Latest F1 news in brief – Monday
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Cancer-causing companies like BAT and Philip Morris are trying to weasel their way back into F1 with their non-tobacco ads Another complaint against tobacco sponsorship lodged
- Peter Sauber to watch Alfa Romeo testing
- Ricciardo has no problem with Magnussen
- Ferrari 'priority' is Vettel, not Leclerc – boss
- Leclerc can create 'mess' at Ferrari – Villeneuve
- Ferrari mechanic back in F1 after leg break
- McLaren happy about Renault optimism for 2019
- Smedley to F1, Williams car delayed
- Hand on heart, Ricciardo says he feels right with Renault
- Brown warns Lando Norris: "Don't make same mistake twice!
- Formula 1 needs 1500bhp so drivers are 'kings'
Another complaint against tobacco sponsorship lodged
(GMM) A controversy surrounding the clandestine return of tobacco advertising in F1 is deepening.
Ferrari's main backer Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, is being investigated by Australian authorities ahead of the 2019 season opener in Melbourne.
The investigation surrounds the use of the new 'Mission Winnow' branding, and after the launch of the 2019 Ferrari, now Italian authorities are looking into the story as well.
Italy's Autosprint claims that the major Italian consumer union has filed a complaint with the national competition authority.
"We also presented a complaint to the ministry of health," confirmed union spokesman Massimiliano Dona.
Also fascinating is that McLaren has followed Ferrari's lead by welcoming a tobacco brand back to F1 for 2019.
The British team is now sponsored by British American Tobacco (BAT), which in the 90s had its own F1 team.
The BAT branding on the 2019 McLaren car reads "A better tomorrow".
A spokesman for the tobacco company said the new sponsorship "has nothing to do with what we did before 2006".
"It is not about promoting tobacco products," the BAT spokesman told AFP news agency.
When asked to comment, a spokesman for F1's governing body said: "We are not aware of the details so it is difficult to assess at this stage."
But the FIA spokesman said the Paris based federation "has not changed" its earlier stance against tobacco advertising.
Liberty Media did not comment.
Peter Sauber to watch Alfa Romeo testing
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| Raikkonen and Giovinazzi with the new Alfa this morning |
(GMM) Peter Sauber will be on-hand to witness the first day of testing since his name was dropped from the official title of the Swiss based F1 team.
Although Sauber Motorsport still owns and operates the team, Fiat Chrysler brand Alfa Romeo has taken on the full naming rights for 2019.
It is the first time since 1993 that Peter Sauber's name is no longer on the grid.
"Of course I like being here," 75-year-old Sauber, who is no longer involved in the team, told Blick newspaper.
The newspaper says Sauber was invited to Barcelona by team boss Frederic Vasseur.
"The new car is certainly an eye-catcher," Sauber added. "And I gave Kimi Raikkonen his first car in 2001, and now he's there again.
"Most importantly is that my former team is doing well," he said. "That means I'm doing well too."
Ricciardo has no problem with Magnussen
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| Kevin Magnussen (L) |
(GMM) Daniel Ricciardo insists he has no issues with the aggressive driving of F1 rival Kevin Magnussen.
Haas driver Magnussen has been regularly criticized by his rivals, with Nico Hulkenberg admitting to Denmark's BT newspaper that he does not get along with the Dane.
"Ah, my good friend Kevin. How is he? How are his balls?" Hulkenberg said.
That reference dates back to a 2017 clash, where after a confrontation Magnussen told his German rival to "suck my balls".
"It was all said in a moment of excitement. But in general, you can say that Kevin and I just don't really like each other," Hulkenberg said.
Hulkenberg's new teammate at Renault, however, does not share that opinion of Magnussen.
"Once in a while he crosses the line, but normally I have no problems with Kevin," Ricciardo said.
"He definitely goes to the edge, but if I had to choose Kevin or a 'soft' driver who is easy to pass, then Kevin is what you want. Kevin is cool," he added.
However, Renault and Haas might be close in pace this year, meaning Ricciardo and Magnussen will have plenty of on-track moments.
"Maybe my opinion about his driving will change," the Australian laughed. "No, honestly it's good to have some tough guys in formula one. We are both raw racers, so it will be fun."
