Latest F1 news in brief – Monday

• Mario Illien knows it will be hard to figure out Mercedes' engine secret

  No overnight fix for Renault problems – Illien

• Retiring drivers could power F1 return – Magnussen
• Button, Alonso unsure race wins possible in 2016
• Verstappen close to New Year's fire scare in Dubai
• New car will show if 2016 title possible – Raikkonen
• Raikkonen prefers old tracks over more 'Tilke corners'
• 'Strong' Hamilton is ideal teammate – Rosberg
• January a 'critical' moment for F1 – Horner
• Renault suggests Mercedes-style structure
• Haas not getting carried away by rival talk

No overnight fix for Renault problems – Illien
(GMM) Success will not come overnight for Renault in the wake of the Lotus buyout.

That is the warning of Mario Illien, whose company Ilmor has been signed up by the French carmaker to help power its return to the top in formula one.

Amid the struggle so far in F1's new 'power unit' era, Renault's premier partner Red Bull enlisted the services of Illien – a renowned F1 engine guru – last year.

As the relationship between Renault and Red Bull broke down, however, the full fruits of Illien's work did not materialize.

But he has now been signed up directly by Renault for the new works team effort from 2016.

"I signed a contract with Renault two weeks ago," Swiss Illien confirmed to the Sonntagsblick newspaper.

Ilmor is engaged across the world of motor sport, and Illien said he wants 2016 to see the company record its 300th victory.

But as for the F1 project, he warned that Renault may have to wait for the top step of the podium.

"Time is too short" for victory, Illien is quoted as saying by veteran correspondent Roger Benoit in an interview over the holiday period.

"First, we must improve the efficiency."

The wait for improvement proved too much for Red Bull last year, as the frustration led to the re-branding of the team's engines as 'Tag Heuer' for 2016.

Junior team Toro Rosso, meanwhile, jumped ship to Ferrari power.

"I have to say there was a little bit of frustration on the track," admitted Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul.

"We would have liked to do a better job for Red Bull and Toro Rosso, but we always knew it was a long-term game to fix the issues we had.

"So hopefully we now have the strategy, the time and the resources to do that in the next few years," he added.

Kevin Magnussen needs to wait for a good seat

Retiring drivers could power F1 return – Magnussen
(GMM) Kevin Magnussen says he is keen to keep his foot in the F1 door this year.

Ousted by McLaren, the former team reserve is now seeking a return to actual racing in 2016, with the German touring car series DTM looking the best option.

"I have the feeling that I will get out and race again, as I like to do," the 23-year-old Dane told Ekstra Bladet newspaper.

"It is hard to say what it will be, but no matter what I will do my very best," Magnussen added.

He admitted, however, that it will also be important to remain closely linked to the world of F1 this year, amid speculation he wants a new role as reserve driver.

Indeed, with the sport set to undergo dramatic rule changes for 2017, several drivers – like Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa – are now edging close to the end of their careers.

"You are right," said Magnussen, "that soon something will happen that has not happened in a long time, with several drivers probably retiring from F1.

"So it is probably important to still be close to formula one," he added.

Asked if he is specifically eyeing Button's McLaren-Honda seat, Magnussen answered: "I don't know, but there are several drivers who have been there for many years and who are probably going to leave soon.

"I am not at a bad age and it is important to be associated with formula one in some way," he added.

Button and Alonso could be backmarkers again in 2016

Button, Alonso unsure race wins possible in 2016
(GMM) While upbeat about 2016, McLaren-Honda's champion drivers are cautious about predicting a rapid return to victory for the beleaguered team.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso finished a woeful 16th and 17th respectively last year as the new works collaboration with Honda kicked off.

Still, despite some ups and downs, the drivers managed to head into the winter break still delivering positive messages about the team and the future.

"We have a lot of strengths," said Button, "and I think everyone knows McLaren and what they've achieved. It is still the same team."

The Briton said it was no surprise that amid F1's development restrictions and the ultra-complex 'power unit' formula, the first season for McLaren-Honda was tough.

But he said McLaren was also on a steep learning curve with its so-called 'size zero'-philosophy chassis.

"We've learned so much this year with the power unit, with the idea of the aerodynamics of the car, because it's very different to a normal McLaren, so there is a lot of learning to take from this season," said Button.

