FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Gone but not forgotten Mark Robinson

A year on from his death it is fitting to remember Mark Robinson, the volunteer marshal who was killed in a freak accident during the final stages of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix – a true Formula 1 fan killed doing what he loved most.

Robinson was a Formula 1 fanatic, steeped in knowledge about the sport he loved, to the point that his friends called him ‘THE Formula 1 fan.’

“I can only tell you that Mark was not a Formula 1 fan…he was ‘THE’ Formula 1 fan. He had knowledge about the sport that would just boggle anyone’s mind and [had] been attending the event since the early eighties,” friend Tyler Hall wrote in a message shortly after the tragedy in Montreal.

Quiet spoken and known fondly as ‘Coach’ by his mates, Robinson would open up and speak with passion when anyone ventured to talk about F1 with him. Although his tight knit circle of friends did not share his following of the sport, this did not stop him trying to convert them.

Another friend, Marty Devey said that F1 was “like a religion” to Robinson and his annual work at the Canadian Grand Prix over the last decade was always a highlight of his year. He died a few days short of his 39th birthday.

“Formula 1 for him was kind of like getting a chance to be a roadie for the Rolling Stones once a year,” Devey said. “He thought about it, talked about it. For a quiet guy, if you started talking F1 with this guy, you wouldn’t be able to quiet him down.”

Robinson worked in logistics for UPS and had an encyclopedic knowledge of trivia – from sports, to 1970s and ’80s rock and roll, to science-fiction flicks, but F1 racing was his passion.

At the time FIA President Jean Todt said: “This tragedy has affected us deeply, and the whole of motor sport is profoundly touched by it,” said the statement from Jean Todt, president of the FIA. “In volunteering to be a marshal, Mark had made the choice to give his time, his knowledge and passion in the service of motor sport.

“All over the world, it is men and women like Mark who make possible the organization of motor sport events. Without these thousands of volunteers who give their all selflessly, motor sport would simply not get off the starting line.”

Volunteering for the Canadian Grand Prix, every year for over a decade, was a dream come true said Devey, “He looked forward to it every year.”

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ALONSO: MATTIACCI HAS GOOD VISION AND A VERY CLEVER APPROACH

In the makeshift Scuderia Ferrari hospitality unit, floating on the Olympic Rowing Basin at this unique race track, Fernando Alonso initiated the Canadian GP media proceedings with his usual Thursday encounter with the press.

As has been the case in Montreal once every four years the first topic concerned Spain’s chances in the upcoming football World Cup, in which it is the reigning champion.

“There are always ups and downs in football, but in recent years the team has made the whole country very happy and expectations will be high again and hopefully they will make us happy again!”

Then, it was onto the more serious matter of this weekend, “It’s going to be tough on a track where once again the dominant factor is the power effect, not like Monaco or Barcelona,” said the Ferrari man. “It’s not going to be easy but I like the track and we have performed well here over the past four years, so I expect to have a good weekend, scoring good points.”

“We have some updates that we have been working on for some weeks, testing them in the simulator. It’s a short lap so the times will be very close which means that one or two tenths can equate to six or seven positions.”

With one team being dominant so far this year, Fernando was asked at what point the Scuderia should concentrate on the 2015 season, “We need to keep fighting for important goals and we have targets to achieve this year, maintained the Spaniard.

“However we must not compromise next year’s project this year. We need to keep developing in 2014, because many things carry over for the following year. But if there is something fundamental for next year, obviously we mustn’t take any time away from that.”

“I am not worried about this. Since Marco Mattiacci arrived, everything is moving in the right direction. He has good vision and a very clever approach and we are going to be stronger and stronger.”

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Domenicali: I have several very interesting options

Ex Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali has admitted he is contemplating “several very interesting options” regarding his future, but at the same time says that he is in no rush to make a decision.

The 49-year-old had worked at Maranello for almost half of his life when he was controversially replaced as team boss by Marco Mattiacci earlier this season.

Since then, he has been linked with a prominent role in the unfamiliar world of Italian basketball, and last weekend attended the Mugello round of the two-wheeled Formula 1 equivalent, MotoGP.

Asked by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca what he is doing now, Domenicali answered: “I’m trying to disconnect from the world of Formula 1. It was an extraordinary experience and I will always support Ferrari. Always. And Fernando.”

“Then I will take decisions about my future. I have several very interesting options, but I have no hurry. I need to think about it and then choose the best option for next year,” said Domenicali.

Asked if he sees his future in a competitive field or elsewhere, he answered: “I exclude nothing. Anything is possible. It’s still early to say.”

