FORMULA 1 - 2016

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS HAS 2017 OFFER FROM RENAULT AND WILLIAMS

Valtteri Bottas has reportedly received an offer to switch from Williams to the Renault works team for 2017.

That is the claim of Oskari Saari, the Formula 1 commentator for Finnish television MTV.

Williams is obviously toying with the notion of replacing both Bottas and Felipe Massa for 2017, amid speculated links with Jenson Button, Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez, Felipe Nasr and others.

According to Saari, 26-year-old Bottas could either stay with the Grove team or decide to move to Renault.

“It is impossible to get a comment from those involved, especially the drivers at this time of the year,” he told the Danish newspaper BT.

“Valtteri is saying nothing, but let me put it like this: I know for sure that he has offers from both Williams and Renault at the moment,” Saari added.

[MIKA27]

BUEMI WOULD ONLY RETURN TO F1 IF MADE A GOOD OFFER

Sebastien Buemi says only a “good offer” from a F1 team could entice him away from his current motor racing forays.

Since losing his Toro Rosso seat at the end of 2011, the now 27-year-old Swiss has rebuilt his career by winning the world sports car championship in 2014. He is also the reigning Formula E champion.

Buemi has also maintained his links with Red Bull, and last week at Mugello was developing Pirelli’s wide 2017-specification aboard the team’s modified 2015 test car.

“With these wide tyres the cars look super cool, and they’re fun on the inside of the car as well,” he told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has advised to Renault that Buemi should be brought back into F1 full time, but the driver warned: “It would have to be a good offer for me to give everything up.”

[MIKA27]

Kovalainen: I felt I was the number two

Heikki Kovalainen says he struggled with being slotted into the “number two” role at McLaren in 2009, but concedes he was not driving as well as he had the previous season.

Writing in a guest blog on the official McLaren website, Kovalainen has spoken of his time at McLaren where he partnered Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit won the World title in their first season together while the Finn was only seventh with one win and two additional podiums to his tally.

As such it was Hamilton who was favoured in their second season, something Kovalainen admits he struggled with.

“I mentally wasn’t sharp enough to really try to get more out of it,” he wrote.

“Also Lewis got some parts ahead of me, and maybe I let it affect me a little bit when he got slightly better service, if you like.

“More than the first season I felt I was the number two, but I should have ignored that and just got on with the job. I wasn’t driving as well as I was before.”

2009 would be Kovalainen’s final season with McLaren as then team boss Martin Whitmarsh informed him early in the campaign that they were trying to sign either Kimi Raikkonen or Jenson Button as his replacement. They secured Button’s signature.

“Martin Whitmarsh kept me up to date,” he added. “He told me early on that they will look for another driver, they will look for Kimi, and they were also looking for Jenson Button. But both of those drivers might not be available, and Martin said to me if not, then you’ll be the third choice.

“It became apparent that Kimi wasn’t going to come, so it was only Button, and they were awaiting news on what he was going to do. In fact, I was in America and it was Thanksgiving Day when Martin called me to say, ‘We have signed Jenson.’

“My results weren’t good enough, and I was kind of expecting it. But I felt that I could do better, and maybe the team would give me another shot. But, in a team like McLaren, when things don’t go well they change things, and that’s what they did.”

Kovalainen, though, says he now looks back at his time with McLaren with fondness as he not only learned a great deal, but he also claimed the Hungarian GP victory in 2008.

“I had a great opportunity, and I felt it started very well. But quite often in motor sport and in life small things can change your direction and change the outcome.

“During 2008 there were small details, particular races that kind of went in the wrong direction, and I wasn’t able to get the results I deserved. I could have won more races and things could have worked out quite differently in the long run.

“McLaren taught me a lot, and I learned a lot from Lewis as well. As a team they were able to help me and guide me. I became a better driver, but I think I lost a bit of confidence during the second half of 2009, and I felt I needed to go back to the starting point and start again with the information that I had after those two years. That’s the reason I went with Caterham, to give myself time to build something again.

“But I have good memories of McLaren, and it was the best team I ever worked with, a really great team and a powerful team. Sometimes nowadays when I see them struggling I feel sorry for them, and I hope they can come back to where they should be.”

[MIKA27]

’21 races is beyond the limit’

Monisha Kalterborn believes Formula 1 should reduce the number of grands prix on the calendar as 21 is “too much.”

This season Formula 1 embarked on its longest run yet with a 21 grand prix calendar, starting in March with the Australian GP and concluding in late November with the Abu Dhabi race.

Such is the jam-packed schedule that when F1 returns from the summer break with the Belgian GP there will be nine races in 13 weeks.

“21 races is too much for us,” the Sauber team boss told F1i.

“I think it’s not going to really help us at the end of the day to have more viewers.

“Probably the most important factor is the income, but that again is a question of how long that will last, this kind of strategy? But that’s for the commercial rights holder to know, not for us as teams.

“But I do believe that this is beyond the limit.”

The saving grace for many of the team personnel is the current summer break in which all the factories shutdown.

“I think it’s very important,” she added. “Irrespective of how your performance is, the people need the break and there is a good reason why races were limited to 20.

