Formula 1 - 2017

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VETTEL HOPING TO DRIVE GINA TO THE F1 WORLD TITLE

Sebastian Vettel, who has a tradition of naming his Formula 1 cars, has baptised the Ferrari SF70-H that he will campaign this season with the name: Gina.

Name of the famous Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida and also, perhaps coincidentally, the name of the daughter of Michael Schumacher, Vettel’s great role model.

The Italian name is short for Regina, which translates to queen.

Vettel’s Formula 1 car names since he started naming them:

• 2008 Toro Rosso STR3: Julie
• 2009 Red Bull RB5: Kate
• 2010 Red Bull RB6: Luscious Liz
• 2011 Red Bull RB7: Kinky Kylie
• 2012 Red Bull RB8: Abbey
• 2013 Red Bull RB9: Hungry Heidi
• 2014 Red Bull RB10: Suzie
• 2015 Ferrari SF15-T: Eva
• 2016 Ferrari SF16-H: Margherita
• 2017 Ferrari SF70-H: Gina

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HORNER: IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE RENAULT SEEM ON TARGET

Despite some ERS issues during testing, Red Bull team chief Christian Horner has revealed that Renault’s power unit has met the performance targets promised by the French engine supplier, but is wary of what Ferrari and Mercedes have in their arsenal.

Horner, whose team use TAG Heuer badged Renault engines, told Racer, “I think in terms of performance they seem on target with what they promised us, which is encouraging. How that stacks up against others… You read about scary figures from Mercedes and Ferrari but all we can do is work with what we have and we can see there is clear progress there and true development potential.”

“Of course there have been some niggles but there’s an awful lot of effort going in to address those and hopefully that will be the case in time for Melbourne.”

“I think we can see drivability is greatly improved – performance looks like a step in the right direction on plan with what was promised. The rest of it is tidying up, which I’m confident that they will manage.”

This is a far cry from a couple of years ago when Renault were faced the wrath of management of the energy drinks organisation, when a ‘divorce’ appeared on the cards bu the ‘marriage’ endured and now an atmosphere of civility prevails. 

The new F1 regulations, which have more emphasis on aerodynamics, appear to have played to Red Bull’s strengths of their design guru Adrian Newey, but Horner still believes power is still the key to success.

“Of course the power unit is still the key element, because as there’s more downforce you are actually at full throttle for a longer period of time, so power units become even more sensitive. But hopefully they are converging.”

“I think the cars look great – the only element they’re missing for me is the noise. I think when you go out on track and you see them, they look fantastic, it would just look even better and sound even better if there was a screaming, high-revving engine in the back,” mused Horner.

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BROWN: HONDA ARE SPENDING WHAT IT TAKES

There is an old theory in motorsport that if you want horsepower from an engine, then throw money at it and the horses will come galloping out of even the most stubborn piece of kit.

According to McLaren executive director Zak Brown this appears to be exactly what Honda are doing to turn their woefully ineffective power units into something that will lift the crisis that has engulfed the partnership from the first day preseason testing began, in Barcelona last month.

Brown told Racer in an interview, “We’ve got a long history with Honda, they’re spending what it takes, they’re committed, so they’re the right partner. We’ve just got a technical glitch that we need to work through very, very quickly.”

“Our communications are with Honda and we’re trying to figure out with Honda what’s the best long-term strategy but also we need some short-term results. So I’m going to keep our solutions that we’re working on with Honda to ourselves – we’re going to be a good partner to them and work through the various scenarios. But we need to fix our situation quickly, so we’re looking at all the different ways to do that.”

The team’s star driver was critical of Honda’s under-powered engine in the wake of Barcelona testing and speculative reports of a move to back customer Mercedes power made the rounds.

But Brown is adamant that this will not happen, “[Honda] are great partners and great people. They’ll get this right, we just need to do it as quickly as possible and explore all the different ways in which we can be as competitive as possible.”

“Because we’re very loyal to Honda but we have other partners who are expecting results, so we need to take care of our Honda partnership but we also need to take care of our Chandons, NTTs, Johnnie Walkers and SAPs of the world. They want some results.”

Honda and McLaren won four F1 constructors’ titles and four F1 drivers’ championships from 1988 to 1991, and Brown insists that winning remains a priority for the partnership.

“We want to win races, but we want to win races with Honda. I think the decision to go with Honda – which was pre-my time – was the right decision. I think at the end of the day you have to be a works team to win championships,” ventured Brown.

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RENAULT: WE HAVE ADDRESSED THE ERS ISSUE

Renault said they have fixed their pre-season power unit problems with a “belt and braces” approach ahead of Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix opener.

Issues with the unit’s Energy Recovery System (ERS) limited the team’s mileage in the second Barcelona test this month, although the car was clearly a significant step up on last year’s.

“We have addressed the ERS issue which caused us reliability concerns and do not expect to see a repeat of it in Australia,” Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said in a team preview for Sunday’s race in Melbourne.

“We know we have a strong base with the RS17 (car) which puts us in good stead for the relentless development race we expect to see,” he added.

Thus is good news for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso who are also powered by Renault engines, all their drivers encountered issues during testing in Spain.

