Latest F1 news in brief – Friday

• Ricciardo knows winning at Renault is not possible, but he will retire with a lot of Renault money in his bank account

  Ricciardo not expecting podium in 2019

• Sirotkin wants to stay at Williams
• Hamilton 'surprised' by Ferrari team orders stance
• Arrivabene denies Ferrari exit rumors
• Gasly helmet to be analyzed after Sochi incident
• McLaren, Williams plight saddens Hamilton
• Sky TV New Zealand Fails To Renew Formula 1 Rights Deal in NZ
• Mercedes reveals the whopping cost of winning in F1

Ricciardo not expecting podium in 2019
(GMM) Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he is unlikely to score even podiums in 2019.

The Australian surprised the F1 paddock with his decision to switch from Red Bull to Renault.

An alarming twist for Ricciardo is that Honda, Red Bull's next engine supplier, is apparently speeding ahead of Renault in the horse power stakes.

Renault, on the other hand, is struggling.

"At the beginning of the season, we were clearly fourth best," said Nico Hulkenberg, Ricciardo's 2019 teammate, in Japan. "But that has changed."

"We have developed, but others have made more progress, not just on the engine side but the chassis side. We have not lived up to our status as a factory team," the German admitted.

Ricciardo is also monitoring Honda's progress relative to the current Renault struggle.

"We'll see," he said in Japan.

"Power is one thing, but there's also reliability and I think that's why Renault haven't used the updated version yet.

"We will see how much power Red Bull have with Honda next year. I don't wish problems on them, but I certainly hope that Renault are better," Ricciardo added.

However, he said he knows it could be at least a year before the podium is in sight.

"I'm a realist and I understand that the chance of podiums is small," said Ricciardo.

At the same time, Red Bull is now starting to turn its back on Ricciardo, for instance by ending his access to the simulator.

"If I do badly at all the remaining five tracks, I will definitely blame the simulator," he laughed.

Sirotkin wants to stay at Williams

Sergey Sirotkin needs a big check

(GMM) Sergey Sirotkin says he would like to stay at Williams in 2019.

Days ago, the boss of the Russian driver's major sponsor, SMP Bank, said he is not sure if the backing of the struggling British team will continue.

And at Sochi, Sirotkin's management was spotted in conversation with Dr Helmut Marko, triggering rumors he and SMP might be eyeing a move to Toro Rosso.

"So far nothing has been decided," Sirotkin said in Japan.

"I repeat that I am together with the team and together we want to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in."

He admitted that SMP Racing, headed by Boris Rotenberg, is concerned about Williams' 2019 form.

"I think both SMP Racing and I have the same answer — we want to be doing better than we are doing now. But the last thing I want to do in our situation is say we give up.

"We have already made great efforts, so I don't see the logic in stopping now without achieving a result," Sirotkin added.

Hamilton 'surprised' by Ferrari team orders stance

Raikkonen is not Vettel's 'bitch' but Bottas certainly is for Hamilton

(GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he is "surprised" Ferrari has not played more of a team game in the fight for the 2018 world championship.

The world championship leader defended his own team, Mercedes, after Valtteri Bottas was controversially ordered aside in Russia a week ago.

"Formula one is a team sport," Hamilton said in Japan.

"I remember years ago Rubens Barrichello had to let Michael Schumacher past. I don't remember what I thought about it but I probably felt sorry for him," he admitted.

"But as a driver I know what it's like to fight for a title. Of course it would have been nice for Rubens to have the win but in the end he had no chance of the title.

"Unlike other sports, formula one has two championships and that inevitably leads to conflicts. The team wants to win the championship but at the same time it doesn't want to prefer either driver.

"That's an impossible task," Hamilton insisted.

And given that Ferrari notoriously used team orders in the past, Hamilton is surprised that Kimi Raikkonen has not been more supportive of Sebastian Vettel in 2018.

"They have worked together at times but at crucial moments like at Monza they didn't," he said.

"Am I surprised? Yes. They did it in the past so I don't know why they have changed."

Arrivabene denies Ferrari exit rumors

Maurizio Arrivabene failed to steal Aldo Costa back from Mercedes, hence Ferrari will always be 2nd best

(GMM) Maurizio Arrivabene has played down suggestions he is about to leave Ferrari and formula one.

The Maranello team's boss has been linked with a move to Juventus, the Italian football club connected to the Ferrari-linked Agnelli family.

"I've been a member of the board of directors for years, before taking on this role at Ferrari," he told Sky Italia in Japan.

