FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Wolff: Nico’s move wasn’t ‘deliberate’

As the rhetoric ratchets up over the incident between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix, the team have expressed to the media (hat tip AUTOSPORT) over just what Rosberg said in the team meeting.

Lewis Hamilton exited the meeting and told the press that Rosberg “basically” said he did it on purpose and that the reporters go ask Toto Wolff, team boss, who would corroborate the sentiment. That’s not exactly the way Wolff recalls the conversation as he told reporters:

“Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point, and for Lewis, it was clearly not him who needed to be aware of Nico,” said Wolff. “[Rosberg] didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn’t leave him space.

“So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is nonsense.”

Refusing to back down from a scarp at the corner while racing is a bit different than deliberately crashing into someone. At least that’s how the team boss sees it.

According to the report, Wolff is still angry that the incident happened and suggested that Rosberg wasn’t prepared to take the exit in the corner so the incident could have been avoided but he did suggest that Nico’s point was that he wasn’t going to simply give in. Would Nico do it differently if time was turned back? Wolff says he most likely would.

AUTOSPORT also reported that the stewards at the race reviewed the incident and didn’t find anything deliberate in Nico’s actions. As for Nico, he feels the incident was simply a racing incident saying:

“I didn’t see any risk in overtaking, or trying to overtake, so why should I not try? The opportunity was there even without DRS because I was so much quicker, so I gave it a go. “Inside was not possible, so I tried around the outside. Should I have waited? That is very hypothetical. Who knows what happens afterwards? “The opportunity was there and, for me, it wasn’t a risky situation.”

So the team, having had their “heated” meeting between drivers are now suggesting that this was a racing incident just as the stewards saw it and not a deliberate attempt at taking Lewis Hamilton out of the race.

[MIKA27]

Massa “lost 40 seconds” due to Hamilton tyre debris

There were contrasting fortunes for the Williams drivers in Spa, who were separated by over 45 seconds at the chequered flag.

Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a strong run to his fourth podium finish of the season. But what happened to the team’s other car?

Felipe Massa qualified ninth, three places behind his team mate, and they were still in the same positions at the end of lap one. That’s when things went wrong for Massa, following the collision between the two Mercedes drivers.

“Unfortunately at the beginning of the race I had some tyre debris stuck in the floor that came from Hamilton’s car,” he explained. “This made the car very slow, losing about two seconds per lap.”

Massa was passed by Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, and the problem didn’t get better after his first pit stop because his team hadn’t noticed what was wrong with his car.

The debris was removed when Massa came in for his second pit stop on lap 21. “After that I was nearly three seconds quicker and the fastest car on track,” said Massa, “but at this point it was too late for me to really do anything”.

Massa’s lap times were significantly quicker after that second pit stop. But he still had one more stop to make – his final stop with nine laps to go dropped him behind Nico Hulkenberg and Jean-Eric Vergne, where he finished.

Williams’ head of performance engineering Rob Smedley said Massa was “incredibly unlucky” and the debris “probably cost him about 40 seconds in total with his compromised pace and strategy”.

[MIKA27]

Seeing F1 Cars Race In Thermal Vision Is So Freaking Cool

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that racing F1 cars is pretty much insanity. The ridiculous speeds, the punishing G-forces and not to mention the beasts of a machine they call cars. But when you look at a F1 car under thermal vision, you’ll never forget how scary it is: they’re driving fire-breathing monsters.

FLIR captured Red Bull Racing’s RB8 Formula 1 racing car with a a FLIR x6580sc infrared camera to show how literal the term “burning rubber” is and well, it’s pretty damn literal.

[MIKA27]

1955 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

1955 Belgian Grand Prix is a Shell film from the same year, covering the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in surprising detail. It’s fascinating to see behind the scenes and watch men like Fangio and Moss belting their Mercedes up Eau Rouge in the wet, with no roll over protection not even a hint of a seatbelt.

The full film runs 30 minutes and it makes a nice precursor (or post-cursor) to the modern Belgian Grand Prix that ran a few hours ago – again with the silver Mercedes on the front of the grid.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES: MAYBE THE SLAP ON THE WRIST IS NOT ENOUGH

Mercedes have threatened to review their policy of allowing their drivers to race each other freely after Formula 1 championship leader Nico Rosberg and main rival, and teammate, Lewis Hamilton collided on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix – a race they were expected to dominate.

When asked whether the dominant team might change their tactics in the aftermath of the incident, Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff told reporters, “Unfortunately, yes. It would be too early to elaborate in detail because the devil lies in the detail. We are all fans and we owe it to ourselves and everybody out there to let them race.”

“Today that philosophy has ended in Mercedes losing many valuable points and we don’t want to end up in Abu Dhabi, with a season where we lost the championship, be it constructors’ or drivers’, because we were too much race fans.”

