FORMULA 1 - 2016

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Renault promises Red Bull engine equality in 2016

Renault has promised to supply Red Bull with the exact same Formula 1 engines its works team uses in 2016.

Red Bull will continue to use the French power unit this year - albeit re-badged as TAG Heuer - after failing to secure a deal with a different manufacturer, having made it clear it did not want to stay with Renault during the past season.

Speaking during the launch event of its motorsports programme in Paris on Wednesday, Renault's managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the current rules meant the Milton Keynes team had to have the same engines used by the French squad.

"Exactly the same. Actually we have an obligation from the regulations to supply exactly the same equipment," said Abiteboul.

"But there will not be any form of branding or marketing association for obvious reasons," he added.

"In terms of continuity – there will be the same faces you have seen last year, there will be the same faces in the Red Bull garage. They will be dressed different but the faces will be the same."

Abiteboul said Red Bull will also get the same upgrades as Renault.

"You always need to manage the pool of engines, and maybe we are out of sync with what we are doing for the Renault team and what we are doing for the Red Bull team because of the introduction of the engine," he said.

"But the philosophy of Renault and the obligation from the regulation perspective is to have exactly one technical specification. If we have upgrades they will have upgrades too.

"The works team is Renault, obviously, so we will design and specific the engine for the Renault team and they will have exactly the same."

Longer deal not ruled out

Although the current deal with Red Bull is for one year, Abiteboul admitted he is not ruling out extending it beyond 2016 if the team is interested.

"We have announced a one-year contract, but it may go further. We have always said that we would continue to supply Red Bull or anyone else, if this is in our strategic interest to do so.

"It is in our strategic interest to do so this year, if it continues next year why not?"

He also suggested Renault could supply to more teams in the future if there is a desire for it.

"If we have good technology then I am sure teams will be interested by what we have to offer," the Frenchman added. "Like when we had the V8 that was extremely successful, everyone wanted to have Renault engine.

"It seems it is very different, I am sure if we can catch up it will be the same again because we are extremely loyal in the way we deal with customer teams.

"This is a fact if we have a factory team or not. We will always be loyal to the customer teams and independent teams."

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RenaultSport F1 - Fred Vasseur Interview

RenaultSport F1 - Cyril Abiteboul Interview

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RenaultSport F1 - Jerome Stoll Interview

RenaultSport F1 - Nick Chester Interview

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The old values that inform the Renault of today

It somehow feels right that Renault should be reinventing itself for the umpteenth time in some style nearly 40 years after arriving on the F1 scene. The first appearance was halfway through the 1977 season, which says a lot about how things were done then. There was no grand speech about winning a race; not even, as far as I can recall, a single sound bite attempting to put a positive spin on what most people considered to be a hopeless case.

Renault was travelling down a development avenue that had been open for 11 years but the fact that no other engine manufacturer has so much as crossed the threshold said everything about this brave, not to say daft, decision.

Renault had chosen to try running a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine at a time when everyone else was sticking to 3-litre normally aspirated, thank you very much. The turbocharging option had been written into the new engine regulations for 1966 to act as a sop for anyone wanting to continue using a 1.5-litre unit, the maximum permitted in the previous formula.

Everyone scoffed. Glorious sounding multi-cylinder engines from the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Honda, Weslake and BRM exemplified the new era, grandly titled 'The Return to Power'. Even when crafty Jack Brabham came along and cleaned up with a simple lump based on an elderly Oldsmobile V8, there was never a thought of using an engine half that size. And when Ford-Cosworth introduced the superb DFV V8 in 1967, the 3-litre deal was well and truly done.

Renault fronting up at Silverstone with a 1.5 turbo 10 years later was a bit like eschewing slicks for grooved tyres simply because you could. There was a fair bit of fun poked at the droning V6 with a throttle lag so bad that Jean-Pierre Jabouille's call for power coming out of Chapel was not answered until he was half way to Stowe. And when the thing expired in the predictable overheated cloud of smoke and steam, sages tapped the sides of their noses and returned to enjoying the pitched battle between James Hunt's McLaren-Ford V8 and John Watson's mellifluous Brabham-Alfa Romeo flat-12.

Renault would have the last laugh two short years later when Jabouille won in France. The turbo/normally aspirated formula dreamed up for 1966 was never considered to be equivalent -- but not like this! Turbos weren't supposed to be viable, never mind win a race. The turbo floodgate -- or wastegate to be precise -- was now wide open thanks to Renault's nerve and foresight.

There was another aspect that was new and refreshing in every sense. The Renault personnel, led by the charming and feisty Marie-Claude Beaumont, were open and friendly. In those relaxed days, the same more or less applied to very F1 team (except, perhaps, the slightly lofty Scuderia Ferrari). But none of them was willing to explain exactly where they had gone wrong, to the extent of bringing the broken engine part for examination at the next race.

You could argue that Renault had absolutely nothing to lose but the candid approach was accompanied by a willingness to have a good time. The Silverstone debut coincided with Bastille Day; the perfect excuse to run a barbecue in the paddock even though it provoked champagne-fuelled comments from one or two hacks that the chargrill looked like their engine had done a few hours earlier.

Rather than be put off, Renault really went to town. By a happy coincidence, one of their most memorable evenings was in an imposing vineyard chateau on the night before Dijon-Prenois in 1979. The slight downside was that several tired and emotional writers could hardly bear the crashing of their portable typewriters the following afternoon while beating out stories of their host's landmark victory at home.

