Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

30 epic photos from the lens of Rainer Schlegelmilch

In his 55-year career, eminent photographer Rainer W. Schlegelmilch has taken more than 600,000 photos – which now belong to the Motorsport Network. Here are 30 of the best...

1962 - A classic view of Eau Rouge

1966 - Dan Gurney, Eagle-Climax T1G

1967 - Graham Hill gets ready in the pits, surrounded by his family including his wife Bette and a young Damon

1968 - Denny Hulme, McLaren-Cosworth M7A passes the destroyed BRM P133 of Pedro Rodriguez

1968 - Jo Siffert, Lotus borrows a dry visor from Graham Hill

1970 - Jackie Stewart passes the crashed BRM of Jackie Oliver and Ferrari of Jacky Ickx

1970 - Nina Rindt waits for her husband Jochen to pass the pits. He died in a crash at the Parabolica a few moments later.

1971 - Graham Hill, Brabham-Cosworth BT34

1971 - Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari

1972 - Emerson Fittipaldi, Lotus 72

1973 - François Cevert, Tyrrell

1974 - Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari

1975 - Carlos Reutemann, Brabham BT44B

1975 - James Hunt, Hesketh Ford

1976 - Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T2

1978 - Mario Andretti, Lotus 79

1981 - Gilles Villeneuve, Alan Jones

1982 - Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve

1984 - Eddie Cheever, Philippe Alliot, Stefan Johansson, Jo Gartner first lap crash [Pre Maldonado & Kvyat  ]

1985 - Stefan Johansson, Ferrari

1986 - Alain Prost, McLaren

1987 - Andrea de Cesaris, Brabham, throws sparks onto Stefan Johansson, McLaren

1987 - Ayrton Senna, Lotus-Honda

1987 - The BMW motor in Andrea de Cesaris's Brabham blows up

1992 - Ivan Capelli, Ferrari

1993 - Ayrton Senna, McLaren

1995 - Ste Devote crash: David Coulthard, Williams-Renault, Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Ferrari

1996 - Jacques Villeneuve, Williams

1999 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari

2012 - Jenson Button, McLaren Mercedes

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MIKA27]

Autosport podcast: Roebuck remembers F1 1984's Prost/Lauda battle

The latest edition of The Autosport Podcast focuses on Formula 1's closest world championship fight, when Niki Lauda beat McLaren team-mate Alain Prost by just half a point.

Nigel Roebuck, who covered the 1984 season for Autosport, joins Edd Straw to look back at a remarkable title fight between two remarkable drivers to tie in with this week's special edition of the magazine.

As well as the remarkable dominance of John Barnard's McLaren MP4/2, which won 12 out of 16 races, this was a year full of stories.

Ayrton Senna's rookie season with Toleman, and his controversial signing of a Lotus deal for 1985, is also a source of some fascinating reminiscences from Roebuck.

There's also a look at the struggles of Ferrari and Renault, how Lotus driver Nigel Mansell earned himself a Williams drive and tales of how fiction and reality came together at the Dallas Grand Prix.

As the stories flow, it becomes increasingly clear how important 1984 was at setting the tone for what happened in F1 over the years that followed.

The Autosport Podcast is available to subscribe to free via iTunes and most other podcast suppliers.

 

[MIKA27]

ROSBERG: HARD FOR FERRARI TO KEEP UP WITH MERCEDES

Nico Rosberg has made no secret of the fact that he has been watching the grand prix season unfold with interest and as a very well informed fan, now with the championship just past the halfway mark, the reigning Formula 1 World Champion believes that his former Mercedes team will have an edge over Ferrari as the development race gets serious during the final half of the year.

Rosberg told Sportbild, “Ferrari have done a great job over the past winter, but now it will be all be about the development race. I think it will be hard for Ferrari to keep up with Mercedes.”

“After Silverstone I had already thought: That’s it now. But I admit I was surprised that Ferrari hadn’t fallen back again in Hungary. Spa would have to be a full-on the Mercedes-track. Ferrari is unlikely to have a chance,” predicted Rosberg.

At the fast Silverstone circuit Mercedes dominated the race with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas scoring a one-two for the Silver Arrows as Ferrari faltered, but a couple of weeks later the Reds bounced back with their own one-two finish at the tight and twisty Hungaroring with Vettel leading home teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

The rivalry between title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel has shifted from mutual admiration and respect to one of contempt and disdain thanks largely to their high profile clash during a safety car period at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Rosberg gave his thoughts on the headline grabbing incident that took place in Baku, “You know that [Vettel] does not know how to control his emotions. Last year he raged over the radio in Mexico. This attitude, where he feels he is never wrong is also one of Sebastian’s strengths.”

“In the short term he may appear to be weak, but over a whole season this way of being can make the difference. The basic character, despite all opposition, is geared for victory and that cannot be damaging,” explained Rosberg.

After 11 of the 20 rounds, Mercedes lead the constructors championship by 39 points while Vettel is top of the drivers’ standings with 14 points over Hamilton.

[MIKA27]

Romain Grosjean unveils Nicky Hayden tribute helmet for US GP

Romain Grosjean has unveiled a Nicky Hayden tribute helmet which the Haas driver will wear during the United States Grand Prix in October.

The 2006 MotoGP champion passed away in May, five days after he was hit by a car while cycling in Italy, as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

In tribute to the late American rider, Grosjean has had a custom helmet designed, which features Hayden's '69' race number and his nickname 'Kentucky Kid'.

Drivers are permitted one helmet design change per season, which many drivers save for their home race or the Monaco GP.

 

[MIKA27]

Guenther Steiner: Minardi-style team could aid youngsters in F1

Guenther Steiner feels that a Minardi-style team would be of assistance to young drivers in Formula 1, after Haas opted to retain its line-up of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

Haas has run Ferrari-backed youngsters Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi during Friday practice sessions, prompting speculation that either could feature in Haas’ 2018 line-up.

However, Gene Haas confirmed last month that the squad would keep Grosjean and Magnussen for 2018, ostensibly leaving Leclerc and Giovinazzi relying on Sauber for a seat next year.

Minardi, which competed in Formula 1 between 1985 and 2005, before being acquired by Red Bull, typically ran young drivers, most notably Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber.

While Toro Rosso has tended to maintain Minardi's ethos of running youngsters, Steiner suggested that a Minardi-type approach is required on the grid in the current climate, also citing the example of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo starting his career at the now-defunct HRT outfit.

“I think they are both good guys, with very good potential,” Steiner said of Leclerc and Giovinazzi.

“How they get into a seat is difficult, Formula 1 in that respect is very difficult.

“The difficulty is they need to be in the right time at the right place, there is nothing else you can do for it, at the moment you cannot even buy a cockpit at the moment.

“Like when Minardi was around, Minardi was maybe happy to be last, that was their duty to bring drivers up.

“Maybe they were not happy to be last but they could live with it as it was their business model: to develop drivers was their business models.

“It’s like when Ricciardo drove the HRT, you knew he was not going to do anything but it gave him experience and that’s not there anymore.

