FORMULA 1

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HULKENBERG: IF YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE IN FORMULA 1

Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg has taken an unexpected but brutally honest swipe at his team after a disappointing Russian Grand Prix weekend for the French outfit, his sentiments echoed by team ambassador F1 legend Alain Prost.

In qualifying at Sochi Autodrom, the yellow cars were a massive 1.6 seconds slower than the similarly Renault powered Red Bulls, at the end of race day it was worse with Nico Hulkenberg 12th, a lap behind the leader, and Carlos Sainz 17th and two laps adrift.

After the race, Hulkenberg did not mince his words, “If you snooze you lose in Formula 1. Ultimately we were just lacking pace and were just too slow.”

“Even with the clean race and good conversation of the strategy, we didn’t get anywhere, didn’t get a result or points.”

“Our package at the moment isn’t competitive enough,” insisted the German who will welcome Daniel Ricciardo to the team next year.

By design or not, in tandem with Hulkenberg, Prost also spoke out about the sad state of affairs when he told Canal+ on Monday, “We haven’t really progressed, in fact, we are regressing in some areas while the others have made good progress with their engines.”

“It’s very difficult right now because we are not going to bring many updates to the car or the engine as we are focussing on next year. However, we must be realistic and analyse what is happening because we are not at the level we need to be.”

“Preparations for next season are going well, but we know that it will be impossible to catch up within a year. We would have liked to be closer to the others in this second half of the season, but we’re not there and we should be aware of this,” warned Prost.

Meanwhile, on Sunday evening after the race Renault team chief Cyril Abiteboul summed up: “Overall a weekend to put behind us; we knew we would struggle here and we gave it our best so we move on to Japan.”

Ironically, before the race weekend in Sochi, Abiteboul criticised Max Verstappen for being the only driver complaining about engines…

[avaldes]

I don't like that call either. But Botas knew what he was in for when he joined Mercedes. If he doesn't like 2nd place he can to to another team and maybe fight for 5th. I mean is there really a part of him that thinks that he is held in higher esteem than Hamilton and will be allowed to win if the drivers WC is still undecided? It is hard to think of a scenario where Mercedes would have let him win that race.

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HAMILTON: FERRARI RELEASING KIMI DOES NOT MAKE SENSE

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton cannot understand why Ferrari have released Kimi Raikkonen while having a joke at the veteran Finn’s expense regarding the book the notoriously tight-lipped Finn recently released.

Last month Ferrari did the unexpected when they decided to end Raikkonen’s tenure with the team and take on young gun Chares Leclerc.

Surprisingly, and out of the blue, Sauber struck a deal with the 38-year-old who drove for them at the start of his career. Nevertheless, the stark reality is that the last man to win a title for Maranello was shown the door by Ferrari.

In an interview with Blick, Hamilton said of the news, “I don’t think Kimi will change in the final races. He is an extraordinary professional, a fantastic driver. He remains one of my favourite drivers and I’m convinced that Ferrari are losing a very important driver. It does not make sense to me.”

When told that Raikkonen recently wrote a book, Hamilton quipped with a laugh, “Does it have two pages?”
Actually 269 pages champ, “The letters must be very big.”

On the bit in the book where Raikkonen describes a two week long drinking binge, Hamilton reacted: “What, he wrote that! Shit, that’s crazy.”

By promoting their protege Leclerc and dispatching their former champ Raikkonen, Ferrari have sent a clear message that Maranello is no longer Sebastian Vettel’s fiefdom.

Asked if he would have a say in the Mercedes driver decision process, Hamilton said, “A difficult question that ends with one word: trust.”

“The atmosphere at Mercedes from the ground right up to the executive floor is unique. I am grateful for that. The balance has to be right, the energy and the trust. [When making a driver decision] I would just say Toto be careful!”

He also revealed that his love affair with his team, who have helped him to three F1 world titles already (a fourth beckoning) will be a long term one, “I think they will support me for the next 20 years. I gave them a lot. I also brought Tommy Hilfiger to the team, helped make sure the right engineers came to us.

Asked of he could see himself in Formula 1 when he is 38, Hamilton replied, “Five years? I don’t know. Ask me at the end of 2020 again…”

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MARKO: RED BULL FOCUS IS FULLY ON 2019

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko revealed how high expectations at the start of this season turned south very fast for the energy drinks outfit and as a result, the team is fully focussed on their 2019 project with Honda.

After the this season’s finale in Abu Dhabi in November, a new era beckons for the Red Bull and Torro Rosso in which many changes are on the cards for the team desperately seeking to return to the form they had enjoyed before F1’s second turbo generation.

On the driver front, they are losing their longtime warrior Daniel Ricciardo to Renault, but welcome highly-rated Pierre Gasly to the senior team alongside Max Verstappen.

At Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat returns to the team he knows well and he will be joined by AN Other in the sister car.

But the biggest change, for the Red Bull team in particular, will be the final ditching of Renault and fully embrace Honda with both teams – all eggs will be in the same basket – thus no surprise that the focus at Milton Keynes right now is entirely on next year’s RB15.

Speaking to Kronen Zeitung, Marko confirmed, “The euphoria we had at the beginning of the year has given way to reality. We have fallen behind Mercedes and Ferrari, but we want to end the season on a high, even if our focus is fully on 2019.”

“The development we are seeing make us optimistic, there is great energy from the Honda side. We are witnessing extreme dedication and great commitment, of course also from our Red Bull side.”

“After Singapore, some of our key people were in Tokyo for a fact-finding visit and to exchange ideas. After all, it’s the first time in F1 that Red Bull has had a full works effort behind us.”

