FORMULA 1 - 2014

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MARCHIONNE: FERRARI MUST WIN IN F1 AND THIS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE

Tensions between Ferrari and Fiat big wigs Luca di Montezemolo and Sergio Marchionne came to a head during the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza and triggered a dramatic upheaval at Maranello, as losing in Formula 1 is becoming increasingly intolerable for the sport’s most famous team.

Reuters reports that Marchionne (Fiat CEO) revealed that he and Montezemolo (Ferrari chairman) had discussed the future of Ferrari at length and that “our mutual desire to see Ferrari achieve its true potential on the [Formula 1] track has led to misunderstandings, which became clearly visible over the last weekend.”

Marchionne said that the recent disappointing performance of Ferrari’s Formula 1 racing team was unacceptable and that it was “absolutely non-negotiable” that Ferrari should win Formula 1 races.

Under Montezemolo’s more than two decade-long tenure, Ferrari has graced the top of the Formula One grid, increased revenues tenfold and tripled sales volumes as the Italian family business grew into one of the world’s most powerful brands.

Marchionne will become Ferrari chairman, and continue to serve as the chief executive of parent group Fiat.

Marchionne currently holds several roles of major importance, including serving as CEO of Fiat S.p.A., Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Group LLC, and Chairman of CNH Industrial N.V. and its principal subsidiary CNH. He was elected Chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association for 2012.

He is also the Chairman of Swiss-based SGS and is on the Board of Directors of cigarette and tobacco producer Philip Morris International, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the global banking group UBS for a number of years up to 2010, appointed Vice Chairman (non-executive) in February 2008.

Fernando Alonso retires from the Italian GP

He is a member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics as well as Chairman of the Italian Branch of the Council for the United States and Italy.

Marchionne is widely credited for turning around Fiat Group to become one of the fastest growing companies in the motor industry, returning it to profitability in 2006 less than two years after taking the helm.

In 2009, he was instrumental in Fiat Group forming a strategic alliance with the ailing US automaker Chrysler, with the support of the US and Canadian governments and trade unions.

Under Marchionne’s leadership, Fiat and Chrysler have come together to create a leading global player in the automobile sector, leveraging the product portfolios, purchasing power and distribution capabilities of both partners.

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MONTEZEMOLO: I HAVE DECIDED TO LEAVE MY POSITION

Luca di Montezemolo has ended the intense speculation about his future by announcing his departure as Ferrari’s long-time president.

In a media statement on Wednesday, the 67-year-old said it is the “end of an era” for Ferrari ahead of the floatation of the Fiat-Chrysler group in New York.

Montezemolo said: “This is the end of an era and so I have decided to leave my position as Chairman after almost 23 marvellous and unforgettable years in addition to those spent at Enzo Ferrari’s side in the 1970s,” said di Montezemolo.

“My thanks, first and foremost, to the exceptional Ferrari women and men from the factory, the offices, the race tracks and the markets across the world. They were the real architects of the company’s spectacular growth, its many unforgettable victories and its transformation into one of the world’s strongest brands.

“A warm farewell and my thanks also to all of our technical and commercial partners, our dealers across the globe and, most particularly, the clients and collectors whose passion I so wholeheartedly share.

“But my thoughts go also to our fans who have always supported us with great enthusiasm especially through the Scuderia’s most difficult moments. Ferrari is the most wonderful company in the world. It has been a great privilege and honour to have been its leader. I devoted all of my enthusiasm and commitment to it over the years. Together with my family, it was, and continues to be, the most important thing in my life.

“I wish the shareholders, particularly Piero Ferrari who has always been by my side, and everyone in the Company the many more years of success that Ferrari deserves.”

Montezemolo’s motor sport career began at the wheel of a Giannini Fiat 500 which he raced together with his friend Cristiano Rattazzi. Later, Montezemolo briefly drove for the famous privately owned Lancia rally team known as HF Squadra Corse.

Luca Di Montezemolo with Niki Lauda in 1975

He joined the auto manufacturing conglomerate FIAT S.p.A., headquartered in Torino, Italy, and in 1973 was moved to Ferrari, where he became Enzo Ferrari’s assistant and, in 1974, manager of the Scuderia. During his involvement with the team, Ferrari won the Formula One World Championship with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977.

In 1976 Montezemolo was promoted to become head of all FIAT racing activities, and in 1977 he advanced to become a senior manager of FIAT.

In November 1991, FIAT Chairman Gianni Agnelli appointed Montezemolo president of Ferrari, which had been struggling since Enzo Ferrari’s death. Montezemolo made it his personal goal to win the Formula 1 World Constructors’ Championship.

He was instrumental in luring the key players of the Michael Schumacher era to Maranello, which resulted in the team’s most successful spell in Formula 1.

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MONTOYA: SCHUMACHER HATED ME

Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003

Juan Pablo Montoya claims that Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher hated him and as a result was an obstacle in any potential move to Ferrari a decade ago.

The Colombian, now 38 and having switched to Indycars at the end of a long stint in Nascar, was back in the Formula 1 paddock last weekend at Monza.

It was a rare visit to a Grand Prix for Montoya, but he said he has nothing against the sport he left suddenly in 2006, and he told Autosprint, “I have seen so many friends here. It’s not like when I had to work.”

He was also asked about reports that, when his Formula 1 career transitioned from Williams to McLaren in the middle of last decade, he also considered a switch to Ferrari in 2003.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gene at Monza

“It was never possible,” Montoya explained. “Michael Schumacher was there and he hated me. But I’m really sorry about how he is now – I just hope he continues to recover.”

Montoya said he doesn’t have a strong opinion about today’s Formula 1 compared to the V10 monsters he drove to 7 Grand Prix wins between 2001 and 2006.

“They still seem difficult to drive, challenging,” he said. “They’re slower, but that’s because of the tyres.”

Montoya made his F1 debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and since then started 94 grands prix, finishing 30 times on the podium of which seven times he celebrated on the top step, his last Formula 1 race was at the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

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FERRARI AND MCLAREN FACE TOUGH ROAD BACK TO THE TOP

McLaren and Ferrari have history: here Emerson Fittipaldi leads Niki Lauda during the 1974 Belgian GP

Ferrari and McLaren, historically Formula 1’s two most successful and famous teams, have had little to cheer about on the track of late and it could be some time before things get much better for the two legendary marques.