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo spearhead Red Bull’s title ambitions this year in TAG Heuer badged Renault power units. The pair expected to be title contenders should they not be hampered by reliability.

Technical head Bob Bell said he was reasonably confident after testing, “Even though we did experience some issues we don’t have any overriding concerns over reliability as we accumulated sufficient data and have taken remedial and precautionary measures to address the particular ERS issue we saw.”

Bell said the ERS issue had been seen previously in static dyno tests at the factory but packaged in the car and out on track it was amplified.

“Since Barcelona we’ve adopted a belt and braces approach to avoid a similar issue in Melbourne,” he added.

Renault have a changed lineup this season, with Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg coming in from Force India to partner Britain’s Jolyon Palmer, and an all-new power unit that they hope will help close the gap to Mercedes.

The former champions finished ninth last year, their return as a constructor after taking over the failing Lotus team at the end of 2015, but have set their sights on fifth in 2017.

Hulkenberg expected Renault to be among the midfield teams in Australia but improving steadily.

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HAKKINEN: FERRARI HAVE PUT ENORMOUS PRESSURE ON THEMSELVES

Ferrari have set expectations high after strong performances in testing and could pay a heavy price if they disappoint in the Formula 1 World Championship season’s opening race in Australia, according to retired double world champion Mika Hakkinen.

Ferrari failed to win a race last year, finishing third overall, and their last title was the 2008 constructors’ championship.

“I believe that the whole Ferrari team has put enormous pressure on themselves,” said Hakkinen, who won his 1998 and 1999 championships with McLaren.

“If they don’t perform in the first race as well as their tests have indicated, then it will be a terrible disappointment for the whole team,” the Finn said at a promotional event. “The effect can be damaging and lead to hasty decisions.”

Ferrari have Hakkinen’s compatriot and fan favourite Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, in their lineup alongside four times champion Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel is the bookmakers’ second favourite for the title behind Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton.

Hakkinen said he expected Raikkonen to be more competitive this year thanks to new regulations that have made cars faster but in some cases harder to handle.

“That’s based on what I saw in Barcelona. The Ferrari drivers didn’t need to worry that they’d lose control of their cars when driving into corners.”

“You could see their confidence in their cars. And based on that, I think they are better positioned this season than in previous years,” ventured Hakkinen.

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AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: MERCEDES LOOK TO MAKE EARLY STATEMENT IN

Beefier cars and bulked-up drivers will hit Albert Park circuit on Sunday for Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix where many fans will be hoping at least one team can strike an early blow against dominant Mercedes.

Revised aerodynamics and fatter tyres are among a raft of technical changes that pundits feel could bring the Silver Arrows back to earth after they swept the drivers and constructors’ championships for the last three years running.

Ferrari’s strong performance during winter testing has added to expectations that the sport is in for a shake-up, even as F1’s new American managers seek to rejuvenate a series plagued by inertia.

And yet Mercedes, once again, appear primed to ride roughshod over new-season hopes for a changing of the guard.

Nico Rosberg vacated his Mercedes seat in a shock retirement from the sport shortly after winning the drivers’ world championship but his old team mate and three-times champion Lewis Hamilton stands poised to take the title back.

German Rosberg thwarted Hamilton’s bid for a third successive title and the pair’s heated rivalry took its toll on both drivers.

Rosberg’s Finnish replacement, Valtteri Bottas, is not seen as someone who will create as many headaches for Hamilton, who will be going for his third victory in Melbourne and 54th overall after winning the last four races of 2016.

“I think he’s one of those guys who is not going to be that difficult to manage, especially in the battle with Lewis,” Rosberg said of former Williams driver Bottas in a video posting for Formula One sponsor UBS.

“I don’t know if he will be able to challenge Lewis or even beat Lewis. That remains to be seen.”

Bookmakers have Hamilton a heavy favourite to win at Albert Park, although the Briton has deflected the hype onto Ferrari and four-times F1 champion Sebastian Vettel.

“I think Ferrari are bluffing and that they are a lot quicker than they are showing,” Hamilton said at testing in Barcelona.

German Vettel has been busy playing down expectations of a Ferrari renaissance and has become a master of it since crossing to the ‘Scuderia’ from Red Bull in 2015.

Great expectations followed he and team mate Kimi Raikkonen to Melbourne last year after a similarly promising testing in the leadup but neither driver won a race all season.

Red Bull are the other team seen snapping at Mercedes’ heels if they can avoid reliability problems of the past and drivers Daniel Ricciardo and teenager Max Verstappen, seen as a champion-in-waiting, can keep their growing rivalry from spoiling their racing.

“We’ve been on six dinners already this week. He brought me breakfast yesterday morning. We don’t share a room … not yet,” Australian Ricciardo joked to reporters on Wednesday when asked about their relationship. We try to keep it as amicable as possible.”

With bigger tyres and more downforce, the new cars are expected to be up to five seconds quicker per lap in Melbourne and drivers have had to hit the gym to be fitter and stronger to cope with the driving demands.

There will be plenty of intrigue as to how the drivers and their tyres wear, with Melbourne’s changeable weather and the circuit’s tight corners adding to the air of unpredictability.

