F1: Button Hits Back At ‘Whinging’ Criticism

• Button hits back at 'whinging' criticism
• 'Customer cars' still possible for 2013 - report
• Qualifying key to victory for Lotus - Grosjean
• Campbell allowed to keep $10m F1 stake - report
• Sauber team victim of Montreal robbery

Button hits back at 'whinging' criticism

Jenson Button has hit back at claims he complains too much when at the wheel of his F1 car.

The 2009 world champion is currently suffering one of the lowest periods in his career, summed up by his sixteenth-place finishes in Monaco and Canada whilst teammate Lewis Hamilton raced into the title lead.

Some analysts have correlated his slump with the fact that the tone of the in-car radio transmissions broadcast from his McLaren are usually negative.

"It's not moaning," Button is quoted by the Mirror.  "People say 'He always whinges'. You are not whinging."

"A driver doesn't just drive the car, he engineers the car with his engineers."

Button left Canada admitting he is "confused and very lost" about his performance slump.

Since then, he has analysed the event with his engineers at McLaren's Woking headquarters.

"A day (at the factory) like that is enormously productive and I think we covered a lot of ground," said Button.

(GMM)

'Customer cars' still possible for 2013 - report

The 'customer car' issue in F1 might not be dead yet.

Just before last week's meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, it emerged that proposals to allow big teams to sell full cars to their smaller F1 rivals had been talked down at the recent Canadian GP.

But Italy's Autosprint is reporting that the FIA "discussed the possibility" of allowing customer cars during last Friday's Paris meeting.

The news follows the Jean Todt-led FIA's confirmation that it is having "active discussions" about cost-cutting at the request of the teams.

F1's governing body added that "any amendments to the technical regulations resulting from a further limit on expenditure on the chassis" must be decided before the end of June.

"The intention is to help all teams participate in the championship in a fair and equal manner."

(GMM)

Qualifying key to victory for Lotus - Grosjean

Victory will be within Lotus' grasp if the Enstone based team can improve its qualifying pace.

Romain Grosjean finished within sight of Lewis Hamilton in Canada earlier this month, having qualified only seventh.

Also driven this year by 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, a black and gold E20 has not started a single Grand Prix from the front row of the grid in 2012.

But reigning GP2 champion Grosjean insists that the difference between the performance of the Lotus and the very best cars in 2012 is "not that big".

"We need to qualify better, that is not our strength this season but we are working on it," said the Frenchman.

"If we are able to have a strong weekend from the beginning, we are able to fight for the podium and even for victory," he is quoted by Brazil's Globo.

(GMM)

Campbell allowed to keep $10m F1 stake - report

David Campbell's short-lived role in F1 netted him about $10 million, it has emerged.

Famous for transforming London's O2 Arena, Campbell was appointed by Bernie Ecclestone last year to succeed trackside advertising company Allsport and the Paddock Club's retiring Paddy McNally.

But earlier this year, a source was quoted by the Independent: "Bernie wanted to take the business in a different way, and that wasn't the basis on which we hired David."

The Telegraph now reports that Campbell has however retained a 0.1 per cent stake in F1's Delta Topco parent company.

Journalists Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid cited a source close to the situation as confirming that even though Campbell worked in F1 for less than a year, he is allowed to keep his stake, which is worth about $10 million.

"There is no suggestion that Mr Campbell waited until he had secured the shares until he resigned," Sylt and Reid wrote.

(GMM)

Sauber team victim of Montreal robbery

The Sauber team was the victim of a robbery in Canada recently, it has emerged.

The Swiss newspaper Blick reports that a team van was broken into in the carpark of a Montreal shopping centre on the Wednesday before the race.

Catering supervisor and truck driver Fritz Steinmann was shopping when the thief stole a laptop, mobile phone, passport, money and credit and ID cards.

"We were also the victims of a robbery in Canada three years ago," Steinmann revealed.

(GMM)