FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Rosberg expects relations with Hamilton to improve

Formula 1 World Championship leader Nico Rosberg expects his rocky relationship with Mercedes’ teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to improve despite the rift between them after last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Rosberg won the showcase race on Sunday to retake the championship lead from Hamilton, who suggested the German had used underhand tactics to secure pole position in Saturday Qualifying.

Visiting the German soccer team at their World Cup preparations in Italy on Tuesday, Rosberg said such disputes between drivers of the same team were nothing new.

“In our sport we can only have success as a team,” Rosberg told a news conference. “Nothing can happen alone. I make an effort for teamwork and for the atmosphere in the team.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on the Bahrain podium

“It is a bit more difficult internally at the moment. But it has happened in the past as well, in our sport.”

Mercedes bosses have warned both drivers that they must not overstep the mark in an increasingly intense fight for the F1 Drivers’ title between the pair, with the team having won every race so far this year.

“We discuss the issues and we have already discussed them and it will again be better and it will be forgotten,” said Rosberg, who has known Hamilton since they were teenage teammates in go-karts.

Before the German’s second victory of the season, which put him four points clear of 2008 world champion Hamilton after six of the 19 races, his British rival had won four in a row.

[MIKA27]

Wawrick explains Rosberg decision

Monaco Grand Prix stewards panel representative Derek Warwick has explained why Nico Rosberg was cleared of any wrong-doing during qualifying for last week's race in the Principality.

As former Formula One driver, Warwick was the fourth member on the stewards panel and served to advise the other members on incidents from a drivers' perspective.

The panel investigated Rosberg after Saturday's qualifying following the Mercedes driver's accident during his final flying lap of Q3.

Rosberg locked his brakes and ran off the track at Mirabeau, which triggered yellow flags which in turn ruined the other drivers on track's session, effectively handing him pole position ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Subsequently, the stewards studied telemetry and video evidence, but after Rosberg was interviewed on the matter, the stewards ruled that they "could find no evidence of any offence".

Nevertheless, speculation about Rosberg's intent during the incident continued to surface on the paddock during the race weekend and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle even suggested that only a "minority" believed Rosberg's story.

Wawrick, a veteran of 146 grands prix and current President of the British Racing Drivers' Club, remains convinced by the explanation that was provided by Rosberg and maintains that the panel investigated the incident thoroughly.

"We had all Mercedes's data, including Lewis's data to overlay on Nico's. We had the FIA data. We had onboard shots, overhead shots, circuit shots. We had throttle traces, braking traces, everything we needed to make, hopefully, the right decision," Warwick told The Daily Mail.

"It was not black and white. It took a long time. We wanted to be sure and thorough. The driver is a massive component in what we end up deciding. So Nico was in the stewards' room for a long time with the team manager [Ron Meadows]. I wouldn't say I interrogated him; I interviewed him. I made sure I asked him all the right questions.

"I have been around a long time and seen people try to pull the wool over my eyes. Did I have doubts in my mind, of course I did. But he gave me the answers I needed. I know there are conspiracy theories but you will not find a more honest driver in grand prix racing than Nico. He said himself that he made a mistake, came in too fast, braked too late and locked up his rear tyres."

If Rosberg was found to have acted deliberately, he would have been stripped of pole position and forced to start from the back of the grid, similar to how Michael Schumacher was punished in 2006 when he deliberately stopped his Ferrari at the Rascasse.

"You could argue that as president of the BRDC I would have a reason to come to a decision that would have favoured the British driver, but obviously that is not how I would approach it. I am there to be independent," Wawrick added.

"It is a big decision to make when you are deciding to move a driver to the back of the grid. It was doubly important to get it right because it could affect many things - probably the outcome of the race and possibly of the world championship."

[MIKA27]

The key issue in F1 today

There’s a lot of post-race jibber-jabber on the Internet at the moment, following the excitements in Monaco, but beyond the he said-she said stuff and wild speculation, there is not much real news. What all this has done is to bury the noise issue (which is good). It has also quietened talk about the 2015 driver market, which was just beginning in Monaco. It has also deflected attention away from the serious questions about the future funding of F1, which is important because some teams want to drive out the little teams and either run third cars or supple customer teams. Both are short-sighted and not in the interest of the sport.

What needs to be is for there to be an equitable distribution of revenues, based on two criteria: the fact that a team is there; and the results that a team achieves.

What should be forbidden are other payments used to induce teams to agree to do things. These are wrong and unfair.

Perhaps the spread of the money based on success should change as well, with a smaller gap between the first and the last, thus ensuring that the amounts paid are not wildly different. In that way the haves and have-nots will be closer and the competition more intense.

The essence of F1 is the fact that teams use different cars, turning into spec car racing will not really help because the teams with resources will still be ahead, however using different cars means that small teams can still be successful if they are clever.

Ten years ago the Red Bull Racing and Mercedes teams were bit players in F1. They worked and invested and today they are at the front while the likes of Williams and Lotus have faded. This is how it should be and just because they have been successful does not mean Red Bull and Mercedes should get more power or money. If they are still there is 20 years maybe, but there are still arrivistes in F1 and as we have often seen in the past, such people come and go. They don’t care about the sport beyond what it can do for them.

