MOTORSPORT: Dramatic F1 race on the radar

There has also been another unsightly Lotus squabble, with Group Lotus – the sportscar maker that is now a non-paying sponsor of the former Renault factory team that carries the Lotus name – attacking Caterham, the team which previously raced as Lotus.

All those politics apart, the bright prospect in F1’s very immediate future is the likelihood of rain in this Sunday’s Chinese GP in Shanghai.

So often we have seen much spicier F1 races in the wet, most recently at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit last month which produced Fernando Alonso’s shock win for Ferrari and the brilliant performance of young Mexican Sergio Perez for Sauber.

McLarens start favourites with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, but the time since Malaysia has given rivals a chance to work on improvements to their cars – and Hamilton will be penalised five places on the grid for a gearbox change.

Red Bull Racing will try different exhaust systems on the RB8s of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel today.

“Mark will test an updated version of the set-up we used for the Malaysian GP, while Sebastian will run a pre-season specification,” Red Bell technical director Adrian Newey said. “We have shown good race pace [so far this year] but we need to make a step in qualifying.”

The broad 5.451 km Shanghai track allows plenty of room for overtaking.

Webber is fourth in the world championship after the first two rounds – behind Alonso, Hamilton and Button, and two places ahead of Vettel, with Perez sandwiched between the Red Bull pair.

“Shanghai has been pretty good to me in the past,” Webber said. “I’m yet to notch up my first victory, but I’ve had some memorable podiums, notably the extreme wet race in 2009 and my third place from 18th on the grid last year.”

Vettel’s win in China in ’09 was Red Bull’s first in F1 and in the 54 races since it has scored another 26 victories – a strike rate just below 50 per cent.

However, McLaren has been the pacesetter so far this season, Ferrari has had an unexpected win with its inconsistent F2012, while Mercedes has shown tremendous pre-race pace yet has only Schumacher’s solitary point from Melbourne to show for itself.

Lotus-Renault remains a dark horse and may just jag a win, particularly in conditions like those forecast for China – most likely with Kimi Raikkonen rather than the quick but erratic Romain Grosjean.

It was Lotus that led the opposition to the Mercedes rear wing, but the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has given it the thumbs up.

In the latest Lotus squabble, Group Lotus has admitted it has serious problems in its road car business, although it denied they are anywhere near as bad as rumoured. Group Lotus dismissed suggestions that its new ultimate owner, Malaysia’s DRB Hicom, is close to putting it into financial administration.

However, contrary to indications a week ago – when Lotus team owner Genii Capital’s Gerard Lopez said Malaysia’s Proton, the direct owner of Group Lotus, had given up its option to buy a slice of the team - it seems Proton, which DRB Hicom acquired early this year, may still have rights to buy up to 20 per cent of the team.

All indications are that the Bahrain race, scheduled just a week after Shanghai, will proceed, although tomorrow (Saturday) is said to be the absolute deadline on a decision to call it off.

The Gulf state has been accused of human rights violations in its crackdown on pro-democracy protester. Last year’s race was cancelled before the season began.

Mark Webber was outspoken last year against racing in Bahrain but this time has said he – and other drivers – can only leave the decision in the hands of the FIA.

V8 Supercars avoids Hamilton injunction
The possible legal obstacle to next week’s final V8 Supercar Championship round on the streets of New Zealand city Hamilton has been averted.

V8 Supercars has agreed to contribute to the cost of alternative accommodation for a family who live beside the circuit and had been threatening to seek a High Court injunction.

Painter and decorator Paul Smart and his partner Odette Haitana had a deal with the original Hamilton promoter, Caleta Street Management, that gave them travel to and accommodation in Australia throughout the race weekend.

They said V8 Supercars had refused to continue that arrangement when it took over as promoter and that last year they and their children had felt “like caged animals” in their house.

V8 Supercars initially offered the family six three-day passes to this year’s event but, after branding their claim “baseless and opportunistic”, agreed to contribute to alternative local accommodation as the prospect of legal proceedings neared this week.

However, a claim for compensation for last year – reportedly for $50,000 – is still on the table.

Council demands almost $280,000 from Rally Oz
NSW’s Coffs Harbour Council claims to be owed more than a quarter of a million dollars from last year by Rally Australia, which – as we reported a week ago – is seeking to run in that area every year as part of the World Rally Championship.

Coffs Harbour councillor Mark Graham said this week the outstanding amount was $277,678 and that it was “a massive liability to the ratepayers”.

“We shouldn’t even be thinking about proceeding with further events until all of that money is in council’s coffers,” Graham said. “I understand the Tweed Shire Council [further north in NSW] is owed money from the previous round of the rally [in 2009].”

Toyota hybrid won’t race before Le Mans
Toyota’s quest to win this year’s Le Mans 24-Hour with a hybrid sportscar has had a big setback.

The first of the new TS030 hybrids due to race in the Spa Six-Hour in Belgium on May 5 crashed heavily at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. The car was being driven by Nicolas Lapierre, a countryman and close friend of the French driver in V8 Supercar racing, Alex Premat.

Toyota has declined to specify the cause of the accident but said the damage was too severe to be repaired in time for Spa, meaning the hybrid will go into Le Mans in June trying to beat the dominant Audis without having raced.

Uphill battle for dominant Chevs at Long Beach
It is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in California this weekend – the third round of the IndyCar championship.

However, there is no Toyota representation in the race. The three engine suppliers are Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus. Chevrolet has won the first two rounds of the series, powering Team Penske’s Brazilian Helio Castroneves and Australian Will Power to victory, but no driver with a Chevy motor will start in the top 10 on the streets of Long Beach.

The engines in all 11 Chev-powered entries are being changed after a failure in the Andretti Autosport car of James Hinchcliffe in testing at Infineon Raceway in California.

The rules in IndyCar this year, under which Chevrolet returned to the sport and Lotus came in as another supplier, decree that engine changes before a minimum mileage of 1850 miles (2960km) relegate drivers 10 places further down the grid than they qualify.

That means no Chevrolet driver – Australian Ryan Briscoe is one of them, with Penske, as is ex-F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello, now driving for KV Racing – will start higher than 11th.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…