FORMULA 1

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Sharpening the attack: How Red Bull emerged as a threat

“RB14 has been the strongest chassis in F1 this year.” Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner isn’t usually afraid to big up his outfit’s performance but he’s probably not too far wrong given what they’ve managed to achieve during the 2018 F1 campaign, despite a lack of grunt and reliability from their Renault engine. Speaking to Formula1.com, Horner looks back at his team’s most successful year in the V6 hybrid era and outlines his expectations for next season...

Four wins in 21 races is not championship-contending form. Equally, it’s nothing to be sniffed at. Just three teams have clinched victory in the last five seasons and the fact that Red Bull are one of them – Mercedes and Ferrari are the others – is impressive. After the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Daniel Ricciardo had secured two wins in six races (it could have been more – Unreliability struck in Bahrain, Max Verstappen and Ricciardo struck each other in Baku) and despite their Renault engine lacking grunt, Red Bull suddenly looked like an outside contender for the title.

That was, unfortunately, as good as it got, at least for Ricciardo who failed to grace the podium again. But his team mate Verstappen recovered from an error-strewn start to the year to finish strongly with five successive podiums and a total tally of two victories, putting him a best-ever fourth in the drivers’ standings. That Red Bull could contend, on pure performance, across a range of tracks, at the end of the year, was evidence they had the potential while also supporting Horner’s claim.

“It’s clear we have had a fantastic car this year,” says Horner. “RB14 has been the strongest chassis in F1 this year. When you consider the power deficiency we have had this year, what we have achieved – four victories – is very impressive. We had a strong car at the beginning of the year, we just weren’t able to capitalise. Reliability has been our Achilles’ heel this year. We’ve had too many engine failures and we’ve had a few issues on our own which have been frustrating. We’ve been able to optimise the car through the season. We are using the tyres very effectively compared to our competitors. It’s a combination of factors.”

The driver influence

Key to that early run of points was Ricciardo, who has now departed for a fresh chapter at Renault after more than a decade with the Red Bull family. But from June onwards, the Australian didn’t have any luck and ended the year with eight mechanical-related retirements.

“It’s been a tough season for Daniel, the highlights being the wins in China and Monaco,” says Horner. “It’s been tough for him. He’s seen the other side of the garage getting all of the plaudits. He’s had a tough run with reliability, most of which has been inflicted through his future engine supplier, and that’s been extremely tough. Daniel is a fantastic racing driver. For us, it hurts as a team not to have both drivers up there. We wish him well for the future.”

Those plaudits were certainly coming in left, right and centre for Verstappen in the closing stages of this season, with the Dutchman admitting he realised, after a conversation with his father Jos, that perhaps he was guilty of overdriving on occasions. He learned quickly, winning in Austria. Then after the summer break, he was a man inspired. Only champion Lewis Hamilton scored more points than him in that period.

“Max’s second half of the season has been phenomenal,” says Horner. “It’s part of his own development and evolution. Some moves at the beginning of the year, on another day they would have paid off, like Bahrain with Lewis [when they collided]. He had a similar touch with Kimi [Raikkonen] on first lap in Austria and that was decisive in winning the race. He learned from that difficult experience, took it on-board.”

There was a pinch point in Brazil, though, when Verstappen lost certain victory when he collided with Esteban Ocon, who was trying to un-lap himself. An angry post-race confrontation followed, with the Dutchman pushing his rival during a tense exchange in the FIA garage. Horner reckons Verstappen has taken the positives from the incident. “Most definitely he’s emerged stronger,” he says. “He has got pretty broad shoulders, he’s a hard racer, with a phenomenal amount of talent that is continuing to evolve. With experience, he’s just getting stronger and stronger.”

A new era with Honda

Both Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, with nine world titles between them, have suggested that Verstappen can fight for the title next year – providing, that is, Red Bull give him a package capable of doing so. Much of that will depend on what Honda deliver, with the Japanese manufacturer and Red Bull joining forces next season. “We’re excited,” says Horner. “It’s a new beginning for us and the first time we’ll be working in a true engine partnership. That’s invigorated the whole factory and we’re looking forward to it.”

Honda had a tough time with McLaren on their return to F1 in 2015, but bounced back impressively with Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso this year, making gains consistently through the season.

“The trajectory is going in the right way,” says Horner of Honda’s progress. “Reliability isn’t something we’ve had. We’ve had 11 or 12 retirements this year – that’s our biggest Achilles’ heel. If we can achieve the power and reliability – Lewis had one DNF this year, likewise with Sebastian. That’s the rate we have to be aiming to achieve.

“It’s always easy to say ifs, buts and maybes, but if there would have been another 40KW in the back of the car [from the Renault engine] then the season could have looked quite different. Hats off to everyone at Milton Keynes to arguably producing one of our best-ever chassis. If you look at the other users with the same engine, there’s a world of difference.”

So what of Red Bull chances next year? Can they become genuine title contenders for the first time since 2013 if Honda delivers an engine on par with Mercedes and Ferrari? “I think we will certainly be a lot closer, yes,” says Horner. Maybe, just maybe, a two-way fight will become three next year.

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RICCIARDO: I HAD HALF A FOOT IN THE DOOR WITH MERCEDES

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed some of the odd Silly Season dealings that he was involved in as his services became available and how before he inked a deal with Renault, Mercedes were sniffing around as were McLaren.

Renault shocked the Formula 1 world by announcing last August that Daniel would kit up and yellow and black next year, ending his long association with Red Bull and taking a career risk among risks in the process.

Red Bull had opted for Max Verstappen earlier than the Aussie anticipated. then confirmed the gamble with Honda power for 2019 and beyond. Ricciardo got cold feet and instead inked a two year big bucks deal with the French team.

Valterri Bottas’ seat at Mercedes has always had something of a question mark over it and Ricciardo revealed to ESPN how he nearly ended up in silver, “I knew talks would take a bit of time probably and again, trying to feel each other out, but it got to June/July and maybe we had spoken a few times and we hadn’t really got anywhere, so if you want me tell me otherwise, I will move on — that’s cool.

“I guess it gets to the point like that with everyone where you want a black or white answer and that’s it. I guess the games can wear a little thin.”

“I don’t even know if it’s games, but circling around the edges, it’s like — just go straight in! But these are all things I will learn, and I am sure there will be another time in my career where I will need to go through this process again. I am sure there’s things I will do differently. I don’t necessarily have any regrets, it’s all just a learning process.”

Many expected Ricciardo to stay, and when he mentioned to Christian Horner he was Vichy bound the Red Bull team chief thought he was joking.

