There have been some speculation on Jarno Trulli’s position in Team Lotus when he was rested for the German GP, only to reclaim his race seat in Hungary. The Italian himself admitted that he couldn’t adapt well to the car, and started to lose confidence and question his own abilities as a result. Well, things are improving, and his contract has been extended for another year.

“I am very pleased that we have been able to confirm today that my contract with Team Lotus has been extended into 2012. The challenge I first accepted when I joined the team is becoming more exciting every day, and I am very proud that I can keep helping the team take steps forward for at least another year,” said Trulli, who finished 14th in yesterday’s Italian GP.

“We are all delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement to keep Jarno on board for at least one more year with our team. He has shown in qualifying in Monza just how much pace he has and how he can wring every last drop of performance out of his car and since day one with us he has brought a level of professionalism, insight and raw speed to our team that has helped accelerate our development on and off track.

“Today’s announcement will give us the benefit of his experience and knowledge into 2012, another very important year in the growth of our team,” said team boss Tony Fernandes.

Sebastian Vettel has won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s double world champ Fernando Alonso. The reigning world champ was unusually emotional and shed some tears on the podium.

This means a lot to the German, as Monza is the place where he tasted his first pole and first victory back in 2008 for Toro Rosso. That win made him the youngest ever pole sitter and winner in F1. For Red Bull, today’s result is their first ever Italian GP win – last year’s fourth place was the team’s best ever at Monza.

Starting from pole (Red Bull has been on pole for every race so far this season), Vettel lost out in a three abreast battle with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso; the Ferrari man made a super start to jump the front row cars.

Sitting in second, and clearly faster than the scarlet car, Vettel put pressure on Alonso and took the lead on lap 5 despite being pushed to the grass by the Spaniard, a lead that he never gave away till the finish. That was the last anyone saw of him, and today’s win was a comfortable one for the young champ.

Everyone else had to work harder, but none harder than Hamilton. Second on the grid, the Brit lost out in the three abreast battle to Seb and Fernando, with great starter Michael Schumacher right behind his tail.

There was some first corner drama when Tonio Liuzzi lost control of his fishtailing HRT and slid the length of the straight right into the first corner, collecting the innocent Vitaly Petrov (LRGP) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), who both retired. Barrichello was also caught in the melee, but managed to carry on. This brought out the safety car.

After the Gullwing dived in, Schumi passed Hamilton, and was a huge source of frustration for the McLaren man, who was faster in the bends, but couldn’t get past the Merc, which was faster on the straights. Michael used every trick in his thick book and every ounce of his rich experience to block Lewis. By now, Button, who had a poor start, was right behind the big scrap. Jenson passed both of them with ease on lap 17, though, and pushed ahead to catch Alonso.

It was now time for the first round of pit stops, but the order of BUT-MSC-HAM remained. Hamilton continued to push Schumi and finally succeeded on lap 28. But by now, his race was already ruined.

Things were looking brighter for Jenson, who overtook Alonso on lap 36 for second, a place he maintained till the end. Lewis must have been super relieved that he came out of his second pit stop ahead of Schumacher! Where’s Mark Webber? The Aussie collided with Felipe Massa early on in lap 5. Without a front wing, he fell out the following lap.

Further down the field, the sole Lotus Renault GP car of Bruno Senna had quite an active afternoon, overtaking a few other midfielders to finish ninth for some points. We didn’t see much of Jaime Alguresuari, but the Toro Rosso man did very well to finish seventh – great stuff for someone who started 18th on the grid! The Team Lotus boys finished 13th and 14th, both two laps down.

With today’s win, Vettel is leading the Driver’s championship over Alonso by 112 points. A further five points behind are Button and Webber. This means that there’s a possibility of Vettel wrapping up the title by the next race – Singapore – with six races to spare!

The Formula 1 fraternity is currently at the 2011 Italian GP in Monza and this congregation has churned out an interesting rumor about the Tony Fernandes-led Team Lotus. According to James Allen’s website, a middle ground has been reached between Tony Fernandes and Proton-owned Group Lotus over the naming conflict.

