Latest F1 news in brief

Fernando Alonso in Barcelona

Wind caused Alonso's crash – McLaren
Alonso does not remember crash – Briatore
Alonso could sit out final winter test
Honda admits no customers for F1 engine yet
Ferrari passes Williams as 'second force' – pundit
'Engine championship' means Mercedes 2015 favourite
Horner admits drivability issue with Renault engine
Alonso-Vettel switch was right – Briatore

Wind caused Alonso's crash – McLaren
(GMM) McLaren has hit back at the conspiracy theories about Fernando Alonso's testing crash on Sunday.

With the Spaniard still in intensive care, the conspicuous delay in McLaren's explanation about the cause of the crash and his precise medical condition had fuelled wild rumours.

Was he electrocuted by KERS? Did leaking battery fumes render him drowsy or unconscious before he hit the wall? Had the newly Honda-powered MP4-30 spectacularly failed?

"It was just an accident," Flavio Briatore, reportedly still involved in Alonso's management, insisted to Italian radio Rai.

At the same time, McLaren finally issued a detailed media statement not only about Alonso's health, but the circumstances of the crash at high-speed turn three.

And Alonso's personal manager, Luis Garcia Abad, posted to social media a photograph of the smiling 33-year-old sitting up in his hospital bed.

McLaren said its star recruit is indeed making a "solid recovery", after all medical tests so far came back with "completely normal" results.

The British team said Alonso remains in hospital for now for "observation and to recover from the effects" of medication given to sedate the driver after the crash.

McLaren also explained its radio silence in the wake of the crash, which had arguably given rise to the wildest rumours about the cause.

The team said it has been busily "carrying out a detailed analysis" of the car's damage and telemetry, which shows that Alonso lost control when he ran onto Astroturf.

"Our findings indicate that the accident was caused by the unpredictably gusty winds at that part of the circuit at that time," McLaren added, "and which had affected other drivers similarly" including Carlos Sainz, who also crashed.

McLaren stated "categorically" that the evidence does not point to mechanical or aerodynamic failure, and also said Honda's energy recovery system did not shock Alonso.

"That last point refutes the erroneous rumours that have spread recently to the effect that Fernando was rendered unconscious by an electrical fault," the team insisted.

"Our data clearly shows that he was downshifting while applying full brake pressure right up to the moment of the first impact — something that clearly would not have been possible had he been unconscious at the time."

McLaren's claim is also backed by emerging photographic evidence in the press, depicting a single solid tyre mark all the way to the wall, and a crash angle that was more acute than first thought.

"It was a significant lateral impact," the team agreed.

Alonso does not remember crash – Briatore
(GMM) Flavio Briatore says Fernando Alonso does not remember the crash that has left him in a Barcelona hospital.

McLaren has denied wild conspiracy theories about the cause of the accident that so far has seen the Spanish driver spend two nights in hospital recovering from concussion and the effects of his post-crash sedation.

His manager, Luis Garcia Abad, eased the F1 world's gravest fears late on Monday when he published to social media a photo of the 33-year-old smiling and giving a thumbs-up whilst sitting in his hospital bed.

And Flavio Briatore, a guiding hand throughout Alonso's F1 career, also played down the wilder speculation about the cause of the crash.

"It was just an accident," he told Italian radio Rai.

"From the telemetry we see that he was trying to keep the car on the track," the former Renault boss added.

"It is the second serious accident of his career, the first being in 2004 (actually 2003) when he took a really hard impact in Sao Paulo.

"The important thing is that the (medical) tests are all negative," Briatore revealed. "He does not remember the incident, but that is normal. I think tomorrow he will be out of the hospital."

The 64-year-old denied wild rumours about the crash, including that Alonso was electrocuted by struggling Honda's new energy recovery system.

"I do not understand those stories," Briatore said. "It was a normal accident.

"Unfortunately, these things happen – even with a driver like Fernando – as the G-forces are tremendous. At other times you can have a much more spectacular crash and nothing happens to you," he added.

Alonso could sit out final winter test
(GMM) Fernando Alonso may sit out the final test of the 2015 pre-season in the wake of his Barcelona crash.

The Spaniard has already spent two nights in hospital recovering from concussion and the effects of sedation given to him after he was knocked out on Sunday.

Alonso's manager Luis Garcia Abad says the results of every medical test since the crash have been clear, and he further eased the F1 world's fears late on Monday when he revealed a photo of the smiling 33-year-old sitting up in bed.

But Abad also said Alonso may need to stay in hospital for longer.

The final four-day test of the winter, also to be held in Barcelona, begins on Thursday.