This is being written without prior knowledge of today's launch in Paris. But the signs are that old values have been remembered, which is no bad thing. Forget, for a moment, the well-chronicled troubles as an engine supplier; this is a totally different scenario. Appropriately, Renault is assuming control of a bunch of racers with respected roots.

People may have been making fun recently of the Régie's F1 efforts but wouldn't it be nice if, as in 1977, they came along in two years' time and blew Red Bull into the whingeing weeds? And if we could have a nice drop of Beaujolais on the night before, so much the better.

Welcome back. Et Bon Chance.

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Max Yamabiko: Why Haas is right to give Dallara another F1 chance

It may be Haas' name above the door, but when its much anticipated F1 effort hits the track for the first time in just three weeks' time, it many ways it will be constructor Dallara that will have its reputation on the line...

The Italian company's enviable reputation as a race car constructor is known across the motorsport community. Its designs have dominated most open-wheel classes around the world, and go as far as total exclusiveness for the rest, being the control force in Indycar, Indy Lights, Super Formula, GP2, GP3 and Formula V8 3.5. Even in sportscar racing its chassis built in conjunction with Audi Sport (R8, R10 and R15) yielded all but one Le Mans win between 2000 and 2010.

And yet, as omnipresent as Dallara seems to be in motorsport, one major omission remains from its vast racing CV – a successful chassis to compete at the highest level of motorsport: F1.

Gian Paulo Dallara graduated from the Politecnico Milano with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1960 and immediately joined Ferrari to work in Formula 1. He contributed to the now legendary Tipo 156 Sharknose before moving to Maserati and later Lamborghini. By the end of the 1970's he found himself designing F1 cars for Frank Williams - the De Tomaso 505 – but the car was never a success, failing to ever be a classified finisher in a Grand Prix.

Soon after, Dallara founded his eponymous company and started to build it up, but while it is a relative collusous in motorsport terms, a successful crack at F1 has eluded it over the last 25 years.

So how can this be? Well, though the reasons come out of the book of 'typical motorsport excuses' a combination of bad luck, lack of funding and inopportune timing have certainly played their part.

Its first proper foray into F1 came in 1988 as part of a collaboration with BMS Scuderia Italia, and – as a maiden effort - the Italian team enjoyed a taste of success, reaching the podium twice over five years of F1 competition. However, after the team entered into a deal with Ferrari for an engine deal in 1992, friction developed between the teams' two Italian suppliers and Dallara was dropped in favour of Lola for 1993 in what would turn out to be an erroneous move, with BMS Scuderia Italia quitting F1 at the end of 1993.

Dallara didn't plot a return to F1 until 1999 when it developed the Harvey Poselthwaite designed Honda RA099 for the Japanese firm's intended return. Those in the know described it as a seriously quick machine with a lot of potential, but internal politics at Tochigi saw it mothballed as Honda stalled on its plans to re-enter F1 (quite what happened varies depending on if you ask a Japanese person or an English person). The 1999 car is now a rarely seen museum piece, but had this car been raced or developed into a proper 2000 season car it would likely have out-performed the BAR which inherited the Dallara's Honda RA000E engines.

Dallara had another near miss with F1 in 2006 with the Midland F1 team, but the Gary Anderson-designed machine never saw the light of day after the ex-Jordan team went with the James Key designed M16 instead for the coming season. Little is known about this design.

Then came 2010 and the arrival of the new 'cost capped' F1 teams. Entering Formula 1 in the belief there would be a budgetary limit in force, when this was promptly dropped it left the trio of new teams – Virgin Racing, Team Lotus & Campos Meta 1 – facing a massive financial shortfall even before the cars had turned a wheel.

As a result, the stillborn USF1 project never finished its odd Type 1 chassis, and Dallara's client Campos Meta 1 opted out of its entry having foreseen the likely struggles. Despite the set-backs, Dallara had been working flat out on its F110 car build.

Dallara got the chassis built and the car was even the first 2010 design to be fully homologated. However before Christmas the money dried up and Dallara closed up the F1 workshop, only for it to be unexpectedly resurrected as the Hispania Racing Team at a very eleventh hour moment.

By this time though, the car had missed all of the pre-season F1 tests. The car had been ready, but Dallara hadn't expected it to get its moment on track

“We never really finished it, when the money stopped we got the car to the point of being ready to do a shakedown but it was never finished. There was a big performance upgrade for it for Melbourne but we never got paid so it didn't get made” Luca Pignacca of Dallara told me over a coffee recently. “The F110 was not a bad car, it just was not a finished car and the team then spent nothing on it.”

Once HRT took the completed cars, Dallara had little involvement beyond supplying an upgraded fuel cell when the original was found to leak, and new wing mirrors after a rule change. Dallara was owed money and did not seem keen on working with Colin Kolles.

With little investment incoming, the F110 ran at Monaco and Monza with the same wing angles and aerodynamic package and Dallara engineers who had worked on the car were livid when it proved slower than the GP2 car it had also developed.

Criticism of the car by Manfredi Ravetto and the Kolles organisation was unfair - Dallara never had the chance to finish the car, they were never paid and the car was never properly developed. Remarkably, despite the criticism by the Kolles team, the F110 still formed the basis of its 2011 and 2012 HRT designs.

