Latest F1 news in brief – Thursday

• What's bizarre is that Horner thinks James Vowles apologizing to Hamilton for his mistake mid-race was bizarre

  Mercedes apology 'bizarre' – Horner

• 'Pressure' led to Eric Boullier exit – Brown
• Liberty must improve on-track 'show' – Berger
• FIA may change qualifying blocking rule – Warwick
• Kubica to know 2019 race chances within months
• Ecclestone hails Ferrari 'sportsmanship'
• Red Bull close to new Ricciardo deal – Horner
• F1 to meet over 2021 rules at Silverstone
• De Ferran entrusted with maximizing team and driver performance
• Old World Industries Brands Featured on Haas VF-18s Beginning at British Grand Prix

Mercedes apology 'bizarre' – Horner
(GMM) Christian Horner says Mercedes threw a key team member "under the bus" during last week's Austrian grand prix.

With Lewis Hamilton complaining about a bungled strategy, strategist James Vowles went onto the radio to issue a groveling apology.

Red Bull boss Horner says it was a "bizarre" mid-race incident.

"It seems a fairly bizarre thing for somebody to feel they need to do — to throw themselves under the bus to motivate a driver to go from fourth back into the lead," he told the Sun.

"Our philosophy is collective responsibility rather than individual. There has to be accountability, but that is dealt with in the right environment behind closed doors and not in a public forum," added Horner.

Horner said he thinks the main issue is Mercedes struggling to adapt to life now that Ferrari and Red Bull are fully competitive.

"It becomes very easy to become complacent and then it is an adjustment," he said.

'Pressure' led to Eric Boullier exit – Brown

The Candy Bars were the last straw for Boullier

(GMM) Zak Brown says "pressure" on McLaren led to the departure of team boss Eric Boullier.

Amid McLaren's continuing performance crisis and rumblings of internal staff strife, Frenchman Boullier 'resigned' this week.

"It was a very difficult time for everyone at McLaren with a lot of pressure on our shoulders," team executive Brown told L'Equipe.

"In the end, he felt that McLaren needed to move forward. It was not a surprise. We have been under pressure and underperforming for too long," he added.

When asked if Boullier was told to resign or he actually resigned, Brown answered: "I do not intend to go into detail about my exchanges with Eric. I don't think it's appropriate."

At the same time as Boullier's departure, McLaren announced that consultant Gil de Ferran will now step into a full time sporting director role.

Brown said Andrea Stella will be in charge on race weekends.

"The situation we are in did not occur in a day and will not be resolved in a day," Brown warned. "Today is the first step to return to the path to victory."

As for whether Boullier's existing role will be replaced, Brown said he wasn't sure.

"This is the beginning of a process and I think we will examine it further in due course."

What is clear is that Fernando Alonso is probably happy with the changes, as he is close to Brown, his former Ferrari race engineer Stella, and Indy 500 champion de Ferran.

Brown admits the Spaniard was "involved" in the restructuring.

And he admitted that one of McLaren's problems in the last few years was "communication", especially after claiming in the Honda era that it had the best car.

"We do not have the best chassis," he admitted. "At least not this year.

"We do have to admit that we made mistakes in communication. It is always dangerous to make predictions and pronouncements. From today's point of view, we would have done something quite different."

Liberty must improve on-track 'show' – Berger

Berger surprised F1 still has so many fans watching the snoozefest races

(GMM) Gerhard Berger says Liberty Media has lots of work to do to keep the F1 show alive.

The F1 legend, who drove for McLaren and Ferrari, told Auto Hebdo that a lot of what the sport's new owners have done over the past two years have been distractions.

"What I see are actions aimed at diverting attention," Berger, now the boss of the DTM series, told France's Auto Hebdo.

"Take the ban on grid girls, or the ban on changing the color of one's helmet. Meanwhile, we fall asleep in front of the TV," he said.

"Liberty Media is trying to make the sport more attractive, but if the show on the track is not good, it is useless," Austrian Berger added. "Honestly, I'm surprised there are still so many fans."

