Latest F1 news in brief

Berger says Ferrari should keep Alonso and dump Raikkonen

10pc of Ferrari to be listed on stock exchange
F1 to end US GP's NASCAR clash in 2015
Forza Rossa project still alive after Caterham collapse
Austin track gets Kvyat's flag colors wrong
Berger advises Ferrari to 'keep Alonso'
Vettel's younger brother starts racing career
Stewards to rule on Austin qualifying tweak – report
Audi confirms Domenicali signing
Fernandes: Racing is over for me
F1 must change or die
F1 heading for eastern revolution as new team emerges from Romania

10pc of Ferrari to be listed on stock exchange
(GMM) Ferrari will be floated on the stock exchange next year.

The Maranello outfit – the F1 team and the producer of exclusive sports cars – will be spun off from the Fiat Chrysler parent group, with 10 per cent of the shares to be up for grabs to the public on a US and possibly a European stock market.

"Coupled with the recent listing of (Fiat Chrysler) shares on the NYSE, the separation of Ferrari will preserve the cherished Italian heritage and unique position of the Ferrari business," confirmed chairman John Elkann.

F1 to end US GP's NASCAR clash in 2015
(GMM) F1 looks set to end its controversial clash with a Nascar race in the same state of Texas for the 2015 season.

This weekend, the United States grand prix is taking place at the same time as the Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, some 3 hour drive away.

"They (F1) are going up against us, we're not going up against them," said the Nascar venue's disgruntled president Eddie Gossage, according to the local Star-Telegram newspaper.

"This is our date and has been since 2005. (But) people are being forced to choose and some are going to come to us and some are going to choose them.

"I can be told I don't understand the world schedule all day long, but I do," he added. "Funny how this turns out to be the only day they can be in Austin. How Funny.

"And in 2015, I see where they are running on another date."

Indeed, the provisional F1 calendar for 2015 shows that the Austin race will be held a week earlier in October than this year's edition.

Forza Rossa project still alive after Caterham collapse
(GMM) With Caterham now in administration, the backmarker's former management may be returning its focus to the Forza Rossa project.

Before the mysterious investment group bought Caterham from Tony Fernandes earlier this year, Colin Kolles was deeply involved in trying to get a Romanian project called 'Forza Rossa' up and running with FIA approval.

Amid the fallout of the Caterham collapse, it emerged that involved with Kolles in the Leafield project was someone called Constantin Cojocar.

During its recent ownership dispute with the Kolles team, Caterham Group claimed the new operating company was owned by "one of their cleaners".

But writing in the Independent newspaper, F1 business journalist Christian Sylt says Cojocar is also a former professional footballer for Steaua Bucharest, a Romanian club.

Sylt claims court documents as Caterham went into administration quote Cojocar as confirming that Forza Rossa has been granted an entry to race in F1.

"In June 2014, Forza Rossa received a letter of intent from the FIA allowing it to enter formula one in the next two years," Cojocar said.

"Forza Rossa hopes to race in the 2015 season, but time to prepare is running short."

Funding may also be a problem. Although the project is led by Ion Bazac, a former Romanian government minister, Cojocar admitted that Caterham collapsed because investors failed to pay running costs.

"I understand that Forza Rossa is looking at other possible arrangements for 2015 and I have found it very difficult to contact my backers in Romania," he said.

It is a strange time in the second half of the F1 grid at present, as the sport's two backmarkers including Marussia fail but Forza Rossa and Haas F1 Team look to get up and running.

A crucial date is 1 November, when teams must pay a $500,000 fee to officially enter the 2015 world championship, according to the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, may now work for one of F1's richest and most competitive teams, but the Red Bull driver actually made his debut in 2011 for the now-defunct HRT team.

Speaking in Austin, he said it is a shame F1 is losing more backmarkers.

"It (HRT) was definitely a good stepping stone," said the Australian. "It allows you to learn under the radar.

"So for that it would be a real shame, and for numbers in general. There's nothing like seeing a full grid — it's a great spectacle. From that side and from the driver development side, we need more cars and teams.

