Latest F1 news in brief

Former Red Bull F1 driver Mark Webber in hospital

Webber in hospital after sports car crash
Vettel completes first Ferrari test
No McLaren announcement on Monday
Equipment sale means Marussia near finish line
Sainz drops 'junior' for F1 debut
Williams to head 'new generation' working group
Hamilton wants Mercedes talks 'before Christmas'
Mercedes wants BMW, Audi in F1
Chilton exploring opportunities outside F1

Webber in hospital after sports car crash
(GMM) F1 veteran Mark Webber is in hospital in Sao Paulo following a huge crash during a sports car race in Brazil.

In an echo of his similar crash at the same corner during the 2003 grand prix at Interlagos, the Australian hit the wall at high speed after colliding with a slower car during a 6-hour endurance race.

The impact destroyed his prototype Porsche and he was photographed giving the thumbs-up as he was removed by stretcher.

A teammate, Romain Dumas, was quoted by Fairfax Media: "He was talking on the radio — he knows his name, he knows where he is, it looks ok."

Race organizers confirmed in a statement: "Mark Webber, who was awake and alert, was taken to the circuit medical centre for further examination."

And a post on Webber's official Facebook page said he is in a "satisfactory condition".

"Mark will stay overnight (in hospital) for precautionary checks."

Meanwhile, also in Brazil, another F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello on Sunday secured the Brazilian stock car championship in Curitiba.

Vettel completes first Ferrari test
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has wasted no time in kicking off his Ferrari career in earnest.

The German expressed disappointment last week when Red Bull prevented him from driving the Italian team's 2014 car in the post-race Abu Dhabi test.

But on Saturday, at Ferrari's private Fiorano test circuit adjacent to the Maranello factory, Vettel made his test debut in a two-year-old Ferrari F2012.

He was wearing a special white helmet bearing the words 'My first day at Ferrari' in Italian.

"A test like that gives you nothing," Mercedes' team chairman Niki Lauda told Bild newspaper. "It's just for show."

Indeed, conditions were not ideal as light rain was falling, but Vettel will in the next day's meet with his new engineers and bosses and try Ferrari's state-of-the-art driver simulator for the first time.

And unlike last week, when Dr Helmut Marko said Vettel's appearance in the Ferrari pits was technically a breach of contract, the Red Bull official said the early test in the V8-powered F2012 was "completely legitimate".

"I would have done the same too," Marko told Sport Bild. "He starts as soon as possible to work with the Ferrari engineers and familiarize himself with the procedures."

Like his idol Michael Schumacher began to do in the late 1990s, Sebastian Vettel seems to be building Ferrari in his image

Italy's Autosprint said Vettel also began working with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami, who has switched from Toro Rosso where he worked with the 27-year-old driver in 2008.

"I'm really optimistic," Piero Ferrari, the son of Enzo, said, "and hope we can give Sebastian a competitive car.

"If he does not win, it will be about our equipment, not about him."

New world champion Lewis Hamilton, however, does not sound overly worried Vettel in a red car will be a major competitor at least initially in 2015.

"Ferrari as a team is going through a difficult time with a lot of ups and downs," the Briton is quoted by Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"All the people coming and going destabilizes a team," added Hamilton. "Thank god we (Mercedes) are a very stable team."

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that Ross Brawn will not be returning to Ferrari, after president Sergio Marchionne declined to accept the condition that the Briton be installed as the clear team boss.

No McLaren announcement on Monday
(GMM) McLaren will not announce its 2015 driver lineup on Monday.

Earlier, it was expected that the British team would finally confirm the open secret about Fernando Alonso's switch from Ferrari before the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi.

But McLaren said at the 2014 finale: "We have decided to defer our final deliberations relating to our 2015 driver lineup until a date no earlier than Monday December 1."

It is believed the newly Honda-powered team is deliberating over keeping either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen to be Spaniard Alonso's teammate.

F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart thinks Alonso will be playing a role in that call.

"I suspect he will have a say on who the number two driver will be," the triple world champion is quoted by the Indian news agency PTI.

"That is not unusual for a number one driver."

But although many were eagerly expecting an announcement to be made on December 1, Italy's Italiaracing reports that the world will not hear any news until at least Thursday or Friday.

Spain's El Mundo Deportivo claims there is plenty of activity behind closed doors at Woking, with Ron Dennis discussing the ownership of McLaren with fellow shareholder Mansour Ojjeh.

