Latest F1 news in brief

Lauda bemoans F1 politics

Political power fueled end to 2015 season – Lauda
Dennis 'won't be happy' with Red Bull engine – Horner
Toro Rosso to be 'more Italian' in 2016 – Sainz
Ferrari 'fine' with FIA's Haas ruling
Kvyat staying at Red Bull in 2016 – Horner
Verstappen collects more penalty points toward being banned
Bottas says Abu Dhabi a 'wake-up call'

'Political power' fueled end to 2015 season – Lauda
(GMM) F1 drew its 2015 season to a close amid the spectacular Abu Dhabi night skyline and the distinct smell of political controversy.

"There is a lot of self-interest and a lot of desire for power," summarized F1 legend Niki Lauda.

Lauda, a triple world champion, doubles as a co-owner and chairman of the dominant Mercedes team, amid rumors that all is not well in his current relationship with fellow silver-clad bigwig Toto Wolff.

The pair dismissed those stories this weekend, and in fact were also hand-in-hand last week regarding the F1 Commission, when the proposed 'cheap engine' for 2017 was thrown out.

"It was not about costs or anything like that," Lauda told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "Such a massive intervention in the current rules was like a bad joke.

"The background was political power," he added.

Some might say it was F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt who were trying to flex their muscles amid the power currently wielded by Mercedes and Ferrari.

"I perceived the whole discussion as unnecessary and stupid," Lauda continued. "If you have a sport in a negative trend, you cannot correct it by manipulating. If you try that, after two years you have nothing left at all."

And so in the end, compromise was the order of the day, with the powerful carmakers agreeing to think again about the current rules in time for 2018.

On that front, Lauda agrees: "The smaller teams must be able to afford the engines. We have to help them."

His Mercedes colleague Wolff agrees: "I've always said that it is right for the FIA to want to lower the price of the engines for the medium and small teams.

"That's perfectly fine," he told the German news agency SID.

"These engines we have now may be complex, but they are state of the art. Can we make it more favorable for the small teams? We are working on that.

"Can we also work on the entertainment factor and the sound of the engines? Yes, we should," added Wolff.

Horner and Marko again left wondering if they will have engines

Dennis 'won't be happy' with Red Bull engine – Horner
(GMM) Uncertainty has morphed back into mystery as Red Bull's engine crisis races beyond the checkered flag in 2015.

Amid the Abu Dhabi floodlights, F1 legend Niki Lauda confirmed that he tried to help the energy drink company by initially shaking hands with Dietrich Mateschitz on a Mercedes engine deal.

"The fact that a competitive team like Red Bull cannot find a formula one engine is wrong," he told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "And the fact that Mercedes doesn't deliver them an engine was not my idea.

"It is not my competitive mentality, in the idea that to win you have to beat everyone. But there were other opinions," said Lauda. "I accepted that."

What will happen next for Red Bull is actually once again a complete mystery, even though it had seemed clearer that the team would simply press Renault to fulfil an existing contract for 2016.

The French carmaker, however, has not even decided if it is staying in F1 at all.

"Wait and see what it (Red Bull's 2016 engine) is called," Red Bull boss Christian Horner said late on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

"It will be something quite good. I don't think (McLaren-Honda supremo) Ron Dennis will be very happy, but he hasn't been very happy recently," Horner told the BBC.

Horner's quip about Dennis is despite the fact that his McLaren counterpart wielded a veto that prevents Honda from supplying a customer engine to Red Bull.

"It (the veto) was fully supported by Honda," Dennis said in Abu Dhabi, "but in the end someone had to stand up and say 'This is not going to happen'."

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, however, said in Abu Dhabi: "Honda has made a big commitment financially and building wise.

"And from what I see they are learning from their mistakes, so I can imagine that we will see a completely different picture of Honda next year," he told F1's official website.

Another theory floating around amid the post-race parties in Abu Dhabi is that it will in fact be Mercedes who jump to Red Bull's rescue if Renault does pull the plug.

"Your crystal ball says that?!" Toto Wolff exclaimed to the BBC's Eddie Jordan.

"Renault has a contract with Red Bull for next year, and that is what we are all pushing hard for," the Mercedes chief added.

Toro Rosso to get this year's Ferrari engine

Toro Rosso to be 'more Italian' in 2016 – Sainz
(GMM) Carlos Sainz says he is looking forward to a better season in 2016.

Although overshadowed by his meteoric teammate Max Verstappen, the Spanish rookie has also shone at Toro Rosso, outqualifying the highly-rated Dutchman 10-9.

"I can say that (Red Bull driver manager) Helmut Marko is happy," Sainz smiled after Sunday's Abu Dhabi grand prix.

"I think that in many ways he was surprised how we have gone this season and how we were able to compete with Red Bull Racing. This gives me cause for optimism and I am waiting for good news from him," he added.

The 'good news' is surely to be a new Toro Rosso contract for Sainz, but also confirmation that the Faenza based team is switching from Renault to Ferrari power.

