Latest F1 News in brief

Marchionne watches the Ferrari World Finals action at Daytona Sunday

Red Bull 'left us behind' – Marchionne
Ferrari could lose drivers after 2017 – Marchionne
Red Bull distances itself from Rosberg story
Lauda criticizes Rosberg over shock decision
Wehrlein 'ready' for Rosberg seat
Mercedes 'not ruling out' Alonso for 2017 seat
Even Massa not ruling out Mercedes seat
Rosberg to stay involved with F1
Valentino Rossi says Wolff 'has my number'
Mercedes moves on after Hamilton tactics controversy
Nico Rosberg 'Shocks' Motorsports World, Retires From F1 Following Maiden Title
Bernie Ecclestone Not Sure If Liberty Will Follow Through With F1 Takeover

Red Bull 'left us behind' – Marchionne
(GMM) Sergio Marchionne says Ferrari's biggest problem in 2016 was falling behind the development curve.

Some think the great Italian marque's year was disastrous, but Ferrari president Marchionne said the team actually began 2016 well.

"We were much more competitive than where we left in 2015," he told Italian media at the team's end of year event in Daytona.

"It's not that we got worse, the others improved, but this is due to many reasons that we understand quite well.

"Our technical director James Allison had personal problems and left, and I think you have to give time to the guys who have been together only months.

"I have every confidence in Mattia Binotto but our problem was aerodynamics which we have had historically at Ferrari in recent years. Especially Red Bull this year did a fabulous job and left us behind," Marchionne admitted.

Ferrari may loase Vettel and Raikkonen after 2017 when their contracts are up

Ferrari may lose Vettel and Raikkonen (seen here at Daytona this weekend) after 2017 when their contracts are up

Ferrari could lose drivers after 2017 – Marchionne
(GMM) Sergio Marchionne has admitted Ferrari is at risk of losing its champion drivers after 2017.

However, the great marque's president played down rumors that Sebastian Vettel is a real contender to replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes next year.

"Both drivers are under contract for 2017," he said at Ferrari's world finals event in Daytona.

"What happens next, I don't know, but I think a lot depends on how we manage the 2017 season," Marchionne added.

"If we repeat 2016, I do not think we will have the ability to attract excellent drivers."

As for new world champion Rosberg's seismic decision to leave Mercedes, Marchionne commented: "I was surprised, but I do not expect Mercedes to be weaker without him.

"Rather, I hope Ferrari will be stronger," he added.

Horner will not be letting either driver out of their contract

Red Bull distances itself from Rosberg story
(GMM) Red Bull and its drivers have distanced themselves from Nico Rosberg's seismic decision to leave Mercedes and F1.

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are among F1's top drivers and therefore speculatively linked with the top seat alongside Lewis Hamilton for 2017.

But Verstappen told De Telegraaf newspaper: "I will be driving again next year for Red Bull.

"I have an ongoing contract and I am confident that I will get a car with which I can battle with Mercedes," the 19-year-old added.

His father, Jos, also commented: "We're fine where we are now", while Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen said: "We keep our (contractual) commitments".

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told a similar story, insisting to the Sunday Mirror that both Verstappen and Ricciardo are "on long-term contracts".

And Ricciardo was quoted by Tuttosport as saying Rosberg's successor will get "an amazing Christmas president, but it won't be me".

Finally, Jos Verstappen said he "understands" Rosberg's decision to quit as a 31-year-old reigning champion.

"He has always lived for one goal and now he's achieved it," said the former F1 driver. "On the other hand, Max's goal is also to become world champion, but preferably several times."

Lauda and Wolff are now faced with finding a replacement driver in the 11th hour

Lauda criticizes Rosberg over shock decision
(GMM) Niki Lauda has hit out at Nico Rosberg's decision to quit Mercedes just days after winning the world championship.

The German's decision was just as shocking to his bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda as it was to the rest of the world.

"He told me it was because of stress," team chairman Lauda told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

And he also told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag: "I am a notorious planner, always with an emergency plan, and even I did not expect such a thing."

