Moto GP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has revealed that there will be no replacement for the Japanese Grand Prix should organisers decide the event shouldn’t go ahead for safety reasons.

The event at Motegi was scheduled for the weekend, but was postponed following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the country. It was then moved to towards the end of the Moto GP 2011 calendar, being rearranged for October.

The situation in Japan is still difficult though and despite the determination of organisers to make sure the GP goes ahead, there is doubt as to whether it will even be safe enough in six months time.

While Ezpeleta cannot be certain on the race taking place, a decision he will leave in the hands of the organisers in Japan, one thing he was adamant about was that there would be no replacement race should it be cancelled.

He said: ‘We wait for the decisions of the local promoters. In any case, should they decide to give up the race for this year, there would be no substitution.’

‘A national championship race is scheduled there in July, which means that at that time the venue should be usable. By then we should be certain on what we’ll do.’

The Moto GP chief then offered his support for the people of Japan and how they are coping with the natural disasters in the country, saying he has ‘full confidence’ in the fact that the country will be safe to visit if the GP organisers say it is.

Elsewhere, Honda vice-president has been having his say on the Japanese circuit, commenting on how the damage from the recent earthquake has been repaired and that the track was ready for a race.

Overall, it seems as though there is every intention of the Japanese Grand Prix going ahead as planned in October. That is the outcome people want anyway.

Even if it doesn’t, the likes of Turkey – who had been a rumoured replacement venue – will have to wait until 2012 if they are to potentially host a Moto GP event.

Such is the nature of F1 that if a team wants to be competitive, it must employ the best drivers it can to help secure the constructors championship, yet the single minded nature of all racers means they are gunning for the drivers championship, hoping to win at their team-mates expense.

Each team take their own approach. McLaren for example have a long history of putting the two best drivers on the grid, putting them in identical cars and letting them race, while Red Bull chief Christian Horner recently admitted he was glad to have two drivers at different stages of their career, although even that couldn’t stop Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s very public falling out last year.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been very evenly matched this season, at least before the Chinese Grand Prix, but the feeling that Button is a number two driver waiting to happen is inescapable. Button appears to have fixed his qualifying issue that dogged him last year and moved him closer to Hamilton, but make no mistakes this is Hamilton’s team and Button is just a very welcome guest.

The pair were involved in some very hard but equally fair wheel to wheel racing in Shanghai, with Hamilton getting the better of the exchange this time round. Button will be disappointed that having out-qualified his team-mate and led the race having taken Sebastian Vettel off the line, he was beaten comprehensively by Hamilton in the end.

Bemoaning his lack of grip in the rear tyres (although pulling into the wrong pit box will have hardly helped) the 2009 champion could also count his pit strategy that left him at the mercy of Hamilton, who had conserved an extra set from qualifying, as one of the main reasons for his downfall. His reputation as man who can take advantage if conditions or a situation changes quickly continues to grow, but doubts grow over his ability to match Hamilton on terms of speed and most crucially talent.

Both drivers made great play about their equality in an interview with the BBC before the first race of the season, saying there was no favouritism, and that is believable. But it will be interesting to see what will happen if Hamilton is still in the title race with Button slightly adrift as he was last year with the ban on team orders lifted for this season.

If Button finds himself ahead of his team-mate in that situation, McLaren’s willingness to let the pair race and operate on a level playing field would be tested to the max.

They will hope that won’t be the case, but if it is, the friendly exterior which is the over-riding feature in the McLaren garage could soon disappear, and be replaced by something different altogether.

Felipe Massa is in determined mood for the rest of the 2011 Formula 1 season following his third points finish of the campaign so far at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver qualified and finished sixth in Shanghai, a result which followed seventh place in Australia and fifth place in Malaysia.

Although he has been outside the podium places so far, he has finished ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso in the last two races and is determined to keep improving as the season goes on.

Speaking about his ambitions, Massa said: ‘We need to qualify better so we can start further forward on the grid which helps in the race, even with the talk of grid position being less important this year.’

