FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Juan Pablo Montoya says F1 should copy American racing

Juan Pablo Montoya believes that Formula 1 should look to motorsport in the USA for ideas to help re-engage fans.

The Colombian, who won seven grands prix with Williams and McLaren between 2001 and 2006, returned to IndyCar with Penske this year after a seven-season stint in NASCAR.

While IndyCar has faced its own struggles to recapture an audience that it lost after the IRL/CART split in the mid-1990s, recent signs have been encouraging.

IndyCar's TV figures have shown significant and consistent growth this season, and the current technical package allows for excellent racing without the need for contrivances.

The series is also fan-friendly, with drivers actively engaging with fans via social media, autograph sessions at all races, and accessible paddocks.

While Montoya believes that F1's current problems are more complicated than mere accessibility, he says that some of IndyCar's practices could serve as an example for F1 to follow.

"Number one, F1 has to change the sound," he said. "It is a really hard compromise because they all talk about saving money, but at the end of the day F1 has never been about that.

"They still spend all the money in the world. One team there could probably sponsor the whole series here.

"[but to get fans engaged,] they ought to look at IndyCar. I think IndyCar does the best job of looking after its fans.

"It's very different [for fans], just walking around seeing the cars. In the garage in NASCAR, the drivers are never there.

"The cars are there but the drivers are always in the motorhome. F1, [the paddock] is always closed. It's so complicated. There is no right answer.

"But the people that best understand it ... NASCAR is the best at understanding that at the end of the day it's a show.

"Formula 1, being very European, they think it's a sport. And it is a sport. But the way it's played ... the fans have to like it."

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Adrian Sutil not worried by lack of F1 success

Adrian Sutil says he is not concerned by his lack of results in Formula 1, because performing well behind the wheel is more important.

Sutil was a champion in Japanese Formula 3 in 2006, but has since gone on to notch up 120 grand prix starts without scoring a podium, the most for any driver in the history of the sport.

The German is currently enduring a point-less season with Sauber after leaving Force India at the end of 2013.

He said the longevity of his F1 career and self-satisfaction in his performances in cars not capable of challenging for top results were enough to sustain his self-belief.

"I have everything in my hands and I'm quite happy," Sutil told AUTOSPORT.

"There are several drivers who have not done as many grands prix as me and they have won races.

"What would you say about their situation when they are dropped from Formula 1, probably forever?

"They've won a race and they are in a more unlucky situation than I am? Who knows?

"Sometimes results for me have not been too good, but you have to do your best.

"Sometimes you deliver your best performance when you finish 13th, which might be better than the times I finished fifth for Force India, but nobody will realise this.

"I know, and this is most important. There are drivers who make mistakes and end up on the podium.

"It's a tricky situation in Formula 1 when there is a car involved, which has to be fast as well, so things aren't balanced."

PERFORMANCE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRAISE

Sutil said the validation of his talents by the watching world were not important to him.

"I do things for myself, I'm not doing it to show the world how impressive I am, it doesn't really matter," he added.

"I do it because I like it. When I do a perfect lap with the car I have, then I am happy. If I don't do it, I'm not happy and will work harder to succeed.

"I do it because it's my passion and it doesn't matter what other people think. I enjoy it even if I am outside the top 10.

"It would be great to be world champion and to win races - this is something that can happen, but then again, maybe not. It's not something that is fully in my hands.

"What is in my hands right now is being able to be a good driver and this is what my goal is: to be a consistent driver who doesn't do mistakes and performs well under any situation."

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg 'incredible' - Mercedes F1 boss

The Mercedes Formula 1 team reckons the lack of mistakes made by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as they've fought each other for the 2014 world championship is "incredible".

The dominance of the F1 W05 over the rest of the field means Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have engaged in an exclusive battle for the drivers' title so far this season.

A Mercedes has qualified on pole 10 times in 11 races, winning nine of them, and its drivers have rarely dropped points due to problems of their own making.

Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe reckons the fact his team has scored six one-two finishes so far is as much a testament to the skill of its drivers as it is to the superiority of the car.

"The record for this year on a mistake basis is incredible with what the two drivers have achieved," Lowe told AUTOSPORT.

"To go through all of those races and sessions with a very low error rate - whether it's accidents, wrong tyres, traffic problems, or some other incident involving stewards, they've done fantastically well this year.

"That shouldn't be taken for granted. If you look up and down the pitlane, every weekend there's people getting in trouble because they're not on it 100 per cent.

"If you want to get a one-two every weekend you need a great car, but you also need to not make any mistakes."

