After spending three years away from the racing tracks the German driver decided that was time for a comeback and he signed a 3 year contract with Mercedes AMG.

SID news agency compiled a survey to see how many people believe that Schumacher will retire from F1 this year and 55.4 believe that the Kaiser will retire while 26.2 think that he will remain for at least one more year.

After 91 victories in Formula 1, Michael has only collected two points this year and he was forced to abandon in three out of the five races so far in 2012, while his teammate has been a lot more consistent and scored a great victory for Mercedes in China.

But not everyone thinks that Schumacher will quit. Telegraph respondent Tom Cary said:

“I do not think we can write off Schumacher just yet. His pace was not bad and he started the season very well. He was unlucky in a couple of races, the wheel came loose while running second in China, where he could have scored a lot of points. He’s making mistakes in the wheel to wheel fights, but if he could win a race, or have a few good results we could see him continue in 2013.”

The Japanese driver bounced back from a hydraulic issue in qualifying for Spain, which left him 9th on the grid, to finish 5th after passing McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg drivers with no help of the DRS. He reckons the Sauber F1 Team can expect even more on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.

"I think our car will be better in Monaco than it was last year, because it has improved in slow corners," said Kobayashi. "In 2011 I finished fifth, so the target should be to finish higher up this year. However, even if you are given the best car in Monaco, in the end a lot is down to the driver to get the ultimate tenths of a second out of it."

Kobayashi thinks the nature of the current season, which has seen five different teams winning the first five races, points to the fact that Sauber too can fight for good results if it delivers a perfect weekend and has no doubts that many other winners will line up before the end of the season.

"We have seen five different winners in five races. So you could say almost everything is possible this year," he explained. "I believe we have a good car and good chances for good results. “

"The final outcome always depends on a lot of factors. But what you have to do for success is to get every small thing perfectly right over the entire weekend. And this is what I’m aiming at."

Commenting on the improvements to his C31 that were delivered in Spain, Kobayashi said:

"I think we have improved in the areas we wanted to. The car is better balanced through the corners now. In terms of stability I would say it is about the same, but stability always depends a lot on the track conditions."

Info: Racer.com

Their F1 season so far has been dominated by issues, including pit stop problems in Bahrain that forced them to make some personnel changes, and then again in Spain.

Plus, they managed to under-fuel Lewis Hamilton’s car on Saturday, causing Lewis Hamilton to have his pole position removed and forced to start from the back of the grid – but even if they had put enough fuel, he would still have got the fastest qualifying time.

It’s has been a source of major frustration for the team and its fans, with many championship points lost from avoidable errors.

So it’s no wonder that Whitmarsh wants to put an end to their problems that have plagued them so far this year:

“One mistake can do it, and we have made some. It is painful, frustrating and difficult in the team, and we get a fair amount of external scrutiny and criticisms. But believe me, we are much harder on ourselves and it is reasonable to be criticised if you are not getting it right. We have complex processes, and lots of challenges, but we must concentrate and focus to not make mistakes. It is not magic. It is doing our job and doing it correctly.”

However, Martin also underlines the importance of tyre management in races, something that Lewis did a fantastic job on Sunday despite his many overtaking maneuvers:

“There is no magic in F1. You have to work hard, look at the data, understand and study it, and then try and effect control once you have got the data. Once you have got the understanding, then delivering what you want to ensure you get the best out of those tyres is the next part of that challenge – and we have got some views and ideas. But with every race that goes by, perhaps we are left with a few more questions than we thought we had at the beginning of the weekend.

We are learning something, but I don’t think there is anyone here who convinces me that they understand these tyres and knows comfortably and confidently how to exploit them on a regular basis. It has become an incredible feature of this championship and, inadvertently or otherwise, it is creating the extraordinary season that we are seeing.”

We have had such an unpredictable season so far, and Whitmarsh doesn’t believe that the unpredictability will die away soon:

“I would like to see it settle down in our favour, but I don’t think we can rely on it. I think this is going to run and run – and this is going to be a great season. There will be moments of extreme agony and frustration for us, but it is great for everyone out there and that is how it should be.”

Source: Autosport

“I think Kimi (Raikkonen) will be the sixth different winner in the sixth race,” said Finnish commentator and former driver Mika Salo, to the MTV3 broadcaster.

