Latest F1 news in brief

Prince Hamilton

Hamilton should be 'professional' – Surer
Pirelli, FIA should decide on Bahrain test – Wolff
Massa slams 'strange' F1 rule
Wolff still worried about engine reliability
McLaren opens 2018 contract talks with Alonso
Vettel plays down Italian media criticism
Mercedes withdraw Verstappen protest

Hamilton should be 'professional' – Surer
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton is still being criticized for his off-track antics at Suzuka this year.

The reigning world champion was first accused of being disrespectful by playing with 'Snapchat' throughout the FIA press conference, and he then hit back at the media by walking out of a Mercedes news conference after qualifying.

"He makes many millions each year, I think 30 million or more, and won't even answer questions from journalists.

"I think he should be a little more professional," former F1 driver and now German-language Sky pundit Marc Surer said.

Hamilton has also suggested that his championship campaign is being thwarted by divine intervention, but that might be interpreted as lacking respect for his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

"It wouldn't be an injustice if he (Rosberg) won the championship at all," 1996 world champion Damon Hill told the Telegraph.

"He's worked really hard for this. It's quite obvious he's really applied himself.

"It will be interesting to see how he copes with the pressure the closer he gets to his goal," he added.

For his part, Rosberg is continuing to refuse to talk about the title, opting instead to only focus on each race individually.

"I like Atletico Madrid," the German told the Spanish sports newspaper AS, "so your headline can be 'Rosberg, like Atletico, race by race'."

Toto Wolff

Pirelli, FIA should decide on Bahrain test – Wolff
(GMM) Pirelli and the FIA should decide if pre-season testing takes place in Bahrain.

That is the view of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, as the teams up and down the pitlane argue over whether to stick with the current plan for Barcelona-only testing.

"We know that Pirelli want to do testing where it is possible to get representative data, and the people in Bahrain offered their track," said Wolff at Suzuka.

His team colleague Niki Lauda, however, has been actively campaigning for the Bahrain running, to help Pirelli prepare its wider and faster tires for 2017.

Wolff admits Lauda has hit some opposition on grounds of cost.

"I can understand this argument," he said, "but in my opinion the ball is now in the court of Pirelli and the FIA. Then it must be decided how to fund it to make it economically feasible for the small teams."

He said a decision needs to be taken within a couple of weeks.

But Wolff insisted: "In my opinion we should stop expressing all of our various opinions, because we have a tire supplier who knows what to do to ensure the safety and the entertainment of the racing."

Felipe Massa

Massa slams 'strange' F1 rule
(GMM) Felipe Massa has slammed the "strange rules" that meant he was penalized for driving too slowly at Suzuka.

Now within sight of the end of his long F1 career, the Brazilian copped an official reprimand on Saturday for his driving on the in-lap after Q2.

"I thought I would end my career without any reprimands, but it was not possible," Brazil's UOL quotes the Williams driver as saying.

Massa fell afoul of the rule requiring drivers to go a certain speed on the in-lap, but he was too slow.

"We have a display on the steering wheel but it was not working. It was slow, but you always try to go as slow as you can, so I thought it was ok.

"No one was approaching me — I was just too slow. The rules are a little bit strange," he added.

They blew up a single engine all season – what is he worried about?

Wolff still worried about engine reliability
(GMM) Toto Wolff has admitted he remains worried about engine reliability at Suzuka.

After Lewis Hamilton's race-ending failure in Malaysia, the otherwise dominant team implemented some quick fixes for the Japanese grand prix.

But boss Wolff admits: "It's not an easy situation. In one week you are unable to identify the problem in full.

"We are trying to contain it in many ways, but it is no guarantee that we will be ok in the race," he is quoted by Brazil's UOL.

It is believed one of the measures was not allowing Mercedes drivers to use their special 'qualifying mode' on Saturday.

Dennis tries to convince Alonso not to retire.

McLaren opens 2018 contract talks with Alonso
(GMM) McLaren has commenced talks with Fernando Alonso about extending the Spaniard's contract beyond 2017.

The double world champion, 35, has said many times recently that he might quit formula one if the cars next year are not significantly more exciting to drive.

"I'm sure he might (retire)," Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg told AS newspaper.

"He is a driver used to winning so I'm sure it's not fun fighting for tenth."

Captioning its story with an exclusive photo of Alonso in talks with Ron Dennis and new team CEO Jost Capito at Suzuka, the sports newspaper Marca said contract talks for 2018 have begun.

"It took place in the McLaren hospitality area after dark," the report claims.

"They (McLaren) want to keep Fernando at least until 2020, to consolidate the project and be in the fight for the title again."

Vettel in the hapless Ferrari

Vettel plays down Italian media criticism
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has played down hefty criticism by the Italian press, who say the German's Ferrari career is in "crisis".

The Italian reports followed Vettel's first-corner crash in Malaysia, but came before team boss Maurizio Arrivabene admitted the German driver might not be retained by Ferrari beyond 2017.

Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper asked Vettel about the criticism at Suzuka, including the line that the four-time world champion has "lost his talent".

"The first headlines were 'Vettel is not so bad', so I think it will continue to go up and down with the media," he said.

"It's just proof of how highly the team is valued in Italy. On a bad day, the coverage is fierce, but that is because of how Ferrari is valued in Italy.

"Nothing against Mercedes, but I don't think that every German is automatically a Mercedes fan. But Ferrari is a way of life," added Vettel.

Asked, however, how a driver in the spotlight deals with that kind of negative attention, he answered: "On bad days it's a burden but on good days it gives you an incredible boost.

"Of course we are not happy with our performance so far, but that cannot be changed overnight."

Vettel also admitted that the negative coverage affects Ferrari's staff, as well.

"Of course, many people read newspapers, but more importantly is how we deal with it internally. If the criticism is fair, we have to live with it, but it's also true that many little things are totally inflated," he added.

Hamilton locks up and goes down the escape road

Mercedes withdraw Verstappen protest
Mercedes have withdrawn a protest over Max Verstappen's defensive tactics in his late-race battle with Lewis Hamilton at Suzuka, which was initially scheduled to be heard at the forthcoming race in the United States.

Mercedes had initially protested on the grounds of “an alleged breach of Article 27.5 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations, in that he [Verstappen] allegedly drove erratically and in a dangerous manner, forcing car 44 [Hamilton] to take evasive action at Turn 16."

Verstappen and Hamilton had been disputing second place at the time of the lap 52 incident, with the Red Bull driver – who also claimed Driver of the Day honors – going on to beat the Briton across the line by just 0.7s.

However, shortly after the stewards in Japan had decided that the matter should be deferred to the stewards at the 2016 Formula One United States Grand Prix – on the basis that neither driver was in attendance or able to give or refute any evidence – Mercedes decided to withdraw their protest, with Lewis Hamilton tweeting his support of that decision.

The net result is that Nico Rosberg heads into the next race in Austin with a 33-point advantage over team mate Hamilton in the drivers' standings with four races remaining.