Formula 1 - 2017

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Kaltenborn defends Sauber's move to Honda Formula 1 engines in 2018

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn has defended the decision to switch to Honda engines from next season, despite the Japanese manufacturer's Formula 1 struggles.

The Swiss outfit will end a long-term Ferrari partnership to become a Honda powered outfit next year alongside McLaren.

But although some have questioned why Sauber would want to move to Honda, which is behind in terms of reliability and power, Kaltenborn says the decision is based on the potential gains of the engine.

When asked by Autosport to respond to criticisms of the deal, Kaltenborn said: "That is very momentary, how you are summarising it. That is as of now. Nobody knows what is going to be the future.

"We are absolutely confident that Honda will make improvements and sort out their issues. We are convinced that it is going to happen.

"We were in a similar situation in 2014 where there was big difference in the competitiveness of the engine, but that was no reason for us to start questioning or criticising because we knew Ferrari was doing everything they could, and they did.

"Nobody knows what is going to be in six months and we just feel that from the overall opportunities that we have there, it strengthens or fits more into the way we want to go."

Sauber has hinted at the prospect of technological partnerships with Honda outside of the F1 sphere, and has not ruled out the idea of running Honda young drivers in the future.

Honda currently has two drivers competing in F1 support series, with Nobuharu Matsushita in Formula 2 and Nirei Fukuzumi in GP3.

"In these kind of partnerships as we have also done in the past, you discuss drivers with your partner and you take advice of there's on board," said Kaltenborn.

"At the end of the day it is the team's responsibility, so this is how it will also be there. We have just started so it is too early to say there."

Kaltenborn said it was emotionally difficult for Sauber to decide to bring an end to its partnership with Ferrari - having been with the Italian manufacturer in two long spells from 1997 (above) to 2005, badged as Petronas engines, and again since 2010.

This season Sauber has used year-old Ferrari engines.

"It is not an easy step," she added. "If you look at all what we have gone through, and particularly with people who were there also for long at Ferrari before, it does have its emotional side to it as well.

"It might sound easy to say we are ending it, but Ferrari has been very helpful towards us, particularly since the team was bought back from BMW [at the end of 2009] because they were very difficult times.

"Before that, we had a lot of co-operation with Ferrari when we still had Petronas with our partner.

"There was a lot of work done in terms of development of fuel and lubricants, so it was a very intensive partnership. So not an easy step."

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Sauber might have gotten a better financial deal with the engines too.  Plus with 2 teams (assuming McLaren doesn't jump to Mercedes--something I'd do in a heartbeat) and a year of development this year you have to assume the engine is better and more reliable next year.

Ultimately I think Honda only powering the one team is what set them behind the 8 ball compared to their peers.  

But man o man is that one woeful engine this year.

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VETTEL: MASSA DID BOTTAS A FAVOUR TWICE

Just when Sebastian Vettel was setting himself up to pounce on Russian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas on the last lap of the race, the Williams of Felipe Massa was in his way, a final attack was thwarted and the German said afterwards that the Brazilian helped the Finn on two occasions in the final laps.

After finishing second in the race at Sochi Autodrom, Vettel told reporters, “[Felipe] did cost me. First of all, he handed a very pleasant tow to Valtteri on the last lap, and I was in the DRS, which was tough enough to do. And then he let him by and I don’t know if he knew there was another car coming. I don’t think, maybe.”

“Obviously Felipe did him a favour twice. Once handing him a pleasant tow and then he cost me a bit of time. But that’s how it is with backmarkers,” added Vettel sarcastically.

When told of Vettel’s complaint, Massa retorted wryly, “He was on his radio? He is never on his radio complaining!’

“I backed off before corner four and he did not want to go [past] so I saw that he was afraid to dive inside. I was completely on the left and then I let him by straight away after.”

“I am sure that he was not passing Valtteri in the last lap of the race. Complaining is what he likes to do,” added Massa who finished ninth.

 

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FERRARI VS MERCEDES INTENSITY GUARANTEED

Formula 1 heads home after four opening long-haul races with the championship finely balanced between champions Mercedes and Ferrari and the prospect of an intense battle stretching out ahead.

With the European season proper starting in Spain next week, and teams promising upgrades and a faster pace of development, the two frontrunners return to their factories with two wins apiece.

Mercedes have a one point lead in the constructors’ championship while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with two wins and two second places, is 13 clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

“It’s going to be extremely close,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “More than very. They (Ferrari) came out of the winter with a good car and it seems to suit Sebastian a lot. And we just need to stretch ourselves to perform as good as we can,” added the Austrian.

So far success has alternated between the two teams, with Vettel winning the opener in Australia, Hamilton in China, Vettel again in Bahrain and Valtteri Bottas taking his career first success in Russia for the team he joined in January.

In 2016, Mercedes were dominant and won all but two of the races with 20 pole positions from 21 starts but resurgent Ferrari — who won nothing — have already recast the 2017 landscape.

Vettel’s pole in Sochi was Ferrari’s first since 2015 and the front row lockout the first grid since 2008 with both red cars at the front.

There can be no doubt now that the sport’s oldest and most successful team are back with a vengeance.

The split between the Mercedes drivers has favoured Vettel, whose own Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen has scored 49 points to the German’s 86 while Hamilton and Bottas are separated by just 10.

