Latest F1 news in brief

Ghosn approves money for Renault to stop embarassing itself

Mercedes bracing for Ferrari battle in Bahrain
Chairman Ghosn approves F1 revival for Renault
Verstappen 'best I've ever seen' – Pujolar
Alonso happy with 'challenge of my life'
Senna-Berger is like Hamilton-Rosberg – Berger
Red Bull 'unfair' to former drivers – Alguersuari
Arrivabene confirms FP2 brake issue for Vettel

Mercedes bracing for Ferrari battle in Bahrain
(GMM) Mercedes is bracing for another Malaysia-style battle with Ferrari this weekend in Bahrain.

After losing to Sebastian Vettel in the Sepang sun, Mercedes hit back in cooler China last weekend with a one-two victory.

But Ferrari began its Bahrain race weekend in the best possible way, as the red cars set the fastest times.

Mercedes then appeared to hit back in the second Friday session.

But team boss Toto Wolff warned: "The Ferrari looked the quickest car out there. Very stable quick tires … lap times.

"That was a Freudian (slip)," he grinned. "Tires! We just need to get our act together and analyze it."

Tires, indeed, is the keyword, as Ferrari is managing them better than Mercedes on the so-called 'long runs', while the silver cars continue to dominate over a single lap.

Both Mercedes drivers agreed on Friday that their Italian rivals appear "dangerous" in Bahrain.

Many paddock dwellers are expecting a Lewis Hamilton versus Vettel title battle to develop throughout the season.

In Bahrain, for instance, the German broadcaster RTL arranged a rare double interview involving the two protagonists — notably excluding Hamilton's German teammate Nico Rosberg.

F1 supremo Ecclestone even stopped by just before the cameras rolled to chat to the two biggest stars of the 2015 season.

"He (Rosberg) is the same caliber as Lewis," the 84-year-old said. "But Lewis looks in good form."

Vettel, however, will be hoping an FIA investigation into an incident on Friday does not dent his Bahrain hopes.

The quadruple world champion collided with Sergio Perez in practice, but it was Ferrari's radio warning of a "brake problem" that reportedly raised eyebrows among the stewards.

It is believed the FIA suspects it was merely a code word to warn Vettel about a loose wheel, which could result in a grid penalty.

Chairman Ghosn approves F1 revival for Renault
(GMM) Carlos Ghosn, the chairman and CEO of Renault, has reportedly green-lighted a major push for the French carmaker to bounce back in formula one.

Mere weeks ago, the marque's F1 boss, Cyril Abiteboul, admitted that after a tumultuous start to the turbo V6 era, the carmaker is considering its options for the future — which could include pulling out of the sport.

But Auto Motor und Sport reports that Ghosn chaired a 'crisis meeting' in Paris in recent days and decided that rather than quit F1, Renault "must return to winning ways".

The reaction may go some way to appeasing Renault's works F1 partner Red Bull, whose alarm with the situation only grew in China a week ago when French-made 'power units' were failing left, right and center.

"The first step has been taken," team official Dr Helmut Marko, referring to Renault's engine crisis, told Brazil's Globo Esporte.

"After the disaster of China, Renault recognized its responsibility. Now let's see what they can do," the Austrian added.

"Ferrari understood its difficulties with the engine last year and started early on building a new one. They did a great job. This was not the case with Renault," said Marko.

"Let's see how much Renault will move forward now. How much they want to invest will also be important.

"For our part, we will debut a very different version of the car in Spain, which Adrian Newey has concentrated great effort on. But I repeat that we are dependent on the power unit of Renault," he insisted.

So for now, Marko said, Red Bull's quit threat stands.

"Yes," he confirmed. "If in the medium term we continue to just watch the others fighting for victory and cannot do anything about it, then what's the point of remaining in F1?"

Marko said the rules themselves also need to be urgently looked it.

"For the good of F1," he insisted, "something fundamental so that the differences between the power units is not as great as it is today should be done. It's destroying our sport.

"There was a time when we had an FIA president who saw the importance of this balance," Marko added.

High praises continue to come in for Vertappen

Verstappen 'best I've ever seen' – Pujolar
(GMM) Experienced engineer Xevi Pujolar says 17-year-old sensation Max Verstappen is the best driver he has seen enter formula one.

Although the young Dutchman's 2015 debut initially attracted controversy and consternation, that is steadily being replaced by awe and admiration of his obvious talent and promise.

Many are beginning to compare him with the potential once shown by a young Michael Schumacher or even the legendary Ayrton Senna.

"Max has given the whole team extra motivation," Pujolar, Toro Rosso's senior race engineer, told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

"You know he will always bring something extra in the races. You recognize in him the difference between a potential world champion and the rest," he added.

"The best is yet to come," added Pujolar, who formerly worked at Williams with highly-rated drivers including Ralf Schumacher, Mark Webber and Juan Pablo Montoya.

But he said Verstappen is "the best I've ever seen come in" to F1.

The teenager's momentum was disturbed a week ago in China, where after launching audacious overtaking moves he was en route to a points-finish before his Renault engine failed.

Pujolar said: "But Max was able to show his enormous talent again, so he cannot do more than that.

The next step, then, is a Sebastian Vettel-like effort to take Toro Rosso back to the podium.

"I think he can," said Pujolar. "With someone like Max, anything is possible."

Alonso says he's happy. But what can he say really?

Alonso happy with 'challenge of my life'
(GMM) Fernando Alonso insists the McLaren-Honda project remains "exciting" rather than depressing.