Hitherto the team have been clear in allowing their drivers to race each other, accepting that it is in the interests of the sport to provide exciting races and to avoid the sort of processions seen in the past when one team is dominant.

Nico Rosberg finished second

However, they have been shaken by Red Bull winning the last two races and looking more competitive than expected at a long and fast track that should have favoured the Mercedes hybrid power unit.

The collision on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix, with Hamilton retiring with a damaged car and Rosberg finishing second to take his overall lead to 29 points with seven races remaining, left Mercedes fighting fires on two fronts.

There have been spats and sparks between the drivers ever since it became apparent that they had the best car on the grid and were prepared to go wheel-to-wheel for the biggest prize in motorsport.

Hamilton rejected on Sunday a suggestion that they were always an accident waiting to happen, emphasising that it was an avoidable collision and they had plenty of experience, but Mercedes have certainly been bracing for it.

At Spa, with Rosberg’s front wing slicing Hamilton’s rear tyre as they battled for the lead on lap two, the moment arrived.

“Now we are at the point which we always discussed, no?,” said Wolff, looking around at the scrum of reporters. “Is it going to happen or not? An accident waiting to happen – it’s unacceptable. Racing accidents can happen, racing accidents among team mates shouldn’t happen.”

“Racing accidents among team mates on lap number two of a 44-lap race with a dominant car should be a no-no-no. It’s exactly that point which we hoped we would never reach.”

Mercedes have had so many clear-the-air meetings already this season they could almost add them to their regular weekend programme and there will be a few more to come after Hamilton accused Rosberg of hitting him deliberately.

The incendiary comments dropped into the paddock like a match in a hay barn.

“We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he did it on purpose,” the Briton told reporters. “He said he could have avoided it. He said: I did it to prove a point.”

Wolff suggested that point was to show Hamilton he was prepared to hold his line, rather than any payback for previous incidents.

But with many in the paddock wondering whether the governing International Automobile Federation should investigate, Mercedes now have to restore order with a weight of media and public pressure on them.

Hamilton, in comments immediately after the race, doubted that Rosberg would receive any real sanction but that could also force their hand.

“It reminds me of when I was at school, the teachers will say something but they won’t do anything. The stewards didn’t do anything… so I am just going to have to push like hell,” said the 2008 champion.

Wolff indicated in response that Rosberg could not expect to get off lightly, “If Lewis has said that it’s going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there’s going to be no consequence, then he’s not aware of what consequences we can implement.”

“Today we’ve seen the limits of the slap on the wrist. Maybe the slap on the wrist is not enough,” warned the Mercedes motorsport boss.

[MIKA27]

Alonso backs Sainz Jr for F1 seat

Fernando Alonso believes it won't be long before we see Carlos Sainz Jr on the Formula 1 grid.

The Red Bull Junior Team driver was widely expected to secure a seat with Toro Rosso next year, but STR have confirmed that 16-year-old Max Verstappen will partner Daniil Kvyat in 2015.

Sainz Jr has also held discussions with Caterham about securing a race-seat this season, but nothing has come of the talks so far.

Alonso, though, is confident it is only a matter of time before his Spanish compatriot "arrives" in F1.

"I was thinking and many people thought that he could be in Toro Rosso next year. But he will arrive in Formula One sooner or later," the double world champion said at Spa

"He has the talent, he has the mentality, the right approach and he's 19. Now it seems old, after the last news, but with 19 years and leading the (Renault) world series and winning all the Championships that he raced, he will arrive."

[MIKA27]

Lewis 'unsure how to approach next race'

Lewis Hamilton admits he is not sure what the future holds in terms of on-track action with Nico Rosberg following the drama at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The two Mercedes team-mates have been involved in several scuffles this campaign, but the tension between the pair went up another notch at Spa when Rosberg hit Hamilton from behind while trying to regain first place.

Following a post-race team meeting, Hamilton claimed Rosberg "said he did it on purpose, he said he could have avoided it" while the German insisted it was a racing incident.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has admitted Rosberg was at fault, but felt his comments about hitting his team-mate deliberately was misinterpreted.

Hamilton, though, says he is at loss to explain where they go from here.

"Well, when you're out there you have to trust the people to think with their heads and don't do things deliberately," he said.

"I don't really know how to approach the next race, but all I know is that I've got to push, I've got a long way to come back from it. What was great this weekend is the support that I've had from the fans; on the parade lap, when we went round, so many British flags were here, caps and team tops. I'm gutted that I wasn't able to get a result for them this weekend."

Mercedes have so far refused to use team orders and Hamilton admits he's not sure where to from here for all involved.

"I can't imagine what the team would do now. We came in to this weekend with a really positive mind thought," he said.

"I really was excited. We had eight races and we're close - there's only 11 points in it - and I thought it was going to be good for all of us.

"Good racing, I thought this was going to be a track that was going to be exciting.