"This winter," he continued, "is a very important one for us, to make those big changes and come out a lot stronger next year because we don't want to be where we are, we want to be fighting near the front.

"Whether we can win races or not, that's another question but I think we can at last fight at the front next year."

Button insisted that despite the woeful results of 2015, everyone at McLaren-Honda retains "confident" in both McLaren and Honda to turn it around.

"There's a good atmosphere," he said, "which a lot of people are surprised about. But there really is."

However, some frustration and resignation was evident in the drivers towards the end of 2015, like their cheeky podium cameo and Spaniard Alonso's trackside picnic-chair moment that went viral on social media.

But even Alonso says he is upbeat.

"I enjoy working with McLaren," he said, "with Honda, with all the Japanese discipline and Japanese culture in the team. I still remain very positive.

"I'm very, very happy and looking forward to next year (2016) being a little bit easier than this one that has been difficult in terms of results."

But, like Button and despite his own predictions of a 2.5 second per lap performance leap for 2016, Alonso is also not counting on certain victory this year.

"At the moment there's a question mark," he admitted, "where McLaren-Honda can be" in 2016.

"There are a lot of expectations in the team. I think we were united in some difficult moments and always moving forward, so I think for 2016 the main goal for the team is to come back to where we belong and being competitive, fighting for the top positions," said Alonso.

"I don't know if that means fighting for the championship, I don't know if that means fighting for victories or just being on the podium sometimes, that's always difficult to know in a very complex sport like formula one.

"There are definitely some big challenges ahead in this winter and I see all the things that the team has done in the last couple of months and these seem very logical, very positive and I'm confident that it's going to be a completely different season next year," he added.

Dubai New Year's eve fire

Verstappen close to New Year's fire scare in Dubai
(GMM) F1 sensation Max Verstappen saw in the New Year amid a safety scare whilst holidaying in Dubai.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that the 18-year-old and his father Jos were not far from the drama as a high-rise hotel caught fire in the ultra-modern city on New Year's Eve.

Just hours before Dubai's spectacular annual fireworks display, the luxury skyscraper 'The Address' hotel caught fire and was engulfed by flames.

"When the fire broke out, we were eating about 150 meters from the hotel," Jos Verstappen confirmed.

"Immediately it was clear that something was going on so we went back to our hotel," added the former F1 driver, who was in Dubai with his son Max, Max's girlfriend and other relatives.

"So we got away from the panic. We arrived safely in our hotel and could see the fire from the window. It was quite a scare," Verstappen added.

Who can design the faster car for 2016, Ferrari's James Allison (Top) or Mercedes' Aldo Costa (above)?

New car will show if 2016 title possible – Raikkonen
(GMM) Whether Ferrari can take on Mercedes next year is arguably the biggest question of the winter.

"The target" for 2016, confirmed team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, "is to cancel the smile from the face of my friend Toto (Wolff)."

Indeed, Mercedes' Wolff admittedly recently that, while the German squad was dominant in 2014 and 2015, he is "permanently skeptical" that the era will end soon.

"About 2016," confirmed driver Nico Rosberg, "I am confident that the team will make a great car for me again next year.

"But we are aware of the red (Ferrari) threat," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper, "and do not want them to get much closer than they are now."

Ferrari was the only team able to beat Mercedes at all last season, although Sebastian Vettel's three wins were dwarfed by the 16 victories shared between Rosberg and the world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Some, therefore, have scoffed at Arrivabene's championship target for 2016.

"So what do you want me to do in terms of objective?" he hit back. "To tell everybody that I would like to be second next year?

"Of course (winning) is our objective but it doesn't mean we are going to achieve it. But we will try very hard," said Arrivabene.

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen said it is "obvious" that Ferrari made a lot of progress between 2014 and 2015.

"Whichever way you look at it," he insisted, "it has been a lot stronger from the team than the previous year.

"Obviously the aim is always to try to be in the front and Mercedes has always been very strong in the last years with everybody else trying to beat them," added Raikkonen.

"Is it going to happen? We hope so at least. We have to wait until we put the cars on the circuit in a test and the first few races — then we really see where we are.

"Obviously there's a lot of work being done at the factory, numbers and stuff, but it's never the same until we're really on the circuit. Then we can see it pretty well, or feel it quite quickly, after a few laps, if it's going to be a good one or a not so good one.