Australian Grand Prix Facts & Statistics compiled by Reuters

• Lap distance: 5.303km. Total distance: 307.574km (58 laps)
• Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany) 1:24.125 (Ferrari, 2004)
• 2016 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:23.837
• 2016 winner: Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
• Start time: 0500 GMT (1600 local)

Race Wins

• Mercedes won 19 of 21 races last season. The champions have won 51 of 59 races since the introduction of the 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid power units in 2014.
• Red Bull, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, were the only non-Mercedes winners last season.
• Triple world champion Hamilton has won at least 10 races in each of the last three seasons. He won 11 in 2014 and 10 in 2015 and 2016. He is the only driver to have won 10 races in a season and not taken the championship that year.
• Hamilton has 53 career victories, putting him second in the all-time list behind Schumacher (91). Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has 42, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso is on 32 and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen 20.
• Ferrari have won 224 races, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 64 and Red Bull 52. McLaren have not won for 78 races, a run that dates back to Brazil 2012.

Pole Position

Hamilton was on pole 12 times last season and now has 61, four short of the late Ayrton Senna’s career total and seven behind Schumacher’s record 68.

Mercedes were on pole in 20 races last year and have been on pole in 56 of the last 59.

Rookies

• There is only one complete newcomer this season – Canadian Lance Stroll at Williams.
• McLaren’s Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne did one race last year and scored on his debut, finishing 10th.

Australia

• No Australian has ever won at home. There have been 13 Australian F1 drivers since 1950 and two world champions – Jack Brabham and Alan Jones. Daniel Ricciardo is the only Australian in Sunday’s race.
• All four of the sport’s active champions (Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen) have won in Australia.
• Melbourne has been the season-opener 19 times. This year’s race is the 22nd to be held at Albert Park.
• Since 2002, the winner in Australia has ended the season as champion on nine occasions. In total, the winner in Melbourne has gone on to be world champion 13 out of 21 times.
• The race winner at Albert Park has started on pole on nine occasions. The lowest starter to win was Britain’s Eddie Irvine from 11th in 1999 for Ferrari.
• Eight of the last nine races in Australia have seen the safety car deployed.
• McLaren’s last podium finish was in Australia in 2014 (Magnussen).
• Russian Daniil Kvyat has failed to start the last two races in Melbourne due to technical problems.

Milestone

• Formula One has no reigning champion on the grid for the first time since 1994, the season after French great Alain Prost retired.

 

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Mark Webber predicting a Sebastian Vettel victory in Melbourne

Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber is predicting that former Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel will claim the opening victory of the 2017 season in Melbourne this weekend.

Webber, now a pundit for Channel 4's coverage of F1, concedes that Ferrari's strong testing performances often fail to translate into a strong season, however this year he believes their pace is genuine and therefore reckons Vettel will win a tight fight at the front.

"Ferrari have been very good at performing when the grandstands are empty in pre-season," said the Australian. "Then the season starts, the Italian influence comes into play and they get panicky and do wacky stuff.

"[But] I think Vettel will win [in Melbourne]," he predicted. "In previous seasons Lewis has been more comfortable with the car than he is this time. The Mercedes has been more dominant at this point previously.

"Ferrari had a great pre-season and are ahead of where we expected them to be. Red Bull are there too so it will be really close. Those top-three teams are going to be on a pretty similar level."

Webber believes fans are set for a "fascinating" season as there is very little to split the top three teams.

"The jury's out on that Renault engine in the Red Bull lasting the course of the season. That's the only bit I'm worried about for them and it's hard for me to pick between Ferrari and Mercedes. It's going to be fascinating."

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Formula 1 to trial new Thursday press conference format in Melbourne

Formula 1 will trial a new Thursday FIA press conference format in Melbourne this weekend, which will see the session split into two 25-minute 'parts' featuring four drivers each.

Previously six drivers were chosen to take part in the Thursday press conference with all media in attendance, but that has been tweaked for the first race of the 2017 season.

Instead, eight drivers will be split into two groups of four. Each group will spend 25 minutes with print media whilst the other four are interviewed by TV media. The groups will then swap.

The change now means media will now get a total of 50 minutes with eight drivers, rather than 30 minutes with six.

This Thursday's press conference will see the following drivers in attendance:

Part 1: Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Part 2: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Williams), Esteban Ocon (Force India), Lance Stroll (Williams).

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Daniel Ricciardo previews his home race - the Australian GP

As the 2017 Formula One season heads to Melbourne for the opening race of the season, all eyes will be on Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. With the Australian yet to record a win at his home race, he will be hoping to put the challenge to Mercedes and Ferrari at Albert Park on Sunday.

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Winter F1 training with Valtteri Bottas

New Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas takes us behind the scenes with his extreme winter training, as he prepares for the sport’s new era.

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Renault preview the Australian Grand Prix

Nico Hulkenberg feels well-equipped to challenge for points in Australia, as Jolyon Palmer wants his experience to count.

Nico Hulkenberg: "I love going to Australia and to Melbourne. I'm super-comfortable there as it's a wonderful place with great people and there's a very relaxed atmosphere.

"Albert Park itself is just beautiful, especially when you drive into the track in the morning and see that it's packed with fans – you get so much support there. It's great to see so many people come and watch what we do.

