Adam Cooper F1

Ross Brawn insists that his role as Mercedes team principal has not been affected by the arrival of Niki Lauda as part of the team’s management structure.

Lauda was brought in by Daimler AG to help conclude a Concorde deal with Bernie Ecclestone and to sign up Lewis Hamilton.

“Niki is non-executive chairman, chairman of our board,” said Brawn. “We meet our board several times a year, to discuss the major issues. I think Niki is also going to add a lot of racing experience to the board. The board meetings will probably have a slightly different complexion in the future.

“And Niki’s helping with some of the bigger strategic issues, such as the new commercial agreement with Bernie; obviously Niki had some involvement with persuading Lewis to join us – so those sort of issues but not involved with the day-to-day running of the team.

“I’ve just a got a new chairman. I had one before, I’ve got a different one now.”

Brawn also touched on what Lewis Hamilton can bring to the team in 2013.

“I think both drivers in the team contribute to developing a team, building a team. We are clearly not achieving the results we want to achieve yet, so we’ve got some progress we need to make and I think Lewis will be able to contribute a lot to helping us make that progress.

“We obviously believe and we know he’s a very very quick driver. This is perhaps a new challenge he’s facing of helping a team grow and develop and become more competitive.

“So there’s some different aspects, perhaps, to what he’s going to face with us and what he’s faced at McLaren, which was a pretty complete and rounded team.”

Mark Webber finished FP2 in Abu Dhabi in fourth place, but it was a frustrating day for the Aussie as his session was curtailed.

At one point Webber left a trail of water in the pitlane as he drove out of the garage, after which he returned and did not go out again.

The fact that a Red Bull – albeit that of Webber – has suffered a technical problem might give Fernando Alonso and Ferrari some encouragement.

“It looks like a water generator or some KERS issue, basically,” he said. “It’s a pain, it’s not great. Mileage is always limited, so it would be nice to get as much as you can in. Anyway that was today, we’ll come back tomorrow.

“It’s never a help to have less running. The track will probably move around a little bit, but not a huge amount here, it was in pretty good shape straight away. We missed the last part, but that’s the way it was.

“We’re not to the bottom of the fault yet that’s for sure, I think the guys will will be working on it tonight, and then go from there.”

Webber said he was happy with the overall balance: “It’s OK. Normally I struggle round car park sort of race tracks, but I’ll do my best to push as hard as possible round all the second gear corners that are here this week. I’ll do what I can tomorrow and qualify as high up as  can and enjoy the race on Sunday.”

Intriguingly at one point there were sparks coming from the underside of the car, as was the case with Vettel in India, leading to speculation about how low the RB8 is running. Webber said that kerbs might have caused some damage.

“Something was broken underneath, similar to Seb in the [last] race, but not a big deal.

“I’m not sure, but probably in Turn 20 most of us run a little bit wide there, so the ‘Zed zero’ strake – that means something under the car for you guys – looks like it got a little bit sore…”

Sebastian Vettel says that Red Bull has to improve the RB8 overnight, despite the German pipping Lewis Hamilton to the overall top time in FP2 in Abu Dhabi.

However McLaren also looked strong all day and showed potentially better race pace.

“I think we can be pretty happy overall,” said Vettel. “I got a very good lap in on the soft tyres. The general pace the McLarens were in front of us.

“Obviously we push as hard as we can. I think we got enough running today. We’re not entirely happy yet with the car, I think we can improve it. We must do so for tomorrow in order to make sure we qualify as high up as we can. It’s not in our hands what the others are doing, so we have to make sure we get grid spot we can, and then we see whether it’s enough to beat the rest.

“The base wasn’t bad but I think it was quite slippery for all the drivers, all the cars. We saw many cars going off the track here and there, trying to explore the limits. That’s what we usually do on the Friday. We’re more or less there but as I said we need to improve the car for tomorrow.”

Vettel expects to be battling with Hamilton in qualifying: “It looks like! At least today the battle was on with him, he was very quick on the medium tyre, so we need to do a bit of catching up to make sure we are very close to them and possibly ahead of them tomorrow.”

Fernando Alonso was in upbeat mood today as he continued to insist that he can still win the World Championship.

Alonso says that Ferrari is pulling out all the stops for the end of the season.

“We believe and we trust in our job and our team,” he said in Abu Dhabi today. “I think we’ve shown many times that we don’t give up, we will fight until the end, and when the things become stressful, when the things become difficult, I think we can deliver our 100% and we’re sure that we will fight until the end. I think the team has a lot of experience, fighting for World Championships, everyone is very motivated.