“Now we have more and we have destinations further away and we don’t have the capacity as a team to rotate people and to make sure that they don’t go beyond their limits.

“It’s important and I think the factory shutdown – which was agreed at a time when not everybody was so convinced about it because there was no reason to think like this – has actually turned out to be one of the best things we have done for the teams and the people. Maybe we have to do more of this so maybe it is better for everyone.

“For us it is good to be able to really reset everything and then hopefully be much more stable.”

[MIKA27]

Wolff’s solution to ‘boring’ run-offs

Toto Wolff says Formula 1 should do away with track limits in their entirety, saying only “the wall or the gravel bed” should dictate where drivers cannot go.

Track limits have become one of the hot topics in Formula 1 of late as the FIA has come in for criticism of their handling of it.

In Germany alone the rule was changed three times.

Ahead of the grand prix weekend the FIA declared that there would be no track limits but, after 93 incidents of drivers running wide in FP1, they went with a three-strike rule.

However, even that wasn’t set in a stone as they later tweaked the usable track limit at Turn 1.

Wolff says F1 should rather abolish it entirely.

He told Motorsport.com: “The tarmac run-off is so boring anyway that drivers are able to go off and rejoin.

“If I am reading on screen that car so and so has rejoined the track, I think ‘if you go off the track, you should be either in the wall or the gravel bed’.

“If it is tarmac, let them take the quickest line. What is the difference?

“We are having a million miles of run-off areas. It becomes less and less spectacular and we wonder why audiences are having less interest in what we do.

“My opinion is, leave [Silverstone corners] Copse and Club or whatever and let them drive the quickest line.

“If it is somewhere really unsafe because we are coming too close to the barriers or when you rejoin you are putting others in danger, then okay, look at the specifics of that one corner, but for the rest, just let them go. Let them drive. It is spectacular pictures.”

The Mercedes motorsport boss added that he is not in favour of policing track limits, something which could have cost Lewis Hamilton pole position at the British GP as the World Champ’s first time in Q3 was disallowed when he was deemed to have run wide.

“I think consistency in the rules is very important, because we are not changing the size of a football goal every game.

“If you start analysing white lines and whether a driver has put two centimetres of his tyre on a white line and his lap time is going away, nobody understands any more.

“This is not long jump where two centimetres make the jump invalid. This is a six-kilometre track and two centimetres should not be changing that. So we said: ‘Let’s leave the drivers alone and let them drive.’

“It will provide spectacular pictures over the kerbs – we have seen some great TV of cars entering the start-finish straight into the Motodrom [at Hockenheim]. I loved it! And the same in Turn 1 now. We have become reasonable on track limits and I hope it stays.”

[MIKA27]

Wolff’s solution to ‘boring’ run-offs

Toto Wolff says Formula 1 should do away with track limits in their entirety, saying only “the wall or the gravel bed” should dictate where drivers cannot go.

Track limits have become one of the hot topics in Formula 1 of late as the FIA has come in for criticism of their handling of it.

In Germany alone the rule was changed three times.

Ahead of the grand prix weekend the FIA declared that there would be no track limits but, after 93 incidents of drivers running wide in FP1, they went with a three-strike rule.

However, even that wasn’t set in a stone as they later tweaked the usable track limit at Turn 1.

Wolff says F1 should rather abolish it entirely.

He told Motorsport.com: “The tarmac run-off is so boring anyway that drivers are able to go off and rejoin.

“If I am reading on screen that car so and so has rejoined the track, I think ‘if you go off the track, you should be either in the wall or the gravel bed’.

“If it is tarmac, let them take the quickest line. What is the difference?

“We are having a million miles of run-off areas. It becomes less and less spectacular and we wonder why audiences are having less interest in what we do.

“My opinion is, leave [Silverstone corners] Copse and Club or whatever and let them drive the quickest line.

“If it is somewhere really unsafe because we are coming too close to the barriers or when you rejoin you are putting others in danger, then okay, look at the specifics of that one corner, but for the rest, just let them go. Let them drive. It is spectacular pictures.”

The Mercedes motorsport boss added that he is not in favour of policing track limits, something which could have cost Lewis Hamilton pole position at the British GP as the World Champ’s first time in Q3 was disallowed when he was deemed to have run wide.

“I think consistency in the rules is very important, because we are not changing the size of a football goal every game.

“If you start analysing white lines and whether a driver has put two centimetres of his tyre on a white line and his lap time is going away, nobody understands any more.

“This is not long jump where two centimetres make the jump invalid. This is a six-kilometre track and two centimetres should not be changing that. So we said: ‘Let’s leave the drivers alone and let them drive.’

“It will provide spectacular pictures over the kerbs – we have seen some great TV of cars entering the start-finish straight into the Motodrom [at Hockenheim]. I loved it! And the same in Turn 1 now. We have become reasonable on track limits and I hope it stays.”

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo feeling like Vettel over Verstappen success

Daniel Ricciardo says he has a better understanding of Sebastian Vettel's cool attitude towards him when the Australian arrived at Red Bull in 2014, likening it to his current rivalry with incoming team-mate Max Verstappen. 

