Motorsport: Grand Prix star Herbert set to race for Leeds team

Herbert, 46, will join fellow former Le Mans 24 Hour race winners and GP drivers Mark Blundell (GB) and Stefan Johansson (Sweden) plus Indy 500 race victor Eddie Cheever (USA) in the Birstall-based United Autosports team’s bid for glory.

HerberT will be racing in a an Audi R8 LMS sports car in the Belgian “classic” on July 30 and 31 and cannot wait for the occasion to come around.

“I’ve never competed in the Spa 24 Hours so I’m really looking forward to that aspect as well as competing for United Autosports for the first time and reacquainting myself with Audi,” he said.

“I raced an Audi sports-prototype for a number of years.

“On my first test for United Autosports at Snetterton, I sampled the Audi R8 LMS for the very first time and it was just like driving and sitting in my favourite armchair – so smooth and easy to drive and with such nice power delivery.

“I’m very much looking forward to Spa.

“I attended last year’s Spa race for TV and it was good to see my old F1 buddies Mark, Stefan and Eddie all driving again.

“They did brilliantly well and it’s an absolute privilege for me now to be involved and joining up with these guys.”

Richard Dean, Managing Director & Co-Owner of United Autosports, added: “I have known Johnny since we were 13 and racing karts together – I didn’t get the chance to beat him too often – just the once I recall over a six-year period!


“If you talk to anybody who has worked with Johnny, or raced in the same team as him, they will tell you he is probably the most naturally talented driver they have ever seen.

“Adding a British former GP winner to the United Autosports Spa our serious desire to improve on our 2010 performance at Spa.

Vettel on pole for F1 2011 Monaco GP

Sebastian Vettel will start the F1 2011 Monaco Grand Prix from pole after he put in a scintillating single lap during the final ten minutes of qualifying, but the entire session was overshadowed by a violent accident for Sauber rookie Sergio Perez.

The Mexican had yet to set a flying lap in Q3 when he exited the tunnel off-line and was pitched into the right-hand barrier in much the same way as Nico Rosberg had been during morning practice. Unlike the German, however, Perez was unlucky in that his stricken car slammed broadside into the TecPro barrier protecting the area between circuit and run-off area. A lengthy delay ensued while he was assessed by medical teams and then extracted from the shattered remains of his C30.

The entire right-hand side of the car was demolished, but the cockpit section appeared largely undamaged, and the rookie was reported to be conscious and talking as he was taken to the medical centre.

Vettel held top spot at the time of the red flag stoppage, which came with just over two minutes remaining in the session and lasted for more than quarter of an hour, and while the session did re-start, no-one was able to make any major moves.

That left Jenson Button second on the grid, albeit four tenths shy of the Red Bull, while Button's team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, who had been quickest in both Q1 and Q2, had to settle for seventh. Hamilton appeared to be distracted by Felipe Massa at the start of his first flying lap and while he tried to have another go after Q3 was re-started, he could only gain one spot.

Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso meanwhile will start on row two, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Massa, with Pastor Maldonado claiming the ninth spot for Williams, just behind Nico Rosberg, who did well to get P8, especially given his off in FP3. Perez is provisionally tenth on the grid, although his participation in tomorrow's race is doubtful after his big crash.

Vitaly Petrov was just on the wrong side of the cut-off in Q2 and failed to progress to the top-ten shoot-out. He will start 11th. It was the Lotus Renault GP team's worst qualifying performance of the season, as Nick Heidfeld also went out in the sister car and his lap was good enough only for 16th.

Rubens Barrichello was the other driver not to make the cut and who looked close, but he was bumped late on by his Williams team-mate Maldonado, who made the shoot-out for the second race in a row. Kamui Kobayashi was next up and 13th for Sauber, ahead of the two Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil, while Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was the slowest runner in the second session and will start 17th.

Toro Rosso had a tough time, as Jaime Alguersuari went out in Q1, joining the 'usual suspects' after a collision with Kobayashi that damaged the STR6's front wing. Both were summoned to the stewards after. It remains to be confirmed if they will get any sort of penalty.

Heikki Kovalainen led the expected casualties in Q1 for Team Lotus ahead of his team-mate, Jarno Trulli and then the Virgins of Timo Glock and Jerome d'Ambrosio. Neither of the Hispanias set a time, Vitantonio Liuzzi forced to sit out proceedings after crashing in FP3, while Narain Karthikeyan had a rear suspension issue. The stewards have yet to announce if the HRTs will be allowed to race.

Fernandes to discuss Caterham F1 future

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes says his outfit will soon add more sponsors and work out how to incorporate Caterham into his Formula 1 plans, now that the Lotus naming row has been resolved.

The High Court delivered its verdict on the Lotus naming issue on Friday - when Mr Justice Peter Smith declared that Team Lotus was allowed to keep its name and use the Lotus chassis moniker in F1.

That decision has been welcomed by Fernandes, who says that the ending of uncertainty about his future plans means he can now start working out how best to integrate his Team Lotus and Caterham interests.

"I'm very happy," Fernandes told AUTOSPORT. "This is the final piece of our strategy jigsaw now. We have the Team Lotus name, we have the F1 team, we have goodwill, we have the roundel and we have the jewel in Caterham.

"This decision gives us the strategy to move forward, which we are very, very happy about. We will use the F1 team to provide the car company with exposure, and we are looking at bringing out a couple more brands.

"It's good to get this decision out of the way. And, as tough as it was, I am very happy with the outcome because we would not have got Caterham if this trouble hadn't started."

