Latest F1 news in brief – Thursday (Update)
04/23/15
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Even with Ferrari's 2nd engine upgrade for 2015, Rosberg still blew past Vettel in Bahrain using last year's Mercedes. That is how powerful the Mercedes is. When Mercedes rolls out its engine upgrades they'll lap the Ferraris Ferrari won't rattle engine strategy – Lauda
- Wurz backs Sauber over engine cost limits
- No Red Bull comeback until season end – Marko
- Lauda wants Hamilton deal by Spanish GP
- Vettel becomes F4 'patron' to back Schumacher son
- Merhi looks set to keep Manor seat for now
- Hisense Pays $7M Over Three Years For Infiniti Red Bull Racing Partnership
- Button didn't 'storm out' after Bahrain – McLaren New
- CVC must act amid 'dangerous' F1 omens – Montezemolo New
- Renault is Red Bull's 'best chance' for success New
Ferrari won't rattle engine strategy – Lauda
(GMM) Mercedes will not react to title rival Ferrari's engine allocation strategy.
In Bahrain, the resurgent Ferrari team fitted the second of four allocated 'power units' for the season to Sebastian Vettel's car.
Asked if Mercedes will now follow suit and give its contenders a fresh turbo V6 for Spain, team chairman Niki Lauda answered: "No.
"We are only at the fourth race," he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"What may seem a disadvantage now will become an opportunity when it really counts, in the second part of the season," said Lauda.
Mercedes figures have admitted the level of Ferrari's resurgence in 2015 was a surprise.
But Germany's Sport Bild claims the German carmaker may actually have helped Ferrari to catch up, fearing that continued dominance would be a turnoff.
The magazine said Mercedes, for instance, recommended that Ferrari sign up its hybrid specialist Wolf Zimmermann, resulting in dozens of added horse power for the fabled Italian team.
Lauda continued: "I am not at all surprised by the improvement of Ferrari, because they started to work on it last season, they rely on the quality of work by (James) Allison, and because of the restructuring of the team."
As for the erosion of Mercedes' dominance, the F1 legend added: "The anomaly was last season, not this season. I never had the illusion that we would continue to dominate like that."
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| Alex Wurz |
Wurz backs Sauber over engine cost limits
(GMM) GPDA chief Alex Wurz has backed Sauber over the future direction of F1's engine rules.
Former Williams driver Wurz, now chairman of the F1 drivers' union, linked on Twitter to a story promoted by a news agency headed by his wife Julia.
The story said that amid talks for louder and more powerful engines for 2017, Sauber chief Monisha Kaltenborn was calling for a reduction in cost.
"Very much agree with Sauber," Austrian Wurz said.
"First engine rule must be 'customer cost limitation' to ensure sustainability.
"Annual cost of F1 power unit shall have upper cost cap rule," Wurz added. "Otherwise F1 customer teams fund engine manufacturers F1 activity."
Cosworth's former F1 chief Mark Gallagher agreed: "This is what Cosworth proposed in 2010-11 when new rules were under development. None of the OEMs (manufacturers) was interested.
"The regs, costs, engine sound etc were set in early 2011," he added. "Teams? Not involved in the detail.
"Bernie (Ecclestone) was not consulted on the regs or prices of the new power units. Nothing to do with him," Gallagher concluded.
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| Dr. Helmut Marko |
No Red Bull comeback until season end – Marko
(GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has admitted the Red Bull-funded Austrian grand prix trophy will probably be passed into Mercedes' hands.
The June race at the former A1-Ring, now known as the Red Bull Ring, is promoted by the energy drink company.
This week, Red Bull's Marko and Daniel Ricciardo unveiled the carved wood and iron trophy that will be presented to the winner of the Austrian grand prix.
Referring to fellow Austrian and Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, Marko smiled: "It probably will not be us but Niki (Lauda) who takes it home.
"What could save us is rain in Q3 and then (more rain) ten minutes after the start of the race. Then we could get involved."
Marko told Wirtschaftsblatt newspaper that Red Bull's engine partner Renault is some way from ending its 2015 crisis.
"Realistically, it will be only at the end of the season that we will have the power numbers of Mercedes and Ferrari," he said.
"We have made every effort to put together the best chassis. But motor sport without an engine is difficult."
Marko explained that before Renault can put down the throttle in terms of performance, it needs to get to the bottom of its constant reliability troubles.
"It is important for the next race to at least achieve a certain amount of reliability," he said. "Only then do you work on drivability, and finally the power."