Apparently Fernandes has agreed to give up the Team Lotus name and is currently applying to use the name Caterham F1 Team via the FIA and FOM. As you would know, Caterham was recently added to Fernandes’ umbrella along with the Queens Park Rangers football club.

According to the website, this will also trickle down to the GP2 team with the name of Caterham Team Air Asia. You can safely expect Fernandes to use the Caterham brand in all of his motorsport endeavors and perhaps you might see a Formula 1-inspired road car by Caterham too.

With the new name, it is said that the yellow-green colour combo will be retained, minus the Lotus badge of course. This would definitely make Group Lotus boss Dany Bahar a very happy man who would be able to rename Lotus Renault to Team Lotus in the future.

You might wonder how all of these came about. James Allen revealed that the deal was part of the MAS-Air Asia partnership that was struck recently. Apparently, ending the Lotus fiasco was part of the government’s end of the partnership requirement which makes sense.

Regarding the issue of renaming the chassis, Fernandes should be able to do it as long as he receives a unanimous agreement by the competing teams. There is also news that Team Lotus will be relocated to Leafield in Oxford, away from Norfolk where it calls home at the moment. Leafield houses a former TWR facility which could be used by the squad.

It is also said that the team is currently expanding its man power. In my perspective, this is a very sensible move if there is any truth behind the rumor in the first place. It would put the naming conflict which started last season to a peaceful end and confusion over two Lotus brands in Formula 1 will come to a stop as well.

After replacing Nick Heidfeld with Bruno Senna for Spa, Lotus Renault GP and the veteran German driver have officially parted ways. Senna made his debut for the team and finished 13th in Belgium, but Heidfeld was also present at the circuit, saying that he had a solid contract and will bring the issue to court. That has now been avoided.

“Our disagreement with Nick has been the subject of much media coverage lately, and we are pleased to have reached a swift and reasonable solution. Our separation process was already a painful one, and neither of us wanted to go through another legal hearing,” said LRGP team principal Eric Boullier.

“We’re very grateful to Nick for the highly valuable contribution he’s made to the team. We certainly had good times together, in particular remembering our podium finish in Malaysia. He is a very strong and determined racer and we wish him every success in the future,” he added.

Any last words? “Obviously I’m disappointed to be leaving in the middle of the season. I thought I could still make a big contribution to the team, but I have to see things as they are and I want to turn my attention to the future. We have taken the right decision by choosing to end our collaboration today. I would like to wish all the friends I made at Enstone a successful end to the season. One thing is for sure – I’ll be back racing at the highest level soon,” said the man who replaced the injured Robert Kubica.

What series might that be? Autosport revealed that Heidfeld is in talks with BMW regarding its new DTM programme for 2012. If that works out, Nick will be reunited with his former employers!

The Buddh International Circuit that will host the inaugural Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix has been given the green light by Charlie Whiting after the latest inspection yesterday. The FIA man is said to be happy with the progress made.

“He (Whiting) stated that the progress was more than satisfactory and exceeded expectations from when he last visited the site. He also expressed confidence that the inaugural Indian Grand Prix will be a huge success,” said Vicky Chandhok, head of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India in a statement.

The mandatory final track license will be given the week before the race, when Buddh is complete. The Indian GP, which will happen in end October, will be the third last race of the 2011 season, before Abu Dhabi and the season closing race in Brazil.

Meanwhile, the Turkish GP has been officially dropped from next year’s F1 calendar. The 2012 omission of Turkey is said to be a result of failed negotiation between local organisers and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. This is the first time the race has been dropped since it came onboard in 2005.

Team Lotus finished 14th and 15th at Spa yesterday, a performance that the team is very happy with. Not only that, but driver Jarno Truli, who only recently had low morale and confidence, was given a boost and is looking forward to the next race in Italy.