‘In China actually my grid position, sixth, was not too bad. I then held a genuine second place for quite some time. I was very happy with how it went and I hope I can continue to fight at a higher level for the coming races.”

Red Bull and McLaren have dominated much of the discussion in this 2011 Formula 1 season so far, but Massa is clearly keen for his efforts so far not to go unnoticed. He also wants to give people plenty more to talk about in the next few races.

The Brazilian certainly has a podium finish in his locker and he will be doing all he can in preparation for the Turkish Grand Prix to give himself the best possible chance.

With regards to preparing for a race though, Massa admits that there is much more to think about in 2011 with the introduction of DRS and KERS affecting the strategies of drivers and teams.

He continued: ‘After three Grand Prix it is still too early to say what is the best way to work with all these new rules. In China at the weekend you saw many different combinations of strategies and tyre usage’

‘At Ferrari, we have to work out what is best for our car. It is possible that we could see very different strategies in the next few races.’

With this in mind, the break before the Turkish Grand Prix, which takes place on the 6th, 7th and 8th May, is going to be crucial as Ferrari look to help prepare for their first podium finish of 2011.

It may be proving popular amongst spectators, but the new Drag Reduction System has been described as ‘too dangerous’ by former Formula 1 driver Olivier Panis.

The system – which has been used in the opening three races of the 2011 season – was designed to assist overtaking, thus making a race more exciting than ever before.

This was certainly the case in the recent Chinese Grand Prix, with the DRS assisting Red Bull’s Mark Webber as he stormed from 18th to 3rd in Shanghai. It also allowed Lewis Hamilton’s ambitious overtaking to become more realistic as he won his first Grand Prix of 2011.

However, as entertaining as it can make a race, Panis believes that it gives drivers too much to do with their steering wheel, increasing the risk of accidents in the process.

The Frenchman said: ‘There are too many things for the driver to be doing on the steering wheel now. Compared with what they did before, I think it’s more dangerous and I don’t feel good about this philosophy.’

‘If one time the system doesn’t work it’s going to be pretty dangerous, particularly in a high-speed corner. I don’t think F1 needs these types of new things.’

The new system has certainly had its critics with various drivers admitting that they still need to get used to it, but overall it does seem to have been a success in terms of adding something new and exciting to the sport.

Panis continued his criticism though, complaining: ‘If you want to have some overtaking like in China, you need to do it with the circuit; if you put a hairpin before a long straight, for sure you will have overtaking. But all these kinds of things, I don’t like them at all.’

Reaction to the 44-year-old’s comments has been mixed. Although many agree that changes to the circuits are needed to take the sport forward, others point out that the start to the 2011 season has been one of the best in many years and the DRS would have contributed to this.

As with most things with Formula 1, rumours begin to circulate and it is some months before the truth emerges. It was somewhat surprising then, to hear of assured media speculation suggesting Rupert Murdoch and a few of his billionaire chums were clubbing together to buy out Bernie Ecclestone and the company which holds the commercial rights for the sport, CVC Capital Partners.

Putting aside the behind-the-scenes power wrangling that inevitably comes when two powerful and rich adversaries come up against one another for one second; perhaps the biggest loser of any takeover bid in the United Kingdom at least, would be the BBC.

The last remaining jewel in the BBC’s sporting crown is in danger of being taken away from them, by Rupert Murdoch of all people, whose BSKYB company has slowly but surely stripped the corporation of their sporting assets over the years as football in particular went in search of the big bucks on offer and moved towards satellite TV broadcasters.

What complicates the situation further is the current range of cuts the Beeb are considering as they look to keep their finances in line with the country, and contend with a licence fee freeze. Unable to screen advertising because of the money they receive from taxpayers through TV licenses, every penny must be accounted for and when the licence freeze came, Formula 1 was one of the first names mentioned for the chop.

The BBC pays around £40 million a year for the rights to exclusively screen the sport on TV and Radio, as well as on its website. With a target of £600 million worth of savings by 2014, Formula 1 is squarely in the sights of executives as what they see as an expensive and ultimately unnecessary luxury. Fitting into a wider scale of BBC cutbacks, the at times gaudy sport will be an easy target for cuts at a time where institutions like the National Health Service are also facing cutbacks.

