FORMULA 1 - 2015

[MIKA27]

CANADIAN GP COMPANY PARTLY FOR SALE

The Canadian Grand Prix is partly for sale, according to a report in influential Montreal daily La Presse.

The newspaper said promoter Francois Dumontier, with a new ten-year race contract with Bernie Ecclestone in his pocket, is having talks with potential investors regarding his company Octane Racing Group.

La Presse said Dumontier is open to selling up to 50 per cent of the company, “I am talking to several people. I think right now we have a value, and I am looking at my options as any businessman would. This is a normal process.”

The Canadian grand prix is promoted by Dumontier, but Ecclestone also has separate funding agreements with various levels of government.

Dumontier, 48, reportedly had earlier talks with investors involved in New Jersey’s proposed F1 race, “but the project fell through”, La Presse said.

What would help Dumontier’s efforts now is a new sponsor, as the Montreal race at the iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been without a title backer since 2003.

He admitted he hopes to “announce a title sponsor for 2016″, as Dumontier is in “serious discussions with several partners”.

“For this it takes between 12 to 15 months of discussion,” he claimed, “and this year is the first time I have had enough time (for that).”

Dumontier told La Presse that about half of the grands prix on the calendar also do not currently have title sponsors.

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RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX COMPANY DECLARED BANKRUPT

A company involved in organising the Russian Grand Prix has been declared bankrupt, but the race itself appears not to be threatened at this stage.

Media outlets including the Spanish agency EFE said Formula Sochi, owned by the government, was declared bankrupt on Monday in a Russian court.

With the key backing of president Vladimir Putin, Russia held its first modern world championship race last October, and is scheduled to host the second edition at the Sochi Autodrom later this year.

Formula Sochi’s troubles actually date back to 2013, when we reported that the indebted race organiser would be liquidated by authorities.

We also reported that the bigger company, promoter and circuit builder Omega, had taken over full responsibility for the race. EFE said Sochi’s race contract runs until at least 2020.

In March, we reported that Omega had cancelled the Sochi Autodrom’s scheduled May round of the Red Bull Air Race, an obstacle-dodging event for aerobatic planes.

Omega said the “current exchange rate situation” had affected the “balance between the operational costs and costs of the tickets”.

But Omega insisted that the Russian grand prix, scheduled for mid October, remained the Sochi Autodrom’s forthcoming “major event of the year”.

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PIRELLI PREVIEW THE CANADA GRAND PRIX

Canada has the same tyre nomination as Monaco – soft and supersoft – but quite a different challenge. The track is a lot more demanding for tyres than Monaco, which should lead to a greater degree of wear and degradation.

The biggest forces at work are longitudinal (acceleration and braking) rather than lateral (cornering) – and these are the factors that influence wear and degradation in Canada. The nature of the track also means that there is more opportunity to use tyre strategy to gain track position, with a variety of different strategies in the mix last year.

Although the demands on tyres are not especially high, due to a low-grip surface, there are some big kerbs that require a tough tyre structure, and the circuit is also famously hard on brakes. Uncertain weather is often a factor at the semi-permanent track, which adds another element of unpredictability.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “Canada often turns out to be one of the best races of the season, with a set of track characteristics that are not replicated anywhere else throughout the year. As a result it often throws up a few surprises and it’s also possible to win from lower down the grid, especially if you use a clever tyre strategy, or if it rains, or if there is a safety car: all of which are very possible in Montreal. Once again we have nominated the soft and supersoft tyres: the supersoft compound has been completely redesigned this year to provide even greater resistance to graining and blistering. With the cool weather that we often see in Montreal, this resistance to graining in particular is something that should be appreciated by the teams. As anything can happen in Canada, the best strategy is always one that has a certain degree of flexibility, allowing teams to react to changing circumstances. As we saw in Monaco, the strategy stakes can be very high.”

The biggest challenges for the tyres:

• Grip in Canada is generally low: especially at the start of the weekend when the track is ‘green’, because the former Olympic venue is not used extensively during the year. The low grip tends to continue into the race: one of the key reasons why so many drivers have acquainted themselves with the infamous ‘wall of champions’ – leading to incidents that can sometimes prompt a safety car.
• The kerbs are an important factor in Canada as the cars hit them at around 130kph, testing the tyre structure. However, during laboratory tests in Milan, Pirelli’s Formula One tyres are accelerated at speeds of up to 450kph to test their integrity in conditions above the usual limit – with the structure remaining intact.
• Unlike Monaco, the cars tend to run low downforce in Montreal, in order to maximise their top speed of over 300kph on the straights. There are no really long corners in Canada: instead it is all about acceleration and braking, with the challenge for the brakes in particular having caught some teams out in the past. Drivers must also be careful to avoid wheelspin, which can accelerate tyre wear.

Last year’s strategy and how the race was won:

• A variety of one and two-stop strategies were seen at the race last year, which was characterised by two safety car periods. Daniel Ricciardo won the race for Red Bull using a two-stop strategy, taking the lead on fresher tyres with two laps to go. The top four all stopped twice, with the highest-placed one-stopper being Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in fifth, who started on the soft and completed a 41-lap stint before switching to supersoft.

