FORMULA 1 - 2015

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MCLAREN: IT HAS BEEN A VERY DISAPPOINTING WEEKEND

Fernando Alonso retired with a rear brake problem on lap 26. His race ended during a precautionary pit-stop – to examine the rear end and change tyres – which resulted in the car losing stopping power and ploughing on through the box. Fortunately, the quick wits of our front-jack man saw him leap to safety, and no-one was injured. Fernando’s steady progress into the top 10 came to an end, however.

While the team will thoroughly trace the cause, the mechanics discovered a tear-off visor covering the right-rear brake duct when they investigated the car’s rear corner in the garage.

While Jenson Button made it to the finish, he too endured a disappointing race. He made a slow getaway, and quickly reported that his car was handling poorly, oversteering and wheel-spinning under power. Despite working with the team over the radio to find a solution, he failed to make headway, and ultimately finished 16th on a three-stop strategy.

Jenson Button: “My car was pretty scary to drive today: as soon as I touched the throttle, it just snapped away from me. It was unpredictable: in low-speed corners, the car was just slow, because I got wheel-spin immediately; in the high-speed stuff, it was just scary, because the rear end would snap away immediately under power. I was talking to my engineers for most of the race to try to find out what the root of the problem was, and we switched on quite a lot of handling balance changes to try to cure it. It got a little bit better towards the end of the afternoon, but it was a pretty tough afternoon. Now, we’ll thoroughly look at the data and see what the matter was – it’s something we’ve got to look into.”

Fernando Alonso: “My pitstop was a scary moment – I didn’t have much rear braking for my whole in-lap, then even less at the stop. It was scary for the mechanics, but luckily it didn’t hurt anyone. My brake issue was separate from Jenson’s problem yesterday; in qualifying, he had a single disc that wasn’t reaching temperature, but I had no brakes. I think the rear disc stopped working, so I only had front brakes. Things are coming together. We’re still a long way off the front and need to take bigger steps, but this is a very challenging project and I’m happy that we’re recovering well. This has been a disappointing day, but the team will investigate what happened, and we’ll come back stronger in Monaco.”

Eric Boullier, Racing director, McLaren-Honda: “For all at McLaren, a team that has won the Spanish Grand Prix no fewer than eight times in our illustrious history, it’s superfluous to state that this afternoon has been a more than somewhat disappointing one. Fernando was running reasonably well until his race was abruptly terminated by an as-yet-unspecified rear brake problem that caused him to overshoot our pit-box. That was irksome for all of us, Fernando in particular, but more important is that no-one was hurt. As for Jenson, he too had a vexatious afternoon, losing ground right from the start and complaining of poor rear traction thereafter. He eventually finished 16th. We arrived in Spain with robust but measured ambitions: to manage both our cars through to Q2 in qualifying and to score world championship points for the first time this year. The former objective we achieved; the latter we did not. Disappointing it was, but disheartening it isn’t. Yes, we’d all be more sanguine if progress could be made more expeditiously; equally, and importantly, our underlying pace is improving with every race. In two weeks’ time we’ll be in Monaco, on whose famously serpentine Tarmac we’ll be hoping to fare appreciably better than we did here in Barcelona today. McLaren has won at the Principality more often than has any other marque – 15 times to be precise – and, although we aren’t anticipating notching up victory number 16 there this year, I won’t shy away from proclaiming here and now that we’ll be aiming to score world championship points on May 24th.”

Yasuhisa Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer – chief officer of motorsport: “It has been a very disappointing weekend, but, sometimes, that’s the reality of racing. On a more positive note, Fernando’s race pace was very good. We’ll now analyse all the data and continue to improve driveability for the next race at Monaco. That will be key to progress around the slow street circuit.”

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SAUBER: OUR DRIVERS PUT IN A SOLID PERFORMANCE

By finishing 12th (Nasr) and 14th (Ericsson) at the Spanish Grand Prix, the Sauber F1 Team achieved the maximum considering what is currently possible.

Both drivers put in a solid performance which did not reward the Swiss team with points.

Directly after the Spanish Grand Prix the Sauber F1 Team will work on the performance of the Sauber C34-Ferrari during the test days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Marcus Ericsson: “Overall, 14th is not satisfying, but I think we have extracted the maximum out of the car this weekend. I had a reasonable start, but afterwards for a few laps got stuck a bit in traffic. It is a shame that we lost some time, especially during my first pit stop. We need to make sure to make the next races, and I am confident we will do so. Now we need to focus on the test days and try to make sure we improve the car for the next races.”

Felipe Nasr: “It was a difficult race. We have been missing some lap time on medium as well as hard tyres compared to our main competitors. We still lack some downforce, which compromised our race. Our two stop strategy was overall a good choice. From my point of view, I took the maximum out of the car, so more than P12 was not possible.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “We already had a difficult situation for the start with 15th and 16th. That’s why there was no more we could achieve today. Our drivers put in a solid performance. Now we need to focus on the next race in Monaco, a track that should suit our car better.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “After a difficult qualifying we expected not to have an easy race. The change from a three to a two stop strategy didn’t help us much. During testing on Tuesday and Wednesday we will continue to improve the performance of the Sauber C34-Ferrari.”