“It’s maybe a good thing we don’t have these teams [running at the back], [but] maybe a bad thing…”

Steiner added that it would be too big a risk for Ferrari to promote either to the senior squad for 2018.

“It’s difficult for young guys, like the Ferrari guys, Charles and Antonio, to get into it [Formula 1] somehow as there’s nobody around giving them space, because there is no space.

“Formula 2 to Formula 1… it’s such a big gap, and you need a little bit of learning, to put Charles or Antonio straightaway in a Ferrari is a big risk.

“It can go all good, but [the] bigger chances [are that] it goes wrong as the expectations are so high, to make any little mistake, and the sport is so complex that you make little mistakes when you’re young.

“When you’re 20 [you need experience] and experience you cannot buy, and you need time, and you cannot buy time.”

[MIKA27]

F1 doesn't need V8 return to excite, claim Wolff and Brawn

Formula 1 can deliver engines to excite fans in the future without turning back the clock to reintroduce V8s, claim leading figures heavily involved in future rule discussions.

While F1’s chiefs continue talks about new power unit regulations from 2021, which will likely be for a twin-turbo V6 hybrid without an MGU-H, there remain many fans who would like the sport to go more extreme and bring back V8s or V10s.

But Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff and F1 motorsport managing director Ross Brawn are adamant that improvements to the current engines can please both manufacturers and fans in delivering excitement – and especially noise – again.

Wolff said: “I strongly believe that F1 stands for high technology and innovation, performance. If you try to crawl back in time to the famous 80’s and 90’s, just because you liked it so much, it is the wrong strategy.

“The discussions we are having are really good in so far as we see what we want to keep from the current regulations.

"There has been scope for various pillars that the new engine needs to have: cost of development needs to be under control, it needs to be high-tech, it needs to be hybrid, power-to-weight ratio needs to be better than it is now, and now we need to look at the quality of sound.

  

“We are looking at the variables of how we can achieve that, and in so far as everybody has been pretty much on the same path, I believe by the end of the year we can come to a close and say this is what we want to do in 2021.”

Brawn, who is working hard on framing a vision for F1’s future that makes it more attractive for fans, believes that calls for a return to V8s need to be put into context.

“We have a lot of fans who say 'we want to go back to normally-aspirated engines', but then you have to ask the next question: why is that?” said Brawn.

“It’s because it creates more emotion with the noise and the revs.

"So can we create a hybrid engine that has that noise, has the revs and has that appeal? I think the manufacturers involved in F1 know that that is a key element.

“They need to have a successful F1. There is no point having an engineering exercise that demonstrates your technology if nobody is watching it.

“The manufacturers know there has to be a balance of relevance, but still be able to engage the passion of the fans."

[MIKA27]

Renault F1 team open to keeping Jolyon Palmer for 2018

The Renault Formula 1 team says it is open to retaining Jolyon Palmer for 2018, if he can lift his disappointing form in the second half of this season.

Palmer has struggled through the first 11 races of 2017, failing to score a point or outqualify Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who has made Q3 six times, scored 26 points and sits 10th in the championship.

Palmer's contract expires at the end of the season and Renault has been assessing Robert Kubica's potential to return to F1 full-time, which included a recent day of testing in the team's 2017 car in Hungary, raising questions about Palmer's prospects with the team.

Renault reserve Sergey Sirotkin and Friday driver Nicholas Latifi have also driven this year's car, while development driver Oliver Rowland has also targeted a 2018 F1 graduation.

Team managing director Cyril Abiteboul has spent time reassuring Palmer about his immediate future at Renault, following repeated media speculation that he is set to lose his drive.

Although Renault publicly acknowledges it is considering Kubica for a potential race seat, Abiteboul says it is also open to retaining Palmer's services for next season if he can raise his game.

"Frankly, if he manages to turn around the situation, which he did last year, we are completely open to a future between the team and Jo for one more season," Abiteboul told Autosport.

"Stability would be good for the team. That's also what we wanted last year - to have Nico changing we wanted not to have to change two drivers.

"Things could go his [Palmer's] way, but at the end of the day that's in his hands.

"He knows that right now he's on a one-year contract and completely understands the team has to assess its options for the future."

Mix of problems has led to 'snowball'

Abiteboul said Palmer had shown he is capable of performing strongly, but had lost confidence amid a run of poor reliability mixed with repeated driver errors.

"We've seen very good things with Jo, both during the winter tests, during the season, during a session," Abiteboul added.

"He's capable of extracting really good pace from the car, doing a very good job, providing accurate feedback, being very committed into the team.

"At the same time there's been a mix of mistakes, missed opportunities - clearly not assisted by circumstance with reliability that has been clearly weaker on his side of the garage.

"Very rapidly what this sort of mix has created is, I believe, a lack of confidence - a lack of confidence in himself, a lack of ability to put his head down in the difficulties that will encounter any driver in a race weekend or in a season.

"And that lack of confidence has started to kick off in a sort of snowball and has led to the situation we have now.

"I'm really trying to protect Jo and to confirm to Jo almost on a daily basis my and the team's commitment and full support - in order to recreate the confidence in himself and in the team.

"It's not the job of one day."

[MIKA27]

Romain Grosjean: Overcoming adversity key to earning top F1 drive

Romain Grosjean believes he must show he can deal better with adversity to earn a top Formula 1 drive.

Grosjean's outspoken radio messages have become a regular feature of F1 television broadcasts, in particular as his Haas team grappled with a long-running brake issue.

Now in his sixth full F1 season, the closest Grosjean has come to a race-winning team was with Lotus in 2012/13, when he claimed nine podium finishes.

Asked what more he needed to do to earn a top-line seat, he highlighted the way he presents his emotions.

"There are always things you can improve," Grosjean told Autosport.

"Finding your way when you are frustrated to deal with things differently and dealing better with the brakes not working and stuff like that - I need to more on that.

"Generally my level of driving, fitness, feedback is pretty much ready to be world champion in a good car."

He defended his radio outbursts as evidence of his determination.

"I get frustrated because I want to win. Then if I get frustrated I talk on the radio. So where to escape the frustration?" said Grosjean.

"The other way of seeing it is to say 'OK I'm not going to win the race, I'm just going to get my money, drive and go home'.

"If I get to that stage, when I'm 31 and I want to be world champion, then my career's kind of over.

"As long as you keep that flame and that winning spirit and you're not happy because you've qualified 14th but you've beat your team-mate... that'll never make me happy.

"For some people it does, great for them, but it'll never be for me.

"I need to get my radio messages down but I get frustrated because I want to win.

"If you're leading or if you've got a car which can win then you're not shouting and you're not complaining because you are where you think you belong."

Grosjean's move from Lotus - just before it became the works Renault team - to Ferrari-affiliated Haas last year was widely seen as an attempt to earn a future factory Ferrari drive.

He believes that remains a possibility, but not before 2019.

"I'm still thinking that one day the stars will align and I will get my chance," Grosjean said.

