Latest F1 news in brief

Sergio Marchionne delusional to think Ferrari will ever catch the sandbagging Mercedes team for years

Kubica backs Alonso's 'huge challenge'
Marchionne knew closing gap to Mercedes not easy
'Customer cars' just big teams' money grab – Fernley
Red Bull relationship still good – Vettel
Journalists say Horner should be F1 supremo
Red Bull to take engine penalties in Austria
Mercedes 'listening' to unfreeze arguments

Kubica backs Alonso's 'huge challenge'
(GMM) Robert Kubica has backed his old friend Fernando Alonso's decision to join McLaren-Honda.

Much has been made of Spaniard Alonso's Ferrari departure, especially on the eve of the Italian team's resurgence in 2015.

Alonso, however, insists he made the right call as he didn't want to be "second forever" wearing a red uniform.

When asked about that comment, Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene said: "People can say whatever they want.

"I know that what he said is not polite," he told F1's official website, "but I don't care."

That apparent impoliteness was evident even to McLaren-Honda during the Canadian grand prix, when Alonso said he rejected a radio instruction to save fuel because it made him look like an "amateur".

Managing director Jonathan Neale, however, excused the outburst.

"Fernando is great," he is quoted by the Mirror. "He's dynamite and if he wants to speak his mind, we'll let him do it.

"I do believe progress isn't made by reasonable men, so why would I expect my drivers to be reasonable?"

Some, however, think Alonso's notorious character might now begin to increasingly emerge in 2015, as his patience for the faltering project runs out.

But Kubica, who was one of Alonso's closest friends in the paddock until his own F1 career ended some years ago, backed the Spaniard's McLaren switch.

"Any person, and especially a driver, needs new challenges," the Pole, now a rally driver in the wake of his early 2011 crash and injuries, told Italian television Sky.

"When Fernando went to Ferrari, everyone including myself expected him to win titles. But it wasn't like that.

"So he has had to find new ideas and a different way," said Kubica, 30.

"What he has now is a huge challenge, but like any great challenge, when you make it to the finish line there is an even greater satisfaction.

"It is a risk, but he is one of the strongest drivers, if not the strongest driver there has been in recent years," he added.

Mercedes once again dominated in Canada

Marchionne knew closing gap to Mercedes not easy
(GMM) Sergio Marchionne says he was never under any illusion about the challenge faced by Ferrari in 2015.

Sebastian Vettel's breakthrough win wearing red came early this season, raising hopes the resurgent team might be ready to challenge Mercedes' utter dominance.

But five further races have now passed without a follow-up Ferrari victory, even in Canada last weekend, where the Maranello team debuted an updated engine.

Indeed, Mercedes scored another emphatic one-two in Montreal.

"Psychologically, I guess it's good that when a competitor expects more performance, you are able to stay on top," said that team's chief Toto Wolff.

But Marchionne, Ferrari's new president, insists what happened in Canada was no real surprise.

"We always knew, and I had a long discussion with our team about this, that despite knowing the gap to Mercedes, they also would not stand still," he is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial.

"And that's what we saw here," added Marchionne, whose Montreal visit was his first appearance in a grand prix paddock as Ferrari president.

He said Ferrari's will to improve in 2015 is not diminished.

"We're spending a lot of time to make sure we continue to remedy the problems that we knew were inherent in this car," said Marchionne, who only took over from Luca di Montezemolo late last year.

At the same time, Mercedes insists that even though it was able to fend off the Ferrari challenge in Canada, the red camp may not have demonstrated its full potential at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Indeed, Vettel started from the back of the grid following technical problems and a penalty, while Kimi Raikkonen was heading for a podium when he spun.

So championship leader Lewis Hamilton rejects the notion that the 2015 title battle is definitely now a two-horse race with his teammate Nico Rosberg.

"I think it's pretty much impossible for you to come to that conclusion," he said.

"Sebastian wasn't there (in the Canada race) and obviously Sebastian has generally been the quicker of the two so far this season so we didn't really get to see Ferrari's true pace."

Boss Wolff agrees.

"On Friday we noticed this great step they (Ferrari) have made, so maybe the problems they had on Saturday meant they were not able to show their true potential after that," he said.

"I think we will see that (potential) in Austria."

'Customer cars' just big teams' money grab – Fernley
(GMM) Bob Fernley has accused F1's biggest teams of conspiring against the smaller outfits.

On Friday in Montreal, a meeting convened by McLaren's Ron Dennis was attended only by representatives of three other teams — fellow grandees Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.

Even the strategy group members Williams and Force India were excluded, and the latter's deputy chief Fernley thinks he knows why.

"The intention is clear," he is quoted by Italy's Autosprint. "They want to throw us out."

The 'gang of four' meeting was chiefly about the issue of customer cars, or 'franchise teams' as now described by Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.

"We know that the other teams do not want it," Wolff acknowledged, "but we have to think of an alternative. We cannot end up with 14 or 16 cars a week before the next grand prix.

"If things remain as they are now, it will not be needed."

Briefly, the plan agreed between the 'gang of four' is that they will offer full car packages to potential 'franchise teams' for EUR 50 million a season.

Bernie Ecclestone reacted by saying he doubts he will "let that happen".

"How can you allow one competitor to supply things to another competitor?" he told British television Sky in Canada.

But at the very least, Force India's Fernley says he knows what the big teams are trying to do.

"Not only have they not accepted our proposals to reduce the cost of the power unit, introduce a budget cap or revise the distribution of income, now they want to take everything — even our money," he said.