The key to maintaining the right balance is to have a federation that stands up to the commercial forces and tells them what is important and not a federation that trails along behind, picking up crumbs from the table.

There is a strong sense in Formula 1 circles at the moment that the FIA is weak. They won’t say it out loud for obvious reasons but they will say it to journalists and that is the overriding message at the moment: the FIA needs to lead to protect its most important asset.

[MIKA27]

Is Mercedes missing Brawn?

As the media reflect on the Monaco Grand Prix, I do find it interesting to see the perspectives of former drivers. John Watson reckons they are both “behaving like pre-pubescent girls” and then goes on to explain all the things that Lewis did during the weekend—not sure why that implicates Rosberg who was rather quiet for most of the weekend.

Interestingly, I’ve seen the name Ross Brawn come up twice this morning in terms of a missing link at Mercedes to calm this situation down. First from Watson:

“Both Hamilton and Rosberg have grown up in a gilded world which is as real as fantasy is. They are not emotionally equipped or developed to know how to deal with this battle, and I don’t believe there is anyone of the quality of Ross Brawn at Mercedes who has that ability either.

Indeed, if Brawn had been running the team, as he had been up until last year, the situation between the two drivers would have been handled a lot better.”

“Niki said he will ‘sort it out’, and he is a very pragmatic man, but in a sense he is part of the problem because has been ‘bigging up’ Hamilton.

I don’t see anyone at Mercedes with the authority, the credibility and the gravitas that Brawn had. If you think back to last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Rosberg wanted to catch and pass Hamilton, and Brawn emphatically said: “No. Hold position.” It is not just what you say, it is the way you say it and it is the person who says it. Rosberg thought about it, but then obeyed the command.”

Watson went on to share his thoughts on the issue at hand—namely Monaco—a decent read.

What also caught my attention was the interview with John Surtees at MotorSport Magazine in which he said:

“I know they have the experience of Niki Lauda in the team, but perhaps Ross Brawn is being missed.” Said Surtees.

John was equally nonplussed by the actions of Lewis Hamilton saying:

“I have no doubt about Lewis Hamilton’s driving ability, but I didn’t like what I saw and heard from Monaco. I can understand the frustration that Lewis must have felt in not having that opportunity on the last lap of qualifying to get pole. But I think his reaction to his team-mate and team was wrong.”

As for that story of growing up in Stevenage? Yeah, Surtees lived there too:

“Lewis had said earlier that he had more motivation than Nico to win the World Championship because of his upbringing in a flat in Stevenage, where incidentally I used to lodge when starting my career racing the Norton, as against Nico growing up in Monaco.”

At this point, who hasn’t slept on a couch in Stevenage? Heck, it seems many of the Formula 1 greats have spent a lot of time on couches at some point in their career. Except Nico of course.

Speaking of Nico, what a horrible situation he finds himself in at a promotional event for Mercedes where two people were hit by a car and taken to hospital with bad injuries? Not the way you want to spend your in-between week celebrating your Monaco win.

[MIKA27]

Magnussen “facing rookie syndrome” – Boullier

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says Kevin Magnussen is experiencing the normal difficulties new drivers have when they step up from one-make series to Formula One.

Here are the full answers Boullier gave to a series of questions in a phone-in interview today:

Question: “Alain Prost said prior to Monaco that McLaren possibly need a new approach to be successful in F1. Is that something you either agree with, or are even working on, or did your double points finish prove you are progressing in the right direction?”

Answer: “Yes I agree with the comments of Alain. This is what I’ve been doing now since I started. And I think the double points finish of last weekend are mostly due to the track layout which is suiting our car. But it’s also rewarding as well as the hard work which we are doing here in Woking and since now a couple of races we have, let’s say seriously pushed on the development and you can see on the car. And it’s going to go through now the next races so it’s partially due to, yes, the change of direction and, let’s say, what we have been picking up in terms of performance.”

Q: “You got, first of all, a positive result in Monaco, given the run of point-less finishes you had. With upgrades coming for, first of all, Canada, and your more major upgrades for later on down the line, in Montreal do you need to see some evident progress to be satisfied or are you just looking to consolidate your position back in the points?”

A: “I think honestly it should be both. First of all we have been bringing upgrades regularly since the beginning of the season but clearly we had a strong push since Barcelona.

“In Monaco we had a lot of mechanical upgrades on the car which obviously the track layout of Canada obviously is high-speed – long straight lines, high-speed track but with no high-speed corners, a lot of chicanes and low-speed corners – so it should suit actually our car. So we should be in even better shape in Canada than we were in Monaco.”

Q: “To follow up on the Prost comments, I’m interested in your assessment why the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes have been able to outmanoeuvre the likes of McLaren and Ferrari in the way that Alain suggests?

A: “You can have another question because I’m not sure I want to answer this one! It’s part of, let’s say, the job I’m doing, and I don’t obviously want to make it public.”