"It's interesting because we had that meeting on Thursday and Nico expressed how angry he was [about Hungary]. I was thinking 'It's been three weeks and you've been lingering?!'

"He expressed how angry he was, and he literally sat there and said how angry he was at Toto and Paddy.

"But I thought we should be good after that, and then this result? It's interesting."

[Pedro2486]

Wolff: Nico’s move wasn’t ‘deliberate’

As the rhetoric ratchets up over the incident between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix, the team have expressed to the media (hat tip AUTOSPORT) over just what Rosberg said in the team meeting.

Lewis Hamilton exited the meeting and told the press that Rosberg “basically” said he did it on purpose and that the reporters go ask Toto Wolff, team boss, who would corroborate the sentiment. That’s not exactly the way Wolff recalls the conversation as he told reporters:

“Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point, and for Lewis, it was clearly not him who needed to be aware of Nico,” said Wolff. “[Rosberg] didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn’t leave him space.

“So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is nonsense.”

Refusing to back down from a scarp at the corner while racing is a bit different than deliberately crashing into someone. At least that’s how the team boss sees it.

According to the report, Wolff is still angry that the incident happened and suggested that Rosberg wasn’t prepared to take the exit in the corner so the incident could have been avoided but he did suggest that Nico’s point was that he wasn’t going to simply give in. Would Nico do it differently if time was turned back? Wolff says he most likely would.

AUTOSPORT also reported that the stewards at the race reviewed the incident and didn’t find anything deliberate in Nico’s actions. As for Nico, he feels the incident was simply a racing incident saying:

“I didn’t see any risk in overtaking, or trying to overtake, so why should I not try? The opportunity was there even without DRS because I was so much quicker, so I gave it a go. “Inside was not possible, so I tried around the outside. Should I have waited? That is very hypothetical. Who knows what happens afterwards? “The opportunity was there and, for me, it wasn’t a risky situation.”

So the team, having had their “heated” meeting between drivers are now suggesting that this was a racing incident just as the stewards saw it and not a deliberate attempt at taking Lewis Hamilton out of the race.

The booing by the crowd at the podium was pretty poor in my opinion.

This reads to me as Hamilton being a prissy little girl again

[Lotusguy]

Anyone else think that Ferrari got away much too lightly for the incident with the mechanics on track at the start? 5s stop-go is too little for such a dangerous maneuver, IMO.

Also, they should have brought out the safety car and cleared the debris from Hamilton's tire - it affected several drivers quite badly.

[Pedro2486]

Anyone else think that Ferrari got away much too lightly for the incident with the mechanics on track at the start? 5s stop-go is too little for such a dangerous maneuver, IMO.

Also, they should have brought out the safety car and cleared the debris from Hamilton's tire - it affected several drivers quite badly.

I missed the start but I agree. They broke a major rule and if something had gone wrong they'd have paid a dear price for it. Should've been a more severe penalty.

Yes they probably should've deployed the safety car. But I'm glad they didn't as Riccardo won

[Lotusguy]

I am also very pleased with who won

[MIKA27]

HORNER: WE NEVER REALISED JUST HOW GOOD DANIEL IS

For the benefit of those who might need reminding after reading sports pages, Daniel Ricciardo won the Belgian Grand Prix, a fact that was easy to overlook amid the headlines dominated by the turmoil at Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton accused championship-leading teammate Nico Rosberg of deliberately colliding with him.

But if the young Australian felt in any way aggrieved that his second win in a row, and third in the last six races for champions Red Bull, got less recognition than it deserved then he was not showing it.

His beaming grin was as broad as ever as he stood on the podium and it did not fade even when second-placed finisher Rosberg faced twice as many questions in the ensuing news conference, “To have three in 12 races I think has exceeded a few expectations. Let’s say the in-team battle has gone really well.”

“Obviously, I’ve showed speed throughout qualifying and also races now. I’ve demonstrated good racecraft and good consistency so I think let’s say the team has been really pleased and I’ve been pleased, so we’re in a good place.

Daniel Ricciardo celebrates Belgian Grand Prix victory with his Red Bull team

“I’m enjoying it more than ever. Each race that goes on I’m having more and more fun so yeah, just having a good time,” smiled the Australian.

Ricciardo has crept up on Mercedes by stealth after champions Red Bull started the season written off as no-hopers slowed by a long list of problems with the Renault power unit in testing.

Seen by some as little more than four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel’s No 2 after replacing compatriot Mark Webber, the Perth-born driver has clinically reversed the roles like a smiling assassin.

He is smooth, economical with the car and very quick.

The win in Belgium was Red Bull’s 50th in Formula One and Ricciardo added another mark on the milestone as the first Australian to win at Spa since the late Jack Brabham in 1960.