Although the results in 2012 have proved impossible to predict so far, many paddock pundits expected Lotus’ E20 to be the car to beat last weekend in Barcelona. “The big surprise was when Kimi didn’t win,” admitted former Ferrari driver Salo, referring to Pastor Maldonado’s victory for Williams.

Also confident about Lotus’ potential is Raikkonen’s teammate, Romain Grosjean, who finished behind the 2007 world champion last weekend. “It’s good to be a little disappointed with third and fourth,” he told the French language RMC Sport. “It shows that as a team we are convinced we can win.”

According to the reigning world champion team Red Bull’s drivers, however, there is a downside to this year’s impossible-to-predict F1 landscape. “Maybe we will see an HRT or a Marussia on pole in Monaco,” world champion Sebastian Vettel said, unenthusiastically and half-seriously. Mark Webber insists that what has been described as the Pirelli ‘lottery’ might not be a good thing for the sport. “I don’t know if they (the fans) will get sick of seeing so many different winners,” the Australian told Fox Sports. “It’s nice to have different winners but also we want rivals.”

Info: GMM

Have your say:

Following the bad news Jaime signed up to comment some of the 2012 Formula 1 races with BBC and later on he received a very good offer from Pirelli to become one of their test drivers.

Now the youngest driver in history to get into an Formula 1 car said into an interview for the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that he has all figured out for the 2013 Formula 1 Season.

After he remain without a drive in 2012 all seemed very complicated and almost impossible to make a comeback for 2013 but Jaime remained optimistic about his chances:

“I’m happy. This was a completely necessary step into my life, a transition year in which I am learning so much. I am developing a product that nobody knows and that is vital for Formula 1: to know the tires and how to understand them. I chose to be with Pirelli because it was the best choice and I know that the tires are extremely important in Formula 1, they were last year and this also one must know how to manage them well and in the best way possible. I’m in the right place  and I have the external point of view because I am also with BBC commenting races. I am having a moment of my life completely necessary and I look forward to returning next year. “

This year’s F1 championship is more even than ever, and that is something positive for the sport. “With the new regulations the blown diffuser was banned and that made everyone lose an efficient aerodynamics load, some more than others but this creates a more balanced and equal time table. Between the first and the fifteenth is a second and a half now while last year this difference would have been between the pole and the seventh. Now with the new regulations is down to the driver and the tyre to make the difference. The tyre because you have to know how to manage them, and a minimum change in strategy can bring you great performance. The strategies are essential now and this is because there is very little difference between the cars.”

Talking about his past time with Toro Rosso Jaime said that is already a closed chapter and he is focusing only on 2013:

“I’m in the prime of my life. I always say that what does not kill you makes you stronger and Toro Rosso has not killed me, so it made ​​me stronger. Red Bull has given me everything for six years. I know where I go; I know where I’ll be next year. In addition, at 22yo I’m in the best physical and mental form and I have no doubt in my abilities and what I can do.”

Info: La Vanguardia

Up until now Ferrari have been very supportive of Massa, despite the Brazilian only getting 2 points this season in comparison to Alonso’s 61.

After a disaster start for the driver, with Massa only finishing 15th on Sunday, it finally looks like Ferrari are getting tired of his performance. The team have publicly demanded an immediate improvement starting in Monaco in two weeks’ time.

While they acknowledge that the driver has been unlucky at times, the Italian outfit have detailed the vast difference in performance for Felipe Massa compared to Fernando Alonso in the first five races in 2010, 2011 and 2012, all the years that Alonso has been at the team.

And it’s not a pretty sight for Massa. In those three years, Alonso has scored 67, 51 and 61 compared to Massa’s 49, 24 and 2.

This is a big sign that Ferrari are starting to lose patience, and must be looking at alternative drivers to be teammates with Alonso if Massa doesn’t turn his season around as soon as possible.

Will we be calling Felipe Massa the ex-Ferrari driver in two weeks’ time? We shall see…

Source: Scuderia Ferrari

During the 2012 season Bottas has 15 Friday practice runs into Bruno Senna’s car and he’s also managed by the Williams investor Toto Wolff who recently got a nice contract for his wife Susie Wolff with Williams too. This week Williams F1 announced a new partnership with two major Finnish companies.