Q: “Talking about Kevin Magnussen, as a rookie driver coming into Formula One with such a massive regulations change, has he found it from your perspective difficult to give the right feedback to the team in terms of developing the car? Have you found it more challenging having one rookie driver and one experienced driver as opposed to having two experienced drivers?”

A: “Well that’s a good one! I don’t think it’s more challenging to have a rookie driver rather than two experienced drivers, let’s say. Because you can, I mean the key is now, especially kids like Kevin can do, let’s say, most of the job and get enough feedback to lead or to at least answer some questions from the engineering team. And obviously when you have somebody more experienced like Jenson [button] you get more details and you can dig in more problems to find solutions.

“I think Kevin is facing the rookie syndrome which is obviously they are all coming from a single-maker series. Where they are struggling much is to understand the cars they have, the cars they are working for and trying to develop is giving them some kind of result and obviously if you don’t have the best car you can’t fight for the win. This is where they most struggle with.

“But the rest is fine, to be honest, he’s settling well, he is very consistent, the feedback is good enough to drive his engineering group around him to make the car faster. So he is doing very well for a rookie.”

Q: “At the end of June the regulations submissions need to be put forth. What are the teams likely to put forward from a cost saving perspective and is there anything else that we’re likely to hear about that might be of interest for 2015?”

A: “Well it’s a long, long subject and we have in a few days another meeting, actually, to keep discussing before the end of June, yes, where it’s easier to change for 2015 when you just have to get the majority [vote], not the unanimity.

“I think we have to be careful. There is on one side, let’s say, the more change we can do to the regulation and the more money we could potentially spend in adjusting our businesses to the new rule. We know that regularity actually and trying to keep the regulation stable over a few years is the best way to make sure we are saving money.

“At the same time there is a couple of obviously big discussions about format of the weekend, or even price of the engine, where we obviously restriction in the wind tunnel or some other question where we could potentially save more money. But once again we have to be more careful about the change we are doing to not create… by experience the more change we do in the regulations the more money we spend.

“So you have to be in some ways stable on the regulations and there is still potentially some space where we can save money. So this is where we are trying to agree for the future but I am not going into any crazy decisions because at the end we could produce the inverse of what we want to do.”

[MIKA27]

2014 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery

A look at the Monaco Grand Prix from the fans’ point of view including Kimi Raikkonen’s problems getting into the paddock on his scooter early in the weekend.

Paddock problems for Kimi Raikkonen

Entering the Swimming Pool complex

[MIKA27]

2014 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery #2

First practice at Rascasse

Second practice at the Swimming Pool

[MIKA27]

2014 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery #3

Start

[MIKA27]

2014 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery #4

Fairmont Hotel view

Monaco ‘glamour’

[MIKA27]

Nico Hulkenberg urges Force India to tackle rear grip issue

Nico Hulkenberg says Force India still has work to do to improve the rear-end grip of its Formula 1 car, despite his fifth place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Lack of rear grip has been a feature of the VJM07 this season and Hulkenberg, who said before the weekend that he expected the car to suit Pirelli's supersoft compound, urged the team to work harder to improve in this area.

"It's been the weakness of the car since day one; we're trying to get better, but it's pretty much a downforce question," Hulkenberg told AUTOSPORT.

"I think performance and speed-wise we wouldn't normally finish fifth, especially [having] the McLarens behind us.

"They were much quicker, but we did a good job.

"Cars dropped out in front of us. If you put them there again we are where we qualified.

"So to put it in perspective you have to give us credit that we maximised an opportunity, which we're very happy about.

"But we need to develop and bring more performance because we're not quick enough."

Hulkenberg reckons Force India's financial efficiency is one of the big reasons it has been able to regularly beat bigger teams such as McLaren and Lotus.

"Force India has never been a works team and never had this massive budget," he said.

"They've always had to take care of their pocket and I think they're very efficient in how they operate.

"There is another step in the pipeline and parts coming, which is important, and then we'll have to understand them and make them work to keep this year going as it is now."

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen: My championship challenge seems to be over

Kimi Raikkonen has ruled adding the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship title to the one he bagged back in 2007.

Detailing a meeting with journalists this week, Raikkonen said, “I think it is very difficult for anyone to battle with the Mercedes drivers but you never know. I would like it to be us even – if that will be hard, especially for me personally, given the position in the championship.

“But I have always been used to fighting and together with the team, which is still hard at work on the development of the F14 T, I hope to be able to get some good results,” was the Finn’s official line on the situation in the Ferrari press release sent after a sponsor event in Norway.

However what Raikkonen told the major Aftenposten newspaper was slightly less optimistic, when asked about the 2014 title, the 34-year-old answered: “It seems to be over. The Mercedes cars are too fast. We [at Ferrari] want to be ahead, but my challenge on the championship seems to be over for the season.”

He declined to talk about the high-profile spat between Mercedes’ duelling title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, “I’m not interested in that. I’m only interested in our own success and getting back to the top.”

But he did comment on the new direction Formula 1 has moved in, having switched from loud V8 engines to turbo and hybrid-powered V6s.

“From the driver’s point of view, we want better grip and faster cars,” said Raikkonen. “More horse power. Increasing the speed is difficult, but I think it would make the races more interesting and exciting.”