At the sharp end of the grid, rumors are linking Lewis Hamilton with a move from F1 pacesetter Mercedes to the increasingly resurgent Ferrari.

But Spaniard Alonso – who according to some is the very best driver in F1 today – left Ferrari last year and is now bringing up the rear as Honda struggles to get up to speed.

In some ways, the former two-time world champion's career has gone full circle, as he started life as a backmarker some fourteen years ago at Minardi.

But Alonso says he is not worried.

"If I had never won anything or I had no contract," he told El Confidencial, "if I had to make a living or I was 21, I would be worried.

"But I am 33 and I have been lucky enough to win many things. So this challenge just seems very exciting," Alonso insisted.

However, as he contemplated leaving Ferrari last year, he admitted that despite his 32 wins and two titles, he would "give my right arm" for more success.

Now, he insists: "You have to take the positive side of everything.

"At the moment you feel a bit frustrated on a Sunday because of course I want to be on the podium with champagne, but on Monday I know it is the challenge of my life, trying to build up something from as low as possible.

"That is a challenge that will give a satisfaction that I have never had," Alonso added.

So for now, having raced around at the tail end of the field for the first few races, things seem better in Bahrain, as Alonso posted midfield lap times in Friday practice.

But he insisted: "I am not concentrated on position 13, 15 or 17. It is a second priority to making sure we can fight (in the future) for much more important results."

Rosberg puts on a good game-face but his body language is that of a defeated man

Senna-Berger is like Hamilton-Rosberg – Berger
(GMM) Gerhard Berger sees a similarity between his own F1 career and the crossroad now reached by Nico Rosberg.

The F1 legend has compared Rosberg's new struggle to keep up with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton with his own scrap with the great Ayrton Senna some 25 years ago.

Berger, now 55, won grands prix in his own right but he is probably best remembered as Senna's somewhat subordinate teammate at McLaren.

He told the Suddeutsche newspaper: "My situation in 1990 was quite comparable to that of Nico and Lewis.

"In the beginning I could keep up very well, I was a nuisance for Senna. But eventually I lost my nerve, and when he won his second title, it was even more difficult for me because by then he was so confident," Berger added.

Indeed, Hamilton has won eight of the last ten races, causing some to wonder if Rosberg will soon also be playing little more than a de-fact 'number 2' role.

Asked if Rosberg can still reverse the trend, Berger answered: "Yes. But in the past few weeks I have not liked the look of his body language."

He is referring, in part, to Rosberg's furious reaction after Shanghai, where he accused Hamilton of driving too slowly en route to victory.

"I don't know what Nico was complaining about," F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said in Bahrain on Friday.

"Lewis has always been a great champion and it would be great to see him win the title again," he added.

Berger, meanwhile, said that when he realized that his best years had passed in Senna's shadow and that he would probably never be world champion, it was "incredibly difficult" to deal with mentally.

"But Nico is not in that situation yet," he insisted.

Alguersuari – "F1 no longer a sport"

Red Bull 'unfair' to former drivers – Alguersuari
(GMM) Jaime Alguersuari has accused Red Bull of being "unfair" to some of its former F1 drivers.

The Spaniard made his debut amid some fanfare in 2009, as at the time he was the youngest ever grand prix driver.

But by the end of 2011 he, like teammate Sebastien Buemi, was dropped by the energy drink company, and today he can be found in the new all-electric Formula E series.

"Red Bull paid for my racing career since I was 15 years old and brought me into formula one," Alguersuari, now 25, told Austria's Laola1.

"But they were not fair to us drivers, and I don't mean because they didn't keep us but because of the late decision.

"They deliberately waited so long because they wanted to make sure that we couldn't find a place in any other formula one team," he added.

Now outside of the paddock, Alguersuari says he has no regrets, as he is "incredibly disappointed" with the direction F1 has taken in the past few years.

He is referring mainly to the spiraling costs, and that so much of the grid is therefore now filled by so-called 'pay drivers'.

"I don't think it's a sport," said Alguersuari.

"I used to believe it was, but now I understand the business — I've seen it, I was there, and I really hope that Formula E has a better structure and avoids the mistakes the others have made."

He also said the sport has changed significantly from a technical point of view, insisting he doesn't think a 17-year-old like Max Verstappen could have debuted in his era.

"When I started, formula one felt much more special. Unique," said Alguersuari. "The physical requirements were enormous and you had to have trained perfectly, especially in the neck area.

"Now a formula one car is like a big Formula 3 car, and only a few seconds faster than GP2."

Brake problems for Vettel in the 2nd practice session

Arrivabene confirms FP2 brake issue for Vettel
Speaking after the second free practice session, Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene confirmed that Sebastian Vettel was suffering from brake issues towards the end of the session.

After the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez, the Ferrari man radioed the team to say that he had been struggling with ‘decelerating’ the car, prompting the Ferrari team to surround Vettel’s car in the garage at the end of the session.

Speaking in the team principal’s press conference, Arrivabene confirmed that there was an issue with the brakes on Vettel’s car, preventing the reappearance of the car at the end of the session.

“We were looking at the telemetry and there was something wrong with the brakes," he confirmed when asked by FormulaSpy.

“This was why the guys were looking at the carbon fiber shape to understand it, but they are still looking at it."

Sebastian Vettel ended the second free practice session in fourth place behind the two Mercedes drivers and Kimi Raikkonen.