Latest F1 news in brief

Olivier Quesnel new Lotus boss

F1 drivers surprised by V6 torque
Red Bull can end early crisis – Domenicali
Key figure leaves Caterham
More Renault trouble for Toro Rosso at Misano
Alonso didn't use simulator in 2013 – Massa
Quesnel is new Lotus team boss – report
Formula 1 Prize Money explained
Video: Ferrari Formula 1 demo in South Africa
Domenicali warns again scaremongering

F1 drivers surprised by V6 torque
(GMM) For those trackside, the biggest obvious change since the end of the 2013 season has been F1's new, milder engine note.

For the drivers, however, the major talking point is 'torque'.

The V8 engines of last year, and the radical new generation of ERS-bolstered turbo V6s, are actually producing similar overall power.

But the torque of the 2014 'power unit' is significantly higher.

"When I went out of the garage for the first time, I thought 'Wow!'" Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is quoted by Germany's Sport Bild.

Force India's Adrian Sutil had an even starker experience.

"When I accelerated out of the corner, I was surprised," said the German, recalling his first moments with the Mercedes-Benz V6.

"I changed from third to fourth gear, lost the rear and I spun."

Works Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg agrees: "The drivability with the turbo is a little bit of an adventure!"

Red Bull can end early crisis – Domenicali
(GMM) There is still time for Red Bull to pull out of an early crisis and be competitive in 2014.

That is the claim of Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali, following a disastrous opening test at Jerez for Red Bull and other Renault-powered teams.

"If the nature of the problem is clarified, Red Bull can quickly make up for the lost miles," the Italian told the sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"In two weeks, they could have solved all the problems," he predicted.

"One must never underestimate such a strong rival."

As for Ferrari's hopes, Domenicali acknowledged that anything other than first place in 2014 after a six-year title drought would be "a tragedy".

"We started in the right way," he revealed. "There were no bad surprises.

"There are signs that our project is solid, and that gives us cause for hope. But we won't really start to see the balance of power until after the last Bahrain test."

As for Ferrari's drivers, Domenicali tipped Fernando Alonso to "make the most" of the change of regulations because he is "extremely intelligent."

And, referring to the returning 2007 team champion, he said: "I have found a more mature Kimi (Raikkonen), more closely knit to the team.

"He comes to Maranello almost every week to work with the engineers," revealed Domenicali.

Key figure leaves Caterham
(GMM) A key figure at Caterham has left the outfit.

Riad Asmat has been with company supremo Tony Fernandes since the beginning of the project, rising to the height of chief executive of the F1 team and most recently the head of Caterham Automotive.

But the outfit announced this week that Asmat is "moving on to seek new challenges".

"My decision to move on has been one of the hardest I have had to make and will have to make in my career, but the time has come for a new direction," Asmat said.

More Renault trouble for Toro Rosso at Misano
(GMM) It seems Renault is yet to solve all its troubles with the new turbo V6 'power unit'.

After a disastrous Jerez test for the French engine supplier and its partners – notably world champions Red Bull – Renault appeared to have taken a step forward when it emerged the new Lotus had run almost trouble-free during its more recent track debut.

But another Renault-powered car, the 2014 Toro Rosso, has been back in action even since the Lotus debut for a similar 'filming' day, allowed under the regulations for promotional purposes with non-competitive Pirelli tires.

However, there are reports the STR9 managed only 70 kilometers at the Misano circuit in Italy, littered with "repeated" stoppages for battery and software faults.

Alonso didn't use simulator in 2013 – Massa
(GMM) Felipe Massa claims he was the only Ferrari driver in 2013 to work in the new driver simulator at Maranello.

Dropped by Ferrari after an eight-year career wearing red, the Brazilian has moved to Williams over the winter and claims he is completely happy.

"To be honest, I feel that I needed this change, and maybe it's the same for Ferrari," said Massa, speaking to Portuguese-language publications this week in Sao Paulo.

"When time passes and the situation is the same, you end up losing motivation," he admitted.

"I'm very happy," said the 32-year-old, "especially the way I was received by Williams.

"Since the first day I arrived at the factory, everyone helped me a lot, embracing me 100 per cent and believing in my potential.

"In Williams I am being heard," Massa continued, "but that doesn't mean Ferrari didn't hear me. They listened to me very well.