The companies in question are Wihuri and Kempi. Wihuri is a business enterprise that has backed up Bottas since 2006 while Kempi is a welding manufacturer that has been sponsoring the young driver since 2008.

In a press release Sir Frank Williams said: “We are delighted to welcome Wihuri to our portfolio of partners, They have provided considerable support to Valtteri in his career thus far and to partner with a company that shares a family structure and strong heritage is greatly satisfying. We are all looking forward to working with them in the future.”

Bottas driver role in 2013 would not be all about funding because if we are to look at the practice sessions times he already out-performed Maldonado in two out of four sessions they’ve shared.

The fact that Bottas has demonstrated better pace on several occasions this season despite his relative lack of experience with the car bodes well for his future with the Williams team.  Presuming that Bottas gets the widely expected promotion – Bruno Senna is on a one-year contract with Williams this season – it will be the first time since the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix that three Finnish drivers have lined up on the Formula One grid.

Info: GP Week, Image: Williams F1/LAT

You have till Thursday to win this great British Formula 1 prize! 2008 and 2009 were classic F1 seasons that saw some fantastic races and a British driver winning championship gold.

In the 2008 Formula 1 season, Briton Lewis Hamilton and Brazilian Felipe Massa battled it out for the world championship all the way up till the last race, with Hamilton moving up into a championship winning position on the final corner of the final lap to take the drivers’ title in only his second year in F1.

And then 2009 saw major regulation changes with Brawn GP, risen from the ashes of Honda, leapfrogging to the front of the pack with Briton Jenson Button, in his tenth season in Formula 1,  finally coming out on top to win the drivers’ championship ahead of team mate Rubens Barichello and both Red Bull drivers.

So in order to be in the chance to win this very British prize, there are up to two very easy ways you can enter:

1. Like our Facebook page and publicly share this Facebook post.

2. Follow us @TheFormula1Blog and tweet the following message:

Win F1 Season Review 2008 & 2009 DVDs! Tweet this message & follow @TheFormula1Blog to enter! http://bit.ly/f1review – (UK Only) #competition

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This competition is open to anyone living in the United Kingdom only. We’re sorry to have to exclude some of our readers this time but there will be plenty more competitions available to you guys soon!

Twitter users must have at least ten followers to enter. When entering via Facebook, you must set the status sharing to PUBLIC so that we can verify that you entered – otherwise we won’t know!

You can enter a maximum of one daily Twitter entry and one daily Facebook entry. If you enter via Twitter more than once, or Facebook more than once on a single day, only one entry for each will be counted.

This competition is open from today (Tuesday the 8th of May 2012) and will close on Thursday the 17th of May 2012 at 20:00 BST. The winner will then be chosen at random and will be contacted via their winning entry method within 24 hours of the competition closing. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours are being contacted, a new winner will be randomly chosen.

Good Luck!

McLaren celebrate Lewis Hamilton's drivers' championship win in Brazil

Brawn GP celebrate their drivers' and constructors' world championship wins

Images: Sutton Images

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Schumacher, seven times world champion, could be heard branding Brazilian Senna an "idiot" on his team radio after the crash but race stewards found him at fault.

The showcase Monaco Grand Prix, which Schumacher has won five times in his career, is on May 27. Overtaking on the tight and twisty circuit is extremely difficult, putting a premium on grid position.

Schumacher, who drives for Mercedes, and Senna of Williams both had to retire after the crash on lap 13 of 66 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Schumacher, 43, has failed to recapture past glories since coming out of retirement in 2010. He has picked up only two points from five races this season while team mate Nico Rosberg won in China last month.

Williams’ driver Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela won the grand prix, giving his team their first victory since Brazil 2004.

Info: Reuters

It was an afternoon filled with problems. Sebastian Vettel had a drive through for speeding under a yellow flag, and both drivers had to change their front wing.

Sebastian did manage to had a quick surge in pace towards the end however, and he managed to overtake both McLaren drivers and Rosberg very quickly.

Vettel is now level on points with Fernando Alonso at the top of the table, while Mark Webber is behind in fifth.

