FORMULA 1

[MIKA27]

'Something was missing' for Ferrari at Russian GP - Maurizio Arrivabene

Maurizio Arrivabene has accepted that “something was missing” for Ferrari at Formula 1’s Russian Grand Prix as it fell to a third straight defeat.

Ferrari has fought with Mercedes for overall honours this season, with Sebastian Vettel trading the points lead with Lewis Hamilton across the opening half of 2018.

But since Vettel’s exit in Germany Hamilton has led the way, extending his points advantage to 50 courtesy of his fifth win from the last six races in Russia.

It came after Ferrari trailed Mercedes through most of practice and qualifying, falling over half a second adrift of its opponent, with the bulk of the time loss coming in the final sector.

“Right from Friday, the Sochi weekend was rather a difficult one for us,” said Arrivabene.

“Despite all our efforts to find the ideal set-up, neither on Saturday nor in the race were we competitive enough to worry our closest rivals.

“Compared to the way we performed at other circuits, something was missing here and so we were unable to reduce the points gap.

“On paper, the next race in Japan should have very similar characteristics to the one at Silverstone, so in Suzuka, we will get a more precise indication as to the potential of our car.

“If it goes well, we will know that, despite the difficult situation in terms of the classification, we still have the right weapons with which to fight all the way to the very end.”

Kimi Raikkonen, who classified a lonely fourth, echoed Arrivabene’s conclusion.

“We went as fast as we could but they were faster,” he said.

“Did they push as much as they needed? Probably not, just enough to keep us behind.

“I don’t know, we’re a bit behind in pure speed, but in the race the car feels OK. But we need to go a bit faster everywhere.

“Let’s see in the next race if it’s still the same or not. Hopefully it’s a slightly different story, more like it was a little while ago. I guess they found something.”

[skalls]

I understand why Mercedes implemented team orders.  It makes sense because the team wants to win both titles.

 

But man I loathe team orders like that.  Force India's orders were different since their drivers have been wrecking one another.  That makes sense.  But man that is another race that orders or bad strategy or bad luck has robbed bottas of a win.

[Lotusguy]

I understand why Mercedes implemented team orders.  It makes sense because the team wants to win both titles.
 
But man I loathe team orders like that.  Force India's orders were different since their drivers have been wrecking one another.  That makes sense.  But man that is another race that orders or bad strategy or bad luck has robbed bottas of a win.

Ferrari would have been absolutely crucified for doing that.

[BrightonCorgi]

Hamilton is just too awesome.  Another win for Hammy.

[alfred99]

I couldn't be happier to have found this thread!!!! 

 

What was I doing roaming around the sports desk.... ?

 

 

[Lotusguy]

Hamilton is just too awesome.  Another win for Hammy.

That was indeed a very nice pass on Vettel.

I would contend that a pretty big part of his lead in the championship is due to mistakes by Ferrari/Vettel.

[avaldes]

Agreed, and I would chalk some of that up to Ferrari strategy. There were several times when they were out foxed by Mercedes. IMO they haven't been in contention in a long time and have totally forgotten how to manufacture a win.

It is nice to say "it ain't over till its over." But Mercedes came up with a huge leap forward after Spa and Ferrari has been back-pedaling since.

[MIKA27]

SIROTKIN: THE MOST PAINFUL RACE OF THE YEAR

One could only feel for Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin during the weekend in Sochi for his home grand prix, where Williams were once again woefully off the pace making it a forgettable first race on home soil.

Sirotkin was 18th in FP1, 19th in FP2, 17th in FP3 and 18th in qualifying, more than three seconds slower than the fastest time in Q1.

But due to penalties taken by frontrunners, the Williams driver started the race higher up on the grid than expected but was soon gobbled up by the pack and spent the rest of his afternoon at the wrong end of the field. He crossed the finish line last of the 18 cars running at the end

Sirotkin reflected afterwards, “A very painful race. The most painful race of the year.”

“I think we could have picked up some very good points from this race, in terms of where we have been and where the pace was, but from the start, every single bit went wrong for us.”

“We’ve always been in the worst possible position on the track with the worst possible traffic situation. A few things we managed very well, but despite that, the whole race has turned around against us and it was a very painful moment for me.”

Sirotkin’s future remains uncertain since it merged his backers SMP Racing only have a one year deal in place for him with Williams, and although he is in the running for the seat it is not yet signed, sealed and delivered.

[MIKA27]

TOTO, KIMI WANTS TO KNOW HOW MUCH MORE YOU HAVE

Kimi Raikkonen, by design or inadvertently, said what many believe: Mercedes have as much power as they want on tap, when and where required thus in Russia it was not a question of where did the Ferrari power go but rather where did Mercedes find the horses all of a sudden?