The Australian recalled, “Look, part of it was fun for sure, and part of it was exciting having these little meetings. I guess it was all new to me. I guess just hearing them out and before a meeting, maybe like: Oh, what’s going to get talked about and how deep is it going to go. The process and all that was exciting for sure.

“I guess on one hand I had teams that really wanted me, and then on the other there were teams that were kind of half a foot in the door but not really… so Mercedes and that. At times it was confusing for sure, and obviously, you’re trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t, who’s genuine and who is not.”

“Again, that was exciting, but it does keep the mind ticking a little bit,” added Ricciardo who also piqued the interest of McLaren.

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BURTI: FERRARI LOST A BIT OF THE LEADERSHIP THAT JEAN USED TO GIVE

Luciano Burti was a Ferrari test driver (when the title meant something) during the team’s heyday under the leadership of Jean Todt, thus knows a thing or two about what makes the Scuderia tick but clearly disapproves of the Maurizio Arrivabene era.

Speaking on The Autosport Podcast, Burti reflected on a 2018 season that promised so much for Ferrari but ended in defeat, the team wayward on track as they reeled with the punch of Sergio Marchionne’s unexpected passing.

Mistakes happened and the team slipped out of contention long before the season ended.

“It was a really tiny mistake,” explained Burti. “Which happens, and he was unlucky it happened in the wrong time and the wrong place and had a big consequence. From then on, I really think that someone like Jean Todt would give him good feedback” as motorsport.com reports.

“I think Vettel felt maybe on his own to fight back from his mistake. Once you have that pressure, if you say as a racing driver ‘I cannot make a mistake on the next lap or the next corner’, you make a mistake. Once I think about it, that’s it. I think that’s what happened to him. Although he’s a great champion, he’s too human and when you have those feelings it doesn’t do you any good.”

“He was on his own and someone like Jean would have made the difference to put him back on track, because it’s not normal to see a four-times champion to make so many mistakes, and silly mistakes sometimes.”

“Maybe Ferrari lost a little bit the leadership that Jean used to give,” said Burti.

Burti also worked within the team during the era of Stefano Domenicali, and again drew comaprisons, “I worked with Stefano Domenicali he was a really good guy, I don’t know what the team was when he was team principal but after he left Ferrari never got the rhythm that it used to.”

“I know a little bit about Arrivabene when I was there because he was with Philip Morris and he wasn’t, in my view, a good leader because he was not sympathetic, he was always very distant from us and I never got the understanding why,” recalled the Brazilian who competed in 15 grands prix in 2000 and 2001.

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KUBICA: REMAINING IN FORMULA 1 WILL BE THE BIGGEST TEST

Poland has put their weight behind Robert Kubica’s amazing journey back to Formula 1, the country’s oil giant PKN Orlen financing his way back with a Williams drive in 2019 – eight years since his death-defying rally accident that changed the course of his life.

Since then the story is well told how he had made it back onto the F1 radar after a period in rallying, and with homeland funding, he is stepping back onto the grid against all odds but, now, remaining there will be his biggest test.

Speaking on Polish national TV, Kubica said, “Returning to Formula 1 will not be easy. I face one of the biggest and most difficult challenges of my career, but that’s what I was looking for.”

“Last season was certainly not easy for Williams but the regulations are changing and this could allow us to become competitive again. It’s not that we will suddenly become the team to beat, but we will work hard to make the car better than it was last year.”

“My next goal is perhaps even more difficult than returning to Formula 1. Remaining in Formula 1 . The competition is very strong. These are the 20 best drivers in the world. It will not be a simple mission, especially after such a long break.”

“The car will be very important: if we can improve it, the goal will be easier to reach,” added the 34-year old who will line-up for his 92nd grand prix at the season opener in Melbourne on 16y March.

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Insight: How new weight rule should aid taller drivers

After several years of discussions and complaints Formula 1’s new-for-2019 regulations regarding driver weight should, in theory, equalise the field of 20 drivers.

Driver weights have always been contentious in the championship due to the inequality between the racers, on account of their varying heights.

It is beneficial for a driver to be as light as possible in order to optimise the set-up and balance to the best degree, while also ensuring that the car is not overweight – and teams rarely build cars that are over the minimum weight limit, for obvious reasons. 

It has often been joked that the perfect driver for an engineer is someone who is 5ft tall and weighs around 50kg, giving them greater scope with which to adapt set-up for the greatest car performance, placing ballast in the prime positions in order to reach the minimum car weight limit.

But this is not always possible. And a handful of drivers stand at over 6ft tall, meaning that they cannot be as lean as their rivals, contain the required muscle mass, and operate in an entirely healthy fashion.

The most extreme example was in 2014, when Adrian Sutil revealed he had experimented by not eating for two days – taking in only water – in a bid to reduce his weight.

Nico Rosberg credited a crucial pole position at the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix to his decision to stop cycling in the summer, reducing leg muscle, and therefore giving engineers greater scope for ballast distribution.

Marcus Ericsson raced without a water bottle in his car due to the extra weight that the 1.5kg container – when full – would have cost him in terms of race performance.

It is not a new issue – for example, Mark Webber was at a natural disadvantage compared to Sebastian Vettel during their Red Bull days – but finally Formula 1 is trying to level the playing field.

The driver weight was previously part of the overall car weight but from this year this will, in effect, be split.

The minimum weight of each Formula 1 car, without fuel, stands at an increased 743kg this year, of which a minimum of 80kg must be the driver, their racing equipment (ie suit, helmet and gloves) and their seat. Teams will still be permitted to locate ballast elsewhere should the minimum 80kg driver weight and car weight stand below the minimum overall mark of 743kg.

For example, should a shorter driver weigh only 65kg then 15kg of ballast must be fitted adjacent to their seat. The ‘reference weight’ of a driver will be determined at the opening round of the World Championship in Australia and assessed regularly thereafter to ensure that no driver gains an unfair advantage through artificially inflating their weight.

The hope is that a driver+equipment+seat combination will be fixed at 80kg (or as close to 80kg as possible for the heavier/taller drivers), meaning that taller drivers will no longer be penalised purely because of height. It should also mean that drivers, while still eating healthily as per the norm for athletes, will no longer have to stick to such inflexible regimes.

"I don't see my healthy eating changing, I just generally like to eat well," said reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton. "My comfortable weight is a little bit heavier than where I am, and every year all the drivers, particularly I guess the slightly taller ones, they're under more pressure to get thinner and skinnier and unhealthy. The rule is changing, which I think is cool. I'm excited to go and eat, increase my intake, I can be a little bit heavier [in 2019], I can be a lot stronger.

