Bernie Ecclestone on Sunday confirmed reports France is definitely heading back to the F1 calendar.
Reports earlier this weekend said authorities had "finally agreed" a figure for the sanctioning fee with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.
"Yes," the 81-year-old Briton told French daily L'Équipe in the Bahrain paddock on Sunday.
"The deal is done," said Ecclestone.
"We agreed the financial terms with the sports minister David Douillet, in my office on Tuesday.
"We are still discussing a few things about money: 'You give me this, I want that'," he added.
"But, for me, there is no doubt, we will sign it now," said Ecclestone.
He said the outcome of the forthcoming presidential elections in France will not spoil the deal.
"Whatever happens, I don't care," said Ecclestone. "That's a local issue that doesn't concern me."
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) made it four different winners in four races so far in in 2012.
The German came out on top of a two-way fight with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen who, much like his teammate Romain Grosjean, delivered a great performance for Lotus. They respectively finished second and third.
Both stormed through the field in the opening phase of the grand prix, Raikkonen eventually getting the upper hand over Grosjean.
The Finn gave Vettel a run for his money, but didn't have quite enough to get passed.
Behind, Mark Webber in the second Red Bull had yet another fourth place finish. He enjoyed a calm race, unlike Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), who crossed the line in fifth after dropping to ninth in a hairy first lap.
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won't keep a good souvenir of Sakhir.
A bad pitstop dropped Hamilton down the order - he had to settle for eighth after having started beside pole-sitter Vettel - while Button pulled into the pits in the second last lap, discouraged by an early puncture and some late mechanical problems.
Honourable mentions to Paul di Resta (Force India) who, thanks to a good strategy and a solid performance, briefly led a grand prix (for the first time) and to the two Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso who squeezed seventh out of his slow F2012 and Felipe Massa who, for once, was close to his teammate in terms of pace.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) can also be proud of his effort. From 22nd on the grid, he managed to score 10th place's only point. So it was the 43-year-old who had the last laugh over Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn may have pushed Schumacher out of Q2, but at least the German picked up a point, while the best Kovalainen could pick up was a puncture.
Daniel Ricciardo's (Toro Rosso) promising qualifying run also didn't materialize into good race fortune. The Australian only finished 15th, even though, a day before, he had qualified sixth.
Source: AUTOSPORT.com
Race results - Bahrain Grand Prix From ItaliaRacing.net
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 57 laps
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 3.3s
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 10.1s
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 38.7s
5 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 55.4s
6 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 57.5s
7 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 57.8s
8 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 58.9s
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1min04.9s
10 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1min11.4s
11 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min12.7s
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1min16.5s
13 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min30.3s
14 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1min33.7s
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 2 laps
19 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 2 laps
20 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps
Fastest lap by Sebastian Vettel 1min36.379s
Retirements
Lap 54 - Bruno Senna
Lap 26 - Pastor Maldonado
Lap 25 - Charles Pic
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton lost some precious time - and points - because of bad pitstops during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Twice Hamilton stormed into the pits, twice the left rear gun man struggled his his task.
Almost alarming, considering Jenson Button, a week earlier, lost a shot at victory during the Chinese Grand Prix in the pits.
"I have no idea what went on but I was hoping the second time I came I wouldn't have that problem," Hamilton says on AUTOSPORT.com.
"I was hoping that it would be a good pit stop but it was exactly the same, if not a little bit longer, than the previous one."
The responsible mechanic was relieved from his role for the third stop, and a investigation will be carried out by McLaren, team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.
Pirelli went on the defensive on Sunday, following criticism in the wake of the Bahrain grand prix.
British commentator Martin Brundle said the Italian marque's heavily-degrading 2012 product, so difficult to keep alive and in the narrow performance 'window', is overly dominating the season so far.
Also critical after Bahrain, where tyre performance fell away rapidly in the desert heat, was Michael Schumacher, who told reporters he wanted to talk with Pirelli chiefs about how to improve the situation.
Faced with that sort of criticism on Sunday, Pirelli's motor sport director Paul Hembery said on Twitter: "At the end of last year we had huge criticism for conservative choices and races were boring.
"Make your mind up. We are doing what is asked."
Hembery also argued that how teams tackle their tire strategies will continue to play a big role for only "a few more races, then like last year all change as they get used (to the tires)".
Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) clinched his third success in three races after he won race 2 in Bahrain.
The Italian driver, who started from eighth position on the grid, had a great catch-up to the lead, and took a second victory this weekend after he won race 1 on Saturday.
Valsecchi, who is the new championship leader, crossed the finish line ahead of both Lotus cars with Esteban Gutierrez ahead of James Calado, while Luiz Razia (Arden) took fourth place. He now stands second in provisional championship classification.
Felipe Nasr (DAMS), who started from the back of the grid following a post race penalty for an incident in race 1, stalled his engine while heading to his grid position and thus forced a restart.