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FERRARI: WE NEED TO WORK HARDER

Ferrari comes away from today’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Catalunya Circuit with a third and fifth place. Sebastian Vettel ran second in the first half the race, but had to give best to Lewis Hamilton after the second pit stop.

Vettel crossed the line in third place, managing the gap to Valtteri Bottas behind him. The Finn and his Williams were Kimi Raikkonen’s final target, after starting seventh and producing a spectacular opening lap to make up two places.

Kimi continued to make up ground, closing right up to Bottas, but in the final laps, he had no real chance of getting past his fellow countryman. Victory went to Nico Rosberg.

In two weeks time, the Formula 1 circus sets up camp for the most prestigious round of the championship, the Monaco Grand Prix.

Maurizio Arrivabene: “The comparison of the two aerodynamic configurations in the race clearly shows that Sebastian’s car was going very well versus Kimi’s. But we need to improve. The gap to Mercedes is there and we need to analyze our data to understand the reasons. We’re not blind to the fact that we were losing about half a second in T3 only, which puts a premium on traction, and we must find out whether this depends on the nature of the track or on our faults. Strategy-wise, we took an aggressive approach by having Seb stop only twice for tyres. If we had gone for a three-stopper, things wouldn’t have changed or would have been even worse. The numbers tell us that the new solutions are good, the reality shows that they are not good enough. We did make a step forward, but it was supposed to be a jump. I am not blaming anyone in particular, I am taking my own responsibilities. We need to work harder”.

Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall, it has been a difficult weekend, but non a disaster and we learned a lot. In the race today we gained a few places, but I was not very comfortable with my car, as it was sliding around. Besides that, and for whatever reason, we are able catch the Williams but it’s very difficult to overtake them: they are very fast down the straights and once we get behind them, our car starts to be difficult to handle, much more than when you’re following other lapped cars. About the choice of going back to the ‘old’ aero package, I think it was good for all of us to be able to compare them on the circuit and I was prepared to run the risk. Maybe it would have been better with the new bits, that is probably the case, but at least now we know about it. So, for the next races, we have to do a better job and we need to have more clean weekends, without any issue, even a small one, to make sure that everything works. We know where we have to improve”.

Sebastian Vettel: “All in all, I think third is the best we could do for the pace we had. I don’t think there’s anything wrong, it think it was just something coming together and maybe this is not the best week end for us in terms of competitiveness, but I believe it’s probably more down to conditions rather then something being wrong with the car. For some reasons we didn’t find the same rhythm of the last two events, but I’m sure that in a couple of races we’ll come back stronger. In terms of strategy, we went for two stops because we thought it would have been the best choice for the race: we have to be fair and accept the fact that Mercedes was the best team today. I think we’re going in the right direction. We know that there is a gap, but we’re fighting very hard to close it. Unfortunately we didn’t make a big step this race, but I’m pretty confident we’ll make it soon”.

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RENAULT: WE ACHIEVED OUR AIM OF FINISHING WITH ALL FOUR CARS

The European leg of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship got underway this weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The fifth round of the series saw the four Renault-powered Infiniti Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso cars take the finish, with three in the points. Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in seventh, with Daniil Kvyat tenth.

Carlos Sainz was ninth for sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso and Max Verstappen just shy of the points in 11th.*

Key race points:

• Daniel Ricciardo made two stops in the race to finish three places up on his qualifying position. The Australian raced with the Toro Rosso and Lotus cars for much of the race. Daniil Kvyat lost positions at the start and got stuck in traffic, but recovered into the top ten to claim one point.
• Home hero Carlos Sainz qualified in fifth position, the highest grid slot of his F1 career so far. The Spaniard finished in ninth on track after overtaking Daniil Kvyat on the final lap of the race. Team-mate Max Verstappen likewise enjoyed a strong qualifying, starting sixth on the grid, but just missed out on race day points with 11th position.

Rémi Taffin, Director of Operations: “This weekend we achieved our minimum aim of finishing the Grand Prix with all four cars. We were less conservative in qualifying and showed that the potential is still there, but we took a safe approach in the race. We now need to maintain this platform and build on it for the next races. In parallel we are aware we need to raise our game in performance but we need to do this without taking any risks with the reliability.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director: “Everyone at Viry has worked hard to recover from the disappointment of the first four races. We needed to eliminate the issues we saw and get reliability under control before we could introduce any new specification parts. We had to limit mileage in some cases until we had all the necessary information, which is never ideal, but sometimes you have to take a short term hit for long term gain. All four cars crossed the line so we are more or less back on an level footing with reliability, and can now look to bring a bit more performance for the next races.”

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MANOR: BOTH DRIVERS DID A GOOD JOB

The Manor Marussia F1 Team achieved its third consecutive two car finish today as Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi ended the 66-lap Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Pirelli 2015 in 17th and 18th positions.