Sebastian Vettel: “It was difficult race and a hard day in the office. I’m not entirely happy, we could have finished maybe one position higher up, but we had a good recovery in the end. We were definitely stronger towards the end of the race and it was good fun, but when it’s up and down and up and down, it’s quite difficult. I don’t know what the problem was when we had to change the nose of the car; I wasn’t sure if I had damage or something stuck at the front – maybe a piece of rubber or something. I tried another lap, but it wasn’t the right thing to do, so we decided to come in and change the nose to make sure. It lost us some time, but it was the right thing, as I was told there was some damage to the front left of the wing.”

He may be smiling, but it was a disappointing race for Vettel

Mark Webber: “It was an interesting race and a difficult first lap. I don’t know where I got damage to my front wing, but I had to pit for a new nose. I lost a lot of time with that – and on the few laps before when it started playing up. We had to pit and when you’re out of position here it’s tough – you have to look after your tyres and when you catch people your tyres get killed, so it’s chicken and egg. If you push past them, you have to pit earlier and commit to another stop. It was a mystery with the pace; I was stuck behind Force India, you see the McLarens weren’t doing so much and Seb was just chipping away.”

A "mystifying" lack of speed makes for an unpleasant race for Webber

Christian Horner: “A difficult afternoon. Unfortunately Sebastian had a drive-through penalty for an incident under a yellow flag, which I believe is because he had the DRS open. We also had front wing damage on both cars that necessitated two nose changes. Despite that, it was a strong recovery from Sebastian to finish sixth, passing two McLarens and Rosberg in the closing stages and, as a result, we leave here still leading both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships. For Mark it was a tough race with the wing change early on and then unfortunately a mystifying lack of pace, which resulted in him spending a lot of the race looking at the back of Nico Hulkenberg’s car. So, there is plenty to understand; we have done five races now and had five winners from five different teams. Congratulations to Pastor Maldonado, but especially to Sir Frank and the Williams Team on a well deserved victory today.”

Info and Images: Red Bull Racing

However, despite the penalty, Lewis managed to have an excellent race, and gained a massive sixteen places in the race, despite the track being well known for a lack of overtaking opportunities.

Jenson Button had a very different race and a lack of balance and grip plagued him today.

But the team are keeping optimistic, knowing that Monaco is next on the calendar in two weeks!

Lewis Hamilton: “I’m proud of my performance today, and proud of the team too. They did a great job: a real improvement with the pitstops, following our difficulties in that area recently. All in all, then, I think today’s result was the best we could do. I was the only driver to attempt a two-stop strategy, and I’m glad I was able to made it work. People often say that I have an aggressive driving style, but my final stint on the Prime tyre was 31 laps, so I reckon I proved today that I can make tyres last. It was a huge challenge to come through the field from the back, but I never gave up for a single second, right  up to the finish line. Before the race I said I’d race my heart out, and that’s exactly what I did. For me, that’s what racing is all about. Today was all about damage limitation. But, now, looking at the bigger picture, I can’t really complain because, despite the setbacks I’ve had this season, I’m still only eight points behind the leader of the drivers’ world championship. The team has been working extremely hard, and our car is quick. So, when things go right, I think we’ll be in a great position – and it’ll come to us before too long. Finally, big congratulations to Pastor [Maldonado] and everyone at Williams – it’s a fantastic result for them and this is a great day for him personally.”

Jenson Button: “Congratulations to Pastor! His was a great drive and I’m sure it will instil a lot of confidence in him and the Williams team. The Formula 1 form-book is very mixed-up at the moment, which is unusual, but that’s the way it appears to be going this season. As for us, well, a lot of my afternoon was spent stuck in traffic, and I had a Sauber breathing down my neck for most of the race. All in all, we weren’t quite quick enough today – but that’s something I need to solve myself. I need to find a set-up that suits me better as I feel like I have pretty poor grip at the moment. Having said that, I’m already looking forward to Monaco and a much better weekend there. It’s a circuit I love and hopefully a place where we can achieve a good result.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: “Before I say anything else, I want to offer my very hearty congratulations to Williams, to Pastor and particularly to Sir Frank for a stunning victory here today. For Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, following our disappointments yesterday, today was always going to be about recovery. Even so, Jenson will be disappointed: he struggled with balance and grip all afternoon, and won’t be satisfied with the brace of world championship points that his ninth place delivered him. Lewis, having started in 24th and last place following his qualifying penalty yesterday, drove an absolutely storming race to eighth place at the chequered flag, all but catching and passing Nico [Rosberg] for seventh place on the final lap. Like Jenson, he won’t be content with the four world championship points he earned this afternoon, but in truth he should be immensely proud of his performance here. Lewis was the only driver to make a two-stop strategy work today – and that, given that his race strategy called for him to drive exceptionally hard and extremely fast in heavy traffic all afternoon, pulling off some sensational passing manoeuvres on a circuit on which overtaking is notoriously difficult, was a truly magnificent feat.

