Latest F1 news in brief

Mosley warns F1 of inevitable collapse

Honda 'still 100hp down' on rivals – report
Mosley warns F1 facing 'collapse'
100 journalists to cover Mick Schumacher test
Ferrari sets sights on more 2015 wins
Mercedes takes new front wing to China – report
Australian GP boss survives cancer
Force India planning 'B' car for mid-season
Vettel mechanic Handkammer leaves F1

Honda 'still 100hp down' on rivals – report
(GMM) In Malaysia, McLaren-Honda team figures including champion drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button extolled the progress made in the fortnight since Australia.

Now, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, an actual number has been put on the improvement of the burgeoning Honda engine — 25 horse power.

But "We are still over 100hp behind," a McLaren team member is quoted as saying.

The Woking-based team has also been pressing ahead with car developments that were delayed due to the constant stream of reliability issues.

Auto Motor und Sport said the MP4-30 is now sporting a new nose, 'S-duct', floor and sidepods.

But McLaren is expecting its progress to be hidden this weekend by Shanghai's long straights and cold weather.

"I don't think our package will be as well suited here as it was in Malaysia," admitted Alonso.

And team boss Eric Boullier said the second race of the forthcoming double-header, in Bahrain, is also unlikely to suit the 2015 package.

"We are fully aware that the next two races probably won't show quite the same rate of improvement as we witnessed at Sepang," he said.

Mosley warns F1 facing 'collapse'
(GMM) FIA president Max Mosley has warned F1 could "collapse" if it does not sort out struggling teams' financial problems.

The now 74-year-old Briton left office five years ago having tried and failed to introduce a mandatory budget cap.

Mosley told the German news agency DPA that he managed to get every team "except Ferrari" to agree.

He was replaced by the much lower-profile and conservative Jean Todt, who oversaw a new financial structure where F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone agreed individual commercial contracts with the teams.

Ecclestone also agreed new terms with the now Todt-led governing body.

"I don't know what's in the arrangements which have been made but my understanding is that Bernie together with the teams can outvote the FIA," said Mosley.

"I might be wrong about that and shouldn't really speculate but I get the impression the FIA is not perhaps in as strong a position as it used to be."

Another part of the problem, he said, is that F1 is now simply too technologically complex and therefore expensive.

"90 per cent, 95 per cent of what goes on (technologically) is not visible to an outsider and even kept secret within the teams," Mosley said.

"So it (F1) has changed enormously. Whether it's changed for the better — I think it's gone too far."

Another major issue, Mosley said, is that the commercial revenue is not divided equally among the competing teams.

"At least half the teams simply can't compete because they haven't got enough money, and that to me is wrong," he said.

"You obviously wouldn't allow one team to run a bigger engine than another team and yet if one team has got five times as much money the effect is exactly the same as if they had a bigger engine. It's not fair from the sporting point of view," Mosley added.

And Mosley said the final problem is that the agreements struck with the FIA and the teams means that F1 will now struggle to make changes — even if it wanted to.

"The only way to deal with it is to get everybody to agree," he said.

"You can sit all the teams down and say 'Look, collectively we've got a massive problem because some of you have got enough money but most of you haven't and if we go on like this formula one is going to collapse, so I am inviting you all to agree to a change'.

"You can't do it without unanimity unfortunately. I think that could be done but it needs people to make very clear to them that there is a real problem," added Mosley.

Mick Schumacher to make Formula 4 debut

100 journalists to cover Mick Schumacher test
(GMM) A huge media contingent is set to descend on what is normally a low-profile test session of the minor German single-seater category Formula 4.

Die Welt, a major German daily, reports that some 100 journalists, photographers and camera crews have registered to work this week at the Oschersleben circuit.

Attracting all the attention is the newly 16-year-old Mick Schumacher.

The son of the great F1 legend Michael is making his official pre-season test debut ahead of his move into single-seater racing in 2015.

His teammate at the Van Amersfoort team is Harrison Newey, the son of the Red Bull designer Adrian.

But Welt said all the attention will be on Mick, and not just because of his famous surname but also because of the brain injury suffered by Mick's father while the pair were skiing in the French alps in late 2013.

However, ADAC – the German automobile federation that runs Formula 4 – said Mick Schumacher will not receive any special treatment as he follows his father's footsteps into car racing.

"Mick will be treated like any other driver," a spokesman is quoted as saying.

And Schumacher's boss Frits van Amersfoort added: "Of course we know that his father is a seven time world champion. But I want to emphasize that Mick will take the time to learn the trade of the racing driver."

The F4 season begins at Oschersleben later this month.

The current Ferrari technical team, put in place at Vettel's urging on his condition of signing with Ferrari secretly in 2012, is paying dividends now

Ferrari sets sights on more 2015 wins
(GMM) Suddenly, Ferrari's team boss is making plans to actually fulfill a tongue-in-cheek pre-season pledge.

As he played down the team's hopes for 2015, Maurizio Arrivabene quipped before Melbourne that if the 2015 car wins four races this year, "I will run without shoes to the Maranello hills".

But already at the second round of the season in Malaysia, Sebastian Vettel clocked up victory number one.

Arrivabene, newly arrived in red, is now making plans to fulfill his pledge, according to the Ferrari insider and blogger Leo Turrini.

Turrini, revealing that Arrivabene's route will be the 70 kilometers from Maranello to Sestola, said the Ferrari chief asked him over dinner: "If we win five, will you come with me?"