Will Stevens: “It’s good to finish another race with both cars. From a set-up and car balance point of view, this was probably our best race yet, so a good result for the team. I didn’t get the best start and I was behind Roberto for the first 12 laps. After I passed him, I pushed as much as I could. I’m looking forward to Monaco now, which I think is a track that will suit our car a little more.”

Roberto Merhi: “I’m pleased we achieved another two car finish for the team. The reliability of the car is obviously very good but we have to find some more performance. I got a good start and managed to get ahead of Will and stay there for 12 laps but we were on different tyre management strategies. On my second set of tyres I had a flat-spot and as that was a long stint I lost a lot of time. I’m happy to finish my first home race though and to have a good team result here in Spain.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “Both drivers did a good job and we are obviously very pleased with the reliability of the cars. Clearly there is some work to do, but our development programme is still in its infancy, so race finishes are key for providing the information we need. The next race should be a bit better and of course it is a very special venue for us, as the track where Jules achieved our first two Constructors’ Championship points one year ago.”

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WILLIAMS: OUR IMPROVEMENTS HAVE MOVED US FORWARDS

Williams report from the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 5 of the 2015 Formula 1 world championship, at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

Race Notes:

Valtteri Bottas finished fourth and Felipe Massa sixth in today’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Valtteri’s long second stint on the option tyre allowed the team to change from a three-stop to a two-stop race, helping him to keep the closing Ferrari of Räikkönen at bay in the final laps.

Felipe managed to make up positions in the opening stint and drove an untroubled and consistent race to collect eight points for the team.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “Overall I’m pleased with the result today. The car has shown pretty good pace throughout the weekend and we wanted to see if we could convert that potential into points. There was a lot of talk about different teams bringing updates for this race with big gains. We have shown that our improvements have moved us forwards and this ended up being our closest finish to Ferrari. It was a good job by the aerodynamic team and all the people back at Grove, as well as an excellent operational performance from the team today, with good strategy choices and well executed pitstops. We need to keep heading in this direction and to keep finding additional performance gains in this package to help us challenge for podiums in future.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It feels good to split the Ferraris for a second race in a row and this has been another solid points haul for the team. Tyre life was better than we expected and as a result we changed from a three-stop to a two-stop race, which was a good strategic choice from the team because it allowed me to keep Räikkönen behind. The big positive is that we were closer to the leaders than we have been at any point this season. That gives me a lot of hope because we have shown that the updates we are bringing are improving our performance. I want to thank all the team here and in Grove for providing me with a great car to go racing with, and I’d also like to thank Mercedes HPP as they continue to push hard on the power unit to help us keep our competitors at bay.”

Felipe Massa: “It was a good race for the team, scoring 20 points, not losing too much to Ferrari, but also getting a lot more than Red Bull which is really important and positive for our championship position. I managed to overtake cars on the first lap and then fought hard with Kimi (Räikkönen) for a long time, which was hard on the tyres. Because of the extra degradation a three-stop race was better for me today, but it meant the others were too far ahead. We finished with one car in front of a Ferrari so we have shown that we can be competitive with them and we can now look forward to Monaco which will be a very different test for the car.”

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FORCE INDIA: DESPITE NO POINTS WE CAN BE CONTENT

Sergio: “Considering where I qualified, we probably maximised our race today. Maybe a three-stop strategy would have been a little bit better, but it wouldn’t have made much difference in the end. My last stint was really on the limit – nearly 30 laps on the same set of mediums – but we managed them well and I was able to control Ericsson who was putting pressure on me. Once again we showed today that our car is more suited to Sundays, so if we can improve our qualifying pace we can definitely fight for points at the next few races.”

Nico: “It was always going to be difficult to score points today, especially on a track where it’s so difficult to overtake. I was always stuck behind other cars and, even with better pace, you lose too much performance running in the dirty air. My three-stop race was the more aggressive approach, but we didn’t have the track position to make the most of it. Maybe things would have worked out better if I had run in some clean air, but points were too far away today. Hopefully we can be more competitive in Monaco. It’s often an unusual race and we will have completely different tyre compounds, which should suit us better.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “I think we can be content with today’s race despite finishing outside the points. Our pace was more convincing than our qualifying performance, which allowed us to battle against the Saubers and McLarens, but anything more was just outside our reach. We chose early on to split the strategies so that we had the opportunity to make the most of any unexpected developments, but as the race was fairly uneventful, both drivers ended up pretty much in the same place.

The main regret is the amount of time Nico lost behind Maldonado in the middle of the race, which again proved how difficult it is to overtake here – even with a tyre advantage and DRS. Looking at the championship table, we are only eight points adrift of fifth place, and we are now one step closer to our big upgrade package, which is encouraging for everyone in the team.”

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LOTUS: THAT WAS AN EVENTFUL RACE FOR US

Romain Grosjean drove a measured and accomplished Spanish Grand Prix to finish eighth despite a mid-race loss of fourth gear, whilst a strong run from Pastor Maldonado was compromised by an additional pit stop to modify damaged bodywork, after which he subsequently retired.