Lauda admitted he is even a little angry.

"On one hand, you have to accept if Nico wants to go," he said. "But on the other, Nico signed a two year contract with us in August.

"What bothers me is that Nico tells us that if he had not become world champion, he would have gone on. I think he could at least have hinted at this when he agreed the contract.

"He says he just wanted to be champion and then stop, but the problem is that he never gave any signals that this was his concept.

"After all, 1200 people of the F1 division at Mercedes gave him every opportunity to become world champion with a super car. And then he gave us his resignation overnight.

"This lone decision of Nico's – and I mean everyone at Brackley and with Mercedes and many people who have worked closely with him, his engineers and mechanics – has ripped a giant hole in this excellent working team," said Lauda.

And so he said he and Wolff are now left to solve a "huge problem" in the weeks before Christmas.

"We are only just starting this process now, because we were really completely surprised by this whole thing. We still have nothing — no solution," said Lauda.

And he admitted that the Rosberg issue has put Mercedes at a "huge disadvantage" ahead of 2017.

"The issue of driver stability, when we have two world champions, the best driver pairing in formula one, is gone. There is now a lot of uncertainty.

"In short, we are now in the worse possible situation," said Lauda.

Pascal Wehrlein may think he is ready for Rosberg's seat but in fact Hamilton will bury him

Wehrlein 'ready' for Rosberg seat
(GMM) Pascal Wehrlein has declared himself "ready" to step up and become Lewis Hamilton's new Mercedes teammate.

Bosses Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff say almost the entire F1 grid has offered to replace Nico Rosberg following the new world champion's shock retirement decision.

But Speed Week quotes F1 legend Gerhard Berger as saying: "For me there is only one candidate — Pascal Wehrlein.

"The experienced drivers are all under contract, and I believe that if you choose to work with new talent, as was the case with Max Verstappen at Red Bull, then you have to promote your junior," he said.

Also linked with the seat are drivers like Nico Hulkenberg and the Wolff-managed Valtteri Bottas, but Berger said he would not advise Mercedes to break those sorts of contracts.

"It would be different if you could get an Alonso or Vettel," said Berger.

"But if not, then I would clearly prefer my junior driver Wehrlein and give him a chance. Otherwise, the whole program does not make any sense."

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, however, is not so sure, admitting "Hiring a youngster is a risk and we don't know how strong he would be".

German Wehrlein, 22, made his debut for Manor in 2016 and was quoted by DPA news agency as saying in London: "One season in formula one is not much, but I feel ready for the job.

"But I'm sure Toto Wolff's phone has been running hot since Friday."

Wolff, meanwhile, said that Mercedes' other junior, 2017 Force India driver Esteban Ocon, is also an option.

"Our advantage is that our juniors are both 3D-scanned as substitute drivers and included in the chassis design.

"It would be exciting to have one of them in the car.

"But of course we have a variety of options. We will look at all the contracts and make a decision in the next days," he added.

Will Mercedes buy Alonso out of his McLaren contract?

Mercedes 'not ruling out' Alonso for 2017 seat
(GMM) Fernando Alonso and Mercedes have played down rumors linking the Spanish driver with Nico Rosberg's newly-vacant 2017 seat.

Team boss Toto Wolff has made a point of saying almost every F1 driver has been in contact since Rosberg's seismic retirement news on Friday.

Some reports said Alonso, currently under contract to McLaren-Honda, was an early favorite to reunite with his former teammate Lewis Hamilton.

"If I was Niki Lauda or Toto Wolff, my first choice would be Fernando Alonso," Jo Ramirez, the former McLaren team manager, told Marca sports newspaper.

But Wolff admitted to Germany's Bild am Sonntag that the way Alonso and Hamilton clashed in 2017 is still remembered.

"Of course Fernando has a (past) story," he said.

"It was at McLaren but it also had a lot to do with Mercedes and did not end very nicely," said Wolff.