Four years on and the Dallara name returns to F1 as part of the Haas set up. Past form may prompt many to qustion Haas' wisdom, but Dallara knows it has a point to prove. Hell hath no fury than a constructor scorned…

There is also good reason to believe Haas has the means to make its team a success and seems to recognise Dallara's requirements to bring the car up to speed.

Along with a decent budget and a proper lead in time, Gene Haas has brought in some of his own people to Dallara to assist the project and Ferrari has supplied much of the rest of the car. After all, the aerodynamic development between the 2016 Haas and 2016 Ferrari was so entwined that Mercedes complained about it (even if its synonym for 'complaint' was 'clarification'). In reality the only major difference between the 2016 Haas and the 2016 Ferrari is the chassis… and that is the Dallara bit.

No more of those 'typical motorsport excuses' then…

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GHOSN: I WOULD LIKE TO SIGN ALONSO HE IS ONE OF THE BEST

Renault chief Carlos Ghosn did not hide the fact that enticing Fernando Alonso – who he rates as the best driver in Formula 1 – back to the new works team is an objective.

“Would I like to sign Alonso? For sure,” he told sports daily AS at the Paris launch of the new project.

In 2005 and 2006, Alonso won back-to-back titles for Renault but in more recent years has had up and down fortunes and no further championships as he switched between Ferrari and McLaren.

Now, the 34-year-old is helping to build up the works McLaren-Honda collaboration, but he finished last season a woeful seventeenth overall.

Ghosn continued: “Of course I would like to (sign Alonso) but it is not my responsibility. It is the team that has the responsibility and I support their decisions.

“During our years in Formula One I have made many friends, we have met many talented drivers and Fernando is one of the best — he is definitely one of the best drivers in Formula 1 today,” he added.

Following his titles, Alonso returned to Renault in 2008 and 2009, but the budgets and results were lower and the carmaker ultimately sold Enstone to Lotus.

“When we left F1, other major brands such as Honda and Toyota had as well, because the crisis hit all of us,” said Ghosn.

“We now believe it is time to take advantage of our experience and recover the history of our brand in F1. Our commitment is very firm and our priority.”

It is not known for how many years current Renault drivers Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen have signed up for.

“I don’t know if I can talk about the number of years,” Magnussen told the Danish broadcaster TV3. “I’m glad to have a contract and I’m here this year, and then the future is open.”

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VASSEUR: OUR AIM AT RENAULT IS TO BE F1 CHAMPIONS IN FIVE YEARS

Formula 1’s newest team boss, Frederic Vasseur, said 2016 is the right time for him to begin his tenure at the pinnacle of the sport and has a five year plan to turn the project into world champion contenders.

For years, the Frenchman has been on the very edge of the pinnacle of motor racing as he ran the top GP2 team ART with Nicolas Todt, whose father is the FIA president.

“I have been talking with Renault for several years,” Vasseur was quoted as saying by L’Equipe, as he was unveiled as the new works team’s ‘racing manager’ in Paris.

“We (ART) have had a lot of success and I said to myself ‘This is the right time to turn the page’. I was also convinced that Renault would put the right people, structure and funding.

“It is not enough to say you want to win, it is necessary that the company is behind you. That was the catalyst for Mercedes’ success.

“I have not seen the involvement of a manufacturer behind an F1 project like that for a long time, so it was an important factor in my decision,” Vasseur added.

However, he has now arrived to lead Renault just after the acquisition of Lotus, who effectively collapsed financially during the course of 2015.

“The situation at Enstone was a bit complicated when I arrived, because of the tight financial situation not just of the last months, but even the last years,” said Vasseur.

“On the other hand, there was a level of motivation and incredible expectation compared to other teams. A lot of the people had been at Enstone in the successful days,” he added.

But Vasseur said motivation alone will not be enough power for 2016, with Renault Carlos Ghosn saying the aim is to be on the podium by 2018.

“The ambition of Renault is clear,” Vasseur agreed, “to be on the podium in the third year and in a position to be champion by the fifth. The goal in 2016 is to build the team.”

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PROST: IT WILL BE A VERY DIFFICULT YEAR FOR RENAULT

Multiple Formula 1 world champion and former Renault driver Alain Prost has played down Renault’s hopes for their return as a works team starting this season.

The quadruple world champion is remaining an ambassador for the French carmaker, after Renault bought back its old works team that in recent years has been known as Lotus.

“It will not be possible already in 2016 to compete against the best,” Prost, whose works Renault E-Dams team won the inaugural Formula E series, told Der Spiegel.

“It makes no sense to lie to people — it will be a very difficult year, especially at the beginning. It will be necessary to be patient,” he added.

Prost said Renault’s sights are set much further into the future, “This is obviously a long-term project, which is normally nine years but it could be more.”

“They do not need to win the first race in Australia. The expectation is to be one of the top three teams quickly, but that means perhaps two or three years and maybe four.”

Prost said Mercedes is once again the favourite for 2016, “Of course, but the championship may be somewhat more open with Ferrari.”

“If Ferrari was able to do it I think it would be good for formula one,” Prost is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport in Paris.

New Renault driver Jolyon Palmer, however, also thinks Mercedes is the clear favourite.

“They have been the dominant team for two years now and the rules are not changing,” he is quoted by the Spanish sports daily Marca. “They have the best engine and a very good car, so I think yes, they are the favourites again.”

