Discussions between Super Aguri and investors are continuing as they bid to put together a deal to secure their future after the collapse of a proposed bid being put together by Magma Group.

Although Magma remain in talks with potential backers Dubai International Capital (DIC) to try and reach a fresh settlement, there has not yet been any agreement on the matter.

And although Super Aguri are present at this weekend`s Spanish Grand Prix, it is understood that the team will only be allowed to take part in the event if a deal is put in place tonight.

Honda Racing appear unwilling to support Super Aguri any more and the Japanese manufacturer will have the final say on whether or not Super Aguri run.

The team`s CEO Nick Fry told autosport.com that Super Aguri needed to sort the matter out immediately.

“Our position is that Honda have given Super Aguri every available bit of support over and above what was anticipated,” said Fry.

“We tried to help as much as possible and Honda never intended to fund two F1 teams. We`ve gone way beyond what was ever originally anticipated. Now Aguri has got to find some money.”

When asked if Honda would prevent Super Aguri from competing, by perhaps not allowing them to run their engines, if no deal was in place, Fry said: “Discussions with the investors are still going on, but until we get to tomorrow morning I would not like to say.”

It is understood that talks with Leach`s Magma Group are back on, but that the Dubai investors are not keen on the looming end of the `customer car` era.

Fry added: “We have been engaged almost full time in the last few weeks trying to find a solution and I hope that it`s going to be a happy ending to the story, but at this stage that certainly can`t be guaranteed.”

Source: GMM

So perhaps you can describe what that is.
PdlR: It is the normal work that a test driver needs to do. First of all you have to be at every grand prix as a reserve driver and that`s why I am here. Secondly at the test sessions I am testing anything that is required by the team, backing all that work up in the simulation facilities at Woking and being of any help for the team. It is very similar to before but basically doing less kilometres at the track and spending more time in the simulator, so it is great fun.

You are not frustrated at not racing?
PdlR: Yes, of course it is frustrating not racing. I have to be realistic as I am at that point of my career where I don`t have many more years left. Not because of me but because of the other people`s perception unfortunately. Every year that goes by it is just getting closer to a point where I won`t be able to race again. I am aware of that. I am a realistic person and I am just hoping that something happens for me.

Lewis had a little blip at the last race. How were you able to help him during that weekend and how have you been able to help him since?
PdlR: A blip? What do you mean? A blip could mean also to go up. We hope that the blip comes here. Yes, he had a bad weekend but all we can do from the team`s point of view is to make sure that we make it as simple as possible for him not to make any mistakes. That`s what we have been focussing on for the past few weeks, to make sure that this won`t happen again. Not that he has to change anything, but from our point of view we make sure that is simpler for him to activate everything he has to from the cockpit.

Does your role include driver coach, giving advice to drivers or anything like that?
PdlR: That`s not a part which is included in my contract but obviously I am just trying to be helpful for everyone. I am just trying to listen as much as I can and know what the biggest problems are. For example this afternoon I will walk around the track and see if there is anything I can see. During test sessions I am driving around the corners on the side-road just to see with my eyes if I can help. If I see anything I don`t like I go to the guys and I just tell them. I am very open and they can rely on me fully. They know I will always help, that`s my role.

Rubens, I think in Turkey it will be 257 times you have turned up to a race. Looking back at the last race you didn`t look like a driver about to retire, giving Fernando quite a hard time. What was that like?
Rubens Barrichello: It was bad. We were fighting for 10th place. I wish it were first and second. That would have been a lot better. He was having plenty of problems with his rear wing and I was having a lot of understeer on the car. Unfortunately in Formula One nowadays it is still very impossible to overtake. Hopefully in the future, if slicks really come into play, that will be the way to go. To play with a lot less aerodynamic devices and with a lot more grip from the ground and from the tyre that will give us the chance to follow other cars. As soon as I caught him I turned the revs down because there was nothing I could do. I was five kph slower on the straight. I feel very motivated. You talk to the young guys and they are all sort of fed up with F1, too much to do, PR. My life has kept on getting better and better. The first year with Honda I really did a lot of PR. But they put things in place and I am focussing and putting my energy on the car. I have been working quite hard. Last week I did 140 laps around Barcelona which I thought was phenomenal. I still feel young on that side. I am just going to prove Pedro wrong. I think I have many more years left.

Going back to the car. Do you think you are close to scoring points?
RB: We had a god improvement last week and obviously the first race was what it was and we would have finished in the points already with the car. But the first race is always a bit crazy anyway. In Malaysia we were far out and in Bahrain we had the pace but we did not have the straight line speed to overtake. But I think we are very close to the points. I think Barcelona is open on that. The car is a good time better. I don`t know how much improvement the others made because last week was very difficult to read. It was slicks on the car, people with less fuel and more fuel, so it was really difficult to see. But the car is better

The British Racing Drivers` Club (BRDC) today confirmed that the Club is on schedule to complete Silverstone`s new Grand Prix Pits complex in time for the 2010 British Grand Prix

BRDC President, Damon Hill OBE said: "I am delighted to report that we are close to finalising our plans to build new pits in time for the 2010 British Grand Prix, thus satisfying FOM`s pre-requisites to granting us a new F1 GP contract.

Silverstone`s new state-of-the-art facilities are therefore moving from aspiration towards reality.

The BRDC and Silverstone team has achieved an enormous amount over the last year.

I am personally both impressed and proud of the commitment shown by the BRDC and by all our team members engaged in this project.