"If my appointment is accepted at the next shareholder's meeting I will be honored, but my work here will go on," Arrivabene added.

In Japan, Ferrari unveiled a tweak to its F1 car livery, comprising the new 'Mission Minnow' message of its well-known tobacco sponsor.

"For us, Winnow is a source of inspiration," Arrivabene told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"To return to winning the title, we must learn from our mistakes, understand them and grow. It's a learning process," he said.

Gasly helmet to be analyzed after Sochi incident

Gasly happy not to lose an eye

(GMM) Pierre Gasly was lucky to escape injury during the Russian grand prix a week ago.

Germany's Bild newspaper has published an exclusive close-up photo of the damage done to the visor of the Frenchman's helmet after a sizeable chunk of carbon fell off a rival's car.

Years ago, Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko lost his eye in a similar incident that ended his motor racing career.

"Of course I thought about it," Gasly, who drives for the junior Red Bull team Toro Rosso, said in Japan.

"Thank God I was not going so fast at the time. If I was 300 at the end of the straight it would have maybe been different.

"When I threw the part out of my cockpit I was surprised by how big it was."

Peter Burger, in charge of the Arai helmets in formula one, said the visor remained intact and the helmet itself is undamaged.

"It's coming to the factory and will be analyzed there," he said. "It's important to collect all the data after such a heavy impact."

McLaren, Williams plight saddens Hamilton

Alonso in one of the bottom feeder McLarens

(GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he is sad that two of F1's most famous names are now struggling at the back.

The quadruple world champion and Mercedes driver started his career at the then-powerful McLaren team.

"I'm sad that they're so far behind," Hamilton told Belgium's F1 Journaal.

"I'm just as sorry that a team like Williams, which I grew up watching, is also not at the front," he added.

"It's crazy that the team that had drivers like Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill and won so many world championships is so far behind.

"And I was once in the McLaren family and it's because of them that I made my debut in formula one. They've been having problems for a very long time."

Hamilton said he hopes the major changes scheduled for 2021, including vastly different technical regulations and a budget cap, helps those teams.

"I really hope there is light at the end of the tunnel for them," said the Briton.

"No matter what is decided by Liberty Media, I hope that 2021 helps them to put things in order and perform better."

Sky TV New Zealand Fails To Renew Formula 1 Rights Deal in NZ
Sky Television failed in its bid to renew its rights to broadcast Formula 1 in New Zealand, according to Patrick McKendry of the NEW ZEALAND HERALD.

Sky will show the rest of the season, including this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, "but a drop in viewership" due in part to "later start times in Europe, plus the showing of official highlights on social media, has forced a change in approach" from the broadcaster. Sky reportedly bid for next year's rights and "it was not accepted."

Sky is expected to release the news on Friday "on the eve of Bathurst weekend."

The network will "probably also confirm" that it has retained the rights to V8 Supercars until '20 and NASCAR until the end of '21. The F1 issue is a "sensitive one for Sky because it attracts a loyal and often fanatical following," but it will "argue that going hard for the rights" did not make commercial sense.

The "unsociable starting hour has put off viewers" in the region, with Kiwi motorsport supporters "instead drawn to an extensive (and free) package of highlights broadcast on Facebook" from 6am Monday. NZ HERALD https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12137140

Mercedes reveals the whopping cost of winning in F1

Bottas in the Mercedes at Suzuka Friday. Look at that Friday crowd

Mercedes has gained a dominant position in Formula 1 thanks to its engineering excellence, but putting together the resources to support its success involves a massive budget.

The German outfit spent £309.7M to secure the world championship in 2017, a £45.9M increase over its previous year budget, justified by the R&D costs linked to the introduction of new rules in F1.

However, that big number only covered the costs of developing and building its Silver Arrows and running its team, and excludes all the costs associated with its Brixworth HPP engine department.

F1 has been a cost effective investment for parent company Daimler AG which supplied just £60M of the total 2017 budget, with the balance covered by the team's prize money revenue and its commercial sponsors.

The outfit's total revenue for 2017 amounted to £337.2M which represented a 16% increase year-over- year compared to 2016.

Mercedes has indicated that its revenue has increased by 194% since 2012.

The team's headcount at its Brackley headquarters averaged 912 in 2017, a slight increase over the 849 number of workers that contributed to the team's success in 2016.

With regard to TV exposure, Mercedes' winning efforts garnered a 24.7% share of coverage in 2017, representing and advertising value equivalent (AER) of £3.4B for the team and its associated partners.