"It would be a shame if this is a permanent loss," Ricciardo added.

Austin track gets Kvyat's flag colors wrong
(GMM) Organizers of the US grand prix face an embarrassing explanation after botching the details above Daniil Kvyat's garage at Austin.

Observers at the Austin circuit in the days before the US grand prix this weekend have noticed that the Russian driver's name is accompanied by the wrong national flag on the pit building.

Kvyat's name is actually shown with the Dutch horizontal tricolor, featuring the colors red, white and blue from top to bottom.

The Russian flag is remarkably similar, but with white at the top followed by blue and then red.

Berger advises Ferrari to 'keep Alonso'
(GMM) With Ferrari currently having three champion drivers under contract, speculation about Fernando Alonso's future continues to run wild.

Some reports suggest the Italian team and the Spaniard are in a sort of Mexican standoff, each wanting the other to legally terminate their contract for financial reasons.

Others believe Ferrari could in fact make do with Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and the apparently newly-signed Sebastian Vettel if the sport moves to three-car teams for 2015.

F1 legend and former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger thinks the fabled outfit should make the most of the contractual impasse with Alonso and instead oust Finn Raikkonen, who has notably struggled this year.

"If I was Ferrari, I would keep Alonso," he told Germany's Sport Bild.

"Because then, with Alonso and Vettel, you would have the two best drivers in the world together in one team," Austrian Berger added.

However, that scenario would still pose Ferrari with the problem of having to pay out millions to compensate Raikkonen — just as it did in 2010 after replacing him with Alonso.

While the standoff continues, German Vettel is keeping completely silent on the matter.

"I'm sorry," he is quoted by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport as having said in Austin on Wednesday, "but I can't say anything about my future.

"It's not up to me, but I hope to be able to speak very soon."

Vettel also said he understands why Red Bull has blocked him from testing in the days immediately after the Abu Dhabi finale next month.

"There are reasons for the decision," he said. "Disappointed? Let's just say I didn't expect something different."

Vettel's younger brother starts racing career
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel's younger brother is kicking off his own motor racing career.

Fabian Vettel, once photographed as a child playing with a remote control car in the F1 paddock, is now 15 and embarking on a foray in Poland's Volkswagen Golf Cup.

Germany's Sport Bild said the young Vettel tested a car at the Lausitzring in Germany, saying afterwards: "It was faster than I expected, although it just looks like a normal Golf.

"For me it was the first time I've driven a race car with gear paddles, but the brakes were the most impressive. I did my laps with no problems and had a lot of fun."

Sport Bild said Vettel Jr's outing was a precursor to the 2015 season, which takes place mostly in eastern Europe with the more than 300hp cars.

Stewards to rule on Austin qualifying tweak – report
(GMM) F1 is heading awkwardly into the US grand prix weekend, following the collapse of the two backmarkers Caterham and Marussia.

The sport has always had a dubious relationship with America, although Austin's inaugural races in 2012 and last year were proclaimed definite successes, featuring big crowds and the exciting Circuit of the Americas layout.

But in 2005, F1 famously failed the US with the six-grid grid at Indianapolis, and now another notably low count will line up for Sunday's Austin race.

Not only Caterham and Marussia will be missing on the grid, but also the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

The Red Bull driver is facing a start from the pitlane, as he has run through his maximum allocation of five turbo V6 engines for the 2014 season.

Vettel has already been scathing of the rule, and in Austin on Wednesday he turned to sarcasm.

"Obviously it was our fault to be very greedy at the beginning of the season in terms of having reliability issues," said the German.

"It is the regulations," Vettel explained. "I didn't make them but everyone has to respect them."

The 17 car grid also puts F1 in uncharted territory with regards to the written regulations for Saturday's qualifying session.

In the FIA rules, procedures for grids featuring 26, 24, 22 and 20-car grids are laid out, but the eventuality of having just 9 teams in the garages is notably missing, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

If the rules are left as they are for Saturday, the 'Q1' session will set the grid for positions 17 through 22 — even though Sunday's grid will in fact feature only 17 cars.

