it means more questions. For my racing this season it doesn’t make any difference. I’ll keep pushing at every race to get the best result I can.”

Q: Are you looking forward to the Singapore Grand Prix?

“I really like going to Singapore. It’s a great place to be, I love the local food, and I don’t mind the unusual times we run in the car as it means I don’t have to get up so early. I have some unfinished business after my three Grands Prix there so far, as I enjoy the circuit but have not yet had a podium. That doesn’t mean I’m not quick there as I’ve been told I still hold the lap record from 2008. I crashed while fighting for fifth place that year, finished down in tenth in 2009, and took sixth last season, so I want more this time.”

Q: What difference does it make racing at night?

“In the first years of the race being held I was a little bit surprised by how people were talking so much about the different timing. Obviously when they switched on the lights it was exactly the same as racing in the day time. I think everybody in Formula 1 enjoys the night race. It’s worked out really well as Singapore is a buzzing city and lots of people turn up. Apart from one or two dark spots in the run-off areas the circuit is very well lit, so there is not a big difference to racing in the day.”

Q: Regardless of being at night, it’s a street race; what effect does this have?

“Monaco was not that good for us but there is no reason why Singapore should be difficult. Like at every street circuit it’s very difficult to pass other cars there, so starting the race as high as  possible on the grid is very an important factor in getting a good result on Sunday.”

Q: How do you think the circuit will suit the E21?

“Everybody will bring updates to this race so we’ll have to see what difference that makes. It’s a case of  trying to get the maximum from our package and working on achieving the best balance. If we get everything right we should do okay.”

Q: Any worries about the weather?

“We saw rain last year in Singapore and it’s no secret that our car sometimes struggles in wet conditions.  It’s something we’ll deal with if it happens, and as always the weather is the same for everyone.”

Q: Is it good to be back to a higher downforce layout?

“After these two weekends with zero points it’s nice to get back to a circuit we expect to be more suited to our car. We seem to go better at high downforce circuits, that’s for sure. The car actually worked surprisingly well at Monza during the race so it was a shame we lost so much time at the start. After getting the new nose, our race pace was not too bad.”

Q: What’s your target in Singapore?

“Obviously, the podium is a target again. We’ve had two races without scoring any points so we need to score as many as we can in the remaining races this season.”

Q: How are you feeling about your Championship charge?

“You don’t win Championships by not scoring points. We’ve had two races where we haven’t scored which is not ideal. We’re here to race and score as many points as we can. Of course, that’s what everyone is trying to do so we just have to keep pushing and hope that we have some pretty good races for the rest of the year, then we’ll see where we end up in the standings.”

The FIA’s Charlie Whiting inspected the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track in Mexico City this week, as plans for a return of F1 to the country continue to progress.

The race has a date of November 9 on a provisional calendar that was circulating at Monza, although it is subject to confirmation.

Whiting was accompanied by Austin F1 founder Tavo Hellmund, who has switched his focus to Mexico after being ousted from the Texas project. His late father Gustavo was a race promoter at the venue.

They were joined by FIA Vice President and regular F1 race steward Jose Abed, who was also head of the Mexican GP organising committee in past years.

Also in attendance was a leading representative from circuit design company Tilke, confirming that the German company will be responsible for the necessary upgrades.

The Mexico City venue previously hosted World Championship races from 1963-70 and 1986-92.

Ferrari has issued a brief quote from Kimi Raikkonen regarding his return to the Italian team, and while it sounds like it contains a touch of PR spin, it’s all we’ve got for the moment.

“I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years,” said Kimi. “I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the World Championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable.

“I can’t wait to be driving a Prancing Horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves.”

Fernando Alonso said of his future team mate: “I’d like to welcome my new travelling companion: together, starting next year, we will have to tackle a very demanding technical and racing challenge.”

Meanwhile team boss Stefano Domenicali added: “I am pleased to welcome Kimi back to the Scuderia, the team with which he won his World Championship title. I sense he is very happy to be returning to Maranello and very determined to tackle the work that awaits him in the best way possible.”

The world is still awaiting news from Ferrari on its driver plans for next year – with all the signs still firmly pointing to Kimi Raikkonen being announced this week as Fernando Alonso’s team mate.

If the Alonso/Raikkonen line-up is confirmed it will be fascinating to see how Ferrari manages the driver dynamic, given that the arrival of Fernando and Santander led to Kimi being squeezed out at the end of 2009.

However, clearly the team has weighed up the pros and cons of re-employing the Finn. The benefits of having two experienced frontrunners, especially during what will be a complicated season for everyone in 2014, are obvious.

What is known is that Felipe Massa is meeting Luca di Montezemolo in Maranello on Wednesday, when presumably the Brazilian will be told that his career with the team has finally come to an end.

Nico Hulkenberg had long been the preferred choice – no surprise given that he has effectively been in a holding pattern at Sauber this year. A contract was apparently ready to be signed, but after the Hungarian GP the team switched its focus to Raikkonen.

During August Red Bull in turn lost interest in Kimi, leaving Ferrari as his only realistic alternative to Lotus.

Last summer Ferrari was already in contact with Kimi about replacing Massa for 2013, and given that Lotus was behind with payments, he could have walked away from his contract for this season.

At the time he preferred to stay in an environment where he felt comfortable, and not surprisingly he was also reluctant to return to a team where his previous tenure had ended so unhappily.

However the ongoing financial squeeze at the Enstone team has caused him to think again, and one presumes that the departure to Maranello of one of its biggest assets, James Allison, has also played a part.

It’s understood that he’ll have a one-year deal, with an option for a second.

One of the questions is how even Ferrari could afford to employ two past World Champions, but Massa is not exactly cheap, and is believed to be on an $8m salary. In addition as soon as Red Bull lost interest in Kimi, his bargaining position became weaker.

On the plus side Kimi brings with him his huge fan base and obvious benefits for Ferrari’s current and future sponsors. Even Ferrari has to work to get media coverage these days, and TV numbers are everything to sponsors.

However, his well known reluctance to participate in PR events – a trait he shares with Alonso – may mean that Ferrari’s test and reserve drivers will be even busier with sponsor duties next season…

Massa meanwhile could replace Kimi at Lotus, possibly with a little encouragement from team sponsor Richard Mille, a company closely linked to his manager Nicolas Todt. Hulkenberg is also in the frame at Lotus.