Speaking after an uneventful drive to fourth place in the Russian Grand Prix, Kimi told reporters, “We went as fast as we could but they were faster. Did they push as much as they needed? Probably not, just enough to keep us behind.”

Did they push as much as they needed?

That’s the key question one could ask since the advent of the hybrid turbo era in 2014. It is no secret that Mercedes excelled in the engineering and delivered an astounding PU package, a masterpiece of automotive tehcnology that has set the pace from the moment it was run in anger.

No one else has stood a chance since then. Mercedes are heading for ten F1 world titles in five years, how often have we reported that Ferrari has closed the gap? Countless times.

Did they close the gap? Of course not! Mercedes have been playing with them, playing with us all.

Credit to them for at times allowing the others a small chomp at the pie, but the stats don’t lie: since 2014 Mercedes have won 70 times, their rivals have combined to win 27 times.

And that’s the crux of the matter, Mercedes know how much they have in reserve and exactly how much to release each time they need to reassert themselves. After the thumping they received at Spa-Francorchamps they dialled it up and Lewis Hamilton has won three on a trot.

The fact that Lewis has the best car on the grid should not be held against him, because with his current form he would be winning the championship if he were driving the Ferrari that Sebastian Vettel has at his disposal.

Lewis is the best driver on the grid at the moment, with maybe Max Verstappen the only other guy on his level currently. This is not about him, they give him a great car and he makes the most of it, that’s his job.

Headlines during the Sochi weekend were all about the mystery of the pace that vanished from Ferrari, but it is clear nothing much has changed with the SF71H.

When Kimi was asked what caused the sudden deficit, he replied, “I don’t know, we’re a bit behind in pure speed, but in the race the car feels OK. But we need to go a bit faster everywhere.”

“The car gave a really good feeling, especially after the pit stops, but we need more speed overall. There’s nothing that feels somehow bad or difficult, it’s just that we need to be faster around the lap, everywhere.”

Asked if he felt Mercedes have found more horsepower, the 2007 F1 World Champion replied, “At least in the last couple of places where we’ve been, yes. Who knows what they’ve done.”

“Let’s see in the next race if it’s still the same or not. Hopefully, it’s a slightly different story, more like it was a little while ago. I guess they found something.”

I am in the camp that firmly believes “they found something” long ago – back in 2014 power units became a thing – keeping the excess bhp in storage and releasing it on tap when needed, while not overdoing it so as not to piss off fans with their dominance.

A visual of puppetmaster Toto Wolff running his own F1-style Truman Show pops into mind.

It is pretty clear that after Spa, Toto ordered them to dial it up some more, simultaneously Lewis found some extra magic, while their rivals cocked up big time, and the rest is now history.

Finally, a classic Kimi chirp when asked how he motivates himself under the circumstances: “Maybe have some beers, I don’t know…”

[MIKA27]

AGAG: IN TEN YEARS FORMULA E WILL BE BIGGER THAN FORMULA 1

Formula 1 will come under pressure from electric car racing in the next five years and will be being overtaken in popularity in the next decade, according to Formula E founder Alejandro Agag.

Speaking in a podcast interview with 2016 Formula One champion Nico Rosberg, who is also a shareholder in the electric series, Agag suggested Formula 1 was in danger of being left behind.

“I think in five years they are going to start feeling a lot the heat,” said the Spaniard. “I think in 10 years it’s going to be very difficult that they don’t switch to electric. But they can’t. But they will really feel the pressure to switch to electric.”

“In 10 years electric cars will go as fast as combustion cars. So when you have these cars going as fast, what is the reason to stick to an old technology? you should move to a new technology. I think when the industry is electric, Formula E will happen to be the main motorsport in the world.”

Formula E, like Formula One, is sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) but has an exclusive licence for 25 years to be the sole electric championship.

Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director for motorsport, said this year that he did not see the sport, currently reviewing its engine formula from 2021, locked into internal combustion engines forever. The current V6 power units use hybrid energy recovery systems.

Agag also told Rosberg that Formula E almost folded in its debut season, with enough capital initially for only three races, “At one point I owed $25-million to our suppliers and I had $100,000 in the bank, that was the situation.”

“We were actually really at the limit. I had to pay from my pocket the air freight of the cars to go to the Miami race,” he recalled.

John Malone’s Liberty Global and Discovery Communications then bought a stake and others followed. Formula One’s commercial rights holder is Liberty Media.

Separately, MN quoted Agag as saying he had dropped a 600 million euro ($696.8 million) attempt to take back full-ownership of the series, “Liberty and Discovery don’t want to sell.”