Crucially Formula 1 is not on the list of sports in the UK that must remain on free-to-air channels, leaving it vulnerable to private ownerships in austere times.

And this is where Murdoch and his News Corp bid comes in, and the inevitable switch of the sport to Sky.

Ecclestone for his part, remains adamant that the sport he spent so long trying to gain control of, will not be taken away from him. “It’s absolute rubbish” he told the Daily Telegraph this morning after hearing reports, having reportedly been bypassed by the approach by the consortium which includes the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim. A sub-plot which bubbles in the background is the potential for legal action against both Ecclestone and CVC for breaches of trust of former a former partner owner of the sport.

As with all takeover bids, nothing will happen for the foreseeable future. The Guardian, which reports that News Corp are “thinking about F1″ suggests any bid will wait for the next Concorde meeting next year, where teams decide on the distribution of money (with TV money taking up most of the conversation) , and at the moment a bid remains “rumour and speculation” according to a News Corp spokesman.

The racing is likely to be unaffected. If anything, teams would welcome the new injection of cash into the sport that being broadcast on Sky would bring, while fans will bemoan yet another sport switching to the subscription service.

But while Ecclestone is clear in as much as there has been no contact between him and any consortium, he is a man who knows a thing or two about business and the business of sport, and will likely roll with the punches if a bid were to come, rather than try to avoid them altogether.

What his role would be should a bid come to fruition is unclear. Ecclestone is the face of CVC, effectively an employee of theirs for the watching world to point their questions towards. He may well find himself jumping ship should it become clear CVC are likely to sell up.

Amidst rumours of discontent over his decisions to move races to the Middle East and his increasingly hair-brain schemes including simulating rain for dry races, Ecclestone is under siege somewhat. Just don’t expect him to go quietly.

But it is the BBC who find themselves stuck in the middle of what is essentially a boardroom struggle. They have played a large part in the resurrection in interest of Formula 1 in the British Isles, and have improved viewing figures along with access to the behind-the-scenes goings-on, which viewers have responded to. Despite their attempts to improve the coverage of the sport, their efforts may well be in vain if the money men come knocking.

Vitaly Petrov has praised the improvement made by Renault since last season following their solid start to the 2011 Formula 1 campaign.

The Russian was in the points for the second time this year at the weekend, finishing 9th at the Chinese Grand Prix to follow up his podium finish in Australia during the opening race of 2011.

He is now 7th in the overall driver standings, a vast improvement from last year when he failed to finish any of the opening three races.

Highlighting the progress even further, he didn’t match his current points total of 17 until the twelfth race of 2010. It really has been an excellent start for him.

Discussing this improvement, Petrov said: ‘The car is much nicer to drive. The balance suits me very well. The team is doing a fantastic job. We have done two podiums so far this season, so I hope that we can fight back in Turkey.’

The second podium finish Petrov is talking about is that of his team-mate Nick Heidfeld who managed a third place finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix, so Renault really are a team on the up.

In the team standings, they sit 4th behind the ‘big three’ of Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. They are 16 points clear of 5th placed Mercedes too, so they are without doubt the best of the rest.

It is crucial that they build on their good start though and keep achieving regular podium finishes. They have proved they can compete and it is time to do it consistently throughout the season.

Aware of the need to remain focused, Petrov continued: ‘We must still work on how to maximise the new Pirelli tyres. We improved it through P1, P2 and for qualifying so we know which areas to work on and what we need to do.’

‘We must continue to work hard, however, because we’re not where we want to be yet.’

Both Petrov and Heidfeld will be raring to go again by the time the Turkish Grand Prix comes around and perhaps they will use the break to work out the best way to use the Pirelli tyres.

Once they make the most of these, they can look at continuing their recent progress and enjoy the competitiveness of their car amongst McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari.

Who knows, this Renault duo could even have a Grand Prix win in their locker.

Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has revealed that he expects to be back to full fitness for the Portugal MotoGP at the beginning of next month, but is concerned about the form he will be able to show.

After struggling with fatigue during the first two races of the 2011 season, the Spaniard underwent an operation to relieve compression of his left subclavian artery.

Since then, a check up has revealed that the operation and subsequent recovery are going according to plan, even if he won’t quite know how he is shaping up until he gets back on a bike for the first time.

Speaking about the latest situation, Pedrosa said: ‘The truth is that it went well and in the days that have followed I’ve adjusted my routine to the recommendations made by the medical team, so that the recovery goes as well as it possibly can.’

‘I had a routine medical check and it seems that things are going well, although we have to be cautious until I get back on the bike in Portugal.’

As ever in MotoGP, the last thing Pedrosa wants to do is rush his recovery and end up doing himself further damage. The 2011 season has only just got underway, after all.

There is no doubting his attitude ahead of the race in Portugal though, he is clearly extremely focused on getting back on a bike and showing the world what he can do.

The 25-year-old continued: ‘I’m eager and motivated to return to competition to test the feeling I have on the bike, and to see if I can forget about these problems as soon as possible.’

‘I have a lot of motivation to return to competitive fitness, working with the team and above all getting on the bike.’

He has every reason to be keen to get back into action, with he and his team making a positive start to the 2011 season.

Despite Pedrosa being affected by injury in the opening two races, he sits nine points behind current leader Jorge Lorenzo in the rider standings, while Honda are three points clear at the top of the team table.

After winning the opening two races of the 2011 Formula 1 season, Sebastian Vettel set a very high benchmark for his performances.

The German lost out to Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix though and with the ‘second is nothing’ policy in mind, he has got to thinking about how he can improve during the three-week break before the Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s main man held pole position for the race and led going into the final few laps, but eventually paid the price for a two-stop strategy with Hamilton using his fresher tyres to pass him and take first place.

Referring to the tactics used in China, Vettel said: ‘There’s an important lesson to learn. Hamilton and McLaren were too strong and not in reach with our strategy.’

The current World Champion then went on to discuss how much he struggled for pace in the closing stages of the race, admitting that all things considered he was happy with 2nd place.

He continued: ‘I was struggling a lot. I had to wait to turn the car and get on the power as I did not have the tyres left. Lewis did a very good job to surprise me with his move into Turn 7.’

‘I don’t see second today as a disappointment. Second is the best we could do today.’

Vettel still leads the driver standings by 21-points after all, so he is still very much the man to beat over the next few months. If anything, the defeat to McLaren could end up being a positive thing for Red Bull if it means they are able to improve their car or strategies for future races.

It will also help Vettel if they could get his radio working for the next race. Throughout the race in Shanghai, his team were unable to hear and therefore unable to answer his variety of questions.

On this subject, he said: ‘Having no radio for the majority of the race doesn’t make it any easier.’

Being the incredible competitor he is, Vettel is of course keen to regroup for the race in Turkey in a few weeks and get back to winning ways. As he stated, coming 2nd isn’t a disaster, but he would love to reassert his dominance.

Looking forward to the next race, the 23-year-old remained focused: ‘We have to keep our feet on the ground. We have had three races, two victories and one second place.’

A brave man would bet against Vettel leading the way again in Turkey, but at least we all now know that McLaren and in particular Lewis Hamilton are going to fight him every step of the way.

The Formula 1 season steps back to take a breath after a frantic start to the season with a three week break before the next race in Turkey. After Lewis Hamilton’s heroics in Shanghai to reignite the championship race and with the opening skirmishes complete, who will be taking momentum into the fourth race of the season and who is treading water? Here are the big winners and losers at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Winners

Lewis Hamilton

His consummate drive at the Chinese Grand Prix is being hailed as one of the finest of his career and rightly so. Perhaps only behind Mark Webber in terms of over-taking and excitement, the McLaren man edges the Australian for man of the race for the sheer drama that surrounded his move past championship leader Sebastian Vettel on his way to victory. For putting doubt into the minds of the Red Bull team alone the 2008 World Champion will relish this victory more than most, and with updates pending for the McLaren MP4-26, the championship race which had until now looked to be dying flames, has just been doused in petrol.