Abad said: "He will remain here (at the hospital) for the time we need to be sure everything is right and he gets out of here and back to normal life.

"The impact was quite hard. We have to be sure everything is fine, so I can't say if it is one, two or three days more," he told reporters on Monday.

McLaren-Honda admitted that it could mean Alonso misses the test, which is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, just two weeks before Melbourne season opener.

"We intend to give him every opportunity to make a rapid and complete recovery," said the British-Japanese team, "and will evaluate in due course whether or not he will participate in the next Barcelona test."

Manager Abad, however, said Alonso is already keen to get back to work.

"Fernando is very good," he revealed, "very optimistic and we are struggling to hold him back."

Abad does not rule out Alonso being sufficiently recovered to test this week.

"We'll see what the doctors say," he said, "but right now the important thing is not winning the Barcelona test in February, but being able to fight for the championship until the month of November."

He also rubbished the wilder speculation about the cause of the crash.

"There were no explosions or alien abductions or anything like that," Abad said sarcastically. "Alonso was driving the car and reducing speed before the impact, which is something you cannot do if you are not fully aware."

But Michael Schmidt, one of the most respected journalists in the paddock, pointed the finger at McLaren for triggering the wilder of the crash-cause theories.

"The Fernando Alonso accident shows that F1 still needs lessons in public relations," he wrote in Auto Motor und Sport.

"McLaren's policy of silence allowed the speculation to run wild," Schmidt argues. "It (the team) could have stopped the problems with open communication."

Honda admits no customers for F1 engine yet
(GMM) Honda does not have any potential customers for its new F1 engine, boss Yasuhisa Arai has admitted.

After a six-year absence, the Japanese carmaker's plan had always been to return to the sport this year and only supply new works partner McLaren.

But for 2016, Honda is open to adding paying customers to the roster.

"If (other) teams want to use our engine or power unit," Arai said a year ago, "we can deliver (that) after 2016."

Fast-forward to late February 2015, however, and Honda is embroiled in a tumultuous preparation for the new season, beset by constant technical problems.

Arai admitted to F1i.com that testing has been "like a pop-up game", as when one problem is solved "another one pops up".

The idea of adding customer teams to the books for 2016 is therefore on the back-burner for now.

"We don't have any offers from any team to be a second team," Arai confirmed.

"Maybe it's because they think there's something a bit mysterious about Honda."

What he means is that, beneath the teething troubles, Honda's actual performance remains basically unknown, but last week at Barcelona some signs of progress could be seen.

Arai admits Honda is indeed starting to show potential customers "a little bit of our good capability and good feeling".

"But it's a very difficult question," he added, "because I am wondering can we prepare for supplying a second team during the season? I don't know."

Ferrari passes Williams as 'second force' – pundit
(GMM) A low-profile winter for the Grove team is beginning to raise questions about Williams' 2015 prospects.

Last year, the newly Mercedes-powered team emerged from a deep slump to finish the championship third overall, and with arguably the second-fastest car behind the similarly-powered works outfit.

But the new FW37, although solid and evidently not uncompetitive, failed to make a great impact throughout its Jerez test debut.

And it was a similar story at Barcelona last week, with the fastest aggregate laptime for Williams being Felipe Massa's, and outpaced not only by 2014 rivals Mercedes and Red Bull but also Ferrari and Lotus.

Chief engineer Rod Nelson is not drawing any firm conclusions, nor raising alarm bells.

"I think it's reasonable to say Mercedes has the legs on everyone at the moment," he admitted.

"Red Bull maybe not so clear, but while we're not satisfied, we know where we are, we know our performance deficits and we know where we've got to do additional work."

Fabio Seixas, an expert pundit for Portuguese-language Sportv, concludes that Williams may now have lost its position as Mercedes' main challenger to the likes of Ferrari.

"Their (Ferrari's) car is better than in 2014, holding now the 'second force' position that Williams had at the end of last season.

"But the gap (to Mercedes) is still great," Seixas concluded.

Even Williams' drivers are not disputing the obvious step forward made by Ferrari since the end of last year.

"They are better than last year," Valtteri Bottas admitted, "and I imagine a chunk of that has come from the engine.

"But although you cannot dismiss them, they do tend to be competitive in winter testing and maybe not when we start going racing," he added.

Teammate Massa, on the other hand, indicated that Williams could be set to unleash more potential this week, when Barcelona hosts the final winter test.

"The car is really good," the Brazilian insisted to Auto Motor und Sport.

"Next week we will add the new parts — until now we have had half a year-old car almost. I think we will have a good season," Massa added.