Expected performance gap between the two compounds: 1.0 – 1.2 seconds per lap.

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New engines for Mercedes drivers

Mercedes are taking nothing for granted ahead of the Canadian GP with Paddy Lowe confirming both their drivers will have new power units in Montreal.

While the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat are close to picking up penalties for using a sixth engine already this year, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg used only one during the first six events.

However, with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve heavy on the power units, Merc executive director (technical) Lowe says they won't be risk anything.

It is no surprise that the two Mercedes drivers as favourites for the victory in Montreal.

"Moving on to Canada: this is one of the team's favourite venues and presents a rather unique circuit with long straights, mostly slow corners and hence a lot of very big stops," he said.

"So the main themes for the weekend are power and brakes! We will bring new Power Units to this event, the second units of 2015 for each driver. Our first Power Units were used for six complete race weekends, an incredible achievement by the team at Brixworth that saw both achieve total mileages of over 4,000 km.

"We suspect our competitors may also bring new Power Units, which this year may be upgraded in-season using development tokens, so it will be interesting to see whether and how the 'balance of power' is shifted this weekend.

"The Montreal track is hard on the whole car, not just the engine and brakes, so we are concentrating our efforts to get two cars to the finish, something we did not manage last year. We take nothing for granted performance-wise, either; the uniqueness of the track means that there will be a lot to get right if we are to bring home the top prizes."

Equally impressive is the fact that Mercedes haven't had a retirement this season.

One area of concern for Merc is their strategy following their Monaco gaffe, which cost Hamilton victory, but Lowe feels it is being blown out of proportion.

"There has been a great deal of comment concerning our mistake in Monaco and its consequences," he said. "On behalf of the team, this error should be put into context.

"It was a single error made in a split second based on incorrect data. Sport is all about split-second decisions, trading risk with reward, and we do not always get these decisions right. But in my opinion this team gets them right more than most.

"However, as in all aspects we must always improve, and the failure in Monaco will undoubtedly play its part in that process."

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Sauber look to turn fortunes around

The last couple of races haven't gone according to plan for Sauber, but the Hinwil squad are hoping for an upswing in their fortunes in Canada.

Having picked up 19 points between them in the first three races, Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson found life a lot more difficult in the next three grands prix as they scored only two points.

The team had a particularly difficult weekend in Monaco as both drivers failed to make it into Q2, but there was some good news as Nasr battled his way to P9.

Head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall'Ara says their C34 should be better suited to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"Although we managed to score two points at Monaco, the last two races have been rather difficult for the Sauber F1 team," he said. "Our main target for the Canadian grand prix is to turn this around.

"The nature of the Montreal circuit is remarkably different and we expect it to fit the C34 better: straight-line speed, braking and generally low-speed cornering performance dominate for lap time.

"Depending on the weather, at times rainy, the track allows to alter the aerodynamic configuration of the car trading off downforce for drag reduction. We will have again the soft and supersoft tyres. It will be important to place our drivers further up the grid, and from there target to score more points."

Ericsson, who will make his second visit to Montreal following his debut with Caterham last year, is also confident of a strong performance.

"Montreal is one of the tracks that should suit our car better mainly because of the long straights," he said. "As we do have a high top speed, it could be positive for us.

"Besides the engine power, braking stability as well as a good change of direction will be important. The many long straights also make overtaking easier on this track. Due to the track characteristics, I think our performance should be stronger in Montreal."

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Fresh push to open up in-season F1 engine development

Mercedes' Formula 1 rivals are pushing to keep in-season engine development going for next year, Motorsport.com has learned, despite the FIA having closed off the loophole for 2016.

After motor racing's governing body accepted the current engine rules had not specifically stated when engines had to be homologated this year, it allowed car manufacturers to use engine development tokens throughout this season.

But with the FIA well aware that it did not want an open house on engine development, Motorsport.com has learned that the rules have been changed for 2016 to ensure that engines are fully homologated by February 28.

No changes to the power units will be allowed after that date, and any tokens unused over the winter will be lost.

Opening the door on development

That situation has prompted unease from Mercedes' rivals, who believe that forcing them to rush through all their engine upgrades before the start of the campaign will not only cost more but put them at risk of not being able to catch up over the course of the season.

It is understood that discussions have now begun between the engine makers about agreeing on a change to the rules to allow limited in-season tweaks for 2016.

F1's governance structure means that for such a rule change to happen it will require unanimous approval, and currently Mercedes is not in favour of opening up the rules.

Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul is hoping that his company's rival can be won over though.

"Given the amount of work that we have to do, we will like to be able to use our tokens in a free manner," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com

Cost fears

Although fears of rising costs have been cited when it comes to stopping in-season development, Abiteboul actually thinks the money issue is a red herring.

"I don't see any connection between token in-season development and budget, because you still have the token system [outside of the season]," he said.

