FORMULA 1 - 2015

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PIRELLI PREVIEW THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

The Australian Grand Prix circuit: a semi-permanent facility at Albert Park in Melbourne, where the soft and medium P Zero tyres have been chosen.

There’s a slippery surface, low grip, high downforce and heavy braking: all of which increase the workload on the tyres.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “Our fifth season of Formula One gets underway in Australia: one of the most exciting races of the year as it’s the start of a new season held at a venue that is always extremely challenging, popular and unpredictable.

Just like last year, we’ve nominated the medium and soft compounds, which cover the very wide range of usage conditions that are possible in Melbourne. The new rear structure increases traction and helps drivers get onto the power earlier: one of the factors that has led to faster lap times this year. As always at the start of the season, there are big question marks about the pecking order and relative performance of the cars. All we know for sure is that performance will inevitably increase still further during the course of the year, which will naturally have an effect on the interaction between the cars and the tyres. The behaviour of the tyres was in line with our expectations during pre-season testing, but of course you cannot really compare testing to real racing, with drivers pushing to the limit. That’s why this weekend in Melbourne is so eagerly anticipated by everyone.”

The biggest challenges for the tyres:

• Albert Park took over the Australian Grand Prix from Adelaide in 1996. Being a semi-permanent track, the racing line is often ‘green’: dirty and slippery, especially at the start of the weekend.
• This increases wheelspin, which leads to a greater degree of tyre degradation. The torque of the new generation of turbo-hybrid engines accentuates this phenomenon.
• Acceleration and braking are the keys to a good performance in Melbourne, with the longitudinal forces at work on the tyres being greater than the lateral forces. The improved combined traction of the P Zero tyres this year marks a significant step forward in this area.
• The left-rear tyre works hardest in Melbourne, with 10 right-hand corners and six left-hand corners. The asphalt is very smooth, which helps to extend tyre life, and the teams run high downforce. There are plenty of slow corners, putting the emphasis on mechanical grip from the tyres.
• A good, potentially flexible, strategy and the ability to look after tyres well pay dividends in Australia, which is often affected by safety cars and unpredictable weather. Of the current competitors, Jenson Button is the most successful driver in Australia (with three wins), while McLaren is the most successful team with 11 wins (six equally with Ferrari at Melbourne).

Last year’s strategy and how the race was won: Nico Rosberg won the race for Mercedes from third on the grid (most of qualifying had been held in wet weather). Rosberg followed a soft-soft-medium strategy that was also used by the top nine finishers.

Following an early safety car period, Rosberg made his first stop on lap 12 and his second stop on lap 38. The race lasts 58 laps.

Expected performance gap between the two compounds: 1.2-1.5 seconds per lap.

The Pirelli team choose their race numbers: #21, Paul Hembery (Pirelli motorsport director) “I’d say 21 because that’s the age when everything interesting starts to happen, my birthday is March 21 (which was Ayrton Senna’s birthday too) and June 21 is the first day of summer, the longest day of the year …”

Who we’re following on Twitter this week: @takiinoue. The Japanese former F1 driver has one of the funniest (and most self-deprecating) accounts on Twitter. For those unfamiliar with his work, this is an essential follow, particularly when he accuses other drivers of “driving like Taki Inoue”.

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DC: Stuff at McLaren very 'unMcLaren like'

David Coulthard admits he "can't get his head around the situation" at McLaren ahead of the start of the new season.

McLaren's renewed partnership with Honda didn't get off to the best of starts as the team had a nightmare pre-season during which they completed only a handful of laps.

To add insult to injury, they will be without Fernando Alonso for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix this weekend as the double World Champion was advised to sit out the race after he suffered a concussion during a crash in the second test.

BBC F1 commentator Coulthard admits he is not quite sure what is going on at the Woking squad.

"I just can't get my head around the situation and all the difficulties they've had. Honda [who supply McLaren’s power unit] are behind right now and it will take them time to catch up. But they had an extra year to develop their engine. Last year, when the new engines were introduced, Ferrari and Renault didn’t do as good a job as Mercedes," he told the Guardian.

"But while all that was happening Honda had already signed to McLaren and had a year learning and developing, so it’s really weird. There’s stuff going on there which is very unMcLaren like. But then they’ve had a pretty bad run for years now."

McLaren last won the Drivers' Championship in 2008 while their last Constructor's title came 1998. Even more worryingly, the team have failed to win a race the past two seasons.

The McLaren Group have pumped a lot of effort into their road car division in recent years and Coulthard warns they need to focus on Formula 1 if they want to get back on track.

"Ron Dennis [the chairman of the McLaren Group] has this desire to grow the group and launch cars and run a Formula One team. But no one can give 100% to two things. It’s physically impossible," the former F1 driver said.

"They brought the F1 sports car out in the 1990s and then the Formula One team dropped off for a while. Then the Formula One team came up before they did the SLR with Mercedes, and then the racing team went down. Then it went up again and then, recently they brought out another road car, the P1, and the F1 team has gone down again. There is definitely this cycle.