Mark Webber

Despite his third place finish in Shanghai, this will feel like a win for the Red Bull driver. Having come in for some criticism during the opening two races of the season, most of which was grossly unfair as he was forced to contend with a healthy dose of bad luck, Webber will be delighted to prove his doubters wrong. His race must be put into context however. Without his newer tyres this type of recovery would not have been possible – and credit must go to his team as well-, so he will have to get his house in order if this is to be the start of something rather than the peak. His qualifying was a disaster, while he will hope that his KERS can be developed into something approaching reliable, then he may well find himself on the podium more often this season.

Nico Rosberg

The German declared himself disappointed with the outcome of the race and will know that on another day, he would have ended up on the podium. In a race where strategy was king, Rosberg unfortunately came up short as first his tyres, and then his fuel levels got the better of him. He was a central figure as the drama unfolded around him, and when his first stop launched him into the race lead, he will have been confident of finishing in the top three at least. Having got the measure of his illustrious team-mate and with the Mercedes providing a timely speed boost in time for F1′s return to Europe, Rosberg will look to finally establish the famous German marquee as a race winner this year.

Losers

Jenson Button

The sight of the McLaren man celebrating and offering his congratulations to his team-mate after his dramatic win was admirable, but inside Button will know he has missed out on a serious opportunity to stand atop of the podium. Having got away brilliantly to snatch the lead from Vettel, Button admitted he struggled for grip in his rear tyres, and having watched first Hamilton then Webber fly past him, the Briton will know he must up his game if he is to avoid being considered a number two driver at McLaren.

Michael Schumacher

The seven times world champion finds himself at a crossroad already this season. While Rosberg battled it out with the likes of Vettel and Hamilton, Schumacher was left to fend off the midfield as he scrapped his way to an 8th placed finish. Having spoken positively before the race of the updates to his car, the German may find himself being left behind before too long. Schumacher is nothing if not a winner, and he will be hurting, but he must turn it around, or this could be his last season in F1.

Fernando Alonso

Another world champion who struggled while seeing his team-mate put in an aggressive performance. His battle with Schumacher as they crossed the line together for 7th and 8th place was particularly telling as both Rosberg and Felipe Massa battled it out at the front, and Alonso will have been hurting at missing out on the action. Ferrari have been making some serious noises about sorting about addressing the problems this season and as the European races approaches, they are perhaps one of two teams capable of turning things around mid-season. Alonso thrust himself into the champion race last year, but he will surely be growing tired of playing catch up with the Scuderia.

Despite plenty of speculation that he could be on his way, MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has insisted that he can never imagine leaving Yamaha.

With Honda dominating proceedings in the sport, Lorenzo was the only non-Honda rider in the top five in Qatar and the only one in the top seven in Spain most recently.

Being the World Champion, it is understandable that Honda are being linked with Lorenzo, but he is having none of it as things stand.

Despite Honda being the most high-profile team, Yamaha are the team that lead the 2011 MotoGP team standings, largely down to Lorenzo’s impressive performances in the two races so far.

The Spaniard has finished 1st and 2nd so far and leads the driver standings after rival riders have suffered with injuries, bad luck and accidents on the circuit.

Speaking about his commitment to Yamaha, he said: ‘In the past few years, Yamaha has proved to be among the top MotoGP teams and now it is time to work stronger to keep our privileged position.’

‘My bike is very good, I feel very comfortable on it. This is my fourth season in Yamaha and I can’t imagine racing for a different team. This year, for the first time, I will also be developing the bike and it is a different challenge for me.’

Lorenzo has a contract until 2012 with Yamaha so this, combined with these quotes of loyalty, should put the speculation about him leaving the team to one side for now.

Instead, he can focus on retaining his World title by continuing to impress in this exciting MotoGP season. The next race takes place in Portugal on the 1st May, where Lorenzo will be looking to fly the Yamaha flag once again.