“Honda have all the means to succeed. Sakura [where their R&D build the F1 engine] is an incredible operation. And what we’ve seen with Toro Rosso is everything that Honda has promised has happened – progress is obvious.”

In terms of logistics for the partnership, Marko explained, “Honda has its own headquarters 15 minutes from our factory in Milton Keynes, this is where it happens and from where we run the operations. In the past, we always had to wait and see what plans Renault had for us, now everything is optimised for our benefit.”

“We want to be competitive right from the start of the season and compete for victories. Whether we have enough to challenge for the title, I cannot say right now, but our ambition is obviously the World Championship.”

Finally, Red Bull’s design guru Adrian Newey is notorious for delivering his creations at the very last minute before testing, but for 2019 Marko is adamant: “The car will be ready in time!”

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Zandvoort would need "minimal" changes for F1 return

FIA race director Charlie Whiting believes Zandvoort would need "minimal" changes in order to host a Formula 1 grand prix.
Whiting recently visited Zandvoort to determine what course of action would be needed to bring the circuit up to modern F1 specification, the track having last hosted the Dutch GP in 1985.

Zandvoort was since rebuilt and shortened to its current length of 4.3kms (2.6 miles) and it has hosted contemporary F1 machinery in demo runs, with Max Verstappen breaking the track record in a 2012 car earlier this year.

The circuit co-owner has also stated that an F1 return to Zandvoort is "realistic," with Whiting now believing it is a feasible project.

"I think there's great potential there in Zandvoort," said Whiting when asked by Motorsport.com.

"A few things need to be changed there, and there's a great willingness to change. But I think it's rather too early to be talking about that.

"They're coming back to us with some proposals, and we'll see purely from a circuit point of view - nothing to do with the commercial elements of it - but from a circuit safety point of view I think it could be done.

"There would be a nice long straight good enough to use DRS well, and you'd maintain the historic elements of the circuit as well. I think it would be a very nice circuit."

Asked if changes to the layout would be required, Whiting said: "Not a lot. The amount of work is relatively minimal."

Whiting stressed that more elements will need to be considered before the venue would meet all of F1's requirements.

"I went to look at it [Zandvoort] from a safety point of view," Whiting added. "Could the track be modified to cope with modern F1 cars? That's all.

"Now how big the paddocks are, access, where you are going to put spectators is not something that I would get involved in normally."

Following the Russian GP, Whiting travelled to Hanoi to look at a potential site of a Vietnamese GP.

The site is around 9kms (5.6 miles) outside of Hanoi in an area undergoing development, with some roads intended to be used in a grand prix yet to be built.

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F1 rule change planned to address qualifying no-shows

The FIA is considering a change to the way Formula 1 drivers with engine penalties line up on the grid in order to avoid the repeat of the events of Russian Grand Prix qualifying.
At the moment drivers who change enough power unit elements to earn a back of the grid penalty start the race in the order that those elements were first used, which is based on who left the pitlane first in FP1.

That means these drivers don't have any incentive to run in qualifying, other than making a token effort in Q1 for the sake of  fans and sponsors.

In Sochi three of the five penalised drivers were quick enough to progress to Q2, but none of them ran in that session, because there was no point in wasting tyres or engine mileage.

As a direct result of that, Renault also chose not to run its drivers in Q2 in Russia, because they would be guaranteed to start 11th and 12th, with a free choice of tyres.

The FIA is considering a change that will see the grid order of penalised drivers determined by qualifying time, thus encouraging them to run more.

The change would also put a stop to the bizarre sight of penalised drivers lining up early at the pit exit at the start of FP1 purely to claim their grid positions.

"I don't think anyone could have foreseen what happened here," said FIA race director Charlie Whiting in Sochi.

"I think there is another way, I've been talking about it to a few teams here.

"I think what we could do based on this weekend is instead of having cars line up at the pit exit in a rather farcical way, and that sort of thing will only ever get worse, if you have five drivers you will arrange them at the back in the order in which they qualified.

"I think that would provide some incentive for drivers to actually go and qualify, and try to qualify as high as they could at least.

"At least they would be arranged in 16th to 20th positions in the order that they qualified, rather than the order that they left the pitlane. That's one suggestion that's going to be discussed."

Asked about the chances of the change being voted through, Whiting said: "I would have thought quite high. I like to think that's a sensible solution.

"There may be some drawbacks that we haven't thought of yet, but it's a relatively new idea."

"No evidence" of resurfacing impact

The Sochi Autodrom circuit laid new surface in several parts of the track, including a small stretch by the start-finish line that covered the first three grid slots, ahead of the 2018 race.

Although he actually stood to benefit having qualified third, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel made it clear before the race that he wasn’t happy with the way the work had been done.

Asked about the matter after the race, Whiting said the impact of the resurfacing had been negligible.

‘I don’t think there was controversy,” he said. “It was brought up because it’s so visible, you can see two types of asphalt there, but there’s no evidence to suggest that the grip is any different on one than the other.

"We did notice after that small amount of rain that the black asphalt took a little longer to dry, but otherwise I don’t think [there was a difference].

“It will be interesting to talk to the drivers and teams and see if there actually was, but I think if it had to be repaired in that particular place it’s a bit much to ask them to repair a 250m section when they only need to repair a 15m section. It’s not uncommon, either.”

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‘He’s been a good help for me’ – Gasly on how Vettel has mentored him

Sebastian Vettel was once the bright young thing in F1, breaking records and impressing with his speed and unerring maturity. The German is now, of course, a four-time world champion and one of the more senior figures on the grid – and it seems he’s also taken on something of a mentor’s role to one of F1’s current crop of young stars: Pierre Gasly.