With Ricciardo adapting to the rigours of the new V6 Hybrid regulations swifter than Vettel, the Australian ended the year having out-performed his more established team-mate with three race wins along the way. 

Two years on and Ricciardo admits there is a similar hierarchical tug-of-water being experienced once again, albeit this time with the incoming Verstappen as the young Dutchman quickly establishes himself as a regular front runner in only his second year of F1. 

“I guess that there are some similarities at times, or there have been some similarities at times. I can understand a little bit I guess. I think it is like anything, even when Danny [Kvyat] beat me last year a few times it was like you don't like getting beaten. 

“At the same time if you can understand if it was just that he was better on that day or worked better with the engineers and set the car up better, then you just have to take it on the chin and move forward. If they are consistently doing something better, then sure you want to try and work it out. But for now he has obviously done very well, but I think once I get the ball rolling it will be OK. 

Indeed, though Ricciardo and Verstappen's relationship has been largely good natured against the backdrop of an otherwise close rivalry on track, the 27 year-old says he isn't concerned about being frozen out by younger drivers. 

“I still feel young and at the end of the day it is just a number, your age, but sure I obviously want the real big success in this sport, which is a world title, and I would love it sooner rather than later, so sure if I could have it before I am 30 then of course that is good. There is still even in your 30s obviously you can still perform well in this sport. 

“Sure the kids like Max will keep coming up younger and younger. It is happening with sports all over the world, whether it is anything, tennis, fighting, especially extreme sports, the kids are being exposed to this technology and it is like they have less fear because they are doing more at a younger age, and they will keep getting better and better. 

“So for me the plan is to be like Valentino Rossi and keep up with the trends and not get left behind. If I am able to be smart enough and do that, then sure age is not an issue now. But the sooner the better is nice.”

[MIKA27]

Raikkonen priming for Red Bull fight back

Kimi Raikkonen doesn't feel Ferrari is dwindling in its tussle with Red Bull for second in the standings after the former title-winning team edged ahead for the first time in 2016 ahead of the mid-season hiatus. 

Following a difficult start to its 2016 campaign, Red Bull has generally had the measure of Ferrari since Max Verstappen's breakthrough win in the Spanish Grand Prix. 

As such, the four-time title winning team has turned around a 19 point deficit into a 14 point advantage over the Scuderia heading into the summer break, capped off by a second and third place result in Germany. 

Nevertheless, though Raikkonen admits it is frustrating to see Red Bull establish itself as Mercedes' closest rivals over the last few rounds, he is still confident Ferrari has the package to fight back when the season resumes in Belgium. 

“Of course we want to win, so we have to beat everybody and that's always the aim in racing. We were ahead of Red Bull but now they're ahead of us, but I'm sure we found some tools and hopefully we can challenge both of them later on, but it's not going to be easy. 

That's always the aim. Everybody can see where we finished, it's obviously a bit painful for all of us but this is where we are right now. We just have to work harder. 

Indeed, Raikkonen feels Ferrari needs to focus its efforts on generating more downforce, an area where Red Bull is particularly strong. 

“We really need more downforce to go faster and that will also make a big difference for the tyre life. Here tyre degradation was not a strong point for us, we were lacking overall speed too. There were moments during the race in which we could be very strong but they didn't last long enough. We need to find the tools for that.”
 

[MIKA27]

Massa is underestimated, says Williams F1 team-mate Bottas

Felipe Massa's ability behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car is underestimated, according to his Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

The Brazilian's contract expires at the end of the season and while Massa is in contention to retain his seat, there are others believed to be higher on Williams's wanted list.

Massa has scored 38 points this season, 20 adrift of Bottas. He finished 15 points behind Bottas last year and 52 further back in 2014.

"He is still quick," Bottas told Autosport. "He is underestimated - his skills and how he really can be.

"As a driver, your goal is always to be quicker than your team-mate, which I feel I have achieved so far this season, like last year and the year before."

Bottas sees no reason why Massa's place in F1 next year should be in doubt.

"It depends on Felipe [whether he wants to continue] but personally, I see no reason why he would not continue," he said.

"He is still driving very well.

"Maybe this year and last year, he has had fewer accidents than in his first year and years at Ferrari."

Williams technical director Pat Symonds said he was pleased with how Massa was performing.

"One of the aspects of the team I am happy with is the drivers," he told Autosport.

"They push each other hard, have similar performance and they do it in a way that puts the team first.

"Felipe has continued to deliver very strong results and he's pleased me all the way through 2014, 2015 and continues to.

"He is really strong and he fights hard. He's not losing anything, that's for sure.

"He still has some years left in him, he's still very quick - as quick as he ever was.

"People forget he was so close to being a world champion [in 2008].

"Had he achieved it in Brazil that day, he would have been a very worthy champion and I think it's a great shame he didn't win the championship."

Massa wants to stay at Williams for a fourth season as he still enjoys working with the team but he has left the door open about a move to another outfit.

"I want to stay here but I want to race inside a team where I will be important and where you see it developing," he told Autosport.

