FORMULA 1 - 2015

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Daniel Ricciardo: Renault must go 'back to the drawing board'

Daniel Ricciardo says Renault needs to go "back to the drawing board" after being disappointed with its upgraded power unit, especially if Red Bull is to return to the French manufacturer in 2016.

Ricciardo and team-mate Daniil Kvyat have split between the new and old Renault power units this weekend. Red Bull has finally confirmed its place on the 2016 grid despite not confirming its engine supplier for next year, though it is likely to stay with Renault in some form.

However, Ricciardo gave a less than glowing review of the new spec engine after qualifying ninth for the Brazilian Grand Prix, with a ten-place grid penalty to come for taking the new power unit in the first place.

Asked if there were any benefits to the upgrade Ricciardo said: "If I am honest, no."

He was then probed on whether it was worth putting in the new engine, to which he replied: "For the grid penalty no, but for us getting some clarity on where it is, yes it was a realization in some respects, and now at least we can ... we tried it, we've seen it has not really given us anything, so back to the drawing board for Renault, and obviously we've got to try and find some more from it. I don't regret testing it.

"We had to try, we had to see if there was any sort of positives from it, if what they saw on the dyno was replicated by what we felt on track, but in hindsight it didn't really give us any lap time, so for now it is a penalty for a little bit of knowledge."

Ricciardo thinks one benefit of taking the upgrade is that it gives Red Bull an idea of the development path it may have to encourage Renault to take in 2016 if the partnership continues.

"Yes, exactly, for those reasons definitely I feel that it has been a good thing that we've done it. It is like this is what it is, and we need something better, or we need to try a different path or something if we are going to continue together next year. It is like we have taken a hit today but long term we will be better off because of what we have learned."

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F1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Hulkenberg points secure fifth for Force India

Nico Hulkenberg's sixth place in the Brazilian Grand prix was enough to secure fifth overall in the constructors' standings for the Force India team, even after main rival Lotus was gifted extra points by Felipe Massa's belated disqualification.

Although the German's fear that his fifth position on the grid would come under threat from faster cars starting behind him came true by turn one – as both Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat got past the #27 machine – his team helped him regain some lost ground by pitting early and catching Red Bull with the undercut. Hulkenberg did his bit with a feisty display behind the wheel, eventually crossing the line in sixth spot, 16secs behind Bottas, whose grid position he had inherited after the Finn picked up a penalty in practice.

“The race today was fun, although I didn't have the best start and got some wheelspin, which dropped me behind Bottas and Kvyat,” Hulkenberg reflected, “Fortunately, I was able to get one of those places back with an aggressive early pit-stop, but that forced me to do two very long stints on the medium tyres, which was the main challenge of the day. We made it work, though, managing the tyres and delivering the two-stop strategy.”

Picking up eight points left Force India hoping that Lotus would fail to exceed five and, on the initial result sheet that appeared to be the case, with the Enstone team only managing ninth place with Romain Grosjean. Massa's post-race exclusion, however, not only promoted the Frenchman, but also allowed team-mate Pastor Maldonado into the top ten, but their gain still fell short of the target, confirming a best-ever teams' championship finish for Vijay Mallya's squad.

“I'm very happy with sixth place and with scoring the points that helped the team secure fifth place in the championship, which is great news,” Hulkenberg commented, “It's the best result in our history and shows the progress we have made over the years.

“This fifth place is a result of all the hard work from everybody in the team and we should feel very proud of what we have achieved together. I'm now looking forward to Abu Dhabi and ending the season on another high note.”

Deputy team principal Robert Fernley echoed Hulkenberg's delight, despite not being able to celebrate the culmination of a second-half fightback with the reworked VJM08B by getting two cars in the points at Interlagos.

“The race itself leaves us with mixed feelings as we wanted to seal this result with a double points finish but, while Nico drove very well, making a two-stop strategy work and withstanding a lot of pressure in the closing stages, 'Checo' [Perez] missed out on the top ten despite fighting hard this afternoon,” Fernley noted, “However, everybody in the team is delighted that we have secured fifth place in the championship with a race to spare.

“It's the reward for all the hard work put in by everyone back at the factory in Silverstone, at the wind tunnel, and here at the track. We have been through a lot this year, but we never let our target out of our sight and today we can celebrate. Now we head to Abu Dhabi to close off this record-breaking season on a high and secure top ten positions in the drivers' championship for both Nico and 'Checo'."

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F1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Lightning start but disappointing pace for Bottas

Valtteri Bottas says he was disappointed not to mount a more convincing challenge against Ferrari in the Brazilian Grand Prix after achieving his aim of passing cars ahead from the start.

The Williams driver originally qualified in fourth position for the Interlagos race, but was demoted to seventh after being punished for passing under red flags in FP2.

Starting behind the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas leapfrogged both from the start after a lightning getaway

However, once up to fifth he couldn't sustain the pace of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in front of him as he settled in for a lonely race.

“The start was good, I managed to gain a couple of important positions, because it would have been difficult to get through the Red Bull and the Force India, because overtaking is not that easy in this track. After that good start I had quite a lonely race, to be honest. There wasn't much happening for me today

“To be honest the pace was not there today, compared to Ferrari, so in any case it would have been difficult.”

Bottas' result means he maintains a slender one point advantage over Raikkonen in their battle for fourth in the overall standings, with just one race in Abu Dhabi remaining.

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F1 Brazilian Grand Prix: Grosjean ewarded with points on ‘emotional’ weekend

Romain Grosjean says he can be satisfied with his run to eighth position in the Brazilian Grand Prix on a weekend tempered by emotion following the terror attacks in his native France.

The Lotus driver started from 14th on the grid, but was one of the few drivers to enjoy progress up the order over the course of the race, crossing the line ninth before being promoted to eighth when Felipe Massa ahead was disqualified.

Branding the race as 'fun', Grosjean was delighted to come away with a positive result after a sombre weekend brought about by the terror attacks in Paris, which left at least 129 dead.

“It was a fun race, and I enjoyed going through the field with some nice overtaking manoeuvres with our aggressive race strategy. It was quite hard to follow the cars but we had good power to overtake into turn one.

“It has been an emotional weekend so it is good to be back in the points. The next race will be my last one with the team and taking the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi will be very special but I will give my best to bring a good result.”

Grosjean now heads to Abu Dhabi for his Lotus swansong before joining the incoming Haas F1 team for 2016.

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Jenson Button calls McLaren-Honda's F1 straightline deficit 'scary'

Jenson Button admits McLaren-Honda's straightline speed deficit is "scary" when being overtaken or lapped by Formula 1's frontrunners.

Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso finished the penultimate race of the F1 season in 15th and 16th places, one lap down on victor Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes driver lapped the entire field up to fifth place, and blue flags were a common sight during the second half of the race.

It provided a stark reminder about how much work is still ahead of McLaren and power-unit supplier Honda.

"When they come past, it's scary how fast they are everywhere - especially through the straights," Button said.

"[Against] the mid-pack [cars] through the corners we're actually pretty competitive, and can have a bit of fun out there, which is great.

"But there's no way for us to pass anyone, and they're so far back in your mirrors and then they're next to you in Turn 1.

"So it's really difficult to judge."

McLaren got both cars to the end of a grand prix for the just the seventh time this season, and Button said he could draw positives from how close he finished to Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen, in the final points paying position.

"I think we were 12 seconds off of 10th place and there was no safety car," he said.

"It's not a great position, but I think we're probably closer to P10 than we expected to be.