Hamilton’s rivals concurred with his stance.

“It’s not like we’re going to, let’s say, take the piss,” says Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, whose team-mate Nico Hulkenberg is among the taller drivers. “It’s more just a lot of us now tend to starve ourselves on race weekends and even training we can’t really do much strength training because we would just put on mass. I think it will just allow us to train harder, eat more. But it’s not like we’re going to have beer bellies or anything, we’re just going to be stronger and I think that’s only a good thing.”

Added Haas’ Romain Grosjean: “I think it hasn’t been great to starve ourselves and not eat as want to, so a few kilos of margin is going to be great.

“It will be a challenge for the team, because getting to the minimum weight for the regulation with the 80 kilos for seat and driver together is going to be tricky, but on the other hand it’s going to make our lives an awful lot better.”

 

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Schumacher family to celebrate seven-time champion’s 50th birthday with release of new app

With 91 Grand Prix victories and seven world championships, Michael Schumacher is statistically the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time. On Thursday - the German's 50th birthday - his family will “remember and celebrate his victories, his records and his jubilation” with the release of a special new app.

Schumacher retired from F1 for a second time in 2012, but suffered head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 and has remained in private care since. In an update posted to his offical Facebook page, his family said that “he is in the very best of hands and that we are doing everything humanly possible to help him”.

The Official Michael Schumacher App will be released on January 3 and will house a “virtual museum” where fans can “review all together Michael’s successes”.

They added: "We are very happy to celebrate Michael's 50th birthday tomorrow together with you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts that we can do this together.

"Michael can be proud of what he has achieved, and so are we! That's why we remember his successes with the Michael Schumacher Private Collection exhibition in Cologne, by publishing memories in social media and by continuing his charitable work through the Keep Fighting Foundation."

[99call]

I'm only asking out of interest, but how come this thread isn't in the sport section of the forum?

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3 minutes ago, 99call said:

I'm only asking out of interest, but how come this thread isn't in the sport section of the forum?

My F1 thread has always been on the main threads mate since I started these back in 2009

Sports section was an evolution of sorts way after and I believe only just started in February 2018.  

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MICHAEL 50 EXHIBITION OPENS AT FERRARI MUSEUM

Fans and representatives of Scuderia Ferrari Clubs from all over Europe are flocking to the Ferrari Museum today for the opening of the ‘Michael 50’ exhibition on the occasion of the champion’s 50th birthday.

Maranello has put together a special exhibition telling the story of Michael Schumacher’s extraordinary record-breaking F1 career: the German champion won an as yet unequalled seven world titles, 91 victories, and 155 podiums.

The Hall of Victories displays some of the most important Ferrari single-seaters driven in his eleven years with the Scuderia. They range from the F310 of 1996, with which Schumacher won three GPs in his first season with the Prancing Horse, to the F399, the car that won the Constructors’ title in 1999 to set Formula 1’s oldest team off on an exceptional run of victories.

There is also the F1-2000 of the legendary ‘Alba Rossa’ (‘Red Dawn’), when at Suzuka Michael secured Ferrari its first the world title since Jody Scheckter 21 years before. Then, of course, there are the record-breaking F2002 and F2004, and the 248 F1 of 2006, in which he triumphed at the Chinese GP for his 72nd and final victory with Ferrari.

Fans will also be introduced to a lesser-known side of Schumacher, that of developer. Indeed, after leaving Formula 1, the German driver remained at Ferrari not only to help the Scuderia but also to contribute to the development of various road cars, such as the 430 Scuderia in 2007 and the Ferrari California in 2008.

The exhibition will run alongside ‘Driven by Enzo’ and ‘Passion and Legend’, which are already open at the Maranello Museum.

‘Michael 50’ has been organised in partnership with the Keep Fighting Foundation.

The Formel Ford car from Schumacher's first season in single-seaters in 1988

The race-winning Benetton B192 from 1992

Schumacher raced for Sauber-Mercedes before joining Formula 1 in 1991

Schumacher's debut came with Jordan at Spa-Francorchamps, where he qualified seventh

Schumacher's first of two titles with Benetton came in the B194

Schumacher's collection is part of the wider Motorworld Cologne-Rhineland complex

The Ferrari F1-2000 takes special pride of place

Schumacher's assortment of helmets is on display

Schumacher's greatest success came with Ferrari

A 2002-spec front wing, signed by his Ferrari colleagues, was given as a gift upon matching Juan Manuel Fangio's five titles

Schumacher still leads the record books in terms of Formula 1 wins (91) and titles (seven)

 

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MUCH HINGES ON THE MCLAREN MCL34

McLaren will launch the MCL34 on 14 February, thus becoming the fourth team to confirm the date on which their 2019 Formula 1 World Championship challenger will break cover to the world ahead of testing in Barcelona in late February.

After a woeful 2018 season, much has changed for the forthcoming season, with staff are shifting in and out of the MTC as Zak Brown and his new management team implement a five-year plan for the revival of this once mighty outfit.

The MCL34 will be the product of a design team led by Pat Fry for the first year of this plan, with James Key expected to be the “father of the MCL35” and offering input on development during the course of his first season with the team.

Hence Fry’s one-off will be interesting to behold on Thursday of the launch, if it is another dud then the former Ferrari man is likely to get the blame, however, if the car is good it will be interesting to see how they slide Key into the equation.

On the day the team will also officially reveal their all-new driver pairing of rookie Lando Norris and yet to prove himself, Carlos Sainz.

McLaren fans and those who follow the sport with interest, know that much hinges on the success of the MCL34, if it drops the team further down the pecking order – sixth will be a very tough act to follow without Fernando Alonso – how long will the Bahraini owners continue believing? Five years is a very long time in sport these days…

The 2019 Formula 1 new car launches:

• 12 February – Renault
• 13 February – Racing Point
• 14 February – McLaren
• 15 February – Ferrari

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Loopholes unlikely in "very restrictive" 2019 rules - Lowe

Formula 1 teams have made a concerted effort to ensure the 2019 aerodynamic rules do not leave any loopholes that can be exploited, according to Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe.
As a first push in Liberty Media's bid to increase the amount of overtaking in F1, this year's cars will feature a number of changes designed to make them less aerodynamically sensitive when following each other.

Previous rules shake-ups have allowed some teams to gain an advantage by pouncing on ambiguities - most famously with the double diffuser concept that shock championship winner Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams deployed in 2009.

