Latest F1 news in brief

Frank Williams in hospital

Frank Williams battling pneumonia in hospital
Rosberg defends silent tactic in title charge
Brawn admits F1 top job 'appealing'
Button hits out at misleading magazine quote
McLaren losing Mobil to Red Bull
F1 team member robbed at gunpoint
Magnussen says Halo view 'not good'
Nasr rejects Sauber 'sabotage' claims
Lotus chief Lopez to buy football team
Alonso forgives Vettel for 'frustration'
Vettel: Hamilton has 'more in his pocket'

Frank Williams battling pneumonia in hospital
(GMM) F1 legend and team founder Sir Frank Williams is in hospital battling pneumonia.

The news emerged in Mexico City, when team CEO Mike O'Driscoll made a rare appearance in front of the assembled media, in the place of deputy Claire Williams.

"Frank was taken ill at the Monza race," he revealed.

Williams, 74, is among the oldest surviving tetraplegics in the world, following his car accident in 1986.

"He's been a fixture in the paddock for so many decades now that it's strange not to have him with us," O'Driscoll added.

"He's had a tough time in hospital. He has contracted pneumonia. He is making a recovery, a slow steady recovery," he said, in written comments that were subsequently added to the official FIA press conference transcript.

O'Driscoll said he hopes Claire, Williams' daughter, is also back at the races soon.

"She has wanted to stay close to home, close to Frank, but in this modern world you are only ever a phone call away, so we stay connected and she's part of everything that happens on a minute-by-minute, day-by-day basis," he said.

Sir Frank's wife, Ginny Williams, died in 2003.

Rosberg keeping low profile

Rosberg defends silent tactic in title charge
(GMM) Nico Rosberg has defended his decision to charge for the 2016 title whilst shutting himself off from the world.

Bernie Ecclestone hit out at the German last week, suggesting he hopes Lewis Hamilton actually wins the title because the Briton is a better ambassador.

"I am here to win races. Not to make people happy," Rosberg has now told Bild newspaper.

Now defending a 26-point lead to Hamilton with three races to go, Rosberg's tactics are coming under scrutiny at the end of their 2016 battle.

One example is that he admits he doesn't even talk to his father, 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, about his championship charge.

"We don't talk about the championship," Rosberg told Brazil's Globo in Mexico.

"He sends me messages telling me to have fun and give it my all until the end, but we don't discuss it," he added.

Rosberg also says he doesn't read about himself in the media.

When asked what his feeling is about the press, he explained: "I don't have a feeling because it doesn't come to me. I don't know what people say about me, I don't read anything in the press.

"There are good but also bad influences, so why have contact with the media? I think it's best if I concentrate solely on my work," Rosberg added.

Rosberg's tactic is being increasingly noticed by those in the F1 paddock.

"Nico has developed a strategy of refusing to talk about the championship," said former McLaren driver David Coulthard.

"Will he be feeling the pressure? Of course," he told the Telegraph, "but this is all these guys have ever done in their life. He grew up in a racing family and in a gifted environment. He will be in the moment."

Even Hamilton knows about Rosberg's tactics, telling Bild: "It's obviously something that helps him.

"Everyone has their own way of dealing with pressure, and that's his."

Ross Brawn

Brawn admits F1 top job 'appealing'
(GMM) Ross Brawn has admitted he is interested in returning to F1.

But the former Ferrari and Mercedes chief fended off speculation he could come back from retirement with a prominent role at McLaren.

Instead, he indicated that a top job overseeing the sport – perhaps with a sporting-specific role working with Liberty Media – interests him.

"That's how I like to be involved in the sport," Brawn told the Telegraph.

"I would never go back to a team. I did everything I can in a team, but I would be repeating myself.

"For sure, trying to help F1 become a better F1 would be appealing," the 61-year-old added.

Indeed, Brawn indicated he already has ideas about how the sport should move forwards in the wake of the Liberty takeover.