Sainz may have spoken out of turn about the team's Ferrari plans earlier in Abu Dhabi, but even now he says: "I hope that we will have a more powerful engine in 2016.

"While I cannot mention the name of the supplier, I think we could be considered even more of an Italian team after this," he quipped.

When asked about Toro Rosso's engine plans for 2016, Christian Horner said in Abu Dhabi: "I can only speak on behalf of Red Bull Racing. You would have to ask Franz Tost about Toro Rosso."

Maurizio Arrivabene fine with questioning

Ferrari 'fine' with FIA's Haas ruling
(GMM) Maurizio Arrivabene says Ferrari is "fine" with the FIA's ruling about technical alliances in formula one.

While Mercedes never mentioned Ferrari or Haas by name, the request for clarification from the stewards in Abu Dhabi was clearly over concerns about the legality of the partnership.

Other teams, however, were less ambiguous about what the clarification was really about, with Williams deputy Claire Williams declaring that she thinks the sort of thing Ferrari and Haas are doing is "outside of the regulations".

Asked if more teams will now seek the same sort of loopholes, she told SBD Global: "I can't answer that because it's outside of the regulations. I'd rather not answer that question."

Ferrari team boss Arrivabene, meanwhile, said he is comfortable with what the FIA ruled on Sunday.

"We have always said that we are transparent, and so before beginning to work with Haas we asked for approval from the FIA and we got it," he said.

"One of the teams asked the federation to clarify a number of aspects, quite rightly, so the FIA did that and everything is fine," the Italian added.

Daniil Kvyat beat his teammate Ricciardo this year so of course they will keep him

Kvyat staying at Red Bull in 2016 – Horner
(GMM) Daniil Kvyat does not have to worry about his future at Red Bull.

That is the claim of team boss Christian Horner, despite the fact that he said just recently that if Red Bull stays in F1 in 2016, Russian Kvyat is also staying.

"Of course I was relieved when I heard it," Kvyat said in Abu Dhabi. "But as long as there is instability, it means that at one race you're happy and at the next you're not."

But Horner reiterated on Sunday that Red Bull has secured an engine supply for 2016, will be staying in F1 and lining up with Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.

"Everything is clear," the Briton added. "He (Kvyat) has a contract and next year he will be with Red Bull Racing.

"I have just been with the team and told them that they did a good job this year."

Less clear is what 'power unit' will be fitted to Kvyat's car next year.

Although it is believed Red Bull still has a deal with Renault for 2016, the French carmaker could pull out of the sport altogether.

It is therefore rumored that a deal with Mercedes could be back on, or that Honda will supply an engine to Red Bull despite Ron Dennis' veto.

Yet another theory is that the Renault engines could be rebranded as Nissan, Renault's Japanese partner.

"Today I'm not going to deny or confirm anything. We expect to announce the contract within the week," Horner said.

Yet another late rumor in Abu Dhabi is that it could in fact be Sauber that is currently negotiating with Honda.

"I have not negotiated with Honda," the Swiss team's boss Monisha Kaltenborn insists, "and as far as I know Honda have not said there are any negotiations with us."

Max Verstappen driving like a mad-man

Verstappen collects more penalty points toward being banned
Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen is two-thirds of the way towards a one-race ban after amassing further penalty points following a pair of incidents at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Verstappen was given one penalty point for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while battling with Jenson Button and was handed a further two for ignoring blue flags for a lap.

The three Verstappen received brought his tally for the season to eight, with drivers receiving a race ban if they amass 12 points across a 12-month period.

Verstappen picked up two penalty points for his collision with Romain Grosjean in Monaco and a further three for driving too quickly during a Safety Car period in Hungary.

Should Verstappen collect four more penalty points before May 2016, when the two he received in this year's Monaco Grand Prix will be removed from his license, he will be suspended from one event.

Valtteri Bottas

Bottas says Abu Dhabi a 'wake-up call'
Valtteri Bottas says Williams' performance at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a "wake-up call" for the team if it wants to compete at the sharp-end of the Formula 1 grid in 2015.

Williams had secured third in the Constructors' standings prior to the Abu Dhabi finale but produced a sub-par showing as Yas Marina, with Felipe Massa eighth and Bottas out of the points after a mistake in the pits.

Bottas was recovering from a poor start but clipped Jenson Button's McLaren as he was released from his pit box following his first stop and damaged his front wing.

Bottas had to return to the pits for repairs and was also handed a five-second time penalty after the stewards deemed that Williams caused the collision.

"Of course that was not the way we wanted to finish the season," Bottas said.

"But in the end this could be good – it was a proper wake-up call that we really need to raise our game if we want to challenge for the wins next year.

"We all know the facts, we need to find big gains with the car during the winter, and there are operational things we need to do better.

"Everyone knows it and we are fully motivated to fix these things and have a much better season next year.

"This season gave me some good things to remember, like a couple of very special podiums, but we want more so none of us are fully satisfied yet."