"We thought we'd be two laps down, and we saved quite a bit of fuel in the race as well.

"No one wants to be a lap down, but if fifth is a lap down it's not so bad.

"I think it does feel like we're going in the right direction with the car, and hopefully the next race will be a little better again."

ALONSO DEALS WITH 'STRANGE' CAR

Alonso finished one spot behind his team-mate, despite a 'frustrating' lead-up in which he stopped on track on both Friday and Saturday due to power-unit problems.

It was not an entirely clean race with his 12th new engine of the season, though.

"I think finishing the race was the first priority after some retirements," he said.

"Unfortunately the car was not working 100 per cent from the beginning with different power and different gears so that was a little bit strange to drive sometimes.

"We fitted a new engine and had some laps to set up the engine so maybe it's normal.

"At least we finished the race and we can take some data and hopefully analyse it."

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Maldonado penalty for Ericsson Interlagos clash 'harsh', says Lotus

Pastor Maldonado's penalty for colliding with Marcus Ericsson in the Brazilian Grand Prix was "harsh", believes Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane.

The Lotus driver came together with Ericsson's Sauber at the Senna S as they fought for 14th approaching half-distance, sending the Swede spinning.

Maldonado was given a five-second time penalty at his next pitstop, but finished 10th after Felipe Massa's exclusion, while Ericsson ended up back in 16th.

Permane said he had discussed the decision with F1 race director Charlie Whiting as he felt the penalty was out of step with the more lenient policy on incidents that the championship adopted last summer.

"I thought it was a bit harsh to be honest," Permane told Autosport.

"I've just had a chat with Charlie about it because I can't see that he's wholly or predominantly to blame.

"I thought it was a racing incident but then I'm probably a bit biased. I'm sure they see it as him.

"Ericsson could've given him a little more room. They do just clip each other.

"As they're supposed to be cutting down on those sort of things [penalties] I can't see that it was absolutely 100 per cent Pastor's fault and in that case it shouldn't have been a penalty."

But Ericsson insisted Maldonado's move was never on.

"Pastor was closing in on me and he went sort of halfway for a half-move," he argued.

"I looked in the mirrors and thought he was too far back.

"I turned in and saw something coming. So I opened my line to make sure there was space on the inside if he was coming.

"But he was just carrying too much speed and I think he lost the car braking too late, and went straight into the left rear of me and spun me around.

"It was quite a decent hit."

Ericsson reckoned he "lost 30 seconds" in the spin and subsequent precautionary pitstop.

He said Maldonado had apologised when he approached him post-race seeking an explanation.

"Without me there he would not have made the corner, he would've gone off on the other side," Ericsson added.

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SEBASTIAN VETTEL’S BRAZIL PERFORMANCE HINTS AT FERRARI FORMULA 1 CHALLENGE IN 2016

Sebastian Vettel took a 13th podium of the season in Brazil, but more importantly his pace in the Grand Prix indicated that Ferrari is closing the gap to Mercedes as it looks to build a platform to challenge in 2016.

Vettel finished 14 seconds behind the race winner Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes after 71 laps, which is an average of 0.2s per lap deficit to the world champion car. It still sounds like a lot, but it’s the kind of margin that can be bridged over a winter. The qualifying deficit remains the one Ferrari must overcome for Vettel to consistently challenge for the title.

At present Mercedes is still able to turn up the engine when it matters in qualifying and stay 6/10ths out of reach of Ferrari.

Qualifying has been a weakness for the Maranello squad for many years and Vettel acknowledged yesterday that it would be vital in 2016.

Although he was never close enough in the race to make a move on either Mercedes, he did disrupt them by switching strategy and overall was delighted with the relative pace.

“I would say we were probably closer here than in many, many races before in terms of race pace – only one, two, three tenths maybe at the time – and in the last stint we were even a bit quicker,” he said.

The key moment in the race was Lap 32, when Ferrari decided to switch Vettel onto a three stop strategy, to try to disrupt Mercedes. At that point Vettel was 10 seconds behind race leader Nico Rosberg, having lost only 3/10ths of a second per lap to the Mercedes.

“We were too far away to really put big pressure on Mercedes and safe from the cars behind so we thought to try something different, put the soft tyre which, in the end, was very good, ” said Vettel.

“I was very happy on the soft tyre, probably a little bit happier than on the medium. Unfortunately we hit a lot of traffic to make a benefit or to keep catching up – but I guess it was the same for them out in front – but the idea was simply try to do something different.

“Also, in the end I think we had good speed. We were in clean air, catching a little bit. Overall I think it was a good day for us; we were closer than many races previously, so I think it’s a good effort and shows our real standing right now.”

The pace was also there in Mexico last time out, but Vettel had a messy race with incidents, which meant that he was never able to show it.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was also pleased with progress and said, “Our pace today was good: on some laps we were close to the Mercedes, on some other stages we were matching their lap times and on some occasions we managed to be even quicker. Overall, though, they were quicker than us on more occasions. Looking at the data, we see that despite having no safety car period in this race, we were closer at the end than in most other races this year.”

Arrivabene also said that he believes that the final round in Abu Dhabi represents a ‘chance’ for Ferrari to end the season with a win. Again qualifying will be the sticking point, but the Italian squad expect the track to suit them and they have been close to Mercedes this season when the supersoft and soft tyres are used.

The only down note was Kimi Raikkonen, whose performance was below par in comparison to his team mate. He finished the race over 30 seconds behind, having qualified 3/10ths behind him on Saturday. The Finn stuck with the two stop strategy, but struggled with the tyres after they and lost their initial grip in a long run.

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ALONSO: I DON’T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT ME TO DO

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso has hit back at suggestions his body language gave away his extreme frustration at the end of a dire 2015 Formula 1 season.

After yet another engine problem during practice in Brazil, images of the Spaniard sitting alone on the guard-rail appeared symbolic.

It comes after McLaren-Honda boss Eric Boullier warned that a driver’s motivation is “like a flower than starts to wilt”, and Alonso’s admission on Thursday that he needs to “improve for next year”.

“When you’re at the front and have more motivation, it helps,” he said.

When told that his quiet and hunched perch on the Interlagos guard-rail was perfectly symbolic of his awful 2015 season, however, Alonso said: “To be honest, I don’t know what people expect me to do in that situation.”

“You are waiting for a scooter or a car to take you to the pits, so you just need to stay where you are. That’s what I did. I would not say that I’m more frustrated than I was before, because now I am already preparing mentally for next year.”

“I would prefer to have more problems continuing tomorrow and in Abu Dhabi as well, so that we don’t have any problems in 2016,” Alonso added.

“We continue to learn, and sometimes it’s a painful process, but it’s the only way to succeed.”

And Alonso insisted to El Confidencial that he is not depressed, “This year I do not fight for the championship but I’m happy in a team that supports me and I have a good salary, so I am happier than in previous years.”

“Hopefully next time I am in Brazil it will be for the podium and if I am fighting for a title, even better,” he added.

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Williams to appeal Massa's exclusion from Brazil GP

Williams will appeal the race stewards decision to exclude Felipe Massa from the results of the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he finished in eighth place.

It was found that Massa's right-rear tyre was 27 degrees centigrade above the maximum allowed tyre temperature prescribed by tyre supplier Pirelli when it was measured on the grid.

Meanwhile the tyre pressure was 0.1psi above the minimum, had the tyre been heated to the 110 degree limit, it's likely the pressure would have been lower.