[MIKA27]

TOST: HONDA PACKAGE IS IN FRONT OF RENAULT

Toro Rosso arrived with their Spec-3 engine for FP2 during the Russian Grand Pix weekend, they ran it for the session and then packed them away again sending them back to the factory to get fine-tuned for Suzuka where they are expected to deliver a massive step-up in performance.

The Honda RA618H was upgraded for Sochi, with most of the tweaks reportedly in the area of the internal combustion engine.

Out the box, they flew with Pierre Gasly ending the Friday afternoon session eighth-fastest and the sense of achievement in the Toro Rosso garage was palpable.

Team chief Franz Tost said, “Honda is making big steps forward. It is in front of Renault – complete package.”

“We had it in the car Friday, but we have to start from the back of the grid and then we decided we go back to Spec-2 just to save some mileage and to make some fine-tuning. In Suzuka, we will have it.”

On Friday after practice at Sochi Autodrom using the Spec-3, Gasly told reporters, “I think everyone is quite excited about the step that Honda made. Introducing a new PU [means] a lot of mapping and a lot of things to get under control.”

“There were not so many dramas and we definitely had a performance gain. I know sometimes you bring updates and you put it on the car you don’t really see the gains. With Honda it’s not the case.”

“It’s really positive. We need to see how much we can extract from it, reliability, driveability to see if everything is fine when we turn everything up, but for them it’s a good step.”

Sochi was always going to be the ‘sacrificial grand prix’ for Honda ahead of their home race at Suzuka, where they will fully unleash their latest PU package, “We know that the main opportunity for us will be in Japan and the coming races.”

“We came here excited with the upgrade just to see how it would work and also in need of answers after the tough weekend of Singapore, and so far we’ve got them.

Teammate Brendon Hartley was also smiling, “We definitely had a step in performance and it was a really, really promising day from Honda’s point of view.”

“I think everyone is quite excited about the step that Honda made. Introducing a new PU [means] a lot of mapping and a lot of things to get under control. There were not so many dramas and we definitely had a performance gain,” added the New Zealander.

[MIKA27]

ARRIVABENE TO MOVE FROM FERRARI TO JUVENTUS?

Ferrari F1 chief Maurizio Arrivabene’s future with the iconic Italian team may soon be over as he has appeared on a list of candidates to join Juventus as general director.

Holding company Exor, controlled by the Agnelli company whose principle investments include PartneRe, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, CNH Industrial, The Economist, Juventus and Ferrari has released a list of nine names being considered to replace former dismissed Bianconeri general director Beppe Marotta.

This is the list presented by Exor:

1. Paolo Garimberti (Independent administrator)
2. Pavel Nedved
3. Daniela Marilungo (Independent administrator)
4. Andrea Agnelli
5. Enrico Vellano
6. Francesco Roncaglio
7. Assia Grazioli-Venier (Independent administrator)
8. Caitlin Hughes (Independent administrator)
9. Maurizio Arrivabene

The general director post at Juventus is a full-time one and would require Arrivabene – who is listed as a director with the Italian football giants – to relinquish his post as team principal of Ferrari, which would leave open one of the hottest seats in sport.

From within the current team, Mattia Binotto would appear to be the next in line to step up to the role of team principal should Arrivabene leave, but the Scuderia could also shop a boss from outside the team.

Ferrari are amid a losing campaign this season, having started strongly they and their star driver Sebastian Vettel fumbled and stumbled as Mercedes and their contender Lewis Hamilton capitalised and grew stronger.

With five races remaining in the championship Vettel trails Hamilton by 50 points in the drivers’ championship, while Ferrari are 53 points adrift of Mercedes in the constructors’ standings.

Arrivabene brief CV:

• Born in Brescia on 7th March 1957.
• After a 20-year work experience in Italy and abroad in Marketing and Promotions, in 1997 he joined Philip Morris Europe in Lausanne (Switzerland), first as Manager Event Marketing and then as Director and – for Philip Morris International – as Vice President.
• He was appointed Vice President Marlboro Global Communication and Promotions for Philip Morris International in 2007 and since 2011 Vice President Consumers Channel Strategy and Event Marketing.
• Member of F1 Commission since 2010, representing F1 sponsors, he is – from 2015 – representing Scuderia Ferrari.
• From 2011 to 2012 he has also been a member of the Sport Business Academy (SDA Bocconi School of Management and RCS Sport), in the Advisory Team Program.
• Since 2012 he serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Juventus F.C. SpA, where he was also, until 2015, member of Control and Risks Committee and Nominations and Remuneration Committee.
• Starting from January 2015, he is appointed as Managing Director of Ferrari Gestione Sportiva and Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal.

