Bruno Senna closing on F1 Grid place for 2010

Brazil's Bruno Senna says he is close to following his late uncle Ayrton Senna into Formula 1 next season.

The 26-year-old has been linked with Campos Meta Racing, who will join the grid for the first time in 2010, but he is also holding talks with other teams.

"Negotiations are going forward with Campos," he told BBC Sport

"It is more likely that I will join one of the new teams in 2010 and we're coming quite close to negotiating a good deal in F1"

Senna revealed that he has been in discussions about an F1 race seat for the last few months, holding talks with an existing outfit as well as 2010's new teams - Campos Meta Racing, Lotus and Manor GP - with the exception of USF1.

The Brazilian is hopeful of determining where his future lies before the season finale in Abu Dhabi on 1 November but will take his time weighing up all the options.

"I'm looking for a team that has the potential to deliver results and consistency," he added.

There is definitely a lot of pressure and expectation on me but that's motor racing and you have to learn how to deal with it Bruno Senna

"It's vital to be in Formula 1 next year as maybe it will be lost if it doesn't happen then.

"The best possibilities are with the new teams. There are a few good propositions on the table and we seem to be quite close. I'm keen to get going next year."

However, Senna ruled out a move to the new Lotus F1 team for sentimental reasons alone. It was with Lotus that three-time world champion Ayrton Senna claimed his first ever pole position and victory in 1985.

"I'm not the most sentimental person in the world," said Senna, who finished as runner-up in the 2008 GP2 feeder series.

"We are talking to Lotus but it's not the same team as before. I worked at the Goodwood Festival with some of the guys who were at the team with Ayrton but in F1 it's different now."

Senna tested with Honda last November before the Japanese car manufacturer withdrew from F1 at the end of the year.

When the team was rescued by team principal Ross Brawn, he opted to retain the experienced duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello at the expense of the promising Senna.

Brawn are now on the verge of sealing the constructors' crown at the Brazilian Grand Prix, while both Button and Barrichello are vying for the drivers' championship along with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

606: DEBATE I think Lotus will be easily the best of the new teams. They have the finance and the expertise in place Lauren1405

Senna, who is driving in the Le Mans sportscar series this season, says he has mixed feelings about the team's success after he was overlooked for a race seat.

"I am happy for them, obviously, as I've spent some days testing with the team in the past," said Senna, who was visiting his hometown grand prix in Sao Paulo.

"I'd love to be there myself and having a good championship but that's life and you have to get on with it."

Senna also shrugged off the weight of expectation that would follow him into F1 if he returned the legendary Senna name to the sport.

The 26-year-old is the son of Ayrton Senna's sister, Viviane Lalli, but he believes he is already used to handling the intense spotlight of Brazilian motorsport.

"There is definitely a lot of pressure and expectation on me but that's motor racing and you have to learn how to deal with it," he added.

"Many times the pressure only comes when you are successful but you are better off starting with it and learning how to cope."

The remaining race seats for 2010 are likely to be decided after the final race of the season in two weeks' time.

Now Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari has been confirmed for 2010, with Robert Kubica replacing him at Renault, attention has shifted to Brawn and McLaren.

Barrichello has confirmed that he has held talks with Williams and Nico Rosberg has been tipped to go in the opposite direction and replace him at Brawn. However, with both championships still to be decided Ross Brawn says he will not make any firm decisions until the end of the season.

After being released from his Ferrari contract, Kimi Raikkonen has been linked with a return to McLaren in place of Heikki Kovalainen, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

Kovalainen in turn has been linked with both Renault and Toyota, who may decide not to retain either Jarno Trulli or Timo Glock next season.

The expanded grid in 2010 also increases the chances for former drivers such as Anthony Davidson, who has been linked to Lotus, and new names such as Renault reserve driver Lucas di Grassi, Williams reserve Nico Hulkenberg and Senna.

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Rubens Barrichello in talks with Williams for 2010 race seat

Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello says he has opened negotiations with Williams as he seeks to secure a Formula 1 drive for next season.
The Brazilian said Williams are among a number of options available to him.
"I haven't signed with anybody yet, but it's true that I'm talking with Williams and Brawn," he said.
The 37-year-old is 14 points behind Brawn team-mate Jenson Button in the drivers' world championship with two races remaining in the 2009 season.
Barrichello is preparing for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, his home circuit where he is yet to win a race, on 18 October.