The Brazilian's car was therefore not in compliance with FIA technical directive TD/029-15 and FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer referred the matter to the race stewards, who chose to exclude Massa from the race results, costing him four points.

The Williams team have however served notice of an appeal, citing their own data which proves Massa's right-rear was in fact below the maximum temperature.

"The notice of appeal that we will make is based around the fact we have three independent temperature readings and all of them say how we are within the limits set by Pirelli and the prescriptions for this event," said Williams performance chief Rob Smedley.

"We have two independent sensors, the first one is the PT1000 which sits inside the tyre blanket and tells us what the surface temperature is and that one was always in compliance with the regulations.

"The last time we could read it, when they took the set off to the grid, it was about 104 degrees.

"The next independent measure we have is from the car data, this is a completely independent measure and the right rear tyre of Massa's car was 105.7C.

"So we have two independent sensors which both say we were in compliance with the regulations and we have data to back that up."

He also noted that one of the sensors they use is identical to that used by the FIA, therefore suggesting the governing body's data reading was inaccurate.

"In addition, we have had independent correlation from our blanket temperature sensors and car temperature sensors to the FIA guns, which Pirelli did for us after all the fuss with Mercedes in Italy.

"We have also bought exactly the same sensor that the FIA uses and we do random checks throughout the weekend to make sure this does not happen.

"For us it's quite critical for us that we understand where his problem is.

"We have three independent temperature measures and none of them give anything like the measure the FIA took on the grid."

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"Angry" Sainz frustrated by reliability issues

An "angry" Carlos Sainz admitted his frustration after having had to retire yet again due to an engine problem in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Toro Rosso driver had to start the race from the pitlane after his car shut down as he tried to make his way to the grid.

His race then lasted just a couple of corners before he suffered an engine failure.

It was Sainz's seventh retirement of the season, and the Spaniard admitted the situation was far from ideal.

"It's the seventh time in the whole season. It means 50 per cent of the races that I have not finished. That is not what you want in a rookie year, and it's not what you are here for, you are here to get experience and to learn," said Sainz.

"So it's clearly not a good balance of retirements this season. But what can you do?"

Sainz, however, says he will move on as always and focus on the next race right away.

The Spaniard also admitted that, at the end of the day, he will be happy with his season despite the missed opportunities.

"You are obviously sad for one day. On Sundays I am very pissed off and angry with the situation because I think we had a great opportunity to score points again today.

"It just didn't happen and today I'm sad, angry with the situation but tomorrow I will be completely fine and looking forward to Abu Dhabi.

"When you have a rookie season with so many failures but you are still managing to create an impression on the F1 paddock it doesn't make me very sad at all.

"I will go out of this year thinking of what could have been without so many retirements but I'm happy with the overall performance."

[Bartolomeo]

I don't think any F1 race is boring but this wasnt very exciting

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I don't think any F1 race is boring but this wasnt very exciting

The Brazil GP is never that interesting IMO but it is F1

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ROSBERG: I THINK I’VE JUST RAISED MY GAME

Nico Rosberg scored his fifth win of the season with a faultless drive in the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Carlos Pace, in Sao Paulo, where he also cemented second place in the 2015 Formula 1 world championship. The German spoke after his triumphant day at Interlagos.

Nico, your 40th time on the podium, surely one of the sweetest? Another great drive, your second victory in a row.

Nico Rosberg: Yeah, for sure, thank you very much. It was a great weekend for me here. Of course everything relative with what happened back in Paris. But still, very, very happy, it went perfectly. Lewis put on a good challenge but I was able to control it and never give him a chance, so I’m pleased with that.

Well, maybe Lewis was just mighty on the brakes then. It looked like you were pacing yourself, tyres, brakes, or were there any kind of issues you were carrying?

NR: No, no issues. It was just controlling the pace – never overdoing doing, not to risk doing a mistake and also to not risk having too much degradation. We saw Lewis dropping off a lot with degradation in the second stint and that confirmed that it was important to take care of the tyres.

We heard you on the radio saying ‘don’t talk to me anymore’, the pressure was intense, Lewis was trying his hardest towards the end.

NR: It just depends. Sometimes I need the information but at that point I just wanted to focus on driving and get the job done.

You’ve got to do this earlier in the year, so you can have a fight in the world championship….

NR: Thank you very much for that piece of advice, I could figure that out for myself!

So how can you do that, how can you change that?

NR: Well, I’m pushing now and I was pushing in the beginning of the season. I don’t have an exact explanation for why it’s going so strongly now but I just want to keep it going.

You’re on a roll. It’s not through luck, it’s through speed, but maybe you should go to the casino or play the lottery or something – everything is running for you at the moment.

NR: Well, I’ve been working hard also, because Lewis had the upper hand for a lot of the season and I needed to try to turn it round, so at the moment it’s going really well, I’m pleased with that and next race now Abu Dhabi, I want to try to go for the win there again.

Another good reception from the crowd. Win number 13 for you, which confirms your second place in the Drivers’ Championship 2015. Does it good to be in control, second consecutive win from pole?

NR: It feels great to win the races, for sure. Two in a row now, with pole positions as well. It’s just going a lot better at the moment, which I’m happy about that. I don’t have an exact explanation unfortunately, otherwise it would make it all a lot more simple. But of course I’ve been working at it a lot, because Lewis had the upper hand for the first part of the season and so, yeah, I’m pleased that it’s turned around at the moment.

We’re all searching for explanations as to the turnaround in qualifying form. One of the things that someone’s pointed out today is that this has happened since the tyre pressures were increased from Monza onwards – I know you were on pole in Monza Lewis – but since then it’s been Nico all the way. Do you think that’s one of the influencing factors potentially?

NR: No, I don’t. I don’t think so. I think I’ve just raised my game. That’s it.

This track might be worse, but it’s not the only track where you can’t follow a car closely. Is it time for a fundamental change in the technical rules – so that you can actually follow closely?

NR: Yes, we always need to keep improving the sport – but I don’t know how the battles were further back. Up front I had the pace advantage over Lewis today so of course he’s not going to come by me because in the end of the race I was six seconds in front. So it’s normal he’s not going to pass me in that case. Behind, I don’t know how it’s going but of course it’s always difficult in F1 to pass – that’s why DRS has come onboard and that’s really made a lot of progress for us. So we’ve seen a lot of excitement because of that – but we need to keep working at it for sure, and keep thinking about it.

I would like to comment on the enthusiasm of the Brazilians for the Grand Prix and of course, we see a big party in the grandstands, even without a Brazilian driver, so I would like you to comment on that and if you feel a difference in this weekend?

NR: It’s just awesome, we’re very thankful for this massive atmosphere that everybody’s putting on here and in Latin America in general, the races now. It’s fantastic. Some of the races elsewhere can learn from the emotions that everybody is bringing to the race track.

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HAMILTON: FROM SINGAPORE THERE’S BEEN A CHANGE TO THE CAR

2015 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton had to play second fiddle to his Mercedes teammate in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Autodromo Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo. He spoke afterwards.

Fastest lap of the race but you didn’t quite have enough pace to challenge your team-mate today.

Lewis Hamilton: No, I had the pace, it’s just you can’t overtake around here.

You were on the radio complaining, [saying] ‘I just can’t follow around this track’ and then dropping back towards the end.