Prior to Domenicali’s Ferrari exit, it was not known that the Italian was so close to Alonso. The pair were both at the Mugello MotoGP round last weekend.

Alonso is in the process of setting up a professional cycling team for 2015, when asked about his relationship with the Spaniard, Domenicali said: “Yes, our relationship is extraordinary.”

He played down claims that his affable nature, and particularly his friendships within Ferrari, meant he was not suitable for leadership in a tough world like Formula 1.

“People can say what they want,” insisted Domenicali. “But I don’t think that having good relationships with people means you’re good or bad at something.”

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Reports of secret Red Bull test emerge

Reports of a secret Red Bull test are starting to emerge in the wake of a Bild newspaper report claiming that the reigning world champion team undertook testing indoors at the Austrian company AVL’s rolling road facility in Graz.

The six-day test, involving Red Bull’s troubled engine supplier Renault, reportedly occurred between the last pre-season track test in Bahrain and the start of the season in Australia.

Reports of the illegal test began to circulate after someone leaked correspondence to the FIA as well as the Mercedes, Ferrari and Sauber teams.

Auto Bild reports that the test actually involved Red Bull’s junior team, Toro Rosso, who have been deeply involved in the efforts to pull Renault out of its pre-season technical crisis.

According to technical pundit Matt Somerfield Red Bull have denied being part of the test, which would suggest that Toro Rosso were involved instead.

But Red Bull test driver Antonio Felix da Costa had tweeted in early March that he was headed to Austria for a ’5 day trip’.

“Spending the weekend in Graz, Austria,” he added two days later. “Not by choice though!”

MIKA: The law of libel in pretty easy to understand. If you write something you have to be able to prove that it is true. In the age of Internet inanity, this has become confused because it is hard to track down the jurisdictions involved, thus a lot of rubbish appears on the Web without anyone being able to do anything about it. The supposed Red Bull secret test is a great example of this. If one of the Red Bull teams tested on a rolling road at a facility in Austria, it is not up to Red Bull to prove its innocence, it is up to the accusers to prove their claims.

The rules of Formula 1 allow for rolling road testing unless they involve aerodynamic work. Can anyone prove that there was any aerodynamic work done? No, so any such implication is libellous. If there was a whistle-blower saying “Yes, there was an illegal test” then there would be the basis for an argument, but thus far I haven't heard such a thing trolling the various sources for news. Teams are allowed to test with rolling road equipment so long as there is no aerodynamic element involved.

So, if I was Red Bull I would ask the claimants to prove what they are saying? And not just the original sources, but all the secondary copycat bottom-feeders as well. These monkeys with typewriters get away with endless crap these days and it would serve the industry well if one or two of them, notably agencies that produce this rubbish, if there were some law suits to clear out some of the mindless clutter…

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Vettel 'fairly even' with Ricciardo

Conceding 2014 has not been the "smoothest year" for him, Sebastian Vettel has revealed he has been studying team-mate Daniel Ricciardo's data.

This season Vettel has struggled for form while Ricciardo, in his first year with Red Bull Racing, has led the team's charge.

Out-qualifying Vettel on four of six Saturdays, Ricciardo has also dominated grand prix Sundays.

The Aussie has beaten Vettel in four of five races and has scored 54 points to the German's 45.

"All the time," Vettel told ESPNF1 when asked if he had been studying overlays.

"Obviously he's been fairly quick, so you can imagine there have been corners where he's fairly quick! But it's good to see that and good to have a reference of what the car can do.

"If I look at myself it hasn't been the smoothest year but that's how it goes sometimes."

Pressed as to whether there was a pattern, he replied: "Not really, no.

"You can't say in a certain type of corner he's gaining and losing in another, so not really.

"With Mark I think it's fair to say he was very, very good in high-speed corners, and showed me the limits sometimes, but it's fairly even - let's say - around the lap with Daniel."

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Massa wants 'a lot better results'

Felipe Massa had hoped for better in his first few races with Williams, conceding that his results should have been "much better."

Joining Williams from Ferrari, the Brazilian has had a bit of bad luck along the way which has cost him points.

As such his best results with the Grove team have been a hat-trick of P7s while team-mate Valtteri Bottas already has two fifth-placed finishes.

Their combined points, though, have put Williams on 52 points, the same number that McLaren have scored.

Massa, though, had hoped for better.

"No," he said when asked if his results were 'in line with your expectations'.

"Definitely I think I didn't have great results until now. It should be much better than what I had until now.