"Definitely I really enjoy working for Williams and if I can keep working for Williams I will be really happy, although I need to work for a team that will be a similar level."

[MIKA27]

END OF THE ROAD FOR BRAZILIAN DRIVERS IN FORMULA 1?

The most experienced of the pair is Felipe Massa, the long-time Ferrari driver whose current employer Williams is openly assessing its options for 2017.

But Valtteri Bottas, Massa’s current teammate, thinks the British team would be wise to keep the 35-year-old on board.

“Massa is undervalued,” the Finn is quoted by the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat as saying. “He is still driving really well.

“It depends on Felipe as well, but personally I see no reason why he can’t continue,” Bottas added.

Their technical boss, Pat Symonds, apparently agrees, even though deputy team chief Claire Williams has named Jenson Button and Sergio Perez as potential alternatives.

Symonds, however, said: “Drivers are one of the things I am satisfied with regarding our team.”

Arguably with a more secure future than Massa is his countryman with an almost identical name — Felipe Nasr.

Over a decade younger and with millions in Banco do Brasil sponsorship, Nasr currently drives for the recently-sold Swiss team Sauber.

He told Brazil’s UOL Esporte: “It is not me who takes care of the issue of the contract — I have good people working on it. I need to consider all the options and see what is best for us.”

The report said Haas could be one alternative, with his manager Steve Robertson said to have been in talks with the Ferrari-linked American team.

Current Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez told UOL Esporte: “Yes, I will continue in Formula 1. In Haas? We’ll see, but definitely I will be in F1.”

[MIKA27]

PIRELLI: FIVE SECOND PER LAP FASTER IS A BIG CHALLENGE

A host of changes to rules will come into effect for the 2017 Formula 1 season, including massive downforce gains expected to decrease lap times by around five seconds, which in turn will influence the type of tyres that Pirelli need to develop to adapt to these changes.

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery told ESPN, in a wide ranging interview, that the ‘new era’ comes with a number of challenges, both positive and negative, for his technicians to overcome.

“The good news is, we do have a test programme,” Hembery acknowledged. “As we’ve made people aware, we have started a 24 testing day programme split equally between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes, who have kindly supported us by developing a version of the 2015 car with an aerodynamic package intended to simulate what will be the effect of the 2017 rule regulations. This of course is a huge step forward. We’re making such a dramatic change to the tyre width.”

As for the main challenges facing Pirelli, he revealed, “The downforce increases are substantial. The performance requirements are to improve by five seconds compared to the 2015 lap times. In reality, having seen maybe a two-second improvement already this season, next year it is likely that we will substantially improve on the lap time.”

“The initial simulation data that we have would suggest, as I say, that would be easily surpassed. Of course we won’t actually see the real cars until we get through to pre-season testing next year. The change is vast, increasing the width of front and rear tyres by six and eight centimetres respectively, which looks good. It makes the cars look very dramatic, with both the front and rear track increased by 20 centimetres each.”

“The intention there is that it will make it easier for teams to overtake; if they’re following another car [we want to ensure] that the tyres won’t reach a temperature peak, which has stopped the drivers from overtaking on some occasions. Of course, that will only work if we also reduce the impact of the weight of the aero of one car from another. The suggestions are that that will be improved in the aero. I wouldn’t say there is universal opinion on that.”

FIA have granted Pirelli a number of in-season testing options – happening from now onwards – but is it enough considering the extent of changes being introduced?

“I think if you said to somebody: how should you do it correctly?” said Hembery, “You’d go to a circuit where you race so you have all the data, and you’d go in conditions that represent the conditions that you’re going to race in.”

“In January and February, we will have a good indication when we do our testing now with the three teams. “We’ve tested at Fiorano and Mugello in early August, where the temperature at the moment is very, very warm. So we will start to get some very clear indications of testing with the mule cars that we have this year. As I said, there is no substitution for getting on the actual cars, which we will get next year and at the moment we’re undecided where the locations are.

“From a purely tyre-maker perspective it would be better to be in somewhere warm during that period of time. In the past few years we have been to Bahrain, which allowed us to have a clear indication of the tyre performance at much earlier stage. I understand that teams believe there is a certain cost penalty for doing that, but then again it is a sport that has a few billion spent on it. If the willingness is there I’m sure the funding can be found.

“One session in Bahrain would already be a big step, so we would know where we are during the season,” Hembery continued. “That might not be able to affect what we do for Australia, but it means we can start working earlier if there are changes needed. We’re obviously aiming not to make changes, however the changes are so important that there may well be things that we understand only by going on the track with the 10 or 11 different chassis that we have in Formula One.”

“We can do a lot with simulation and indoor drum testing. You do the majority of work there, but the interaction between car, tyre and tarmac still requires going out and testing and looking at the tarmac. If that’s all been changed, it changes completely the dynamic of the package. In reality you still need to go out on the track and do that testing.

“We need to have a good understanding how the compounds are working to understand if we’ve got the scaling right between them, if we have the degradation levels right or whether it’s too low or too high. [The teams] are still asking for two-stop strategy, which will become harder with less degradation — why would you change your tyres? At the moment it is primarily due to performance.