In particular, the role played by the BRDC membership has been pivotal in this our 60th Year at Silverstone. Commitment by our members to retain the Grand Prix at Silverstone is as strong now as it has ever been.

The BRDC share this desire and enthusiasm with thousands of British racing fans and we are doing everything within our power to keep the Grand Prix at the home of British Motor Sport.

The negotiations with FOM are ongoing and reasonable terms on a new contract will help us to fulfil our ambitions."

Q. Pedro, how much has your role changed this year? Are you still doing pretty much what you have always been doing?

Pedro de la Rosa: My role is pretty much unchanged. Obviously, we are very limited on mileage during the testing season and we have to maximise every mile we do and every set of tyres. From that point of view it hasn`t changed at all.

Q. So perhaps you can describe what that is.

PdlR: It is the normal work that a test driver needs to do. First of all you have to be at every Grand Prix as a reserve driver and that`s why I am here. Secondly at the test sessions I am testing anything that is required by the team, backing all that work up in the simulation facilities at Woking and being of any help for the team. It is very similar to before but basically doing less kilometres at the track and spending more time in the simulator, so it is great fun.

Q. You are not frustrated at not racing?

PdlR: Yes, of course it is frustrating not racing. I have to be realistic as I am at that point of my career where I don`t have many more years left. Not because of me but because of the other people`s perception unfortunately. Every year that goes by it is just getting closer to a point where I won`t be able to race again. I am aware of that. I am a realistic person and I am just hoping that something happens for me.

Q. Lewis had a little blip at the last race. How were you able to help him during that weekend and how have you been able to help him since?

PdlR: A blip? What do you mean? A blip could mean also to go up. We hope that the blip comes here. Yes, he had a bad weekend but all we can do from the team`s point of view is to make sure that we make it as simple as possible for him not to make any mistakes. That`s what we have been focussing on for the past few weeks, to make sure that this won`t happen again. Not that he has to change anything, but from our point of view we make sure that is simpler for him to activate everything he has to from the cockpit.

Q. Does your role include driver coach, giving advice to drivers or anything like that?

PdlR: That`s not a part which is included in my contract but obviously I am just trying to be helpful for everyone. I am just trying to listen as much as I can and know what the biggest problems are. For example this afternoon I will walk around the track and see if there is anything I can see.

During test sessions I am driving around the corners on the side-road just to see with my eyes if I can help. If I see anything I don`t like I go to the guys and I just tell them. I am very open and they can rely on me fully. They know I will always help, that`s my role.

Q. Rubens, I think in Turkey it will be 257 times you have turned up to a race. Looking back at the last race you didn`t look like a driver about to retire, giving Fernando quite a hard time. What was that like?

Rubens Barrichello: It was bad. We were fighting for 10th place. I wish it were first and second. That would have been a lot better. He was having plenty of problems with his rear wing and I was having a lot of understeer on the car. Unfortunately in Formula One nowadays it is still very impossible to overtake. Hopefully in the future, if slicks really come into play, that will be the way to go.

To play with a lot less aerodynamic devices and with a lot more grip from the ground and from the tyre that will give us the chance to follow other cars. As soon as I caught him I turned the revs down because there was nothing I could do. I was five kph slower on the straight. I feel very motivated. You talk to the young guys and they are all sort of fed up with F1, too much to do, PR.

My life has kept on getting better and better. The first year with Honda I really did a lot of PR. But they put things in place and I am focussing and putting my energy on the car. I have been working quite hard. Last week I did 140 laps around Barcelona which I thought was phenomenal. I still feel young on that side. I am just going to prove Pedro wrong. I think I have many more years left.

Q. Going back to the car. Do you think you are close to scoring points?

RB: We had a god improvement last week and obviously the first race was what it was and we would have finished in the points already with the car. But the first race is always a bit crazy anyway. In Malaysia we were far out and in Bahrain we had the pace but we did not have the straight line speed to overtake. But I think we are very close to the points.

I think Barcelona is open on that. The car is a good time better. I don`t know how much improvement the others made because last week was very difficult to read. It was slicks on the car, people with less fuel and more fuel, so it was really difficult to see. But the car is better - definitely better. We have made an improvement and hopefully that is going to put us on Q3 all the time and that will lead us to points and more.

Q. It would be a nice way to celebrate your record. Apparently the celebrations are going to last several races?

RB: There is a little bit of confusion. You ask everyone and the numbers seem to go up and down, so we decided to take Turkey because that is the races I have taken part in. The ones that are not happy with that, because it seems too early, then we have three races to celebrate

Part of the the BRDC`s plan includes moving the location of the track`s pit and paddock complex from between Woodcote and Copse corners, to between Club and Abbey.

The move will also entail a reconfiguration of the track`s layout.

BRDC president Damon Hill believes the new complex will help Silverstone broker a new deal to keep the British Grand Prix beyond 2010.

“I am delighted to report that we are close to finalising our plans to build new pits in time for the 2010 British Grand Prix, thus satisfying FOM`s pre-requisites to granting us a new F1 GP contract,” said Hill.

“I am personally both impressed and proud of the commitment shown by the BRDC and by all our team members engaged in this project,” added Hill.

“In particular, the role played by the BRDC membership has been pivotal in this our 60th Year at Silverstone. Commitment by our members to retain the Grand Prix at Silverstone is as strong now as it has ever been.

“The BRDC share this desire and enthusiasm with thousands of British racing fans and we are doing everything within our power to keep the Grand Prix at the home of British Motor Sport.

