Latest F1 news in brief

Michael Schumacher won the last GP of Argentina in 1998 going from 3rd to 1st in the final four laps

Argentina eyes return to F1 calendar
Raikkonen must resolve Ferrari pace crisis – Hakkinen
Button ends triathlon with leg injury
Haas not ruling out Domenicali
McLaren denies Button leg injury reports
Mercedes will continue to improve W05
Button: McLaren's current form is unacceptable

Argentina eyes return to F1 calendar
(GMM) Argentina has set its sights on returning to formula one.

Last held on an ageing circuit in Buenos Aires in 1998, plans to revive the Argentine grand prix emerged two years ago.

"We are always open to doing something in Argentina," F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone had said. "When we meet some serious people it will happen."

Last weekend, MotoGP riders raced at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, an overhauled facility that now also hosts Formula Renault and world touring cars.

On the sidelines of the new MotoGP race, Argentine tourism minister Enrique Meyer revealed the government's ambition to also return to the F1 calendar.

"This (F1) is an event we hosted for many years," he is quoted by France's L'Equipe. "But at some point, we could not continue for economic reasons.

"Rio Hondo has the features to be registered to receive F1," said Meyer. "We believe that a country that loves motor sport must have prestigious events."

L'Equipe said Meyer confirmed that, for the F1 bid, additional investments will be made to improve roads, airports and hotels in the area, in the province of Santiago del Estero.

Last 3 laps of 1997 Argentina GP

Raikkonen must resolve Ferrari pace crisis – Hakkinen
(GMM) Kimi Raikkonen must quickly get on terms with his Ferrari teammate, countryman and fellow world champion Mika Hakkinen insists.

When Hakkinen left McLaren at the end of 2001, he urged Ron Dennis to sign the young Sauber driver Raikkonen, famously telling Ron Dennis: "If you want to win, get the Finn."

Indeed, Raikkonen went on to win 20 career grands prix and the title for Ferrari in 2007.

But since he returned to Maranello for 2014, the now 34-year-old has struggled at the wheel of the F14-T car, also piloted by Fernando Alonso.

"Kimi has problems and they need to be resolved," Hakkinen told Hermes.

"At the moment Alonso is utterly dominating him — the difference is not small," 45-year-old Hakkinen, the title winner in 1998 and 1999, added.

"There have been four races and I would have expected him to settle in by now. His car is not so catastrophically bad that he can't do anything about Alonso," he continued.

"Kimi needs to do something, and he needs to do it very soon."

Notoriously, Raikkonen is no fan of driving simulators, but Ferrari's new facility is state of the art and Hakkinen urged him to use the gap between China and Barcelona wisely.

"The simulator is a good tool," he said. "You can try out all sorts of setting changes.

"But I don't want to be giving Kimi advice, because I'm assuming that a world champion is already concentrated on solving his problems so that he can beat his teammate and deliver decent performances," said Hakkinen.

Button ends triathlon with leg injury
(GMM) Jenson Button pulled out of a triathlon on the Canary Islands last weekend.

The McLaren driver, participating in the event at Fuerteventura in the gap between the Chinese and Spanish grands prix, completed the 1.9km swim and 90 kilometer bike legs without trouble.

But Button, 34, pulled out during the half-marathon with 'muscle problems' in his leg, according to specialist media reports.

With less than two weeks until the Spanish grand prix at Barcelona, McLaren has been contacted for comment.

Haas not ruling out Domenicali for F1 team
(GMM) Stefano Domenicali could continue his formula one career with F1's newest team.

Gunther Steiner, a former Jaguar and Red Bull chief, is now heavily involved in the Haas Formula project, with Nascar team co-owner Gene Haas having secured a two-year license to enter formula one, beginning either in 2015 or 2016.

The latest reports from Italy, where Haas will have its first car manufactured by the chassis maker Dallara, suggest 2016 is now the most likely debut date for the new American team.

"We've got the option to start in '16 if we think it is not doable in a good, professional way for '15," admitted Steiner.

The Italian reports also said Haas officials are set to travel to Maranello to meet with Marco Mattiacci, the new sporting chief at Ferrari, Haas' likely 'power unit' supplier.

And Haas said the team will rely on its "technology partner" for more than just a turbo V6.

He said Haas will also outsource the "transmissions, KERS systems, suspensions, steering wheel. All of those things are going to come packaged to us," he revealed.

"So our main thing is just focusing on the construction of the aero and chassis and getting to the races," Haas added.

Having not yet turned a wheel or fired a spark-plug, Haas already has its critics. Juan Pablo Montoya said recently the team is "crazy" to base the team at an extension of its Nascar facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

Other F1 veterans agree with the outspoken Colombian.

Former McLaren driver John Watson said that with Dallara to build the cars in Italy, "Why base yourself in North America when everything has to be flown from Europe to North America to be assembled to be transported back for a European season?

"I would imagine you're already starting on the back foot by basing your team in North Carolina," he told Sky Sports.

Another former driver, Johnny Herbert, said the rate of parts development in F1 also means an American headquarters makes little sense.

"The updates are a big part of what formula one is about," he said, "and that's something they've really got to think long and hard about because I think it would be a miscalculation basing in America."