Make no mistake about it, the 2012 Santander Spanish Grand Prix was one of the most impressive races that Lewis has ever driven. His performance combined fabulous verve with commendable caution – and I’d go so far as to say that, rising above the frustration he inevitably felt yesterday evening, he’s inspired each and every one of us at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes with his stirring drive today. He’s only eight points behind the leader in the Drivers’ World Championship, and he loves the Monaco Grand Prix, the next stop on the World Championship calendar. Jenson, too, is a past winner at Monte-Carlo, and, like Lewis, he’ll approach the dauntingly tortuous streets of the famous Principality with the forceful precision that marks out both our drivers as the superb World Champions that they are. They’ll both be aiming to win, of that you may be sure.”

Info & Image: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Kimi and Romain finished in third and fourth position respectively to move the team within 14 points of second place in the F1 Constructors’ Championship.

Both cars started on used sets of yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Romain changed to a set of used softs on lap 10, then made two further stops for new silver-marked hard tyres on laps 26 and 51. Kimi pitted for a set of used softs on lap 11, then fresh sets of hards on laps 27 and 48.

Kimi Räikkönen: “I had a very good start and had a chance to overtake on the outside, but we did not have enough speed and I hit the limiter in fifth gear. I am a bit disappointed because if everything had gone right in the first part of the race, we could have won. There was no issue with the speed of the car, but it is so close between all the teams that if you have a small problem or a small issue it can cost so much. Our car can do it, but everything has to fall into the right place to be able to get on to the top step. My first stint was okay, but I didn’t have the speed to stay with the cars in front. We changed the tyres and it seemed to be pretty good, but we were too far away. At the end we needed a few more laps and we could have fought for the win. We’re not far away from it and so far we’ve made good steps forwards; the car feels strong everywhere.”

Romain Grosjean: “We lost position at the start and with it a bit of front wing too! It was cooler today which didn’t suit us so much. Despite this, I am very happy with P4 especially when you look at yesterday where I missed all of the final practice session. Both cars finishing strongly in the points is great for the team. It was pretty difficult for me at the start of the race as it was hard to get the front working properly with the wing damaged, but we made some changes and at the end of the race the car was really flying. I think we made the right decisions today; if you told us we could finish third and fourth at the beginning of the weekend we’d have taken it.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “It’s a very strong result and it’s a great reward for the team today. I think we can expect a stronger season than we had last year and we need to carry on scoring points as we have in the last two races. I’m sure a win could arrive at some point this season. After qualifying you build expectations, and we could have expected after the strong race pace we had in Bahrain that we could have done the same here, but it was not the case. A race incident at the start didn’t help Romain, but the pace of both drivers at the end of the race illustrated our potential. Finally, we must say congratulations to the Williams team for their win, and we hope no-one was seriously hurt in the post-race incident in their pits.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations: “Third and fourth is a really good result for the team and it meant a big points haul here – more than any other team this weekend – which helps us to close up hugely on second place in the standings. Of course, it would have been nice to have done better, but the key to a strong championship campaign is consistency and if we can finish third and fourth in every race this season we’ll be very happy. We didn’t have the pace to win today, that much was clear after the first stints. We tried to push our stints out and be quick at the end. We were, and it nearly paid off.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader: “It was a great race with another podium and fourth position to move us a lot closer to second in the championship. We introduced new engines after Friday practice and it went well. We managed the fuel consumption effectively on both cars in the race, but in Romain’s we had some engine air consumption in the middle stint. Congratulations to Pastor and our Renault colleagues working at Williams today – a well deserved win.”

Info & Images: Lotus F1 Team