"If you ask me what F1 needs, it needs a plan; a three-year and a five-year plan," he said. "My view is we haven't got the ideal structure for creating that plan and implementing it over time."

Brawn would not specifically deny that he has already been in contact with Liberty.

"I think they're finding their feet," he said. "They're being very wise and taking their time. They've also got to build their relationship with Bernie, because he's not used to having an owner involved in that way."

Brawn, one of the greatest engineers ever seen in F1, also sounded amused when asked about the prospect of working closely with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"I have no issues with Bernie," he said.

"I just got frustrated because my approach is methodical and structured and Bernie's is chaotic and impulsive. If those two things ever came together it would be an interesting combination.

"Sometimes I find those idiosyncrasies, those approaches, amusing."

Jenson Button

Button hits out at misleading magazine quote
(GMM) Jenson Button has hit back at a magazine cover that suggested Ron Dennis pushed him into retirement.

After 17 years in F1, the 36-year-old is taking a sabbatical next season whilst remaining under contract to McLaren for the next two years.

But F1 Racing, a British magazine, quoted Button as saying on its latest cover that McLaren supremo Dennis "told me to take a year off".

In Mexico, Button said that is misleading.

"The idea of speaking to Ron in Spa was to retire, and he wanted to change my mind to stay rather than what it said on the front of F1 Racing," he insisted.

"It was the other way round. So it's a shame but there you go," Button said.

Mobil 1 leaving McLaren – In another 10 years when consumers are buying electric cars by the millions every year, the oil companies will begin to fold

McLaren losing Mobil to Red Bull
(GMM) Red Bull has snatched a top, long-term sponsor from F1 rivals McLaren, it has emerged in Mexico.

Two weeks ago, we reported that the British oil multinational BP is looking at returning to the grid with a $30 million deal, with McLaren and Renault both in the running.

It now emerges that McLaren wants a new oil backer because it is losing 21-year partner Mobil to Red Bull.

"There are rumors of arguments with team management, because the price-performance ratio was no longer right," said Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt.

He added that the loss of sponsors and the lack of replacements is one reason McLaren supremo Ron Dennis is clinging to his current position.

Schmidt said the new BP-Castrol deal is less lucrative than the Mobil one, and could actually cost McLaren-Honda in performance due to the switch to new and less developed petrol and lubricants.

F1 team member robbed at gunpoint
(GMM) A member of Mercedes' F1 race team was robbed at gunpoint ahead of the Mexican grand prix, according to the Sun newspaper.

The report said the team member was "shaken up" after he was targeted by thieves as a chauffeur drove him from the airport in Mexico City.

A Mercedes spokesman confirmed that the unnamed man's watch and wallet was stolen, prompting the team to take extra security measures for the rest of the weekend.

But the team member decided to keep working rather than return to the UK, the Sun added.

Magnussen tries Halo in Mexico City

Magnussen says Halo view 'not good'
(GMM) Kevin Magnussen has criticized the Halo cockpit protection system after trying it during practice in Mexico.

The debut of the system has been delayed until at least 2018, but the FIA is determined that every driver give his feedback by testing it in practice sessions and answering a questionnaire.

But Halo did not get a good reception on Friday in Mexico, with Kevin Magnussen, Felipe Nasr and Pascal Wehrlein all going off track during their runs.

"I don't like it," admitted Dane Magnussen. "It's like pulling a cap over your eyes too low. The view is not as good as I had hoped, and with elevation changes it will be a problem."

Asked if he then got out of the car during the required time in the extraction test, the Renault driver said: "Yes. I don't know the results, but it was not easy."

Magnussen also said he would not like to have to do it in a real-world fire situation.

Massa was less critical, declaring: "It's a little harder to see on the straight, but in the corners it's not so bad.

"To get in and out is a bit difficult, but I think it would be worse for the bigger drivers. For me, I didn't have too much trouble," he is quoted by Brazil's UOL.

