FORMULA 1 - 2014

[Baldy]

So.... who is everyone backing?

I myself am going for Rosberg, why is everyone hoping Massa to keep hamilton back from getting P2 when clearly Bottas has been the better and faster driver so surely Bottas will keep or could keep Hamilton at Bay unless he gets a DNF.

I'm a McLaren fan and therefore became a fan of Hamilton's when he joined McLaren. With all the wins that Hamilton got this season he deserve it. The DNFs was due to mechanicals and one was due to Rosberg so I don't blame him for that. Rosberg have a good chance of winning because he was luckier overall (less mechanical DNF) and the stupid double points.

[MIKA27]

Abu Dhabi GP - Plenty to fight for

http://youtu.be/Naw2m7Jxzxo

Fernando Alonso answers question about Jenson Button team-mate

[davidsan]

Hamilton for the win, I just like his style of driving a bit more over Rosberg. Though I think both have done an excellent job.

Looking forward to a cracker of a race & hopefully some interesting goss from Ted Kravitz notebook throughout the weekend!

[Bartolomeo]

Ferrari man but like Lewis

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: I WISH VETTEL GOOD LUCK AT FERRARI

Fernando Alonso thinks his Ferrari successor Sebastian Vettel will need luck on his side in the years that lie ahead of him at Maranello.

The Spaniard has called time on his five-year stint at Maranello, apparently seeing more promise in McLaren‘s impending works tie-up with Honda.

Vettel, meanwhile, is switching from Red Bull – where he won every drivers’ title between 2010 and 2013 – to replace Alonso at beleaguered Ferrari.

Asked if he has spoken to Vettel about the move, Alonso was quoted by the Spanish daily AS: “I told him ‘good luck’.”

Asked if the German will need luck, he admitted: “That’s what I thought but I didn’t say it to him. I cannot wish anything bad to Ferrari, because from 2009 to 2014 only good things have happened to me.”

“I’ve grown, I’ve learned things as a driver and a person, we have come close to the title several times, but I have to say that we have competed against teams that were better than us. Against Red Bull and its overwhelming technical mastery, and this year against Mercedes,” said Alonso.

The 33-year-old is so far refusing to even mention McLaren, undoubtedly his next employer but one he clashed so spectacularly and infamously with in 2007.

“Something can be signed for two or three months already but to announce it there is maybe a delay because there are other things to consider with the project,” said Alonso, undoubtedly referring to McLaren-Honda and its ongoing deliberations.

“I’m calm. I told the fans a month ago that the best is yet to come, things will be done but at the moment we need a bit of patience. It is all done, but let’s now put it all together and make it better,” he added.

Alonso denied he is leaving Ferrari with a feeling of anger, but admitted to “sadness” and “frustration” at having not put the lid on at least one more title. With his own performance, however, he is completely satisfied.

“I do not like to compare with my peers,” Alonso insisted. “But when you have a champion on the other side of the garage that if not for technical problems you beat them almost 19 to zero, I’m so proud and I think it’s impossible to say it has been bad years.”

[MIKA27]

ABU DHABI FP1: HAMILTON ON TOP

Lewis Hamilton may have finished FP1 in Abu Dhabi with a slight advantage over Nico Rosberg but it was a close tussle all the way to the chequered flag.

The build-up to Formula 1's title showdown got underway on a dusty, slippery Yas Marina circuit on Friday afternoon with Free Practice 1.

As seen throughout this season, the Mercedes drivers - the two men fighting for the World title - were quickly up at the front of the timesheets with Nico Rosberg quickest on a 1:44.860 after the first 30 minutes.

That put him 0.2s up on Lewis Hamilton, who is leading the Championship by 17 points ahead of his team-mate, while Valtteri Bottas was a distant third, 0.8s off the pace.

There were strange incidents at Williams, though, as both Bottas and Felipe Massa pulled into the pits with their FW36s missing various bits of bodywork. The entire right side pod of Bottas car fell off as he braked for Turn 11 while Massa's lost a smaller piece.

