Latest F1 news in brief

Retired F1 driver Frentzen now drives a hearse

Caterham still in fight for F1 survival
Verstappen expects age controversy to continue
From F1 to hearse driver – Frentzen
Hamilton advantage to be 'short-lived' – Rosberg

Caterham still in fight for F1 survival
(GMM) Despite the passing of a deadline, beleaguered F1 backmarker Caterham's fight for survival continues.

Having sat out Austin and Brazil, a controversial crowdfunding scheme and personal backing from British rookie Will Stevens put the green team back on track at the 2014 finale in Abu Dhabi.

But just as the checkered flag waved at Yas Marina, administrator and acting team boss Finbarr O'Connell was warning that if Caterham was going to return in 2014, a buyer needed to be found within a couple of weeks.

He said he was in talks with a serious investor "who feels the same as me that if we don't do something quickly then the team will drift away".

Caterham apparently has three parties interested in taking over the team

More than two weeks have now passed since Abu Dhabi, but Caterham's administrators insisted on Wednesday that talks with "three interested parties" are still in play.

Joint administrator Henry Shinners told the BBC: "We want to give the team every chance of surviving so we are not setting a deadline."

The urgency of Caterham's situation may have been eased by the post-season decision allowing the team to run its 2014 car and engine next year.

O'Connell had said the decision gives potential buyers "more time and options".

"That is of interest to all the parties I'm talking to. It gives them a choice, an easier start to get into F1," he added.

Shinners, however, warned that the risk needing to be taken by a buyer is "increasing" by the day as staff made redundant steadily secure new jobs.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen expects age controversy to continue
(GMM) F1's youngest ever driver Max Verstappen is expecting controversy about his age and experience to continue for now.

At just over 17 years of age, the young Dutchman raised eyebrows when backer Red Bull announced that after just a single year of single-seater racing, he would debut for Toro Rosso in 2015.

Less than a year out of karts, Verstappen already made history in 2014 when he began to appear in Friday morning practice sessions, smashing the former record held by Sebastian Vettel who began practicing for BMW in 2007 at the age of 19.

The controversy about Verstappen's age and inexperience even elicited a response from the governing FIA, who now intend to set a minimum age of 18 for new drivers from 2016 and a range of other tougher qualifying conditions for a super license.

Speaking to Italy's Autosprint, even Verstappen himself admitted he was surprised by just how quickly he graduated from karts in 2013 to the F1 paddock less than a year later.

"Last winter," he admitted, "the plan was to stay for two years in Formula 3 and then decide what to do.

"Then I started getting very good results immediately and from there many things happened very quickly," said Verstappen.

"I definitely didn't expect it to happen as it did.

"At first I wondered if I have what it takes to do it. I analyzed it and realized that I did."

Nevertheless, he says he understands the controversy surrounding his meteoric rise and expects it to continue for some time yet.

"Honestly I don't have any problem with what has been said," Verstappen explained, "and those sorts of things will probably continue for a while still.

"So far I've had the chance to get on track in formula one for three free practice sessions and I have not got involved in accidents, unlike some other drivers," he added.

"I'm adapting gradually, without rushing, but the lap times I have done have already been positive," said Verstappen.

From F1 to hearse driver – Frentzen
(GMM) Once a race winner and title contender, Heinz-Harald Frentzen today drives a hearse and is recovering from knee surgery.

Driving a Jordan, the German was a standout of the 1999 season, winning races against the odds and remaining a championship dark horse until the final stages.

Now 47, the former Williams driver Frentzen has most recently been racing a Mercedes in Germany's GT Masters series.

But Kolner Express newspaper reports that he might be forced to sit out the 2015 season as he is recovering from a serious knee operation.

The publication said the long-term injury dates all the way back to 1999, when he crashed his Jordan at high speed in Canada.

"My knee is still swollen and tender and I have to be careful," said Frentzen. "It's my braking leg and in GT Masters you need to brake very hard."

While he recovers, it is reported that Frentzen has returned to his native Moenchengladbach to help with the running of the family business — a funeral home.

"It's true," he confirmed. "Even in my formula one career from time to time I helped my father with the business and now I'm helping my sister Nadine-Nicole."

Their father, Harald, died in 2014.

Express said one of Frentzen's new roles is to drive the hearse — a converted E-Class Mercedes.

Frentzen said: "I'm actually retired and at the moment I don't mind not racing in 2015. But one should never say never."

The Mercedes duo seems poised to continue the intra-team battle in 2015

Hamilton advantage to be 'short-lived' – Rosberg
(GMM) Nico Rosberg insists he has already bounced back from the disappointment of not winning the 2014 world championship.

As his Mercedes team utterly dominated this season, the German fought an intense title battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton until the Abu Dhabi finale two weeks ago.

29-year-old Rosberg told Austria's Sportwoche magazine that, initially gutted, he has now recovered from the defeat.

"The good thing is that sporting success is always short-lived," he said.

Rosberg also said he is confident Briton Hamilton, now a two-time world champion, will not enter the 2015 championship with a decisive upper-hand.

"I've won races myself so I know that in sport these moments of happiness do not last," he insisted.

"I'm doing very well again," said Rosberg, referring to his attitude heading out of the 2014 calendar year and into the new opportunity posed by 2015.

"Everyone is happy," he continued. "The whole team is happy because it was a successful year and Lewis deserved to win."

Rosberg also told Auto Bild: "Of course at first I was extremely disappointed and depressed, but that passed relatively quickly in recognition of Lewis.

"He has once again become the worthy world champion," he insisted.

Rosberg, who at times during his battle with Hamilton was booed on the podium in 2014, has been praised by team boss Toto Wolff for the manner in which he handled defeat in and after Abu Dhabi.

"For me, it was more than sportsmanship," Wolff told Germany's Auto Bild.

"I don't believe any other top driver would have behaved as he did and I think that shows his character so well."

Wolff, however, said Rosberg's attitude should not be interpreted as a weakness, as the German driver is in fact "as hard as nails" and "ruthless".

Rosberg prefers to describe it as "positive optimism".

"I think it's important," he said. "A world championship fight is an incredible experience. I have learned a lot and I know what I have to work on.

"It's all about details and now I'm going to put them into play."