Latest F1 news in brief

With Ecclestone friend Ron Walker gone will Melbourne vote to discontinue money losing Australian GP?

Melbourne GP stalwart Ron Walker steps down
Red Bull appeal could take 'weeks' – reports
Rivals think Mercedes has big advantage
Expert alarmed at Schumacher weight loss
Kimi struggling with Ferrari brakes
Marussia Boss Lowdon fears noise reduction may affect sponsors
Malaysian GP lowdown with Renault Sport F1 track support leader, Cedrik Staudohar

Melbourne GP stalwart Ron Walker steps down
(GMM) The long-serving chairman of Australia's grand prix in Melbourne is stepping down.

Ron Walker, a stalwart of the almost twenty-year-old Albert Park race and a close friend and political ally of Bernie Ecclestone, will retire after the 2015 event.

"I'm 75 this year and it's good governance to let someone fresh take the reins," he told News Limited publications in Australia.

Walker, a former Melbourne lord mayor and a multimillionaire businessman, selected his own replacement, current cricket world cup chairman John Harnden.

"It's not public knowledge," said Walker. "We haven't made the announcements, because we wanted to continue to do what we do without any fanfare."

The fact that Harnden will only take over for the 2016 race is a clear sign that Melbourne wants to keep the grand prix beyond its 2015 contract.

Walker, who was recently battling lung cancer, revealed last week that he has negotiated a basic new deal with Ecclestone.

"I think the foreplay is over so to speak and it's now a case of talking to the government about whether it is worth it or not," he is quoted by the AFP news agency.

"I think everyone in the government wants the race. The assessment is going to be made over the price," Walker added.

He told News Limited: "We are asking for three extra years. We are not like the Arab states and some other countries — we have to be very careful the way we spend taxpayers' money."

Red Bull appeal could take 'weeks' – reports
(GMM) It could be "several weeks" before the outcome of Red Bull's appeal against the Daniel Ricciardo disqualification is known.

On Thursday, the reigning world champions lodged the official appeal papers with the governing FIA, after stewards took away Australian Ricciardo's second place finish due to fuel flow irregularities.

But it is not known when the appeal – surely to be held in Paris – will take place.

"How long will it take? Several weeks," the respected correspondent for Italy's Autosprint, Alberto Antonini, predicted.

"With two races in sequence, Malaysia and Bahrain, it would be ideal to get a ruling before the end of next week," he added. "But the timing may not allow it."

At the very least, the FIA is expected to announce a date for the appeal hearing within the next few days.

But "When the case will be held is not known," agreed Tobias Gruner, the correspondent for Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"Depending on the complexity of the information that is submitted, it could take weeks. It will probably not be before the third race in Bahrain," he added.

Eddie Jordan, an outspoken former team boss and owner, said he doubts Red Bull's penalty will be overturned by the international court of appeal.

"They say the (fuel flow) sensor was unreliable," he is quoted by the German-language T-Online, "but rules are rules."

Jordan, now a pundit for British television, said he thinks Red Bull's decision to go through with an appeal is therefore "quite arrogant".

Rivals think Mercedes has big advantage
(GMM) Mercedes' advantage over its 2014 rivals might be bigger than is currently thought.

Nico Rosberg won the Melbourne race with a half-minute advantage, but Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was quoted afterwards by Auto Motor und Sport as suspecting the German was "playing with us" on the roads around Albert Park.

Indeed, Rosberg's best lap of the race was set on lap 19, with a still relatively high fuel load, while most of his rivals had their best pace in the last 20 laps, with lighter tanks.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suspects: "I think Mercedes were simply maintaining a pace without pushing hard.

"Probably they have some more tricks up their sleeve, so we have a lot of work to do," he is quoted by Italy's Tuttosport.

Horner said he thinks Red Bull is currently in a group behind Mercedes that also includes McLaren and Ferrari.

And he thinks Williams has the edge on that group.

"I'm sure they did not give their best and that they are at least second best at the moment."

It is clear that Red Bull's biggest handicap is with its Renault powertrain.

"90 per cent of the problems are associated with the software and how the ERS and the engine work together," Horner is quoted by Germany's Sport1.

Daniel Ricciardo, although disqualified, finished second behind Rosberg in Australia, but Horner doubts Red Bull is ready to challenge for outright wins.

"The break after Australia is just too short (to win in Malaysia)," he said.

Worse still for Mercedes' rivals is that the Brackley based team is not resting on its laurels.

The team took an updated front wing to Melbourne but decided not to use it.

"We only had two, and we didn't want to risk damaging one and then running one car with the new wing and one with the old wing," said Mercedes designer Aldo Costa.

The other issue is that the new, radically-short nose that goes with the new wing design reportedly failed the mandatory FIA crash test.