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| Lauda wants Hamilton signed within 2 weeks |
Lauda wants Hamilton deal by Spanish GP
(GMM) Yet another deadline is now looming over the finalization of Lewis Hamilton's 2016 contract — Barcelona.
"Everything will be fixed by the Spanish grand prix on May 10," Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda is quoted by the Swiss newspaper Blick.
Hamilton's new deal has been delayed and discussed publicly for so long that many have linked him with a move to Ferrari.
Also rumored is that Hamilton wants clear number 1 status, and that Mercedes is not agreeing to his wage demands.
"The salary is not the problem," Lauda insisted. And fellow Mercedes chief Toto Wolff as well as Hamilton himself and teammate Nico Rosberg have all denied the 'number 1' speculation.
Bernie Ecclestone had even said ahead of last weekend's Bahrain grand prix that Hamilton would make a good teammate for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in 2016.
"That's a little difficult," the F1 supremo is now quoted by Speed Week, "when he has extended at Mercedes, don't you think?"
But the fact remains that Mercedes has not announced a done deal.
Ferrari chief Maurizio Arrivabene appears to be enjoying the Hamilton rumors, as he says every driver wants a red cockpit, while Kimi Raikkonen performs best when under pressure.
It might be argued that Vettel would prefer his friend Raikkonen to stay.
Asked if he has a say in whether it will be Raikkonen or Hamilton at Ferrari next year, Vettel is quoted by f1-insider.com: "That's not true."
Vettel becomes F4 'patron' to back Schumacher son
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has become a patron of this year's Formula 4 series, the German newspaper Bild reports.
The German junior single-seater category kicks off at Oschersleben this weekend.
"I know some of the young drivers on the start list," Ferrari driver Vettel said.
All of Vettel's four titles at Red Bull were won at the wheel of an Adrian Newey-penned car. The Briton's teenage son Harrison will star in Formula 4 this year.
But Vettel is also referring to Mick Schumacher, the 16-year-old son of his friend, mentor and F1 legend Michael.
The 27-year-old admitted recently he regrets not being able to turn to Schumacher, 46, for forthright advice as he weighed up joining Ferrari in 2015.
"I think I missed that part a lot," said Vettel, "simply because I knew he would tell me the truth of what he thinks.
"The honesty he had in giving me advice over the years is probably the most special thing about it."
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| Roberto Merhi |
Merhi looks set to keep Manor seat for now
(GMM) Roberto Merhi looks set to hang onto his Manor seat at least for another race.
While his F1 rivals take the weekend off, 24-year-old Merhi is currently in his native Spain, preparing for the opening race of the Formula Renault 3.5 series.
But EFE news agency quoted the Spaniard as indicating he is also expecting to return to the wheel of his Manor car and keep "improving gradually".
Merhi also said he hopes Manor "gives me a good car as soon as possible".
He has struggled against his full-time Manor teammate Will Stevens so far in 2015, admitting that it has been difficult to cope with the "huge" differences between his car and those he is competing against.
"It almost seems a little unfair that all the different cars compete together," he added, explaining that Formula Renault races are "more of a sprint" compared to F1, and that much of the racing at the pinnacle of motor sport is about "saving the tires".
And Formula Renault 3.5, Merhi continued, can also be more fun, "because with my formula one car I am always observing the blue flags".
After Formula Renault's opening Spanish round, the next race falls on the same weekend as the Monaco grand prix.
Both take place on the streets of the Principality.
Hisense Pays $7M Over Three Years For Infiniti Red Bull Racing Partnership
Chinese consumer electronic brand Hisense is paying more than $2M annually to Infiniti Red Bull Racing as part of its recently announced partnership with the F1 team, according to an industry source.
Marketing agency JMI, which secured the partnership, would not disclose any terms of the contract and simply described it as a multi-year deal in its official press release. However, a source told SBD Global that the partnership is a three-year deal worth around $7M.
The deal with Red Bull, which was announced ahead of the series' stop in Shanghai earlier this month, is Hisense's second foray into the sport. The company dipped its toes into F1's waters last year with a race sponsorship of the Lotus team at the Singapore Grand Prix.
JMI Senior VP of Marketing Communications Tim Bampton said that Hisense certainly had an appetite to get back into the sport based on last years’ experience. The agency convinced the company that F1 would be an effective marketing platform to address global brand awareness.
While Red Bull is currently struggling on the track, the association with the team gives Hisense a direct connection between its products and sports, particularly in respect to its brand attributes of innovation and technology, Bampton said.
"The marketing power of Formula One transcends team performance and that's really the beauty of the sport. In the case of Hisense they want to raise global brand awareness in the markets that are important to them and through the marketing channels that are important to them."
