Latest F1 news in brief – Thursday (Update)
05/08/14
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No one is going to beat Mercedes Azerbaijan replacing axed Korea – Ecclestone
- Mercedes rules out 'taxi driving' in Barcelona
- Mercedes to test 'megaphone' exhaust in practice
- Red Bull plays down Vettel's chassis change
- Button: No F1 teams have a chance against Mercedes
- Jacques Villeneuve, brother of late F1 legend Gilles Villeneuve, is battling cancer
- Bianchi gets new race engineer for Spain New
- Video: Pirelli's guide to the 2014 F1 Spanish GP New
- Video: Ferrari readies for Barcelona New
Azerbaijan replacing axed Korea – Ecclestone
(GMM) Azerbaijan is taking Korea's full-time place on the F1 calendar, Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed.
It is expected a city street race in the capital Baku starting in 2015 will be announced later this month.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone this week indicated the oil-rich former Soviet race is taking the place on the calendar formerly occupied by South Korea, where a race at unpopular Yeongam was last held in 2013.
Korean organizers have baulked at the sport's high sanctioning fees.
Speaking this week to F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, Ecclestone said of the country: "I don't want to go back there."
"Baku has been signed," he told the Independent. "It will start in 2015 and will replace Korea.
"They (Korea) did a good job with the track but what they forgot to do was build all the things they wanted to build," said Ecclestone, referring to facilities around the harborside circuit.
Sylt claims that the Azerbaijan deal was brokered by Flavio Briatore, the ousted former Renault boss and close friend of Ecclestone.
"Briatore put the idea in the mind of the president of the country and that got things going," a source is quoted as saying.
Mercedes rules out 'taxi driving' in Barcelona
(GMM) Mercedes has played down the issue of team orders ahead of this weekend's Spanish grand prix.
After Bahrain, where Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg thrilled spectators with their unfettered wheel-to-wheel battle, it was suggested team chiefs were subsequently split over the issue of team orders.
It was reported that on one side of the debate was Niki Lauda, the team chairman, while colleagues Paddy Lowe and Toto Wolff want to ensure that Mercedes' dominance is not threatened by driver run-ins.
Indeed, triple world champion Lauda told the Mirror newspaper this week that Sebastian Vettel was right to answer "tough luck" when told by Red Bull in China to obey a team order.
"Yeah. Absolutely. That is a proper racing driver attitude," said the great Austrian.
"(Christian) Horner gave Vettel an order and he said 'screw you' so there is a difference between them and us.
"We don't give orders. Everyone saw in Bahrain, where they were told to watch the cars and we let them race. That is our philosophy," Lauda added.
However, it was believed that Wolff and Lowe do not fully agree with the notion of simply letting the drivers race freely.
But, ahead of Barcelona this weekend, Wolff has been quoted by Speed Week as saying: "Our strategy has not changed. Both (drivers) are allowed to drive freely.
"We do not want taxi driving," he insisted.
In the end, Mercedes could have bigger problems to worry about in Spain.
Improving rivals like Red Bull and Ferrari have had three weeks since China to close the gap to the dominant Brackley team, while many believe that – engine aside – reigning world champions Red Bull already have the best 2014 car.
"Barcelona will show how good our car really is," said Wolff, "because it is a type of Red Bull circuit.
"Ferrari was also impressive in China, and they have the 'in-house' advantage of being able to develop the power unit and the car under one roof.
"They can also count on Alonso, who is capable of incredible performances," Wolff added.
"I must say that we have not been sleeping (since China), but the chase is on. We are not afraid, but we have respect," he said.
Mercedes to test 'megaphone' exhaust in practice
(GMM) Mercedes is preparing to show off a louder engine note during the Spanish grand prix weekend.
Early this week, team chief Toto Wolff revealed that one proposed solution to the turbo V6 sound 'problem' is a sort of "megaphone" addition to the exhaust.
Along with Ferrari and Renault, F1's three engine makers have been considering how to spice up the sound of F1 2014, after some spectators and promoters were shocked at the difference compared to the screaming V8s of 2013.
"The solutions range from very complex solutions within the exhaust system down to a simple megaphone at the back," Wolff is quoted by Kolner Express newspaper.
"The 'megaphone' is a parallel exhaust that simply opens up at the end, with all the problems that brings with it," the Austrian added.
Insiders say Wolff is concerned that the solution will interrupt the thermal and aerodynamic integration between the 'power unit' and the current exhaust layout.
Nonetheless, he said that sound solutions will be tried on the W05 car at the post-race Barcelona test next week.
But Germany's Bild newspaper claims that Mercedes' plan is actually to test the 'megaphone' exhaust during free practice for the Spanish grand prix on Friday.
"Bild's information is that the solution will be testing in the morning," said correspondent Lennart Wermke. "Whether it is also used in the race is still open."
Whether Mercedes can afford to be tinkering with the volume of the engine during the race weekend depends on the challenge posed by improving rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.
"Barcelona is incredibly important," agrees team chairman Niki Lauda. "It is a key race," he is quoted by Osterreich.
"Who is good there will be good over the next three or four races as well," he explained.
"Barcelona is an important measure; even more important than usual because this year the car and engine are being developed more.
"If we dominant there (in Spain) too, it looks very, very good for us," admitted Lauda.
Red Bull plays down Vettel's chassis change
(GMM) Red Bull has played down the significance of Sebastian Vettel getting a brand new chassis for this weekend's Spanish grand prix.
Just days after the reigning world champion struggled to match teammate Daniel Ricciardo's pace in China, Dr Helmut Marko said the team was looking into whether Vettel's RB10 – affectionately dubbed 'Suzie' by the German driver – was damaged.