Following a six-year spell at Ferrari, Barrichello joined Honda in 2005 and was retained by new team Brawn GP when the Japanese team withdrew from Formula 1 in December 2008.
He remains the most experienced F1 driver with 286 races in 17 seasons but has yet to win the world championship.

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Renault given 2 year ban over F1 race fixing scandal!

Renault have been given a two-year suspended ban from Formula 1 for their role in fixing last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

The team were called before governing body the FIA to answer charges they had asked driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win.

Former team boss Flavio Briatore has been banned from FIA sanctioned events for an unlimited period.

Ex-engineering director Pat Symonds has also been excluded for five years.

Briatore and Symonds parted company with Renault last week at the same time as the French car giant said they would not contest the charges.

The FIA agreed not to pursue action against Piquet in return for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour  Renault team statement

Alonso, who attended the hearing in Paris, was also cleared of any involvement in the race-fixing scheme and the FIA thanked him for "cooperating with enquiries".

The World Motor Sport Council ruled that Renault was guilty of breaking its sporting code, finding; "breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity.

"They not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself.

"The WMSC considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship.

ANDREW BENSON BLOG Piquet clearly regrets what he did, it's just a shame he did not see things as clearly at the time

"However, in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1's disqualification until the end of the 2011 season."

FIA president Max Mosley added: "The blame has been placed where it should be placed and it's the right decision.

"The penalty that we've imposed is the harshest one we can but because Renault have demonstrated that they have no moral responsibility for what took place, it would be wrong in the circumstances to impose an immediate penalty."

The hearing was an attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore scandal despite the departure of Briatore and Symonds.

Renault explained that its internal investigation found that Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr had conspired to cause the crash with no other team member involved.

After conducting its own investigation, the FIA agreed with Renault's findings and decided to hand the French team a more lenient suspended sentence.

Renault, who will pay the cost of the FIA investigation, as well as contributing to its safety-related projects, said it accepted the council's decision.

Renault's F1 president Bernard Rey

"We are very sad to find ourselves in front of the Word Motor Sport Council," a team statement said.

"We apologise unreservedly to the F1 community in relation to this unacceptable behaviour.

"We sincerely hope that we can soon put this matter behind us and focus constructively on the future. We will issue further information in the next few days."

The FIA imposed further sanctions on Briatore, who ended his nine-year reign as Renault team principal last week in the wake of the scandal.

The Italian has been banned indefinitely from attending any FIA events. A route back into F1 was made more difficult for Briatore as the FIA declared it would not grant a licence to any team he was involved with or renew an F1 Superlicence granted to any driver associated with him.

Renault's double world champion Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber are both managed by Briatore while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also has ties with the Italian.

Symonds was banned from all FIA events for five years but the FIA noted his communication to the hearing "that it was to his 'eternal regret and shame' that he had participated in the conspiracy".

The fateful conspiracy was brought to light by Piquet after he was sacked by Renault following July's Hungarian GP.

The 24-year-old Brazilian said after the hearing: "I bitterly regret my actions to follow the orders I was given. I wish every day that I had not done it."

During last year's Singapore night race Piquet crashed on lap 14, two laps after Alonso had stopped for fuel and tyres, and a safety car was deployed to control the field while the debris from the accident was removed from the track.

Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car - necessary while Piquet's wrecked car was removed from the track - was critical to Alonso's victory in Singapore.

It meant that when the safety car came out, he was alone among the front-runners in not having to stop for fuel and tyres and it promoted him into a position from which he was able to win.

The FIA's ruling on the race-fixing behind the Spaniard's victory has been reached in the same week that Formula 1 returns to Singapore for this season's race, with first practice at 1100 BST on Friday, 25 September.

Briatore has been banned from any involvement in F1

While the majority of the Renault team flew out to Singapore over the weekend, the long-term future of the French team remains in doubt.

The team's main sponsor, Dutch bank ING, had already decided to withdraw its support at the end of the season while Renault itself reported losses as a result of falling car sales in the first half of the year.

Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year.

There have long been rumours that both Renault and Toyota, who have said it will not sign off its 2010 F1 budget until November, could follow them out of the sport.

If Renault and Toyota pulled out, the only two car companies left in F1 would be Mercedes and Fiat through its Ferrari brand.