Romain started from P11 on the grid on fresh medium compound tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 15 and new hard tyres on lap 40.

Pastor started from P12 on the grid on new medium compound tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 14 then new hards on lap 43. He made an additional pit stop for damaged bodywork to be modified on lap 15 and retired at the end of lap 45.

Romain Grosjean: “It was a tough and eventful race. Firstly, I’m glad to say that no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop. The rear tyres were experiencing a lot of degradation and I just couldn’t stop in time. It was a really scary moment for me, but probably more scary for the crew. I checked everyone was okay and I certainly owe them some beers! In the race, I lost fourth gear during the race which made things a bit of a challenge. It was a tough race but it’s good to be in the points for the third race in a row and we can be proud for what we’ve achieved today.”

Pastor Maldonado: “We were having a pretty great race at the start and our strategy was working well but then the damage to my car meant that I had to make an extra stop and my race was completely compromised. For sure, we have the pace in the car and in every race we have shown the potential to be in the points so it’s only a matter of time before we get a good result; I’m looking forward to Monaco.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “Both our drivers put in really strong performances today, with Romain finishing in eighth despite a gearbox issue and Pastor driving relentlessly before we retired him, but the real heroes today were the pit crew. Our pit box proved slippery causing Romain to stop long, resulting in three of the crew being slightly worse for wear, but nevertheless they were back in action for the subsequent stops. This is another endorsement of Enstone’s never give up spirit and we know the guys will be fighting fit for Monaco.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “That was an eventful race for us. It was a good result for Romain with another four points in the bag despite an issue with the gearbox which he managed well. Pastor was looking quick but we had to pit him to remove some damaged bodywork. The extra stop proved too much of a penalty as despite him setting strong lap times, we weren’t able to work back up the order so we retired the car to avoid any additional damage.”

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Bottas pleased with improvement

For the second race in a row, Valtteri Bottas managed to fend off a Ferrari on his way to fourth place in the Spanish GP.

"It feels good to split the Ferraris for a second race in a row and this has been another solid points haul for the team. Tyre life was better than we expected and as a result we changed from a three-stop to a two-stop race, which was a good strategic choice from the team because it allowed me to keep Räikkönen behind." he said.

Bottas made a fantastic start, even briefly diving in front of Lewis Hamilton for third place into turn 1. He wasn't able to maintain the position however as Hamilton, with slightly better track position, managed to get past on the outside to retake the position.

Towards the end of the race, Bottas started to catch Vettel at around half a second per lap but then found himself coming under immense pressure as the other Ferrari of Raikkonen reeled him in. The Ferrari driver was never able to get close enough to attempt a pass and Bottas did enough to hold onto fourth.

Bottas was particularly pleased with how his Williams performed. "The big positive is that we were closer to the leaders than we have been at any point this season. That gives me a lot of hope because we have shown that the updates we are bringing are improving our performance. I want to thank all the team here and in Grove for providing me with a great car to go racing with, and I’d also like to thank Mercedes HPP as they continue to push hard on the power unit to help us keep our competitors at bay."

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'F1 is something we're looking at' confirms Audi boss

Audi's participation in Formula 1 has been speculated about numerous times over the past decade, but the German marque has never taken the jump into the single seater category.

However that could all be about to change with confirmation from Audi chairman Rupert Stadler that it's something they're looking at.

"I can't answer that," he replied, when asked by AutoExpress whether Audi would be on the grid within five years.

But when pressed on the matter, he added: "It's something we're looking at, but then we're always looking at it and many other things. But I can’t say yes or no."

Whilst it's certainly not a firm answer, Stadler didn't deny the growing rumours of Audi's potential involvement.

The Volkswagen owned brand is favourite to join the grid following the resignation of group boss Ferdinand Piech, often considered a blockade to Audi's involvement.

Insiders within Audi and parent company *** have previously revealed that the former is being pushed toward exiting Germany's touring car championship (DTM) as well as Endurance Racing, freeing up its marketing budget for Formula 1.

Whilst that wouldn't be enough to fund an F1 team, additional funding could come from Red Bull.

Former-Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo revealed that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz is trying to convice Audi to buy out the Milton Keynes team, or possibly its sister team Toro Rosso. It's believed Mateschitz has promised sponsorship funds to aid Audi's entry.

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Button: 'After today, I don't expect points all season'

Jenson Button says he wouldn't be surprised if McLaren-Honda fail to score points all season if the Spanish Grand Prix is anything to go by.

The Briton finished 16th with only the Manor drivers behind him.

Despite a positive start to the weekend which looked as though the team had turned a corner with its upgrade package, when it came to the race, Button described the MP4-30 as "scary to drive" due to unexpected wheel-spin when he applied the accelerator.

"On Friday the long runs were good, but it was pretty scary to drive," he said on Sunday afternoon. "Every time I touched the throttle it just snapped. I'm sure there is something wrong there.

"The problem is in low speed corners it is slow because you accelerate and you get wheelspin immediately, but in high speed it is very scary as soon as you touch the power the rear end is gone, it snaps immediately.

