Latest F1 news in brief – Saturday (Update)
11/22/14
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Caterham admits ride-buyer Will Stevens' big check made it possible for them to race this weekend McLaren runs Red Bull front wing 'copy'
- Alonso's Ferrari failure 'hard to grasp' – Trulli
- Sainz deserves Toro Rosso seat – da Costa
- No Total logo on 2015 Lotus – Grosjean
- F1 civil war rages on in Abu Dhabi
- Big chance of showdown crash in Abu Dhabi – Lauda
- Red Bull wants louder, cheaper V6 power for F1
- Caterham may use 2014 engine next year
- No Force India seat for GP2 champion Palmer
- Mercedes against any engine change so they can keep their advantage New
McLaren runs Red Bull front wing 'copy'
(GMM) McLaren's new front wing bears a striking resemblance to the one fitted to the 2014 Red Bull.
In the last race before the British team switches to Honda power, it was fitted to Kevin Magnussen's MP4-29 during Friday practice in Abu Dhabi.
The Danish driver said the new wing is a "very different philosophy" for McLaren.
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| McLaren accused of copying Red Bull's front wing after the arrival at Woking of Peter Prodromou, Red Bull's former aerodynamics chief |
On Twitter, Red Bull posted a side-by-side photo comparison of its own wing alongside the McLaren version with the caption: "Red Bull Gives You Wings".
An analysis at Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said: "The (Red Bull) concept has been completely copied.
"Compared to the old McLaren front wing, the new version has virtually nothing in common."
Team boss Eric Boullier confirmed: "Most of the first session was dedicated to a number of solutions aimed towards 2015.
"They are associated with a new concept of aerodynamics, which will be embodied in the car next year," he is quoted by f1news.ru.
The Frenchman admitted that the 'new concept' is essentially down to the arrival at Woking of Peter Prodromou, Red Bull's former aerodynamics chief.
"So now we are trying to check the conceptual decisions underlying the 2015 car and this work will continue in the tests next week," Boullier added.
Alonso's Ferrari failure 'hard to grasp' – Trulli
(GMM) Jarno Trulli has admitted he is surprised his old F1 teammate Fernando Alonso did not make his five-year Ferrari marriage work.
Alonso, who was paired with Italian Trulli at Renault a decade ago, has split with Ferrari and is expected to move to McLaren-Honda for 2015 and beyond.
"It's hard to grasp that it did not work for Fernando," Italian Trulli, in Malaysia for the second round of the new Formula E series, told the Spanish news agency EFE.
"I think something happened like what happened to me, which is being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
What is obvious is that Alonso's growing frustration with Ferrari was accelerated earlier this year with the arrival of Marco Mattiacci as team boss.
When asked about Alonso's exit, Mattiacci said in Abu Dhabi that Ferrari needs to "open new cycles but it was important to do it with the utmost motivation and commitment".
Referring to the official news about his departure, Alonso is quoted by Finland's MTV3 broadcaster: "I don't think it came as a surprise to anyone, and I believe that where I am going will also be no surprise."
The identity of Alonso's successor was also no surprise, as Sebastian Vettel has struggled in 2014 at Red Bull against his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, who groomed Vettel from boyhood to F1 stardom, said: "There's more to it than just to say 'Sebastian ran away at the first opportunity'.
"In the February tests we were four seconds off (the pace). And from the first kilometers Sebastian didn't like the new regulations or the new car," he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.
"The fact that he suddenly needs five engineers to adjust his brakes is not what he wants — the cars have become too complex, and the potential from the drivers too low."
Marko said those circumstances pushed Vettel, the reigning quadruple world champion, into needing a new challenge, and then came the latest huge-money offer from Ferrari.
"At Red Bull his salary was strongly performance-related," Marko said, agreeing that Australian Ricciardo's form also "irritated" Vettel.
"Anyway," Marko concluded, "we never believed that Sebastian would stay with us, and in the end the timing is perfect."
Sainz deserves Toro Rosso seat – da Costa
(GMM) Antonio Felix da Costa, a former Red Bull-backed F1 hopeful, says Carlos Sainz Jr now deserves his chance in formula one.
Portuguese da Costa, who came close to a Toro Rosso seat this year but ultimately lost out to Daniil Kvyat, now races in the DTM series and this weekend is making his Formula E debut in Malaysia for Aguri Suzuki's team.