Lowe feels it is unlikely there will be a repeat of that scenario 10 years on.

"The teams have been quite ready and open, at least some of them, to put stuff on the table that's then been heavily constrained," Lowe told Motorsport.com.

"The regulations are very restrictive. I hope it's the case for everybody else, but we're struggling to find a lot of performance out of these front wings.

"I think generally the teams are of a mindset that they want clarity, and not to have a lot of arguments when we turn up in Australia over poorly defined aspects of the regs.

"With that spirit, everybody has been quite enthusiastic to define things in more and more specific details so everybody knows what they're working with."

Force India technical director Andrew Green agreed that the scope for shocks looks limited in the final version of the rules.

"Hopefully that is a set of regulations that everyone can work with," he told Motorsport.com.

"And there's not a huge loophole. There might be little ones in there, hopefully there's not anything massive that people can dive into.

"It just goes to show how difficult is to write a set of regulations that are tied to a specific [aerodynamic] geometry. The tighter you make the regulation, the longer the regulation becomes.

"You just give people a box to work in, it's a very simple regulation, but everybody comes up with incredibly complicated solutions.

"One of the reasons why it has changed is to try get rid of those complicated solutions.

"So, it's an incredibly complicated set of regulations to have an end result of an incredibly simple set of geometry."

 

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LAUDA BACK IN INTENSIVE CARE SINCE NEW YEAR’S EVE

Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda has spent New Year back in hospital after contracting a bout of Type-A influenza and forced him to return to intensive care treatment at AKH Vienna Hospital.

Lauda, 69, made a video for his team and fans last month, while recently giving an interview or two regarding the road to his recovery from the lung transplant he underwent in August.

But since New Year’s Eve, after spending Christmas in Ibiza with his family, the Mercedes F1 chairman is back in Austria where he had his lung transplant last year.

Since the beginning of January, the racing legend is back in intensive care unit of the AKH after contracting flu during his visit home.

Karin Fehringer, a spokeswoman for the AKH, told OE.24, “There was an influenza case in his family, and he is being treated in the intensive care unit with us.

The report adds: “The initial course of the disease was severe, but has improved rapidly. If the recovery goes on, Lauda can probably be released in the middle of the week, namely in three or four days.”

The Austrian is reportedly already in good spirits again and his release from the hospital in the next few days is very likely.

The latest development is something of a setback for the great Austrian who even considered making an appearance at the Formula 1  season finale in Abu Dhabi last November but was warned against such an adventure.

Professor Walter Klepetko, Head of the Clinical Department of Thoracic Surgery at the MedUni Vienna, says that the manner in which his patient fought back to life bordered on a miracle.

But revealed that it was touch and go at one point, “If we did not immediately attach him to the lung machine, he would be dead. That happened and then, fortunately, the new lung came relatively quickly.

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WOLFF: IT’S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT AND VALTTERI KNOWS THAT

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Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff has issued what could be an ultimatum for Valtteri Bottas by outlining what the Finn has to do to retain his place with the World Champions but at the same time raises the question: why break-up a proven championship winning team?

Bottas’ season of woe is well documented, irrespective of the circumstances the records show he scored zero wins last year while his teammate racked up 11 on his way to a fifth F1 world title, but together they also brought home the constructors’ title which justifies the Finn’s salary.

But in a recent interview, with MN, Wolff warned, “Valtteri knows exactly where he needs to be. He needs to have all the bad luck gone and perform on a level with Lewis. That is what is needed for 2020. He knows very well that, and he has that in him.”

Not helping Bottas’ cause is the fact that teammate Hamilton keeps raising his game to impressive heights, his form was ominous and even after he wrapped up the world title he still had the energy to bag the last two wins of the season. It will take a very special effort for a driver to unseat the Briton from his throne at Mercedes.

Add to that, waiting on the sidelines, eager and primed Esteban Ocon – excess to requirements at Force India/Racing Point – the Mercedes junior driver who was promised a competitive F1 seat for 2020 by his boss as he sits out 2019, that seat could well be the one occupied by Bottas.

With regards to Hamilton’s ability to raise his game to another level when required, Wolff explained, “Lewis improving means Valtteri needs to improve. I’ve seen that improvement all the time with him, but you are going against a five-time world champion.”

“He needs a start where is right up there with Lewis and all the other drivers for the championship, that is what he needs. We are seeing the best Lewis that I’ve seen in the last six years, and there is a reason why he is a five-time world champion.”

“Beating a five-time world champion at the peak of his activity, peak of his performance, is going to be very difficult and Valtteri knows that. But I think that he has it in him.”

“I think that he can win – he has proven it this year on a few occasions, but he had bad luck or was in a position where he could not win.”

“I think if that turns into a positive momentum that is actually driving for the championship, I think that Valtteri can win the championship,” added Wolff in what sounds like a final ‘attaboy’ attempt to motivate his beleaguered charge.

The fact that Bottas is no real match for the driver in car #44 also suits Wolff to a certain extent, first and foremost, making management of egos a great deal easier. Nico Rosberg and Hamilton feuding for three or four years was exhausting for the team and nobody wants a repeat of that.

Now, with the clear number one driver status ensconced harmony ensues, thus why break-up a winning combo with Hamilton top gun and Bottas the ultimate wingman? Together they can bring in more constructors’ titles, while the five times world champion has full support of his team as he chases Michael Schumacher’s record of seven titles.

As it stands it is unlikely Bottas will reduce the gap of about three-tenths of a second he has to Hamilton in both qualy and race mode, doing that on a regular basis even less chance.

The big difference is when needed Hammertime comes into play as it did on a hot Saturday night in Singapore, the #44 Silver Arrow was seven-tenths faster than its sister car. Proof that while Hamilton still rises, his teammate chases.

If Hamilton and Mercedes deliver a similarly dominant performance next season, as they did in 2018, why on earth would Wolff replace compliant Bottas with a young upstart (eg. Ocon) eager to prove himself and at whose expense? It ain’t broken, why fix it?

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WHO KIDNAPPED BERNIE’S MOTHER-IN-LAW?

Helicopter pilot Jorge Faria who was sentenced to 14-years in prison for kidnapping Aparecida Schunck, mother of Bernie Ecclestone’s third wife Fabiana Flosi, claims he was framed in a €124-million sting orchestrated by the family.

Portuguese national Faria, was named as leader of a gang of seven involved in the caper and is currently imprisoned in Brazil for the kidnap, but he insists he is innocent and intends to appeal the sentence.