"But at the same time, we are going to be defending our title in the constructors' world championship, so I would not rule anyone out."

And team chairman Niki Lauda said even watertight F1 contracts can be broken.

"There are many contracts with small print and performance clauses," he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

"It is now our duty to find these clauses among the drivers who are interested in us."

But at an end of year Honda event in Japan, Alonso indicated that he has every intention of staying with McLaren-Honda.

"It is an honor to be on this team," he said.

"We are in this fight to win, and I say to all the Japanese fans, I'll see you again next year."

Massa has a 0.00% chance of getting Rosberg's seat

Even Massa not ruling out Mercedes seat
(GMM) Even newly retired drivers are being linked with Nico Rosberg's surprisingly vacant Mercedes seat for 2017.

Rumors have mentioned Jenson Button as a contender to reunite with his former teammate Lewis Hamilton, while Brazil's Globo even asked Felipe Massa if he is interested.

"I am very happy with my decision to retire," he said. "But who would not want to drive the Mercedes?

"I do not think it (Mercedes signing him) will happen, and I hope they find a good driver to continue. But to drive the best car is a pleasure for every driver," said Massa.

Rosberg to stay involved with F1
(GMM) Nico Rosberg says he wants to remain connected to F1 following his shock decision to quit Mercedes and retire.

The new world champion stunned F1 and the German outfit to such an extent that Mercedes' team chairman Niki Lauda said a silver-clad comeback for the 31-year-old in the future is now "impossible".

But Rosberg is not ruling out remaining engaged with the pinnacle of motor sport.

"The sport is my passion and I think the best sport in the world," he is quoted by DPA news agency. "And so I am sure I will be involved in some way."

But Rosberg said he has no intention of thinking about what involvement he might have at the moment.

"First of all I will have a huge holiday," he said. "We have not booked a return flight."

Valentino Rossi has a 0.00% chance of getting Rosberg's seat

Valentino Rossi says Wolff 'has my number'
(GMM) The rumors linking potential names with Nico Rosberg's newly vacant 2017 seat are getting wilder by the moment.

MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi, who strongly flirted with a switch to four wheels a decade ago, has thrown his name into the hat for the Mercedes drive.

It comes after Toto Wolff joked that Rossi and his motorcycle racing rival Jorge Lorenzo, who recently tested and Mercedes and said driving it was "easy", are in the frame.

"I don't know but it would be nice," Rossi, who rides in MotoGP for Yamaha, is quoted by the Italian broadcaster Sky.

"If he (Wolff) wants to call me, he has my number."

Italian Rossi, 37, said he would definitely say yes to the offer of a test.

"How could I say no?" he said.

"I was lucky enough to test the Ferrari, I am very good friends with many guys in Maranello and it (testing a Mercedes) would perhaps even be half a betrayal — but how could you not try the Mercedes if asked?"

Hamilton won't be sacked now that Rosberg retired

Mercedes moves on after Hamilton tactics controversy
(GMM) Mercedes has "drawn a line" under Lewis Hamilton's controversial driving in the Abu Dhabi finale.

The team had considered penalizing the Briton for the way in which he backed new world champion Nico Rosberg into Mercedes' rivals as they battled for the 2016 title.

But Mercedes now has the "huge" matter of replacing the newly retired Rosberg for 2017 on its plate, with team chairman Niki Lauda also saying the issue of Hamilton's driving in Abu Dhabi will not even be a topic of conversation.

"There is no need to say anything to Lewis," said the F1 legend.

"We have no problem about how he raced in Abu Dhabi. We have drawn a line under it."

Meanwhile, after Hamilton claimed he was the only one not surprised by Rosberg's shock decision, the triple world champion says he has no plans to follow his former teammate into retirement.

"I hope to continue driving a formula one car for at least another ten years," Hamilton is quoted by El Mundo Deportivo.

