Latest F1 news in brief

Susie Wolff at a crossroads

Manager says Schumacher condition 'improving'
Alonso 'disillusioned' but not 'dark and moody'
2016 German GP return '1000pc safe' – Hockenheim
Wolff happy to give Hamilton his freedom
Wolff admits wife Susie at F1 'crossroads'
Berger doubts Strategy Group can save F1
Red Bull crisis deepens in Barcelona
Mercedes supports fifth engine yet again
Rosberg's 'humiliation over now' – Lauda

Manager says Schumacher condition 'improving'
(GMM) Michael Schumacher's manager says the condition of the seven time world champion is "improving".

Sabine Kehm, who is now guiding Schumacher's son Mick on his first steps in single seaters, appeared in the Barcelona paddock ahead of the Spanish grand prix.

When asked about the mostly unknown fate of F1's most successful driver ever, she was quoted by Sky Italia: "There are small improvements, but the road is still very long."

The latest news about 46-year-old former Ferrari and Mercedes driver Schumacher is that his wife Corinna has sold his private jet and favorite holiday home in Norway.

The usually well-connected German weekly Bunte claims she made the decision "When it became clear that the old Schumi perhaps would never return".

Now, the world is closely watching the early development of Schumacher's successor, his 16-year-old son Mick.

Toro Rosso star Carlos Sainz, another son of a famous father, sympathizes with motor racing's latest 'junior'.

"The truth is that it hurt me," he told France's L'Equipe when asked what having a famous father was like as he rose through the ranks.

"At the track, all of my competitors dreamed of beating the son of Carlos Sainz. I imagine it is the same for Schumacher's son now.

"These are difficult moments for him because he is still a child. But in the end it was a good thing for me," Sainz added, "because it made me stronger."

Alonso disillusioned

Alonso 'disillusioned' but not 'dark and moody'
(GMM) Even McLaren's dark new livery could give the British team a boost.

British newspapers report that the switch from chrome to 'graphite grey' in Barcelona has resulted in an up to 3kg weight saving for the MP4-30.

"Everybody is looking to shave off time in any way you can," confirmed managing director Jonathan Neale, who said the former chrome finish was 'multi-layered' and therefore heavier.

McLaren is focused on constantly taking "small steps" at the difficult start of the new works Honda era.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, remains curiously upbeat about the future, even though many of his supporters in the Barcelona grandstands are wondering why he left the resurgent Ferrari team.

Ferrari's technical chief James Allison told La Repubblica that he tried to convince the Spaniard to stay.

"No. I couldn't do it," the Briton said.

"I explained to him that things would change, that the new car was good, the gap would decrease, that staying with us made sense. But he was too disillusioned by then," Allison explained.

"I was the tenth person that had said it to him — he had heard it for years and no longer believed it."

Alonso, however, insists he is much happier now that he wears 'graphite grey'.

"If you think that we were four seconds behind in Australia and now we are fighting to get into Q3," he is quoted by El Confidencial. "It's almost a miracle.

"The potential is enormous and we are slowly finding the keys and opening locks," Alonso added.

Indeed, teammate Jenson Button says Honda is yet to spend a single performance 'token' in 2015, as it improves the radical 'power unit' in other areas for now.

As for paddock claims that Alonso is "dark and moody", Button does not agree.

"I heard he was not easy to work with," the Briton told Spain's Marca, "but I've had no problem.

"We both have experience, we've both been through great moments and terrible moments, so there is probably more respect than there is between some other drivers.

"No, I haven't seen that," Button smiled when asked about Alonso's 'dark and moody' character. "If he's like that, I haven't seen it yet!"

Finally, Alonso dismissed reports he could miss Sunday's Spanish grand prix because of his eye infection.

"The eye is a little bit big I guess," the constantly sunglasses-wearing 33-year-old said late on Saturday, "but driving is ok, no problems. It should be fine."

2016 German GP return '1,000pc safe' – Hockenheim
(GMM) Hockenheim's boss says he is "1,000 per cent" sure the German grand prix will return in 2016.

After failing to rescue this year's event, Bernie Ecclestone said recently there is also no guarantee Hockenheim will return to the 2016 calendar, despite its bi-annual contract.

But when asked about the 2016 German grand prix, Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler said he is "100, even 1,000 per cent sure" it will happen.

"For next year we have an agreement and we always respect our contracts," he told the German news agency SID.