DRIVERS PUSHING EACH OTHER

Rosberg has out-qualified his world champion team-mate seven times (while Hamilton has twice been compromised by technical failures) and leads him by 11 points in the standings.

Lowe said it was impossible to know whether Rosberg was always capable of challenging for the world championship, or if he had raised his game this year to take advantage of the car.

"That's the great intrigue about it, you never will know the answer to that," Lowe added.

"I'm sure there is an effect where drivers push each other to new levels because you see the art of the possible.

"You see the opposite too, when a car is nowhere and drivers are not pushing each other, they just spiral down.

"If you look at Silverstone there were four seconds between the cars in that first stint, and Lewis wanted every sector to be called as a delta to Nico.

"That's the first time this year he's wanted every sector on every lap, and that's the guys pushing each other to the absolute ragged edge."

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Montezemolo denies Alonso, Raikkonen speculation

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has dismissed speculation surrounding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen's respective future's at the Scuderia. Both have been at the centre of wild rumours, particularly Alonso who many believe is seeking a seat elsewhere having grown tired of Ferrari's lack of progress.

Raikkonen meanwhile has been linked with early retirement once again, with poor results pressuring him to up his game of make way for fresh talent such as Jules Bianchi.

Montezemolo has described such rumours as "unfounded gossip".

"We are lucky to have two great champions, who are working with the whole team to get back to being competitive again," he told Ferrari's website.

"Of course, as is the case every summer, there is unfounded gossip about alleged problems with senseless rumours bandied about, such as the ones relating to Alonso's contract or those of drivers' salaries.

"We know that the summer heat always produces silly stories. Our drivers must now relax in order to return in top form. The season is still long and we need Fernando and Kimi to be in great shape. And on the subject of Kimi, I wish him all the best as he is soon to become a dad."

On the subject of the sport itself, the 66-year-old reports that progress has been made after he called for an emergency meeting to discuss ways of drawing F1 audiences back, including the use of social media.

"As for our sport in general, we are pleased to see that all the major players share the views we first put forward regarding the need to revamp Formula One. We have proposals aimed specifically at improving the show, starting with more straightforward regulations, which put the spectators first, especially the younger generation."

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MASSA: I LEFT FERRARI AT THE RIGHT TIME

Felipe Massa says he departed Ferrari, for whom he raced in Formula 1 for eight years until his ousting last year, at just the right time as he relishes the prospect of beating the Maranello outfit with his new Williams team.

With Williams ending its slump this year but fabled Ferrari struggling in the first half-season of the new V6 era, Brazilian Massa thinks he left the Maranello marque at the right time.

“I think so,” he told Brazil’s Sportv. “It was very important for me. Sometimes a change does you good. I needed it even if some things did not all fit together yet.

“But it will (fit), and I think we can have a very positive future with this new team,” he added.

Valtteri Bottas has been the real star of Williams’ 2014 resurgence, but teammate Massa says he is happy to be involved in the fight to displace Ferrari as a top-three force in the constructors’ world championship.

Williams lost its top-three place to the great Scuderia last time out in Hungary, but Massa insists: “Our fight now is with Ferrari.

“We were in front until the last race and Ferrari had a better race than Williams, but the chance to finish the year ahead of Ferrari is very large. That’s what we want.

“To be able to come up in one year into the top three, ahead of a big team like Ferrari, is very positive,” he added.

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CATERHAM MAY DITCH DOUBLE NOSE SAYS NEW BOSS

Caterham’s new boss Christijan Albers is not denying the team will axe the 2014 car’s unseemly nose.

I reported last month that the distinctive solution at the front of this year’s green-liveried car could be the popular victim of a development push by the team’s new management.

In the wake of the unsuccessful Tony Fernandes era, Caterham is currently last in the constructors’ standings, but new management headed by Albers and Colin Kolles have targeted rising above tenth place and securing about $20 million in official prize money.

We reported in July that the team’s mysterious new Swiss-Middle Eastern owners have approved a timely development push, involving sending a 60 per cent car model into the state-of-the-art Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne.

Speed Week now claims that the curious ‘double nose’ could have been replaced by an all-new solution when the season resumes in Belgium next week.

Italy’s Omnicorse tips that the new Caterham nose will resemble the solution at the front of the impressive 2014 Williams.

Asked about the nose reports, Dutchman Albers said: “We will see at Spa-Francorchamps.”

The reports also said the under-developed Caterham is set to be updated with reduced weight, a new floor, front and rear wings, sidepods and engine cover.

