FORMULA 1 - 2014

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GERMAN BANK SUES ECCLESTONE FOR €345 MILLION

Bernie Ecclestone in court

German bank BayernLB is seeking €345 million in a lawsuit against Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone over the 2006 sale of the sport’s rights, according to a report.

German press agency DPA say the Bavarian bank has filed a fresh suit in Munich against the 84-year-old Ecclestone, the chief executive officer of Formula One.

The Bavarian state bank, who were unavailable for comment on Friday, accuses the British billionaire of bribing one of its executives to influence the 2006 sale of Formula One’s rights. Meanwhile Ecclestone has counter-sued BayernLB by filing a suit in London, according to reports.

In August, Ecclestone avoided a possible prison sentence by agreeing to pay $100 million to settle a case in Munich after state prosecutors said he paid BayernLB executive Gerhard Gribkowsky $44 million as a bribe to help smooth the sale.

Ecclestone has never denied paying the money, but said he was blackmailed into paying the huge sum or would have risked losing the Formula One rights.

The corruption case tainted the Formula One chief’s tenure for more than three years, while Gribkowsky is serving an eight and a half year sentence for corruption and tax fraud after accepting the money.

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ECCLESTONE KEEN TO REVIVE SOUTH AFRICAN GP

Ayrton Senna leads Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher during the last South African Grand Prix held at Kyalami in 1993

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is working to returning the South African Grand Prix to the world championship schedule.

There has not been an F1 race in Africa since the last South African Grand Prix in 1993.

“We’re in the middle of trying to do something in South Africa,” Ecclestone told Russian agency R-Sport. “We used to have a race there and it would be nice to get back there again, to that part of the world.”

A return to South Africa was mooted in 2011 with a possible street circuit in Cape Town, but the city council rejected the idea last year, saying it would be too noisy.

The Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, which hosted 20 F1 races from 1967 to 1993, was bought by Porsche in July but requires extensive redevelopment to host F1 again. Besides South Africa, the only other African nation to host the series was Morocco in 1958.

Ecclestone also cast doubt on the viability of plans for a second race in the United States after a planned race in New Jersey was left off the 2015 calendar following disputes between organizers and F1 management.

“The Americans want other races, but I’m not too sure that we do,” he said.

Ecclestone was speaking on a visit to Sochi to receive a government honor. He was presented with the Russian Order of Friendship, a medal given for promoting closer international ties. Sochi hosted the first Russian GP in October.

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SCHUMACHER’S SON MICK MAKES SINGLE SEATER DEBUT

Michael Schumacher’s son, racing under the protective pseudonym of ‘Mick Junior’, is taking his next steps in the wake of his legendary father.

15-year-old Schumacher has had a successful formative karting career to date, and now Osterreich newspaper reports that in the last days, he has made his single seater debut with a day of ‘secret testing’ in a Formula 4 car at Valencia.

“Mick is certainly talented,” team boss Peter Mucke said, “but you cannot say absolutely that a good kart driver will be fast in a Formula 1 car.”

He added: “It is no good only having a great name as a driver, you have to be fast. After a day of testing, no assessment of Mick is possible yet.”

Osterreich suggested that this week’s F4 test was actually a prelude to a possible single seater debut for Mick jr in 2016, following another season of karting.

Manager Sabine Kehm said: “I don’t want to say anything.”

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Ricciardo: I won't take Kvyat lightly

Daniel Ricciardo says he won't underestimate new team-mate Daniil Kvyat and also vowed not to change his approach.

The Australian will partner Kvyat next year after the 20-year-old was promoted to a Red Bull race seat on the back of four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel's departure to Ferrari.

Ricciardo will be the senior driver at Milton Keynes next year and he has race wins to back him up as he was victorious on three occasions during his debut campaign with the squad in 2014.

However, he is determined to keep his feet on the ground and not take Kvyat lightly.

"I shouldn't let that change anything I do behind the wheel or with the engineers," he told Autosport.

