Latest F1 news in brief

Red Bull certainly is used to engine penalties with Renault. Will Honda be better?

Red Bull expects engine penalties in 2019
Wehrlein to be new Ferrari test driver
Sauber to debut 2019 car at Fiorano
Monza boss backs Arrivabene axe
Lauda still scheduled to leave hospital next week

Red Bull expects engine penalties in 2019

(GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says Red Bull is expecting to take engine penalties in 2019.

The team is confident as it switches from customer Renault power to a new works engine partnership with Honda.

Marko says Honda has already overtaken Renault, but a gap remains to Mercedes and Ferrari.

To close that gap, Honda and Red Bull have agreed that aggressive development this year is necessary.

"There will already be a real qualifying power mode, so the drivers are not always recovering from the start," reports Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Marko is hoping it will be enough for a championship challenge.

"We have planned the world title for 2019," he said.

However, with that performance objective, Marko admits that reliability could continue to be an issue.

"We expect to use five engines for the season," he revealed. "But if we plan the punishments wisely, the damage will be small.

"Performance is more important," added Marko.

Wehrlein to be new Ferrari test driver

Pascal Wehrlein – a Mercedes plant in the midst of Ferrari?

(GMM) Pascal Wehrlein will be Ferrari's new test driver for 2019, according to international media reports.

L'Equipe says the former Manor and Sauber driver, who recently parted with Mercedes' development program, will take over the role at Ferrari from Daniil Kvyat.

Kurier newspaper says the 24-year-old's main role will be in the simulator at Maranello, even though he will contest a Formula E race for a team this weekend.

That report said that with Antonio Giovinazzi moving from a Ferrari test role to Sauber, former Williams driver Serkey Sirotkin is likely to also join Wehrlein at the Italian team.

Germany's RTL and Sky broadcasters noted that the news is not yet official.

Sauber to debut 2019 car at Fiorano

(GMM) Sauber's new car is expected to hit the track for the first time on February 14.

France's L'Equipe reports that the Swiss team will give its 2019 car a shakedown at Ferrari's private test circuit at Fiorano.

The first outing for the Ferrari-powered, Alfa Romeo-sponsored Sauber team will take place on the same day as the launch of McLaren's 2019 car.

Official winter testing will commence in Barcelona from February 18.

Car Launches and Winter Testing schedule

LAUNCH DATES
February 12	Renault	Enstone, UK
February 13	Racing Point	Toronto, Canada
February 14	McLaren	TBC
February 14	Sauber	Maranello, Italy
February 15	Ferrari	Maranello, Italy
TESTING DATES
February 18-21	Test One	Barcelona, Spain
February 26-March 1	Test	Two Barcelona, Spain

Monza boss backs Arrivabene axe

Binotto gets support

(GMM) Monza boss Angelo Sticchi Damiani has backed Ferrari's decision to axe team boss Maurizio Arrivabene.

Following a power struggle between the pair and the loss of the 2018 world championship to Mercedes, Arrivabene has been replaced by technical boss Mattia Binotto.

"The message is clear," Sticchi Damiani told Corriere dello Sport. "There can no longer be misunderstandings.

"The results can no longer be questioned because of communication issues between those responsible," he insisted.

Some believe Binotto will surely hand over the technical directorship, but Sticchi Damiani thinks it is possible Binotto will hold a dual role.

"The appointment of Binotto and above all the fusion of the two most important roles within the team is a sensational development that means one thing: you have to win the two world championships right away," he said.

"Expectations for 2019 are enormous and it is important that a point of equilibrium has been found. The shareholders clearly considered the risk of a third season with stumbles and missed opportunities unacceptable.

"It was also due to the fans, who have never abandoned Ferrari in moments of defeat or long waits," Sticchi Damiani, boss of the Italian automobile club, added.

Finally, the Aci chief said the arrival of young charger Charles Leclerc to replace Kimi Raikkonen is another piece of good news for Ferrari.

"Sebastian (Vettel) will not have welcomed the arrival of a young, fast and already very mature driver, but I am convinced that it can only help him and push him to give his best," said Sticchi Damiani.

"There is a need for new incentives after the incredible fragility demonstrated last season while racing in a kind of comfort zone with his friend Raikkonen at his side. Getting out of it can only do him good," he insisted.

Lauda still scheduled to leave hospital next week

Niki Lauda expected to be ok

(GMM) Niki Lauda's doctor has played down rumors the Mercedes team chairman is back in a life-threatening situation with pneumonia.

Earlier, it emerged that while on holiday with his family in the wake of his 2018 lung transplant, the F1 legend had to fly back to Austria to be treated for influenza A.

It was confirmed that Lauda, 69, was back in intensive care, but Welt newspaper and other publications said the Mercedes team chairman had developed pneumonia.

Lauda's treating doctor Walter Klepetko told Kurier newspaper that the great Austrian is "very tired", explaining that it is "not a classic infection" and "more than a cold".

"Because of the transplant, the situation is more complex than with a healthy person," he added.

But Osterreich newspaper insisted that Lauda is not in a life-threatening situation and is still scheduled to leave the hospital sometime next week.

Klepetko said Lauda could not be treated on a "normal ward" due to his transplant, but he is already able to get out of bed.

"Niki was looking after his health and doing everything right," he added. "In his situation, certain risks are inevitable."

Klepetko explained that Lauda does not have pneumonia, is not ordered to stay in bed, and does not need to be ventilated.