That spelt the end of Bottas' practice as concerns about the fixings on his chassis resulted in the team removing the floor from his car in order to get a better understanding of the problem. Williams later announced that Massa would also not run again in FP1 as the team needs to "ensure that repairs done properly so there is no repeat problem."

While the Williams duo were sidelined, the rest of the field began to venture out again for a second run midway through the 90-minute session.

The Mercedes drivers traded blows at the front as one would usurp the other only to change positions minutes later. FP1 ended with Hamilton quickest on a 1:43.476 while Rosberg was 0.133s slower.

Fernando Alonso was third quickest but a whopping 1.708s slower than Hamilton while Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were next in line ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne.

Vergne was one of several drivers to encounter problems in the final FP1 of the season. A battery issue meant he did not run in the final 30 minutes of practice while Jenson Button completed just eight laps due to an undisclosed issue.

Will Stevens had a troubled debut with Caterham as a fire extinguisher went off inside his CT05 at the start of the session. He managed to slip in a few laps in the final 15 minutes and finished with a 1:50.684.

Times

01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.476 29 laps
02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.609 +0.133 28 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:45.184 +1.708 19 laps
04 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:45.334 +1.858 28 laps
05 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:45.361 +1.885 20 laps
06 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:45.718 +2.242 17 laps
07 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:45.835 +2.359 30 laps
08 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:45.913 +2.437 8 laps
09 Sergio Perez Force India 1:45.983 +2.507 20 laps
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:46.030 +2.554 22 laps
11 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:46.049 +2.573 20 laps
12 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:46.131 +2.655 20 laps
13 Felipe Massa Williams 1:46.549 +3.073 7 laps
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:46.556 +3.080 25 laps
15 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:46.711 +3.235 29 laps
16 Esteban Ocon Lotus 1:47.066 +3.590 27 laps
17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:47.235 +3.759 8 laps
18 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:47.971 +4.495 21 laps
19 Adderly Fong Sauber 1:48.269 +4.793 24 laps
20 Robin Frijns Caterham 1:50.684 +7.208 11 laps

[MIKA27]

Gutierrez opted to end Sauber talks

Esteban Gutierrez has revealed that it was his decision to end negotiations with Sauber as it was not a "good direction" for his career.

After two seasons with Sauber and just six points - all of which he scored at the 2013 Japanese GP - Gutierrez is bidding farewell to the team.

Sauber announced earlier this month that Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr would make up its 2015 driver line-up.

That has left Gutierrez without a place on next season's grid, although the Mexican racer insists it was his choice to bring an end to the talks.

"The negotiations didn't go in the way that I felt was a good direction for my career," he told Crash.net. "So it got decided not to go forward with the negotiation, to change and to take a risky path.

"[The decision] was mine not to push.

"I could comply with the things that they were asking for but it was just not my feeling here and anymore in the terms that they were offering, so I didn't push it forward."

He is, however, hopeful that he will continue in Formula 1, admitting that a test driver role is his most likely path.

He added: "We have different options but it's things that are not yet guaranteed. I'm still working on them.

"I have two or three options here so I'm in a position where now I need to very soon choose a direction where I want to go.

"I'm looking to be a reserve or test driver in a good team, in a top team with a plan for the future."

MIKA: Farewell Mr Potter

[MIKA27]

Another qualifying tweak

With Caterham back on the grid in Abu Dhabi, qualifying has once again undergone a minor tweak.

While the season began with 22 cars and six being eliminated in Q1 and a further six in Q2, the numbers were changed in America and Brazil when neither Caterham nor Marussia managed to attend.

But with Caterham back on the grid this weekend, qualifying has again been adjust.

For this weekend's season finale, five cars will be eliminated in Q1 and a further five in Q2, leaving 10 to contest pole position.

The decision was announced following a stewards meeting on Friday in Abu Dhabi.

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo hails relentless Vettel

As he prepares to bid farewell to Seb Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo feels one of the biggest lessons learnt from the German is to be ruthless but fair.

The Aussie teamed up with the German at the start of this season and has had the better of Red Bull's running.