[MIKA27]

ECCLESTONE: FERRARI IS TOO ITALIAN

Ex-Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone surfaced at the Russian Grand Prix this weekend, in Sochi, primarily it seems to meet and accompany President Vladimir Putin when he arrived late in the race to attend the podium ceremony at the Autodrom.

Prior to that Ecclestone was in fine form, hounded by media whenever spotted in the paddock and, as usual, a quote-a-minute as he was asked for his opinion on a myriad of matters pertaining to Formula 1 in its current state.

One question put to him by ESPN was why Ferrari are failing to challenge Mercedes when it mattered, to which Ecclestone replied, “It’s too Italian. I said to somebody the other day it’s back to the old days.”

It is not the first time the former big cheese of F1 has said this of Maranello, again suggesting that the Reds will only find success when Italians are not running the show at the highest level of the team.

Of course, he is referring to the team’s greatest era, at the turn of the century, when under Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, Frenchman Jean Todt was recruited and made team principal with Briton Ross Brawn and South African Rory Byrne, on the technical side, making sure that their German star Michael Schumacher had the best-of-the-best at his disposal.

Apart for di Montezemolo who gave Todt free reign, the highest ‘ranking’ Italian in the team at the time was engine chief Paolo Martinelli.

Record books show that this was the most successful period in the team’s history, 11 world championships from 1999 to 2004 was the result of this multi-national leadership.

Ecclestone recalled, “We got Todt to go there and look after things a little bit, so it wasn’t Italian too much, and Michael was running the team. So it was all a bit different. I think they’re missing that sort of a set-up now.”

As a double F1 world championship team owner with Brabham, the 87-year-old, knows what it takes to do the business and believes the problem is with the internal structure at Maranello.

“Ferrari have got a completely different way of going on to Mercedes, haven’t they? Mercedes has got a team that’s pure, all they do is racing, it’s nothing to do with the manufacturer.”

“Ferrari is looking after their car production side of things, gearing that more or less to their Formula 1 performance. So it’s run in a different way,” observed Ecclestone whose high-profile presence in Sochi, contrasted with the apparent absence of Chase Carey and Sean Bratches in Russia.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: VETTEL NEARLY PUT ME IN THE WALL

Almost lost in the debate regarding Mercedes’ blatant use of team orders during the Russian Grand Prix, is the fact that title contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton nearly pranged as they battled for track position at Sochi Autodrome on Sunday.

Just before the first round of pitstops, Mercedes were one-two with Vettel keeping them in his sights in third. Bottas was first in for fresh rubber, followed Vettel a lap later, his crew did a good job to get him out in 2.6 seconds.

When the Ferrari emerged on track it was in a silver sandwich – Bottas ahead and Hamilton behind – the undercut had worked for the Reds.

But the Mercedes was visibly the better car (as it had been all weekend) and the Ferrari driver simply did not have the ammo to slug it out, so he went defensive for as long as he could.

Inevitably, roaring into Turn 4 on lap 17, with the #44 Mercedes nose tucked under the #5 Ferrari wing, Hamilton went to the right and Vettel blocked him, but somehow there was enough space for the Merc to squeeze through to take third place at that point in the race.

It appeared a double-block move by Vettel and the FIA race stewards promptly investigated but deemed it a racing incident.

Hamilton was not happy when it happened, complaining to his team about it over the radio and after the race, he remained unconvinced, “For me, he did move over to the inside and then he moved again and nearly put me in the wall. I thought that was a double move but I guess they didn’t see that.”

“Fortunately I was able to get out of the wall and then it was a question of who was going to brake later at the next corner and I wanted it more at the time.

“We shouldn’t have been in that position. I don’t understand how strategically we ended up in that place,” added Hamilton who went on to win the race, after teammate Valtteri Bottas was ordered to relinquish the lead.

Vettel gave his side of the story during the post-race press conference, “Lewis was quite close so he got DRS down the straight. I saw him coming, it was very difficult to see with the mirrors.”

“I thought I moved before the braking, so I wanted to make sure I covered the inside. Didn’t mean to be – how do you say? – an irritation at any point.”

“I had a compromised run out of the second corner, defending my position. Then it was very difficult to see where he was. I couldn’t see him for a very very long time and then just saw his tyres and I knew that he was then somewhere there.”

“I didn’t want to be a complete arse by pushing him into the dirt and potentially into the wall so I wasn’t quite sure where he was and then at some point I had to give in.”

“I thought I could maybe get it back out of Turn 4 but I had to give him the entrance otherwise, you know, at some stage it just becomes silly,” explained Vettel.