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| Toro Rosso's indecision doesn't surprise Jaime Alguersuari |
It is believed Toro Rosso is weighing up between Spaniard Sainz, who is the new Formula Renault 3.5 champion, Jean-Eric Vergne or newly-crowned GP3 champion Alex Lynn for the seat alongside Max Verstappen in 2015.
"I don't know what will happen," said da Costa, "but Carlos deserves the seat more than anyone else.
"My time was last year," he told the Spanish news agency EFE, "but now it's the time for Carlos. What more does he need to do to be given that seat?"
Another former Red Bull protege now in Formula E is Jaime Alguersuari, who says he is not surprised Sainz's future remains so unclear.
"In formula one, nothing at all surprises me," said the former Toro Rosso driver.
"When you think one thing, another thing happens — the opposite. You never really know the interests behind everything, and not just money. Everything counts," Alguersuari added.
No Total logo on 2015 Lotus – Grosjean
(GMM) Romain Grosjean says he is retaining the backing of the French oil company Total.
While the Frenchman is staying at Lotus next year, it was believed the arrival of Mercedes power and Petronas fuel could pose trouble for Grosjean.
When asked about that, Grosjean said in Abu Dhabi: "Total is my personal sponsor.
"Due to the transition to Mercedes engines their (Total's) logo will no longer be on the car, but Total will continue to support me personally," he is quoted by f1news.ru.
F1 civil war rages on in Abu Dhabi
(GMM) The civil war in formula one continues to rage.
Earlier, the governing FIA summoned Bob Fernley (Force India), Gerard Lopez (Lotus) and Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber) to mandatorily attend Friday's official press conference in Abu Dhabi.
None of them appeared. In their places were Otmar Szafnauer (Force India) and Federico Gastaldi (Lotus), while Sauber boycotted the press conference altogether.
It is not known if the Swiss team will be penalized.
But the three teams have been bitterly complaining about the distribution of power and income within F1, and the latest step could be the intervention of the European Commission's competition arm.
The German news agency DPA says that following her letter, British politician Anneliese Dodds is now set to meet with the Commission's competition chief next Tuesday to discuss her concerns.
Back in the F1 paddock, it is also believed that proposals to redistribute some income – including the departed Marussia's – to the rebel teams have been vetoed by Ferrari and Red Bull.
The next meetings to take place will reportedly involve FIA president Jean Todt, who has touched down in Abu Dhabi.
"Fortunately I haven't been in any of those meetings," Force India's press conference substitute Szafnauer said on Friday, "so it's hard for me to answer that question."
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| Rosberg and Hamilton shake hands for the media, but will one take the other out on Sunday? |
Big chance of showdown crash in Abu Dhabi – Lauda
(GMM) Niki Lauda has admitted it is possible Sunday's championship showdown will end with a crash.
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have endured a tense relationship all season, they actually clashed at Spa and now the 2014 world champion will be decided in Abu Dhabi.
"The chance of a collision is great," admitted team chairman Lauda, "because it's the final blow in the title race. We could see some very risky overtaking maneuvers.
"But we need to just accept the risk as we are letting them go free. But certainly the risk is much higher than before," the F1 legend added.
But Lauda also told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that he hopes the warring duo will recognize the bigger picture and keep their battle clean on Sunday.
"Every driver knows that aggression like that can quickly end his own race," he said.
Lauda insisted, however, that it is no longer the team's role to sit the drivers down and urge them to drive sensibly.
"We are not going to interfere," he said.
"Fortunately there are no more third parties who can still be world champion, so now we have a showdown. Any admonition would be counterproductive.
"They should be free and able to do what they want to be world champion. I just hope we do well enough as a team to get through the race with both cars and no technical defects," Lauda added.
Red Bull wants louder, cheaper V6 power for F1
(GMM) Red Bull has proposed a new engine formula for the sport.
Struggling with Renault power all season, the outgoing world champions and also Ferrari are frustrated efforts to convince Mercedes to ease the engine development 'freeze' have until now failed.
A proposal to revert to V8 power also fell on deaf ears, but Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko now says: "Why don't we take the current V6s but not with all the hybrid accessories?
"We could make it a twin-turbo, forget the (fuel) flow rate limit, have the noise back and more than 800 horse power.
"We could keep these engines but save money," he argued.
The proposal may interest the struggling smaller teams, who are complaining loudly about their huge engine bills this year compared to the old V8 technology.
Marko told Auto Motor und Sport: "We have calculated that a customer team would pay a maximum of eight million euros.