Red Bull are a distant third at present, with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo fifth and sixth in the standings, but they too could get back into the mix if impending upgrades to their engine and chassis are as good as they hope.

“I think it will be a very close race between Mercedes and us…and I also hope that Red Bull find some pace,” said Vettel, who won his four world championships with that team before joining Ferrari.

“There’s lots of rumours around. They are a strong team, they know how to build a quick car so I expect it’s a question of when rather than if. But the sooner, the more exciting it will be for us.”

Verstappen won for Red Bull in Spain last year, his first career victory, after Hamilton and now-retired team mate Nico Rosberg collided on the first lap and nobody is taking anything for granted now.

“Everybody will come with upgrades for Barcelona,” Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Niki Lauda told reporters.

“The season will start anew and then who has the better upgrades, and makes the quicker car, we don’t know yet. We will see in Barcelona and practice and then the race,” added the Austrian.

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Lewis Hamilton 'can't explain' Sochi struggles

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton says he “can’t explain” the reason why he struggled at the Russian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver qualified in fourth place and had a good start, but found himself boxed in on the run to Turn 2 and had to settle for position.

In the early stages, Hamilton dropped back from the three leaders, reporting some “cut outs” of power and temperature issues with his car.

He pitted on lap 31 but continued to struggle for pace, eventually finishing 36 seconds behind race winner – and team-mate – Valtteri Bottas.

“I can’t explain right now but we’ll do some work over this week to fully understand it,” he said.

“I have some theories about how it felt in the race and qualifying, I have some ideas but as I said lots of work over the week to figure out where we are.”

Hamilton felt that the overheating issues were causing him to lose up to a second per lap compared to his rivals.

“I think I could kind of match those times at the front maybe but whether I would have lasted as long, probably not with the set-up that I had," he said.

“With the backing off for the temperature, it was losing seven tenths, whatever it was, maybe a second a lap.”

Hamilton slipped 13 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the standings, who consolidated his lead with second place.

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F1 won't miss Malaysia because Singapore is secure - Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone says Formula 1 won't miss the Malaysian Grand Prix because the sport already has a race in the area with Singapore less than 200 miles away.

Malaysia will host its last F1 race this year after coming to an agreement to cancel its contract early, meaning Sepang will drop off the calendar after 19 years.

Meanwhile Singapore, which joined in 2008 in its current form, had also threatened to drop its race, but according to Ecclestone, it's now safe.

"No, not at all," Ecclestone replied when asked if Malaysia would be missed. "We’ve got Singapore," he told Reuters.

"If we’d have lost Singapore it’s not good. But we haven’t lost Singapore so it’s OK," he added. "They were going to stop... it’s OK now."

The 86-year-old, who is no longer in charge of the sport but remains involved under new owners Liberty Media, also hit out at Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali who accused Ecclestone of making him look "stupid" after Ecclestone admitted he overcharged for the race.

"Nobody made him look stupid, and it’s difficult to make people look stupid. If they are, they are.

"They have done a very good job with the motorcycles [MotoGP], he’s [Razali] fallen in love with the motorbike racing."

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Tech Bite: Sauber ramps up development in Russia

Times have been tough for Sauber in recent years. I suppose you could call their BMW-powered era the glory days, but since then they have slipped from a top midfield team to the last row of the grid. However, a Swiss investment company has been backing the Hinwil outfit since last summer and, although they haven’t been able to afford the latest Ferrari power unit for 2017, it is good to see proper developments coming through from the chassis side, particularly at this early stage of the season.

In Bahrain the engine cover received a new bonded section of carbon fibre (below left) – giving it a more sail-like appearance rather than a traditional shark fin – and a McLaren-style T-wing has been installed over it for Russia (below right). Although the T-wing is, while visually striking, quite a mundane development it is one that continues to receive subtle tweaks (up and down the grid) to extract more performance from the rear aerodynamics. 

Sauber showed ambition when they released the C36 with the roll-blade split airbox concept this year to benefit the lower rear-wing, but it appears as if the car’s cooling package has been severely compromised as a result. In Russia the team significantly opened up the rear bodywork and the car also featured a new inlet mid-way along the top of the engine cover (below left), which looks like it leads to the gearbox oil radiator.

The airbox is responsible for supplying air to the internal combustion engine, however many teams are now cramming it with further channels to feed the gearbox oil and ERS coolers. This means that while there is more blockage to the rear-wing directly behind, the bodywork at the rear of the car be tucked in and be more streamlined.

Despite these compromises the team have also pressed on with development around the bargeboard area by introducing a secondary board (above right) ahead of the larger existing board (painted blue). A series of serrations are present along the bottom of the new smaller board, following the trend set by Mercedes of finitely adjusting the bodywork to create the desired aerostructures. Layering bodywork in this fashion helps the air transition from the centreline of the car to the sides of the car where it can be pushed rearward for better use.

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Renault has 'taken a step in the right direction' - Hulkenberg

Renault driver Nico Hülkenberg says the team has “taken a step in the right direction” over the Russian Grand Prix weekend, after feeling happier with his race pace.

The German driver lost a few places at the start, but he put an alternative strategy to good use and went long on his first set of ultra-softs.

Hülkenberg stopped for new super-softs on lap 40, which brought him out close to the Force India drivers ahead.