"I'm sure we're going to have a strong package," said Raikkonen, "but is it strong enough? Time will only tell."

Raikkonen likes older tracks

Raikkonen prefers old tracks over more 'Tilke corners'
(GMM) Kimi Raikkonen has admitted he is a fan of F1's older circuits, amid the new era of ultra-modern tracks penned mainly by Hermann Tilke.

In recent years, many of the sport's European hosts have been replaced by venues in mostly Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

"We have to go where people can afford to pay," declared F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone unapologetically.

But that doesn't mean Raikkonen, the popular and famously taciturn Finn, has to like it.

"It's just that the new places are all quite similar," he said, "designed by the same guy. I'm not saying they're not good but they are more the same."

One Tilke exception, Raikkonen told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, was Turkey's Istanbul Park, which is no longer on the calendar.

"As I said, I like Magny Cours a lot. The track surface was nice, the track was different and the area around was not much hassle.

"Imola was one of the best. There was always a great atmosphere and it was quite a challenge. Also the Nurburgring," the Ferrari driver added.

On the other hand, he said places like Abu Dhabi – "in the desert" – are lacking in true character. The "worst", he explained, was the remotely-located Korea.

"Basically, when we go to a new place, we already know what to expect," said Raikkonen. "They look kind of all the same.

"Everything is made so that it is always like somewhere else. And around there are no trees or anything like in Imola or Magny Cours, not to mention Spa which is in the middle of a forest.

"Of course, each (new) track is always a little bit different," the Finn continued, "and each corner is a bit different, but at the end of the day they are always Tilke corners."

Rosberg playing up Hamilton's ability knowing he has been selected by Mercedes to win the 2016 F1 title. He wants people to think the title means something, but he knows it's 99.9% car and team.

'Strong' Hamilton is ideal teammate – Rosberg
(GMM) As Mercedes looks into the future, Nico Rosberg says his ideal teammate is Lewis Hamilton.

As the teammates dueled alone for the titles in 2014 and 2015, the rising acrimony of the relationship moved Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to warn that the pair may need to be separated beyond 2016.

Rosberg is the one with the expiring contract, but Wolff has said Hamilton's contract also contains a clause about behavior damaging to the team.

But when asked who he would like to see beside him at Mercedes into the future, Rosberg told the Munich newspaper TZ: "Lewis. He is a strong driver and the team has been successful."

However, during their 2015 battle, Rosberg complained publicly that Hamilton is a driver who too often thinks only of himself rather than the team as a whole.

"That impression (of Hamilton) is not entirely true," the German now clarifies. "As a driver, you need your team to be successful. If the team realizes that you think only of yourself, the whole thing quickly fails to work."

So while Hamilton once joked that life would be easier if there was a 'wall' between the two sides of the garage, Rosberg explains: "It will never happen because it's not good for the team.

"We are here to win races for Mercedes. And under the conditions created by the team, the fact that we push each other can lead to tension, but the team benefits the most."

It might be said that Rosberg's sudden conciliatory tone is because he managed to turn around his early struggle in 2015 to finish with a winning hat-trick.

"Definitely I didn't reinvent the wheel," he explained. "Maybe I was just able to get back to 100 per cent where previously I was at 98. That is enough to make the difference."

Others have surmised that the low-point of throwing away the win and the title in Austin was a wake-up call, and Rosberg confirmed: "After Austin I said to myself that it cannot go on like that.

"But it was always very close — usually only a tenth separates us, and in the end it was on my side. As for why, it's difficult to explain," he said.

So the German played down the notion that F1 will see a 'new Rosberg' in 2016.

"Basically no. But it will be a more developed Rosberg," he explained. "One who learned from this season. And one who wants to carry over the advantage of the last race to the new season.

"For me, the new season began long ago."

Christian Horner hoping for F1 rule change

January a 'critical' moment for F1 – Horner
(GMM) F1 is speeding out of a brief Christmas sojourn into a "critical" period for the future, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says.

One of the hottest topics of 2015 was the political struggle between F1 authorities led by Bernie Ecclestone and powerful marques like Mercedes and Ferrari.

And Horner says the off-track events of 2015 showed that F1 supremo Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt are right in pursuing a new path for F1 in terms of the engine regulations.