LH: Yeah, I mean obviously I was behind Nico and in traffic for some time and it just killed my tyres. It’s a shame because it’s such a great track but you just can’t get close enough to race. I don’t know if there were other people overtaking. Unless you have a huge advantage on the guy in front… Motorsport is about fine lines, you know, about tenths of a second, but you can’t get close enough within a tenth of a second to be able to fight. It’s a shame because it would be good if we did some overtaking here.

You were on the radio saying ‘give me a different strategy, let me get ahead somehow’, but you can’t do that within the team I guess. Is that frustrating?

LH: Well, I mean, I’m here to race and when you both have to do pretty much the same order it’s kind of already set from the beginning, so for sure I’m like “if there are any other strategies, let’s do it, let’s take a risk, let’s do whatever” and they’re like “look after the tyres”, and I’m like “No, I’m racing”, you know and I think that’s what people want to see, but unfortunately today, as I said, I couldn’t get close enough to ne able to really put on a great, so it was relatively boring following in a tow.

This guy has got the legs on you at the moment. You’ve got to come back for Abu Dhabi somehow.

LH: Yeah, Nico has been driving fantastically well. He did a fantastic job in qualifying, especially in the last few races. The last race he drove fantastically well, today no mistakes, so he did good.

It seems that win number 44 for the driver of car number 44 will have to wait for another couple of weeks, possibly. Interesting talking point for you: I think second stint in particular you were looking to do something different, try to see if there was another strategy, it’s not uncommon for you to do different things between the team, and you were told plan B wasn’t really option, but then, when we got into the mid-30 laps there was a switch of strategy for everybody. I wonder if you could just talk us through how you felt about that, your thinking around the strategy and how it all evolved?

LH: I think the strategy was good. The team had anticipated that the tyres would go longer than they were, which I wasn’t sure would be the case before the race, and it turns out it wasn’t. No, it’s just in the race you’re just trying to see… I love this track, it’s such a great circuit but unfortunately it’s so difficult to overtake. You get to within a second and you just lose downforce and there’s no way you can get any closer. And the DRS zone is kind of maybe not long enough, if that was to be the thing to make the difference, it’s almost not long enough. So I was just trying to see if there was any other kind of strategy. I mean, I’m our there racing so I’m looking for any kind of options. Surely there are not only two options for pit stops.

So looking back on it, if you had done gone out and down two different things – split the strategy from the outset, one of you on two and one of you on three, see what happened at the end – it would have been more interesting?

LH: No, no. A three-stop was generally slower or it was supposed to be slower, but obviously at the end it turned out that the three stop was probably better as the tyres didn’t last, so… I have no idea about that, but the team made a good choice.

We’re all searching for explanations as to the turnaround in qualifying form. One of the things that someone’s pointed out today is that this has happened since the tyre pressures were increased from Monza onwards – I know you were on pole in Monza Lewis – but since then it’s been Nico all the way. Do you think that’s one of the influencing factors potentially?

LH: Well, from Singapore onwards there’s been a change to the car – but whether or not that’s made a difference, I don’t know really. We’ll have to see. But it has changed since Singapore.

This track might be worse, but it’s not the only track where you can’t follow a car closely. Is it time for a fundamental change in the technical rules – so that you can actually follow closely?

LH: At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what we say because it can’t happen. The big bosses make the decisions and whether or not they make the right ones for many years, who knows. Something’s got to change y’know? Because some races you can follow which enables you to have some good racing, obviously places like Austin where there was the last decent race but otherwise there are some places it’s just… I guess for fans it’s probably not too exciting to watch. Of course, it’s always nice when you’re at the front, as we have been for some time now – but still, being able to race is what… and also down the back, the rest of the field is probably what fans want to see. That’s probably a change that would be looked positively on.

Given that the Constructors’ championship is done, the Drivers’ championship is wrapped up, you’re ahead of Ferrari in this race, would you like a bit more freedom to – as you said on the podium – to take a risk and do a strategy that’s different because at the end of the day, if you fell back, you haven’t lost anything in championship terms? And to Nico as well: you must have been in a position where you were behind Lewis and had to follow the same strategy. Is that frustrating for you as well?

LH: I think we have to rely on the team. As I said before, of course I was looking for whatever other opportunities there may be because on the track it was not looking great and contrary to what Nico was saying, there was one point where I was all over him but I just couldn’t get by, I just couldn’t get close enough in that last second and I did have the fastest lap, so I obviously had the pace today. As I said, it would be great to sometimes be able to do something different, to do something rather than just… you know, you’re lap 15, you’re lap 16 and lap 42 or whatever it was. Our targets were lap 41, 42… to have some options. Hey, do you want to do this, do you want to do that and see how it plays out? Ultimately I think they do so many strategic simulations that they pick the best two and that’s what we’re stuck with.

I would like to comment on the enthusiasm of the Brazilians for the Grand Prix and of course, we see a big party in the grandstands, even without a Brazilian driver, so I would like you to comment on that and if you feel a difference in this weekend?

LH: It’s been fantastic. Always coming to Brazil, there’s obviously a lot of love in the hearts of the Brazilian fans for the sport and that’s shown 100 percent every time we come, so a big thank you to the people who run this circuit for doing such a good job with the circuit in terms of looking after it. The tarmac has been great generally and the new paddock has been fantastic so it’s bringing it up to standard and it continues to be a track that we can not miss. This is actually the first weekend that I’ve actually been aware of the old circuit so I would love to see an amendment to this track. It used to be one of the longest circuits on the calendar. Who knows whether that track has more opportunities for overtaking, but the one that we have now could definitely be better.

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VETTEL: WE WERE CLOSER THAN MANY, MANY RACES PREVIOUSLY

Sebastian Vettel was once again best of the rest, behind the dominant Mercedes duo, this time at the Brazilian Grand Prix where he bagged third place and with it stood on the podium for the 13th time so far this year. The triple F1 world champion spoke after his afternoon at the Autodromo Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo.

It seems that you’ve got the VIP invitation for the 13th time this year on the podium to the Mercedes-Benz party up here.

Sebastian Vettel: Thank you but… I think it was a good race for us. I was hoping that at the start maybe we could do something, but it wasn’t possible. The start was OK, but it wasn’t any better than Lewis or Nico’s. After that, I thought halfway through the first stint that maybe we could stay with them, but then they were starting to pull away. Overall, I think we have to admit that they were just a bit quicker. But overall, I would say we were probably closer here than in many, many races before in terms of race pace – only one, two, three tenths maybe at the time – and in the last stint we were even a bit quicker. Overall, it felt like a good race but yeah, for sure, it was not very exciting, we were a bit in no-mans land, we didn’t have anybody to fight with but hopefully next race we can be again a bit closer.

You obviously, like the Mercedes drivers, made a switch it seems – but you went to the softs on lap 33. Talk us through the thinking and the discussion with the team that went into that.

SV: Well, obviously we were too far away to really put big pressure on Mercedes and safe from the cars behind so we thought to try something different, put the soft tyre which, in the end, was very good. I was very happy on the soft tyre, probably a little bit happier than on the medium. Unfortunately we hit a lot of traffic to make a benefit or to keep catching up – but I guess it was the same for them out in front – but the idea was simply try to do something different. Yeah. We knew that the soft doesn’t go as far but probably a little bit quicker in the end. As I said, it lasted fairly well and I think it was a bit quicker so it was fair enough to try. Also, in the end I think we had good speed. We were in clean air, catching a little bit. Then again, it’s difficult to say how much Nico was controlling with Lewis behind. Obviously when you’re in the lead it’s always a bit different and not necessary to push into the unknown. Over all I think it was a good day for us. Good race. We were closer than many, many races previously, so I think it’s a good effort and shows our real standing right now.

