Latest F1 news in brief

Max Verstappen

Ferrari boost worth one second per lap – Verstappen
Mercedes to dominate again in 2016 – Hamilton
Renault adds new director to F1 team
Wolff races up Swiss rich list
Hungary F1 track to be resurfaced
Grosjean feels like 'citizen of the world'
F1 drivers should speak their minds – Surer
First Ever Female F1 Driver Maria Teresa De Filippis Dies Aged 89
Wolff understands Ecclestone's criticism

Ferrari boost worth one second per lap – Verstappen
(GMM) Max Verstappen has marked the end of his New Year holiday by predicting a big power boost for Toro Rosso this year.

"I'm back in Monaco to train," the 18-year-old told his website verstappen.nl, "and next week I'm off to Austria for more training."

While Toro Rosso's big brother Red Bull is staying with Renault power units for 2016, the junior outfit has secured a supply of 2015-spec Ferrari V6s.

"Things are looking good," Verstappen said.

"Of course you always aim to improve the car but the first signs do look promising. The (2015 car) STR10 was already very good in fast corners, so I'm looking forward what this year's car brings.

"The Ferrari engine is probably the biggest step," he added. "I'm expecting a lot from it. A big gain on the engine front makes everything a lot easier.

"I expect to gain about a second a lap because of engine performance alone, which is a lot. So I think we can make bigger steps than our close rivals," said Verstappen.

Hamilton expects to dominate for the 3rd year in a row in his Aldo Costa designed Mercedes

Mercedes to dominate again in 2016 – Hamilton
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton has tipped another year of strong form from himself and the Mercedes team.

While Ferrari made progress in 2015 and is now targeting a full championship tilt this year, reigning triple world champion Hamilton thinks the silver-colored camp can stay on top.

Mercedes and Hamilton dominated in 2014 and 2015 and "there is at least another year of this strength we have", the 30-year-old is quoted by The Sun.

"Of course there is a slight unknown because the car can shift," Hamilton added. "It could dip but we have a much, much stronger foundation in this team and that (dip) is not going to be the case."

What did dip at the end of last season, however, was Hamilton's personal form, with teammate Nico Rosberg winning the last three grands prix from pole.

But many believe Briton Hamilton simply eased off the throttle once he had had wrapped up the title in Austin.

"I was at a peak for a long time during the year," he said, "and then I had three so-so races at the end.

"I still drove pretty well and didn't make any mistakes. I don't think you are ever performing at peak level all the time. You have dips," Hamilton added.

Renault adds new director to F1 team
(GMM) Renault's Lotus takeover is continuing to race ahead, even though an official name change for the Enstone team is yet to be announced.

But the big Lotus team sign on the main building at Enstone has now been taken down, while another director has been added to the management board.

Just before Christmas, the French carmaker said Renault's Jerome Stoll and Cyril Abiteboul have been added to the new board of directors.

And now RTBF, the French-language Belgian broadcaster, said Thierry Cognet has also become a director. The business social media service Linkedin said Cognet is a Paris-based financial director for Renault.

At the same time, the formerly Lotus-linked Eric Lux and Andrew Ruhan have departed, although Genii's Gerard Lopez is reportedly retaining 10 per cent of the F1 team.

"The new team name, full management structure, team partners and other details will be announced during an event to be held in Paris in February," Renault said.

Talking recently about Renault's decision to buy back Enstone after working in F1 only as an engine supplier since 2010, director Stoll said: "Carlos Ghosn said (last year that) our sports activities must be at the service of our communication and marketing policy.

"I saw four options," he told Auto Plus. "Remain an engine supplier: for the budget, the marketing return was not good. Put a 'sticker' on a car: other manufacturers have done it but not always with the desired success.

"So two alternatives remained: withdraw from F1 or stay as a major player," added Stoll.

Toto Wolff – happy and rich

Wolff races up Swiss rich list
(GMM) Toto Wolff has leapt up the rankings in an annual list of the richest people in Switzerland.

Every year, it is the F1 supremo and billionaire Bernie Ecclestone who tops the sport's representation in the rankings published by the Swiss business magazine Bilanz.

