FORMULA 1 - 2016

[MIKA27]

MARKO: KVYAT HAD A MOMENT OF EMOTIONAL WEAKNESS

Helmut Marko has suggested Daniil Kvyat stands a strong chance of keeping his place at Toro Rosso beyond the end of 2016.

After the 22-year-old Russian was dropped from the Red Bull Racing lineup earlier this year and relegated to the junior team, all the signs indicated the energy drink brand and Kvyat would part ways altogether for 2017.

That is because Toro Rosso is happy with Carlos Sainz but looks likely to promote the next young charger, Pierre Gasly, from GP2.

But the very latest speculation suggest that Sainz could in fact be headed to Renault for 2017, leaving Toro Rosso eager to ensure continuity by keeping Kvyat.

“You see how Kvyat is reacting? He is doing a great job there (at Toro Rosso),” Marko told Brazil’s Globo in an interview.

Marko’s comments are surprising, given the reports that his relationship with Kvyat appeared to have broken down, particularly after the Red Bull split.

“Kvyat had a moment of emotional weakness at the beginning of the year, I don’t know why, but now it’s much better,” Marko said. “If he keeps this up, I see no reason why he should not continue in STR.”

Kvyat, however, has made noises about wanting to leave Red Bull altogether, but Marko insisted: “Yes, but he has a contract with us.

“It is not he who must decide whether he goes or not, but us.”

MIKA: I don't know why but when I see Helmut Marko I see;

[MIKA27]

TODT: WE NEED TO RENEGOTIATE THE CONCORDE AGREEMENT

FIA president Jean Todt is adamant that the organisation he presides over must negotiate the final say on F1 regulations under the next Concorde Agreement in 2020.

The current commercial agreements that divide revenue within the sport and determine the division of power are due to expire in 2020, and Todt aims to have a say.

Speaking at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin, “It will be the renegotiation of the Concorde Agreement, with the strong issue of the governance.”

Todt’s vision would see the FIA work closely with teams and Formula 1’s commercial rights holder – Formula One Administration managed by Bernie Ecclestone’s FOM – but ultimately have the final say on rule changes.

He explained, “If you want to have the participation of teams, of manufacturers, they must support what you are doing. Very often, manufacturers are involved because they feel it is a strong marketing tool, a strong laboratory for them. So for me, it’s essential you listen to them. It’s a way of leadership.

“For me, I always like to hear what people think and not only manufacturers, but fans, journalists but at the end of the day, I think we should have much more autonomy to make the final decisions.”

“We will have discussions, and I think it’s very important you have bodies who are participating to influence, but at the end of the day it has to be the governing body who is making the decision, but with the very strong support of the promoter, because the promoter has the responsibility to sell the show.”

“So it would be very unfair to say we are going to dictate that and then you sell the show.”

Meanwhile, Todt has yet to decide if he will stand for a third term as FIA president beyond 2017.

[MIKA27]

DROPPING RAIKKONEN MAY DESTABILISE FERRARI WARNS PROST

Four-time F1 world champion and ex-Ferrari driver Alain Prost believes that Ferrari retaining Kimi Raikkonen will keep stability in the team, the opposite may have a negative impact.

Raikkonen’s future at Maranello is an ongoing subject of media speculation, while a number of drivers – Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz to name a couple – are knocking at the door.

Prost told media at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin, “Everybody can see the positive points and the negative points. There are one or two drivers on the market who could be quite good for Ferrari, maybe a little bit quicker, but you do not know.”

“One thing you also have to take into consideration is the pressure at Ferrari. Sometimes you can see some very good drivers in an average team and, when they go to a top team, they do not perform the same because it is a little bit different.”

“The positive sign for him [Raikkonen] to stay is that he has a very good relation with Vettel and you have a number one and number two, not on paper, but in fact.”

“For the ambience it is not bad. To be honest, I don’t blame them [Ferrari] and I don’t criticise. I am sure they are going to make the right decision,” added Prost.

