Latest F1 news in brief

Rivals wanted to steal Bottas from Williams

Montezemolo accepts Ferrari at 'end of an era'
FIA dismisses Rosberg 'mistake' conspiracy
Williams rivals 'had an eye' on Bottas – boss
Haas reveals extent of Ferrari tie-up
Mimaki joins Caterham F1 Team as technical partner
Hamilton: Rosberg boos made me feel 'awkward'
Nobody indispensable, Montezemolo told
Rosberg reflects on Italian Grand Prix

Montezemolo accepts Ferrari at 'end of an era'
(GMM) All signs continue to point towards a major change of direction at crisis-struck Ferrari.

Although long-time president Luca di Montezemolo played down the waves of speculation at Monza, his likely successor Sergio Marchionne issued a series of highly critical statements about the 67-year-old on Sunday.

Italy's specialist Autosprint then published a photo of Marchionne, being driven in a Maserati road car, leaving the area of Montezemolo's office within the factory grounds at Maranello on Monday.

Even the formerly combative Montezemolo now seems resigned to departing, as Marchionne – chairman of Ferrari's 90 per cent owner – looks to pull back the current separation between the fabled Italian marque and the Fiat-Chrysler empire.

"Ferrari is now American," Montezemolo reportedly told close associates, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper.

He added that it is "the end of an era".

Also undergoing a major change of direction, albeit amid less headline-grabbing controversy, is the reigning world champion team Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo has requested number 1 status for the rest of his 2014 title campaign against the dominant but warring Mercedes pairing, which at the moment boss Christian Horner is unwilling to cede.

But it is tough times for the team's reigning quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is said to now be seriously considering a big-money offer to spearhead the new McLaren-Honda campaign.

In an interview with the German at Monza, F1's official website asked Vettel about the "impression" he gave at Spa-Francorchamps "that the team is no longer fully behind you".

Vettel denied that, but the very same impression returned with force at Monza.

In a friendly interview with Spanish television immediately after the Italian grand prix, Vettel reportedly said: "It seems that Spanish television sometimes has more faith in me than my own team does."

Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko played down Vettel's remarks.

"That was just the first emotion that came out of him. He was naturally disappointed that his teammate beat him, although in qualifying he was better than Ricciardo.

"I think it was a very normal reaction," the Austrian insisted to German television Sky.

FIA dismisses Rosberg 'mistake' conspiracy
(GMM) F1's governing FIA has rubbished the latest conspiracy theory in the wake of the Italian grand prix.

After the Monza race, multiple authoritative media publications and F1 officials suspected Nico Rosberg – perhaps in atonement for the Spa crash – deliberately faked braking mistakes on Sunday to gift Lewis Hamilton the win.

And it wasn't just the sensational British press causing all the fuss.

Corriere dello Sport, a respected Italian sports daily, said the change of positions came as the result of "two strange errors" from Rosberg.

And a poll in Italy's famous La Gazzetta dello Sport showed that only 22 per cent believe Rosberg's "mistakes" were genuinely accidental.

That would explain the latest spate of booing on the Monza podium for the increasingly pressurized championship leader Rosberg.

"Did he really make the same braking mistake twice in the same place?" Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko is quoted by Bild.

And former driver and commentator Marc Surer said the video replays "left me with an odd feeling".

But F1's most experienced active driver, Jenson Button, slammed the conspiracy theories about clandestine 'team orders' issued by an oddly-smiling Toto Wolff.

"It is a stupid theory," the McLaren driver said. "No driver would do that.

"No driver."

Mercedes was also pouring scorn on the theory on Monday, 'tweeting' a tongue-in-cheek picture of pigs flying over Brackley with the headline 'Breaking news!'

Even the FIA is on side.

The driver steward on duty at Monza was Derek Warwick, who told the Mirror newspaper the incident was "not even on our radar" during the Italian grand prix.

"Gut feeling tells you a lot and my gut says it was straightforward," he said, adding that "Mercedes are allowed to have team orders" anyway.

"I saw mistakes at that chicane twenty times over the weekend," Warwick insisted.

Charlie Whiting, the F1 race director, was even more scathing of the conspiracy theorists.

"Spare me," he told the Times newspaper.

"No, we didn't even give the conspiracy theory a moment's thought at the time.

"A few drivers had problems at that chicane in practice, including Nico, who had a few problems there as well as in the race. I really don't think there is anything in it," he added.

So an exasperated Niki Lauda, the Mercedes team chairman, insists it is time for the conspiracies to stop.

"Once and for all — we do not have team orders. Period," said the F1 legend.

Williams rivals 'had an eye' on Bottas – boss
(GMM) After a run of four podiums in five races, Valtteri Bottas had a less enjoyable Italian grand prix.

The Finn had to settle for fourth, while his teammate Felipe Massa scored his first podium of 2014.

The solid team result meant Williams passed Ferrari on the fabled marque's home soil for third place in the constructors' world championship.

But Bottas admitted: "Probably the new contract is what I will remember most from this weekend.

"It is not bad — 12 points and a contract!" he grinned to the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

Indeed, at Monza, Williams announced that Bottas and Brazilian Massa will remain paired together in 2015.

"Of course it's nicer when you know what you're doing in the future," the 25-year-old said, "even though I have known about it for a while."

For some, however, the Oxfordshire team's announcement was a slight surprise, after Bottas marked himself out as a star of the future in 2014 and was linked with a potential move to McLaren.

"Of course," team deputy boss Claire Williams acknowledged, "when you have someone of Valtteri's ability on board, the competitors keep an eye on him.