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JAN MAGNUSSEN: RENAULT CHANCE BETTER THAN MCLAREN FOR KEVIN

Kevin Magnussen’s father thinks the new Renault adventure has even more potential than if the 23-year-old had been retained by McLaren.

Jan Magnussen, himself a former F1 driver, was not in Paris on Wednesday as son Kevin walked onto the stage in his new black overalls.

“It was great to see him go out on stage,” 42-year-old Jan, who instead watched from his home in Denmark, told the local broadcaster TV2.

“I had not seen him in the suit yet so it was awesome,” he enthused. “I knew for a few days what was going to happen, but it was still a lovely feeling to see him walking out with the others.”

Jan said it was a tough time for his son since losing the McLaren race seat at the end of 2014. Magnussen spent last year as the team’s reserve but was then ousted altogether for 2016.

“They have been working on this ever since it started to go wrong with McLaren,” he revealed. “So I’m just super happy and I think that this chance could be even better than his first (at McLaren).”

“The situation at Renault means he can build something up with the team starting as underdogs, and I think that will be very good for him,” he added.

“I think Kevin is in a great situation with Renault now, where hopefully they can become world champions together in a few years.”

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F1 PUSHING AHEAD WITH HALO-STYLE COCKPIT PROTECTION

Formula 1 will press ahead with its plans to protect the drivers’ cockpits in 2017, according to Alex Wurz.

Earlier, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) president said his F1 racing members were unanimously in favour of adding the ‘halo’-style solution to the cars.

But reports emerging from the most recent F1 meetings in London and Milan suggested bosses are still yet to agree about how better to protect the drivers’ heads in future.

The BBC, however, is now quoting Wurz as saying the plan is moving forward, “Obviously the drivers are happy that the technical team representatives agreed for the additional head protection to come in for 2017 following the drivers’ recommendation and the FIA research.”

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RENAULT RETAIN JORDA AS DEVELOPMENT DRIVER

A surprise face at the Renault launch on Wednesday belonged to Spaniard lady driver Carmen Jorda, a former GP3 driver who was the female development driver at Lotus, which has been taken over by Renault for 2016.

But Jorda told Europa Press that she will have the “same role” this year too, “The good thing is that Renault is going to put me in a category to race, which is what I want.”

And she told the Spanish daily AS: “I am still with the team and I’m very happy, because it is a major project for the long term.”

Jorda also said she has “no problem” with the signing by Renault of Esteban Ocon, a 19-year-old Frenchman who is leaping straight into the reserve role.

Ocon was re-signed to Mercedes’ driver development programme late last year, but declared on Wednesday that he is “overjoyed that I can help a French team as a Frenchman”.

“It’s true, I signed a long-term contract with Mercedes at the end of 2015 so I am very grateful to Mercedes and to Renault in making this possible.”

Ocon won the GP3 series last year for ART, the team co-run by Frederic Vasseur, who has now become the ‘racing director’ at Renault.

Vasseur told L’Equipe: “Esteban is still under contract to Mercedes, but I have an excellent relationship with Mercedes and it might have put a little oil to the wheels.”

His other championship-winning driver in 2015 was Stoffel Vandoorne, who won the GP2 title for ART, but Vasseur said the Belgian was never in the running to join Renault.

“With Stoffel, the situation is very clear,” he said. “He is under contract to McLaren and I really think he will go there next year.

“McLaren is aware of his results and his ability, so I cannot imagine for a split second that McLaren will let him go.”

MIKA: But Jorda told Europa Press that she will have the “same role” this year too...!?

So I guess she will be doing what we all are doing and watching the race on TV. We can all be development drivers then.

I'll play F1 on the XBOX One (Training and learning the tracks) and then watch the race on TV. There, I'm also a development driver. Where do I send my CV?

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RENAULT TO ADD 200 STAFF TO ENSTONE FACTORY

Renault is aiming to add 200 staff to its Formula 1 chassis factory at Enstone by the end of next year.

“A lot of positions are opening up,” admitted chassis technical director Nick Chester during Wednesday’s Paris launch.

When the team was sold by Renault to Lotus some years ago, it was downsized and the current head-count is 450.

“By the end of 2017 we want to have 650 people at Enstone again,” confirmed managing director Cyril Abiteboul.

“About 2016, we have to be realistic,” he added. “In some areas we are playing catch-up — it’s no secret that we missed the start of the new power unit regulations and Enstone needs a bit of TLC.”

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'No good news' to report on Schumacher says Montezemolo

Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has "no good news" to report on Michael Schumacher's condition, after journalists questioned the Italian about his former drivers health during an event in Milan.

Schumacher's latest condition remains a secret, with only close family and friends able to visit the seven-time world champion following his skiing accident more than two years ago, which is believed to have left him motionless and unable to communicate.

Di Montezemolo's comments failed to shed much light, with the 68-year-old refusing to comment on Schumacher's health, other than confirming he has "no good news" to report.

"I have unfortunately no good news," he said. "Michael was a great driver, and we experienced a long time together in both our personal and professional lives. But life is really strange.

"He was the most successful driver of Ferrari and in his career he had only one accident, in 1999. But unfortunately a fall in a skiing accident has had serious consequences."