This track might be worse, but it’s not the only track where you can’t follow a car closely. Is it time for a fundamental change in the technical rules – so that you can actually follow closely?

SV: I think on paper this is one of the easiest tracks to overtake. Sure, if you’re behind you always want the DRS zone to be longer because artificially it helps you to get closer. Naturally if you are only a tenth or two quicker then it’s very difficult to pass – whereas if you’re a second quicker it becomes more easy. I think in general what we need to follow another car closer in medium speed, high speed, slow speed corners is more mechanical grip. So shift the percentage between aero – mechanical more towards more mechanical. How to do that? I think we need better tyres that allow us to go quicker. Drivers want to be quicker. So, I think the solution is very simple. Unfortunately the sport is very political with different interests from different people. Yeah. I think it’s fair enough to give whoever tyre manufacturer, in this case Pirelli, the chance to improve their tyres – but we need to run. But since the responsible people, the teams, whoever, can’t agree on something, it will be difficult to make progress. Unfortunately the people who literally are paying for that are sitting on the grandstands. So, we would love to go quicker. I think they would love us to go quicker and have more excitement but bottom line is, if you look ten years ago, 20 years ago, it wasn’t like there was a lot more overtaking in the race. So it’s also not a disaster what we see now.

You have already said something about it at the beginning but you finished six seconds behind Lewis in a race without rain, without safety car. Can you extend your analysis, is Ferrari really approaching Mercedes, does it project something better for your team for next year?

SV: Yeah, I think overall it’s true that we are closer compared to Australia. Obviously Malaysia was a bit different for us but I think in general if you look at the beginning of the season to now we are a lot closer. I don’t know what happened to Lewis in the end, I think the real gap we have to look at is the one to Nico. I think they were dropping a bit of pace, I was catching up as well but we are a lot closer than previous races. I think already in Mexico – obviously my race didn’t go too well – but I think the pace was strong so yes, I think we are closer, that’s due to hard work. We’ve improved on the engine side, the motoristi in Maranello have done a miracle this year, that’s due to the car. We have raised our game but yeah, for sure we want to be closer, a lot closer, ideally ahead next year. That’s a massive step but that’s the challenge and that’s the target for next year. We know we set high targets but in the end we want to be favourites going in and not hoping for something to happen in front to benefit.

I would like to comment on the enthusiasm of the Brazilians for the Grand Prix and of course, we see a big party in the grandstands, even without a Brazilian driver, so I would like you to comment on that and if you feel a difference in this weekend?

SV: Well, I think it’s a great place to come to to be honest. Every year it just seems to get better. At the beginning, maybe I was too young when I came here. I was a bit frightened by the size of the city, 20 million people, I was a bit scared. Where I come from there’s 25,000 people and I already thought that was a big place. Yeah, so maybe I was a bit lost in the beginning but since you come back every year and you get to see different parts of the city, I think it’s a great place and obviously as soon as we come here, we are treated like super-heroes. We can’t really fly but obviously it’s nice to see the passion for races, for the sport and as you said, there’s a lot of flags around the track, Ferrari flags, German flags, English flags, for all of us to support. Obviously a place like this needs a local hero so it would be even better if a Brazilian was fighting for the podium but in principal I think it’s one of the best races we’ve had. There was never any discussion about the sport struggling here be

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BRIATORE ADMITS HE HAS NOT VISITED SCHUMACHER YET

Former team boss Flavio Briatore has admitted he is yet to visit Michael Schumacher, ever since his Formula 1 protege suffered a life altering skiing crash in late 2013.

Schumacher, whose first two titles in the nineties at Benetton came after Briatore poached him following a single race at Jordan, is now back at home in Switzerland but some reports suggest he is in a vegetative state.

“I have heard details from Felipe Massa, who has been with Michael,” Briatore, now retired from F1, told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

So, explaining why he has not gone to see the great 46-year-old German, Briatore added: “I want to keep Michael as I remember him, as I knew him.”

“I spent a lot of time with him, really liked him and admired him,” the 65-year-old Italian added. “So I want to keep that in my head.”

Official news about Schumacher’s health and condition is no longer forthcoming, so it is left to friends like Ross Brawn and Jean Todt to make comments about the former Mercedes and Ferrari driver following their visits.

“These are the expressions of friends. No more and no less,” Schumacher’s manager, Sabine Kehm, told the Kolner Express tabloid, suggesting that their information is unofficial.

Meanwhile, when asked about the sport more generally, Briatore admitted: “I miss Formula 1.”

“But not the current Formula 1 – my Formula 1,” he added, referring to his 20-year reign at Benetton and Renault that ended in 2009 when the FIA banned him amid the ‘crashgate’ scandal.

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WOLFF REACTS TO ECCLESTONE’S MANUFACTURER TAUNT

Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff has hit back at Bernie Ecclestone, after the F1 supremo suggested carmakers are prepared to destroy F1 for their own gain.

Manufacturers including dominant Mercedes are siding against the sport’s new plans for faster cars in 2017 and parallel engine regulations.

“They are not thinking of the sport, only themselves,” Ecclestone told Auto Motor und Sport. “We cannot destroy formula one due to people who believe they can take the sport hostage.”

But Wolff insists that Mercedes is thinking about F1, amid evidence that other racing categories have tried and failed to equalise performance with sets of parallel regulations.

“I don’t understand,” he told DPA news agency. “It seems as if we are completely stubborn and closing our eyes to what has happened in other series and all the associated problems.”

“Now we’re coming along, pulling a rabbit out of a hat and saying: Let’s do it!”

Wolff said Mercedes is clearly opposed to the parallel engines idea, with F1 prepared to keep the ‘power unit’ rules in place but usher in an independent supplier of an affordable twin-turbo V6 for smaller teams.

“It seems as though we are moving in circles,” Wolff continued. “At a certain point we decided we wanted to be the pinnacle of technology, relevant to the road industry and attract new manufacturers.”

“But we have four manufacturers on board already who are saying: We don’t want it (to change),” he added.

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SUTIL FUTURE IN F1 UNCERTAIN

Adrian Sutil admits his future in Formula 1 beyond the forthcoming 2015 finale in Abu Dhabi is not clear.

When Valtteri Bottas struck trouble with a back injury early this season, former Force India and Sauber driver Sutil was drafted in as Williams’ official reserve.

But when asked what he will be doing in 2016, 32-year-old German Sutil said: “Nothing is decided yet. It’s still a little bit open.

“Right now there is not much to announce,” he told Sky Deutschland in Brazil.

Sutil’s chances of stepping up to a race seat appear slim, however, with only Manor having vacancies with a reported $10 million price-tag.

But the German, who hinted he might also leave F1 for another series, insisted: “In formula one so much can happen very quickly so you always have to leave the door a little open.”

[MIKA27]

PIRELLI TYRE TEST IN ABU DHABI CONFIRMED

Following an agreement ratified by the FIA World Council, Pirelli will hold a tyre test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 1 December, after the final grand prix of the 2015 season.

Pirelli requested the Abu Dhabi session in order to develop a new construction for the 2016 slick tyres as well as to test the new Ultrasoft compound, which will form part of the P Zero F1 range next year.

The one-day test will take place from 9am-9pm continuously.

All teams will attend the test, running one car each, and they will not be allowed to try new parts nor alter the cars in any way during the test.

