Latest F1 news in brief

Nico Rosberg picked by Mercedes to be 2016 F1 champion

Rosberg still in the game for F1 title – Hakkinen
F1 'too complicated' – Hakkinen
Nurburgring not ruling out 2017 F1 race
Toro Rosso coping with late engine call
Hamilton wanted Block's 845hp 'Hoonicorn' New

Rosberg still in the game for F1 title – Hakkinen
(GMM) Nico Rosberg is still in the game when it comes to winning world championships.

That is the view of former two-time title winner Mika Hakkinen, who insisted the German driver cannot be written off after back-to-back defeats.

For the past two years, Mercedes has been dominant in F1 but it has been Rosberg's teammate Lewis Hamilton who swept up the drivers' crowns.

"For the drivers it's a tough game," Hakkinen told Germany's Sport Bild, "because only one of them can win. And so far it has been only Lewis.

"But that does not mean the game is over. The most important thing for someone in Nico's position is not to give up and start living with the fact that you are second.

"You have to fight, even if in the end only one of them can win," the back-to-back world champion of 1998 and 1999 added.

Hakkinen said a positive for Rosberg, and a potential chink in the armor for the otherwise dominant Hamilton, is the fact that Rosberg completed his 2015 campaign with a hat-trick of wins from pole.

"Lewis was able to sit back in the end," the 47-year-old former McLaren driver and Finn continued. "But once someone else starts winning, that can have a psychological effect for the next season."

F1 'too complicated' – Hakkinen
(GMM) F1 should have two priorities in order to improve the sport.

That is the view of Mika Hakkinen, as the former double world champion was asked about moves to make changes and re-engage a dwindling audience.

"Technically," he told Germany's Sport Bild, "it is too complicated. People like simple things — our lives are complicated enough."

47-year-old Hakkinen, who retired after the 2001 season with twenty wins to his name, also argued: "F1 also has to use social media to connect to the fans.

"The fans don't want to just see what happens, they want to feel like they are there," added the former McLaren driver.

After Rosberg wins the 2016 F1 title, German fans will again buy tickets for their F1 races. It's called national pride and Mercedes wants Germany to have a strong crowd at its 'home' race

Nurburgring not ruling out 2017 F1 race
(GMM) The Nurburgring is not ruling out returning to the F1 calendar in 2017.

The circuit's financial and ownership troubles were the reason for the absence from the calendar of a German grand prix last year.

Germany is returning to the calendar in 2016, thanks to the annually alternating contract with Hockenheim, but F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone admitted just before Christmas that he is not confident about the race's future.

"I think we can say for sure that there will not be a race (in 2017)," he told the German-language website motorsport-magazin.com.

"Next year (2016) is fine, because we have a contract. Not a very good one, but there is one," Ecclestone added.

However, motorsport-magazin.com now reports that the new owners and operators – a company called Capricorn – have turned an undisclosed profit for the Nurburgring.

Regarding the prospect of the grand prix being held at the track in 2017, Capricorn's Carsten Schumacher said: "I can imagine nothing better than accommodating formula one, but the financial risk needs to be manageable."

More generally, he sounds confident about the future of the Nurburgring.

"In an international comparison of race tracks we have a very high utilization, and also for 2016," said Schumacher.

"This is a strong sign for our partners, our clients and also for the region, the Eifel, which depends to a large extent on the events at the Nurburgring."

James Key

Toro Rosso coping with late engine call
Toro Rosso technical chief James Key is adamant that the team can build on its promising 2015 season this year, despite the lengthy delay in securing an engine supply deal.

Toro Rosso only confirmed 2015-specification Ferrari power units at the beginning of last month, after Red Bull finally decided that its two squads would be staying in the sport.

Although Key revealed that Toro Rosso would have ideally known last March what engine it would be running in 2016, he says the outfit has the know-how to react efficiently.

"Yes and no, because when you've got a tricky engine situation it's always a compromise," Key told Sky Sports, when asked if the build of the STR11 had been compromised.

"There is a compromise because you've really got to be optimizing your car around what is an incredibly complicated installation of these power units.

"Back in March is when you're really getting to grips with what you're trying to do.

"So it does compromise from a technical viewpoint. In terms of what the team is doing, I don't think it makes the slightest bit of difference. You simply shuffle plans around accordingly.

"There are some really good guys to work on all this stuff, so we've got a lot of very competent production guys and designers who are working hard to make sure that we're in the best shape possible.

"You'd never want it because it is a massive distraction and it does compromise your car, but it's surprising what you can do when you're faced with uncertainty."

Key hopes that Ferrari power, albeit a year old, will boost an already aerodynamically efficient car.

"There's a lot of filtering to do [of other factors], but if you look at medium and high-speed corner apex speeds, we're right up there with all the guys ahead of us," Key went on to comment.

"In fact, in Barcelona, where we qualified fifth and sixth, we were second to only one of the Mercedes in the high-speed corners, so that gives a good indication of how much aero we've got."

Hamilton wanted Block's 845hp 'Hoonicorn'
(GMM) World champion Lewis Hamilton expressed interest in buying a wild custom car from Ken Block, the famous American rally and stunt driver.

One of the most fascinating cars in 48-year-old Block's garage is a custom and totally-unique 1965 Ford Mustang, punching 845 horse power and specially prepared for one of his famous Gymkhana videos.

"Lewis Hamilton wanted to buy the Mustang from me," Block told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"When he heard the price, he suddenly lost interest," he laughed.

Block suggested that he raised the price unattainably high because he actually doesn't want to part with the so-called 'Hoonicorn', preferring it over any modern sports car on the market.

"Why should I spend a couple of hundred thousand dollars for a car that is slower than my race car?" he wondered.