As for Ecclestone's claim that Germany might in fact not be back in 2016, Seiler answered: "I have a good relationship with Bernie Ecclestone," indicating that there are no official signs of a problem.

But he also said it is up to formula one to put on a good show.

"Formula one has to be good, then the spectators will come," said Seiler. "No one comes for the support program."

Toto Wolff

Wolff happy to give Hamilton his freedom
(GMM) Toto Wolff says he is happy to give Lewis Hamilton his freedom.

In the three week 'break' between Bahrain and Spain, the reigning world champion racked up the equivalent of a full circumnavigation of planet Earth in his red, $30 million private jet.

Reports say he hopped from Bahrain to Monaco and then to London, Mallorca, Monza, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York before returning to the UK and finally arriving to race in Barcelona.

"He's single — he can travel," smiled Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

"If it helps him to be fast on the track, let us never stand in his way," he said in an interview with Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper.

"Lewis is restless, he has many passions and he pursues them," Wolff continued.

Hamilton's travels might be capturing attention at present due to his contractual status, amid persistent rumors he is not ruling out a switch to Ferrari for 2016.

The repeatedly-delayed confirmation of a new Mercedes deal is the subject of frenzied speculation in Barcelona.

There are rumors the 30-year-old is demanding he be able to keep his F1 cars at the end of each season, all of his trophies and be paid a staggering $66 million per year.

It might explain the presence at the Spanish grand prix this weekend of Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche.

German-language commentator Christian Danner says those sorts of demands will be giving even Mercedes-Benz pause to reconsider.

"The team needs to decide as soberly as possible if the cost-benefit works out," he told Bild am Sonntag.

"Ok, you would pay a driver tens of millions more to drive a second faster than the competition, but Mercedes must also be thinking that Nico Rosberg can win in this car, and the same for other drivers as well.

"Is Hamilton really worth that much?" Danner wondered.

Wolff admits wife Susie at F1 'crossroads'
(GMM) Toto Wolff has admitted his wife Susie has come to "a crossroads" in her F1 journey.

Earlier in 2015, despite looking ahead to two Friday practice outings with Williams, 32-year-old tester Susie Wolff was overlooked by the British team for its vacant role as official reserve driver.

Wolff admitted in Barcelona that being shunted behind the status of team newcomer Adrian Sutil meant she might now have to reconsider her F1 foray.

"I've always said that if I cannot make progress and I cannot improve, I would be the first one to hang up my helmet," she said.

Her husband Toto, the team boss at Mercedes and still a minor shareholder of Williams, confirmed: "Susie is at a crossroads.

"She has to decide now if she continues to wait on the bench in F1 or if she wants to do something else," Wolff told Salzburger Nachrichten.

The report said one possibility for Susie is a switch to the similarly Mercedes-powered Lotus team for 2016.

Salzburger Nachrichten said Wolff has ruled out a move to the backmarker Manor.

Merhi's F1 car slower than the entire GP2 grid!

Berger doubts Strategy Group can save F1
(GMM) Roberto Merhi has arguably the least enviable job in all of formula one — the slowest driver at the wheel of the slowest car.

So slow is the Spaniard's Manor in Barcelona that he would also have qualified dead last for the this weekend's GP2 race on the very same circuit.

"It's not easy," the rookie confirmed to Spanish reporters at his home race.

"You cannot go as fast in the corners as you would like, so you have to adapt to that. No — it's not easy," Merhi repeated.

For some, the fact the entire GP2 field – even the backmarkers – are faster than Merhi is a sure sign that formula one as a whole needs to speed up.

Bernie Ecclestone urgently wants the cars to be louder, more powerful and harder to drive, but F1 legend Gerhard Berger said even the F1 supremo's hands are tied.

Next week, the Strategy Group will meet at Ecclestone's Biggin Hill airport facility to discuss making changes to the rules, but Berger is not confident.

"They are never able to agree," he told Austria's APA news agency, "because everyone only fights for their own interests.

"But the sport and the fans are screaming for improvements. Formula one needs to be run by a professional dictator," Berger argued.

The Strategy Group does include the big teams, Ecclestone and the FIA, but Berger says it is still unlikely to be able to agree a direction for the future.

"It's been a long time since a decent decision has come out of a meeting," said the Austrian, who is close to Red Bull's dissatisfied team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

"Someone needs to make the decisions. Bernie has done a very good job in the past — he needs to try to get it back in his hands," Berger insisted.

He also points the finger at F1's governing body, led by FIA president Jean Todt, for contributing to the predicament Red Bull finds itself in.

