Felipe Massa has clarified his recent assessment that the 2013 Ferrari is “on a different planet” compared to last year’s red car.

Although the Brazilian struggled for much of last season, the Maranello team and Fernando Alonso recovered sufficiently so that the Spaniard was a title challenger right until the last lap.  Read more... (180 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber’s new race driver, has given a less dramatic assessment of the tyre situation heading into the 2013 season.

Last season dubbed ‘the tyre whisperer’, Mexican Perez has subsequently switched to McLaren, where last week at Barcelona he said the degradation of Pirelli’s new compounds is “extreme”.  Read more... (272 words, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)

Legendary former Ferrari designer Mauro Forghieri has lamented today’s F1 rules that make all the cars “look the same”.

Now 78, Italian Forghieri was a leading figure at the fabled Maranello team from the 60s to the 80s.

“Now, I see them all as though they are karts,” Speed Week quotes him as saying.  Read more... (129 words, estimated 31 secs reading time)

Williams has removed the controversial layout of its ‘Coanda’-effect exhaust from its newly-launched 2013 car.

Despite designer Mike Coughlan believing his layout cleverly exploited a loophole in the rules, the FIA reportedly told the British team its solution was not legal.  Read more... (102 words, estimated 24 secs reading time)

Luiz Razia has confirmed that off-track “conflicts” caused him to sit out last week’s Barcelona test.

Despite intending to run its new Brazilian driver for two days in Spain, Marussia left Briton Max Chilton in the 2013 car for the entire test week, explaining only that it benefitted from the “consistency” of the amended schedule.  Read more... (185 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

After spending some time from an elevated trackside vantage point in Barcelona last week, Esteban Gutierrez has tipped Red Bull and Lotus to fight for the 2013 title.  Read more... (323 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Marussia looks set to begin the 2013 season with the upper hand over its usual rival Caterham.

Since F1′s youngest teams entered the sport in 2010, Caterham has always finished the constructors’ world championship with the lucrative tenth place. That could change this year.  Read more... (147 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

Should Adrian Sutil fail to secure his return to F1 this year with Force India, he will not linger in the paddock as a third, reserve or test driver.

“I’m a racer, not a tester. I want to race,” the German, who like Jules Bianchi is in the running to complete the 2013 grid, said after testing the VJM06 in Barcelona last week.  Read more... (145 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

Daniel Juncadella, who has been signed up by Mercedes for the DTM season in 2013, has played down reports he is set to also become the German marque’s F1 reserve driver.  Read more... (173 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has played down expectations ahead of Mercedes’ fourth-consecutive season as a works formula one team.

The Brackley based team has made big changes for 2013; swapping Michael Schumacher for Lewis Hamilton, ousting Norbert Haug and installing Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff in upper management.  Read more... (262 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)