[MIKA27]

BRAZIL PROMOTER SLAMS MASSA OVER RACE DOUBTS

The promoter of Brazil’s F1 race has slammed Felipe Massa for saying it is “possible” Interlagos will be axed from the calendar.

Following comments made by Bernie Ecclestone, Sao Paulista Massa admitted in Baku last weekend: “What is happening in Brazil at the moment is very difficult. So it’s not impossible that F1 in Brazil will be over.”

But as local Brazilian media were this week given a tour of the latest stage of renovations at the Interlagos track, promoter Tamas Rohonyi hit back hard at the Williams driver.

“I will call him and say that just as I don’t tell you how to drive, he does not understand how to organise a race,” Rohonyi told UOL Esporte.

“I do not comment on what I don’t understand. Massa just heard something and repeated it, but when I was hearing a lot about his driving, I did not comment,” he added.

However, F1 supremo Ecclestone said his race axe threats are serious, having warned in recent days that Canada, Italy and Germany are all also endangered.

The 2016 race calendar stands at an unprecedented 21 races, but the 85-year-old told The Times this week: “It is more likely to be 18 races next year.”

[MIKA27]

MANTAGNY TIPS ROSBERG TO WIN 2016 F1 TITLE

Former F1 driver Franck Montagny thinks Nico Rosberg is ready to win his first world championship in 2016.

The Frenchman, who drove for Super Aguri ten years ago, says that just as reigning title winner Lewis Hamilton is slipping, German Rosberg has stepped up his own game.

“I think Nico has changed between last season and this year,” he told Le Point.

“He seems less sensitive to pressure now. He could have been destabilised after two straight defeats in Monaco and Canada, but before Baku he did important work in the simulator — Rosberg has matured this season,” said Montagny.

In contrast, Hamilton said as he arrived in Baku last week that he rarely tries new tracks in the Mercedes simulator because “I could spend a few hundred quid on a Playstation and learn the same amount.”

Montagny criticised that, saying Hamilton took “too easy” an attitude leading into what turned out to be an extremely challenging Baku layout on which he crashed in qualifying and then struggled to fix an incorrect engine mode setting during the race.

“He (Hamilton) was convinced he would easily beat Rosberg,” he said. “Hamilton seems less applied and involved than he was in the past.

“In Baku, he seemed to arrive having decided not to use the simulator and relying on his talent alone. But you see that he made mistakes and is now under pressure.

“Hamilton has a lot of his attention away from the circuits and seems bored by F1, which can damage him,” Montagny added. “Hamilton is probably faster than Rosberg, but he doesn’t work as hard.”

[MIKA27]

Pirelli names tyre compounds for Belgium, Japan

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has named the tyre compounds that will be made available to teams for the Belgian Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix.

For Spa-Francorchamps, Pirelli has opted to go for a supersoft-soft-medium selection that has so far featured in five of the eight first grands prix of the season.

A set of mediums and a set of softs will be made available for the race for mandatory use.

Meanwhile, softs, mediums and hards have been nominated as the tyre compounds for Suzuka, with two sets of the hard tyre selected as mandatory - meaning that, in case of a dry race, each driver will have to use the hardest available tyre in the grand prix.

The announcement means that Pirelli has now named tyre compounds for 16 of the first 17 grands prix of the season, with Singapore, Malaysia and Japan selections announced ahead of Italy due to their status as flyaway races.

 

[MIKA27]

RON DENNIS: MCLAREN FOCUSED ON LONG-TERM SPONSOR COMMITMENTS OVER SHORTER F1 TITLE DEALS

Ron Dennis says the changing nature of Formula 1’s sponsorship models means his McLaren team has prioritised signing smaller deals for longer, rather than sell prominent space on its cars to a single company for a shorter period of time.