"It's been such a good year and the results have shown for it, so if I ever find myself trying to get too much out of it and impress Daniil Kvyat too much then I will step back and try and take this year's approach because it has worked.

"I'm not going to take Daniil lightly."

With Vettel no longer part of the team, Ricciardo is expected to lead Red Bull's charge and he is confident he can handle the pressure of being the number one driver.

Asked if he was ready to take command, he replied: "Yeah, I think so. I am always going to continue to learn and grow with the team.

"I have done quite well this year in forming relationships and I expect that to continue.

"Obviously, they will rely a bit more on my feedback.

"I am sure it will take Daniil the winter to get running and get his shoes on the ground, so they'll rely on me a little bit more at the start of the season, but I'm sure I'm the right person to control that."

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Force India look to catch up with Williams

Force India have set their sights on catching up with Williams next year with technical director Andrew Green confident they will be able to close the gap following technical changes.

The Silverstone squad picked up 87 points in the first eight races of the 2014 campaign with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in the top 10 regularly and the team in the top four of the Constructors' standing.

However, their form started to dip during the middle of the season and they were beaten to fourth place by McLaren.

Williams, on the other hand, finished third in the standings and scored nine podiums, but Green believes they can make up the ground and their hopes will be boosted by the fact that they will use Toyota's windtunnel facility in Cologne next year.

"I'd like to think we could take a step in closing the gap, given that we know if we can solve the deficit we have in the handling characteristic of the car, there's significant laptime to be had," he told Autosport.

"Hopefully we can get up and at least be chasing Williams.

"That should really be where we're at, and I think we can do that with all the things we're putting in place for next year, and the windtunnel testing.

"Mercedes are [also] doing a good job with the engine over the winter.

"We're very excited about what they're bringing for next year and what we've learned to add to next year's car.

"I think we should be back where we were at the beginning of the season."

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Tost pleased despite missing target

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes his squad took a big step forward in 2014 despite not reaching their target in the Constructors' Championship.

The Faenza squad set their sights on a sixth place in the standings at the start of the year, but they finished seventh with 30 points - still an improvement on their P8 last year and P9 in 2012.

STR struggled with reliability issues early in the season due to the regulation changes with several retirements during the early half of the campaign, but they improved as the year went along.

"At Toro Rosso, we actually made progress on the reliability front over the course of the year, as can be seen from the figures: from 38 race starts, we posted 10 DNFs, but 9 of them came in the first ten races, up to the German Grand Prix," Tost told the official Toro Rosso website.

"One was down to a collision, five were due to a Toro Rosso problem, with the remaining four being related to the power unit. Jean-Eric [Vergne] actually completed all races from Austria onwards. This means the general trend in terms of reliability was positive and it's something we must carry forward into 2015."

Things came together during the second half of the campaign and Tost feels it is crucial that they take that momentum into the 2015 season.

"If we look at our targets for the year, we had intended to finish at least sixth in the Constructors' Championship and we didn't hit this one, ending up seventh but we can be reasonably pleased with having made a big step forward compared to previous years," he added.

"We also made progress with our working practices: the STR9 was the best car designed and manufactured by Toro Rosso so far. We made a big step forward. All the upgrades we introduced, such as those in Melbourne, Austria, Singapore and Japan worked well. Also on the fabrication side we made progress. The parts were of better quality and they fitted together much better. So well done to the different departments, we are working in the right direction."

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McLaren-Honda must dominate - Dennis

Ron Dennis admitted he wants the revived McLaren-Honda partnership to dominate Formula One like the team did during the record-breaking 1988 season.

McLaren-Honda broke a number of records during the 1988 season as eventual winner Ayrton Senna and team-mate Alain Prost won 15 of the 16 races in the season - a tally Mercedes equaled in 2014 albeit in a 19-race season.

