Latest F1 news in brief – Monday
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Bottas will be destroyed by Hamilton again in 2019 Bottas could be back to normal in 2019 – Montoya
- Villeneuve to miss five F1 races in 2019
- Vettel 'broken' – Coronel
- Mexico to stop funding grand prix
- McLaren's Brown eyes 'big step forward' in 2019
- Renault may be competitive in 2019 – Isola
- Honda 'promises much more' than Renault – Marko
- Alonso leaving door open to 2020 return
- Lauda will miss winter tests and Australia – Marko
Bottas could be back to normal in 2019 – Montoya
(GMM) Valtteri Bottas has admitted a few sips of alcohol helped him through the winter period.
The Finn struggled alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2018 and it is now rumored this year will be his last with Mercedes.
"I am a normal Finn, and yes on a weekend it (alcohol) sometimes helps," Bottas smiled to Hinsingin Sanomat newspaper.
Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Bottas' struggles in 2018 could have been a simple matter of the Mercedes car.
"Perhaps he just didn't feel comfortable in the car, while it is obvious that Lewis did," the Colombian told AS newspaper.
"It is possible that everything will return to normal now."
For his part, Bottas is glad that he will have a new car and a points reset in 2019.
"There was quite a bit of criticism but that's actually given me an extra boost," he said.
"I have found many positives which I maybe didn't see at the end of the year, but now digging deep I can see those.
"It's going to be a new season and I'm going to put everything I have for this year, all in. I'm sure it's going to be interesting," added Bottas.
Villeneuve to miss five F1 races in 2019
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| The F1 paddock was hoping he missed all the races |
(GMM) Jacques Villeneuve may miss several grands prix in 2019 as he returns to racing.
For the past few seasons, the 1997 world champion has been an expert pundit for Canal Plus (France) and Sky (Italy).
But this year, the 47-year-old will be racing in the European Nascar series, as well as the Italian GT series.
"My schedule is going to be very busy," Villeneuve told Le Journal de Montreal. "I had to make choices because of the conflict of dates."
One of the Nascar races will take place at Zolder, where his father Gilles was killed. "It is important for me to race there," said the former Williams driver.
As he returns to racing, Villeneuve confirms that he will have to skip some grands prix.
"Driving a car is what I do best, although I love to comment on F1 on TV," said the Canadian.
Le Journal de Montreal said Villeneuve will miss the races in Shanghai, Barcelona, Austria, Silverstone and Singapore.
Vettel 'broken' – Coronel
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| Is Vettel a broken man? |
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel is "broken".
That is the view of former racing driver Tom Coronel, who thinks Vettel's difficult 2018 season with Ferrari may have given the early upper hand for 2019 to new teammate Charles Leclerc.
"Vettel is broken because of last year," Coronel told the Dutch publication Formule 1.
"He will not correct that. Ferrari should now let the drivers race freely, because youngsters are not so good at listening."
Long-time Ferrari manager Massimo Rivola, now CEO at Aprilia, thinks Vettel might indeed be challenged by his young new teammate in 2019.
At the same time, Rivola also worries about Leclerc.
"He's a strong boy, but the earliness (of his move to Ferrari) can be a double edged sword, because you cannot always win on the first try," he said.
"He is used to doing that so we will need to see how he reacts mentally if he cannot," Rivola told Italy's Autosprint.
But if Leclerc is strong, Rivola thinks Ferrari could be in for a Alonso-Hamilton battle a la 2007.
"I think it's a fitting example but I think Ferrari would manage it better than McLaren did," he said.
Mexico to stop funding grand prix
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| Even the F1 race with the biggest crowd loses their shirt if not for government backing |
(GMM) The highly popular new Mexican grand prix is now in doubt for the future.
Claudia Sheinbaum, the mayor of Mexico City, has announced that there will be no more government backing for the race beyond this year's event in October.
She told El Financiero, Mexico's major national business newspaper, that the F1 funding will instead go into the Mayan Train infrastructure project.
"By 2020, the federal government no longer has the resource because it is allocating most of the fund to the completion of the Mayan Train," Sheinbaum said.
"There will be formula one in 2019 because the amount has already been allocated since last year," she added.
Sheinbaum said discussions with the race promoter Ocesa are being held to find alternative funding.
"We have sat down with Ocesa to see if the amount can be lowered or if there are some other alternatives," she said.
McLaren's Brown eyes 'big step forward' in 2019
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| Zak Brown is targeting points finishes for McLaren's 2019 car. They had point finishes the last two years to….while their cars were moving chicanes |
(GMM) Team boss Zak Brown is targeting points finishes for McLaren's 2019 car.