The report also said Dennis is believed to have been in Denmark last week for talks with the Magnussen-linked sponsor Bestseller, as well as Lego and Saxo Bank.

Equipment sale means Marussia near finish line
(GMM) Marussia appears to be close to the end of the line.

Last month, the beleaguered backmarker ceased trading and laid off its 200-strong workforce, but chief Graeme Lowdon remained upbeat.

He said the team came within 10 minutes of securing the money it needed to complete the trip to Abu Dhabi for the 2014 finale.

Driver Max Chilton, who did appear in the Abu Dhabi paddock, confirmed to the British broadcaster BBC: "I knew it wasn't over when we went into liquidation.

Max Chilton sees the writing on the wall at Marussia

"We worked very hard to get something done. I can't tell you how close it was — just as they were about to load the plane (for Abu Dhabi), the final funding for the deal didn't come through."

But it now emerges that Marussia, having entered the 2015 championship to compete as Manor, has been dealt another apparently final blow.

The Daily Mail reports that cars, trucks, spares and other equipment have been scheduled for auction in mid December by the team's administrators FRP Advisory.

"I'm a hopeful person," Chilton said in Abu Dhabi, "and I feel that as long as you try hard enough, your work will pay off in the end.

"It's definitely not over but I agree that it's made it more difficult."

Undoubtedly Marussia's strongest asset is having finished the season in ninth place, which would release significant official prize-money to a new buyer.

Chilton said: "It gives us a lot more funding that we're used to, and that makes it much more approachable for investors."

Carlos Sainz

Sainz drops 'junior' for F1 debut
(GMM) Toro Rosso's new recruit has announced he no longer wants to be called 'Junior'.

During his rise to formula one, culminating in this year's Formula Renault 3.5 title, the 20-year-old Spaniard has been known as Carlos Sainz Jr.

But now, according to Italy's Tuttosport, he said: "I do not want to be compared to my father."

Sainz is referring to his father and namesake, the world rally legend and also winner of the fabled Dakar rally.

"As a child when I was racing in karts I realized how important my father's name was in the world of motor sport and so I fought hard to make my own way.

"It would be nice to be called just Carlos Sainz. I would understand if I was a rally driver but since I am in formula one now I do not see the reason."

However, Sainz said he has carved his path to the F1 paddock with the ever-present support of his father, and he said one day winning the title would give the 52-year-old Sainz "the greatest joy".

He also said he is close to Spain's most famous F1 driver, Fernando Alonso.

"He has always spoken well of me to the media and to teams," said 20-year-old Sainz. "I'll be grateful for all of my life for how he has treated and supported me."

Sainz's new challenge is to go head-to-head in 2015 with another famous son, Max Verstappen, who has already spent considerable time with Toro Rosso, even driving on Friday mornings at the tail end of last season.

Asked by El Mundo Deportivo if he might be able to test a two-year-old F1 car before the official tests next February, Sainz answered: "I don't think so.

"In this sense I may be a little disadvantaged so I will need to work hard. But I don't think it means anything because in March nobody will remember what happened before.

"He has done more miles than me and already has a team of engineers, while my advantage is that I have been competing for more years than him.

"He (Verstappen) is very good," Sainz added, "but I'll be ready for the first race and will try to beat him."

Finally, Sainz revealed that he has picked the number 55 to race throughout his F1 career.

"Since my childhood I have had success with number 5," he said, "but Vettel has this number." Sainz explained that the final 'S' in his first name and the first 'S' in his surname resembles the number 55.

Williams to head 'new generation' working group
(GMM) F1 has created a new working group with an eye on future generations.

Bernie Ecclestone caused a stir recently when he said he was not interested in marketing the sport to young people because it is 70-year-olds who have the money to buy a Rolex.

But even his close friend Christian Horner, boss of the trendy energy drink-owned F1 team Red Bull, hinted Ecclestone's comments were a concern.

"When you're 84," he said, "a 70-year-old is still pretty young."

Ecclestone, however, hit back by denying he ever spoke against the world's 'younger generation'. (see AR1's article on the subject)

"I said children," he told Reuters recently. "I don't know how many six or seven-year-old kids there are with a Rolex."

But Ecclestone had also denounced the hugely popular and world-changing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

And the sport continues to rely almost exclusively on its traditional model of generating income by selling exclusive television rights to broadcasters.