Dennis was speaking at the launch event of McLaren’s new partnership with fashion brand Michael Kors, which will become the team’s “lifestyle partner” and have its logos visible on the MP4-31 and the overalls of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

“The sponsorship model changes year on year and for many years it was about a predominant brand on a Grand Prix car,” he said. “The activation budget needs to match the investment and the numbers in Formula 1 have gone up and up and up.

“[When] you then start looking at funding and racing, it becomes so expensive that no one company can put it together. So what we’ve done over the years is go down the path of different types of comparable products that sit comfortably here with a common objective.

“We’ve been very much focused on brands and the long-term, rather than short term [as] a dominant force on the car.”

McLaren has been without a title sponsor since the end of 2013, when its deal with Vodaphone expired, but the team has ince signed a number of sponsorship deals without putting high profile branding on large sections of its cars, as was previously the case.

Dennis described how the team had decided to focus on reaching deals with brands that share its values and used the Michael Kors deal as an example of that process.

He said: “Our search for a fashion brand has been very much focused on a brand that lives by the same sort of brand principals and values as ourselves. It’s an honour to have Michael Kors on the car because of what it stands for.

“We have to under-promise and over deliver on our side of things and then the whole thing will just take on a natural scope.”

Speaking about the deal, which his company is marking by releasing 50 limited-edition black leather jackets, Michael Kors said: “This partnership is about the convergence of style and speed, which is inherent to both the Michael Kors and McLaren-Honda DNA.

“There is an energy, sophistication and confidence to both of our brands, and we wanted to create a limited-edition piece that spoke to that.”

Lawrence Stroll, the father of Williams’ development driver Lance, floated the Michael Kors brand. Although he has now sold his stake in the company, the Canadian businessman now has links to three F1 teams, including Ferrari, which was sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger, another of Stroll’s business interests, during the Michael Schumacher era.

[MIKA27]

More from Turin: The Second Day Of The FIA Sports Conference:

The second day of the FIA Sports Conference in Turin has produced some interesting discussions. Here is some of what happened with Ferrari technical director James Allison, Gian Paolo Dallara, Pirelli boss Marco Tronchetti Provera and Caroline Hargrove of McLaren Advanced Technologies.

There was also an appearance by Alain Prost, talking about his career, his Formula E team, ice racing, his cycling adventures and why it has not been possible revive the French Grand Prix.

 

[MIKA27]

MARCHIONNE: F1 NEEDS MORE FREEDOM FOR EXPERIMENTATION

Ferrari big boss Sergio Marchionne wants Formula 1 to be the laboratory where engineers can explore cutting edge technologies for the motoring industry and thus rules must open up to accommodate experimentation.

Speaking at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin, Marchionne stressed, “The success and strength of Ferrari has always been closely linked to the world of Formula 1 and racing has always been the laboratory where the leading edge, innovative technologies for its street cars are developed.”

“The character and potential of Ferrari is constantly tested on the track. In any event, I firmly believe that there should be more freedom for experimentation.”

Marchionne is convinced the 2017 rules will provide the sport with an opportunity to explore the limits of technology in a cost effective manner.

Marchionne said, “Jean Todt and the other members of the Formula One Commission have been trying to find a balance between ensuring access to the sport by limiting the costs of participation, and the need to innovate.”

“I think that with the introduction of the 2017 regulations we have found an acceptable point of equilibrium, but we must be mindful that pushing cars to the limit and testing them under the most extreme conditions is the only way to guarantee the maximum yield in innovation,” added the Ferrari chief.

[MIKA27]

INSIDE LINE: DEADLY DISTRACTIONS

The Grand Prix of Europe in Baku raised a very serious issue about driver safety.

The FIA’s ‘Action for Road Safety’ campaign was launched in support of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety in an attempt to improve the frightening statistics that on the road 1.3 million people are killed every year, which equates to 1 person every 30 seconds.