"Costs are obviously critically high," he said, "and we have seen that (engine) availability is also a key issue."

Horner said an independent engine supplier along the lines of Ecclestone's solution would have been good for the sport, but the F1 Commission voted it down.

"As a compromise position the manufacturers agreed and were requested to report back to the Commission by January 15 a solution to the current issues," he explained.

Horner said the new engines should be "cheaper, more affordable, more available" and be "something that could potentially entice other manufacturers to come into formula one".

"I think the situation as we see it is that subject to what the manufacturers come back with by the 15th will depend whether or not the FIA feel the need to proceed with an independent engine to meet that criteria.

"So it's going on at the moment obviously, the time between now and January 15 is going to be a critical and busy period," said Horner.

The manufacturers are arguing that they need more time to ready the new engines for F1, despite the fact that radically-different chassis rules are coming in time for 2017.

But Ecclestone believes new cars and engines should both be ready for 2017.

"I absolutely agree" with that, said Horner. "We should bring it all in for 2017."

He admits that 2016 will therefore be a year of transition for Red Bull, as the team has been forced to settle once again for Renault power, re-branded as 'Tag Heuer' in 2016.

Horner said Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz thought seriously about quitting F1 last year, but ultimately decided that he wanted the team to return to "its former glory".

"We've got some challenges ahead to achieve that," said Horner.

"I think in a power unit-dominated formula it's a difficult situation if you're not aligned to a competitive power unit at this point in time, so 2016 will be a transitional year for us.

"Hopefully as regulations come to fruit with the changes that Jean Todt and the promoter (Ecclestone) are pushing for, it can only be a positive thing for any independent team, not just Red Bull but all the other independent teams that are currently on the grid," he added.

Cyril Abiteboul to copy Mercedes?

Renault suggests Mercedes-style structure
Renault's Cyril Abiteboul has suggested that the French manufacturer could adopt a similar management structure to champions Mercedes when it returns to the sport as a full-works team this year.

Renault confirmed its return to Formula 1 last month, having acquired Lotus, but has not yet revealed any details of its management set-up, besides Jerome Stoll as Chairman and Abiteboul as Managing Director in the interim.

Mercedes has not had a Team Principal during its dominant period in Formula 1, with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe acting as Executive Directors and Niki Lauda as a Non-Executive Chairman.

It is a tactic which has been adopted by McLaren, with Eric Boullier acting as Racing Director, and Abiteboul reckons Renault would be wise to use such a style.

"The job of Team Principal is no longer the sole responsibility of one man," Abiteboul explained to F1i.

"To see this, you just need to look at Mercedes where responsibilities are split between Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe and Niki Lauda.

"A modern day Formula 1 team is structured in this way, and I believe this will be the case at Renault as well."

Renault will confirm further details regarding its Formula 1 return in Paris next month.

Steiner and Haas

Haas not getting carried away by rival talk
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has moved to play down expectations for the outfit's maiden Formula 1 season in 2016, following positive comments about its potential from established rivals.

Haas will enter the sport with significant Ferrari support, including the supply of engines, with its cars to be piloted by ex-Lotus driver Romain Grosjean and former Sauber racer Esteban Gutierrez.

Sergio Perez, who helped Force India achieve a best classification of fifth in 2015, is one driver to have expressed concern, tipping Haas to challenge the likes of Force India "straight away".

Steiner, however, is staying grounded, telling GPUpdate.net: "It's positive to hear, but it's talk.

"What we need to be careful of is not to believe the propaganda of what people are saying. As I've said, it's always very difficult to predict, because everybody else [could have] developed better things.

"You don't know who moves where. If they all did a fantastic job, to get into the lower midfield will be difficult.

There's a lot of big talk about us, which is nice to hear, but I don't get carried away, I try to stay realistic.

"We haven't put a wheel on the ground yet. We will, obviously, but I'm not predicting that we are going to beat Force India, you know. They were fifth, so I would say they're doing a pretty good job.

"I always say, even to come last in Formula 1 is a big job – it's not as easy as it looks."

Steiner reiterated that the lower end of the midfield remains Haas' target for 2016.

"We don't target anybody [specifically] because we don't know how good they are [going to be]," he explained, adding, "what we would like to get is the lower midfield – we don't want to be last."

Haas will carry out the FIA's mandatory crash tests on Thursday and Friday.