"Since 2015, I knew I had a three-year contract with Haas, so there's an announcement [each year] but for me it's not an announcement.

"There are always possibilities and I guess on December 1 Valtteri [Bottas] was not expecting to be fighting for the world championship instead of for seventh or eighth or whatever.

"Then he gets a phonecall and he's in a world champion car. "Things can happen at any time and I'm hoping that my day comes one day."

[MIKA27]

More amazing images from Rainer Schlegelmilch

In his 55-year career, eminent photographer Rainer W. Schlegelmilch has taken more than 600,000 photos – which now belong to the Motorsport Network. Here are some more of the best...

Polesetter Jim Clark, Lotus, John Surtees, Cooper, Jackie Stewart, BRM, and Ludovico Scarfiotti, Ferrari on the front row

Jochen Rindt in pits with his time-keeping wife Nina and Lotus team boss Colin Chapman

Ayrton Senna straps in to his Lotus cockpit

Jim Clark, Lotus 49

Alain Prost, McLaren

Le Mans: Pedro Rodriguez, Lorenzo Bandini and Mike Parkes are the first three starters

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari

Jackie Stewart, Matra

Matra mechanics and Jackie Stewart's wife, Helen

Ayrton Senna, McLaren

Denny Hulme, McLaren Ford-Cosworth

A Cooper-Maserati T81

Drivers briefing

Kurt Ahrens, Brabham-Repco BT24 V8

Jack Brabham

Jean Alesi, Eddie Irvine, crash

Michael Schumacher, Benetton Renault

Alessandro Nannini, Benetton

Michele Alboreto, Ferrari

Michael Schumacher, Benetton Renault

Niki Lauda, Ferrari 312T2

Stefan Bellof with team boss Ken Tyrrell

Ronnie Peterson, STP March

Jackie Stewart

Jack Brabham, Brabham, in front of Jackie Oliver, BRM, Ronnie Peterson, March, and Henri Pescarolo, Matra

Bruce McLaren, McLaren

Lotus drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill with Walter Hayes, public relations executive for Ford

James Hunt

 

[MIKA27]

OCON: I WAS NOT A NORMAL KID!

Force India driver Esteban Ocon, who has emerged as the revelation of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship season, admits that his strong showings are a result of very hard work and being a tad out of the ordinary too.

Ocon is not your normal ‘rookie’ as last year he did nine races with the now defunct Manor Racing team, which gave him invaluable mileage at the highest level.

During that period he did enough to impress Force India bosses to sign him ahead of highly rated Pascal Wehrlein. It was an unexpected call at the time.

But it has proved to be an inspired signing as 20 year old Ocon has shone alongside vastly experienced Sergio Perez and now the Frenchman is starting to seriously threaten the Mexican on track.

Ocon told the official F1 website, “You cannot plan success! We respect the targets that we set at the start of the season – which means scoring points at every race. And that is pretty much what I am doing!”

“I have to work very hard! I have a lot less experience than Sergio so I have to catch up on so many details that come naturally to him. Before and after each race I am mostly in the factory for simulator work. I think that is what makes a big difference.”

Asked how much more ‘overtime’ he is putting in relative to his teammate, Ocon said, “I don’t want to say a number – so let’s put it this way: a lot more!”

In 11 races Ocon has scored points on 10 occasions and spoke about his season thus far, “My personal best race was Canada. There I was feeling the best. But a great memory was also Barcelona.”

“When the guys climbed the fence and were shouting at us – that was very special. In that moment finishing in P4 and P5 was just like a 1-2 finish! I am not here to stay behind Checo all the time. I want to push – very hard,” he added.

Inevitably as the gap between the Force India drivers narrows, banging wheels between the pink cars has become a regular thing during races. In Baku the pair collided when Ocon made an opportunist overtake, while Perez closed the door and there was contact.

Thus what could have been a double podium finish ended with Perez suffering a DNF and Ocon finishing sixth. Perez blamed his French teammate for causing the incident and bringing an end the Mexican’s 15 race points scoring streak.

Ocon insisted, “We ended his 15-race scoring streak! We! I went to the factory right afterwards and the team said that it was a race incident and that we both made mistakes. Of course that shouldn’t happen – but a race on such a track is close to a state of emergency. We have been told that we should be more careful in the future as it was not only his fault or only my fault. End of story.”

Ocon’s rise to Formula 1 is a racing fairy tale in that he came from a very modest background, where his family did what they could to put the youngster through the expensive and demanding junior years of racing, before he caught the eye of the Mercedes junior programme minders who have since paid his ticket to the top.

Ocon and his family lived in a caravan as they traveled to various racing circuits, while another 2017 rookie Lance Stroll always had the best of the best thanks to his billionaire father Lawrence Stroll.

The Stroll story is quite the opposite to the Ocon tale, but the Frenchman holds no grudges, “Lance is a great guy and I hope that he will succeed in the future… behind me, though! But yes, without my racing success – where the pieces of the puzzle fell into the right places – I probably would now be working as a mechanic or have another simple job.”

“The McDonalds example was just a joke but it went viral worldwide – but being a mechanic would have been the biggest likelihood. So yes: I am hungry. I know where I come from and I know of all the sacrifices my parents have put in to make my career possible. Probably this is a similarity to Lewis!”

Ocon was referencing to the fact that one of the sport’s great duels was that between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton – a prince versus the pauper style fable that played itself out in Formula 1 until the end of last year.

Being of meagre means meant that Ocon was under huge pressure each time he raced, “I only can say if I had not have succeeded it would have been terrible. I had big, big pressure from a very young age. I was not a normal kid! I didn’t have a kid life!”

“Probably you could say that I went straight from being a toddler to an adult life. Sure that is a bit exaggerated – but when you are so young you feel that way. I understood the facts of life from very early on. It was a hard time – but now it is time for me to enjoy!” added Ocon with a trademark smile.

[MIKA27]

McLaren indicates September deadline for 2018 engine deal

McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier says that the team wants to resolve its engine situation for 2018 in September, amid uncertainty over its relationship with Honda.

McLaren reunited with Honda in 2015 but the partnership has been plagued by a lack of reliability and performance, following up ninth in the standings with sixth last season.

Honda introduced a revised power unit design ahead of the 2017 campaign but teething problems severely hindered prospects, leaving Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne on the backfoot.

Amid the stagnating situation, McLaren heaped criticism on Honda, as it explored whether to sever the partnership and seek an alternative solution.

Boullier has indicated that McLaren wants to finalise its 2018 plans next month.

“Technically you could change an engine in 12 weeks, let’s say,” he said.

“You can change it any time before the season up until let’s say three months before.

“[But] now test dates are released, it’s going to be September, if you want to do the base design around an engine, September.”

Honda has made progress with its Spec 3 power unit, initially introduced in Azerbaijan, before being raced for the first time by Vandoorne in Austria.

The gains assisted Vandoorne in making Q3 in Britain before Alonso captured McLaren’s best result of the campaign by taking sixth at the most recent event in Hungary.