Speaking on the latest episode of Beyond The Grid, the official F1 podcast presented by Bose, released on Wednesday, Gasly – who will move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull next year – reveals that Vettel has been on hand to provide useful advice at various points in his career, especially when he was on the cusp of F1.

“I get on really well with Seb. He’s been a good help for me,” Gasly says. “I went to see him after GP2 because it was pretty difficult for me winning the GP2 championship [in 2016] and then not getting the chance to go straight into F1 – being in a good place [with Red Bull] but at the wrong time.

“I just went to see him to say ‘Okay, what do you think about my situation? How do you see things and what kind of advice can you give me?’ We sat down, I remember, in Mexico after the drivers’ briefing and he was just super friendly and super nice.

“He told me his experiences with Red Bull and what he thinks, what I should do and the kind of advice that a world champion can give to a younger driver. He told me Super Formula was a great chance to go abroad and that I just need to keep pushing and show them [Red Bull] that you don’t give up, because they keep testing you.

“Even now with the position I’m going to be in, I spoke with Seb a bit and for me at the end of the day he is one of my idols. That may sound a bit strange but he’s someone I looked at in karting and it’s great to be in F1 with him now. We’re going to fight next year but he’s someone I really respect a lot and he’s impressive as a person. Really smart and really humble and for me I really enjoy to catch up with this kind of guy and always learn things from the experience.”

You can hear much more from Pierre Gasly, including insight into how his move at Red Bull came about, his racing career in Japan, his relationship with Max Verstappen, and much, much more, on Wednesday’s episode of Beyond The Grid.

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Force India predicting stronger Japan after Sauber beating in Sochi

On paper, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finishing the Russian Grand Prix as the third- and fourth-fastest runners behind the big three teams wasn’t a bad showing. But Perez admitted afterwards that he’d been shocked at the pace of Charles Leclerc’s Sauber C37 – with Force India now hoping to re-stamp their authority on the midfield in Suzuka.

Force India have put in some eye-catching performances since their rebirth as Racing Point Force India over the summer break, while the injection of cash that came from the team being purchased also allowed them to put on some long-awaited updates in Singapore – something which helped Perez qualify comfortably best of the rest there, over three-tenths faster than his nearest rival.

That pace counted for nothing in the race, as the two Force India drivers came together on lap one, putting Ocon out after just three corners and leaving Perez to finish 16th.

They enjoyed a better Grand Prix in Russia, however, with Ocon ending up ninth and Perez 10th – albeit with neither driver able to make any gains on Kevin Magnussen’s eighth-placed Haas, and with all three drivers summarily outperformed by Leclerc, who ended up P7 and well up the road.

And while both Force India drivers appeared reasonably content with their days’ work in Sochi, having helped the team to their third double points finish in four races, Perez sounded an alarm bell when asked whether it was Haas who were their main midfield competition for the rest of the season.

“Well, the Sauber came from nowhere and beat us massively today,” said the Mexican. “I think they've done an incredible job. I just saw [Leclerc] on the first lap and then he disappeared, so a massive surprise.

"We tried our best and we worked well as a team, but in the end P9 and P10 was all we could achieve today.

“Let's see what happens in Suzuka," he added, "a very different track and hopefully we can be competitive there.”

Force India Team Principal and CEO Otmar Szafnauer was also predicting a strong performance for his squad at the Japanese Grand Prix, taking place just a week after Sochi, re-stating that he felt they had more than enough momentum to overtake McLaren’s sixth place in the constructors’ standings, despite having only been eligible for points since Belgium in August following the team's move to new ownership.

“I think we’ll be strong in Suzuka,” he said. “We’ve updated the car recently, so now it’s time to learn a bit more about set-up and how the updates work and optimise the car, so there should be more performance.

“We’re [23] points behind McLaren with five races left, so we’ve got to score an average of five more per race than they do. I think that’s achievable.”

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22 minutes ago, avaldes said:

I don't like that call either. But Botas knew what he was in for when he joined Mercedes. If he doesn't like 2nd place he can to to another team and maybe fight for 5th. I mean is there really a part of him that thinks that he is held in higher esteem than Hamilton and will be allowed to win if the drivers WC is still undecided? It is hard to think of a scenario where Mercedes would have let him win that race.

Completely agree with your thoughts. But nonetheless, it still stings to have a win that he could have notched onto his record lost.

These team orders have always been around.

[avaldes]

Hopefully some of that $12M+ salary of his soothes him a bit.

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33 minutes ago, avaldes said:

Hopefully some of that $12M+ salary of his soothes him a bit.

Mate, I'd happily drive an old Minardi or Arrows for a Mil  

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VETTEL: MERCEDES VERY GOOD AT TELLING US THEIR CAR IS INFERIOR

After the Russian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel pointed out what many suspect, namely that the Mercedes package is not as ‘bad’ as they have been making out suggesting that the performance has been in the silver cars all along.

At Sochi Autodrome on Saturday, Mercedes turned up the wick and dominated qualifying with a resounding front row lockout with Ferrari not even close on the day. Valtteri Bottas’ pole-winning lap was over half a second faster than Vettel’s best effort, with Hamilton four tenths up on his title rival.

In the race, such was the dominance of the silver cars that the Mercedes pitwall had the comfort of issuing team orders to the benefit of their title contender Lewis Hamilton, while Vettel could only manage third and thus the Briton’s advantage jumped from 40 points to 50 with five races remaining.

