Latest F1 news in brief – Saturday

Hamilton says McLaren should keep Jenson Button (above in Brazil)

Caterham asks fans to fund Abu Dhabi comeback

Caterham asks fans to fund Abu Dhabi comeback
(GMM) As Marussia reaches the end of the line, fellow absent backmarker Caterham wants F1 fans to fund its Abu Dhabi comeback later this month.

Using the Twitter hashtag 'RefuelCaterhamF1', the team – under administration and reportedly in debt to the tune of $25 million – has launched a controversial crowd-funding appeal to raise the almost $4 million it says it needs to race at the 2014 finale.

Some immediately welcomed the innovative idea, with hundreds donating small amounts and others pledging between 40 British pounds to several thousand to receive memorabilia including gloves, overalls, and even wings and logos on the Abu Dhabi cars.

But Red Bull's Christian Horner – having already slammed the threats of boycott from other struggling privateers Lotus, Force India and Sauber – was fiercely critical.

"The concept is wrong and shouldn't be allowed," he told Britain's Sky.

"The fans pay to be entertained by the teams, they shouldn't be having to pay for a team."

A deeper look into the crowd-funding platform being used, meanwhile, reveals that the accountancy firm for crowdcube.com is actually a company called Smith and Williamson.

It is the very company for whom the chief Caterham administrator, newly self-appointed team boss Finbarr O'Connel, works.

He said: "We are working non-stop to get the Caterham F1 Team back racing, initially in Abu Dhabi, but hopefully that will be just a stepping stone to get it back racing on a permanent basis, under new ownership."

If Caterham does not hit its $3.7 million target by next Friday, the pledged funds will be returned to fans. At time of writing, the scheme has raised more than $500,000.

Engine marques still arguing over 2015 'unfreeze'
(GMM) Progress on the 2015 engine 'unfreeze' may not be as simple as first thought.

Although F1's dominant force Mercedes slammed the initiative as "ridiculous" mere days ago, it emerged the German camp is now close to agreeing to help struggling rivals Ferrari and Renault to catch up with their V6 'power units'.

"At the meeting on Saturday," Ferrari team boss Marco Mattiacci said after the recent US grand prix, "Mercedes said it was willing to compromise.

"But I do not feel like saying the matter is closed now, because Mercedes had already declared its willingness before and then changed its mind," he warned.

Christian Horner, however – the boss of Renault's works team Red Bull – confirmed: "Mercedes have accepted that they need to provide a window of opportunity to the others to introduce competition."

It was believed that, with engine makers already able to hand in 'tokens' to the FIA in exchange for updating up to 48 per cent of their 2014 engine designs, the agreed compromise will involve an extension of the homologation deadline from February next year to July.

But it now emerges that Ferrari and Renault may not be satisfied to stop just there.

"The two (Ferrari and Renault) made such big mistakes in their power unit concepts that 48 per cent is not enough to come up to Mercedes' level," Germany's specialist Auto Motor und Sport quoted a mutual development partner of the two Mercedes rivals as saying.

The report said Ferrari and Renault want to ramp up the 48 per cent figure to 67 per cent.

Wolff confirmed that Mercedes is prepared to make some compromise, so long as "we are not going to change the rules every year".

But Auto Motor und Sport said Wolff and team chairman Niki Lauda are refusing to budge on the 48 to 67 per cent proposal.

"It's too expensive," they are quoted as saying.

The dispute highlights a very real concern in F1 at present: with backmarkers going out of business amid unprecedentedly high engine bills, maintaining the current 'freeze' also risks leaving Mercedes' dominance essentially unchallenged for years to come.

It plays into the hands of Bernie Ecclestone, who argues that the old V8 engines are not only cheaper, but also much more popular among the sport's fans.

"They (the race promoters) bought a package and we're not delivering," the F1 chief executive, who says the V6s are not loud enough, told British broadcaster Sky a week ago in Austin.

"We need to change the regulations. We're going to try to get rid of these (V6) engines. They don't do anything for anybody. They're not formula one," Ecclestone insisted.