Ferrari 'priority' is Vettel, not Leclerc – boss
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| Mattia Binotto |
(GMM) Mattia Binotto has suggested 2019 will be a close three-way battle for victory.
The Italian, who remains the technical director, is also Ferrari's new team boss, having taken over from the ousted Maurizio Arrivabene.
"True, they are completely different roles," Binotto said. "But I'm fortunate to count on a strong team. Everybody knows exactly what he has to do."
Ferrari has launched its 2019 car with lightweight matte paint. Binotto says it is an "evolution" of the 2018 machine with some "extreme" details.
"We have carefully examined what has been done by Mercedes and Red Bull," he told Italy's Autosprint.
"We have studied the details and I congratulate them because there are some original and interesting innovations."
Robert Shwartzman, a Russian driver and member of Ferrari's development 'academy', told the Championat publication that he has driven the car in the simulator.
"Compared to the previous car, the changes are quite small and in speed it is almost as good as the previous one," he said.
Sebastian Vettel gave the car its real 'filming' track debut at Barcelona on Sunday.
Although highly rated youngster Charles Leclerc has joined Ferrari, team boss Binotto says quadruple world champion Vettel remains the number 1.
"If certain situations occur in the first part of the season, our priority is Sebastian," he said.
"He should lead us to the title. This is completely normal and not a disadvantage for Charles," Binotto insisted.
However, he admitted that Leclerc is likely to be competitive in 2019, as he is "gifted".
"Sebastian has nothing to prove, and Charles still has a lot to learn. But honestly, I would like the problem of having to deal with two drivers in top positions," said Binotto.
If Leclerc gets the upper hand, though, Vettel's place as team leader would be in doubt.
The German driver said: "I think everybody knows that my contract runs until 2020, so I do not expect anything else other than that. I am very happy here."
Leclerc can create 'mess' at Ferrari – Villeneuve
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| Charles Leclerc |
(GMM) Charles Leclerc has the ability to create a "mess" at Ferrari this year.
That is the claim of outspoken 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, referring to young Monaco-born driver Leclerc's highly anticipated move to be Sebastian Vettel's teammate.
But in terms of the team hierarchy between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, Villeneuve thinks it will be business as usual in 2019.
"I do not see big changes. The engines are the same. There are some changes to the aerodynamics but I don't think they are big enough to make a difference," Villeneuve told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The "big change", he said, is the arrival of Leclerc at Ferrari.
"We will have to see what happens," said Villeneuve. "If he were to start immediately strong, it could create an involuntary mess with Vettel. Just like with Ricciardo a few years ago."
He is referring to Red Bull in 2014, where despite his four consecutive titles, Vettel was beaten by team newcomer Ricciardo.
"He (Ricciardo) didn't arrive to make a mess," Villeneuve said. "In theory, Vettel was the favorite but things can sometimes turn against you on the psychological level and you don't know why."
So the Canadian thinks Vettel's only strategy must be to be "strong all season" this time around.
"A lot will depend on the comparison with Leclerc," said Villeneuve. "He knows that if things do not go well, the future at Ferrari will no longer be his but Leclerc's. The pressure is all on him.
"Seb has everything to lose, Charles nothing."
As for reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, Villeneuve thinks he could win a sixth drivers' title in 2019 "If he does not fall asleep".
"Last year, from Germany onwards he was always awake and did nothing wrong, but it's true that his teammate was not there," he said, referring to Valtteri Bottas.
Ferrari mechanic back in F1 after leg break
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| Francesco Cigarini last year after accident |
(GMM) A Ferrari mechanic who was badly injured in 2019 is finally back in the F1 garage.
Last year in Bahrain, mechanic Francesco Cigarini was run over by Kimi Raikkonen during a pitstop.
But on Instagram on Sunday, as Sebastian Vettel made his debut in Ferrari's 2009 car in Barcelona, Cigarini celebrated his return to the garage in the wake of the horrific leg fractures.
"First day in the box in 2019, the first time after the incident," he wrote.
I thought about this moment as a 'fixed point' when I was in trouble, and I am happy to achieve it after other important points during this experience.