Vettel acknowledged, “Obviously it’s not nice to have a gap like that, but then I think I’ve been way more realistic about the gaps in general and the performance between the cars. I know we have a great car, I’m not doubting that, but I believe their car is very strong too and has been very strong.”

Nevertheless, in boxing parlance, Vettel is on the ropes with Hamilton pounding away.

The German believes Mercedes have deliberately kept the full potential of the W09 on a leash while downplaying its capabilities, “I think the other side have been very good at communicating that they have an inferior car but I don’t think that was the case.”

Earlier in the season, Ferrari appeared to have the upper hand but a series of unfortunate events, most of them self-induced, has allowed Mercedes to maximise their points haul at the expense of the reds. In other words, Hamilton raised his game to a new level of excellence and at the same time capitalised on Vettel’s mistakes.

In the run down to the season finale the canvas is beckoning for dazed Vettel, in contrast, Hamilton is energised by winning unexpected rounds and, coupled to his tendency to take it up a notch when it matters, is now bobbing and weaving, looking to land that knockout punch.

Although the Ferrari driver looks unlikely to even take the bout to Round 21, he remains positive, “I think it’s always been very close. We will see. We have a strong car, we know that, a car that we can work with.”

“I think it’s been a reasonable match. There’s been qualifying sessions where we’ve had the upper hand by a tiny bit and they had the upper hand by a little bit.”

“Sometimes also a bit more like [Russia] or France or other races. I think we have a good car, we need to make sure we keep improving it.”

Years ago the silver screen’s much-loved pugilist, Rocky Balboa inadvertently summed up Vettel’s crisis: “Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give… it’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.”

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FERRARI TO REVEAL TWEAKED NEW LIVERY AT SUZUKA

On Thursday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari will unveil a tweaked livery at Suzuka, bucking the trend of not changing ‘paint jobs’ during the course of the season.

Of course, red will remain predominant but there are likely to be detail changes around the engine cover area and wings of the SF71H.

The livery tweaks come in the wake of senior management leadership changes brought about by Sergio Marchionne’s passing in June.

It also follows recent confirmation that long-time sponsors Philip Morris International (PMI), the parent company of Marlboro, would continue with the legendary Italian team until 2021.

Marlboro has sponsored Ferrari’s drivers since 1973 (logo appearing helmets and suits) as team suoremo Enzo Ferrari would only allow technical suppliers to have branding on his red cars.

But it was all change 20-years later when in 1993, Marlboro became a primary sponsor and in 1997 became the title sponsor of the team renamed to: Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

Soon tobacco sponsorship became taboo and in 2008, Ferrari ran with Marlboro on their cars for a final time, since then tobacco advertising has been banned.

Today there is very little suggesting a connection to Marlboro on the Ferrari livery, but the partnership still thrives despite this. Estimates suggest that PMI have pumped well over a billion dollars in sponsorship into the Maranello coffers over the past four decades.

Speculation is that they will use the platform with Ferrari to promote their smoke-free products and cigarette alternatives such as Iqos, Teeps, Mesh, NicoCig etc.

The few times Ferrari tweaked their livery in-season was out of respect for victims of the 9/11 attack on New York, at their home race at Monza in 2001 (shortly after the incident) the cars were stripped of branding and the front nose painted matt black.

A similar livery was used as a tribute to Pope John Paul II who passed away in 2005. Both these instances were one-off usage.

The only time Ferrari did not race in red, in Formula 1, was at the final two rounds of the 1964 season when the cars of John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini were painted white and blue for the races in Mexico and USA.

Enzo Ferrari was at war with the Italian federation which caused him to abandon the Ferrari red, at the time vowing his team would never again race in his country’s national colours.

It was a shortlived protest!

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MARKO: VERSTAPPEN THE ONLY OTHER DRIVER AT HAMILTON’S LEVEL

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day, after Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, as he powered through the field form the back row of the grid to finish fifth.

The effort has prompted team consultant Helmut Marko to declare that currently the Dutchman is the only driver in Lewis Hamilton’s league.

Verstappen was turned around a wayward and scrappy first half of the season, delivering high-quality performances, such as the one he delivered at Sochi Autodrome on Sunday afternoon when during the first half-dozen laps through traffic he was masterful.

Marko said of Max 2.0 after the race in Russia, “He is not making mistakes anymore. He is driving with maturity, independence and self-assurance, the only one driver at Hamilton’s level.”

“What he did on Sunday was unbelievable. Max overtook left, right, top and bottom and his rivals did not know what was happening,” added Marko.

This weekend Formula 1 heads to Japan for the 17th round of the championship, but Marko believes that the title battle is over as a contest despite five rounds remaining, “Unfortunately it’s already decided in favour of Mercedes. It’s amazing how Ferrari have tanked recently.”

Heading to Suzuka, Hamilton leads the drivers’ championship standings while Verstappen lies fifth.

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VETTEL NEEDS TO BE BIG IN JAPAN TO STAY IN TITLE RACE

S

ebastian Vettel may need to rely on a stroke of luck at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday if the German wants to keep alive his diminishing hopes of claiming a fifth Formula One title.

Even victory at Suzuka may be a case of “too little, too late” for the Ferrari driver, with Lewis Hamilton sitting 50 points clear and just five races remaining.

The simple mathematics mean the Briton, who has won five of the last six races for Mercedes, including Russia last weekend, does not even need to register another victory this season to claim a fifth world title of his own.

“Maybe the next couple of tracks are better suited for us, we will know when we get there,” said Vettel, who has five wins to Hamilton’s eight this year and finished third in Sochi and at the previous grand prix in Singapore.