"Last year I worked on the development of the car, and in the simulator I was practically the only driver, because Alonso wasn't there."

Massa, however, said Ferrari's biggest problem last year was the wind tunnel.

"Many times we saw that it didn't work as it should have," he explained. "At most grands prix we had new parts, but they didn't work on the car.

"We began with a competitive car and ended with an uncompetitive one, which was the opposite of Red Bull."

Quesnel is new Lotus team boss – report
(GMM) Olivier Quesnel is Lotus' new team principal, according to the authoritative Italian publication Autosprint.

64-year-old Quesnel, best known for his world rally success at the helm of Citroen, this week admitted he had been in contact with team owner Gerard Lopez about replacing departed fellow Frenchman Eric Boullier.

"I will not pretend that I am not interested," said Quesnel.

Another candidate reportedly also under consideration by Lopez was Martin Whitmarsh, who appears to be out of a job at McLaren.

"We need to make a decision quickly," admitted Lopez, "because we have things to prepare. It will be at the latest within a week, ten days."

According to Autosprint correspondent Roberto Chinchero, Quesnel has secured the job, and will start work next week.

Formula 1 Prize Money explained
There is a lot of money in Formula One; that is no secret. According to Reuters, the sport generated more than $1.5 billion in revenue in 2011.

But how much of that money finds its way back to the teams? How much is a victory worth? Or the Constructors' Championship?

As with many questions in F1, there are no simple answers.

At the beginning of the 2013 season, F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone explained that part of the deal to bring three new teams into the sport in 2010 had been that even teams finishing outside the top 10 would get a small share in the prize fund.

Going forward, though, Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph: "We pay the top ten, that’s what we do. For three years we did something different because we had an agreement with [FIA president] Max [Mosley] but from now on we will pay the top ten and that is it."

This caused a stir, as one of the three new teams, HRT, had just withdrawn from the sport due to financial problems. That left Caterham and Marussia presumably battling for 10th place and the final prize money payout.

Based on a 13th-place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Marussia claimed 10th in the Constructors' standings. As Caterham had finished 10th in the previous three years, this was something of an upset.

So, Marussia got paid and Caterham did not, right? Not quite.

Caterham's head of communications, Tom Webb, told me in a phone interview:

It's not the disastrous picture that was painted by many outside observers. Having achieved 10th place in the championship for our first three seasons, we became established as what's known as a Column 1 team. … So for us, finishing 11th means slightly reduced prize money income, but it wasn't a case of 'all or nothing' as some people may have imagined it was.

Confused yet? You should be.

Luckily, longtime F1 journalist Joe Saward has an excellent explanation of the prize money breakdown on his blog.

According to Saward, there are two different categories for distributing the prize fund (the total amount of which changes each season, based on the sport's revenues). First, the Column 1 teams receive an equal share of 50 percent of the fund. Column 1 teams are those which have finished in the top 10 for at least two of the previous three seasons (hence Webb's comment).

The other 50 percent of the fund is distributed in Column 2 payments, based only on the previous season's Constructors' standings. The first-place team, per one of Saward's comments on his post, receives 19 percent of the Column 2 money, down to 4 percent for the 10th-place team.

By finishing 10th in 2013, Marussia qualified for Column 2, but Caterham retained its Column 1 status for its 10th-place finishes in 2011 and 2012.

Saward also refers to Column 3 payments for teams outside the top 10, although these would seem to be the same payments that Ecclestone said no longer existed. For 2013, it is probably irrelevant anyway, as all the teams received either Column 1 or 2 payments.

Here is a look at what each team earned for the 2013 season, assuming a $700 million prize fund:

2013 Formula 1 Prize Money

Team	2013 Standings	Column 1	Column 2	Total
Red Bull	1	$35 million	$66.5 million	$101.5 million
Mercedes	2	$35 million	$56 million	$91 million
Ferrari	3	$35 million	$45.5 million	$80.5 million
Lotus	4	$35 million	$38.5 million	$73.5 million
McLaren	5	$35 million	$35 million	$70 million
Force India	6	$35 million	$31.5 million	$66.5 million
Sauber	7	$35 million	$24.5 million	$59.5 million
Toro Rosso	8	$35 million	$21 million	$56 million
Williams	9	$35 million	$17.5 million	$52.5 million
Marussia	10	$0	$14 million	$14 million
Caterham	11	$35 million	$0	$35 million

Joe Saward, "How much money does Marussia gain from 2013?"