"The 1988 car was very late and at the time testing was unlimited so when we arrived at Imola all the other teams had clearly demonstrated their competitiveness," Dennis told Autosport.

"On the third timed lap of the car it was over a second faster than everybody who had been testing for days and by the end of the test we were two seconds faster.

"What we achieved then, and what our rivals Mercedes achieved this year, is exactly what our objective is for the future - which is domination.

"I remember at the beginning of the [2014] season I said we were here to win races.

"So you could argue that as we didn't win a race and we're using words such as 'domination' then we're setting ourselves up for an almighty fall.

"But domination doesn't come in a short period of time, it takes time.

"It is what we're about because it is the only thing that really sets you aside from people who just win races.

"Winning races is challenging but domination is really challenging."

Earlier Dennis described Honda's Sakura headquarters as "extremely mind-blowing" and believes the Japanese constructor's return to the sport almost guarantees McLaren success.

"The commitment and the attitude and the absolute focus and desire to raise the bar is all present in those facilities and also in the developing attitude of the Honda/McLaren engineers," he said.

"I feel very confident that as we move forward into next season we have a realistic prospect of achieving our objectives."

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Toto Wolff: Formula 1 teams need more than one boss

According to Mercedes Executive Director Toto Wolff, all Formula One teams will operate with more than one boss in the near future.

Wolff played a major role in the restructuring of Mercedes' operations after the departure of Ross Brawn, who was effectively replaced by a joint-management arrangement.

In the Mercedes management structure, Wolff is in charge of sporting and commercial matter, while Paddy Lowe is in charge of running the technical side of the team.

Speaking to Autosport in an exclusive interview, Wolff admitted that he sees that sort of structure as the way forward for F1 teams.

"We will not repeat the mistakes of the past," Wolff told Autosport.

"The structure should not at all be diluted by what we have defined before as a team principal role. I have a very strong opinion on that.

"By giving someone a mega technical role to then represent the company, and interact with key stakeholders - like the FIA, FOM, big sponsors, and the Daimler board - you dilute his effort.

"One of the key things is to place people in roles depending on their skills and competence - and make sure they stay in their field of competence.

"You can develop people but that is very dangerous - just look at the Peter Principle. A technical director being promoted to a team principal is not necessarily right.

"Today's F1 teams are not the organisations they were 10 or even five years ago.

"You need to place the people where they perform best and then give them everything they need to perform best."

Wolff believes Mercedes was able to make significant steps forward in the 2014 F1 season thanks to their management structure, which allowed the various members of the team to focus more on their areas of expertise.

"The transition was pretty seamless," Wolff explained.

"For Ross it was difficult to accept that the role is changing, because he only came back to F1 to be the single point of reference, as he called it.

"But in a team of 800 staff, with 400 in Brixworth, there isn't a single point of reference anymore.

"Yes, there is responsibility to one individual at the end, but everyone needs to work in their field of competence.

"And Paddy was always made clear from the beginning that this is how we want to position it and this happened without any problems."

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Boullier expects Alonso to challenge McLaren

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier admitted that he expects new recruit Fernando Alonso to challenge the team "every day" as the Woking team look to get back to winning ways.

Alonso was confirmed as McLaren-Honda driver earlier this month and Boullier admitted that it will be a challenge for the Surrey outfit to meet the two-time World Championship winner's expectations.

However, the former Lotus boss beliebes Alonso's winning mentality will give the team more motivation to succeed.

"I know it is going to be challenging, but you have to take it as a huge positive. I think this is the kind of commitment or dedication you want. It is clear he is going to challenge us every day and to be honest he has been texting me every day for weeks [since we signed him]," Boullier told crash.net.

"No, I am not worried.

"He is really, really on it and following every change we do and every decision we take. This is the kind of boost we wanted and were looking for.

"We get the best driver in the world [by signing him].

"He is the one that will make sure we will work together and follow the direction we have decided to. Yes, it is [a coup to have signed him]."