“I think in India we saw some good signs of recovering in terms of pace compared to Red Bull, we still need a couple more tenths, especially on Saturday. But there is a little bit of a step here, something also in the USA. I think things go up and down for everybody. Four consecutive ups for Red Bull, so we think they will go down before long.”

Intriguingly Alonso was keen to point out that he didn’t expect to be able to beat Red Bull on pace, but wanted to be close enough to put pressure on Vettel – and take advantage of any mistakes.

“We tried to prepare for this race better than ever. Every race we do, but we know the importance of these three races, so we’ve made some good preparations. There are some new parts coming that we will have to check tomorrow.

“We don’t think that we will close the gap completely to Red Bull from India, and five days later in Abu Dhabi to be competing with them with the same performance, I think that is not any magic button in F1, or any magic part.

“But we will try to get close to put some more pressure. I think they’ve had a very easy four races so far, so they have a lot of margin and can do maybe little mistakes with not any penalty, and we want to be so close to them to take the opportunity of everything that they don’t do perfect. So we need to find perfection this weekend, or these next three weekends, and be very close to them and attack all the race.”

As the battle enters the home stretch Sebastian Vettel continues to play down his chance of winning a third World Championship.

Vettel is 13 points ahead of Fernando Alonso, and if he stays ahead this weekend could clinch the title at the penultimate race in Austin.

“Obviously there are three races to go,” said a relaxed Vettel in Abu Dhabi today. “And it’s not a secret, every one is important, just as important as the first three, but obviously as the season closes you realise the points left are the maximum you can get. The end is near, nearer than when you start the season in Australia.

“That’s why it appears to be more important. As I said you don’t get any more points for this race than for five races ago or 10 races ago. We to try to therefore have the same approach we had 10 races ago.”

Vettel was keen to point out how quickly his luck could change.

“If you look back India was a great race for us. A couple of laps from the end we had some sparks. Obviously it was not a problem. It doesn’t take much imagination – if something like this comes up obviously it shows you how vulnerable you are no matter which position you are.

“If you are in the lead by a big gap, or you are somewhere in the midfield fighting for position, it doesn’t take much and you might end the race not scoring the points that you were hoping for, and then the whole picture looks different again. I think we’ve learned this year again.

“Obviously it would be very special for us to win the championship here, but in order to do so we have to have a strong weekend, a strong performance, and score more points than the others.”

Regarding last year’s early retirement he said: “Last year was a short race because I had the puncture in the second corner, but I think the pole was very special on the Saturday, to equal Nigel [Mansell’s] amount of poles in a season, and generally this place has been very good for us, a lot of very good memories. So I’m looking forward to getting in the car and going out tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne will both continue for a second year with Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Italian team confirmed today.

Both men have been struggling to make it through to Q2 this year, but the team feels that they have done enough to justify their seats in 2013, when James Key’s new car should give them a boost.

However they will no doubt be under pressure from Antonio Felix da Costa, who is testing for RBR in Abu Dhabi next week.

“Both drivers have done a good job this season,” said team boss Franz Tost. “Daniel joined us with a few Grands Prix under his belt, and so his feedback and experience was particularly useful while Jean-Eric got up to speed, often having to deal with tracks he had never seen before.

“Since the summer break, both drivers have scored more points and everyone in the team has been impressed with their maturity in terms of working with the engineers and their racecraft on track. We will be doing our best in the next few months, to produce a 2013 car which will allow them to demonstrate their talent.”

“There are big expectations for next year and I’m ready and willing to fulfil them,” said Ricciardo. “I feel I have been growing and developing as a driver and my approach to the technical side of the sport has also progressed this year, so I am sure that will serve me well in my second season with Toro Rosso.

“We have had quite a tough season, but despite that, I have always enjoyed a good relationship with all the guys and I am delighted at the idea of working with them for another year.”

“It has been a difficult season,” said Vergne. “And, as a rookie, I have learned a lot, thanks to the support I got and the excellent relationship I have enjoyed with all the guys. I feel much stronger now and I know I have become a better driver over the course of the season.

“I really believe in this team and with all the experience I have gained, combined with the team’s ambitious plans for next year, I think we can look forward to great things in 2013, attacking all the way.”

Sauber has confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg will join the team in 2013. While the German has been linked with the job for some weeks it only became official after Force India failed to be ahead of Sauber in the World Championship after the Indian GP, which eased the German’s passage out of his current contract.

Sauber, who thus far have nominated Hulkenberg only for next season, which will only add to speculation that he isbeing lined up as a potential future Ferrari driver. The team says it will name its second driver at a later date.

“We’ve been observing Nico for some time now and his performances have been very persuasive,” said team boss Monisha Kaltenborn. “That was the case in GP2 and has continued into Formula One. An obvious highlight was how he scored pole at Interlagos in 2010 despite the most challenging external conditions.

