Latest F1 news in brief – Tuesday
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F1 can forget about any of the VW brands ever entering the sport: |
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- VW says 'no talks' about F1 project
- Energy recovery is 'greatest difficulty' – Honda
- F1's Hulkenberg, Mallya, put Le Mans in focus
- Circuit 'alternation' could save Italian GP
- Symonds says F1 cars 'easier to drive' today
- Berger slams decision to cancel F3 race
- Chester thinks F1 car could win Le Mans
- Schumacher's son to race with broken hand
- Four teams tweaked 'flexi' wing designs
VW says 'no talks' about F1 project
(GMM) Volkswagen has issued another denial to seemingly constant speculation it might be considering a foray in formula one.
VW Group brands including Audi and Porsche, already with Le Mans prototype programs, are regularly linked with potential deliberations about a F1 project.
But Jost Capito said Volkswagen itself is happier in a series like world rally, where the cars being raced can be visually recognized by road car buyers.
He insisted "there are no talks" about a F1 project.
"It has been well-decided … to go into the world rally championship because as a volume manufacturer we believe it's right to be in a series where the cars are recognizable, where you run the technology that you sell in the showroom," Capito, VW motor sport director, told Sportsbusiness Daily.
"We see this kind of technology (F1) the same as sports car technology more for the premium brands," he added.
VW is committed to world rally until at least 2019.
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| Honda struggles not with the engine, but with the expensive energy recovery systems – F1 is not a sport, it is a complicated and expensive engineering exercise. Engineering is not a sport, hence neither is F1. |
Energy recovery is 'greatest difficulty' – Honda
(GMM) McLaren and Honda are working hard to improve their relationship as the once-great collaboration struggles at the start of a new era.
After Canada, reports suggested frustrations were beginning to show in the McLaren camp, but a source for the British team told Brazil's Globo the relationship with Honda remains "good" and "healthy".
The insider, however, admitted there are concerns about the methods that are currently in place as Honda grapples with the huge challenges of the current engine regulations.
"Our biggest problem is that when one area begins to function well, suddenly another, completely separate problem emerges," McLaren technical boss Matt Morris said.
Honda's F1 chief Yasuhisa Arai acknowledged the huge learning curve as the Japanese carmaker returns to the sport for the first time since 2008, when the former V8 engine rules were in place.
"Our greatest difficulty now," he said, "is not in the internal combustion engine, but the energy recovery systems."
Gary Anderson, a former F1 designer turned broadcaster, agrees that the current rules are "extremely complex" for manufacturers.
Another former F1 figure, Joan Villadelprat, explained: "It is much harder for engine manufacturers to be successful in F1 today than in my time at McLaren and Ferrari.
"The precision needed to integrate all the systems is an engineering challenge, I believe, that is beyond what we have ever seen in the history of F1.
"It's why companies even with the structures of Renault and Honda have yet to master it," he said.
McLaren team boss Eric Boullier has admitted the huge pressure on both sides of the collaboration to speed up the learning process, including by unleashing more resources.
But Morris said: "We are learning to deal with the situation, and improving the way we are working, but there are situations where there is no way to do it faster."
F1's Hulkenberg, Mallya, put Le Mans in focus
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has named Nico Hulkenberg as one of the very best drivers in F1 today.
Before German Hulkenberg won Le Mans on debut at the weekend, the Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 had asked Alonso to nominate his top-three drivers on the grid.
"He chose Hamilton, Hulkenberg, and after thinking some more, Ricciardo," read a report in Spain's El Confidencial.
Alonso – whilst controversially excluding Sebastian Vettel – is not alone in rating Hulkenberg highly, as his Porsche stablemate Mark Webber says the 27-year-old "deserves a better seat in formula one".
Hulkenberg's Le Mans win comes at an awkward time for F1, as drivers and spectators are beginning to question if it remains the most challenging motor racing category.
Asked why he pushed to combine F1 with prototype sports cars this year, Hulkenberg told f1-insider: "Well, the opportunity to work with a brand like Porsche doesn't come along every day.
