FORMULA 1 - 2014

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De Silvestro set to make Formula 1 test debut for Sauber

Sauber Development Driver Simone de Silvestro will soon make her Formula 1 test debut.

The 25-year-old female Swiss driver, best known for her Indycar exploits, recently became “affiliated” with the Ferrari-powered Sauber team.

It emerged early this week that she underwent a seat fitting at Sauber’s Hinwil factory, and Speed Week now reports that she will make her test debut at the end of this month.

The report said de Silvestro will drive a 3-year-old Ferrari at the Italian marque’s Fiorano test track.

Another Sauber Test Driver, Russian teen Sergey Sirotkin, tested for the Swiss team in Bahrain earlier this week.

It is believed that Sauber prioritised the test for Sirotkin so that he can obtain his mandatory Super-License and take part in Friday practice at Sochi later this year.

Linked with new Russian team backers, the 18-year-old managed the necessary 300 kilometres at a competitive pace.

“My shoes were too small,” said Sirotkin, “and it was pretty painful when I was braking. When we changed the shoes, it was still not the best and difficult to drive.

“It was not easy,” he added, “but I am glad we completed the 300 km.”

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Maldonado, Gutierrez clear the air

Pastor Maldonado has cleared the air with Esteban Gutierrez after putting the Sauber driver out of the Bahrain GP in a terrifying crash.

Maldonado T-boned Gutierrez on lap 40 of the Sakhir race with the impact flipping the Sauber, which luckily for Gutierrez did a full 360 to come to a rest on its wheels.

Penalised with a stop-go during the grand prix, Maldonado has also been handed a five-place grid penalty for next weekend's Chinese GP.

The Lotus driver has since spoken with Gutierrez and remains adamant they both made mistakes.

"We have been in touch," he said.

"It was a misunderstanding from both sides. He was out of line in the entry of the corner, and I was completely committed to the corner.

"He said he didn't see me, and I didn't expect him to turn in."

The Venezuelan driver's E22 somehow escaped without damage and he finished in 14th place while his team-mate Romain Grosjean was 12th.

It was the struggling Lotus team's first double finish of the Championship.

"It was a tough weekend, especially as the pace of the car wasn't what we had hoped for.

"But at the same time we were able to finish all the sessions and the race without any problems. That was a big positive in terms of reliability.

"I think the collaborative work with Renault is helping us make steps forward.

"The car is improving, and race reliability was the first step in this process. Now we need to focus on performance.

"The potential is there, we just need to focus and continue to push hard."

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Mosley to 'blame' for V6 engines

Former FIA president Max Mosley says not only does he "like" the new engine noise but that he is also responsible for it.

During his tenure as president of motorsport's governing body, Mosley campaigned on three main issues; safety, cost cutting and keeping up with the times.

The latter meant a move to greener technology, which came into being this season when F1 welcomed the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines with ERS.

The change, though, has not gone down well with some fans prompting F1 to look into ways to increase the volume.

And if fans are looking for someone to blame, Mosley says that is him and he's happy about it.

"If anybody should be 'blamed' it's me," he told the Daily Mail.

"We were the ones who looked at bringing in the new technology. It was 10 years in the making, and I actually like the noise.

"I wear these things in both my ears (hearing aids) because the noise of the engines went right through me for 40 years or more. It's too late to save my hearing but not for the next generation. The quieter engines are better for families. You can take children to races without fear of their being deafened.

"It is important for Formula One to evolve. Safety was the big challenge of the 20th Century and the environment is the big challenge of the 21st. If that that fact is not understood and embraced, the sport runs the risk of becoming irrelevant.

"Corporate social responsibility is important for car manufacturers, so there is a need to move in this direction so the sport does not lose sponsors and manufacturers. They see how important this technology is in the development of road cars.

"If there is one thing I feel could have been done better it is how the new regulations, and the reasons behind them, have been explained to the public. An opportunity has been missed."

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F1 rules should be stricter - Lowe

Mercedes executive director Paddy Lowe believes Formula One's rule makers should enforce harsher penalties on teams that fail to comply with the new fuel regulations, rather than changing the rules to help them.

Lots of discussion about possible rules changes took place during last week's Bahrain Grand Prix, with the main discussion points the possible shortening of races or increasing fuel limits so that all the teams could race at maximum power.

While no rules changes could take place unless they were backed by a unanimous vote, the FIA admitted that some more changes could take place ahead of the 2015 season.

Lowe, however, is of the opinion that instead of changing the rules again, the FIA should enforce the current rules better.

"I don't think that [increased fuel allowance in 2015] makes sense. F1 is about delivering technology, and setting stretched targets," Lowe told Autosport.

