Latest F1 news in brief

Despite Wolff's denial, is Mercedes doing what it could do to ensure the 2014 season isn't a Mercedes runaway borefest?

Wolff slams 'paranoid' conspiracy theorists (of course he would)
Sauber quiet amid Stroll buyout reports
Wolff looking to sell more of Williams stake
Marchionne says even Montezemolo 'can be replaced'
McLaren 'happy' to keep Button for 2015
Mercedes would have given Verstappen GP2 debut
Hamilton chose to ignore engineer advice
Mattiacci on 'day to forget' at Monza
Bottas happy to see Massa back on podium
Red Bull achieves 'damage limitation' aim

Wolff slams 'paranoid' conspiracy theorists (of course he would)
(GMM) When Lewis Hamilton passed championship leader Nico Rosberg to take the win at Monza on Sunday, not everyone was convinced.

F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart is one such conspiracy theorist.

"I thought 'Hello, what's going on here?'" admitted the triple world champion, referring to the moment when Rosberg ran into the escape zone at the circuit's first corner, letting Hamilton into a lead that would not be challenged.

"He could have at least made an effort to get round the corner but he didn't," said Stewart.

Those connecting even more dots linked the move with the Mercedes drivers' shenanigans in Belgium two weeks ago, whereafter Rosberg was internally sanctioned by the German team.

Was 'accidentally-on-purpose' gifting Hamilton the win part of Rosberg's punishment, after the championship leader pulled out a further points lead on Hamilton in Belgium amid the highly controversial circumstances?

"It's not like we now start shuffling and things like that. There is no reason why I would do something like that on purpose," the German driver insisted.

Boss Toto Wolff slammed the conspiracy, including the claim that the Rosberg 'mistake' coincided with television images of him in the pits smiling wryly at the TV monitor.

"Whoever picks that up and tries to interpret anything in such a picture must be out of his mind," said the Austrian. "First of all, it's not live. It wasn't synchronized with the picture."

As for accusing Mercedes and Rosberg of orchestrating the 'mistake' to at least give Hamilton seven of the lost points back, Wolff insisted: "Only a paranoid mind could come up with such an idea.

"I think there was lots of pressure on Nico because Lewis was so quick yesterday and you could see that today as well," he added.

More sober minds, however, noted that Rosberg made more than one run through the chicane run-off on Sunday, and Hamilton also locked his brakes at the same point late in the race.

"They (the mistakes) might look a bit strange but I did it in practice (too)," said Rosberg.

"What would be the reason for me to do something like that deliberately? The only thing in people's minds could be Spa but Spa was a mistake which I've apologized for."

He said the reason he went through the run-off rather than lock up the brakes and try to make the corner is because "It would have caused a flat-spot".

And he also told Auto Motor und Sport: "I haven't been 100 per cent with the brakes since the start of the season.

"We wanted to solve the problem with new disc material, but after what happened with Lewis in Hockenheim that has been on hold," said Rosberg.

And the newspaper Bild quoted him as saying: "Lewis was getting bigger and bigger in the mirror, so I was braking later and later.

"My first thought (at the moment of the mistake) was 'Shit'."

Hamilton, meanwhile, took heart from the appearance of Rosberg having cracked under his application of pressure.

"I (also) did it a couple of races ago and he doesn't seem to like it," said the Briton, "so I'll try it a bit more."

Finally, Hamilton denied suggestions he once again ignored a team order, after his engineer on Sunday told him to maintain a gap behind Rosberg until later in the race.

"They (engineers) want to win just as much as me so they're just trying to guide me as to what they think," said the 2008 world champion.

"But at the end of the day, I was the one out there and I had to decide 'Ok, I can back off and keep the tires but it might be better the other way'.

"I knew that if I applied the pressure, an opportunity would eventually come," said Hamilton.

Sauber quiet amid Stroll buyout reports
(GMM) Sauber is quiet amid reports the Swiss team is being sold to the Canadian retail billionaire and racing enthusiast Lawrence Stroll.

