Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso may be leading the drivers’ standings after his surprise victory in Malaysia last month, but technical boss Pat Fry has warned the team’s fans that the F2012 still lacks the pace of its front-running rivals.

Lotus deputy technical director Naoki Tokunaga is to bid farewell to the team and will join Renault Sport F1 as the technical director of their New Generation Power Unit.

He’s Finnish; he’s driven for Caterham, McLaren and Renault; and during his six seasons on the Formula One grid he’s scored one win, four podiums, one pole position and 105 points. These are just some of the things you probably do know about Heikki Kovalainen

Although the new Lotus has shown it has the pace to compete at the sharp end of the grid, complications at the opening two rounds have scuppered the team’s chances of making a real impression on the standings. However, the overriding feeling in the Enstone camp remains one of optimism.

HRT have announced that Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua has been incorporated into the team’s driver development programme. Qing Hua will be assessed over the coming months at private tests, using cars from different categories, and if he progresses well, he could enjoy an outing for the Spanish team at the young driver test later this year.

Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to motorsport by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Newey’s Red Bull cars have won the constructors’ title for the past two seasons and he has previously designed machines that have taken titles for Williams and McLaren.

Race organisers have released further news of their off-track entertainment line-up for the 2012 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa insists he is determined to put his bad start to the 2012 season behind him after a day spent at the team’s Maranello headquarters analysing what went wrong for the Brazilian in the year’s first two Grands Prix.

Fernando Alonso may have left Malaysia victorious and leading the drivers’ championship, but Ferrari aren’t about to start resting on their laurels just yet. Although pleased with the Sepang win, team principal Stefano Domenicali is under no illusions about the F2012′s shortfall to its rivals and is determined the hard work at Maranello continues apace.

Formula One Group has launched a process to extend its current financing facilities. This will involve raising $2.27bn of new facilities with maturities in 2017/18, replacing the company’s existing $2.92bn facilities which are due to mature in 2013/14. The new facilities will provide the business with a secure, long term capital structure.