Alonso says 'there is life after Ferrari'
(GMM) Fernando Alonso remains the big player as the F1 driver 'silly season' reaches its climax for another year.

Further down the grid, the field of 2015 is now beginning to shape up. Lotus is set to keep Romain Grosjean, and Jean-Eric Vergne is getting one more year at Toro Rosso.

At Force India, a minor spat is taking place over some details of Sergio Perez's contract, with the Mexican saying he wants "a couple of changes" for 2015.

Team owner Vijay Mallya, however, is sticking to their prior agreement.

"I have a two year contract with Sergio Perez," he told reporters in Brazil. "We had an option that was signed as part of his original contract, we have exercised the option."

Spaniard Alonso, surely splitting from Ferrari, is the big domino now teetering on the brink of falling over. When he does, it will almost certainly end veteran Jenson Button's long F1 career.

Nonetheless, the long impasse persists for now, with Alonso facing off against Ferrari over who terminated what, and who will either receive or forfeit millions in severance.

Until it is settled, Sebastian Vettel's 2015 deal to replace him in red cannot even be mentioned.

"Be patient," Red Bull's outgoing world champion said at Interlagos. "One thing is for sure — I will not be spending my time at the beach next year."

Even Alonso, although treading very carefully whilst under contract to Ferrari and not even ruling out staying, is now hinting openly that his days with the Maranello team are numbered.

"Look at my former teammate Felipe Massa," he is quoted by Spanish publications as having said at a Santander event late on Friday in Brazil.

"He (Massa) spent years at Ferrari but this year (with Williams) was on the podium and pole position. So there is life after Ferrari," Alonso declared.

It is an open secret that Alonso is deep in negotiations about joining McLaren-Honda for 2015. Spain's AS daily claims he has agreed the "largest contract in the history of formula one".

The newspaper is referring to money, not contract length. Indeed, it is the details of the two-year deal that are now the subject of intricate talks.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports from Brazil that one sticking point has been Ron Dennis' alleged insecurity at Woking as a shareholder alongside Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrainis.

"His partners are looking for a new boss," claimed correspondent Michael Schmidt. "The rumor mill is mentioning Christian Horner, Gerhard Berger and Ross Brawn."

Schmidt said that, because of the uncertainty, Alonso wants to sign his contract not with McLaren but with its new works engine supplier Honda.

But team boss Eric Boullier insists the negotiations are being handled by McLaren.

"The official competitor on the FIA entry list is McLaren, so McLaren is the contracting party for the drivers — nobody else," he told British television Sky.

F1 Drivers in limbo
HE fates of former champions Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button remain in doubt with the Formula One season nearly over and teams holding off on announcing their lineups for 2015.

Speculation about driver moves are not uncommon late in the season, but this time two of the series' greatest stars and some of its biggest teams are involved in the rumors, igniting doubts over much of the grid.

Four-time champion Vettel is leaving Red Bull but hasn't said where he's going, two-time champ Alonso is undecided about whether he will stay at Ferrari, and one-time champ Button still hasn't been told whether he will keep his place at McLaren.

The other drivers yet to secure a seat for next year can only wait.

It's expected that Vettel will join Ferrari, and Alonso will move to McLaren, but there's been no official announcement by the teams or the drivers in Sao Paulo this week for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"There's nothing new, nothing has been decided," Alonso said. "I'm still considering what's the best decision for my career."

If Alonso ends up with McLaren, either Button or Kevin Magnussen will lose a seat at the British team.

"I can only say I hope (to stay)," Magnussen said. "I understand why I've not been told yet. Some things are still not sorted out from their side, and if they could let me know, they would. I can only just wait and see what happens."

Button, the F1 champion with Brawn in 2009, said he was not frustrated by the team's delay.

"There are many things to be disappointed about in the sport. If you don't have a quick car, you are disappointed. For me, that hurts more than anything else," he said. "A late call on who's going to be in the car next year? Initially, I guess, it's a strange situation, but after a while you get used to it."