As part of the deal, Hisense provides a range of products to the team, both at the track and at its U.K.-based factory. Additionally, Hisense's logo appears on the nose of this year's cars as well as on other team equipment.
The next step for Hisense, Bampton said, is to use the association with Red Bull across their communications channels and figure out how to integrate it in their marketing campaigns. He added that the partnership is solely focused on Red Bull's F1 team. Hisense is also betting on another motorsports series, NASCAR, to increase its brand's awareness in North America. HJ Mai/Sportsbusinessdaily
Button didn't 'storm out' after Bahrain – McLaren
(GMM) McLaren has denied reports Jenson Button lost his temper with the team's situation after the Bahrain grand prix.
The 2009 world champion had a horror weekend of unreliability in the island Kingdom, and then could not even take his Honda-powered car to the grid on Sunday.
"The chances of it (the energy recovery system) failing were quite high so we decided it was better not to run it," McLaren supremo Ron Dennis said.
Britain's Mirror newspaper claims Button, 35, then "failed to fulfill his media obligations" as he stormed out of the circuit.
McLaren on Thursday said those claims are "complete and utter nonsense", penned by "desperate headline writers".
"Jenson watched the Bahrain grand prix on the TV screens in our paddock hospitality area, writing a series of insightful and entertaining tweets as he did so," director of communications Matt Bishop told us.
"At the end of the race, he and his wife Jessica left the circuit. They did so with the full knowledge and consent of the team, saying polite goodbyes as they did so.
"To say that Jenson 'stormed out', as a few desperate headline writers have misreported, is complete and utter nonsense," Bishop added.
CVC must act amid 'dangerous' F1 omens – Montezemolo
(GMM) Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo thinks formula one needs to urgently reform.
And he said the onus is on the sport's "owners" – headed by major shareholder CVC – to pull F1 from the brink of a lull that is risking its long-term future.
"The owners have to invest, they must set clear priorities, and they need to engage a management team that is fully focused on those new objectives," he said in an interview that will appear in the German monthly Manager Magazin on Friday.
Italian Montezemolo, involved in formula one for decades until he was ousted by Ferrari's new president Sergio Marchionne, said F1 needs a "clear plan for 2020".
He suggested CVC needs to either commit fully to formula one, or leave.
"They must decide now: do we want to sell or not?" said Montezemolo. If they do not, "they must change their business philosophy" and finally invest in the sport.
"Otherwise it could be really dangerous for formula one."
He said the priority should be to "massively" reduce costs for struggling teams, but another problem is dwindling television and trackside audiences.
Montezemolo, today the chairman of the Italian airline Alitalia, said F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone should remain in charge.
"But he needs top people and experts for finance, marketing and the digital world," he insisted.
With the country's grand prix already now gone, Montezemolo said Ecclestone should also "be careful that Germany is not lost as one of the core markets".
Renault is Red Bull's 'best chance' for success
(GMM) Christian Horner on Thursday pinned Red Bull's hopes on the fate of its current engine supplier.
For much of the season so far, the energy drink owned team's chiefs have been scathing of Renault's performance.
But Red Bull has ruled out building its own engine, apparently failed to woo a Volkswagen brand to the grid, and acknowledged that key rivals Mercedes and Ferrari are not viable alternative suppliers.
So in the past days, Red Bull's vitriol has eased.
"In reality our best chance is with Renault," team boss Horner told F1's official website, "and vice versa.
"We have won 50 grands prix and eight world championships together — so sometimes frustration boils over," he added.
Indeed, just before Bahrain, Horner met with Renault executives in Paris who he says have acknowledged the need to get serious about fixing the problems with the 2015 'power unit'.
Earlier, Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz had even threatened to pull out of the sport — and dared Renault to consider doing the same.
"Dietrich doesn't talk publicly very often," said Horner, "but when he does you have to listen.
"What he was conveying was: Renault should either do the job properly or not at all. You can't be half pregnant."
So while that sounds like a return to the old rhetoric, Horner says Red Bull and Renault are in fact committed to making their partnership work again.
"We have a contract with Renault for 2015 and 2016 and it is in Renault's interest as much as in ours to sort the current issues out as quickly as possible."
Dr Helmut Marko warned this week, however, that it may be the end of the season before Renault can match F1's power pacesetters.
"To be realistic, our problems are not short term so there will not be any short-term fixes," Horner agreed. "We have to take a bit of a pain at the moment.
"And if that is the foundation for a better future then you've got to take the pain."