“If we want to have a quicker understanding of how the tyres or compounds in particular are performing, we would need to go to somewhere like Bahrain as early as possible.”

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: WHY IS THE HALO NOT BEING USED FROM NEXT YEAR?

When the Halo F1 cockpit safety concept broke cover at the beginning of this season, Lewis Hamilton was one of the first to declare that he would not be using it, however half a year down the road the triple world champion is questioning why the implementation of the system is being delayed until 2018.

Hamilton said, “I don’t really know why it’s not going to be there next year and that was a point that I made. I basically had asked that if we are unfortunate enough to have an incident in the next year and a half and we knew we had a solution for it – that would have played a role in it – at the end of next year we are really going to be kicking ourselves.”

Hamilton warmed to the system after a thorough briefing of the Halo to drivers, by the FIA, before the summer break. The likes of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg have always been staunch supporters of the Halo.

“They’ve got a solution which does help and I think the great thing,” acknowledged Hamilton. “The FIA have done a fantastic job in the last 20-odd years in always making increments and steps and while it doesn’t look great, we know that, but that 17 percent we can’t ignore.”

“I just hope in that space of time when we know that we do have it and the teams can afford to put it on the cars, between now and next season, I hope in that period of time no one gets injured, including myself,” added the Mercedes driver who leads the 2016 F1 world championship standings.

Hamilton has changed his tune since F1 testing in March when he insisted, “If it is going to come in I hope we have an option to use it or not because I will not be using it on my car.”

“I hope that’s not what they’re bringing, I really do. Ultimately it’s the driver’s protection so we should have a choice individually. I like it the way it is now and when I get in the car I know there is a certain risk.”

“Safety is a very, very important issue for sure, but there are risks that we take and you have to decide how much of a risk you are going to take. For me I would rather drive without it and risk it,” declared the world champion at the time.

[MIKA27]

CALLS FOR FORMULA 1 TO START PLANNING 2021 ENGINE

Formula 1 should start putting its mind to the future of the engine regulations, according to two of the sport’s leading technical officials.

Mercedes has dominated the first three seasons of the controversial ‘power unit era’, but the basic 1.6 litre V6 formula is set in stone until the end of 2020.

Some believe F1 took a sharp wrong turn with the state-of-the-art, quieter and highly expensive technology, with even Mercedes’ Paddy Lowe agreeing that F1 has a “big question” to ask itself regarding the future.

“It does raise some very big considerations,” he said. “How do we define an engine or power unit that is correct for the sport but also relevant to the kind of power units that we will see in the future in road cars?

“Do we make remain in some way related attached to that technology which is increasingly electrical or do we go our own way? So there are some very, very important questions there,” added Lowe.

Engine noise has been a big topic since 2014, even though the volume has steadily increased since then to the point that trackside spectators are once again having to use earplugs.

Lowe said: “It doesn’t match the sound of the old V8s or the V10s but it still raises an interesting debate. I think road cars in the future will at some point be completely silent if they are all electrical so will we (F1) want noise? Will we associate noise with performance or not?

“There are some very interesting debates there and I think we need to start that process,” he added.

Senior Ferrari engineer Jock Clear agrees that F1 collectively “underestimated” the challenge when the current turbo V6 power unit era was devised, disappointing the public and creating big performance gaps in the field.

“As such, the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be aware and the sooner we can come to a solution that will be the best for the sport,” he said.

“We need to think about it in the context of what the sport needs, what the public wants, what looks sexy. But fundamentally, it’s still a technological challenge and we need to get the technology right,” Clear added.

[MIKA27]

Sauber have no excuse not to be good next year - Monisha Kaltenborn

Sauber have no excuse not to move up the order in 2017 according to team boss Monisha Kaltenborn, now that their financial situation has improved vastly with a recent takeover by Longbow Finance.

The Swiss team finished a lowly eighth in the Constructors' standings last season with 36 points, ahead of only McLaren and Marussia. However this season they have yet to score a single point in 12 races - at the same point in 2015 they had scored 23 points.

The team are essentially racing the same car this year as they did last year, albeit with an upgraded Ferrari power unit, and although Kaltenborn says there is more to come from the C35, they want to make a major leap forward in '17.

"Our focus is to get back to business as normal," Kaltenborn told Autosport. "We need to focus not just on how to survive the next day but to think longer term and get the most out of the car.

"I'm convinced you can still get things out of this year's car, but then [also] focus on next year's car. There are no excuses not to be good next year.

"We're not saying we want to be right on top next year but we know what we can do. We have the infrastructure for it and we have the people so why should we not have that ambition?"

The team is currently without a technical director after Mark Smith quit pre-season and Kaltenborn is keen to begin rebuilding their technical team.

"We would like a technical director back and the people [in the team] want that as well but it's not easy to find the right person," she admitted.

"There are a couple of areas we need to look at. Wherever it is strategically necessary, we will recruit. It is about additions and replacements."