The offices of Ecclestone, 85, are in London, but his official residence is Gstaad, Switzerland, ostensibly for tax reasons as his fortune is estimated at between EUR 2.3 to 2.7 billion.

Another Swiss-based billionaire is Mansour Ojjeh, a shareholder of the McLaren team.

Next up is Michael Schumacher, who is recuperating from brain injuries at his home on the shores of Lake Geneva. Bilanz estimates the great German's fortune at between EUR 644 and 736 million.

Some F1 drivers also live in Switzerland, including the current Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Bilanz said each of them is worth about EUR 92 to 138 million apiece.

But reportedly richer than both Raikkonen and Vettel, according to the magazine, is the Mercedes team boss and Mercedes and Williams shareholder Toto Wolff.

He lives with his wife Susie in the northeast canton of Thurgau, and through Wolff's various investments he is tipped to be worth up to EUR 368 million.

New track surface for the Hungaroring

Hungary F1 track to be resurfaced
(GMM) Upgrade work on the Hungarian grand prix venue near Budapest is to take place.

It emerged last month that some minor construction tweaks at the twisty Hungaroring circuit are being done, carried out by a company called Swietelsky Magyarorszag.

One of the tasks is to re-asphalt the entire track.

"This is a huge technical challenge that is not carried out every day," said project manager Szabo Martin.

And Hungaroring boss Zsolt Gyulay added: "We are on time to be ready for the first international race, the world touring car championship, on April 24."

Apparently, some of the changes are being done so that the Hungaroring is eligible to host a round of the MotoGP championship.

But "It will have no impact on the formula one grand prix," insisted Gyulay, "although the verge and run-off areas will be expanded."

The 2016 Hungarian grand prix is scheduled for 24 July.

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean feels like 'citizen of the world'
(GMM) Romain Grosjean says he feels more European than French or Swiss.

Although identifying in F1 as a Frenchman, the 29-year-old was actually born in Geneva and still lives in Switzerland today with his young family.

"I was born in Geneva but I feel more of a French driver, because in sport my whole journey was done in France, but I appreciate the mountain air," he smiled whilst appearing on the France 2 program On N'Est Pas Couche.

"I feel more European than French or Swiss," Grosjean added.

Amid the uncertainty about Lotus' future in F1 last year, the 29-year-old turned down the chance to stay at Enstone and lead the team as it becomes the new Renault works outfit.

Instead, he elected to join the new Ferrari-linked American outfit Haas.

Continuing the topic of his nationality, Grosjean – quoting Socrates – continued: "'I am neither of Athens or Greece, I am a citizen of the world'.

"By racing now for an American team, I can take another perspective on these matters," he said when asked about a recent controversy about a Swiss resident for tax purposes.

"We travel a lot in F1 and this opens the mind."

F1 drivers should speak their minds – Surer
(GMM) F1 would be improved if the drivers were given more freedom to speak their minds, according to pundit Marc Surer.

With the sport acknowledging the need for more noise, power and faster cars for the future, former F1 racer and Swiss Surer says attention should also be directed towards the actual drivers.

"The fact that the drivers are insulated from journalists I find just completely wrong," he told Speed Week.

"When you talk to them, the answers are usually so bland. In the past, the drivers dared to express their opinion, but today they defer everything to the team which is not helpful to anyone — even the team.

"If you win the race and say it's a great car that's one thing, but once you are selling 13th place as a success, you become unbelievable," Surer added.

Italian Maria Teresa De Filippis

First Ever Female F1 Driver Maria Teresa De Filippis Dies Aged 89
The first woman driver to race in the Formula One world championship, Italian MARIA TERESA DE FILIPPIS, has died aged 89, according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS.

Austrian ALEX WURZ, a member of the Grand Prix Drivers' Club that counted De Filippis as its honorary president, tweeted, "We lost another pioneering member of the motorsport world today."

The official Formula 1 Twitter feed also mourned the passing of an "incredible woman."

Born in Naples on Nov. 11, 1926, De Filippis started three grands prix in '15 "at the wheel of a Maserati and finished 10th and last at Spa in Belgium."

