Latest F1 news in brief

Magnussen fastest in Porsche shootout at Barcelona. At least in WEC he will get paid to drive so he can support a family.

Magnussen fastest as Porsche shootout starts
Mick Schumacher spotted at Maranello
Mika Salo backs two-day race weekend idea
Two decades since Hakkinen nearly died
Verstappen not interested in local sports award
Mercedes agreed rule changes for 'competition' – Lauda
Lauda urges Rosberg to keep fighting Hamilton
Funding dispute could end US GP – Ecclestone

Magnussen fastest as Porsche shootout starts
(GMM) Kevin Magnussen thinks he has put himself in pole position to make the switch to Le Mans with Porsche.

The ousted McLaren reserve is in Barcelona this week, where he is taking part in a 'shootout'-style test alongside rival Porsche candidates Mitch Evans and Oliver Turvey.

Porsche has a vacancy in its 2016 Le Mans program due to the fabled 24 hour race's calendar clash with the inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan, which has ruled out this year's winner Nico Hulkenberg.

"It is easy to feel that this probably is the most advanced race car in the world at the moment. I can't wait to get back in," Dane Magnussen said after Tuesday's running.

The 23-year-old told the Danish broadcaster TV2 that the last race car he drove was the McLaren in Australia, when he filled in for the ill Fernando Alonso.

"I've been looking forward to it like crazy," he said on the telephone from Barcelona, where he drove the Porsche, "and I was not disappointed.

"I was a little nervous at first, but that went once I got started. I was the fastest, and that is quite important. All three drivers got the same conditions, so it was quite fair for everyone."

As for Porsche's Le Mans-winning LMP1 prototype, Magnussen said: "It's a really cool car.

"It's not as fast as a formula one, but only because of the weight — if a F1 car was as heavy, it would not be able to keep up with the Porsche.

"So in that way, Porsche has gotten more out of its car than formula one has with its cars. In pure performance, it's the best I've ever driven," he added.

Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher spotted at Maranello
(GMM) Mick Schumacher, the son of the F1 legend and seven time world champion Michael, has been spotted in Ferrari country.

Leo Turrini, a well-known insider with close links to the Maranello marque, said he was dining at the famous 'Montana' restaurant – littered with framed photos of Schumacher senior – when he spotted the 16-year-old German.

"Mick was in Maranello to meet friends of his father and talk to Luca Baldisserri, who worked with Schumi as an engineer from 2000 onwards," Turrini wrote in his blog.

Fascinatingly, Baldisserri now runs Ferrari's driver development 'academy'.

Turrini added that Mick is scheduled to travel direct from Maranello to Monza, where he is set to take part in a test for next year's Formula 4 series.

He said "Baldisserri will be at his side" at the test.

Mika Salo backs two-day race weekend idea
(GMM) The idea of shortening F1's race weekend format from three to just two days of track action is gaining pace.

In recent days, veteran drivers including Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have admitted that slashing Friday from the schedule and squeezing practice, qualifying and the race into Saturday and Sunday should be considered.

"I totally agree," said former F1 driver and now broadcaster and occasional FIA steward Mika Salo.

"Friday is already pretty useless now. All the mechanics are complaining that if you work in formula one it's impossible to have a life outside," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV.

"A two day weekend would give the staff at least one more day with their families," said Salo.

Admitting talks have taken place, FIA president Jean Todt has said weekend format tweaks are not necessary at the moment.

But Salo thinks F1 teams would quickly adjust to a new two-day format.

"Yes, the teams use Friday practice to their advantage — if you can run, then you want to run. But if it was the case that no one runs because it (Friday) is not there anymore, I think everybody would be happy," he insisted.

Two decades since Hakkinen nearly died
(GMM) Exactly 20 years have passed since Mika Hakkinen almost died in a horrifying qualifying crash ahead of the 1995 Australian grand prix.

It was the last race of the season, and the last to ever take place on the popular streets of Adelaide.

MTV, a Finnish broadcaster, said the then 27-year-old Finn suffered a tire problem just before the fast Brewery Bend corner, hitting the wall sideways at 200kph.

"I remember sitting in the car and trying to move my hands, but I couldn't," Hakkinen, who went on to win two world championships just a few years later, recalls.

"I tried again and again and so I knew that what had happened was bad."

Luckily for Hakkinen, the Adelaide circuit was well supported by numerous experienced doctors who were attending to the McLaren driver within a single minute.

"Mika couldn't move, he wasn't breathing or communicating in any way with us," said Jerome Cockings, an intensive care specialist. "But he was alive."

Hakkinen added: "I remember the pain and the fact that I couldn't move but I also understood that I needed to remain calm and let the medical people get on with their jobs."

