Latest F1 news in brief

Ricciardo wants more power

Ricciardo hoping for Renault upgrade in Baku
Red Bull keeping both drivers in 2018
Vettel plays down Ferrari contract talk
Massa not mourning Ecclestone exit
Steiner says 'why not?' to 25-race plans
Raikkonen not angry after Monaco controversy
Vettel not thinking about title win
Alonso to Renault would be 'great' – Hulkenberg
Kubica lost weight for F1 return – report
Wehrlein '100pc' after doctor checks

Ricciardo hoping for Renault upgrade in Baku
(GMM) Red Bull is in an upbeat mood as it speeds towards the mid-season point in 2017.

The former champions started the season off the pace but recent upgrades have narrowed the gap to the leading teams Ferrari and Mercedes.

"We should keep closing up now," Daniel Ricciardo is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport in Canada.

"It will not be as good here as Monaco, but we have a lot of new things on the car, small things, but enough that we can talk about an upgrade.

"Until the summer break we should get new things at every race, and in Baku we should get more help with an update from Renault," the Australian added.

"Our data from the wind tunnel and the track are now matching and we know what direction we need to go in."

Red Bull keeping both drivers in 2018

Horner keeping both drivers

(GMM) Red Bull has dismissed rumors it might make a change to its driver lineup for 2018.

Currently, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen drive for the premier energy drink owned team, but rumors of potential moves are always bubbling.

However, team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper: "Both have uncomplicated, clean contracts.

"I have no doubt that Max and Daniel will drive the RB14 next year," he insisted.

Vettel plays down Ferrari contract talk

Vettel has no worries

(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has played down reports he is under pressure to ink a new Ferrari contract.

Reports have suggested team president Sergio Marchionne wants the German to commit to a deal with a significant pay-rise by September's Italian grand prix.

"The contract extension is not an issue at the moment," Speed Week quotes Vettel as saying in Montreal.

"Maybe that sounds a little strange, but we are focused entirely on the season and so far we have not had time to talk about it in peace. We are all trying to preserve the current momentum that we have," he added.

Vettel was also asked about claims from all sides last week that his strong involvement in the development of this year's Pirelli tires has given Ferrari an obvious advantage.

"I was simply asked if I wanted to test and I said yes immediately," he said.

"I don't know if it was an advantage because the transition car was completely different to what we have now. For example, we had problems getting heat into the tires but this is no longer an issue, at least for us," added Vettel.

Massa not mourning Ecclestone exit

Felipe Massa

(GMM) Felipe Massa says he does not mourn the departure from F1's day to day running of former supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone has been critical of the early changes made by his successors Chase Carey, Ross Brawn and Sean Bratches, but F1 veteran Massa said it was a necessary shift.

"Don't get me wrong — I think Bernie Ecclestone is a genius," the Williams driver said.

"But the world has changed a lot. Despite all his genius, I think Bernie does not fully understand all of the current trends with his 86 years. It is important to move now in a progressive way," Massa added.

He said a great example of how to make F1 "more popular and more interesting" was the young Ferrari fan who got to meet Kimi Raikkonen during a recent grand prix.

"We need a younger outlook and a more professional approach in certain areas," said Massa.

"This year the drivers have been met two or three times by the new owners in the briefings, because for many years we often had proposals but the answer was always 'no'."

Steiner says 'why not?' to 25-race plans

Steiner OK with 25 race per year. F1 races every other week so that's a 50 week schedule. There are 52 weeks a year, so 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Years

Steiner OK with 25 races per year. F1 races every other week so that's 2×25 = a 50 week schedule. There are 52 weeks a year, so 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s

(GMM) F1 teams may need to adapt if Liberty Media intends to expand the calendar to as many as 25 races.

New F1 CEO Chase Carey has already said next year's calendar will weigh in at 21 races, but there are rumors of a much longer schedule beyond that.

Fernando Alonso, however, has threatened to quit the sport if there are 25 races.

"Fernando is lucky in the sense that he can afford to go," Haas team boss Gunther Steiner said in Montreal.

"As for the teams, there has been talk about increasing the number of races for a long time, but it would require serious preparation.

"If this route is taken, and it is commercially viable for us, then why not?" he added.

"We want to be in formula one — we are not obliged to be, and if someone thinks there are too many races, they have the freedom to stop," said Steiner.

Raikkonen not angry after Monaco controversy

Why should Raikkonen (R) be angry, he got buried by Vettel fair and square

(GMM) Kimi Raikkonen insists he is not angry following the 'team orders' controversy of Monaco.

Ferrari did not issue team orders so that Sebastian Vettel won in the Principality, but many suspect the team deliberately shuffled Raikkonen into second place through a less efficient pit strategy.

Finn Raikkonen was visibly sour on the podium, but he said in Montreal that he understands what happened.

