Turun Sanomat: Long feud

It has become a tradition in F1 that once a year Peter Sauber invites long-time reporters from the paddock in smaller groups by countries for an evening snack to his VIP-premises

Now the invitation came on Thursday night. One Finn, two Dutch, two Belgian, one Japanese, four Brazilians and four Mexicans accepted the invitation.

So it was quite a mixed group.

It has always been a habit with Peter Sauber that the talk at some point turnes into Kimi Räikkönen's time in the Swiss team and how it has gone after that.

I asked Sauber wouldn't it be nice if Räikkönen would come back to F1-tracks. Surprisingly he shook his head and said that it isn't the same Kimi anymore.

As a matter of fact Sauber went right away 10 years back in a time machine to the stage when young Räikkönen was shining in his car and helped the team come in 4th in the WCC-serie.

– Kimi made a mistake going to McLaren. After that he was never the same Kimi who left our team, Sauber claimed.

The comment was so stunning that I had to ask for more clarification. Then what should Räikkönen had done then?

– Ron Dennis promised to make Kimi the all time youngest WDC in McLaren. He promised a lot but nothing was given. For Kimi those 5 years went down the drain and he was never the same driver he was before, Sauber justified.

The aged team manager admitted that for many drivers that McLaren-seat would have been really good - but not to such a talent as young Räikkönen was.

According to Sauber switching to Ferrari for season 2007 was okay. He got the WDC but Ferrari would have got an even better Räikkönen at an earlier stage - without the frustration from the McLaren-years.

Sauber was fuming with anger back then when Dennis snatched Räikkönen. He will probably never forgive it...

Back to the original question about how fascinating Räikkönen's possible comeback would be, Sauber did say later on that it would be a really juvenating thing for the sport.

Turun Sanomat, Monza

Courtesy: Nicole

Sauber to drop 'BMW' name this season

Sauber has indicated it will apply to drop the 'BMW' from its official team title at some point during the 2010 season.

Although keeping the same name despite the withdrawal of its former owner, Sauber revealed a new red logo and name - Sauber Motorsport - in the days before last weekend's 2010 season opener.

The 'S' logo and new name was also featured on the engine cover of the Ferrari-powered C29 car in Bahrain.

The acronym of the famous German luxury carmaker, included in tiny letters on the nose of the C29, was retained in order to fully benefit from the commercial rewards of the team's sixth place in the 2009 world championship.

But the result is the awkward FIA constructor designation as BMW Sauber Ferrari, and team boss and founder Peter Sauber said a week ago that the timing of a name change "is still open".

But the 66-year-old Swiss is now quoted as saying by autocar.co.uk: "It (the name change) will happen some time this season."

Source: Motorsport

Vettel: "Too early to say Ferrari are ahead"

It is too soon to say Ferrari has stolen a march on its formula one rivals with the impressive F10 car.

That is the belief of Sebastian Vettel, after the recent eight days of testing at Jerez - and the previous test at Valencia - showed that the red car is arguably the best of the 2010 field.

The German, who drives for Red Bull, said his team as well as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are likely to be "close" together when the circus meets in Bahrain for next month's season opener.

"Ferrari has looked pretty strong," the 22-year-old told Austria's Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

"But all the top teams are making improvements to the cars, so there is more to come," said Vettel.

"It is still too early to assess how strong everyone really is," he added.

But while definitive conclusions might be premature, there are signs emerging about the teams' likely form.

McLaren's Jenson Button followed the new Mercedes car for a time at Jerez last week, and is quoted by Bild am Sonntag as revealing the rear of the W01 as "somewhat nervous" and locking under brakes.

In a form guide, the German newspaper gave full marks to Ferrari, adding that Red Bull is the next-best team followed by McLaren, Mercedes and Force India.

"I would put money on us," Adrian Sutil is quoted as saying, while Sauber, Renault and Williams have also impressed at times.

Peter Sauber told the Swiss newspaper Blick that Toro Rosso "made a strong impression" on him at recent tests with its new STR5 car.

"I think we're (going to be) between 8th and 12th, 8th and 15th," the Faenza based team's Spanish driver Jaime Alguersuari told AS newspaper.

The teenager tipped Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren to be currently at the head of the pecking order.

"I think we are together with Renault, Sauber. We never know what are Mercedes' fuel loads; they can be three or four seconds off the best and sometimes the fastest," added Alguersuari.

Germany's specialist Auto Motor und Sport said the pre-season hierarchy in formula one is as "balanced as it has ever been".

"Even after the third of four tests, no clear favourite for the title has emerged," read a report.

Mercedes' Schumacher said: "Barcelona will be an important test for everyone and give us more information about the performance of our cars."

Source: F1 Complete