"We are not saying you should be able to do whatever you want. We are saying you can introduce when you want within the limits of the token allocation."

He added: "There is something to be discussed in terms of the weight of the tokens and the weight of the changes, I am open to that.

"But I am not open to the stop and go that the freeze during the season and open window during the winter is causing for our facilities.

"It is really not good for the general budget and resource management within our different factories."

No surprise with Mercedes stance

Last season, Ferrari had no option but to challenge the FIA over the wording of the engine homologation regulations because Mercedes would not agree to relaxing the freeze.

Although not happy Mercedes is resisting change again, Abiteboul fully understands why there may be competitive reasons behind its stance.

"Mercedes has every reason to try to slow us and prevent us from catching up," he said. "That is fair and it is part of the competition.

"But it is also part of the competition to try to do something different. Mercedes thinks that it is more expensive [to allow in-season development], but philosophically I genuinely doubt if this is the case if the token system is well managed."

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Smedley to host children's hospice charity event

Williams' head of performance engineering Rob Smedley will host a gala in support of children's charity Zoe's Place Baby Hospice.

The event will take place at Wynyard Hall Country House Hotel, Wynyard, on August 1.

A charity auction with exclusive Formula 1-themed memorabilia will be up for grabs during the event.

Smedley and his wife Lucy, who lost a baby daughter in 2007, have been patrons of Zoe's Place for four years now.

"We initially got involved with Zoe's Place after finding out that it was a struggling charity doing amazing work for poorly babies and children," Smedley said.

"The hospice is based in the town where I grew up, and Lucy and I decided to see if we could help them.

"It was their idea to start doing charity dinners and the last event in 2011 was a huge success so we felt it was the right time to host another one and help raise awareness of their amazing work."

Tickets are £130, or £150 for a 'Pole Position Table'.

For more information or to book tickets, contact Elaine Dunning, Corporate Fundraiser, Zoes Place Baby Hospice on 07584324460 or email: [email protected]

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Boullier remains ‘proud’ of McLaren progress

Eric Boullier says he is 'proud' of the progress made by the McLaren-Honda team so far in 2015, even if he admits celebrating an eighth place isn't something he wants to be doing.

McLaren recorded its first points of the season last time out in Monaco with Jenson Button finishing eighth, but Fernando Alonso exited early for the second race in succession are developing technical issues.

Though eighth place isn't a result that Boullier wants to dwell on, he says it is indicative of the gains made by McLaren since the start of the 2015 season.

“Of course, we can't be pleased with eighth position, and we're still a long way behind where we want to be,” he said. “Nonetheless, I'm proud of our progress and the rate of development we're maintaining, and we're continuing this push with every grand prix. Although I don't like to dwell on the past too much, comparing the pre-season tests with our current performance shows just how hard we've worked to fight towards the front.

Despite this, Boullier says he remains concerned by the persistent technical issues suffered by the MP4-30, while – ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix - he is not convinced the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will necessarily play to the car's strengths either.

“Our more promising performances have been scuppered by frustrating technical issues though, most recently on Fernando's side of the garage, so we're working hard to iron these out so that we can really see the potential of both cars and keep developing. We must target improved reliability and consistency in order to achieve our maximum potential.

“While the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve doesn't play to our car's strengths, Montreal is a great place to put our car to the test; it's a world-class city with world-class fans and we'll be working very hard as usual to put on a good show for our loyal supporters.”

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Maldonado searching for final piece of puzzle

After further frustration in Monaco, Pastor Maldonado is looking to Montreal in his quest to put F1 points on the board in 2015.

The ever-challenging Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the latest stop on the schedule, and Maldonado arrives aiming for a strong finish to kick-start a campaign that has been beset by problems, both of his own making and handed to him by Lady Luck.

The Venezuelan is currently above only the hapless Kevin Magnussen in the drivers' standings – as the Dane only raced in Australia due to Fernando Alonso's absence – but can take a little solace from the fact that Alonso is among the drivers also on zero points after a similarly troubled start to the season.

Having made it through to the final phase of qualifying in Monaco, Maldonado was again denied a shot at the points when his Lotus succumbed to a hydraulic leak after just five laps, but he remains stoic in the face of misfortune as he heads to Montreal.

“Of course it was frustrating, but that's the way that racing goes sometimes,” he shrugged, “There were lots of positives - we qualified well and the car felt good on the track – but, unfortunately, there was an issue with a part and the only alternative was to retire the car.

“That's racing sometimes, but I've approaching every race wanting to finish in the points. The circuit in Canada has its own challenges but there's nothing to say we shouldn't be fast there. You use the kerbs quite a lot, so you need to be able to ride the bumps well and you need good turn-in for the chicanes. Also, like Monaco, you need to stay away from the walls. You should get close, but making contact is too close!

“This year's car has felt good, so I'll be pushing for points in the race. At most of the races this year we've looked strong all through the weekend and it's been the final piece of crossing the finish line in the points which has been out of reach. That's what we want this weekend.”