He eventually finished eighth, just behind Esteban Ocon, and was encouraged by his second top 10 result of the 2017 Formula 1 season.

“I’m really happy with the strategy we ran; there wasn’t too much left from the tyres at the end of that first stint, but we achieved what we set out to do,” he said.

“I lost track position at the start so we let everyone else pit ahead of us and went as long as we could go on the first set of boots.

“I kept pushing and the car performed really well, staying switched on with the track improvement meaning I was able to get faster and faster.

“I was definitely happier with our race pace; we’ve still got more work to do but we’ve clearly taken a step in the right direction this weekend.”

Team-mate Jolyon Palmer retired on the opening lap following contact with Haas' Romain Grosjean.

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Sergio Perez hails ‘tremendous effort’ from Force India after sixth in Russia

Sergio Pérez has praised his Force India team for its strong start to the 2017 Formula 1 season, calling it a “tremendous effort”.

The Mexican driver finished sixth at the Russian Grand Prix, helping the Silverstone-based outfit consolidate its fourth place in the constructors’ standings.

He started ninth but had a strong start, moving ahead of Nico Hülkenberg and then picking up another place when Daniel Ricciardo retired with brake troubles.

Pérez gained another position late on when Felipe Massa suffered a slow puncture; Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, finished in seventh, continuing his run of points finishes since joining Force India.

“Sixth place feels very satisfying and with Esteban [Ocon] in seventh it has been a really positive day for the team,” Perez explained.

“We’ve consolidated our fourth place in the championship and I’m seventh in the drivers’ championship – which is a tremendous effort from the first four races.

“The race was not especially exciting for me because I was always on my own in clean air – chasing the cars ahead and pulling away from the cars behind.

“So there were no on-track battles and I could simply focus on managing my race and bringing home the points.

“The team did a great job with the strategy – waiting until the right moment to pit and not coming in too soon.

“Once again, we took all the opportunities that were on the table and we can feel very happy tonight.”

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Sauber to use McLaren gearboxes – report

Sauber will switch to McLaren gearboxes next season to run in conjunction with their new partnership with engine supplier Honda.

Prior to the Russian Grand Prix, Sauber confirmed the long-standing rumours that they will ditch Ferrari in favour of Honda from next season.

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn did not divulge any more information about the new partnership will bring, but, according to Motorsport.com, they will use McLaren gearboxes in 2018, too.

McLaren did once supply gearboxes to Force India before they made the switch to Mercedes.

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Vettel ‘expects’ Red Bull to join title fight

Sebastian Vettel is prepared for a resurgence from Red Bull as they plan to unleash their b-spec car at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Many expected Red Bull to profit the most under the new aerodynamic regulations but they have been performing below-par since the start of the season.

Three retirements this season has seen the team fall nearly 80 points behind Mercedes and Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, while the RB13 has not had the pace to keep up with the leading duo.

But Vettel is expecting his former team to show signs of vast improvement when they arrive in Spain with their big upgrade package.

"There's a lot of rumours around," said Vettel. "They are a strong team, they know how to build a quick car so I expect it's a question of when rather than if."

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, is hoping for a much faster car after keeping a close eye on what Mercedes and Ferrari have brought in to the 2017 season.

"I hope for a bit of bullet – something fast," said Ricciardo. "We want to be in a three-way fight.

"We've had a bit of time to look at Ferrari, and they look strong, and the Mercedes, and they look like they are stronger at the rear.

"I'm confident it's going to be better than how it is now. If it puts us within half a second then we are in striking range after that."

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Stroll: ‘Great’ to see the chequered flag

Lance Stroll was relieved to have finished his first Formula 1 race at the fourth attempt and is looking forward to going back to a circuit he knows well.

The Canadian rookie has failed to finish in the first three races after finding himself in trouble in Australia, China and Bahrain, and Russia was not walk in the park either after spinning out on the first lap.

"It was so unfortunate," Stroll said.

"I had a really good start and think I was around P8 at one point, and then I got squeezed on the kerb, there wasn’t much grip and the car just got away from me.

"I knew I didn’t have any damage, but I fell to the back and it was just one of those things that happens."

"I had my best moments on the track after I stopped at the pits because I was able to pass Kvyat," Stroll said.

"I knew we had the rhythm, although I had to lift my foot in order to let Bottas, (Sebastian) Vettel and (Kimi) Raikkonen pass along the way."

"I saw the checkered flag for the first time, it’s great. It was a bit disappointing with the spin, as I think it could have been quite a bit better, but we will take our first finish.

"The season is long, and I really look forward to going back to Europe to find tracks I know, like Barcelona."

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Steiner "pissed off" about Haas' Russian GP weekend

Gunther Steiner says he is "pissed off" with the Haas Formula 1 team's Russian Grand Prix weekend as "everything that can go wrong went wrong".

The American outfit scored points in China and Bahrain but left Sochi empty-handed after Romain Grosjean retired following a collision with Jolyon Palmer while Kevin Magnussen ended up 13th.

Grosjean hit the right-rear of Palmer after bouncing across the kerb of the inside of Turn 2 at the start, and got turfed into the barrier as it spun round into his Haas.

Magnussen was running in the points in 10th early on but lost ground courtesy of a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits at Turn 2.

"I'm pissed off with the weekend as you get when you have a weekend like this," said Haas team principal Steiner after the race.