He was well known to Flosi and regular pilot to sports stars including Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton, Pele, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

The 55-year-old pilot points a finger at Ecclestone’s new family as the culprits and told the Daily Mirror, “I believe Fabiana and her family were behind it. The whole kidnapping, nor the evidence, has ever made any sense.”

In a nutshell, on 22 July 2016 Ecclestone’s 69-year-old mother-in-law Schunck was abducted and held for nine days before being released, with €124-million ransom demanded by the kidnappers who threatened to decapitate her if demands were not met. The ransom was not paid as police intervened in time.

Faria, who worked with and knows Ecclestone’s 41-year-old wife Flosi, has always insisted he had nothing to do with the kidnap and told the Mirror during his first interview since being sentenced, “There is no doubt in my mind who was behind it all. When you look at the evidence none of it adds up.”

“This gang who were supposed to be ruthless men capable of killing acted more like genteel guys. There were no guns. She was driven to the chemist before being taken to the house to pick up a prescription.

“Her captors brought her whatever food she wanted, even McDonald’s. They kept her in a complex where people came and went. Why didn’t she scream?”

“The neighbours say they saw her sweeping the floor. It’s hardly the actions of a dangerous gang,” argued Faria who also claims that after that the 16 police officers who saved Schunck were bought homes, while 11 of them were treated to a VIP day at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Faria continued, “When the first ransom email was sent to Fabiana she was in Hungary. It asked for three helicopters to deliver the ransom.”

“The kidnappers used a Portuguese phrase for the helicopters call sign which because I am Portuguese she thought it must have been me. She knew I’d have previously been accused of taking a helicopter without consent, which was not true, but she began pointing the finger at me.”

“Before news had broken of the kidnapping I had received a message on Facebook, on the Saturday morning, asking if I knew anything about it.”

“I hadn’t heard a thing. How would they know I knew the family, I kept asking myself? I contacted Fernanda [Fabiana’s sister] to tell her and asked if I should go to the police. She said she hadn’t heard and told me not to say anything. It didn’t make sense.”

“According to my lawyers, the mother-in-law sent an email to Fabiana when she was at the Hungarian Grand Prix on the Friday telling her she had been kidnapped and she shouldn’t involve the police. The email was sent an hour and a half before she was actually taken.”

“I know two sides of Fabiana. I classed her as a friend. Her sister invited me to her wedding. Before she married she was humble. Once she became rich, she thought she could buy anything she wanted. The turning point came when Fabiana took her dog to the UK.”

“I flew her to the airport where she was due to catch a private jet. She left her baggage on the helicopter to get her passport checked. One of her bags began barking. I realised she had her dog inside, her Yorkshire terrier. I told Fabiana it was wrong.”

“She didn’t like being challenged, and after that I never worked for her again,” added the pilot.

Ecclestone scoffed at Faria’s theory, “The police have gone through all these things, and it’s clear he’s talking complete rubbish.”

“He did this for money, €124-million (up from the €32-million which we reported to be the ransom demand at the time of the incident) and as I’ve said before many times, no one’s going to give that much for a mother-in-law.”

“[He] is trying everything he can to get out. You can’t blame the guy. He’s done everything he can to be freed, or to be moved to another prison. There’s no doubt in my mind she was kidnapped.”

“The police did a first-class job. There hadn’t been many ­kidnappings there for an awfully long time. I was very, very impressed. It gave me a lot of confidence in Brazil.”

While Faria seeks to prove his innocence from a jail cell, Schunck is reportedly suffering the after-effects of the ordeal.

“She has to have people around all the time,” explained Ecclestone of his mother-in-law. “Something ­triggers her memory and all of a sudden she remembers everything. She comes to see us. She’s walking around, happy, then all of a sudden it hits her and she gets depressed.”

Schunck was released by her captors nine days after her abduction in Sao Paulo, having sent voice messages during her captivity which including one with her screaming: “Do something. Please pay them, or they will kill me.”

Prior to the saga, Ecclestone had met Faria when the pilot flew the F1 supremo to Interlagos during a grand prix weekend, “He seemed such a straightforward and nice enough guy. I couldn’t believe it was him early on. He’s going to do ­whatever he can to get out. If he gets out, he will go straight to Portugal.”

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HONDA DITCH PARTNERS TO STREAMLINE PU PRODUCTION

While Honda ditch partners ahead of their first Formula 1 season supplying both Toro Rosso and Red Bull team consultant, Helmut Marko is adamant that this is all part of the plan to bring power unit related development under one roof.

Auto Bild reports that friction between simulation specialists AVL and Honda engineers have put a hold on the co-operation between the two organisations as they work on the final aspects of the 2019 power unit package that Red Bull and Toro Rosso will use next year.

According to the report, AVL is the world’s largest independent company for the development, simulation and testing of drive systems for hybrid and combustion engines, transmissions, electric motors, batteries and software for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and large other engines with its own test bench. Honda have been clients in an effort to improve their Formula 1 engine.

But it appears things have soured with quarrels between an AVL project leader and Honda engineers triggering the decision to part ways. Similarly, this same project leader was responsible for Ferrari ending their association with the Austrian company not too long ago.

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko confirmed the abovementioned scenario and added that Honda will also limit input from Mario Illien (of Mercedes F1 engine fame) who had been on board as a consultant to help Honda’s cause, but his contribution did not deliver on expectations.

Marko insists Honda want to bring the PU production under one roof and end the outsourcing of engine production and development related work.

“For this purpose, appropriate measures have been initiated, said Marko of the latest developments before adding, “Honda have already overtaken Renault and will be even better in 2019.”

Whatever the case, come the season opener on 17 March, in Melbourne, there will be nowhere to hide for the Red Bull Honda partnership on which so much hinges.

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BRAWN: FLAVIO DISCOVERING SCHUMACHER STORY A BIT EXAGGERATED

Ross Brawn has poured cold water on a couple of myths about Michael Schumacher, one of them was that Flavio Briatore ‘discovered’ the German legend when the Italian hardly knew who the upstart was until he made the headline-grabbing Formula 1 debut at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991.

Speaking on Beyond the Grid F1 podcast Brawn revealed how he came across Schumi in his years with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, “The year we had the championship-winning Jaguar [in 1991], the only other opposition we truly had, quite frankly, was Michael in the Mercedes, because the other drivers weren’t anywhere near as good.”

“Sportscars were about going quick but also driving to fuel – driving semi-economy runs during the race. But he was doing lap times on less fuel than the others, and beating them by a mile.”

