Latest F1 news in brief

Wolff to decide on team orders this week

Mercedes to decide on team orders this week
Austria crash won't change future decision – Rosberg
Ocon to test for Mercedes at Silverstone
No celebrations after Max's podium – father
Verstappen named 'Driver of the Day'
Ryan: Point shows Manor is 'serious'
Ferrari already working on 2018 Formula 1 program

Mercedes to decide on team orders this week
(GMM) Mercedes will decide in the next two days how to proceed in the wake of the latest collision between teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Boss Toto Wolff left Austria declaring that team orders would be back on the table in the talks to be held prior to the British grand prix this weekend.

But the Telegraph reported that more extreme options, like the specter of huge financial penalties or even race suspensions, may also be under consideration by the reigning champion team.

World champion Hamilton said he hopes team orders are not implemented because it would take the "joy" of racing away from him and "rob" the fans.

But even Niki Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman who has always argued against the imposition of team orders, admitted the German squad has a tough call to make.

"We set up clear rules after the crash at Spa (in 2014) but now it's happened again in Barcelona and Austria. So it doesn't work anymore," he told Bild newspaper.

Lauda's new opinion could be driven by the specter of competition, with the F1 legend warning that Ferrari continues to close on Mercedes.

"Ferrari are there, there's no question," he told German broadcaster RTL.

Corriere dello Sport, an Italian specialist daily, said the events of the Red Bull Ring showed that the problem at Mercedes is "the absolute lack of mutual respect between the two drivers".

Red Bull's Christian Horner thinks the duo might even now be "untenable", but he also thinks team orders would be wrong.

"I think their advantage over the others is big enough and a rivalry like that is also good for the sport," said the Briton.

Rosberg still hoping to stay at Mercedes

Austria crash won't change future decision – Rosberg
(GMM) Nico Rosberg says the events in Austria on Sunday will not affect his decision about the future.

Although Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called Rosberg's collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton "brainless", the Austrian chief insisted it would not affect the negotiations over a new multi-year contract for the German driver.

And now, the Belgian source Sporza quotes Rosberg as saying: "The incident on Sunday will not change my decision.

"I had victory within reach and lost it, which was incredibly hard to take and disappointing, but in the end I lost a race and Hamilton won it — that's it.

"I feel good at Mercedes," he added. "This is my racing family and I hope to stay here in the future."

Esteban Ocon

Ocon to test for Mercedes at Silverstone
Mercedes youngster Esteban Ocon will conduct two full days of running for the Formula 1 team at next week's post-British Grand Prix test session at Silverstone.

Ocon, who is on loan at Renault as the outfit's reserve, gets both days as Mercedes needs to run a dedicated 'young driver' to meet the current testing regulations.

In 2016, each team must allocate two of the four days to drivers with fewer than two race starts, but fielded Nico Rosberg and Pascal Wehrlein at the first test in Spain.

Mercedes was initially set to field Ocon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but it called up Manor's Wehrlein as it required a driver with more experience to test parts.

Mercedes has also confirmed that its 2014-spec F1 W05 Hybrid will be in action at the test, with Wehrlein behind the wheel, to aid Pirelli's 2017 tire testing program.

Mercedes will run the car 'blind', with no knowledge of the tire compounds it is testing, and with no set-up changes permitted, as per the standard testing procedure.

No celebrations after Max's podium – father
(GMM) Max Verstappen's father says there were no celebration parties after the 18-year-old finished second in Austria.

That is despite the fact that the young Dutchman's mentor, Dr Helmut Marko, admitted to raising a glass to the latest triumph.

"With a good glass of wine," he told De Telegraaf newspaper, when asked how he will celebrate Verstappen's latest podium. "And maybe even a Heineken.

"It's incredible how Max drove, because P2 surpassed all our expectations. Max had the perfect balance between fast laptimes and dealing with the tires. It was a repeat of Barcelona," Marko added.

Indeed, F1's global fans agreed, awarding Verstappen the 'driver of the day' title for the third time this season.

Max's dad Jos, however, was not in a party mood.