The former title-winning team is now struggling with Renault power and "The tragedy is that (Red Bull) has no real alternative".

But he said the FIA has a duty to "ensure that teams can be equipped with competitive engines. Otherwise it makes no sense for them".

Ricciardo now knows how Vettel felt last year, the Renault 'lemon' failing him constantly. He is already on his next-to-last 'lemon' for the year and the season is young

Red Bull crisis deepens in Barcelona
(GMM) Renault has turned down the performance of its troubled 'power unit' as it stands on the cusp of an embarrassing run of F1 grid penalties.

Drivers powered by the French engines are rapidly running through their allocation of four units for the whole 2015 season.

So when asked about the performance of his turbo V6 in Barcelona, Daniel Ricciardo forced his customary smile as he quipped: "Let's just say it's not very scary."

Renault is having to openly admit that, now a quarter of the way into the season, is still has not solved a fundamental problem with the pistons.

"We will run with conservative settings until we get to the bottom of it," the marque's Remi Taffin confirmed to Auto Motor und Sport.

But Renault is not Red Bull's only problem. On Saturday, to the delight of his countrymen in the grandstands, Carlos Sainz outqualified both Red Bull cars.

And so did his Toro Rosso teammate Max Verstappen.

"It's not good for us to be half a second behind the Toro Rosso," Ricciardo admitted. "That's not just (because of) the engine."

Earlier in Spain, Christian Horner extolled the "masterpiece" that is Red Bull's new ultra-short nose, but "It's hard to say something positive when you're two seconds off the pace", Ricciardo insisted.

Indeed, at the Red Bull junior team, Sainz was delighted with his Barcelona feat, but also "a bit baffled".

"We should not be ahead of them," he told Spanish reporters. "They will come back and improve and be back where they should be."

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko is furious with the situation, F1's regulations and Renault, but he said one bright spot is the shining form of his rookies Sainz and Verstappen.

"I received a lot of criticism for believing in them," he beamed, according to El Confidencial.

Mercedes supports fifth engine yet again
(GMM) Mercedes has changed its position yet again over the 'fifth engine' issue.

Concerned that too many drivers will easily run through their allocation of four engines and start serving multiple grid penalties, talks about adding another 'power unit' took place recently.

"There was a certain degree of unanimous agreement amongst the teams in Malaysia," said McLaren-Honda's Jonathan Neale. "I think that position has changed a bit from what I can pick up in paddock rumor at the moment."

Indeed, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda headed into the Spanish grand prix weekend reportedly declaring: "There will be no fifth engine.

"You cannot change the regulations in the middle of a season," the F1 legend insisted.

It is not clear which way Ferrari will vote at next week's crucial Strategy Group meeting, but Mercedes appears now to have changed its position again.

A mid-season rule change requires unanimity up and down pitlane.

"We have called for the fifth engine," team boss Toto Wolff told Kleine Zeitung newspaper in Barcelona, "subject to the condition that more running is done on Fridays.

"For us, it is not ideal and we would make do with four engines, but it is important that we support the fans," he added.

So ahead of Thursday's meeting at Biggin Hill, Wolff added: "The debate will take place but I'm not sure if all the teams want another engine because of the cost."

Rosberg redeemed himself on qualifying but will likely get beaten by Hamilton in the race

Rosberg's 'humiliation over now' – Lauda
(GMM) Nico Rosberg's "humiliation" is finally over.

That is the claim of Mercedes' always-blunt team chairman Niki Lauda, who had urged the German to urgently find a way to stop Lewis Hamilton's "extra-terrestrial"-like run of form.

"The humiliation of the first races is over," the F1 legend told RTL television after Saturday in Barcelona, where Rosberg finally broke Hamilton's series of poles.

"That Nico is back is the best thing that can happen to the team now," Lauda added. "The more the two push each other on, the better we can develop, even if it gives us more grey hairs on the pitwall.

"You see Ferrari with a problem now and racing with two different cars," he quipped.

He is referring to Ferrari's major new upgrade package for Barcelona, which was discarded by struggling Kimi Raikkonen's side of the garage after Friday practice.

Lauda continued: "The gap to Ferrari has remained the same or even become greater."

Indeed, Sebastian Vettel's gap to pole on Saturday was almost eight tenths, up from four tenths in Bahrain.

"The gap is probably a little bit bigger than it was the last couple of races," the four time world champion and Ferrari driver admitted.