"Gratitude is the feeling," Cigarini added.
McLaren happy about Renault optimism for 2019
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| Norris, Brown, DeFerran and Sainz Jr. – The Renault engine may be good, but is the McLaren chassis a dog? |
(GMM) Zak Brown says the noises being made by Renault ahead of the 2019 season are also "encouraging" for McLaren.
McLaren, now a Renault customer, struggled even after dumping Honda ahead of the 2018 season.
But team boss Brown says what he is hearing and seeing from Renault for 2019 is "quite encouraging".
"We are aware of the comments that Renault has made, and they have shared with us the details of what they have achieved," he is quoted by Spain's Marca.
"We are still new in this relationship but Renault is saying different things than it did last year. They maintained their position on where the engine is and what deficit it has, so based on that we have found that they are very honest in their communication.
"So it's encouraging that they are being as positive as they are," Brown said.
He said McLaren is also looking in better shape for 2019.
"In the second year with Renault, I think we've done a better job in relation to the power unit," said Brown.
"When we made the decision to change to Renault it was a bit late, and then we had some reliability problems because we did not know the power unit as we do now."
Daniel Ricciardo, the new works Renault driver, is also positive. The team he has fled, Red Bull, has switched from Renault to works Honda power for 2019.
"On the one hand, Honda is a new hope for the team, but on the other it is an unknown in many respects," he is quoted by Spain's Marca.
Smedley to F1, Williams car delayed
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| Rob Smedley |
(GMM) Former top engineer at Williams, Rob Smedley, has been signed up by Liberty Media.
Towards the end of Williams' abysmal 2018 season, Smedley announced that he is leaving.
Now, it has emerged that he is taking up an official F1 role as technical consultant. It is believed Smedley was headhunted by Ross Brawn, his former Ferrari colleague and now F1 sporting boss.
"In conversations with Ross, we were both of the opinion that there's this really rich seam of technical content, of data, of the way that teams operate, that actually never gets told," Smedley said.
At his former team, things are going less well. Claire Williams has announced that the Grove based team is not ready to start testing its 2019 car on Monday.
"It's clearly not ideal, but equally it's not the end of the world," she said.
However, there are concerns about whether Williams can mount a comeback in 2019, having finished last season dead last of the ten teams.
"If you take a close look at the FW42, one wonders where are the big ideas that can take Williams back at least into the midfield," said Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Tobias Gruner.
Hand on heart, Ricciardo says he feels right with Renault
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| Daniel Ricciardo in Renault colors |
Hand on heart, and kitted out in new black and yellow overalls, Daniel Ricciardo says it feels right to be with Renault — even if he has yet to
develop a Frenchman's taste for frogs' legs and snails.
The smiling Australian, a seven times race winner with Red Bull, is preparing for a new chapter in his Formula One career at a team eager to get
back to the top after returning as constructors in 2016.
His decision was not an easy one, with plenty of nights spent agonizing before he made his mind up on a flight from London to Los Angeles last
August, but he has no doubts now about the move.
"Even if I really didn’t feel it, I’d probably try and make up something that it did feel right. But, hand on heart, it does feel right,"
Ricciardo told reporters ahead of the launch of his team's new car on Tuesday.
"The process of deciding what to do was stressful but once I’d literally made the call, I was instantly de-stressed and that hasn’t changed."
The Australian's relaxed and bubbly personality, and laughing manner, have already put a spring in the step of his new team mates.
Ricciardo had the assembled factory workforce eating out of his hand as he addressed them on Monday night, assuring them he was "stoked" and "it
all feels real now in the suit.
"I definitely feel part of the team," he declared. "From the few I have met already, you're not bad. I think we can become friends."
Renault Sport Racing managing director Cyril Abiteboul told reporters that Ricciardo could be the spark needed to ignite the team on track.
"It’s been a huge boost, a huge motivation," he said of the Australian's arrival alongside German Nico Hulkenberg.
"We’ve put a lot of the right ingredients in three years in terms of people, resources, investment but at some point you need something that is
igniting the mixture.
"And that is the sort of thing I’d like to see coming from Daniel."