Famously, Cockings made an incision into Hakkinen's trachea, which saved his life before he was transported around the corner to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Less than four months later, the driver was ready to return to the cockpit of McLaren's new 1996 car, ahead of the next world championship campaign.

He admits he was nervous beforehand, but "The engine sounded great when it started. When I was on the track, everything became clear again. It was fantastic.

"I was in my element, and I knew that I was not afraid anymore," said Hakkinen.

Verstappen not interested in local sports award
(GMM) Max Verstappen has counted himself out of the running for a local sports award in his native Belgian province of Limburg.

Although born in Belgium, the country of his mother, the 18-year-old F1 sensation now regards himself as a Dutchman and races under the national flag of The Netherlands.

And now his father, famous Dutchman Jos Verstappen, says Max is not interested in being nominated for the best sportsman of the year award presented annually by the Belgian province of Limburg.

"In 2013, Max was European and world karting champion but we heard nothing from them (Limburg). Which is strange, because every Limburg athlete who does such a performance would be eligible for the sports prize," Jos told the 1Limburg publication.

"Now that it would make world news, he would suddenly be eligible? This is not right and therefore we decline the nomination," Verstappen senior added.

Limburg's sports awards will be announced in December.

Faced with a rules change to stop their complete dominance, Mercedes gave in

Mercedes agreed rule changes for 'competition' – Lauda
(GMM) Niki Lauda thinks Ferrari is poised to mount a serious challenge to Mercedes' dominance in 2016.

Although the German marque has wrapped up the drivers' and constructors' titles yet again this year, team chairman Lauda thinks 2015 was a very different situation to 2014.

"In 2014 it was easy to see our advantage," the F1 legend told Italy's Autosprint. "We had the best engine and the best chassis.

"But this year Ferrari has made a great deal of progress. Since they had the new engine in Monza, I would say that in terms of power and efficiency, the 20hp advantage that we had is gone now.

"Now, the Mercedes chassis is still better, but I expect the situation to be different again next year, because it is hard for one team to maintain a technological advantage for a long time.

"When you are already almost at the top of the performance possible with the technical regulations, it is difficult to make progress. So then you are within reach of those who are behind you," Lauda added.

Interestingly, Mercedes has backed a revision to the 2016 rules whereby rival manufacturers will be able to continue to develop their 'power units' into next season.

The number of development 'tokens' was also increased with Mercedes' approval, although Lauda insists: "It was the only way for us to behave.

"It doesn't happen often that a team allows others to catch up by changing the regulations," he said, "but we also have to recognize that the way the rules were written was stupid.

"Even Honda, who came late, would have even less tokens for development, which was ridiculous — the rules were wrong.

"For Mercedes it is more satisfying to win in the context that there is more competition, and I have never been scared of competition in my entire life.

"So if the rules are badly written, you have to change them," added Lauda.

Is there any fight left in Rosberg?

Lauda urges Rosberg to keep fighting Hamilton
(GMM) Niki Lauda says he is urging Nico Rosberg to refuse to give up his fight to beat teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The F1 legend, who is also Mercedes' team chairman, claims the German camp has the "best driver lineup" in F1 today, even though Briton Hamilton has beaten Rosberg to the world championship two years on the trot.

"This year Lewis has improved his approach a lot," Lauda told Italy's Autosprint. "With Nico it is the same – we can see it in the data – just much less.

"That's why the gap has become bigger," he said. "But I have spent a lot of time with Nico to keep up his fighting spirit and not give up.

"As for the wheel-to-wheel battles between them, Nico always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has to think about why Lewis is always in the better position at the first corner," added Lauda.

German Rosberg appeared to demonstrate his intention to hit back at Hamilton by dominating from pole in Mexico.

But if 2016 turns out like 2014 and 2015 did, with Hamilton getting the better of him yet again, will it be time for Rosberg to consider a change of team?

"No I think that Nico is going to tackle next year full steam ahead," team boss Toto Wolff told the Telegraph.

"If it doesn't go as he thinks it could go, maybe he is going to have that thought, but he is not there yet. And hopefully he never will be."

Ecclestone says Austin race is done after State cut support

Funding dispute could end US GP – Ecclestone
(GMM) A dark cloud has moved above the future of the US grand prix in Austin.

The local Austin American Statesman newspaper reports that the office of the current governor of Texas has dramatically slashed funding to the race from $25 million a year to less than $20m.

Speaking from Brazil, the scene of this weekend's grand prix, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone confirmed: "If it's changed, it's going to be difficult to continue the race in Austin."

And promoter Bobby Epstein agreed: "To use a technical term, I think we're screwed."

A spokesman for the Circuit of the Americas, meanwhile, hinted that a legal challenge to the governor's decision cannot be ruled out.

"An entire facility was constructed based on that deal," he said. "If the calculation is changed now, that's effectively changed the terms of the deal." For more on this story see our rumors page.