Latest F1 news in brief
- Rossi rules out switch to replace Massa
- Schu to keep working on race fitness – manager
- Williams still working on KERS system
- BMW still working on F1 team rescue deal
Rossi rules out switch to replace Massa
(GMM) Valentino Rossi insists he has not been offered injured Felipe Massa's Ferrari cockpit, and nor is he available.
"It is a true shame not to see Schumacher back with Ferrari," the Italian rider said in the Czech Republic, ahead of this weekend's round of the MotoGP series.
"In my opinion he could have been in the fight for victory by his second race."
Rossi, 30, has in former times flirted with a switch to F1 with the Maranello based team, but he said he is not close to making the move now.
"I have spoken a lot with Stefano Domenicali in these last days about the return of Schumi," he is quoted as saying by Italy's Tuttosport, "but I have not received an offer.
"Anyway, I cannot go: I can't race motorbikes and F1 at the same time," Rossi added.
Schu to keep working on race fitness – manager
(GMM) Michael Schumacher's manager has refused to rule out the possibility the seven time world champion might return to the wheel of a Ferrari test car in forthcoming months.
"Why not?" Willi Weber is quoted as saying by Sport Bild, having sat in the Geneva press conference this week when Schumacher and his personal doctor said a neck injury prevents the 40-year-old out from immediately replacing Felipe Massa at grands prix.
"Michael can now work in peace and without pressure on his fitness. Then we'll see," Weber added.
Schumacher's doctor Johannes Peil agrees that "test drives away from the public" would be a good next step should the German recover from his injuries enough to put a return back on the agenda.
Schumacher's father Rolf, meanwhile, told Bild-Zeitung newspaper that his son's serious test crash in February convinced him to put aside his motorcycle racing hobby.
"Michael told me he's not going to do any more bike racing," Rolf said, "which was pleasant to hear. Motorcycle racing is so much more dangerous than F1."
Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm, however, responded: "I do not believe that he is going to be racing very soon. But Michael doesn't want to rule anything out completely."
Williams still working on KERS system
(GMM) Williams is still working on its KERS system and planning to debut the technology at some point, according to the team's technical director Sam Michael.
Only Ferrari and McLaren are still persevering with KERS at grands prix this season, and the FOTA alliance of eight current teams have agreed not to use the systems at all next year.
Williams and Force India, however, were expelled from the teams association earlier this year, while the former team has been constantly working on its unique flywheel-based approach to KERS.
A spokesman recently told us that, as a non-FOTA member, Williams is not strictly bound by the 2010 KERS ban.
"We still have a team of people working on KERS, but I don't want to put a date on when we'll run it for the first time," said Michael.
BMW still working on F1 team rescue deal
(GMM) While the F1 world focused on Michael Schumacher's near-comeback, BMW reportedly kept working on trying to rescue its Swiss based grand prix team.
The Munich manufacturer's decision to pull out of the sport at the end of the season roughly coincided with Schumacher's abortive decision to replace Felipe Massa, and it was the latter topic that dominated the headlines of the last two weeks.
It was known that team founder and minor shareholder Peter Sauber's attempt to resume control of the Hinwil outfit failed, and thereafter very little was heard about the BMW issue.
Citing insider information, however, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claims that negotiations between BMW and prospective rescuers have since continued.
The magazine said "several prospective" buyers are in the frame. The BMW insider did not want to give a precise number.