"So to back out of it next year is absurd. If anything, the point of F1 would be to stretch it further - and maybe next year it should be 95kg for the race. This was the original concept."

Lowe added that some of the rules changes that have been proposed for next year make no sense to him.

"There have been things talked about in the last few days that are just completely unrealistic, that I cannot even understand," he continued in his interview with Autosport.

"The first suggestion was that we need 110kg of fuel. But has anybody realised that you cannot fit 110kg in these cars? So then they said, let's make the races shorter.

"Can you imagine selling that concept to the public? It would be like we have decided that athletes are not fit enough these days, so the marathon is only going to be 25 miles rather than 26 miles.

"The messaging around that cannot be contemplated. I hope all of that can be put behind us and all this talk of ridiculous fuel saving or whatever stops.

"The degree of fuel saving we had to run in Bahrain, despite the fact these guys were racing from beginning to end, was a completely normal level of fuel saving.

"Racing here last year we had a strategy last year that involved some fuel saving in the race because that is optimal. It was pretty much the same this time.

"I don't know how it is for others. But if they are not finding it in the same place, then it means they haven't got an efficient package. And this formula is about efficiency.

"That is the objective - and if you can deliver you can deliver a good result."

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Boullier confident McLaren can catch up

Eric Boullier believes that McLaren are capable of catching Mercedes this season, even though Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have dominated all three races this season.

Even though a safety car pushed the field together, Hamilton and Rosberg steamed away from the chasing pack last week in Bahrain to record their second consecutive one-two of the season, while Sergio Perez finished third, more than 20 seconds behind the German.

"It is true that the gap is huge now," Boullier told crash.net during a McLaren phone-in this week.

"But a one-second gap is catchable.

"I know a lot of areas that we can work on and improve, so I think it is definitely possible to catch up.

"I believe that if you look at the performance graph from Jenson from Bahrain, we had just about the potential to finish in front of the Force Indias. I do agree with Jenson then that we could be the second-fastest team after Mercedes, so the 'best of the rest' as they say.

"But it is very, very tight with everybody.

"We are working aggressively now to make sure we can catch up with Mercedes. We don't know if we will have caught them by the European races, but we will definitely try to close the gap as soon as possible.

"Obviously last year was a bit of a trauma here. Everybody is more than eager to get back to where we should be, but to do that we have to be careful not do it in a rush. We have to do it in a rationale mode. I think it is the perfect occasion to just look at ourselves and make sure we can fine tune our organisation and bring things back to how it should be. We will do that."

The McLaren Racing Direcor added that Mercedes' advantage probably won't be as apparent throughout, because they might struggle on circuits that have low downforce levels.

"I think every track now will favour one machine or another. Obviously somewhere like Monaco is an interesting example - it is a very high downforce circuit. You need a good driveable car, a well balanced car there. Obviously there are low downforce tracks too, like Monza. That will be another story," Boullier added.

"I think every track can ultimately change the pecking order. [but as of] today, I think low downforce tracks will favour us or help us."

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Haas cleared to enter Formula 1

NASCAR team owner Gene Haas has secured entry into Formula 1 for the 2015 season.

In a statement released on Friday, Haas confirmed he'd been informed by the FIA that his application to join the F1 grid next year had been successful.

He was quick to point out, however, that a lot of hard work still lies ahead.

"Obviously, we're extremely pleased to have been granted a Formula 1 licence by the FIA," said Haas.

"It's an exciting time for me, Haas Automation and anyone who wanted to see an American team return to Formula 1.

"Now, the really hard work begins. It's a challenge we embrace as we work to put cars on the grid.

"I want to thank the FIA for this opportunity and the diligence everyone put forth to see our licence application come to fruition."

Haas hopes to release further details about his new F1 team next week.

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Button sure McLaren stronger than in 2013 Formula 1 season

Jenson Button has no doubts McLaren is in much better shape than it was last year, despite slipping behind Force India in the Formula 1 title battle.

McLaren delivered a double podium finish in the Australian Grand but it has added just 10 points in the two races since.

But despite the stronger pace shown by Mercedes-powered rivals Williams and Force India in recent races, Button thinks McLaren is more improved than it appears.

"Our understanding of the aero and downforce we have on the car is much better than we have last year," he said.

"The correlation between the windtunnel and reality is also very good, probably even better than 2012 because it's actually working.

"We are lacking in downforce, but at least we have a car that is good and we're not afraid to throw downforce at it, whereas last year we didn't know how the car would react.

"We're in a good position, but we need to push very hard from now on to have any chance of catching Mercedes in the first quarter of the season."