Boullier added that he expects Alonso to work well with Jenson Button, who was retained as McLaren's number two driver ahead of Kevin Magnussen earlier this month.

"I think both of these drivers are mature enough to be easy to manage. I think the problem we may face, which will be a nice problem to have, is to manage them on track, but off-track I think it is going to be easy," Boullier added.

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Smedley confident of closing Merc gap

Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley believes the rest of the pack will eventually catch up with Mercedes as "nothing lasts forever".

Mercedes were by far and away the best team on the grid this year as they won 16 out of 19 races to secure the Constructors' Championship with Lewis Hamilton beating team-mate Nico Rosberg to the Drivers' title.

Williams, though, improved throughout the campaign and finished third in the Constructors' standings and Smedley is confident they will continue to chip away at Merc's advantage.

"When one team is dominant and they have a big advantage, nothing lasts forever," he is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"If you look at the gap we had in Australia and the gap we had in the last race of the year, I think that if anything it has probably been getting a little bit better.

"People understand how to develop their car better, they understand how to build a better chassis, have better harmony between the power unit and the chassis, and that dominance is usually decreased.

"It is up to us, the other teams, whether we are Williams, whether we are Red Bull, whether we are Ferrari, to go out and to do a better job than everybody else."

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Will we see Caterham on the grid in 2015?

The Caterham F1 saga may be nearing its end. According to Britain's Sunday express newspaper, unpaid creditors will meet tomorrow to discuss a potential sale of the financially stricken race team.

Caterham's overall debt is aroud 16.2 million Euros, or 25.3 million dollars. The team's crisis has been well-documented. After being forced into administration, having their factory seized and missing multiple races, they only made the grid for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to a crowdfunding campaign.

Marussia just had all of their assets auctioned off after falling out of the sport due to their own financial crisis. Carerham's future holds one of two likely paths. The first is that Finbarr O'Connell finds a new owner or they are forced into the same situation as Marussia, selling off what's left of the crumbling organization in order to pay their debts off.

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Ecclestone presents 2014 Race Promoters' Trophy to Russian GP

On December 19th, an award ceremony to present the 2014 Race Promoters’ Trophy to the Russian Grand Prix organisers took place at Sochi Autodrom.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Kozak, received the legendary cup from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Management (FOM). The award will stay in Russia until the end of 2015.

The honorary participants of the prize giving ceremony, Bernie Ecclestone, Dmitry Kozak, deputy head of the Krasnodar region administration Alexander Saurin and president of the Russian Automobile Federation Viktor Kiryanov reviewed the results of the first operational year of the Formula 1 circuit in Sochi. The prize, which has the names of all of its owners since 1975 engraved, will stay at Sochi Autodrom until the end of the next year.

The announcement regarding the trophy winner was made at the FIA Annual General Assembly at the beginning of December 2014. The Race Promoters' Trophy is traditionally awarded to a Grand Prix organised in the most difficult circumstances. Many factors are taken into account, including the timelines, eventual success of the event and the feedback upon its delivery.

Tense preparation

Four years of construction and tense preparation alongside the Sochi 2014 Olympic project preceded the Russian Grand Prix. One of the most complicated challenges was an adjustment of construction schedules of the Olympic facilities and the circuit integration into the Olympic Park infrastructure. However, this construction project proved to be one of the most successful in the recent years. Preparation for the Russian Grand Prix was made in record-breaking time straight after the completion of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. As a result of hard work, the track successfully passed the FIA certification on the 19th of August 2014, which allowed the promoter to host Formula 1 races.

Ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, the organisers and the Federal Customs Service jointly managed to fulfil the task of the F1 teams’ belongings delivery from the previous championship’s stage in Suzuka, which was complicated by weather conditions and the load transfer delay from Japan.