As the car companies supply engines to the entire grid this year, that could be a major problem, notwithstanding the return of privateer engine company Cosworth next season as supplier to the new teams Lotus, US F1, Campos and Manor.

"Formula 1 can't afford another major manufacturer with such a proud history to walk away," said the BBC's James Munro in Paris.

"So some may accuse the FIA of that having influenced their decision."

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Renault Await Hearing Result of F1 Race Fixing Scandal

The hearing into charges that Renault conspired to fix last year's Singapore Grand Prix has finished in Paris at the headquarters of governing body the FIA.

Renault are accused of asking driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash to help team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds left the team last week after Renault decided not to contest the charges.

The FIA has a number of charges open to them including banning the team.

However, it is thought more likely Renault will be issued with a heavy fine or suspended ban.

F1 commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on his way into the hearing: "What they did was very serious. There can be no excuses but they have acted quickly to get rid of the culprits and that must be borne in mind."

Piquet and Alonso have arrived at the hearing at the FIA's headquarters. Neither they nor Renault representatives Bernard Rey, the company's F1 president, and communications director Jean-Francois Caubet spoke to the media.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes banning Renault would be inflict major damage on Formula 1.

Piquet's crash in Singapore

"For F1, it would be disastrous to lose a team and, in our case, an engine supplier," Horner told BBC Sport.

The hearing will attempt to attribute responsibility for the Singapore "crash-gate" despite the departure of team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds.

Piquet said in evidence to the FIA that Briatore and Symonds had proposed the idea that he crash deliberately.

"The FIA has all the information to hand. I'm sure they'll act responsibly," Horner added.

"Renault have been a very strong engine supplier to Red Bull for the last three years. Hopefully a sensible solution can be found.

"It would be a great shame to lose Renault from F1 because of an unfortunate incident such as this one."

Two major car manufacturers have pulled out of F1 in the last nine months, with Honda quitting last December and BMW announcing in July they would stop at the end of the year.

There have long been rumours that both Renault and Toyota could follow them out of the sport.

For any driver to deliberately crash a car is a shocking thing to do - it beggars belief, really  Christian Horner Red Bull team boss

Toyota has said it will not sign off its 2010 F1 budget until November and while Briatore shrugged off doubts about Renault's future, the Singapore scandal has revived them.

If Renault and Toyota pulled out, the only two car companies left in F1 would be Mercedes and Fiat through its Ferrari brand.

As the car companies supply engines to the entire grid this year, that could be a major problem, notwithstanding the return of privateer engine company Cosworth next season as supplier to the new teams Lotus, US F1, Campos and Manor.

Horner added he shared the widespread sense of shock at the Singapore incident.

"Obviously it is shocking. For any driver to deliberately crash a car is a shocking thing to do. It beggars belief, really."

The FIA agreed not to pursue action against Piquet for his role in uncovering the details of the scandal.

Leaked documents suggest the FIA's investigation into the incident found no evidence that Alonso knew of the alleged plan.

Renault have a case to answer - Mosley

Having already pitted in the race, the timing of the safety car - necessary while Piquet's wrecked car was removed from the track - was critical to Alonso's victory in Singapore.

BBC Sport commentator Martin Brundle, writing in the Sunday Times, urged Renault to "go in with their hands up, admitting guilt".

"They must also demonstrate that they will install a new team principal of perceived integrity," added Brundle.

"I foresee a sizeable fine for the FIA coffers and a points penalty that will pain the team into next year in regard to revenue and pit lane position."

Former world rally champion Ari Vatanen, who is battling to succeed Max Mosley as the next FIA president, told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek programme Renault should not be thrown out of the sport.

ANDREW BENSON BLOG All year there has been speculation that Renault would quit F1 - this can only increase the chances

Vatanen believes there are too many vested interests in the world council and that punishing Renault by expulsion would be "disproportionate."

He said: "Renault has got more or less their punishment in terms of image and having lost their top brass and we have to see the bigger context here.

"Don't just focus on this incident and look at what we can do about the FIA and about the sport.

"If Renault is thrown out it wouldn't have been a result of an independent justice. That's what we must get right - an absolutely independent justice otherwise people will always have a question. What was behind it?"

The FIA's decision will be reached in the same week that Formula 1 returns to Singapore for this season's race, with first practice due to begin at 1100 BST on Friday, 25 September.

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