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I guess thats sensible. But I don't understand some reprimands and the differences between them. I mean, Hamilton, Button & Webber got a reprimand on Sunday. But the FIA say they didn't break the rules else they would have gotten a 20s penalty. So why the reprimand?

I said something the other day about heads rolling at Ferrari. Well the first one has rolled - Aldo Costa has left the team.

edit: He has stepped down from his role and will continue in another capacity. Still...

Lotus name row hearing due tomorrow

Without a doubt, the highlight of this past weekend's Ferrari Racing Days at Laguna Seca was the F1 Cliente. Ferrari started the program in 2003 to allow their most significant and wealthiest customers to own and operate old Formula 1 cars at some of the world's best racing circuits under the guidance and supervision of a dedicated team of Ferrari's own mechanics and engineers. Participants in the program need only to show up – Ferrari takes care of the maintenance, care and transportation of the cars. The crew will even bring the owner's racing suit to each of the events.

For the event at Laguna Seca, a total of six F1 cars were in attendance, ranging from a 1972 312 B2 driven by Jacky Ickx to an F2007 test car driven by Michael Schumacher. Two other Schumacher race cars from 2001 and 2004, an F2003-GA driven by Rubens Barrichello, and a Berger/Mansell F1-89 filled out the rest of the lineup.

The best part about the F1 Clienti is that Ferrari allows a relatively good amount of access to see the cars up close. Just try walking into the Ferrari garage at an actual Formula 1 race. To see and hear the cars in person is also an entirely different experience than watching on television. The zoom lenses of the television cameras betray the actual speed at which an F1 car can travel. The 599XX and FXX actually seemed slow in comparison.

Any idea on the time of year the Austin race will be held next year? They say the track will be completed in 2012 so...

I'm guessing it will be a back to back race with Montreal which means June. If that's true it's going to be scorching.

Didn't they say around October?

They really need to have at least 4 american races back to back. USA, Canada, week off, Brazil and Argentina

Dear Formula 1 fans,

As some of you may remember, in early 2010 FOTA undertook a global research study together with our partners at F1 Racing and LG Electronics.

The study sought opinions and feedback from the global fan base, and was conducted to help us better understand our strengths and to prioritise our challenges for the future. The survey was exhaustive and took on average more than 35 minutes to complete, so we were very pleased and grateful to receive detailed feedback from more than 85,000 fans from more than 190 countries.

A year on from the announcement of the initial findings, we feel it is appropriate to share the work we have undertaken and the actions we have implemented over the past 12 months.

First, you provided FOTA with a very strong mandate (more than 80% support) to work to support the teams, to develop technological improvements and to enhance the reputation of F1 around the globe.

As fans you voiced your opinion that F1 needed to attract new followers by ensuring its position as the pinnacle of motorsport from both a technical perspective and driver perspective. More than 90% of you highlighted that more exciting racing and increased opportunities for overtaking represented the most important issues for us to address.

Through the FOTA Technical Regulations Working Group and in partnership with the FIA and our new tyre supplier, Pirelli, we put this issue at the top of our agenda. Writing as we are after the Spanish Grand Prix, five races into the 2011 season, we hope you feel that innovations such as the Drag Reduction System and the revised tyre compounds have made very positive contributions in this area.

Within the 2010 study we asked you about KERS Hybrid, and the feedback from fans was that you did not feel the technology had been given sufficient time to prove its benefits to the sport. So the rules have been amended, increasing the minimum weight, to allow its use again in 2011. In this way we hope that F1 can become an invaluable "laboratory" via which we may fast-track this technology to road car applications and thereby spread the benefits of F1 to society as a whole.

We also asked for your feedback on our proposed points system for 2010, and, while you were in favour of our plan to award points down to 10th place, you also stated a preference for a greater differential between points awarded for race wins and points awarded for lesser placings. We took that feedback on board and the points system was revised ahead of the 2010 World Championship, resulting in the closest F1 title battle for many years, with four drivers vying for the Drivers Championship at the final Grand Prix.

Thanks to FOM Productions, HD television broadcasts has been adopted from the start of the 2011 season and this is an important achievement that matches the expectations of many of you.

We are pleased with these achievements, but we are not complacent. We know that there is more work to be done, and we aim to continue to listen to our global fan base so that you may continue to guide our efforts to improve the sport we all love.

Finally, in the 2010 study, you asked for the opportunity to engage directly with the teams and drivers; we conducted a Fans Forum in London in 2010 and we are pleased to announce three further Fans Forums planned for this year in Canada, Great Britain and Italy. And while we will not be able to meet you all, rest assured that we will be listening and will be continuing to push for enhancements wherever and whenever possible.

Together with you, we now look forward to a fascinating and challenging race here in Monaco.

Yours faithfully,

Martin Whitmarsh and Eric Boullier

Chairman and Vice Chairman, FOTA

We won. I'm over the moon. Team lotus belongs to us. Our chasis name stays lotus. No one can use the chasis name. ...