Like many of his rivals, Maldonado is a confirmed fan of the Ile Notre Dame layout, and is confident that this year's E23 should be a contender despite the increased competition for the minor points positions.

“You need a good race car to have confidence to push and that is something we have with the E23,” he explained, “We've had upgrades and we have a good understanding of how to get the car to work how we want it. It's much more predictable and delivers more than last year's car. You can see that the lessons learnt in 2014 have been applied. I'm looking forward to some good weekends where we can deliver what we're capable of.

“It's been interesting where we are and there is still a lot of potential for us to do well this season. We've seen that the Mercedes is consistently the fastest car, but they are not unbeatable and, behind them, there's a great battle. We seem to have a car that is in the top ten on qualifying pace and quicker than some of its nearest rivals when it comes to the race pace. At somewhere like Monaco it's difficult to take advantage of superior race pace, but at more open circuits we're well placed.”

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Arai: Montreal very different to Monaco

Honda R&D's Yasuhisa Arai is tempering expectations ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, despite McLaren opening its points account in Monaco.

After five weekends of frustration, the Woking team finally consummated its rekindled relationship with Honda as Jenson Button brought his MP4-30 home in eighth place in the Principality, but Arai is not necessarily expecting a repeat in Montreal this weekend given the very different characteristics of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Canadian venue has an old, low-grip surface, which makes it easy to get too much wheelspin under acceleration, and good driveability from the power unit will be vital due to the six second-gear corners around the lap, all of which lead onto long straights. The cars will exceed 300km/h on four occasions each before having to brake into a slow-speed chicane or hairpin, exercising the powerplants far more than they were in Monaco.

“The Canadian GP will be very different,” he confirmed, “This track is flat with long and fast straights, where the throttle is often fully open, which is tough on the power unit and fuel economy. Furthermore, hard braking is required. All in all, the circuit needs a completely different power unit setting from Monaco. We'll prepare the power unit so that it performs to its full potential during the weekend.”

Arai was naturally relieved to see Honda's V6 claim its first points in Monaco but, with Fernando Alonso being forced into retirement from a scoring position, there were still concerns for McLaren. Despite that, however, Arai is optimistic that the gap between the team and the front of the pack will continue to close in the coming weeks, even if there is little chance of extending McLaren's impressive 13-win record in Canada.

“At Monaco, I was very happy that McLaren-Honda scored its first championship points and this was down to the continuous hard work of the team,” he commented, “Of course, it was unfortunate that Fernando retired as we were hoping to get both cars home in the points, but we gain more confidence as the season goes on. Our power unit is progressing in the right direction, and we've taken another step upwards as a team.”

[kobsjones]

I'll be in Montreal this weekend for the race. Can't wait

[joeskow]

I'll be in Montreal this weekend for the race. Can't wait

Me too

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ALONSO STILL HIGHEST PAID FORMULA 1 DRIVER

Fernando Alonso remains the highest paid driver in Formula 1 this year, despite his move from Ferrari to McLaren.

That is the claim of the latest edition of Business Book, having published a detailed salary ranking of every driver on the 2015 grid.

Spaniard Alonso is yet to score a single point this season following his switch to McLaren-Honda, but he will banking no less than $39 million, international media reports quote Business Book as having found.

That is more than Sebastian Vettel, even though the German’s new $30 million Ferrari retainer is higher than his earlier wage as quadruple world champion at Red Bull.

In third place in 2015 is Lewis Hamilton, but the world champion’s $28 million will reportedly increase to or beyond Alonso’s dizzying earning powers next year and beyond.

Kimi Raikkonen ($20m), Nico Rosberg ($15m) and Jenson Button ($11m) complete the ranks of the most powerful earners in 2015, but Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado all take home a comfortable $4.5 million apiece, Business Book claims.

The only other drivers reportedly making their millions in 2015 are Valtteri Bottas ($2.2m) and Daniel Ricciardo ($1.65m).

Red Bull newcomer Daniil Kvyat is listed as earning $820,000, ahead of the impressive Toro Rosso rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, each with $275,000.

Sauber reportedly pays Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson $220,000 each, while Manor’s Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi make even less than that.

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LOTUS: MALDONADO MILLIONS DO NOT MAKE HIM UNTOUCHABLE

The millions of dollars Pastor Maldonado brings to Lotus do not guarantee his place on the grid, claims of Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter (pictured above right), as pressure continues to pile on the shoulders of the Venezuelan driver who carries number 13 on his car.

This week, a ‘mockumentary’ starring Maldonado emerged on social media, chronicling the notorious driver’s string of incidents and crashes and his dubious status among fans, fellow drivers and the F1 paddock at large.

The perception is that first Williams, and now Lotus blindly tolerate Maldonado’s blunders because of the dozens of millions he brings in the form of PDVSA sponsorship.

But Lotus’ Carter insists the 30-year-old, who is pointless so far in 2015 having only finished one race, is a good driver.