"But Valtteri began his career with us and he wanted to continue with us.

"Over the years we have changed the drivers but now we wanted continuity," she added.

It is rumored, however, that one of the conditions of Bottas remaining loyal to Williams is that the terms of his contract may have been improved.

For example, when reserve Felipe Nasr or Susie Wolff have stepped in to practice on Friday mornings this year, it has always been Bottas who vacates his cockpit rather than Massa.

As for whether that will change now for 2015, Claire Williams answered: "It remains to be seen. I can't comment on that."

Haas reveals extent of Ferrari tie-up
(GMM) The extent of new 2016 entrant Haas' tie-up with Ferrari is becoming clearer.

Earlier in 2014, the 'Haas' logos of Nascar team owner Gene Haas' successful machine tool company were added to the race livery of Ferrari's F14-T car.

And last week it was confirmed that Haas' North Carolina based F1 team, set to enter the sport the year after next, will link up with Ferrari for the supply of turbo V6 engines.

But as Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci said in last week's announcement, the partnership with Haas "has the potential to evolve beyond the traditional role of supplying our power unit and all related technical services".

In the press, it is suggested Ferrari sees Haas as a sort of potential 'B team'.

Gene Haas told NCBSN: "We're going to try to get as many parts as allowed by the FIA.

"It's going to be suspension, it's going to be I think wheels and chassis parts and transmission, engine. Everything down to even the steering modes.

"One of the prior Concorde Agreements was that the big teams could help the smaller teams, so we hope to get a lot of help from Ferrari to tell us what direction to go in," said Haas.

Haas said the team still also intends to work with Dallara. "Our goal at least initially is to try to rent, buy, whatever we can to go racing because that's what we're here for," he revealed.

Another point of interest surrounding the Haas team is the eventual identity of the drivers.

Americans Alexander Rossi and Danica Patrick have already been linked with the cockpits, although the Ferrari tie-up would also seem to open the door to the Italian marque's 'academy' juniors.

Haas said one of his Nascar drivers, 36-year-old Kurt Busch, is also interested.

"Everybody I talk to is interested," he said.

"I was talking to Kurt Busch last week. He was interested. He said if he wins the Nascar championship, could he have a ride in one. I said 'for sure' if he wins the championship," smiled Haas.

Mimaki has entered into a technical partnership with Caterham F1.

Mimaki joins Caterham F1 Team as technical partner
Mimaki, a leading global manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting plotters for the sign/graphics, textile/apparel and industrial markets, has formed a technical partnership with the Caterham F1 Team, making Mimaki their official technical graphics supplier.

The result of this partnership is that all Formula One communication and visuals for Caterham F1 Team will be now be printed and cut with Mimaki’s range of solutions.

In the fast paced world of Formula One racing, one needs graphics that stand out from the rest of the field. Manfredi Ravetto, Team Principal of the Caterham F1 Team, knows about standing out. He is managing the team for a result-driven season.

He needed a partner who could translate the team’s values into visuals that reflect these goals. "Whether it is on the track or projecting our image, our team is focused on results.

So we required a technical partner that could deliver quality that meets our high engineering standards. Mimaki impressed us with the creative versatility their solutions have to offer and won us over immediately."

Hamilton: Rosberg boos made me feel 'awkward'
Lewis Hamilton says he didn't like it when the fans booed Nico Rosberg after they finished one-two in last weekend's Italian Grand Prix and that it made him feel "awkward".

Rosberg was first booed last month in Belgium, after he collided with Lewis Hamilton on the second lap. Hamilton eventually had to retire, while Rosberg recovered and finished second, as he did at Monza. The German now leads the Drivers' Championship by 22 points.

"I have had it here and years and years ago, and it is great personally for me to have such great support, from the Ferrari fans and the Mercedes fans, but when I was up there it was awkward for me to hear them booing Nico because l just don't like that in sport," Hamilton said in an interview with Sky Sports F1.

"Away from the pitch and once we come away from the race, we should be nice to everyone," added the Briton, who was booed at Monza back in 2012 and who was also unpopular with the Spanish fans for a while, as a result of the acrimonious battle with then McLaren team-mate, Fernando Alonso, in 2007.

Rosberg meanwhile reiterated post-race that it was definitely not nice to hear the booing again: "It is obviously not nice but what can I say? I hope that with time they forgive and forget. That would be great. I have apologized, I cannot really do anything more than that," he replied when asked about it.

Nobody indispensable, Montezemolo told
Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne has told Luca di Montezemolo that "nobody is indispensable" and added that his comments over the Italian Grand Prix weekend were "rubbish".

There has been a lot of speculation of late concerning the future of Montezemolo amid reports he was about to step down as Ferrari President.

However, on Saturday at Monza, the 67-year-old emphasized that he has no intention of stepping aside, adding he has a three year contract and "if and when there will be some news about me, I will be the first, I emphasize the first, to let you know."

"We are good friends but his statements, these are things I wouldn't have said myself," said Marchionne, CEO of Ferrari's parent company Fiat.

"I consider myself essential, of course. But I also know very well that I am at the service of this company. So to create illusions that one can operate outside the rules, is talking rubbish.

"It is the same for him as it is for me; we serve the company. When the company has a change of plan, or if there is no longer a convergence of ideas, things change.

"Nobody is indispensable."

Video: Rosberg reflects on Italian Grand Prix
In his latest video blog, Nico reflects on a fantastic weekend for the team in Italy!