“But we don’t make up the rules ourselves, so we need to do the best we can with these cars,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Ferrari website quoted Raikkonen as saying that although he would like to do some more rallying, but admitted “for now I’m completely focused on Formula 1″.

Speaking to reporters in Monaco about rallying, he said, “The problem is obviously that people are more scared that you get hurt so they try to limit everything that you do. It’s a shame because I think it would be more fun for everybody and all sports would also benefit from it, and Formula 1.”

MIKA: Kimi might have a chance for the title with one of those karts!

Seriously, Alonso and Kimi both need a better car. World class drivers, both of them. I hope they have a better developed car soon.

[MIKA27]

McLaren deny reports that Honda is buying stake in team

McLaren have denied reports that Honda are considering buying a controlling stake in the Formula 1 team.

Honda and the Woking based outfit enjoyed a highly successful partnership from 1988 to 1992, and the Japanese automotive giants is set to provide F1 power units to McLaren starting in 2015.

This has prompted speculation, mainly in the Japanese media, that Honda are keen to acquire a controlling share in the F1 race team.

However McLaren have stated: “Contrary to recent media reports, Honda [have] informed us that [they] [have] no intention of buying into McLaren. All of Honda’s focus is on the development of its new Formula 1 power unit.”

McLaren and Honda won drivers’ world title with Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990 and 1991) and Alain Prost (1989) while winning four constructors’ titles in the process.

[MIKA27]

Massa glad that Ferrari axe led to Williams

Felipe Massa says that he is glad that Ferrari ditched him at the end of last season, which resulted in his move to Williams.

The Brazilian drove for the fabled Maranello team between 2006 and 2013, racing alongside highly-rated champions Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.

But Ferrari chose to sign the returning 2007 title winner Raikkonen for this year, with Massa now insisting that he is “not surprised” that the Finn is struggling alongside Spaniard Alonso.

Massa told Germany’s Auto Bild he thinks Raikkonen is “maybe not quite as good” as Alonso. In fact, the 33-year-old said he had the measure of the Iceman.

“In 2007 he was champion, but until Monza I was ahead of him,” said Massa, recalling his battle with Raikkonen some seven years ago. “Unfortunately, in our team we had an agreement that Monza would decide who is the number 1, and I was ahead of Kimi when I had a problem with my car.”

“In 2008 I was in front of him,” Massa added, “and also up until my accident in Hungary in 2009. Nevertheless, Kimi is world champion, and I’m not.”

However, Massa insists he has no regrets about losing his Ferrari seat for 2014 and moving to Williams.

“It was absolutely the right move,” he told Sport Bild. “Looking back now, I am even glad that Ferrari did not want me because it opened the way for coming to Williams.”

“I’m pretty relaxed, motivated, the team respects me,” Massa explained. “You know, sometimes a change is good. I’m older but I feel young again. I’m ready to fight and work hard. I regret nothing,” he added.

Massa also admitted that he doesn’t miss the ultra-high pressure of wearing a red suit.

“Absolutely not!” he exclaimed. “At Ferrari it was huge – if you don’t win, you have a big load on your shoulders. “You try to use it as positive energy, but you are constantly tense. Here at Williams I think only about the racing, which is better.”

[MIKA27]

Haas hints at delaying F1 debut until 2016

It appears that Gene Haas will not have a Formula 1 team on the grid for the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship.

As recently as last week, it was reported that the NASCAR team co-owner’s ‘plan A’ was to debut with a Gunther Steiner-led, North Carolina-based Formula 1 team in 2015.

At the same time, Haas was trying to put together a 200-strong workforce.

“There are many interested parties,” a source told Auto Motor und Sport last week, “but we can only hire people when we know who our engine partner is.”

At the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, Haas told motorsport.com that plans to use Ferrari technology are on underway. “We haven’t exactly signed a formal contract [with Ferrari] but we’re pretty close,” he said.

And he met with likely chassis maker Dallara during the Indianapolis visit, “They all can do it, they all want to do it, they’re all very interested in helping us.”

He hinted, however, that time is running out to be ready for 2015′ “I think they are looking at it as a good long-time partnership but it just comes down to [that] you have to order things and it takes time to order things and get things scheduled.”

“It just seems that it’s taking longer to accomplish what we wanted to do than we thought,” Haas added.

The latest news is that Haas has apparently now decided to target a 2016 debut rather than rush onto next year’s grid.

“It’s already June,” he said, “so it’s just seven months away and the timing issues are starting to get real crazy.”

[MIKA27]

Marko hints at Red Bull switch to Volkswagen power

Red Bull is allegedly flirting with a change of engine supplier, according to reports in Germamy.

Helmut Marko has told Sport Bild that the reigning world champion team will assess the progress made by current supplier Renault at the time of their home Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in June.

“We have to decide on our future engine partner then,” he said.

A partnership with Mercedes has already been ruled out, and becoming a customer of another arch-rival, Ferrari, must also be seen as highly unlikely.

Honda is returning to Formula 1 as McLaren’s works partner next year, with Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz recently saying he did not want to simply be a customer of the Japanese manufacturer.