On Honda’s season, boss Yusuke Hasegawa said: “This is [the] third year, we should show more performance, we are very disappointed

“But [we] don’t stop any development, I cannot tell when it will come but we will have another update very soon.”

[MIKA27]

Frederic Vasseur: Sauber must target return to F1 midfield

Sauber Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur says the squad should target a return to Formula 1’s midfield group, but acknowledges that any recovery may not be swift.

Former Renault chief Vasseur arrived as Sauber’s new boss last month as a replacement for Monisha Kaltenborn, who departed amid disagreements with owners Longbow Finance.

Sauber, following years of competing in Formula 1’s midfield as an occasional podium challenger, finished 10th in 2014 and 2016, a spot it holds once more in 2017.

Should Sauber preserve 10th through until the end of the season, it would mark the first time in its history that the team has been last in the standings.

Vasseur is confident that Sauber has the resources and infrastructure to haul itself back into the midfield, but is cautious over signalling a time frame in which to do so.

“You have clearly on the grid three or four top teams, then a midfield group, [which is] changing race to race, P8 to P18 it’s pretty up and down,” he said.

“We have to target the midfield group, I don’t know if it will take months or more but we have to do it.

“I don’t have to transform the team to be honest, I think that you have to put everything in perspective.

“The team last year was in a quite tough situation on the financial side, the restructuring went well, for sure we have to improve, but the team has structure with very good engineers, very good technicians.

“For sure we have to work, we have to invest, we have to do a lot of things, but everyone is pushing in the same direction; we have to do it step-by-step and we’ll see.”

Vasseur also has business interests in Spark Racing Technology, which supplies Formula E, and ART Grand Prix, the junior single-seater operation, but he dismissed suggestions that he could be distracted from his duties with Sauber.

“I don’t have to divide my time, even if I kept some shares in my old businesses [Spark and ART],” he said.

“I’m not involved at all in the management or day-by-day and I’m fully committed to the Sauber project. It was already like this last year [at Renault].”

[MIKA27]

Gene Haas "really depressed" by size of gap to top F1 teams

Team owner Gene Haas admits that the gulf between his Formula 1 squad and the sport’s three leading teams is leaving him feeling “really depressed”.

Halfway through its second F1 season, Haas sits seventh in the constructors’ standings on 29 points, with Romain Grosjean scoring the team’s best result of the campaign – a sixth place in Austria.

Despite beating the American outfit’s midfield rivals, Grosjean nonetheless finished over a minute behind Valtteri Bottas’ winning Mercedes, and qualified more than 1.2 seconds slower than the Finn.

Asked to assess his team’s season so far, Haas struck a downbeat tone, admitting he was baffled how Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull could be “light years” ahead of the rest of the pack.

“I think we have two good drivers right now, they’ve both scored points, the car’s very good,” Haas, whose team has a close technical partnership with Ferrari, told Motorsport.com.

“But the real cloud that hangs over us is the fact we’re one to two seconds [a lap] off the fastest cars. And quite frankly we don’t understand we can be that far off with what we consider to be state-of-the-art equipment.

“Other than the top three teams, everybody’s in that boat. That to me is probably the biggest problem that I see right now, that the top three teams are light years ahead of everybody else.

“They are also the teams that develop their own engines, transmissions and chassis, so there’s an inherent advantage in doing that.

“How do we overcome that? Quite frankly there’s no answer to that, which is really depressing.”

  

F1 facing “a dilemma”

Haas said the wide gap separating F1’s top three squads – which between them have locked out the podium at every race this year so far except Baku – was a key question for the sport to address in future.

“That’s a dilemma that F1 is facing,” Haas added. “You have the teams at the front and then this big mid-pack… we’re all very close together, matter of fact the mid-pack is all within a second.

“So from a competitive standpoint we’re all very equal, it’s just you have this group way out in front that we’re all struggling with.

“The reality of it is, that outside those three teams nobody has a chance to win. If you’re running sixth through 20th, you really don’t have a chance of winning.”

MIKA: Ahm Gene.. Haven't you paid attention to F1 in the last 30+ years  F1 has always been much like this.

[MIKA27]

Massa: F1 criticisms same now as in the 2000s

Felipe Massa says that Formula 1 has not got worse in the 16 years since he made his debut, despite widespread criticism of the sport during that period.

The 36-year-old, who had made his debut for Sauber in 2002, believes F1 is always criticised and that that essence of grand prix racing hasn't changed much since he had joined.

“In the moment that I started, overtaking was very difficult, we didn’t have DRS and everyone was complaining about the same thing," Massa told Motorsport.com.

“They said ‘ah, we need to overtake’, ‘ah, we cannot follow the cars’, ‘ah, the top teams have more than the other teams’, ‘ah it’s too expensive’… What is different? I don’t really see a big change.

“Maybe in that time, teams spent even more money than they are now but the gap between the best and the worst was huge, like it is now.

“This is F1. Hopefully it will change in the future, but I didn’t see a big change.”

Massa also believes that the challenge that F1 drivers faced is the same as it was.

“They are different cars but the mentality – the way you are driving, what you put into the car, how you try to get the best out of the car – is no different.

“Maybe in that time, teams spent even more money than they are now but the gap between the best and the worst was huge, like it is now.

“This is F1. Hopefully it will change in the future, but I didn’t see a big change.”

Massa also believes that the challenge that F1 drivers faced is the same as it was.

“They are different cars but the mentality – the way you are driving, what you put into the car, how you try to get the best out of the car – is no different.

“It’s just different types of cars, different rules, different tyres, different engines. To be an F1 driver, you need to be the best and you need to take the best out of the car.

“It was always like that in F1, it hasn’t been anything different from when I started to now. How things work is not so different.”

Massa also believes that the experience gained by drivers of his generation before the introduction of draconian testing restrictions in 2009 - which initially banned all testing during the season - remains valuable.

From 2001, when he first tested for Sauber, to the end of 2008, Massa completed 260 official days of testing. In the nine-and-a-half years since, he has had only 66 days.

“The experience, the respect you have [for the car], I would say you have more and sometimes you see things before they happen,” said Massa.

“[But the younger drivers] have their opportunities and they learn and they do many races and they are still doing a good job.

“So I may have more experience, but I don’t think it’s so different. A good driver is a good driver.”

[MIKA27]

Kimi Raikkonen tips Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc as future F1 star

Kimi Raikkonen has tipped Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc as a star of the future following the 19-year-old's impressive performances in F2 and the Formula 1 post-Hungarian Grand Prix test.

Leclerc leads the F2 drivers' standings by 50 points after seven rounds and topped the times on day one of the Hungaroring test when he drove for Ferrari.

He joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and said last month that being able to observe Sebastian Vettel and Raikkonen had been a "a massive help".

"It's good if he's happy with the whole team helping him," said Raikkonen.

"It's always tricky to come and drive a different car than you're used to.

"But he has time on his side, he's shown good progress and for sure in the future he will do good things."

Leclerc has been linked with a drive at Sauber next season, with Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne keen to find a place for him and fellow junior Antonio Giovinazzi in F1.