"You need investment to develop a road car project. And if you are putting time and energy into finding money for the road car the less time and energy you’re putting into the Formula One.

"The reason Red Bull won four championships is not because it’s an historic name in Formula One but because they invested in the right guys and they were all totally focused on one thing.

"It was the same thing at Ferrari when they had the Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn period. They were totally focused and they created this winning machine. And when that focus disappeared the team lost their way.

"Last year there were changes at McLaren but it was a very disappointing year for them. They had all this restructuring going on and they had a good engine but they just didn’t have a good car. They might not have the best engine now, in the Honda. But you’ve got to believe their design team can do a better job than they have done. They’ve got amazing design facilities. If this was a competition to decide who had the best facilities to design the best piece of kit McLaren would win the world championship every year. Ferrari is a pretty tired and run-down place. Red Bull is an industrial estate in Milton Keynes. It’s not sexy."

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Vijay Mallya: Time to focus on racing

Although Vijay Mallya concedes Force India won't know until Saturday how competitive their VJM08 is, he hopes his team has a bright future ahead.

Force India's 2015 got off to a torrid start as the team sat out the opening test before heading to the second with an old VJM07.

With the team's financial woes making headlines, Force India finally announced that the new car would run at the final test - but only on day two.

Despite the delay, though, the VJM08 was immediately reliable, allowing Nico Hulkenberg and then Sergio Perez to put in lap after lap.

The car's pace also wasn't too bad as they mixed it up in the midfield.

However, Force India - like their rivals - will have wait until Saturday's qualifying in Australia for a better idea of where they really are in F1's pecking order.

"It's no secret that we have faced some delays and challenges over the winter, but we've put that behind us and can now focus on the racing," Mallya said.

"When the VJM08 appeared in Barcelona it ran reliably from the very first moment and didn’t miss a beat during its 365 laps. To deliver such a solid performance out of the box was a fantastic achievement from everyone in the team and will stand us in good stead for the first race.

"As for our hopes in Melbourne, it’s difficult to make a prediction. In terms of mileage we are clearly behind the other teams so there is some ground to make up. Equally, the performance work we could do in Barcelona was quite limited.

"Until we run in qualifying trim and race conditions it’s hard to know where we are in terms of competitiveness. What I do know is that we will give it our best shot to come away with a result."

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Ecclestone defends customer chassis plan

Bernie Ecclestone has defended his proposal for smaller teams to purchase chassis, adamant it would not downgrade Formula 1.

Although this year's grid has been boosted back up to 10 teams given Manor Marussia's return, many of F1's smaller - and even midfield - teams are in financial trouble.

Last week Ecclestone paid Sauber, Force India and Lotus a £6.5million advance on their end of season prize money in order to help smooth the way.

That, though, is not enough to ensure the survival of the smaller teams - and the sport as a whole.

Ecclestone is now proposing selling chassis - two per team to the small teams - for a charge of £15m, which would come out of the £50m teams are all paid for competing in Formula 1.

And with the remaining £35m plus sponsorship money, he feels all the teams would survive.

But, as expected, not everyone is happy with his idea.

"Some of the other teams are saying, "Well, this isn’t Formula One, this would be downgrading Formula One",' Ecclestone told the Daily Mail.

"I can’t see that.

"I’d call these four or five teams that we supplied chassis to the “Team Championship”. They would all be in the Team Championship but they wouldn’t be able to win the Constructors’ Championship.

"But to all intents and purposes, nobody would ever know. The public would never know. It would not alter the way they see the races. It wouldn’t change the spectacle. It would just mean that instead of incurring big losses, these teams would be able to make a profit.

"I have come up with something that could make a difference between the people that don’t have to worry about spending and those that do. But the bigger teams say it’s downgrading.

"They have been living in a very rich area and they think this would be like living in a poorer neighbourhood. So they don’t want to be associated with it."

Ecclestone added that some teams have gone overboard in their spending, especially unnecessary spending, and cites the Mercedes motorhome which apparently takes 24 trucks just to carry the parts to each race.

"When I ran Brabham in the Seventies, it was on a “Be reasonable, do it my way” dictatorship system. We were racers and we found the money to keep ourselves going. There were always the haves and the have-nots and there was always Ferrari with a lot more money. Nowadays, there is a big difference.

"There are teams that spend maybe £500m a season and other people that are trying to work with a £120m budget, which is still too much. The regulations don’t hurt the people that can spend but hurt the people who are trying to put a team together.

"When you consider teams take maybe 120 people to race two cars and spend up to half a billion pounds to be there, it’s not too logical. The Mercedes unit that they take to races and put in the paddock, it takes 24 trucks to carry the parts to assemble it.

"The FIA believes it keeps the world alive because F1 cars don’t use any fuel. Not true. They use a few per cent less than a normal engine. But some teams have 24 trucks to build their motorhomes, which use a lot of fuel. So it is all nonsense.

"It is all complete hypocrisy, which upsets me. It is complete stupidity. So everyone has got their corner they want to fight for. The FIA want to be green, the teams are split on what they want to do and we want to make sure the championship is successful. We are in the entertainment business."