"The first race of the season is going to be very exciting. The cars are like driving a very fast and spectacular roller-coaster and it's a lot more demanding than before, now you have to wrestle these cars!

"The tyres allow you to push harder every lap, so you can exploit and be on the limit, it's a lot more work and a lot more demanding. There's a lot that's new, but the game is still the same.

"In terms of performance I see us in the midfield at the moment but the pace is good and from here we can improve step by step and work our way up.

"It's going to be a tough fight as there are some very fast and well established teams currently ahead of us, but we have everything we need to fight for points. Once you're sat in the car, on the grid and watching the lights, it's business as usual. Bring it on!"

Jolyon Palmer: "I'm feeling good and I can't wait to race the R.S.17 for a full Grand Prix. This new generation of car is really awesome to drive and we have a great opportunity to take a strong step forward during the season ahead.

"I enjoyed driving the car in pre-season testing as the team have addressed all the areas we needed to improve from the R.S.16, and when you add the improvements made to everything that comes with the new regulations it's a good place to be.

"I'm happy and positive and can't wait to race.

"It's great to be going into my second season as an F1 driver as I can use all my experience from last season. I know the tracks and I know what is possible from an F1 car.

"It's going to be really interesting for the first few races as we learn how our car goes in race conditions and see how competitive we are relative to our opposition."

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Toro Rosso preview the Australian Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz Jr: "I'm ready. I'd say that if there's a race where you are always ready, that's Australia, because you've been thinking and preparing for it for months. So it's definitely a race where I feel as ready as ever!

"I've finished ninth both times I've ever raced in Australia, but I want more than that and I think it's possible to achieve – the previous two years we finished P9 but we could've finished much higher.

"I remember racing in P5 at some point in both 2015 and 2016 but in the end we just didn't make the most out of those situations. So we definitely want more this year!

"Because of the fact that the Australian GP is the first race and the one that's most far away, it's the race where we arrive the earliest.

"I get there on Sunday night, a week before the race, so we have some free time there – I use it to adapt myself to the time change and I therefore have some time for myself, so you get to know the city better and visit some cool places."

Daniil Kvyat: "I've had two DNF's the last two years in Australia, but I prefer to forget about that and only remember my debut there back in 2014, when I scored my first points for Toro Rosso. I'm excited to go back there again and to finally kick-off the season!

"I'd say I get to the first race of the season fitter than ever. The preparation has been key this winter – it's important every season, but this time even more because of the regulation change.

"We've really put in a lot of time and effort to be physically and mentally ready for this new season."

"I've visited Melbourne quite a few times because we always get there quite early in the week in order to avoid being jet-lagged.

"It's a lovely city with a very cool lifestyle – I enjoy being a tourist and I wouldn't mind living there! The only problem is that it's a bit far away, I think I'd miss my family and I'm happy where I am now, in Monaco."

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Williams preview the Australian Grand Prix

Felipe Massa: "Australia is a fantastic place to start the season, not only because it’s a beautiful country, but also because the people are so nice. So it’s always a big pleasure to go to Australia. It really is the perfect place to get started. It’s quite a tricky track though.

"It’s half racetrack, half street circuit, so it’s definitely not easy. It’s good to have a difficult challenge at the start of the season though.

I’m just really looking forward to getting started! It’s always a very important race because it’s the first time all of the teams will be together and racing for real."

Lance Stroll: "I am really excited for Melbourne. It’s going to be quite an experience being my first ever Grand Prix. It’s a new track and I have never been to Australia. I am just really looking forward to it all and very excited to get started. I can’t wait.

"I have driven the track in the simulator and I have seen some videos, and onboards. It looks quite tricky. Even though it is a new track for me it’s a different track also.

"It’s kind of a road course, so the track really changes a lot throughout the weekend, so that will be a good challenge. I will just take it as it comes, push as hard as I can, enjoy it and look forward to the weekend."

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Red Bull ‘seeing ghosts’ over Merc ‘oil trick’

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has said Red Bull are seeing "ghosts" after they wrote to the FIA to seek clarification on a potential engine issue.

While Ferrari have already written to the FIA concerning an alleged 'suspension trick' used by Mercedes and Red Bull, the latter have now been in touch about how engine oil is burned off as fuel to give teams an advantage in qualifying.

However, Wolff brushed off the latest accusation and is not concerned at all about the prospect of a protest in Melbourne.

“They have seen ghosts," Wolff told Gazetta dello Sport.

“We have had for years a map that allows us to use more horsepower in qualifying. It is nothing new. Maybe in Australia there will be protests, but Mercedes feels safe.”

As for the title picture this season, Wolff is wary of the threat posed by Ferrari after a strong winter.

"It is a solid team, with the right resources, capable engineers and energetic and motivated leader,” he added.

“It’s logical to expect a competitive Ferrari. In tests it was the fastest car and covered many kilometres.

“I see Ferrari on the podium on Sunday in Australia, and I hope that we will fight with them for victory.

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Force India: Leading trio are untouchable

Force India deputy team boss Rob Fernley believes they will be unable to break into the top three this season.

Force India claimed the 'best of the rest' tag after their fourth-placed finish in the Constructors' Championship in 2016.