"If we release the aerodynamics and have more power, we would have a championship for drivers again rather than the engineers," he predicted.
"We would be two seconds faster in no time and not even we would dare to put seventeen year olds in those cars."
Marko topped his proposal by suggesting that, for F1's image and to cut costs even more, the cars could be boosted by KERS units produced by a single supplier.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted on Friday that Marko's plan is probably too late for next year, "but for 2016, an awful lot can be done".
Caterham may use 2014 engine next year
(GMM) Caterham may have to use a 2014 engine if it is to make it onto next year's F1 grid.
The sport is treading new ground this weekend, with an insolvency expert Finbarr O'Connell, now in charge of ailing Caterham, sitting on the Abu Dhabi pitwall.
He is in town to show that the Leafield based team is still in shape to be taken over "off the shelf" by a buyer.
But there are obstacles to clear.
One of them might be on the driver front. O'Connell signed up Will Stevens for Abu Dhabi but he was seconds off Kamui Kobayashi's pace in practice.
But acting team boss O'Connell is quoted by France's L'Equipe: "The amount (of money) contributed by Will played a crucial role" in returning to F1.
Whether Caterham can complete its 2015 car, however, is another matter, amid the turmoil of the team's previous management and now the laying off of staff.
"As regards the car," O'Connell admitted, "my engineering team tell me that it's not hugely advanced but that if a purchaser comes along now, it will race in the championship next year."
Another option would be to cut costs by running the 2014 Renault engine instead of the significantly updated 2015 version.
Red Bull's Christian Horner said: "We'd have absolutely no problem in Caterham or any other team using the 2014 power unit if that assisted cost-saving, but that would mean a change in the regulations."
O'Connell, meanwhile, admitted that a new buyer may want to change the team's name, and also replace him as team principal.
"All I can feel is a responsibility for this team," he said, "and I would happily hand over my team principal badge straight away to anybody who would take it out of my hands and then I could go and sit in the stands and enjoy the grand prix."
No Force India seat for GP2 champion Palmer
(GMM) Force India has played down Jolyon Palmer's hopes of moving into formula one next year.
With Sergio Perez still not confirmed officially for 2015, the Silverstone based team announced last week that Briton Palmer, the new GP2 champion, will drive the 2014 car in the post-race Abu Dhabi test next week.
Asked if that could lead to a role in 2015, Force India official Otmar Szafnauer said on Friday: "That's not the purpose of running him.
"Shortly, maybe even later on this weekend, we'll announce our full driver lineup. It (Palmer's test) is for the future," he added.
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| "Do I look stupid?" Toto Wolff will veto any proposed engine change so no competitor has a chance to catch them |
Mercedes against any engine change so they can keep their advantage
Mercedes' Toto Wolff says a new F1 engine "would be disastrous for the sport" after Christian Horner called for a change in 2016.
Horner suggested F1 should introduce simplified engines the season after next, saying it would reduce costs and could also be used to address the issue of sound. However, Wolff said any change in engine regulations after the significant investment in the current units – estimated by Horner at "close to a billion euros" – would be a bad move which would cost even more money.
"We are all talking about costs and if you would open up the regulations in the way it has been described in that press conference, that clearly means you don't care about costs because that would be like digging a grave for Formula One," Wolff said. "We have spent considerable amounts in the development of the power unit, far away from the billion, I would say it's ten percent of that in our case.
"But anyhow, I think we need to be sensible and we need to come up with solutions which enable the small teams to survive and which still enable the big teams to showcase the technology. Reversing everything, changing the format, changing the engines would just increase costs, it would be the opposite for what we need for Formula One at the current stage.
"In terms of the governance, if we become insensible and if these decisions are being made for 2016, in my opinion that would be disastrous for the sport. We will be very vocal in addressing that issue."
And Wolff suggested that Horner's stance was due to Red Bull not having to showcase engine technology as part of its business plan to race in F1.
"I fully agree that we have a big responsibility for all teams and we need to look at the costs but you can't turn the time back. Formula One is the pinnacle and the pinnacle of technology as well and it is important to attract engine manufacturers in the sport, and actually have brought Honda back into the sport.
"The current format of power units was actually being proposed by Renault back then and for us, as Mercedes, it's a hugely important showcase of technology, road-relevant technology, hybrid technology, the future. It helps us to attract sponsorship and for us, as a car manufacturer – and I guess the same was the case for Renault when they came up with the idea – that is very important. It's less important for Red Bull, for sure, but for us it's crucial."