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Maldonado confident of Lotus improvement

Pastor Maldonado is certain Lotus will be "in the fight" when the season gets underway next Sunday in Australia.

On the back of a wretched first season with Lotus, in which he scored just two World Championship points, the Venezuelan driver is hoping - and expecting - better this season.

Not only are Lotus confident that their chassis is an improvement on its predecessor but armed with Mercedes power they have arguably the best engine in the field.

As such, Maldonado expects he will be part of the battle behind Mercedes to be the best of the rest.

He said: "Certainly we'll be in the fight!

"We’re working hard to improve and we’ve seen that the reigning champions have set a very high standard with their 2015 car.

"The difference between them and the rest of the field looks quite big after pre-season testing, but behind them the group is getting more compact.

"There should be a good mix of Williams, Red Bull, Ferrari and us which should make things interesting."

The 29-year-old, though, says the season-opening Australian Grand Prix will not give a true picture of the pecking order as it is a street circuit, which it is very different to the sport's permanent tracks.

"In terms of how the car performs, Albert Park is probably not the best gauge as it’s not a permanent race track and it’s unique in many different ways.

"Certainly, if we go well there we’ll be happy, but if it doesn’t go to plan then that won’t be the end of the world as it’s one of twenty races and it’s a very distinct circuit."

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Mercedes GT S named as 2015 Safety Car

Keeping with speed and style, Mercedes have named the Mercedes-AMG GT S as Formula 1's new Safety Car for the 2015 season.

The GT S, which can go from a standing start to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 310km/h, will be driven by Bernd Maylander.

"The gull-wing SLS AMG was my official car in Formula One for five years," Maylander said. "Now I'm looking forward to the new Mercedes-AMG GT S, which I have been fortunate enough to get to know during its development phase.

"The new AMG sports car won me over immediately with its high-calibre race track performance."

There is also a change to the Medical Car with the Mercedes C 63 S Estate taking the role.

The Medical Car, which is on hand to provide fast emergency medical care, will be driven by Alan van der Merwe while Dr Ian Roberts, the offical FIA head physician, will be alongside him.

Both cars are powered by 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engines.

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Alonso 'giving everything to be back for Malaysia'

Fernando Alonso has begun training again in preparation for his return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda MP4-30 for the Malaysian Grand Prix in a fortnight.

The Spaniard has been forced to miss the opening race this weekend following his test crash, with doctors ordering him to recover for at least 21 days to reduce the chances of second-impact syndrome (SIS).

He says he's giving everything to be back in the car and will be supporting Kevin Magnussen this weekend.

"Of course, I’m very disappointed not to be joining Jenson in Melbourne in the McLaren-Honda garage, but I understand the recommendations of the doctors and I'm already back in training and preparing for my first race in the MP4-30," said thr 33-year-old.

"I would like to thank everybody for their kind wishes and support and I'll be giving everything to be back in the cockpit for Malaysia.

"I wish Kevin all the best for this weekend in Australia, and I know the car is in his safe hands!"

Alonso added that he will be following the race closely whilst studying data from the car to prepare him for his return.

"Even though we faced a lot of challenges in the tests, I am very encouraged by the feeling I got from the car,"

he said.

"I'm looking forward to going through all of the data from this weekend with the team to continue our push for development and improve our performance."

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Haas on track for 2016 as it boosts technical staff

The Haas F1 Team is on schedule to become the first American-led team to join the grid in over 30 years when it makes its expected debut next season.

The team, led by owner Gene Haas and team principal Guenther Steiner, have confirmed a number of signings to its technical department, giving the outfit a major boost.

Dave O'Neill, formerly of Marussia - where he helped start the team in just six months - and Jordan, will take on the role of team manager.

He will be joined by Rob Taylor as chief designer. Taylor has worked with a number of teams in the past, including Marussia where he held the position of deputy chief designer. Prior to that, he worked with McLaren as senior design team leader, and Jaguar before that.

Ben Agathangelou takes up the chief aerodynamicist position having joined from Ferrari. He oversaw the upgrade of the team's wind tunnel and testing systems in Maranello.

Agathangelou has also worked with Dallara, and was head of aerodynamics for Jaguar and later Red Bull Racing from 2002 through 2007.

Haas also confirmed that its 60 per cent wind tunnel model has been completed and has undergone "numerous hours" of testing in Ferrar's Maranello facility, but Steiner admitted there remains much to do before 2016.

"While there is still a lot of work to do, a lot has already been accomplished for Haas F1 Team to be competitive when we join the F1 grid in 2016," he said.

"Our technical partnership with Ferrari has allowed us to develop our car and our people at an exceptional pace. The way we're going about our F1 team is new and different, but it's working. We're committed to our plan, we're committed to F1 and, most importantly, we're on schedule. This time next year, our cars will have already been tested and we'll be readying them for Melbourne."

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Honda positions MGU-H between turbo

Honda have chosen to go their own way with the design of their 2015 power unit, dubbed the RA615H, and only time will tell if it pays off.