"So I had not very great races, starting with the race, where I didn't get to corner two and you know in Bahrain I was fighting for third, fourth the whole race and then I lost a lot of positions because of the safety car.

"So I think it was not very great results but I'm sure we can do much better and I hope this track can be also a bit better for our car compared to Monaco, compared to other tracks.

"So really looking forward that we can have a lot better results, starting here in Montreal, a lot better than seventh I hope."

And the Williams driver will have an added advantage this weekend as the Grove team is now powered by Mercedes, whose teams are expected to dominate in Montreal.

"Definitely it can be a good track for most of the cars that are using Mercedes (engines) so I think maybe we will see even maybe a big difference compared to Mercedes and the other teams because the engine is amazing, it's been a very good job done by Mercedes and they have a good car under braking and everything, so for sure maybe we can see maybe even a big difference."

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FERNANDO ALONSO: I WON’T RETIRE UNTIL I’VE WON A THIRD F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has said that he will not retire from Formula 1 until he has secured his third world title.

Alonso’s lifetime ambition has been to equal Ayrton Senna’s three world titles and after winning the first two early in his career, with Renault in 2005/2006, he has endured a long drought while waiting for the third. In that time the Spaniard, who will turn 33 this summer, has seen younger drivers Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel come in and clinch titles.

And with Ferrari undergoing a restructuring under new team principal Marco Mattiacci, it has prompted speculation as to whether time might run out for him to win that elusive third title,

“This is the main goal and you don’t think of retiring until you get some satisfaction. It is something I am working for and hoping for,” he told the BBC for its TV coverage of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

“It is not that I’m not happy with two but the third puts you in a list of very important names.”

“I think I can carry on long enough to win and to be competitive for some good years. I don’t know how many – three, five, seven. I don’t think it should be any problem.”

Although his main motivation is to clinch that third title, he is not motivated by driving the current cars. In the BBC interview, Alonso was critical of the 2014 hybrid turbo cars, claiming that they are not as sharp or challenging to drive on the limit,

“The new F1 cars are heavier, slower, difficult to understand what the car is doing, you cannot push all through the race,” he said.

“You push two laps and then you save tyres until the next stop. Sometimes you don’t even push. This is not something racing drivers like to do.

“It is not a problem of how long you can keep this level, it’s a problem of how much fun I will have driving those cars in the future.”

Alonso also took the opportunity to deny a rift with Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo after last summer’s “ear tweaking” episode, where the president chided him publicly for his critical comments about Ferrari.

“We talk very, very often, once a week. There are zero problems,” said the Spaniard.

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Social media causing F1 TV decline?

I haven’t seen current data that reveals TV viewer numbers but apparently Pirelli’s Paul Hembery has and he isn’t too happy about the numbers. As a sole-supplier and sponsor of the sport, Pirelli are keen to understand the complete package of their investment and Hembery says that it is important to look at other delivery methods that are aligned with the way fans want to consume their entertainment.AUTOSPORT has the call:

“We look at how many people are watching the sport and what they think of the current F1. Viewing figures so far this year are extremely disappointing – there’s no doubt about that.”

But with BBC figures suggesting that iPlayer growth was 33 per cent last year, and live radio audiences jumping by 53 per cent, there is a growing view that the way people consume F1 is changing dramatically.

“We’ve been looking at some studies done by Premier League and Sky, and they’ve seen a very increased take-up on the iPad viewing and not watching on TV. That’s certainly a way many people are going,” said Hembery.

“We’re seeing the world change and it’s not just Formula 1, it’s the whole way people follow their sports and get their entertainment.”

While UK residents have access to a host of features and a 24/7 channel on Formula 1, the rest of the world consumes the sport in varying levels of frequency and access. In the States, they have a broadcast that typically covers Friday FP2, qualifying and the race.

As for online content, you have to hunt a bit to even find F1 on their website. There is no iPlayer/Red Button type of feature.

Would F1 do well to stream the races via an app so fans could watch on their iPads or mobile devices? We’ve asked this question before and suggested that perhaps F1 is missing the plot when it comes to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other online content delivery platforms.

Regardless of the current viewing numbers, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t feel a sense of panic nor does he believe that F1 should simply give away its content via social media telling AUTOSPORT:

“…I think the change that is currently taking place is very short-lived, as these social media people are starting to think it is not as good as they thought.”

“No. We’re commercial… If they find people to pay us [to do that] then I will be happy.”