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BOULLIER: WE MAY NEED TO REFRESH OUR DRIVER LINEUP

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has admitted that the Woking oiutfit is looking to eventually refresh its driver lineup for the 2015 seasin

Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen only debuted this year, but Mexican Sergio Perez was also only a single season into his McLaren career when he was ousted at the end of 2013.

It is reported strongly that, ahead of the start of its works Honda partnership, Woking based McLaren is seeking a top driver to spearhead the project, such as former team racers Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, or quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel.

“I can only do my best and hope that is good enough,” said Magnussen. “Anyone at McLaren should feel that you have to deliver to your best to deserve to be there and that goes for me and Jenson as well.”

It is believed that if McLaren does oust a current driver to make way for a newcomer, it would be the 2009 world champion Jenson Button, 34, who is out of contract.

McLaren supremo Ron Dennis made waves recently when he urged Button to try harder.

“Jenson knows the important thing is to score as many points as he can,” team boss Boullier is quoted by Britain’s Mirror newspaper. “He doesn’t have to prove anything as he is a world champion and has won many races for McLaren.”

“We need to be realistic as well, because in one, two, three years we may need to refresh our driver lineup and obviously we will be seeking the best drivers at that moment in time,” he added.

For his part, Button – the second-oldest driver in Formula 1 but even more experienced than Kimi Raikkonen – insists he intends to stay on the grid for a sixteenth consecutive season in 2015.

“Right now, my interest is to race in Formula 1,” he said. “In Formula 1 the emotions are all over the place – it is highs, it is lows. I have lived my life like that for a long time and I want to continue my life like that.”

“I am young and fast and enjoy what I do for a living, and I don’t want that to change,” added Button.

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Maldonado wants Grosjean to stay

Pastor Maldonado has urged Lotus to retain Romain Grosjean for next season as together they can push the team "in the right direction."

Although Lotus have confirmed Maldonado for next year's Championship, the name of his team-mate remains a mystery.

The team has expressed a desire to hold onto Grosjean, however, the Frenchman says he is keeping his options open.

Maldonado, though, reckons Lotus must make a concerted effort to re-sign his current team-mate.

"We've been trying to do our best," the 29-year-old told Speed Week. "It is good that he has the same feelings that I have in the car. This is good to push the team forward in the right direction.

"Romain is a good driver, for sure. He's shown that in the past and there's no reason not to keep him in my opinion."

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Toro Rosso F1 boss Tost says Vergne needs a big result

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost says Jean-Eric Vergne needs a big result in Formula 1 to validate the progress he has made this season.

Vergne was overlooked in favour of 2013 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for a graduation to Red Bull for this season, and has spent this campaign facing up to the new challenge of rookie sensation Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso.

Tost conceded reliability problems had denied both his drivers several opportunities to score big points - a pair of eighths stand as Vergne's best results of 2014 so far - but reckons this is even more crucial for Vergne, who is now in his third season in F1 with STR.

"He made a lot of progress during the winter months so he is much more [mentally] stable this year," Tost told AUTOSPORT.

"He is doing a good job. Unfortunately he has had a lot of reliability issues with his car, but from the driving point of view he is fast, skilled, and I just hope he gets a really good result.

"Monaco [where Vergne ran as high as sixth before an unsafe release and ignition problems] would have been the kick to give him self-confidence to score a lot of points, and then everything becomes much easier.

"You need the results because this is the confirmation. Otherwise it's just talk, philosophy."

BOUNCING BACK FROM 'DIFFICULT MOMENT'

Vergne says he has worked hard to recover from the disappointment of losing out on the Red Bull drive to Ricciardo, who has gone on to record his first two wins in F1 across the first 11 races of 2014.

"Last year was obviously a difficult moment," Vergne told AUTOSPORT.

"I think halfway through last year Daniel was definitely better than me in qualifying, but I was always catching up in the races.

"I understood that I needed the winter break to understand the decision and to get over it, and still be grateful that I am able to keep going with a team that has a lot of potential.

"I'm not the sort of driver to say 'we could've done this, or this,' but I have to say I have had a lot of back luck this year and there have been many races I was unable to finish where I could have been in the points.

"It's a bit of a shame because we need the results, and when you don't get the results, it doesn't matter how good you could have done, as people forget the week after.

"The positive is that I have done a good job so far and the team has done a good job so far. We just need to keep going and the results will come."

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Force India boss Mallya says double points illogical for F1

Force India boss Vijay Mallya says he cannot make sense of Formula 1's decision to award double points for the final race of 2014.

F1's teams voted unanimously in favour of awarding double points for the season finale in Abu Dhabi, but the decision has attracted widespread criticism.

Mercedes F1 commercial chief Toto Wolff recently suggested the sport had made a mistake to accept double points, and Mallya believes it has the potential to ruin a tight battle for third in the constructors' championship.