"Many things came together at the wrong time," he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

"But after each race you can find things that could have been done differently," he added.

"Decisions have to be made quickly and this time they were not 100 per cent ideal for me. There are always mistakes — it is completely normal," Raikkonen said.

And so the Finn said he was angry after the race not at Ferrari, but simply because he didn't win.

"My goal is to win, so if you're second, you are not happy," said Raikkonen.

He also hit back at suggestions that Monaco demonstrated clearly that he is now the 'number 2' driver behind Vettel.

"It stays the same," he said. "We have our rules: we fight as hard as we can, and when the point in the championship comes when only one of us has a chance of the title, it changes. I have no problem with that."

But when asked if the Monaco situation helped or hindered his quest for a 2018 contract, Raikkonen was coy.

"There are always rumors every year. I have no contract for next year," he said.

"What happened in Monaco has nothing to do with my future. I know what I want for next year, and the people who need to know it know it as well."

Vettel not thinking about title win

Why should Raikkonen be anry, he got buried by Vettel fair and square

Vettel focused on wins

(GMM) F1's title contenders do not want to talk about their championship battle, ahead of the seventh out of 20 races on the 2017 calendar.

After six races, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is leading Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by 25 races.

But German Vettel said in Montreal: "I do not want to think about the title at this point of the season."

However, he admitted he has a great car to drive this year.

"Our great strength is that we have a car that is fast on every kind of track," Vettel is quoted by Speed Week.

"But we have often seen how much can change over a season and we are still right at the beginning of the development of these cars."

As for Hamilton, his boss Niki Lauda last week warned that unless Vettel suffers a retirement, the points gap may become too big later in the season.

But Hamilton said: "My goal has never been to be the championship leader after Monaco. I want to be the leader after Abu Dhabi.

"I know it won't be easy to make up those points, but so much can happen in the course of a season.

"Of course it's not a comfortable position for us, but at the same time we can still win this championship," he added.

As for Mercedes' recent issues, Hamilton said: "We are constantly learning about the tires and we keep attacking.

"We have a lot of new things on the car. The fight is still in full swing," he added.

Alonso to Renault would be 'great' – Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg welcomes the chance to get smoked

(GMM) Nico Hulkenberg says he would welcome the arrival of Fernando Alonso at Renault next year.

With struggling Jolyon Palmer's future in doubt, there have been rumors Sergey Sirotkin or even Robert Kubica are in the running to replace him.

But another rumor is that former two-time Renault world champion, Alonso, could leave McLaren-Honda and return to the French marque.

"I think it would be great," German Hulkenberg, currently Renault's top driver on a multi-year contract, is quoted by Speed Week.

"It would be great not only for the whole team, but for me as well to compete with one of the best drivers in the world.

"I could learn a lot for him and without a doubt Fernando would be a huge boost for the whole Renault project," he added.

Hulkenberg also said he was "very impressed" with how competitive Alonso was at the recent Indy 500.

"I think the example of Alonso at Indy and also my Le Mans adventure with Porsche showed that the driver level in formula one is very high," he said.

Kubica lost weight for F1 return – report

Robert Kubica

(GMM) Robert Kubica appears to be serious about a potential return to F1.

That is the claim of Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport, following the former F1 driver's surprise Renault test in Valencia this week.

Despite earlier saying his 2011 arm injury was permanent, both Renault and the now 32-year-old Pole took the outing with the 2012 Lotus car seriously.

Luigi Perna, the Gazzetta correspondent, says Kubica did a "condensed program of an entire race weekend" at Valencia, including race starts and pitstops.

"It seems that Kubica was faster than the official tester Sergey Sirotkin," he claimed.

"The limitations in movement of his right arm, which was operated on 18 times since the accident, is an obstacle Kubica has been able to compensate for and overcome over time," said Perna.

The report said the only modification to the Renault car was the single gearshift lever, so that Kubica could change both up and down with his left hand.

And Perna said Kubica started preparing for a serious comeback 12 months ago, when he "began to train like crazy on the bike, slimming more than 10kg".

"The next goal, one might hope, is another test or a free practice session at a grand prix," he said. "The sensational F1 return of Robert Kubica is no longer a forbidden dream."

Wehrlein '100pc' after doctor checks

Pascal Wehrlein has no excuses now

(GMM) Pascal Wehrlein has confirmed reports that he is back to full fitness after his early-season back injury.

The German had to miss the start of the 2017 season with fractured vertebrae, and he got another scare in Monaco when his helmet struck the barrier in a clash with Jenson Button.

So before he was cleared to race in Canada this week, he returned to the doctor.

"I made a check to ensure the old injury was not hurt again," Wehrlein is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

"Of course I am very happy that I am 100 per cent fig again. So I don't have to worry about that anymore," the Sauber driver added.