Latest F1 news in brief

Button may hang up his helmet after this year

Mercedes chiefs resolve to 'cool hot heads'
Vettel to get another new chassis for Monza
Early debut for teen Verstappen 'really bad' – Salo
Button admits F1 retirement possible after 2014
Prost sure Renault can bounce back in 2015
Merhi waiting on F1 license for Monza debut
Jordan: Mercedes rudderless without Brawn
Interim relief for Kingfisher in payment default case
Lotus picks up a minor sponsor

Mercedes chiefs resolve to 'cool hot heads'
(GMM) Mercedes chiefs have resolved to cool the simmering feud between title-warring teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Germany's Bild newspaper reports that when the pair – who collided during the Belgian grand prix – came face-to-face in Germany on Wednesday for a sponsor photo shoot, they barely acknowledged each other's presence.

In the few days since Sunday at Spa, the drivers have been exchanging their barbs through the media, but team bosses have reportedly now instructed Rosberg and Hamilton to quieten their dispute.

"Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe and I agreed that hot heads should be cooled this week," team chairman Niki Lauda confirmed.

"Each word only triggers a reaction from the other. The drivers know now what responsibilities they have," he added.

The explosive coming-together at Spa-Francorchamps is still the dominant topic in formula one, but the governing FIA has resisted calls to open an investigation despite Hamilton having accused Rosberg of crashing on purpose.

The driver steward in Belgium, Emmanuele Pirro, has revealed to Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport that his fellow FIA officials needed only "10 seconds" to decide against investigating the clash.

"There was no intention," he insisted. "Perhaps Rosberg was a little cunning and clever to try it, but in the end the main problem was what happened within the team."

Alain Prost, one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, agrees that what happened on lap 2 was just "a racing incident".

"You have to remember that from the cockpit you can't see your big front wing, and every weekend we see two or three incidents just like it," he told Russia's f1news.ru.

"Lewis did not want to leave him more space, and Nico didn't want to leave the track and perhaps made a small mistake in assessing the situation.

"But he didn't do it intentionally, because the chance is much higher that you only damage your own car.

"Of course, the consequences were very serious for Lewis, but it was still a racing incident, albeit inflamed by the media and the fans and even the team," said Prost.

Mark Webber, who until his F1 retirement had an intense rivalry with Sebastian Vettel, tipped the dispute to certainly roll into next weekend's Italian grand prix at Monza.

"The two of them are going into a media nightmare in Monza," the Australian told Austrian broadcaster Servus TV.

"The whole story is going to be replayed all over again and it won't be easy for them to concentrate on the job.

"They will only be paying attention to one another, as they know the constructors' title is as good as over.

"But Mercedes will overcome this controversy and get both titles," Webber predicted.

Vettel to get another new chassis for Monza
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel is set to drive his third new chassis of the 2014 season, after suffering more mysterious handling problems in Belgium last weekend.

As the extent of the reigning quadruple world champion's issues this year became clear, Red Bull had already given Vettel a new chassis for May's Spanish grand prix.

Now it was at Spa-Francorchamps, a race the 27-year-old won a year ago, that Vettel notably struggled for pace alongside his on-form teammate and 2014 Belgian GP winner Daniel Ricciardo.

"I can't explain why my car could not compete with Daniel's at this race," Vettel, referring to Spa, is quoted by Sport Bild.

"But there must be something. Both cars are identical and so they should have the same performance."

Team official Dr Helmut Marko agrees.

"It is not normal for Sebastian to lose so much time to Daniel," he is quoted by Auto Bild Motorsport.

"I can understand how frustrated he is, especially as his teammate won. We will build a new chassis for him as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, Red Bull has confirmed reports Vettel's long-time race engineer Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin has been promoted to chief engineer for 2015, as Adrian Newey takes a step back.

Vettel's new race engineer will be Gianpiero Lambiase, who is currently working with Sergio Perez at Force India.

"Seb has had a long chat with him (Lambiase) and they hit it off immediately," Marko said.

Early debut for teen Verstappen 'really bad' – Salo
(GMM) Mika Salo has added his voice to concerns about the 2015 debut of teenager Max Verstappen.

Finn Salo, who raced in F1 against the 16-year-old's father Jos, backed 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve who has questioned whether Verstappen's signing by Toro Rosso is good for F1.

"I think it's really bad for formula one," Salo, now a pundit for Finnish television, told MTV3.

"In my opinion, a guy that young should not be allowed to drive in F1. It should be the very top category of racing for which drivers train for years.

