Latest F1 news in brief – Monday (Update)
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| Ecclestone warned the mental midgets that if they changed the sound of the F1 engines they would ruin the sport. They did it anyway. |
03/17/14
- Red Bull confident of winning fuel flow appeal
- Rivals face struggle to catch Mercedes
- Family accepts 'long wait' for Schu awakening
- F1 facing 'giant hole' without Ecclestone – Lauda
- Alonso 'very happy' to share Ferrari with Raikkonen
- Aus GP furious with F1's purring engines
- Button vows to push for new McLaren contract
- Domenicali admitted that Ferrari had a very disappointing debut New
- Australian GP says sound breached contract New
Red Bull confident of winning fuel flow appeal
(GMM) Former F1 team owner and boss Paul Stoddart has tipped Red Bull to win its appeal against Daniel Ricciardo's Melbourne disqualification.
In a complex ruling, Ricciardo's car was excluded after the team rejected the accuracy of an FIA sensor and relied on its own measurements to comply with the rule governing the maximum allowed flow of fuel into the engine.
"We wouldn't be appealing if we weren't extremely confident we have a defendable case," said team boss Horner.
Stoddart, who sold his Minardi team to Toro Rosso owners Red Bull in 2005, tipped Red Bull to prove to the FIA that it didn't cheat.
"The Renault engineers would've known exactly how much fuel was going into that engine," the Australian told Melbourne radio 3AW on Monday.
"We're talking teams with budgets of $400, $500 million here — they have far better equipment than the FIA."
The correspondent for the London newspaper The Times, Kevin Eason, wrote: "In the other corner (to Red Bull) is the FIA, essentially an amateur organization with a budget a fraction of the F1 teams."
Stoddart tipped Red Bull to be able to prove that Ricciardo "did not gain any advantage" and that it decided to ignore the FIA because it was the "right" thing to do in the circumstances.
Horner explained: "We could see a significant discrepancy with what the sensor was reading and what our fuel flow was stated as.
"These (FIA) fuel flow sensors have proved problematic. So we relied on our own data, because otherwise we would have lost a lot of engine power," he is quoted by Speed Week.
The FIA's Charlie Whiting, however, said he advised Red Bull repeatedly throughout the race weekend to "take the necessary steps" to comply with the rules.
"If they had followed the advice we gave them at the time, we would not have had a problem and they would not have been penalized," he said.
"If their sensor was kaput, then things would have been different," Whiting added. "It is a human thing because they have the ability to do what was needed to comply."
Red Bull's case is further weakened by the words of Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell, who said the way the fuel flow is measured is "accurate and reliable".
"All the teams have their own consumption measurements via the injection data," he is quoted by the German-language Spox.
"In the case of irregularities, the FIA will compare its values with those of the team. So we have a safety net."
Rivals face struggle to catch Mercedes
(GMM) Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification aside, the Red Bull 'crisis' appeared far less severe in Melbourne than it did over the winter.
Together with struggling engine supplier Renault, the reigning world champions have made a big step forward with the RB10, but boss Christian Horner warned that there is still a mountain to climb.
"We have one second per lap to catch up," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, after Ricciardo finished behind Mercedes' Nico Rosberg on Sunday.
But Horner agreed that Red Bull has finally emerged from the dark and now has a base to build upon for the remaining 18 races of the season.
"Our season began here in Australia," he is quoted by Italy's La Stampa. "We basically skipped winter testing."
That winter season showed that the expected favorite, Mercedes, is currently on track for the 2014 title.
"We knew they would be in front when we got here," Williams' Felipe Massa is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.
"But the race also showed a strong Red Bull. When they solve their problems with the engine, they will have a car to fight with.
"McLaren showed that they have a good car too, but the race also showed that we have a car to be fighting with them," added Massa, who was punted into retirement by Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi at the first corner.
Winner Rosberg, however, tipped Mercedes to only get stronger from now, revealing the Brackley team will use the two weeks before Malaysia to make the W05 "even faster and more reliable".
Niki Lauda said the German drove "like a god" in Melbourne, while the Welt newspaper said "Rosberg is the new Vettel".
World champion Vettel's Red Bull failed in Melbourne, and the team's Dr Helmut Marko pointed a clear finger of blame at Renault.
"They have underestimated some of the problems (in preparing for the 2014 rules)," he said, "and also not correctly calculated the necessary time frame".
Marko said he hopes the problems are all solved by "the summer", when Red Bull wants "to be close to Mercedes".
Indeed, Mercedes' Lauda said the German squad cannot relax in the face of Red Bull's problems, saying the RB10 is clearly already "really fast".
"That is why we need to develop our car quickly, so that what happened last year does not happen again," he told German television RTL, referring to how Red Bull recovered an early-season dip to utterly dominate in 2013.
