Latest F1 news in brief

Maldonado doubts Ferrari can win in 2014

Brawn insists Ferrari visit part of holiday
2014 wins 'not easy' for Ferrari – Maldonado
Only one Sauber under minimum F1 weight in Spain – report
Teams must agree to cost-cutting rules – Todt
Mercedes confirms F1 psychologist reports
Barcelona wants to drop 'Spain' from GP name
Stewart, Prost moved from front of Senna's coffin
Cavallino Becomes Official Clothing Supplier to Williams Martini Racing

Brawn insists Ferrari visit part of holiday
(GMM) Ross Brawn and Ferrari have played down the former Mercedes boss' visit to Maranello this week.

Specialist Ferrari journalist Leo Turrini on Tuesday revealed that the 59-year-old Briton, who was Ferrari's technical director during the ultra-successful Michael Schumacher years, was at the team's headquarters and Fiorano test track.

Brawn, however, played down suggestions of an impending return to F1 and Ferrari, telling Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport his trip to Italy this week was "never a secret".

And he told the BBC that he was at Ferrari "with a group of friends as part of a tour of Italy, no more than that!".

Brawn said the group, who are also visiting "as many vineyards as possible", drove Ferrari road cars around the Fiorano track.

A Ferrari spokesman confirmed that Brawn's visit was "simply an Italian fantasy tour with friends, scheduled for some time".

2014 wins 'not easy' for Ferrari – Maldonado
(GMM) Pastor Maldonado doubts Ferrari can turn around its disappointing start to the season and win races in 2014.

Fernando Alonso appeared to be putting the F14-T's early troubles behind him in China last time out when he finished the race on the podium.

But the Spaniard is not promising more of the same this weekend in his native Spain, where he marked his most recent grand prix win one year ago.

"We need to see," said Alonso. "We enjoyed the result of China but there is still a long way to go and we cannot promise anything for Barcelona."

Like all the major teams, Ferrari has used the three weeks between China and Spain to prepare a significant package of upgrades.

Team president Luca di Montezemolo, who recently installed Marco Mattiacci as Ferrari's new F1 boss after Stefano Domenicali's exit, is pushing hard for improvements.

"We must find ways to be faster," he is quoted by Switzerland's Blick newspaper, "otherwise the 2014 season will be over soon."

Citing Ferrari sources, Italy's specialist Autosprint magazine reports that the 2014 car's small sidepods have been singled out by the team as a fundamental aerodynamic problem.

"We are learning how to get performance out of this new set of regulations and hopefully to make this car more competitive," said technical director James Allison this week.

Maldonado, Lotus' Venezuelan race driver, was asked by Spain's El Confidencial if he thinks Ferrari and Alonso can recover and win races in 2014.

"It will not be easy," he said.

"Ferrari is a great team and for sure they are going to give 200 per cent to allow Fernando to fight to win again. But it is always difficult to win," Maldonado insisted.

"If you doubt that, look at Red Bull and Lotus this year," he added, referring not only to his own beleaguered employer but also the reigning world champions.

Only one Sauber under minimum F1 weight in Spain – report
(GMM) Only one Sauber driver will be racing under F1's minimum weight limit this weekend in Barcelona, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

The Swiss team, whose Ferrari-powered C33 has been substantially overweight so far in 2014 at the start of the new turbo V6 era, announced ahead of the Spanish grand prix that its Barcelona upgrade features an "extensive weight reduction".

Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt said it is in the order of 10 to 15 kilograms.

But he explained that only one Sauber driver will actually enjoy a C33 in Spain that is now below the FIA's mandatory minimum weight of 692 kilos — the featherweight Esteban Gutierrez.

It is believed the Mexican tips the scales at well below 60kg, while his German teammate Adrian Sutil is reportedly at least 15 kilograms heavier.

Nevertheless, even though Sutil will have no ballast to ideally position around the car, both drivers will benefit from the lighter Sauber, which should be minimally several tenths per lap quicker, Schmidt added.

Teams must agree to cost-cutting rules – Todt
(GMM) Jean Todt insists his hands are tied after F1's most powerful teams vetoed the move to a budget cap for 2015.

It has been suggested former FIA president Max Mosley, whose antagonistic approach stands in stark contrast to the low-profile Frenchman Todt, would have found a way to force the teams to embrace the cost-cutting crisis.

But Todt told Italy's Autosprint he was powerless to interfere with F1's clear processes for approving rules.

The first calls in 2014 were for tweaks to this year's radical rules, featuring controversial fuel saving and quiet turbo V6 engines.

"First, I do not have the power to change the regulations," he said.

"And if I did, perhaps by doing what (Ferrari president Luca) di Montezemolo desired, can you imagine what the reaction would be?

"My job is to ensure the sport is administered in the right way. Then, as we know, discontent was expressed, but as so often happens, those who complain are much louder than those who are satisfied.

"This is a world of competition, where those who do not win usually complain," Todt smiled. "It has been like that forever.

"But this year there is a new decision-making body, the Strategy Group."

Todt wanted the group – comprising top teams Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Lotus and Williams – to follow through with their earlier acceptance of a budget cap for 2015 and beyond.

The group, however, ultimately vetoed the change, to the fury of the embattled smaller teams.

"I am convinced that F1 is far too expensive, and that something should absolutely be done," said Todt.

"But for us, as the governing body, we have more or less zero influence as to the costs.

"But I feel that we do have a responsibility to intervene in this environment, because the bigger teams are taking the lion's share of sponsorships.

"I did not believe that we could control costs with a cap," the former Ferrari boss admitted, "but I told the teams 'If you show that it is feasible, I'll be happy to impose a limit'.