If there is less evident concern at Woking than in Maranello, that is because McLaren feel they now have the main pieces of the puzzle in place whereas Ferrari have plenty of uncertainty ahead of them.

“Watch this space,” McLaren Group head Ron Dennis, the former principal who regained control of the team from the ousted Martin Whitmarsh in January, said at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

“All of the people who were joining or were going to join McLaren are now integrated…and we are now a much more dynamic and focused organisation.

“Don’t expect it [success] today, maybe not even during the course of this year but I can absolutely and categorically assure you we are back,” Dennis told reporters.

McLaren, winners of eight constructors’ championships and 12 drivers’ titles, are second only to Ferrari in the number of grands prix won over the decades – 182 for the British team compared to 221 for the Italians.

The last time Ferrari won the world title was in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari, the sport’s most glamorous and oldest competitors, have won 16 constructors’ titles and 15 drivers’ – many of them coming during the ‘dream team’ era of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher.

But neither team has won a championship since 2008 when Ferrari were the winning constructor and Lewis Hamilton took the drivers’ title for McLaren.

Wins have also grown scarce. Ferrari have not enjoyed a grand prix triumph since May last year and no McLaren driver has stood on top of the podium since 2012.

Both are successful sportscar makers, with Ferrari reporting record revenues in 2013 and McLaren Group this month announcing an 18.8 million pound ($30.30 million) pre-tax profit from increased revenues of 268 million ($431.99 million).

But success on the racetrack is fundamental and, after four years of Red Bull domination, it is Mercedes who have won 10 of the 13 races so far this year and are on course to win both championships.

The last time McLaren won the world title was in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton

McLaren hope 2015, and the start of a new partnership with Honda, will restore their fortunes. The Japanese manufacturer powered them to multiple titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s turbo era with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Honda have already said they expect to win races next year and the mood at the team is improving.

“The last couple of races have been good in terms of atmosphere in the team, not just with Ron and the drivers but the rest of the management and the way the team is going,” said Jenson Button, who hopes to drive on next year.

“There is more direction in terms of understanding and who is in charge, it gives everyone in the team a little more confidence in the future.”

Ferrari, whose engine has been outperformed by Mercedes, must hope the rules will be relaxed to allow them to close the performance gap but it will still take time and meanwhile rivals are working just as hard.

They too have made changes in personnel and procedures but Monza showed how far they have to go, with Fernando Alonso suffering his first mechanical retirement in 86 races and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen finishing ninth.

Fernando Alonso retires from the 2014 Italian GP

It was the first time since 2008 without a Ferrari driver for the tifosi to cheer on the home podium.

Ferrari also sank to fourth overall behind resurgent former champions Williams, whose years in the doldrums serve as a potent warning of the fate that can befall even the most dominant teams. McLaren are currently fifth.

Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo, one of Formula One’s leading powerbrokers over the years, paid a brief visit to Monza on the Saturday and there were many watching the media circus around him who saw it also as a farewell.

Two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday that the 67-year-old was likely to step down by the end of the year, if not sooner, due to clashes over strategy with Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of parent group Fiat.

That would be a big break with the past, with Montezemolo appointed president in 1991 after a previous stint in the 1970s as team manager under late founder Enzo.

Much was made of Marchionne saying on Sunday that “no one is indispensable”, the Fiat boss also declaring Ferrari’s form ‘unacceptable’ and adding it was “absolutely non-negotiable” that they should be winning races.

That has always been the case, with Ferrari enjoying a special status in Formula One that gives them a bigger share of the revenues and more say in the way the championship is run.

Ferrari dream team of 2001: Jean Todt, Luca di Montezemolo, Ross Brawn and Paolo Martinelli

Ferrari changed their team principal in April when Stefano Domenicali – who was close to Montezemolo – was replaced with the little known Marco Mattiacci.

The former president of Ferrari’s North American operations was tasked with turning the team around and set about it vigorously, with engine head Luca Marmorini leaving soon after.

How long Mattiacci himself stays remains an open question, however, with talk of the possible return of former technical head Ross Brawn – should the 59-year-old Briton be up for exchanging a quiet life for one in a pressure cooker.

“Ross Brawn is an iconic figure at Maranello,” Mattiacci told CNN television before Monza. “Everyone would like to have Ross or would like to see Ross back at Ferrari.

“At the moment I am the number one on the team,” he added.

“We are building a very strong team with a medium, long-term plan. My role is to shorten as much as I can this plan to make it effective as soon as possible. We are building the foundation for a very successful story.”

Formula One needs a strong Ferrari. But, as with McLaren, how soon that comes remains to be seen.

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KOBAYASHI MAY RETAIN CATERHAM SEAT FOR SINGAPORE

Kamui Kobayashi could return to the wheel of his Caterham next weekend in Singapore although this has yet to be confirmed, as his tenure with the team appears to now be on a race-by-race basis.

At Monza, while the Japanese was drafted back in for the Italian Grand Prix, it was obvious that Caterham chiefs were looking ahead for a Singapore debut for Spaniard Roberto Merhi.

Merhi was not granted a full Formula 1 super license for Monza, so instead he drove Kobayashi’s car in Friday practice but fell well short of the FIA’s required 300kms.

After the Monza race, where he performed strongly, Kobayashi told Japanese media that he intends to prepare as normal for Singapore.

Indeed, he said he would fly to the Asian city-state next Wednesday and await Caterham’s decision – just as he did when he was first stepped down at Spa. Other reports from Japan suggest Andrea Caldarelli could be a candidate to race for Caterham at Suzuka.

The 24-year-old Italian was in the news recently when he was called up to race in the premier Japanese open-wheel series Super Formula when Andre Lotterer got his Caterham opportunity at Spa.

It is reported Caldarelli, who has tested Formula 1 cars for Toyota and Ferrari, has the backing of Caterham’s newly installed boss Manfredi Ravetto and strong ties within Japan.

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Boullier denies eight-team, three-car claims

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has dismissed claims by Adam Parr that "this is the last year of F1 as we know it".