"Right now Mercedes and Red Bull are somewhat way ahead - Mercedes certainly, but if you look from third to sixth in the constructors' [championship] there's Williams, Ferrari, Force India and McLaren and we're all pretty tightly bunched up," Mallya told AUTOSPORT.

"There are still eight races to go, and the last one [for] double points.

"Even if we go away from Brazil in third or fourth position and say "wow! What a season!" everything could come to naught in Abu Dhabi.

"Once again I don't understand the logic of this."

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Sauber protege Simona de Silvestro reckons time right for F1 move

Sauber-affiliated former IndyCar racer Simona de Silvestro believes the timing is right for her to make the step into Formula 1 next year.

The 25-year-old Swiss racer, described by Mario Andretti as "a talent to be reckoned with", has tested a 2012-spec Sauber this year and previously admitted that her aim is to become the first female to start a grand prix in nearly forty years.

Speaking to AUTOSPORT's sister publication F1 Racing in its latest issue, de Silvestro said: "If I do everything right, there's a good chance.

"I feel that now is the time. I wouldn't have made this jump if it didn't feel right or it wasn't a good opportunity.

"For me, it's been really important to focus on the racing part, because at the end of the day that's what people are going to judge you on, whether you're a boy or a girl."

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn added: "She has supporters in the background and they were willing to help her do this.

"Where it takes her from here, we will see."

De Silvestro has also spent time in the Red Bull F1 simulator this year as part of a programme to prepare her for a race seat if the opportunity comes up.

Sauber race engineer Paul Russell told F1 Racing: "I don't think there's much she can't do with the car. I'd like to see her step up.

"The point of this is to try to make sure that when the chance comes for her to make the step, she is as well prepared as possible."

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Bungee Jumping In A F1 Car Seems Like A Crazy Thing To Do

Here’s video from Top Gear showing the Stig making a 300 foot bungee jump while strapped inside a F1 car. It’s exhilarating and completely nuts but must have been so ridiculously fun to do. Sometimes, just bungee jumping or just driving an F1 car isn’t enough. You gotta do both at the same time.

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Bianchi downplays Ferrari rumours

Jules Bianchi is not expecting a call from Ferrari any time soon as he says the Italian stable has two drivers contracted for next season.

There has been some speculation of late that Bianchi could step up to Ferrari in 2015 in light of Kimi Raikkonen's stuttering return.

As the Finn's struggles continue so too do reports that he could walk away at the end of this season.

Should that happen Bianchi, who broke his duck in Monaco when he finished ninth, has been tipped to replace him.

The Frenchman, though, has downplayed the speculation.

"They have a contract with both drivers for next year and I don't think they will change that," he told Crash.net.

"What I need to do is keep focusing on my job with Marussia and do the best job that I can."

Bianchi however is hoping that next season he will be with a team that can regularly fight for top ten finishes but hasn't ruled out Marussia being that team.

"I want to be in a place where I can fight for points," he said.

"It can be here because if some people invest in this team then for sure we can do a much better job and be quicker.

"We are doing a great job with what we have at the moment, but with more money we can be more competitive.

"I am Ferrari's driver, so it is in their interest to put me in a better place."

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MARKO: THE OLDER DRIVERS NEED TO STEP ON THE GAS

Teenagers Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat are the future of Red Bull, and will be the race lineup at the energy drink company’s second team Toro Rosso in 2015.

The energy drinks’ decision maker Helmut Marko is excited, “Daniil Kvyat has been very impressive. The older drivers need to step on the gas. There is no guarantee just because you’re in Formula 1 already. The younger drivers want to show them up.”

The Austrian revealed that current Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne will be replaced at the end of the season by the next rookie sensation, Dutchman Verstappen.

Until now, the Red Bull sensation has been quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is having a bad season so far. Marko insists he is not criticising the German, now 27.

In fact, he said criticism of Vettel so far in 2014 has been “for the most part exaggerated and unfair”.

“You should know the reasons for something not working [before criticising],” Marko told the new edition of Sport Bild, published on Wednesday.

“Mainly for Vettel it has been the extreme reliability problems with his car, and when it was fine he was unlucky.

“He is certainly not a worse driver than last year,” he insisted, adding that Vettel will also have successfully “recharged his batteries” after the August break.

At the very same time, Red Bull has been busy planning for the future. A thorough preparation plan for 16-year-old Verstappen’s 2015 debut is ready to be unveiled, and Marko admitted that it will probably involve a Friday practice session late in 2014.