If you would have asked me a mere 12 months ago what I thought of this statement or the concept of F1 being ubiquitous or more focused on social media content delivery and content marketing, I would have had an opposite view than today.

Today, I agree with Mr. E. That doesn’t make it right and it very well could be Neolithic thinking that betrays the very path that the rest of the world is moving in but from a business and content standpoint, I completely understand his position and agree with it.

Offering the Red Button feature like the BBC had or iPlayer is a feature that can be purchased by the BBC. NBC, in the States, chooses not to purchase that streaming capability from F1 and that is their choice. If fans want that ability, then let NBC know that you would prefer to consume their F1 content via this particular online method.

Formula 1’s revenue is, in large part, down to TV revenue and packaging deliverables that broadcasters can acquire for their customers is a much better model that continues the current revenue stream and perpetuates the series.

What Hembery may be witnessing is a strong desire to consume content within the mobility model and that’s great but that doesn’t mean that F1 has to be the source or origin for that mobility strategy rather sell that feature to host broadcasters who could offer that feature for their viewers. It becomes a cafeteria of content features that F1 sells to host broadcasters. Pick what you’d like to buy from Formula One Management based on what your customers want from you as the host broadcaster.

Do the metrics indicate that the drop in viewer numbers is due to a lack of social media content delivery methods or is it simply the Mercedes domination of the sport, lack of sound from the cars, artifices used to “spice up the show” or other issues that are making F1 sour to its consumers?

Pressure to fall in line and convert your content to a free social media platform for all to consume is becoming less convincing. The world doesn’t have a right to get F1 broadcasts for free. This isn’t a social media free-for-all.

Twitter, Facebook, Google and others have their own monetized business plan based upon the ubiquity of content freely provided but ultimately this lives in the world of erosion of content value. NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and other TV broadcasters are struggling to keep control of their broadcast content versus engaging the social media world.

Perhaps if we considered ourselves as F1—in order to make Facebook work, people have to deliver their life content free to the platform. What if we started charging Facebook for our life content? How much is Facebook prepared to pay us for our life’s content including pictures of our life moments and video so others can consume this content via mobile devices?

The difference is in Mr. E’s choice of words. He said, “we’re commercial” and that is different than the rest of us. That is why we aren’t charging Facebook for our life content…we’re not commercial. Just because we hand over all of our life’s content for free to Twitter and Facebook doesn’t mean businesses should.

However, using our analogy, if our content isn’t that good, no one “friends” us or “follows” us and that may be where F1 is sitting at the moment. It may have less to do with F1’s lack of social media presence and more to do with F1’s lack of entertainment value due to poor racing.

Perhaps the simplest way to reconcile this is to say that great content doesn’t need to be given away freely to social media to garner eyeballs. Great content will be sought out and paid for. If the content isn’t that great, it garners fewer eyeballs and ears.

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Current forecast

Looks like the weather out look you posted the other day remains the same!

Threat of rain receding in Montreal

Early forecasts for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend pointed to a strong chance of thunderstorms on the first day of practice.

But as the start of the race weekend draws near the threat of rain has gradually receded. It’s now looking ever more likely the teams will get a dry start to the weekend, and conditions will remain fine after that.

There will be cloud cover and perhaps the occasional shower during the first day of running on Friday, with temperature reaching around 23C.

By Saturday the cloud cover will have passed and under clear skies air temperatures are likely to be three or four degrees higher. It’s likely to be warmer than any of the three days last year, when track temperatures peaked at 33C during the race.

Sunday is likely to bring more of the same, with sunny skies greeting the cars for round seven of this year’s world championship.

The Montreal Plateau Webcam run by Adrian Platts is a useful way of keeping an eye on incoming weather systems at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as it is located 2km west of the circuit and usually sees its incoming weather. Find it here:

• Montreal Plateau Webcam

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Chilton thinks Raikkonen clash cost him first F1 points in Monaco

Max Chilton reckons he could have added to the Marussia Formula 1 team's points tally at the Monaco Grand Prix if not for the clash with Kimi Raikkonen.

Chilton broke his front wing after colliding with Raikkonen's rear wheel as he tried to unlap himself during the first safety car phase in Monaco.

Although the incident was not caught on television, Chilton said there was little he could have done to avoid the incident because he felt the Finn had seen him.

Explaining what happened, Chilton said: "You pass the safety car line twice and normally Charlie [Whiting] gives the message that the cars can now overtake the cars in front.

"I came in to Turn 1 and asked my engineer, 'when are we going to be allowed to overtake the cars in front?