"Almost everything that can go wrong went wrong."

Even without Magnussen's penalty, which Steiner agreed with, the Haas team boss conceded it would have been tough to hold on to 10th and score a point.

"I'm not even trying to argue it, we were told and we didn't do it," he said. "You live by your choices. [Without the penalty, points] would have been possible but I don't know - It would have been a tough battle.

"The strategy could have been completely different so it's difficult to know. There was a bigger chance without the penalty."

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Pirelli seeking teams for extra wet tyre tests

Pirelli is planning to conduct some of its 2018 F1 wet weather tyre testing with old specification cars, despite the huge discrepancy in downforce levels.

Pirelli already has some wet weather running with current cars built into its test schedule, with two days with Red Bull Racing at Paul Ricard on May 31/June 1, and two more with McLaren at Magny-Cours on July 19-20.

However, as the rest of its test days will be with a focus on dry running, the Italian tyre manufacturer has asked for more wet track time - which can only be done with older-spec cars.

Last week, the F1 Strategy Group agreed that the Italian company could pursue such a programme, and thus it is now talking to teams about the availability of 2015 machinery to do the job.

Pirelli still believes it can benefit from such testing, despite having to use the previous smaller rim sizes and the reduced downforce.

“That was a request coming from us,” said Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola when asked by Motorsport.com. “Because we believe that we can have a few additional sessions for wets and intermediates, where we can test some ideas on previous cars and older sizes.

"Of course we have some baselines, so we can compare the new ideas to the baselines, and have some indication for the development of the current sizes.”

Isola acknowledged that there was some compromise involved: “It is different, we have different cars, we have different downforce, we have different sizes, but in some specific areas we can test some new solutions, and get some important feedback to address the development of the 2018 tyres.

“The idea is to test something on the previous cars to give us a direction, and then to reduce the number of options on the current cars.

"As we are limited with the number of days with the current cars, we can make some preparation work with the previous cars in order then to go and test a reduced number of prototypes on the current cars.”

Isola said all the teams have been given the opportunity to provide a car, with the full costs of the sessions paid by Pirelli.

“At the moment we are in discussion with all of them. We offered this opportunity to all the teams, and we’ll see who is available. It is a busy season for everybody, so it is not easy to find the availability of the teams.

“We know that in general they are always supportive and trying to help, and I’m confident that we can find a couple of teams to help us with these additional sessions. I think by Barcelona we will have some ideas on who is available to provide a car.”

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Tech analysis: Red Bull prepares for 'B-spec' arrival

As the anticipation builds around the 'B-spec' car that is scheduled to arrive in Barcelona, Red Bull conducted numerous tests on its current Formula 1 car in Russia.

Red Bull Racing RB13 front wing detail

We were able to capture an image of the RB13's front wing as the team prepared the car for scrutineering and, as you can see, several stickers were placed on it in order that a high-speed camera - mounted in the usual FOM camera position - is able to capture footage of the wing flexing under load.

The stickers ordinarily found on just the endplate have been added elsewhere on the wing, which this rearward view uncovers.

This gives the team insight into how individual parts of the wing operate as the load builds and dissipates, allowing it to consider development avenues it can exploit going forward.

This is of particular interest given that Red Bull led the way on flexible front wings during its dominant phase of 2010-13, and whilst the load tests changed dramatically during that phase, the same cannot be said for the regulation transition this year.

The prescribed load used during scrutineering has remained the same as 2016 but the width of the wing has increased by 150mm, giving the designers scope to re-investigate the amount of aero-elasticity that can be utilised before failing the test.

Of course, regulations permit the FIA to change the scope of their tests at any stage, but the teams always tend to be one step ahead of this as they strive to maintain optimum performance.

Red Bull Racing RB13 side detail

A test rig could also be found mounted on the upper surface of the floor's periphery, monitoring its relationship with the rear tyre.

This is because tyre deformation is of critical importance, as it has a significant bearing on key aerodynamic structures that are created to control how the movement of air around the tyre impinges on them.

For example, the slots placed in the edge of the floor are used to dilute the impact that the rear tyre has on the diffuser as its sidewall deforms under load - pushing airflow laterally into the diffuser's path and robbing it of performance.

You'll note how close the teams run the floor to the front face of the tyre too, as it looks to minimise the circulation of airflow around the tyre. In fact, Red Bull often trims its new floors on site in order to get them as close as is possible without rubbing.

Red Bull Racing RB13 front wing detail

Some limited flo-viz testing was also conducted as the team looks to correlate the minor alterations that have been made to the front wing as of late, with the green oil-based paint applied to the outer section of the wing where it joins to the adjustable flapped section.

The paint has also made its way onto the lower front section of the brake duct fence behind.

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Bottas was nursing "severe" tyre damage during Russian GP

Valtteri Bottas was nursing "pretty severe" damage to his front tyres as he held off Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages of the Russian Grand Prix, his Mercedes team has revealed.

The Finnish driver had dominated the early stages of the race at Sochi and appeared in control at the front when he suffered a major lock-up at the tricky Turn 13 on lap 38.

Although it was not clear from television footage how bad his tyres were, Mercedes said its data in the pits indicated that the situation was quite serious, which set up an intense finish as Vettel closed in to challenge.