“Max will drive the Formula 3 season to the end,” he is quoted by Speed Week, “but also driving in the Formula Renault 3.5 (series) is planned, and show runs with the Formula 1 car, such as in Rotterdam. There are many ways that we can ensure that Max is well prepared going into 2015.”

Marko said he realised Red Bull must make a concerted effort to sign Verstappen when he was watching an “extremely difficult race at the Norisring with changing conditions”.

Max Verstappen sealed his future with a superb showing at Norisring earlier this year

“Max was two seconds faster than everyone else. At this point you no longer have to discuss whether a driver like this needs another year in a junior series. He is ready for Formula 1.”

Verstappen, whose father is the former Formula 1 driver Jos, agrees, “I take this step just as I did all the others – with respect but without fear.”

“I was amazed how easy it was for me to go from karting to formula 3, and the same when I tested the Formula Renault 3.5 car at the Red Bull Ring. I was used to it after about ten laps.”

“The biggest difference will be the power. F3 has about 250 horse power, the Formula Renault is 450 but Formula 1 is 800.”

Meanwhile, Marko expressed confidence Red Bull’s senior team will have a much better 2015 season together with struggling engine supplier Renault.

“They have done the right restructuring,” he said. “We are deepening the cooperation extremely. This means that we are developing the new car for 2015 together.”

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ALONSO: FEAR DOESN’T EXIST IN FORMULA 1

Double world champion Fernando Alonso is a driver that is considered one of the best, if not the very best, of the current generation of Formula 1 drivers and in in the process has become the elder statesman of the sport, one of the most respected figures. I present the first installment of a three part interview with the Ferrari driver.

When you think about your job and your role what is the first adjective that springs to mind?

Fernando Alonso: Fighter. Because it is part of my character, part of my DNA to fight all the time. To think you’ve always got a chance. When things go well I like to try and do more, when things go badly I try to fix it. That’s not just in Formula 1 but also in every day life, there is always a fight.

Is there one person in particular you need to thank for where you are today?

FA: There are many people that help you to get where you are when you are a Formula 1 driver. Through it all one person has always been there for me and that’s my father [Jose Luis]. He’s been there right from the start, from the karting and then all through my single seater career. Even now, even if he’s not physically present at all the races, or at the days when I’m working or not working, he’s always there. I can lean on him, whatever has happened to me during the day, be it in my work or something personal. I call him and he always has a point of view – 99.9% of the time he’s right, which is why I listen very carefully to what he says.

Fernando Alonso with his father Jose Luis Alonso

What has been the worst moment of your racing career?

FA: There have been various times, definitely when I’ve had accidents and when I made mistakes that were too obvious and plain to see. On days like that you want to disappear and for a few weeks, you’d rather not see anyone. However I think that’s part of the sport, it happens in all sports, but definitely in Formula 1 and other sports that get a lot of media coverage, it’s even more the case. Then you deal with it, it happens to everyone and you try not to think about it too much.

Speaking about accidents… How do you deal with fear?

FA: Fear doesn’t exist in Formula 1. I think you always have a respect for the car, for what we are doing, respect for the speed, but fear, never. Definitely in wet races when you have very little visibility, you feel you are not comfortable, you are very uncomfortable, but it’s not fear. You want to get rid of some of this water to go quicker. In the end the car is your office.

What effect does winning have on you?

FA: Winning is motivating. I think when things go well and you manage to bring home a good result or win a race automatically for the next week, you are very motivated and delighted and want to be even better. You are more involved with the team and your engineers, you have more ideas, are more creative, you train harder because you want to repeat that feeling. You want to have the same feeling you had the previous Sunday.

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ALONSO: THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO WIN

Fernando Alonso is in his fifth year with Ferrari, he takes time out to describe what it entails driving for the legendary squad from Maranello and reveals that winning is more important than the manner in which it is achieved. This is the second installment of a three part interview with Spain’s double world champion.

When you look back what do you think of all the sacrifices you have made to get to the top?

Fernando Alonso: When I look back, definitely I see happiness, delight, moments I would never have dreamed of and it has been a privilege to have the opportunity to go through that. There are definitely sacrifices too, things you have not been able to do or things you might have done but never got the opportunity. Also having a more normal life, with school frineds, university friends, a more normal social life, as I said I have been privileged and I have experienced things that have definitely broguht me great satisfaction. Overall if I look back I only see good things.

At what point did you realise you were becoming a really good racing driver?