“He has been very unlucky, but he is a quick racing driver,” he told Britain’s Sky broadcaster. “We see him in the simulator week in, week out, we see what he can do and even in the races — he was quicker than Romain (Grosjean) for big chunks of the race in Malaysia.”

“I think the first few incidents it is very hard to blame Pastor for. He has been unlucky and it is really frustrating for us as we have thrown away a lot of points that we should have had.”

Enstone based Lotus is just seventh in the constructors’ championship at present, having emerged in 2015 with a much better car than last year’s.

Had the team been scoring with both cars, it would almost certainly be fifth, ahead of Sauber and Force India.

“Coming off the back of a very difficult season last year our target is to finish fifth and I think looking at the championship that is where we could and should be,” Carter said.

He tackled the perception in F1 that Maldonado’s millions make his place at a team “untouchable”.

“He is not untouchable,” Carter insisted. “He has to prove himself, he has to prove himself as a racing driver — and from our side, he is doing that.”

“He outqualified Romain in Monaco and you don’t do that around Monaco unless you are a good driver. He has been quick in all the races so far at different points, he has just got to string a good weekend together.

“Confidence builds and if he strings one weekend together, then it will follow and there is every chance he can do it in Canada. Canada should be very well suited to the car,” he added.

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SYMONDS: WHEN I SEE MASSA IN A RACING CAR IT’S INCREDIBLE

Williams appears more than happy with veteran Felipe Massa, while his younger teammate Valtteri Bottas is strongly linked with a potential move to Ferrari.

Also on Ferrari’s shortlist to possibly replace Kimi Raikkonen, according to Italy’s Autosprint, is frustrated Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

But with Finn Bottas reportedly first in Ferrari’s sights, it could mean teammate Massa’s place at Williams is strongly firming up for 2016.

Pat Symonds, the team’s hugely-experienced technical boss, told UOL Esporte he is happy with the 34-year-old Brazilian.

“Before Felipe came to Williams,” he said, “I did not know him very well. He’s one of those people who, if you see them in a restaurant and someone says it’s a driver, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“But when I see him in a racing car, it’s incredible. I think the only time I had spoken to him for any length of time was when we were arguing in the stewards room at Monza in 2006.”

“I seem to remember accusing him of pretending not to speak English well when I knew very well that he could,” Symonds laughed.

That was when Symonds was working alongside Fernando Alonso at Renault. Alonso went on to be Massa’s Ferrari teammate for four years until 2013.

Symonds said: “I know very well how good Alonso is and so that gave me the confidence to know that this guy (Massa) was good.

“It’s what I told him the first time we talked when he came to Williams: You’ve beaten Alonso already, so we believe in you. I think that attitude – not only from me but also the rest of the team – made him relax,” he added.

And Symonds said ‘relaxing’ was the key to Massa’s newfound return to confidence and form at Williams.

“He’s no longer fighting a world led by Fernando Alonso,” said the Briton. “Now he’s part of the team. One day he’s beating Valtteri and the next he’s not, but it doesn’t matter – everyone is working to bring the team forwards.”

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VERSTAPPEN TO SEE FIA DOCTORS AHEAD OF MONTREAL PRACTICE

Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen has a date with the doctor in Montreal ahead of the weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, to ensure his fitness ahead of track action at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Because of the magnitude of his huge head-on shunt into the Ste Devote barriers in Monaco, the 17-year-old rookie must now be cleared fit to race in Canada.

According to Speed Week, that FIA medical check will take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Thursday. It is Verstappen’s first ever trip to Canada.

He said last week he is not suffering any after-effects from the Monaco crash, and proved it by going karting and then demonstrating Formula Renault 3.5 and F1 cars at the Spa track last weekend.

“Without a doubt it was my biggest crash,” Verstappen told his website. “The impact was 30G. I saw the barrier coming up and thought: Now I need to brace myself.”

“But I’ve put the crash behind me now. There’s nothing I can change about it and everything is said and done.”

He was checked by doctors immediately after the crash, but even his blood pressure was completely normal.

“Just like when I am resting,” said Verstappen. “My neck was a bit stiff, but apart from that I was fine. It didn’t hurt as much as I expected.”

He visited a physio last Tuesday, but “Everything is as it was and I’m ready to go again,” said Verstappen.

Verstappen said he has prepared for Montreal in Red Bull’s simulator and is expecting a “fun” track “close to the walls”, but knows he will have to serve a five-place grid penalty for the Romain Grosjean crash.

“Yes,” he said, “it means I’ll have to do a few overtakes.”

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ABITEBOUL: I’M SORRY FOR MY CUSTOMER TEAMS

As Formula 1 heads to the Americas for the first time this season, every engine manufacturer in has been busy preparing upgrades for its 2015 power units, with beleaguered Renault in damage control mode.

De Telegraaf, closely following the early career of local rookie Max Verstappen, said Red Bull and Toro Rosso supplier Renault is also heading to Canada with a reliability update.

The French marque has struggled not only with performance so far in 2015, but also reliability, with all Renault-powered cars in the field burning quickly through their allocation of four engines for the entire season.