Unlike Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault, they have chosen to position their MGU-H (motor generator unit - heat) between the turbo compressor and turbine.

Many had expected the Japanese manufacturer to follow Mercedes lead by placing the MGU-H and compressor at the opposite end of the internal combustion engine, away from the hot turbine.

Mercedes did this to decrease the power units cooling requirements by splitting the turbo in two, as one - the compressor - is fed by cold airflow and the second - the turbine - by hot exhaust gases.

Meanwhile Renault and Ferrari went down the same path by placing the MGU-H within the engine, alongside the compressor which is connected directly to the hot turbine.

The problem with this is the compressor works less efficiently as it's situated next to the hot turbine.

Honda has taken inspiration from Mercedes by splitting the compressor and turbine by placing the MGU-H in the middle of the two, though not to the same extent as last year's dominant engine.

When (or if) Honda resolves its reliability issues, it will be interesting to see if this approach pays off.

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Bianchi's father unsure if his son will wake up

Philippe Bianchi says he still does not know if the Frenchman will ever recover from his Japanese Grand Prix crash.

Former Marussia driver Bianchi is still in a coma in a French hospital over five months after the horrific Suzuka accident that left him with grave head injuries.

His father Philippe admitted it is very difficult to cope with the situation, especially not knowing if Jules will ever wake up or not.

However, Bianchi Sr is hopeful his son's fight will have a positive ending.

"Jules is still in a coma. As long as he does not wake up, the only thing we can do is wait," Bianchi's father is quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It takes patience, a lot of patience, but it is difficult to know that at any moment a terrible call could be coming from the hospital.

"We have to be strong, like Jules and for Jules.

"As long as he is in this state, the doctors cannot say anything. He might wake up or he might not.

"I think he will, as he has not fought with us this long for nothing."

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BREAKING! Court rules in Van der Garde's favour

Sorry all but there seems to be more controversy for the start of the Formula 1 season here in Melbourne...

Giedo van der Garde’s application to the Victorian Supreme court to claim a race seat with Sauber for the 2015 season has been ruled successful. This creates a right royal mess. Sauber is, of course, to blame for this, but one can understand the motivations behind the decision. The original plan, as I understand it, was to have Jules Bianchi and Van der Garde as the team’s drivers in 2015. The inclusion of the Frenchman ensured a top talent and also backing for the team (probably in the form of an engine discount) from Ferrari. Van Der Garde was included because he would be able to provide considerable funding for the team, through his sponsors, largely related to his father-in-law Marcel Boekhoorn.

After Bianchi was injured in October, it became clear to Sauber that the plan needed to be changed as Ferrari was no longer in a position to help the team as it had originally planned to. The team still has an arrangement with the Italian team, to have Raffaele Marciello as its test driver, but this meant that the team still has a hole in its 2015 budget. Perhaps more importantly, so I am told, the team was in a cash-flow crisis at the time because of the failure of Russian backers to deliver money that had been promised and because the plan to develop a relationship with Simona de Silvestro had also run into financial trouble.

The word is that Marcus Ericsson’s backers were willing to pay Sauber a substantial sum of money on signature of a 2015 contract which meant that the team was instantly out of immediate financial danger, but that still meant that there was more money required to get to a sensible budget in 2015. Thus when Felipe Nasr came along with more money than Van der Garde, it was the obvious solution to the problem. Ericsson and Nasr are pay-drivers just as Van der Garde is a pay-driver, but with more money and no real evidence to show that Van der Garde would produce better results it was logical for the team to secure its financial future and hope to be able to score the best possible results, so as not to risk losing its TV money in 2015.

It is clear that the only possible solution will be some kind of a settlement, but Sauber cannot really afford to pay Van der Garde to go away. In any case, it is a ridiculous situation in that the team will have no desire at all to run Giedo and he is not going to be able to produce any decent results with a team that does not want him, so forcing the team to put him in the car is not really going to achieve a great deal. The team is faced with the same problem if it now dumps one of the other drivers so it is probably best to stick with what is done and work out how to settle the dispute. The court has ruled that the contract is valid but it remains to be seen whether there is an order to Sauber to run him. If there is then the team is in danger of contempt or court, but if not it could simply ignore the ruling and then Van der Garde would have to apply for damages. Giedo does seem to have a right to feel aggrieved, but he must also understand why this has happened. That does not help his career but going ahead, will not be much help either.

Sauber is trying to argue that Van der Garde will present an unacceptable safety risk as he has not driven the car and it has been tailored to fit the other drivers.

“We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season,” Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber CEO and team principal, said.

“What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers.”

Finding a solution to the problem is not going to be easy, but I really don’t see what Van der Garde has to gain from going on down this path. With Roberto Merhi having been signed by Manor Marussia the last available race seat is now closed to him.

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HAMILTON VS ROSBERG RESUMES WITH THUNDER DOWN UNDER

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will look to extend their title rivalry and Mercedes’ dominance into a second Formula 1 season as their rivals grapple with new driving line-ups at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion and his German teammate are expected to make a flying start to the year after Mercedes improved both their chassis and engine in pre-season testing.