The campaign is heavily promoted by Jean Todt, the FIA President and it is now standard procedure after Formula One qualifying at every Grand Prix that the top three drivers have to have their photograph taken against the backdrop of FIA Action for Road Safety.

Jean Todt’s partner, the actress Michelle Yeoh, is a Global Road Safety Ambassador for the FIA endorsed Safe Steps campaign in Asia, which has the objective of raising awareness and providing clear, educational information on some of the leading causes of death to as many people as possible.

One of the central themes of the Road Safety campaigns is Deadly Distractions, meaning that the driver’s focus should be on watching the road ahead and not being distracted, such as the use of mobile phones, texting and playing with instruments or dials on the dashboard display.

The messages being presented to road users is very clear. You can’t multi-task as well as you think. Keep your eyes on the road, keep both hands on the steering wheel, and stay focused.

It is all very laudable and a very worthwhile cause to raise awareness of the dangers of driving on the road.

However, the FIA are sending out mixed messages, which became very real at the Grand Prix of Europe.

How can these messages be justified if an F1 driver is forced to make continual changes on the buttons on the steering wheel because the FIA forbids instructions from the pits?

The changes that an F1 driver has to make from the cockpit are quite remarkable. Several years ago I questioned Valtteri Bottas on this and he said that even then drivers would be making up to six adjustments a lap. In fact there is a story that when Lewis Hamilton first raced in F1 he used to learn the settings on the steering wheel by feel, whilst watching TV!

At the Grand Prix of Europe in Baku, Lewis had an engine setting issue, which he was forced to try and resolve himself through the controls on his steering wheel. The engineers knew precisely the problem and how to fix it, but were not allowed to tell Lewis due to regulations introduced by the FIA to restrict the information the team could pass to the driver.

Previously teams had been able to feed information to the driver and many believed that it had gone to far when often it sounded as if the engineers were telling the driver how to drive. However many believe the clampdown has now gone too far.

Hamilton said after the race that the restrictions put the drivers’ safety at risk because they were constantly staring at the steering wheel. At one stage he told his team: “This is ridiculous, guys. I’m looking at my dash every five seconds trying to find the switch in the wrong position.”

Asked how it had felt trying to find the right setting while racing on the challenging Baku street circuit, the world champion said: “Dangerous. I’m just there looking at my steering wheel for a large portion of the lap and all the way down the straights.” This is daunting when you consider that the straights at Baku recorded some of the fastest speeds of any Grand Prix track at around 220 mph!

After the race Fernando Alonso concurred: “They give us a spaceship to drive, with the technology we have, and now we have no information available. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what is happening with the car, and what solution to do.”

Lewis is right, it is a dangerous distraction – and in the cold light of day puts the FIA in a hypercritical situation. If you are telling road drivers to keep their eyes on the road and not be distracted at 30 mph, then it makes a mockery by forcing drivers to be distracted at 220 mph – however good the F1 drivers are!

I posted a comment on this on Facebook and was surprised how much response it received, but the messages from fans of the sport were clear as can be seen from these comments:

“These radio bans are a complete farce and potentially dangerous, especially at a circuit like Baku.”

“The FIA Road Safety campaign says even using a hands free phone is like having a low blood alcohol content so maybe they should cut 100% of radio comms and let the driver focus on driving as you could see, he was also distracted by all the chat with his engineer.”

“Even with radio help allowed there are simply too many buttons, too many changeable settings. The cars should be more of a challenge to drive – not allowing diff/engine map/recovery/etc. settings changes would make them tougher to drive as the fuel load burns off, track conditions change, or tyres degrade.”

“What’s the use of the radio if not for comms? And the driver is for driving, not memorise all the hundreds of settings on the car!”

My message to FIA, it is time for common sense to prevail, look at the big picture and stop sending out mixed signals!

[MIKA27]

TODT HAS NO PROBLEM WITH ALCOHOL ADVERTISING IN F1

FIA president Jean Todt does not believe that alcohol sponsorship in Formula 1 is a problem, but wants alcohol companies playing a much more active role in pushing the ‘Do not drink and drive’ message.