And that will be the target once again as Mercedes, a resurgent Ferrari and Red Bull look to battle it out in front, while the midfield pack continues to tighten up behind them.

"I don't think there are any surprises," said Fernley via Motorsport.com.

"Well, there are a couple of surprises, in so much as I think that I think that Ferrari have come out of the blocks much better than I thought.

"I think as a result of that, I think it has also dragged Haas up a little bit from where we thought they would be.

"I think Renault have gone a good job, better than we thought they would be, and McLaren are worse than we thought they would be.

"Obviously our primary aim is to retain that fourth place, so we always assumed that the top three would be unobtainable unless one of them made a mistake – and they haven't. So, that solves that problem."

Fernley is hopeful, though, that they can be the team to benefit if other teams continue to have teething problems with their power units in the early stages of the season.

He added: "There is still probably a question mark over some of the power unit issues – the one from Honda, and I think Renault also have a couple of issues. Early races will be about finishing and getting both cars home."

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F1 to consider DRS changes after Chinese GP

Formula One will evaluate whether its Drag Reduction System needs to be changed to increase overtaking after the second race of the year in China.

An increase in downforce on this years cars has been predicted to make overtaking more difficult. The FIA had previously indicated DRS zones could be changed to help facilitate overtaking.

However Albert Park, which hosts of this weekends season-opening race, has little room for either of its two DRS zones to be extended.
F1 Fanatic understands a decision has already been taken to look into the matter more closely following the second race of the year in early April. The FIA wishes to fully understand how this year’s aerodynamic changes have affected the role of DRS before taking any action.

Teams have warned drivers may not gain as great a benefit from DRS as they used to due to the high levels of drag created by the new cars.

“We need to learn about the overtaking because this car is fundamentally different from an aerodynamic point of view,” said Mercedes engineering director Aldo Costa.

“They have not been particularly studied for the overtaking improvement. So we need to see how it would be [for] that.”

“The DRS effect will be smaller so probably the FIA will have to increase the [DRS zone] distance, probably, to make it as effective or even more effective. So we have to discover altogether, little by little, where we are in terms of racing.”

“The cars they are great from the aerodynamic development point of view, they have got much more performance, they will be much faster. They look nicer, they look more aggressive, more modern.”

“In terms of racing, we will have to learn as an F1 community about it.”

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Better F1 racing only possible via financial equality – Tost

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes Formula 1 can only significantly improve the show through ensuring the championship's teams operate “on a similar financial level”.

Tost expects that F1's current, often-criticised model of income distribution between teams will change under new owner Liberty, although he concedes it can only be revamped from 2020 onwards, when the teams' current deals with the commercial rights holder run out.

For the Austrian, financial parity between F1 teams – both manufacturer entries and privateers – is paramount to it producing more entertaining races.

"It's unjustified that teams like Toro Rosso or others get much less money than top teams," Tost told Motorsport.com.

"Now you can say that people are coming because they want to see Ferrari, they want to see Red Bull, they want to see all these top teams. It is true, but if private teams are not there anymore there, no one will go. Because it's also boring.

"People want to see Formula 1 with 10-12 teams. And I think that the money distribution should be changed – in a much fairer way.

"We have to improve the show. We have to come up with more interesting races, more exciting races, with more overtaking maneuvers – but this is only possible if the teams are operating on a similar financial level."

  

New regs not enough

Formula 1's new technical ruleset for 2017 has given the sport cars that are faster and harder to drive – although it has also created fears over the quality of racing, given the reduced tyre degradation and a potential decrease in the number of overtakes.

For Tost, however, the new rules will have "nothing to do" with the quality of the racing.

And while pre-season testing in Barcelona has indicated the previously dominant Mercedes outfit was set to face a sterner challenge in 2017, the Austrian believes the Silver Arrows are "clear in front" and warns that races could lack in entertainment value.

"It looks like they [Mercedes] still have an advantage – and if this is the case during the year, then the races will become as boring as they were before.

"Because this has nothing to do with the new regulation, this has nothing to do with more downforce in the corners. If they are ahead, they are ahead, and its even more difficult now to overtake them, because of the powerful engine.

"You must not forget what Formula 1 should stand for also – that's entertainment. "

  

Engines too expensive

Tost went on to reiterate his support for enforcing power unit parity through an engine freeze: "There is not anymore the token system – now the development costs real money and the customer teams have to pay for this.

"And we pay far too much for the engines. Even half of this price would be too much. Therefore [we should] freeze it, early or later, when the manufacturers are on the similar level, come down with the costs.

"We have now beautiful-looking cars with wider tyres, it's fantastic. That's good for Formula 1, but once more the races have to be interesting. There have to be fights.

"What the people want to see is that the championship is decided in the last race if possible – or in the last two races. Last year we were very lucky, because at the end it was a fantastic race in Abu Dhabi. But there should be more teams involved, not only one."

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Faster F1 2017 cars increase crash consequences – Ocon

Formula 1 drivers face bigger consequences from mistakes in 2017 thanks to the new generation of cars, reckons Force India driver Esteban Ocon.

This weekend's Australian Grand Prix marks the first race for F1's new breed of wider and faster cars – with lap records set to be broken as a result of the big increase in downforce allowed this year.