“The negotiations with FOM are ongoing and reasonable terms on a new contract will help us to fulfill our ambitions.”

The 23-year-old, who has not finished off the podium in 2008 and took his first Formula One pole position in Bahrain, says he still thinks it is too early to expect BMW to be able to challenge Ferrari and McLaren for wins, without an element of luck intervening.

Talking about the possibilities of BMW`s consistency allowing him to fight for the world title this year, Kubica said: “Let`s put it this way: if every single race some of the top four drivers go off and have problems and you have no problems and are always consistent, there is always the chance.”

“But pace wise, for now, we are not able to win a race,” he added.

“But we have shown in Malaysia and Bahrain that we are not very far away, especially in Bahrain. But also in Bahrain there was quite a big difference between the pace of [Felipe] Massa and [Kimi] Raikkonen.”I think the key of this season will be consistency to be always on top, and even if you will not win races then maybe you can achieve something very good.”

Asked how far away he was from his maiden grand prix victory, Kubica replied: “I don`t know.”

“I was quite upset after Australia because I missed pole in qualifying, as I thought that the opportunity will not come so quickly again,” he added. “But it came in Bahrain.

“Okay, we were lighter by four laps than Massa, but still we were able to use this opportunity and still did quite a good race. “If we are talking about winning a race with pure pace then I think we are not ready, but we are working because this is the target of the team.

“But it can happen that there is a crazy race like in Fuji or the Hungaroring 2006 where anything can happen. So we will see.”

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic efficiency is always a key factor at Barcelona, although the introduction of the new chicane last year has replaced on of the most critical high-speed parts of the lap and means the track is not as demanding as it once was. Even so, the circuit remains the ultimate test of a car`s aero package and teams will run with high downforce levels to ensure competitiveness over the whole lap.

Suspension

With the suspension we have to find the best compromise to give the drivers a well balanced and responsive car. This means we will use relatively stiff settings at the front of the car to get a good change of direction, while the rear will be slightly softer in order to get the best possible traction out of the slower corners. This will be especially important this year with the removal of traction control. Ride height is also an important parameter to consider as generally we can run the car quite low in order to gain maximum aerodynamic performance.

Engine Performance

Barcelona is not generally thought of as an `engine circuit` as the engine is not under particular stress as any point and only 62% of the lap is spent on full throttle. There are relatively few hard acceleration zones from low revs as the engine spends most of the lap accelerating from the middle of the rev range. As such, the priority is for the power delivery to be progressive and driveable in order to maintain the best handling balance, and limit tyre wear.

Tyres

Barcelona is well known for being a demanding on tyre wear because it includes so many long, high-speed corners and has a fairly abrasive track surface. The tyres are therefore under high loadings, particularly the front left which has to work hard in the quick right- hand corners such as Turns 3 and 9. As a result Bridgestone will supply hard and medium compound tyres for the weekend, and the team will need to pay close attention to the wear and degradation during free practice to determine which compound to run the majority of the race with.

The FIA Institute and Toyota have combined technology and expertise to help improve safety in high speed racecar accidents.

Toyota has been using a computer simulation system, called Total Human Model Safety (THUMS), to help it design safer production vehicles for several years. THUMS is a virtual representation of the human body that can provide Toyota engineers with precise data about the injuries real people might suffer in different kinds of vehicle accidents.

The FIA Institute and Toyota have worked together to use the THUMS system to recreate high speed accidents and their effects on human physiology, allowing them to study the kind of serious injuries that are difficult to measure with conventional crash test dummies. The results of the new study are in the process of completion.

The FIA Institute targeted this technology specifically to help study high speed rear impact crashes in the FIA Formula One World Championship and Indy Racing League (IRL). THUMS has proved very effective for analysis of the complex interaction between the driver`s body and the car in a high speed accident.

The FIA Institute and Dr Terry Trammell, a fellow of the FIA Institute and consultant to IRL, have provided data on accidents of this type and information on racecar seat structures. These have been used by Toyota to create virtual collisions using THUMS and simulated racecar seat designs, which have succeeded in replicating spinal injuries from high speed rear impact collisions.

This co-operative effort has led to a determination of the mechanism for spinal-stress build-up

Robert Kubica: It was quite positive. I did only 2009 test things, so it was difficult to say about how this Grand Prix will be.

Q. How does the 2009 stuff feel?

RK: I think the tyres, I was very positive about them. Honestly I didn`t have a lot of opportunity to run in Jerez in December with the slicks but here they were giving a lot of grip and the new compounds, one of them was much too soft but the other one was very good and consistent to give a lot of grip. So I was surprised about the lap times we could achieve with very low downforce. I was expecting the car to be much slower, but the tyres were compensating a lot.

Q. What about the warm-up issues with the tyres?

RK: Well, the out lap was a bit difficult but I didn`t have any issues. It was quite slippery in the beginning, but after four or five corners it was okay. Not such a big issue.

Q. So no safety aspects then?

RK: Yes, the delta could be that someone leaving the pits with cold tyres are obviously slow for a couple of corners, or maybe one lap. But that`s how it will be, and we have to work in this direction.

Q. You didn`t test for this race, but do you get the feeling that there is more confidence in the team now?

RK: Yes, of course the people are more confident. I am seeing more confidence building up. Of course now the confidence is quite high because we have achieved good results in past races, but also in Australia before the first race we were more confident than starting the 2007 season. I think that is normal because the group is getting stronger, the results are getting better and the car is getting better, so people are getting more confidence and that is for sure more positive.