Former Williams CEO raised a few eyebrows on Sunday when he tweeted that Formula 1 are in for major changes next year with the grid being cut from 11 teams to eight while teams will also be able to run three cars.

Although he admits that a few teams could disappear from the grid ahead of the 2015 campaign, Boullier denied speculation of three cars per team.

"I think he's being a bit provocative," he said during a McLaren-Mercedes phone-in. "We all know anyway that Formula 1 is going through a transition time; with the car manufacturers in the last decade, budgets have literally gone through the roof and now we are in a different economic situation and there is some transition. So there is potentially a couple of teams which may suffer [because] of this and I don't know if they will still be on the grid.

"But I don't think we'll go to eight teams and three cars per team next year and definitely not in such a short-term notice. I think everybody is aware of this and I think F1 is aware of that as well."

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Hamilton ready to build on Monza win

Lewis Hamilton has vowed to put his head down and carry on with the job following victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

Having slipped to 29 points behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Drivers' Championship, Hamilton started to chip away at the lead as he beat the German to victory at Monza to end his mini slump of three races without a win.

"I'd like to think this win is a platform, but I have no idea what's going to happen forwards from here," Hamilton is quoted as saying by Press Association Sport.

"Over the weekend I had quite a few problems, missed almost a whole session in P2, then in qualifying in Q2 the car wouldn't start again, but fortunately it did.

"As for the start sequence (at the beginning of the race), it could have been a lot worse. That was the best it could ever be considering I didn't have the launch."

Hamilton hasn't had a straightforward 2014 campaign, suffering three retirements while he has also had a number of issues during qualifying.

"These problems just keep popping up. Paddy (Lowe, executive technical director) said 'It's just so unlucky, with all the engines it just keeps happening to yours', "he added.

"Hopefully we'll rectify them. Right now, I'm just looking forward, head down, and I see no reason why I can't be as fast moving forwards."

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Sirotkin handed Sochi FP1 outing

As expected, Sergey Sirotkin will get his first taste of official Formula 1 action at his home race in Russia next month.

Sauber have confirmed that the 19-year-old will take part in the first practice session at the inaugural Russian GP at the at Sochi Autodrom on the weekend of October 10-12.

The teenager joined the Hinwil squad last year as part of a major sponsorship deal with Russian investors and has earmarked a race seat on the 2015 F1 grid.

He is currently competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Fortec Motorsports, winning one race so far to find himself fifth in the standings with only three rounds left.

"In the World Series by Renault, Sergey had a difficult start to the season with many technical problems, but in the meantime he was able to recover and to win the race in Moscow," Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said.

"We decided that this is the right time to give Sergey this chance."

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The Formula 1 driver market

In recent months the F1 driver market has appeared to be dominated, or rather held back by, Fernando Alonso and his decision to either leave Ferrari or stay there. This is the normal way of things in the F1 jungle. Fernando is, to quote The Sherman Brothers, “king of the swingers, the jungle VIP”. He’s reached the top and he’s had to stop at Ferrari and he is now wondering where to go, given that the team has performed few miracles in five years and time waits for no man. Fernando’s career is slipping away, day by day, week by week. The signs of progress in the red corner are not exactly tangible. There is a plan to put in place the structure to allow Ferrari to win again, but it’s a three- to five-year project and probably needs a younger man to drive it forwards. So, if you are Ferrari and you are faced with the best driver in F1 not wanting to be part of the team, your best course of action today would be to look for a proven winner who is much younger than Fernando. Until you get him, you are going to hold on to Alonso as the fallback plan, a bizarre thought given FA’s ability.

So it seems that the dominos will not start falling until this replacement decides what to do and extracts himself from his commitments.

Money solves all problems in F1 (which is how Lotus will soon announce a Mercedes engine deal) and so we must wait to see if Ferrari’s Alonso replacement is willing to fight his way out of his current contract. The question you are all asking is who? The answer is Sebastian Vettel. He’s a four-time World Champion at the age of 27. He’s six years younger than Alonso and even if he’s having a poor year, he’s still a class act. Some say that his star is waning because of Dan Ricciardo, while others talk of Sebastian being tired, not liking his car and needing a change. On a different level, he also knows that as long as he stays at Red Bull there will always be accusations that the car was the star, so he needs to move on and show he can do it in more than one team, à la Fernando, à la the all-time greats.

The current Red Bull has not been a winner with him at the wheel and has not apparently been given a nickname (like Sweaty Betty) as his previous cars were. There is no affection, I guess.

The Red Bull folk will tell you that he’s under contract until… Blah, blah, blah. We all know that contracts are negotiable in the F1 world unless there is a necessary reason for it not to happen, so we need not waste time with this. The question is what does he want? If the answer is a new challenge then Red Horse rather than Red Bull is the logical choice. It is certainly a challenge and the team is the most famous chapter in the F1 jungle book. Every driver wants to be in the red. It’s what great drivers do… Red Bull may not want that to happen because they know his value, but at the same time when a driver reaches a certain level, it is he who is reported upon, not the car he drives. Red Bull is not in F1 to sell Sebastian Vettels, it is there to sell fizzy pop and there are some who would argue that the gawky Ruski Daniil Kvyat would be a better marketing bet than the reclusive Vettel, and the perfect new partner for Toothy Dan from Australia.

I think it is clear to say that Fernando does not have a get-out clause at Ferrari, as is widely believed, and they will hold on to him if they need to, but if they get Vettel, then they can let Alonso hop off to his new challenge down Woking way, a move that would set the markets moving. It may be that Vettel decides not to move, and that Alonso too will stay where he is, in which case McLaren will probably be unchanged, leaving the likes of Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg with no place to go. So the line-up at the front of F1 in 2015 will be very similar to this year – and the sort out will come in 12 months from now.

We will see.

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A Sauber sale?

Sauber has been sold quite a few times. The first time was back in 1995 when Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz purchased a majority shareholding in the team, although Peter Sauber retained the voting rights and so remained in control. In 2001 the two parties fell out over drivers (Mateschitz wanted Enrique Bernoldi and Sauber wanted Kimi Raikkonen) and the shares were passed on to Credit Suisse. At the end of 2005 BMW acquired the shares owned by Credit Suisse, while Peter Sauber retained a 20 percent stake but gave up his voting rights, although the team continued to be known as BMW Sauber. Four years later BMW gave the team back to Peter. The one strand throughout the process was that the Sauber name remained and this, it seems, is a primary consideration.