[MIKA27]

Fernando Alonso expects to be 'wowed' by next year's 'exciting' cars

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso predicts that next year's cars will bring back the "wow" factor that has been missing for drivers, as the sport aims to attract fans with quicker and more attractive looking cars.

The 2017 technical regulations have been specifically designed not only to produce an aggressive looking car, but to also produce cars which are capable of breaking lap records by some margin.

That will happen through wider and grippier tyres, increased downforce and natural development on the power unit with the abolishment of engine tokens.

Alonso, who recently admitted 2017 would indicate whether or not he would retire from F1, expects the cars will once again thrill the driver, like when he started his career in 2001.

"With the new regulations in place next year we will probably get the excitement back as the cars will be much more attractive - and much faster," he told the official Formula 1 website.

When asked if that could reignite his passion for F1, he replied: "Yes, because it means that you are very excited in the car when you jump in. I expect the feeling of ‘wow’ again - as when I started in F1!"

With the sport now on a break and the drivers heading off on their annual holidays, Alonso explained why he chooses to go to America: "The idea is to go to the USA, as you have much more freedom there, as you don't get recognised on the street," he added. 

"A bit of California and Las Vegas - to switch-off from F1. Not to Alaska, not this time!"

[MIKA27]

Grosjean calls for blue flag rethink

With his Haas team-mate making headlines for blue flag transgressions, Romain Grosjean has called on Formula 1 to rethink the blue flag regulations.

In the last two races, Esteban Gutierrez has been flipped off by Lewis Hamilton and sarcastically praised by Daniel Ricciardo for seemingly ignoring blue flags.

The Mexican driver has defended his actions, saying he has his own race to think about.

“If he’s two seconds behind and I lift and I lose four seconds it makes the difference to my points,” Gutierrez said after the German GP. “So I have to protect as well my own interests.”

But he wasn’t the only Haas driver to frustrate others in Germany.

Sebastian Vettel was annoyed with Grosjean at the Hockenheimring, leading the Frenchman to call for to Formula 1 to rethink the blue flag rules, and consider introducing a delta time.

“When they [the leaders] are coming on new tyres, or the same tyres, and they’re faster it’s easy,” Grosjean said.

“I had Vettel behind me and he was about two tenths faster because he was on old tyres and I was on supersofts so of course it would take him 10 laps to close a two-second gap.

“I did a few laps in front and then we had a warning from Charlie [Whiting] and I let him by but it cost us 2.6s in one straight line so that was a lot of time lost.

“You are not happy because you’re fighting to go to the points as well. But they are the leaders… I don’t know. There is no right or wrong answer.”

He added: “Ideally I think we’d like a blue flag system which is in function of the delta speed between the cars so if they are one second faster a lap then a two-second gap is fine.

“But if they are only two tenths faster then a two-second mark is just… you see them in the mirrors and they’re miles away and they’re not catching up so you’re like, ‘Why should I let them by?'”

[MIKA27]

Fry: Sensible plan for Manor growth

Pat Fry has hailed the “sensible, controlled” way in which Manor are taking steps to move further up the grid.

Entering Formula 1 in 2010 as Virgin Racing, the team is already onto its third owner with OVO energy boss Stephen Fitzpatrick purchasing the team in an 11th hour deal.

Steady growth in personnel, including the signing of ex-Ferrari and McLaren Fry and former McLaren manager Dave Ryan, have shown progress on the track.

This season Manor returned to the points with Pascal Wehrlein finishing tenth in Austria.

“It’s quite a large charge from surviving through to competing and that affects the whole organisation, all the way from what we are doing at the factory – from the wind tunnel to the design office, all the reliability side of things – all the way through to the track really,” explained engineering consultant Fry.

“It has knock-on necessities where we need to improve absolutely everywhere through the organisation.

“There’s a plan for us to grow in a sensible, controlled way but we need to address all those areas – everything from pit stop speed, which we were… to put it a polite way, it was challenging at the beginning of the year, with the same guys and modifying everything – it’s all the detail work that you need to do and it just takes time.

“The same thing with putting the processes in place so that you can keep a reliable car reliable. There’s a huge task but everyone’s interested.

“We’re still quite small at the moment. We’re growing quite quickly but we’re still only, whatever… 170 people or something of that order and our next competitor is the thick end of 500 people.

“There’s a lot to do and we just have to have a sensible plan to grow the organisation to compete sensibly.”

[MIKA27]

Force India wants to make Perez's 2017 choice "difficult"

Force India says it is doing all it can to make it difficult for Sergio Perez's sponsors to think they are better off taking their backing elsewhere next season.

Although Force India has taken up its option on Sergio Perez's contract for next season, separate discussions regarding the Mexican's sponsors have not yet been concluded.

That is what Perez wants to finalise over the summer break, and if they agree that they want to move teams – with both Renault and Williams known to be interested in his services – then an agreement will need to be struck to get the Mexican out of his Force India deal.

But Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley believes that with the team locked in a battle with Williams for fourth place in the constructors' championship, there should be little incentive for Perez to go elsewhere.

“I think we have got to make that decision as difficult as it possibly can be,” Fernley told Motorsport.com about the Perez situation.