Before Sunday, despite his success in the previous race in Hungary, the odds on Ricciardo winning were still only 30-1 and even that was not particularly tempting.

“I wouldn’t have been brave enough to put a bet on us even with those odds,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “So quite an incredible performance by Daniel.

“It’s remarkable that Daniel’s won only one less race than Nico so far this season. In all honesty, we never thought he was going to be as strong as he has been. We knew he was fast, we knew he was a very good racing driver. But I don’t think any of us, probably not even Daniel, realised just how good,” added Horner.

Ricciardo is the only driver really taking the fight to Mercedes, the only one other than Rosberg and Hamilton to have won races this year and the only one resembling anything like a championship threat to them.

While still a definite long-shot, the Red Bull driver is now only 35 points behind Hamilton but 64 adrift of Rosberg with seven races remaining. With double points for the finale, that makes 200 still to be won.

“If I’m within 50 coming into Abu Dhabi then yeah, but there’s still a few races to go,” Ricciardo said when asked whether he considered himself in the title hunt. “While it’s still mathematically possible, yeah, we’ll keep fighting.

“To come and steal some points on a circuit where, let’s say, we weren’t supposed to is nice but I think what’s important, looking ahead, is to capitalise on the circuits that we should be strong on,” he added. “If we can take maximum points, let’s say, at a couple of those then it’s never over.”

Mercedes, who are still expected to wrap up both titles, have begun looking nervously in his direction after Sunday’s implosion.

Motorsports head Toto Wolff made that clear after the grand prix when, discussing the Mercedes policy of allowing the drivers to race each other, he told reporters: “We don’t want to end up in Abu Dhabi, with a season where we lost the championship, be it constructors’ or drivers’, because we’re too much race fans.”

Rosberg also acknowledged after qualifying, with Vettel third on the grid and Ricciardo fifth, that Red Bull were closing the gap.

“We’ve seen that Red Bull are a lot quicker here on the straights than they have been. So they have definitely made a step forward and we need to keep an eye on that,” he told reporters.

“It’s going to be a challenge against them. I still think we have the best car but something is a bit different, a bit new.”

A bit different, a bit new. That sounds very much like Daniel Ricciardo.

[MIKA27]

VETTEL DRIVES FIRST EVER FULL LAP OF RUSSIAN GP VENUE

http://youtu.be/88b7VqEeisc

Four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel today became the first F1™ driver to lap the newly completed Sochi Autodrom inKrasnodar Krai, Russia, ahead of this year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix. An onboard video of the full lap can be found by clicking here.

The Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver and Infiniti Director of Performance travelled straight to Sochi from Spa Francorchamps after finishing fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

After a tour of the venue’s facilities, he completed a number of high speed laps of the full Grand Prix circuit in an Infiniti Q50 Hybrid. Vettel was joined by former Formula One driver David Coulthard, driving the circuit with VIP guests and media.

Vettel is no stranger to Sochi having visited the venue with Infiniti in April 2013 when the circuit was still under construction. Since then, the complex has hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games ahead of the inaugural Russian Grand Prix due to take place on October 12 2014.

The Sochi Autodrom, designed by famed Formula One architect, Hermann Tilke, features 18 corners across 5.8 kilometres and will host round 16 of the 2014 World Championship.

Commenting on his driving experience in Russia, Sebastian Vettel said: “It is great to be back in Sochi and the venue has been transformed since I was last here when it was really just a construction site. Having driven the full circuit for the first time in the Infiniti Q50 today, it’s an interesting layout with a good mix of high speed corners and technical sections. It’s going to be a huge challenge in a Formula One car for sure and I’m really looking forward to coming back in October.”

MIKA: Typical Herman Tilke track, almost looks like Abu Dhabi IMO = Boring

[MIKA27]

VAN DER GARDE SET FOR 2015 SAUBER RACE SEAT

Sauber reserve driver Giedo van der Garde looks set to step up to the Swiss team’s race seat for the 2015 Formula 1 season.

The Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad, and the specialist Dutch source Formule 1, are citing ‘sources’ close to the Swiss team and van der Garde that report that negotiations between the Sauber reserve driver and team management have been successful.

“Sources report that van der Garde is assured of a race seat,” the newspaper claims. “Insiders say there is even a small chance that the 29-year-old will get his promotion this year.”

Reportedly, that is because Adrian Sutil is behind with his sponsor payments to Sauber, the struggling but pointless-in-2014 team that is “also dissatisfied” with the German driver.

Algemeen Dagblad continued: “The Swiss private team is in desperate need of money. The financial distress is to the point that some employees seem not to have been paid in months. It is an open secret that he [van der Garde] has some wealthy sponsors.”

Sutil, however, said at Spa last weekend that he has a contract with Sauber for next year, and “I am sure I will be in Formula 1 in 2015″.