“We were saved a little bit by the fact that the Mercedes management gave each of their drivers an equal stint in the car, so Michael would go out and give us all sorts of grief and then the other two would give us some comfort.”

This destroys the long-standing perception that Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen were as quick as Schumi when they were teammates at the Sauber run Silver Arrows sportscar team of that era.

At the time Mercedes kept the lap times a closely guarded secret and deliberately kept the times set by the junior drivers murky, avoiding comparisons by sending them out with different setup configurations in an attempt to keep the data within the team.

However their rivals at Jaguar were also doing the maths on the German drivers, the fact that Brawn confirmed Mercedes had a hand in funding Schumacher’s debut closes the speculation on that matter. It also suggests they knew who was best of the trio and hence put their money on the driver from Kerpen to step up to the big time with Jordan.

In the early nineties, Brawn became aware of Schumacher during their respective sportscar careers, “That’s where I first met him, and clearly he was incredibly quick and what impressed me was his ability to do the fuel mileage with lap time. And very competitive in those days.”

Asked if he spotted potential F1 greatness in Schumacher at that time, Brawn explained, “You don’t know when you make that transition, he was exceptional in sportscars.”

“When the talk came of him coming into Formula 1, Tom and I were already engaged at Benetton and we were desperate to get him in the car because we knew how good he was.”

Brawn added how they knew before Schumacher’s ‘arrival’ at Spa that the German, 22 at the time, was special and they were keen to unload underperforming Roberto Moreno and pair the rookie with veteran Nelson Piquet.

“The problem is we had two drivers in the car [Moreno and Piquet] and Jordan had a spare seat and we were trying to convince Flavio that we should be fairly drastic in the change, but he wasn’t convinced because he knew nothing about Michael Schumacher.”

“Of course when Michael appeared in Spa, and put in the performance he did, so I think the ‘Flavio discovering Michael Schumacher’ story is a little bit exaggerated. Tom and I were desperate to get him in the car.”

“And Flavio was convinced once he saw him at Spa, so then ensued a sort of a fairly testy battle to pull him out of the Jordan and stick him in the Benetton,” which dispels the dubious myth precipitated by Briatore that he unearthed the sport’s greatest driver.

Eddie Jordan has often told his side of the story and how he lost out on the Greatest but did bank a few pennies from his side of the deal.

Biggest losers at the time were actually Mercedes who were prepping Schumacher along with Wendlinger (and Frentzen) for a return to Formula 1 with Sauber in 1993. In the end, with Schumacher ensconced at Benetton, they settled for Wendlinger and JJ Lehto to spearhead their return to the top flight.

Brawn recalled, “In fact, Mercedes were helping fund his Formula 1 introduction so I remember some of the Mercedes guys were involved in the discussions, but quite frankly that was something Tom and Flavio did and I watched, entertained from a distance as my role was engineering the car.”

As for Schumacher’s early impact on arriving at Benetton, he added, “He was pretty well balanced with enough confidence to make you feel he could do the job but not overconfident. Very inquisitive and very keen to learn. He came across immediately as a very professional.”

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The real F1 danger that Liberty must not ignore

Formula 1 sailed close to the wind last year, almost (but not quite) losing Force India from its grid. But it would be a massive error for owners Liberty to sit back and think that everything is rosy in its backyard right now.
F1’s veracious appetite for consuming money has led to many a team’s sad demise. In Force India’s case, it was reborn thanks to a very smart, and very rich racing dad. Looking back now on the debacle of midsummer 2018, it proves how the fickle hand of fate can punch a F1 team in the financial nutsack.

With owner Vijay Mallya having big issues in his native India, it was fortunate that another billionaire, Lawrence Stroll, was on the scene to bail out the Silverstone-based team. Even then, it became a saga, and required a huge scramble behind the scenes that even involved the sport’s governing body’s assistance!

With its financial future now assured as ‘Racing Point’ – or whatever name it chooses to adopt – it’s clear that it’s only a matter of time before attention will turn to another team that’s suffering monetary hardship. And as of today, you have to conclude that it’s Williams.

Yes, one of the greatest teams our sport has ever known – the third-most race winning team in history, a squad with a superb history that powered Jones, Rosberg, Piquet, Mansell, Prost, Hill and Villeneuve to the ultimate of glories. But fast-forward to the present day and, as Force India proved, you can have the best engine on the grid and still be in danger of running aground.

Here’s the stark reality: Sir Frank’s team has lost its main Bacardi Group (Martini) sponsorship for 2019. Sergey Sirotkin, backed by SMP Racing rubles, is gone, as is Lance Stroll and his father’s bankrolling. I’m not privy to the exact figures, but that’s got to be in the ballpark of $50million, and then you have to factor in the loss of its future prize money income as it dropped from fifth in 2017 to last place in 2018 – and that’s quite some deficit.

So far, we’ve only had new sponsorship from Poland's PKN Orlen announced – as it nails its colours to Robert Kubica’s comeback – with talk of that being worth some way north of $10m. But that’s still somewhere approaching a $40m black hole to fill.

Behind the scenes, Williams’s commercial department is working hard to address this. And I wish them the very best of luck, as nobody wants to see this illustrious team under threat – especially with its bold driver choices for 2019, which also must surely be applauded.

That said, Williams is not exactly coming from a position of strength entering 2019, given last year’s results and miserly haul of just seven points…

Williams is also the only publicly-traded F1 team on the grid, with Sir Frank owning the controlling shares as the overall patriarch of the company and his daughter Claire effectively running the team at the track in a deputy team principal role. That makes it quite unique, but F1 is a results-based business and with no ‘minnow teams’ on the grid any more, the spectre of remaining last on the grid cannot be ignored for long.

Once again, the onus here must fall upon F1’s owners Liberty to do more to help its teams. As I wrote back in August, it had to jump in and save the day for the good of the sport. F1's owners managed to scramble through, but is that going to become the norm? Isn’t prevention better than cure?

A budget cap would clearly help in this case, and if spending was restricted to, say, $150m per season, it would be close to what Williams already shells out. But, crucially, it would stop its rivals from being able to spend more to further out-develop its cars, giving Williams the chance to catch up – especially in years with regulation changes.

Further complicating its situation is the ‘Haas model’ – where Williams' American-owned rival has a technical tie-up with Ferrari that shortcuts the cost of many development areas that a ‘regular’ constructor cannot. F1 having fought against ‘customer cars’ for so long, here’s a variation on that theme that undermines its own business model. Is that right? Or should new teams only be allowed concessions like this for a limited time, as we’ve seen in MotoGP?