“We are keen to keep both drivers, so if we can haul in Williams and take fourth place, there are only three manufacturer teams ahead of us. So you are going to sideways or backwards.

"The thing for us is to work hard and limit the choice.”

 

Sponsor decision

Although Force India has Perez under contract, Fernley has clarified that uncertainty about his future relates to the fate of Mexican sponsorship deals.

“It is a pretty straightforward process but it gets complicated,” he explained.

“The drivers are both contracted for next year. Then you are talking the commercial side, because we have significant commercial arrangements with Checo [Perez]'s supporters and sponsors.

“Those are separate decisions and separate discussions. But in essence the decision to keep the driver pairing was there.

"So I would dearly hope we can keep all of his people on board. But that wasn't the priority. The priority was to keep the driver pairing.”

When asked where the team would be left if it had Perez under contract but his sponsors wanted to leave, Fernley said: “Then it is a discussion….isn't it?

"It is purely commercial. It is nothing to do with anything else.”

[MIKA27]

OCON REPLACES HARYANTO AT MANOR

Manor Racing has signed Esteban Ocon to race alongside Pascal Wehrlein for the remaining nine rounds of the 2016 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. He will make his Formula 1 racing debut in the Belgian Grand Prix on 28 August.

Mercedes junior, Esteban, has been Reserve Driver for the Renault Sport F1 Team alongside his 2016 DTM championship drive with Mercedes-AMG. Prior to that, he won championships in FIA F3, in 2014, and in GP3 Series, in 2015.

Dave Ryan, Racing Director, Manor Racing: “We are very pleased to welcome Esteban to Manor Racing for the remainder of the season. He is clearly one of the rising stars of F1, shining in his Reserve Driver role with Renault, while also competing in the DTM with Mercedes-AMG this year.

“Our team has made significant strides in 2016, including finishing in the points for the first time in Austria last month. We need to maintain our pace of development in order to achieve our ambitions, not only for this season but also for the longer-term, so the calibre of a replacement is key. We’re confident that when Esteban makes his Grand Prix debut in Spa, we will have a very potent line-up with which to take the fight to our immediate competitors for the rest of the season.”

Esteban Ocon: “I’m thrilled that I’ll be making my Grand Prix debut with Manor Racing later this month, and at Spa, of all circuits, which is the next best thing to my home race. I’m ready for this exciting step up, thanks to the experience I’ve gained as a Formula 1 Reserve Driver this season.”

“I’d like to thank Renault Sport F1 Team and Mercedes-Benz for working together to make this happen, and to Manor Racing for the opportunity, which I’m going to grab with both hands. I’ve visited the Manor Technical Centre already, for my seat fit and to meet with the wider team, so we’ll be ready to hit the ground running after the summer break.”

“They’ve done a great job this season and I’m excited that I’ve been tasked with helping them to build on that progress. I can’t wait to get started!”

The appointment sees Ocon up against highly rated Pascal Wherlein in the team, the latter a DTM champion a series in which Ocon has struggled.

[MIKA27]

HORNER: OUR DRIVER LINE-UP IS VERY HEALTHY

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner is adamant that his team’s driver line-up of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen is healthy despite the potential for friction as the pair battle for the same piece of tarmac on race days.

Speaking during the summer break, Horner told ESPN, “You can see that it is very healthy. There is great respect between the two of them.”

Horner had his fair share of headaches during the team’s golden era with Sebastian Vettel and mark Webber often feuding.

Of the team’s current pairing, Horner said, “As far as teammates can go, they seem to like each other and they want similar things from the car. Beyond that, they’re both very, very fast.”

Verstappen was drafted promoted from Toro Rosso to the Red Bull team, in place of Daniil Kvyat, for the Spanish Grand Prix and sensationally won his debut race.

Since then the balance of power appeared to shift away from Ricciardo’s side of the garage to Verstappen’s section.

Horner explained, “[Germany] went in Daniel’s favour, Barcelona went in Max’s favour. It’s the swings and roundabouts of a season, and I think that both drivers have done an outstanding job.”

“We’ve had great performance from a variance of circuits, from Austria to Silverstone to Budapest and, [Germany] – four very different venues, with very different surfaces.”

“I think that bodes well for the second part of the season,” predicted Horner whose Red Bull team lies second in the constructors’ championship standings.

[MIKA27]

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX VENUE TARGET OF TERRORIST ATTACK

Indonesian police found only a stash of bomb-making materials after arresting six men suspected of planning a rocket attack on the venue of the Singapore Grand Prix.

But police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said a search was on for more members of a gang now believed to be part of a wider network taking instructions from a Syria-based Islamic State militant to launch attacks across Southeast Asia.

Singapore called for heightened vigilance a day after the suspected militants were rounded up. It said their plot to target Marina Bay, a glittering downtown waterfront, showed the city-state needed to defend its multiple points of entry.

The six suspected militants were detained on Friday in dawn raids on Batam island, about 15 km (10 miles) south of Singapore, where police believe the men planned to fire the rockets from.