“Unfortunately we are doing damage control from a sporting point of view now,” Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul admitted. “Therefore, we should think about using the fifth engine already. Not because we cannot use the fourth, but also so we can begin using the fifth.”

A main problem so far has been in the basic piston design, and so the current upgrade is believed to have addressed that area.

Fitting the fifth engine, of course, attracts ten-position grid penalties, but Abiteboul played down the impact, “I know there is a lot of frustration, but ten place penalties in tracks where you can overtake and a car is out of place, you can quite easily make up during the race.”

“So I’m sorry for my customer teams but I don’t think it’s a big game-changer for the championship,” he added.

And the very next engine upgrade in the pipeline for Renault, it is believed, involves the spending of ‘tokens’ for performance. Sixth engines, then, will attract even more grid penalties.

“It will happen,” Abiteboul confirmed, “maybe twice per car unfortunately.”

Ferrari and Honda have traded in the very first in-season performance ‘tokens’ in the days between Monaco and Canada, while Mercedes is taking a reliability upgrade to Montreal.

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LEIMER APPOINTED MANOR RESERVE

The Manor Marussia F1 Team is pleased to announce that it has signed Fabio Leimer as an Official Reserve Driver for the remainder of the 2015 season.

26 year old Fabio, from Rothrist in Switzerland, is the 2013 GP2 Series champion and winner of the 2011 GP2 Final. He is also a former Formula Master series champion, prior to which he competed in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula BMW ADAC.

Fabio will join the team at selected races, working closely with the drivers and engineers to aid the team’s development programme and on standby to deputise for a race driver in the event that they are unable to take part in race weekend activities.

To prepare him for the role, the team will be providing Fabio with the opportunity to drive the MR03B in selected Free Practice 1 sessions of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

John Booth, Team Principal, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Fabio to our team. We always keep a close eye on drivers competing in the feeder series and their potential for making the step up to Formula 1. Fabio has been on that radar for a number of years, so we’re pleased to give him the opportunity to progress as he is a very talented driver and certainly deserving of this opportunity. Fabio will be joining us at selected races for the rest of the season, contributing to engineering meetings and on hand to substitute for either race driver should they be unable to compete at any stage. Familiarity with the car is therefore important, so we plan to run Fabio in a number of opening free practice sessions this season, allowing us to further evaluate his potential.”

Fabio Leimer commented: “I’m thrilled to be provided with this opportunity and I’d like to thank the Manor Marussia F1 Team for the faith they have shown in my ability. In particular I’m very excited to have the chance to drive the car in selected FP1s, but I am also looking forward to spending a lot of time trackside with the team, contributing my observations and experience in engineering situations and also learning about the team and a Formula 1 operation. It’s a huge step for me and I can’t wait to get started and hopefully reward the team’s confidence in me.”

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BOURDAIS BLAMES F1 FOR RUINING EVERY RACE TRACK

Ex-Formula 1 driver Sebastien Bourdais has slammed Formula 1, accusing the pinnacle of the sport for ruining race tracks and making “vanilla”.

The 36-year-old Frenchman arrived in F1 late last decade with an impressive pedigree on America’s premier open wheeler scene. But his relationship with Toro Rosso soured spectacularly after just a season and a half.

Bourdais is now back in the US, where on Sunday he won at the Belle Isle circuit in Detroit, “It feels really good. I’m enjoying my racing again after a horrible experience in formula one.”

Bourdais has little positive to say about either his own experience in F1, or the world championship in general, “I didn’t feel wanted or that I could work with the team (Toro Rosso) in formula one.”

He also attacked F1’s circuits, saying driving in the rain in Detroit was “tougher than any formula one track, including the streets of Monaco,” Bourdias told the Detroit Free Press.

“F1 has ruined every track,” Bourdais continued. “They have taken the character out of them, made them vanilla. It hurts me. Monaco is now a frigging parking lot with a couple of turns.”

He said he thinks Indycar is a better sport than F1, “Too much in formula one is all about the wrong reasons. Money and position — it is not about the racing. In Indycar, no one makes money. It’s just great, pure racing.”

MIKA: Bourdais who....? OH! Is that the big wig everyone was talking about joining F1 and claimed he'd win only to turn tail and head back to Indy? Ahhh...that guy.

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MONTREAL PREVIEW: HAMILTON SEEKING REVENGE

Lewis Hamilton has the perfect opportunity to get back on the winning track in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix after going astonishingly awry in Monaco.

Montreal is a favourite race for the double Formula One world champion, a fast track where he celebrated his first pole position and victory in his stellar 2007 debut season with McLaren. Since then, the Mercedes driver has won twice more in Canada.

“I think everything that needs to be said about Monaco has already been said. Obviously, it was a huge disappointment for me and also for the team,” the Briton said before heading to Montreal.

“But we’ll learn from it and move forwards together like we always do. I just want to get back out there and bounce back — and I could hardly ask for a better place to do that than Montreal. This is always one of my favourite weekends.”