Britain’s Hamilton fought off Rosberg to claim his second world title at the 2014 finale in Abu Dhabi, after a season in which a rejuvenated Silver Arrows team reigned supreme.

Hamilton failed to finish last year’s Melbourne race and retired after just four laps, but the Briton went on to win 11 races among 16 wins for the all-conquering Mercedes team.

“We had a great season last year as a team and, of course, we’d all love to repeat that,” Hamilton said.

“But the others won’t stop chasing us. I’m sure the competition will be close and we should get exciting racing with plenty of battling for position.

“There are many good drivers out there and all of them want to win. You just have to want it more than they do.”

Pre-season intrigue has not been hard to come by and McLaren will start without new driver Fernando Alonso, who is out after suffering concussion in a crash in testing.

Motorsports world body FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) launched an investigation into the accident, whose cause has been the subject of rampant speculation.

Spain’s Alonso, a two-time world champion, will be replaced by Kevin Magnussen but has vowed to return for the second race in Malaysia.

Meanwhile Sauber were locked in a court case on Wednesday after former reserve Giedo van der Garde claimed the team reneged on a deal for him to drive for them this season.

The Dutchman won his case at a Swiss tribunal and a court in Melbourne backed the ruling, but the Swiss team immediately appealed.

“What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers,” chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn said in a statement.

Australian fans will be hoping Daniel Ricciardo, lucklessly stripped of a podium finish last year over a fuel-flow infringement, can become the first home winner in 35 years.

Ricciardo, now the lead Red Bull driver after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel left for Ferrari, will hope to outdo Mark Webber’s fourth place in 2012.

No Australian has won his national grand prix since Alan Jones in 1980, five years before Australia became a round of the Formula One world championship in Adelaide.

“For sure, (my car) is an improvement, but the thing is everyone improves,” said the Australian with the dazzling neon smile, who won three races in a breakthrough 2014.

“It’s really a question of how much have we improved and if we’ve improved enough to close the gap on Mercedes.

“Testing has shown us that Mercedes are still really strong, I don’t want to be pessimistic at all, but they seem to be the team to beat at the moment.”

Vettel, who finished 71 points behind Ricciardo at Red Bull last year, makes his debut at Ferrari with both parties hoping for a fresh start.

The German’s hopes for a fifth straight title were dashed when he wound up fifth in the championship, while Ferrari are hoping to end years of disappointment dating back to their last world title in 2008.

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FRANK WILLIAMS BACK UP TO SPEED AFTER HOSPITAL STAY

Sir Frank Williams is out of hospital and back up to speed, and intends traveling to at least 15 Formula 1 races this season.

Late last year, when the Grove team’s 72-year-old boss and co-founder stopped coming to races, it emerged he had been hospitalised with pressure sores.

The Briton, whose daughter Claire is Williams’ deputy team principal, has been tetraplegic and confined to a wheelchair since a road car crash in 1986.

He was in hospital for several weeks, but Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday revealed that Williams is now back at work and planning to attend 15 grands prix in 2015.

“I’m seven days a week here,” Sir Frank confirmed. “I just love what I do.”

He does not hide, however, that while he never originally envisaged the top job for his 38-year-old daughter, Claire Williams is now in pole position to one day take over from him.

Williams says Claire, who started work at Grove as a junior press officer in 2001, is “very industrious” and “excels” in her current role.

“I see her running the business,” Sir Frank Williams said.

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NEWEY’S SON TO TEAM UP WITH SCHUMI JUNIOR

Formula One designer Adrian Newey’s teenage son Harrison will be team mate to Michael Schumacher’s 15-year-old son Mick in German Formula Four this season.

Dutch outfit Van Amersfoort Racing announced on Wednesday that 16-year-old Newey junior had signed for them in the FIA-approved series.

Schumacher, whose seven-times Formula One world champion father suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in 2013 and is still recovering, joined last week.

“This has been one of the most pleasant weeks in our four decade history,” said team owner Frits van Amersfoort, who has worked with a number of top drivers in the past including both Jos and Max Verstappen.

“We’re extremely honoured to have some of auto racing’s most credible persons choosing to entrust our team in the development of two promising young talents.”

Newey senior has designed title winning Formula One cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull and is regarded as a design genius.

Michael Schumacher remains Formula One’s most successful racer with 91 wins in a career in which he won five titles in a row for Ferrari after two with Benetton.

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BRIATORE RIDICULES VETTEL FEVER AT FERRARI

Flavio Briatore has brushed off the widely reported ‘Sebastian Vettel fever’ which is apparently afflicting Maranello.

The former Renault boss was commenting on Ferrari’s public delight at having secured the quadruple world champion to replace Fernando Alonso.

Briatore still oversees the management of Alonso, who has switched to McLaren-Honda.