Berger also commented on the situation at his old team McLaren, with whom he shared a garage with Ayrton Senna in the early 90s.

Now, McLaren is struggling for performance and has just parted with its team boss Eric Boullier.

"It's a bit painful for me to see what's going on. Based on my experience, things do not work this way," he said.

"Perhaps I'm wrong, but for the moment, progress is slow. It's not my business but things are starting to get very complicated," Berger added.

FIA may change qualifying blocking rule – Warwick

Vettel penalized for a car he never saw

(GMM) F1 may revisit the rules about impeding other drivers in qualifying, according to FIA steward Derek Warwick.

Warwick, a former F1 driver, was on the panel that decided to penalize Sebastian Vettel three places on the grid in Austria, even though Carlos Sainz did not blame the German for blocking him.

"I think it's the result of all of the drivers complaining that someone did this or someone did that," Ferrari's Vettel said.

Warwick, though, said the stewards had to punish the German last weekend.

"Our hands are tied," he said. "The rules demand it.

"It has already caught out other drivers further down the grid, so you can't punish them and not the big guys," the Briton told Auto Motor und Sport.

But Warwick revealed that the FIA is now thinking about a rule tweak.

"Maybe there would only be a penalty if the action was dangerous or the affected driver doesn't get into the next session or loses places," he said.

Kubica to know 2019 race chances within months

Will Robert Kubica's check be large enough in 2019?

(GMM) Robert Kubica says he will know in the next few months if his chances of returning to the grid in 2019 are realistic.

The Pole is currently the reserve driver at Williams, but he was earlier very confident of securing the actual race seat for this year.

"I don't hide that for ten months returning to the grid has been a realistic goal," he told Poland's Swiat Wyscigow.

"It's not easy, and it's hard for me to talk about my chances, because at some point I was rating them this year at 99.9 per cent. Some tell me I was very lucky," Kubica smiled, referring to Williams' lack of pace in 2018.

"Now there are several teams who I have already talked to or I can talk to and everything will be played out over the next two to three months.

"If I put myself into the role of the team bosses, the decision to put me in the car is not easy and there are no guarantees," he added.

Meanwhile, Kubica confirmed that he is no longer working with Nico Rosberg. The 2016 world champion was earlier helping Pole Kubica with his F1 comeback.

Rosberg confirms it too.

"It was a big step for Kubica to be third driver and we'll have to see what happens with his future now," the German told Marca. "But it's great news that he's in the paddock again."

Ecclestone hails Ferrari 'sportsmanship'

Ecclestone and his new wife at the Austrian GP

(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has praised Ferrari's decision to resist imposing team orders in Austria.

Sebastian Vettel could have extended his championship lead beyond a single point in Austria, but Ferrari decided instead to leave Kimi Raikkonen in second place.

"Everyone can take an example from Ferrari's sportsmanship," Ecclestone, the former F1 supremo, told Sport Bild.

It was in stark contrast to the same race in 2002, when Jean Todt famously told Rubens Barrichello to "let Michael (Schumacher) pass for the championship".

Ecclestone said: "It would have been easy to wave Vettel past shortly before the end, but Ferrari didn't.

"So they kept up not only sporting fairness, but also Kimi's morale," he added.

Ecclestone said he is happy Ferrari is a true contender for the 2018 world championship.

"Ferrari has finally made the step I was waiting for for so long," said the 87-year-old.

"Sebastian really deserves the title. Hopefully it doesn't hurt him that Ferrari gave up those three points," Ecclestone said.

Red Bull close to new Ricciardo deal – Horner

Christian Horner

(GMM) Christian Horner has admitted that Red Bull is getting close to re-signing Daniel Ricciardo for 2019.

Earlier, the Australian was flirting with a switch to Ferrari or Mercedes, and even weighing up a reported huge offer from McLaren.

But Red Bull boss Horner told Austria's ORF broadcaster: "We have reached a point where we both want to continue. The team and him.