Both of their chances increased when Marchionne revealed Ferrari is considering turning Sauber into a junior team to aid the progress of its young drivers.

"Obviously as I said I need to impress as many people as I can and I will give my best to do that," said Leclerc.

"Then if I have an opportunity at the end of the year I will grab it with two hands but for now I am just focusing on Formula 2."

Leclerc clocked up 98 laps - more than a Hungarian Grand Prix race distance - during the test, edging out Stoffel Vandoorne by 0.088s to top the times on day one.

His time of 1m17.124s on the softs was 0.622 seconds slower than Vettel managed the following day, although the latter was running on super-softs when he set his best time.

"I'm satisfied," said Leclerc. "It's always important to impress anybody.

"But to be honest it wasn't really the main goal [at the test].

"The main goal was to get mileage in the car, try to do the best job I could for them and I hope they have seen some good bits about me."

[MIKA27]

HORNER: WIND TUNNEL LED US ASTRAY

Red Bull have not delivered on expectations this season as they languish third in the Formula 1 World Championship pecking order, behind Ferrari and Mercedes, while there drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen simply do not have the tools to challenge for the top step of the podium – and the problem appears to be the wind tunnel.

The new aero friendly rules were expected to play into the hands of design guru Adrian Newey, but this has not transpired as the Blues have been outclassed by the red cars and the silver cars so far this season.

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner revealed, “Coming into the season we came in on the back foot really. Our tools weren’t correlating with what we were seeing on the track. Really it was around the Melbourne time that we identified where the issue was and then to unravel that situation and focus on developing the car, relying on the results that we were getting.”

“Predominantly it was the wind tunnel that was leading us a little bit astray. I think the size of the model, the size of the tyres in the tunnel we have, gave some spurious results, whereas previous it had been very reliable in specific areas. Suddenly we had this divergence between track, tunnel and CFD.”

“It probably cost us about two months. About two and a half months in terms of where it put us back to. Then of course you are working flat out to try and recoup all that time. It’s not like the others are all standing still.”

Although Ricciardo won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it was a fortuitous victory while the five podium finishes in eleven races is not the stuff of a serious championship challenge.

But Horner sees the bright side: “Ever since Barcelona, each grand prix we’ve managed to get more and more performance onto the car. I think we have made good progress during the first half of the year. We lost a lot of ground earlier on but we’re hoping for a much more competitive second half of the season.”

At the start of the season numerologists were concerned that the RB13 could end up being an unlucky 13 for the team and Newey – until now it has proved to be so.

But it should be remembered that (with Neil Oatley) Newey also penned the McLaren MP4-13 which won nine of the 16 races in 1998, claiming the drivers’ title for Mika Hakkinen and the constructors’ title for McLaren that year. Maybe things can change in the remaining nine races…

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS: THE SECOND HALF WILL BE BETTER FOR ME

In his first 11 races as Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas has firmly established himself in the team, winning twice and going into the summer break third in the Formula 1 World Championship standings, but the Finn believes that his best races are ahead of him while the man he replaced in the Silver Arrows outfit says that he might just be the perfect driver.

Reflecting on his season thus far, Bottas said, “I feel there are things I can still improve as long as I keep working with the team as we have been doing so far. I know the second half will be better for me and my best performances are still on the way. That’s how I feel so that’s why I’m really looking forward to the second half of the season. I would say the first half has been average because I always set targets very high but obviously some good moments as well.”

Bottas is third in the championship standings behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Finn trailing leader Vettel by 33 points.

“I was hoping to be in a slightly better position in the championship,” admitted Bottas. “I think we are still looking good for points in the constructors’ but we’ve had some difficult races, which is not ideal and for us as only winning is good enough for the team. That’s always going to be the target. We definitely have work to do and I have work to do.”

“I really think the next two races [Spa and Monza] at least on paper we think should be a bit better for us, compared to Ferrari. But I think they’ve made some good progress and we definitely do have work to do. They are quick through the corners and we need to work on that and we need to work on our maximum downforce package. I think that’s the main thing, so there’s work to do.”

“There’s still many track to come that requires a lot of downforce. Spa is mainly about efficiency, Monza is very low downforce but then Singapore you need the downforce again. We are really working hard and trying to make the car better because if we don’t make any progress it’s going to be a tricky season,” explained Bottas.

Meanwhile the man he replaced at Mercedes, retired World Champion Nico Rosberg who follows the championship, told Auto Bild, “I’m really impressed [with Valtteri]. He might be the perfect driver mentally because he is able to just concentrate on himself, making him consistent and fast.”

[MIKA27]

KVYAT: SOONER OR LATER THE RESULT WILL COME

Many believe that the final nine races of the 2017 Formula 1 season will make or break Daniil Kvyat who is enduring a problem packed season with Toro Rosso, while his teammate is shining.

Kvyat was a hot property when he made his debut for Toro Rosso at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, and a year later he was chosen over Jean Eric Vergne to progress into the Red Bull senior team alongside Daniel Ricciardo.

The Russian was never in Ricciardo’s league and his fall from grace was pretty swift – after a season and four races he was demoted back to the Toro Rosso outfit with Max Verstappen stepping up to the big team.

Red Bull management – led by notoriously impatient Helmut Marko – have been astoundingly kind to the Russian who has simply not improved and is being out-classed by Carlos Sainz in the sister car. The Spaniard is ninth in the championship with 35 points, while the Russian is 17th with four points.

But Kvyat is adamant he can turn things around, “No changes are necessary as the only thing we really need is a clean weekend, without any issues. If all the pieces of the puzzle are in place, it’s quite simple in fact. I’d put it like that: it’s much easier than it may seem to someone, who’s not involved. Everything works well, so yeah, no need for significant changes. Our pace is good, and results would be good as well.”

“Talking about my side of the garage, I believe we show some good pace in qualifying. Especially during the weekends, when we managed to get the car into the optimal performance window. Setting up the car is a real challenge this year because of the very sensitive aero, which is now a major component.”

“That is something we fail to do properly on some occasions, and it may lead to dramatic consequences. But in general, whenever we have a clean session, the pace is high on both Saturdays and Sundays. And this is something that makes us feel optimistic. Again, we just need to try and have a clean weekend, and the rest will be there.”

Looking for positives Kvyat added, “The season opening was quite promising. I believe that in general, we had many promising weekends, but we just didn’t manage to get the maximal outcome. It was either technical issues, or I got in trouble during the first lap, which happened twice, what prevented us from scoring more points. Many times we had minor issues here and there which damaged us big time.”

“But in situations like that, you just need to be patient. Sooner or later, the result will come: we have all the necessary ingredients. So, we just need to continue doing our work, trying to have cleaner Saturdays and Sundays and the reward will be there. Everything is under control, and you need to be pleased with your job, enjoy doing it. That’s the recipe,” explained Kvyat.

Going into the summer break it appears that both Kvyat and Sainz will remain with Red Bull for another year, but much can happen in the nine remaining races and highly rated Pierre Gasly is waiting in the wings for his break.

