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F1: Toro Rosso Pair Share Silence On Malaysia Flight

Sebastien Buemi has hinted that a frosty edge has grown on his relationship with Toro Rosso teammate Jaime Alguersuari.

Before the start of the season, with Daniel Ricciardo expected to take one of their seats for 2012, Spaniard Alguersuari admitte


Sebastien Buemi has hinted that a frosty edge has grown on his relationship with Toro Rosso teammate Jaime Alguersuari.

Before the start of the season, with Daniel Ricciardo expected to take one of their seats for 2012, Spaniard Alguersuari admitted 2011 will be "war" with Buemi.

In Australia, 22-year-old Buemi reacted angrily when the sister STR6 collided with him at the start, only for Alguersuari to then reveal it had been his teammate at fault for the mysterious clash with Nick Heidfeld.

The correspondent for Blick newspaper reveals that on the Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur flight this week, Buemi sat directly in front of Alguersuari but they endured "over 12 hours of silence".

"We spoke after his foul in Melbourne," Buemi revealed.  "We both had a different opinion.  I hope he does the right thing now and respects me."

"I don't want to say any more about it," he added.

Meanwhile, Swiss Buemi benefitted from the disqualification of Switzerland's F1 team Sauber in Australia, moving up two places in the lower points.

"I feel sorry for the Swiss team," he admitted, "but they are fast enough that they will succeed again soon.

"I think that in 2011 we will have a good fight with Sauber and also Williams," continued Buemi.

(GMM)

Calls For Safety Tweak After Interlagos Fatality

Leading Brazilian touring car driver Caca Bueno is calling for urgent safety improvements at the Interlagos F1 circuit.

At the wet Sao Paulo venue on Sunday, stock car driver Gustavo Sondermann lost control near the end of the lap at the Curva do Cafe corner that in recent times has been unofficially dubbed 'Tamburello de Interlagos'.

'Tamburello' is a reference to Imola's notorious sweeping corner that was radically reprofiled after Ayrton Senna was killed there in 1994.

At the fast-left Curva do Cafe in 2007, Rafael Sperafico was killed after he bounced off the wall and into the path of a competitor, and in February a motorcycle rider also died at the corner.

Now, Sondermann has succumbed to his injuries after an almost identical crash to Sperafico's.

"The circuit is very good, the best in the country and internationally approved, but we have a serious problem there," Bueno said in an interview with TV Globo.

"We need to make a change and the ideal one would be an escape area," he added.

Former F1 driver Luciano Burti, a Sao Paulo native, agrees.

"We need to find the room for that, like bringing down the bleachers for some run-off.  Safety must come first.

"The solution exists and we need unity to make the changes before the next thing happens there," he told SporTV.

(GMM)

Montezemolo Tipped To Enter Politics And Leave Ferrari

Luca di Montezemolo is on the cusp of entering Italian politics and it could mean he vacates his role as Ferrari president.

Mere days ago, the famous Maranello marque's board of directors reinstated 63-year-old Montezemolo for the next three years.

But the latest suggestion is that Montezemolo has definitely decided to enter politics.

"I do not think this is one of the key questions of Italian politics," said Roberto Formigoni, the President of the Lombardy region.

"But if someone from civil society enters politics I will welcome him," he added when asked about the Montezemolo rumours.

And Montezemolo told Max magazine, published on Tuesday: "We need a managerial class to enter politics to give, not to take.

"We must start working together as a team and spread the culture of all-inclusive group work."

The Italian racing magazine Autosprint quoted Massimo Cacciari, the former Venice mayor, as saying Montezemolo has already made his decision "but first we must arrange things with his Ferrari".

The report tipped Lapo Elkann, the 34-year-old brother of Fiat chairman John Elkann, to succeed Montezemolo, supported by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

(GMM)

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