Latest F1 news in brief

Wolff (with wife Susie) wants 16 races that are 80 min. long. Has he gone mad – TV ad revenue would plummet

F1 should reduce calendar to 16 races – Wolff
Recovering Lauda 'a lot better' now – brother
Vettel: We had the ingredients but didn't put it together
Sauber six seconds quicker than last year in Singapore
Tires remaining for race

F1 should reduce calendar to 16 races – Wolff
(GMM) Toto Wolff says F1 should consider slashing the number of races on the annual calendar.

Recently, FIA president Jean Todt said he backed Liberty Media's apparent intention to blow the number of races out from 21 currently to as many as 23 in the near future.

But Mercedes boss Wolff said F1 should actually consider reducing the races to as few as 15 or 16.

"This means less revenue in the short term, but a more exclusive and valuable product in the long term," he told Der Spiegel.

Wolff also said there should be less action from lights to flag, with the races reduced from a maximum of 2 hours to just 80 minutes.

"This would help to pick up some of the young people who have a shorter window of attention due to the new digital formats," he said.

He does, however, back efforts to cut costs, saying the "resource race between Ferrari, Red Bull and us for a few hundredths of a second" is crazy.

But Wolff is worried about Liberty Media's plans for a $150 million budget cap.

"If the top teams today spend $290 million, they cannot say 'Hurray, in two years time we will have $150 million'. It would mean an awful lot of restructuring," he said.

Recovering Lauda 'a lot better' now – brother

Niki Lauda

(GMM) Niki Lauda's brother says the F1 legend is "a lot better" as he recovers from a lung transplant.

The F1 paddock has worried about the condition of the Mercedes team chairman, amid reports he will miss the rest of the season in intensive care.

"Thank God, he's a lot better now," Florian Lauda, who at 68 is a year younger than the former Ferrari and McLaren driver, told Austria's ORF broadcaster.

"He's on the phone, he's watching the races on television," he revealed.

"Of course he will need to do rehabilitation, as he will not get back to how he was too quickly," Florian Lauda added.

"But he is a tough man, which is what made him famous," he said. "He is very focused in difficult situations."

Vettel: We had the ingredients but didn't put it together

Vettel felt he should have run Q2 on the ultra-soft, not the hyper-soft tires

Sebastian Vettel wanted to use the slower Pirelli Ultrasoft tires for his final run in Q2 of qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, but his team ordered him to pit for the faster Hypersofts which means he will start the Singapore Grand Prix from third place with the same tires as his rivals.

Had he managed the time he may have an edge starting the race with the harder compound Ultras and benefit later on the Hyper faster rubber. But it came to nought, suggesting they were not prepared to risk it or it was not worth it.

Vettel said afterwards, “It wasn’t an ideal session for us. You can figure out what I mean, we should have done better. We had the ingredients but we didn’t put it together."

“Third is not a disaster so I’m not completely upset but for sure we wanted to get pole. I think it was definitely there to grasp."

Vettel wanted a crack at the time on Ultras so he would be able to start on them for the race, but the Ferrari pitwall insisted he bolt on the Hypers and this is the radio chatter that went on:

Ferrari Pitwall: Okay box, Sebastian, box.
Vettel: What is your thinking?
Ferrari Pitwall: We move to qualy [tire].
Vettel: I still have lap time left.
Ferrari Pitwall: How much?
Vettel: With a decent out-lap I would say at least half a second.
Ferrari Pitwall: Okay, copy.
Vettel: How much do you need? Then I can tell you.
Ferrari Pitwall: 38.1. I think it’s not possible. Both Mercs on qualy and Red Bull as well.
Vettel: I can do a 38.1.
Ferrari Pitwall: Understood and box, we believe is too tight so we go for qualy.
Ferrari Pitwall: I’m happy to go option. That was not a good lap, the out-lap was too slow, tires were too cold.
Ferrari Pitwall: I’ll come back to you.
Vettel: If you believe there is strong merit to start on the option I can do it.
Ferrari Pitwall: No we go on qualy. The decision is to go on qualy, the decision is too risky.
Vettel: Okay I follow you. I tell you I have more than half a second.
To Vettel: Understood.
(Note: Qualy tire mentioned above is the Hypersoft Pirelli and the option tire is referred to as Ultrasoft)

Kimi Raikkonen, in the sister Ferrari, did not believe the ultra had it in them, “They’re just not fast enough, way too slow."

Sauber six seconds quicker than last year in Singapore

Leclerc in the Sauber

Formula 1 has made the biggest leap in performance of the year so far at Singapore, where the quickest lap time of the weekend is more than three seconds faster than last year.

But some teams have found even more lap time than that. Sauber are leading the way, having lapped the track more than six seconds quicker than they did in 2017.

The track has changed slightly compared to last year as turns 16 and 17 have been realigned. But this minor alteration has trimmed just two meters off the five kilometer lap.

Arguably the most significant improvement of the weekend has come at Mercedes. Last year the silver cars were six-tenths of a second off pole position, but in 2018 they are over four seconds quicker, Hamilton setting pole with a 1’36.015.

Tires remaining for Singapore GP

Tires each team has remaining for Singapore GP