When the new formation lap began, it was Tom Dillmann's turn to stall his engine, as the Frenchman was starting from third position on the grid. Both men were forced to start from the pit in the back of the field, but had a great run to the front, finishing the race in position six and 10 respectively.
Race 2 results - GP2 (Bahrain)
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams - 22 laps in 39min22.363s
2 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus + 0.399s
3 - James Calado - Lotus + 10.617s
4 - Luiz Razia - Arden + 12.463s
5 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 13.573s
6 - Felipe Nasr - Dams + 15.414s
7 - Jolyon Palmer - iSport + 22.950s
8 - Simon Trummer - Arden + 30.425s
9 - Giedo Van der Garde - Caterham + 31.976s
10 - Tom Dillmann - Rapax + 32.545s
Etc.
Nico Rosberg twice defended his position hard during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The post-race investigation did not yield any penalty for the German.
He once fended off Lewis Hamilton, only for some time though. Then he saved his place from Fernando Alonso's attacks.
Twice he almost crashed.
The stewards felt that, because Rosberg moved in a "constant and continuous straight line manner" and because he did so early enough while under attack, there was no infraction.
Alonso responded rather sarcastically: "I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!" he wrote on his Twitter page, as quoted from AUTOSPORT.com.
Mexico's automobile industry, once focused on small cars and pickup trucks, got a boost this week when Audi AG chose the country as the location for a new factory to build its Q5 sport-utility vehicle for the global market.
Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding Group, which acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010, faces a grueling dilemma: Risk diluting the Swedish marque by sharing technology with Geely or let the Chinese brand face cutthroat competition alone.
Roger Penske can understand Rick Hendrick's frustration about being stuck on NASCAR Sprint Cup win number 199 like no one else.
Jimmie Johnson won number 199, in Kansas last October, for Hendrick Motor Sports. And no one from HMS has seen victory lane since then.
While going thirteen races without a victory doesn't sound like much of a drought considering that a Hendrick customer, Stewart Haas Racing, has collected eight of the last 16 victories.
Even the most dominant team in sports goes through a dry spell.
On the other hand is crossing a century mark a kind of stumbling block?
As five-time Cup Champion Johnson, who was quickest in practice on Friday, said "we've watched other athletes hit a homerun mark, or whatever it may be, and just kind of get stuck. We know that our teams are all capable of winning races and we've all been very close this year."
There happens to be an analogy and it's also in motorsports.
Penske Racing has a record in IndyCar type racing that is unapproachable by any team. Except that there was nearly a three-year, 55-race, long dry spell between win number 99 and 100.
Paul Tracy won number 99 in May of 1997, in St. Louis, and not until Gil de Ferran won at Nazareth, in April of 2000, could Penske claim victory number 100.
Penske, who also has a two-car Cup team, told Auto123.com "It was certainly tough to go through that span but the focus wasn't on getting the 100 wins, we just wanted a victory. The milestones are rewarding but we go into every race expecting to win, whether it is number one or 100.
"I am sure Rick will tell you that no matter how many races you have won before, it is always the next win that is on your mind and the longer you go between victories the more relief you feel when you finally do win."
Rumours are swirling after qualifying in Bahrain that Force India was deliberately excluded from Saturday's 'world feed' television coverage.
That coverage is controlled by Formula One Management, the sport's Bernie Ecclestone-run company.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone is believed to have been angry on Friday that Force India sat out the second practice session over security fears.
The 81-year-old Briton offered to ride in the Silverstone based team's hire vehicles after dark with frightened mechanics and personnel, but revealed late on Friday that they had turned down the offer.
Then on Saturday, as Force India returned to the track for the third practice session and qualifying, television viewers noticed that the orange, green and white cars were conspicuously absent from their screens.
That was despite Paul di Resta racing all the way through the three-part qualifying session into Q3.
"You could say it was Bernie's revenge, I couldn't comment," The Times' Kevin Eason said on Twitter.
Another journalist, Adam Hay-Nicholls, joked that the Force India blackout "could be season-long unless the team goes grovelling to Mr E".
The actual flames of Bahrain's unrest have touched yet another member of the formula one fraternity.
It has already emerged that Force India and Sauber team personnel, driving in hired vehicles en route from the circuit to their hotels, have come close to the Molotov cocktails being thrown by protesters.
Germany's Bild newspaper reports that the latest figure to come face to face with the controversial off-track action this weekend is Pasquale Lattuneddu, the well-known right-hand man of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
The report said a Molotov cocktail exploded close to Lattuneddu's car as he witnessed a clash between young rioters and police.
He would not confirm or comment.
Bild also reported that Michael Schumacher, despite publicly backing the Bahrain grand prix on several occasions, has moved to a "secret" location that is "protected by barbed wire" for the rest of the weekend.