[MIKA27]

Bottas: Halo won’t hurt Formula 1

Although some in the paddock fear the arrival of Halo goes against the DNA of Formula 1, Valtteri Bottas says he doesn’t think it will “hurt” the sport.

Next season all the cars will feature Halo after the FIA ruled that cockpit protection will be used in Formula 1.

It is a decision that has divided both the paddock and fans alike with some fearing it goes against everything that is Formula 1.

Bottas, though, reckons it will ultimately be “good” for the drivers. His only concern is the added weight.

“I don’t think Halo will hurt Formula 1,” the Mercedes driver told Auto Bild.

“It is a safety improvement, like so many others in the history of the sport, which is good for us drivers.

“The only drawback is the extra weight because the heavier the cars are, the less exciting they are.”

[MIKA27]

Steiner not fazed by new Ferrari-Sauber deal

Guenther Steiner is confident Sauber’s new Ferrari deal won’t hurt Haas’ own deal with the Scuderia.

Sauber recently called it quits on their proposed link up with Honda, instead opting to sign a new long-term deal with Ferrari for 2018 onwards.

The deal saw Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne state that he could see Sauber becoming a “kind of junior team” for the Scuderia, a place where they could blood their young drivers.

Steiner, though, reckons should that transpire it won’t have a negative impact on Haas’ own relationship with the Italian stable.

The team boss told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t think so. We look after ourselves and our relationship with Ferrari.

“If they have a relationship with somebody else… We are not asked anyway what we think about it or what they should be doing.

“I think our relationship is strong. I think it will continue as good as it is now. I think without them we wouldn’t be where we are right now.”

As for Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi, the two Ferrari youngsters who could yet race for Sauber next season, Steiner acknowledges it is not easy for youngsters to get into F1 these days given that teams such as Minardi and HRT, who debuted Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo, no longer exist.

“I think they are both good guys, with very good potential,” he said of the duo who have both driven for Haas. “How they get into a seat is difficult, Formula One in that respect is very difficult.

“The difficulty is they need to be in the right time at the right place, there is nothing else you can do for it, at the moment you cannot even buy a cockpit at the moment.

“Like when Minardi was around, Minardi was maybe happy to be last, that was their duty to bring drivers up. Maybe they were not happy to be last but they could live with it as it was their business model: to develop drivers was their business models.

“It’s like when Ricciardo drove the HRT, you knew he was not going to do anything but it gave him experience and that’s not there anymore. It’s maybe a good thing we don’t have these teams [running at the back], but maybe a bad thing.”

[MIKA27]

F1 race director Whiting inspects venue in Buenos Aires

FIA Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting has completed an “informal visit” of Argentina’s Buenos Aires circuit to evaluate the state of the facility.

Whiting walked the circuit, which was last used for F1 in 1998, and is believed to have been pleased with the standard of the track. 

He made clear to organisers areas of the circuit which require improvement and upgrading in order to comply with F1 standards required to host a race. 

Whiting was joined on his tour by members of the city government and representatives from the Automovil Club Argentino (ACA) and the Argentinean Drivers’ Association (Asociacion Argentina de Volantes).

It has been suggested that Argentina is keen on F1 returning to the country, with former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone hinting in 2015 it was a possibility. 

F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches has said Liberty Media is keen for a calendar of more than 21 grands prix by the 2019 season, leading to interest from several countries.

Portugal and Turkey are known to want F1 to return to their shores, while there has been talk of a second race in the United States. 

Should Argentina return in the future, it would be the third race in Latin America, joining Brazil and Mexico.

Buenos Aires hosted 20 F1 races between 1953 and 1998.

[MIKA27]

McLaren launches tongue-in-cheek Woking GP plan

McLaren has launched a light-hearted plan for a Formula 1 grand prix on the streets of its home town of Woking.

With the F1 season in the middle of its summer break, McLaren has joked that its “absurdly ambitious plan” would enable Woking “to join the ranks of Monaco and Singapore as one of Formula 1’s most glamorous and iconic race locations”.

The plan includes an 18-turn track of just over three miles – named the Woking International Circuit.

McLaren technology group chief operating officer Jonathan Neale said: “Why not bring Formula 1 to the streets of Woking?

“Obviously, aside from the huge social and financial commitment needed to set up the infrastructure, re-profile roads, re-lay Tarmac, fit miles of Armco, build grandstands, pay for race-hosting fees and gain approval and sign-off from the FIA, we don’t see any barriers to our vision.”

McLaren added that the projected top speed on the circuit would be 195mph, stating that this would be “for the frontrunning cars”.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown said the plan evoked memories of Mika Hakkinen’s run through the town to celebrate his first world championship in 1998.

“It was Mika who first ‘raced’ a Formula 1 McLaren around the streets of Woking, way back in 1998,” he said.

“That event lit a spark that started a fire that turned into a dream that we converted into an idea: to host a round of the Formula 1 world championship on our doorstep, in Woking.

“Our engineers, our mechanics, our strategists have all actually driven this track. In fact, they’ve lived it; which actually gives them a head-start over the rest of the field.

“They know every bump on the track, every ripple in the Tarmac, every useable rush-hour rat-run, every decent takeaway restaurant within a five-mile radius of the start-line.

“That’s the sort of advantage you can’t buy…”

The proposed circuit layout “takes full advantage of the market town’s winding streets and fast multi-carriageways” and passes two of McLaren’s former factory locations.

McLaren’s plan also includes ideas such as basing the paddock on floatable pontoons anchored along the Woking-Basingstoke canal, and having journalists work from wi-fi hotspots in local cafes, restaurants and shopping centres instead of a media centre.

MIKA: I'd LOVE this to happen! Provided Herman Tilke is not involved.

[MIKA27]

Analysis: The role of Pirelli testing in Ferrari's resurgence

Did taking part in Pirelli's test programme last year help Ferrari have an advantage over its rivals when it comes to managing this year's tyres? 

Back in 2016, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull took part in a special "mule car" test programme to help Pirelli with the development of its prototype wider tyres.

They happened to be the three top teams of the current era, so with or without the rule changes it was inevitable that they would also remain the dominant forces in 2017.

But did that test programme give Ferrari a crucial boost that has allowed the Italian team to take on Mercedes head-to-head this season – and helped Sebastian Vettel to hold the championship lead 11 races in?

It’s obvious that Ferrari’s improved form has resulted from progress in all areas, with marginal gains adding up to overall upward progress.

But tyres have clearly been a key element, and it’s apparent that Ferrari has usually enjoyed an edge on tyre management, certainly in the first part of the season – notwithstanding the issues at Silverstone, which were seemingly down to bad luck.

How to make testing fair has been a perennial problem for Pirelli. When it started its original F1 development programme, it was able to ensure a level playing field by utilising the neutral Toyota TF109, handily available after the Japanese manufacturer pulled out of the sport.

When that chassis had passed its sell-by date, Pirelli had to cast around for a more up-to-date car for 2012, and it settled on a Renault R30.