Racing director Eric Boullier reckons that McLaren's early season priority had to be in delivering a driveable car before it could contemplate the necessary speed improvements.

"The attention over the winter was clearly to make sure the car would be driveable, balanced and reliable. All targets have been achieved," said Boullier.

"There was also a lot of research to understand what went wrong last year, and part of it was due to correlation. Work has been done over the winter and now it is working.

"We are a little down on downforce, so it's about catching up, and we have put everything in place to catch up. But there is massive improvement with this car compared to last year."

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Mercedes F1 team says its drivers must continue to share data

Mercedes insists it will not change its policy of allowing its drivers to look at each other's data, despite the likelihood that they will be fighting for the Formula 1 title.

Lewis Hamilton revealed in Bahrain that gains he had made in Malaysia in terms of extracting better tyre life and fuel use had been wiped away after Nico Rosberg carefully studied his telemetry.

Although such a policy may fuel some tensions going forward, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has made it clear that his team will not allow any barriers to come down between the two sides of the garage.

"The open information policy is something that we will always continue to have," said Wolff.

"It is a rule that both sides of the garage are open and transparent with each other.

"But, we have to be realistic. They [the drivers] have to try to find the edge, and maybe they will hold a little bit back until the last bit of the qualifying session, which is absolutely normal.

"But there will be no such thing as working on your side of the garage and not sharing that information, because both drivers know where the team have come from.

"We are in a very lucky position that we are able to be in front at the moment and we want to maintain that spirit and philosophy."

Hamilton has vowed to go away from Bahrain and study what Rosberg did to get the edge in pace terms at Sakhir.

Rosberg himself reckons that complete transparency of data is the best way forward to prevent problems developing.

"Everything is open," he said. "Everything can be seen and everything can be found. The thing is that there is so much [data] that you will never be able to see everything.

"We spend so much time in that engineering room, optimising every single detail that there is no way the other guy is going to be able to follow everything.

"You find bits and pieces all the time, but there is too much. So it is everything on the table and it has to be like that of course."

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Sergio Perez says he nearly quit F1 after losing McLaren drive

Sergio Perez has revealed that he came close to quitting Formula 1 last year after losing his place at McLaren.

Having got his career back on track with a podium finish for Force India in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Mexican has admitted that there was a chance he would not even be in F1 this year.

"When the McLaren decision came I was really frustrated with how things went," he said. "I said to myself it isn't for me. I was not willing to just go to anything.

"I really wanted to find the thing that motivated me to stay in F1 because otherwise I was willing to look for other options.

"But when the Force India came it was a straight forward decision, and we managed to do a deal."

Perez believes that his strong run in Bahrain, after two disappointing opening races, has vindicated his decision to remain in grand prix racing, and he believes he now has a bright future again in the sport.

"This is Formula 1," he said. "It changes your life from one day to another.

"Now that I look back I'm very proud of myself, and now it's time to look forward. We know in Formula 1 you go from hero to zero. And the opposite way as well.

"So now it's time to look forward. I have a very good experience from my time in McLaren and they made me a much better driver.

"But Bahrain was my first weekend of the year without having any issues, and there was some very encouraging pace. So now I am looking forward."

And with his podium finish having helped Force India to second in the constructors' championship, Perez reckons that ambitions can be set quite high for the rest of the season.

"I think there's more to come," he said. "It's only my third race but I signed with Force India very late, so my adaptation has been slow to try to get to know everyone.

"So to get it on the podium in the third race is pretty amazing."

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FIA president Jean Todt hints at F1 double points rethink

Formula 1 chiefs should take on board fans' criticisms of double points to rethink the controversial rule at the end of this year, claims FIA president Jean Todt.

The decision to award double points for the season finale in Abu Dhabi this year was met with near universal disapproval from fans, with a larger proportion more upset about that than they have been over the noise of the current engines.

But despite the outcry, which teams admitted caused a surprise, F1 chiefs resisted backtracking on the idea earlier this year.

However, with F1 bosses having this week reacted to complaints about the noise of the turbo engines, there have been suggestions of double standards because fans have been ignored over the double points issue.

But Todt, who is not personally opposed to the idea of double points, has now suggested that the unhappiness from fans over double points means that perhaps a proper rethink is needed.

And he has revealed that he asked for the F1 Strategy Group to review the idea in the wake of the fans' backlash earlier this year, but gave up the push because there was not unanimous support to ditch it at the time.

"To reconsider it we need unanimous agreement, and if we do not get unanimous agreement we cannot change it," he said.

"We had the strategy meeting and I said, 'do you want to reconsider?' The answer was no. Do not ask me who said yes or no. So I said, 'okay we will see at the end of the season what is the reaction'.