In addition, Saward notes: "Ferrari has a special deal which means that the Italian team takes a small percentage of the prize money straight off the top. This is believed to be two and half percent, but may have increased."

That is because Ferrari is the oldest and most prestigious team in the sport, and Ecclestone wants to keep the bosses in Maranello happy.

So, at least for the teams near the back of the grid, the big money comes from the Column 1 payouts. For that reason, Caterham still received more than double Marussia's prize money for 2013.

Of course, should Marussia finish ahead again in 2014, it would claim both the Column 1 and Column 2 payments, leaving Caterham hoping that Column 3 does, in fact, still exist.

It should also be apparent from these numbers that a specific value cannot be placed on each race victory or even each point scored. The prize distribution is based on consistent success over the course of a season and, in the case of the Column 1 payments, over multiple seasons.

At least, if the battle at the top of the standings in 2014 devolves into another game of follow-the-Red Bull, you can enjoy the skirmish for 10th and 11th places, knowing the result will sway more money one team's way than the fight for first and second. BleacherReport

Video: Ferrari Formula 1 demo in South Africa
Promo video promoting the upcoming Ferrari Formula 1 race car street demonstration at the Shell V-Power Nitro+ Festival South Africa, taking place on the street of Nasrec, Johannesburg on the 15th February 2014.

Domenicali warns again scaremongering
Stefano Domenicali has urged F1 to back away from its tendency towards "self-destruction" by not damning the new rules before the first grand prix.

Formula One has undergone a major overhaul of the regulations ahead of this year's Championship and not all the new rules have gone down well.

A swap to 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines and a new 100kgs fuel limit per grand prix has led to some predicting that only half the field will finish in Australia and that those who do will have to drive conservatively rather than race.

These predictions were given some weight at the opening test in Jerez where the Renault runners – including reigning Champs Red Bull Racing – struggled with reliability while several drivers spoke of GP2 speeds.

However, Domenicali has urged the sport not to focus on the "scaremongers" but rather move forward in a "constructive manner."

"In this situation, it's best not to rush to draw any conclusions, and play into the hands of those scaremongers, as a propensity for self-destruction serves no purpose," he said. "Every time there are changes, there are discussions, which is natural.

"We have only had one test so far when there were never more than four or five cars on track at the same time. Let's wait until we see all 22 together before saying that everything's gone wrong.

"Once a path has been chosen, one has to move forward in a constructive manner. If after a certain period of time we see that an element of excitement is really missing, such as engine noise, then we can see how best to react.

"Personally, I don't think this aspect will keep people away from the racetracks. We should be more concerned with the grand prix event as a whole and we need to find a strategy to attract youngsters to our sport, which today has a hardcore of fans aged between 35 and 50.

"We need to get back to having the car seen as an inspirational theme and not just as a means of transport, which adds nothing to our existence.

"At Ferrari we want to put a lot of effort into this aspect, as shown with initiatives such as getting the public to name the Formula 1 car, or the on-line photo competition, 'snap your passion,' which will see four winners come with us to the final test in Bahrain, an initiative that has attracted a lot of attention, especially with youngsters."

Ferrari, though, were one of the teams that had a better start to the pre-season with the team completing the second most number of laps and showing some solid pace compared to rivals.

As such the Ferrari team boss is optimistic about the Scuderia's chances although remains cautious.

"I am always cautious, not through a fear of saying what I think, but because I am well aware how quickly things change in this sport," Domenicali added.

"In Jerez, we saw the F14T get off on the right foot, responding well to changes, while the basic data corresponds to the parameters established in the wind tunnel and there were no bad surprises.

"Clearly there is still much to do because it's impossible to start with a perfect car in a season featuring so many changes. The start of the championship will be full of unknown quantities and it is far too early to make any sort of prediction. I think we will start to understand a bit more only at the last Bahrain test.

"My optimism is based on the fact we know which areas need working on: caution is always a good approach, but that doesn't mean the people working on this project lack the commitment or the will to show our competitors how well we can do things at Ferrari.

"I have to say that what pleased me the most was the attitude of the team. Everyone is united in tackling the problems and in trying to resolve them, aware that the challenge ahead is both demanding and exciting." Planet F1