Van der Garde’s management is not commenting publicly at present. But his manager Jan-Paul ten Hoopen, who is also an executive of van der Garde’s main backer McGregor, said in Hungary: “We would like to continue with Sauber. We are doing everything to ensure that Giedo can drive.”

Meanwhile, after Andre Lotterer’s surprise Belgian GP debut, it seems likely that neither the reigning Le Mans winner or Kamui Kobayashi will be in the Caterham next weekend at Monza.

“As a driver,” Japanese Kobayashi told Speed Week, “I do not understand or accept the decision. But I do have some understanding of the situation of the team.”

Caterham said Kobayashi remains part of the team for now, but Kobayashi commented: “We are talking, but there is still nothing certain yet. The decisions are not in my hands.”

Specialist Spanish reports claim the two leading candidates to drive Kobayashi’s car at Monza are the Red Bull-backed Carlos Sainz jr, who is tipped for Red Bull and Caterham talks this week, and fellow Spaniard Roberto Merhi.

[MIKA27]

MARK WEBBER: VETTEL WAS MAKING MANY MISTAKES

Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber’s honest straight talk has been missed from the Formula 1 paddock in 2014, and says Sebastian Vettel has been making many mistakes this season which have cost him.

Amid the typical PR-speak, the Australian – having left Red Bull and the paddock for semi-retirement and Le Mans – was always relied upon for a blunt assessment.

On his former teammate Sebastian Vettel’s troubled 2014 season, for instance, Webber told Austrian broadcaster Servus TV this week: “Vettel is having problems with the new rules. He has improved, but from the first race you could see he was making many mistakes.”

But Vettel himself, whilst not denying he made mistakes, thinks bad reliability has been the headline of his struggle in 2014.

At Spa, he even said it is “unfair” to directly compare him with Daniel Ricciardo this year, because the Australian has had a clear run with the sister RB10.

Now, Vettel tells German television RTL: “People see the raw result and have their opinion. But they don’t always see what is really going on. We have had so many technical problems; burned up so many engines and wasted many components.”

“Daniel has performed very strongly, there is no question,” said the four-time world champion. “But I think the races he won, we would have also been able to win if things had gone a bit differently.”

For that reason, he said he is not beginning to question his own talent, “It’s not as if you forget how to drive over a winter and suddenly start doing everything wrong instead of everything right.”

“The hunger is still there and I think we have a good chance to fight for the world championship if we position ourselves better,” added Vettel.

[MIKA27]

SILLY SEASON UPDATE: HONDA WANT VETTEL AND NEWEY

Gian Carlo Minardi, a former Formula 1 team owner and boss, thinks Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey might be convinced to switch to McLaren.

At the very least, the British team and its new works partner Honda are undoubtedly on the lookout for a top driver to spearhead the 2015 project. Even boss Eric Boullier admits the protracted deliberations are unusual for McLaren.

“We are working on the strategy for the driver lineup for the next years,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “For me it’s important to say ‘years’ because we are looking for three years and maybe five years.”

Boullier admitted the delay is “uncomfortable” for both Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button. The five-year plan might make Button, the 2009 world champion, particularly nervous, as he will be 35 when the 2015 season begins.

Seven time world champion and Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher first retired at the age of 37, and when he returned at 41 most insiders reckoned his best days were past him.

The wilder speculation suggests McLaren could be holding out for a disgruntled former champion like Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel.

Romain Grosjean and Valtteri Bottas have also been linked with the Woking based team, although Speed Week thinks Williams‘ Finn has essentially already signed on to stay with Williams in 2015.

“It’s an unusual situation, yes,” Button acknowledged, “but sometimes it’s that way.”

Minardi’s theory, based on a Japanese source, is that Honda is pushing hard to bring not only Vettel to McLaren, but also his similarly-disgruntled Red Bull designer Adrian Newey.

On his website, Minardi claimed Bernie Ecclestone and Vettel met to discuss the possibility in Belgium, as the Formula 1 supremo is close to the German and always keen to spread the best drivers across the top teams.

In Russia this week to drive the new Sochi layout in a road car, Vettel was asked if Newey’s plans to step back at Red Bull affect his own plans for the future.

“No, I don’t think so,” the quadruple world champion answered, according to Speed Week. “Adrian is a very ambitious man, and even if he says he wants to take things a little quieter”

“I believe – in a situation like now with Red Bull Racing – if we go back to the top, then his motivation will be restored. The enthusiasm for racing is simply in his nature — and he cannot bear to lose!”

[MIKA27]

Jordan: Merc bosses are rudderless

BBC F1 analyst Eddie Jordan believes Mercedes' team bosses are to blame for the in-fighting between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

The two Mercedes drivers' relationship hit another low in Belgium over the weekend when Rosberg crashed into his Hamilton, ultimately ending his team-mate's race.

Hamilton later declared that the German deliberately crashed into him "to make a point", but Rosberg has denied it.