"Personally I was surprised to get so much emotion for this thing that I do not feel is a huge change in F1.

"But again we need to listen to that and hopefully we will take that into consideration."

DOUBLE POINTS A MISTAKE, SAYS LAUDA

Although the members of the Strategy Group rejected the chance to drop double points earlier this year, there is a growing feeling that it was an error to upset fans so much over it.

Mercedes non-executive director Niki Lauda thinks F1 chiefs were 'mad' to introduce it.

"I think this is a completely wrong decision because it brings into the last race gambling - which nobody wants and nobody cares about," he told AUTOSPORT.

"There was a time when they were talking about three races [being double points], so thank god it is one.

"I personally think that it is wrong, but this is what we have to face.

"It was a mistake to introduce it, but hopefully next year it will be gone again.

"I am saying this not because I am from Mercedes, but because I am a fan and I am a racing driver.

"If I think in my last race I get a puncture and the other idiot who didn't win anything, blows me off - have we gone mad?"

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Subway could become Formula 1 sponsor

American chain Subway could be the next sponsor to enter Formula 1, according to Formula 1 business journalist Christian Sylt.

Zak Brown, an Formula 1 sponsorship guru who manages the sandwich giant’s motor sport portfolio, told the Telegraph newspaper that Formula 1 and Subway are a “perfect fit”.

“I took the Subway chief marketing officer to meet Bernie (Ecclestone) in Montreal last year, and I would say they have been exploring it for a year,” said Brown.

“They (Subway) are all about the consumer, they are massive media buyers so they would look at a sport and see if it stacks up from a media point of view and Formula 1 does,” he added.

Brown suggested that, for its Formula 1 foray, Subway could emulate its Nascar strategy in sponsoring “a team, an event and a driver”.

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Vandoorne to replace Button in 2015 could happen says Dennis

McLaren could oust veteran Jenson Button at the end of 2014 season and replace him with the team’s next young development driver talent.

That is the admission of returned McLaren supremo Ron Dennis, who told Formula 1′s official website that it was mainly his decision to axe Sergio Perez after a single season and replace him with in-house rookie Kevin Magnussen.

Dane Magnussen, 21, has subsequently been hailed by Dennis as having “all the ingredients necessary” to follow in Button’s footsteps and win a title.

“The decision to take Kevin (in 2014) was mine,” said Dennis.

“I took the decision because I felt that we needed to see if he could meet the expectations of our engineers, and so far he has done a great job.

“And also Stoffel Vandoorne did a great job last weekend in Bahrain,” Dennis added, “so I think he will be highly desirable by the end of the season.”

Belgian Vandoorne, who is actually a year older than Magnussen, has this year been placed by McLaren in GP2, where at the Bahrain season opener he won a race.

Vandoorne is driving for ART, after Nicolas Todt’s GP2 team entered an agreement to work not only with McLaren but also the team’s 2015 engine supplier Honda.

At the same time, Button’s contract is up for renewal.

The 34-year-old driver said in Bahrain: “I have no worries that a guy in his thirties is as good as a guy in his twenties in a Formula 1 car.”

Nonetheless, Dennis admitted it is “possible” McLaren’s 2015 lineup could see Magnussen alongside Vandoorne.

“Anything is possible,” he said, “but Jenson is doing a great job. He is quick and he is dedicated so there is no reason not to stay with Jenson from any perspective.

“But we still have a whole season to go.

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Forza Rossa is Romanian Ferrari dealer

A major potential link between Formula 1′s potential 13th team and Ferrari has been discovered.

Last Friday, when the governing body gave the green light for 2015 to new twelfth team Haas, the FIA also said it was “in the process of conducting further investigations for Forza Rossa”.

FIA sources have confirmed that Forza Rossa is the name of the team project being fronted by former HRT boss Colin Kolles, reportedly supported by Romanian backers.

Subsequent media reports have discovered that Forza Rossa, meaning ‘Red Force’ in Italian, is in fact a major official importer and seller of Ferrari road cars in Romania.

The Forza Rossa showroom, in the capital Bucharest, was even inaugurated in 2008 by none other than Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

Meanwhile, Autosprint correspondent Maurizio Voltini claims Haas will be powered by customer Ferrari engines in 2015.

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Haas driver Busch says no to Formula 1 drive

Kurt Busch, a leading Nascar driver, has ruled himself out of the running to enter Formula 1 next year with Gene Haas.

Busch, 35, drives for Haas’ Nascar team, and this year he will try his hand at single-seater racing, driving for former Formula 1 driver Michael Andretti’s team at the fabled Indy 500.