Fernandes revealed that his outfit will soon announce some major new sponsors now that the naming issue has been resolved - and that he expected further commercial opportunities to open up for him.

"We already have Dell, and we have signed up another big sponsor which we will announce before the Canadian Grand Prix," he said. "There are other sponsors out there who said they wanted to wait until after the court case, so I am hopeful of more in the future."

Fernandes said that the team would sit down soon to sort out how best to incorporate Caterham branding into F1 - with him hoping to have his Team AirAsia GP2 outfit renamed as Caterham as soon as the Valencia round next month.

"We have to see how we work in Caterham and how we maximise the F1 team," he added. "But we are pretty set now - we are green and yellow.

"I plan to include Caterham into the GP2 name and we will be applying to the race organisers for a name change. Hopefully that can be done by Valencia."

When asked how much the Caterham brand would be used in F1, Fernandes said: "There will be some form of bringing it in, but I don't have the answer yet.

"We were waiting for the judgment and it is good we now have clarity. I would like the decision to be a team effort and I will sit down with the senior team members and shareholders and see how it moves forward. Hopefully by Silverstone we can see what we want to do."

Fernandes also said he was not worried about the prospect of Group Lotus attempting to appeal the court's decision.

"They have to get to approval for the appeal to start with, and that may not necessarily be agreed. The shareholders at Group Lotus may also not want to throw another couple of million pounds at it," he said.

"But it is an odd one when you claim victory and then decide to appeal if you are happy with the outcome. We are happy with the outcome, but I suppose desperate men have to do desperate things."

Ferrari F1's technical director steps down

There has been a reshuffle of jobs at the Ferrari Formula One (F1) camp, as one of its support leaders has left his role in order to pursue another within the organisation.

In a public statement, Aldo Costa, the technical director for the squad, was said to have relinquished his position "to take on new responsibilities within the company". Three other men will also see their work change.

Stefano Domenicali is the team principle and will now be the direct boss to director for the chassis Pat Fry, along with Corrado Lanzone and Luca Marmorini. These two look after production and engine and electronics respectively.

These changes may come after last Sunday's (May 22nd's) disappointing result in the Spanish Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso came in fifth, while Felipe Massa had to retire after problems with his gearbox.

Mr Domenicali remarked on some of the problems they faced: "On a track that favours cars that have a lot of aerodynamic downforce, ours are lacking in this area and that was glaringly obvious."

2011 Turkey GP: HRT Formula One (F1) Race Preview

The fourth race on the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar takes the teams to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul Park is one of the few tracks to have an anti-clockwise layout and offers a number of dramatic gradient changes. The circuit is made up of a mixture of slow and fast corners which means that there are plenty of opportunities to overtake. Especially demanding is turn 8 which is a fast, multi-apex corner regarded as one of the toughest on the calendar. Istanbul Park is especially tough on the tyres, meaning that getting your race strategy right could be a decisive factor in the race.

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal: "I believe that the Turkish Grand Prix should see Hispania Racing take the next step. Istanbul Park is a track that, due to its nature, should be favourable for us, add to that the fact that we have aerodynamic and mechanical updates for this race and I think that, if the data is confirmed on track, we should be able to beat our closest rivals."

"Our aim for the weekend is to close the gap with respect to our closest competitors in qualifying and fight for positions in the race, hopefully getting both cars over the finish line. Hispania Racing has made significant progress since the start of the season, we are working very hard to improve and definitely will improve".

"I think that, due to the tyre situation, we should see a very close race, anything is possible. In terms of speed, Red Bull is ahead but you never know what will happen."

"Istanbul is one of the most interesting cities in the world and the track itself has some of the best facilities on the calendar".

Narain Karthikeyan, Driver #22: "I don’t have great memories of this circuit as my only previous visit in 2005 with Jordan GP was marred by mechanical problems but my memories of Turkey itself are great, the people are so nice and the food is fantastic."

"Istanbul Park is a medium to high downforce track so, hopefully with the new aerodynamic upgrades on the car, we’ll be able to find a good balance on the car. The circuit has a great variation of corners and stringing together a perfect lap will be a real challenge. The stand out corner is obviously turn 8, which requires a great amount of precision from both car and driver in order to get it right."

"I hope to continue from where I left off in Shanghai by finishing the race, gathering valuable data and getting closer to optimising the potential of the F111, which I know has a lot more to give. We are moving in a good direction ever since our first race in Malaysia, so I’m sure that with the upgrades due on the car for Turkey, we will take another step forward towards challenging the teams who are just in front of us".

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Driver #23: "Istanbul Park is a very technical circuit where I enjoy racing. I remember back in 2006 when I went from 16th to 6th after a great start but, unfortunately, wasn’t able to finish the race because of a differential problem."

"I expect a vibrant race with a lot of overtaking. The unique thing about this track is curve 8 which is a turn like no other, it’s a very tough curve especially when you’re in a car that doesn’t have a great amount of downforce, it’s very easy to lose your rear and snap out of the racing line."

"I think we should be in much better shape due to the updates arriving here in Turkey and after the time out on the track in the last few races. Every minute on the track is important for us".

"Our target for Turkey is to verify that our updates are working as per plan, closing the gap on the leader and obviously finishing the race ahead of our direct competitors. If everything goes to plan, I think Hispania Racing can surprise a lot of people by closing the gap considerably with respect to other teams thereby showing how serious our intentions of growing are".