Haas, however, also plans to have a 'satellite' operation in Europe, while Steiner explained that having a main headquarters in the US is made possible due to F1's logistics.

"The cars this year went from Europe to Bahrain for the test," he said, "then they flew direct from Bahrain to Australia, from Australia direct to Malaysia, then to Bahrain for racing and now they're on the way to China."

Steiner said update parts can then be flown by the team straight to the race locations.

"It doesn't make a difference if you come from America or Europe in that sense," he explained.

Haas does, however, acknowledge the critics, adding that the perception of likely failure will have been fuelled by the USF1 debacle of a few years ago.

"I'm sure most people are betting that we will fail," he admitted. "That's why it's going to be successful because if we don't fail, then we've done something that other people haven't."

And an ideal tool to help stave off failure would be a highly experienced F1 figure, like the former Mercedes and Ferrari chiefs, Norbert Haug and Stefano Domenicali respectively.

"I think now he (Haug) is basically doing DTM commentating, and Stefano I have no idea what he's going to do in the future or if he has figured out something," said Steiner.

"But I'm sure we will speak with him, and never say never, because they are both good people and they've been around a long time and their experience, for sure, has got value."

McLaren denies Button leg injury reports
(GMM) McLaren on Tuesday denied reports Jenson Button is nursing a leg injury ahead of next weekend's Spanish grand prix.

The 2009 world champion pulled out of a triathlon on the Canary Islands last weekend with reported muscle problems during the half-marathon.

"Jenson decided not to complete the Canary Islands triathlon, but he is fit and well and has, contrary to a few rogue media reports, no injuries of any kind," a McLaren spokesman told us on Tuesday.

"Indeed, he is driving in our simulator today and is looking forward to participating in the forthcoming Spanish grand prix."

Mercedes will continue to improve W05
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are confident Mercedes can maintain their advantage at the front of F1 in the face of expected big development pushes from their rivals over the forthcoming races.

Mercedes have returned to Europe following the opening quartet of flyaway rounds having made the most dominant start to a season for 18 years courtesy of pole and race victory at each of the four grands prix so far.

With next week's Spanish GP ushering in the start of the European leg of races which traditionally herald the proper start of the in-season development race, Mercedes' so-far distant rivals, notably Red Bull and Ferrari, are aware they need to close the pace gap if the championship race is not to effectively be run by mid-season.

Theoretically, with by far the most competitive car in the field, Mercedes have less scope to make significant improvements to the all-conquering W05 – however, both of their drivers are adamant there is still lots more to come.

Hamilton, winner of the last three races, pointed to the car's aerodynamics as one such area for refinement.

"We're not sitting comfortably that's for sure. We've got more work to do," the Briton declared.

"The Red Bull is very, very fast through the high-speed, which tells me they maybe have a little bit more downforce than us. Last year was a massive gap between how much downforce they had [compared to what Mercedes had]. We've definitely closed that up but I think we can do a better job, we can do more.

"So we're going to keep pushing on that and undoubtedly Mercedes are going to keep pushing and I feel comfortable that they'll keep getting better in terms of the engine."

Since returning to team ownership in 2010, Mercedes have tended to start seasons relatively strongly only for their form to tail off later in the year. Only once in that spell – 2011 – have the Brackley outfit scored more points in the second half of the season than the first.

However, Rosberg, who has been with the team throughout that period, thinks they are now fully capable of maintaining the necessary rate of development.

"Concerned? No, because we really have a strong team now," the German insisted.

"It's taken four-and-a-half years and we're just well set up now. Starting with [Executive Directors] Toto [Wolff] and Paddy [Lowe] at the top, filtering down I think we have a good structure now and it's shown with this car. We've built a fantastic car and so that's proof of the structure we have now in place." [Editor's Note: What B.S. The current car was designed under Ross Brawn who left at the end of last year.]

The 28-year-old did, however, add a note of caution given the nascent nature of the 2014 regulations.

"Very recently Red Bull was still the benchmark and is still the benchmark as a team – I don't think it changes that quickly – so we need to be careful and keep on improving ourselves, which we are doing, to keep our advantage or even extend it," he added. Sky Sports

Button: McLaren's current form is unacceptable
Jenson Button insists McLaren needs to make a drastic step forward with the upgrades it plans to bring to Spain as its current form is "not good enough".

McLaren was optimistic coming into China that it had the pace to be the best of the rest, but it found itself off the pace of Red Bull, Ferrari and even the other two Mercedes factory teams Williams and Force India, with Button finishing 11th. A combination of issues with tires and low downforce hampered McLaren all weekend in Shanghai and Button admits he is not sure why the team fell so far behind.

"We've got some upgrades coming, but we were a lot further behind [in China] than we were in the last race," Button said. "We just aren't quick, I don't think people brought that much so I don't know what we're doing really. China was disappointing for the whole team, when everyone works hard and you have such a bad result it's tough, especially for the guys back in the factory. Hopefully they can stay positive and keep updating the car because at the moment this isn't good enough."

After the race, Button admitted McLaren was struggling with tires in both wet and dry conditions and that he is unsure what the issues are.

"We can't get the fronts working, they just grain. If we knew the problem with the tires we could have solved it, so hopefully we will have some more information in Spain."