There might be another way. Red Bull already has close commercial ties to Volkswagen, the German carmaker giant.

“Volkswagen is already in other racing series, with engines that are similar to Formula 1 technology,” hinted Marko.

[MIKA27]

Whiting moves to stop contentious Qualifying sagas

FIA Formula 1 Race Director Charlie Whiting wants to prevent a repeat of the headline grabbing Monaco Qualifying incident.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have fallen out spectacularly, after Hamilton accused his Mercedes teammate of making a ‘deliberate mistake’ in the dying minutes of their fight for pole on Saturday.

The FIA looked into whether Rosberg triggered the yellow flags on purpose in order to ruin the sister Mercedes’ run, but found no evidence of a foul. Many, including Monaco steward Derek Warwick, found it hard to believe that Rosberg ‘did a Schumacher’.

“I know there are conspiracy theories,” he told the Daily Mail, “but you will not find a more honest driver in grand prix racing than Nico.”

Even so, the FIA investigated the incident for hours.

“It was not black and white,” said Warwick. “It took a long time. We wanted to be sure and thorough.

“I have been around a long time and seen people try to pull the wool over my eyes. Did I have doubts in my mind? Of course I did. But he gave me the answers I needed,” he added.

But Hamilton suggested that he saw data late on Saturday that convinced him that Rosberg had acted maliciously.

The FIA was not convinced, concluding from detailed telemetry that Rosberg braked only 10 metres later than he had on his pole lap, and was travelling only 6 km/h faster, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

Whiting said: “… both Mercedes drivers braked 8 metres later at Ste Devote than they had before. They were just going flat out.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff commented: “We will never know if Nico acted deliberately or not. But we give him absolutely 100 per cent the presumption of innocence. When you are pushing to the maximum, mistakes can happen.”

Nonetheless, Whiting has an idea that would stop this sort of controversy from recurring in the future.

He said: “Why don’t we extend Qualifying by one minute when a yellow flag is shown in the last three minutes? It would give affected drivers the chance to try again.”

[MIKA27]

Pirelli no decision on F1 future beyond 2016

Pirelli has answered “we’ll see” to the question of staying in Formula 1 beyond its current contract, which runs until the end of 2016.

After an often tumultuous and controversial opening three-year stay as Formula 1′s official supplier, the Italian marque signed on for another stint starting in 2014.

“Formula 1 is part of our lives,” president Marco Tronchetti Provera is quoted by Tuttosport, “to highlight our people and our technologies. It’s a continuous, travelling laboratory.”

But what about the future? Is Pirelli looking for a long-term stay on the grid?

“We have a contract until 2016,” Provera answered. “Then we’ll see.”

After the tyre-exploding controversies of 2013, Pirelli took a step backwards for the new turbo V6 era. Now, the tyres are being called too hard and slow by the likes of Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez.

“We have heard the criticisms,” Pirelli’s Formula 1 chief Paul Hembery told L’Equipe, “Too aggressive last year, too conservative this year.”

But Hembery said Pirelli are constantly thinking about how to improve. One proposal to ease the conservativeness of 2014 might be to combine compounds, he suggested.

“We plan to test different compounds on the back and on the front (of cars),” said the Briton. “This will increase the performance without compromising the stability.”

Hembery said a hard compound at the rear would “reduce the sliding caused by the high torque” of the new engines, while a softer front increases the “possibility of returning to two or three stops” to spice up the show.

[MIKA27]

Alesi advises Sauber to ignore Jordan’s call to quit

Ex Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi has urged Peter Sauber to ignore Eddie Jordan’s advice to quit the sport.

Earlier, after the struggling Swiss team fell behind backmarker Marussia in the 2014 constructors’ standings, Jordan said 70-year-old Sauber should acknowledge reality and join him in retirement by selling up.

When asked about Sauber’s situation, Frenchman Alesi – who drove for the Hinwil outfit in the late 90s and also for Jordan before retiring in 2001 – said: “I don’t think Peter Sauber needs advice.

“But I think that for Eddie Jordan, Formula 1 was a business, but for Sauber, above all it is a passion,” he told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

“And you don’t just quit after more than twenty years. So I think he needs to keep pushing,” said Alesi, 49.

However, Alesi thinks part of Sauber’s problem in 2014 is sitting behind the wheel of the grey cars.

“Each team that has to go with pay-drivers for financial reasons eventually will have serious trouble,” he said.

“Peter needs to find the right balance, because in 2013 there were still great results when [Nico] Hulkenberg was driving,” added Alesi.

[MIKA27]

Hakkinen unimpressed with Hamilton’s behaviour

Double F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen says that Lewis Hamilton’s behaviour was “sub-standard” in Monaco.

Hamilton accused his Mercedes teammate of deliberately sabotaging his push for pole position, afterwards refusing to acknowledge his race win.

“I appreciate Nico’s patience in this situation,” Hakkinen told Finland’s Ilta Sanomat newspaper, when asked about the falling out.

“I do not like the idea of what Lewis did. It was quite sub-standard behaviour,” said Hakkinen.