Mercedes team bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda were both left furious by the incident, describing it as unacceptable, but Jordan believes the duo along with Paddy Lowe are at fault.

"I blame the team," he told TalkSPORT's Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.

"They say they let the drivers race but they don't because at Hungary, the previous race, Rosberg was told he could pass Hamilton, Hamilton was told to let him go and he didn't let him go. How can you say you don't have team orders but you actually do? It's a nonsense.

"I remember when Ross Brawn, who has won seven World Championships at least in his days at Benetton and at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher, said to Rosberg in Malaysia last year 'no, you cannot pass Lewis'.

"If Ross Brawn was there in that team it would be a different show. They would have finished first and second [at the Belgian Grand Prix].

"It's weak. The guys there are really good guys, but they don't have the experience and they don't have Ross Brawn and, at the moment, they are rudderless.

"They are being run by two drivers who are like spoilt kids and are doing what they want to do."

[MIKA27]

Stuff & Things in Formula 1:

There is a mix-and-match lot of news kicking around today with nothing really unexpected, nor very interesting. The idea of a Grand Prix in Greece has been kicking around for the best part of 15 years and has never got beyond the chattering stage. The whole thing is daft when you look at it in relation to the economics of the country. The big news about Greece in the real world is that the country’s economy is now shrinking at its slowest rate in nearly six years, according to the latest official figures. One can read this to be an improvement from an economy in free-fall but the economy is still in deficit and no sensible politician is going to provide funding for a Grand Prix until other things are sorted. Since the crisis of 2008 the Greek economy has shrunk by around 25 percent, largely because of drastic spending cuts and tax hikes required by the country’s creditors. Grands Prix are luxury items and they don’t get purchased when there is no money available.

Elsewhere, Martin Whitmarsh and McLaren have finally agreed on a settlement nine months after their relationship ended. The problem was not financial but rather with regard to what Whitmarsh could or could not do in terms of future employment. It was harsh business clearly designed to keep Martin off the job market but the passage of time has dulled the bloody-minded approach in Woking. It is doubtful it has dulled Martin’s abilities. Having plenty of holiday has probably made him a stronger overall package. Martin’s knowledge of the sport and his experience make him a man of great value for a team owner with the foresight to pick him, although the unstitching of McLaren’s “matrix management” that is currently going on is a sign that such approaches may work in other industries, but they definitely don’t work in F1.

The only other point of note is the FIA saying it will not get involved in the Rosberg-Hamilton business . This is to be expected with the FIA at the moment, which seems to be frightened of its own shadow in F1 terms. There is a clear difference between “flying under the radar” and doing nothing at all. In my view it is absolutely wrong for a regulator to not even investigate the matter. To try to argue that ”a comment alleged to have been made in an internal briefing and later denied by the team itself” does not warrant an investigation is to my mind an abdication of the governing body’s responsibilities to ensure fair play in the sport. Lewis Hamilton’s World Championship ambitions were materially affected by a move by his primary rival that was later claimed to have been deliberate. To do nothing simply underlines that the FIA is failing to do its job properly. The fact that race officials did not investigate the incident at the time was bad enough, and incomprehensible to many observers at Spa. One can only assume that the FIA is now trying to hide behind this blather because it would be embarrassing to put a spotlight on the initial failure.

This is typical of the murine attitudes of the current leadership and the failure of the people around the leadership to weigh in and point out the damage being done.

I am led to the sad conclusion that I care more about the institution that they represent than they do…

[MIKA27]

Ferrari want engine freeze removed

If you’re Mercedes, then you’ve got to be happy with the way your engine (Power Unit) is performing in 2014. You read the regulations, just as Ferrari and Renault did, and you’ve beaten your competition in the race to build a faster power unit.

If you are Ferrari, building engines is something you pride yourself on. You’ve always been a company known for making some of the world’s best engines yet this year, the design for your Formula 1 car has fallen short and with the engine freeze in place, overcoming those shortfalls is nearly impossible.

The danger F1 has is the engine freeze in that is has now locked the teams into current power unit configuration over the life of the current regulations. There is a post-season engine performance period but it is still too restrictive according to Ferrari’s team boss Marco Mattiacci.

Teams can make subtle changes to software mapping and such but changing mechanical components requires a special request that has to be approved by the other teams. Mattiacci says Ferrari would like the engine restriction loosened a bit telling AUTOSPORT:

“Yes, in a certain way not as rigid as it is today. “I would like to see a couple of opportunities [allowed] a year to work on the engine. “The DNA of Formula 1 is innovating and catching up with the best and fastest one. “That’s what we keep, as Ferrari, insisting, and one of the areas [where this can be done] is engine freezing.”

The key is changing the engine during the season in order to make grounds on their rivals. You could be firm in your stance and suggest that they had the chance to build an engine and they missed the mark so deal with it. You could also see this as condemning F1 to a Mercedes championship domination for the next four years as the also-rans putter around in the back.