Peter Sauber likes being the most famous team owner in Switzerland and is not overly keen on becoming the most famous ex-team owner, unless that is absolutely necessary. This year Sauber has been in need of money. There is a deal in place for the Russian government-controlled technology firm Rostec to become the team’s primary sponsor, but a sponsorship contract is worth nothing if the cash does not arrive and all the indications are that the Russians have been talking a good game, but not delivering.

Yes, there may be problems relating to Ukraine and sanctions but the bottom line is that the time has come for them to finally sh*t or get off the pot.

With the Russians dithering, Sauber was hoping for other options, but the Simona de Silvestro option seems to have evaporated because the team needs her to bring money, rather than waiting for money that may or may not come if she was an F1 driver. Simona has not been seen at a race since the early summer and a decision is needed soon because sitting out two seasons without racing is not wise. No-one in F1 is likely to take her because of the risk factors involved and the only option would appear to be to return to the US and give up on the F1 dream. That is a bad idea given that a moderately-successful female F1 driver would be a huge bonus for the sport, but if no-one will give her the chance and she cannot pay for it then perhaps that is the wisest course of action. In a normal business, the promoter might size up the potential value of a woman F1 driver and invest to make it happen… but, of course, this is not a normal business.

An intriguing new element emerged in the days before Monza, with the suggestion that Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll was taking an interest in investing in the team. Stroll has made inordinate amounts of money by buying the rights to fashion designers (he started out rich) and building up the brands. He did it with Tommy Hilfiger in the 1990s and more recently did the same thing with Michael Kors. He has also been involved with Pepe Jeans. Stroll has just sold about $1 billion worth of Michael Kors shares and is on the prowl for a new business. He is now reckoned to be worth around $2.3 billion and he is not afraid to spend his money. Having said that Stroll was involved with Team Lotus back in 1994 but did not come in as the white knight that was hoped for. He let the team die.

There is a difference today because he now has a teenage son who may be quite a useful prospect. Lance Stroll is a Ferrari Young Driver and rumours suggest that his father has already bought control of the Prema Racing Formula 3 team in order to ensure that everything goes well for his son. The suggestion was that Stroll Sr would buy Sauber to make sure that his son gets into Formula 1.

It remains to be seen if Stroll delivers this time. In the interim the Dutch believe that Giedo Van der Garde has already signed a from contract to race for Sauber in 2015. The team is saying nothing at the moment the Dutchman cannot afford to stay out of racing for a second season and so needs to nail down a deal as quickly as possible. His backing comes from the Dutch fashion brand McGregor.

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Formula 1 must reinvent itself says McLaren chief Ron Dennis

Formula 1 teams need to change as much as the sport to ensure grand prix racing remains popular, believes McLaren chief Ron Dennis.

Amid increased efforts to try to turn around declining audiences, Dennis reckons teams have to share the responsibility for adapting better to what fans really want.

"I think Formula 1 teams need to reinvent themselves," said Dennis, who returned to the F1 frontline as McLaren's Group CEO earlier this year.

"You can't wait for other people to do it, so we're doing it our way - and hopefully we can constructively contribute to the future of Formula 1. Because we have to change.

"The model we've got is just the model we've evolved over the years, and evolution is not always a good way to move forward. We can either embrace change and use it, or ignore it at one's peril."

Dennis suggested that teams need to get a better understanding of why some venues struggled to attract spectators this year, as well as properly comprehend the trends of television audiences.

"If you analyse television, it is somewhere between 40 and 45 per cent down on everything," he said.

"Formula 1 has held its own much better than many other sports, but actually numbers are down. So we need to analyse why and then do something that's based on the facts.

"How can we go to Silverstone and Austria and it be absolutely full, and then we go to Germany and it's half full? There must be a reason. We can all guess, but that's not very scientific.

"We've really got to understand why these things happen. Is it ticket prices? Is it national heroes etc? Whatever it is, we have to address it, and my view is to start from changing McLaren."

F1 NEEDS CHANGE

Dennis believes that changes to grand prix racing should go deeper than some have suggested - and thinks that the successful reinventions of sports like golf, cricket and yachting are examples that F1 should heed.

"Look at how they created one day cricket, look at the America's Cup - it was phenomenally boring once," he said.

"We cannot just be egotistical and think all we have to do is televise the race.

"We absolutely need more data on the screen and we need to have deeper levels of engagement with younger people.

"F1 should not just be about the race itself: we have to be everything.

"The race is a little bit like a trapeze act at the end of a circus show. Everybody anticipates that there is going to be a crescendo which is the trapeze act.

"We are not doing a quality enough job on all the other acts and the process by which we build up to the grand prix itself.

"Could we make the grand prix better? Yes."

[Bartolomeo]

Sad to see Luca go...

But Ferrari needs to step up their game

Bart

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BRAWN: NO DISCUSSIONS WITH FERRARI BUT NEVER SAY NEVER

In the aftermath of a major upheaval at Ferrari, Ross Brawn has played down reports connecting him with a return to the sport and head up the Italian team’s Formula 1 effort.

With his old boss Luca di Montezemolo stepping down at Ferrari, reports have resurfaced that the next management shuffle at Maranello could feature an Formula 1 comeback for Brawn.

Most recently, the 59-year-old was the team boss at Mercedes, but currently he is enjoying retirement, including travelling with friends and indulging his passion for fly fishing.

“I am living a very different life this year,” Briton Brawn told Auto Motor und Sport, “and it feels good. I am determined not to return to a full-time job.”

That, however, doesn’t mean Ferrari isn’t trying to lure him back. Just days ago, Ferrari chief Marco Mattiacci said he enjoyed meeting briefly with Brawn during his private visit to Maranello earlier this year.

Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn during Ferrari’s greatest era in F1

But Brawn insists: “I think at the moment I don’t have a role at Ferrari or anywhere else. My visit to Maranello in May was purely of a private nature. We talked a little about ‘what if’ but nothing serious.”

“Since there are no discussions, I have no thoughts in this direction,” Brawn added.