Onboard TV footage at the end of the race showed Bottas' steering wheel was shaking heavily.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: "He locked both front tyres and flat-spotted them, and our metrics showed that it was pretty severe damage to the tyres, which harmed his performance at the end.

"It was a bit of a stressful moment, but he kept it together. You could see the pace was still good enough, sector one was obviously very good, but in sector two he was able to fight back and there was the odd tenth he lost. But on the next lap around he was good.

"So it wasn't all plain sailing, and obviously again backmarker traffic was an issue. Sometimes it went against us, but with Felipe [Massa at the end] – thank you very much, I have to get him a beer – it was in favour of us but that is how it goes."

Bottas explained that the lock-up happened as temperatures began to drop in his front tyres, and the moment briefly took him out of his comfort zone.

"I definitely lost some time during that lap with the flat spot," he said. "The team was [previously] asking me to go forward with the brake bias, giving advice just to help the tyre temperatures.

"Then I had the flat spot so I had to go rearwards. I also had a little bit of traffic during that point.

"This track, it's so special about the rhythm. If you find the rhythm then you can be so quick here, and get consistent lap times and be on it. But if you lose it, it always takes a few laps to get it back here.

"So I kind of lost the rhythm for a bit, plus the backmarkers. Once I was in free air again, able to focus on my job itself, I managed to get the tyre temperatures back up and pick up the pace.

"I was also asking for a bit of radio silence from the team, for me to just to just get on with it really, for me to focus on every single corner, making it every lap perfectly, and losing minimum time with the backmarkers. And that helped."

 

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Giorgio Piola - Ferrari SF70H steering wheel

In this 3D animation renowned technical analyst Giorgio Piola investigates the changes made by Ferrari to their steering wheel in 2017 and how each driver prefers a slightly different setup.

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Podcast: Valtteri Bottas becomes F1 winner in Russian GP

Valtteri Bottas's breakthrough Formula 1 victory in the Russian Grand Prix is the key talking point in the latest edition of The Autosport Podcast.

Autosport Editor-in-Chief Edd Straw is joined by Lawrence Barretto and Stuart Codling to dissect how Bottas won the race, and managed to get the upper hand over Lewis Hamilton.

There's also talk about the wider implications of the victory for Bottas, who is only on a one-year deal with Mercedes and has taken a big step towards securing a longer-term future with the team.

Ferrari's strategy, leaving Sebastian Vettel out for seven laps longer than Bottas in their battle for victory, is also discussed - as is the moment Felipe Massa had to be lapped by both drivers on the last lap.

Further back, Red Bull's struggles and Force India's remarkable points record also get some attention, as does Sauber's deal to use Honda engines from 2018.

Amid criticism in some quarters of Sauber taking what is currently the weakest engine package in F1, we ask whether or not it was a good idea to make the switch.

The Autosport Podcast is available to subscribe to free via iTunes and all major podcast suppliers.

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HASEGAWA: I’M NOT SURE BUT ANYWAY IT WAS A SYSTEM FAILURE

It was another weekend of utter misery for Fernando Alonso and McLaren, as the Spaniard did not even make it to the start of the Russian Grand Prix as his power unit expired on the formation lap, the cause of the failure is still being investigated by Honda who appear to not have a clue why their engines are so slow and fickle.

Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa said after the race, “As soon as he was going on the parade lap we noticed a system failure with the ERS – the MGU-H wasn’t working. We tried the procedure to clear the failure but it wasn’t a success, so then we tried a power cycle, a complete reset, but it made the car stop.”

“It was an option [to come back to the pits] but it wasn’t the same failure with what happened with Stoffel [Vandoorne] in Australia. He succeeded with a power cycle and restart in Melbourne so that’s why we tried it, because we didn’t want to start the race from the pit lane. But as a consequence it wasn’t a good option.”

“I’m not sure [if we’ve seen it before], still we need to investigate it, but anyway it was a system failure,” added Hasegawa.

Alonso’s teammate Stoffel Vandoorne completed the race, albeit way off the pace and only bettered the Sauber drivers running year old Ferrari customer engines.

Nevertheless, Hasegawa saw the upside of a decidedly dreary weekend for the team, “It was positive. Especially for a young driver he needs more experience of long running, but obviously the car was not strong enough to get a point, which is very unfortunate.”

“The data will help, definitely. Running without problems on his car was one of the very positive things,” he added.

Alonso, who trudged through the pit access road back to the McLaren garage, was understandably unhappy with the situation, “It’s tough, it’s frustrating – every weekend is the same.”

“My power unit didn’t have the usual power during the formation lap, so my engineer told me to change some settings on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, that didn’t work and towards the end of the lap the engine shut down. My race was over before it started.”

“Not being able to take part in the race and not being able to finish any race so far this season is extremely tough. But Formula 1 is my life, so hopefully we can improve the situation soon,” concluded the Spaniard who has yet to score a point in four rounds so far this season.

MIKA: I'm almost at a point of not posting anything on McLaren out of respect to them and the fans. This is truly unprecedented in McLarens history. Even to hear Hasegawa say "We don't know what the problem(s) are" is pretty unsettling IMO.

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THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX

Lewis Hamilton has fallen further behind Sebastian Vettel in the championship race after he finished a distant fourth at the Russian Grand Prix, while Mercedes ‘new boy’ has shown his capabilities by claiming a well earned victory.