In the wake of a mega-million dollar deal with Heineken the European Alcohol Policy Alliance wrote a letter to Todt requesting he clamp down on alcohol branding as F1 did with tobacco sponsorship a decade or so ago.

During the FIA Conference in Turin, Todt was asked if he felt frustrated by the commercial rights holder attracting alcohol brands to F1, he responded: “I would not talk about frustration. My frustration is maybe in a different way.

“I feel that alcohol companies have a civil obligation that they don’t do properly. They have a responsibility to inform better about the risk of drinking and driving.

“We must be realistic. Is anybody in a position to ban the sale of alcohol? No. We cannot. Those people, those alcohol producers have very strong social responsibility.”

“To be very honest, I don’t have a problem if they do advertise,” Todt said. “They advertise not only in motor racing. They advertise in soccer, UEFA, rugby – a lot of alcohol companies are advertising.

“But for me, they have a social obligation which they need to assess better to participate to discourage people to drive if they drink.”

“I’m very comfortable, it can only be good for the governing body,” Todt said.” “The governing body has not [got] enough power, influence to have the final say on the rules. It’s the way it is. It’s simple. It has more then when I was elected.”

[MIKA27]

Radio Ga Ga & F1 de-rates - Baku GP Explained

In this week's Silver Arrows Show, Andy Cowell explains what de-rating is and Sporting Director Ron Meadows highlights how the Team stays within the rules when it comes to F1 radio communications. Plus we've got the highlights from last Sunday's Brackley Soapbox Derby for you.

[joeskow]

Fantastic Q3!!

[skalls]

Q3 was flat out exciting.

 

Thought kyvaat got screwed by the track in q1.  think we're going to see a couple cars wrecked tomorrow because of the curbing.

[Baldy]

Love the dangerous curbs.  More of these should be implemented in F1.  Makes it more interesting.  Drive on curb (that's friggin 3 meters off the race track) and be punished.  No need for Stewards and human judgement.  Otherwise just make the curb part of the racing track and be done with it.

[Baldy]

1 hour ago, skalls said:

Thought kyvaat got screwed by the track in q1.  think we're going to see a couple cars wrecked tomorrow because of the curbing.

He screwed himself.  No one forced him to drive that aggressively onto the curb.  Did drivers get screwed by the wall in Monaco when they slam into it?  By qualifying everyone knew what the curbs were like.  All teams were telling their drivers to stay off the curbs.  F1 is for grown men where mistakes should be costly while excellence rewarded.  Don't whine like a baby when you drive off track and consequences happen. 

[skalls]

The race wasn't as exciting as Q3 was, but was still entertaining.  Once again some domestic abuse happened with the Silver Arrow cars.  Lewis was no doubt being aggressive but it looked like Nico turned into him to block him.  Wonder if Merc gave LH the yellows because they didn't think his sticker ultras wouldn't get to the end of the race.  He was racing the hell out of them though since he had the fastest lap.

The pit stops were entertaining with them flushing the carbon brakes out of the brakes.  Crazy how much dust was coming out there.

Nice to see RG in Haas back in the points, he had a hell of a race.

I'm no Ferrari fanboy, but I feel like Pirelli let Vettel down again.

[PoohBore]

And Nico gets a 10 second penalty and 2 points on his licence. Nico didn't have any yellow tyres left to use and had to have the ultras.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk when it bloody works properly

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: I HOPE WE CAN CONTINUE TO RACE

Reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has urged Mercedes to reject team orders and allow him and arch rival Nico Rosberg to continue racing each other in their fight for the drivers’ world title.

After clashing and colliding with the German leader of this year’s championship on the last lap of his victory in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, the defending three-time champion said he hoped Mercedes boss Toto Woff would reject the temptation of team orders.