“In Italy it’s amazing,” he told Italy’s Sky Sport 24, “because they never talked about Vettel but now that he is in Ferrari he is the driver of the past and the future. Before, it was as though Vettel did not exist in Formula 1.”

“I think Vettel is a good driver, surely one of the best 5 or 6. With a very good car he was unbeatable,” he added, “but let’s not compare him to Schumacher or Senna.”

Briatore, however, welcomed the recent upheaval at Maranello, following the chaos of 2014, “If I had been there I would have done much the same. There were too many people, too much overlap, a lot of confusion.”

But he said the new management, headed by Sergio Marchionne and Maurizio Arrivabene, should not get all the credit if 2015 turns out to be a much better season.

“They did not make this new car yesterday, it was started a year and half ago,” said the Italian. “If it’s a good car then it was made in the time of Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo.

“My concern is that we will see Mercedes and the Mercedes engine dominate in Australia.

“This (turbo V6) engine has created a disparity without adding anything positive to the races. So I hope we see a competitive Ferrari,” Briatore added.

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Kimi impressed by vibe at Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen has hailed the atmosphere at Ferrari ahead of the new season, saying "people are happy" and "working together".

On the back of their nightmare campaign last year and Fernando Alonso's decision to leave, it is all change at Ferrari this year with Sebastian Vettel replacing the Spaniard while higher up Sergio Marchionne took over from Luca di Montezemolo as president and Maurizio Arrivabene was appointed new team principal in place of Marco Mattiacci.

Raikkonen has certainly been impressed by the mood in the camp.

"I’ve known the team for a few years now, but I have to say, this year the atmosphere is very good, the people are happy and are working together in a very close-knit way," he told the official Ferrari website.

"I think that’s a good sign and on top of that, it seems that a good car has been produced over the winter period. Now the time’s come to go racing, which is when we will really understand where we are."

There have also been plenty of changes in the technical department and if pre-season form is anything to go by then it has had the desired effect as the SF15-T has impressed ahead of the season-opener in Australia this weekend.

"It’s a good place to start, even if it’s a long way for everyone," Raikkonen said. "The journey is long, but once here, it’s nice to be in Melbourne. Usually the weather is nice and there’s a good atmosphere around us."

He added: "I think that compared with last year, we have done a great job as a team. We are pleased with what we achieved over the winter and with the level of competitiveness that we expect to have reached, even if we will have to wait until we’re on track to get the real verdict.

"Anyhow, we will continue to push to improve all the time. I am confident that we will manage to achieve the results we deserve and want."

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Magnussen fit and ready for action

Kevin Magnussen has vowed to give it his all in Melbourne this weekend after getting a late call-up to race for McLaren at Albert Park.

The Dane was expected to watch the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from the sidelines after the team opted to replace him with Fernando Alonso after the 2014 campaign.

However, with double World Champion Alonso ruled out on medical advice, the Woking squad turned to Magnussen.

"Although I didn’t expect to be sitting in the cockpit in Australia, I’ve spent the winter preparing as I would normally for a race season, so I feel fit and ready for the task ahead of me and to do the best I can for the team," he said.

"It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to get more mileage under my belt in the MP4-30, and this will in turn benefit the team over the coming months as I work with the team back in Woking. The racing is sure to be unpredictable here at the start of the new season, and it’ll be really interesting to find out where we compare to the rest of the grid, but I’m definitely up for the challenge."

The 22-year-old got some mileage under his belt in the MP4-30 in the final test in Barcelona as he replaced Alonso, while he also has a good record in Melbourne as he finished on the podium in his debut race last year.

"Of course, we aren’t expecting to win here, but my focus is on setting up the car for race conditions and pushing our progress forward," he said. "I’ll be working hard with my engineers to give them as much valuable feedback as possible so that they can keep developing the car and improving our performance and reliability.

"I’m really pleased to be behind the wheel with McLaren-Honda at Melbourne again. Of course, the reason I am here is an unusual one, but my job is to do the best job I can for the team while Fernando is out of the cockpit, and that's what I'll do.

"To be back in Melbourne is a fantastic feeling, especially as those memories of my podium here last year are incredibly special and something I’ll never forget.

"I loved racing on this circuit last year and I’m really looking forward to getting back out on track in Friday practice to continue the development of our car here. Although we had some challenges in Barcelona, overall the MP4-30 felt very positive and certainly different from last year’s car, in a good way."

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Why Formula One’s return to Mexico is a huge deal

The first Mexican Grand Prix since 1992 will be a delight for the senses – a great racetrack in a fantastic city

After 23 years, Formula One returns to Mexico. The 18th race of the 2015 season does not only mean a return to one of the most traditional circuits in the world, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, but it will also be a reunion with Latin America.

Formula One has neglected Latin America since 1998, the last year of the Grand Prix of Argentina. Central and South America is a land of great drivers like five times champion, Juan Manuel Fangio – and who could forget Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez?

Although Brazil is there on the schedule, cultural and language differences set that country apart from the rest of continent, where Spanish is the dominant language.

Therefore, the race this November 1st will not only be the race of Mexico, but also be the race of a continent.