But early feedback from pre-season testing suggests that the extra performance also means the cars are more on the edge – and have a tendency for snap oversteer to pitch drivers off track if they go over the limit.

With a number of drivers, including Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton having spun off after errors in testing, Ocon is convinced 2017's car are tougher to handle at the limit.

Although he thinks the number of mistakes will not increase this year, what he believes will happen is that any errors will now result in incidents rather than simple sideways slides.

"More mistakes, no. But mistakes that can cost a lot, yes," he said, when asked by Motorsport.com if there was more potential for trouble this year.

"To catch the car is much harder, so you can go off. Whereas before, you had a slide and you could catch it. This year it is harder to catch it."

  

On the limit

Ocon says that the bigger and bulkier cars have contributed to a situation of snap oversteer if the limit is reached.

"You go at such a speed at the corners, to find the limit it is already hard to be there," he said. "And when you start to lose the car, the car is heavier obviously.

"The tyres especially are wider, so when you start to lose the car, the snap you get is much bigger than the previous ones. That has caught out some drivers in winter testing.

"On the other side, it is physical – and in the races you can push more.

"So all in all, I think it is harder to drive from the physical aspect. But I don't think it is then harder to drive on a normal lap."  

  

Much quicker

Daniel Ricciardo thinks that F1 cars are now back at a level where they demand respect – as he revealed that cornering speeds in some faster bends is noticeably different.

"It feels better," he said. "The high speed corners are what you enjoy the most. That is where F1 cars make the difference compared to other categories: it is the corner speeds.

"The straightline speed is important but there are cars that go quicker in a straightline than us – [such as] drag cars and all that. So we are known for our cornering abilities.

"At Barcelona, Turn 3, we were doing close to 40km/h quicker minimum speed than last year, so you are kind of going from 220km/h to 260km/h. That is a big difference and that is more fun for sure.

"I think as a spectator now, when you are paying money to see a race and you see us cornering at these speeds, I think you are getting more for your money. It is a good experience."

[MIKA27]

Pirelli: 2017 F1 tyres degrade enough to keep strategy alive

Pirelli has played down fears that all Formula 1 races will turn into one stoppers this year, as it insists its 2017 tyres do still show signs of degradation.

F1's tyre supplier has revamped its products for this season, with its wider tyres moving away from the overheating characteristics that forced drivers to look after their rubber so much over recent years.

The change has led to concerns about tyres now lasting a full race distance and removing the prospect of much strategy variation, but Pirelli says that is not necessarily the case.

And while it expects there will be fewer stops, and some one stop races, it believes there are still good prospects for decent racing too.

Pirelli F1 racing manager Mario Isola said: "There will be less pitstops than last year for sure. One stop race depends on the degradation level because if you have lower deg and a tyre that can run for a good number of laps – there is no point to change tyres.

"But I don't think less pitstops means less show. Maybe yes. But maybe not. It is not a direct correlation."

 

Still degradation

Although drivers were able to eke out long stints on tyres during Barcelona testing, Isola says that it is wrong to suggest that there is zero degradation now.

He said the target Pirelli set out to achieve was a 2-second drop off in performance over 10 laps – and its current predictions were of a 1.5-second reduction in pace.

Balanced against the increase in pace cars get as they burn off fuel, it should in theory make F1 cars one-second per lap slower every 10 laps.

However, that figure would likely increase as performance is added to the cars and extra downforce puts more loading through the rubber.

Isola said that fears of drivers stopping on the final lap for their mandatory stop was probably too much.

"This happens for sure if you have degradation that is close to zero – and if you have three compounds with different laptimes," he said. "But the request is to have different degradation – not zero degradation."

  

Pushing hard

Isola was optimistic that data from testing had indicated that the thermal degradation characteristics of the rubber had also been banished – which opened up the prospect of drivers being able to push harder when following other cars.

"The overheating was something that was a clear request, as drivers didn't want overheating when they were following another car," he said.

"They would lose grip, they would overheat the surface and they could not fight again. That [to remove that behaviour] was the target, and the feedback was positive in this direction.

"It is maybe not zero overheating, but it is a big step compared to last year. Deg should not be zero because otherwise you don't have any crossover.

"We need to have a delta lap time and a degradation that makes it possible to do different strategy, and in this case you keep the show."

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg not expecting "flat-out" F1 races

Nico Hulkenberg says tyre management will still be a limiting factor during Formula 1 races in 2017, despite a move away from high-degradation rubber.

The shift to wider tyres and the goal of lower degradation are expected to allow drivers to push more during races, and reduce the need for drivers to manage their rubber.

But new Renault signing Hulkenberg isn't convinced that F1 will face an era of flat-out racing, the German cagey on the idea of being able to lean on the new-spec Pirellis for entire stints during a race.

"Perhaps…," he told Motorsport.com when asked if drivers will be able to push more in 2017. "I think still you can't go flat out all the way, you'll pay a price along the way."

Hulkenberg is one of few current F1 drivers with recent experience on a low-degradation tyre, having run on World Endurance-spec Michelins on the way to winning at Le Mans for Porsche in 2015 – and he says it was a night and day difference to the Pirellis in terms of achieving a laptime.

