Kobayashi confirmed at Sauber for 2011

Kamui Kobayashi will hold onto his Sauber race seat in 2011 after extending his contract with the team.

Kobayashi made his F1 debut at the end of 2009 with Toyota before being snapped up by Sauber ahead of the 2010 season.

"We enjoy having our rookie as part of the team, both as a driver and a person," team principal Peter Sauber said. "We never had any doubts about working with him again in 2011.

"Kamui has definitely fulfilled our expectations in terms of his speed and fighting spirit. Plus, his work with the engineers and his technical understanding has also developed very well. The experience he has built up over his first full season in Formula One will certainly stand him in good stead for 2011. And our aim is to give him a fast and reliable car from the outset next season."

After retiring from six of the first eight races this year, Kobayashi has gone on to score 21 points, 15 more than more experienced team-mate Pedro de la Rosa.

"We had a very difficult start to the season, but we've worked together to pull ourselves out of that situation," Kobayashi said. "I feel very much at home in Peter Sauber's team and am very pleased we'll be working together again in 2011. However, for now I'm focusing 100% on this year. There are still six grand prix weekends to go in 2010, and we'll be hoping to make up more ground."

The statement added that the second driver for 2011 would be announced at a later date with de la Rosa reportedly in talks to retain his seat.

Source: ESPNF1

Comfortable Kovalainen to stay at Lotus

Heikki Kovalainen has admitted he feels more comfortable at Lotus than he did in the last two seasons with McLaren.

The Finn took a big backwards step down the grid with the new Malaysian backed team in 2010, but he told Holland's formule1.nl magazine that he is not complaining.

"Here at Lotus everything feels better," said the 28-year-old, who in 2008 and 2009 was Lewis Hamilton's teammate.

Kovalainen left McLaren late last year declaring that he was not always treated equally by the famous British team.

"I have much more of a feeling that I have things under control now compared to when I was at McLaren," he explained.

"At virtually every race I am 100 per cent sure what setup I need, and the engineers understand me and believe in me," added Kovalainen.

He would not go into detail about his misgivings with McLaren.

"I don't like to complain, but if I knew then what I know now, I would have done a number of things differently," said the winner of the 2008 Hungarian GP.

It is clear that Lotus will field an unchanged driver lineup next year, with Kovalainen again alongside fellow grand prix winner Jarno Trulli.

Technical boss Mike Gascoyne said Lotus decided to pay for two experienced drivers in the quest to unlock the commercial benefits of finishing the 2010 championship in tenth place.

"If there is a crazy race with a big start crash with rain or something," he said, "then Heikki and Jarno are more likely to score than inexperienced, young drivers," he said.

Source: F1 Complete

Massa, Webber, play down rumours about futures

Felipe Massa insists he is not being affected by the speculation predicting his Ferrari tenure will end this season.

The Brazilian's contract runs out this year, and amid rumours that Robert Kubica could be set to replace him in 2011, 29-year-old Massa is currently struggling to match the pace of his new teammate Fernando Alonso.

"For sure I am happy to stay (at Ferrari) if they want me, I trust Ferrari and in the end I have no interest in what people are saying.

"What I care about is working hard and fixing things as quickly as possible," Italian reports quote him as saying.

Corriere dello Sport suggested that Massa might be headed to Red Bull next year, to replace the possibly retiring Barcelona winner Mark Webber.

"In this world you hear so many things every week and every month," said Massa, who became Michael Schumacher's last Ferrari teammate in 2006.

The Massa/Red Bull rumour comes in the wake of Lewis Hamilton's assertion two months ago that 33-year-old Webber might retire at the end of 2010.

It is further rumoured that while Kimi Raikkonen was earlier expected to return to F1 in Webber's place next year, the 2007 world champion might in fact be content to prolong his new world rallying foray.

To Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper, Australian Webber has once again played down the Hamilton comments.

"They came about from when we were on a plane together back from the Japanese grand prix last year," he revealed.

"We were talking about getting the timing right in terms of retirement, in sport in general. When I do call it a day - and I really don't think that it will be at the end of this year - I want to do so on a good note.

"But I'm driving well enough and I believe I can still bring a lot to the plate in the next year or so -- meaning next year," Webber insisted. "I've got a few years in me yet."