"It is not a gradual snap like you normally get, it is very weird."

Team-mate Fernando Alonso had been running in 12th for much of the race before brake failure saw him retire.

When Button was asked about McLaren's potential this season following the Spanish GP weekend, he said: "After today I don't think I expect points at all this year. Hopefully today was an off day, it didn't feel right.

"The weekend has been reasonably good for us, I've been happy with how the car has been, but it was like flicking a switch in the race."

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Hamilton “ignored” request to slow pace

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton said he didn’t appreciate being told to "consolidate" his pace towards the end of the Spanish GP, while he was still harbouring hopes of chasing down teammate Nico Rosberg.

Having used a three-stop strategy to clear Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – who had passed him off the startline – Hamilton was on fresh medium tyres for his final stint, with Rosberg running older hards after two-stopping.

A lengthy debate over the radio ensued as he and his engineer discussed whether it was possible or not to catch Rosberg to challenge him in the closing laps.

With more than 10 laps remaining, Hamilton was told over the radio: "We should just consolidate the position.”

“It’s not nice for a driver to hear that,” said Hamilton of the request. “I’m here to race, not here to finish second. Naturally I ignored that, and I was pushing and really putting the car on the edge.

“When I realized that I had seven laps to go and I was 13s [behind Rosberg] and I was only seven-tenths of a second up, I had to take the smart approach and just bring the car home.

“But, still, it’s not something you want to hear. I will definitely be making sure that it’s not said again.

“Naturally, by me pushing he has to push. And it puts both cars at risk, so that’s understandable.

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Lauda: Rosberg is back after Hamilton “blew him off”

Mercedes chief Niki Lauda has hailed Nico Rosberg’s victory in the Spanish Grand Prix as a potential turning point in his drivers’ title bid.

Lauda also hailed the pace of the Mercedes' cars after Lewis Hamilton overcame Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on a three-stop strategy that depended on pure speed, and Rosberg's winning margin over the non-Mercedes machinery.

"The most important thing for the team is that Vettel finished 48 seconds behind," said Lauda. "I mean, I'm thinking of the future, so this race was perfect for us.

"Nico is truly back and I am happy for him, to be honest, because Lewis blew him off in the first four races. Now he is fighting back.

"Second for Lewis is not bad, with the championship lead he has, so I'm completely happy with everybody."

Wolff hails strategy switch

Team principal Toto Wolff echoed Lauda's thoughts and paid tribute to the way his team switched strategy to allow Hamilton to beat Vettel to the runner-up spot.

"It's great for Nico but it feels like two-times P1, Nico with a brilliant drive and Lewis recovering from a bad start and the mistake on the pitstop," said Wolff, referring to a slow left-rear change on Hamilton's first pitstop."

Asked if Hamilton's switch to a three-stop strategy was the right call, he replied: "It was the only chance to overtake Vettel. Either you undercut him, what we tried but had the failed pitstop, so that was gone – so three stops was the only way of pushing hard towards the end."

"But it was a bold move, because he had to overtake on the track – which he did with [Kimi] Raikkonen, and because of his great driving he finished P2."

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Hockenheim boss: German GP safe for 2016

Hockenheim's managing director has declared he is "1000 per cent" sure that the German Grand Prix will return in 2016.

After failing to rescue this year's event, which was due to take place at the Nurburgring, Bernie Ecclestone said recently there is also no guarantee Hockenheim would return to the 2016 calendar, despite its bi-annual contract to do so.

But when asked about the 2016 German Grand Prix, Hockenheim's chief Georg Seiler told the German news agency SID: "For next year we have an agreement and we always respect our contracts.

"Our race in 2016 is certainly a thousand percent."

As for Ecclestone's claim that Germany might in fact not be back in 2016, Seiler replied: "I have a good relationship with Bernie Ecclestone.

"For me there is no indication that the Germany Grand Prix 2016 at risk."

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Analysis: How F1 drivers can connect fans to the sport

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association has promised to reveal a big announcement during the Monaco GP weekend that could herald the dawn of a new era in fan-driver interactivity.

As Wurz explained to Motorsport.com, the GPDA’s desire for increased contact with fans will not involve violating any of the strict rules governing the distribution of F1 content outside of the approved broadcasting channels.

“Obviously, speaking about physical interaction with fans on race weekends, that’s something that has to go via the team, the promoters and Bernie,” he said. “That’s not our part of the business cake. I think everyone is here that the sport is here because of the fans, and we’re going to connect in the way we can and the way we want to do it.”

Given that the vast majority of the grid already has a social media presence and the ability to connect with fans in the digital realm, precisely what the GPDA is planning is a matter of speculation.

Digital interaction is key

Physical interaction is already tightly controlled through autograph sessions, meet-and-greets, and official fan Q&As, and is not something Wurz is pushing to change. Digital interaction, meanwhile, has been an ever-increasing aspect of Formula 1 over the past five years.