Much of the credit for Ferrari's surprising turnaround is going to James Allison, the Briton and former Lotus designer who is now technical director.

The SF15-T is the first Ferrari he has had total responsibility for, as he adopted the old Ross Brawn format of overseeing not only the chassis side but also the engine.

"I did not design a single screw on the car," Allison is quoted as saying. "My job is to decide what parts are worthy of being further developed."

He played down the comparison with Brawn, but Ferrari's drivers are notably happy with the Allison-overseen 2015 package.

Malaysia winner Vettel is not even ruling out a title tilt.

"That's why I signed up," said the German. "That's our goal and that's the mission, to bring the world championship back to Maranello."

Some have downplayed Ferrari's Sepang victory as due to the tires uniquely surviving the extreme temperatures seen in Malaysia.

But Kimi Raikkonen says the SF15-T is simply good.

"Obviously," the Finn is quoted by Autosprint, "the circuit, the weather and everything else plays an important part in any result.

"But that does not take away from the fact that we have a strong package," Raikkonen added.

A new front wing for Mercedes in China

Mercedes takes new front wing to China – report
(GMM) Mercedes has reacted to the "wake-up call" of Malaysia.

Toto Wolff was stunned at Sepang when his formerly-dominant silver cars were beaten to the checker by a resurgent Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel.

The Mercedes chief immediately announced a re-think on both the technical and strategy side.

Technically, Brackley has responded by fast-forwarding the introduction of a new front wing ahead of this weekend's Chinese grand prix, the German newspaper Bild reveals.

The report reads: "Apparently the part was ready for Malaysia, but after the dominance of Melbourne it was not used.

"Now the wing is in the luggage" for Shanghai, added Bild.

Wolff also said after Malaysia that Mercedes erred on the strategy side by focusing too much on driver equality rather than the threat posed by an external rival like Ferrari.

Dr Helmut Marko, an official for the formerly-dominant Red Bull team, said he knows the problem well.

"When you are dominant for a long time," he told Sport Bild, "you forget about the other teams when it comes to strategy.

"Mercedes must learn again how to do that," Marko added.

But does that mean team orders will be imposed now? If so, will Mercedes' 'number 1' driver be the reigning champion and current championship leader Lewis Hamilton, ahead of Nico Rosberg?

Wolff insists: "With us, both drivers get the same opportunities to be world champion.

"We simply must be able to respond better in the future to what happens on the track."

Ron Walker

Australian GP boss survives cancer
(GMM) Australian grand prix supremo Ron Walker is cancer-free, the 75-year-old has confirmed.

A famously close ally of Bernie Ecclestone, the influential Australian businessman was instrumental in the race's switch from Adelaide some two decades ago.

His last race as chairman of the Australian grand prix corporation was the 2015 season opener in March.

Walker had made the decision to step down when he was fighting for his life for three years with cancer, but he has now told Fairfax Media that he is in remission.

"I'm the luckiest guy that ever walked," he said.

That is because local doctors had told him he would almost certainly die from the disease, prompting Walker to go to America to take an experimental drug that "wasn't cheap".

"I'm very lucky it (the cancer) is gone," he said. "It was in my brain, my bones, my lungs, my heart, everything.

"If I had stayed in Melbourne and just done nothing, I wouldn't be here today talking to you", Walker added.

The media report said Walker, with key political contacts including the prime minister Tony Abbott, has now successfully lobbied to have the drug made available in Australia.

"It's given hope to people who thought they were going to die," he said. "Now they're not going to die."

A 'B' car planned for Force India

Force India planning 'B' car for mid-season
(GMM) Force India is planning to introduce a "B" version of its 2015 car.

The Silverstone based team has had a poor start to the season, after the long-delayed VJM08 missed the opening tests of the winter period.

On top of that, Force India has moved its wind tunnel operation from Brackley to the state-of-the-art Toyota facility in Cologne.

"Unfortunately in that process there's a slight step backwards," said deputy boss Bob Fernley, "and I don't think we will see really Force India coming to the front again until probably mid-season."

Indeed, it emerged just after Melbourne that the team is working on a "B" version of the VJM08, which was set for a debut in Monaco next month.

But reports now indicate Force India has delayed the intended debut date of the VJM08B until Austria in late June.

"Everyone in the team deserves credit for the strong reliability of the VJM08, but there is a long way to go on the development path," said team boss Vijay Mallya.

"We know the areas we need to improve and I've been impressed with the attitude of the team. The morale is strong and we will keep fighting hard to score as many points as we can in these early races," he added.

Vettel mechanic Handkammer leaves F1
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel's former chief mechanic has swapped a 25-year career in formula one for the world of electric road cars.

Last October, we reported that Kenny Handkammer had left Red Bull.

"We have found someone else for this position better suited in the course of the restructuring of the team," Dr Helmut Marko announced at the time.

At the time, some were linking the news with Vettel's soon-to-be-announced Ferrari switch.

But Handkammer has in fact now re-emerged at Tesla Motors, an American electric road car company.

"He will apply formula one techniques to revolutionize serving mainstream cars," said Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

Handkammer's F1 career dates all the way back to the early 90s, when he was a mechanic on Michael Schumacher's Benetton car.

He was also a member of Renault's title-winning era with Fernando Alonso, before moving on to Red Bull, where he worked with Vettel as the German won four consecutive championships.

"I think I had the best years in formula one, winning many world championships with the best people in the sport," Handkammer is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial.

"I wanted a new challenge and will now work with one of the big innovators in road cars," he said.