"It's only a matter of time until we've gone over all the details and come to an agreement," he added.

Horner said it's obvious that Mercedes in particular flirted with signing Ricciardo.

"I believe he had an offer that potentially interested him," Horner said.

"He is impatient and wants to race for the world championship. That's why he was looking around, but I think Ferrari and Mercedes are not changing their teams now."

And he said Ricciardo is quite enthused about Red Bull's switch to fully works Honda power.

"One of things we've told him is where we want to go with the new engines," said Horner.

"He understands our decision. Hopefully, unless Lewis Hamilton ends his career at Silverstone, everything else will be a formality."

F1 to meet over 2021 rules at Silverstone

Is Brawn allowing engine changes to get watered down to appease Mercedes and Ferrari?

(GMM) F1 is now on the cusp of finalizing its rules for 2021.

It is believed a meeting between Liberty Media, the FIA and the ten teams will take place ahead of the British grand prix.

News of that meeting comes after top team bosses admitted their concerns about the extended negotiations over the next set of rules.

"We would like a little more emphasis on the power unit and Red Bull would like more on the chassis, but I think transparency and a clear path is important," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.

"We need to know what's happening in 2021 — what the regs look like on the power unit side and the chassis side in order to get things moving and avoid a last minute cost rush," he added.

"I hope that with the meeting, we have a little bit more understanding and input and then we see where it ends up."

Red Bull's Christian Horner said his biggest concern about the latest talks is that the FIA and Liberty Media might not agree about the shape of the 2021 rules.

"The risk that I see is that we end up with compromises and vanilla-type regulations," he said.

"Liberty have paid $8 billion for this sport, they've got to turn it into something that's even more attractive. But everything seems to be getting watered down from what the initial concept was," said Horner.

De Ferran entrusted with maximizing team and driver performance

De Ferran and Brown talk at Barber IndyCar race

From his previous role as a consultant with McLaren, Gil de Ferran is now entrusted with extracting the best performance from the team and its drivers on race weekends.

The Woking-based outfit's latest leadership changes have forced former racing director Eric Boullier out of the team, with two-time IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner de Ferran taking over part of the Frenchman's sporting responsibilities.

The Brazilian, who had been working with McLaren these past months in an advisory role, will interact and collaborate with Andrea Stella, freshly promoted from head of race operations to performance director, and a man who made the move from Ferrari to McLaren when he followed Fernando Alonso back at the end of 2014.

"Andrea is there to maximize the weekend. Gil is there in a sporting context to maximize the performance of the team, and the drivers," explained McLaren executive Zak Brown on Wednesday.
While de Ferran's field of expertise appears to be centered around IndyCar given his past credentials, the 50-year-old former driver has had F1management experience, having enjoyed a spell as sporting director with the BAR and Honda between 2005 and 2007.

"We brought Gil in a few months ago as we identified that we could probably use someone with Gil's sporting experience to get the most out of our drivers, our engineers," said Brown.

"It was not our plan at that time to have him in this role.

"What we identified is an area in which we thought he could contribute and as we have worked with him and things have evolved it's naturally fallen into place that we thought he would make an excellent sporting director.

"But that was not set out in a defined way when he first started."

The always astute Mark Hughes, from Motorsport Magazine, noted on social media that "Stella and de Ferran's promotions suggest a strong Fernando Alonso influence".

However, McLaren will likely require a massive and quick performance improvement to convince the Spaniard to remain on-board for 2019.

Old World Industries Brands Featured on Haas VF-18s Beginning at British Grand Prix

Magnussen and Grosjean show off bottles from new sponsors

Old World Industries, the makers of PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze and BlueDEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid and Equipment, has partnered with Haas F1 Team in the FIA Formula One World Championship. PEAK and BlueDEF will be featured on the nose of the team’s racecars driven by Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen throughout the remainder of the 2018 season beginning with the British Grand Prix July 6-8 at Silverstone Circuit.

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