Q. McLaren said after Bahrain that they didn`t feel BMW could be a consistent threat. Do you feel you can match their development rate?

RK: We will see. I think last year we were keeping the gap consistent for the whole season, maybe the last three or four races we lost a bit - but that was normal as McLaren and Ferrari were fighting for the championship and we were clearly third so we were already working on the 2009 car. But I think we have people and we have facilities to keep the pace of development of the top teams, but we have to see. In 2007 and 2006 we had a very similar way of developing the car, so I am pretty confident.

Q. Is there a chance of a championship challenge this year?

RK: Let`s put it this way: if every single race some of the top four drivers go off and have problems and you have no problems and are always consistent, there is always the chance. But pace wise, for now we are not able to win a race. But we have shown in Malaysia and Bahrain that we are not very far away, especially in Bahrain. But also in Bahrain there was quite a big difference between the pace of Massa and Raikkonen.

I think the key of this season will be consistency to be always on top, and even if you will not win races then maybe you can achieve something very good.

Q. The car is better this year, but do you feel you are driving better?

RK: I don`t know. Last year`s car was also a very good car and I would have been competitive because as soon as we start testing in November with 2008 regulations and without engine braking and traction control, I was going much better than with them. So I think last year I struggled with too many things, and we could not fix them

Ferrari today signed an agreement for the opening of the first Ferrari Store in Britain. The store, which will be managed by the Percassi Group, will be located on Regent Street and will cover around 550 square metres spread over two levels.

Work on the project will begin within the next few days and the Ferrari Store is scheduled to open in the autumn. It will stock the entire range of Ferrari products aimed at Formula 1 fans, GT enthusiasts, children and collectors.

This agreement marks an important step in the Maranello manufacturer`s worldwide development plan as the United Kingdom is one of its leading European markets. There are currently 20 outlets in the Ferrari retail chain, half of which are outside of Italy in China, the United States, United Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Macao and Singapore.

The Percassi Group is one of the leading players on the Italian and international retail scene and also owns the Ferrari Store in Milan which opened in September 2005.

The Briton had a race to forget in Sakhir, losing the championship lead after failing to score in a race where he said he had let his McLaren team down.

But Hamilton insisted on Thursday he is not dwelling in the past and he feels ready to return to winning ways.

“Straight after the race I knew what had gone wrong and I knew how to correct it, so the next few days were just dealing with the fact I had a poor performance, so I got back to training and making sure I came here fresh,” Hamilton told reporters in Barcelona.

“It is always the key, turning it around and coming back stronger.

“I approach it in the same way and obviously I won`t be making the same mistake again. This weekend being here, feeling fresh after a good break from racing, and making sure we come here fresh has been important. I feel good.”

Hamilton, now in third place in the standings behind Ferrari`s Kimi Raikkonen and BMW`s Nick Heidfeld, believes the championship will be intense, with three teams now fighting on top.

“For sure going into the season we thought it was going to be a Ferrari versus McLaren fight, similar to last year, but BMW have made a good step forward but the whole paddock have made a good step forwards,” he added.

“We see in qualifying we are closer than last year in terms of the gap between all the cars, so it must be more spectacular to watch. For us as well, having another challenger and trying to beat another team is good fun.”

The McLaren driver believes the start of the European season will not necessarily be a good indicator of what to expect in the remaining part of the year, and he reckons things will change from one circuit to another.

“People say that, but I don`t particularly agree,” he said. Last year Ferrari were very, very fast here and so were we, but it is different at every track.

“Obviously we do a lot of testing here and it is a great circuit to do that, the weather is always good and wind quite low, so good for testing and finding pace of the car but all the tracks are different.

“Coming back into Europe, I am very, very excited and be happy to be closer to home and to start it out in Barcelona, this is one of the most historical circuits on the F1 calendar and it is one of the best as well.”

Lewis Hamilton: It has been a bit up and down but this is nothing you don`t normally see in a season, it is to be expected. Everyone is pushing very hard, and Ferrari and BMW are quick like us. It looks like it is going to be a good championship. There is still a very long way to go and so my spirits are high and I am looking forward to the next few races.

Q. Do you feel pressure a bit?

LH: Not really. I put a lot of pressure on myself in wanting to do well for the team, there are obviously pressures there. It is the same as it was last year, although I guess it is slightly different. Last year no one really expected anything from me and I guess this year people do, but it doesn`t bother me in the slightest. I am just focusing on my job and trying to do a good job.

Q. Should we judge you on last year?

LH: I don`t know really. Yeah for sure, I judge myself on my own standards of last year so I don`t see why anyone else can`t.

Q. Have you changed your focus for this race after Bahrain?

LH: No, I approach it in the same way and obviously I won`t be making the same mistake again. This weekend being here, feeling fresh after a good break from racing, and making sure we come here fresh has been important. I feel good.

Q. How do you judge the improvements on the car?

LH: We have made a good step forward. I think it was difficult to see exactly how big a step forward it was compared to everyone else, because people were running slick tyres at the test, and we were so much quicker than we were the last time we were here before the first race. It was one of the most constructive tests we`ve done so it was good.

Q. What do you think about the anti-racism campaign?

LH: I think it is great the FIA are supporting it, they have all my support and great other drivers are supporting it.

Q. Do you expect any problems this weekend?

LH: No.