Various versions of Di Montezemolo's comments have been reported, with some stating that the Italian said: "I have news and unfortunately it is not good," but this is believed to be a mis-translation.

Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, has refused to comment on the reports and has previously branded anything unofficial "irresponsible" as it gives "false hope".

MIKA: The lack of ANY news on Michael's condition s**ts me... I understand the need for privacy but when youre in the spotlight for decades and then you have such a horrible accident, it's only natural fans want to know. At least give SOMETHING to the fans, some news, good or bad rather than zero.

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Former Ferrari chief engineer Chris Dyer joins Renault

Renault has confirmed it has hired former Ferrari chief engineer Chris Dyer, with the Australian taking up the position of Head of Vehicle Performance at Enstone.

Renault has made a number of key signings as part of its recruitment drive following its takeover of the Lotus team, with Dyer the latest addition.

The Ex-Ferrari man began his career with Arrows in 1997, working as Damon Hill's chief data engineer, but would later become Michael Schumacher's race engineer at Ferrari in '01, overseeing Schumacher's '03 and '04 titles.

Dyer also worked with Kimi Raikkonen during his championship-winning year, but was replaced by Andrea Stella after beng promoted to chief track engineer. His time at the Italian outfit came to an end when he made the wrong call to bring Fernando Alonso in during the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, costing the Spaniard the championship.

Since 2011, he has worked with BMW's DTM team. However he will make his F1 comeback this season with the returning Renault outfit, replacing Ayao Komatsu, who follows Romain Grosjean to the Haas F1 team.

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Coup for Renault as Bell returns from Mercedes

The return of Bob Bell from Mercedes must rank as the most significant development of Renault’s comeback to Formula One.

The team’s new chief technical officer not only knows Renault inside out, but worked at Mercedes as it was transformed from the win-less squad of 2011 to the dominant champions of 2014.

Bell (pictured centre with Lewis Hamilton and Andrew Shovlin while at Mercedes) played a central role in Renault’s championship successes of the mid-2000s. As technical director he oversaw development of the cars which won back-to-back constructors’ championship titles and took Fernando Alonso to two drivers’ championships.

In the team’s darkest hour, when Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds were shown the door following the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, it was to Bell they turned to steady the ship. But his new role will focus on the technical side.

“I will oversee the technical functioning between the two sites of Viry-Chatillon and Enstone,” explained Bell. Central to his role will be co-ordinating the efforts of chassis chief Nick Chester and engine developer Remi Taffin.

“I will spend around half of my time at each site where I will assist in setting the direction for chassis and engine development to ensure a consistent approach between the two locations.”

In order to achieve the standard of competitiveness set by Mercedes, Bell believes Renault’s two arms must merge “towards becoming one entity – more than they have ever been before”.

“If you look at the team’s history and also the development of F1 in general, in the V8 and further back in the V10 generation, it was possible to have a more arms-length relationship between the engine and chassis side of a team, whereas now to be successful you need far more integration with the more complex power units and the evolution brought by the intensity of competition.”

Bell was behind Renault’s most successful cars

However Bell believes there is “tremendous potential” for the team to tap. “Firstly you have Enstone which is an organisation that has been starved of resources in recent times but structurally is pretty sound.”

“Viry, on the other hand, could be characterised as being resourced well enough to do a credible job however recent history has seen a very difficult situation with the change to the latest power units and this has impacted on how the facility operates.”

“The key for Viry is galvanising the leadership and direction with the new opportunities that a works F1 entry provides. The focus is more structural whereas at Enstone it’s more resource-based. We’re clear on what the issues have been in the past and we’re working on putting them right.”

While Honda has thus far resisted McLaren’s urging to make strategic staff hirings from other teams, Renault has landed a designer who knows how its team operates and knows how the current champions do it. That isn’t necessarily going to present them with a short-cut to success, but it should keep their efforts pointing in the right direction.

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Fangio's second son is confirmed

Rubén Vázquez has learned he is the son of the five-time Formula 1 World Champion, following a legally-mandated DNA test.

Last August, the body of F1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio was exhumed by court order to test his DNA and determine the validity of two men's paternity claims, the men being Oscar Espinoza and Ruben Vazquez.

Espinoza, 77, was confirmed as Fangio's son in December 2015 and now Vazquez's case has reached the same conclusion.

Vazquez, 73, always claimed that his late mother Catalina Basili confessed in 2005 that he was Fangio’s son, the result of a relationship she had with the driver in the 1940s.

Fangio was never married nor had any other recognized children in his lifetime – although he had a lengthy relationship Andrea Berruet, Espinoza’s mother.

The Argentinean driver, who won the F1 title in 1951 and ’54 through ’57, died on July 17th 1995, aged 84.

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Analysis: The end of Formula 1's engine token system

Formula 1's divisive engine development 'token' system is set to be dropped from 2017.

Mention the words 'tokens' and 'black and white boxes' to Formula 1 fans and to many a grey fog of bewilderment descends.

F1's controversial token system was introduced from the 2015 season as a way to police power unit development through to 2020, but it has emerged it is already on the way out.

It was intended to ensure manufacturers maintained a relatively tight rein on costs as unrestricted development could have resulted in a financial free-for-all.

HOW TOKENS WORKED

In short, the power unit is broken down into 42 parts, with each of those allocated a token 'weight' from one to three depending on importance, and with the entire system comprising 66 tokens.

