Latest F1 news in brief

Vettel hints he is going to Ferrari

Money the big topic before 2014 season finale
Vettel confirms 'I am a Ferrari driver'
Massa hits back at Piquet's F1 criticism
India eyeing F1 return by 2017
Briatore says Ecclestone's double points 'smart'
Williams never considered Alonso
Lotus says 2015 chassis being laminated
Video: Ecclestone – Formula 1 not in crisis
Video: Gene Haas on F1 challenge

Money the big topic before 2014 season finale
(GMM) Even with F1 speeding towards its intriguing double-points title finale, money remains the big off-track topic of the moment.

Although no longer trading and having laid off its workforce, Manor – formerly Marussia – is said to be in talks with investors about returning in Abu Dhabi.

It's a similar story at Caterham, where administrators have already raised more than half of the $3.7 million they need to revive the green team for the season finale, thanks to the controversial crowdfunding scheme.

The team might also have another $55,000 in the kitty if it accepts an offer from the grandfather of British female driver Alice Powell, who wants to pay for a Friday practice drive in Abu Dhabi.

"I am really hoping the administrators come back with a positive response," Jim Fraser, Powell's grandfather, told the Daily Mail newspaper.

But if Marussia and Caterham do ultimately fail, talks about boosting the depleted grid with three-car teams will become louder.

Currently, the F1 teams are awaiting a response from Bernie Ecclestone and F1 owner CVC's Donald Mackenzie.

It is believed they are considering releasing more funds, but who will actually receive the money is not clear.

F1 supremo Ecclestone said in Brazil last weekend that the struggling small teams, including Lotus, Sauber and Force India, will not get the touted 'fighting fund'.

"We give these teams enough," he said. "Not enough to survive in the way they are surviving, but enough to survive.

"The way forward is very easy — don't spend as much," said Ecclestone.

Another potential solution, although initially seemingly counterintuitive, is to give more money to the bigger and more stable teams.

It is said Ferrari has already agreed to run a third car next year, but Red Bull is balking at the apparent price-tag.

"It's between 35 and 40 million euros (to run a third car)," team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, claiming the Briton wants CVC to pick up the tab.

Horner is also quoted by Italy's Tuttosport: "We could not deploy the third car within our current budget, so at the moment it's not something we're thinking about."

Mercedes, meanwhile, is not at all keen on the third car idea, but team chairman Niki Lauda is quoted as saying: "The distribution of money is first and foremost a matter for CVC.

"We can do nothing but wait for suggestions. If CVC has a reasonable plan, we can talk about everything," said the F1 legend. "Even free engines for the (customer) teams."

Vettel confirms 'I am a Ferrari driver'
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has unofficially confirmed that he will be a Ferrari driver in 2015.

At present, even though his switch from Red Bull to Ferrari has been signed and sealed for weeks and is an open secret in the paddock, neither side is able to actually announce it.

That is apparently because of a contractual impasse between the Italian team and its current driver Fernando Alonso.

But it is believed Alonso is currently en route to Woking, where he will sign his McLaren deal and open the door for Ferrari to finally confirm Vettel's impending arrival.

The German driver may have already jumped the gun.

In Brazil, the Italian broadcaster Sky reportedly gave Vettel a fun questionnaire to test his grasp of the Italian language.

The first question was: "Sebastian Vettel is", and the 27-year-old completed the sentence with the hand-written answer "A driver for Scuderia Ferrari".

Nonetheless, Ferrari is not ready to lift the lid on the news officially.

At the presentation of the new Fiat 500x this week, Ferrari's new president Sergio Marchionne reportedly told Italian media: "Will we (Ferrari) announce the future strategy at the Abu Dhabi grand prix?

"I don't know. It is important first to finish the last race. It was a tough year and Sunday at Interlagos was not a good day," he added.

Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci praised Kimi Raikkonen's form at Interlagos

It does appear, at least, that Kimi Raikkonen will be Vettel's 2015 teammate, despite a season of struggle for the Finn alongside Alonso.

Team boss Marco Mattiacci has been quoted as hailing Raikkonen's performance in Brazil, where he finished seventh, just behind Alonso.

Italian reports quote Mattiacci as saying Raikkonen's weekend at Interlagos was "fantastic" and "extremely positive".

"Kimi is a great professional," he added, "and does not need any kind of pressure to do well. We work very well together, and Raikkonen is one of the best drivers out there.

"We are building our future together step by step," Mattiacci insisted.

Massa hits back at Piquet's F1 criticism
(GMM) Felipe Massa has hit back at F1 legend Nelson Piquet's harsh critique of modern formula one.

The triple world champion had declared at Interlagos last weekend that with so many engineers behind the scenes today, drivers can afford to just "be fast and make no mistakes".

"You can be a complete imbecile and have no idea how the engine works" and still succeed in modern F1, 62-year-old Piquet, who later conducted the official podium interviews after the Brazilian grand prix, reportedly added.

Felipe Massa tells countryman Nelson Piquet to shove it

His Brazilian countryman Massa, however, hit back at those claims, insisting it is unfair to compare eras in F1 history.

"Ok, you had much fewer engineers in the past and you had to know a lot about the mechanical parts," the Williams driver told Brazil's Sportv.