Hamilton has suffered disappointments too at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with its 300kph blasts and the ‘Wall of Champions’ at the treacherous final corner, and has yet to win there for Mercedes.

But when he has finished, it has been on the podium and his track record eclipses that of team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg. Three-nil on wins, 4-1 on podium appearances, 3-1 on poles and 6-1 on front row starts, the statistics all point to Hamilton.

“The racing is fantastic, the city is a lot of fun and the crowds are really enthusiastic…and it’s given me some great memories, including my first win,” said the Briton. “I know I’ve got the car underneath me and the team behind me to do it again, so I’m aiming for nothing less.”

Rosberg, who became only the fourth driver to win Monaco three times in a row after Mercedes blew a surefire victory for Hamilton by calling him in for a needless pitstop while leading, is not to be under-estimated however.

The German, now only 10 points adrift of his championship-leading team mate after six races, qualified on pole in Montreal last year and is aiming for a hat-trick of wins for the season.

Both Mercedes drivers have new power units, having completed six race weekends on the previous ones, while rivals Ferrari may have upgrades to theirs.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, a first time winner in Montreal last year, can only dream of such reliability but the race — traditionally hard on brakes and engines — can throw up surprises.

The Australian is on his fourth and final penalty-free engine already, with the team leaving Monaco mulling whether to take a hit and use a fifth in Canada.

Ferrari, who have not won since 2004 at a circuit named after their late local hero, will be hoping four times world champion Sebastian Vettel can at least finish on the podium for the sixth time in seven races.

Williams are confident too of a much better showing after failing to score in Monaco while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso aims to open his account for the season two weeks after Jenson Button did the same.

Canadian Grand Prix Stats & Facts

• Lap distance: 4.361km. Total distance: 305.270km (70 laps)
• Race lap record: Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari one minute 13.622 seconds (2004)
• 2014 pole: Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
• 2014 winner: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull
• Start time: 1800 GMT (1400 local)
• Tyres: Soft (yellow), Supersoft (red)
• Four times champion Sebastian Vettel has 40 career wins, double world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso 36 and 32 respectively, Kimi Raikkonen 20, Jenson Button 15 and Nico Rosberg 10.
• One more win for Vettel would put him level with the late Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna in third place in the all-time lists.
• Ferrari have won 222 races, McLaren 182, Williams 114 and Red Bull 50. Mercedes have won 34.
• McLaren have not won for 44 races, a run that dates back to Brazil 2012. They went 48 races without a win from 1993-97.
• Rosberg is chasing his third win in a row this weekend.
• Mercedes have been on pole for the last 17 races. The record for successive poles is 24 (Williams 1992/93).
• Hamilton has been on pole in five of the six races this season, Rosberg beating him in Spain. Hamilton has 43 career poles, Rosberg 16.
• Rosberg took 11 poles last year, when Mercedes and Williams were the only teams to start on pole.
• Ferrari’s last pole was in Germany with Alonso in 2012.
• Only Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have appeared on the podium this season — Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen.
• Hamilton has been on the podium for 13 races in a row, the longest such run he has had. Only two drivers — Schumacher (19) and Alonso (15) — have done better.
• Rosberg now has 32 career podiums, one more than the late Australian champion Jack Brabham. Hamilton has 76, four short of the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
• Vettel has been on the podium five times in his first six races for Ferrari.
• McLaren scored their first points of 2015 in Monaco, ending a run of five races without scoring — their worst ever start to a season.
• Hamilton has won the Canadian Grand Prix three times (in 2012, 2010 and 2007).
• Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo are the other previous winners still on the grid.
• Ferrari last won in Montreal, a circuit named after their late great Gilles Villeneuve, in 2004 with Michael Schumacher. The German won a record seven times in Canada.
• McLaren have won 13 times in Canada to Ferrari’s 11.
• Since 2000, the race has been won from pole five times.
• The rain-hit Canadian Grand Prix of 2011 was Formula One’s longest, lasting four hours four minutes and 39.537 seconds. That same race also saw the safety car deployed six times, another record.
• The 1973 Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport marked the first time a safety car was deployed in Formula One.
• Rosberg’s Monaco GP win made him only the fourth driver to win that race three years in a row.

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MCLAREN TO CRASH-TEST SHORT NOSE AHEAD OF AUSTRIA

McLaren on Wednesday confirmed it is bringing a significant package of aerodynamic upgrades to the MP4-30 car in Austria, of which a short nose solution is supposedly heading to the FIA crash test facility.

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button left Monaco recently expecting the Honda-powered car to struggle on the long straights of Canada this weekend.

But then it emerged the team’s Japanese power unit partner has for the first time in 2015 traded in some in-season ‘tokens’ to bring performance to the turbo V6.

Not only that, Spaniard Alonso flagged a round of significant car upgrades for the Austrian grand prix later in June.

Reports early this week suggested one of the features of the package is a ‘short nose’, which will require mandatory FIA crash-testing before it can be debuted.