She "failed to finish in Portugal and her home race at Monza." A '12 book that marked the 50th anniversary of the Drivers' Club "recalled how De Filippis was greeted when she tried to sign up for the 1958 French Grand Pris in Reims." Race Dir TOTO ROCHE said, "The only helmet a beautiful woman should wear is the one at the hairdressers" REUTERS.

The AFP reported De Filippis retired at the end of the '59 season "after the death" of her team Owner JEAN BEHRA. She later told The Observer newspaper in '06, "Too many friends had died."

The Italian reportedly became an F1 driver "after a bet with her brothers over how fast she could drive" AFP.

The PA reported she had earlier tried to qualify for the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, "failing in her efforts along with another debutant," the future F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE. Both "were too slow to qualify." The late LELLA LOMBARDI is the "only other woman to start a Formula 2 race," making the grid in 12 grands prix between '74 and '76. PA

Toto Wolff understands Bernie's point

Wolff understands Ecclestone's criticism
(GMM) Toto Wolff says he can understand the criticisms being made by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

When asked by the Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper if he enjoyed Christmas, the Mercedes team boss smiled: "You mean the one on the 25th or the one on the 26th?"

It is an allusion to Ecclestone's recently-reported remark that, if in a F1 meeting Wolff proposed to change the date of Christmas, many of his political allies would simply follow blindly.

"First of all, we are 'Frenemies' (friends and enemies)," Wolff said of the 85-year-old. "On the personal level, we are friends and in the summer we even holidayed together.

"On the other hand, as a promoter I naturally understand his concerns."

Ecclestone's concerns are about the F1 'show', with Mercedes utterly dominating in the controversial new era of low-volume 'hybrid' engines.

Wolff said it is possible Mercedes will be pushed harder in 2016.

"In English there is this word 'complacency'. But that's not the case with us," he told the Austrian newspaper.

And he said much of the complaining about Mercedes and the current situation in F1 is simply opportunistic.

Ecclestone knows how bad it is for F1 with one team always dominating

"There are groups that take advantage of the situation to gain a supposed advantage," said Wolff. "It's not how I would do it, but I accept that there is such an approach.

"From Bernie's perspective I understand it. He needs a first-class entertainment to sell, and that is why a 'Mercedes era' is not ideal," he admitted.

Indeed, Ecclestone is warning that he will push through changes no matter what democratic processes are currently in place, and Wolff said it must be taken seriously.

"Anything that Bernie does must be taken seriously," he insisted. "But a lot of the others in his slipstream I see as barking dogs that do not bite.

"At the same time we are trying to reach a compromise as we cannot act like a hardliner who only cares about himself. The platform must be attractive," said Wolff.

He also said it is too simplistic to say F1 should follow the lead of MotoGP — a sport where the riders are still heroes and the racing is tough.

"You are comparing apples with pears," said Wolff. "Formula one has a TV audience that is a multiple of MotoGP. Where MotoGP is good is the live event. The action is good, the riders are not remotely controlled and aerodynamics matters almost not at all.

"We can learn from that," he admitted.

But Wolff said the F1 'show' is good as well, while the 'hybrid' era is wrongly maligned.

"With the exception of the turbo era in the 80s, where in qualifying there was more than 1000hp in qualifying, we have the most powerful engines of the modern era.

"We are simply selling the product badly. The reason is that some of our competitors and also Bernie are maligning this technology, but the future is hybrid! We cannot ignore that.

"A hybrid engine is lighter, faster, more efficient and more powerful than a conventional naturally-aspirated engine. Clearly the technology must not take the upper hand over the drivers, but if we change a few details about the cars, in 2017 we will see the fastest cars there has ever been on this planet," added Wolff.

Finally, Wolff spoke about the decision of his British wife Susie to give up her position as a Williams test driver, acknowledging that she will never get to race in F1.

"As a husband, I'm sorry that she did not get the chance, as I am convinced that she is good enough for a good mid-table team," he said.

"And as part of the F1 world it would have been good for F1 to have a woman in the race, because even media that has nothing to do with motor sport would have been interested," Wolff added.

"So it is a missed opportunity. But together as a family I don't notice any difference now that she has made this decision. She is at peace with herself and I can tell you one thing: girls are much tougher than boys," he smiled.