"I was surprised," he said. "When I started testing the Porsche, and the first race at Spa and so on, I had to learn it.

"Initially I wasn't on the pace, because I was driving quite conservatively because I was used to the Pirelli tyres. If you slide them and be a bit to aggressive, you go backwards at some point. But that wasn't the case in the LMP car. You had to go there to get the laptime.

"The surprising thing I learnt is that you could keep it there all the time, it wouldn't go away from you. It's quite a different ballgame."

While not predicting flat-out races, Hulkenberg did say that the new cars are significantly more enjoyable to drive.

"It feels similar to previous years – just faster," he said. "More grip means you can go faster around the corners, brake later, it's a pretty simple formula.

"Faster is cool, it's more fun for the drivers for sure. There is more of a sensation of speed, and definitely the cars have taken a step up in physicality, they are more demanding."

  

Targeting Williams

Teammate Jolyon Palmer added that, based on testing form, he expects Williams to be the best of the teams outside of the big three, with Renault part of the midfield pack right behind.

However, with a big development push in the works, he reckons Williams is "not out of reach".

"I would say Williams is fourth, and then there is a mass of cars behind that in the midfield," he said.

"We expect to be in there. But we don't know if we're the fifth best team or the eighth best team. It will be really tight, and Williams isn't out of reach.

"The engine, I think they've made progress, but I would say we've got the third-best engine. Hopefully the gap is closing all of the time. And then the chassis, we can compare with where Red Bull are and they're ahead of us still.

"We've still got more to come in both areas, and we've made improvements on last year.

"The thing is, it's the first year in the cycle of the car, so we're finding things in the wind tunnel and at the factory all the time.

"[The development phase] will be big, and we've got quite good resources – so even if we start in the midfield hopefully through the year we can move to be a solid top five or four."

[MIKA27]

AUSTRALIAN GP: FLAT OUT ON AN F1 CIRCUIT LINED WITH WALLS – WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?

The F1 teams may have covered 7,427 laps of Barcelona in testing with the new style F1 cars, but the first race at Albert Park, Melbourne always produces surprises and this year will be no exception.

Last season the race was red flagged mid-race and decisions made at that point cost Ferrari the win, while Haas lucked into a big points score on debut, largely because they had gambled on a Safety Car or Red Flag and it paid off in track position advantage from not stopping to that point.

As a track lined with walls and quite high speed, there is a strong chance of an accident and as examples down the years illustrate, from Brundle to Alonso, they tend to be big ones. This has to be factored into race planning.

Also critical is the start; the entire process is now in the hands of the drivers, with no outside assistance on balancing out the massive torque of the engines, so we will see an even higher degree of variability in starts than last year and that will certainly shake things up.

Historically Ferrari is very strong on starts, Mercedes has had some patchy getaways – will that carry over into the 100% driver influenced starts of 2017?

Also with the cars now 2,000mm wide, overtaking will be tricky on this street circuit and we should not jump to too many conclusions based on one race, as only really when the cars race at China and Bahrain will we have a clearer picture of just how hard it is to overtake with these cars. Drivers have said they found it harder to follow another car in testing, but that’s a call we can really only make after several rounds on different tracks.

At the front the battle this weekend looks set to be between Mercedes and Ferrari at the first round, with Red Bull likely to join that battle as the season goes on and they develop their car.

The tyre choice from Pirelli with the new wider tyres is Ultrasoft/Supersoft/Soft. The race will be a one-stop strategy event for most and that makes qualifying critical, where Mercedes has traditionally had the edge with its aggressive engine mode for qualifying. Ferrari is well aware of that; we have seen in testing how much they improved downforce and drivability for this year, but only on Saturday afternoon will we find out whether they can go toe to toe with Mercedes on maximum engine modes.

Other teams with a free tyre choice at the start outside the Top ten may be able to try a reverse strategy with the soft at the start and then a fast burst on Ultrasoft at the end.

2017 Australian Grand Prix in numbers

The 2017 Australian Grand Prix will be the 22nd F1 race to be held at the Albert Park track since the event switched from Adelaide in 1996. The circuit is notorious for interruptions, as eight out the last 10 races have featured safety car periods. In fact, in the last 11 Australian races there have been a total of 50 safety car laps, which is almost the equivalent of an entire 58-lap race around Albert Park.
Since Melbourne joined the F1 calendar any team that has scored a 1-2 result has gone on to claim the constructors’ championship and the winning driver has taken the drivers’ title. Across F1 history, the winner of the first grand prix has won the championship 34 times out of the previous 67 seasons (almost 50 per cent), which rises to 19 out of 27 (over 70 per cent) since 1990.

Heading into the 2017 season, Lewis Hamilton has the chance to claim yet more F1 records. If he wins at least once this season that will make it the 11th consecutive season in which he has achieved that feat and would surpass Alain Prost’s record of winning each year between 1981 and 1990. Only Michael Schumacher (1992-2006) possesses a longer record of sustained years featuring an F1 victory. Hamilton also currently has 32 wins from pole position, which is only eight short of Schumacher’s all-time record of 40.

