Latest F1 news in brief

Lauda denies lacking respect for Ferrari

Put 'everything' under rule-change microscope – Lauda
Perez expecting decade in F1
McLaren should be ruing title sponsor stance – source
Verstappen, Ricciardo play down Ferrari talk
2016 German GP return 'never in doubt' – source
Button, Vandoorne eye same F1 seats for 2016 – report
F1 takes another step towards European investigation
Lauda denies lacking 'respect' for Ferrari

Put 'everything' under rule-change microscope – Lauda
(GMM) Things are starting to look up in formula one, according to legend Niki Lauda.

It has been a period of immense criticism and introspection for the pinnacle of motor sport, but the Mercedes team chairman says television ratings are in fact up.

"The ratings this year, and especially since Melbourne, have risen in comparison to last year. There is a positive trend," Lauda told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

But that does not mean the so-called crisis is over, as Lauda says the sport as a whole is pushing ahead with plans to radically speed up the cars for 2017.

"And there will be other changes, in fact as soon as the end of August at the Belgian grand prix," he added.

Indeed, teams have now been informed about the details of immediate rule changes for Spa-Francorchamps, following the realization that drivers must be put back in full control of the cars.

"On the formation lap before the race, communication from the box to the drivers will be minimal," Lauda explained. "The goal is that the driver will once again be the one who decides how best to bring his car to the finish.

"The role of the driver without manipulation or interference must be more obvious to the audience," he said.

And more changes before 2017 are also possible, Lauda said.

"In 2017 we will have an all-new formula one car, but whatever can be simplified and improved along the way, we will do that," he added.

One improvement might be to make the sport more affordable for struggling small teams, but reports last week suggested Mercedes and Ferrari were fighting against the FIA's plans to cap engine supply costs.

But Lauda said: "We must support those who have not enough money. We have to make available cheaper engines, and in this discussion Mercedes is very much involved.

"Mercedes has the same interest as everyone else in making the racing more interesting," he insisted.

Finally, Lauda has an idea to dramatically spice up the action, through the relaxation of the current speed limits in the pits.

"They should be allowed to do 150kph in the pitlane," he argues, "because with the exception of Monaco or Singapore, these days they are as wide as motorways.

"Everything needs to be reconsidered in order to make formula one more attractive, faster and simpler," said Lauda.

Perez expecting decade in F1
(GMM) Sergio Perez is expecting to spend at least another decade in formula one.

But the Mexican was also quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE as admitting he is not sure if he will stay at Force India beyond 2015.

That is despite the fact that, after a difficult first half of the season, things are now looking better after the Silverstone based team debuted the 'B' car.

"Everything will be better now," said the Mexican, having complained earlier this year about waning motivation.

Asked about his future, 25-year-old Perez said during the FIA events in Mexico City: "I think I have at least ten years more (in F1) ahead of me."

He said he is not sure where he will be specifically in 2016, "but I know it will be in formula one because I still have a lot to give. But I don't know where."

McLaren should be ruing title sponsor stance – source
(GMM) McLaren's financial situation could be compounded by a lack of title sponsor, a report in the Sunday Times suggested.

The struggling Honda-powered team is a distant ninth in the constructors' championship, with most insiders not expecting the Japanese carmaker to make a big leap in the second half of the season.

However, the FIA has at least rubber-stamped an extra, penalty-free engine for Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button to use in 2015.

Honda will almost certainly now deploy the rest of its in-season 'tokens' for a significant upgrade.

"We have to make a great effort, analyze the data and use our tokens to make a step forward in the second half of the season," the marque's Yasuhisa Arai is quoted by El Confidencial.

"We have several ideas to apply to the engine to get more power and reliability," he added. "When will we use the tokens? It is a big secret!" he added.

Spain's El Mundo Deportivo suggested the upgrade boost, to possibly debut as soon as the forthcoming Hungarian grand prix, could be a worth an impressive 70hp.

However, given the huge gap to the front of the grid, the financial damage to McLaren this year is already inevitable, given the way official prize money in F1 is awarded based on success.

Not only that, the Woking based team resisted dropping its rate for a replacement title sponsor three years ago after the loss of Vodafone, and it appears unlikely a candidate will step up in the current situation.

"It is astonishing that this could happen," an industry expert told the Sunday Times recently. "They could have got 50 million (pounds) back then in a three-year deal so 150m has gone missing from their budget.

"Now results are through the floor, they have had two mediocre seasons and this one looks utterly dire, and sponsors can name their price or go elsewhere," the source added.

Team boss Eric Boullier acknowledged the situation.

"It (2015) is going to hurt our internal revenues and we will have to find a way to cover this," the Frenchman admitted.

Verstappen, Ricciardo play down Ferrari talk
(GMM) Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo now appear out of the running for the Ferrari seat in 2016.

The pair had been linked with struggling Kimi Raikkonen's place, but Toro Rosso teenager Verstappen's father Jos insisted: "We have not been approached by Ferrari.

"And if they are interested," he told De Telegraaf newspaper, "that's a nice compliment for Max but nothing more. After all, we have a contract with Red Bull."

So, too, does Ricciardo, but the Australian laughed when asked by F1's official website if his manager could have held talks with Maranello chiefs.

"I am my manager," he said. "I haven't had any talks — we've had indirect talks through the media I guess!

"Obviously it is nice to be regarded by a top team like that — it's nice to know there is interest from other teams as well. But I am with a top team too," Ricciardo added.