"F1 is not a junior series," he insisted.

Salo, who raced for Sauber and Toyota and even Ferrari, also said Verstappen risks being thrown into the deep end and having a promising career ruined early.

"What happens when it doesn't work out after two years? An unemployed F1 driver at the age of 19," he said.

The freshly F1-retired Mark Webber also weighed into the debate, laughing to Austrian Servus TV that Verstappen's 2015 debut rules out any hopes of a return to the category for himself.

"I had a wonderful career, but when I see that a 17-year-old is coming into formula one, I think it's not hard to see that it's over when you're 38!"

Red Bull, however, is strenuously defending its decision to sign F1's youngest ever rookie, with Dr Helmut Marko arguing that while other teams "talk about young talents, we make it a reality".

"I bet 100 euros that in his first race Verstappen will be able to compete with (Daniil) Kvyat," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Meanwhile, Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost said that while Verstappen is ousting Jean-Eric Vergne in 2014, that doesn't mean the 24-year-old Frenchman is a bad driver.

In fact, "Of the drivers we have had, I think he (Vergne) is the best, although Sebastien Buemi also did a good job and has shown talent for Toyota (at Le Mans)," Tost is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.

"I hope he (Vergne) has the chance to develop and to show more, because for me, he deserves to be in formula one," he added.

Button admits F1 retirement possible after 2014
(GMM) Jenson Button has admitted for the first time that he might be forced to "retire" at the end of 2014.

As McLaren and Honda look ahead to their new works partnership beginning next year, it is clear the Woking based team is hoping to sign a truly top driver.

Disgruntled Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have been linked with the seat, but so too has Ferrari's frustrated Fernando Alonso.

The Telegraph claimed the Spaniard could make an enormous $32 million per year with McLaren, Honda and also his sponsor Santander pitching in.

Williams' Valtteri Bottas and the Eric Boullier-linked Romain Grosjean are also believed to have been considered by McLaren, so while the situation remains unclear, the future of 15-year F1 veteran Button hangs in the balance.

"We haven't sat down and talked about it," the 34-year-old Briton and 2009 world champion told the BBC.

"If I have to retire at the end of the season then so be it, but I feel I have so much more to give and I can't imagine life without motor sport and especially formula one," Button said.

Prost sure Renault can bounce back in 2015
(GMM) Alain Prost is confident Renault can bounce back in 2015.

As the new 'power unit' rules took effect this season, Mercedes has utterly dominated its turbo V6 rivals Renault and Ferrari.

The latter Italian outfit, however, is calling on the FIA to relax the so-called 'engine freeze' regulations, whereby substantial elements of the power unit are not able to be changed except for cost, reliability or safety reasons.

But Renault ambassador, F1 legend and quadruple world champion Prost tips the French brand to make big progress for 2015 within the existing rules.

"When I talk to the people from Renault Sport, they say they have the opportunity to make changes to the power unit and that everything will be fine," he told the Russian website f1news.ru.

Indeed, engine homologation of the power unit is in fact being phased in, with a system of 'tokens' meaning that Renault and Ferrari could, in theory, enter the 2015 season with an engine altered by a factor of 48 per cent.

"Of course," Prost said, "the restriction (in the rules) should not be too strict, because otherwise those who did everything correctly from the beginning will just win forever.

"This is not what we need (in F1)," the Frenchman added.

"It does seem possible to improve the engines well enough, but let's see how the situation develops," added Prost.

Merhi waiting on F1 license for Monza debut
(GMM) Roberto Merhi is only waiting on his F1 super license before receiving the green light to make his grand prix debut next weekend at Monza.

Since he was a guest of the team at Spa-Francorchamps, it has emerged that the DTM and Formula Renault 3.5 driver is next in line to drive ousted Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham, following Andre Lotterer's one-off outing.

According to the Spanish sports daily Marca, 23-year-old Spaniard Merhi has the necessary EUR 300,000 to pay Caterham's new management, headed now by Colin Kolles and Christijan Albers.

Correspondent Marco Canseco said Merhi is only now waiting on the FIA's decision about granting him the mandatory F1 license.

The driver told Marca that, when a request for a super license is made to the FIA, it is granted in "99 per cent of cases when a team asks".

However, the FIA usually requires that drivers granted licenses are new champions in major categories, or have completed a 300 kilometer F1 test.

Merhi, albeit the European F3 champion of 2011, fails in those respects.