On Sunday, a report emerged in Germany that said Stroll, whose son Lance is part of Sauber engine supplier Ferrari's driver academy, is in talks with the obviously financially-struggling Hinwil based team.

And it is believed the subsequent report at Motorsport.com was based on sources close to Stroll himself, who is associated with famous fashion brands including Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger and the Red Bull sponsor Pepe Jeans.

He also owns the former F1 circuit at Mont Tremblant, and numerous Ferrari road cars.

But the well-connected Swiss F1 veteran Roger Benoit, who writes for Blick, was cautious on Sunday amid the reports.

"We have seen other sale attempts fail," said Benoit. "Stroll is also associated with Lotus.

"As was the case over a year ago with (Sauber's deal with) the Russians, let's wait."

And 20min.ch, a respected Swiss news outlet, quoted team founder Peter Sauber and boss Monisha Kaltenborn as saying: "No comment."

Wolff looking to sell more of Williams stake
(GMM) Toto Wolff is still working on offloading his stake in the Williams team.

Ever since the Austrian bought into Mercedes and began working as the German marque's F1 and motor racing chief, his more than 15 per cent stake in Williams has been quietly on the market.

In June, it emerged that 5 per cent of Wolff's stake was bought by US private healthcare businessman Brad Hollinger.

And now, the Daily Telegraph reports that Hollinger in fact has an additional 2 per cent option on the Grove based team worth about $5.7 million.

F1 business journalists Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid quoted Wolff as confirming: "I am now on slightly more than 10 per cent and Brad has an option to buy another 2pc.

"So if I find somebody who is suitable, maybe I will sell a little bit more."

Marchionne says even Montezemolo 'can be replaced'
(GMM) An obvious dispute is playing out between Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and his potential successor, Sergio Marchionne.

At Monza, Montezemolo half-heartedly denied increasingly insistent reports that he is set to step down and become boss of the Italian airline Alitalia.

But since then, it has become clear that Montezemolo, whose prominence at Maranello dates all the way back to the Niki Lauda era, is also locked in a dispute with Marchionne, the chairman of the 90 per cent Ferrari owner Fiat.

Marchionne was quoted on Sunday as saying he took exception to statements Montezemolo made at Monza about his role at Ferrari.

"It creates the illusion of being outside the rules," Marchionne is quoted by Italy's Autosprint.

"Ferrari is a subsidiary of Fiat, but a certain independence from the product and market positioning was important.

"But I, like many others, are at the service of the company," he insisted. "When a company changes its mind, things change."

It seems the divide between Marchionne and Montezemolo has opened up because of Ferrari's struggle for performance and success in formula one.

"On the economic results (of the road car division)," said Marchionne, "Luca did a great job and I congratulate him. But the other side is sports management.

"Ferrari is in F1 to win, I've been a fan for years, and it's hard to see Ferrari in this situation — with the best drivers in the world, engineers who are really good, and no (title) win since 2008.

"It is essential to have a Ferrari that represents victory in F1, and this is not negotiable — it is an absolutely clear objective and we cannot accept a situation other than this.

"I do not want to see us seventh or twelfth.

"A change in the presidency is not on my agenda," Marchionne concluded, "but everyone can be replaced."

McLaren 'happy' to keep Button for 2015
(GMM) McLaren could wait another year for a top name to join the newly Honda-powered outfit.

In recent days and weeks, it has become increasingly clear that the Woking team is bidding to lure a star champion like Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel to the British-Japanese works collaboration for 2015.

All three, however, are under contract to their existing teams, which may be good news for the nervous incumbent, F1 veteran Jenson Button, who otherwise might be staring at retirement.

"If I'm not racing at the end of the season, so be it," he said at Monza. "I can't do much about that."

But Britain's The Observer newspaper reports that McLaren is in fact now most likely to sign Button and his rookie teammate Kevin Magnussen for at least another season.

"We are happy with the drivers we have, to be honest," team boss Eric Boullier confirmed.

"You can rate them or not rate them, I don't care. We are happy and lucky to have the good drivers we have. If we have them next year we will be happy with that."

