Latest F1 news in brief

When you don't drive an Aldo Costa or Adrian Newey designed car you do not win F1 races

Vettel's Ferrari switch a mistake – Berger
Renault-Sirotkin deal to proceed after Vasseur exit
Todt no fan of two-day race weekend idea
Wolff not sure Ecclestone 'really gone'
Formula 1 Teams Still Discussing Share Deal With Liberty Media

Vettel's Ferrari switch a mistake – Berger
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel's 2015 switch from Red Bull to Ferrari was a mistake.

That is the view of F1 legend Gerhard Berger, referring to the fact that the quadruple world champion's switch to the famous Italian marque was compared at the time to his mentor Michael Schumacher's move of two decades ago.

"But Michael had Benetton people in his luggage," Berger, who had two separate stints driving for Ferrari in the 80s and 90s, told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell.

"Sebastian should have made the move to Ferrari only as Michael did, by taking key figures from Red Bull with him," the 57-year-old F1 veteran added.

A big rumor is that if Ferrari does not considerably improve in 2017, Vettel might be tempted to switch to Mercedes once his current contract is up.

And Berger said: "I do not see that there will be much change in Ferrari for 2017. So in that case Vettel would have to make a decision."

Berger also commented on the departure from the day to day running of the sport of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"The bottom line is that he is the father of our business, and there's a certain sadness when you see an era end," said the Austrian.

Instead of giving him a largely symbolic or honorary role as chairman emeritus, Berger said Liberty Media should have considered keeping Ecclestone on board.

"It would have been an opportunity for the new owners to try to bundle their plans with Bernie's experience," he said.

Renault-Sirotkin deal to proceed after Vasseur exit

Sergey Sirotkin

(GMM) Sergey Sirotkin will stay with the Renault team in 2017 despite the change in upper management.

That is the news from the mouth of Boris Rothenberg, a leading Russian banker who also heads a prominent Russian motor sport program.

Spearheading the 'SMP Racing' program from the cockpit is GP2 driver Sirotkin, who was poised to step up to the role as official reserve driver at Renault this year.

But that deal was agreed some months ago between Rothenberg and Frederic Vasseur, the Renault team boss who has now departed.

Renault is now led by Cyril Abiteboul, who differed considerably with Vasseur.

But Rothenberg says that does not change the deal agreed between Vasseur and Sirotkin.

"The program does not change, even though in Renault there was a change of leader," he is quoted by the Tass news agency.

"We met with Frederic Vasseur, now it is necessary to meet with the new head. But Vasseur himself told us that everything will stay the same," Rothenberg added.

"On this issue, we plan to make a separate presentation and will say more."

Rothenberg, who owns Russia's SMP Bank, also insisted that US sanctions imposed on him – reportedly for being close to Russian president Vladimir Putin – do not affect the motor racing programmed.

"We're moving forward and pay no attention to the sanctions," he said. "We did not abandon Indycar last year and this year we will stay.

"The people there welcomed us, constantly saying it's a pity I cannot come. Sport should be out of politics," Rothenberg added.

Todt no fan of two-day race weekend idea

Jean Todt with his wife

(GMM) F1 does not look set to switch to a two-day race weekend format any time soon.

The news comes after Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said that as Liberty Media takes over the sport, scrapping Friday would be a cheap and easy way to make F1 "more dynamic".

It might also be a way to accommodate Liberty's apparent plans to expand the F1 calendar well beyond its already bustling 20-race calendar.

"Friday practice does not play any role," Abiteboul told the French magazine Auto Hebdo.

But FIA president Jean Todt said: "It is quite simple — we have not found anything that would be better than the current format.

"If we were to find something that we believe would be real progress, we would look at it very closely," the Frenchman is quoted by Speed Week.

Wolff not sure Ecclestone 'really gone'

Planning his next move

(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone may be gone as chief executive, but he may not be gone for good according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

Long-time 'F1 supremo' Ecclestone, 86, recently rejected claims his comeback might be in the form of a breakaway series.

But Wolff insists the inimitable Briton can never be written off.

"With Bernie, you never know if he's really gone or if he will be back somehow," he told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"But it's true that Liberty has not only got the majority of shares in formula one but also the voting rights, and with this is the right to occupy the management. Chase Carey is the new boss — that is a fact," Wolff said.

Asked if he thinks Ecclestone might try to sweep back into power somehow, Wolff answered: "This has happened repeatedly in the past, and of course you have to count on anything in formula one.

"However, I basically assume that a situation has now been created in which there will be no way back," he added.

As for Ecclestone's exit, expert opinions are split. Some see the departure of an 86-year-old as a great opportunity to finally modernize F1, while others think the sport is now dangerously exposed without its 'dictator'.

"Both are possible," Wolff admitted.

"The risk is that a lot of knowledge is lost. Bernie made incredibly good deals, we have long-term contracts and building on that is not easy because much of it was built on personal relationships that Bernie built up over decades.

"On the other hand, there are also areas where we can improve," he explained.

And while Liberty Media has clear ideas for future changes, Wolff thinks the sport could in fact be about to enter a calmer era.

"The (2016) qualifying story, the discussion about the engine formula — we were always confronted with erratic decisions," Wolff said.

"The approach will now be much more strategic and thoughtful, based on data, with areas in which we can improve examined in detail," he added.

Formula 1 Teams Still Discussing Share Deal With Liberty Media

Zak Brown

McLaren Exec Dir Zak Brown said that F1 teams have "not rejected the idea of buying shares in the revamped F1 Group, and are still in discussions with both Liberty Media and each other," according to Adam Cooper of MOTORSPORT.

When its deal to buy into the sport was first announced, Liberty said that "it would give teams the chance to take a stake in the new company." It currently has what it terms approximately "19 million FWONK shares retained in treasury for possible sale to the F1 teams," after extending the deadline for a deal to be done.

Brown said, "We were given a short period of time to review a large investment. I think the feedback to Liberty was, 'We need to know more, we want greater visibility.' So they have now extended that window, which is a great thing. It's great to see early on they put something out, the teams had comments, and they responded favorably, saying, 'We hear you, we'll give you some more time, so we can have some further conversations.'"

Brown insisted that "time was the key issue why the deal has not yet happened."

Brown: "I don't think it was a case of this is a good deal or a bad deal, it was more we want more time to talk about it, get to know you, and understand where we're going." MOTORSPORT