Q. How much have you thought about Bahrain?

LH: Probably for the beginning of the first week, I was thinking about it and for sure it was a disappointment, mainly feeling sorry for the team and we had the car to do a better job and I didn`t do it. But the team were very, very supportive and so were my family and I just took it on the chin and kept it high, and said that at the next race we will do a better job.

Q. How do you see the fight between Ferrari, McLaren and BMW?

LH: It is interesting. For sure going into the season we thought it was going to be a Ferrari v McLaren fight, similar to last year, but BMW have made a good step forward but the whole paddock have made a good step forwards. We see in qualifying we are closer than last year in terms of the gap between all the cars, so it must be more spectacular to watch. For us as well, having another challenger and trying to beat another team is good fun.

Q. After winning in Australia, were your problems in Bahrain and Malaysia related to the set-up?

LH: I would say in Malaysia for sure set-up wise, in Bahrain I think Ferrari were just extremely quick there and they got off to a better start than us, perhaps the test was maybe a bit of an advantage for then, but they had a great package there and we didn`t make the best of it.

Q. Is the window to get the set-up right narrower than last year?

LH: No, it is always very narrow. Friday practice and P3 you try and cram so much in that you always have to make the right decisions and make sure you immediately go down the right road, if you go down the wrong route you don`t have time to go a couple of steps backwards and go in the other direction, you just have to stick with what you have got. It is important you get it right.

Q. Will this weekend give a good indicator for the rest of the season?

LH: People say that, but I don`t particularly agree. Last year Ferrari were very, very fast here and so were we, but it is different at every track. Obviously we do a lot of testing here and it is a great circuit to do that, the weather is always good and wind quite low, so good for testing and finding pace of the car but all the tracks are different. Coming back into Europe, I am very, very excited and be happy to be closer to home and to start it out in Barcelona, this is one of the most historical circuits on the F1 calendar and it is one of the best as well.

Q. What do you think will happen this weekend?

LH: My guess is as good as yours. I think that the top three teams will be quick and it will be on who is on the best fuel strategy, who knows if Ferrari have the quickest car or we have the quickest car, in the test everyone was doing something different, I didn`t test the slicks I stayed on the grooves, BMW and Ferrari were testing the slicks a lot so I don`t know how they will go. But I feel confident that we have got a good package and I feel up for the fight.

Q. What conclusions did you extract from Bahrain?

LH: I didn`t really make any conclusion. Straight after the race I knew what had gone wrong and I knew how to correct it, so the next few days were just dealing with the fact I had a poor performance, so I got back to training and making sure I came here fresh. It is always the key, turning it around and coming back stronger.

Q. Is the situation different this year because of your reputation? Do you feel more pressure because you are not a rookie?

LH: I guess it is slightly different pressure compared to last year but in a positive way. I don`t think it distracts me or makes it harder for me to do my job, I want to win more than ever, that is through passion and determination.

Q. Do you feel you must finish on the podium here?

LH: I have got to finish on the podium at every race, that is the way it goes. But it is no more important this weekend than any other race but it would be good to get a good start for the race that are coming up.

Q. Would you rather have had a more experienced driver alongside you this season?

LH: No, I am learning quite a lot from Heikki, as he is doing with me. Whatever driver you work with they always bring something new in. Heikki has got just as much experience as I have in F1, perhaps a bit more with testing, but he comes with new ideas and a fresh mind and a slightly different styles, every driver has something different so there is always something you can learn.

Super Aguri`s future was still hanging in the balance at the Spanish Grand Prix on Thursday with the team still seeking a saviour after the collapse of a takeover deal.

Backers Honda said they had made every effort to support the cash-strapped team but could not guarantee their continued survival.

Fry said on Thursday he was not optimistic about the situation.

“We`ve been working as hard as we possibly can to find a solution for Aguri, but at this stage I`m not overly optimistic,” Honda F1 chief executive Nick Fry told Reuters at the Circuit de Catalunya, where Super Aguri`s trucks and hospitality were lined up as usual.

“Honda in my opinion have done the maximum possible to support the Super Aguri team,” added Fry.

“It was never Honda`s intention to fully fund two Formula One teams but Honda have been incredibly supportive over the last two years of Super Aguri. But they (Aguri) do need to find funding of their own.

“We have been engaged almost full time in the last few weeks trying to find a solution and I hope that it`s going to be a happy ending to the story, but at this stage that certainly can`t be guaranteed.”

The British-based Japanese team said last week a planned deal had fallen through after Magma Group informed them their investors “no longer wish to fund the intended acquisition”.

Magma are run by Martin Leach, a former president of Ford Europe and ex-chief executive of Maserati.

Well-placed sources said 80 percent of the funds for Magma`s proposed takeover was to have been provided by Dubai International Capital (DIC) and doubted the hole could be filled by anyone else.

DIC have also been interested in buying Liverpool FC but the sources said the collapse of the Super Aguri deal was not linked to their 500 million pounds ($988.5 million) offer for the English Premier League club.

They said the sticking point was the lack of a clear commercial agreement for the future of Formula One and the banning of so-called `customer cars` from 2010, forcing all teams to design and build their own chassis.

Super Aguri have effectively been a Honda `B` team since their debut in 2006 as a means to secure a drive for popular Japanese Takuma Sato after he was dropped by Honda F1. Their other driver is Briton Anthony Davidson.

Founded by former racer Aguri Suzuki, they have struggled for funding and limped through to the end of last season after expected sponsorship failed to materialise.

Sources said Honda, who have provided engines and considerable technical support, were owed in the region of $100 million.

