Latest F1 news on brief

Felipe Massa

Sauber says Mosley's budget cap 'good idea'
Ferrari caught out 'relaxed' Mercedes – Villeneuve
Aero boss Fallows says Red Bull can catch up
Massa intends to stay at Williams
Alonso could quit if McLaren-Honda stagnates – Massa
Alonso also decided against Le Mans – McLaren
Sauber could struggle after Barcelona – Nasr
Why Red Bull Can't Quit Formula One Before 2020
Collapse Of F1 Team Leaves Caterham Cars $18.7 Million In The Red

Sauber says Mosley's budget cap 'good idea'
(GMM) Sauber has backed former FIA president Max Mosley's renewed call for a budget cap in formula one.

Earlier this week, ahead of the Strategy Group's crunch meeting on May 14 about the future, Mosley told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that teams should revisit the idea of limiting their budgets to $100 million per year.

Under Mosley's plan, those who sign up to the budget cap would get much more technical rules freedom, while teams who want to spend more would be limited to the current, restrictive regulations.

The Briton says he cannot understand why a team like Ferrari would be reluctant to sign up, as the fabled team could easily raise the $100 million and then pocket any bonus sponsorship.

"This would make Ferrari even more attractive as they go public," said Mosley.

"I think they (the big teams) are just resisting the notion that they would suddenly have ten instead of two competitors," he added.

On Twitter, Sauber said the proposal is "A good idea by Max Mosley which we fully support".

Also on the agenda at the forthcoming Strategy Group meeting will be Bernie Ecclestone's push to simplify the rules and make the cars louder, more powerful and harder to drive.

Speaking to UOL Esporte, Williams driver Felipe Massa agrees that the rules are currently too complex.

"It's a little too hard for the people on the outside to understand," he said.

"I am very much in favor of changing the regulations to develop the mechanical side, like making the tires bigger. So we go back a bit to what we had in the past."

Massa, however, hit back at claims such as those made this week by Silverstone chief Patrick Allen, who said the field must be closed up amid Mercedes' dominance.

"I think it has always been like this," said the Brazilian.

"If you look back, there were always only two teams or sometimes just one fighting for the title. Sometimes it's more like that than at other times.

"I think Red Bull won in a way that was not very different to how Mercedes did last year," added Massa.

Ferrari and Vettel caught Mercedes with their pants down in Sepang, but for the rest of the season it's lights out for Ferrari as Mercedes should win every race

Ferrari caught out 'relaxed' Mercedes – Villeneuve
(GMM) Mercedes was caught by surprise by Ferrari's 2015 resurgence, according to 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

In Australia, the reigning world champion team appeared to have maintained or even extended its dominance of 2014 by easily driving to a one-two.

But then in Malaysia, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won on merit.

"It seems that, having achieved success, the team (Mercedes) relaxed a little bit," Villeneuve told France's Auto Hebdo.

"I think Mercedes did not believe anyone could catch up with them, not realizing that the situation had in fact changed."

Pirelli's F1 chief Paul Hembery, however, said Mercedes was not alone in being caught unaware by the level of Ferrari's resurgence.

"It was definitely a surprise to any F1 expert," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper.

"You couldn't sense it in the winter tests or even in Australia," Hembery added. "By Malaysia I think Mercedes realized they would have to work a little harder."

Whether German Vettel has a red car good enough to challenge for the title, however, remains unclear.

So it may be left up to the on-form world champion Lewis Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg to up his game and put some more spice into the 2015 title battle.

"Victory would help him return to his previous form," said Villeneuve, "so Nico needs to start winning as soon as possible."

Williams' Felipe Massa, however, says he would put his money firmly on Hamilton.

"Last year it was difficult to be sure (who would win)," the Brazilian told UOL Esporte, "but this year Hamilton is stronger in every way than Rosberg.

"We have seen a few squabbles but mostly on the psychological side," Massa added, "which shows that Rosberg is suffering more than Hamilton.

"F1 is 100 per cent about the detail," he said.

Red Bull cannot catch up with a Renault engine

Aero boss Fallows says Red Bull can catch up
(GMM) Aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows thinks Red Bull can catch up despite its obvious engine disadvantage.