Serving the Latin-American market

Although the United States Grand Prix exists, everyone knows that its main market are latinos. So it was not a surprise that during the three previous editions, the Mexican public was an important part in filling the stands at Circuit of The Americas. Now, fans will have the opportunity to be part of two races in America in less than a fortnight, and just a few hours away by plane or car.

The race will be a tourist driving force for the country, where the arrival of domestic and foreign visitors are expected at the world's largest city for an economic impact of $200 million after an annual investment of $72 million, $350 million total payment for the five-year contract that has been signed with Bernie Ecclestone.

Each year is expected to reach approximately 180,000 visitors. They will be a part of this celebration of motorsport, but also to see the wonders of this country and help change the international image to remind the world that the country is safe and hospitable, with history dating back to the origins of mankind but also modernity and a variety of entertainment offered by a city of this size, as like other F1 cities do, like Melbourne, Barcelona and Montreal.

A combined effort

To realize the dream of the Grand Prix of Mexico’s return, it was necessary to combine efforts between the private sector and federal and local government, who together provide the necessary for the operation of the race budget.

But this is not all. The Grand Prix of Mexico also allows rescue motor sport in the country. As well as the return of Formula One again, the organization of new categories of open wheel, prototypes and touring cars were announced.

It is time to revive the motorsport that had been forgotten, especially on a first-class road course. And that is the last point: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez not only will be ready for Formula One. Grupo CIE, race promoters, have already touched base with people from MotoGP and IndyCar to make the track Mexico City the capital of motor sport in Latin America.

With all this waiting to happen at the track, our city also has a lot of nice surprises for those fans that chose to spend a week here. If you are not at the track you can visit the mighty pyramids (40mins away) you can go to the center of town and sample great Mexican food.

Or just take a look at one of the biggest and most crazy towns you have ever visited in the world – featuring historical sites, or just have a nice walk in our beautiful chaos, believe us never in your life you have seen this much colour in one city.

Combine the roar of the F1 cars, and you will have one of the best experiences in your life.

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Alonso named "most marketable F1 driver"

Fernando Alonso has been named the "most marketable driver" in Formula One by a poll carried out by German sports marketing company Repucom.

The McLaren driver was on top of the charts in 2014 and has finished first again ahead of the start of the 2015 season, from which he will be absent.

According to the poll, Alonso's marketability has increased, with a DBI index of 89.66.

The Celebrity DBI is an independent index that quantifies and qualifies consumer perceptions of celebrities.

The study says 98% of the people in Spain know Alonso.

Alonso is followed in the ranking by his former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa (88.84) and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel (85.49).

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton is fourth with a DBI index of 83.68. McLaren driver Jenson Button completes the top five.

"There have been big changes in terms of team personnel during the F1 season break and whilst there are some shifts in the top 10 most marketable rankings, it is important to see how brands are reacting to 2015's new grid line-up," said Repucom's Nigel Geach.

"We are seeing a heightened level of consumer brands becoming involved in F1 in 2015, some which are changing allegiances. Ultimately it is them who will benefit most from the marketability of drivers.

"New consumer focussed partnerships include CNN's sponsorship of McLaren Honda, Hugo Boss's deal with Mercedes AMG and Williams Martini partnerships with Hackett, Unilever and Rexona.

"Consumer brands will gravitate naturally to where the leading drivers are and with the dominance of Alonso's profile off the track, a strong first season at McLaren could well see him pull even further from the pack.

"However, this season, the one to watch is Lewis Hamilton. With a host of personal endorsements to his name already and being a part of a team everyone was chasing last year, Hamilton has an opportunity to grow his reputation internationally as potentially one of F1's finest.

"He has a high profile domestically brands will be watching the performance of this driver in 2015 very closely."

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Only Honda can match Mercedes - Berger

Former grand prix driver Gerhard Berger believes only Honda will be able to match Mercedes' form in terms of power unit performance in Formula One.

Although the Austrian admits McLaren's current problems are mainly caused by the Japanese engine manufacturer's engine.

"They are the only ones who can come to the same level as Mercedes," Berger told Austrian media, "because McLaren itself is always well prepared."

Honda is returning to Formula One this year as McLaren's power unit supplier, but the Woking-based squad has endured a very difficult pre-season and arrives in Australia as one of the teams with the smallest amount of laps covered.

"The problem is quite clear on the engine side," said Berger of McLaren's tough winter.

"I have the feeling that they have miscalculated something."

The former McLaren driver also reckons Mercedes is clearly ahead of its rivals before the first race of the season.

"They are quite clearly the favourite," Berger said, estimating the gap to the next-best team to be at least one second per lap.

"And that is an awful lot in Formula One today," he added.

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Horner suggests F1 bans windtunnels to save costs

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has suggested that Formula 1 ban the use of windtunnels in an effort to dramatically reduce costs.

Cost-cutting measures remain a hot topic as the new season starts. The spread of pay drivers and teams struggling to pay their debts is fuelling the need for reduced budgets.