Hamilton is now 13 points behind Vettel who crossed the line behind Bottas as he claimed his first win in Formula 1 which his team chairman Niki Lauda believes is the first of many.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look back at the key talking points that emerged from an intriguing race at the Sochi Autodrom.

1. Team orders or no team orders at Mercedes?

For all of Hamilton’s problems, his poor show must take nothing away from Bottas who registered the first victory of his career at attempt number 81. Bottas was expected to play second fiddle to Hamilton this season, but he has now out-qualified him for two successive races and moved to within 10 points of his team-mate in the title battle. This provides Mercedes with a mighty problem in that they cannot justify team orders if Bottas is doing the business on the track. Yet it will be music to Vettel’s ears as his path to the title will be made all that more simpler if Bottas and Hamilton continue to take points off each other.

2. What happened to Hamilton?

Hamilton was at a complete loss to explain why he was so far off the pace in Russia. Hamilton finished a yawning 36 seconds behind Bottas and 25 seconds adrift off third-placed Kimi Raikkonen. The writing however, had been on the wall. Hamilton was nowhere in practice and then qualified nearly six tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Vettel and more than half-a-second adrift of Bottas. Hamilton was slow in Singapore and at the Japanese Grand Prix last year, too, but even then, the deficit of defeat to Nico Rosberg was not as big as here. Hamilton said his Mercedes team will try and figure out what went wrong this week, and he will need a quick fix with the next round in Spain taking place a week on Sunday.

3. When is enough really enough?

A furious Eric Boullier insisted that it is not acceptable for a team of McLaren’s might to see another of their cars absent from the start of the race. First it was Stoffel Vandoorne in Bahrain, and then Fernando Alonso here after his desperately poor Honda engine conked out on the way to the grid. Alonso has failed to finish any of the opening four races, and the sight of him walking back to the McLaren garage was depressing, not just for the Spaniard and his McLaren team – but for the sport, too. Formula One is being deprived of watching one of its finest talents in action in what should be the pomp of his career.

4. More problems for Palmer

If Jolyon Palmer thought his season could not get any worse then he was wrong. An exhaust issue detected on Friday forced his Renault team to work through the night to change his chassis. Then, an engine failure saw him miss a chunk of time in practice on Saturday morning. He crashed out of qualifying before he crashed out of the race on the opening lap after he tangled with Romain Grosjean. To make matters worse, his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg finished eighth to secure his second points-finish on the trot.

5. It’s Radio Gaga for Raikkonen

Raikkonen’s radio transmissions have become a thing of F1 folklore and the Finn provided much hilarity again on Sunday. After Raikkonen rejoined the circuit following his one and only pit stop, he was informed by his Ferrari team that he was nine seconds adrift of Bottas – the man who he had been trailing for the entire race. This however, was news to Raikkonen. “What do you mean we are behind Bottas?” He then added: “How did we end up behind him? Why did we not stop earlier?” Delivered in deadpan style, his engineer replied: “He was leading the race, Kimi.”

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BOTTAS: THINGS MIGHT GET A BIT MORE TRICKY AND TIGHT

Valtteri Bottas has hinted that his good-natured relationship with Lewis Hamilton could come under threat after he slashed the deficit to his Mercedes team-mate in the championship.

Hamilton, who finished only fourth at the Russian Grand Prix as he mysteriously struggled for pace, was among the first to congratulate Bottas after he held off Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to register his maiden win in Formula One.

The 32-year-old Briton hugged Bottas in parc ferme, and latterly managed a smile and clenched fist for the cameras as Mercedes celebrated the Finn’s victory in front of their garage after the race.

Bottas’s victory, however, has taken him to within 10 points of his team-mate, and in doing so, diminished any suggestion that the Mercedes new boy will simply be an able deputy to Hamilton this year.

“Lewis said he was happy for me which was very nice from him,” Bottas said. “We have been able to be very professional so far.

“If he has been in front of me I tell him honestly that he has done a great job, and vice-versa. It is good to see that from a three-time world champion. The Ferrari drivers were saying well done, too.

“But it is going to be a long year, and at some point things might get a bit more tricky and tight. When it comes to the championship fight, there might be less talking and more fighting on track.”

Bottas was hired as a remedy to the fractious atmosphere created at Mercedes following the toxicity of Hamilton’s rivalry with Nico Rosberg.

But Bottas’s early-season form, in which he has now out-qualified Hamilton at successive grands prix before delivering a crushing victory over the Briton here – the gap on track was an eye-watering half-a-minute – may provide Mercedes with a new headache.

Yet Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda, the two Austrians in charge at Mercedes, are both confident that the ugly in-team fighting, which at times marred Mercedes’ dominance over the past three years, will not resurface this season.

“The relationship between the two of them is very intact,” Wolff said. “Lewis was one of the first ones to congratulate Valtteri on his first race victory and that shows the respect that they have towards one another.

“Both of them are fierce competitors and want to win races and fight for the championship, but I don’t think it will affect the relationship and the dynamics within the team like it did in the last years between Nico and Lewis. It is a completely different relationship.”

Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Lauda added: “They have not been hot so far, and they have been nice because the Finn is not talking much. There is no extra aggravation which we had last year.

“Lewis is a professional and the other one, too, so I don’t see any problems because Valtteri won this race. They respect each other and this is the most important thing.”