Although Adrian Newey is known as the sport's aerodynamic genius, Fallows' quality was demonstrated last year as Red Bull and McLaren tussled over his services.

Now, as Red Bull laments the fact the 'power unit' supplied by Renault is down on power, reliability and drivability, an upbeat Fallows thinks the team can still make the difference.

"Everybody knows where our major deficit is," he said, "but frankly, why we're being outperformed is irrelevant.

"We have it in our power, in the aerodynamics department, to do something about it," Fallows added.

Indeed, while Mercedes benefitted from its clearly superior engine last year at the start of the new turbo V6 era, the effect of aerodynamics in 2015 is being widely talked about.

"F1 has plenty of performance differentiators," Fallows agrees. "There's the driver, the power unit, the aerodynamics, the use of tires and so on.

"So we go into the year knowing what the deficit is and working on the basis that it's our job in this department to close that gap," he added.

"We can do it because we have to the tools to do it, we've done it before and the aim is to do it again."

Massa intends to stay at Williams
(GMM) Felipe Massa says he has no plans to leave Williams or formula one at the end of the season.

Many believe that, in the wake of his near-fatal 2009 crash, the Brazilian never quite returned to the type of form that almost carried him to the title with Ferrari.

Indeed, the 34-year-old was ousted by the fabled Italian team after his slump, but now he is at Williams, engineer Rob Smedley thinks Massa is back to his 2008-like best.

"I feel I am driving really well," Massa is quoted by Italy's Autosprint, "taking advantage of the car in the best way possible.

"Maybe many of you (journalists) were wrong when you said that the (2009) incident had completely changed my driving," he smiled.

Massa says there were "reasons" for his Ferrari slump, but declined to go into detail.

"The past is past," he insisted.

Today, Massa insists his dream of starting again where he left off in 2008 – fighting for the world championship – remains alive.

"It will be my dream until I know that it is impossible," he told UOL Esporte this week.

And Massa said he has no plans for retirement.

"What I plan is to make Williams an even more competitive team," he said. "It is a great pleasure to be there and I do not think much about my age. While I have this pleasure, I intend to keep driving.

"I have this contract year and an option and I do not see why I would leave," Massa concluded.

Would Alonso really quit?

Alonso could quit if McLaren-Honda stagnates – Massa
(GMM) Fernando Alonso might decide to retire rather than keep struggling with McLaren-Honda.

That is the claim of the Spaniard's former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa.

Speaking to UOL Esporte, Massa had been asked about Alonso's move from Ferrari just as the Italian team surged back to the front of the grid.

In contrast, 33-year-old Alonso is now helping to build up the new McLaren-Honda alliance, insisting that he is enjoying the process.

"Our drivers are really committed," said team boss Eric Boullier this week. "They're world champions, they want to win again, they believe in the project, and they're pushing hard."

But Massa is not so sure Alonso has the patience to wait a long time for success.

"Alonso is not an easy person," he is quoted as saying. "He needs results.

"He has a personality of wanting only to be in front.

"This year he will endure working with the team," Massa continued, "but if next year things do not change, he could think again.

"I don't know what he would do," said the Brazilian. "Maybe he would end his career."

Massa said he expected Honda to start its McLaren collaboration more competitively, given the behind-the-scenes work that went on throughout 2014.

"But it was also clear that it would not be easy for them," he added.

"The new regulations are very complicated and it takes a bit of time, just as it did for Ferrari and Renault.

"Honda is a year behind those teams but they will improve and have a more competitive time in 2016," said Massa.

Alonso also decided against Le Mans – McLaren
(GMM) The decision to sit out Le Mans this year was also taken by Fernando Alonso himself, McLaren insists.

This week, during the three-week lull between grands prix, the media has taken a moment to consider the reasons for the demise of Alonso's 2015 Le Mans plans.

Late last year, it seemed certain that the Spaniard would be joining his friend Mark Webber and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in a F1 super-team lineup for Porsche at the fabled 24 hour endurance race this year.

Finland's Iota Sanomat claimed Alonso was banned by his new team McLaren, following the horror crash suffered by Australian Webber at the wheel of the Porsche at Interlagos in late November.

Indeed, part of Alonso's 2015 program would have included the Spa 6-hour race, which is taking place this weekend.