Source: F1 Complete

Kubica inks Ferrari 'option' for 2011?

According to the Italian sports daily Tuttosport, there is substance to the rumours linking Robert Kubica with Ferrari.

The Turin-published newspaper believes Renault's Polish driver has signed some sort of document with the Maranello based team.

The report said the "option" on the 25-year-old's services for 2011 must be taken up by Ferrari by July 15 of this year -- between the British and German grands prix.

Kubica told reporters in Barcelona that he is concerned that Renault's closest rivals could catch up or pull away this weekend.

He admitted he was hoping to see "a bigger upgrade" for the R30 in Spain.

"Most of the teams are normally targeting a big upgrade for Barcelona and I hope just they don't bring three, four (tenths), half a second, to here.

"If they do we might be a bit more in trouble but we'll see," added Kubica.

Source: F1 Complete

Ferrari not yet ready to extend Massa deal

Italian media sources have not fully backed reports that Felipe Massa is close to extending his contract with Ferrari for 2011 and beyond.

German and Brazilian reports last week suggested the 28-year-old, whose current contract with the Maranello based team is set to expire, is in talks to stay put for the next three seasons.

But according to some well-placed Italian sources, Ferrari is not in such a hurry to finalise its 2011 driver lineup.

Indeed, when asked about the team's 2011 lineup, a Ferrari spokesman told Italy's Sportevai said the topic is "not currently a priority".

The sources also insist that rumours linking Robert Kubica with a move from Renault at the end of 2010 should not yet be dismissed -- at least this early in the current season.

Finland's Turun Sanomat reports that while Kubica apparently signed a multi-season Renault contract late last year, the 24-year-old Pole may be able to switch to Ferrari as early as 2011, depending on various factors.

Source: Motorsport

Hamilton 'suggested Button as a teammate'

Lewis Hamilton has shed some new light on Jenson Button's surprise move to McLaren by claiming he was the one who urged the team to consider signing the current Formula One Champion


The Woking outfit's decision to team up two high-profile drivers raised quite a few eyebrows in light of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso's frosty partnership during the 2007 season.

Hamilton, though, is adamant that he welcomed Button with open arms and he took things even further during the launch of the new MP4-25 by claiming he suggested to team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

"Something you won't know is that I actually called Martin and said 'What about Jenson?', which was before they had negotiations," said Hamilton.

"At the time I was calling them and asking them, 'What's going on? I keep reading all these different stories about different drivers. What's happening?'

"Fortunately I would be told who they were talking to, but I had absolutely no input into who they would pick.

"So I would say, 'Have you spoken to this person? Have you spoken to Jenson?'.

"And why Jenson? Because he is the best driver there is, and they wanted to get the best driver possible. I just wanted to find out because people kept asking me as to who was going to be my team-mate.

"I was happy with the team-mate I had, but it seemed like they were looking for someone else.

"I want the best team I can possibly have to score the points alongside me," replied Hamilton. "When he's winning I've got to be finishing second, and when I'm winning he's got to be finishing second.

"I need a team. I can't win the Constructors' Championship on my own, so I need to have as strong a team-mate as possible.

"You want someone to push you. I had Fernando (Alonso) pushing me in 2007, and at certain points in the year in 2008, I had Heikki pushing me.

"I've no doubts this year Jenson is going to be hard to beat. His results last year speak for themselves, so in coming here I'm sure he will do a solid job."

Confirming Hamilton was fully supportive of Button's appointment, Whitmarsh said: "As we evaluated the driver market, which we did over a number of weeks, Lewis was consistently positive about Jenson.

"As I think has been made clear, they have a high regard for each other and are already getting on well."

Button's camp has always maintained that he only started discussions with McLaren after negotiations with Brawn broke down at the end of the 2009 season. However, the 30-year-old admitted that he had "talks" with Hamilton before that.

"[Lewis and I] spoke a little bit in Brazil and Abu Dhabi," Button said, "but not about me coming here. I just asked him questions about McLaren. So we spoke a little bit, but he didn't know why I was asking the questions.

"I was just interested then - just being nosy really. I didn't think for one second before Brazil that I would be changing teams. I didn't think the option was there, not before I won the title. But obviously your mindset changes when you win something that you've worked so hard for. Then you look for other challenges."

Source: Planet F1