LEWIS HAMILTON: Sending a huge congrats to my teammate, @ValtteriBottas, on his very first @F1 Grand Prix win! Great job! #repost @F1 @mercedesamgf1

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HORNER: HOPEFULLY IN BARCELONA WE CAN START MAKING PROGRESS

Where were Red Bull at the Russian Grand Prix? Nowhere, relative to the pace setting Ferrari and Mercedes teams, as they endured one of their most insignificant performances in a long time.

Second in the 2016 F1 World Championship for constructors’, this year they are a distant third in the pecking order and hinging all their hopes on Barcelona when they expect a hefty Renault upgrade and some magic from Adrian Newey’s drawing board.

Reflecting on the weekend in Russia, where Max Verstappen finished fifth and Daniel Ricciardo had a DNF, team chief Christian Horner said, “It was a real disappointment to lose Daniel early in the race with a right rear brake issue, straight after the safety car restart.”

“We need to understand exactly what the cause of failure was; the outcome was similar to that which happened with Max in Bahrain but it looks like a different issue, so that needs thorough exploration.”

“Max drove a strong race, he had a good start but then he was in only racing himself in no man’s land; putting a significant gap to the cars behind but not being able to keep up with the cars ahead.”

“So, at a circuit that we know doesn’t play to our strengths at least we got to our optimum with Max and hopefully in Barcelona we can start making progress,” added Horner.

Verstappen, who is always good for a fight on race day, simply had no ammo to take it to the pace setters.

Indeed a day earlier, after qualifying there was a hint of frustration from Verstappen amid all the politically correct team speak, “A frustrating day all things considered, we knew this would be one of our toughest tracks of the season but I had hoped qualifying would go better than that.”

Asked why he had good pace at the previous round in Bahrain, but it went AWOL in Russia, the teenager explained, “In Bahrain our car had a good setup and worked with the tyres but here the long straights make it very hard to go quick and compete at the front.”

Simply put: the chassis is not too good at getting the tyres to work in all conditions and the Renault (TAG Heuer) power unit does not have the legs.

Ricciardo’s race only lasted five laps at Sochi, he explained, “After the safety car I looked in my mirror to see where the Force India was and I noticed that the right rear brake was on fire, I reported it to the team and they told me to bring the car back to the pits slowly. Unfortunately the issue could not be fixed and I had to retire from the race.”

“It’s frustrating, on a Sunday you just build up for the race and try to store up your adrenaline to use at 3pm but it was over very quickly and unfortunately I didn’t get as much of a fight as I would have liked.”

As for what he is expecting to come from the team in Barcelona, Rcciardo said, “We don’t know how much the new package will give us until we get it on track in a few weeks but we are hoping Barcelona is the first step to getting closer to the leaders.”

Problem is that Mercedes and Ferrari have also not been standing still and they too will have substantial upgrades in the pipeline.

For Red Bull the remainder of their season depends largely on how good the upgraded Renault engines will be, and more importantly how Newey will turn the RB13 from a decidedly ordinary piece of kit into a race winner.

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Malaysian GP promoter felt "ripped off" by Ecclestone

The Malaysian Grand Prix promoter says he felt "ripped off" and "conned" when he heard Bernie Ecclestone's admission that he charged Formula 1 venues too much.

The Sepang event will leave the F1 calendar after the 2017 season, ending an 18-year stint on the schedule, but will continue with MotoGP.

It was the first of a series of purpose-built circuits added in F1's push into new territories.

Several of the new events struggled financially, with Korean and Indian GPs proving short-lived, and former F1 commercial chief Ecclestone conceded last month that such venues "can't make it work" as his organisation "charged them too much for what we provide".

Sepang circuit chief executive Dato' Razlan Razali expressed his disappointment at Ecclestone's comments.

"I just felt ripped off in some ways, even though we were not forced to sign the agreement," he told Motorsport.com. "But to come up with a statement like that - how does it make us feel?

"All this time you have been overcharging us and we are not getting what we want, such as good racing and access to drivers and teams. Of course, nobody put a gun to our head but for you to come up with comments like that makes us feel worse.

"It makes us feel like we've been conned and we're not getting what we paid for."

  

Ecclestone hit back at Razali's stance in an interview with Reuters.

"Nobody made him look stupid, and it's difficult to make people look stupid. If they are, they are," said Ecclestone. "They have done a very good job with the motorcycles, he's fallen in love with the motorbike racing and that they apparently make money from.

"With Formula 1 they don't make money and what I said was we haven't been delivering what they bought. Not our fault. We don't make the show.

"But thankfully now, if Ferrari keep up their job and the other people do the same, we'll have very good racing and then things should be a lot better for the promoters. They should be able to sell tickets."

When asked if he had spoken to Liberty following Ecclestone's comments, Razali said: "We touched based on it but there is no point talking about the past.

"We want to make sure the Malaysian GP in its final year is a great show."

The Sepang venue said a fall in spectator and television viewing numbers led to the government, which funded the race, requesting the early termination of a contract that ran to 2018.

Razali said he had a "number of discussions" with new F1 owner Liberty Media regarding the deal but they could not find a way to continue.

"They made an attempt to make us stay but to me not strong enough for us to reconsider," he said. "We spoke with them at great length in Bahrain.