From October 10th to 12th, 2014 the first Russian Grand Prix in history was successfully held. Over 166 thousand people attended the most high-tech autodrom in the Eastern Europe during the racing weekend, including over 500 guests of high rank from Russia and abroad. 3.4 million Russians watched the event on television, which was three times more than the national TV audience of any other Grand Prix.

1,100 volunteers

During the competition’s preparation, Sochi Autodrom recruited over 1,100 volunteers from 12 countries and various regions of Russia and thus contributed to the volunteers’ movement development. The British driver Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix as the Finnish racer Valtteri Bottas claimed the fastest lap time of 1:40.896. The Mercedes AMG Petronas team collected 43 points in Sochi and won the Constructors’ Championship for the first time in history.

During the first four months of its debut operational season, Sochi Autodrom proved its status of the all year round venue and hosted over 20 sporting, corporate and educational events with about 200 thousand people as guests and participants. Since November 2014, exercises of the Driving Academy have been held at the autodrom. The Academy includes a sports school for young racers and a training centre for drivers. In the framework of cooperation with the Russian International Olympic University, the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix promoter takes active part in training staff in sports management.

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Management: “The experience of the Russian Grand Prix organisers is really unique. The event in Sochi has truly become the best of the season. I would like to thank everyone who realised this project in such a short term for courage that made the Russian Formula 1 stage possible. The good thing was that the organisers asked us and listened to the advice we gave.”

Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation: “To make the Grand Prix project come to life, Russia and the Formula 1 organisers followed a way that lasted for several decades. We have faced an important and challenging task to construct the most modern world-class autodrom together with the Olympic Winter Games’ preparation. For this kind of systematic infrastructural reforms, many countries needed decades as we have managed to cope in just six years. Sochi Autodrom’s recognition as the best motorsport facility symbolised the triumph of this hard work. However, it was important not only to create infrastructure but to organise the event on the highest level possible, so I want to thank all those who was involved in preparation of the best Grand Prix in the world in 2014.”

Sergey Vorobyev, Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix promoter: “In the course of the last month, the Sochi Autodrom team has received recognition of the international motorsport community on two occasions. The Russian Grand Prix has become regular in the F1 calendar as the championship’s stage that attracts special attention. I wish to thank the team of constructors, consultants, organisers, volunteers and, certainly, spectators for creating a big sporting holiday with unforgettable atmosphere. Thank you everyone who believed in us and, firstly, to the Government of the Russian Federation and the Krasnodar region administration whose support made it possible to hold the race in Russia. Formula 1 is staying a priority for Sochi Autodrom but it is not a single project as the circuit is used for a wide range of motorsport and commercial events. We are glad to see guests here all the year round.”

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Pay driver situation 'out of control' claims Sutil

Formula 1's pay driver situation is getting "out of control" according to Adrian Sutil, who recently lost his seat to a driver with more financial backing.

Sauber has replaced both its drivers, Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez, with Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr because they bring with them more money.

Sutil, whilst recognising that pay drivers have always been part of the sport, says it's now getting out of control to the point where money is far more important than talent to some teams.

"The budgets some drivers are paying for a year are out of control," he told Autosport. "This is not the way it should be.

"There were small teams 20 or 30 years ago where you could buy yourself a cockpit. Now there are less of them [small teams] and maybe it's more obvious now.

"This is something that may never change in Formula 1, but we can make it a little more balanced."

The rising costs in F1 has meant teams are struggling to survive on sponsorship and prize money alone, therefore they need to find other sources of funding to compete.

The German believes the teams and sport must react because pay drivers aren't the right way to go if F1 wants to continue being a sport.

"First of all I think a few teams maybe have to do their job a little bit better to make things profitable," he added. "Or on the other side, maybe there's something wrong in the system.

"It would be good to have [the old times] back, and then maybe you could call it a sport again. Right now, it's hard to say what it is."

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Valencia race organisers accused of corruption

The organisers of the European Grand Prix between 2008 and 2012, based in the Spanish region of Valencia, are facing allegations of corruption over their part in the event.