“That is a very good result for the whole team today and goes down as one of our strongest performances since we came into the sport. We had a poor start where both cars were last after making contact in the first corner but we recovered very well, and to have finished in 14th and 15th after that is very pleasing,” said technical chief Mike Gascoyne.

“Both drivers were excellent today, but the pit crew deserve special praise for having taken a massive step forward in their performance. All our stops were exactly what we needed so congratulations to them for a job very well done today,” he added.

Spotted on the T128 at Spa. Football fans should get it, if not there’s always Google!

Trulli is finding his joy back. “I had a great start, passing a few other cars away from the line but then the accident in T1 meant both Heikki and I suffered damage – him to his nosecone, me to the floor and I had to run the whole race with that damage, so to finish 14th after that is just fantastic.

“Apart from the start I enjoyed the whole race – I passed a number of cars and when the safety car came out I was able to close the gap to the cars ahead. That gave me the chance to fight with the Renault (Bruno Senna) and I passed him and was then able to keep pace with the other guys ahead.

“Racing like this, with no problems and with a car I can fight with all afternoon is very satisfying, so now I can’t wait to get back in when we get to Italy and keep up the momentum we’ve built up here,” he said, with a smile we presume.

Since winning the European GP on the streets of Valencia, Sebastian Vettel has never got to the top step of the podium. But at yesterday’s Belgian GP, the reigning world champion returned to winning ways, leading teammate Mark Webber home for a 1-2 for Red Bull. Jenson Button had another brilliant drive to finish third on the podium for McLaren.

In contrast, fellow Brit teammate Lewis Hamilton got into an accident on lap 13 with Kamui Kobayashi, spinning into the barriers and bringing the safety car out. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who was in the running for the win, finished fourth after fading off in the final third.

Next up was Michael Schumacher, the living legend started from the back of the grid to finish fifth, ahead of Mercedes GP teammate Nico Rosberg. Another German, Force India’s Adrian Sutil, was seventh.

Massa was forced to pit an extra time, putting him down to eight, ahead of Lotus Renault GP’s Russian driver Petrov. Pastor Maldonado of Williams scored his first ever point in F1 at Spa.

Making his debut for the Group Lotus sponsored Renault team after displacing the disgruntled Nick Heidfeld (who besides not performing well enough in LRGP’s eyes, was deemed not being a good enough team leader), Bruno Senna finished 13th, a spot ahead of Team Lotus’ Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen in 14th and 15th, respectively. The two green cars were a lap down on the winner, but was classified ahead of Rubens Barrichello’s Williams.

It was an unbelievable start at Spa for most spectators, which saw Mark Webber make his customary poor start to drop from third to eighth. Nico Rosberg went the other direction, getting past it all to second behind pole man Vettel.

His Silver Arrow then slipstreamed pass Seb by Les Combes. The lead wasn’t for too long though, Vettel retook the lead on lap 3. However, the Red Bulls had tyre issues, and Webber had to pit on lap 3, followed by Vettel in the following lap.

Lap 1 drama also came from Bruno Senna, who clashed with Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari. The Spaniard was out, while the Brazilian with the famous family name got a drive through penalty for his part.

In the meantime, the front runners were Alonso, Rosberg, Hamilton and Massa, who exchanged places till the first round of stops at around lap 8. The Bulls, who pitted earlier, came back to take their places at the front, with some nice overtaking moves from Vettel (on Rosberg) and Webber (on Alonso) on display.

That proved to be the order, and Alonso’s change to the less desirable harder tyre saw his challenge fade away. In contrast, the charging Jenson Button had long swept aside the hard rubber, and overtook so many cars that we lost count. His epic drive ended by passing the double world champ for third with two laps to go.

Vettel leads the Driver’s standings comfortably, 259 points to Webber’s 167, with Alonso a further 10 points behind. The Constructor’s championship is Red Bull’s to lose – they lead Ferrari 426 to 295 points. The next race is two weeks from now at Monza.