"By the time I got to Casino my engineer said 'okay, now overtake'. So I came out of Casino, following Kimi and I stayed to the right, the whole way down into Mirabeau.

"He was on the left. I didn't lunge him - I just showed my nose. And to me he turned in late. I thought he had seen me and let me go."

The race stewards believed the clash was a normal racing incident, but Chilton reckons that there was little he could have done more to stop the collision once Raikkonen turned in.

"I would do it again [like that]," he said. "I thought it was an open move but Kimi didn't see me. It was slightly frustrating.

"It wasn't a lunge. I saw his onboard, he did his belts up, did a dial change, turned in and then looked in his mirror.

"I have never been in a top team and I don't know if they get a message, but I would have thought they would get a message saying, 'watch out there will be cars'. I would look in my mirror and then turn.

"It was annoying as he was on for a good race and I think we could have been in the top ten."

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Toro Rosso F1 team tweaks exhausts after Monaco GP problems

Scuderia Toro Rosso has made modifications to its exhaust to ensure there is no repeat of the problem that forced both of its Formula 1 cars out of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Both Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat were on course to score points when they were forced to retire with exhaust issues.

Toro Rosso has manufactured new exhaust systems for both of its cars after suffering cracks believed to be caused by overheating.

"It has definitely been understood and the team knows the direction to work with these things," said Kvyat when asked by AUTOSPORT about the problem.

"I've been told it's going to be OK, so it should be alright. The guys know what to do."

Vergne is also confident in the changes, but is unsure of where Toro Rosso will be in the competitive order after the latest phase of its upgrade package is introduced.

"I'm confident they have solved the problems," said Vergne of the exhaust.

"I don't have any good or bad expectations [for the weekend] and I have no idea what the upgrade will bring us.

"I've got to be patient and see how it goes tomorrow and in qualifying on Saturday, so I prefer to keep calm and have no expectations."

Vergne is also confident that there will be no repeat of the unsafe release from a pitstop which led to him being hit with a penalty at Monaco

The Frenchman was running seventh when he pitted under the safety car, but he was released from his pit box into the path of Kevin Magnussen, who had held sixth place before the stops.

The Dane had to take evasive action, avoiding a collision, but Vergne was hit with a drive-through penalty that relegated him to 13th place, blaming the mistake on a one-off human error.

"It was a human mistake," said Vergne.

"It can happen once and the people that make a mistake will never do it again.

"That's racing and that's human as well. What can I say? If someone does the same mistake two or three times, things would be a bit difficult.

"It's unfortunate that it happened in Monaco, but that's how it is. I cannot change the past and have to take it."

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No clear-the-air talks between F1 rivals Raikkonen and Magnussen

Formula 1 rivals Kimi Raikkonen and Kevin Magnussen say they have not spoken to each other following the various on-track incidents between them this season.

Raikkonen blamed McLaren rookie Magnussen for "destroying" his Malaysian Grand Prix earlier this season, after a hit from behind, and also criticised the Dane for damaging his Ferrari in the next race in Bahrain.

They made contact again in Monaco last time out, when Raikkonen misjudged a pass on Magnussen at Lowes in the closing stages.

Magnussen questioned his rival's judgement of the move after the race, and joked with Danish TV that maybe Raikkonen had been drinking.

But Magnussen told reporters ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix that he had not spoken to his rival about any of the incidents.

"There's not much to talk about really," Magnussen said.

"I'm pretty sure we both understand what happened in those different incidents, so we learn and move on from that.

"It's not something we do on purpose, it's something that is an accident."

Raikkonen reiterated that he only hit Magnussen in Monaco after running out of steering lock and needing to reverse to rejoin the track, and said he wasn't bothered by criticism from his rival.

"He can say what we wants in the news, that is his choice," Raikkonen said.

"Sometimes it goes like that.

"I tried [to pass him] in Monaco, but I didn't hit him - I just couldn't turn around any more.

"I hit him when I reversed because he was behind me, I had to push him backwards a little bit, but he can say what he wants. It is up to him."

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Ferrari to honour Carabinieri in Canada

There’s a special logo on the Ferrari F14 Ts that Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will drive in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix and at the team’s home race in Monza in September. The logo, which will feature on the sides of the cars, next to the rear view mirrors, celebrates 200 years of the Arma dei Carabinieri, Italy’s Military Police.

The logo features the famous emblem of a flaming grenade with the initial letters of the Italian Republic, as well as the Carabinieri motto, “Nei secoli fedele” (faithful through the centuries,) as well as the Italian flag, with two dates, 1814, when the organisation was established and 2014, the year of the bicentenary.