But the Associated Press has quoted him as ruling out a Formula 1 foray, despite his close ties to Haas.

“My time has passed to be a competitive driver in Formula 1,” he said. “But a test session? I’d jump on that every time.”

Busch warned that Haas is “serious” about his new Formula 1 adventure.

“You just don’t drop $40 million on a wind tunnel and not think that you’re serious about racing,” he said.

“It will be an incredible challenge. He knows that,” Busch added.

“We’ve had Michael Andretti, before him was his dad. We had Scott Speed as a driver. Now we have an (American) owner. It will be interesting to see how the driver lineup shapes up.”

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Schumacher continues to improve slowly but surely

Michael Schumacher’s health is continuing to improve, his manager Sabine Kehm said in a television interview late on Sunday.

In the last official statement, Kehm said the great German was now showing “moments of consciousness and awakening” amid his long coma.

Now speaking to German television ARD, she revealed: “There are small improvements that make us happy and give us great encouragement.”

She flagged the possibility Schumacher will eventually transfer to a “rehab clinic”, but said a prediction of the seven time world champion’s future is not possible.

“Each case is individual; every brain injury can affect someone differently,” said Kehm. “No doctor could answer these questions.”

She stressed, however, that the 45-year-old is not only having moments of being awake, but also being ‘conscious’.

Kehm explained that the latter is, “perhaps in a very limited form, being able to interact with the environment”.

She also criticised doctors “on the outside”, including former Formula 1 doctor Gary Hartstein, who have commented on the Schumacher case despite having “no knowledge” of the details of the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s condition.

And Kehm revealed that a journalist who dressed as a priest was not the only member of the public and media that attempted to enter Schumacher’s hospital room.

“There was also another person who tried to come in (disguised) as Michael’s father.

“There were a lot of cases of people who have tried to go into the ICU, perhaps to take a photo or a video,” she added.

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Mercedes W05 on par with Newey’s Red Bull RB10 believes Costa

Mercedes insists its 2014 Formula 1 car is on par with the RB10 chassis being fielded by reigning world champions Red Bull this season.

The more common perception in the Formula 1 paddock so far this year is that while the silver W05 is a tidy single seater, its clear dominance is being fuelled mainly by its vastly superior turbo V6 ‘power unit’.

Red Bull, meanwhile, is apparently only managing to stay relatively competitive amid engine supplier Renault’s problems due to the once again field-leading car design efforts of Adrian Newey.

But Aldo Costa, the Mercedes car designer, insisted to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that his W05 is “about on par with Red Bull”.

“There are certain corners, especially the fast ones, where Red Bull is better than us,” he acknowledged, “but in other places it is us with the edge.

“According to our measurements,” the former Ferrari technical director added, “Ferrari is behind us.”

Costa also hit back at suggestions Formula 1′s new engine rules have made the sport too slow.

Actually, he said it is “quite simple” to calculate precisely why laptimes are slower in 2014, explaining that the engines are in fact compensating for most of the losses.

“The cars are 50kg heavier (than in 2013),” he started. “This alone costs 1.5 seconds. The downforce was reduced, which is another half a second,” said Costa.

“Add to that the harder tyre, then without these factors we would be faster (than in 2013),” said the Italian.

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Andretti talks Merc and Alonso

Mario Andretti says Mercedes are right to let their drivers race and that Ferrari risk losing Fernando Alonso unless they up the pace.

Last time out in Bahrain, Mercedes gifted Formula 1 fans with a showpiece as the Brackley outfit allowed Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to fight for the victory, at times racing side-by-side.

Mercedes later stated that as long as they kept it clean, they would always allow their drivers to race.

Weighing in on that decision, 1978 World Champ Andretti told GPUpdate.net: "That's a good move, especially early on in the season.

"If it's the last three races or something... if both have a mathematical chance you've got to let them race.

"The only time you would protect one is if the other does not have a mathematical chance, then team orders should come into play.

"But it looks to me like they're both going to steal points off each other throughout the season. So it's going to be a question of who will be number two!"

The American also gave his views on Ferrari's continued struggles and reckons unless they up the pace, Alonso will be looking elsewhere at the end of this season.

"I wouldn't be surprised, quite honestly," he said when asked about the possibility.

"He's still at the top of his game and he cannot afford to lose too many seasons. So I'm sure if the proper opportunity comes up he'll consider it.

"When Lewis made the decision to go to Mercedes, lots of people were saying, 'What the hell is he thinking?' But look at what has happened. You never know what the next opportunity could be at the very top.

"And once [Alonso] becomes free of the contract [with Ferrari] I'm sure he'll get plenty of calls to consider."