"Most of the teams had agreed, but now I do not understand why the six members of the Strategy Group are opposed.

"Am I disappointed? Yes, in a sense I am, because now it will be more difficult to achieve the reduction goal. We will have to do it through the technical and sporting regulations."

Todt revealed that the FIA has already prepared a "dossier" of various rule-change proposals, that will "reduce the gap between the large and small teams" without affecting the spectators.

"We need to start something already in 2015," he insisted, "through the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission. Overall we have 18 votes, so if there are nine or more then it will work. Otherwise it will not (pass)."

Mercedes confirms F1 psychologist reports
(GMM) F1 championship leader Mercedes has confirmed reports it is now working with a psychologist.

The Telegraph newspaper this week reported that former professional soccer player Dr Ceri Evans, who also worked with New Zealand's 'All Blacks' during the rugby team's world cup triumph, was at the Chinese grand prix last month.

Correspondent Daniel Johnson said Evans, 50, observed and assessed engineers and mechanics at work, but not the race drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed the news to the German newspaper Bild.

"At Mercedes we want to optimize every aspect of performance, and we believe that there is much to learn from other sports.

"This includes the performance of the whole team and how we act and react in key moments," he added.

The newspaper, revealing that Evans may also attend the Spanish grand prix this weekend, said Wolff received a report from the psychologist after his assessments in Shanghai.

Barcelona wants to drop 'Spain' from GP name
(GMM) Spanish grand prix organizers would like the annual formula one race to be renamed.

Last year, the Barcelona venue – known since it was built in 1991 as the Circuit de Catalunya – underwent a name tweak. It is now officially called the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Now, circuit boss Salvador Servia has told Catalunya Radio that he would like the annual F1 race to be called the Barcelona Grand Prix.

"Evidently, the 'Barcelona' brand outsells the 'Spain' brand," he claimed.

"When we say that we would call it Gran Premio de Barcelona, it is because we are selling worldwide and the Barcelona brand helps us a lot," said Servia.

The existing Spanish grand prix contract runs until 2016.

Stewart, Prost moved from front of Senna's coffin
(GMM) The configuration of the pallbearers at Ayrton Senna's fabled funeral was changed at the last minute, the F1 legend's former personal assistant has revealed.

Betise Assumpcao, now married to Williams co-founder Patrick Head, told Brazil's Agencia Estado that when she arrived for the 1994 funeral, she discovered that Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost were scheduled to be the lead pallbearers.

Triple world champion Stewart had fallen out badly with Senna when he accused him of deliberately running arch-rival Prost off the track for the 1990 title.

"I am never going to speak to you again," Senna had told Stewart, according to the Scot in an article for the Daily Mail newspaper last week, marking the 20th anniversary of his death at Imola.

Stewart claims he made up with Senna a year later, and also the bitter acrimony between Senna and Prost had also eased by 1994, following the Frenchman's retirement.

Nonetheless, Assumpcao revealed her horror when she arrived for the funeral to discover that Stewart and Prost would be at the very front of the casket.

She said her arrival was delayed after helping friends, family and international guests to make their way from the city to the Morumbi cemetery.

"Gerhard Berger, Ayrton's best friend in F1, ran to me and cried 'Betise, you must do something'," Assumpcao recalled.

"Someone told me that Alain and Jackie will be at the front of the coffin — apparently it's in order of world titles!" she added, recalling Berger's words.

"You have to change it," Berger told Assumpcao. "They are the two people Ayrton hated the most in his life'.

"He (Berger) was horrified and frankly, so was I. My stomach started to hurt.

"I turned quickly and went to the cemetery gate. On the way, I bumped into Geraldo Rodrigues, Rubens (Barrichello's) manager and a dear friend.

"I told him 'You won't believe it. They want to put Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost right at the front. Ayrton will be turning in his coffin!" she said.

"There was no doubt in my mind that Gerhard had to be right at the front," added Assumpcao. "He had been with Ayrton in most of the good times with Ayrton, on and off the track."

She put another Brazilian world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, alongside him.

In the end, Prost pushed the coffin trolley in the position behind Fittipaldi, with Stewart a further two places behind.

"I went back to where the drivers were and pretended I didn't know anything of the previous arrangements.

"I think Ayrton would have been happy to see me, helping his friends and making decisions without hesitation. He was like that," Assumpcao added.

Cavallino Becomes Official Clothing Supplier to Williams Martini Racing
Williams (ticker: WGF1) is pleased to announce that it has signed a new agreement with Cavallino Group LLC that will see the US based automotive lifestyle company become the official clothing supplier for WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING.

Cavallino Group is a growing family run automotive lifestyle company whose expertise ranges from online retail sales, track-side/event sales, wholesale distribution and licensed merchandise. As part of the agreement Cavallino will supply the range of official WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING merchandise that will be available to purchase by fans from approved retailers and the WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING online shop. Cavallino will also be supplying the range of apparel worn at races and various functions by the teams' drivers and personnel from the 2014 British Grand Prix onwards.

Speaking about the new agreement Edward Spivak, President and Co-Founder of Cavallino Group, said; "We are honored and excited to be chosen as the merchandise partner for WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING, and to be working with such a prestigious Formula One team. We are working with some of the top apparel and accessory factories all over the world to be able to bring new ideas to Formula One merchandise and we will use new printing techniques to improve on already premier products. We cannot wait to bring high quality products to eagerly awaiting Formula One fans."

Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal of Williams, added; "As a Formula One team we take great pride in our appearance and demand team clothing that is befitting of our premium brand image and can withstand working in challenging conditions. We also need to supply fans with a range of merchandise that makes them feel part of the team. In Cavallino we have an official supplier that can meet our demands and we look forward to working together."