Latest F1 news in brief

Jolyon Palmer

Renault 'happy' with Palmer – boss
Russian backer joins Kvyat at Toro Rosso
Hamilton urges fans to 'trust' Mercedes
Marko expects Red Bull wins in 2016
Pirelli clarifies Verstappen/Kvyat tires

Renault 'happy' with Palmer – boss
(GMM) Renault has dismissed speculation Jolyon Palmer is in danger of losing his race seat.

In the same week that Red Bull demoted Daniil Kvyat, rumors continued to circulate that rookie Palmer, the 2014 GP2 champion, was in danger of losing his Renault seat to a young team charger like Sergey Sirotkin or Esteban Ocon.

Frenchman Ocon, the reigning GP3 champion and 2014 European F3 title winner, will even drive Briton Palmer's yellow car in Friday practice next week in Spain.

But team boss Frederic Vasseur – Ocon's team boss in GP3 last year – insisted: "We have a strong lineup and one we're happy with and committed to.

"Kevin (Magnussen) has performed very well in his return to formula one and Jolyon is approaching his rookie season in a clear and methodical manner.

"It's true that Jolyon had a couple of races where he didn't deliver as he wanted, equally this is natural in a driver's first season," Vasseur said.

"He's learning and making strong progress."

Daniil Kvyat

Russian backer joins Kvyat at Toro Rosso
(GMM) A Russian backer is more than happy with Daniil Kvyat's controversial return to Toro Rosso ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

Moscow-based online newspaper Lenta reports that, mere days after Red Bull decided to demote 22-year-old Kvyat, Russian businessman Sergey Belousov signed on the dotted line of a sponsorship deal with the Faenza based team.

"We have been familiar with Daniil Kvyat for a long time and discussed a possible partnership with Toro Rosso before his move to Red Bull," Belousov, an IT entrepreneur and venture capitalist, said.

"We also have a huge respect for the head of Toro Rosso, Franz Tost," he added.

According to Lenta, Belousov's financial and technological support for Toro Rosso will be long-term, but only if Tost and Kvyat are at the team.

He said he thinks Toro Rosso is a better place for Kvyat than was Red Bull Racing.

"Red Bull is focused on the commercial side as well but Toro Rosso is pure racing," said Belousov.

"I am not an expert in formula one," he added, "but in my opinion Toro Rosso is more comfortable at Toro Rosso.

"Of course, Verstappen is also a first-class driver, but I think Kvyat was able to show his strength already at the start of this season."

Hamilton says trust Mercedes

Hamilton urges fans to 'trust' Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton has urged his fans to "trust" Mercedes moving forward, in the wake of suggestions that his championship battle with team-mate Nico Rosberg is being sabotaged.

Mercedes has faced criticism on social media in recent weeks, with Rosberg taking full advantage of technical problems on Hamilton's car to open up a comfortable title advantage.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff hit out at the "lunatics" peddling conspiracy theories last time out in Russia, before the outfit wrote a sizeable letter in a bid to silence them.

Hamilton has now taken to social media to urge his own fans to support the team.

"I want you to know how grateful I am for all of your support," Hamilton's message began.

"I'd like to ask that you please trust in my team, as I do. This is my family. These guys have been the greatest, hardest working people for me, and that is why I am now 3x World Champion.

"Please don't put any more thought into my team doing anything unjust towards me, and understand that it would be in no one's best interest for that to be the case.

"We've had the best three years together, and whilst it's not going to plan right now, all will unfold in its own time.

"I trust these guys 1000 per cent and my mechanics are incredible, the best in the business. I respect them so please do the same. They are the guys that are going to make winning this championship possible."

Hamilton beat Rosberg to the championship crown in 2014 and 2015.

Helmut Marko also on some hallucinogen – doesn't he realize Mercedes will also make their engine more powerful too. They should be able to beat hapless Ferrari

Marko expects Red Bull wins in 2016
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko says that he expects Red Bull to fight for victories later in the season, following a planned power unit upgrade from supplier Renault.

Renault has spent only eight engine development tokens so far this season, the fewest of the four manufacturers, leaving it with 24 to play with over the remainder of the campaign.

A major upgrade is planned for the Canadian Grand Prix, which Marko reckons will bridge enough of a gap to enable Red Bull challenge at the sharp-end on higher downforce circuits.

"Looking at Russia: the engine power is super important," Marko told the official Formula 1 website.

"We saw in qualifying that we had dropped back a bit again, we are again in the region of the Williams.

"What we are really looking forward is the next [power unit] upgrade – how powerful it will be.

"We are pretty optimistic; if the figures are right it should put us back in a situation where we can win races again on circuits like Budapest and Singapore – tracks that don't have long straights."

With reigning double World Champion team Mercedes out of reach, Marko hopes that Red Bull can put pressure on second-placed Ferrari, which sits 19 points ahead after four races.

"We hope to be a threat to Ferrari the rest of the season," he commented.

Max Verstappen will partner Daniel Ricciardo from the Spanish Grand Prix, with Daniil Kvyat demoted to Toro Rosso after twice colliding with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel last time out in Russia.

Pirelli tires

Pirelli clarifies Verstappen/Kvyat tires
Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli has clarified that Max Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat will use each other's tire compound selections up to the Austrian Grand Prix, after their in-season seat swap.

At the next round in Spain, Verstappen will make the step up to Red Bull, with Kvyat moving back down to Toro Rosso, a switch that has prompted questions over their advanced tire selections.

For 2016, each driver is given 13 dry-weather sets per Grand Prix, with Pirelli choosing two sets for the race (only one of which must be used), and a set of the softest compound, only for use in Q3.

Drivers are free to select any combination of the chosen compounds for the other 10 sets.

Selections for the Monaco, Canadian, European (Baku) and Austrian Grands Prix have already been made, and Pirelli told GPUpdate.net that Verstappen and Kvyat's choices are car-bound.

Verstappen and Kvyat both made significantly different choices for next weekend's Barcelona event.

Verstappen picked one set of Hards, six sets of Mediums and six sets of Softs, while Kvyat chose two sets of Hards, four sets of Mediums and seven sets of Softs – these sets will remain with the car, not the driver.

"It is quite logical from a technical point [of view]," a Pirelli spokesman told GPUpdate.net.