However, Ricciardo's predecessor at Red Bull Racing, countryman Mark Webber, thinks that if the team does not improve in 2016, the speculation about a possible switch will return.

"He's sensational quality," Webber told The Age newspaper.

"He's got to weather the storm at the moment and do well and get himself in a better situation in the future and start getting those wins again and put a championship campaign together.

"The middle of next year he's got some decisions to make," Webber added.

2016 German GP return 'never in doubt' – source
(GMM) F1's governing body has released the first official race calendar for 2016, and it confirms the return of the German grand prix.

This year's schedule is currently in an unplanned three-week gap between the British and Hungarian grands prix, just before the sport takes a full month off for the now-customary summer 'shutdown'.

It is because the 2015 German grand prix was scratched, due to the Nurburgring's financial troubles.

Many fans and insiders had lamented the loss of F1's German round after a history stretching back decades, but in fact Hockenheim had always been scheduled to return in 2016.

The Nurburgring and Hockenheim are contracted to annually alternate the race, and regarding next year, a source told us: "There has never been any doubt whatsoever about 2016".

Indeed, 'Germany' has duly been scheduled a July 31 race on the 2016 calendar, although some had expected Bernie Ecclestone to also scrap next year's edition in order to keep the schedule down to a manageable 20 grands prix.

Actually, the 2016 calendar, rubber-stamped by the World Motor Sport Council in Mexico City last Friday, features an unprecedented 21 races.

The new race is Azerbaijan, while Monza's Italian grand prix next September could be the last at the fabled Autodromo Nazionale.

Button, Vandoorne eye same F1 seats for 2016 – report
(GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne and Jenson Button have found themselves in competition for the same F1 race seats for 2016, according to the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

It is therefore interesting that Vandoorne, this year's dominant GP2 series leader, recently split with The Sports Partnership, a management firm headed by Richard Goddard and Button.

The 23-year-old Belgian said it was his "own decision" to split, insisting: "I just feel better with the situation as it is now.

"I don't want to say too much about it," Vandoorne is quoted by the Dutch magazine Formule 1. "It is quite a normal thing to happen.

"There are other drivers as well who occasionally make a change in their management."

He said he has made no decisions about the future, even though he has been linked with the management stable headed by Didier Coton, a fellow Belgian who also works with Valtteri Bottas.

Fascinatingly, Finn Bottas ties in with this story.

McLaren junior Vandoorne and F1 veteran Button are obvious candidates to race for the Honda-powered team next year, but they might also be vying for a potentially-vacant seat at Williams, correspondent Luis Vasconcelos reports.

That is because Bottas is the favorite to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, which would leave Williams looking for a top replacement.

Turun Sanomat said Nico Hulkenberg is linked with a return to the Grove based team, for whom he debuted in 2010.

The German driver said recently that although he was dumped by Williams he is "not resentful", as it was "other people who had the final say".

It is believed he was referring to the now-absent former team chief Adam Parr, who reportedly made the decision to replace Hulkenberg with Pastor Maldonado.

Le Mans winner Hulkenberg, however, has also been linked with a move to the new Ferrari 'B team' Haas, which could take him one step closer to a future wearing red.

Vasconcelos said McLaren's Vandoorne and Button are also candidates to move to Williams, although the situation may not now develop until September 15, when it is believed the 2016 'option' on Button's existing contract runs out.

And Vandoorne also says he is not rushing.

"It is too early to know anything about next year," he is quoted by Formule 1. "We will see in maybe a couple of weeks or months."

F1 takes another step towards European investigation
(GMM) F1 has taken another step towards being investigated by the European Commission.

Last month, it emerged that despite small teams' concerns about the fairness of the income distribution model and the Strategy Group, Europe's competition commissioner will not investigate unless a formal complaint is lodged.

The Financial Times reported at the time that small teams – presumably Force India, Sauber and Lotus – were considering the option of complaining.

The European politician reportedly pushing hardest for a complaint to be made is Anneliese Dodds, who presides over the area in southeast England that housed Marussia and Caterham, the two F1 teams that collapsed last year.

And now, it emerges that Dodds has paid a visit to Force India's headquarters at Silverstone.

Insiders consider that Force India, run by its gruff deputy Robert Fernley – often referred to in the paddock as 'Big bad Bob' – is perhaps the team most likely to trigger the European investigation.

After her visit to Force India, Dodds said: "Ever since the collapse of Marussia and Caterham, I have had real concerns about the way things are going with formula one."

She revealed she has raised the issue in Brussels "a number of times" to "see if there is a competition case to answer here.

"The commissioner in charge has made it clear to me that she can't do anything until the teams themselves submit a formal complaint, and so if that's what the teams feel is right then that is what they should do," Dodds added.

Lauda denies lacking 'respect' for Ferrari
(GMM) Niki Lauda has hit back at suggestions he lacks "respect" for Ferrari.

Last week, the F1 legend's colleague Toto Wolff had to apologize after Lauda provocatively suggested that Ferrari is better at making spaghetti than cars capable of taking on the might of Mercedes.

But Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman, said the apology was unnecessary.

"The Italians know that Ferrari will always be number 1 in my heart," he told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

"At Ferrari I've been through it all: 15 wins, two of my three world titles, tragedies with the last rites. More emotions is not possible. So my respect for this company will always be very big," said Lauda.

Explaining his 'spaghetti' comment, Lauda added: "In formula one we had one of the best races ever (at Silverstone), and still we are talking about a lot of boredom. That cannot be right.

"Everyone in formula one would be happy if Ferrari could close the gap to us."