Rosberg won title then walked away from millions of dollars in sponsorship money as F1 champ

Nico Rosberg 'Shocks' Motorsports World, Retires From F1 Following Maiden Title
Newly crowned F1 champion Nico Rosberg has decided to retire from the sport, leaving his Mercedes team scrambling to find a replacement. Rosberg shocked the motorsports world on Friday when he made the announcement, less than a week after securing his maiden F1 title. The son of '82 world champion Keke Rosberg made the announcement through a statement on his official Facebook account.

"I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right," Rosberg said. "When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became World Champion. On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start."

Rosberg is the first driver since four-time F1 champion Alain Prost in '93 to retire from the sport after claiming the world championship title. Rosberg acknowledged in his statement that the timing of his decision puts the Mercedes F1 team in a "tough situation." Most drivers have already signed new contracts for the '17 season, making it difficult for the team to fill the vacant seat.

Rosberg ends his 10-year F1 career with 23 race wins in 206 grand prix starts for Williams and Mercedes. Mercedes Motorsport Head Toto Wolff said that the news of Rosberg's retirement took him by surprise.

New regulations in '17 could threaten Mercedes' on-track dominance, which makes the task of securing a top driver even more urgent. Names such as Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, who both also retired from the sport at the end of the season, have been circulated as potential candidates for the open seat. Other candidates include Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, along with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Fernando Alonso. However, it is more likely that Mercedes will offer the seat to a young driver who is already part of the Mercedes motorsport program, such as Pascal Wehrlein or Esteban Ocon. A decision is expected by the end of this year.

LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE? Rosberg's decision to retire from the sport also threatens his sponsorship appeal. The 31-year-old German had a sponsorship deal with jeweler Thomas Sabo from '10-15, but shied away from other endorsement deals. Rosberg's sponsorship activities were largely reduced to Mercedes' 23 official team partners. As a result, Rosberg's estimated sponsorship income of $1M annually was four times less than that of former teammate Lewis Hamilton, according to Forbes's most recent list of the world's highest paid athletes. Rosberg's world championship victory was expected to boost his sponsorship income, which now remains doubtful. HJ Mai, SBD Global

THE END OF A RIVALRY: In London, Harry Slavin wrote Hamilton "has revealed he was not surprised" by Rosberg's decision to retire from Formula One, but "admits he will miss the intense rivalry" with his former Mercedes teammate. Hamilton: "This is the first time he's won (a title) in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop. He's also got a family to focus on, and wants more children, and Formula One takes so much of your time. Will I miss the rivalry? Of course." The British driver "also added that he too may be walking away from the sport in the near future." When asked about his own future, Hamilton said that "he does not have any immediate plans to stop." But he added, "Who knows, maybe my end is coming soon." DAILY MAIL

The BBC reported Mercedes non-exec Chair Niki Lauda wants to "give a Christmas present" to a driver after Rosberg's retirement. Lauda: "It is a huge loss because we had the quickest driver set-up over the last three years. I need a driver for the first test in February when the new car is ready. … This is a big problem for us to find a replacement." The former three-time world champion added, "We have the best car to offer but at the moment no driver. The other drivers, or the majority certainly, have 1 December contracts for next year so really we have to do good research, who is there, what and when and then we will take a decision, but it will take a while." BBC

Ecclestone (L) and Chase Carey of Liberty (R) arrive together at the FIA Awards Gala

Bernie Ecclestone Not Sure If Liberty Will Follow Through With F1 Takeover
F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that he does not "know if Liberty Media has the funding with which to complete its purchase of the F1 business, amid suggestions in some quarters that the company may struggle to fulfill its obligations," according to Adam Cooper of MOTORSPORT.

Liberty has already purchased a 10% stake and is scheduled to complete the deal early next year, "at which point it will have a controlling interest."

Asked if the deal would go through as planned, Ecclestone said, "I can't say no and I can't say yes. I've never counted their money. I don't know their company, so I have no idea. … I'd be surprised if it didn't happen, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen."

Asked if Liberty not having a controlling stake "might actually suit him," Ecclestone said, "I don't mind who the shareholders are. I never had any trouble with CVC, they've been shareholders for 10 years." MOTORSPORT