Media reports say the 2012 event at Sakhir has quickly become the most controversial event in F1's long history.
"The worst case scenario?" speculated Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary from the Persian Gulf state. "It doesn't bear thinking about.
"But it could mean (Jean) Todt and (Bernie) Ecclestone are gored on the horns of a dilemma of their own making."
Other first-hand observers are less worried.
"So far my picture of Bahrain is different from what the news agencies painted and what was said in the paddock in Malaysia and China," wrote O Estado de S.Paulo correspondent Livio Oricchio.
"At least with the information I have, the scenario is less tense than it seemed. But, you know, anything can happen. Hopefully not."
FIA president Jean Todt was unmoved on Saturday despite reports a Bahraini protester has been killed during anti-F1 demonstrations.
Opposition groups, calling the dead protester an "F1 martyr", claimed the latest clashes with police resulted in a body being left on the roof of a building less than 10 kilometres from the capital Manama.
Sky News in Britain said the Kingdom's government declined to comment.
"We know protests can have a negative result," Frenchman Todt told the BBC when asked about the reported death.
"We are a governing body running sport, you can have lots of protests and there can be consequences, and I am not sure the protests would not have happened if the grand prix would not have happened."
The FIA president said all the teams support the Bahrain grand prix.
The secrets of Ferrari's newfound pitstop speed in 2012 have emerged.
It was reported recently that although the F2012 car is far from the fastest in this year's field, it is being turned around by Ferrari's pit crew the quickest at recent races.
The crew performing a pitstop (Photo: Ferrari)
Spain's Marca sports newspaper reports that the main secret is an innovative wheel nut and wheel gun design, featuring a nut that is an inherent component of the wheel rim.
After the nut is untightened, the wheel gun is then used by the operator to yank the old wheel from the spindle.
Previously, the untightening and removal of the wheel were two separate processes.
The other advantage is that when the new wheel goes on, all the wheel gun operator needs to do is pull the trigger on his gun, because the nut and washer are already in place on the new wheel.
Ferrari crew (Photo: Ferrari S.p.A)
Marca reports that Ferrari's 2.4 second pitstop in Shanghai was an outright record.
The system was pioneered by Mercedes late last season, but Ferrari appears to be the first to perfect it.
The Spanish report also said Red Bull, McLaren and Lotus are all now working to perfect integrated wheel/nut systems.
Official confirmation of France's return to the formula one calendar is now close, Radio Monte Carlo is reporting.
"The French authorities have finally agreed the price with (Bernie) Ecclestone," the report said.
Earlier, when prime minister Francois Fillon said advanced talks with F1 were taking place, he indicated the gap with Ecclestone's demands was about 2 million euros.
RMC said the deal "should be completed next week".
It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.
Internet hackers have threatened to wreak havoc as they sided against formula one over the sport's decision to push ahead with the highly controversial Bahrain grand prix.
The well-known 'hacktivists' Anonymous brought down F1's official website on Friday, slamming Bernie Ecclestone as "evil" and threatening the "worst sh** storm" if the track action continues to proceed this weekend in the troubled island Kingdom.
"Attacks on their (the teams') computer servers could prevent the race taking place," the Daily Express newspaper speculated.
Anonymous also took control of another specialist website, posting a statement that accused the sport of supporting the Bahrain government despite the country's "human rights situation" and saying F1 will now "be punished".
In an awkward official press conference on Friday, team bosses continued to support the sport's decision to press ahead with the race.
"Ultimately we're a race team," said McLaren and FOTA's Martin Whitmarsh. "We're here to go motor racing and that's our number one priority."
55 teams are expected to attend the Oregon Trail Rally, including reigning Canadian champions Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard.
The third round of the Rally America National Championship covers more than 120 miles of competition stages across Portland over three days, May 4-6th.
Those stages include gravel miles up Mount Hood and some tarmac stages on the Portland International Raceway.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will participate in Viper's return to the ALMS - and he's looking forward to sharing the wheel of SRT's GTS-R with Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens and Canada's Kuno Wittmer.
But for that, the IndyCar driver has to split his time between commitments to Andretti Autosport and Riley Technologies (the Viper's headquarters). If he's putting the extra miles in, it's because he intends to go the disance.
Wittmer, Farnbacher, Goossens and Hunter-Reay (Photo: ALMS)
"I think it's important to stay diversified. You need to have your skill set challenged all the time - always putting yourself in new environments," he said. "You have to adapt all the time, but if it has four wheels then I'll drive it. I wish I could do it more."
And Hunter-Reay is no stranger to "diversity" - he won the P2 class at Sebring no later than in 2011.
"I've driven a few cars like the Viper - GT cars for Porsche and Ferrari," Hunter Reay added. "I've done it before and I'm ready for the challenge. [My] goal is to get to Le Mans in a prototype so hopefully that will happen at some point soon."
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