Ferrari, which caught the eye during winter testing, enters 2017 hoping to improve its recent F1 success record. Although the Scuderia was the only team to score at every race in 2016, it has fewer wins since the start of 2011 than McLaren, which has 13 to Ferrari’s nine.

The Italian team, which has been winless twice in the last three seasons, including 2016, has also only taken five pole positions in this decade out of a total of 136 races.

Sebastian Vettel’s pole at Singapore in 2015 is its most recent, and the only one Ferrari has scored in the last five years.

Some notable facts regarding recent driver records in Melbourne include Danill Kvyat’s two consecutive DNS results from 2015 and 2016 for Red Bull. The Russian driver’s only finish at Albert Park was on his F1 debut in 2014 when he finished ninth and in doing so became the 60th driver to score points in their first grand prix.

Elsewhere, Kevin Magnussen’s second place for McLaren in 2014 on his F1 race debut made him one of only two drivers in the past 21 years to finish on the podium in their first grand prix event. The other was Hamilton, who finished third for McLaren in 2007.

Nico Hulkenberg will make his 116th F1 start this weekend, which means he is third on the all-time list of driver starts without scoring a podium finish, behind Pierluigi Martini (118) and Adrian Sutil (128).

And finally, this coming weekend is a big one for McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, who not only starts the first race of his career as a full-time F1 driver, but also turns 25 years old on the day of the race.

[MIKA27]

F1 set to avoid suspension protest at Australian Grand Prix

The FIA is confident that the row over Formula 1’s suspension systems will not escalate in to a protest at the Australian Grand Prix, as it emerged that Red Bull and Mercedes were asked to change designs they wanted to run in 2017 before this...

The controversy over suspension systems blew up over the winter after Ferrari sought clarification from the FIA on the legality of concepts that were pre-loaded to cleverly help a car’s aerodynamic performance.

While Ferrari’s original letter was based solely around a theoretical idea it wanted to pursue, it was widely understood that its real motivation was to challenge clever designs that Mercedes and Red Bull had been running.

Following a final clarification from the FIA ahead of testing last month that made it clear suspension systems should not be designed to deliberately help aerodynamic performance, the governing body inspected the designs of all the teams during the tests

The FIA was clear that teams had to prove that their clever suspension systems were not designed to help the car’s aerodynamics – and concepts that Mercedes and Red Bull had wanted to run did not fully comply and had to be changed.

  

FIA race director Charlie Whiting said in a media briefing on Thursday at the Australian Grand Prix: “You are not allowed to have a suspension system that affects the aero performance of the car in anything other than an incidental way. We don’t allow it. That is the approach we are taking.

“We wanted to see whether the suspension is generally suspension or if it is there predominantly for the aerodynamic performance of the car. That is the change. We have been focusing far more on that this year.

“If a suspension system behaves asymmetrically, then there is not a very justifiable reason for behaving like that. So if a suspension system goes down at one speed and comes back at a different speed then really there shouldn’t be any reason for that.

“If they are not able to convince us of that then they are not able to use it.”

It is unclear how much of an impact the suspension decision will have on Red Bull and Mercedes, but it is known that Mercedes did not run its trick system at every race last year so was not essential to its performance.

With Red Bull and Mercedes having been asked to make changes ahead of the weekend, Whiting said on Thursday that he was hopeful the matter had been sorted.

“So far so good,” he said, when asked about the outcome of the FIA checks by Motorsport.com. 

“Marcin [Budkowski] and Jo [Bauer] did a lot of work in Barcelona going through all the systems, and the ones we have inspected so far [in Australia] have been as we expected them to be. We don’t anticipate any problems.”

It is understood that six teams had had their suspension systems signed off by Thurday lunchtime, with four teams to be checked before Friday practice began.

 

Oil burn

Whiting also said that checks of engine systems would also take place over the Australian Grand Prix, following an issue regarding oil burn.

Red Bull had asked for a clarification on the matter amid its suspicions that Mercedes had been adopting such tactics in qualifying for a power boost – something the German car manufacturer strongly denied.

Whiting said: “We are certainly monitoring it. We did quite a lot of work on it in Barcelona.

“We are going to inspect all the oil systems here and we are going to randomly check oil consumption to make sure that it is not being used as fuel.”

[Bartolomeo]

Glad the season is finally here

[Schumi5]

Excited to get the season underway!  Us tifosi have reason for optimism based on the Scuderia's pre-season performance.  Hoping to see Seb at the top of the podium come Sunday.

[MIKA27]

VERSTAPPEN RULE DITCHED AHEAD OF SEASON OPENER

Formula 1 rule-makers have the ditched the “Verstappen rule” which was introduced last year to clarify to what extent drivers could move under braking to defend against an overtake, in the wake of drivers complaining about Max Verstappen’s defensive tactics.

But race director Charlie Whiting explained, ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix, that stewards would approach such incidents differently, “Before we said any move under braking would be investigate.”

“Now, we have a simple, broad rule that says effectively if a driver moves erratically or goes unnecessarily slowly or behaves in a manner that could endanger another driver then he will be investigated.”

Whiting revealed that the changes came about after teams and drivers requested that there be less regulation of on-track battles, “They wanted less investigation and only cases where it was clearly dangerous would they take action.”