Having the logo on the cars emphasizes its ever present links to the Carabinieri, based on shared deep values such as respect for one’s history and tradition and on the fact that both are symbolic of Italy around the world.

These links were demonstrated in spectacular fashion back in 2012, when Ferrari supported the 4th Carabinieri Cavalry Regiment trip to London. This special division performed its famous historic carousel as part of the Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor Great Park.

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Force India announce partnership with Univa

Sahara Force India is pleased to announce the beginning of a new technical partnership with Univa, a leading provider of automation data management software for large scale computational projects.

Sahara Force India will make use of ‘Univa Grid Engine’, Univa’s core product. Grid Engine is the most widely used resource management platform by industry across the globe. This workload-optimisation solution allows organisations to run large quantities of mission-critical, compute-intensive applications faster, more efficiently, and with lower overall costs.

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer of Sahara Force India: “It’s fantastic to begin a technical partnership with Univa and benefit from their knowledge of data management software. Almost every area of the team relies on simulation tools to help develop the car and it is here that our relationship with Univa will be of great value. We welcome them to the team and look forward to shared success going forward.”

Gary Tyreman, President and CEO of Univa Corporation: “Formula One epitomises leading-edge design and awe-inspiring innovations where mankind leverages high-performance technologies to excel and achieve what was once considered impossible. Sahara Force India uses Grid Engine software to support the tight timelines of their engineering design simulations and continual efforts to improve racing performance. Univa is proud to become an official technical partner and we look forward to celebrating a successful first weekend together at the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix.”

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German clinic denies Schumacher rehab reports

A German rehabilitation clinic has denied that one of its current patients is Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.

The former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s manager Sabine Kehm said in April that, after Schumacher began showing signs of waking from his long coma, the “plan” was to relocate him from the hospital in Grenoble, France.

“Our plan and our desire would be that from the moment in which Michael can go into a rehab clinic, this media coverage will stop,” Kehm told ARD television.

Radio 7 claimed on Wednesday that Schumacher, who turned 45 after his near-fatal skiing fall, is now recovering at the Kliniken-Schmieder neurological rehab hospital in Allensbach, Germany.

But the German news agency DPA said that a spokesman for the clinic specifically denied the Radio 7 report.

DPA added that Schumacher is still at the hospital in Grenoble, where he has been since he struck his head on rocks at the Meribel ski resort in late December last year.

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Red Bull: Nobody is chucking in the towel

Struggling Red Bull have a hard mountain to climb but they can still reach the Formula 1 summit again this year and claim a fifth straight drivers’ crown, team principal Christian Horner said on Thursday.

While Mercedes have dominated the season with six wins from six races, Horner and his four times world champion Sebastian Vettel were not giving up hope after arriving in Montreal for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

“Nobody is chucking in the towel,” said Horner, even if the standings suggest the title has become a duel between Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

While Rosberg leads overall with 122 points to Hamilton’s 118, Australian Daniel Ricciardo has only 54 as the closest Red Bull driver.

“We have a mountain to climb; Take nothing away from Mercedes, they have done an incredible job this year but as we’ve seen in previous years, we had a difficult start in 2012 and managed to turn that around,” said Horner. “Nobody is giving up on anything.”

Mercedes have a hefty 240 points in the constructors’ standings, with Red Bull second on 99.

The champions have been playing catch-up with an under powered Renault engine but there have been signs of progress. Ricciardo made it onto the podium at the last two races with third place finishes in Spain and Monaco.

The Australian is fourth overall, with Germany’s Vettel sixth.

It is an unfamiliar position for a team that has won both titles for the past four years but Horner underlined his faith in Renault, denying rumours that the team was considering its engine options.

“Renault fully understands the predicament they are in,” said the Briton. “There are no ultimatums for Renault other than we want to improve as quickly as we can.

“We have enjoyed a great deal of success with them over the years, all our world champions and victories have come with Renault engines and we trust in them to sort their issues out.”

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Raikkonen: We know what we are doing

Some days the media get a talkative Kimi Raikkonen and other times it’s laconic Iceman. On the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend it was a case of the latter, as the Scuderia Ferrari driver was not interested in commenting about feuds between other teams’ drivers, nor seeing much significance in the fact that this Sunday he takes part in his 200th grand prix.

However, he was more forthcoming on the topic of the updates brought to Canada for the Ferrari F14T. “We have to see how practice goes tomorrow, before getting an idea of what [performance gain] they might bring,” said the Finn.