In practice for that very race, former F1 driver Kazuki Nakajima has fractured a vertebra after crashing his Toyota in Belgium.

The Spanish sports daily Marca, meanwhile, claims a phantom scheduling clash late last year scuppered Alonso's Le Mans deal, when the now-defunct Korean grand prix was initially scheduled to take place this first weekend in May.

A McLaren spokesman told us: "The decision for Fernando not to race at Le Mans was taken mutually by us at McLaren and Fernando himself."

Felipe Nasr

Sauber could struggle after Barcelona – Nasr
(GMM) Barcelona could be a "turning point" in Sauber's 2015 campaign, driver Felipe Nasr has admitted.

Having struggled financially through 2014 and then fended off Giedo van der Garde's legal advances in Australia, the Swiss team has surprised so far this season with its pace and results.

And Brazilian rookie Nasr, 22, has been the star, delivering most of the points that have powered Sauber to fifth in the constructors' standings.

But after returning to his home city of Brasilia in the lull before the start of the European season, Nasr warns that Sauber may struggle to keep up its top form.

"Barcelona will be a big turning point for the teams," he is quoted by Globo. "Most of them will evolve their cars.

"I don't know if we will be as close to the points places as we were in the first races," admitted Nasr.

"It will be a great test for us to know where we'll be, but realistically, we knew that things would get more difficult during the year," he added.

Much of the credit for Sauber's resurgence has gone to engine supplier Ferrari, and Nasr confirmed that an update from the Italian marque is expected in Barcelona.

"And the improvements from Sauber," he added, "will be mainly on the aerodynamic side.

"We had a new front wing in China, but unfortunately it did not work as we expected. So it is being redone for Barcelona and we hope to get something out of it."

Why Red Bull Can't Quit Formula One Before 2020
Energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull has revealed that it has committed to racing in Formula One until the end of 2020 according to a report in Forbes.com.

The disclosure was made in the annual financial statements of its team Red Bull Racing and it is significant as there have been persistent rumors for the past few months that the energy drinks company would leave F1 due to a decline in its performance on track.

Red Bull won four consecutive championships from 2010 but its results reversed sharply last year due to the introduction of new regulations which switched F1's 2.4-liter V8 engines for new 1.6-liter turbos. In 2014 Red Bull finished in second place and currently lies fourth after four races.

It has fuelled reports that Red Bull might pull out of F1 and initially the management of the team did little to dispel the rumor. Speaking at the season-opener in Australia its motorsport director Helmut Marko said that Red Bull's chief executive Dietrich Mateschitz might "lose his passion" for F1 and his team could leave the sport if it was "totally dissatisfied".

Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner later clarified this by saying in fact the outfit could be forced out if its engine supplier Renault leaves F1 because it is no longer driving positive promotion. Red Bull Racing's arch rivals are Ferrari and Mercedes which also happen to be two of the three engine manufacturers in the series. It means they would probably be reluctant to step in and help Red Bull Racing if Renault pulls out. The only other supplier is Honda which returned to F1 this year after a seven-year break and has had a dire start with McLaren.

"We could ultimately find ourselves without an engine supplier," said Mr. Horner. "Should Renault choose to withdraw from Formula One, Mercedes wouldn't supply Red Bull with an engine and Ferrari – it's unlikely we'd be in a position to take a Ferrari engine. So you could find yourself actually forced out of the sport."

The following month Mr. Mateschitz confirmed this risk by telling Austria's Press Agency that "Renault can also weigh its options, including a pull-out." He added that "as a manufacturer, it's your task to deliver a competitive power unit. If you can do that, it's great. If, for whatever reason, you can't do that, you should pull out. Then the consequences for us would be clear, too."

Mr. Mateschitz said that Red Bull "will only stay in Formula 1 if we have a competitive team, and we need a competitive power unit for that." This sparked rumors that Red Bull could sell its F1 team to German manufacturer Audi which last year appointed former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali to develop new business.

The rumor seemed to get some traction earlier this month with the departure of Ferdinand Piech, chairman of the supervisory board of Audi's parent company Volkswagen Group. It has been reported that Mr. Piech had been an obstacle to Audi joining F1 due to an alleged dispute with the boss of the series Bernie Ecclestone. However, talk of its involvement with F1 soon came to a screeching halt.