It is a fine balance on allowing teams to tweak and adjust their power units in order to catch their rivals for the sake of good racing and to be honest, I think the FIA and F1 may have to do something should Ferrari and Renault be off the mark in the beginning of the 2015 season.

The issue of incremental improvements is that Mercedes will make incremental improvement too so what we could have is a performance advantage that is baked into the regulations and will not change until the complete engine regulations change again like they did in 2014.

On the flip side of that argument is that Mercedes have done a better job of it and is it fair to hold them back while allowing Renault and Ferrari and even, perhaps, Honda in 2015 unfettered effort at improving their power unit in order to reach and possibly beat Mercedes on track?

These are the balancing issues of running a racing series that tries hard not to be a spec series. Where do you draw the line? Are you fine with Mercedes domination for the next four years due to the engine freeze? There is every possibility that the engine improvement allowed at the end of this season could see Renault and Ferrari make significant gains but Mercedes may as well so it could all be a moot point.

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Mercedes' new slimmer front-wing

Mercedes debuted a new front-wing at the Belgian Grand Prix with far smaller proportions than its predecessor used before the summer break.

The shorter nose - so short it would fall foul of the 2015 regulations - is also slimmer as it extends back to the chassis to increase airflow to the floor.

As you can see in the top image (Belgium), compared with that of below (Hungary), a large portion of the side has been removed to allow air to pass under the nose with less resistance. This not only increases the volume of airflow reaching the diffuser and thus improving the overall downforce of the W05, but it is reportedly lighter than the one before it, adding to an overall weight saving of around 8kg since the start of the season through bodywork modifications alone, giving an average three-tenth per lap saving. The new nose had to undergo yet another crash test over the summer break because it is so radically different in construction.

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RON DENNIS: MCLAREN ALWAYS LOOK TO EMPLOY THE BEST DRIVERS

McLaren supremo Ron Dennis has done little to end Silly Season speculation that McLaren are hunting for a superstar driver to spearhead their new era with Honda as an engine supplier but at the same time, in a typical case of Ron-speak, he covered his bases by declaring that he is very happy with both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

In a wide ranging interview with the official Formula 1 website, Dennis said of the driver situation in his team, “We’ll always look to employ the best drivers available. But they have to be available, don’t they? Having said that, for the avoidance of doubt, Jenson and Kevin represent an excellent blend of capable experience and youthful promise, and we’re very happy with both of them.”

“The fact that we’re keeping an eye on what a few other drivers are up to in no way contradicts that, because, as I say, if opportunities arise, we’ll appraise them. We always have and we always will,” added Dennis.

Media reports over the past months have linked Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to the Woking based team for 2015, but Dennis reiterated, “I’m satisfied with both Jenson and Kevin. They’re both capable of winning Grands Prix in a competitive car. Jenson has proved that 15 times in his long Formula One career, and Kevin has already demonstrated abundant pace in his so-far-short Formula 1 career. But clearly we’re not giving them a competitive car at the moment.”

“Nonetheless, despite that, I want them to give their best and, at the same time, be responsible enough to appreciate that McLaren will always make efforts to hire the best drivers available. If such opportunities arise, we’ll appraise them; we always have and we always will. All great Formula 1 teams are the same in that regard, but we’re not in a position to do that at the moment,” explained Dennis somewhat cryptically.

Meanwhile the McLaren boss is adamant that the changes made this year at Woking, in the aftermath of Martin Whitmarsh’s departure, will in the long term return the team to the top step of the podium, from where they have been absent since Jenson Button’s last victory at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

“Turning a decent Formula One team into a winning Formula One team always takes time,” conceded Dennis. “There are a few more core issues that I still want to address, and there are a few more talented individuals whom I still want to attract.’

“That process usually carries with it the necessity to deal with notice periods, which normally manifest themselves in gardening leave, but, as you gradually assemble your team, what you’re doing is carefully putting together a complex jigsaw puzzle.”

With regards to closing the gap to the rampant Mercedes team who have dominated the season thus far, Dennis predicted, “As early as next year, as all the engine manufacturers improve their engine performance, things will begin to close up a little, and the racing will become closer.”

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VETTEL TO GET ANOTHER NEW CHASSIS FOR MONZA

Reigning F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to drive his third new chassis of the 2014 season, after suffering more baffling handling problems in Belgium last weekend.

As the extent of the reigning quadruple world champion’s issues this year became clear, Red Bull had already given Vettel a new chassis for May’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Now it was at Spa-Francorchamps, a race the 27-year-old won a year ago, that Vettel notably struggled for pace alongside his on-form teammate and 2014 Belgian GP winner Daniel Ricciardo.