He also said the shakeup at his formerly ultra-successful team Ferrari, including the inexperienced Mattiacci’s elevation to the top job, changes nothing.

“You have to give Marco Mattiacci the time to prove what he can do. I am not in contact with Ferrari and I am not actively looking for a new role in Formula 1.

“Never say never, because you never know what options are going to arise, but at the moment I am pursuing some interests outside of the sport that I never had the time to do before,” Brawn added.

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MONTEZEMOLO EXIT FROM FERRARI ROCKS F1 WORLD

Despite securing $35 million payout as he walks away from his high profile job at Maranello, Luca di Montezemolo had a tear in his eye on as he said farewell to Ferrari.

Although he was president, and although his presence at Maranello dates back decades, the 67-year-old is just the latest head to roll amid Ferrari’s spiralling crisis.

“Our common desire to see Ferrari express its true potential on the track led us to some misunderstandings,” admitted Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne, Montezemolo’s successor.

Charismatic and controversial, Montezemolo has secured a $35 million parting fee, including a pledge he will not work for a Fiat rival until 2017. He admitted on that it is possible he will go on to run the Italian airline Alitalia.

In his wake, he leaves the Ferrari team run by a Formula 1 newcomer, Marco Mattiacci, and a lead driver in Fernando Alonso who in the space of a single day lost not only Montezemolo but also another crucial ally, the late Emilio Botin.

Sergio Marchionne with Luca di Montezemolo

But Montezemolo and Marchionne on Wednesday singled out Ferrari’s turbo V6 engine as the biggest problem to solve, “It is absolutely clear that we have an engine problem.”

Montezemolo concurred: “We underestimated the importance of the new engine system.”

But with McLaren calling loudly, might this week’s alarming news be the final straw for an increasingly frustrated Alonso?

“He has been very loyal to Ferrari, staying through the difficult times,” rival Daniel Ricciardo told Servus TV this week. “This is obviously a decision that Fernando has to make himself, but he has been very patient with them.”

Toni Vilander, however, a close friend of Alonso’s current teammate Kimi Raikkonen, thinks Wednesday’s news would not have been a shock to the red-clad pair.

“I believe they were aware of the issue for some time,” he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV3. “I don’t think it’s going to affect their situation an awful lot.”

But others see Ferrari’s spiralling situation as endemic of the current regime at Maranello.

“I believe that the structure that they had in the past with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Nigel Stepney and the rest of them is very, very different to what we see now,” said Caterham team advisor Colin Kolles.

Montezemolo’s exit is another big blow, Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone admitted, “His leaving is for me the same as Mr Enzo [Ferrari] dying. He has become Ferrari. You see him, you see Ferrari.”

Former FIA president Max Mosley, however, never quite saw eye-to-eye with Montezemolo, and he thinks Wednesday might now be a turning point for the fabled team.

“In truth, Ferrari have never been quite the same since Jean left,” he told Reuters. “If they want to win races again they need to find another outstanding manager.”

One thing, however, was left undoubtedly clear on that Ferrari itself is going nowhere.

“Montezemolo explained to me that we are bound by contracts with Ecclestone to stay in Formula 1 at least until 2020,” Marchionne told Italian reporters, “but for me it should be much longer. If it was up to me it would be 120 years.”

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POLICE MAKING SURE SCHUMACHER NOT DISTURBED AT HOME

Swiss police are enforcing calm around Michael Schumacher’s house, as the Formula 1 legend returned home to his estate on the shore of Lake Geneva following eight months in hospitals in France and Switzerland.

Although it was warmly welcomed as good news the world over, the development led to swarms of photographers and television crews flocking to the house in Gland, Switzerland.

Reportedly, a Russian news agency even set up a live stream outside Schumacher’s home.

According to Bild newspaper, “The police of Gland responded quickly. They patrol Schumacher’s estate on Lake Geneva all night, sending photographers and broadcasters away.”

A police spokesperson confirmed: “We do not want intrusive people disturbing the calm around the house.”

Bild said the first hours of Schumacher’s return home went smoothly, as he is attended to by a full-time medical team including nurses and physiotherapists.

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Raikkonen will finish career with Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen has reiterated that he will finish his F1 career with Ferrari but denied saying he could leave before the end of his current deal.

The 34-year-old, the last driver to win the World title for Ferrari, returned to the Scuderia at the beginning of this season.

His comeback, though, has been a trying one.

The Finn has struggled with the handling of the F14T and has managed just 41 points, 80 behind team-mate Fernando Alonso.

This raised some questions about whether he would continue next season with some speculating that he could walk away at the end of this year already.

Asked if he had said he was ready to quit, he told CNN's The Circuit: "No I never said that.

"The only thing that I said was that I will finish my career in Ferrari, F1 career in Ferrari, then people came up with 'it's end of this year, it's now, it's then'.

"With newspapers they just try to make rumors, wanting to be the guy that writes something up, it's just rumors."

As for what his future may hold, the Iceman says the only thing for certain is that he will finish up with Ferrari.

He added: "I'm not a young guy anymore so obviously I want to do something more in my life than just Formula One.

"But I have no plans, I will finish my career at Ferrari, we'll see in the future."

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Williams didn't fear losing Bottas

Arguably one of the hottest talents to come to the fore this season, Claire Williams says Williams were confident that they wouldn't lose Valtteri Bottas to a rival outfit.

In the build-up to last Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, Williams confirmed that both Bottas and his team-mate Felipe Massa would remain with the team for next year's Championship.

The confirmation put paid to rumours that rival outfits, McLaren being one of those, were interested in nabbing the 25-year-old.

"Of course when you've got a talent like him then there are going to be teams that are looking at him," Williams told Crash.net.

"But I think Valtteri started his career with Williams, he's an exceptionally loyal driver and he wanted to continue with the team.

"So there wasn't any real concern that we were going to lose him."

The deputy team principal hailed her driver line-up, which has played a large role in turning the team's fortunes around.

While last season Williams scored just five points, this year already they have five podiums and 177 points.

Williams added: "I think we've got one of the strongest line-ups on the grid. We've got really complimentary talents.

"We've got Felipe with all his experience and having worked in a big team and then Valtteri who has got this amazingly natural talent with his race-craft.