“We need to keep pushing and try. Who knows what will happen in the next races. It takes one DNF (did not finish) and then all of a sudden things look different,” he told reporters after Sochi. “Ideally two — which I’m not wishing on Lewis but you never know what happens.”

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene likened the sweeping, high-speed Suzuka circuit to Silverstone, the British Grand Prix venue where then-championship leader Vettel won in July.

“If it goes well, we will know that, despite the difficult situation in terms of the classification, we still have the right tools with which to fight all the way to the very end,” the Italian said, but there remains a sense that Ferrari are simply clutching at straws.

Hamilton won in Japan last year, while Vettel failed to finish, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo claiming second and third.

This time, Vettel will be hoping the Red Bulls can get back into the mix to his advantage.

The former champions showed impressive speed in Russia, despite engine penalties dropping the cars to the back of the grid, with Verstappen climbing up from 19th to the race lead until a late pit stop saw him finish a creditable fifth.

Although Suzuka is expected to again suit the Red Bulls, Mercedes have won the last four races in Japan, three courtesy of Hamilton, and will be favourites to extend that run.

It is a position the German team have enjoyed for most of the season yet once again they are taking nothing for granted.

“Suzuka will be another challenging weekend for us,” declared Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, whose team are 53 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

“It’s a track that shows some similarities to Silverstone, where we didn’t perform as strongly this year as we had done in previous seasons. So we’re going to Japan knowing that we all have to be at our very best if we want to claim the win.”

Sunday’s race could also mark a happier homecoming for Honda, after the difficult McLaren years, as engine partners to Toro Rosso.

The Japanese manufacturer also absorbed engine penalties in Russia to position themselves better with an upgraded power unit for their home race.

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TRIBUTE TO THE GREAT FORMULA 1 FANS OF JAPAN

Japanese Formula 1 fans descend on Suzuka for the grand prix weekend energised with a passion that is unique to the country, as they go out of their way to show their admiration for drivers and teams by dressing up in their favourite colours and flaunting them.

There was a time during the Ayrton Senna heyday when tickets were sold by lottery such was the demand, the late great Brazilian remains one of the most loved and respected sporting idols in Japan.

However, the passion for the current generation is also evident, with support for teams and drivers across the grid including the minnows.

Suzuka is owned by Honda and of course support for the Japanese manufacturer on home soil is big and Toro Rosso – perhaps even Red Bull – costumes are likely to feature prominently.

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FIA set Haas F1 Italian GP disqualification appeal date

The FIA has set a date at the International Court of Appeal for Haas F1 to appeal the decision to exclude Romain Grosjean from the results of September's Italian Grand Prix.

Grosjean was disqualified from the results of the race in Monza after Renault successfully protested the use of the floor on the Haas.

The investigation into the floor showed the car failed to have the required 50mm radius edges on the front of the floor section. Haas did appeal for special dispensation to extend the time they needed to make the changes for Singapore, but were denied and were formally protested by the French marquee.

Haas took up its right to protest and the appeal has been confirmed for November 1st.

The decision to exclude Grosjean cost the Frenchman a sixth place finish and eight world championship points; the loss of points is crucial to the American outfit as they in a fierce battle with the Renault for fourth place in the constructors' championship.

With the disqualification currently in place, Haas lie in fifth place 11 points behind the Enstone-based team in the standings with five races remaining left of the 2018 campaign.

Should the International court of appeal fall in favour of Haas, they would regain eight points back on Renault, putting a lot more pressure on the battle between the two outfits, especially with two races left of the season after the date of the appeal in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

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Messing with qualifying risks hurting "value" of GP win

McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran is not in favour of any Formula 1 format overhaul that would reduce the "value" of winning a grand prix.
F1 bosses have considered the merit of shaking up how race weekends work and even discussed adding a qualifying race before the main event.

De Ferran, a Champ Car champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, says he is a "traditionalist" who fears the prestige of scoring a grand prix victory could be hurt by such a move.

"Qualifying is to determine the fastest guy," he said. "It's the time of the weekend you don't have to worry about the brakes, you don't have to worry about the fuel, you don't have to worry about saving your tyres or anything like that.

"You just push like mad and do the best lap time you can. I always found that interesting even as a young fan.

"So, I'm a traditionalist in the sense that I like qualifying to determine the fastest guy and I like the race being a standalone sort of thing.

"I think it's important that we don't commoditise the races. Winning a grand prix has a lot of meaning.

"If you can call yourself a grand prix winner I think that carries a lot of weight and I think we must preserve that value."

F1 is considering a qualifying tweak for next season, but it is only a minor change from the current format and would add an extra knockout stage.

De Ferran says he is a big of the three-part qualifying system F1 first introduced in 2007.

"I think of everything I've seen over the year, that's a pretty wide range including Friday qualifying and Saturday qualifying, a limited number of laps, single laps, one set of tyres per weekend, the whole gambit," said de Ferran.

"This is still my favourite type of qualifying.

"The most important thing in qualifying at least for me when I'm watching is I want to know the fastest guy is on pole.

"As a driver I took a lot of pride in qualifying, I always wanted to be the fastest guy.

"I think this format is the best to actually determine that, so when you are on pole position it has some meaning and some value and I quite like that.

"Every format I've seen over the years there are some positives and some negatives but on balance when I look at this format it's my preferred format."

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Grosjean: German GP key to saving Haas seat

Romain Grosjean says this year’s German Grand Prix was the crucial point he knew he had turned around his form and could save his Formula 1 seat with Haas.
The American team announced last week that it will field Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen for a third year in 2019.

Grosjean has been with Haas since its debut in 2016 but is place was under threat following a bad run of form earlier this year that included high-profile errors in Azerbaijan and Spain.