“The weather forecast promised for Friday is not so good and we must hope it’s dry, so we can really get an idea of how things are. Any small improvements are always welcome. We know what we are doing and we are making progress. However, it’s a long process and it won’t happen in just a few weeks.”

As for the rest of the season, Kimi did not foresee a major change to the current hierarchy along the pit lane. “I think it would be very hard to challenge Mercedes for the championship,” he maintained.

“But within Ferrari we still want to do the best that we can at every race, we want to get stronger for the future and aim for the podium. But I am not prepared to start guessing about whether I can win a race soon.”

As for the weekend in Montreal he said, “Usually, we have quite exciting races here because of the layout of the circuit, and also the weather can play a part.”

Raikkonen won the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix when driving for McLaren.

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Button: I definitely can’t see an end to my career

Formula 1 veteran Jenson Button says that there has been no progress recently regarding his contract talks with McLaren, but is adamant that he has no thoughts of quitting the sport just yet.

With Kevin Magnussen having debuted for the Woking team in 2014, it has been reported McLaren supremo Ron Dennis perhaps wants to pair the young Dane with Fernando Alonso next season.

Indeed, with Button out of contract at the end of the season, and set to turn a stately 35 before the 2015 championship, it appears that the Briton would be the logical target should McLaren be considering a cockpit vacancy.

But, just last week, team boss Eric Boullier said in McLaren’s official Montreal preview statement that Button in fact “continues to be an absolutely fantastic ambassador” for McLaren, who are switching to works Honda power in 2015.

“Not only is he a fantastic driver,” Boullier added, “he’s also somebody with the feel and experience to steer the team and give it direction for development. His input has been invaluable, and he remains a tireless contributor.”

Asked if that sounds as though McLaren is moving to re-sign the 2009 world champion, Button said on Thursday: “Er, no. No more progress at all. But that’s just the way it is.

“We’re here, in our fifth good year together. And we both want to work together in the future but it’s just not time yet. Not the right time,” he insisted. “We have a lot of other issues to solve first before we start thinking about the future too much.”

At the very least, Button indicated that he is keen to stay in Formula 1 beyond 2014, with next season set to be his sixteenth on the grid.

“I still feel very young at heart, fitter than ever and I have all that experience,” he said. “I definitely can’t see an end to my career. This is my life and where I want to be in the future.”

[MIKA27]

Red Bull claim that rolling road test is legal

Red Bull says a test on a ‘rolling road’ facility would not be illegal, in the wake reports that the world champions had tested secretly over six days between the final Bahrain test and the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

The test reportedly took place at the Austrian automotive company AVL’s ‘rolling road’ facility in Graz, involving Red Bull’s troubled engine supplier Renault. But late on Thursday, the reigning world champion team denied conducting the test.

Red Bull, have now, however, pointed out: “The test mentioned in the article would be permitted by the regulations”.

Auto Bild appears to have gotten to the bottom of the story. The publication said the story broke when an anonymous person wrote letters to rival teams Ferrari, Mercedes and Sauber, as well as the governing FIA.

“Auto Bild Motorsport knows that a Toro Rosso chassis without front and rear wings ran on the rolling road without a flow of (wind tunnel) air. Therefore, the test was bench testing and completely legal. The identity of the letter writer remains anonymous.”

Toro Rosso and Renault did not comment.

[PaulP]

Qualifying

01 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.874
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:14.953 +0.079
03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:15.548 +0.674
04 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:15.550 +0.676
05 Felipe Massa Williams 1:15.578 +0.704
06 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:15.589 +0.715
07 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:15.814 +0.940
08 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:16.162 +1.288
09 Jenson Button McLaren 1:16.182 +1.308
10 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:16.214 +1.340
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:16.300
12 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:16.310
13 Sergio Perez Force India 1:16.472
14 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:16.687
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:16.713
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:17.314
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:18.328
18 Max Chilton Marussia 1:18.348
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:18.359
20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:19.278
21 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:19.820
22 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber No time

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Rosberg 'in the best position'

Nico Rosberg is expecting a "great race" against Lewis Hamilton as the Mercedes team-mates battle for the victory in Canada.

Although Hamilton goes into Sunday's race with three Canadian wins his tally, Rosberg has the on-track advantage having taken pole position.

At at track where many predicted Hamilton edge ahead, it was Rosberg who set the fastest time in qualifying.

The Championship leader crossed the line at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with a 1:14.874, which was 0.079s quicker than his team-mate's best.