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Domenicali stands down as Ferrari Formula 1 team principal

Stefano Domenicali resigned as Ferrari’s Formula 1 team principal on Monday with the company’s North America President and Chief Executive Marco Mattiacci appointed as his replacement.

The Italian glamour team, the oldest and one of the most successful in the sport, have made a poor start to the season with two fourth places for Spaniard Fernando Alonso the team’s best results, in three races so far.

Ferrari have not won a driver’s world championship since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, although they were constructors’ champions in 2008. At the most recent race in Bahrain, Alonso and his Finnish team mate were ninth and 10th.

“There are particular moments in all of our professional lives where you need the courage to take difficult and very painful decisions,” Domenicali, who had been Principal since January 2008, said in a Ferrari statement.

Marco Mattiacci

“It is time for a significant change. As the boss, I take responsibility, as I have always done, for our current situation.

“This decision has been taken with the aim of doing something to shake things up and for the good of this group of people that I feel very close to,” added the 48-year-old Italian.

Mattiacci will take overall charge of the Gestione Sportiva – the carmaker’s sporting activities including the Formula One team that has competed in every championship since 1950 – with immediate effect.

Ferrari had hoped to make a strong start to Formula One’s new V6 turbo-hybrid era this season but they and Renault – who power champions Red Bull – have been eclipsed by rivals Mercedes.

The German manufacturer has won all three races with a Power Unit that looks for more competitive and reliable than the French and Italian offerings.

Felipe Massa with Stefano Domenicali, Fernando Alonso and Luca Di Montezemolo

Domenicali, who has been with Ferrari for 23 years in various roles, replaced Jean Todt as team principal when the Frenchman took on a more senior management role at the Maranello headquarters.

Todt, who presided over a golden era at Ferrari when Michael Schumacher won five titles in a row between 2000 and 2004, is now head of the sport’s governing International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Domenicali brought a friendlier, more open and less combative atmosphere to the team in a new era of greater collaboration with rivals at a time when global financial troubles were threatening the sport.

He was one of the youngest and most approachable principals but that landscape has changed considerably with Mercedes, Lotus and McLaren all revamping their management structures since the end of 2013.

Mercedes and McLaren have scrapped the formal title of principal, with Ron Dennis in overall charge, following the exit of Martin Whitmarsh.

Domenicali thanked Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who has been involved in Formula One since the 1970s, and the fans with the regret “that we have been unable to harvest what we worked so hard to sow in recent years.”

Montezemolo, who has strongly criticised the sport’s new rules, thanked Domenicali for his contribution and “the great sense of responsibility [that] he has shown even today in putting Ferrari’s interests ahead of his own”.

The next race is the Chinese Grand Prix on April 20.

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Inside Line: Ferrari pave the way for the return of Ross Brawn to Maranello

Stefano Domenicali finally relinquished his post as team principal of Ferrari, for many the decision was long ovedue and although he resigned the post the truth is he was sent packing but given the diginified option of resignation – arrivederci Stefano, bygones are bygones let’s move forward…

Formula 1′s most famous team is desperate for stout leadership and there is only one man on the planet capable of fulfilling the requirement – Ross Brawn – and word is that F1 unknown Marco Mattiacci is only in the post for a stop gap measure while Brawn finishes his fishing adventures.

Mattiacci, president and CEO of Ferrari North America, is simply underqualified and totally inexperienced for the role, thus obviously a temporary measure.

The final decision to oust Domencali would have been made during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend where Luca di Montezemolo made a dramatic appearance at the event, leaving the race in disgust long before the finish. He also had some not so secret meetings with Fernando Alonso in the latter’s hotel room.

Between then and now Montezemolo is said to have done a deal with Brawn and engineered Mattiacci’s repositioning within the organsiation while they mark time before Brawn rejoins the team.

No one can forget that Brawn was one of the key members of the most successful Formula 1 team in history which saw Michael Schumacher win five titles between 2000 and 2004, under the leadership of Jean Todt. Brawn has that blueprint to work from.

What Brawn touches tends to win. He went to Honda and engineered them into a winning outfit, alas for Honda they pulled out just as their investment was to pay off. Instead Brawn GP (built with Honda resources) won the 2009 drivers and contructors titles.

Brawn’s tenure at Mercedes also helped them on the road to success. Toto Wolff is the first to acknowledge that Mercedes’ current success and even the W05 is packed with Brawn’s fingerprints.

Furthermore, Brawn knows the intricate and ever so volatile inner working of Maranello better than most non-Italians and this will enable him to galvanise the team which is currently split into subtle factions.

But perhaps most importantly, having worked with the great Schumacher, he will have the know-how to pacify a visibly disgruntled Fernando Alonso who is being openly flirted with by McLaren, and an equally frustrated Kimi Raikkonen.