“He clearly showed that he can seize the chance if it arises. But high spots like that are one thing; systematic teamwork is another – and on that score I have confidence in Nico too. I’m sure he will fit in very well with the Sauber F1 Team. We look forward to working together with him.”

Hulkenberg said: “I’m really looking forward to working with the Sauber F1 Team. It’s a well-placed team and very competitive. Plus it’s a team in which young drivers have repeatedly delivered exceptional performances. I would like to take up that baton.

“The Sauber F1 Team is currently going through a very positive development and I’m certain that together we can achieve a lot. Until that time I will remain fully focused on my job with the Sahara Force India Team. I’d like to thank the management at Sahara Force India for giving me the chance to return to Formula One as a team driver.”

Felipe Massa’s upswing in form continued in India with a sixth place, achieved after a race long battle with Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa, who didn’t have all of the updates that were used by Fernando Alonso, was also told to save fuel, which wasn’t easy given that he was under pressure the whole way.

“I think it was a very difficult to save fuel with a guy very close to me all the time,” said Massa. “I didn’t even drive on Friday on the long runs so I think I didn’t have much chance to have the perfect set-up for the race.

“But anyway it was not easy to save fuel, and for sure some performance I was losing. It was good that Kimi’s speed was not strong on the straight, I think that helped me to be in front.”

Kimi did briefly get ahead after the pit stops, but Massa ended up in front again after some quick thinking in the DRS zone.

“I was a little bit clever at that time, because I went out of the garage, I was in front of him in corner one, and I was able to stay in front. Then I let him past for corner three because I wanted to charge the DRS. And then he understood too late, he even braked to try to be behind the line, but I braked more, and I had the DRS and I passed him again. I think that was definitely a positive move.”

Meanwhile Massa is hoping that he has a full set of upgrades for Abu Dhabi.

“I think anyway the race was OK, bringing points is always positive. Hopefully we concentrate and bring more new parts on the car. I didn’t have everything compared to Fernando on the car, but I hope we have everything ready for the next race.”

Kimi Raikkonen says that staying with Lotus in 2013 was “the obvious choice” after such a strong season this year.

The team confirmed earlier today that the Finn will continue for a second year.

“I think my return to Formula 1 has gone pretty well and the team has done a very good job all year so far,” said Raikkonen in a statement.  “To be honest, I didn’t expect to be fighting for the Drivers’ Championship this season when you look at where the team was in 2011, so it has been great to be on the podium so many times and to score points on a regular basis.

“I feel very comfortable with Lotus F1 Team and we share the same philosophy of racing. Continuing with the team was an obvious choice for me and I’m looking forward to making another step forward together next year.”

Eric Boullier added: “Kimi has made an exceptional comeback to Formula 1. From the first time he sat in the car this year it was clear he had lost none of his pace or technical feedback and we have been rewarded by a focused and motivated driver all season.

“For Lotus F1 Team to be fighting for such strong championship positions this year is in no small part attributed to Kimi’s talent and experience of racing. It was a natural conclusion for us to confirm that we will be harnessing his abilities for next season.”

Stefano Domenicali says that Ferrari will do everything it can to take the fight to Red Bull until the end of the season – and stressed that having Fernando Alonso could make the difference.

Alonso is 13 points behind with three races to go, and while Sebastian Vettel has momentum on his side, Domenicali cautioned that anything can still happen.

“I’m always optimistic,” said Domenicali. “In life it doesn’t change if you are negative, it doesn’t give you points, so if we keep the right approach to the guys I think we can maximise what we have, and this is what I’ve asked of my people.

“When you are fighting you have to use the tools that you have, and you have to be brave to use the things that you have in the best way that you can. And then of course there are also the others that are fighting and we need to respect them, but for sure their life will be not easy to the end.”

He confirmed that the team is still planning to bring upgrades to the car.

“What I said to my people is try to do the best and we see if what we can do is enough to make sure we can close the gap. It’s obvious we are fighting for a championship and we try to improve everything at all levels, and this is the approach without going into the specifics that we will bring not only to Abu Dhabi but also up to the end of the championship. The only thing we can do at this moment is to do that, and don’t forget that in any race everything can happen.

“We know that every race everything is a bit different. It is clear at this moment that Red Bull has a better car. We need to work hard, full stop. By saying they are stronger we don’t change the improvements that we have to make in house.

“I said to my guys that in 1982 in the World Cup of football our team was not for sure the strongest, but we won the title. We have the luxury of having Fernando with us, who is the number one driver. It’s something we will do and fight up to the end.”