Since Liberty took over the running of the sport, the revenue it shared with teams – essentially the prize money – dropped immediately by $43m. The main reason for this was Liberty spends more money than the previous owners ever did, basically replacing the one-man show of Bernie Ecclestone with, well, regular staff doing normal tasks like marketing and sales.

From the plan presented in Bahrain last year, we know that Liberty held firm against vociferous opposition from the big teams against a plan to give the smaller teams a bigger slice of the F1 commercial pie from 2021. The fact it showed a willingness to upset people in the way it dealt with the issue must now be followed through with a future budget cap.

It’s not as if the sport is awash with new money rolling in right now, and with Martini gone there’s going to be a lot of space to fill on that Williams bodywork. As Claire Williams said at the time of Bacardi Group’s withdrawal, “we are financially stable at the moment” and “strong partner community is central to our operation”, but I fear for its long-game prospects given the current terms that teams have to operate under.

It would be a tragedy to lose this great name from the F1 grid, but as we’ve seen with the likes of Brabham and Lotus, this sport is no respecter of reputations when the cashflow doesn’t add up following a fall from competitive grace. As Ross Brawn says, the lack of chances for midfield teams to appear on the podium is "unacceptable" and he'd like the rate of change within the sport to be accelerated.

So come on, Liberty, continue the push to level the financial playing field for your loyal teams, and then create a more viable landscape that would allow some fresh blood into the game – if only to give its high-value and historically-important competitors someone to beat.

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Renault F1 engine gains "much bigger" than ever before

Renault says the gains it is seeing from its 2019 Formula 1 car and engine are the biggest it has ever made over a winter.

After a season where the French car manufacturer ended up fourth in the constructors' championship, it knows it needs to make a good step forward if it is to start mixing it with F1's big three of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Renault's F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul sees no evidence, however, that the team's progress is slowing down - and if anything he is more bullish than ever about the potential improvements that are being shown from its factory efforts.

"If I look, what I see is an acceleration everywhere," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

"The gains that we will be making on the engine are much bigger than we have ever done in a winter – much bigger – and the gains that we are currently doing in the wind tunnel are much bigger than we have ever done.

"But, we have to be careful on the wind tunnel side, the aero side, as there is a big change of regulation. You all know that when it happens there is a big reset: you lose [downforce] and you quickly catch up.

"So it is difficult to make a distinction between what is coming from the regulations and what is coming from the effect of the restructure.

"But if I look at our capacity to engineer, to develop, design and manufacture, it is an acceleration everywhere."

Abiteboul thinks that the impact of the investment and restructuring that has been undertaken since Renault took over at Enstone is now finally paying off, which is why good improvements are being made.

"The car we have been operating this year is more or less a representation of where the team was 18 months ago," he said.

"There will be one or two generations of people who will have passed with the next generation of car that we will see next year, and that is frankly is why I am excited.

"We have a level of resource that is in my opinion good for what we need to do.

"There is stability of the organisation, there are new people and new faces that have finally joined us, and who understand the organisation, and are now working efficiently.

"So now it is positive, even if the challenge is huge."

 

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BINOTTO IN, ARRIVABENE OUT

It has been officially confirmed that Mattia Binotto is the new Ferrari team principal, replacing Maurizio Arrivabene only a month and a bit ahead of the launch of their 2019 Formula 1 car.

Reports in Italy indicated the announcement was imminent after Gazzetta dello Sport broke the news on Monday, and indeed at around 6pm CET, the information became public.

Ferrari confirmed on their website: “After four years of untiring commitment and dedication, Maurizio Arrivabene is leaving the team. The decision was taken together with the company’s top management after lengthy discussions related to Maurizio’s long-term personal interests as well as those of the team itself.

“Ferrari would like to thank Maurizio for his valuable contribution to the team’s increasing competitiveness over the past few years, and wish him the best for his future endeavours.”

“With immediate effect, Mattia Binotto will take over as Scuderia Ferrari’s Team Principal. All technical areas will continue to report directly to Mattia.”

Ferrari won six of the 21 races last season but their title challenge evaporated in the second half of the year and Mercedes won both the drivers’ and constructors’ crowns for the fifth year in a row. 

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THE RISE AND RISE OF BINOTTO AT FERRARI

Mattia Binotto’s elevation to Ferrari team principal is a journey that began, at Maranello, 24 years ago when he joined the sport’s most famous team as a Test Engine Engineer and, in retrospect, he has been groomed (if not ordained) to lead the team.

Binotto is described by insiders as a tough and very demanding character at work, which apparently brings out the best from everyone under his command.

He was born and raised in Switzerland where he completed an engineering degree at university before embarking to Italy where completed his masters before joining Ferrari.

Fast forward a couple of decades, once it became apparent last year that Binotto would not countenance working under Arrivabene in 2019, things had to change in the management pecking order. It was a clear case of: Me or Him?

Largely ignored by most media outlets, perhaps frightened to report proper Ferrari news lest they be denied espresso freebies in the paddock, the Arrivabene vs Binotto feud has been going on for some months with matters coming to a head after Suzuka when the former Marlboro executive took a swipe at his technical team led by the new team chief.

Tensions, dubbed fake news by Arrivabene, were real and ongoing, after the final race of the season John Elkann, the late Sergio Marchionne’s replacement as President of the Italian marque, had to act. After trying to broker a truce between the pair, which failed, Binotto got the nod.

Again no surprise, arrogant and distant Arrivabene has sown divisions within the team, trying to marginalise Binotto in the aftermath of Marchionne’s death backfired as Mercedes supposedly had the talented engineer in their sights, while internally he marginalised many staff who believe in and sided with their technical director.

Furthermore, their media department – under Arrivabene’s command – is a disaster and has few friends among Italian scribes. A cultural revolution has to happen in there, hearts and minds have to be won back in the aftermath of an era of negligence.

Ironically Binotto’s promotion to Scuderia chief is exactly what Marchionne was angling for as part of his grand vision for the team before he passed away unexpectedly in July last year, which also included promoting young Charles Leclerc.

Binotto is a Ferrari man through and through, having joined the great team in 1995 at the age of 25. During the next 24 years, he progressed through the ranks at Maranello to the role of technical chief and now team principal.

Binotto’s CV on the Ferrari website reads: “Mattia Binotto was born on 3 November 1969 in Lausanne, Switzerland.”

“Having graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Lausanne Polytechnic in 1994, he then obtained a Masters in Motor Vehicle Engineering in Modena.”

“In 1995, he joined the Scuderia Ferrari test team as a Test Engine Engineer and fulfilled the same role with the race team from 1997 to 2003.”