FA: Well, never. I think that when you arrive in Formula 1 and I can well remember still my first year at Minardi, I was thinking and talking with my family about racing that year and trying to do well because if the following year I didn’t continue or my contract wasn’t renewed, then I could say for the rest of my life I have raced in Formula 1 for one year. That is what I thought at the time. I was never thinking I would go further than that. Then came the World Championship and it was still the same thing, one day I could say I was Formula 1 World Champion but I didn’t think of going further or to reach a level at which people would respect me.

What is the ideal grand prix for you?

FA: The ideal grand prix is the one that you win. It doesn’t matter if you dominate from the first to the last lap or if you make a pass to win at the final corner. The important thing is to win. All wins have a different taste to them and bring a different feeling at the precise moment and you feel them all very intensely. I think the win is much more important than the way in which it is obtained.

Is it true that driving for Ferrari is different to do so with any other team? And why?

FA: Ferrari is an historic team, a team that has always been in Formula 1 and has always had something special about it. That is the Ferrari legend, a passion and a way of going racing, that is definitely unique. The team has a great will to win with great passion coming not just from the mechanics and engineers who work for Ferrari. The whole of Italy is behind it and it’s a very potent brand. Therefore racing for Ferrari is always more exciting and has a more intense feeling than doing it with any other team and that is what always makes it so appealing.

What has been the best day of your Formula 1 career to date?

FA: I think my best day in Formula 1 was in 2005 in Brazil when I won the world championship for the first time, as definitely the first world championship is an unforgettable moment in one’s career.

Your best day with Ferrari so far?

FA: The best moment I think was Valencia 2012: a home race, racing in front of your home crowd with all my family there and it was a race in which I started eleventh. You never expect to win from starting from so far back and yet everything went perfectly that Sunday. It was definitely a moment when I couldn’t have been happier.

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ALONSO: THE STRONGEST IN F1 WAS MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

In this third and final installment of an in-depth interview Fernando Alonso looks back on the legends of Formula 1, his teammates and toughest rivals of whom he considers Michael Schumacher the special one.

Who was your strongest rival outright?

Fernando Alonso: The strongest in Formula 1 was Michael [schumacher]. In the years when I was starting in Formula 1. In 2001 he dominated and did so up until 2005 and he was on another level. With him it was never easy. Then I got the opportunity to race against him on equal terms for a few years and he was always able to do something special, something more than you were expecting or more than the car was capable of. So you always had to keep an eye on him.

If you could bring back one champion from the past in Formula 1 who would you like to race against even if you came off worse in the duel?

FA: There are so many great names in the history of Formula 1 and usually we talk of the great champions such as Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, those guys who raced in the past and we grew up while they were winning races. If I could I would battle with them and also in those old cars, the ones I played with as a kid when they were my heroes. Everyone would definitely like to see that.

Fernando Alonso versus Michael Schumacher was intense

Who is the strongest team-mate you have ever had?

FA: It’s a difficult question. They were all different, all had strong points and some not so strong, so I had a hard time with all of them in terms of performance and you have to give your maximum because they were ultra-competitive. I remember Trulli, his qualifying ability was the best I have ever come across among all my team mates. Then there was ‘Fisico’ Fisichella for two years in Renault where we won the Construtcors’ titles and he was always on it, in every race, in all conditions, a really complete driver. There was Massa and now Kimi and even in the past there were kids in go-karts who were super. So it’s not easy to choose one. All of them helped me and I learned a lot from them to do with various aspects, but they all had something special.

A driver whom you would have liked as a team mate but never had?

FA: That’s another tough question. I don’t know, beacuse I think I had the team mates that were there at the time. Definitely, I always had a good friendship with Kubica from go-kart times and maybe with him in Formula 1 we could have been together in the same team. But we will never know because we went in different directions.

Can Formula 1 drivers be friends? Does friendship exist in Formula 1?

FA: Yes there can be. But definitely not in a real sense, not in the way you have friends outside Formula 1 or friends from school that you have known a very long time. In Formula 1 the friendship isn’t forced but it is based on spending 300 days a year together and in the end, you begin to share things that are not only related to work but are also personal and that creates a friendly relationship.

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PIERO FERRARI: I HOPE ALONSO REMAINS AT MARANELLO

Enzo Ferrari’s only living son -Piero Ferrari – has revealed that he wants Fernando Alonso to stay with the Maranello team for the rest of his Formula 1 career.

The Spanish driver, widely recognised as perhaps the best and undoubtedly the highest paid on the grid, is under contract to Ferrari but also linked with a potential move to a rival team like next year’s Honda-powered McLaren.

“Honestly,” Piero Ferrari said, “I hope Alonso remains at Maranello until the end of his career.

“I do not follow the chatter of the market,” Ferrari, whose father founded the great Italian marque, told Italian insider Leo Turrini’s blog.