“There were no sophisticated arms confiscated, only bomb-making materials,” Amar told Reuters. Asked whether the initial investigation indicated other groups were planning similar attacks, he said “Yes, there still are”.

Singapore’s home affairs minister, K. Shanmugam, said the men had plans to hit Marina Bay, a popular entertainment area with a waterfront promenade, a giant ferris wheel and a swanky casino resort. The Singapore Formula One Grand Prix is held annually on the streets of the Marina Bay neighbourhood.

“This shows how our enemies are thinking of different ways of attacking us,” Shanmugam said in a Facebook posting.

“Terrorists … will seek to come in through our checkpoints; they will also try to launch attacks from just outside. And this is in addition to lone wolf attacks from radicalised individuals/groups. We have to be extra vigilant.”

Batam is linked to Singapore by frequent ferries and its beach resorts and golf courses are a popular weekend getaway destination for Singaporeans, who will celebrate their National Day holiday on Tuesday.

[MIKA27]

Rookies waiting in the wings

With Esteban Ocon signed as Manor’s newest race driver,there are three other rookies waiting in the wings – but they’ll likely have to wait until next season.

Stoffel Vandoorne

Although there has been no confirmation from McLaren, the general consensus is that it is only a matter of time before 2015 GP2 Champion Stoffel Vandoorne is announced as a 2017 McLaren driver.

Vandoorne caught the attention of the motor racing world as a whole in 2015 when he won the GP2 title by 160 points over Alexander Rossi, who briefly raced for Manor in F1.

On his way to the title he claimed seven wins and nine additional top-three results. In face he did not complete a single race weekend, of which there were 11, without featuring on the podium.

Vandoorne has already had a taste of Formula 1 racing as he filled in for the injured Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He finished P10, scoring McLaren’s first point of this season.

The Belgian racer has been praised by many in the paddock with the likes of Fernando Alonso and Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff convinced he is a future F1 star.

Replacing Jenson Button at McLaren?

Pierre Gasly

As the Red Bull junior programme continues to churn out drivers, Pierre Gasly is the next in the line for a Formula 1 promotion.

Winner of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, second in Formula Renault 3.5 Series, where he joined Arden under the Red Bull Junior Team development program, Gasly is the only driver in the Red Bull stable that Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost reckons is ready for Formula 1.

The 20-year-old Frenchman has been tipped as the next to come through the ranks on the back of a great season, at least just past the midway point, in GP2.

Two victories, five podiums in total, have put the Red Bull test driver firmly in contention to win the title.

Should he overhaul Sergey Sirotkin, who he is tied with on 113 points but falls into second place based on number of P3s, Red Bull would have no excuse not to promote him.

The Frenchman has already tested for the senior team this season as he took part in the post-British GP test where he was third fastest on the second day.

Replacing Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso.

Charles Leclerc

Although a GP3 driver, Charles Leclerc is the least likely of those waiting in the wings to step up next season, PlanetF1 would like to see Haas take a chance on the 18-year-old – after all he can’t be worse than Esteban Gutierrez.

Ferrari protégé Leclerc is leading this year’s GP3 series with ART Grand Prix and has already claimed two wins, and four additional podiums.

Added to his race commitments, he is a member of the Scuderia’s Driver Academy and has taken the role of development driver for both Ferrari and Haas, the latter of which has seen him driving in FP1 sessions.

Leclerc was 1.3s slower than Romain Grosjean in his first outing, 1.1s in his second and just 0.293s slower in his third, Germany.

Not bad given that Grosjean was hotly tipped to step up to Ferrari before the Italian stable opted to re-sign Kimi Raikkonen – or that Esteban Gutierrez in the previous three FP1s was 0.311, 0.556 and 1.032s slower as he went in the other direction.

Replacing Esteban Gutierrez at Haas.

[MIKA27]

Wolff applauds Ocon signing

Just days after pleading for a rival team to give Esteban Ocon a chance, Toto Wolff has applauded Manor’s decision to sign the 19-year-old.

The Mercedes protégé began this season as a Renault development driver but will finish it as a Manor race driver.

The Mercedes-powered team announced on Wednesday that Ocon would replace Rio Haryanto for the remainder of 2016.

It it a decision that Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has welcomed.

“We are very pleased that this opportunity has opened up for Esteban, that Manor has again had the confidence to give a chance to a promising young talent and that the good collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Renault has allowed this to come together,” said the Austrian.

“We have seen this year that, in the right circumstances, the Manor Racing car is capable of points.

“Manor is just the right environment for a young driver to get his first experience of F1: a professional, small team that is on a positive upward trend and where the driver can make a real difference.

“Esteban did an exceptional job in the works Mercedes at the Silverstone test and we are excited to see him take his first steps in an F1 race environment.”

[MIKA27]

Onboard F1 Hill Climb with Nico Rosberg - Goodwood 2016

Jump onboard with Nico Rosberg as he tackles the Hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2016. 

[MIKA27]

A dose of DC donuts for Glasgow

While the factory was preparing for the F1 summer shutdown, it’s was all systems go for the Live Demo team as they took the RB7 to this weekend’s IGNITION event in Glasgow for a Show Run with a local hero David Coulthard.