Latest F1 news in brief

Zak Brown is part of Lando Norris' management team, so of course he hired him. In F2 George Russell cleaned his clock

Norris to be given time to shine – Brown
Lauda aims to walk again by February
Grosjean faster than Jenson Button – Magnussen
Staying in F1 harder than comeback – Kubica
Hulkenberg wants to win with Renault
No contract offer for Schumacher yet – Wolff
Verstappen 'won't miss Ricciardo' as teammate
Manager warned Schumacher against F1 return
F1 in 2019: Can it finally be Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel’s season?

Norris to be given time to shine – Brown

(GMM) Lando Norris will be given time to shine at McLaren, according to the British team's boss.

The struggling British team has just ousted Stoffel Vandoorne, who made his debut in 2016 as the reigning Formula 2 champion.

Now, the 2018 F2 runner-up is Norris, and McLaren boss Zak Brown says the 19-year-old will be given time to adjust.

"Formula one can be a pretty cruel environment," he is quoted by the Sun newspaper. "We need to manage expectations, not after three races, and pass judgment, which we as a sport are pretty quick to do.

"He will definitely be given time to develop. It is a high pressure environment and the first thing anyone does in formula one is compare you to your teammate," Brown added.

Norris' 2019 teammate is Carlos Sainz, who Brown says is "extremely quick and experienced".

"We expect them to race each other hard, cleanly and, for sure, they need to get the measure of each other from time to time," he said.

Lauda aims to walk again by February

Niki Lauda

(GMM) Niki Lauda has confirmed reports that he is recovering well from his mid-year lung transplant.

The Mercedes team chairman missed the end of the 2018 season as he recovered in hospital and a rehabilitation clinic, but Lauda told Kurier and Osterreich newspapers that he is now at home.

"At the end of January, I'm throwing away the walker," said the 69-year-old.

"The lungs work perfectly, but I've been in bed for five months so the main problem is the muscles. All I have to do now is gain more strength.

"I feel good and I am not taking as many pills as before. Everyday life is not the same as before, but every day I make progress with my two physios.

"I use the tennis court in front of my house as I need the flat surface to learn how to walk properly again.

"According to the doctors, I will recover completely," the F1 legend added.

Grosjean faster than Jenson Button – Magnussen

Romain Grosjean

(GMM) Kevin Magnussen says he is proud of his personal performance in 2018.

The Dane had difficult early-career stints at McLaren and Renault, but he has found an ideal home in the small American team Haas.

Haas, however, had an often difficult 2018 season.

"We are still a young team on a steep learning curve," Magnussen told BT newspaper.

"Perhaps we had a better car than we really expected. We were fighting in a higher weight class than the one we belonged to. But it's a luxury problem that shows how much talent and potential the team has," he said.

Magnussen was initially the standout Haas driver in 2018, but Romain Grosjean eventually fought back and the pair will remain teammates this year.

"Romain came back after a difficult period and it might have seemed like I took a step backwards," said Magnussen. "But that was not the case. He had just returned to his highest level.

"It is clear that with the update, Romain got a car that suited him very well. Overall it was better, but unlike Romain I could drive the old one too.

"In fact I have a hard time understanding that it made such a big difference to Romain."

Magnussen thinks Frenchman Grosjean, who was often criticized in 2018, is arguably his best ever teammate in F1.

"If you look at the whole package – human, chemistry, laptimes and so on – Jenson is the best teammate I've had. But there is no doubt that Romain is faster than Jenson.

"On one lap, Romain is exceptionally fast when it all goes well for him," he said.

Indeed, Grosjean won the overall qualifying battle against Magnussen in 2018.

"It would have meant more to me if I had won it," Magnussen laughed. "Perhaps it means something if the big teams are looking at you, but I'm not advertising myself like that."

Staying in F1 harder than comeback – Kubica

Robert Kubica

(GMM) Staying in F1 beyond 2019 will be a bigger challenge than merely returning this year.

That is the claim of Robert Kubica, who this year will execute one of the most impressive ever sporting comebacks by returning to F1 after an eight-year absence.

"Returning to formula one will not be easy," the 34-year-old told Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska. "One of the biggest and most difficult challenges in my career is in front of me.

"But that's what I was striving for," Kubica said.

Not only that, the former BMW and Renault driver will be in a Williams, which last year was the slowest car in the field.

"The previous season was not easy for Williams," Kubica admitted. "But the regulations are changing and it may allow us to return to competing.

"It's not like we will suddenly be the best team, but we'll work hard to make the car better than the last one," he said.

Kubica said he is not setting a "concrete goal" in terms of actual qualifying or race results for 2019.

"My goal is maybe even more difficult than coming back to formula one," he said. "It's staying in formula one.