A team spokesman told us on Wednesday: “We are aiming to bring aero upgrades to MP4-30 as and where possible, in line with our efforts steadily to make more competitive a still-new car concept that offers a huge amount of development potential.

“For Austria, yes, as you suggest, we are expecting to be able to incorporate some aero upgrades, some of which will be visible and some of which will not, but these are still in development and we are not able to share details of them with the media at this time,” he added.

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Marko: It's still a two-horse race

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has warned that Mercedes will remain in a class of their own despite Ferrari and Honda's recent engine upgrades.

Merc have dominated Formula 1 since the new V6 engine regulations came into effect at the start of the 2014 season, winning 16 of the 19 races last year and five of the first six events this campaign.

Ferrari, though, have taken a few steps forward in 2015 as they are lot closer to their Brackley rivals than in 2014 and Sebastian Vettel proved in Malaysia that they can upset the applecart if conditions suit them.

In attempt to move even closer to Merc, Ferrari have used three of their in-season engine development tokens ahead of the Canadian GP while Honda, who are powering McLaren, have used two as they look to join the battle for podiums.

Mercedes, by contrast, have opted against utilising some of their tokens and will instead just use new power units in both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's cars in Montreal.

Merc executive director (technical) Paddy Lowe admitted they are wary of their rivals, saying: "We suspect our competitors may also bring new Power Units, which this year may be upgraded in-season using development tokens, so it will be interesting to see whether and how the 'balance of power' is shifted this weekend."

However, Marko has played down suggestions that the rest of the pack will catch up any time soon.

"The Mercedes engine is still so superior that they don't need to use their tokens at this stage," he told Germany's Sport Bild.

"They are always playing with us. Hamilton and Rosberg will continue to battle for the victories between themselves."

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Ecclestone calls for Strategy Group to be scrapped

The F1 Strategy Group should be disbanded according to Bernie Ecclestone, with the 84-year-old calling the sport "too democratic", making it too difficult to change things.

His comments follow similar claims by Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Force India's Bob Fernley, with both claiming that it makes no sense for the teams to decide the rules.

Ecclestone wants something more akin to a dictatorship, similar to when Max Mosley was president of the FIA and the two decided what future rules would be implemented.

"We should stop mucking around and asking for opinions," he told Autosport. "The problem is we are running something that is too democratic, and Jean [Todt] won't go along with things.

"Between us we should say 'these are the rules of the championship, if you want to be in it, great, if you don't, we understand'."

When directly asked if the F1 Strategy Group, which is made up of Ecclestone, Todt, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and the sixth 'best' team - currently Force India - should be scrapped, he replied: "Yeah, absolutely.

"It's bloody difficult for the constructors to come up with anything. If you were Mercedes you wouldn't want anything changed," he added.

"At last month's Strategy Group meeting nothing was decided - not even the date of the next meeting.

"We could have voted on something then and put it through, but nothing."

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Russian GP organisers respond to bankruptcy reports

Russian Grand Prix organisers have responded to claims the company promoting the event has filed for bankruptcy, therefore putting the race in jeopardy.

Reports emerged in Russian media and then picked up by European publications, claiming "Formula Sochi" has been declared bankrupt. Whilst that is true, promotional rights for the race were handed over to "Center Omega" last year.

Therefore the Russian Grand Prix, which runs until at least 2020, isn't under threat according to Center Omega, which clarified the reports on Monday.

"In August of 2014, Formula Sochi was liquidated in accordance with the instruction of the head of administration of the Krasnodar Region," confirmed a statement from the organisers.

"This decision was made for the purposes of the complex implementation of the Formula 1 project and minimisation of the total expenses for the Russian Grand Prix, since OJSC "Center Omega" has been in charge of the construction of Sochi Autodrom and has been the holder of the race staging contract, it also has had the personnel and the finances required.

"The successful staging of the first Formula 1 World Championship round in Russian history, organised by the OJSC "Center Omega", which has received the FOM award as the best round of the season at the FIA General Assembly, and the effective commercial usage of the Sochi Autodrom have proven the efficiency of such decision.

"The preparations to the [2015] Russian GP are well under way."

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Michelin rules out Formula 1 return with current wheel size

Michelin says it will not apply to become Formula 1's tyre supplier if the sport continues to use 13-inch wheels.

Formula 1's ruling body, the FIA, opened up the tyre tender contract for the sport from 2017 at the end of last month, inviting companies interested in applying for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 deal.

Current supplier Pirelli has already confirmed it has applied.

Tyre makers have until June 17 to lodge their applications.

While Pirelli said the wheel size was not crucial to its plans, Michelin says it is not interested in joining Formula 1 unless regulations change.

"Formula 1 is the opposite of our philosophy," Michelin's motorcycle racing director Nicolas Goubert told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The 13-inch tyres are not used by any road cars and maybe should give the highest performance for only 10 laps. That's not what we want to show.

"I don't think Michelin will participate in the FIA tender, we prefer to be in MotoGP."