The city's port had previously been used for the Americas Cup event, but in 2008 it played host to Spain's second Formula 1 race, known as the European GP.

Things came to an end in 2012 after a failed attempt to rotate the event with Barcelona in an attempt to save money. As a result of the broken contract, F1's Bernie Ecclestone sought a £25 million (€33m, $40m) payment to terminate the deal and the race was dropped altogether.

Now it seems things could soon become even worse for its organisers. It's reported that an investigation into alleged corruption and embezzlement of funds by those behind the race has been opened.

Former regional president Francisco Camps, tourism official Dolores Johnson and Jorge Martinez, a shareholder in the Valmor Sports company which was assigned the hosting rights by the then president, are all named in the investigation.

The courts have been asked to investigate why a private company with no motorsport experience and just 12 employees, was tasked with running a national multi-million euro event.

It has also been asked to investigate financial irregularities, specifically naming Camps for misappropriating public funds.

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A look back at Vettel's time with Red Bull

Check out the brilliant video from the very talented Ayrton1, taking a look back at Sebastian Vettel's amazing career with Red Bull Racing. A career which saw him become a four-time champion, but is now drawing to a close as he embarks on a new challenge with Ferrari in 2015.

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Marussia still eligible for prize money - Ecclestone

Marussia would still be entitled to collect the prize money it earned from finishing inside the top ten, according to Bernie Ecclestone, as long as it competes in 2015.

The now-collapsed team secured ninth in the standings thanks to Jules Bianchi's ninth-place finish in Monaco, earning the team two points - enough to put it ahead of Sauber and Caterham.

Such a position brings with it huge financial reward. Marussia is entitled to claim £43 million ($67m) for securing ninth which is far more than the £6.5m ($10m) for finishing last.

However with the team entering administration and closing completely, it was thought it had forgone the right to the prize money, but Ecclestone has revealed that if a buyer is found with the funding to race in 2015, it would still be entitled to the money.

That's a blow for Sauber which believed it would fall to them.

Surely it would be impossible for Marussia to return with their assets currently being auctioned off. Not so. All a potential buyer would need to do is purchase the race licence and quickly build up a team by buying some of the assets, such as its 2014 car and modifying it to conform with the 2015 regulations.

A more unlikely scenario, but also possible, would be to buy Caterham's assets, which are also for sale, and Marussia's licence.

Whilst the team would be massively uncompetitive, it would at least know that it is guaranteed a £43m payout at the end of the year, allowing it to focus entirely on 2016.

Regardless of Ecclestone's confession, it seems unlikely that either Caterham or Marussia will be returning to the grid, despite assurances from the former's administrator that they're "in talks" with potential buyers.

http://youtu.be/OzRZkXsNKlg

[Bartolomeo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2817483/Michael-Schumacher-s-devoted-wife-spends-100-000-week-medical-services-hope-miraculous-recovery.html

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2817483/Michael-Schumacher-s-devoted-wife-spends-100-000-week-medical-services-hope-miraculous-recovery.html

Thank you for sharing Bart - Terribly sad to read that article, I sure also hope he pulls through.

Makes you wonder what are the Schumacher family meant to do other than hope and do as they have done and build the clinic in the hopes of helping Michael. I'd do it, as would most if you had the funds.

I also wish he pulls through, enougfh for him to be able to recognise his family, acknowledge that they are there and hopefully be able to read, walk and talk one day. Perhaps not be the way he was, but to be there for his family is my wish.

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DO RED BULL REALISE THEY ARE PUTTING A CHILD IN FORMULA 1?

Straight talking Jacques Villeneuve says the forthcoming debut of Formula 1’s youngest ever race driver Max Verstappen is an insult o the sport at the highest level.

Just a year out of karts, 17-year-old Verstappen has been signed to drive for Red Bull‘s junior Formula 1 team Toro Rosso in 2015.