The truth is that for now Brawn will not be able to take the woeful Ferrari F14T and turn it into a winner, but he will inject a breath of fresh air into the team which is ready for a constructive revolution.

The return of Ross from his extended fishing trip cannot happen fast enough for the Reds.

[MIKA27]

Bell resigns as Mercedes technical director

Bob Bell has resigned as technical director of the championship-leading Mercedes Formula One team, with Executive Director Paddy Lowe taking on his duties.

Mercedes said in a statement on Monday that Bell had resigned his position last December and would leave the team in November this year to pursue “new challenges outside the company”.

Bell had been Technical Director since April 2011.

Mercedes said that Lowe, who runs the team with fellow Executive Director Toto Wolff after the departure of Principal Ross Brawn at the end of last year, would assume Bell’s responsibilities without the role of technical director being directly replaced.

Lowe joined Mercedes from McLaren in June last year.

Mercedes have started the season in dominant fashion, winning the first three races with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

[MIKA27]

Button: 'McLaren has a point to prove in China'

McLaren feels it has the second quickest car behind the dominant Mercedes.

A point proven in Australia where Kevin Magnussen finished second and Jenson Button third, but they've been unable to repeat that success since.

Button is hoping to prove that point again in China, where he is confident of scoring a handful of points after some midfield performances in both Malaysia and Bahrain.

"After a disappointing race in Bahrain, I think we head to China with a bit of a point to prove – we need to get some points on the board, and get another race under our belts that demonstrates the pace that we feel this year’s car has," said the Briton.

The 34-year-old believes the tight field means any mistake can mean the difference between a podium finish and missing out on the points.

"Bahrain showed that, the top two cars aside, the racing this year is fast, fraught and very evenly matched," he said.

"The margins are so slim that it’ll require us to get everything right: a focused practice, problem-free qualifying sessions and a clean race to try and establish ourselves at the forefront of that chasing pack.

"But I've always enjoyed racing in China – I won here in 2010, and I’ve always had good results here for McLaren. While it’s not necessarily a track that perfectly suits our package, I think we can pull everything together and have a stronger weekend."

[MIKA27]

Mercedes pushing for further Red Bull punishment

Mercedes were among several teams in attendance at the International Court of Appeal (ICA) hearing in Paris on Monday to hear Red Bull's appeal against Daniel Ricciardo's exclusion from second place at the Australian Grand Prix.

The ICA plans to deliver its verdict by Tuesday morning at the latest after hearing evidence from both the FIA and Red Bull.

Mercedes meanwhile took the opportunity to have its say during the hearing, as it's fully obliged to do under the ICA rules.

Representing the current championship leading team was lawyer Paul Harris, who called upon the ICA to punish Red Bull further than the race stewards already have, to ensure the team avoids "knowingly breaking the rules" in future.

"There is a real risk that they will do it again," he said.

"The most effective way of ensuring that Red Bull do not flout further written and oral instructions from the FIA for at least the remainder of this season is for this court to recognise the severity of their infringement and to impose a further sanction upon them."

Evidence presented by Red Bull showed they initially adhered to the FIA's advice and turned down Ricciardo's fuel flow meter between laps 12 and 17. However upon realising they were losing 'around' four-tenths per lap, they decided to revert back to the original settings.

Whilst the Milton Keynes team continues to insist the faulty sensor was giving an inaccurate reading therefore forcing them to use their own, non-FIA approved measurement, Harris suggested this system wasn't accurate either.

He said the Gill supplied FIA sensors are "rigorously tested and rigorously calibrated," whilst the system Red Bull chose to use is "not 100 percent accurate.

"Red Bull thinks it is entitled to pick and choose between the measurements whenever it suits Red Bull," he added.

"If FIA allows Red Bull not to follow fuel-flow instructions, then what is to stop a team ignoring the FIA when it comes to other measurement systems, for instance the weight of the car?"

The ICA's verdict is due on Tuesday morning and could either see Red Bull's Ricciardo reinstated, the FIA's verdict upheld, or further punishment for the team.

[MIKA27]

Building an American F1 team

Now that Gene Haas has a slot on the F1 grid for 2015, the hard work begins. In order to put a car on the grid, thousands of details have to be thought through. A few might be:

Brick and mortar: Europe or America? Where will the HQ be located? The answer is both. Current Stewart-Haas facility in Kannapolis North Carolina will be home to the Haas F1 and construction has already begun on the facility for the F1 shop. There will be a European location for car assembly and logistics during the season.