"Liberty offered to reduce the fees, but the offer was not attractive enough for us to maintain until even 2018."

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Hulkenberg says Renault took "good step" in improving race pace

Nico Hulkenberg says the Renault Formula 1 team has taken a "good step" in improving its race pace.

After a bad first lap cost him positions the team decided to keep Hulkenberg out on the ultrasoft tyres for as long as possible, and he finally came in on lap 40 – while most other drivers had pitted between laps 21 and 30.

He eventually recovered to eighth place, helped by the retirement of Daniel Ricciardo and a puncture for Felipe Massa.

Hulkenberg believes that the team has done a good job of lifting its game on Sundays relative to its impressive qualifying pace.

"Yes, definitely, that's fair to say," he said. "Still not entirely happy, I think there's still more work to do, for my taste there's still a little bit too much of an offset between the two.

"But I think we definitely did a good step in the right direction this weekend in this case."

He admitted that he couldn't have pushed the ultrasoft tyres much further than lap 40.

"They really were starting to go, and I was starting to lose the first couple of tenths. Had we hung out there I would have lost more significant time, within one or two laps.

"I'm actually really happy with what the team did there, and how we played the strategy. We lost track position straight away at the start on the first lap, which wasn't great, we were struggling at the start, losing positions.

"But that was the only thing we could do, change the strategy. When everybody was pitting out of our way, I kept on pushing on the ultrasoft.

"I have to say the car performed very well, it was switching on almost during that first stint with track improvement. I was able to go faster and faster and faster for many laps. It was very enjoyable."

 

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Does mystery new dial offer clue to Ferrari’s F1 tyre edge?

The relocation of a 'GRIP' setting on Ferrari's 2017 F1 car has prompted intrigue about whether the team's advantage with tyres is being helped by use of some clever driver-adjustable settings.

Both of Sebastian Vettel's victories this year have been based on his Ferrari SF70H being better in looking after its tyres, and more especially having a much wider operating window to use all the compounds in all types of conditions.

As rival Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said over the Russian Grand Prix weekend: "The wider the window is, and the easier you put the car into the tyre window, the faster you go. The more narrow it is, the more difficult it is to hit the window, and this is what we are seeing at the moment.

"The Ferrari seems to be a car that is pretty robust in a wider window temperature than ours, and it doesn't matter whether it's Bahrain, where it's very hot, or Sochi where it's cold. It's just a very good car."

While Mercedes is chasing answers as to why its car operates in such a narrow window, Ferrari's rivals also want to understand how the Maranello team's car is so good everywhere.

And the answer could well go beyond the pure chassis, suspension and aerodynamics of Ferrari's 2017 challenger, and extend in to what the drivers are able to do from the cockpit.

Moved dial

Giorgio Piola's exclusive video of the changes (below) that Ferrari has made to its steering wheel for 2017 offer a clue that some of the advantage could come from the way that the driver is able to optimise car settings to help tyre performance throughout the race.

The Manettino dial has been moved from inside the cockpit on to the wheel for this year, which shows its importance has increased. With settings that run from 1-12, it is labelled as 'GRIP' - which suggests it is related to how the car is handling on its tyres either in races or at starts.

It is the only major change from Ferrari's traditional dials from 2016 and its positioning on the wheel, at the bottom left on both Vettel and Raikkonen's cars, shows it is quite important for easy access.

For 2017 the importance of controls on the steering wheels has increased, with teams like Mercedes even keeping their wheels hidden in boxes when outside of the car to prevent prying eyes from seeing what it is up to.

Furthermore, it doesn't even fit its real wheel when the car is taken to scrutineering - instead fitting a dummy one.

Race or start use?

The fact that the team has moved the dial on to the steering wheel shows there must be value to it, because space in front of the driver is at a premium.

While drivers already can change controls like differentials, engine mapping and brake balance to help with handling, the possibility of having pre-loaded settings that can be adjusted based on what the tyres are doing could allow the car to be more compliant to the state of the Pirellis.

That means coping with a shifting car balance front-to-rear, bringing tyre temperatures into line better, plus adjusting for the transition from a heavy fuel load to a light fuel load.

The 'GRIP' dial could also be related to the new start procedures, with drivers having to decide for themselves about various settings away from the line, so any adjustment on clutch engagement based on grip levels would be beneficial.

What Vettel and Raikkonen can change based on grip certainly is not the magic bullet to explain Ferrari's strong form. But, in a sport like F1, marginal gains can be the difference between success and defeat it offers a glimpse about the detail the team has gone to get back to the top.

Other changes

 

Piola's steering wheel video also offers some interesting insight into subtle changes to the wheels to help increase comfort for the drivers.

Vettel's wheel last year had longer and thinner hand grips, and for this year they have been shortened and beefed up – probably as a consequence of the increased forces drivers are experiencing with the 2017 cars.

Raikkonen's wheel has also a different shaped grip, with an indent towards the top to help suit his needs.

Clutch paddle

Behind the wheel, the single clutch paddle that Ferrari used last year has been retained.

As Motorsport.com revealed, Ferrari became the first team to run a new type of long clutch paddle that pivoted in the centre, rather than having separate paddles on both sides of the wheel.

The length allowed the drivers to have a better control over clutch release, and has been retained for this year despite a new 80mm limit of movement that has been imposed.

The Haas team also uses this single clutch paddle arrangement.