"No, we're taking it easy," he insisted. "We celebrate like this only with victories."

But that doesn't mean the former Benetton and Minardi driver is being hard on Max, as he admits he is already a much better driver than he ever was.

"Max is long past me now. He's twice as good," said Jos.

Even F1 legend Niki Lauda, who is Mercedes' team chairman, agrees with that.

"Max is the most promising talent I've seen in years," he told Welt newspaper.

"The boy has the attitude of a world champion."

Max Verstappen (L) continues to impress

Verstappen named 'Driver of the Day'
Max Verstappen has been voted as 'Driver of the Day' for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Verstappen climbed from eighth on the grid to the podium positions on a one-stop strategy, and took advantage of the last-lap collision between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton to finish second.

Verstappen also won the award at the Spanish Grand Prix, for winning on his Red Bull debut, and at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he took fourth place, defending boldly from Rosberg.

Verstappen leads on three awards, with Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez both on two.

'Driver of the Day' awards in 2016:

Australia – Romain Grosjean
Bahrain – Romain Grosjean
China – Daniil Kvyat
Russia – Kevin Magnussen
Spain – Max Verstappen
Monaco – Sergio Perez
Canada – Max Verstappen
Azerbaijan – Sergio Perez
Austria – Max Verstappen

Dave Ryan

Ryan: Point shows Manor is 'serious'
Pascal Wehrlein's points finish at the Austrian Grand Prix shows that Manor is a "serious" team, and will provide a "huge lift" moving forward, according to Racing Director Dave Ryan.

Wehrlein claimed 12th on the grid in his Mercedes-powered MRT05, and managed to progress in a dramatic race, taking the final point when Sergio Perez retired on the final lap.

"After a Q2 performance in qualifying, a point-scoring finish is a fantastic way to end a really positive weekend," commented Ryan, who arrived at the outfit towards the end of 2015.

"It shows that we're a serious team and we're working extremely hard to improve.

"Pascal has looked comfortable the whole time we've been in Austria and, even though there was a point in the race where things were not looking so great for him, we felt sure he would turn it around.

"That's exactly what he did and he put himself in exactly the right position to take advantage."

Ryan added that the result serves as a boost ahead of the team's home race at Silverstone.

"Naturally, heading into our home Grand Prix next week, this will give everyone a huge lift," he said.

"We need to keep our feet on the ground, but after an enormous amount of hard work in the first half of the season, everyone thoroughly deserves to enjoy the moment before the hard work starts again."

Wehrlein's point moved Manor up to 10th in the standings, ahead of Sauber.

Maurizio Arrivabene can write off 2016

Ferrari already working on 2018 Formula 1 program
Ferrari has already started working on its 2018 Formula 1 project, according to team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, as it looks to end its long title drought.

Kimi Raikkonen was the last Ferrari driver to win a world championship in 2007, one year before its last constructors' title.

After winning three races in 2015 with Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari has shown similar pace again this year, but has failed to put a strong enough grand prix weekend together to win.

Arrivabene has previously said that Ferrari has no intention of giving up on 2016, but it has now emerged it is splitting resources across this year and the next two.

Ferrari's engine improvements last year and into this year has been one of its strengths, however it has already used all but three of its development tokens in its push to catch Mercedes.

From next season, the token system will be abolished, opening up development opportunities in the hope F1 will edge closer to power unit equality.

"I have always said the team that is working here is focused on this year because the gap is quite big," said Arrivabene, when asked by Autosport when it planned to shift focus.

"I think we can fight, I'm sure we can fight.

"In the meantime, we have a different methodology to work so we have a team that is focused on this year's car.

"We also have a little team that is focused on next year's car and another that is looking after 2018, especially on the engine."

Arrivabene said Ferrari has lacked luck in 2016 but remains convinced that the team can turn its results around.

"When you're going to win, we are going up to the sky because I'm very emotional, I'm passionate," he said.

"But in this role, you have to forget about this, you have to keep calm, look at the season and the next races and keep the team motivated.

"I've always said I don't trust bad luck or good luck, but I think we have a big debt not with luck but with us." Autosport