The outspoken 1997 world champion told Omnicorse: “Should I tell you the truth? I think Max is an insult. Do Red Bull realise they are putting a child in Formula 1?”

“I do not doubt that he is fast, but he has no experience. I arrived in Formula 1 when I was 25, after winning in Indycars. Before you are fighting against the lives of others, you have to learn, and it is not Formula 1’s role to teach,” said Villeneuve.

He said the FIA’s move to impose a minimum age of 18 is not enough, “It should be 21. You should arrive in Formula 1 as a winner and with a wealth of experience. Formula 1 is not the place to come and develop as a driver.”

The former Williams and Honda driver thinks even Red Bull was not prepared for the controversy that Verstappen’s impending debut would trigger.

“The debut of a 17-year-old is a negative message for Formula 1,” he charged, “and I think the impact so far has not been as positive as Red Bull expected.”

The French Canadian says the main problem is that the modern breed of Grand Prix car has become too easy to drive, “Verstappen arrives, does ten laps and immediately looks strong. It seems that anyone can drive an Formula 1 car.”

“In my father’s day the drivers were considered heroes at the wheel of almost impossible monsters. Formula 1 impressed me when I arrived, even though I came from Indycar. But this Formula 1 is not exciting. The cars seem slow,” he said.

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FERNANO ALONSO SAYS F1 DRIVER BRIEFINGS ACCOMPLISH LITTLE

Double world champion Fernando Alonso claims Formula 1 drivers stay deliberately quiet in pre-race briefings chaired by Charlie Whiting.

New drivers have often expressed surprise at the contrast between fiery driver briefings in lower categories, and the almost silent exchange between officials and racers in the Formula 1 equivalent.

In a feature covering his final race with Ferrari last month in Abu Dhabi, Spaniard Alonso said the Formula 1 briefing is usually little more than a “chat between friends (drivers)”.

“I usually stay out of all discussions and quarrels,” he told the La Sexta programme, “because in my years of racing, I have found that the briefing is a formality. If you say something, sometimes all you achieve is the race director becoming angry.”

“And if you upset him, and then you are involved in something… instead I sit down, relax, think and listen. It has become fairly routine,” the Spaniard explained. “I’m there just as a spectator.”

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FERRARI BLOCKED MONTEZEMOLO FROM BEING F1 BOSS

Several reports have emerged that Ferrari vetoed Formula 1’s move to install Luca di Montezemolo as the new chairman of the Formula One Group.

Sport Bild made the claim last week, after it emerged ousted Ferrari president Montezemolo had been appointed to the board but only as a non-executive director.

Now, Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport is also claiming that Formula 1 owner CVC intended for Montezemolo to become chairman, but the move was blocked by new Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne.

“That is the reason why Peter Brabeck continues as chairman although he had resigned for health reasons,” said the Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo.

It means that with former Diageo chief Paul Walsh also stepping back from the role and becoming merely a non-executive director, Formula 1 is still seeking a new chairman.

“We will find somebody,” Ecclestone is quoted by Formula 1 business journalist Christian Sylt in the Independent. “Lots of people are in the frame.

“It will probably come up at the next board meeting next year. I don’t want to be chairman. That’s the last thing I need,” the sport’s chief executive added.

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BUEMI TO REMAIN AS RED BULL RESERVE

Sebastien Buemi is staying on as Red Bull‘s reserve driver in Formula 1.

The 26-year-old has been the team’s main test and simulation driver since he was dropped from the junior squad Toro Rosso at the end of 2011.

This year, he became the world endurance sports car champion with his Toyota teammate Anthony Davidson, and he also races in the new Formula E series.

But if Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo or Daniil Kvyat – or perhaps even a Toro Rosso driver – is unable to race during the course of next season, Buemi will remain first in line for the seat.

He told Blick newspaper: “One never wishes anything bad for a colleague. The truth is that I enjoy working in the simulator.

“That’s why I have signed up again for another two years,” the Swiss newspaper quoted Buemi as saying.