But the ratings, like in the once booming German market, are on the decline.

"There is no longer this Sunday ritual of turning on the TV on a Sunday afternoon and watching for hours," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told the German trade magazine Sponsors.

"People want to consume their products when they want and where they want."

Wolff does, however, acknowledge the dilemma for F1 as it looks to the future.

"If like formula one you generate 600 million of your income from traditional TV, you aren't just going to tell the broadcasters that from now on we're doing everything for free on Youtube," he insisted.

Brazil's Totalrace said F1 has created a brand new modern working group headed by Williams' deputy boss Claire Williams.

The report said the first proposals will be discussed at the next meeting of the Strategy Group.

Of course Lewis Hamilton doesn't feel the lure and mystique of Ferrari. His Mercedes is a second and a half quicker per lap

Hamilton wants Mercedes talks 'before Christmas'
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he does not feel the lure of F1's most famous team.

After seven years with Red Bull's teams and four titles, Sebastian Vettel has switched to Ferrari for 2015 but Hamilton insists he is happy at Mercedes.

"I cannot see myself at any other team," the new 2014 champion told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Hamilton has a contract with Mercedes for 2015, but team management had scheduled immediate talks to discuss an extension for 2016 and beyond.

"I hope we can sit down and talk about it before Christmas," says Hamilton.

Boss Wolff confirmed to DPA news agency: "We have not discussed it yet."

But Hamilton allayed any fears that he might be considering leaving the team, perhaps to join Vettel in fabled red.

"I've never had this dream of Ferrari," the Briton insisted. "The red car looks great but I can always buy a Mercedes in red," he laughed.

Finally, Hamilton said that after a year of intensity alongside his title-warring teammate Nico Rosberg, he is now expecting an easier relationship.

"All the tension has disappeared and we have gone back to being two normal guys talking about normal things," he said.

Mercedes wants BMW, Audi in F1
(GMM) Mercedes would like to go head-to-head in F1 with Germany's other two premium carmaker brands.

That is the claim of Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, after Mercedes-Benz in 2014 finally succeeded in winning the drivers' and constructors' championships with a dominant display.

Zetsche told Germany's Sport Bild: "We share – and I'm talking about the premium business – about 80 per cent of the world market share with Audi and BMW.

"Of course," he added, "we greatly admire Red Bull and Ferrari and the other teams, nevertheless other manufacturer teams would be very much welcomed by us."

Mercedes bought and renamed the title-winning Brawn GP team – formerly Honda – after 2009 and initially targeted success with the F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

Zetsche admitted: "We never imagined that success would be so difficult and take so long to achieve."

But he said that Mercedes is now fully committed to F1.

"If we do something, we do it properly," said Zetsche. "Therefore, we have at no time asked the fundamental question, and nor do we have plans to change anything on that commitment now."

He admitted that the new electric open wheeler series Formula E is "worth considering" from Mercedes' point of view, but he ruled out Le Mans.

"A whole year working for 24 hours, we do not consider to be a good cost-benefit radio," said Zetsche.

He also played down all the current talk about F1 being in crisis.

"It is absurd to say formula one is dead," said the 61-year-old. "I cannot think of a more exciting season.

"All the criticism was led largely by those who were not successful," Zetsche added.

And he also blamed people like Bernie Ecclestone for talking F1 down in 2014.

"Most definitely we have not sufficiently exploited the potential of formula one, because the official channels of communication have not been used in a professional way," said Zetsche.

"We are more committed than ever in contributing to professionalize the sport in this regard.

"Better engaging younger fans is a central question," he added.

Chilton exploring opportunities outside F1
Max Chilton says he is evaluating numerous opportunities outside Formula 1 for 2015, following the collapse of the Marussia team.

Marussia entered administration at the end of October, while a late attempt to return to the grid at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fell through.

And although the outfit has lodged an entry for next season under Manor Grand Prix, its assets are due to be auctioned off later this month.

Given the current situation, Chilton admits that he could be best served taking up an offer elsewhere, despite his underlying desire to remain in Formula 1.

"Obviously, there are less seats available for next year," Chilton told Sky Sports.

"I think the chance for me slightly slims down, but I think I have been given some opportunities in LMP1 and DTM, so maybe I have to change my career path and go down that route.

"But I'm still not giving up on Formula 1."

Chilton's brother, Tom, currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship.