Latest F1 news in brief

Merhi needs a bigger check to ensure he has bought a fulltime F1 backmarker ride

McLaren-Honda will 'make things right' – Alonso
Italian chief 'not fond' of Imola plans
Hamilton made 'mistakes' in Austria – Mercedes
Radical Williams winglet 'not legal'
Ferrari not giving up on catching Mercedes
Merhi admits still looking for sponsor
Horner says Brawn should write new F1 rulebook
Kaltenborn: Allow trio to catch up
Alonso: I lost motivation at Ferrari

McLaren-Honda will 'make things right' – Alonso
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has described the 2015 season so far as a "transitional period" that will soon come to an end.

McLaren-Honda had to tweak its post-race test plans for this week following the Spaniard's crash with Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday.

GP2 series leader Stoffel Vandoorne drove in Austria instead on Tuesday, while new parts including the 'short nose' travelled from Woking for Alonso to run on Wednesday.

Alonso says he is happy to suffer amid the team's "transitional period" so far in 2015.

"I'm in a transitional period that will last a few months more," he is quoted by Glamour magazine.

"As a new project, we need time. But I understand that we need to be strongly criticized now. We are not at the level we expected — expectations were very high," Alonso added.

The two-time world champion acknowledged that "from the outside" his situation may appear "frustrating", but McLaren-Honda has a "very ambitious plan for the medium and long term".

"I cannot be frustrated because I have missed a trophy or two," said Alonso.

"Of course I would like to have more titles and victories, but not having another trophy in the cabinet at home is an ego problem."

And he said McLaren-Honda, despite the apparent depth of its current problems, has the "potential to make things right".

"The team has technicians and engineers that I sincerely believe are very talented," said Alonso.

"We are facing difficulties in the start, but if you take it as a transitional period, you can live with it."

Italian chief 'not fond' of Imola plans
(GMM) The president of Italy's auto racing federation says he wants Monza to keep its annual place on the formula one calendar.

The comments of Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) chief Angelo Sticci Damiani follow Bernie Ecclestone's claim that former San Marino grand prix venue Imola could step in so that financially-troubled Monza only has to stage the race every other year.

"For us," Damiani is quoted by Speed Week, "there is only one place for the Italian GP, and that is Monza."

As for the alternating plan, he added: "I'm not fond of dancing at two weddings."

An interested observer of the situation is Ferrari, the most famous name on the F1 grid whose home race in Italy is an important event for the marque.

President Sergio Marchionne is quoted by Autosprint: "Let's leave Ecclestone to do his thing, and until then we will not intervene."

Lewis Hamilton blew it in Austria

Hamilton made 'mistakes' in Austria – Mercedes
(GMM) Mercedes chiefs say Lewis Hamilton made a couple of errors in the recent Austrian grand prix.

One of them was when he clearly crossed the pitlane exit line, incurring a penalty.

And the other was at the start of the race, where despite launching off the grid from pole position, he was beaten off the line by eventual winner Nico Rosberg.

"I let the clutch out and it just underperformed," said the world championship leader. "It's something that I've been having since Barcelona — before that I was having better starts."

At the same time, teammate Rosberg's starts have been generally better recently.

But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says it is not right to suppose that the team has made technical changes against Hamilton's preferences.

"These changes are something that we decided together, with Lewis as well," he is quoted by Kolner Express.

Team chairman Niki Lauda, meanwhile, said Hamilton was simply upset at the "mistakes" he made at the Red Bull Ring.

Asked if his run of recent form is making Hamilton 'nervous', Rosberg said: "It would be nice if I'm making him nervous.

"That he went over the pitlane exit line made it a little easier for me. It was one of my easier victories. I had no pressure.

"I've won three of the last four races, which is awesome," he told Bild newspaper. "Now I can't wait until Silverstone — only ten points behind Lewis!"

Radical Williams winglet 'not legal'
(GMM) A radical new winglet tested by Williams in Austria on Tuesday is not legal.

That is the claim of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, after observers at the post-race test at the rainy Red Bull Ring spotted the innovation on the car run by Susie Wolff.

But the winglet, mounted on the floor ahead of the rear wheels, is not legal said correspondent Michael Schmidt, after checking with "other teams and the FIA regulations".

"Definitely illegal," a voice from within a rival team is quoted as saying.

"It looks like Williams just wanted to easily simulate some more downforce at the rear of the car."

Another notable innovation as the two-day test began in Austria was on Force India's new 'B' spec car.

The new nose features two large, conspicuous 'nostrils' at the end.

As for whether that solution is legal, another Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Tobias Gruner confirmed: "It is.

"It passed the mandatory FIA crash test at the second attempt."

Arrivabene thinks Ferrari can catch Mercedes – he's delusional. Mercedes is still sandbagging and is said to have an extra 100 HP to dial in without making any upgrades to their engines

Ferrari not giving up on catching Mercedes
(GMM) Ferrari is not giving up on trying to close the gap to Mercedes in 2015.

That is the claim of bosses Maurizio Arrivabene and Sergio Marchionne, after yet another easy defeat at the hands of dominant Mercedes in Austria.

Ferrari had travelled with high hopes to Canada recently with a token-upgraded engine, but after Austria it is clear Mercedes is still well out in front.

"Most impressive were the first laps of the race," said Sebastian Vettel after Austria. "They were three to five tenths of a second better than us."

But in Friday practice, Ferrari had appeared a match for Mercedes, or even better, particularly in the all-important 'long runs'.

"The explanation is simple," said Arrivabene. "Mercedes always runs with more fuel on Fridays.

"I have told our engineers to now do the same, because only that way will we really know where we stand."