He admitted: "It's not 100 per cent sure that I'll race at Monza, but the chances are good depending on getting the super license on time.

"I'm focused on getting the (Renault) world series title but if I can be in F1 it would be a nice prize, although it's not a priority for this season," said Merhi.

Jordan: Mercedes rudderless without Brawn
If Ross Brawn was still in charge at Mercedes, the collision between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix would not have happened. That is the view of former team boss Eddie Jordan.

Rosberg clipped the rear of Hamilton's car on the second lap of last weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps, giving the Briton a puncture that would lead to retirement and hurting his own efforts with front wing damage.

Jordan, whose team ran for more than a decade, feels that Mercedes is lacking a consistent approach after Brawn's exit, with Toto Wolff (Business) and Paddy Lowe (Technical) stepping up to take on the responsibilities.

"I blame the team," Jordan explained during an interview with TalkSPORT. "They say they let the drivers race but they don't because at Hungary Rosberg was told he could pass Hamilton, Hamilton was told to let him go and he didn't let him go. How can you say you don't have team orders but you actually do? It's a nonsense."

Jordan referred to Brawn's actions at last year's Malaysian Grand Prix, when he repeatedly ordered Rosberg to hold station behind third-placed Hamilton and ensure maximum points, albeit with both men running out of fuel.

"I remember when Ross said to Rosberg in Malaysia last year 'no, you cannot pass Lewis'," Jordan said. "If Ross was there in that team it would be a different show. They would have finished first and second [in Belgium]."

Jordan says Rosberg and Hamilton are being given too much leeway in their respective quests for title glory.

"It's weak. The guys there are really good guys, but they don't have the experience and they don't have Ross and, at the moment, they are rudderless," he added. "They are being run by two drivers who are like spoilt kids."

Interim relief for Kingfisher in payment default case
The Delhi High Court today set aside a Punjab National Bank (PNB) notice to the extent that Kingfisher airlines and its guarantors, United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd (UBHL) and Vijay Mallya, will be deemed as willful defaulters in the event of no reply to the bank's notice within seven days from 21 August.

The bank had issued the notice alleging the carrier has willfully defaulted in payment of outstanding dues of more than Rs 770 crore. Today, PNB submitted before the court that currently dues to be recovered from the airlines are more than Rs 800 crore.

Mr. Justice Vibhu Bakhru said that the operation of the default notice would not come in effect as PNB will have to give the documents, relied upon by it, within a week from today. The airlines has been given two weeks time thereafter to respond.

The court also held as “unacceptable" the bank's reasons for not allowing the airlines to be represented by lawyers in the proceedings initiated to decide whether the grounded carrier is a willful defaulter for non-payment of dues and directed that two advocates be allowed to represent Kingfisher.

It asked the bank to supply within a week all the documents it has relied upon or intends to rely upon in the matter, saying there is “no justifiable reason" to depart from the practice in the present case.

Kingfisher had moved the court seeking directions to the bank to rescind its 21 August, 2014 notice and those issued earlier as well as to restrain it from taking any action against the airlines in pursuance of the same.

Lotus picks up a minor sponsor
Multi-national electronics manufacturer Hisense will join Lotus F1 Team for the forthcoming Italian and United States Grands Prix with the Hisense logo showing on the prominent sidepod placement of the team's E22 as well as on the air box for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The branding is part of a global promotion by the world-leading provider of flat panel TVs, household appliances and mobile communications.

Headquartered in Qingdao, China, Hisense joins the team's portfolio of partners for three of the most popular races of the year, with the Italian Grand Prix taking place at Monza on 5-7 September, the United States Grand Prix at Austin, Texas on October 31-November 2 and the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina on November 21-23.

Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO:
"We are thrilled that Hisense has chosen Lotus F1 Team to enhance and strengthen its continued global development. Headquartered in China, Hisense has shown impressive development and worldwide expansion as a challenger brand, something which Lotus F1 Team can relate to closely as we continue to challenge on the track. Hisense has shown it recognizes the value of sports marketing on several occasions and to have Lotus F1 Team identified as a key association as part of Hisense’s growth is a substantial compliment."

Dr. Lin Lan, Hisense Vice President:
"Joining with Lotus F1 Team at the Italian, United States and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix is a very exciting prospect. As we grow our brand awareness globally, we aim to use proven partnerships that we know will deliver. Formula 1, and in particular Lotus F1 Team, has huge potential and we are looking forward to working together over the coming months."