Even now, it is believed that Hamilton and Rosberg have not spoken a word since Monaco.

“They are in different places,” team boss Toto Wolff is quoted by DPA news agency. “So it’s not unusual.”

Hamilton indicated after Monaco that he had seen evidence that convinced him that Rosberg had acted deliberately under braking for the Mirabeau corner.

That same evidence did not, however, convince the Monaco stewards, including ex Formula 1 driver Derek Warwick.

“I don’t want to give [Hamilton] advice really,” Warwick told the Daily Mail. “He has won umpteen races and a world championship. But if I were to say anything it would be to man up and concentrate on the next race in Canada.”

Indeed, Rosberg is showing signs of wanting to move on, “It was one of the more difficult weekends. But I think after a break we will, as always, talk about it. I make an effort for teamwork and for the atmosphere in the team.”

It seems less likely that Hamilton is similarly ready to move on. Indeed, Gerhard Berger – who hosted the Mercedes bosses and drivers for a dinner on his yacht in Monaco – thinks the duo are set for an “explosion”.

“Clearly it’s just starting now,” he told Austrian Servus TV. “I think Hamilton must do his homework better. He is currently the fastest man in Formula 1, but he still focuses too much on trivialities. Rosberg is the perfect package,” added Berger.

A clear ‘number 1′ and ‘number 2′ situation is easier for a team to manage, but team boss Wolff said he believes one of the secrets of Mercedes’ dominance this year is a pair of drivers who spur each other to great heights. But that doesn’t mean he was overjoyed in Monaco.

“I was the bad guy after Qualifying,” said Wolff. “I told them it is absolutely unacceptable to have to spend the afternoon with the media talking about whether one of them cheated or not. I have other things to do.”

He was particularly unhappy about Hamilton’s suggestion that he will deal with the situation just as Ayrton Senna did, sparking reports of a deliberate crash.

“We had our board members in Monaco, our partners – I will not have our team and our brand made a fool of. I think that [the drivers] understood,” said Wolff.

“They can have fun with their toys so long as they don’t break them,” the Austrian is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It will never come to the level of the Prost-Senna relationship.”

“Clearly there is no hugging, but this is a job, not a holiday. It is wonderful to have two drivers at this level.”

[MIKA27]

Montreal will be true indication - Horner

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes his team will have a better indication of how much progress they've made in recent weeks at next week's Canadian Grand Prix.

Red Bull and in particular Daniel Ricciardo just about matched Mercedes during last week's Monaco Grand Prix, even though the characteristics of the Monte Carlo street circuit negated the performance advantage the Merc power units have over their Renault counterparts.

Montreal's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is a completely different prospect to Monaco, though, and has several high-speed sections that will play into Mercedes' hands.

"Montreal is going to be a challenging race for us and it will be interesting to see how we fare there," Horner told crash.net.

"Obviously Renault are working hard behind the scenes.

"We were much, much closer, it was the first time we've raced Mercedes this year [in Monaco] and Dan's pace; particularly in the last third of the race he was the quickest car on the track. So I think we take a lot of confidence out of that.

"But you go from one extreme to the other. [Monaco] is all about handling characteristics and the next event will be predominantly straight-line performance. So it's going to be very interesting to see how we fare against Mercedes-powered teams in Montreal."

Even though Horner expects the Mercedes-powered cars to set the pace in Canada, Horner remains confident that Red Bull will continue to close the gap to the Constructors' Championship leaders as the season progresses.

"We're clearly the second-quickest team at the moment and we're nibbling in to that gap of Mercedes. It's nothing short of commitment, hard work and clever design that is going to close that gap.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull, Mercedes success deserved - Alonso

Fernando Alonso believes the success Red Bull and Mercedes have had in recent seasons are completely 'deserved'.

Red Bull dominated Formula one from 2010 to 2014, winning four consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' titles with Sebastian Vettel as the lead driver.

At the start of this year, some radical technical changes were brought into the sport and Mercedes have won every race so far under the new rules, claiming one-two finishes in each of the last five races.

Although the dominance of these two teams have been the target of constant criticism, Alonso - who narrowly missed out to Vettel in 2010 and 2012 - appreciates the hard work that's gone into designing a title-winning car.

"We saw Red Bull have a big advantage in the last four years and now we see a similar, or even more advantage for Mercedes, but it's the way it is," Alonso told Autosport.

"Red Bull did a better job than the other teams, they deserve the championships they have.

"Mercedes is now leading both championships because they did a better job than the others - not only on the engine side, also on the car side.

"There are three or four teams with Mercedes engines that have the same possibilities and are one lap behind the two Mercedes.

"They did something good and it's a motivation for us to work better, because we know there are some other teams exploiting the new cars in a better way."

[MIKA27]

'Challenging Vettel no surprise'

Daniel Ricciardo admitted that he was confident that he could match Sebastian Vettel when he joined Red Bull at the start of the season.

After being stripped of his podium finish on debut in Australia and finishing outside the points in the next race in Malaysia, Ricciardo finished on the podium behind the high-flying Mercedes drivers in Spain and Monaco and now leads Vettel by nine points on the Drivers' Championship standings.