Pirelli will define the test programme for each car. The tyres used during this test will not be considered as part of the testing allocation for 2015 and will not show any branding or colour markings to indicate which tyre set is fitted to each car.

A very full testing program is planned due to the limited amount of time available. The full results will not be available until some days after the test is concluded, as all the data from the teams is collected and analysed.

For all these reasons Pirelli and the teams have with regret taken the joint decision to keep the test closed to the media. Pirelli will, however, be releasing a full press release at the end of the test.

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Why Formula 1 circuits uniting would revolutionise the sport

Really, what is it with F1 and America? Possibly the most important market for the sport, and the relationship gives the impression of being fated.

F1 used to get it right there with races each year at Watkins Glen and Long Beach. One east; one west. One a road course; one a street course. Both popular with fans and drivers alike. Both attracted large and vibrant crowds.

And yet. In the early '80s the Glen went bankrupt and then Long Beach was lost to Bernie Ecclestone's attempt to play financial hardball with it. F1 in America then entered a sublime to the ridiculous phase: there was the Las Vegas car park; Detroit which had everything other than the circuit which was awful; Dallas had more going for it than history often assumes but its only race was shambolic and then someone, um, did a runner with the takings; Phoenix had no crowd, indeed mirth was made one year that a nearby llama festival attracted more through the gates; Indianapolis looked like it provided an answer finally but that was lost too on almost identical grounds to Long Beach. Taking the whole thing full circle.

But now we have Austin. The Texan venue at the Circuit of the Americas which at last gave F1 its answer it seemed. A magnificent facility attracting vast numbers in, a track and event popular with drivers and fans, and at a town determined to absolutely embrace the whole thing. But no, perhaps it was indeed all too good to be true after all, given in recent days news landed that the Texas state government is to reduce its annual subsidy of the race from around $25m to around $18-19.5m as it changed its formula for measuring economic impact and concluded that of the F1 event was less than thought. The local government contribution is also expected to drop and this all at a time when the round's hosting fee is increasing, its crowds have tapered off a little and a financial hit was incurred in this year's event with the notorious bad weather.

Indianapolis turned its back on Formula 1 due to rising fees

Not that we should leap to the conclusion that they're being penny-pinchers, as the Texan state subsidy was, and is, much higher than for any other event and to give some kind of context is 25 times what it gives to the local NASCAR race. Some reports suggested that all were minded to cut the funding further than they did indeed. But whatever the rights and wrongs, summing up the potential impact of it all the COTA track's chairman Bobby Epstein said in response that "I think we're screwed". Bernie Ecclestone might yet be convinced to go easy on them given everything. But we know what Bernie thinks of the States. His first few public noises on the matter did not at all suggest emollition was on his mind.

And more to the point we know what Bernie, and his masters at CVC, as the sport's commercial rights holders think of money. Yes dear reader as you'll be aware this is by no means a peculiar case to the States or anywhere else, indeed the story by now will be a very familiar one.

Where does F1 get its vast sums of money to operate (and to pay its money-glutinous CVC masters) from? Not from sponsors as many cars these days barely have a livery on them. Ron Dennis even spoke recently of F1 living in a post-title sponsor age. "If you look at what title sponsorship would normally be" said Dennis earlier in the year, "it would be somewhere between 40-50 per cent of your budget. Where the budgets are for a competitive team, no company will come in and give you that kind of money."

It doesn't even come from ticket sales necessarily as there are a good few rounds whose crowds are rather meagre.

No the money these days tends to come in part from TV contracts (hence the sport's coverage disappearing increasingly behind paywalls) and a lot from race hosting fees. That is, the wedge that can be extracted from host rounds for the privilege of F1 turning up. Rather like, some have said, you hiring a factory to make your product in and expecting the factory to pay you for the honour.

And these fees now are so inflated as to be usually way over the event's ability to generate the money through other means.

The changes in the F1 calendar in the past ten years or so underline this. Yes Bernie has been known to talk loftily about expanding into new markets but essentially what sets many of these new host countries apart is that their Governments are happy to foot the large bill and write the financial loss off in the name of national promotion – some for more benign reasons than others.

Either that or you need a benevolent angel investor as the Austria and Mexico rounds have. Meanwhile as a result of it all some prestigious races associated with the sport's history and core following have been lost while even the British and now the Italian rounds seem to exist only in constant struggle. And as you may have discerned from attending one of these sort of races not only are ticket prices often high to make up for this as much as possible as it's one of the few means the circuit has to make the money back, but also little cash is left over for improving the fan experience and into line with what you might have experienced at other spectator events.

And as Austin found out even if you do get state support, the state can giveth and the state can taketh away.

But it is modern F1's way that one in the face of such things can feel helpless, like there is nothing to be done. And forced to go through periods of mind-numbing drift as the corrosive ways continue regardless. This is another instance. But there might be a way out, and one that might be nearer to reach – at least in theory – than we realise. It was outlined in the aftermath of those recent Austin developments by the estimable former F1 doctor Gary Hartstein on Twitter: "If the F1 licensed circuits would cartel up they'd have some leverage" he said.

If anything Hartstein understated the case. If the circuits one way or another got together and bargained as one then it would turn F1's distribution of power, and therefore its financial model, utterly on its head and immediately. The circuits would have the whip hand.

It's not a new idea either. For example back in 2011 when the Australian round's promoter Ron Walker was talking of F1 tracks in response to the proposed new engines for 2014 getting together and en masse going off to Indycar – and in an irony given it was Walker saying it, it was likely to have Bernie somewhere near to hand – Joe Saward wrote: "What is quite amusing in this scenario is that the idea of organising the circuits into a political force – traditionally rather like trying to herd cats – is also the last thing that Ecclestone wants as there is a very real danger that one day a leader will come along who realises that the race promoters have the real power in the sport, as the owners of the venues are the real owners of the TV rights."

After all the circuits and race promoters own the fixed assets. Without them F1 can't happen. And what does Bernie (or rather CVC) own aside from a few TV contracts? Their assets beyond that are strictly intangible. But that they negotiate with Bernie one at a time means Bernie has much opportunity to play them off against each other.

There also aren't actually all that many tracks in existence of the exacting Grade 1 standards required for an F1 race. An FIA list published earlier this year showed there were just 32 of them in the world (though since Mexico's Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez can presumably be added to it). And that an F1 calendar usually has 20 or more rounds on it – next year's has 21 as things stand – shows that Bernie has little room to manoeuvre. Circuits also can't be built overnight.

Also we have another irony here kicking around in this, given when Bernie first built his power base in F1 it was at a time when most of what money F1 made stayed with the race organisers and host circuits; the constructors – which tended to negotiate individually as the circuits do now – themselves got very little. Bernie therefore – in another irony – in effect used trade union tactics by organising the constructors and leading collective bargaining on their behalf, giving him huge muscle. This move with circuits if it came to pass would be another thing to in effect bring matters full circle.

And if folk couldn't stomach the union model the same end could be achieved with more of an enterprising capitalist one instead.

Saward a year later on a similar subject spoke of the model that exists in NASCAR. It has a very different outcome to F1's with a full 65% of its TV revenues going to the circuits, 25% to the teams and just 10% to the sanctioning body. That therefore ticket prices are much lower and all aspects of the fan experience much better is no coincidence. And a virtuous circle exists between the circuits and the sport, as the circuits share their income with the teams in the form of substantial prize monies. Also there's little need for Government help.