Asked to pinpoint a key moment in his turnaround, Grosjean said: "Germany. It was the point and I knew it, I found what were the issues before and worked them through.

"I knew from Germany I was back on form."

Grosjean was denied a likely top-five finish in the season opener in Australia but Haas botched its pitstops and both cars retired.

That prompted a point-less run of eight races at the start of the year that was ended emphatically in Austria, where Grosjean finished fourth to record Haas's best result in F1.

"Things had to turn at one point," he said. "The season looked worse than it was actually was sometimes because of bad luck.

"Bahrain I was in the points and lost half the car [when bodywork broke], then Canada I think I was scoring points and didn't make qualifying.

"Silverstone was the time when [I thought], 'OK, I need to understand things and make sure that things are going my way all the time'. Then Germany and Hungary I knew I was back on track."

Grosjean said he had changed "a few personal issues from work life to personal life" that became "a big thing" when combined.

He praised the team for giving him the opportunity to address his form before making a decision.

"They know what I have done for the team and I think they were patient and that was great," he said.

"They are racers and they do understand racing and there were no reasons for me not to be the same as before.

"There are a lot of drivers willing to drive for no money or no salary, so it is not easy to keep your seat.

"But experience is something you cannot buy and I guess for a team like Haas that is still developing and growing, an experienced driver is very important."

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Renault: Don't blame us for Ocon's plight

Renault insists that it should not be singled out for blame as to why Esteban Ocon has been left struggling to find a Formula 1 seat.
Ocon is facing a year on the sidelines after a planned switch to Renault fell through at the last minute when the French car manufacturer opted to take Daniel Ricciardo instead.

It has since emerged that Mercedes, which manages Ocon's career, let other options fall away because it had a handshake agreement with Renault that a deal would be done.

When Renault opted to take Daniel Ricciardo instead, Ocon was left struggling to find other opportunities.

Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul thinks in unfair that Renault be singled out for leaving Ocon high and dry.

"I think that Esteban is currently in the middle of a situation of a very adverse set of circumstances, and I think Renault is only a small factor in all of that," Abiteboul said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

"We are a factor but I think we are only a small factor. And I think we should not exaggerate the fact that, again, that we are just a small factor.

"We should not forget the Mercedes decision on its driver line-up. We should not forget the Force India situation and the role that Mercedes has clearly played in the Force India situation."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed last week that Renault had urged Mercedes not to pursue an opportunity Ocon had with McLaren so it could finalise its own deal.

It was that action, allied to the handshake, that left Wolff disappointed with how things had turned out.

"A ready contract and a handshake commitment was given to ensure that he [Ocon] would not go to the other team, and based on that handshake commitment the decision was taken," said Wolff. "But eventually the 'agreement' that was made didn't happen.

"If among serious teams and corporations you agree on things, you like to trust that these things will stick."

Asked about the handshake with Mercedes, Abiteboul said: "I don't want to add, frankly, a story to a story because then it keeps on going and going.

"I can see that Toto is maybe for the first time in Formula 1 he is struggling with something, with the situation.

"I think, you know, I have never denied the fact that we have had lots of interest for Esteban and that we will continue in the future to have lots of interest for Esteban.

"What I can say is that no contract was obviously signed. Otherwise it would have been challenged by Toto. But for the rest let's, again, let's not exaggerate Renault's responsibility in the Esteban situation."

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Feature: Celebrating Suzuka's 30 years in Formula 1

This year’s Japanese Grand Prix marks the 30th to be held at the highly-rated figure-of-eight Suzuka circuit, a venue that has gone down in folklore as bearing witness to some of the most iconic moments in Formula 1 history – and one of the lowest. Motorsport Week reflects on some of those moments as Suzuka prepares for the big 3-0.

1989 – Clash at the chicane

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s relationship as McLaren team-mates had irrevocably deteriorated, and the title was on the line at Suzuka. Senna, following a poor start, gave chase to Prost and made his move during the closing stages. Prost defended, and the cars collided at the chicane. Prost climbed from his car while Senna was push-started by marshals and went on to re-claim the lead from Alessandro Nannini. But he was excluded for cutting the chicane post-clash, and that controversially handed the title to Prost.

1990 – Revenge at Turn 1

The rivalry between Senna and Prost had not calmed down in the intervening 12 months – if anything, it had exploded. And it exploded dramatically at Suzuka. Senna wanted pole position moved sides but this requested was denied by FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre. An infuriated Senna vowed that Prost would not be ahead into Turn 1 – and he was right, as the pair came to blows at high speed. Both were out on the spot, and the collision confirmed Senna as champion.

1994 – Hill’s wet weather masterclass

Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher were locked in a controversial title battle and the penultimate round of the campaign took place in atrocious conditions at Suzuka. A mid-race red flag period broke the Grand Prix into two parts, with an aggregate timing system used. Schumacher held an advantage under the red flag but Hill fought back and opened a sufficient enough buffer during the second segment of the race to overhaul his deficit. Hill won by a net three seconds, ensuring that the pair would go to Adelaide split by just a point.

1996 – I’ve got a lump in my throat

Hill missed out to Schumacher in both 1994 and 1995, while his impending exit from Williams ostensibly left 1996 as his final title chance. Hill headed to Suzuka nine points clear of team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, meaning the battle was still open but controlled the race after the Canadian bogged down from pole position. Villeneuve’s exit due to a loose wheel sealed the crown for Hill, whose win prompted that famous line from Murray Walker. Hill’s achievement meant he became the first ‘son of’ to win a Formula 1 title, following in the footsteps of his double World Champion father Graham.