But the Italian insisted that, unlike in previous years, Ferrari will not abandon the current season in order to focus exclusively on the next.

"We have already started work on the 2016 car," said Arrivabene, "but at the same time we need to intensify the work on the current car.

"We set ourselves the goal of winning three races this year and I see no reason to change. We do not want to catch Mercedes in 2020 but as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of 2015."

The Italian press, however, is not confident. La Gazzetta dello Sport said Austria was a "black day" for the red-color team.

"It's like watching the bad movie of 2014 over again," it said, while Corriere dello Sport said Mercedes appears "unassailable" in 2015.

But president Marchionne has set his sights on Monza, declaring in Austria: "I think the car is getting better.

"Unfortunately we started late, so we are trying to regain lost ground, but I have the idea that in Monza we will be in a much stronger position."

Indeed, Speed Week reports that Ferrari is planning to deploy the last of its engine performance 'tokens' first in Monza, and then in Austin in October.

The latter upgrade could mean the drivers will incur grid penalties for exceeding their allocations of four 'power units' each for the entire season.

Merhi admits still looking for sponsor
(GMM) As the mid-point of the 2015 season approaches, Roberto Merhi has clung onto his Manor seat so far.

The rookie Spaniard's place has been under a cloud all year, as the former Marussia team left the back door open for a driver who can bring more funding.

But it emerges that Merhi, 24, will retain his seat for the forthcoming British grand prix, even though he has not given up the search for a sponsor.

"We're seeing if we can bring a sponsor," he confirmed to the Spanish daily Marca, "but the results are coming now and that is what helps me."

Merhi said Manor will finally add some new parts to the outdated 2015 package at Silverstone, while he is feeling happier with his own performance.

"The team is happy with the times and the consistency," he revealed.

"It is true that it took me time to adapt to the car and the Pirelli tires, but everything has changed now."

It was said that Merhi's place was in doubt due to the recent signing as reserve driver of 2013 GP2 champion Fabio Leimer.

But the Swiss is in fact headed to London this weekend for the Formula E race, after Virgin regular and former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari had his license suspended by the FIA following a recent fainting spell.

Horner calls current F1 strategy group inept

Horner says Brawn should write new F1 rulebook
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said that an "independent figure" like former F1 Team Principal Ross Brawn "should write F1's rules."

The Red Bull boss has also "called for the sport's Strategy Group to be abolished." Horner said that the teams "shouldn’t have a say in how the rules are written when they have a vested interest."

Intriguingly, he "floats the name of Brawn — the legendary former team boss and technical director who won multiple world championships — as one such person who could shape future regulations."

Horner: "The Strategy Group at the moment is fairly inept and I keep saying it needs the commercial rights holder and the governing body to decide what they want Formula 1 to be and then put it on the table to the teams and say 'this is what we want the product to be, these are the rules, there is the entry form.' Maybe you need an independent, someone that isn't currently involved, somebody like a Ross Brawn, who understands the business, understands the challenges to write the specification for what a car should be." SKY SPORTS

Kaltenborn: Allow trio to catch up
Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn is the latest to call on Formula 1's powers that be to open up engine development, but she believes Mercedes should be excluded.

Mercedes have dominated F1 since the introduction of the V6 turbo hybrid engines at the start of 2014, winning 16 of the 19 races last year and securing P1 in seven of the eight races so far this campaign.

Red Bull, who are powered by Renault, and McLaren-Honda, in particular, have had a torrid start to 2015 and many feel the FIA should change the regulations and allow them to catch up with Merc.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insists "Formula 1 can't afford for Honda and Renault to be in the situation they are".

Kaltenborn has echoed his comments and feels F1 should follow DTM's example and allow Ferrari, Honda and Renault to develop their engines and close the gap to Mercedes.

"If you open this up it is going to be opened up for everybody. I don’t like to compare this now to DTM, but they did allow one big name [Mercedes] to develop and they themselves didn’t develop that much to bring them up to a certain level," she told Sky Sports.

"I think that is the kind of thinking we need that you have to make it a level playing field, because the advantages which are there will be for years and not be able to be caught up. So you don’t want to see this happening for the next two, three years."

Asked if Mercedes were likely to extend their advantage, she replied: "Exactly, if you open it up it is for everybody. So they will continue to develop as well and they have such a massive advantage that I think even if they were to stop their development others would take two years to get there.

"And that is something we have to be seriously thinking about because for two years fans are not going to accept these kinds of races. You look at other events coming up, TV stations paying far more to broadcast those events and we will just be suffering." Planet F1

Alonso lost motivation at Ferrari so he gave a backmarker team a try

Alonso: I lost motivation at Ferrari
Fernando Alonso says he lost all motivation in his final year at Ferrari which was one of the reasons behind his switch to McLaren Honda.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion made headline news with his big money move to the Woking-based team, paving the way for Sebastian Vettel to take his place at Ferrari.

The Spaniard reveals he lost drive to compete at Ferrari after playing second-fiddle to Red Bull and Mercedes over the past few seasons and was desperate for a fresh challenge.

"I lost the motivation last year," Alonso said before the Austrian Grand Prix. "To be second and third for so many years and with not really any progress and without motivation it is very difficult to work and I have all that back now."

Despite his turbulent start to his second stint at McLaren Alonso insists he made the right decision to switch teams during the winter.

The 33-year-old suffered a heavy shunt during pre-season testing at Barcelona which ruled him out of the season opener in Australia and has failed to finish in five of the seven Grand Prixs he's contested this year, with his frustrations coming to a head in Canada.

"I don't have any regrets because I am happy now," Alonso said. "I am enjoying the weekends and I am enjoying my job and I need this motivation." crash.net