“I hope it doesn’t change and I hope we can continue to race,” said Hamilton. “That is my honest opinion from a love of this sport.”

“Certain circumstances have led us to where we are today,” he added. “We have a lot of races ahead and we will continue to race. I am fighting for the world championship so we will keep fighting”

“Hopefully, through these experiences there will be no more and, hopefully, a lot less than what we have had so far this year. Hopefully, they are a blip in the mist and we will continue racing forward.

“You never want to see team orders happening. The great thing is Toto and Niki (Lauda) have been great and allow us to race and that is what racing is about.”

Hamilton won Sunday’s race after surviving a collision with Rosberg on the final lap when the German drove into him and forced him off the circuit at Turn Two.

Rosberg was later called to a stewards’ inquiry and given a time penalty, but he retained his fourth place finish in the race. He was leading into the last lap, but fell to fourth after crashing with Hamilton.

Wolff showed his anger and frustration after the race and said he was considering the introduction of team orders in future to protect the team when they had a clear opportunity to claim one-two finishes.

Sunday’s collision was their third in five races and came only four races on from their crash in Spain where both men were forced into retirement on the opening lap.

“Team orders are on the table now, we have to consider this,” said Wolff, after Sunday’s stunning contest in which Hamilton overcame unfavourable strategy decisions and Rosberg’s belligerence to win.

“I want to race,” said Hamilton. “I grew up wanting to race. I wanted to get to F1, race the best and be the best, by out-driving another individual.

“They showed a replay of Michael (Schumacher) and (Rubens) Barrichello many years ago (the team orders controversy from Austria 2002) and I was disappointed as a fan back then.

“It is not always going to be blue skies and perfect, but that is motor racing. Every engineer and mechanic has been through Formula Ford and Formula Renault and all the different categories.

“They have seen the good and the bad and know these things can happen. We are driving at 200-plus mph. You expect us to drive around and never, never, never have a problem? I doubt it.”

Hamilton said he did all he could to avoid a crash on Sunday when he passed Rosberg on the outside.

“It is not something I go out to get involved in,” he said. “I don’t go out to get caught in collisions. As you could see, I drove as wide as possible, within the white lines, so I left a lot of space.

“Three cars could have come on the inside of me there. As a team boss and team, the team want to finish 1-2. That is our goal and it is my goal – although I want to be at the front of the 1-2 ”

[MIKA27]

WOLFF: ROSBERG’S CONTRACT ISN’T INFLUENCED BY A RACE INCIDENT

Nico Rosberg has been assured his ongoing contract negotiations with Formula One champions Mercedes will not be affected by the collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.

“The contract is a long-term decision and isn’t influenced by a race incident,” team boss Toto Wolff told reporters at the Red Bull Ring.

An exasperated Wolff, who has a 30 percent stake in the team as well as being Mercedes motorsport director, had earlier slammed the latest clash between the two title rivals as ‘brainless’.

Stewards blamed Rosberg for causing the last lap incident, imposing a meaningless time penalty and reprimand.

The German, who has been at Mercedes since 2010 and turned 31 last week, finished fourth while triple world champion Hamilton won to cut Rosberg’s overall lead to 11 points with 12 races remaining.

While Hamilton has a contract to 2018, Rosberg’s future is in discussion. Austria’s former McLaren and Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger is negotiating with Mercedes on his behalf.

He told Reuters no deal had been reached yet and whether Rosberg stayed was up to Mercedes.

“It would be very short-term thinking of everybody,” he added when asked about a possible negative impact of a collision that denied the team a one-two finish.

“We are seeing here a race where somebody did an outstanding job, and then a couple of circumstances happened in the last lap.”

Rosberg has won five of nine races so far this season and, despite some speculation about a possible Ferrari move, has said he expects to remain at Mercedes for years to come.

“It feels great to be here, and the team’s also very happy with me,” he said. “I feel really very much at home. This is my racing family here and this is where I want to be for the foreseeable future.”