"I didn't really have any visions exactly on how it would go, what the race results would be or what the qualifying score would be - but I knew that I have some talent and obviously got a bit of experience now in Formula One," Ricciardo told crash.net when asked about his ambitions for the season.

"So, every year, even every six month period I feel I'm still growing and getting better as a driver as well so, I knew coming into the season with the team behind me and sort of a new opportunity, that I would be able to challenge Seb.

"Did I think it would be going as well as it was now? I don't know. But I knew if I had everything underneath me I'd be capable of getting the results. So, fortunately the team saw that as well, back in September, I think, last year. So, it's coming good."

Although Ricciardo challenged Lewis Hamilton for second place on the streets of Monte Carlo last week, the Australian admitted that next week's race in Canada is unlikely to give him the same opportunities.

"Montreal is still a street circuit but unfortunately the straights go on a little bit longer there so we're still down a little bit in that area, which I think everyone's aware of and we've made progress," he added.

"Whether it will be enough by then, honestly, probably not but we are closing the gap so, that's all we can ask for, for now, and just keep chipping away at it and be patient. I'm sure a bit of perseverance as well and we'll get there."

[MIKA27]

In-season testing could be banned

In an attempt to cut the cost of running a Formula One team over the course of the year, in-season testing could be banned from 2015...

Although the FIA and the F1 teams are still involved in discussions about other cost-cutting measures - like the reduction of the number of personnel allowed and the expansion of parc ferme rules - a report by Autosport suggests a revamp of the testing regulations is on the cards.

The report adds that a number of proposals are being considered, including the ban of in-season testing and the reduction of pre-season testing sessions from three to two.

This year, in-season tests after the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix have already taken place, with further sessions planned after the British and Abu Dhabi races.

While some of the teams were satisfied with the outcome of the Bahrain and Spain tests, others feel they were an unneeded, additional expense that is a cause of stress for their employees.

Pre-season testing is also unlikely to take place outside the European mainland, with Spain's Jerez circuit the favourite to host both the rumoured 2015 tests.

James Allison, the Ferrari Technical Director, believes changes to the testing regulations are a more effective way to cut costs than simply changing technical rules.

"One of things we've said is that in general the technical regulations have not been the happiest hunting ground for saving margins," Allison told Autosport during last week's Monaco GP.

"Sporting regulations have been generally more effective in that, so if there's an amount of effort to be put into discussing stuff, probably the biggest amount of money will be saved if we focus our effort on the sporting side.

"Saying that, there always are areas on the technical side where you can save chunks of money. I think it would be wrong to say these things are a joke.

"There are a large number of proposals on the table, they just need to be talked about until the ones which are a joke fall off the table and the ones which aren't stay on the table, and hopefully the questions of sustainability are resolved."

His McLaren counterpart Eric Boullier isn't entirely convinced, though, and suggested that too many changes to the rules over a short period of time could have the opposite effect.

"We have to be careful. The more change we do to the regulations, the more money we could potentially spend adjusting our business to the new rules," Boullier said.

"We know trying to keep the regulations stable over a few years is the best way to make sure we are saving money.

"At the same time, there are a couple of big discussions about the format of the weekend, the price of the engine, restriction in the windtunnel, where we could potentially save more money.

"This is what we are trying to agree for the future, but not going into any crazy decisions, because we could produce the inverse of what we want to do."

[MIKA27]

Coulthard calls for twin pit boxes

David Coulthard believes each Formula One team should be assigned two pit boxes at each Grand Prix in future.

In his latest column for The Telegraph, the veteran of 247 grands prix writes that twin boxes in the pits would help drivers avoid losing time when the teams are forced to stack them in the pits, which several teams were forced to do under the safety car in Monaco last week.

"This has fallen on deaf ears before, but I think we should have two pit boxes, because otherwise it neutralises the inter-team battle as it benefits the guy in front," said Coulthard in his latest column for The Telegraph.

"If you want to see a true battle of man against man we should get away from this single stop."

[MIKA27]

WHAT’S GOING WRONG FOR JEAN-ERIC VERGNE?

In the run-up to the Monaco Grand Prix, Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne spoke of the need for a driver to humble in his approach to Monaco. The Frenchman had been speaking about the proximity of the barriers, the levelling nature of the street circuit and the need for a driver to feed himself into the track slowly across a grand prix weekend.

Leaving the street circuit on Sunday evening the Frenchman would forgiven for looking back on his statement with a heavy heart – his humble approach had turned into a humbling experience, through no fault of his own.

Until Sunday afternoon Vergne had enjoyed an exemplary weekend. In first practice he was 15th fastest, eclipsing the impressive Daniil Kvyat by seven tenths of a second, though to be fair it was the Russian rookie’s first visit to the street circuit – in any category.

In the wet afternoon session Vergne as usual, excelled. The 24-year-old has consistently proven to be one of the grid’s finest wet weather exponents and a strange session was enlivened by a period during which Vergne and Kvyat ventured out on intermediates and swapped fastest times. When a dry line began to appear Vergne was quickly out of the blocks and lowered the benchmark by more than five seconds. Even as the rest of the field emerged, Vergne was able to hold onto to an excellent fourth on the timesheet.

