Latest F1 news in brief

Monaco is the ultimate Mickey Mouse circuit layout. But it sure is gorgeous.

Monaco should change F1 circuit – Hamilton
Red Bull 'a good place' for Ricciardo – Hamilton
Ocon hints at Mercedes 'team orders'
Former F1 driver loses interest in sport
Verstappen takes 'hard lesson' from Monaco
Alonso watched Indy 500 with 'numb' F1 fans
FIA to keep checking Ferrari legality in Canada
Ferrari's Simone Resta is the new Technical Director of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1

Monaco should change F1 circuit – Hamilton
(GMM) World champion Lewis Hamilton thinks Monaco should think about tweaking its iconic F1 street circuit.

Many drivers agreed after Sunday's race in the Principality that the race was not exciting.

"If I was bored I don't want to image the fans at home watching the race," said Force India driver Sergio Perez.

The Mexican thinks Pirelli has done "a good job" with its 2018 tires generally, but they did not cope with the Monaco race and drivers had to cruise.

"If I was on the couch I would have fallen asleep," Mercedes' Hamilton said.

"It's amazing how little I pushed. Less than I can remember ever."

He said the problem is unique to Monaco, where overtaking is also almost impossible.

"This race needs another format," said Hamilton.

"Recently I told the Prince that maybe it's time to make the track longer. Over the past few years, more roads have been built here so maybe we can make it better.

"Or maybe we need to change the format of the race. I don't know. Monaco is an excellent track but maybe we need two races here. It was the longest 78 laps of my life!" Hamilton added.

Toto Wolff, Hamilton's team boss, played down the quadruple world champion's comments.

"Lewis always freely expresses his opinion, but this is Monaco and without serious accidents or a safety car it's always similar. Football also has good and bad games," he said.

Red Bull 'a good place' for Ricciardo – Hamilton

Hamilton wants Ricciardo to stay at Red Bull. He does not want a teammate who would beat him.

(GMM) Lewis Hamilton thinks Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo should consider staying at Red Bull.

Just as his current contract is set to run out, Australian Ricciardo is riding high and linked with potential moves to Ferrari or Mercedes.

"I chatted with him today," Hamilton said after Monaco.

"I told him he's doing a great job. Everyone knows who his teammate (Max Verstappen) is and how much more he's paid, but he (Ricciardo) is more consistent, breaks cars less often and outperforms him.

"He's one of the top drivers," the Briton added. "I'm sure he has options, so that means Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari."

Hamilton said a move to Mercedes for Ricciardo is "unlikely", amid rumors Valtteri Bottas will be retained.

"If you look at Ferrari, I guess Kimi will want to stay," said Hamilton. "He's doing well this year and there's no sign that he's getting older.

"The other thing is that at the moment Daniel is the leader at Red Bull. It's a good place for him. At some point they will get a competitive engine and further reduce the gap to us. And that's great," he said.

Ocon hints at Mercedes 'team orders'

The Force India drivers have orders to move aside if Hamilton or Bottas are behind them

(GMM) Esteban Ocon has hinted team orders may be in place between Force India and Mercedes.

After the Monaco grand prix, a reporter for Sky Italia asked Force India driver Ocon if he "made life too easy" when works Mercedes driver Hamilton passed him in the race.

"I'm a Mercedes driver," Ocon, a Mercedes junior who drives for Mercedes-powered Force India, answered.

"You should ask the boss."

Many wondered if the odd move and answer indicated that 'team orders' are indeed in place between Mercedes and its customer.

"It was pointless to fight with him, especially as he had new tires," Ocon said.

Asked if there is an 'unwritten rule' that Force India not make life difficult for Mercedes, Ocon answered: "Maybe."

Former F1 driver loses interest in sport
(GMM) One former F1 driver has counted himself out of those who call themselves fans of the sport.

Over a decade ago, Sergey Zlobin became the first Russian test driver in F1 with a role at Minardi.

But now he tells Russia's Sport-Express that he doesn't even watch formula one on TV.

"I haven't watched a single race this year, because the races have ceased to be races," Zlobin insisted.

"I've lost interest. Now it's a championship of budgets, not drivers. Plus, there were some strange innovations, supposedly for security but in fact they were nonsense.

"Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings will be next. I think when they say that girls should be removed from the grid, that's enough for me," he added.

And so Zlobin said that when he thinks of 'formula one', he now has to look into the annals of history.

"I think I would have to go to the Ferrari museum and see how the cars used to be. Ideal cars, tracks, drivers. Now there are three or four ideal drivers, three good cars, and no ideal tracks. Monaco is traditional but it's far from ideal.