Horner knows Red Bull is destined to poor results unless Renault gets their act together

Firstly, the departure of Mr. Piech comes against a backdrop of Volkswagen cutting billions of Euros of costs. In contrast, the cost of running an F1 team is accelerating. According to Red Bull Racing's latest financial statements, in the year-ending 31 December 2013 the team's budget increased by $35.1 million to $325.8 million. It spent more than any other outfit in the history of F1 with $20.8 million being covered by Red Bull itself. This isn't what Volkswagen's bean counters would want to hear.

At this month's Bahrain Grand Prix Mr. Horner finally put the brakes on the rumor of Red Bull leaving F1 when he told the BBC "we're not selling to Audi and the intention isn't to pull out." He claimed that the warning from Mr. Mateschitz was designed to get Renault to up its game. "If you look carefully at his comments, he is encouraging Renault to step up and do the job properly," said Mr. Horner. There is good reason why he ruled out an exit from F1.

The ten teams are committed to racing in the series through bilateral agreements signed with the F1 Group which owns the commercial rights to the series and is controlled by the private equity firm CVC. The contracts were signed in 2012 and run until the end of 2020. Red Bull Racing is one of several teams which gets a significant bonus from them.

In addition to sharing in F1's prize pot, which is open to all teams, Red Bull Racing also benefits from what is known as the Constructors' Championship Bonus (CCB) fund. This comes to at least $100 million and is split between the top three teams based on races won in the four seasons prior to 2012. Red Bull Racing leads this group and the reward is that the team gets at least $37 million every year.

In addition, it is one of only four teams, along with Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, which is allowed to appoint a non-executive director to the board of the F1 Group. This is far from a random reward.

Most F1 teams are run from private limited companies which directly sign the bilateral agreements. The consequence of this is that if the shareholders decide that they no longer want to race in F1 they can simply close the companies and the F1 Group has no legal recourse to claim damages from the owners. However, Red Bull Racing's financial statements reveal that its parent company is directly named on the bilateral agreements meaning that if it were to pull out of the series, the F1 Group could take action against it.

It isn't the only team-owner which does this. Ferrari's F1 outfit is a division of the auto manufacturer so it directly signs the bilateral agreements and has benefited accordingly. Not only does Ferrari share in the CCB fund but it also gets at least $62.2 million from a dedicated bonus pot as a result of being F1's oldest team.

Ferrari also has options on a 0.25% stake in the F1 Group and, like Red Bull, it can appoint a director to the board of the company.

Given that Red Bull made $5.7 million in revenue from selling 5.6 billion cans in 2014 it would certainly have sufficient resources to cover a claim against it. In contrast, the private companies which run many of the teams often barely break even and have little in the bank.

It isn't clear what the penalty for breaking the bilateral contracts would be but, as with any agreement, the criteria cannot be breached otherwise there will be consequences. Forbes.com

Collapse Of F1 Team Leaves Caterham Cars $18.7 Million In The Red
Historic British motoring marque Caterham has revealed that it is owed $18.7 million by the Formula One team which carried its name and collapsed in October last year according to a report in Forbes.com.

It is unclear as to whether the $18.7 million will be paid as the latest financial statements of Caterham Cars for the 18 months to 30 June 2014 state that there is "a material uncertainty which…may cause significant doubt about the group's ability to recover the full amount of the debt."

The team launched in 2010 and its shareholders were a group of Malaysian investors led by Tony Fernandes, chief executive of the low-cost airline Air Asia. They incorporated 1Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT), a Malaysian business which owned the coveted F1 grid slot. In turn it was the parent of Caterham Sports, a British company which provided design, testing and race support services to 1MRT in return for a fee.

Caterham finished 2014 last in the standings, in eleventh place, and didn't score a single point since joining F1. No other team in the past two decades has raced for as long as Caterham without any success. Its poor performance eventually drove Mr. Fernandes to sell up.

At the end of June last year a deal was struck to sell 1MRT to Engavest SA, a consortium of investors led by Swiss consultant Stefan Gyseler. As Forbes has revealed, Caterham Sports was sold for just $1.60 in September to Constantin Cojocar, a professional footballer for Romanian Club Steaua Bucharest and former director of Romanian transport and logistics company SC Transbus Codreanu.