Ricciardo said his dream was to do at Renault, world champions in 2005 and 2006, what five times world champion Lewis Hamilton has achieved with
Mercedes after his well-timed move from McLaren.
"There’s definitely part of that which inspires me. If I was able to do that here I wouldn’t complain," he said.
Other aspects of working for a French team were more of an acquired taste.
"I did eat snails and frogs' legs and pigs' feet the other day. That was my induction into being French," he revealed with a grin, recalling a
trip to Paris with food served up by a leading chef.
"Knowing they were things I wouldn’t (normally) eat kind of put me off. So the frogs' legs, I didn’t know what they were. And when I ate them I
was like ‘ah, it’s kind of chicken or fish’. So it wasn’t that bad.
"Then when he told me it was frogs' legs…" Reuters
Brown warns Lando Norris: "Don't make same mistake twice!
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| Lando Norris |
McLaren's F1 CEO Zak Brown thinks his rookie Lando Norris will do well straight away in Formula 1 despite being the team's youngest ever driver,
although the American warns Norris to not make the same mistakes several times.
Norris will line up next to Carlos Sainz Jr. in an all-new line-up for the Woking-based team as the team looks to build on last year's P6 finish
in the constructors' championship.
Even though Norris will be a 19-year-old rookie, Brown is confident his pupil will adapt to his new car well.
"I think Lando will hit the ground running and be on it right away," the American said at the MCL34's launch on Thursday.
"I’m sure he’ll make some mistakes along the way and that’s alright, as long as you don’t make the same one twice – that’s the golden rule!
"But we are confident in his abilities and this is going to be a bit of a journey together so we are excited to get to know him more.
"I think Lando is very mature for his age. He’s been in a race car pretty much his entire life."
The teenager has his work cut out for him, then. In Sainz, he'll have a quick and experienced F1 driver next to him, so it will be interesting to
see how he will stack up against the Spaniard.
Formula 1 needs 1500bhp so drivers are 'kings'
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| Paul Hembery calls for 1,500 HP |
Pirelli's former Formula 1 boss Paul Hembery says the championship should consider a future with 1500bhp cars that he says would make the drivers
proper heroes again.
Hembery was motorsport director at Pirelli when it returned to F1 in 2011, but moved to a new role as CEO of its LatAm operations in '17.
Having recently parted ways with the company after more than 25 years' service, he is now looking at fresh opportunities to stay involved in
motorsport – and has his own ideas of where F1 should go.
"What really needs to happen is that the drivers need to become the kings of the sport," Hembery told Autosport.
"They need to become the superstars because people today are very much personality focused.
"We often talk about exciting racing when there has been rain or safety car with 10 laps to go and that is a message.
"We need unpredictability, or the concentration of vehicles when there is a safety car allowing people to race flat out. That is where the work
needs to be."
Asked what his vision for F1 would be if he started from a blank sheet of paper, Hembery said: "It would be simplified in the sense that power is
relatively cheap to get and provides a greater challenge for the drivers. So why not have 1500bhp engines?
"That may not equate to what the car manufacturers might want in their desire to sell or market technology, but horse racing is still popular
despite the arrival of the car.
"F1 could be the escapism. That is where my blank sheet would go: trying to put more money to the drivers, so a super F2 with huge power, less
technology and hopefully 10 teams that are profitable and have viable businesses."
Hembery believes F1's owner Liberty Media should be more forceful in pushing through the change it wants to see, rather than trying to appease all
the championship's stakeholders.
"You won't please everybody," he said. "Whatever you say or do, there will be someone saying something negative, and that is where you need to
have a strong vision.
"That is the challenge for the owners of the sport now, describing that vision, believing in it and going forward. You may decide to do nothing
but then you have a real risk of a gradual decline."
Currently working on "a few projects that I have had going for quite some time but haven't been able to dedicate myself to" that have "nothing to
do with racing nor automotive", Hembery is still keen to return to motorsport.
"It has been well over 20 years I have been involved in all forms and all levels, and I feel that I have something to offer," he said.
"So if the right opportunity came up and somebody feels I can contribute then I would consider it." Autosport