“I can’t explain why my car could not compete with Daniel’s at this race,” Vettel, referring to Spa, is quoted by Sport Bild. “But there must be something. Both cars are identical and so they should have the same performance.”

Team official Helmut Marko agrees, “It is not normal for Sebastian to lose so much time to Daniel. I can understand how frustrated he is, especially as his teammate won. We will build a new chassis for him as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, Red Bull has confirmed reports Vettel’s long-time race engineer Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin has been promoted to chief engineer for 2015, as Adrian Newey takes a step back.

Vettel’s new race engineer will be Gianpiero Lambiase, who is currently working with Sergio Perez at Force India.

“Seb has had a long chat with him (Lambiase) and they hit it off immediately,” Marko said.

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LOTUS IN THREE RACE DEAL WITH HISENSE

Press Release: Multi-national electronics manufacturer Hisense will join Lotus F1 Team for the forthcoming Italian and United States Grands Prix with the Hisense logo showing on the prominent sidepod placement of the team’s E22 as well as on the air box for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The branding is part of a global promotion by the world-leading provider of flat panel TVs, household appliances and mobile communications.

Headquartered in Qingdao, China, Hisense joins the team’s portfolio of partners for three of the most popular races of the year, with the Italian Grand Prix taking place at Monza on 5-7 September, the United States Grand Prix at Austin, Texas on October 31-November 2 and the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina on November 21-23.

Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO: “We are thrilled that Hisense has chosen Lotus F1 Team to enhance and strengthen its continued global development. Headquartered in China, Hisense has shown impressive development and worldwide expansion as a challenger brand, something which Lotus F1 Team can relate to closely as we continue to challenge on the track. Hisense has shown it recognises the value of sports marketing on several occasions and to have Lotus F1 Team identified as a key association as part of Hisense’s growth is a substantial compliment.”

Dr. Lin Lan, Hisense Vice President: “Joining with Lotus F1 Team at the Italian, United States and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix is a very exciting prospect. As we grow our brand awareness globally, we aim to use proven partnerships that we know will deliver. Formula 1, and in particular Lotus F1 Team, has huge potential and we are looking forward to working together over the coming months.”

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PROST EXPECTS RENAULT TO BOUNCE BACK IN 2015

Alain Prost is confident Renault can bounce back in 2015, despite the fact that since the new V6 turbo engine rules took effect this season, Mercedes has utterly dominated its turbo V6 rivals Renault and Ferrari.

The latter Italian outfit, however, is calling on the FIA to relax the so-called ‘engine freeze’ regulations, whereby substantial elements of the power unit are not able to be changed except for cost, reliability or safety reasons.

But Renault ambassador, Formula 1 legend and quadruple world champion Prost tips the French brand to make big progress for 2015 within the existing rules.

“When I talk to the people from Renault Sport, they say they have the opportunity to make changes to the power unit and that everything will be fine,” he told the Russian website Formula 1news.ru.

Indeed, engine homologation of the power unit is in fact being phased in, with a system of ‘tokens’ meaning that Renault and Ferrari could, in theory, enter the 2015 season with an engine altered by a factor of 48 per cent.

“Of course,” Prost said, “the restriction (in the rules) should not be too strict, because otherwise those who did everything correctly from the beginning will just win forever.

“This is not what we need,” the Frenchman added. “It does seem possible to improve the engines well enough, but let’s see how the situation develops.”

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MIKA SALO SAYS EARLY DEBUT FOR VERSTAPPEN IS BAD FOR F1

Former Formula 1 driver Mika Salo has added his voice to concerns about the 2015 grand prix race debut of teenager Max Verstappen with Toro Rosso.

Finn Salo, who raced in Formula 1 against the 16-year-old’s father Jos, echoed 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve who has questioned whether Verstappen’s signing by Toro Rosso is good for Formula 1.

“I think it’s really bad for Formula 1,” Salo told MTV3. “In my opinion, a guy that young should not be allowed to drive in Formula 1. It should be the very top category of racing for which drivers train for years. Formula 1 is not a junior series.”

Salo, who raced for Sauber and Toyota and even Ferrari, also said Verstappen risks being thrown into the deep end and having a promising career ruined early.

“What happens when it doesn’t work out after two years? An unemployed Formula 1 driver at the age of 19,” he said.

The freshly Formula 1-retired Mark Webber also weighed into the debate, laughing to Austrian Servus TV that Verstappen’s 2015 debut rules out any hopes of a return to the category for himself.

“I had a wonderful career, but when I see that a 17-year-old is coming into Formula 1, I think it’s not hard to see that it’s over when you’re 38!”

Red Bull, however, is strenuously defending its decision to sign Formula 1′s youngest ever rookie, with Helmut Marko arguing that while other teams “talk about young talents, we make it a reality”.

“I bet 100 euros that in his first race Verstappen will be able to compete with (Daniil) Kvyat,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.