"I think they complement each other perfectly and I think we're really lucky in that. They're very balanced drivers, they've got a great equilibrium that we can take advantage of."

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The effects of Luca Montezemolo’s departure

The departure of Luca Montezemolo from Ferrari is a move of gigantic proportions in the geopolitics of the sport – and it has a number of implications that may not seem obvious.

Back in the 1970s Montezemolo was the bright young boy at Ferrari and after putting Ferrari back on a winning path he went on to a glittering career in various Fiat-related companies and projects before being put in charge of Ferrari in 1991, after he had finished organising the 1990 World Cup competition. By then Enzo Ferrari was dead and the Ferrari company had lost its way in F1 terms. Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli decided that it was time for a change and brought back Montezemolo as Ferrari chairman and managing director. It was November 1991 and his brief was to sell more cars and to get the F1 team winning again. Remember that after 1983, Ferrari had not won a Constructors’ title, overshadowed by McLarens, Williamses and later by Benettons as well. At the time Ferrari sold 4,500 road cars a year and Montezemolo ramped this up to reach 7,000 by 2008. The company recently announced its intention to cap production at 7,000 vehicles a year in order to maintain the exclusivity of the Ferrari brand. This means that prices will go up. From the moment he took over the progress was positive but Agnelli still needed to be patient and it was not until 1999 that Montezemolo finally found the right formula with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Michael Schumacher. In the same period Montezemolo used Concorde Agreement negotiations to force Bernie Ecclestone to give Ferrari more money than the other teams. Ecclestone and Ferrari worked hand in glove – as long as the money kept coming. The legacy of that is that today Ferrari gets around $120 million a year before the prize money is decided upon. Some of the others have negotiated lesser deals but they are peanuts compared to Ferrari’s ransom. By 2000 Ferrari was dominant but did not do what Mercedes is currently doing and allow its drivers to fight. Michael Schumacher was the number one and if the second driver did not like it, it was tough. The success propelled Montezemolo to a job with Confindustria, the Italian employers association, and in 2005 he was appointed chairman of Fiat because the Agnelli family had lost a generation to illness and suicide and as the older group died off, the third generation was not yet ready. Instead the family turned to Montezemolo to be the chairman until the new boys were ready for the job. Luca would remain in the role until 2010 when John Elkann – by then 34 – took over. Montezemolo went back to running Ferrari, although he dabbled in politics, setting up the Italia Futura political movement and holding shares in various other businesses, in the furniture, cashmere and high-speed train sectors.

His major idea after the break-up of the winning team was to recreate the same success with Italians in key positions: thus Stefano Domenicali became team principal, Luca Marmorini headed the engine department and Aldo Costa ran the design team. It did not work and thus Ferrari drifted backwards as McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes rose up to defeat them.

The disappearance of Montezemolo is not just about Ferrari, of course. Ferrari is a powerful force in F1 and while Luca was old school and happy to get what was best for Ferrari no matter what, the feeling today is that the sport is in danger of destroying itself with profligacy, and with a commercial rights holding organisation that strips money out of the sport in vast quantities, and which does next to nothing in terms of promotion or investment for the future. Thus the disappearance of Montezemolo, as with the disappearance of Max Mosley from the FIA, weakens the hold on the sport enjoyed by the Formula One group. People today don’t just agree to everything, and even Ferrari may now see the benefits of taking out the middle man and dividing up the revenues in a more traditional manner. Resistance may not be open, but it is growing. A new generation at Ferrari may understand that while Ferrari can go on doing what Montezemolo was doing and getting bigger and bigger payouts at each negotiation, the best long-term solution may not be this way. There are bound to be those who will argue that the time has come to get a better deal for everyone, while at the same time, trying to find ways to cut costs. When it comes to a spending competition Ferrari is only a big player when it is not against a Mercedes or a Honda. Thus, cost control becomes important. Time will tell whether this happens, but one thing is certain: of the three big players in F1 in the last 20 years, there is only one still standing. Max Mosley is gone; Luca Montezemolo has followed. The survivor, Bernie Ecclestone, is 84 in a few weeks. He has survived a bruising brush with the authorities in Germany and he must be wondering whether one day soon the risk-assessors at CVC Capital Partners will re-assess his value.

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Sponsor watch: 2014 Italian Grand Prix

As well as three new sponsors, two teams were paying special tributes on their cars at the Italian Grand Prix.

McLaren

On Saturday morning in Monza, McLaren launched a partnership with Segafredo Zanetti coffee brand of Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group. The brand first appeared in Formula One with Toleman in 1984, and sponsored Ayrton Senna again ten years later at Williams. Between that, in the mid-eighties, it sponsored McLaren.

The Segafredo Zanetti logo will appear on MP4-29′s rear wing endplates as well as drivers’ overalls for the rest of the season, on three occasions as local brand Boncafe.

Lotus

Lotus found a new sponsor in Hisense, a multi-national electronics company from China, which appeared on their sidepods where several different names have appeared already this season. The logo will reappear in the same position at the United States Grand Prix, and on the car’s air box in Abu Dhabi.

Sauber

To celebrate the tenth anniversary their partnership with Sauber, Certina launched a limited edition watch which appeared on the C33′s sidepods during the weekend.

Force India

Force India paid tribute to Gary North, who had recently lost his life, with two messages on the car – ‘You will be greatly missed’ appeared on the inside of the rear wing endplates. ‘Gadget’ had been with the team since 1995, when it was Jordan. The team said he was “enthusiastic about our sport and always contributed to the team’s success. He had the respect of everyone”.

Ferrari

As in Canada, Ferrari carried a logo on the side of their cars in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Carabinieri – Italy’s national military police. Below the logo was the Carabinieri’s motto, Nei Secoli Fedele (Faithful Throughout the Centuries). Ferrari stated both them and the Carabinieri share “the values of respect for their tradition and history and the fact they are both symbols of Italy around the world.”

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Here's A F1 Car Racing Against A Motorcycle Racing Against A Supercar

For a second, you think hey maybe the motorcycle has a chance in this Top Gear bit since it screams to a lead but then the land-based jet machine insanity known as an F1 race car steps it up and the other two are fighting not to get lapped by the closest thing we have to a teleportation device on Earth.