"But the car was almost completely mechanical with no aerodynamics. Now you have so many other things, like all the electronics and all the work we have to do while we're driving.

"Back then you had the steering wheel, throttle, brake and clutch, but nowadays we are changing things while we are driving in the corners.

"It's another world — another sport," Massa insisted.

Piquet had also criticized the controversial overtaking aid DRS, but Massa hit back: "Many people say that, and that 'the (old) cars were always sideways.

"But today if you go sideways you just go slower," he insisted. "The sport has changed so much, becoming more professional as well.

"Lots of people say 'Back then you had Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell' but now there are drivers with exactly the same level of talent," Massa added.

India eyeing F1 return by 2017
(GMM) India is unlikely to return to the F1 calendar until at least 2017, a senior official at former race promoter Jaypee has admitted.

The circuit near New Delhi hosted three consecutive races until 2013, but fell off the calendar this year amid financial issues and complex governmental hurdles relating to tax and red tape.

But Jaypee's senior vice president Askari Zedi said: "We are keen on bringing the grand prix back to the country.

"Talks are going on but there are certain tax issues which we have to deal with," he is quoted by the New Indian Express.

"So nothing is in our hand, we are doing everything that is possible."

Zedi acknowledged that India will not be on next year's busy calendar, and "nothing could be said about 2016, but we are trying our best to hold the race by 2017".

The 'double-points finale has a supporter in Flavio Briatore

Briatore says Ecclestone's double points 'smart'
(GMM) Flavio Briatore thinks his friend and regular business partner Bernie Ecclestone has pulled off a masterstroke with 'double points' in 2014.

Actually, the innovation – where the title is kept artificially alive right until the dying moments by offering twice as many points in the season finale – is highly controversial and almost universally unpopular.

Even Nico Rosberg, who stands to gain the most from double points, is no fan.

"I find it artificial and I don't like it in general," said the German after winning the Brazilian grand prix.

"Of course, now, with the way it is, it's great for me now but that's just because of the situation."

Indeed, championship leader Lewis Hamilton says that – with his current 17-point advantage usually enough to nearly guarantee him the title over Rosberg – he thinks the new system ahead of the Abu Dhabi finale is not "fair".

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks Ecclestone has even changed his mind about double points now, having admitted in Brazil that he originally wanted the system to apply for the last three grands prix of the season.

"That would have been better and fairer," Hamilton told Ecclestone in a double interview posted at F1's official website.

Wolff told reporters: "I don't think Bernie likes it, so it is probably something we should be getting rid of for next season."

But double points does have at least one fan — the outspoken and controversial former F1 team boss Flavio Briatore.

The flamboyant Italian told Rai radio this week: "The double points is a smart tactic.

"For the next two weeks it is all anybody will take about. Bravo, Bernie!" said Briatore. "Abu Dhabi is going to be talked about an awful lot."

Williams never considered Alonso
Williams never considered trying to sign Fernando Alonso for 2015, according to Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams.

Alonso is expected to join McLaren at the end of this season, ending his five-year spell with Ferrari.

However, with Williams having made an early decision to retain Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, announced back in September, the Spaniard was never in the frame for a move to Grove.

"No," she replied, when asked by the official Formula 1 website if the squad ever contemplated signing Alonso.

"We are very happy with the drivers that we have – and we had them on contract anyway for next year. They have delivered – why would you change that? They are part of our future."

Meanwhile, she added that the arrival of Pat Symonds as Chief Technical Officer in August last year has been the "real key" to the team's resurgence this season.

"I think it was Pat Symonds coming in last year that was the real key ingredient to our success," she said.

"He is a great engineer – everybody knows that – but he is also a great man-manager as well. He has organized and restructured every area of our team."

Lotus says 2015 chassis being laminated
Lotus' first 2015 chassis is being laminated, Technical Director Nick Chester has confirmed.

It comes after the team trialed a 2015 development nose at the recent United States Grand Prix.

"Our first chassis is being laminated now and we will gradually produce all the parts for the car. We will be starting to build the E23 in early January," Chester told the team's official website.

"The overall timeline is around a year turnaround. A more normal timeframe than the one we had for the E22 which we started developing over two years prior to the launch as there was a lot of prototype tests to complete."

Meanwhile, Chester added that he believes the switch to the Mercedes power unit next season will not be too troublesome.

"There are a number of differences that we need to take into account like the packaging, the heat rejections, and the cooling requirements," Chester added.

"But at the same time, had we continued with Renault Sport F1, there would also have been modifications in the package for 2015.

"My feeling is that it will not represent significantly more work. It is more a matter of adapting to a new type of packaging and different requirements.

"In some ways, it will be relatively painless as Mercedes are quite fixed about what they need for their power unit installation. It means that there will not be too many iterations, at least less than when the V6 was introduced last year.

"It is a more defined program."

Lotus and Mercedes confirmed the long-awaited tie-up for 2015 last month, the announcement signaling the end of the Enstone team's affiliation with Renault.

Video: Ecclestone – Formula 1 not in crisis
Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone tells Eddie Jordan that Formula 1 teams "will come and go" following Marussia and Caterham's falls into administration.

Video: Gene Haas on F1 challenge
Haas F1 Team Chairman Gene Haas talks to NBC Sports' Steve Matchett about his latest adventure.