"We don't understand why Vettel's tire wear was so much higher than Ricciardo's," Marko said.
A few days later, he announced: "In Barcelona, Sebastian will have a new chassis, because sometimes even a small hairline crack can have large consequences.
"In 2012, Sebastian had problems compared with Mark Webber, but after a chassis change suddenly everything was much better and when he regained his confidence, he was almost unbeatable and won the title," Marko added.
However, chief designer Rob Marshall is now insisting that Vettel's chassis change was planned all along.
"Sebastian will get a new chassis for Barcelona," he confirmed, "which was scheduled at the start of the season and then the next one will be for Dan at some time around Silverstone."
In the interview posted on Red Bull's website, Marshall played down the likely benefit of Vettel's new chassis, insisting the change is more precautionary.
"It shouldn't be (a benefit)," he said, "as the idea is that they are all the same.
"From our point of view we'd rather give them one or two new chassis during the season that we have been able to check out in the factory using various testing methods," added Marshall.
Indeed, triple world champion Niki Lauda also seems to doubt that a chassis flaw has been Vettel's problem so far in 2014.
The Mercedes team chairman insists that Ricciardo is simply "an outstanding driver" who has adapted better than Vettel to the radical new regulations.
"Vettel adapted his driving style to the diffuser-type, on the throttle, hot air onto the diffuser, he was used to this for many years to make the best outstanding performance of his old car, so he is still hooked up to this old system," Lauda told the Mirror newspaper.
"The new guy comes in and does not know about this bullsh*t from the past and gets on with it."
But former McLaren and Ferrari driver Lauda tipped Vettel, the title winner for the past four seasons, to eventually catch up with Ricciardo.
"I have been in this situation (too) and Sebastian has to adapt his driving style to drive the car as well as Ricciardo does," he said.
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| The 2014 F1 season is essentially over. Lewis Hamilton will win almost all the remaining races and his teammate Nico Rosberg will win the rest. |
Button: No F1 teams have a chance against Mercedes
With engines essentially frozen, no other F1 team has a chance to beat the Mercedes team through the first half of the season says Jenson Button, and we predict all season because Mercedes is making their car faster every race and will never be headed. The other teams may as well stay home and tend to their gardens.
Button, who finished a lap down on the winning Mercedes of Hamilton at the recent Chinese Grand Prix, reckons it will be difficult for any team to close the gap until the summer at the earliest.
"Yes I think so," replied Button when asked if he feared it would be the second half of the season before the current points-leading team was caught. "We're bringing updates all the time, some bigger than others, but I think for any team to find a second is a big ask over the next couple of races. And that's with Mercedes standing still. And they're not going to do that.
"It's going to be tough and we've got to be realistic about it. Some people might over-deliver and we might see in two or three races that we're able to fight them, but I think it would be very impressive for any team to achieve that."
"We're miles behind the Mercedes but we're in a good little scrap with five other teams," Button added. "We're not worried about later in the season. We feel we can develop faster than most teams."
Jacques Villeneuve, brother of late F1 legend Gilles Villeneuve, is battling cancer
Veteran Quebec racer Jacques Villeneuve, the younger brother of late Formula One legend Gilles Villeneuve, says he is battling cancer of the intestine.
In interviews with several journalists, Villeneuve confirmed that he received the diagnosis last Monday.
Villeneuve, 60, said he consulted a doctor after recurring stomach pain intensified recently. He said his cancer is at an advanced stage and recovering from it will be difficult.
Villeneuve retired from car racing last February. His career, which began in the 1970s, included racing in Formula One, CART and snowmobiling. He was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2001 but is probably best known today as the uncle of Jacques Villeneuve, Gilles Villeneuve’s son, who won the 1997 F1 world championship.
Bianchi gets new race engineer for Spain
Marussia's Jules Bianchi will begin working with a new race engineer at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend with Francesco Nenci arriving from Sauber.
Nenci takes over from Paul Davison, who now becomes the Head of Vehicle Performance. Davison has been with the Banbury team since its inaugural season in 2012, initially working with Charles Pic before linking up with Bianchi in 2013. He has continued in that role during the opening part of the 2014 Formula 1 season, pending Nenci's arrival.
"Paul and Francesco will [now] work together by way of a handover at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, after which Paul will be fully focused on his new role based at the Marussia Technical Centre in Banbury, UK," Marussia said.
Bianchi meanwhile is looking forward to the start of the European season and will be out to improve on his 16th place finish in Bahrain and his 17th place in China.
"The first four circuits we have visited have all been quite different, and not so typical of the more traditional circuits we find on the European calendar, so it is always nice to get back to venues like Barcelona which we are a little more familiar with. This helps in terms of understanding the car a bit more," said the Frenchman.
"Having said that, this is not such a straightforward circuit; it's quite bumpy and quite challenging to find a good set-up. Generally though, if we can get the car working well here, it is a good sign, especially with our new developments. It has been nice to have a break and take some time to consider the opening races, but now I am excited to get my teeth into the next phase of the season," he added.
Video: Pirelli's guide to the 2014 F1 Spanish GP
3D animated video by Pirelli describing the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit – from a tire point of view.
Video: Ferrari readies for Barcelona
Ask anyone who works in Formula 1 if it makes a difference racing back in Europe after the opening quartet of Grands Prix far from home and you will get a resounding yes. The reasons are obvious; shorter flights, no jet lag and a shorter race week with less packing and unpacking. However, from a technical point of view, this Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix is just another race. For Scuderia Ferrari that means bringing along some more updates for the F14 T, just as it has done since the start of the season.