Asked on Sunday whether anything had changed, he replied that he was just disappointed to have lost another victory.

“I had it in the bag and would have loved to win here. To lose it in such a way in the last lap is unbelievably hard,” said the German, who had been chasing a hat-trick of Austria wins.

“I don’t think of a big picture like that,” he added when asked about working with Hamilton. “I’m just thinking of today and I’m gutted and that’s it. I just lost the race and he won it. I’m the guy that suffered from the collision and he didn’t.”

 

[MIKA27]

FERRARI: WE WANTED TO GO EVEN LONGER

Ferrari and Pirelli are investigating the race-ending tyre blowout that caused Sebastian Vettel to retire from the race while leading the Austrian Grand Prix, with the team revealing that they were intending to run the tyre much longer.

The German driver was leading the Austrian grand prix when a rear tyre exploded and ended his race at the Red Bull Ring.

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene denied suggestions Ferrari pushed the boundaries by running the tyres for too long on Vettel’s car.

“No,” he said. “We wanted to go even longer and had plenty of feedback from Seb that we were on the safe side.

“There were no signs on the telemetry, nothing from Sebastian that there was something wrong. Then the tyre broke,” added the Italian.

Coming at the end of a weekend in which several cars’ suspensions were destroyed over harsh new kerbs at the Red Bull Ring, Arrivabene said that could not be ruled out as the cause.

“It’s too early to say but it’s possible,” he said. “It’s just strange that we are apparently the only ones with such a problem.”

“We are working closely with Pirelli on the analysis. When I started work here (at Ferrari), I said I would always tell the truth, and the truth is I don’t know what happened.”

The sister car of Kimi Raikkonen went on to finish third in Austria, but Arrivabene would not be drawn on what he thinks Vettel might have achieved.

“Vettel was leading and according to our calculations, he would have finished the race near the front. How far forward, we will never know,” he said.

With the two Mercedes drivers clashing yet again, meanwhile, what Arrivabene would say is that similar trouble between Vettel and Raikkonen is much less likely.

“I leave this issue to Toto (Wolff),” said Arrivabene. “I am happy with Kimi and Seb. I cannot imagine a situation like that at Mercedes with our own two drivers.”

[MIKA27]

MATESCHITZ: WE NEED MORE F1 RACES LIKE THIS ONE

Formula 1 would be in better health if there were more races like the drama packed Austrian grand prix.

That is the claim of Dietrich Mateschitz, the owner not only of F1’s two Red Bull teams but also the picturesque scene in the Styrian mountains of the weekend’s race action.

Asked if he is happy with the spectator numbers from the Red Bull Ring event, the Austrian billionaire told Speed Week: “We know already that Formula One is not exactly booming. But we would only need more [F1] races like this one and it would change quickly.”

“If Ferrari and ourselves are able to put Mercedes under even more pressure, then the interest will rise again,” said Mateschitz.

Red Bull’s own performance boost recently – which saw Max Verstappen win in Spain last month and finish second in Austria – has been thanks largely to the team’s unbranded engine supplier Renault, he admitted.

“We are absolutely satisfied with the progress of our engine partner,” said the 72-year-=old. “We now expect another 20 horse power around the Japanese grand prix, which will bring two or three more tenths per lap.”

Asked why he thinks Renault has suddenly leapt forward, Mateschitz answered: “The change in management was crucial.”

“There are once again racers at work, bringing the necessary commitment and passion. That’s why we extended the contract until 2018, but already for 2017 it is looking good,” he added.

[MIKA27]

WEHRLEIN POINT FOR MANOR IS BAD NEWS FOR SAUBER

The Austrian Grand Prix weekend set the scene for both good and bad news regarding the future of the struggling Sauber team.

The Swiss outfit went into the Red Bull Ring event sounding confident about the future, after finally paying staff and indicating a rescue buyout deal is on the cards for the near future, but then came Pascal Wehrlein’s superb weekend in the Styrian mountains.