"Naturally I asked myself if it would affect my formula one career, by having to adapt to a different driving style, but I don't think so."
He also told Der Spiegel that he has enjoyed the contrasting atmosphere of the world endurance championship.
"There is not the egoism and the fierce competition as there is between the F1 drivers," Hulkenberg revealed. "There is a togetherness (at Le Mans) — a completely different atmosphere."
Vijay Mallya, who watched Hulkenberg's triumph first hand, is taking a lot of credit for allowing his full-time Force India driver to risk his life at Le Mans.
The Indian describes the achievement as "incredible".
"The 24 hours is an amazing race that demands total commitment from drivers and cars," said Mallya.
"Nico's performance displayed his immense talent and made all of us at Force India proud. I truly hope he will be boosted by this success and translate it into another great performance in Austria."
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| Imola could alternate with Monza |
Circuit 'alternation' could save Italian GP
(GMM) Imola has emerged in the running to return to formula one.
Currently, the future of the Italian grand prix at historic Monza is under a cloud, as F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone demands a higher annual race fee.
And now, another Italian circuit – the former long-time San Marino grand prix venue Imola – has suddenly emerged in the running to return to the calendar.
It follows a meeting at Ecclestone's London office on Monday between the 84-year-old Briton and Daniele Manca, who is the mayor of the town of Imola.
The specialist Italian publications Autosprint and Omnicorse each published separate photographs of the meeting, which was also attended by other Italian officials.
"We wanted to show to Ecclestone the will of the town of Imola to get back to formula one," mayor Manca said, "but above all to do our part to keep a grand prix in Italy."
The last grand prix held at Imola was in 2006.
Manca admitted one idea is an "alternation between different (Italian) national circuits", with the Ferrari-linked media insider Leo Turrini speculating that F1 could switch between Monza, Imola and Ferrari-owned Mugello.
Manca continued: "Ecclestone told us that he never wanted to lose Imola, and that it was in fact Enzo Ferrari who asked him first to organize a race at our circuit."
He said the current discussions are about the 2017 season, which would coincide with the end of Monza's existing contract.
Rob La Salle, the correspondent for Speed Week, wondered: "Is this just a question of him (Ecclestone) putting pressure on Monza?"
Symonds says F1 cars 'easier to drive' today
(GMM) Pat Symonds, one of the most experienced engineers in F1, has admitted the cars of today are easier to drive.
The Briton's career has spanned decades, as he has worked with great champions across the eras including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.
And now he sees Williams' Valtteri Bottas as a potential champion of the future, although he admits the challenge is different today.
"I do believe that today's cars are easier to drive," he told UOL, "and that is due to a number of reasons."
Comparing the ground-effect cars with today's machines, for instance, is impossible, because the cars of the 80s were "animals", Symonds explained.
"I also worked in the turbo era where the power came in like you were pushing a button," he said. "You pushed the throttle and nothing happened until the power came on all at once.
"Those cars were difficult," explained Symonds, "and Ayrton Senna certainly knew how to tame them."
Symonds thinks the challenge of driving has also been made easier due to the evolution of the engineer's role in F1.
"What happens is that, as the engineers get better and we manage to make more and more efficient cars, the cars become easier to drive.
"For instance, how many times in the past did a driver have to retire because he selected the wrong gear? That doesn't happen anymore," he said.
Not only that, Symonds said the drivers are even less involved in the actual development of the car.
"Definitely," said the 62-ytear-old. "The driver is less involved in development now simply because engineering has become a lot more sophisticated.
"We can control most things," added Symonds, "but there is still an area that we cannot enter, which is that final interaction between man and machine — and that's where you have the driver.
"On many occasions, the drivers will tell us he prefers a configuration that makes no sense to us (engineers)," he said, "and you have to respect that."
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| Gerhard Berger |
Berger slams decision to cancel F3 race
(GMM) F1 legend Gerhard Berger has criticized the decision to cancel a recent Formula 3 race at historic Monza.