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Flavio: Alonso was tired of empty promises

Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore says Fernando Alonso grew tired of Ferrari's empty promises and had a "gentlemen's agreement" to leave after 2014.

After five years without any titles, Alonso confirmed at the end of the season that he is to leave the Maranello squad and McLaren announced his signing in December.

However, the Spaniard's departure from Ferrari was a long time coming, Briatore told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Asked when Alonso decided to change teams, he replied: "In 2013. It was a gentlemen's agreement with [former Ferrari president Luca]di Montezemolo: if the car in 2014 was not up to scratch, adios. All it needed was a handshake. Besides Fernando was tired of the usual tune: 'You'll see, the next one will be the winning car."

The double World Champion was also frustrated with the technical staff that Ferrari lured as he believed they "should have tried to sign the number 1 and not the number... 25!" while he also felt Ferrari should have used its veto power to stop the switch to hybrid technology.

Formula 1 underwent major rule changes for the 2014 season with the sport moving from the 2.4L V8 engines to 1.6L V6 turbo charged power units and it became clear during winter testing that Ferrari and the rest would struggle to keep up with Mercedes.

Having made up his mind to leave Ferrari, Alonso's options about his next team were quite limited and it was initially rumoured that he wanted to move to Mercedes, but Briatore says "there was never serious negotiations".

In the end he opted to return to McLaren despite his frosty relationship with Ron Dennis during the 2007 season at Woking, but Briatore insists "time heals everything".

McLaren have decided to partner Alonso with Jenson Button with the 2009 World Champion's race seat only confirmed a fortnight ago, but the Spaniard didn't have any decision in his appointment.

"It is an internal matter, concerning sponsorships. But we are happy because he is a good boy, smart and clever. He has already worked with Fernando in my team (Renault in 2002)," Briatore, who is the head of Alonso's management team, added.

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Perez impressed by 'nice kid' Verstappen

Sergio Perez believes Max Verstappen's promotion to F1 at the age of 17 is "good for the sport and for the fans".

The Dutch teenager will make history next year when he steps into the cockpit of the Toro Rosso at the season-opening Australian GP as he will become Formula 1's youngest driver.

His rise has been pretty rapid as he only moved to single seaters at the start of this year and spent only one season in the FIA European F3 Championship before being handed a drive in F1.

Many people have questioned the wisdom of handing a race seat to someone so young, but Perez feels if you are good enough then you deserve to be given a shot.

"Red Bull saw something special in him," the Mexican is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"I've heard really good things about him, so it will be nice to see how such a nice kid deals with all the pressure.

"He is making history. The kid has to be very special because he is breaking the record big time.

"If you're good enough and Red Bull put the faith in you to go and race, why not? It's good for the sport and for the fans."

Many rookies often struggle to deal with the media pressure when they race in F1 and Perez admits you have a lot to take in when you hit the big time.

"The media is something external, but when you drive the lessons of the strategies, the tyres, the differences in fuel loads across the weekends, it's something you don't experience in F3," he said.

"There are a couple of things [to learn], but no matter what, if you're good enough you will deal with them."

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Ricciardo confirms pay-rise for 2015

Daniel Ricciardo looks set to get a pay-rise after his meteoric first season with Red Bull.

Australia's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reports that while he out-shone the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel in 2014, he was making "just over $1 million" for the year.

That is many multiples times less than German Vettel's salary.

The newspaper said Ricciardo's fee is now likely to be more than doubled for 2015, with significant bonuses in the offering for race wins and titles.

The 25-year-old confirmed: "Yeah, I should be (paid more). I should get a little bit of a pay rise, so we'll see how much that ends up being."

Despite finishing third behind only the dominant Mercedes in 2014, Ricciardo's salary is dwarfed by many of the top drivers he defeated this year.

But he said: "On average, most of us are earning a pretty good wage but the best thing is if you can make a living out of what you love."