Speaking to reporters in Barcelona, the Englishman admitted that not knowing what his immediate future in Formula One holds has been `really difficult` but says he is focussing on the job in hand and hoping that Super Aguri`s financial problems can be resolved before practice starts in Barcelona.

“All we can do is just remain positive,” said Davidson. “If everyone does their job as normally as possible, and as well as we always do it, then that is the most we can do and we should all be happy with that.”

Davidson admitted that the news of Super Aguri`s precarious situation had given him sleepless nights over the last three weeks.

“It`s been a really difficult time, from the end of last year through to the start of this year,” he said.

“When we turned up in Australia it was a case of the unexpected, and nothing has really changed in my mindset so far this year. I`m kind of learning to cope with that because it is difficult, really difficult, it`s a battle, a fight.

“I`ve had a few sleepless nights, but you have to have fight in you. You have to feel like you belong, are ready and in top shape.

“Whenever there is a level of uncertainty in any walk of life, it is difficult to find that 100% fight that you need,” he added. “You can tell yourself you are ready, but without testing here and with limited parts at the start of the year and all that stuff, it really does take a lot out of you.

“There are a lot of drivers up and down the grid, with much more experience than myself, who would have crumbled by this point.”

Q: Pedro, how much has your role changed this year? Are you still doing pretty much what you have always been doing?
Pedro de la Rosa: My role is pretty much unchanged. Obviously, we are very limited on mileage during the testing season and we have to maximise every mile we do and every set of tyres. From that point of view it hasn’t changed at all.

Q: So perhaps you can describe what that is.
PdlR: It is the normal work that a test driver needs to do. First of all you have to be at every grand prix as a reserve driver and that’s why I am here. Secondly at the test sessions I am testing anything that is required by the team, backing all that work up in the simulation facilities at Woking and being of any help for the team. It is very similar to before but basically doing less kilometres at the track and spending more time in the simulator, so it is great fun.

Q: You are not frustrated at not racing?
PdlR: Yes, of course it is frustrating not racing. I have to be realistic as I am at that point of my career where I don’t have many more years left. Not because of me but because of the other people’s perception unfortunately. Every year that goes by it is just getting closer to a point where I won’t be able to race again. I am aware of that. I am a realistic person and I am just hoping that something happens for me.

Q: Lewis had a little blip at the last race. How were you able to help him during that weekend and how have you been able to help him since?
PdlR: A blip? What do you mean? A blip could mean also to go up. We hope that the blip comes here. Yes, he had a bad weekend but all we can do from the team’s point of view is to make sure that we make it as simple as possible for him not to make any mistakes. That’s what we have been focussing on for the past few weeks, to make sure that this won’t happen again. Not that he has to change anything, but from our point of view we make sure that is simpler for him to activate everything he has to from the cockpit.

Q: Does your role include driver coach, giving advice to drivers or anything like that?
PdlR: That’s not a part which is included in my contract but obviously I am just trying to be helpful for everyone. I am just trying to listen as much as I can and know what the biggest problems are. For example this afternoon I will walk around the track and see if there is anything I can see. During test sessions I am driving around the corners on the side-road just to see with my eyes if I can help. If I see anything I don’t like I go to the guys and I just tell them. I am very open and they can rely on me fully. They know I will always help, that’s my role.

Q: Rubens, I think in Turkey it will be 257 times you have turned up to a race. Looking back at the last race you didn’t look like a driver about to retire, giving Fernando quite a hard time. What was that like?
Rubens Barrichello: It was bad. We were fighting for 10th place. I wish it were first and second. That would have been a lot better. He was having plenty of problems with his rear wing and I was having a lot of understeer on the car. Unfortunately in Formula One nowadays it is still very impossible to overtake. Hopefully in the future, if slicks really come into play, that will be the way to go. To play with a lot less aerodynamic devices and with a lot more grip from the ground and from the tyre that will give us the chance to follow other cars. As soon as I caught him I turned the revs down because there was nothing I could do. I was five kph slower on the straight. I feel very motivated. You talk to the young guys and they are all sort of fed up with F1, too much to do, PR. My life has kept on getting better and better. The first year with Honda I really did a lot of PR. But they put things in place and I am focussing and putting my energy on the car. I have been working quite hard. Last week I did 140 laps around Barcelona which I thought was phenomenal. I still feel young on that side. I am just going to prove Pedro wrong. I think I have many more years left.

Q: Going back to the car. Do you think you are close to scoring points?
RB: We had a god improvement last week and obviously the first race was what it was and we would have finished in the points already with the car. But the first race is always a bit crazy anyway. In Malaysia we were far out and in Bahrain we had the pace but we did not have the straight line speed to overtake. But I think we are very close to the points. I think Barcelona is open on that. The car is a good time better. I don’t know how much improvement the others made because last week was very difficult to read. It was slicks on the car, people with less fuel and more fuel, so it was really difficult to see. But the car is better – definitely better. We have made an improvement and hopefully that is going to put us on Q3 all the time and that will lead us to points and more.

Q: It would be a nice way to celebrate your record. Apparently the celebrations are going to last several races?
RB: There is a little bit of confusion. You ask everyone and the numbers seem to go up and down, so we decided to take Turkey because that is the races I have taken part in. The ones that are not happy with that, because it seems too early, then we have three races to celebrate – the Brazilian way.