For example, should a team choose to develop the oil pressure pumps it would have to use one of its available tokens, whereas to improve combustion - defined as ports, piston crown, combustion chamber, valves geometry, timing, lift, injector nozzle, coils and spark plugs - requires three.

Prior to 2015, certain parts that amounted to five tokens were 'frozen', allowing scope for development of all the remaining parts, totalling 61 tokens.

Again, to avoid unlimited improvements, for 2015 the teams were allowed to use a maximum of 32 tokens, equating to 48 per cent of the power unit.

Over time the initial rules stipulated the number of tokens each season would decrease, so for 2019 and 2020 just three tokens would be available, or just five per cent of the PU open to development.

As each area became 'frozen', so it was blacked out, hence the reference to the black and white boxes.

THE CONTROVERSIES

The token system has always been a sore point for the manufacturers, particularly when it became clear to Ferrari and Renault in 2014 that Mercedes was in a dominant position.

The two won a heavyweight fight with Mercedes early last year after successfully arguing to the FIA there was a loophole in the regulations that would allow them to develop in-season for 2015 only, rather than homologating a final specification for a February deadline.

Then in October last year the four manufacturers - with Honda now on board - agreed to allow in-season development for this year too, and with no decrease in the number of tokens rather than the planned drop from 32 to 25.

Behind the scenes talks over the token system have continued, and now it is to be abolished from 2017.

Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul said: "The token system is being removed.

"We have all agreed to do that because we all need the performance of the engine to converge.

"An F1 that is dictated by the performance of the engine is not good for anyone.

"You see it is not good for Mercedes, it is not good for Renault, Ferrari, so we are all interested to change that.

"To stop the public being confused between the penalty system, token system, we have decided to simply remove the token system."

How Honda would have loved to have returned to F1 last year without restrictions.

Given freedom to develop it is unlikely it would have encountered anywhere near the number of issues it did, and McLaren would have avoided racking up the penalties it acquired.

But as the newcomer its engine had to be homologated by the end of February, ensuring its hands were tied by the token system.

Any other manufacturer looking at F1 and thinking the new hybrid system was the way forward would have been severely deterred by what happened with Honda.

Now potential new entrants know they will not face the same difficulties as Honda as there will be scope to develop and quickly eradicate problems.

IS THIS THE RIGHT MOVE?

While engine performance could potentially converge, the opposite outcome is also possible and Mercedes could use its own freedom to develop to maintain its advantage.

At least Renault, Ferrari and Honda are being offered the freedom to play catch up, and they will no longer be able to cite the the token system's restrictions as a reason for failure.

And while the confusion is gone, the way is now paved for the manufacturers to spend at will on development at a time when cost cuts are meant to be made.

It is on the heads of those who lead the boards of the car-giant quartet, and at least their customers will not bear the costs of any extravagances.

That's thanks to the customer engine price limits introduced to stave off the 'independent engine' plan.

Still while the days of the unloved token system may be numbered, a potential arms race may be looming.

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MAGNUSSEN HAD ALTERNATIVE F1 OFFER FOR 2016

Renault wasn’t Kevin Magnussen’s only Formula 1 prospect for 2016, according to the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

When asked if he had turned down an offer from another team, the Danish driver answered simply: “Yes.”

Ekstra Bladet claims the other option was Manor, the only F1 team still yet to announce its race drivers for 2016.

Another Danish newspaper, BT, claims Magnussen’s return to F1 has been powered by about EUR 7 million in backing courtesy of wealthy Danish businessman Anders Holch Povlsen.

He heads the company Bestseller, whose brand Jack and Jones was clearly visible on Renault’s black testing livery at the Paris launch earlier this week.

Magnussen confirmed: “Anders really is a great support in every possible way. I have a lot to thank him for.”

It is believed the 23-year-old’s contract is for 2016 only.

“It’s one A4 page,” Magnussen said. “I cannot go into detail about what it says. The main thing is that I needed to race this year and the future is completely open to be here.

“As always in formula one, there is nothing certain,” he added. “If you do not perform, you will get nowhere. Formula one is a tough world where there are only the best.”

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Mercedes expects Ferrari and Honda to close during 2016 F1 season

Mercedes is refusing to take its overwhelmingly dominant position in Formula 1 for granted ahead of the 2016 season.

F1 records have tumbled over the last two years as Mercedes has clinched back-to-back drivers' and constructors' championships since the arrival of the current 1.6-litre V6 turbo-charged hybrid power unit.

While Mercedes will not have stood still over the past few months in terms of improving its system, it is adopting the stance its rivals will have made considerable gains of their own.

"If we look at what Ferrari has done over the last 12 months, it's remarkable," said Andy Cowell, the managing director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.

"Their improvements have been a huge credit to their reshuffle, their enthusiasm. Everybody here is going 'I wonder how we're going to do?'

"Nobody here is assuming we are going to win. Everybody here is assuming we're going to get beaten by Ferrari, and Honda are a big threat."

After a poor 2014, Ferrari emerged as Mercedes' nearest challenger in 2015 as it won three races with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel at the wheel.

Honda endured a wretched season last year in partnership with McLaren on its return to F1, encountering numerous issues with an engine that was also considerably down on power.

Assessing the Honda challenge, Cowell added: "They have come in quickly and they are learning in front of the public, but they're hugely determined.

"They are partnered with McLaren, who are hugely determined.