Manor's Pascal Wehrlein is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport as saying: "The halo is distracting.

"But you get used to everything. And if it's good for safety, then I support it."

Felipe Nasr

Nasr rejects Sauber 'sabotage' claims
(GMM) Felipe Nasr has rubbished suggestions Sauber is actively sabotaging his progress at the tail end of 2016.

Wild rumors have suggested recent problems for the Brazilian might be because the Swiss team is trying to derail his and key sponsor Banco do Brazil’s speculated switch to Force India.

What Nasr would admit is that his handling problems in Austin recently were "very strange".

"I think as a team we're working on answers," he told Brazil's UOL in Mexico.

"It was very strange what happened, this imbalance, and I said this to the team. But I think it's going too far to say it was something deliberate.

"There's no need to comment on that sort of thing," Nasr insisted. "I want to stay focused here this weekend and do my best in the last three races."

Gerard Lopez

Lotus chief Lopez to buy football team
(GMM) Former Lotus chief Gerard Lopez has received the backing of his F1 friends as he prepares to take his next step in the sporting world.

Still a minor shareholder of the works Renault team, the Luxembourger reportedly looks set to buy Losc Lille, a French football club.

"He is so creative, with fifty ideas a second," enthused Cyril Abiteboul, a fellow Frenchman and Renault boss.

"He managed the Lotus situation in difficult circumstances, because you cannot imagine how difficult it is to have a private team, without the backing of a car manufacturer. But he knew how to do that," he told RMC.

Another Frenchman, former Lotus boss Eric Boullier, commented: "I'm pretty sure that Lille will have success in the coming years."

And Renault chief Frederic Vasseur added: "He is dynamic and enthusiastic.

"I think he will put the same energy into football that he put into racing. He is an outstanding businessman who loves sport.

"I am sure he will have a great management team at Lille."

However, that praise comes amid a generally negative perception of Lopez in the F1 paddock.

But Abiteboul said: "Who doesn't have a bad reputation in the paddock? It's a place where people like to talk."

Vettel – fastest on Friday – had his fastest lap spoiled by Alonso

Alonso forgives Vettel for 'frustration'
(GMM) Fernando Alonso smiled in Mexico as he said he forgives Sebastian Vettel for calling him an "idiot".

Vettel, who replaced the Spaniard at Ferrari last year, fired the insult in Alonso's direction after having a flying lap disturbed in Friday practice.

"I don't give it much importance," Spanish media quote McLaren-Honda's Alonso as saying afterwards.

"I'm sure there is a very great frustration on his and Ferrari's part, so he is forgiven," he smiled.

However, Vettel was actually fastest overall on Friday, but the German was not reading too much into it.

"We have good pace compared with the other two teams (Mercedes and Red Bull)," he said. "If the situation doesn't change and we stay ahead, I won't mind!

"But I saw one of Lewis' laps and he made a few mistakes, so we'll see how things turn out. Perhaps Mercedes still have something in the bag," said Vettel.

Hamilton sandbagging on Friday

Vettel: Hamilton has 'more in his pocket'
Sebastian Vettel was pleased with Ferrari's start to the Mexican Grand Prix but reckons Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes can go quicker.

Vettel finished four thousandths clear of Hamilton in Friday's second practice session, as most frontrunners ran the Super Soft tyre compound.

Asked to predict where Ferrari stands compared to Mercedes after the first two sessions, Vettel stated: "It's Friday after all, so I don't know.

"I think Lewis' lap [in FP2] didn't look particularly good. I think he has a little bit more in his pocket, so for tomorrow we need to be realistic.

"If it's like this tomorrow then we'll take it, for sure.

"We have to look after ourselves; we had a very good day, not judging the result, but just judging by the feeling and overall pace, for all of the laps that we did.

"We didn't have any problems, and we were always ahead of schedule in leaving the garage, which is a very good sign, so overall it was a very good day."