Latest F1 news in brief
- Schumacher 'deserves support' says Mercedes' Haug
- Mercedes not worried about Schumacher motorcycle test
- Red Bull should replace Marko with Tost – Stuck
- Jose Maria Lopez targets F1 debut in 2011
- Verstappen would have 'trodden on' Vettel's front wing
- Webber insists wing saga now over
Schumacher 'deserves support' says Mercedes' Haug
(GMM) Norbert Haug has played down the latest criticisms of Michael Schumacher's performance in 2010.
Eddie Jordan, the seven time world champion's first F1 employer back in 1991, this week described the German's decision to return to the sport as a "huge personal error".
"To pitch yourself against young men 20 years younger than you is simply against the laws of physics and medicine," the Irishman told Germany's Sport Bild.
Mercedes' competition director Haug hit back: "He (Schumacher) deserves our support, he fits with our team, he still has the speed.
"We believe in him, and so do his fans," he added.
Schumacher, 41, has written off his chances of winning the current championship, but he thinks his performance hasn't been too bad in 2010.
"I'm pretty happy with myself," said the German.
"We have made a few mistakes and there are some things we can improve, but all in all … I don't think there are many who can return after a three year break at the age of 41," added Schumacher.
Mercedes not worried about Schumacher motorcycle test
(GMM) Norbert Haug has insisted he is not concerned about Michael Schumacher's latest motorcycle outing.
According to the Cologne tabloid Express, the seven time world champion this week rented the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France in order to privately ride his 190 horse power Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade.
Also riding at the track were the 41-year-old's friends including Luca Badoer and Sebastien Loeb.
Schumacher had to call off his intended return to F1 last year because he was still recovering from injuries sustained in a motorcycle testing crash.
But Haug, Mercedes' competition boss, said he is not worried the same thing might reoccur.
"Michael can deal with the risk, and so can we," Haug is quoted as saying.
Express also reported that Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn is this week on a four-day fishing vacation in Norway.
Red Bull should replace Marko with Tost – Stuck
(GMM) Hans-Joachim Stuck has slammed the front wing affair involving Red Bull at Silverstone.
German Stuck, a former grand prix driver and now motor sport boss for Volkswagen, said: "What the team management did in Britain was an absolute outrage".
A furor was sparked after it emerged that team boss Christian Horner ordered the new front wing fixed to Mark Webber's car be transferred to the sister RB6 driven by Sebastian Vettel.
Stuck believes the incident has all the hallmarks of the influence of Red Bull's motor sport consultant and Austrian Dr Helmut Marko.
"Christian Horner is just a puppet, the strings for Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz are pulled solely by Marko," he wrote in his column for the TZ newspaper.
"And whoever decided to take the new wing away from Webber qualified for his final pension," added Stuck.
"Mateschitz must respond by putting in a new man at Red Bull," he said, recommending the current team boss of Red Bull's second formula one team for the job.
"(Franz) Tost is in every respect one of the best managers in formula one," said Stuck.
Jose Maria Lopez targets F1 debut in 2011
(GMM) Jose Maria Lopez has not given up on formula one.
Before the American outfit folded, the 27-year-old Argentine and his sponsors had signed up to race for USF1 in 2010.
Lopez returned to Argentina to race in the TC2000 touring car series, but at Silverstone last weekend was spotted in the formula one paddock with his manager Victor Rosso.
According to the El Diario Hoy newspaper, the pair had a series of meetings with F1 teams to disclose their available budgets for the 2011 season.
The newspaper said meetings took place with Renault, HRT, Virgin, Lotus, Williams and Sauber.
Verstappen would have 'trodden on' Vettel's front wing
(GMM) According to Jos Verstappen, Red Bull Racing escaped mildly with Mark Webber's reaction to the front wing saga at Silverstone.
The former grand prix driver, who was once Michael Schumacher's number two teammate at Benetton, said he would have been furious if the wing on his car had been given to his teammate shortly before qualifying.
"Mark felt poorly treated by the team leadership, and I can fully understand his anger," Verstappen wrote in his column for the De Telegraaf newspaper.
"By doing this, the management was asking for trouble.
"I honestly don't know how I would have reacted in Webber's shoes. I probably would have trodden on the wing; if I'm not allowed to use it, then neither can he," said the former Arrows and Minardi driver.
Actually, Australian Webber reacted by declaring on the radio – heard by millions of live television viewers – that his Silverstone win was "not bad for a number two driver".
"It gave a clear indication that the limit had been passed," Verstappen continued.
"And he obviously knew that a comment like that would have much more impact than if he had taken up the issue only internally."
Webber insists wing saga now over
(GMM) Mark Webber has revealed that he and the Red Bull team have "cleared the air" in the wake of the Silverstone front wing saga.
After reacting angrily to losing the newest specification wing to his teammate Sebastian Vettel before qualifying, the Australian declared on the radio after winning the race that it was "not bad for a number two driver".
But in a written statement, the 33-year-old says he now accepts that Red Bull's reasons for the wing switch were sound.
And Webber said his obvious "disappointment" at the British grand prix was due to Vettel receiving the wing "for reasons which were not clearly explained" at the time.
"Obviously I can see why a team may at certain points have to favor a driver with more points in the championship, if there are only enough resources to fully support one of us," he said.
"We've already debriefed the race weekend at the factory and have cleared the air."
Webber said he acknowledged that some of his comments at Silverstone were "said in the heat of the moment which, with hindsight goggles on, probably shouldn't have been said".
"Formula one is a highly charged and fiercely competitive arena where emotions and adrenalin do run high from time to time like in many sports and my comment on the radio after the race was an example of Australian sarcasm either at its best or worst depending on how you choose to take it," he added.
And he insists that his relationship with team boss Christian Horner is intact.
"We're friends and have a strong mutual respect which continues and extends to other activities, such as our GP3 team and interest in finding and nurturing young racing talent," said Webber.
"The respect within the team extends to the drivers. I know I have a very good driver as a teammate and I wouldn't want it any other way.
"Seb and I are not enemies, we're just two drivers that are pushing hard and want to do the best for ourselves and the team, it's as simple as that."