And why is this? As Saward explains: "The France family, which controls NASCAR, is also in control of the International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which owns around half the tracks that are used. They thus make more money. They are careful not to have too many venues and have a strong rival in Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc (SMI) and there are even one or two independent operators still in business. What this means is that the incentives are all aligned and all the businesses are stronger as a result."

As for what could be done for F1? "Given the state of the finances of some of the F1 tracks these days, buying a string of F1 venues would not be that difficult" Saward continued. "You cannot buy Monaco, but who is to stop the Formula One group buying Monza, Spa or even the Nurburgring and Hockenheim and then turning them around by being nice to the fans, rather than driving them away?

"In F1 circles the thought-process usually rejects ideas that they did not think about, but it might be wise to look at the NASCAR model and see the advantages it brings."

There are many benefits of the F1 circuits getting together and with it bringing the hosting fees down, and they would be felt by the sport's most important group, the paying public. Plenty of popular venues near to F1's core support such as those in France, Imola and the like, could be priced back into the market, plus prestige and attracting a crowd would again be the chief considerations rather than having the readies to hand (personally I thought India was abandoned way too soon too). As outlined circuits wouldn't need to charge such high ticket prices plus could invest more into the experience the fan does get, such as comfort, access and additional entertainment. And given that necessity is the mother of invention F1 would have to find more healthy and sustainable ways to fund itself, such as by growing its fanbase (further aiding the case of the tracks mentioned) and attracting sponsors and other investors, which in turn may convince those in charge to be more minded of the sport's image. A virtuous circle again.

So if it's that glaring then why hasn't it happened? Well there's the usual impediment of no one having thought of it, or rather even if the benefits of it had occurred to them (and I'm sure it has to a few) no one has taken the initiative, or had the time or inclination, or even the skill or fortitude, to be the one to do it. Taking on Bernie is not for the faint of heart.

Bernie organising the constructors back in the day was enough of an achievement and he had the advantage not only of an effective power vacuum in the sport at the time but that those constructors got together in the same place every couple of weeks. Not so with circuits which stay at the four corners of the globe and all sorts of barriers exist between them in terms of language, time zones and the like. You heard what Saward said about herding cats.

Would Bernie allow it to happen behind his back? Most likely not.

There are other probable barriers too in making this work. The first is the jewel in the crown of Monaco, which uniquely does not pay a hosting fee. How exactly therefore do you get them on board with this? Before you begin the most important chip of all could be Bernie's to play.

Then there are a few of those new rounds I cited, whose virtually only selling point is their ability to pay the vast hosting fees. Why would they therefore get on board with something whose aim is to shoot their only fox?

Bernie therefore with Monaco and the middle and far eastern Tilkedromes on his side suddenly has something to work with in creating a calendar.

And as we know divide and rule is quite Bernie's thing as seen for example with FOTA a few years back wherein the competitor teams were in a similar sense seeking to unite against his interest. Then Bernie resolved (from his point of view) the situation by offering highly lucrative deals to Ferrari and Red Bull to tempt them and their supporter teams to cut and run, in so doing delivering a wound to FOTA that proved fatal (it also skewed the wealth distribution among the teams which is something we still suffer from, but that's another story). It wouldn't be beyond Bernie therefore to pick a couple of the more important venues and tempt them with nice discounts… Just as with FOTA the rest could be left with little option but to follow on and on rather non-advantageous terms.

But then again most of these tracks are on non-advantageous terms as it is. Plus even if you don't have all of the tracks onside as NASCAR has shown having a significant block of them together as one can be effective enough. As outlined too they make losses on their F1 races anyway so have little to lose in that regard either. Some tracks that have dropped off the calendar lately have given the impression of being positively relieved to be rid of their F1 money loss.

Let's end with a final irony. Given everything taking adapted inspiration from a Communist Manifesto rallying cry for any F1 matter – let alone for its haughty power brokers - doesn't seem all that likely. But it applies rather aptly here. Circuits of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

[MIKA27]

McLaren: Will they be the comeback kings of 2016?

Languishing ninth in the Formula 1 Constructor’s championship with just 27 points underlines the season of woe that McLaren have experienced in 2015.

What has made the season even more disappointing for the Woking-based squad was the sense of anticipation, with the return of Honda and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

Yet, despite acceptance after initial winter testing that there was plenty of work to be done, McLaren and Honda butted heads, with both Jenson Button and Alonso coming within a whisker of departing for pastures new.

Disaster would be the best word to explain the 2015 F1 season for McLaren.

However, amidst the clear lack in horse power and poor reliability, shoots of optimism have begun to appear amongst the team.

"McLaren will be one of the top cars next year, that is 100 per cent," Alonso recently told Sky Sports F1.

"The problems are identified and quite local, let's say, on the engine side and also on the car side.

"Aerodynamically we have to improve a couple of things but the direction is clearly a good one. Mechanically there are some updates coming to improve the mechanical grip and reliability because we had a little bit too many retirements that we need to fix as well.

"All the problems are understood, but the solutions are unfortunately sometimes taking a little bit of time. Winter will be the best time to put in place this progress."

Whilst McLaren do have a mountain to climb before they can accurately predict they will be challenging the frontrunners in 2016, the foundations for a quick return to form are already well in place.

Firstly, as Alonso’s comments reveal, there appears to be an acceptance between both Honda and McLaren where the problems are in the MP4-30. Tightly packed aerodynamics with “size zero” sidepods have done little to help Honda’s return to an F1 which is engine dominated.

McLaren have admitted that there is a new focus on design and set-up to their F1 contenders, taking a more widely copied route of allowing space for a larger power-unit and running more rake on the car to force the nose lower to the ground.

Honda

With McLaren seemingly beginning to understand what is required from the car aerodynamically, under the leadership of former Red Bull designer Peter Prodromou, Honda have also expressed their optimism that their power-unit can catch up to its rivals.

Can Honda turn their fortunes around?

"A car 2.5 seconds faster than us already exists, so in that sense it isn't a miracle. You can do it with the technology," Honda F1 boss Yasuhisa Arai said.

"McLaren and Honda must close the gap. That is the target, but it is hard work, considering the preparation time."

The partnership, despite its occasional difficulties and digs in the media, remains both strong and committed, with Honda rumoured to be providing a total of $200m-per-year to its partnership with McLaren and power-unit budget.

Throwing money at an F1 project is not necessarily the answer, just ask the bosses of Toyota after their F1 project failed to secure a single race victory in their short period in the sport, however it gives Honda the opportunity to eradicate the deficit that currently exists.

The internal combustion engine is still believed to be in the region of 30bhp behind the leading Mercedes alternative, with further energy harvesting problems, the battery chargers and small turbo, has compounded their top-speed deficit, especially on long straights.

The hybrid system deployment on longer straights can shut down before the car arrives at a corner, meaning a potential loss of up to 250bhp against its rivals.

On top of this, poor reliability has been another decisive factor in Honda’s underwhelming return to F1, with Button and Alonso both expressing their disappointment throughout the season.

Despite the obvious downfalls, further leniency with engine development rules allowing manufacturers more opportunities for improvements have given Honda’s Arai further optimism that they can catch the leaders.

"We definitely believe that because we had a lot of reliability issues that hindered us from focusing on power output, definitely next year should be a bit better," Arai says.

"At this moment, there is no plan to change the fundamental architecture because it affects the car.

"It will affect the aerodynamics greatly if we do change the architecture.

"McLaren and Honda agree that to make it a more aerodynamically efficient car they want to keep the package as small as possible."