While fans are already familiar with FOM’s resistance to YouTube and content sharing when it comes to the rapid removal of fan-filmed race footage, less has been said about the way in which it affects drivers’ ability to interact with their fans.

During the 2014 pre-season tests in Bahrain, Kamui Kobayashi revealed to Motorsport.com that he had been subject to an official slap on the wrist from the powers that be after posting a brief video clip of himself in the Caterham on social media.

“I took a movie, an outing from Formula 1, and I just uploaded it on the web,” Kobayashi said. “I just sent the movie on my Instagram, then I got a call from FOM. They are not happy. I’m the driver. It’s just a short one, you know? It’s not doing TV. I am not making money, it’s just fun. A driver is not only driving, we need some fun as well!”

While FOM have opened up on the social and digital media fronts over the past 12 months, Wurz’s plans for increased interactivity will nevertheless remain tightly constrained.

Big plans in the pipeline

The former F1 racer and current driver trainer and businessman remained coy on the details of just what the GDPA has planned.

“We want to connect to [fans] in a more interactive way,” Wurz told Motorsport.com. “And that’s what we’re planning, and I think in Monaco we’ll be able to say much more and give details on what we’re going to be doing.”

When it comes to fan interaction with the cockpit, Formula 1 is light years behind both NASCAR and Formula E.

During the 2012 Daytona 500, NASCAR’s Brad Keselowski took to Twitter while still behind the wheel – albeit under red flags – to tweet a picture of his view of the huge track fire that had caused the stoppage. To attempt such a thing in F1 would go against all that the FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign stands for.

Formula E have taken the concept of cockpit interaction to another level with the FanBoost concept, but – putting aside any concerns about the artificial nature of the concept, which is anathema to many fans – to allow such a move would require regulatory change that is far beyond the remit of the GPDA.

Perhaps the most interesting outcome of Friday’s GPDA meeting was not the announcement that fan interaction will soon improve, but the inherent implication that – under the politically astute Alex Wurz – the organisation is spreading its wings and exploring areas of influence not previously considered by recent former chairmen Pedro de la Rosa, Nick Heidfeld, and Rubens Barrichello.

As they say, watch this space.

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Red Bull ‘writes off’ 2015, urges Renault to take risks

Christian Horner says Red Bull is so far behind in terms of engine reliability and performance that not only is it willing to write-off the 2015 season after just five races, but has urged Renault to 'use 20 engines' if it means an improvement for 2016.

The Red Bull team manager has been forthright in his criticism of power unit partners Renault so far in 2015, with the engine proving both down on power and unreliable compared with its key Mercedes and Ferrari rivals.

Though both Red Bull and Toro Rosso managed to get all of its cars to the chequered flag, they were left noticeably vulnerable in a straight line once the race was underway, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing as the lead representative in seventh, albeit a lap down.

As such, Horner is already looking towards the future, saying it has gotten to a point where it would encourage Renault to push the boundaries of its engines and risk failure than to continue as it is.

“We are so far on the back foot with reliability anyway that, to be honest, this year is pretty much a write-off,” he said. “You just have to go for it, even if they end up using 20 engines, it would be better to learn and make progress for next year. It would be far easier to make a fast engine reliable than to make a reliable car fast, so our philosophy has been to push performance.

Despite strong words angled towards Renault since the start of the season, Red Bull and the French firm have put on a united front in recent races as they strive to make gains. However, Horner says Renault now has nothing to lose but to 'throw caution to the wind'.

“We got lapped today,” he continued. “Therefore, it is better to focus on getting performance because we are on the back foot anyway, we have nothing to lose by throwing caution to the wind. We are not in F1 to make up numbers, we want to compete at the front and if that means taking risks, that is our philosophy and that is what we encourage Renault to do as well.”

[MIKA27]

Kimi Raikkonen bemoans ‘disturbing’ Williams tendencies

Kimi Raikkonen says he can be content with his fifth place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix, even if he was frustrated at being unable to get the better of Valtteri Bottas in the closing stages of the race.

The Finn was pushed onto the back foot following a poor qualifying that left him seventh, but an aggressive start to the race would elevate him to fifth place, where he would remain to the chequered flag.

Indeed, though Ferrari put Raikkonen on a similar option-prime-option tyre strategy to that of Bahrain – when he charged up to second place in the closing stages -, he couldn't make the more favourable medium rubber work in the closing stages as he got caught behind Bottas' Williams.

Similar to Sebastian Vettel's failure to pass the Finn in Bahrain under similar circumstances, Raikkonen says the Williams has the tendency to disturb the Ferrari's aero when following closely.

“We tried to do our best and obviously in the end we caught up with the Williams but it was so difficult to overtake,” he said. “It's just that that car seems to disturb our aero quite a bit and then obviously they have good speed on the straights. We tried but we could not pass them.

“It's been a difficult weekend in many ways but it wasn't a disaster in the end. It wasn't what we want but it could have been a lot worse. We can't be happy but at least we tried.”

Reflecting on why the weekend has proven to be less competitive for Ferrari than in recent races, Raikkonen insists the team can still learn from the issues and come back stronger.

