F1: Drivers To Discuss Hamilton ‘Weaving’ In China, Kubica Wants Title-Winning Renault

LEWIS HAMILTON will find himself a major topic of the pre-event drivers' briefing in Shanghai.

After the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, Renault boss Eric Boullier was critical of FIA stewards' decision to merely warn the British driver for an incident during the Sepang race.

The 2008 world champion weaved several times on a straight while Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov was following him closely and trying to pass.

Speaking with the media in China on Thursday, F1 statesman Rubens Barrichello said he would have given the 25-year-old Briton a "bollocking" if Hamilton had tried the same moves during a wheel-to-wheel battle with him.

"It wasn't right," said the Brazilian, acknowledging that the McLaren driver is likely to argue that the moves were not made under braking.

He said: "But the drivers have an agreement, sort of an agreement - obviously a verbal agreement, nothing that has been signed - that you should move only once during the protection of your line.

"For me it was a Formula Ford thing. It shouldn't have been done, to be honest," added the Williams driver.

Robert Kubica also criticised Hamilton's driving on Thursday.

"The way he drove was not right -- I thought something should have been done. According to the rules, I think there should have been a penalty.

"Reading the regulations, I'm clear. Watching Malaysia, I'm not so clear," he added.

Mark Webber, an experienced member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, tipped the issue to be "tidied up" when the drivers congregate for their pre-race briefing in Shanghai.

"You won't see Lewis doing that again in a hurry," the Australian said, amid suggestions that the stewards - assisted by well-known former drivers this year - are being more lenient in 2010.

"That was a new style, if you like, going down the straight like that –- and one that I think will be tidied up," Webber added.

(GMM)

Kubica Wants Title-Winning Renault

WITH UNCERTAINTY RISING around Felipe Massa's contract at Ferrari, Robert Kubica is increasingly mentioned as his most likely successor.

Renault however has a multiple-year contract with the 25-year-old Pole, who, after switching from BMW-Sauber, has been a standout of the season so far.

But Italian sources have indicated that a move to Ferrari for 2011 is not out of the question for Kubica.

The highest placed driver not at the wheel of a Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes in the 2010 World Championship, Kubica told Switzerland's Blick: "I want to be champion, no matter what car I drive."

Several times in recent days, the 2008 Canadian GP winner has been mentioned as rueing his time with BMW and insisting he is much happier at Renault this season.

"When I was the championship leader in 2008, they helped Heidfeld to make up his gap rather than concentrate on me. It was amateurish.

"I knew I had to leave as soon as I could," Kubica said.

He told Italy's Autosprint that, after spending another season with BMW last year, he is much more at home with Renault.

"I think the atmosphere around you, and the trust that you have with the people you're working with, is very important.

"Today I feel the team's confidence in me and I feel like I have more energy than in previous seasons. I feel better, even though it is not the car of my dreams," Kubica said, referring to the yellow and red R30.

He said good results in Melbourne and Malaysia, including a podium, were helped by "luck". "Both times the starts were decisive and offset our problems of qualifying.

"But we can't always rely on this from our opponents," he added. "Before trying to crack the top four teams, we have to be wary of Force India, especially in qualifying."