The Frenchman hinted that a better "strategy" for McLaren might be to let the all-new McLaren-Honda partnership bed in for a year before thinking again about a driver change for 2016.

"We are thinking about strategy," Boullier said. "We have to think about 2016. We are seeking who, when, how, how much, because we need to know how we want to build for the future.

"It is usual in formula one, especially with A-list drivers, to have discussions not for next year but for the year after."

It is obvious that drivers of Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel's caliber might be unlikely to take a gamble with a move to McLaren without first assessing the new Honda era.

"We are in favor of having the best car," said Boullier, "because then we can attract the best driver and have the winning package. At some stage you have to open the negotiations."

According to paddock insiders, disgruntled and struggling reigning champion Vettel is the man most likely to be looking for a change of scene.

When asked about the McLaren-Vettel rumors, former driver turned pundit Patrick Tambay told RMC it is clear the German is feeling increasingly uncomfortable at Red Bull.

"Next year Adrian Newey will not be in the same position," he said. "He (Vettel) is losing his favorite engineer (Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin).

"It may be time for him to look elsewhere, especially with what is happening with Daniel Ricciardo."

But even though Australian Ricciardo appears more than comfortable at Red Bull, even he is in McLaren's sights.

"We may consider Daniel Ricciardo," Boullier admitted. "Nico Rosberg as well is doing well. So there are a lot of drivers we may consider."

Ricciardo might be tempted to leave Red Bull because, despite his clear superiority over Vettel in 2014, he is earning much less money than the quadruple champion.

At Monza, team boss Christian Horner dodged a specific question about whether, in light of his season, Red Bull intends to "adjust" Ricciardo's "earnings" to bring him more in line with Vettel.

Not only that, he finds himself in the awkward situation of being the only driver able to challenge the two Mercedes for the 2014 title, but not being the clear number 1 at Red Bull.

"I would love to be quicker on merit and not need team orders," Ricciardo said after Monza, "but the next couple of tracks are perfect for us so if we need to make any decisions if we can challenge Mercedes for the title then I am sure they will be made."

No so, according to Horner.

"We are so far back at the moment that it is not worth getting involved (in team orders). We will let the drivers race," he insisted.

Horner adds that in the end, despite all the 'silly season' noise, he thinks all the main players will stay put for 2015.

"The music is playing at full volume now," he is quoted by Spain's Marca, "but when it stops I think you'll see everyone in the same chairs as they were before."

Mercedes would have given Verstappen GP2 debut
(GMM) Prior to Max Verstappen's signing by Red Bull, the teen Dutchman came close to being snapped up by Mercedes.

At the height of the Verstappen-Mercedes rumors, sources said the German marque intended to place the talented 16-year-old in GP2 next year.

Toto Wolff confirmed to the Austrian news agency APA: "We would have gone with him first into GP2 and given him a few formula one days."

Ultimately, however, advised and managed by his F1-famous father Jos Verstappen, the F3 sensation signed with Red Bull on the promise of a now highly controversial Toro Rosso race debut in 2015.

"He is ready for formula one now," insisted Red Bull's driver manager Dr Helmut Marko.

But on his first official demonstration run in a F1 car in Rotterdam recently, Verstappen crashed at low speed into the barriers whilst doing donuts.

Red Bull played down the incident, and this week near Venice Verstappen will reportedly be back in a two-year-old Toro Rosso to qualify for his super license and make his Friday practice debut early next month at Suzuka.

Some think F1 is coming way too soon for the boyish Verstappen.

"Max is an extraordinary talent," Wolff agreed. "He is definitely formula one material and possibly a star of the future.

"Whether it's good for formula one – putting a 17-year-old on the grid – is another thing," he insisted. "Formula one is not a playground where you develop somebody."

Hamilton chose to ignore engineer advice
Lewis Hamilton says his decision to ignore advice from his race engineer played a key role in him winning the Italian Grand Prix.