Expert alarmed at Schumacher weight loss
(GMM) An expert has admitted he is alarmed by reports Michael Schumacher has lost a quarter of his bodyweight whilst laying comatose in France.

Although the great German's family, manager Sabine Kehm and close friend Jean Todt insist they have not given up on the hope of full recovery, almost 12 weeks have now passed since the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver's skiing fall.

We reported early last week that the 45-year-old, who weighed about 75kg when he crashed on the Meribel slopes, has apparently lost twenty kilograms in hospital.

Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport and the major German daily Bild-Zeitung are now also reporting that Schumacher now weighs just 55 kilos, which means he has lost more than a quarter of his former bodyweight.

"While a weight loss in coma patients is normal, 20 kilos is a lot for people with normal body weights," said Prof Dr Curt Diehm, of the Karlsbad teaching hospital in Germany.

"One must assume that his muscles have degraded greatly due to the immobility," he surmised.

Kimi struggling with Ferrari brakes
Kimi Raikkonen admitted that the new brake-by-wire system is the major reason has struggled to come to grips with his Ferrari so far this season.

After rejoining Ferrari four years after leaving the Maranello team, the 2007 World Champion has been struggling with the handling of the F14 T so far this year.

The Finn qualified in 12th position at the year's first Grand Prix in Australia last week and then finished seventh in the race.

"We identified some general problems which we have to tackle in Maranello and there are other aspects linked to the set-up on my car to do with the brake-by-wire system," Raikkonen told Autosport after the race in Melbourne.

"Getting this device working correctly is definitely something that contributes to the general feeling from the car, because it has a great effect on corner entry.

"Having said that, the F14 T improved right through Friday and Saturday and not getting into Q3 was not down to the competitiveness of the car."

Nevertheless, Raikkonen remains optimistic that he will be closer to the front of the grid at the Malaysian Grand Prix next week.

"I've been in this game for quite a while now. I can say this is definitely not the first time that I've gone through a difficult first race weekend," he continued.

"I'm sure that, if we work in the correct way, then right from the next race in Malaysia, the results can definitely be better."

Marussia Boss Lowdon fears noise reduction may affect sponsors
Marussia Chief Executive Officer Graeme Lowdon says that Formula 1 faces losing some of its 'wow factor' following the switch to 1.6 liter V6 power units – a move which may potentially affect sponsorship deals.

Criticism was directed towards the noise produced by the new power units following last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, with Bernie Ecclestone among those believing the sound was not impressive.

Lowdon does not think that fans will be hugely deterred by the regulation change but worries that sponsors may be put off if Formula 1 has lost 'something very special'.

"The sport's contact with most fans is via television, and the noise doesn't affect that in any way," Lowdon told the Press Association. "There was some exciting racing, so in terms of a TV spectacle I don't think the noise impacted on that at all.

"The biggest impact with regard to the noise is in the commercial job we do, with the noise reinforcing Formula 1 is another world. That has always worked to our advantage in the commercial arena, in that people realized there was something very special about Formula when they heard that violent noise.

"In terms of what the fans hear now, it's a noise that has much more texture to it in that they're hearing tires locking up for the first time and things like that. For the fans who were at the circuit on Sunday, there was a new set of things to listen to, so it's much more textural than we've had before.

"But the biggest potential change is that wow factor, which is important. Every team up and down this pitlane will be taking very important key decision-makers into the garages, and it's probably that more than anything else where there is an impact."

Malaysian GP lowdown with Renault Sport F1 track support leader, Cedrik Staudohar
Main challenges of Sepang for the Power Units: "Like Australia, managing fuel consumption in Sepang will be quite a challenge. Of the six main components of the PU, the ICE will be under the most pressure in Sepang. In the past, the humidity has made Sepang a little bit easier on engines since power comes down as the water content in the air increases. With a turbo engine, however, the air intake is controlled at all times regardless of ambient conditions, so those two long straights will really start to hurt."

Main energy recovery points: "The two long straights of over 1km each give plenty of opportunity for the MGU-H to be recharged. The heavy braking points of the hairpin (Turn 15), first corner complex and the mid to low speed corners in the third sector should allow the MGU-K to recover energy to feed back into the battery."

Difficulty rating: "One of the hardest of the year for the Power Unit due to the long straights. The high air temperature is usually a concern as we have to choose the correct cooling level. The high chance of rain could also make the cars difficult to control due to the increased torque and lack of grip so the focus will be on good drivability without too much wheelspin."

What to watch out for: "The start of the weekend in Melbourne was disappointing as we got to grips with a variety of small, but destructive, problems. After a much more positive qualifying we were hopeful of a finish in the race but a couple of issues, on the chassis and engine side, stopped the cars. Our aim is clearly to have a clean weekend this time out."