“If you look at the lap times compared to the test and last year it's not so good as like we've seen in the previous races. If we knew it would be easier to fix it or to understand but we really don't know and we tried something different on my car and probably it wasn't ideal but we learn from those things and it can help us for the future.”

[MIKA27]

Felipe Massa recovers to take sixth

Felipe Massa says his sixth place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix was a “good result”, considering where he started.

The Brazilian lined-up in ninth in his Williams, after running off at Turn 3 on his single flying lap during Q3 on Saturday.

Then, despite losing out in Turn 2 after an “amazing start”, he soon hauled himself up, eventually finishing 21.3s adrift of Kimi Raikkonen after opting for a three-stopper.

“The start was amazing, I passed many cars into corner one, then in corner two they were a bit slow on the inside, so I tried to pass on the outside, but I think [Carolos] Sainz pushed me off into the gravel and I lost maybe another two positions,” Massa recalled

“Fortunately I passed these guys back straight away on the first two laps, so it was good. I was in front of Kimi so it would have been better to stay there, but I lost the position [as the race went on].

“All-in-all though, the race was good. The second stint I was behind Kimi, so I lost probably a bit too much on the tyres to be behind him, and the third stint I was not in a good shape with the hard tyres.

"Looking at where I started and the race, I think it was a good result for us. We were in the fight with Ferrari and had a good gap to Red Bull.”

Meanwhile, Massa added the tweaks Williams brought to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya all worked as hoped and that the next batch should come for Canada.

“It felt like as expected. We did not have a big upgrade here, but everything we brought we used and is giving what we expected,” he confirmed.

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Romain Grosjean pit stop incident a “scary moment”

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was relieved none of his mechanics were seriously injured after he overshot his box during the Spanish Grand Prix, an incident the Frenchman subsequently described as a “really scary moment”.

Grosjean clobbered a number of his pit crew when he came in for his second and final stop, with the front jack man taking a particular battering as he was lifted up into the air and off his feet.

Grosjean subsequently came home in eighth position and joked post-race that he probably owes his crew a few beers...

“It was a tough and eventful race,” said Grosjean. “Firstly, I'm glad to say that no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop. The tyres were just dead when I got to the braking-point, I braked at the arrow as normal, and it just wouldn't stop. It was a really scary moment for me, but probably more scary for the crew. I could see his face. It is the first time it has happened to me and I was not very proud of that. I checked everyone was okay and I am glad they are. I certainly owe them some beers!

“In the race, I also lost fourth gear which made things a bit of a challenge. It was a tough race but it is good to be in the points for the third race in a row and we can be proud for what we have achieved today.”

Grosjean also clashed with team-mate Pastor Maldonado early on, although the Frenchman played down the incident.

“I made a mistake early in the race, when I was overtaking a Toro Rosso into Turn 1. I had a good chance to overtake, but I went too quick into Turn 1 and lost the rear end. I lost three positions on that occasion. Then I was on the inside in Turn 3 and it was a bit of a misunderstanding - Pastor turned in, but I was there and already on the inside curve. We touched and I was a bit scared for my front wing, but it was fine, fortunately.”

Meanwhile, Lotus deputy team boss, Federico Gastaldi, paid tribute to the pit crew after Grosjean's overshot.

“Our pit box proved slippery causing Romain to stop long, resulting in three of the crew being slightly worse for wear, but nevertheless they were back in action for the subsequent stops,” he added. “This is another endorsement of Enstone's never give up spirit and we know the guys will be fighting fit for Monaco.”

So what can they do in Monaco?

“Let's see,” Grosjean continued. “It is always a one-off and you don't know what to expect. Here we thought we would be not so good and we were good. It should be alright. I think we have plenty of room to make progress.

“We have plenty of ideas in the pipeline. We just need a few new parts and just need to make our ideas on paper work on track.”

[MIKA27]

Esteban Gutierrez to make Ferrari Formula 1 debut in Barcelona test

Esteban Gutierrez will make his debut for Ferrari in Formula 1's in-season test at Barcelona in the week after the Spanish Grand Prix.

Gutierrez was signed by Ferrari as reserve driver for this season after being axed by Sauber at the end of 2014 following three years with the Swiss marque, two of them in a race seat.

The Mexican will get behind the wheel of the SF15-T on the second day of the test at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, with Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello on track on Tuesday.

"You can imagine how special it is for me," Gutierrez told AUTOSPORT.

"This was not planned at the beginning of the year, and now I have been given the opportunity to drive the car.

"It will be a chance for me to give a different perspective and feedback, and also to make a correlation to the simulator.

"It will be an important day - one of the most special of my career.

"If it was not planned, and then they give you the chance, it's a very positive indication. It means I've been doing a reasonable job."

Marciello, competing in GP2 this year with Trident Racing, is one of three drivers who will be taking part on both days as the 20-year-old Italian will switch to Sauber on Wednesday.