After a poor start, Hamilton returned to the rear of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with some fine overtaking and a clean pit-stop.

At the start of the second stint, Hamilton was told by his engineer to drop back and save his tires for the closing laps, but he chose to attack.

Shortly after Hamilton improved his pace, Rosberg locked up and ran on at the first chicane, handing the Briton a clear route to the win.

"The engineer said we should stay back but from experience I knew that wasn't the way forward," said Hamilton.

"The car felt good; it was the closest that I had been at that point. During the previous stint when I was behind Nico on old tires it was hard to stay with him, so I knew the best chance would be at the start of the stint."

Hamilton says his start issue, which saw him drop from pole position to fourth place, came out of the blue.

"There's a button you press for the launch sequence. For the formation lap it didn't work. I thought there was no problem, but it didn't work on the grid either. It was very strange and has never happened before," he said.

"I tried to pull away but the RPM was all over the place, but fortunately I didn't lose too many places."

Hamilton has trimmed Rosberg's title lead to 22 points, a gap that can be overturned in Singapore.

Mattiacci on 'day to forget' at Monza
Ferrari team boss Marco Mattiacci described the Italian Grand Prix as a "day to forget" after the outfit's home race yielded little reward.

While Fernando Alonso suffered his first race-ending mechanical failure since the 2010 Malaysian GP, Kimi RÃ¤ikkÃ¶nen could only score two points.

And to compound Ferrari's woes, Williams jumped ahead in the fight for third in the Constructors' standings after a high-scoring performance.

"In F1, as in sport in general, there are days to forget. This was certainly one of them," said Mattiacci, who replaced Stefano Domenicali in April.

"Even though we are making progress, we knew these last two races would be very difficult, so while it's impossible to accept a result like this, our only thought is to get back to being competitive as soon as possible.

"I'm sure the working practices put in place these last few months will help us get back to the top."

Ferrari heads to the Singapore Grand Prix, the first of six final flyaway races, 15 points adrift of Williams.

Bottas happy to see Massa back on podium
Valtteri Bottas says he was happy to see Williams team-mate Felipe Massa return to the podium at the Italian Grand Prix.

After it became clear that the Mercedes machines were out of reach during Sunday's race at Monza, Massa consolidated third and stepped onto the rostrum for the first time since last year's Spanish Grand Prix.

Bottas completed a strong day for Williams in fourth, helping to move the team ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' standings for third position.

"As a team we had a really good day," said Bottas, who has notched up four podiums himself in 2014. "I'm pleased to see Felipe get his first podium of the season, hopefully we can be up there together soon."

Bottas dropped into the midfield after a disastrous opening lap, but says he enjoyed his comeback drive.

"I had a few issues at the start which affected my race," he explained. "Once the tires were up to temperature I had a lot of work to do. It was good fun to overtake so many people and we had some good pace as well."

Red Bull achieves 'damage limitation' aim
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says the outfit achieved its pre-race aim of "damage limitation" at the Italian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel came home fifth and sixth at the engine-dominant Monza, behind only the Mercedes and Williams cars.

Ricciardo, who pitted much later than his direct rivals, jumped Vettel in the closing stages, with the latter struggling for grip after stopping first.

"I think fifth and sixth was the absolute optimum today," said Horner.

"We picked two different strategies, an aggressive one with Sebastian to undercut the McLaren, while with Daniel we took the opposite approach as he was in clear air.

"We ran Daniel long in the first stint with a shorter second; his passing moves to come back through were truly impressive and with Sebastian struggling with degradation, it was inevitable that they would swap positions.

"But fifth and sixth place, at a circuit dominated by Mercedes-powered cars, is damage limitation achieved."

Ricciardo's strategy to stay out longer came in response to him losing a handful of positions at the start.

"Seeing that we didn't have great pace when we were out of position we thought we would try something different and that's why we went long, which helped towards the end of the race," the Australian explained.

Reigning World Champion Vettel added: "We wanted to get the McLaren drivers so we went aggressive with the early stop, but the tires started going off at the end and all in all that was what we could do today."