"We know exactly how McLaren work in terms of a data-driven approach, so they are going to make some big, big gains."

Renault, too, has also had its fair share of problems since its own dominant spell at the end of the V8 era when it powered Red Bull to four consecutive championships from 2010-13.

The French manufacturer is now back as a fully-fledged works entrant, although it is not expecting much in the way of success over the next two years as it ramps up its personnel and resources.

Despite that, Cowell added: "Then there's Renault's determination as well, as they've shown with them becoming a lot more involved now in Formula 1.

"Instead of just being a power unit provider there has been a team restructuring.

"There are going to be some great stories to talk about."

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Michelin still wants F1 return and thinks it has 2017 rules answers

Michelin remains interested in returning to Formula 1 at the earliest opportunity despite losing out to Pirelli for the 2017-19 tyre deal.

But it is still adamant F1 would need to switch to 18-inch wheel rims if it came back.

Key to Michelin's proposal was a move away from the current 13-inch spec.

Michelin and current supplier Pirelli both passed the FIA's requirements in the tyre tender for 2017-19, before commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone opted for Pirelli, which will keep the current rim size.

"We are still interested [in F1]," said motorsport director Pascal Couasnon told Autosport.

"We are not changing our position. But that may change if the series does not make sense anymore.

"If we can be relying on the spirit of a race which is a good mix of show and technology and we can demonstrate our knowhow, that's fine.

"[but] they would have to move to 18-inch.

"We believe one day or the other Formula 1 will have to move anyway.

"If you want to transfer technology from the track to the street, you need some similarity between the products."

The 2017 F1 technical rules package is not expected to be as revolutionary as first thought, but the target to make the cars faster remains.

Couasnon believes a move to 18-inch tyres would make laptimes 1.5s quicker and be cheaper than aerodynamic adjustments to achieve the same feat.

"How much money does it cost to try and gain a second without tyres when we can bring 1.5s with some modification?" he asked.

"We provide very constant tyres so when you test, you know that if there is a difference, it comes from a change to the car.

"So I maintain switching to Michelin costs less money than staying with competitors."

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MERCEDES ARE ASSUMING THEY WILL BE BEATEN BY FERRARI IN 2016

Despite dominating Formula 1 for the past two seasons, Mercedes F1 engine guru Andy Cowell reveals that no one in the tam is taking anything for granted ahead of the new season and admits that they are expecting a big challenge from Ferrari.

“If we look at what Ferrari has done over the last twelve months, it is remarkable,” said Cowell. “Their improvements have been a huge credit to their reshuffle and their enthusiasm.”

“Everybody here is going: I wonder how we are going to do? Nobody here is assuming we’re going to win, everybody here is assuming that we’re going to get beaten by Ferrari, and that Honda are a big threat.”

“They have come in quickly and they are learning in front of the public, but they are hugely determined and partnered with McLaren who are hugely determined. We know exactly how McLaren work in terms of a data-driven approach, so they are going to make some big, big gains,” predicts Cowell.

“Renault’s determination as well, as they’ve shown by being a lot more involved now in Formula 1, instead of just being a power unit provider there has been a team restructuring. There are going to be some great stories to talk about,” the Mercedes engine chief.

In 2015 Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel won three races, while Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg bagged 16 grand prix victories with Hamilton claiming the drivers’ world title and the team claiming the constructors’ championship.

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FORMULA 1 TEAM PRINCIPALS ARE A DISAPPEARING BREED

Renault, returning as a constructor after buying back the team they sold in 2009, this week followed McLaren and reigning world champions Mercedes in doing away with the once exalted position of team principal.

Frederic Vasseur will be racing director instead, reporting to Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul under president Jerome Stoll — with company chief executive Carlos Ghosn above all. It is very different to last time.

Then the French car giant had Italian Flavio Briatore — a flamboyant multi-millionaire who exercised complete control while never straying far from the celebrity gossip pages — as F1 team principal.

A decade or two ago, the principals were the main men in the paddock ‘Piranha Club’, big egos battling for supremacy and sometimes, when they could agree with the governing body, deciding the future of the sport.

Briatore, who remains close to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, won world titles with Benetton and Renault but was ousted after a Singapore race-fixing scandal that led to banishment from the paddock and Renault selling the team.

They re-acquired it in December but Abiteboul, himself a former principal of the now-defunct Caterham team, told Reuters that while Formula One teams could not be run by committee a new type of management was needed.

“In Flavio Briatore, we had a fantastic manager, a fantastic ambassador, but he was to a certain degree taking too much space,” he said. “(He was) too big of a personality and also (had) the expectation to have complete freedom, no sort of accountability.”

For Renault, the talk now is of synergies and building the brand, the racing operations helping to sell road cars with the team part of a much bigger and engaged corporate whole.

Only two of the 11 teams now have a designated principal who is also the owner or founder, and both are privately-owned — Williams and Force India. The rest of those still bearing the job title are accountable to others.

Mercedes dispensed with a formal principal in 2013 when Ross Brawn, a commanding presence who led his own Brawn GP team to both titles in 2009 and then sold it to the German carmaker at the end of the year, left.

Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff took charge of the commercial side while Paddy Lowe became responsible for the technical operation and former champion Niki Lauda was made non-executive chairman.