GP2 rival Pierre Gasly, with DAMS this season and a member of the Red Bull junior programme, will drive for Toro Rosso on Tuesday and Red Bull on Wednesday.

Red Bull will employ Daniil Kvyat on Tuesday, while Toro Rosso will have Carlos Sainz Jr testing on Wednesday.

YELLOLY GETS F1 DEBUT

Mercedes reserve Pascal Wehrlein will also double up, initially with Force India on Tuesday before taking over from Nico Rosberg at Mercedes on Wednesday.

Force India will hand Nick Yelloly (pictured) his debut in an F1 car, with the 24-year-old from Stafford having conducted considerable simulator work for the team.

Yelloly will be joined on track on Wednesday by two other British drivers as Jolyon Palmer is handed another outing with Lotus, while Alex Lynn will have his first taste of a Williams car after being taken on as development driver at the start of the year.

Other race drivers in action will be Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Massa and Marcus Ericsson for Lotus, Williams and Sauber respectively on Tuesday.

McLaren is the only team yet to make an announcement on its pairing.

FULL TEST LINE-UP

Mercedes

Tuesday: Nico Rosberg; Wednesday: Pascal Wehrlein

Ferrari

Tuesday: Raffaele Marciello; Wednesday: Esteban Gutierrez

Red Bull

Tuesday: Daniil Kvyat; Wednesday: Pierre Gasly

Williams

Tuesday: Felipe Massa; Wednesday: Alex Lynn

McLaren

Tuesday: TBC Wednesday: TBC

Lotus

Tuesday: Pastor Maldonado; Wednesday: Jolyon Palmer

Force India

Tuesday: Pascal Wehrlein; Wednesday: Nick Yelloly

Toro Rosso

Tuesday: Pierre Gasly; Wednesday: Carlos Sainz Jr

Sauber

Tuesday: Marcus Ericsson; Wednesday: Raffaele Marciello

Manor will not run at the test

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BUTTON: THE SCARIEST 30 LAPS OF MY LIFE

Jenson Button admitted on Sunday that he had little to celebrate after completing his 100th race for McLaren and fears the team may not score a point this year.

The 2009 world champion finished a lowly 16th in his Honda powered car as the team struggled to another pointless result at the Spanish Grand Prix in their worst start to a season.

His McLaren teammate, two-time champion local hero Fernando Alonso was forced to retire after a brakes failure caused him to over-shoot a pit-stop and narrowly avoid an accident with his own mechanics.

Button, who struggled with the handling of his car through the race, said: “It was pretty scary to drive. I’m sure there’s something wrong. As soon as you touch the power, the rear end snaps immediately.”

Button, who has now started 271 Grands Prix, added that he fears McLaren may not score points all season if the team fails to resolve its problems.

“The first 30 laps were not boring -– they were the scariest 30 laps of my life,” he said. “We had under-steer in the car, but the rear wasn’t there. As soon as I touched the throttle at any speed it was gone.”

“I don’t know why that is. We have to look at it more thoroughly.After today, I don’t think I expect points at all this year.

“Hopefully, today was an off day. It didn’t feel right. The weekend has been reasonably good for us and I have been happy with how the car has been, but not in the race.”

Button was unable to start the Bahrain Grand Prix last month after an electrical problem kept his car in the garage.

[Bartolomeo]

Boring race, looking forward to Monaco in 2 weeks

[kobsjones]

I'm going to the Montreal GP! Can't wait.

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Boring race, looking forward to Monaco in 2 weeks

Yes, I fell asleep mid way

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MASSA SAYS TOO EARLY FOR BOTTAS TO THINK ABOUT FERRARI

All the talk about Valtteri Bottas’ future at Ferrari has come too early claims Felipe Massa, the former long-time driver with the Maranello outfit who currently is the rising Finnish star’s teammate at Williams.

In the past days and weeks, 25-year-old Bottas has been increasingly linked with a switch to Ferrari, having reportedly signed a ‘pre-agreement’ for 2017.

Those stories were official played down in the Barcelona paddock, but – crucially – Bottas did not completely deny them, nor commit himself to Williams for the future.

But as far as 34-year-old Massa is concerned, the Bottas stories have jumped the gun.

“I think Valtteri is a fantastic talent,” he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV, “and he has a chance in the future. Perhaps in Williams, perhaps somewhere else,” said Massa. “But people have begun to talk too early — it is too early to start talking two years in advance.”

“You just have to focus on this year and perhaps also the next. But it is clear that he is a real talent and he has a very good future in formula one,” said Massa.

Interestingly, while Bottas continues to inspire Ferrari rumours, Massa – discarded by the Maranello team two years ago – is only three points behind, although the Finn did have to sit out Australia with his back injury.

For now, Ferrari is backing its current lineup of Sebastian Vettel alongside Kimi Raikkonen, although boss Maurizio Arrivabene said the latter Finn needs to earn his place in 2016 by continuing to perform.

“Bottas is in (the) future,” the Italian told Britain’s Sky in Barcelona, “and by future I mean Bottas is interesting. Like many other young drivers, he is performing very well.”