With five rounds remaining in the championship – Suzuka, Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi – Hamilton on 306 points leads Vettel by 50 points in the world championship standings. A fifth world title beckons for one of the two at the end of this season.

[MIKA27]

LECLERC: IT WAS AN AMAZING RACE

Increasingly Charles Leclerc is clearly the real deal, again he delivered a mighty performance with some excellent overtakes to finish the Russian Grand Prix as the Best of the Rest in seventh place behind the six cars of the three big teams.

After a slow start on Friday, Leclerc built up momentum and found the sweet spot by the time qualifying and race day came about.

The soon to be Ferrari driver summed up his afternoon at Sochi Autodrom, “It was an amazing race. It was very good that I could get past Esteban [Ocon] and Kevin [Magnussen] very quickly because we knew it would be very difficult to overtake on this track.”

“Then to be in front of them was a huge advantage, they straight away lost quite a bit by being behind and they couldn’t really follow so it was good to see and it was a great race for us.”

A highlight of Leclerc’s race was his ballsy overtake on Magnussen on the outside of the Haas through the never-ending Turn 3.

The Monegasque driver acknowledged, “I’ve never raced here before, but it was a great overtake and Kevin stayed fair also so it was good to see. It was on the limit but everything went well.”

With seven points finishes so far this year, Leclerc lies 15th in the championship, but for many fans Leclerc teaming up with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari next year cannot come soon enough.

[MIKA27]

Formula 1 to look at adding 'Q4' to qualifying in 2019

Formula 1 and the FIA are considering a move which would see an additional session added to qualifying for the 2019 season, expanding it from the current three sessions to four.

Currently qualifying sees five cars eliminated in Q1, five in Q2, with Q3 deciding the top ten. A new proposal submitted by Liberty Media and Ross Brawn would see that tweaked to four cars in the first three sessions, leaving eight for Q4.

It's not clear how long each session would last, but the benefit of adding a fourth session would mean there is more focus on the top eight cars as well as creating more uncertainty as they would be required to avoid costly errors in three sessions, rather than two, if they want to make it through to the final shoot-out for pole position.

The idea has been submitted to the FIA where it will be discussed further, with the governing body keen to avoid the same mistakes it made in 2016 when it introduced a confusing elimination-style qualifying format which was quickly dropped following a backlash from fans.

F1's Brawn recently commented on the need to spice qualifying up so it has a greater impact on the race result.

"You definitely want qualifying to be about the very best fighting at the front to see who's the quickest. But when you think about qualifying as an element of how the race pans out, then you want qualifying to stir it up a bit and create some disorder, so that you've got strong cars out of place.

"Then qualifying improves the race. So the level of jeopardy in qualifying is something we want to look at, where perhaps by reducing the number of runs a car does in each session, teams can't optimise everything.

"I think we'll move very cautiously, though, because the current format is popular and successful."

[MIKA27]

Haas lacked race pace compared to one-lap form throughout Russian GP

Haas F1 has rued their fortunes after the Russian Grand Prix showed up a lack of race pace after their superb one-lap performance in qualifying.

After Kevin Magnussen qualified fifth and Romain Grosjean in eighth, both drivers believe they suffered a lack of pace in the race compared to their rivals around them and struggled to move forward.

Magnussen was passed around the outside of Turn 3 in a stunning move by Charles Leclerc and the Dane stated he simply 'pulled away' once the move was done and had to spend the entirety of the race trying to fend off both Force Indias.

"It was a tough race," said Magnussen. "We didn’t quite have enough pace – we were lacking a bit – so I found myself defending from the Force Indias, basically from lap one.

"I think we got all that we could. Leclerc was way too fast for us. He just overtook and pulled away easily. So, I think keeping the Force Indias behind was the maximum we could do.

"The pace we had yesterday in qualifying was better than the pace we had in the race today. I’m looking forward to Suzuka now.

"I think we’ll be strong there, and it’s also just a phenomenal track to drive. I think we’re all looking forward to that."

Grosjean echoed the sentiments of his team-mate after he fell down the order early on in the race after the hypersoft tyres he qualified on swiftly faded on him.

Despite the earlier issues in the race, Grosjean admits he did have fun coming back through the pack and fighting with his rivals the track.

"I was very disappointed with that," added the Frenchman. "I thought I drove a good race. I’d been struggling a bit for pace all weekend, but I felt in the race things got better. I was happy to keep Marcus (Ericsson) behind and then fight with the Renaults and overtake them.

"Then I realized I was only P11. I guess the Red Bulls started at the back, but after five laps they were already top-six. The Saubers were very fast, and the Force Indias were fast. We all just kept our positions. Unfortunately for me, two cars came by."