Claiming 214 points to Vettel's 159, he also secured three race wins while the four-time World Champion has yet to get off the mark.

The partnership, though, is now set to end with Ferrari confirming that Vettel will be joining the Italian stable in 2015.

Asked what has been the biggest lesson he has learnt during his time with Vettel, Ricciardo told reporters in Abu Dhabi: "I think the way he brings the people who work with him close to him,"

"Basically the way he demands and gets what he wants. We're always never happy with our cars; we always want something better from it and I think the way he approaches that.

"He's quite ruthless but also quite fair at the same time.

"He's got a good balance of being serious and looking the team in the eye and saying 'I need this', but I think at the same time he earns their respect by acting that way.

"He doesn't rest, he's not going to be happy being behind."

[MIKA27]

Abu Dhabi GP: Romain Grosjean gets 20-place grid penalty

Romain Grosjean will take a 20-place grid penalty for this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after the Lotus team decided to fit a sixth engine to his Formula 1 car.

Grosjean's E22 F1 car will run with a sixth new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and MGU-H unit for Sunday's Yas Marina race.

The rules permit each driver to use only five new engines and certain associated power unit components during a single season, so Grosjean has now exceeded the limit for each of these.

The Franco-Swiss driver will thus take a grid penalty as punishment, but will likely serve most of his sentence through time penalties.

Grosjean is highly unlikely to qualify on pole in the 20-car field, and the FIA has decreed that any remaining unaccounted positions from his total punishment should be served as time penalties in the race.

The governing body says he should serve an extra five-second penalty for up to five un-served places, 10s between six and 10 places, or a drive-through penalty if he fails to drop between 11 and 20 places on the grid.

If he receives a further grid penalty for another offence, Grosjean will have to serve a 10s stop and go penalty if there is a total of more than 20 places in his penalty that he cannot serve.

Whatever his total penalty, Grosjean says he will not opt for Sebastian Vettel's US GP strategy of abandoning qualifying and starting from the pitlane.

"It's not ideal, but if it's a new one [engine] it's 100 per cent fresh and there are quite a lot of long straights here so it may help us a little bit," Grosjean said.

"Soft and supersoft [tyres at this race too] - let's see how it goes."

[MIKA27]

ADU DHABI QUALIFYING: ROSBERG BEATS HAMILTON TO POLE

Nico Rosberg beat title favourite Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the decisive Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday as the dominant Mercedes team mates locked out the front row in qualifying.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa failed to split the leading two but could still play a big part in Sunday’s season-ending ‘duel in the desert’ with their cars right behind on the second row.

Hamilton, hoping to become Britain’s first multiple champion since Jackie Stewart in 1971, leads Rosberg by 17 points but the double points on offer means Sunday’s winner will take an unprecedented 50.

The Briton, world champion with McLaren in 2008, was fastest in the first two phases of qualifying but a messy lap in the tense final shootout left him unable to deny Rosberg his 11th pole of the 19-race season.

Valtteri Bottas was third fastest

The pole was the team’s 18th of the campaign, with Brazilian Massa taking the one that got away, and ensured Mercedes became the first engine manufacturer to take every pole in a season since Ford in 1969.

“It’s only one step, a very small step,” commented Rosberg, who needs someone to get between him and Hamilton in the race to have a chance of winning the title if neither Mercedes has mechanical trouble.

“This weekend is about the championship, not about pole position. It would have been great if there was a Williams in between us, but that can always happen tomorrow.

“All I can do is try to go for the win and keep the pressure on,” added Rosberg.

Hamilton, winner of 10 races this year to Rosberg’s five but under increasing pressure, has said he wants to take the title with a win and looked unhappy at the outcome.

“I generally didn’t have the best of laps but I enjoyed the qualifying session,” said the 29-year-old. “Tomorrow is going to be a special day.”

Red Bull‘s Daniel Ricciardo and four times world champion Sebastian Vettel filled the third row with Toro Rosso’s Russian roookie Daniil Kvyat and McLaren’s Jenson Button eighth in what could be his last race in Formula One.

