Vettel tells di Resta - ’see you on 2011 grid’

Sebastian Vettel has told Paul di Resta he hopes to see his former F3 championship rival and teammate on the formula one grid next year.

Scottish driver di Resta, who is a year older than the new F1 champion, beat 23-year-old Vettel to the F3 Euro Series title by 11 points in 2006 when they were both with the French ASM team.
So when Mercedes-Benz hailed its new DTM champion in Stuttgart on Thursday, Vettel appeared by video link and according to motorsport-magazin.com told di Resta: "I hope to see you in formula one next year."

And the SID news agency quotes Vettel as adding: "Hopefully it will not be as tight as it was in F3!"

Di Resta, who won five F3 races compared to Vettel’s four in 2006, is now strongly linked with a Force India race cockpit for 2010 after serving as third driver this season.

He is reportedly in competition with Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Hulkenberg, with Adrian Sutil saying again this week that he has agreed a deal to stay with the Silverstone based team in 2011.

"We have reached an agreement. The signature is a mere formality, which will happen," DPA news agency quotes Sutil as having told the broadcaster Eurosport.

"The drivers who do not have a contract yet want to join the team because it is the best team with an open place," the German added.

Source: NextgenAuto

FIA investigating Massa grid error

Felipe Massa overshot his grid slot at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix

The FIA is investigating how Felipe Massa escaped a penalty after overshooting his grid slot at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Amateur footage posted on Youtube clearly showed Massa well ahead of his grid box as the cars assembled for the start of the race although stewards and rival teams apparently failed to notice or report Massa's error to race director Charlie Whiting.

It did not escape the attention of BBC commentator Martin Brundle, however, who commented that the Brazilian's Ferrari was at least "two metres" ahead of its starting box.

A report published in the Telegraph newspaper said the transponder on the floor of Massa's Ferrari did not send a signal to the tarmac sensor because he was too far out of position. Because the matter was not looked at in any further detail before the results became official, no further action will be taken.

"As no further information or complaints were received before the publication of the official result on Sunday night, the classification of the Belgian Grand Prix will now remain unchanged," said an FIA spokeswoman.

"The FIA are investigating the causes of the apparent failures in communication with race control in order to ensure a repetition is not possible."

Source: ESPNF1