Pressed as to whether he was delighted given his team-mate's record in Montreal, he said: "I'm not really aware of Lewis's record but of course I know it's a track where he is really strong.

"I'm very happy it worked out. It is great.

It has been a fantastic day and all through the weekend we have been progressing all the time, getting stronger and stronger.

"I'm in the best position for tomorrow."

Asked how he managed to beat team-mate Hamilton, the 28-year-old added: "It's just working at it all the time.

"Looking at data, working with my engineers trying to improve the set-up, trying to understand areas where I can still do better.

"It's just an onward process and it's great that it worked out."

Rosberg, who went even quicker in his second run in Q2, revealed that his confidence was boosted ahead of his second run knowing that he already had a very good time on the board.

"That helps a lot because I have a banker lap and that's a big advantage to have, a definite benefit," he stated.

As for Sunday's 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix, he is expecting a "great race" against his team-mate for the victory.

"It'll be a great race for sure - against Lewis I imagine. I just have to work hard on the strategy tonight to see what I have to do to stay in front."

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Hamilton out to make history

Lewis Hamilton hopes to do his part to create history with Mercedes as the team chases their sixth successive 1-2 this Sunday in Montreal.

Hamilton will start Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix second on the grid after losing pole position to his team-mate Nico Rosberg by 0.079s.

However, unlike the last time out in Monaco, this Saturday there was nothing untoward about it and Hamilton was one of the first to congratulate the German.

"Nico did a fantastic job today so congratulations to him," he said.

The Brit, though, was not entirely happy with his own session, admitting it was not one of his best qualifying performances.

"It wasn't the greatest qualifying session. Sometimes you have good ones and sometimes you have bad ones.

"But it is great for the team that we have the 1-2, a really fantastic performance by the team.

"Hopefully we can make history tomorrow."

Should the duo finish first and second on Sunday afternoon, Mercedes will become the first ever team to take six successive 1-2s.

Asked if fans can expected a close battle between the Mercedes team-mates in Sunday's race, Hamilton said: "I would assume so, yeah."

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Alonso eyes Red Bull, Williams battle

Even though he only qualified seventh in Montreal, Fernando Alonso is confident Ferrari have progressed.

Ferrari arrived at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with updates for their F14T that ranged from aerodynamic improvements to upgrades for the engine.

The updates appeared to be work in Friday's session where the Ferrari were fighting near the front.

However, come Saturday's qualifying both Alonso and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen dropped down the order.

The Spaniard finished up with the seventh best time while Raikkonen was P10.

But despite failing to challenge at the front, Alonso reckons Ferrari have taken a step forward.

The double World Champion told the BBC: "Yeah, we made progress compared to the last race.

"Some of the package and some of the new pieces we brought here, with the hot temperatures, we need to come back to the old ones because they run too hot so we lost a bit of the advantage we expected here."

As for Sunday's race, Alonso admits it is going to be "tough" as Ferrari are up against both Red Bull and Williams.

"Red Bull and Williams have been better than us here and tomorrow is going to be tough but we need to try and overtake them because we need those points."

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Bottas targets Bulls in Montreal

Valtteri Bottas says his aim is to challenge the Red Bulls in Canada as he chases his first podium finish.

The Williams driver will start Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix from fourth on the grid after an impressive showing in qualifying.

Bottas' 1:15.550 meant he finished the Saturday afternoon session 0.676s behind the pace-setting Nico Rosberg.

The 24-year-old, though, had hoped to at least be third, a position he is targeting for Sunday's race.

"We need to be happy with the result," the Finn insisted. "It was really, really close.

"On the last run there was some traffic which cost the opportunity to improve the time, but luckily I had done a good lap on the first run in Q3.

"We've been competitive all weekend so I'm looking forward to the race. I'm very happy with the car, we've made so much progress.

"I know we can challenge Red Bull here and we have great straightline speed, so we'll see."

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Button tries to find the up side

At least he will start the Canadian GP from the "clean side of the grid", that's about the only positive Jenson Button could find after qualifying.

Despite booking a place in the top-ten qualifying shoot-out in Montreal, the McLaren driver failed to make any decent inroads.

Qualifying a disappointing ninth, 1.308s off the pace, he admitted that while he struggled with the car, his issues were not as bad as they had been in final practice.

And, on the up side, P9 means he's on the clean faster side of the grid.

"After this morning, it's not so bad - I really struggled this morning," Button told Autosport.

"We were very close to eighth, only two thousandths [away].

"At least we'll be on the clean side of the grid, that's the only positive I can take.

"Hopefully [the race] will be good."