That seemed like a suitable solution for the big guns – at the time the Enstone outfit was not a threat for race wins, having finished a distant fifth in the 2011 championship on 73 points. In effect, it was the team furthest down the order with the capability to run a test programme.

In the hands of Lucas di Grassi and Jaime Alguersuari, that car ran five test sessions at Jerez, Spa, Barcelona and Paul Ricard in 2012, for a total of over 7000kms. Pirelli did its best to ensure parity by giving all the competitors reports and data from the tests.

Nevertheless, some teams were concerned that the re-badged Lotus team would gain an advantage, even though its own drivers were not involved in the testing.

The stats did little to allay those fears: from 73 points in 2011, Enstone scored 303 in 2012 and 315 in 2013. Was that just the Kimi Raikkonen effect, or had its involvement in testing, at a time when it was so restricted, given the team extra inside knowledge of the tyres?

It was that sort of suspicion that Pirelli (and the FIA) desperately wanted to avoid when planning the test programme for the 2017 rules.

The added complication was that the tyres would be wider and would have to deal with much higher downforce levels, so it wasn't just a question of bolting them onto an existing car.

The solution was the "mule car" package: a 2015 chassis adapted for the wider tyres and with high downforce added to approximate the 2017 loadings. All teams were invited to tender, and not surprisingly the big three – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – agreed to take part.

They each had the resources to build and run a special car during a season already made busy by preparations for the new rules. None of them wanted to be left out, because they all knew that taking part would confer some advantage. So why let a key rival steal a march?

The workload was carefully split between the three, who were each given the same number of days and the same opportunity to try all the tyres in the range, plus wets, culminating in a final verification test in Abu Dhabi where all three cars would run.

In conjunction with the FIA, Pirelli went to great lengths to ensure that the three teams did not gain an advantage over those not involved.

The testing was "blind," with teams and drivers not told what they were getting. Data was shared between all teams, and rivals could send an observer to any test if they wanted to.

The FIA also tried to ensure that running high downforce did not contribute directly to 2017 aero development by mandating that the mule car aero package did not reflect the new rules.

"The point is the mule cars were developed avoiding any solution that could give an advantage to the teams," said Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola.

"So instead of developing the floor, the wings, and all the changes in the aero package of the current cars, they were obliged to use the skirts, old technology, and this kind of stuff.

"I have also to remind you that all the data were available to all the teams. Also some data related to the set-up of the car, like weight distribution, aero distribution and mechanical balance, were included in the report.

"All these data were available to all the teams, and the teams started to analyse the data, and tried to anticipate the tyres."

One of the most intriguing aspects of the testing was the identity of the drivers. It was clear from very early on that Ferrari was using its race drivers to a greater extent than the other teams. That was a signal that Maranello, and in particular Sebastian Vettel, believed that there was something to be gained.

Famously, Vettel was the only F1 driver to visit Pirelli's base and sound out the engineers during the build-up to the Italian company's return to the sport.

He also showed his commitment in 2010 when he won the world championship in Abu Dhabi, flew to Europe for a whirlwind victory tour, and then returned to the Middle East to sample the new Pirellis for the first time.

This is a man who, like countryman Michael Schumacher, leaves no stone unturned.

Long after it became apparent that Ferrari had come to the conclusion that focussing on its race drivers was a good idea, Mercedes resolutely stuck to using Pascal Wehrlein, at that time a Manor driver.

Towards the end of the year both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were asked if they thought they were missing out by not following Ferrari's example and doing the bulk of the testing. A shrug of the shoulders and puzzled look was the answer: amid their title battle, they didn't see the point.

Both did get involved, although Rosberg's session was spoiled by rain, and Hamilton made only a token appearance before he felt unwell.

Red Bull race drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen also only appeared right at the end of the programme, having left the bulk of the work to Pierre Gasly and Sebastien Buemi.

Fast forward to 2017, and Ferrari has not only been super competitive, but the SF70H has been consistent, with a wider operating window than its main rivals. The team has adapted to the new tyres with apparent ease, certainly compared with Mercedes.

So did Ferrari gain more from the mule car testing, and if so, how?

It appears that the team simply did a better job of learning from the high-downforce running, and transferring that knowledge into the development of the 2017 car.

It's been suggested that the Ferrari mule car pushed the limits when it came to aero, and some elements did specifically help the team prepare for the new regs, despite the FIA attempting to stop that happening.

Ferrari also used the mule car testing to properly correlate the Maranello wind tunnel for high downforce and wide tyres, something that both Mercedes and Red Bull have struggled with in the early part of this season.

Then there's the question of the tyres themselves. As noted, the testing was blind, in that drivers were not given details about what had changed from test to test, or set to set. But they could follow the general trends.

"With this big change in regulation, and this big change in our philosophy of making the tyres, they had the feeling of the direction at least," said Isola.

"One of the comments which was common after each test – when we were testing the new prototypes, they didn't know we were testing new compounds or constructions – but when we were testing the new compounds the difference was so big in terms of not overheating, they could push on the new compound, they felt immediately.

"When they finished the run all the drivers came back saying, 'Wow, we like these tyres, because I can push, I don't feel overheating, also if I overheat the tyre a little bit because of the sliding, I slow down a couple of corners, and the tyre is back.'

"That was a comment that was quite common. And obviously we were looking for a tyre with these characteristics. So it is clear that we took that direction."

Obviously, all drivers who took part in the testing, especially in the latter stages as the definitive 2017 specs emerged, could benefit from the running.

But Vettel and, to a lesser extent, Raikkonen were involved pretty much all the way through, and thus they could properly follow the development path, and just possibly, direct it.

Inevitably a driver of Vettel's calibre and experience must have an influence when he gets out of the car and says the equivalent of 'Eureka!' to the Pirelli engineers when he finds a tyre that is just so.

No disrespect to the likes of Wehrlein or Gasly – the two drivers who did most of the testing for the other teams – but if you were Pirelli, whose opinion would you feel carried more weight?

"The experience of a race driver who is a four-time world champion is obviously valuable, this is clear," said Isola. "A driver has sensations, feelings, when he drives a car.

"In F1 we are lucky, we have a lot of sensors, so we can basically replicate or check if the feeling of the driver is in line. I think it's more related to experience, because Pascal for example was doing a very good job, he was always available, and giving us good feedback.

"Sebastian is a professional driver, and when he was testing, after each run, he was giving us a lot of detailed information, his opinion on each set. 'I like this, I don't like that,' for this reason, that reason.

"The other drivers did the same, and we also had some sort of form they had to fill in, to not forget any detail.

"Obviously a driver is trying to push you in the direction of the tyre that he likes. When he was finding a tyre that he liked, it was, 'This is a good tyre, a nice tyre,' but the test was blind. So he doesn't know if at the end of the day if we selected the tyre that he liked or not."

There's no doubt that all three teams attempted to use the testing to gain an advantage, and intriguingly Red Bull admits that it didn't work as planned.