"Competition is great. The 20 best drivers in the world are here so it will not be an easy task, especially after such a long break," added Kubica.

"The car will be very important," he said. "If we manage to improve it, the goal will be easier."

Hulkenberg wants to win with Renault

Will Nico Hulkenberg get his clock cleaned by new teammate Ricciardo

(GMM) Renault has become the next team to announce a launch date for its 2019 car.

The French works team has set the goal of getting closer to the top three Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull this year.

And Italy's Autosprint quotes Nico Hulkenberg as saying he wants to stay in yellow "until I get my first podium and victory".

In 2019, his teammate will be former Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

"When I heard that Daniel will be my teammate I was destroyed — I cried," he joked.

"No, I'm good. I heard about it a day before it was announced and it was good news," said Hulkenberg.

France's L'Equipe says the car to be raced by Hulkenberg and Ricciardo this year will be launched on February 12.

No contract offer for Schumacher yet – Wolff

Mick Schumacher

(GMM) Mercedes has not offered Mick Schumacher a place in its driver development program.

According to speculation, F1's top two teams – Mercedes and Ferrari – are vying to get the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher under contract.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper asked Mercedes boss Toto Wolff if Schumacher, the reigning European F3 champion, has been offered a deal.

"Mick won his Formula 3 title with a Mercedes engine, but for now, you have to give him time to develop," Wolff answered.

Told that Schumacher is apparently also wanted by Ferrari's driver academy, Wolff continued: "There is currently little space in our junior program.

"My priority is to find a seat for Esteban Ocon in 2020," he added.

Verstappen 'won't miss Ricciardo' as teammate

Verstappen happy to see the man who won more races and scored more points than he did over the past three years

(GMM) Max Verstappen says he will not miss having Daniel Ricciardo as a teammate in 2019.

Australian Ricciardo shocked both Red Bull and the wider motor racing world by switching for this year to Renault.

"Personally I won't miss him," Verstappen told Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, "but he was fun and pleasant to have as a teammate.

"That doesn't happen often and perhaps it won't happen again," he added. "But will I miss him? I believe Daniel will miss what he had here."

Dutchman Verstappen thinks Ricciardo is leaving Red Bull at the wrong time, just as it switches from customer Renault power to determined works partner Honda.

"Honda's whole attitude and the plans they have, it's totally different compared to what we were used to with Renault," he said.

"With Renault we always had to push. It always had to come from us and it was usually ignored. Now it is the other way around and we are pushed to supply parts.

"They need gearboxes and things like that from us, which are really not that easy to make. But Honda just wants to test, test, test. They do more kilometers than I do on the circuit," Verstappen said.

The 21-year-old is keeping expectations in check for 2019, but he does think Red Bull-Honda will be "closer" to Mercedes and Ferrari this year.

"Maybe it will not be enough to compete at every circuit. But we have to make steps during the season so that we can certainly compete for the title from the beginning of 2020," added Verstappen.

Manager warned Schumacher against F1 return

Willi Weber and Michael Schumacher in 2007

(GMM) Michael Schumacher's former manager says he advised the seven time world champion against returning to F1 in 2010.

Schumacher, who turns 50 this week, retired in 2006 but made a comeback with the then bourgeoning Mercedes works team three years later.

But the great German was without his long-time manager Willi Weber for his 2010 return.

Asked by Abendzeitung newspaper if he advised Schumacher to return, Weber said: "Not at all. I summoned him and said 'Please don't do it. You can only lose!'

"He was a seven time world champion with nothing to prove. But he really wanted to drive. I thought it's fine that he drives, but it will be without me," Weber revealed.

In the final days of 2013, Schumacher crashed whilst skiing in France, and now more than five years later, almost nothing is known about his brain injuries.

Asked if their pre-comeback disagreement soured their relationship, Weber answered: "Not at all.

"We still had a contract until 2014, but I just didn't want to go around the world anymore.

"I am a person who sees that everything in life has its time. And what Michael and I did in almost 20 years, that was our formula one time. You cannot repeat that or bring the past back to life.

"We separated as friends and then spoke hundreds of times on the phone or together for coffee or dinner," he said.

F1 in 2019: Can it finally be Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel’s season?

Toto Wolff tells Vettel, now that Aldo Costa has stepped back to just work on special projects for us, we give you a slight chance

A full decade has now passed since Ferrari won a Formula 1 world title.

The past two seasons have offered plenty of hope and increased promise that the drought might soon be over, yet Mercedes’ championship dominance in the current era remains unbroken.

So what might Ferrari and lead driver Sebastian Vettel learned from last year and what might change for them in 2019? Carlo Vanzini, Sky in Italy’s F1 commentator, helps sets the new year scene at Maranello.