1998 – Mika’s moment

Hakkinen went into the Suzuka finale four points clear of Schumacher but it was the Ferrari driver who led the way through qualifying. Though his aspirations were dealt a blow when he stalled on the formation lap, consigning him to the back of the grid, and giving Hakkinen a clear run. The McLaren driver controlled proceedings while Schumacher’s fightback ended when he suffered a tyre failure shortly after mid-distance. That confirmed Hakkinen as champion – and he went on to cap his championship-winning season with a victory.

2000 – Schumacher ends Scuderia’s wait

Schumacher had come close in 1997 and 1998 but finally, in 2000 he ended Ferrari’s 21-year wait for a Drivers’ title by triumphing in a brilliant duel against Hakkinen. It was one of the greatest head-to-heads in history, as the pair traded blows in an epic qualifying session before continuing their scrap in race trim. Hakkinen claimed the lead from pole sitter Schumacher but the Ferrari driver jumped ahead through the second round of stops, an advantage he held through to the chequered flag, with the result clinching his third crown – and first with Ferrari – with one round spare. Schumacher and Hakkinen, split by just two seconds, were a minute clear of the rest.

2005 –Heaven 17

This race had it all. A wet qualifying session mixed up the grid, leaving several of the favourites mired down the order – but with competitive machinery at their disposal. Fernando Alonso pulled off an extraordinary move on Schumacher around 130r just one race after his coronation confirmed the end of the Ferrari driver’s reign of the sport. But that was merely an aperitif to the denouement. Raikkonen, from 17th on the grid, reeled in long-time leader Giancarlo Fisichella and swept around the outside of his Renault rival into Turn 1 at the start of the final lap. An all-time classic.

2006 – No eight for the great

The 2006 season turned on its head as Alonso’s enormous mid-year advantage was eradicated by a resurgent Schumacher and Ferrari. The duo arrived at Suzuka level on points, with Schumacher in front on win countback. Schumacher moved into the race lead early on while Alonso recovered from fifth to hold second place as the duo glided around the figure-of-eight circuit. Alonso chased Schumacher but the Ferrari ace held firm – at least until his engine let go just 17 laps from home. Alonso won, thus opening a 10-point advantage that all-but-sealed title number two.

2011 – Seb doubles up

Sebastian Vettel was the Suzuka supremo during his Red Bull days, winning upon its return to the calendar in 2009, and adding further wins in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Even in the season where he did not triumph on Japanese soil he still departed the circuit on top of the world. A conservative strategy from Red Bull dropped Vettel from the lead to third by the chequered flag, not that he cared much, as he celebrated clinching his second world title. Vettel’s regression in the race order was good news for Jenson Button, as he took a popular victory in a country he regards as a second home.

2012 – Kamui’s moment

Kamui Kobayashi had firmly established himself as a tenacious racer who would make opportunities where they seemingly did not exist. In 2010 he starred on home soil with a sequence of brilliant lunges into the hairpin, but it was in 2012 when he reached the high point of his F1 career. In a year where Sauber displayed strong pace on high-downforce circuits Kobayashi started third, rose to second, and though he was overhauled by Felipe Massa, he kept Button at bay by half a second to mount the podium places, to the delight of the vocal home crowd.

2014 – Tragedy in the torrent

The 2014 running of the Japanese Grand Prix marked a brilliant display of wet weather driving by Lewis Hamilton, overhauling Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg into Turn 1, as Typhoon Phanfone affected the country. But their title battle paled into insignificance when Marussia driver Jules Bianchi left the circuit through Dunlop curve and struck a recovery tractor that was retrieving Adrian Sutil’s crashed car. Bianchi sustained a diffuse axonal injury and never regained consciousness; he was transferred to his native France in November and died the following July, becoming the first active Formula 1 driver to lose their life at a Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna.

2016 – Rosberg’s finale

No-one knew it at the time but the 2016 event proved to be the final victory for eventual champion Rosberg. Having edged a distracted Hamilton to pole position, he then mastered the start while Hamilton fell to third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Their positions remained unchanged throughout the remainder of the race, enabling Rosberg to notch up his 23rd victory. The win gave Rosberg a sufficient enough points buffer to finish runner-up to Hamilton across the remaining four Grands Prix and still claim the title. That exact situation unfolded – and Rosberg bowed out as champion.

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MCLAREN PREVIEW THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

The McLaren look ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Round 17 of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship, at Suzuka.

Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne and Gil de Ferran share their excitement on returning to Suzuka Circuit.

Fernando Alonso: “I love Suzuka – it’s one of the best tracks of the year. I’ve had some great memories there – 2006 is a personal highlight – and I love spending time in Japan. This year I’ll finally be able to get used to the time zone, as I’ll be there for two weeks, one week in Suzuka and one in Fuji. I’m looking forward to it and also to visiting Tokyo, where I’ll try to spend as many days as possible between racing. The fans are the most incredible thing about Suzuka. They are amazing, even from Thursday when we have our media day and we go to the grandstands for the autograph signing, we see so many fans. They’re at the hotel, the train station – everywhere we go there are a lot of passionate Japanese fans. Equally, it wouldn’t be fair to say it’s only the fans that make the circuit so special. It’s great because it’s very demanding, and perfect for Formula 1 cars. You can use all the potential of these cars and their aerodynamic performance as they match perfectly with the corners at Suzuka. The first sector is quite impressive, and when everything works well and you’re confident in the car you can really push through the Esses. The g-forces and the feelings you get when you race there are quite amazing. As drivers, we love the speed – even when it’s flat-out it’s still enjoyable.”