Chassis: Will they design and build their own or will someone be calling Dallara? Haas says he is weighing the options and should have an announcement in 4-6 weeks according to National Speed Sport News.

Infrastructure: The details of this can be rather large but thankfully Haas Automation has a massive IT and technology as well as communication infrastructure to piggyback on.

Engine…power units: It’s no mystery that there are three engine manufacturers currently in F1 with Honda coming on board in 2015. Teaming with a strong power unit maker could be a big acceleration in the early days so one has to look at Mercedes as a real potential but there may be a host of political issues as well as cash issues to deal with. Does Ferrari make sense. Haas says that he’d like to use the system they used in NASCAR:

“We’re going to do something similar to what we did in NASCAR, which is to try and partner with like a Hendrick Motorsports, so we can rely on them for a lot of the technical expertise,” Haas said. “Let’s face it, we’re new at this. There is going to have a long learning curve and to sit there and say we can understand what’s going on with these cars in a year or two is not reasonable.”

On a personal note, I’ll be interested to see how well this works within F1.

Drivers: Haas says he’d like to have a veteran F1 driver and perhaps a young American driver in the seat and you can imagine that this will most likely be a pay driver if current trends hold true. As for veterans with knowledge of the current power unit formula, that narrows things down a bit to drivers currently on the grid or reserve drivers.

Team Principal: That’s already been filled by Guenther Steiner so you can stop thinking Ross Brawn could have a new home.

Sponsors: Haas owns a large CNC machine company called Haas Automation and he’s very frank about using his F1 investment to promote his brand so look for Haas Automation to be the title sponsor. It could also be interesting if Zak Brown could lineup a Subway sponsorship as discussed by our friend Christian Sylt over at the Telegraph. Brown told Sylt:

“I took the Subway Chief Marketing Officer to meet Bernie [Ecclestone, F1’s chief executive] in Montreal last year, and I would say they have been exploring it for a year,” says Mr Brown. “They are all about the consumer, they are massive media buyers so they would look at a sport and see if it stacks up from a media point of view and Formula One does.”

Start date: With 2015 not that far away, one has to consider the amount of work that Haas has to do in order to field a car. Will he actually be ready for the 2015 season or would 2016 make more sense? Haas told NSSN:

“I would like to do 2015 simply because I think the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,” Haas said. “It is a very big challenge. Part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going from race to race. The sooner we learn that the sooner we can be done with that.

“We would like 2015, but depending upon who we select as our partner I don’t know if they can provide all the infrastructure and technology that we would need (that fast). I think it is one of those things that we’re going to have to find out in the next few weeks.”

The weak link for me, and I hope I am proven wrong, will be the Dallara chassis. If they could assemble a team and put a Mercedes lump in the back, they could be in the fight but designing a chassis is no easy task and perhaps the Dallara option is the quickest way of getting the team on the grid.

Let’s hope the model works and the team can be more than permanent back markers. It will take time to compete at this level but Red Bull proved it can be done—but then they bought a great team to begine with and didn’t have to roll their own. The last American effort to try to join the F1 grid was stillborn and didn’t make it out of the gate before withering on the vine.

[Bartolomeo]

Good to see a US team involved again....sad to see Stefano go but not surprised based on performance so far this year

[MIKA27]

Red Bull appeal fails as International Court of Appeal upholds Melbourne disqualification

The following hearing of the International Court of Appeal took place in Paris on Monday 14 April 2014:

Appeal lodged by the Österreichischer Automobil-Motorrad und Touring Club – Oberste Nationale Sportkommission für den Motorsport (ÖAMTC-OSK) on behalf of its licence-holder Infiniti Red Bull Racing against the decision N°56 dated 16 March 2014 of the FIA Stewards of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix counting towards the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship

On 16 March 2014 the panel of the stewards decided to exclude car No.3 (driver Daniel Ricciardo) from the results of the race as it was found to be not in compliance with the Technical Regulations (the Technical Delegate reported to the Stewards that car No.3 exceeded the required fuel mass flow of 100 kg/h).

On 20 March 2014, the Österreichischer Automobil-Motorrad und Touring Club – Oberste Nationale Sportkommission für den Motorsport (ÖAMTC-OSK) on behalf of its licence-holder, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, decided to appeal this decision before the International Court of Appeal

Decision of the International Court of Appeal:

The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided to uphold the Decision No.56 of the Stewards by which they [had] decided to exclude Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s car No.3 from the results of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Harry DUIJM (Netherlands), and included Mr Rui BOTICA SANTOS (Portugal), Mr Philippe NARMINO (Monaco), Mr Antonio RIGOZZI (Switzerland) and Mr Jan STOVICEK (Czech Republic).