"They want the independent teams to disappear and to replace them with small customer teams. Then all the other money will end up with them (the big teams).

"Customer cars is just a way for them to take the part of the income that they don't already have," Fernley charged.

Sebastian Vettel and Dieter Mateschitz in 2011

Red Bull relationship still good – Vettel
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel says he maintains a good relationship with Red Bull and the energy drink company's mogul Dietrich Mateschitz.

Although now a Ferrari driver, German Vettel was groomed from boyhood by Red Bull's junior program, going on to win four world championships in the familiar dark blue.

So as F1 moves on to the Red Bull-organized Austrian grand prix next weekend, Vettel admitted he is looking forward to the race at the Red Bull Ring.

"Even though I am no longer part of Red Bull, I do still feel connected in some way," he told APA news agency.

Vettel, now 27, says he still has a "very, very good relationship" with Mateschitz, even though he split professionally with the Austrian billionaire after 2014.

"It's not as though we had a dispute. On the contrary," said the German, who said he would be happy to catch up with Mateschitz next weekend.

As for the Austrian grand prix, Vettel said he knows "how much effort" is put into organizing it, and retains relationships with other Red Bull officials.

"That's why for me it is a more intimate race than perhaps somewhere else, even though Monza is now more of a home race," he added.

Journalists say Horner should be F1 supremo
(GMM) Two authoritative F1 correspondents have identified Christian Horner as the ideal man to take charge of the sport's future.

Writing in the British newspaper The Times, Kevin Eason said F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone "must start to hand over — now."

The call comes amid a near-unprecedented round of introspection for the pinnacle of motor racing, as audiences decline, small teams falter and the stakeholders wonder how to recapture the 'heyday' of formula one.

Eason said the F1 of today, run by 84-year-old Ecclestone, is "not ready to move into the 21st century with the rest of us".

"But it has to sooner rather than later.

"And the man he (Ecclestone) should hand over to should be Christian Horner. Take him out of Red Bull and give him the keys. Horner is young, smart, modern and in touch," added Eason.

Jonathan McEvoy, the correspondent for another British newspaper, the Daily Mail, also thinks 41-year-old Horner is the right man for the job.

"It is an intelligent, preferably young, energetic, articulate, successful, fair-minded dictator the sport needs to replace this Horlicks of self-interest," he wrote.

"Horner has proved during his stewardship of Red Bull that he has these qualities.

"Anointing Horner may yet be Ecclestone's last great legacy to formula one," McEvoy added.

More engine penalties seemingly on the way for Red Bull

Red Bull to take engine penalties in Austria
(GMM) Red Bull looks set to start dead last on the grid for its home race in Austria next weekend.

The embattled energy drink owned team has acknowledged that, after burning through unreliable Renault engines early this year, grid penalties for fitting unscheduled fifth units will inevitably strike.

It was suggested that a good place to begin taking the pain would be in Canada, where Red Bull knew it would struggle but the Montreal layout would at least provide an opportunity to fight back with overtaking moves.

But even though Red Bull owns the 'Red Bull Ring' and promotes its Austrian home race, it appears the team has decided next weekend is strategically better for Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat to serve penalties.

In Canada, Red Bull was badly off the pace, and the finger was squarely pointed at the performance of the Renault engine.

"In terms of the engine," said Dr Helmut Marko, "we are in a worse position even than last year.

"The GPS comparisons on the straights are frightening," he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Indeed, while every other major team improved between Canada 2014 and Canada 2015, Red Bull actually took a step backwards to the tune of half a second per lap.

It means Red Bull's best hopes for a decent result in the near future lie in Hungary, on the tight, twisty, Monaco-like Budapest circuit.

"It will be probably our strongest track for the year," said team boss Christian Horner, "so it is important that we start as high up as possible."

Before then, however, F1 will travel to Austria, and so Horner said taking a "tactical" penalty there makes "the most sense".

"We must expect that we will be on the last row of the grid," he is quoted as saying, adding that Ricciardo and Kvyat may also be penalized further if they cannot serve their full penalties by qualifying in the top ten.

Mercedes 'listening' to unfreeze arguments
(GMM) Eric Boullier has tipped Mercedes to compromise over the current engine rules.

Christian Horner, boss of the struggling Red Bull team, said this week that if the so-called 'engine freeze' rules are not relaxed, F1 must be prepared to wave "goodbye" to Renault.

A complex 'token' system is giving Ferrari, Renault and Honda a chance to catch up to dominant Mercedes during the 2015 season, but that loophole has been closed for 2016.

Not only that, the amount of allowed out-of-season development also tapers off for 2016 and beyond.

Asked if Mercedes will agree to tweak the rules, Horner said: "They don't have to obviously but it is at a precarious point in terms of Renault's commitment to the future."

Also notably struggling under the existing regime in 2015 is Honda, the Japanese manufacturer who returned to F1 this year in partnership with McLaren.

But McLaren boss Boullier tipped Mercedes to "listen" to the concerns of its rivals who are pushing for rule changes.

"Honestly, they are (listening) already," he said.

Indeed, Boullier was among those who attended the conspicuous 'gang of four' meeting last Friday in Montreal, also featuring Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"Having spoken to Toto (Wolff) and Niki (Lauda), they are concerned about formula one. I'm sure there is some room to change if you look at the overall picture," he said.

McLaren-Honda has admitted it would benefit from any freeing up of the current engine rules restrictions.

"I'm pretty sure Renault would feel the same way," managing director Jonathan Neale said recently.

"They're investing in the sport, they're a big organization, it's important for their brand as well that they have some degree of glide-path on this."