The Manor rookie drove to a sensational 12th on the grid and an even more stunning tenth placed finish, netting an ultra-rare point for the backmarker team.

Wehrlein, 21, told Auto Motor und Sport the point is of “vital importance to the team”, referring to the fact that it elevates Manor into the top ten teams that benefit from Bernie Ecclestone’s lucrative post-season prize money.

The only point-less team that is dead last in the championship now, is Sauber.

“This means that the team, all of us, has to react, and that means developing the car,” Sauber driver Felipe Nasr told UOL Esporte. “Clearly it’s time to upgrade the car, which is scheduled to happen after Silverstone.”

But boss and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn indicated that the Sauber package will get an immediate boost ahead of this weekend’s British grand prix.

“At this engine track, we got everything possible out of the car,” she said before departing Austria. “At the next race we will get a (Ferrari) engine upgrade and will do everything to move forward.”

[MIKA27]

FIA SAYS AEROSCREEN CONCEPT NOT SCRAPPED YET

Ferrari will try again to debut the updated ‘Halo 2’ cockpit protection this weekend ahead of the British grand prix.

The Maranello team intended to run the revised, titanium technology with a modified cockpit position over an installation lap in Friday practice in Austria, but Sebastian Vettel’s car developed a technical problem and the Halo run was aborted.

But it is now believed that ‘Halo 2’ will make its appearance this Friday at Silverstone.

It comes after the FIA shelved for now the rival, Red Bull-devised ‘Aeroscreen’ concept, with Red Bull saying it did not have the time or resources at the moment to do necessary developments.

That was bad news for some people, who believe that the open-topped, windshield-like device is more aesthetically appealing than Halo.

“This is about safety, not beauty,” Australian Daniel Ricciardo is quoted by Speed Week, “but I have always said that the windshield solution looks better than Halo. I think it would be a real shame if that project was stopped.”

The FIA’s safety chief Laurent Mekies, however, said Aeroscreen has simply been put on the back burner.

“Development of the Aeroscreen is frozen only for 2017,” he reportedly said.

“We had a deadline and would have struggled to get two different concepts ready in time. But when we have finished the Halo, I am sure that we will then look at Aeroscreen very closely again,” Mekies added.

[MIKA27]

Force India duo disappointed after double DNF at the Red Bull Ring

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez were left disappointed after both retiring from the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Hulkenberg lined up on the front row of the grid but he lost ground at the start and soon fell down the order, struggling with tyre graining.

His VJM09 picked up a vibration late in the race and brake wear levels were also at critical levels, with Force India opting to retire his car.

“I’m pretty disappointed and gutted, to be honest,” Hulkenberg said. “It was a really tough race and nothing really worked out for us.

“The start wasn’t great and I dropped a couple of positions on lap one, but the opening stint was very difficult because the car was sliding around and the tyres were graining.

“That became the story of my race because the balance of the car wasn’t allowing me to manage the tyres and I was suffering with so much graining.

“With a new set I could manage just three of four laps before they fell away. Towards the end of the race I had some vibrations with the car and the team saw that I was critical on brake wear, which is why we retired the car in the end.”

Perez was running in the top 10 but brake issues on the final lap caused him to go straight on and into the wall at Turn 3: “It’s a big shame that we retired on the last lap of the race. I’m feeling sad for the team because we really deserved some points.

“We have been really unlucky, and it’s frustrating because we’ve been competitive here with our pace. The race was going really well and I thought we had the points in our pocket.

“I was pushing hard to stay close to [Romain] Grosjean because I knew he had a five seconds time penalty. Then, on the final lap, going into Turn 3, I had no brakes and went straight on.

“I touched the barrier and damaged the front of the car, but I’m perfectly okay. It’s annoying because the team did everything right and it’s just bad luck which stopped our great recovery.”