Barrichello backs Massa to return to form

Rubens Barrichello believes Ferrari's Felipe Massa will return to form if he relaxes and enjoys Formula One rather than stressing about his recent results.

Massa has failed to score a point this season and has now gone 23 races without a podium while team-mate Fernando Alonso has scored 12 top-three finishes in the same period. But Barrichello, who is close to Massa, does not believe his fellow Brazilian has lost any of his ability.

"It's not a speed problem, it's something that he needs to solve within himself," he told Globo Esporte . "He has to close his eyes and enjoy, remembering that he does this because he likes it. Every time that I lost a little bit, it was because I had forgotten that I did it because I liked to. So we have to relax and improve that way. [For Massa] it is just a moment, and every moment and race in Formula One is a cycle of life."

Barrichello, who now races in IndyCar, laughed off the results of a recent fans' poll in the Italian media that showed he would be a popular choice as Massa's replacement at Ferrari.

"It was very unexpected," he said. "Maybe it was a way to see if Italians would pick an Italian driver, and suddenly I win. It is a very public business and shows that I must have left something behind."

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Alonso defends 'complex' F2012

Fernando Alonso insists the new Ferrari is not slow and has played down reports his team is struggling.

While rivals Red Bull and McLaren appeared to get a good understanding of their cars at the first test at Jerez, Ferrari set itself a bigger challenge with a completely new and aggressive design. But Alonso insists his team has not faced as big a struggle as some have made out.

"There has been a tendency, especially from the media, to say that the car is bad and we are not having a good winter, but they don't understand," he told Marca. "We are very calm because the car is very complex and there's no reason to believe that it won't be quick. The thing that is costing all of us is to get back the grip lost at the rear of the car by the blown diffusers ban, but I think it will be recovered soon."

Alonso warned against reading too much into the results at the first three races, let alone the first three tests.

"Australia is a strange race because it's a different circuit, so we will begin to see things from the third race I think," he said. "What is important, if we cannot win immediately, is that no driver wins all three or four."

He added that any predictions ahead of Melbourne were pointless.

"At the moment the conclusions are zero - super-zero," Alonso said. "Hopefully we will not be seventh and everything else is guesswork. It is assumed that Red Bull will not be stuck in Q2 and that McLaren and Mercedes will not be far away, but these are only assumptions. Testing in Barcelona for us ended better than it started, but it's not as though we were in a tunnel and now we see the light. Our team is working hard and well."

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F1 'impossible' for new teams

Alain Prost believes it is "absolutely impossible" for new teams to be successful coming in to Formula One.

Prost bought out Ligier to set up his own team in 1997, with the team managing two podiums in its debut season as it finished sixth in the constructors' championship. The Prost team eventually went bust after the 2001 season, and after Caterham, HRT and Marussia all failed to score a point during their first two seasons Prost said that the sport is too difficult to break in to and be on the pace.

"I will say quite frankly that they cannot become competitive in today's Formula One," Prost told F1News. "It's impossible. They can make some progress, but - of course - you must immediately put the question 'What goals do they pursue?' To break into the top five with a new team like this in formula one - it is absolutely impossible."

It's not just the new teams that struggle in the sport at present, however, as Prost also revealed he tried to help Williams bring in more sponsors during the winter.

"I talk often with Frank Williams, and this winter I even tried to help find him some sponsors, but failed. It's difficult for them as when you get yourself into financial problems, it's so hard to get out of them."

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Ferrari 'stronger' in 2011

Fernando Alonso says that Ferrari has been "stronger" this year than it was in 2010, despite only one grand prix victory.

After just missing out on the drivers' championship last season, Ferrari was expected to provide an even sterner test for Red Bull in 2011. However, it started the season off the pace and while Alonso has finished on the podium nine times his sole victory came at the British Grand Prix. Despite having fallen out of championship contention in Singapore, Alonso believes that Ferrari has learnt from last year's mistakes.

"I will remember it as a not bad season overall from a personal point of view and how the team approached this season, improving in areas where we were weak last year," Alonso said. "The team has been stronger and I feel that with a competitive car next year we can be very strong and fighting for the world championship.

"Last year, our starts and strategies were not so good and we had a conservative approach to the races and we improved in all those areas this year. Now, all we need is the car that can do it."