Drivers

Plenty of work is yet to be done for both McLaren and Honda to make the improvements needed to catch the leading teams. However, with both Alonso and Button, the team has two of the best drivers on the grid to further push the car beyond its limitations.

One of the best driver pairings on the grid?

Alonso has a track record of outperforming competitors in a car which is unable to match his ability. Despite over two years without a race victory to his name, the Spaniard is still regarded as one of the best drivers in the world.

Button, a man who has been in more poor cars in his F1 race career than good, is knowledgeable enough to know when there is enough potential in a team to turn its form around, something he experienced when Honda last exited the sport at the end of the 2008 season.

"I spent a lot of time on the phone with Ron [Dennis] and a lot of time in the factory with the engineers and I am really excited for the future," Button said when speaking about the news he was to see out the remainder of his contract.

"I needed to know that there were big changes coming for next year because when you decide you want to race in Formula 1 you have to give it your all. You have to give 100 per cent every second of that year, your life has to be Formula 1. To do that you need to know that you see a future and I definitely think we do."

Taking into account the rumoured interest from Porsche in the World Endurance Championship, allowing more time for Brit to partake in triathlons and media activities, the decision to stay with McLaren for another year would have only been taken on the basis that he believes in the future of the team.

Alonso and Button will both know that the future success in F1 will require a strong tie-up with a global manufacturer, which is why McLaren so fiercely vetoed any potential deal between Honda and Red Bull, and why the Woking-based squad severed their ties with the dominant Mercedes.

With Honda, McLaren have the uninterrupted attention of one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers, which will eventually produce a strong package to compete with the leading F1 teams.

History

The experience of a fully-fledged racing outfit such as McLaren should not be overlooked. In-fact, the British team has a history of bouncing back from poor seasons and enhanced development gains.

In 2009, under a major rule overhaul, McLaren endured a difficult season trying to catch the dominant Brawn GP and Red Bulls, with the new kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) failing to give the pace advantage as predicted.

The defining feature of the new regulations was the controversial double diffuser, which was eventually copied by the field after the FIA cleared the likes of Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams to use the aerodynamic tool.

Despite being well behind the leading Brawn team, McLaren took four pole positions and two victories with Lewis Hamilton from the last eight races, despite having none previously.

McLaren are under no illusions that there will be an overnight fix once the chequered flag falls at the end of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a few weeks.

They, more than anyone, will be fully aware of the mammoth task ahead to make up the pace gap which they currently endure in chassis and engine performance.

However, with backing from a global car manufacturing giant, huge resources of wealth, brilliant racing drivers and a history of overcoming adversity, McLaren are in a good a position as is possible to reach the top step of the podium once more.

Whether it is in 2016, 2017 or beyond, make no mistake, McLaren will be back on form.

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Hill: Allow drivers to call the shots

Damon Hill believes Mercedes should have allowed Lewis Hamilton "to call the shots" in terms of his race strategy midway through the Brazilian GP.

After finding himself stuck behind team-mate Nico Rosberg and with his tyres starting to wear off, Hamilton asked his engineer to get him onto a different strategy.

The team, though, kept the status quo and Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff also confirmed after the race that they won't change their approach despite Hamilton's moan.

However, 1996 World Champion Hill believes teams should be more flexible with their strategies and give drivers an option to "try something different".

"I have some sympathy with what Lewis was saying, the drivers should be allowed to call the shots – and if he wants to try something different and basically zag when the other guy is zigging," he told Sky Sports F1.

"If you go on the same strategy you are going to get the same situation. Going on a different strategy, something could have happened to Lewis' opportunity. He could have got a better pit-stop, gained a little bit more time in traffic and made it a more interesting race."

Besides Hamilton's complaints and a couple of impressive overtaking moves from Max Verstappen, the Brazilian GP failed to deliver.

Hill believes F1 needs to do something to make the sport more exciting.

"It is one of the inherent problems with our sport and how it is structured. The teams have a responsibility to their investors and the team and everything and they have to consider the big picture," he added.

"But you at home are buying a ticket to watch and you want to see the drivers racing against each other so you have every right to say 'well, I am not watching a race, am I? I want my money back.' It is a fair enough point to want to see two guys, in the same team, free to race each other at will."

MIKA: I think this statement let drivers call the shots is a little hypocritical in that often when the pit wall engineers don't say anything, drivers are often heard on the radio complaining about not getting information and often asking for it. Lewis Hamilton is one of those who often ask for help. Yet when it suits him, he's now complaining about it.

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Arrivabene pleased with Ferrari pace

They may not have been able to upstage Mercedes, but Ferrari had plenty of reason to be upbeat with their display at Interlagos.

Nico Rosberg led home another Merc 1-2 at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, but Sebastian Vettel kept his rivals on their heels for most of the race and eventually finished third while Kimi Raikkonen was fourth.

Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene believes there were plenty of positives for his team over the weekend.

"Our pace was good: on some laps we were close to the Mercedes, on some other stages we were matching their lap times and on some occasions we managed to be even quicker," he said.

"Overall, though, they were quicker than us on more occasions. Looking at the data, we see that despite having no safety car period in this race, we were closer at the end than in most other races this year. And our cars were the only ones not to be lapped!

Next up is the season finale in Abu Dhabi and Ferrari are determined to finish with a "brilliant result".

"Much of the credit goes to our car and all the people who worked on it all year," Arrivabene added. "Now we move on to Abu Dhabi and the last race of the season. We said we wanted to end up this year in style, and that means we’ll be trying everything we can to achieve a brilliant result!"

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Grosjean won’t rule out Lotus return

A difficult Sunday afternoon for Romain Grosjean yielded two points as he raced with a heavy heart following the Paris attacks.

Grosjean, the only Frenchmen on the grid, joined his fellow drivers in a minute's silence ahead of the Brazilian GP as they paid their respects to those who were killed in Friday night's attacks.

Taking to the grid later that afternoon he raced to ninth place, scoring two more points in what was his penultimate race for Lotus.

"Certainly not the easiest one of the season very much because of what happened in France," Grosjean said. "It is all in our hearts."

As for his pending departure from Lotus, the Haas-bound driver says he's not ruling out one day returning to the Enstone team.

"Abu Dhabi will be last race with Lotus," he added. "Who knows I may come back, never say never, but we'll see.

"It is going to be a difficult one after the chequered flag but it will be special.

"I will give my best and try to get a good result for the team."

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Max: P10 was the maximum

He once again impressed with some smart overtaking moves in Brazil, but Max Verstappen admits his 10th place finish was the best he could have hoped for.

The Toro Rosso rookie start the race in 10th place at Interlagos, but found himself lapping outside the top 10 twice after the pit stops and on both occasions he fought his way back and eventually took the final point.

He easily produced two of the overtaking moves of the day as he got the better of both Felipe Nasr of Sauber and Sergio Perez of Force India at Turn 1 with the pass on the Mexican as close as you can get without making contact.

"It was my only chance really," he told FormulaSpy.com. "We were lacking a lot of top speed today and I saw that Checo (Perez) was really struggling with his tyres and I got a good run out of the last corner. Then I tried around the outside, and we just gave each other enough room. That was fair racing.

"Around the rest of the track, we didn’t have enough top speed and it was all about that last corner, how good your exit was. Every time I passed, it was due to me getting a good exit out of the last corner.”

He added: "It was a very tough race. While I was attacking guys in front, there were guys behind attacking me, so all the race I was pushing the most I could. To come away with a point, I think that’s the most we could have done."