Stoffel Vandoorne: “In terms of the pure satisfaction of driving a Formula 1 car, I think Suzuka is up there as one of the greatest circuits in the world. Of course, as a Belgian driver, I’d always put Spa-Francorchamps up there too, but Suzuka is just as much fun – and it’s probably a more difficult place to master than Spa. It’s one of those places which doesn’t just have a single, unique corner, or characteristic: the first-sector Esses are hugely challenging; the Degners are extremely fast and unforgiving; and Spoon is a real, old-school corner that constantly invites over-commitment. Every lap requires you to raise your game. And the whole Japanese Grand Prix experience is always surreal and fantastic. I learnt from my season in Super Formula that the Japanese fans are super-passionate about motorsport, and the Suzuka weekend just overflows with positivity and fun. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: “The Japanese Grand Prix is one of Formula 1’s iconic races, and Suzuka is one of motorsport’s greatest circuits. It’s also a place where some of McLaren’s greatest moments took place. We head to Japan after a tricky weekend in Russia, but the work undertaken there to gain a better understanding of the car was encouraging, and will all feed back into the design and preparation of next year’s programme. Suzuka is extremely demanding on the whole package, stressing both mechanical and aerodynamic grip, but we’re hoping for a more productive and competitive weekend overall.”

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SAUBER PREVIEW THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

After an exceptional race result in Russia, where the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team finished in 7th (Charles Leclerc) and 13th (Marcus Ericsson) places, the team is heading to Japan for the last Asian race of 2018.

The iconic Suzuka Circuit is a highly technical track, with complex corner combinations that are a challenge for drivers to find the ideal racing line. Motivated by their progress and most recent successes, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team approaches the Japanese Grand Prix with motivation and optimism.

Marcus Ericsson (car number 9): “I am really looking forward to our next race in Japan. The Suzuka circuit is my favourite one, and I have always been strong there. The fans are very enthusiastic and it is great to have their support while driving. We have a strong package going into the weekend and should be quite competitive there, so I hope that we will be able to see some good results and score more points.”

Charles Leclerc (car number 16): “It will be my first time driving on the Suzuka Circuit. It is one of the most renowned circuits there is, and I am looking forward to discovering its challenges very much. It is a very technical track, and quite demanding in terms of the corners it features. After a positive weekend in Russia, we are motivated to extract the most out of our potential in the upcoming weekends, and I look forward to being back in the car in Japan.”

Track facts:

The Suzuka Circuit is a landmark for drivers as well as engineers. The first sector is dominated by mid to high-speed corners and changes of direction, therefore, high downforce is crucial. In the second part braking stability and traction, with the aerodynamic performance of the car, play a huge role. The third sector is the shortest with one chicane.

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WILLIAMS PREVIEW THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

The Formula 1 paddock heads to Japan next to close out the penultimate back-to-back race of the season.

Sergey will be hoping for a quieter weekend after the mania of his home Grand Prix, meanwhile Lance aims to build on his experience from last year’s race. The enthusiastic Japanese fans, who are known for their warm welcome and interesting headwear, will be sure to keep spirits high in the paddock as we approach the business end of the season.

For Japan, Pirelli has made available the medium, soft and supersoft tyres.

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: Straight from Russia, we head to Japan and the Suzuka circuit. It is a race that we love as the enthusiasm from the Japanese fans is incredible. The circuit is also one the greatest, with a huge heritage in Formula One as one of the true classic tracks. It has many overtaking opportunities, but little runoff, so whilst being one of the more challenging circuits, it can produce some exciting racing. It has a unique figure of eight layout and requires great driver skill to get right.

Lance Stroll: I love Suzuka, it is one of my favourites on the calendar. I am really looking forward to going there. It has got a great flow with high-speed corners, low-speed corners and braking zones. I would say sector one is probably the best sector as when the car is working well, and you get in the rhythm, the feeling is amazing. It is a demanding track, mentally and physically. I am just going to enjoy the beautiful circuit that I get to drive on and get the most out of the car and myself. The Japanese fans are great, they love Formula One’s history and you can really feel the energy there in Suzuka.

Sergey Sirotkin: Japan is a very special race as we all know. I’ve been to Suzuka but I haven’t driven there. The track is mega and out of all the ones I’ve yet to drive, this is the one I’m looking forward to driving the most. Japan is a very special country with a very special atmosphere.

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RENAULT PREVIEW THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

Drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz share their thoughts on the challenges of Suzuka, while Cyril Abiteboul and Nick Chester give the latest on the team and on the Renault R.S.18-R.E.18 package.

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director, Renault Sport Racing: “Five races remain in 2018. Five races to define our season and to meet our objective of finishing fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. We’ve defended it since Spain, and now we have to see it through to Abu Dhabi. We set high standards in the first part of the year and that’s what we set out to achieve at every race.”

Nico Hülkenberg: “Suzuka is built for drivers as it ticks all the boxes. It’s such an amazing track behind the wheel – especially in a modern Formula 1 car – and it’s certainly one of the best circuits out there. It has a good flow to it, with some cool corner combinations, elevation changes and it’s quite physical too with a lot of G on the body and neck. There are some areas of the lap where you need to be quite aggressive and brave, but that’s the fun of it.”

Carlos Sainz: “The circuit is a lot of fun to drive, a proper drivers’ circuit where our ability and skill are put to the test. Sector one is extremely physical, especially with the modern, high-downforce cars, and the never-ending right, left, right, left esses. The Degners are challenging to get right with gravel traps waiting for you on the outside. The long, Spoon curve is vital as it opens up the long-straight, which then feeds into 130R – a fast corner taken flat-out.”