The good work continued on Saturday morning when a cautious exploration of the track limits netted ninth in FP3 and then an excellent qualifying session handed him seventh. His final Q2 lap was particularly impressive. Whereas in his first two seasons the Frenchman often crumbled under the pressure of having to deliver a single lap, in Monaco he put in an error-free final tour to muscle into Q3.

The race, though, was a different story. Vergne did his part – he made a good start (again often a problem area in the past) and cemented himself into seventh. With retirements occurring all around, Vergne afterwards said he was sure he could have managed fifth – a career best. However, on lap 26 he pitted following Adrian Sutil’s accident and his team, desperate to keep him ahead of Kevin Magnussen, released him straight into the path of the Dane.

The resultant drive-through penalty dropped Vergne to rear of the field, behind Jules Bianchi and an exhaust problem on lap 51 ended his race. Whether the issue was exacerbated by the time spent sitting on Bianchi’s gearbox is open to question but the fact remains that in sight of a solid points-scoring finish, Vergne was again robbed of the chance.

And it’s been that way since the start of the season. In Spain, a Friday afternoon fumble with a detached wheel saw him receive a 10-place grid penalty. He qualified a useful 11th but started 21st where he toiled helplessly, suffering with a locking front brake, until lap 25 when another exhaust problem saw him exit the fray. In Bahrain, hit by a Lotus, floor damage ended his race. In Malaysia power unit issues halted progress. It’s been one, long catalogue of woe.

The mechanical gremlins and persistent finger trouble will be a source of more than frustration for Vergne. Having lost out on a seat at Red Bull to Daniel Ricciardo at the end of last year, in no small part due to JEV’s qualifying issues, his status as a Red Bull driver is in jeopardy. This is his third season with Toro Rosso and no driver has lasted longer than that with the team. Both Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were given a three-season stint and both were axed as talent rose up the Red Bull Junior Team ladder. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed and Sébastien Bourdais were given just two. The same is true now. While the Junior Team’s ranked have been thinned this season, Carlos Sainz Jr is going well in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP3 driver Alex Lynn is knocking on the door. Whether they are better racers than Vergne is an unknown but their time is coming and Vergne is surely aware of that. Vergne will also be keenly aware that in the eight seasons the team has been on the grid only Liuzzi has managed a move to a non-Red Bull team, the Italian leaving the Faenza squad for stints at Force India and HRT.

Vergne’s cause isn’t helped by the fact that he is taller and heavier than the Russian – Vergne says up to alb – which is hurting. Also, team boss Franz Tost has repeatedly referred to the Frenchman’s struggles with the new brake-by-wire system, which at the opening round at least caused major problems for both drivers, with Vergne saying: “Sometimes you’ve got this massive recharging at the rear, which recharges too much, so you have locking at the rear. Sometimes it doesn’t want to recharge and the brake goes all forward and you have no brakes on the rear and you lock the front and just go straight in the gravel.”

It’s unfortunate for the Frenchman, as his performances this year are much better than paper would suggest. A cursory look at the stats sheets will show that Monaco aside Kvyat has generally been quicker in each sector or each circuit, that the Russian is faster through the speed traps and generally posts a quicker best lap than Vergne in races. What is missing from the Russian’s 2014 CV, however, is consistency. Vergne, by dint of experience, is able to stitch his sectors together and has outqualified the Russian five to one so far.

It’s a real sign that Vergne has upped his game. Last year against Ricciardo, the French driver was trounced in qualifying – 15-4. His 2013 failure to maximise potential on Saturdays frequently put him in troublesome areas of the grid and left him tussling for space that often wasn’t there. Over the winter Vergne insisted that this was his biggest priority and he has clearly put in the work.

The improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed, particularly as Kvyat has been impressive so far. Vergne’s ability to match and eclipse the talented Russian have, according to paddock sources, earned him appreciative glances from a number of other teams.

The issue for Vergne now is to hammer that message home – both to anyone he wants to woo and to his existing team.

Team Principal Franz Tost, infatuated with the performance of GP3 winner Kvyat attempted to give Vergne a boost recently but succeeded only in damning his senior racer with faint praise. Lauding Kvyat as a future champion, he remembered not to omit Vergne and referred to him as a “sensible driver” – hardly a confidence booster.

It’s a crucial period of the season now for Vergne. Last season he went to Montreal – a track he favours – and scored his best result of the season. He needs to repeat the performance. After that is the unknown of Austria and then a three-race rush, through Silverstone, Germany and Hungary, to the summer break. Going into that break with more than a record of a single points finish in the season opener would go a long way to building a case for a fourth season at STR or a switch.

And to do that he needs his team on board. After joining Williams in April, Rob Smedley railed against the operational errors that cost the team valuable points in this season’s early races. Last week team boss Claire Williams praised the new head of vehicle performance’s work and said the team had eradicated the issues. Vergne might do well to take a leaf out of the ex-Ferrari man’s book and start pointing fingers.