Although the sale of Caterham Sports went through, the 1MRT deal stalled. Engavest took control of 1MRT but did not own shares in it so bills were left unpaid in this vacuum and, crucially, one of them was the fee to Caterham Sports for providing the design, testing and race support services.

In turn Caterham Sports could not pay its bills and the severity of its situation leaked into the public domain on 4 October. This is when British newspaper the Independent revealed that the company had failed to settle 34 unpaid bills totaling $1.2 million with the smallest coming to just $670. It laid bare the team's sorry state of affairs.

Ecclestone (L) happy to see Caterham gone

F1's chief executive Bernie Ecclestone gave a frank assessment of Caterham's situation to British newspaper The Sun when he said "I think it's better they go. I don't want people going around with begging bowls." The worst was yet to come when court officials seized equipment from Caterham's factory so that it could be sold at auction to pay the bills.

With insufficient revenue coming into Caterham Sports, Mr. Cojocar put the company into administration, the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The team missed two races but made it to the 2014 season-ender in Abu Dhabi after raising $3.5 million through crowdfunding. It did this in a bid to attract a buyer but the doors were finally closed when the administrators failed to agree on a sale. Caterham's assets were then sold off at auction to pay its debts and one of them is the $18.7 million owed to Caterham Cars.

The financial statements for Caterham Cars state that "indemnity for any shortfall in the settlement of the debt has been received from the ultimate parent company, however the provision of this indemnity is not legally binding."

Nevertheless, it may be more likely than not that the money will materialize as there was a degree of common ownership between Caterham Cars and Caterham Sports' parent 1MRT. The group of Malaysian investors which owned 1MRT, before the planned sale to Engavest, included Mr. Fernandes and Malaysian businessmen Kamarudin Meranun who each hold a 50% stake in Caterham Cars' ultimate parent Caterham Enterprises. In turn, Caterham Enterprises and one of its subsidiaries Caterham (UK), also owned shares in 1MRT with the latter's 75.7% stake making it the company's biggest shareholder.

Caterham Cars made a $34.6 million net loss last year on revenue of $46 million but it didn't have anything to do with the money owed to it by Caterham Sports. Instead the loss was driven by a partnership with Renault getting the red light.

The partnership was announced in 2012 and aimed to revive the Alpine road car brand which became famous for its success in rallying in the 1970s. The new Alpine model was due to be developed by Renault and Caterham and was expected to launch in 2016.

The brakes were put on the project in April last year for undisclosed reasons and Caterham Cars' financial statements reveal the dent this made to its bottom line. It led to Caterham writing off $13.8 million when it sold its 50% stake in the project to Renault.

Caterham also lost out through investing in the research and development of the new car as although it retained a share in its intellectual property rights the project's future is uncertain. This fuelled a $13.1 million impairment charge in the accounts and it doesn't stop there.

Caterham's costs accelerated by 68% to $53.8 million as a result of its increased spending on the new car and this drove its operating loss to widen from $1.2 million to $7.8 million. After the write-off and impairment charge it was left with the $34.6 million net loss.

"The group started the period with a relatively low order bank following years of under-investment in new variants," says Caterham's chief executive Graham Macdonald. It only makes one model – the Caterham Seven sports car – but this has six variants. The order bank shows the number of months of order volume the company has at any time based on the planned production rate and this came to 6.4 months at the end of 2012 when its accounting period began.

"The directors are disappointed with the results of the group during the period," says Mr. Macdonald. "The final results are not considered representative of the underlying trading performance of the business due to significant losses and costs incurred as a result of certain transactions which have been fully funded by the ultimate parent company and its ultimate shareholders."

Caterham has a smoother road ahead as it launched three new variants in 2013 – a high-power, top of the range and entry level version. This boosted the order bank to 7.1 months by the end of June last year.

The expansion of Caterham's product line was fuelled with a $35.6 million loan from its ultimate parent which was then converted into equity. Shareholders' funds rose by $1.2 million to $5.8 million and Mr. Macdonald is bullish about the future. He suggests that a further injection of capital shouldn't be necessary as Caterham's "forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the group should be able to operate within the level of its current working capital funds." Forbes.com