MarK Webber raced the F1 car, Jamie Whincup was in the superar and Casey Stoner used the motorcycle

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EX-F1 DRIVERS STAR AND MAKE HEADLINES IN FORMULA E DEBUT

The race, or Beijing Evergrande ePrix, was held on a spectacular temporary race track built around the city’s iconic Olympic ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium and was won by former F1 driver in action for Audi Sport ABT’s Lucas di Grassi.

Some 40 million are believed to have watched the race worldwide on television with 75,000 attending on site and one billion social interactions recorded around the race.

Brazilian Di Grassi stole victory after race-leader Nicolas Prost (e.dams-Renault) and Venturi’s Nick Heidfeld touched on the final corner of the final lap in the battle for the lead, sending Heidfeld into a spectacular crash which he walked away from unharmed.

Andretti driver Franck Montagny finished runner-up nearly three seconds adrift of di Grassi with team-mate Daniel Abt crossing the line third, only to later have it taken away from him after failing short of the required 28kw power consumption usage. Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird was eventually promoted to claim the final place on the podium.

Lucas di Grassi celebrates victory

Lucas di Grassi said: “Firstly, I’m happy Nick [Heidfeld] is ok and it shows how safe these cars are. I didn’t see what happened myself but it’s like a dream come true. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. The team did a great job all through practice and qualifying, yes we made a few mistakes but overall I’m extremely happy to be the first ever winner of a Formula E race.”

Heidfeld spoke afterwards, “Thankfully I’m okay. It surprised me that it didn’t hurt more. I pulled alongside Nico before the last corner and for there rest there was nothing I could do.”

Prost was handed a 10 place grid penalty for his role in the incident, but denied any wrongdoing: “I didn’t see him and it is disappointing to lose the victory like this. I was in the middle of the track when I braked for the corner, just to be safe. But he was next to me and already hit my wheel. I didn’t think he would try something like this. There is no way to overtake there.”

Round two of the new Formula E series takes place in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on November 22 2014.

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FORMULA 1 TEAMS ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN?

It has been a a year of turmoil for Formula 1 teams which started well before a wheel turned in anger, when McLaren ousted team principal Martin Whitmarsh and now a similar ‘coup d’equipe’ has taken place at Ferrari, but they are not alone as a number of lower profile teams have endured internal disruptions, while others are on the verge of their own dramas.

It all began on 16 January when McLaren released the following statement: “McLaren Group today announced that Ron Dennis CBE, Chairman of McLaren Group, has been appointed to the additional role of Group Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Group, with immediate effect.”

“Mr Dennis, a shareholder of McLaren since 1980 and the architect of its modern era, was the CEO of the Group from 1982 to 2012 and the Team Principal of the McLaren Formula 1 racing team from 1982 to 2009 before becoming Chairman of the Group in 2013.”

Thus Whitmarsh was unceremoniously sacked, and since then the Woking based outfit continue to struggle despite restructuring and the appointment of Eric Boullier as the team’s racing director (and Whitmarsh replacement) – real results, namely victories, are yet to come.

Martin Whitmarsh was replaced by Ron Dennis at McLaren

Also creating waves within the team, even now, is the looming McLaren-Honda which has triggered a headline generating desire to sign a superstar driver to lead this renewed partnership. As a result uncertainty prevails with the sports second most successful team.

The current Ferrari revolution – or make that civil war – started in April (although signs of cracks were visible for a long time before) with the sudden departure of Stefano Domenicali, who said when he resigned, “There are particular moments in all of our professional lives where you need the courage to take difficult and very painful decisions. It is time for a significant change.”

“As the boss, I take responsibility, as I have always done, for our current situation. This decision has been taken with the aim of doing something to shake things up and for the good of this group of people that I feel very close to,” added the Italian in what was a clear case of: jump or get pushed.

Since then Marco Mattiacci was jettisoned into the team principal role with Ferrari, but results did not improve. What was unimaginable a few weeks ago happened when Luca di Montezemolo was made an offer he could not refuse and marched out the door. What transpires next at Maranello is anyone’s guess…

Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali paid the price for Ferrari’s decline

Upheavals have not been exclusive to the big teams as Caterham were also victim of a revolution when entrepeneur Tony Fernandes, disgruntled and disillusioned with Formula 1, unloaded his team to an obscure Swiss-Middle East consortium guided by perennial back-of-the-grid F1 deal maker Colin Kolles.

Inexperience Christian Albers was appointed team principal, but was only on the job for 66 days before calling it quits. Adding to their woes is the fact that the team face legal action from dozens of employees who lost their jobs in the takeover. Instability has been exacerbated with Kamui Kobayashi’s race seat on the market and up for grabs to the highest bidder.

Fernandes’ parting salvo, perhaps bitter, was nevertheless telling, “It left me feeling that Formula 1 was very nasty and vindictive. Then Caterham didn’t really progress, a lot of investments didn’t come through and it started to get tough. Every team talked about working together but [cost cutting] never happened. So you’ve got to put your hands up and say: We’re beat. It doesn’t make sense any more.”

It is clear that we still have not heard the end of the soap opera at Leafield, Maranello and Woking, while the hard facts are that a number of other teams are on the verge of a crisis or (to steal from the film title) on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Lotus faces an uncertain future despite the efforts of Gerard Lopez

At Lotus the dark financial clouds have not lifted, if anything it is even darker amid a terrible year on track and it is no secret that Gerard Lopez is keen to sell the whole project lock-stock-and-barrel or at least lure in a big partner to help with the ever increasing debt.

A once very attractive Russian bail out plan never materialised for Sauber, which seemed to be a body blow to the Swiss outfit who have struggled to bounce back from the affair, and their on track fortunes have dipped considerably. Now they are linked with billionaire Lawrence Stroll who is said to be interested in acquiring a Formula 1 team, while the world richest man Carlos Slim remains in the picture through his Telmex programme to keep Mexican drivers in F1.

Reportedly surviving from race to race is Marussia, who continue to struggle at the wrong end of the grid and depend on pay drivers – iexamples being well heeled Max Chilton and Ferrari funded Jules Bianchi – to keep the wheels moving at the team. However pundits do not see the outfit lasting too long with the current business model in place.