Lauda said "thank god" when contemplating that Renault is still grappling with its turbo V6.
Also struggling to face up to Mercedes' current dominance is Ferrari, after Fernando Alonso finished just fifth on the road on Sunday.
"I would have liked to be closer to the podium," the Spaniard is quoted by El Confidencial, "but it was impossible.
"With the Mercedes engines … it was almost like another category," said Alonso. "I was behind a Force India and it was impossible to overtake.
"Before the race, I could sense that we were behind Mercedes, but maybe not so far," he added.
Family accepts 'long wait' for Schu awakening
(GMM) Michael Schumacher's manager insists the F1 legend's family have not given up hope he will eventually wake from his 11-week coma.
"Michael is still in the recovery phase," Sabine Kehm told the German broadcaster RTL.
"That is, he has not woken up yet. We are still waiting for it of course, but we have learned to accept that it may take a long time," she explained.
F1 facing 'giant hole' without Ecclestone – Lauda
(GMM) Niki Lauda has revealed he is worried formula one will struggle for health if Bernie Ecclestone is no longer at the wheel.
F1's long-time 'supremo' could even be jailed if he is found guilty of bribery and corruption in a criminal trial that begins in Germany next month.
"Without him and his knowledge, formula one would fall into a giant hole," Lauda, the chairman of the Mercedes team and a triple world champion, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
He said it would be "incredibly difficult" for the sport if Ecclestone, 83, is no longer able to run F1 "from one day to the next".
Given the sport's size, many insiders find it hard to believe a succession plan is not ready to be unfurled, but Lauda said: "I don't know if Bernie can be so easily replaced."
The great Austrian said the diminutive Briton has done a "perfect job" for the sport over the years.
"He made some small errors, but each of us has done that," Lauda insisted.
Even Ecclestone admits that paying the jailed former F1 banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to quieten him about his tax affairs might have been a mistake.
"I regret paying him," he told the F1 business journalist Christian Sylt.
"I should have let him write to the (British) Revenue and let them prove what he said," Ecclestone is quoted by the Express newspaper.
"It is a wonderful thing, hindsight."
Alonso 'very happy' to share Ferrari with Raikkonen
(GMM) Fernando Alonso insists he is "very happy" to have a "strong opponent" to fight against at Ferrari this year.
Some believe the Spaniard cannot possibly have supported the team's decision to replace the subordinate Felipe Massa with the former Ferrari champion Kimi Raikkonen.
But Alonso insists Massa was no pushover.
"Sometimes he was even faster than Michael Schumacher when they were together," he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
"But my four years were fantastic with Felipe, so I expect nothing other than my coming years with Kimi to be fantastic too."
Finn Raikkonen had a poor race return with Ferrari in Australia, but Alonso tipped him to get up to speed quickly.
"He's very, very fast, perhaps the fastest of us all, or at least he is considered as such by some," he said.
"Last year, he battled for the title with a Lotus, an achievement I rate highly because I do not think Lotus are so strong," Alonso added.
"I have a very strong opponent in the team and I am very happy about that, whether you believe me or not."
He said all the recent speculation about their relationship was "understandable", given the new season and a "winter in which nothing much happens".
"This has become a routine for me, especially since I've been with Ferrari, because it was also said it would be very difficult for me with Felipe," said Alonso.
Aus GP furious with F1's purring engines
(GMM) Organizers of the Australian grand prix are furious with F1's new low volume.
Even some of the sport's stalwarts were alarmed in Melbourne when the 22 cars purred towards the first corner in Melbourne on Sunday.
"At first I said 'Just take out your earplugs, it's the same as before'," triple world champion Lauda told the German broadcaster RTL.
"But I have to honestly say I was slightly disappointed today on television, especially at the start. Simply something was missing," he added.
"Before, it (the sound) was right down to the marrow. We need to get used to it but it has lost some of its attraction," said Lauda.
World champion Sebastian Vettel said driving in Melbourne felt more like being at the wheel of "a vacuum cleaner than a racing car".
F1's most experienced active driver Jenson Button is also worried, especially after a V10-equipped demonstration car did laps at Albert Park at the weekend.
"Oh my god I miss that," he said. "It sounded amazing. Those were great years for the sound of the engine, but that is no more."
Most in the F1 paddock are disappointed, but Australian Grand Prix corporation chief executive Andrew Westacott has revealed he is actually angry.
"We pay for a product, we've got contracts in place, we are looking at those very, very seriously because we reckon there has probably been some breaches," he told Fairfax Radio on Monday.
But Lauda, who is dominant Mercedes' F1 chairman, said it would be wrong to tinker with the engine rules just because the sport is now quieter.