Q: Fernando, the car has been modified quite a lot. Outward particularly – things that we can see – but obviously inwardly as well. How are you feeling about the modifications since Bahrain?
Fernando Alonso: I think we made a step forward in terms of competitiveness of the car and we will see this weekend what the result is. I think as Rubens said last week it was difficult to read times as it was a mix of slick tyre and more or less fuel between the teams, so you know we tried to concentrate on our performance and our car and I think we gained a couple of tenths in the car. We will see if it is able or not to make us easy in Q3 and not have the problems we had in the first few races and hopefully regularly get in the points. Obviously we were in Australia, we just had one point in Sepang and were not in the points in Bahrain. This is not possible for us, so we need to raise our level and hopefully here is the starting point.

Q: You have been in the top four here for the last five years including a win from pole position. What are the chances of maintaining that record?
FA: Very difficult this year. It is true that every time I come here to my home grand prix I had always the possibility to fight for the pole position and fight for the victory. If not, the podium was a real possibility always. This year I don’t think it is a real possibility, just a dream as it was in the first few races. Something strange needs to happen during the race if we want to reach the podium now. Hopefully this will be the first step we need to do during this season to be close to the podium. Sooner or later we need to start improving the car and I think this race will be the first opportunity to see if we are going in the right direction.

Q: The President of Ferrari had some interesting comments to make about your chances of joining Ferrari in the near future it would seem. Did they come as a surprise to you?
FA: No. I have nothing to say. People talk about me, normally very often, which is good. It seems I am quite famous here. Part of that I respect everybody.

Q: A lot of the press thought that you would be going to Ferrari next year. But you weren’t expecting to?
FA: I don’t expect anything. This is only the fourth race of the championship. I try to be better and better every year – a better driver. This year will be a tough season for me. It seems I will race in the middle of the group always, so at the end of the year I will be a better driver and for next year we will see.

Q: Kimi, what does it mean for you to be leading the championship at this time of the year, coming here for the start of the European season?
Kimi Raikkonen: Of course it’s nice but the season is only a few races old. It is a long way to go and it doesn’t help if you are leading now and you can’t keep it up and lead when it really matters. But so far it has been pretty okay. It could have been better at the start of the season but we are leading in the points, so I need to be happy.

Q: You won here in 2005 but it hasn’t been a fantastic circuit for you this one, has it?
KR: No, last year we didn’t finish. I think we only did nine laps in the race. I can’t remember all the things that have happened here but usually they are not very good results. It can turn around. Hopefully this year we can be strong and finish the race at least. We will see how it goes tomorrow.

Q: How do you feel about the modifications made to your car since Bahrain?
KR: I don’t really have a clear picture about it. I did four or five laps in the dry and it was a bit damp. The team is happy how we improved the car and we brought some new parts and they seem to work. It should be better. I tried the new front on a few laps on intermediates, so we will see how it goes over the weekend, how the car goes. It should be better than it was in previous races.

Q: So tomorrow will be a real discovery for you in comparison?
KR: I have been here before in dry conditions and every time you improve the car it should make it better. We have some work to do but I think for sure we can be fast here.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To Alonso, can you confirm you are using the mass damper here? If you are, is it a new motivation for you and your team to improve in the championship?
FA: No, we are not using the mass damper. We are using a different concept of suspension but most of the teams are using it already, so we just will be similar to everybody from this race.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Kimi, how do you see the hierarchy between Ferrari, McLaren and BMW? Is the fight between the two of you or is BMW also a threat now?
KR: I mean they were second best in the last race, so for sure they are there. I think it all depends from race to race. If you look at the last couple of races they are very similar and we are a little bit ahead of them. I don’t know how it is going to be here. We need to wait and see really but it is going to be close between all the three teams.

Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Pedro, has your role this season with two quite young drivers become even more major than it was last season with Fernando in the team?
PdlR: No, it is exactly the same really. The only thing for me that changes, that is more demanding every year for a test driver, is that you have very little kilometres available to you and whenever you are sat behind the wheel driving you have to be fully prepared. There is no room to have a run to feel warm and feel the car again. You have to prepare very well physically outside of the car because you are not that often in the car. That for me is the biggest challenge and maximising every kilometre you have. Every kilometre is a jewel you have and you have to use it. That’s why I think my experience is important. But from a driving point of view, the fact that they are young and Heikki being new to the team, it hasn’t changed much really. Fernando was new to the team last year, so it was a little bit the same.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, were you expecting some bigger improvements from the test?
FA: No not really. We had what we were expecting and we are quite happy with the car and the improvement we did. But, as I said, maybe we will not be happy anymore tomorrow when we see the others and they are quick as well. I think we did a god job and probably the others teams did a good job as well. It is just a matter of which team took the biggest step and we are optimistic we can improve, but we must improve what we did in the first few races. So let’s start from this race.

Q: (Toni Lopez – La Vanguardia) Question for Pedro and Fernando, today, the FIA has launched a campaign against racism. Do you agree that it starts here and now in Barcelona?
PdlR: He’s a two-time World Champion, he should take…
FA: He’s from Barcelona, so…
PdlR: I don’t really know what to say. I was not aware of that and all I can say is that the Spanish people will show to the world how good they are this weekend, and how good historically they’ve been. We’ve never had any problems here before and we will never have (them again). Wait and see. But I was not aware of this campaign or anything to be honest.
FA: Same. I was not aware but this weekend it will be OK and it will always be OK here. Everybody will be able to see that.