“That position (of team principal) is a thing of the past,” Wolff declared then. “It is like any other major corporation: there is not that one guy on the board who is making all the decisions — it is divided by competency.”

McLaren’s last team principal was Martin Whitmarsh, who took over from Ron Dennis and was ousted in 2014. The duties are now shared by racing director Eric Boullier and newly-appointed chief executive Jost Capito, who reports to overall head Dennis, with the team part of a greater group.

Gerard Lopez, principal of Lotus F1 last year and former owner who is now a minority shareholder in the Renault Sport team following December’s takeover, agreed the title was outmoded.

“I’m not going to say it’s something from the past but Formula One is a bit different now,” he told Reuters. “You need different hats on different people to do different things.

“I remember when I started watching Formula One … a team principal would manage, make the calls, strategise, bring the sponsors, hire the drivers and so on. There’s five different people doing that in the modern team today.”

The big decisions now often involve executives way above those entrusted to run the team at grand prix weekends, leaders like Ghosn.

Principals remain at the helm at Ferrari and Red Bull but both Maurizio Arrivabene and Christian Horner respectively report to president Sergio Marchionne and billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Toro Rosso are also owned by Red Bull while Sauber principal Monisha Kaltenborn, the first woman to occupy the position, was appointed by founder and majority shareholder Peter Sauber.

American Gene Haas, a NASCAR team co-owner whose Ferrari-powered Formula One outfit are the season’s newcomers, has appointed Austrian Guenther Steiner as principal but nobody doubts who has the final say.

Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya is also the principal of his team but the embattled liquor baron does not attend all the races and leaves much of the day-to-day running to his trusted deputy Bob Fernley.

Even privately-owned Manor Racing, the smallest team on the starting grid, have yet to appoint a principal after the departure of founder John Booth at the end of last season.

They offered it last year to Austria’s now-retired F1 racer Alex Wurz. He turned it down.

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Bottas: Ferrari rumours made life difficult

Valtteri Bottas admits that unrelenting rumours linking him to Ferrari "didn't help with the results and concentration" last season.

After a breakthrough season in 2014 where he claimed six podium finishes for Williams, Bottas caught the attention of rival teams – one of those being Ferrari.

Last year with the Scuderia's Kimi Raikkonen failing to match team-mate Sebastian Vettel out on track, the focus turned to who could possibly replace him in 2016. Bottas topped that list.

He was dogged by rumours about a pending move to Ferrari only for the Italian outfit to retain Raikkonen before Williams took up their option on their Finnish driver.

"It was the most disturbing time of my career so far," Bottas revealed to Autosport.

"I could really feel what media can do, they keep asking the same questions every race.

"Even on the street, normal people ask you about the same thing all the time, it's like 24/7 the same thing.

"It's not ideal, because when you go to a race weekend, the only thing you want to have in your mind is how do you get the perfect result.

"When there are rumours like this, it makes it more difficult. It didn't help, but that is F1.

"I think it all went well, for sure it didn't help with the results and concentration at all but I don't think it hurt that much."

Bottas, however, concedes it is all part of learning and that hopefully the next time he's dogged by speculation he will be able to brush it off.

"It was a good experience for me," he said.

"I still hopefully have a long career ahead of me and there will most likely be lots of speculation to come, maybe in 2016.

"It has prepared me well how to deal with it. Now I've been in that situation, I think it's probably good for the long term."

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Massa: Hamilton needs to be very focused

Felipe Massa says Lewis Hamilton cannot let his focus slip this season as Nico Rosberg tries to take the crown from his Mercedes team-mate.

The duo have been the title protagonists the past two seasons, however, both years went to Hamilton as he added to the title he won in 2008 with McLaren.

But in the closing stages of last year's championship it was Rosberg who came to the fore as the German won the last three grands prix.

It was, some claim, a sign that Hamilton had switched off have wrapped up the title.

Massa, though, reckons he cannot afford to do that at all this year as Rosberg will be making life very difficult for his team-mate.

"We saw Nico win the last three races, so it shows that maybe Hamilton was a little less interested in the last three races compared to how he was before because he was doing an amazing championship before," the Williams driver told Sky Sports.

"I think Lewis needs to be a bit more focused now as I don't think he is going to have a very easy championship inside his team looking at what Nico did in the last races. He will need to be very focused."

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‘Rosberg will be harder to beat this season’

Damon Hill believes Lewis Hamilton will face a stern challenge from within Mercedes this season as Nico Rosberg's second defeat has made him "more determined."

Last season Rosberg lost the title to his team-mate as Hamilton pushed him wide on the opening lap of the United States GP before charging to the victory that he needed to wrap his third title.

Rosberg was angered by the situation, evident in the bit of cap tossing that went on after the grand prix. The German bounced back to win the final three races of the season.

Hill reckons Rosberg will have learned from last year's championship defeat and will be even more determined to get one back against Hamilton this season.

"I think he is a little bit more formidable," the 1996 World Champion told Sky Sports.

"I think after the Austin defeat, the day when he lost the championship and Lewis infamously tossed the cap and he tossed it straight back, I think there was a moment where Nico said 'okay, I am not going to take this anymore' and he did go ahead and win all the remaining races.

"He can go on ahead and become the other world champion's son to become a World Champion himself. He probably knows time is running out and when you get all those ingredients together you maybe get a little bit of a hardening of the determination. Maybe he will be more determined this year and harder to beat."