[MIKA27]

Overheating brakes led to double STR exit in Russian GP

Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly were forced to retire in the opening laps of the Russian Grand Prix after suffering overheating brakes on both cars.

As both drivers attempted to go to battle with their nearest rivals, they eventually found themselves spinning off the circuit due to blocked pistons which led to brake fluid overheating and which caused their brake pedals to go long.

Team principal Franz Tost has expressed his disappoint at the result of the race and said the team will conduct a full investigation into the problem.

"It was a frustrating Sunday for Toro Rosso as both cars had to retire," said Tost. "For whatever reason, we ended up with very hot front brakes and one piston in the calipers got stuck.

"This caused the overheating of the brake fluid and a long pedal. Therefore, we called the drivers to come to the garage.

"Obviously, being in Parc Fermé conditions, we didn’t change anything from yesterday, so we need to investigate further what the reason is. The positive side of this weekend is Honda’s new upgraded engine which is a big improvement.

"Now we are focusing on preparing everything for Suzuka where we hopefully will have a much better race."

Hartley believed he got a good start to the race but his progress was quickly hampered by a spin caused by the brake issue unbeknownst to him at the time, he made a stop to try and go a different route on strategy but the brakes continued to go to the floor and was forced to park the car.

"I had a good start and passed Pierre before Turn 5," added the Kiwi. "I was attacking the McLaren when the brake pedal went long.

"I reported it on the radio and then made our planned pit stop. We were going to try and be a bit cheeky with the strategy and do almost a full race on the Softs, we had great tyre life and pace and think it would have worked.

"However, once I left the pits the pedal went completely to the floor, the rears locked and the car spun. The same happened across both cars at the same moment so I’m sure the team will quickly diagnose and sort it out for the next race."

Gasly admits he felt the problem right from the very start of the race and deteriorated very quickly before he spun going into Turn 4.

He added: "Since the start of the race I had a really strange feeling with the brake pedal, it went pretty long and got worse very quickly. Then, on the third lap at Turn 4, I braked and the pedal went completely flat, so we lost all the front brakes and had to retire the car.

"We need to have a look at the data to see exactly what happened, but it’s just a shame to see both cars retire so early in the race."

[MIKA27]

Honda checking if engine upgrade can run in Japan

Honda will test its upgraded Formula 1 engine to make sure it can be used in this week’s Japanese Grand Prix after deciding not to race it in Russia.
The Japanese manufacturer introduced its latest specification in Friday practice at Sochi to the delight of its Toro Rosso team, but reverted to an older spec for the rest of the weekend.

This was a precautionary measure after Honda discovered some "unsuitable behaviour" when the engine was run on track.

It is confident it will be able to re-introduce the upgraded engine, penalty-free, for its home race at Suzuka but will not know for certain until later this week.

"We need to evaluate the test data," Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe told Motorsport.com.

"We plan to have a dyno test with the new spec and then we will try to optimise our calibration.

"Then if the level of optimisation is suitable for the race application, we will decide yes or no [if we use it]."

Motorsport.com understands that the engine suffered from higher oscillations than expected when it ran on track, which mainly compromises driveability.

All engines experience oscillations on track but they can be exacerbated if incorrectly calibrated against frequencies from the chassis itself.

Honda suffered an aggressive example of this year early in 2017 with its revised engine design.

In the current situation, Honda believes it will be able to make the necessary calibration improvements in only a few days.

"It's not very easy but not impossible to optimise the calibration," said Tanabe.

Honda's upgraded was lauded by Toro Rosso and its drivers in Russia, with team principal Franz Tost declaring it had move it in front of Renault in the engine pecking order.

Tanabe would not comment on that comparison but said he was satisfied with Honda's progress.

"The simple and easy one is power," he said. "We see some improvement as we expected. That's the main item which we found this weekend with the new unit.

"We're happy to introduce a new upgraded spec here for Friday. We're not so happy we needed to change and step back the spec for Saturday and Sunday.

"We see some positive performance with the new spec. It's actually a negative, but to us is a positive, [that] we found some areas we need to improve for race application. 
"That's why it's 50/50!"

Switching to an older spec during the weekend also gave Honda an unexpected opportunity to do a like-for-like comparison between the engines.

Tanabe said: "Yes. Not only for maximum power, but also low-speed areas. There are many areas we got information from this weekend at the same track."

[MIKA27]

Bottas didn’t expect "confusing" team orders call

Valtteri Bottas was surprised to be told to move aside for Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Lewis Hamilton during the Russian Grand Prix and found the communication of the order confusing.
Mercedes told net race leader Bottas to let Hamilton by before mid-distance, citing a blister on Hamilton's left-rear tyre and the proximity of his title rival Sebastian Vettel as the reason for the move.