Is 2019 a big year for Sebastian Vettel?

Vettel enters his fifth season at Maranello still chasing what he has consistently described as his ‘dream’: becoming world champion with Ferrari. But for the first time since joining from Red Bull he has a new teammate, with the hugely-promising Charles Leclerc replacing Kimi Raikkonen. So does Leclerc represent a threat to Vettel’s established superiority or will the youngster spur him on to new heights? And how is Vettel’s standing in Italy now after the mistakes and frustrations of 2018?

Vanzini: “It’s the same in Italy in all sports: if you win, you’re thought of as the best. But if Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus don’t win together, for example, questions will come as to whether it’s good to have him at the club or not. It’s the same with Ferrari and Vettel. Some people said if Ferrari still had Fernando Alonso last year they could have won the championship two or three races before the end of the season. When you don’t win the situation is like this.

An interesting coincidence links Vettel to Ferrari great Sebastian Vettel on the eve of his fifth season with the Scuderia.

“Sebastian has to win the championship to be a hero for the Tifosi, but it was the same with Michael Schumacher. In 1997 after the crash with Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez a lot of Italian fans wanted to have another driver. But then you saw Michael won five championships in a row from 2000."

“Interestingly, Schumi won his first championship for Ferrari in his fifth season," Vanzini said. “He won with a new teammate, Rubens Barrichello. Now it’s the fifth season for Sebastian with a new teammate in Leclerc — although we don’t know if he will win the championship!

“At the moment he is not loved like a big hero but there is respect for him. Italians know he has won four championships in a row at Red Bull, two of which were against Ferrari and Fernando at the last race of the season, so he has to be a champion.

“I feel that it’s really good to have the change with Leclerc arriving because you have something new to see — and you will see more about Sebastian.

“It will be a very interesting season and start of the season in particular. Sebastian could be in front without any problem or Charles could be in front. Will we talk about Sebastian’s career being over or about him winning the championship?

“I don’t know, but it’s important during the winter to have a different dynamic after the last two championships when Ferrari have lost out. I love Kimi but it was the right time to change something."

What did Ferrari learn from 2018?

Ferrari won more races and claimed more pole positions, six, than in any season for a decade, yet there was still a sense of underachievement as world championship leads over Mercedes during the first half of the season gave way to distant title defeats. Sebastian Vettel was blamed by the media for making too many errors, while Ferrari themselves lost their way on car development after the summer break.

Vanzini: “The picture was easy to see. Dividing the season in half up to Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel was first in the championship and eight points in front of Lewis Hamilton after 10 races. But he was only fifth, with Lewis first, over the next 10.

“We also have to say that the first 10 races were with Sergio Marchionne at the helm of Ferrari, whereas the rest were without him. I don’t want to say there’s a direct connection, but when a big boss like Marchionne passes away of course something will happen in a huge company like Ferrari. Particularly because maybe there are some who had a better relationship with him and some who had a worse relationship with him. So things change, but this happens in every company in such situations.

“For the championship, Sebastian made too many mistakes. In Germany when he was leading the race, in Monza with Lewis and then with Verstappen in Japan. He was also unlucky, because every time he went wheel-to-wheel with someone he spun. This was a pity because we could have had a great championship fight until the end.

“Ferrari was also not as competitive in the last part of the season as they were in the spring and summer period. They had to go back on some technical developments and understand why some things went wrong.

“I thought that Ferrari had the car to win the championship in 2018, or to at least arrive at the last race fighting for the championship. But Mercedes did a fantastic job and Lewis did the best season ever for him. Sebastian did some magical things during the season but if you want to win the championship you can’t make so many mistakes."

Will there be big changes at the team?

Leclerc’s arrival aside, evolution rather than revolution appears set to characterise Ferrari’s approach to the wider team for 2019 as they attempt to build on the undoubted progress made since a winless 2016 season. But will it be enough given the continued strength of five-time champions Mercedes?

Vanzini: “I will repeat what Maurizio Arrivabene said: the team needs the same people in the same places. Jock Clear will be working more with Leclerc and this is important because Jock has been a brilliant driver engineer with Villeneuve, Schumacher and Hamilton in the past. He has a lot of experience.

“Laurent Mekies, the FIA’s former deputy race director, has joined in the revived sporting director role, which is important when you talk about what happens on the track.

“I don’t think there will be an ‘earthquake’ like you sometimes think there might be internally at Ferrari. But they need to talk, they need to understand each other to find the best way to stay at the top level and compete with Mercedes and Red Bull.

“So I hope we experience an incredible season with more than two drivers fighting for the championship."

This article originally appeared in Sky Sports and was republished with permission