Christian Horner is adamant that Red Bull thought it had a handle on things and tailored the RB13 to suit, and then the spec of the tyres changed.

"I think actually running the Pirelli mule car hurt us in a few ways," he said. "A few things changed late on with the tyres that we potentially were designing the car around, that then changed. I think that may have perhaps influenced our development direction.

"I wouldn't say it backfired, but it definitely led us in a direction that wasn't conducive to the tyres that were ultimately nominated. The simple facts are that Mercedes and Ferrari did a better job of interpreting those regulations than we did over the winter."

Horner may flag up Mercedes, but Toto Wolff is equally frustrated with the way the mule car testing panned out.

He admits that it would have been better for Hamilton and Rosberg to have done more mileage - and while the German isn't racing this year, his input would still have been valid at the time.

However, Wolff says it seemed logical not to distract them from their day jobs.

"We were in the middle of that internal championship fight," said the Mercedes boss. "Where it's understandable that none of the drivers wanted to spend a lot of time looking at future technology and tyres, and rather focus on their own championship campaign. I think now in hindsight…

"In F1 you very rarely find a silver bullet that is going to make all the difference. But it is about putting all the marginal gains. And maybe, and it's just a hypothesis, I don't know if it's true, Sebastian's credibility and feedback to Pirelli can have an impact.

"And I don't think that the drivers would have particularly learned, but Pirelli's going to rely more on the results and on the feedback than from a junior driver. Having said that, we haven't got the data that supports that hypothesis."

Nevertheless, it's an idea that he's happy to put out there. The likelihood is that the 2017 championship will be won by a few points, with a bad race here or there – such as Hamilton's in Monaco – proving decisive. If Vettel does stay in front, then those marginal gains will have proved their worth.

[MIKA27]

Autosport Podcast: What are Kubica's chances of a Formula 1 return?

Robert Kubica's chances of making a full racing return to Formula 1 following his Hungaroring test is the main topic of discussion in the latest edition of The Autosport Podcast.

Former grand prix driver Karun Chandhok joins Autosport Grand Prix Editor Ben Anderson and Editor-in-Chief Edd Straw to weigh up whether Renault might really throw Kubica back into action - perhaps as early as this season.

There's also a look at the Formula 1 season so far, in particular the championship fight between Mercedes and Ferrari and how the development war might pan out in the second half of the year.

The battle for fourth place, and Force India's excellence, are also looked at, while there are also reasons for backmarker Sauber to be optimistic for the future.

 

[MIKA27]

WILLIAMS F1 MID SEASON ANALYSIS: DOES LANCE STROLL MATCH UP TO FELIPE MASSA?

Williams’ 2017 F1 season hasn’t gone as smoothly as the outfit would have liked, with its fourth place battle against Force India all but lost, with fifth place now at risk.

The duo of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa have earned 41 points so far but Williams sits an uneasy two points ahead of Toro Rosso and 60 points behind Force India, and this time last year Williams had earned 94 points and it was sitting in fourth, ahead of Force India.

Part of this 2017 slump has been due to the rude awakening faced by rookie Stroll, who was given the Williams seat after his 2016 European Formula 3 title win in place of Valtteri Bottas, who was poached by Mercedes for 2017 as Lewis Hamilton’s new team-mate.

Stroll retired from all three of his first three grands prix, with a brake problem in Australia cutting short his race, a first lap collision with Sergio Perez unfortunately putting Stroll out of the Chinese GP and another collision with Carlos Sainz Jr giving him an early bath in Bahrain. He also failed to score points in the first six races of the season.

Things picked up on his home soil in Canada as Stroll picked up his first points of the season, following it up with a brilliant podium in Azerbaijan and another point in Austria, but he struggled recently at Silverstone and Hungary having finished 16th and 14th, respectively.

As a result, Stroll was criticised in the early part of the season and the jury is still out.

Massa has picked up 23 of the team’s 41 points even after missing the Hungarian GP due to illness, and the briefly-retired Brazilian has out-raced Stroll consistently, raising questions in the opening part of the season about the Canadian’s readiness to enter F1.

While he Williams’ most consistent source of points, Massa hasn’t shone as brightly as in previous seasons either. A score of 23 points this year so far is his worst tally after 10 races in his Williams career, as he scored 38 last season, 74 in 2015 and 30 in his maiden 2014 Williams season at the same point.

The team has stagnated in performance terms as the 2017-spec F1 cars prove tough with tyres, and the low point of the season was in China as Stroll retired on lap one and Massa slipped from sixth to 14th on cold tyres.

Williams’ only double-points finish came in Austria, and with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg showing signs of toppling the midfield order, Force India’s likely fourth place consolidation and the continued threat of Haas and Toro Rosso, the outfit is in clear danger of falling to sixth in the constructors’ standings.

Williams’ 2017 season in numbers

There is an unquestionable and inevitable lead enjoyed by Massa when he’s compared to team-mate Stroll and the numbers, in some cases, show large differences between the pair’s performances.

Though Massa has raced 40 fewer laps this year due to his unfortunate first lap retirement in Canada and recent illness which ruled him out of Hungary, he has consistently finished in the points with an average finish of 9.5, compared to Stroll’s 11.3.

With 308 laps in the top 10 compared to Stroll’s 149, Massa continues to duly lead the head-to-head.

The Brazilian’s points tally of 23 would have looked a lot more impressive had his suspension not buckled in Azerbaijan, costing him a likely podium which Stroll eventually took (though he was overtaken for second by Mercedes’ Bottas on the home straight).

As a result of the events at Baku, Stroll’s highest finish is third while Massa has finished sixth (twice), making the two seem more equal in the drivers’ standings as Stroll is 12th (18 pts) and Massa 11th (23 pts).

Yet, Massa has led 383 laps over Stroll, while Stroll has led 95 laps over his team-mate, and in the five races Williams has had both drivers finish, Massa has finished ahead of his team-mate five times. Massa continues to be be the more consistent for Williams in this tough season.

While he looks a lot more confident during races, Stroll’s qualifying performances are yet to match his team mate as he loses the intra-team battle so far 9-1 and Massa starts races in an average grid position of 10th, while Stroll starts 15th.

Hungarian GP stand-in Paul di Resta qualified only 0.7s off Stroll’s time at the Hungaroring in his first proper drive in a 2017 F1 car, which further emphasises Stroll’s qualifying issues.

Those statistics are somewhat cushioned for Stroll as he gains an average of 3.7 places per race compared to Massa’s 0.625, but the Azerbaijan GP slightly inflates that figure.

That three-race stint of points-finishes for Stroll – running from Canada to Austria – appear anomalous at this point as the rookie finished 16th and 14th in his last two races while Massa took points in Monaco, Austria and Great Britain with two unfortunate retirements in Canada and Azerbaijan interrupting his probable scoring spree and putting the two close together in the drivers’ standings.

The rest of 2017 will therefore be an exercise in saving face: for Stroll as he attempts to build on the promise of his results in June in his rookie season and for Williams as it fights to retain fifth place.