The decision was taken after a spate of terrifying wheel-to-wheel crashes, but Berger thinks it was the wrong message to what is "the best school" for rising driver talent.
Until recently, former grand prix winner Berger was head of the FIA's single seater commission, but now in charge is former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali.
"There were drivers who were wrong (at Monza)," Austrian Berger told Italy's Autosprint, "but also the race director — what does he want?
"To turn F3 into F1, although everyone in the F1 paddock knows that the habit of punishing drivers for every single thing is wrong?
"Do they want to destroy a healthy F3?" he continued.
"I heard that there should not be F3 at Monza, it is dangerous, or they must establish a code of conduct when two cars are together. Are you kidding?
"F3 has always had closely contested and fabulous races at Monza. And F3 has always been the best school for drivers, and it should remain so," Berger charged.
Chester thinks F1 car could win Le Mans
(GMM) Lotus' technical boss thinks a formula one car could win at Le Mans.
The fabled 24 hour sports car race is in the headlines at present, after full-time Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg won on Sunday for Porsche.
Not only that, former grand prix winner Mark Webber has switched full-time to the ever-burgeoning world endurance championship and thinks it may have taken over from F1 as the most challenging category.
"I mainly think about the drivers," Webber told the Telegraph. "If they're happy, and on the edge, and it's risky, pushing the boundaries, then the fans love it. At the moment it's not like that."
On the other hand, the former Red Bull driver said, the top Le Mans cars today are "extremely futuristic, sexy — beasts to be tamed".
But Nick Chester, the technical boss at Lotus, thinks the regulations shift in F1 in recent years means he can now imagine a grand prix car winning at Le Mans.
"The current engine regulations mean we have an engine and gearbox which could cover the race distance and that certainly wasn't the case in the past," he said.
"The current F1 car could go in an endurance race such is the performance life of so many of the parts these days. In the past with the V8s and older gearboxes, you wouldn't have the durability.
"Maybe it's something we should talk to the ACO about," added Chester, referring to the Le Mans governing body.
"It would be a lot of fun," he said, "and I'd love the challenge of engineering an F1 car for a 24 hour race."
Respected F1 correspondent Kevin Eason thinks that, given formula one's current problems, Chester's idea could be an ideal opportunity for the sport.
"Instead of a driver (Hulkenberg) getting a day off to compete at Le Mans, give a team the funds and the time to develop a formula one car to compete at Le Mans," he wrote in the Times.
"Prove that F1 is still the greatest of them all."
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| Schumacher |
Schumacher's son to race with broken hand
(GMM) Michael Schumacher's son will race through the pain barrier this weekend by going wheel-to-wheel with a broken hand.
16-year-old Mick suffered a fracture in his hand just below his right thumb when he crashed during the most recent round of German Formula 4 in Austria.
But Michael and Mick Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm has told Bild newspaper that the youngster has passed the mandatory medical checks and will be on the grid this weekend at Spa.
"I wanted to race," Mick said, "so now I am very relieved.
"Fortunately, what they told me in Austria is confirmed — that the break is very simple. So everything should be fine in Spa," he added.
Four teams tweaked 'flexi' wing designs
(GMM) Four teams made modifications to their front wing designs ahead of the recent Canadian grand prix.
In the days after Monaco, we reported that the FIA was clamping down once again on the well-trodden area of so-called 'flexi wings' in formula one.
Spain's El Confidencial reported that a new 50 Newton-meter load test would be applied for front wing flexibility by FIA scrutineers in Canada.
Germany's Auto Motor und Sport now reports that the new test was actually to the tune of 60 Newton-meters, on suspicion that some teams were getting as much as 10 centimeters of aero-efficient flexibility from their front wings.
From Canada, only 3 millimeters of flex would be tolerated during the new load test.
Red Bull, Mercedes, Lotus and Toro Rosso all took new designs to Canada, with the main modification being small 'supports' between wing elements.
Correspondent Michael Schmidt said all four teams passed the scrutineering tests.