Jarno Trulli’s performance this season for Team Lotus hasn’t been great. The Italian, who was “rested” to make way for Karun Chandhok at the German GP, but reclaimed his race seat at Hungary, has been highly uncomfortable with the T128′s power steering. The issue became so serious that he started to lose confidence and question his own abilities.

“The worst was at Silverstone. I was totally lost. At Silverstone I stepped into the car and I didn’t know where I was or where the limit was. I was trying to feel it but I didn’t have any feeling. I was not in control of it, and sometimes you ask questions, ‘is it me?’ and you start you have these question marks,” Trulli revealed.

“It’s a much better feeling now. They did a good job with the new power steering system, which is giving me the exact feeling with the car. I think we can still improve the system, but the feeling is okay. For the first time this season I started working with the car and changing many things because many things were becoming very clear for me.

“It’s totally another world. The way I drive is totally different. Before I was a passenger in the car. I just hope now I can build up my confidence day after day and move on. It’s, let’s say not my fault, but my driving style. I’m extremely precise. This has been my weakness and also my strength and when we had this power steering the feeling I was getting it was not the real one. What was happening with the car it was not was transmitting to me,” the old timer added.

“Because I’m so precise, I was reacting to something that was not true. So I was basically chasing something that was not real. I’m not going to say that I’m going to fly now, but I’m now in control of the situation.”

Sounds scary to not feel anything when one’s on the limit in a 300 km/h machine. With that sorted, will Trulli, or Heikki, score Team Lotus’ first points ever in the coming races? Now on a summer break, F1 will be back in Spa on 28 August.

In a recent post, we touched on Lotus Renault GP’s poor form of late. They left Hungary with nothing and have scored just six points in the last four races, in contrast with the 42 points they bagged in the first four. Now fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 66 points, they are 14 behind Mercedes GP Petronas.

They need to address the slide fast, and will bring improvements from the factory to the next race at Spa-Francorchamps, including wings, bodywork and floor updates. Nick Heidfeld admits that LRGP’s season hinges on the Spa updates – they must work.

“If it doesn’t work, then we are in trouble. Let’s hope for the best,” Heidfeld told Autosport.

“I feel it finally has to work because we have been saying for some races now that we understand the problem, and that we have moved forward. This will be the first time that we really have something big.

“Since we found out our problems we have made some small things. But we have made some big improvements in the wind tunnel now, and it was not that easy to bring all the parts to the circuit yet. So Spa is a very important place for us to go in the right direction,” he added.

Reports say that Renault is undecided on whether to further experiment with a rearward facing exhaust system, as the big updates that are on the way are built around a forward facing concept. We’ll see in Spa.

One of the moments of yesterday’s Hungarian GP, which McLaren’s Jenson Button won ahead of Seb Vettel and Fernando Alonso, was Nick Heidfeld’s explosive incident. The German’s R31 caught fire when exiting the pits for the second time on lap 25, leading to an explosion. He was unharmed.

Apparently, the pitstop took longer than usual due to a wheelnut issue, and Lotus Renault GP believes the R31′s forward facing exhausts overheated while the car was stationary, setting the bodywork on fire. Getting up to racing speed didn’t douse the fire, but made it worse. Heidfeld then parked his car at the side of the pit exit and leapt out. The car’s sidepod then exploded, and other cars had to dodge the debris.

This wasn’t Heidfeld first hot incident this year, as his car also caught fire in free practice at the Spanish GP. “It was a lot more scary. At Barcelona I looked left, saw a small fire and had time to stop. This one, I looked straight, saw the fire and it got hot,” he told Autosport. “I really felt the temperature. It was a bit scary – much more than Barcelona.”

“They are still looking into it. The stop was a bit longer, so that might be one of the reasons, but it is not like the stop was very long – it was not that I was stationary for 20 seconds or something. We are still investigating,” he added.

Their cars may be running hot, but the performance is not. Lotus Renault GP left Hungary without points and have just scored six points in the last four races, in contrast with the 42 points they bagged in the first four races. They are currently fifth in the Constructors’ championship with 66 points, 14 behind Mercedes GP Petronas.