Button said he expects McLaren to make a decision within the next two weeks, but said he was not going to rush on anything.

"We are very good at driving a racing car, but we are not very good when it comes to contracts," he said. "When you are put in this position that many drivers have been over the years, not being sure if your contract is going to be renewed, it opens your eyes to different challenges, to different possibilities. F1 and motor racing is a massive part of my life, and it's not going to stop, it will continue. But right now I don't know where that's going to be."

He said he's not thinking about retiring just yet, and admits he may not stay with McLaren even if the team decide they want to keep him.

"If I'm in Formula One, I want to be winning. I've done enough of not winning since I won the world championship," Button said. "I have no interest in racing in Formula One unless I'm challenging right at the front. I'm not here just to race 20 races and collect points."

Some drivers already know that they are out of a job, which is the case for German driver Adrian Sutil. Sauber on Wednesday announced that Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be taking over the team's last seat for 2015.

Sutil hinted he was disappointed with the team's move as he still had a year left on his contract. Nasr arrived thanks in part to huge backing from a Brazilian sponsor.

"They confirmed two drivers but that doesn't mean the drivers can drive and it doesn't mean that the team's going to drive," Sutil said. "So there's no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It's just an announcement. I have to do some talking, to sort out the things." New Strait Times/AP

Hamilton says McLaren should keep Button
Lewis Hamilton says McLaren should retain Jenson Button for the 2015 season, describing his fellow Briton as "a great asset" to any team.

With Fernando Alonso set to return to the outfit, doubt has been cast over the Formula 1 futures of Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

Button admitted at Interlagos on Thursday that following the lengthy wait, there is no guarantee that he would accept a new McLaren contract.

"If I had a team, I would want him in it because he's a great asset," said Mercedes driver Hamilton, who partnered Button at McLaren from 2010 to 2012.

"It's not that the team need a better driver, there are not many out there. They just need a better car.

"Button is a great driver, still one of the strongest, and he's had an amazing career. He's also a decent guy, so it doesn't correlate."

Hamilton added that Button, aged 34, has the speed to compete in F1 for many more seasons.

"He still has plenty of time, given his ability as a driver, to keep racing and winning," said Hamilton.

Wolff: Marussia a group of real racers
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says his team is "very sad" to learn of Marussia's demise, describing those involved as a group of "real racers".

Having been placed into administration last month, confirmation arrived on Friday that the team had ceased trading, with 200 staff losing their jobs.

The news comes amid rising tensions between Formula 1's larger and smaller teams over the high costs of competing in the sport.

"We are very sad to learn the news about Marussia," Wolff explained.

"They are a group of real racers who have endured some hard times but also managed to score two points this year, which is a great credit to them.

"Most of all our thoughts are with the people who believed in the team and now find themselves in such a difficult personal position."

Caterham remains in administration, and is poised to launch a crowdfunding project in a bid to return to the grid at the Abu Dhabi season finale.

Ricciardo: Red Bull closer to Mercedes
Daniel Ricciardo reckons his Red Bull team is closer to Mercedes at the Brazilian Grand Prix than it has been at recent races.

Ricciardo ended the opening day at Interlagos fourth on the combined timesheets, with a 0.833s deficit to pace-setter Nico Rosberg.

But the Australian was quick to express optimism about his longer run performance on Pirelli's Soft and Medium compound tires.

"It is our best longs we have seen, even though they were not very long. We were pretty good today," said Ricciardo.

"We feel we are normally playing a bit of catch up [to Mercedes]. Although we still are, we are closer than we have been at the last few, so that is promising."

Ricciardo admitted, however, that Red Bull would need wet weather to challenge Mercedes for pole position.

"We have a good chance [in the wet] but let's see what happens," he explained. "In the dry we have to aim for the second row."

Sebastian Vettel finished ninth in the sister Red Bull, and is also hopeful of a competitive weekend.

"We had a few issues, but I don't think we had too many Fridays that were trouble free," said the German.

"If it's wet then I think it brings things closer to us, but even in the dry if we get everything right we should be in a reasonable place."