Ferrari‘s Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard who is set to join McLaren next year, were ninth and 10th respectively.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES: DOES ANYONE BELIEVE IT WAS A BORING SEASON?

Mercedes hit back at Red Bull‘s Sebastian Vettel on Friday after the most dominant driver of recent years quipped that the team had made the Formula One season boring with their success.

“Is there anybody out there who believes that it was a boring season? Not one single soul,” motorsport head Toto Wolff told the official Formula One website ahead of Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

“It was an incredibly exciting season, despite our record. Our drivers were battling each other to the limit and I am sure that the fans appreciate that.”

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have between them won a record-equalling 15 of the 18 races so far, with a record 11 one-two finishes, but the title outcome is far from decided.

Hamilton, the 2008 champion, leads his German team mate by 17 points but with double points and 50 for the winner on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg versus Lewis Hamilton in Russia

Vettel wrapped up last year’s title, his fourth in a row, with three races to spare and ended the year with nine successive wins. But this season he has been little more than an onlooker.

The German has not won a race and has been overshadowed even within his own team by Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

“I think Mercedes made it very boring this year,” the 27-year-old told reporters with some irony on Thursday, while admitting that the season-long duel between the two team mates had been good to watch.

“They had great races, battling for the lead, which is obviously the most interesting position in the race for the people to watch,” said Vettel.

“Remembering races like Bahrain, I think they put on a great show for the fans and took it to the last race, so I think both of them deserve to win after such a great season.”

MIKA: Not as boring as the Red Bull era where Vettel was always winning, but that is Formula 1

[MIKA27]

LEGALITY OF RED BULL RB10 FRONT WING QUESTIONED

Outgoing Formula One champions Red Bull faced a stewards’ enquiry after being accused of using an illegal front wing at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said in a statement that in his opinion the cars of four times champion Sebastian Vettel and Australian Daniel Ricciardo were not in compliance with the technical regulations.

He reported that the cars’ front wing flaps were designed to flex under aerodynamic load, in a breach of the rules.

A Red Bull representative was subsequently summoned to the stewards.

Neither driver is in contention for the title but Ricciardo is the only driver other than Mercedes pair of championship leader Lewis Hamilton and team mate Nico Rosberg to have won this season.

Ricciardo had qualified fifth, with Vettel sixth but could either have to change the wing and start from the back or race under appeal.

Mercedes have already made sure of both championships, with Hamilton and Rosberg fighting for the drivers’ crown on Sunday and starting on the front row.

[MIKA27]

Nico hopes Lewis cracks under pressure

Nico Rosberg hammered home his credentials as 2014 pole position king in Abu Dhabi and vowed to try to push Lewis Hamilton into a mistake on Sunday.

The German secured the 2014 Pole Trophy at the Brazilian Grand Prix last time out, but he took his record for the season to 11 with P1 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday, compared to Mercedes team-mate Hamilton's seven pole positions.

With the 2014 Drivers' Championship on the line and a 17-point deficit to overturn, Rosberg knows he needs the victory come race day.

"It was a great day again today, for sure," he said in the post-qualifying press conference. "I'm thankful to the engineers for everything as they did a good job with the car, I was very happy with the set-up.

"It all worked out, got a good lap together in the end, pleased with that. But of course it's only one step, a very small step, because this weekend is about the Championship, not about pole position."

In order to win the title, Rosberg will need to hope at least one other car finishes between him and his team-mate Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas in the Williams nearly managed that as he was 0.159 off Hamilton's time in Q3.

"Valtteri said he got his perfect lap together, but there wasn't anything in it. Of course it would have been great if there was a Williams in between us, but that can always happen tomorrow," Rosberg added.

"For sure starting first is a great place to be."

Asked how he will play the first corner, he said: "That is going to be interesting as always. I'm on the clean side, I think, but I have the advantage from pole."

But he knows he probably needs Hamilton to make a mistake.

"Of course pressure is one of the hopes that I have," he said. "If Lewis feels the pressure and makes the mistakes as a result, a bit like today - I haven't seen it but if you're saying that - and a bit like Brazil that's the sort of opportunities that I'm looking for and I'm going to try and push for.

"I'm going to push flat-out all the time to try and keep the level extremely high. That's all I can do really, try and go for the win and keep the pressure on."

[MIKA27]

Alonso fires back at Ferrari boss

It looks like the Fernando Alonso-Ferrari relationship will end on a sour note after the Spaniard hit back at team principal Marco Mattiacci over suggestions he was not motivated.

Ferrari confirmed on Thursday that Alonso is to leave the team after five years and also announced that they have signed four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel on a three-year contract.

In a subsequent press release, Mattiacci said Vettel will bring "a unique combination of youthfulness and experience and he brings with him that sense of team spirit which will prove invaluable when, together with Kimi [Raikkonen], they tackle the challenges awaiting us, as we aim to be frontrunners again as soon as possible.

"With Sebastian, we all share a thirst for victory as well as enthusiasm, a strong work ethic and tenacity; key elements for all the Scuderia members to write together a new winning chapter in the history of Ferrari".

Alonso was asked about the Ferrari team boss' comments after qualifying in Abu Dhabi and he didn't take it kindly.

"I read the comments," the Spaniard said. "I don't think that they were very good.

"If he tried to mean that I was old and not motivated I think that he arrived too late to Ferrari. He has only a few months here and he has not seen all five years that I spent here and I fought every single race and for championships.

"Probably I was too old when he tried to renew me until the Monza race and he kept pushing and pushing and we had a lot of talks. Even in the last moments again we had a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails that I still have on my computer. Probably at that time I was not so old, but when I took my decision I guess that he has to find another driver."

[MIKA27]

Force India confirm Perez

Force India will continue with an unchanged line-up in 2015 after finally confirming Sergio Perez for the 2015 campaign.

The Silverstone squad announced back in October that Nico Hulkenberg would remain with them and team principal Vijay Mallya indicated that they plan to keep Perez as well.

However, it took them just over a month to finally make it official after the Mexican signed a "multi-year contract".

"I am delighted that Checo will continue with us," Mallya said. "He's a true racer who has done a fantastic job for us this season. The whole team has been impressed with his speed and racecraft, as well as his role away from the track.

"He has a very bright future in F1 and we will do our utmost to give him the equipment to match his talent. I look forward to celebrating more strong results with Checo this year and in years to come, and I cannot wait for his first home grand prix in Mexico in front of his huge following of passionate fans."

Perez said: "It's good to announce my plans. As soon as I joined Force India, I noticed the hunger and determination of everyone in the team, and I'm very proud to be part of that.

"I feel at home here and I'm fully committed. I'm enjoying my racing and we've already celebrated some special results together."

[MIKA27]

Bottas gunning for fourth in standings

Valtteri Bottas has set his sights on finishing fourth in the Drivers' standings while he also hopes to help Williams to finish third.

The Finn is sixth in the Drivers' Championship ahead of the season finale, but he is only three points behind Sebastian Vettel in fourth and one adrift of the fifth-place Fernando Alonso.

He will also start ahead of his two rivals in Abu Dhabi on Sunday after qualifying P3 with Vettel sixth and Alonso tenth on the grid. However, he knows he can't afford to relax on race day as double points will be on offer.

"It was a nice qualifying. The car felt really good," he said. "I think in the race, as we've seen before, Mercedes usually have a bit more of an advantage.

"[We want] to finish as high as possible, so if something's going to happen no doubt we'll have the pace and move forward.

"For me, the maximum is fourth in the Championship and as a team it is securing third place. That is our goal tomorrow."

[MIKA27]

Ferrari pair expect uphill struggle

Fernando Alonso believes he will be in for a tough final race for Ferrari, but he is nevertheless hoping for some nice battles on his "special day".

Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be Alonso's final for the Scuderia after he confirmed on Thursday that he is to leave after five years at the Maranello-based squad.

Although he is hoping to go out on a high, the Spaniard was on the back foot most of Saturday after he suffered a mechanical failure during Free Practice Two on Friday.

He eventually qualified 10th fastest.

"Today's qualifying was very tricky on a weekend that, in general, has been more complicated than usual," he said. "Changing the engine after the final free practice session created a few extra problems and it took until Q2 for the car to perform consistently.

"Tomorrow, I expect an uphill struggle, partly because, over the past two days, we haven't done any practice starts and I have never run with a full fuel load. But at the same time, I really want to give it my all and try and make up as much ground as possible.

"It will be a special day for me and even if it's really about the title contenders, Rosberg and Hamilton, I would like my last race for Ferrari to feature some nice battles, for the team and for all the fans who have supported me over these past years."

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen will start ninth on the grid after outqualifying Alonso for only the third time this season.

The Finn, though, is also expecting a difficult afternoon on Sunday.

"Even before we arrived in Yas Marina, we knew this track would not favour our car and all weekend, we never managed to find a set-up that worked well at every corner," he said.

"Today, in qualifying, I felt more comfortable, but it wasn't simple putting a good lap together. I was always on the limit and on some parts of the track the car worked well and in others it tended to slide.

"Tomorrow it will be a difficult race, but as always, we will do our best to bring home as many points as possible for the team."

[MIKA27]

Horner wants simpler engines

Having conceded there is little chance of the engine freeze being lifted, Christian Horner says he would welcome simpler, cheaper engines in the future.

This season, Formula 1's first under the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, has proven to be problematic for Red Bull and their engine supplier Renault.

Not only has the French engine manufacturer struggled with reliability but their unit has also fallen short in terms of performance compared to the front-running Mercedes.

And although little is expected to change ahead of next year's Championship given the freeze on development, Horner says he would welcome a complete overhaul of the regulations in the future.

The Red Bull team boss feels the current engines are too complicated and too expensive.

"If you roll back the clock for when this engine was thought about, you go back to Max (Mosley's) rule, we're talking about a four cylinder engine and it was quite different. Those regulations were given to engineers, engineers then discussed them and there was a compromise sought because a four cylinder was felt to be wrong for Formula One.

"The four cylinder at the time was supposed to bring in more manufacturers into Formula One and the compromise was to go to a V6. And then, unfortunately when a bunch of engine engineers are left on their own to come up with a set of regulations, they've come up with something tremendously complicated and tremendously expensive.

"The engines that we have today are incredible bits of machinery, incredible bits of engineering but the cost to the collective manufacturers has probably been close to a billion euros in developing these engines, and then the burden of costs has been passed on, unfortunately, to the customer teams.

"Unfortunately, I think we have to recognise what's been done from an engineering point of view and now look to simplify things, potentially retaining the V6 philosophy, perhaps going to a twin turbo that would address the sound issues that we've had this year and maybe even a standard energy recovery system would dramatically reduce the costs, dramatically reduce development and therefore the supply price to the customer teams also.

"So I think that's something that the strategy group need to discuss and look at."

[MIKA27]

RED BULLS DISQUALIFIED FROM QUALIFYING, WILL START FROM BACK OF GRID

Both Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel have been disqualified from qualifying in Abu Dhabi after race stewards declared Red Bull Racing’s front wing illegal. The pair will start from the back of the grid.

The team was called before the stewards following the session when FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer reported that the front wing flaps were “designed to flex under aerodynamic load”, which he deemed a contravention of Article 3.15 of F1’s technical regulations banning moveable aerodynamic elements.

The stewards agreed with the assessment and ruled that Ricciardo, who qualified fifth, and Vettel, who was set to start his final grand prix for the team from sixth on the grid, should be disqualified from the qualifying result. Both, however, will be permitted to start the race from the back of the grid.

Red Bull Racing accepted the sanction but says it is just one of the number of teams using such wings.

“Following the decision of the stewards regarding the front wings on both our cars (Car 1 and Car 3), we are disappointed that we have been singled out for a front wing deflection test when it is clear that other teams are interpreting the rules in a similar fashion,” a team statement read.

“The team accepts the decision of the stewards and will start the race from the back of the grid.”

[MIKA27]

Marlboro chief set to replace Ferrari boss Mattiacci

Sergio Marchionne is not satisfied with the current team boss.

After just seven months in the job, Marco Mattiacci is set to lose his role as Ferrari team boss.

Germany's Sport Bild on Saturday cited 'well-informed sources' in claiming the 43-year-old Roman will be replaced by the Marlboro Europe brand manager Maurizio Arrivabene.

Mattiacci only took over from Stefano Domenicali in April of this year.

He said on Friday that what had struck him most about F1 since switching from heading Ferrari's North American road car arm was "the intensity, the complexity but also the incredible amount of talented people that are in Formula One.

"How amazing is this sport, a global platform, the visibility that specifically in my case I don't like for myself, but which is a consequence of the job," Mattiacci added.

"The level of competition, (the) aggression is really high, so a lot to learn, but at the same time I think I brought an understanding of people, choosing the right people and from here how to create an organisation for the future."

Marchionne not satisfied

Mattiacci has overseen the replacement of the departing Fernando Alonso with Sebastian Vettel, but according to Sport Bild the Italian will vacate his post next week.

"Supposedly," said correspondents Ralf Bach and Bianca Garloff, "Sergio Marchionne was not satisfied with the Roman's work."

Mattiacci's successor, Arrivabene, is no stranger to F1, overseeing Marlboro's sponsorship of the Maranello team and reportedly already close to Bernie Ecclestone.

[MIKA27]

Just For laughs: Sebastian Vettel the crazy mechanic

Just posted yesterday/today

Sebastian Vettel the crazy mechanic. Disguised as a weird auto mechanic, 4-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel takes customers for a ride.

[Bartolomeo]

Marlboro chief set to replace Ferrari boss Mattiacci

Sergio Marchionne is not satisfied with the current team boss.

After just seven months in the job, Marco Mattiacci is set to lose his role as Ferrari team boss.

Germany's Sport Bild on Saturday cited 'well-informed sources' in claiming the 43-year-old Roman will be replaced by the Marlboro Europe brand manager Maurizio Arrivabene.

Mattiacci only took over from Stefano Domenicali in April of this year.

He said on Friday that what had struck him most about F1 since switching from heading Ferrari's North American road car arm was "the intensity, the complexity but also the incredible amount of talented people that are in Formula One.

"How amazing is this sport, a global platform, the visibility that specifically in my case I don't like for myself, but which is a consequence of the job," Mattiacci added.

"The level of competition, (the) aggression is really high, so a lot to learn, but at the same time I think I brought an understanding of people, choosing the right people and from here how to create an organisation for the future."

Marchionne not satisfied

Mattiacci has overseen the replacement of the departing Fernando Alonso with Sebastian Vettel, but according to Sport Bild the Italian will vacate his post next week.

"Supposedly," said correspondents Ralf Bach and Bianca Garloff, "Sergio Marchionne was not satisfied with the Roman's work."

Mattiacci's successor, Arrivabene, is no stranger to F1, overseeing Marlboro's sponsorship of the Maranello team and reportedly already close to Bernie Ecclestone.

Marco had no personality or experience, lucked into the job because he did a great job selling Ferrarris in North America

Ferrari will stink next year unfortunately but I am betting 2016 they will be dramatically better

[Baldy]

MERCEDES: DOES ANYONE BELIEVE IT WAS A BORING SEASON?

MIKA: Not as boring as the Red Bull era where Vettel was always winning, but that is Formula 1

I agree or the team order era when Ferarri dominated. Really appreciate Mercedes letting the boys battle. C'mon McLaren time to get your act together. I have a feeling Mercedes will dominante for a few more seasons though.

[Baldy]

Great race. Happy to see Hamilton win the WDC. Massive respect to Rosberg who handle a tough day and bitter loss with great class. Deciding to finish the race rather than parking it really impressed me. Looking forward to 2015 already.