"Everyone wants to do something about it, but you can't just change the exhaust pipe, you'd have to redevelop the whole engine and the mapping," he said. "That's just way too expensive.
"Please do not change the engines just to make a bit more noise," he exclaimed.
Button vows to push for new McLaren contract
(GMM) Jenson Button, the most experienced driver on the 2014 grid, must now prove to McLaren he is also a man for the future.
The 2009 world champion is out of contract at the end of this season, and in Australia he was out-qualified and out-raced by his new rookie teammate, Kevin Magnussen.
McLaren's new team boss Eric Boullier said Magnussen's was "one of the finest performances by a formula one rookie in living memory".
F1's oldest driver last year was Mark Webber, and although still competitive he explained in Melbourne at the weekend that he chose to retire as he realized his performance curve was dipping.
"I've had a great career," Button is quoted by the Telegraph, "but for me it's definitely not near the end.
"People have said 'Ah, he's 34, end of your contract, what are you going to do at the end of this year?' It's going to be the same as any other year," the Briton insisted.
"It doesn't matter if you've got a contract, if a team don't think you're doing a good enough job then they'll get rid of you, and if you're doing a great job they'll want you for 10 years more."
Button said he has not considered what he would do if his only option would be to leave McLaren and join a smaller team.
"I'm here at McLaren and that's where I'm happy to be. I'm not going to get worried either way," he insisted.
The situation could, however, ramp up the tension between Button and the 13 years younger Magnussen this year, but Boullier insisted he is not worried.
"I think you should ask that question to Mercedes or Ferrari," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
"For us there is no problem."
Domenicali admitted that Ferrari had a very disappointing debut
Stefano Domenicali admitted that Ferrari had a "very disappointing" Australian GP and has also acknowledged that they need to make improvements to their F14 T car across the board. [Editor's Note: What's new, all cars designed under him are disappointing.]
Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth and eighth respectively in Melbourne and although Daniel Ricciardo's subsequent disqualification allowed both to gain a position in the classification, it was still a fairly underwhelming weekend for the Scuderia.
A positive came with the knowledge that, during the first serious reliability test of their new hybrid technology, both cars finished in the points. However, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg dominating the race, Ferrari already have a clear performance deficit to overcome.
"We are behind, so what we have to do is make sure, in the days we have to work at home, to really concentrate and speed up the recovery that we need to have," Domenicali said.
"We have only done one race; there are still 18 to go and the margin is there and this is what I've asked my people to do.
"It was a very disappointing race and I can understand that we didn't really take away the maximum from our performance."
Ferrari might have ground to make up on Mercedes but Domenicali said that both Alonso and Raikkonen would have been able to push harder had electrical problems not intervened.
"I think realistically today we've seen a Mercedes that was strong, no doubt," he said. "With the others, without the problems we had maybe it would have been a different scenario but we had to take the result that came out.
"When I said we had some issues, it was related to the fact we couldn't use really the full power every lap. It's an issue we had to manage, so a good effort from the team to manage that.
"I really hope that we are ready to be at a certain level, to solve the issue that we had, at the next race in Malaysia."
Domenicali agreed that the performance of Ferrari's power unit was one area among many they need to work on.
"I think that area is an area we need to improve. I know it seems not logical but the more power that you have, the less you stay on full throttle so you also benefit on the fuel," he said.
"I don't want to focus only on that because the car has to be improved. It's a matter of everyone doing his job and being focused on what they have to do at home without saying it's your fault or my fault."
With Raikkonen in particular struggling with the handling of his car in Albert Park, Domenicali reckoned the Finn had made headway during the weekend.
"We need to help Kimi try to find the right balance with the car. We're helping him because he deserves that," he added.
"I think there was an improvement during the days and we're not still where we want because this is something that, as a team, we need to make sure that everything will be done in order to help his driving style.
"I'm sure for Malaysia that will also be much better."
Australian GP says sound breached contract
Australian Grand Prix organizers claim that their race contract was breached this season, as a result of the sport's new turbocharged engines being much quieter than the previous V8 powerplants.
Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) Chairman Ron Walker says he has already talked to Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone over the matter, with both men eager for there to be significant changes.
''I was absolutely delighted with the whole weekend, but I was not too happy with the sound," Walker is quoted as saying by The Age.
"We are resolving that with Bernie. It's clearly in breach of our contract. I was talking to him on Sunday and it's not what we paid for. It's going to change.
"He's horrified about it. It will be an issue for all promoters all round the world."
Walker warned that if steps are not made in the future, it could severely affect attendance levels.
''We are an entertainment company and we have to entertain the public," Walker went on to explain.
"Everybody was talking about it. When you take the excitement away, you have trouble selling tickets. You have to create demand and part of that demand is people liking the noise of the race cars.''