One such strategy proved costly as Ferrari covered Mark Webber in the championship decider, allowing Sebastian Vettel to snatch the title. Alonso finished the season as runner-up, but says that he is not worried about securing the same position again as people have already forgotten that fact.

"I finished second last year and no one remembers and I won't recall it in ten or twenty years time, so if I finish second, third or fourth this time, it will not be on my mind in the future. It's not a big priority, but we will try and have a good race.

"Maybe there is a possibility of rain on Sunday, which means we might not get the same result as usual with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari always in the top five or six places. If that is the case and we do a good race, maybe I can take some points off Jenson [Button], but maybe I lose points to Webber and finish fourth. It's not so important for us, but maybe it gives me some self confidence for the future seeing myself ahead of drivers in better cars than ours."

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Video

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  A bit of Brazilian magic

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  Vitaly Petrov pre Abu Dhabi GP video...

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  Everybody loves Abu Dhabi

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Following his first race weekend drive of the season, we heard from Romain Grosjean who can hardly wait to return to the car in FP1 in Interlagos.

To hear what he had to say, see below

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Force India not the only option

Adrian Sutil says he has no fears about his future in Formula One, despite arriving at the penultimate race of the season without a contract for next year.

His Force India team has yet to announce its plans for 2012, with Sutil, Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg all under consideration for the two available seats. Sutil has already requested the team make a decision sooner rather than later, but insists Force India is not his only option for next season, with Williams and Renault yet to decide on its drivers too.

"Who says that I am just waiting for Force India?" he was quoted by Autosport on Thursday. "I can survive also somehow in a different way, let's say. I don't think after so many years doing a good job in this team I have to shiver and think about my future, or something. I am relaxed. I like this team. But, if it doesn't work out then I find something else."

Sutil also revealed that he is being kept well-informed on developments by team principal Vijay Mallya, even if he couldn't say exactly why the decision had been delayed.

"We are having a very good relationship since a long time," Sutil added. "He [Mallya] is very loyal to me and I am very loyal to him, so that is important. He told me some things I can't share with you at the moment.

"We all agreed - we want to announce it as soon as possible for both sides. It is also important for the team to announce the drivers as early as possible so they can adjust the drivers for their car for the next season. Everything, when it gets late, you feel it on the performance. Same on me and same for the team - for both sides it would be better to announce it as soon as possible."

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Vitaly Petrov becomes ROC's first Russian driver

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Following on from Lotus Renault GP's third driver and 2011 GP2 series champion Romain Grosjean, Russian Formula 1 star Vitaly Petrov has signed up to compete at the 2011 Race Of Champions in Düsseldorf. Vitaly will become the first driver from Eastern Europe to compete at the event. He joins a star-studded field that includes three F1 world champions for ROC 2011 at Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena on December 3-4.

A podium in this year's first race in Australia was followed by a string of points finishes to leave Vitaly in the F1 world championship top ten.

That form is all the more impressive given that, unlike most of the F1 field, Vitaly did not learn his race craft in karting. Born in the Russian town of Vyborg, he had no easy access to a local kart track so he began competing in rally sprints and ice racing events. But after winning every race in the 2002 Lada Cup, Vitaly was soon on a more conventional road to the top of motor racing via successful years in GP2. Now he has earned an invitation to compete at the Race Of Champions.

Vitaly said: "It was a great honour to be the first Russian driver in Formula 1 – and now I'm delighted to become the first Russian to compete at the Race Of Champions. I've followed the event for a long time and I know that all the drivers claim to be there for fun, while pushing as hard as ever in the cars. I've never raced in an event with such a quick turnaround of machinery but perhaps my unusual background in rally sprints and ice racing can help me. I'll give it my best and see what happens."

The Race Of Champions is an annual end-of-season competition that brings together the world's greatest drivers from all motor sport's disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery on a specially constructed parallel track. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday 3 December, before the individual Race Of Champions takes place on Sunday 4 December.

ROC race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: "We're always aiming to expand our horizons at the Race Of Champions so we're thrilled to have our first Russian driver on board. Vitaly had a great GP2 career and he has carried that over to Formula 1 in the past two years. We look forward to seeing him take on ROC's best in December."

Competing alongside Vitaly and Romain will be Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button amongst others.