Finn Bottas, meanwhile, recalls Williams' trend of 2014, when it built its full competitiveness over time, and was stronger in the races than in practice.

Asked if that will happen again in 2015, he smiled to the broadcaster MTV3: "I hope so."

'Engine championship' means Mercedes 2015 favourite
(GMM) The nature of the 'new' F1 means Mercedes will again be hard to beat in 2015.

That is the claim of former F1 team boss Flavio Briatore, who is no fan of the regulation changes that saw Mercedes utterly dominate in 2014 with its turbo V6.

Now, he is expecting more of the same in 2015.

"The road is uphill for everyone except for Mercedes," Briatore told Italian radio Rai.

"We now have a championship for engines, not one for drivers," he argued.

"We should have a couple of tenths between the various teams, but we have one power unit that is much more powerful.

"Sooner or later we will have to go back to something more normal," Briatore, referring to talks to shake-up the technical rules for 2017, added.

"What we have now does nothing to improve the show, it is just a case of spending so much money for nothing new that is good."

The flamboyant Italian said it would be premature to say that, after struggling with its first V6 effort last year, Ferrari has caught up for 2015.

"You do not know if teams are testing with a lot of fuel in the tank or not," said Briatore.

"What is important is that Raikkonen is saying the new car is more driveable, because he represents continuity.

"But it is better to be cautious than to risk disappointment. In F1, Ferrari has to win but for this year, there will be one (team) that is hard to beat," he added.

Horner admits drivability issue with Renault engine
(GMM) Renault has made progress but not enough yet to topple dominant Mercedes.

That is the admission of Red Bull chiefs Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko, although they are confident works supplier Renault is on track with a better engine for 2015.

It has now been tested at Jerez and Barcelona, and lead driver Daniel Ricciardo revealed last week the 2016 power unit "definitely has some more ponies".

"It does have more power," team boss Horner confirmed to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "but it is not evenly distributed.

"There is still a problem with drivability," he added.

However, his Austrian colleague Marko said some of that problem can be solved through "software changes".

"Then we will have caught up a large part of Mercedes lead," he predicted.

According to those who know him best, the divorce between Fernando Alonso and Ferrari was apparently years in the making.

Alonso-Vettel switch was right – Briatore
(GMM) Fernando Alonso's departure from Ferrari, replaced by fellow former champion Sebastian Vettel, was one of the highest-profile driver changes in the history of formula one.

But according to Flavio Briatore, a guiding hand throughout the management of Alonso's fascinating career, it was simply the natural result of the Spaniard spending five years at Maranello without adding a third title to his tally.

Alonso's former teammate Felipe Massa tells a similar tale, revealing that his frustrated friend had even tried to leave Maranello "two or three years ago".

"I think maybe last year the car was not so good, the results were not there but he kept fighting, kept trying to change the team," Massa told F1's official website.

"But the team was already changing completely inside and they decided to change even Alonso."

Speaking with Italian radio Rai, Briatore agrees with Massa that Ferrari's new pairing of long-time Red Bull driver Vettel alongside Kimi Raikkonen is also a good one.

"I believe the change of drivers was appropriate," said Briatore.

"Vettel brings something different to Ferrari and helps to motivate a group that, in terms of management, is completely new.

"Sebastian is good," the Italian added, "but it is difficult for the driver to really bring something.

"They (drivers) can say 'this works' and 'this does not', but the involvement of the drivers was stronger a few years ago when the engines and aerodynamics were less complex."

Nevertheless, the change has put the smile back on Vettel's face and the improved atmosphere throughout the entire red-clad team has been conspicuous at pre-season tests.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne even played down team boss Maurizio Arrivabene's claim that it took some convincing to woo the German from Red Bull.

"No," he insisted, "I just asked him to come to us.

"Sebastian is a true 'Ferrarista', so it didn't take much to convince him," Marchionne added.

Alonso, too, seems more than happy with his switch from red to grey, even though his new McLaren-Honda has not been impressive in winter testing.

"I feel very happy," he was quoted by the Spanish daily AS in Barcelona last weekend, before his crash on Sunday.

"Very, very happy," Alonso reiterated, "with everything, with the project, to be involved in something as successful as McLaren-Honda.

"Last week I drove the (1988) MP4-4 of Senna, which was a car I had on a poster in my bedroom, and I had a kart in the same colours," he revealed.

"I was in Japan last week and I saw again their project, the resources they have and I have no worries.

"I know we have many teething problems, many things to put in place and to improve, but if I want to win a championship I know I need to be here, whether it takes one, three or five years," Alonso added.