"I repeat, today in formula one there is nothing for me to watch," he said.

Verstappen takes 'hard lesson' from Monaco

Crashstappen says he will learn a lesson every time he crashes, but he never does. Niki Lauda says he needs a brain transplant

(GMM) Max Verstappen says he will take the "hard lessons" on board from Monaco and other races so far in 2018.

The young Dutchman had a horror Monaco, missing qualifying after a crash, receiving widespread criticism and then watching his teammate Daniel Ricciardo celebrate the pole and win.

"These are painful moments," Verstappen told Ziggo Sport after the race, "but I think it's necessary to get better.

"Sometimes you have a year that does not work out for a while, but it's much worse if you're not fast enough — and that's not the case," he added.

Even Verstappen's bosses Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko criticized him after the Monaco crash, but the 20-year-old said he can learn his own lessons.

"I do not need that criticism, I know very well what I did wrong and what needs to be improved. They are not great moments but sometimes you need them to learn the hard lessons," he said.

Alonso watched Indy 500 with 'numb' F1 fans

Alonso called Monaco the most boring race in the history of F1. He wished he were racing in the Indy 500.

(GMM) Fernando Alonso says one of the best things about Monaco GP race day was watching the Indy 500 afterwards.

The Spaniard therefore joined the ranks of people critical of the questionable spectacle of Sunday's race in the Principality.

"At least it (watching the Indy 500) was fun, especially because the people who watched this race [Monaco] were a bit numb," said Alonso.

Alonso skipped Monaco to do the Indy 500 last year but says his return to the fabled streets was "extremely boring".

"It was probably the most boring race in the history of F1," he told Spanish reporters.

"The sport has to think about the show I think, because we all just followed the car in front.

"Maybe we should give the fans some compensation for paying for a ticket," Alonso added.

The 36-year-old was also upset about McLaren's pace in Monaco, as another Renault-powered car – Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull – sped ahead and dominated the weekend.

"The pace of Red Bull was disappointing," Alonso said.

"Disappointing for us. We use the same engine as them. They are our yardstick and in an ideal world, we should be on par with them.

"But we know what levers to pull to make the McLaren faster," he added.

FIA to keep checking Ferrari legality in Canada

Former Ferrari engineer Lorenzo Sassi is rumored to have outed Ferrari. Rest assured all the Ferrari fans hate this guy about now.

(GMM) A legality saga involving Ferrari's 2018 car looks set to run and run.

After monitoring hardware and software was installed following a round of speculation about the car's turbo and battery systems, the FIA gave Ferrari a clean bill of health in Monaco.

But race director Charlie Whiting said more monitoring in Canada may now be necessary.

"I'm not saying we'll definitely do it, because I assume we will come to the same conclusion," he said.

"But Ferrari will make changes to the software in Canada. I'm not an expert, but we're trying to understand the difference of the two parts of the battery.

"There is one battery, but the system perceives it as two," Whiting adding. "I don't think I'm giving anything away."

He said Ferrari is not necessarily 'under investigation', explaining that Ferrari is simply using a battery system that is "completely different" to its rivals.

"Before Canada, we will have more advanced systems that will allow us to get results much faster. We've been dealing with this issue for two race weekends now.

"I have to say Ferrari provided us with everything that we needed," Whiting added.

It is believed the 'tip' about Ferrari's questionable system came from Lorenzo Sassi, an engineer who recently switched from Maranello to Mercedes.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff would not confirm that.

"One of my duties as team boss is to protect my employees," he said.

Ferrari's Simone Resta is the new Technical Director of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1

Resta sent to Alfa Romeo team with Ferrari knowledge to help the backmarkers

The Sauber F1 team announced that Simone Resta has been appointed as the new Technical Director at the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team.

The renowned F1 Engineer joins the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team from Ferrari where he was covering the position of Head of Vehicle Project Coordination.

Simone Resta will take over from the 1st of July 2018 and will report directly to Frederic Vasseur.

Long-term Ferrari man Resta was appointed to the position under boss Maurizio Arrivabene prior to the 2015 campaign, and worked as deputy to Mattia Binotto at the team.

In a short statement issued on Monday morning, Ferrari confirmed that Resta will depart the outfit on Thursday and take up another role at a different Formula 1 team.

Frederic Vasseur, CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG and Team Principal of Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team:
“Simone Resta has the best profile to take on the role of Technical Director. His arrival at Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team marks a significant step ahead of a long term project that aims at strengthening the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team in order to achieve ambitious results."