“I am not responsible for negotiations, I speak only of the value of the driver and I still think Fernando is the right man for our hopes. After that it is up to us to give him and Kimi a competitive car,” he added.

Unsurprisingly for a senior figure of the Italian marque, Ferrari was also highly critical of Formula 1′s current regulations, although he insisted it should not be an “excuse” for the team’s situation in 2014.

“Among the many stupidities of modern Formula 1 is this rule requiring the closure of the racing teams in August,” he said.

“Dad would turn in his grave – he hated to leave; he was always in the office in mid August. Today everything is forbidden,” Ferrari complained. “Testing during the season, the frozen engines. I hardly see Formula 1 anymore.

“But I know in advance the counter (argument),” he added. “Even Ferrari agreed to certain solutions that, in the end, were wrong.”

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GUTIERREZ: WE HAVE OPENED DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER TEAMS

Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez has revealed that his management is in talks with other Formula 1 teams regarding a race seat in 2015.

With the prominent backing of Telmex, the 23-year-old has driven for the struggling Swiss team since last year.

When asked about 2015, he told local media whilst in his native Mexico at the weekend: “We are in negotiations with Sauber and we have opened discussions with other teams.

“We are in a period of evaluation to see what direction we want to go,” added Gutierrez, who like his teammate Adrian Sutil is yet to score a single point in 2014.

He continued: “Over the next two months we have to make a decision and now we are evaluating all the possibilities that we have open.

“Sauber is happy with me and wants to go on,” he revealed.

Gutierrez also admitted that he expects the next two grands prix, in Belgium and Italy, to be difficult for the Ferrari-powered 2014 Sauber. He has yet to score a point so far this season.

“The car itself is very difficult to drive, it is a very complex car in many respects, but I think we have improved it since the start.

“But the truth is that we have difficulties especially on the straights. In the short term, Spa and Monza will not be good for us,” he acknowledged.

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LOTTERER TO REPLACE KOBAYASHI FOR SPA AND BEYOND?

The Formula 1 report mill is alight with speculation that Caterham are set to axe Kamui Kobayashi and replace him with Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer for the Belgian Grand Prix and beyond.

After Kobayashi admitted recently his race seat may not be safe in the wake of the Leafield based team’s sale and subsequent shakeup, the big report now is that the Japanese is set to be replaced by 2014 Le Mans winner Lotterer who currently drives for the works Audi team.

Lotterer, 32, made his debut at the fabled 24 hour race a few years ago for Colin Kolles, Caterham’s new advisor who appointed another former driver Christijan Albers as team boss.

Twitter is alight with the speculation about Lotterer’s supposed race debut at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend after being spotted at the team’s Leafield factory, reportedly for a seat fitting.

But the news is not yet official, even for Kobayashi who told his 150,000 Twitter followers mere hours ago that he is “Absolutely ready for Belgium Grand Prix this weekend”.

German Lotterer, who was a Jaguar test driver in 2002, is a former F3 and Formula Nippon champion and currently running second in the premier Japanese open wheeler series Super Formula.

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DI RESTA SEEKING RETURN TO F1 GRID

Last year’s Force India driver Paul di Resta is not ready to give up on his Formula 1 career, despite being exiled to DTM this season.

The 28-year-old Scot lost his seat with the Silverstone based team at the end of last year and returned to the German touring car series DTM with Mercedes.

He was linked with a potential Formula 1 reserve role with the German marque’s Brackley based team this year, but for now he is committed to improving in DTM.

“When I came back (to DTM), I thought I might be able to get to the front straight away, but that clearly hasn’t happened and we are not where we want to be just now,” said the former series champion.

“It’s too early to say what my plans are for 2015 and my thoughts are completely devoted to chasing better results in DTM and helping Mercedes in any way I can,” he told Scotland’s Herald newspaper.

“But I am positive I can gain another drive in Formula 1 and, if anything, I am even more determined than I was.

“The decision isn’t up to me, but I delivered good, steady performances and I have no doubt I can build on that,” di Resta added.

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LOTUS TO DROP TUSK NOSE FOR 2015

Lotus will drop its unique and largely unsuccessful double tusk nose solution for the 2015 season.

Although the Enstone team has struggled this year, technical director Nick Chester insists the innovative nose is a “pretty good solution” that will stay on the current car for the rest of the season.

But with the FIA changing the regulations to end the unseemly ‘anteater’-style noses elsewhere on the grid, Lotus will also have to make changes for 2015.