It claimed it had not anticipated that situation arising and Bottas suggested the problem was "maybe down to communications during the race and also before the race".

Asked by Motorsport.com if the way it was handled was the main issue, Bottas said: "Yeah, it was slightly confusing.

"It was not something we had planned. Normally we go through everything before the race, all the scenarios, and how we would react to those things.

"What happened today, we could never expect that to happen and it was very suddenly I got the call. I definitely didn't expect it, that's why it was a little bit confusing."

Bottas said he did not understand why he was moved aside after being told to attack Max Verstappen, who was leading the race on old tyres because he had not made a pitstop at that point.

"I was getting closer and I was planning to overtake him two laps later, I was getting closer and closer," said Bottas.

"Suddenly I got a call to move over for Lewis. That was confusing."

Bottas said he was fine with an earlier order to back up Vettel as Hamilton prepared to pit because it was only to get Hamilton ahead of the Ferrari but not into the lead.

Sacrificing the win meant Bottas is still waiting for his first victory of the season but he said it was easier to do now as "there is nothing I can really achieve that really matters to me", even though he has moved ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen into third in the championship.

Hamilton's win extended his points lead over Vettel to 50 points while Mercedes' constructors' championship advantage over Ferrari is 53.

"I don't expect anything back from the team," Bottas reiterated when asked by Motorsport.com if he had promised compensation in the future.

"When, if, I win I want to win like I've earned it in pure racing. As a person, as an athlete, it's not ideal. Today was really me taking one for the team."

Bottas did secure the fastest lap of the race late on as he and Hamilton pushed in the closing stages but said it meant nothing.

"I was still on engine save mode," he said. "It felt like I was cruising in the end, honestly. There was a lot more pace available throughout the whole second stint behind Lewis.

"There are no points for fastest lap but I know how much I had pace throughout the weekend and many people do know as well.

"For me, that's the main thing. That I know I could have won on equal terms."

[Lotusguy]

What a failure this era of Formula 1 has been. Procession races, aerodynamics that don’t allow overtaking, horrible sounding and overcomplicated engines, tire monopoly, asinine penalty system, and Tilke tracks. Just horrible.

[MIKA27]

BRAWN: FORMULA 2 THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP FOR MICK

Ross Brawn is excited by the emergence of Mick Schumacher as a real talent in Formula 3 this year, and while the racing world has taken note of the youngster, who is looking to follow in his legendary father’s footsteps, the Formula 1 motorsport chief is calling for patience.

While Michael Schumacher is reportedly wheelchair-bound and out of the public eye, since his freak skiing accident in December 2013,  while his son Mick made his way through the junior motorsport ranks with modest success.

But this summer he has been on a streak of great performances that have catapulted him to the top of the European Formula 3 Championship standings, with three points scoring rounds remaining he is favourite for the title.

Of course, his performances have piqued the interest of the F1 world from fans through to teams, with Ferrari offering a red carpet for the youngster should he come calling at Maranello while Red Bull’s Helmut Marko’s denial of interest speaks louder than words!

Red Bull did it with Max Verstappen, scooped him from under the noses of everyone out of Formula 3 and put him with Toro Rosso before the subsequent Red Bull promotion. Nothing stops them doing a similar thing with young Schumacher provided Marko believes in the German youngster as he did with the Dutchman.

Meanwhile, the sport’s promoters, which includes Brawn, know that Schumi III will be good for the sport provided the youngster has the right stuff, and by all accounts, he might well do.

Brawn, who worked closely with Schumacher senior throughout the German’s illustrious career, told Tass news agency, “I’m excited that he’s doing so well. There’s a lot of good memories, but he has to take a few more steps before he can go to Formula 1, I think.

Although the likes of Verstappen, the benchmark young driver of this generation, made the jump from Formula 3 to Formula 1, Brawn advises against such a move for the 19-year-old, “Mick is a very mature young man, and I think he knows he still needs to develop to be ready for being a F1 driver.”

“If Mick wants to prepare properly for Formula 1, Formula 2 is the next logical step for him. Today we have a much closer collaboration between Formula 2 and F1, and he could learn many of the tracks,” explained Brawn.

Michael Schumacher – Schumi the First – burst on to the F1 scene in 1991 and became the sport’s most successful driver of all time.

His brother Ralf – Schumi the Second – also progressed into Formula 1 but with less success than his older brother, but nevertheless chalked up six victories and 27 podiums from his 180 grand prix starts.