The severity of the situation came to the fore when Chilton was to sit out the Belgian Grand Prix (presumably when money did not change hands fast enough) and the team announced on Thursday before the race that Alexander Rossi would make his F1 debut with the team. A mere 24 hours later the team retracted and Chilton was reinstated for the race. Not only a very mickey mouse scenario for a team plying their trade at the highest level, but also an alarming message on the state of affairs at Banbury.

Not goodtimes for Force India bosses Subrata Roy Sahara and Vijay Mallya

Although Force India go to great pains to explain that the financial woes of their boss Vijay Mallya do not affect the operation of the F1 team, there will always be a question mark over an operation whose 42.5% owner Sahara India has their chairman Subrata Roy sitting in jail, while Mallya’s situation gets more and more complicated. Thus, despite constant assurances from within, the Silverstone based team is not immune to major upheaval in the future.

Perhaps the most stable of the 11 teams on the grid are the two Red Bull owned outfits, including Toro Rosso. Winning three races with Daniel Ricciardo already this year, despite Renault’s problematic power unit, the world champions are not the dominant force they were in the past four years but are a well established force within the sport.

Milking the PR and marketing element that keeps them in F1 – just think of the amount of fizzy drinks Max Verstappen will sell to pimpled teenagers…. Thus despite some murmurings earlier in the season about packing their bags and leaving, this is not likely to happen for some time and chat of moving out has subsided into the “taken out of context” realm.

Mercedes are obviously riding a crest of a wave, dominating and calling the shots, hence making a mockery of calls last year to leave the sport as it had brought them nothing up to that point. Fast forward a year and strong results on track have silenced the critics.

Nico Rosberg versus Lewis Hamilton okay as long as Mercedes are winning

However the high profile, and increasingly unsavoury, feud between their drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton is perhaps the only fly in the oil impacting the brand. But as long as this is all happening while the team wins, it is likely that the house of Silver Arrows will remain unafflicted by internal shenanigans that would threaten their presence on the grid.

What a difference a year makes for Williams who are once again, after a long hiatus, regularly performing at the sharp end of proceedings. Under the guise of Williams Martini Racing they have spruced up their also ran image into one of potential winners once again, and for sure best of the rest behind the dominant Mercs.

The only blip on the landscape is the fact that F1 success comes at a formidable price and the team founded by Sir Frank Williams, which enjoyed overwhelming success last century, announced that income was $58.5 million in the first half of the year, down from $71 million in the same period last year. For Williams this added up to an earnings before interest and tax loss of $21.5 million.

But that can be put down to taking one step back to take two or three forward. Things are better, in all aspects, at Grove than they have been for some time.

There we have it: most teams in Formula 1 look set to grab their share of headlines in forthcoming months and not all of them positive. While it is clear that a new guard is arriving on the scene and a new Formula 1 generation is evolving. Where this heads will make for interesting reading and television.

In the end there is only ever space for one winner on the top step of the Formula 1 podium and with the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and now Mercedes all working to the ethos of ‘winning is not negotiable’ – but invariably three of the four will always be disappointed come the end of a grand prix weekend – all this with several teams constantly on a verge of a nervous breakdown thrown into the mix make for interesting times ahead.

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MERCEDES TO TWEAK EIGHTH GEAR RATIO FOR SINGAPORE

Mercedes’ rivals are in for some bad news as the dominant Formula 1 team this season looks set to pull even further ahead in Singapore and beyond.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that the Brackley team will correct its flawed gear ratio selection ahead of the night race in the Asian city-state next weekend.

The rules dictate that the gear ratios chosen by each competitor at the start of 2014 are then frozen for the entire year — with the exception of one joker.

Mercedes has now decided to make that joker ratio change for the rest of the season, beginning in Singapore.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that it was on the long straights at Monza last weekend that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg used eighth gear for the very first time.

“It [eighth gear] was too long for all the other circuits,” admitted designer Aldo Costa.

Mercedes’ miscalculation will now be corrected with a shorter eighth gear for Singapore and the subsequent decisive rounds of the world championship.

Curiously, the German marque’s customer, the surprisingly competitive Williams, got its gear ratio calculation right from the very beginning in 2014.

But technical boss Pat Symonds admits: “We were a little nervous at first because we thought they (Mercedes) would know their engine inside out. After a few races I was reassured.”

Symonds said that even though the eighth gear was introduced this year especially for the new turbo V6 rules, in the end it was unnecessary.

“The engines have so much torque that we could make do with a five speed gearbox,” he said. “It would save a lot of weight and space. Unfortunately, the regulations prescribe the eighth gear – otherwise we would have never had it.”

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FIA TO STUDY F1 SUPER LICENSE ISSUE

During a meeting in Beijing, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council voted through a commitment to look into how Formula 1 ‘super licenses’ are handed out.

The mandatory credential has come under scrutiny recently, as the likes of Max Verstappen prepares for his debut — a 16-year-old who by completing a 300km Formula 1 test qualifies to race in Formula 1, but is unable to obtain an ordinary drivers’ license in his native Holland.

The matter was also discussed by Formula 1 team bosses at Monza last week.

“We had the discussion,” Wolff confirmed, “and we still believe Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and Formula 1 drivers should be people who inspire, drivers who inspire, and they should have the qualification.”

So on Friday, the World Motor Sport Council resolved to “review the qualification and conditions for the issuing of a super licence” in time for 2016.

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LAUDA SURPRISED BY MONTEZEMOLO DEPARTURE

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, whose relationship with outgoing Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo dates all the way back to his driving days at the Maranello squad, said this week’s news was a surprise.

“In my opinion Montezemolo didn’t want to go to Alitalia, he has been the president of Ferrari for 23 years and he achieved so many things. But, as happens in all companies, when things start to go wrong it is logical that these changes occur,” Formula 1 legend Lauda told Metro.

“I understand [sergio] Marchionne and I am not critical of his decision. I hope to meet him soon, now that he is president of Ferrari, to talk about Formula 1.

“It will not be easy to bring Ferrari back to the competitiveness of the past, but it is the right time to make decisions for the following season,” said Lauda.

“It was the time for a change. It will be hard for them to come back this year but they can plan for next season and get to work to improve the engine, which is Ferrari’s real problem,” he added.