Speaking to Autosport, Horner suggests banning windtunnels is the right way to go as not only would it same teams money, they can then rent them out to bring money in.

"If you wanted to go really extreme and be really controversial, get rid of the windtunnel," said the Briton.

"It's an expensive thing to run and to feed with components and parts. Get back to engineering ingenuity.

"Give everybody the same microchip for the CFD cluster and make it down to the brainpower within the team as opposed to computer or windtunnel power," he added.

"As a business - as Sauber has demonstrated - they're subsidising a Formula 1 team by making their windtunnel available to third parties.

"There are always ways. Frank [Williams] has two windtunnels, and his team only uses one."

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ROSBERG: LEWIS JUST DID A BETTER JOB LAST YEAR

Nico Rosberg has identified wheel-to-wheel combat as his main weakness compared to reigning Formula 1 world champion and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton who he admits did a better job than him last year.

With their dominant 2014 Mercedes, the pair duelled intensely for last year’s title but Briton Hamilton ultimately won in the championship finale.

Rosberg did secure F1’s new ‘pole position trophy’ of 2014, but acknowledged that Hamilton was “better” in the all-important area of wheel-to-wheel battling.

Asked by Sport Bild if it is true to say Hamilton is a better fighter while Rosberg is a thinker, the German answered: “No, he just did a better job.

“So I need to improve that,” he said. “He was more decisive in the direct duels between us, and that unfortunately had an impact on the final result.”

Rosberg cites Bahrain last year as the perfect example, where their thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead ultimately went Hamilton’s way.

“This is one area where I need to improve,” admitted Rosberg who last year won the Australian Grand Prix.

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VETTEL: TIME TO SEE JUST HOW COMPETITIVE WE ARE

Much is expected of Sebastian Vettel after his high profile move to Ferrari in the wake of his seriously successful spell with Red Bull, and all indications ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix is that Ferrari have produced a handy car in the SF15-T but the German driver is playing down the hype.

Speaking ahead of the weekend in Melbourne, Vettel said, “Over the winter, we managed to complete the majority of the programme we had set ourselves. Now it’s time to take to the track in Australia and see just how competitive we are.”

Vettel has won the Australian Grand Prix once, back in 2011 with Red Bull, and Albert Park is a track he enjoys, “The Melbourne track is very nice, but being made up of public roads it’s very difficult, because the surface is very bumpy and therefore very tricky.”

“Because of the uneven surface, in Australia you need to opt for a softer configuration to the one you’d use at many other circuits, because you have to try and absorb the car’s jumps as much as possible.”

“On top of that, it’s the first race of the season and it will be difficult for everyone to work out the perfect set-up and the best way to fine tune the car, because everything is still quite new.”

“However, this is all part of the challenge. That’s why we go testing in the winter, so as to get to the track as well prepared as possible,” added the four times F1 world champion.

After four years of carrying the number one plate, he will revert to number five on his car, the number he used when he won his first world title in 2010.

At Albert Park on Sunday he will be starting his will be starting 140th grand prix, and looking to add to his tally of 39 victories.

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WOLFF SLAMS HORNER SUGGESTION TO BAN WIND TUNNELS

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has hit out at Red Bull’s suggestion that wind tunnels should be banned from formula one.

As smaller teams struggle for survival, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner proposed a novel solution to help cut costs – ban the wind tunnel.

The Briton’s Mercedes counterpart, Wolff, scoffed at the suggestion.

“I thought Red Bull’s proposal was to bring back the normally aspirated V8?” he said sarcastically to Auto Motor und Sport.

“Or maybe they looked again at the test data from Barcelona and came here with the idea of abolishing wind tunnels,” Wolff scoffed.

The Austrian insisted wind tunnels are part of the DNA of F1, “This is Formula 1. Not GP2 or a single car series like Indycar.

“It is a world championship for drivers, but also for engineers, so I think if we exclude something that has long been part of the DNA of formula one, that will not help the sport,” said Wolff.

MIKA: Amen to that!

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RED BULL RUSHING TO USE NEW AERO PACKAGE IN MELBOURNE

Red Bull is still racing against time to introduce a new aero package including a short nose for its 2015 car, but may not make it for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.

Rumours in the Melbourne paddock suggested the team’s bid to draw closer to dominant Mercedes this weekend had not succeeded because the new nose failed the crash test.

But Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko told Sport Bild: “How can we not pass the crash test when we will only do the crash test on Friday?”

Even if the new package can be added to the RB11 in Melbourne, many believe Mercedes will be unbeatable early this season.

“Mercedes can only beat themselves this year,” Gerhard Berger is quoted in the Austrian press. “As long as the cars do not fail as often as they did in 2014, and the drivers don’t get in each other’s way, they are the absolute favourites for the title.”

Another former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen, also thinks Red Bull is not ready to challenge.

“In terms of speed the Renault engine is considerably behind Mercedes,” Max Verstappen’s father told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. “But maybe they (Red Bull) can surprise me in a positive way.”

MIKA: Would that be the same aero package that RBR would have had to have used a wind tunnel for...?