Time will tell if Mick – Schumi the Third – can emulate his uncle, let alone his father. If he does either Formula 1 will be the richer for it.

[MIKA27]

MASSA: CHARLES IS EVEN MORE MATURE THAN MAX

Ferrari hiring rookie Charles Leclerc to replace veteran Kimi Raikkonen is a seismic shift in their tradition of drivers as with the Frenchman on-board they are clearly banking on youth to take the team into the next era of Formula 1.

Massa who, like Leclerc, in his early career made his way to Maranello via Sauber believes the Reds have made the right call,  “They did well, besides the huge talent he also has an incredible head on his shoulders, in my opinion he is even more mature than Max Verstappen.”

“I am convinced that one day he will be able to become world champion. And together with Sebastian Vettel, they will push each other. Ferrari in 2019 will have a great driver pairing.”

Many believe that Verstappen is the first of a stellar cast of young drivers who will become the stars of the future, the Dutchman’s potential challengers includes the likes of Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

Verstappen at 21 is already an established star in Formula 1 with a very long career on the cards, 20-year-old Leclerc has the makings of an archrival. Next season will reveal if this indeed is the one of the feuds to feed F1 headlines for the next decade.

With regards to this season, Massa is surprised by Mercedes’ advantage so late in the season, “I thought Ferrari was in with a chance, on many occasions they proved to have the better car, but then Mercedes developed the car better.”

“Earlier they managed to score more points thanks to Ferrari’s mistakes, like at Hockenheim and Monza, but now they have a technical advantage.”

“They also stay calm despite the lead they have on the table. They put zero pressure on Hamilton whose last three or four races have been incredible, phenomenal qualifying. Difficult to see anyone at his level.”

Massa knows too well about the politics that come with being a Ferrari driver, “I talk from my own experience, having been there, at Maranello the pressure is nothing a driver will ever experience in any other team.”

[MIKA27]

BRAWN: MERCEDES MADE THE RIGHT DECISION

Having been an integral part of Michael Schumacher’s glory years at Benetton and Ferrari, Formula 1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn knows a thing or two about team orders.

Thus no surprise that Brawn agreed with the unpopular team orders call made by his former Mercedes team during the Russian Grand Prix, which gifted victory to their title contender Lewis Hamilton at the expense of teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Much has been written since then about the saga, with the consensus being that it was the right decision to make but not a pleasant one. Credit to team chief Toto Wolff for accepting the role of bad guy who forced Bottas to take one for the team.

Reflecting on the race weekend at Sochi Autodrom, Brawn said, “I reckon the German team’s decision was the right one. The primary aim for a team is to get the best possible result for both championships and that’s what they did.”

“I have found myself in this situation many times in the past and personally, I always believed the collective interest of the team comes before that of an individual driver.”

“It may not be easily accepted by the fans, nor look good for the sport, and that is where the team have to judge the circumstances and make their decision. I can understand Bottas’ frustration, as he had a great weekend, demonstrating how well the Sochi track suits him, but team-orders are part of the sport.”

“Also, it’s always better to apply them in a transparent manner, rather than trying to hide it, something we have seen sometimes in the past, which raised accusations of deception,” added Brawn.

[MIKA27]

ALLISON: ON THE PODIUM I COULD SEE VALTTERI WAS HURTING

Mercedes tech chief James Allison acknowledged that it was a cruel call from the Mercedes pitwall ordering Russian Grand Prix race leader Valtteri Bottas to pull aside and allow title contending teammate Lewis Hamilton past to claim an undeserved and orchestrated victory.

It might have been another top-notch team effort, yet another superb one-two but instead celebrations were muted, drivers bewildered, fans feeling cheated, but despite all this the reality is that team orders have been part of Formula 1 since the championship began in 1950.

After the race on Sunday, Allison – who shared the Sochi podium with the two Mercedes drivers and Sebastian Vettel – provided insight into the decision on the day, “The pace of the Ferrari put us under pressure all the way through the first stint, and we rather fumbled things as a consequence, allowing us to lose the pace to Sebastian [Vettel] at the first stop.”

“Lewis spared our blushes and put things back on an even keel for us, but a little later in the race we got into a degree of difficulty once again when Lewis followed Valtteri quite closely from behind, damaging his rear tyres.”

“With Valtteri in front and on rubber that was working well, we took the very difficult decision to allow Lewis to go in front and have a car with good rubber protecting the one-two that would come our way if we would just look after the tyres to the finish.”

“And that’s what happened in the end, but it was a desperately difficult day for Valtteri. He took his disappointment like a Trojan, but I could see standing next to him on the podium that it was hurting him,” admitted Allison.

MIKA: No S**t!