The once-great British team has lost Fernando Alonso after four years of disappointing performance, but Brown said hopes are now high for a "good car".
"The development in the winter has been very consistent, but obviously we do not know what the rest of the teams have done," Brown is quoted by Marca sports newspaper.
"The 2019 car will be very different, and the drivers have a good feeling in the simulator. I hope that with this new car they can fight for points and to be consistently in the top ten," he added.
Brown said the team at Woking has been working hard to make the 2019 machine "much better than the previous ones".
"I don't want to make predictions, but our expectations are to take a big step forward," said Brown.
"I will not say we will fight for the title, but I am aware of where we want to be."
However, McLaren will not have a full-time sporting director in 2019. Gil de Ferran has also signed up as the boss of the new electric off-road series Extreme E.
Renault may be competitive in 2019 – Isola
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| Isola says Renault may challenge in 2019 |
(GMM) F1 could be in for a very close year of competition.
That is the view of Mario Isola, the F1 boss for sole tire supplier Pirelli.
He admitted to Spain's AS newspaper that he has a close eye on the weather forecast ahead of the start of official winter testing in Barcelona.
"With the new regulations we have completely redesigned the tires," he said. "The objective was to reduce the overheating and the blistering."
As for the expected pecking order, Isola admits that Mercedes and Ferrari are once again the favorites.
"Red Bull will also be close, because the regulation change is not so great," he said. "And I would not be surprised to see Renault competitive, as they are investing a lot."
Honda 'promises much more' than Renault – Marko
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| Honda promises but can they deliver? |
(GMM) Red Bull has set the ultimate target for its first year in works collaboration with Honda.
"Our ultimate goal is to make Max Verstappen the world champion in 2019," said Dr Helmut Marko, the Austrian official who is close to team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Most experts tip Mercedes and Ferrari to remain in the lead this year, with Red Bull still producing a top car.
The question mark is Honda.
"It's very important that we address the reliability issues we had with Renault in the previous years," Marko told the German broadcaster RTL.
But he does expect Red Bull to be "on par with Mercedes and Ferrari this year".
Helping that cause will be Honda's so-called 'party mode' in qualifying, which will deliver more than the tenth of a second that Renault's did in 2018.
"Honda promises much more," said Marko.
Alonso leaving door open to 2020 return
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| Would Alonso be too old by then? Will the McLaren still be a moving chicane? |
(GMM) Fernando Alonso says winning a third world championship in formula one would be "the greatest joy".
It is just the latest sign that the recently-retired F1 driver – who will tackle Le Mans and the Indy 500 this year and won the 2019 Daytona 24 hour – is not permanently done with F1.
"I always said it is 'see you later', not goodbye," Alonso told Corriere della Sera.
"Now I have new challenges to face with the right tools to win, while in formula one there were no conditions to do the same.
"I do not have plans for 2020. Of course, winning a third title would be the greatest joy," Alonso told the Italian newspaper.
The Spaniard may be 37, but he says he still has plenty of years of top form left in him.
"Schumacher raced until he was 43," Alonso said.
"If you feel strong, you do not need to look at your age. You race until you realize that someone is stronger than you."
Alonso said he will still follow F1 in 2019, and particularly the progress of his old friend Robert Kubica.
"His story is simply unbelievable, because a few months ago it seemed that all the opportunities had been missed," he said. "But now he will race as though he has nothing to lose."
Alonso also wished new Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc well, as he suspects that 2018 "was the last year of Mercedes dominance".
"I can only remind Leclerc that the fate of the championship is decided in the second half of the season, so don't rush things. He needs to start the year calmly, earn points and help the team," he added.
As for Sebastian Vettel, Alonso called the German a "real champion" despite criticism of his 2018 season.
"The truth is that when there is a lot of attention on you, it always gets difficult," he said.
Lauda will miss winter tests and Australia – Marko
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| Lauda still too sick |
(GMM) Niki Lauda will miss both the forthcoming Barcelona tests and the first race of the season in Australia.
That is the claim of the F1 legend's Austrian countryman and paddock friend Dr Helmut Marko.
Lauda, 69, has had a long and complex recovery from a 2018 lung transplant, but had hoped to be well enough to return to the pitlane in 2019.
"The six month stay in hospital was difficult for Niki," Marko, a top Red Bull official, told the German broadcaster RTL.
"Niki still has a long way to go. He needs a lot of patience," he said of the 69-year-old Mercedes team chairman.
"A comeback at the test days in Barcelona is not possible, and a long trip to Australia for the start of the new season is too early for him," Marko added.
"Niki will support his team by telephone."