F1 race director Charlie Whiting is therefore tipped to make an "appropriate amendment" to the qualifying procedure for Austin, as allowed by the regulations.

But this decision can only be ratified by the stewards, meaning that the actual procedure for the race weekend – likely to see the bottom 4 cars eliminated in Q1 and Q2 respectively – will probably not be known officially until Thursday at the earliest.

Audi confirms Domenicali signing
(GMM) Audi has confirmed the signing of former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

According to DPA news agency, a spokesman for the Volkswagen-owned marque admitted that the 49-year-old Italian will start work at Ingolstadt on November 1.

The spokesman also confirmed reports that Domenicali would work in the area of service and mobility, due to his extensive international experience.

But the reports had triggered rumors Audi's longer term plan was for Domenicali to lead the German marque into formula one, perhaps with a project involving Fernando Alonso.

The Audi spokesman, however, insisted: "Mr. Domenicali will not be head of motor sport."

Fernandes: Racing is over for me
As the small F1 teams "are squeezed, fears are growing that the roster will be reduced by another two, leaving only seven competitive squads and forcing the sport to allow each remaining team to field three cars." The complexities "are horrendous, though, with no one sure whether the third cars would be eligible for points or championship positions."

In the case of this season with an "utterly dominant Mercedes, Formula One could have witnessed a single team taking all three podium positions" at many grands prix.

Fernandes: "There may even be teams within F1 who want a second team — a Red Bull/Toro Rosso situation. So, we will give it maximum support but it's not something I want to get involved in anymore. You have to immerse yourself in it. Racing's over for me." London Times

F1 must change or die
F1 has been warned to "change or die as the sport edges closer to the financial brink."

With two teams in administration and two more "said to be struggling," Cass Business School lecturer in strategy Dr. Paolo Aversa said that F1 had "no option but to ditch a business model that favors the biggest teams."

Not only is the "reputation of the sport at risk but also the livelihoods of thousands of people employed in an industry that has grown up around Britain's leading position in the world of motor racing."

Aversa: "Formula One is not only a sport and an entertainment circus but an industry which provides cutting-edge technology to a variety of other sectors, as well employing thousands of people around the world. … We should ask whether the distribution of wealth is proportionate to a point that allows all the players — both administrators and teams — to get a fair share of the pie and thus achieve a reasonable turnover. " London Times

F1 heading for eastern revolution as new team emerges from Romania
Formula One could be about to see an era of mass investment from eastern Europe’s growing number of billionaires, with the news that a team from Romania will be joining the sport over the next two years.

The arrival of Forza Rossa, revealed in documents filed at London’s High Court, confirms what many had long suspected: that it was only a matter of time before the sport attracted the attention of eastern Europe’s super-rich.

The new team is the third stage of the sport’s drive into that part of the world, following the inaugural Russian Grand Prix earlier this month and the recent decision to host a race from 2016 in the oil-rich country of Azerbaijan.

It will also help to fill Formula One’s ranks, which have been under increasing threat over the past week after two of its worst performers, Caterham and Marussia, have collapsed into administration and will miss this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Texas.

Romania has racing heritage as a round of the GT sportscar championship was held on the streets of its capital Bucharest in 2007 and 2008. The country does not have a Formula One race but Forza Rossa could be the springboard for one as it was in India, which hosted its first grand prix in 2011, three years after the debut of the Force India team.

Government investment is crucial to hosting a grand prix and Forza Rossa comes well-equipped as the project is led by Ion Bazac, a former Romanian health minister. The team have long been rumored to be interested in joining the sport but until now there has been no confirmation it has got the green light.

This comes in sworn testimony from Constantin Cojocar, a former professional footballer for Steaua Bucharest, who last month bought Caterham Sports, which designs and builds cars for Caterham. Last week Caterham Sports and the team’s operating company, 1Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT), were put into the hands of administrators and Cojocar’s witness statement, which was filed during the court proceedings, lifts the lid on Forza Rossa's plans. The Independent