Q: (Jerome Bourret – L’Equipe) To Kimi and Fernando, can you imagine, during your career, racing two hundred and sixty GPs or will you be fed up with the PR etc before that point?
KR: What, whether I will do two hundred and sixty something races? I don’t even know how many I have now but probably not.
FA: I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t think so either. I don’t know how many I have at the moment either, but 260 seems too many years.
RB: By the time that I finish I will have three hundred anyway, so…
FA: The problem is Rubens. Without Rubens you can go for the record but with him it will be tough.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) After the test here there was a lot of discussion about the coming ban of tyre warming blankets. A lot of series don’t have tyre-warming blankets and have pit stops. Is that going to be a problem for F1, to have this ban?
PdlR: My personal point of view is that obviously it’s a matter of safety. Running without tyre warmers, tyre blankets, obviously increases the chances… or makes the speed difference between the car that comes out of the pit lane and the car that is on a flying lap much greater, so the possibility of an accident is higher. We have seen the bigger accidents over the past few years happen when one car is slower than another, not necessarily a car is stopped on the track. The speed difference is a safety issue for me, that’s my point of view, so that’s what I am saying. I’ve raced all my career without tyre warmers but it’s quite different in Formula One, mainly because the compounds or the compound-operating window is very narrow in Formula One. So until they are at a very high temperature, they do not work at all. In other categories you have a much more progressive build-up of temperature and grip, so it’s easier. I find it more difficult here.
RB: Well, I think there are good and bad points to be honest. On the one hand people want to see some overtaking which is fair. We all want to see that, but the problem is that I think Formula One could become quite boring. People will invent a car that has a big tank again and whoever stays on the track gains the advantage of that one pit stop. I think at the end of the day it will become a little bit too much like IndyCars or something like that which is fine, but I think Formula One is about the competitiveness of what’s going on on the track. To add to that, I’ve also raced throughout my whole career before Formula One without tyre blankets but I never saw something like this. You go out of the pits and you already have a chance to spin out of the garage, and when you get to the first corner, it’s like an ice rink and so with that, if you get conditions like we’ve had at Nürburgring in the past or any race that is very cold and we take the wrong tyres, then it’s going to be very, very dangerous.
FA: Yes, same thing. I think it’s dangerous. As Pedro says, the speed difference between the cars and as Rubens said, the races will become boring because you need to stay on the track. When you pit, over the next two laps you will be eight seconds slower, so you cannot be creative with the strategy or anything like that, so it will become more boring. I know that in some other categories they don’t have tyre blankets like IndyCars, but they don’t have any corners either, they go around. I think Formula One is different, the compounds are different and as Rubens said, we should look for the maximum performance in the car. We are in Formula One, so it needs to be the peak of motor sports. And (the notion of) saving costs is a little bit ridiculous.
KR: I haven’t run the tyres at all, so I don’t really have any idea how it will be but I heard that, as Rubens and everybody else said, it’s going to be very difficult, so I’m not really in the right place to say. But if it’s purely for saving money, it’s the wrong place to save money. It’s not much and they are going to spend the same money somewhere else anyhow, so…

Q: So Pedro, is the GPDA planning to do anything about this?
PdlR: Well, first of all we are going to talk between ourselves to see what is the majority agreement of the GPDA and then we will act accordingly. We are very relaxed about it, we are not in a hurry. We were waiting until this week, because I tested the tyres at Jerez back in early December, I think, and it was extremely dangerous. It was very cold and I nearly put the car into the pit wall, just coming out of the garage. The car didn’t turn and I nearly hit the wall, so it would have been quite embarrassing if I had done so, but I just avoided a stupid accident. And then, when we came here, Bridgestone has made some further steps and now the tyres are easier to warm up, so they are working at a lower temperature range. They are still difficult; we were waiting for these tests to happen, so that we could have a meeting between the drivers who had done the tests with the tyres and then decide accordingly. We are pretty relaxed, we just know that the FIA will listen to us and we just have to be sure that we all have the same criteria, that’s all.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all of you, considering the information about the 2009 aerodynamic package that you have, do you think it’s a good direction for Formula One? Will it be easier to drive, easier to overtake?
RB: I think it follows the rule that I think all drivers want which is less aero and better mechanical grip, but whether it will be good or not is a bit too far ahead to know. But I think it is, it’s a step that… Honestly, I don’t know how we got into the grooves. We raced go-karts, formula cars and everything on slick tyres and all of sudden, for a boy who dreamed of racing in Formula One, they have this tyre that is just ugly. Of course, Bridgestone has done a super job with the tyres because we are going faster and faster, but you saw last week that when we put slick tyres back on the cars, even though it was a hard compound, we went 2.5s faster. That’s the way it should be: slick tyres.
PdlR: I would add that where we are, or where we think that the regulations should be for next year, or what I am aware of, is that it’s definitely in the right direction. These new regulations come from a thorough study by the technical working group and everyone involved in the FIA and there’s some scientific proof that less downforce and more mechanical grip will improve overtaking opportunities. Still, Formula One will always be Formula One, it’s going to be more difficult than motorbikes – here in Spain there’s always this tendency of comparing both – and we just have to be aware of that. It’s definitely in the right direction. I am very comfortable with that.
RB: Back in ’98, when I first tested the tyre, I had a crash that I really thought I was going to stop, but because of the lack of mechanical grip caused by the tyre, I kept on spinning and crashed. So I think we depend a lot on the grip level of the tyre. If we have the whole tyre on the ground, it’s going to help a lot on the safety side as well.

Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) Kimi, do you agree with Montezemolo when he says it might not be good for Ferrari to have Fernando Alonso as your team-mate?
KR: (Laughs) It’s better that I don’t say anything.