“No. The way the nose structure rules are written, it would be very hard to do,” Chester told Formula 1′s official website when asked if Lotus will stick with its double-pronged solution next year.

“It is actually easier to design a more conventional low nose, so going that route it’s easier to pass the crash test,” he added.

Chester admitted, however, that Lotus might run an early iteration of a more conventional nose later this season during a Friday practice session.

But in the actual races, the forked nose is staying put for now.

“There’s not really a benefit (to changing it in 2014),” Chester said, “because all the work we have done in the tunnel says we would lose downforce by doing it.”

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Lewis: Title fight a bit like poker

Lewis Hamilton believes his battle with team-mate Nico Rosberg for this year's Drivers' Championship is a lot more intense than his previous title fights.

With Mercedes having the best car on the grid this year, Hamilton and Rosberg have gone toe-to-toe in the battle for top honours and it is the latter who leads the standings by just 11 points with only eight races left.

It is a far cry from Hamilton's two previous title fights in 2007 and 2008 when the then McLaren driver was facing a different challenge as his rivals Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were driving for Ferrari.

Hamilton, who was beaten to the 2007 title by Raikkonen before winning in 2008, admits it's a different kettle of fish this time around.

"The battle does feel a lot more intense this year," he said during a Puma Forever Faster event.

"When I was racing against Raikkonen and Massa, they were in a different team and their cars had different strengths and weaknesses to my car and, in my team, it was just me that was really competing with them.

"Now I'm racing against a guy who has the same car as me - we both have access to exactly the same data and feedback so it is really hard to try and be ahead. It's a little bit like playing poker - you have a set of cards and the other guy is not supposed to know what you got, but Nico and I can see each other's cards so then it's more difficult to beat each other."

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Marmorini hits out at Ferrari

Axed Ferrari engine boss Luca Marmorini has hit out the Scuderia, revealing he met Marco Mattiacci twice - once to say hi and then to say bye.

Following on from the departure of Stefano Domenicali earlier in the season, Ferrari parted ways with Marmorini at the end of July.

Deemed responsible for Ferrari's poor first season in the new 1.6-litre V6 era, Marmorini is adamant that not all "the problems of the F14T are the fault of the power unit."

"As if in a company with the history of Ferrari had forgotten how to make your engines!" he told Italian author and F1 insider Leo Turrini.

"I mean, I accept any criticism, but do not tell me that at Maranello there are people who do not know the business of turbos, hybrids, etc."

Marmorini also revealed that in the three months that he worked with new boss Mattiacci they "exchanged few words" and only "saw each other twice."

The first of those two meeting was "for the greetings, the second when he gave me a letter that confirmed my departure from the company.

"I do not want to accuse anyone. For real.

"I will point out, however, that Ferrari is entrusting its road racing department to inexperience people who are using advisors who has so far shown nothing which is blind faith."

He added: "Ferrari run the risk of damaging the bedrock on which which the many past successes were built.

"I do not speak for me as I am out. But I am sorry for the engineers I know who are still there, good people who are demoralised."

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Key unhappy with 'pathetic' points haul

James Key believes Toro Rosso should be disappointed by their "really pathetic handful of points", saying the reliability is "simply not good enough."

11 races into this season, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat have scored just 17 World Championship points with the team's best result being two P8s.

That has put Toro Rosso seventh in the Championship, nine points ahead of Lotus but a staggering 80 behind sixth-placed McLaren.

It's a showing that has disappointed technical director Key, who believes they have been let down by reliability.

"I think it's been a real mixed bag for us because we've got a really pathetic handful of points out of what should have been a much better position at this stage given that fundamentally we've got into Q3 on almost every occasion," Key told Autosport.

"All the issues have been completely different, which has been the big frustration.

"One area of weakness that you can focus on and get fixed quickly is great, [but] when you have a real random scattering of stuff you've never seen before, and it catches you out and then disappears again, it's really tough.

"Some of it definitely has been of our own making, but other issues have just been unfortunate.

"We did not finish eight times and this is simply not good enough.

"I think we have suffered from not doing a proper winter testing programme, because we are still observing new issues on the car which normally you sort out after testing.

"But we had a lot of problems during these sessions, and as a result we simply couldn't find out the weak points on the car during this very important preparation period."

The reliability issues have also hampered Toro Rosso's development with the Brit revealing they have had to slow it down to avoid more issues.

"We've been pushing probably the hardest the team has ever pushed, and our development rate has been quite reasonable.

"But when you're pushing a relatively small team to that level, inevitably mistakes can be made, or not everything is covered quite in the detail you'd want.

"So we've actually said: 'right, hang on, let's just step back and make sure that the fundamentals are right'."