“In 2004, he became a race engine engineer and from 2007 Binotto took on the role of Chief Engineer, race and assembly, moving on in 2009 to Head of Engine and KERS Operations.”

“Having been appointed Deputy Director, Engine and Electronics in October 2013, Binotto subsequently took on the role of Chief Operating Officer, Power Unit.”

“On July 27, 2016, he [was] appointed Chief Technical Officer of Scuderia Ferrari.

“From January 7, 2019 he is appointed as Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal.”

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BROWN: A B-TEAM CANNOT COMPETE WITH THE A-TEAM

After the reality check that was the 2018 Formula 1 season for McLaren, the once mighty team toil at the wrong end of the grid while so-called ‘B-teams’ thrive, a fact that troubles team chief Zak Brown.

The bone of contention is the manner in which Haas have made it into Formula 1 thanks to a close collaboration with the Italian team. The American outfit was seen by many as a Ferrari B-team, legal in terms of the rule of law but against the spirit of the sport.

Brown was quick to praise Haas, but at the same seeks clarity from the rule makers,”I think Haas has done an excellent, excellent job given their resources and how young the racing team is. You have to admire what they have done.”

“I think Liberty are going to address the ‘B-team business model’ because I think it allows the big teams to benefit from the B-team. The benefits are everything from technical, to political, to, we’ve seen, on track activities this year that people believe were questionable.”

“I think all three of those scenarios is not what Formula 1 is about and need to change for the health of the sport, and I believe they will. Liberty have that in their plan, to address B-teams and to what degree you can be a B-team.”

“Our belief is a B-team will never be able to compete with the A-team and therefore while maybe going to that business model in the very short-term could make you more competitive quicker and be fiscally a better proposition, I think you are giving up on any hopes of racing as a championship contender.”

“Therefore, going for B-team status would be throwing in the towel of being a championship contender. We think it is critical that Liberty, in the new Formula 1 world, addresses that so all teams can have a fair and equal chance to compete for the championship on a more level playing field,” added Brown.

Currently, apart from Haas, Ferrari also share a close connection with their second customer team Sauber. Apart from sister company Alfa Romeo sponsoring the team, they also provide a race seat for Ferrari junior drivers, last year Charles Leclerc and this year Antonio Giovinazzi.

Red Bull have also made no secret they intend to maximise synergies with Toro Rosso within the rules of course but by all accounts an RB14B of sorts.

Mercedes are also closely associated with their customer teams, for instance, Esteban Ocon was placed at Force India in a contra-deal of sorts which lasted until the end of last season. But expect new owner Lawrence Stroll to try and align his Racing Point outfit even closer to the World Champions.

This leaves McLaren solely dependent on Renault who have their own championship ambitions. The partnership could excel if the French manufacturer can find the sweet spot and quite a few more horses in their PU package.

However, anything less than that could see McLaren continue to line up their cars behind those of B-teams, on the grid, for the forseeable future and hence Brown’s concerns.

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GHOSN: I HAVE BEEN WRONGLY ACCUSED AND UNFAIRLY DETAINED

Ousted Nissan and Renault Chairman Carlos Ghosn declared his innocence in his first public appearance since his November arrest, telling a Tokyo court on Tuesday that he had been wrongly accused of financial misconduct.

Ghosn, credited with rescuing Nissan Motor Co from near-bankruptcy two decades ago, was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and a rope around his waist. He was wearing a navy suit and white shirt without a tie, and looked thinner than before his arrest, with his dark hair showing grey roots.

“I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations,” the 64-year-old executive told the Tokyo District Court in a clear voice, reading from a prepared statement.

“I believe strongly that in all of my efforts on behalf of the company, I have acted honourably, legally and with the knowledge and approval of the appropriate executives inside the company,” he said.

From early morning, a crowd of journalists and television crews thronged outside the courthouse, and some 1,122 people lined up for 14 court seats assigned by lottery, highlighting strong interest in the case. News of the hearing was given top billing on public broadcaster NHK throughout the day.

The court hearing, requested by Ghosn’s lawyers, was held to explain the reasons for his prolonged detention since his Nov. 19 arrest rather than to argue merits of the case. Judge Yuichi Tada said the detention was due to flight risk and the possibility he could conceal evidence.

But Ghosn used the opportunity to deny accusations against him, kicking off what is expected to be a lengthy counter-attack against the accusations.

Former prosecutor Nobuo Gohara said the court appearance was a public relations victory for Ghosn because it gave him an opportunity to counter the weeks of negative news about him.

“In this high-profile case, news had been dominated by information from the prosecutors and Nissan, so the public tended to view him accordingly,” he said. “But today it was all Ghosn. That’s very significant.”

After weeks of silence, Ghosn’s lawyers insisted in an afternoon press conference that the courts have no reason to keep him behind bars during the investigation.

On Dec. 31, the Tokyo District Court granted prosecutors’ request to extend Ghosn’s detention by 10 days until Jan. 11.

But former prosecutor Motonari Otsuru, who heads Ghosn’s defense team, said it was likely Ghosn would stay in custody until the trial starts, which could be in six months, given the practice in Japan of keeping defendants locked up until trial.

The Tokyo District Court said later on Tuesday that Ghosn’s lawyers have asked for an end to his detention.

One of Ghosn’s lawyers, Masato Oshikubo, told Reuters that a reply from the court to the request could come on Wednesday.

Ghosn has been formally charged with under-reporting his income. He has also been arrested, but not yet indicted, on allegations of aggravated breach of trust in shifting personal investment losses to the carmaker.

“I never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed, nor did I ever enter into any binding contract with Nissan to be paid a fixed amount that was not disclosed,” Ghosn told the court.

Regarding allegations that he transferred losses to Nissan, Ghosn said he had asked the company to temporarily take on his foreign exchange contracts after the 2008-2009 financial crisis prompted his bank to call for more collateral.

He said he did this to avoid having to resign and use his retirement allowance for collateral.

“My moral commitment to Nissan would not allow me to step down during that crucial time,” said Ghosn. “A captain doesn’t jump ship in the middle of a storm.”

Otsuru said that Nissan had agreed to the arrangement, on condition that any losses or gains would be Ghosn’s.

Ghosn said the contracts were transferred back to him and that Nissan did not incur a loss.

Ghosn is also accused of paying $14.7 million to Saudi businessman Khaled Al-Juffali using Nissan funds in exchange for arranging a letter of credit to help with his investment losses.

Ghosn said that Juffali’s company was compensated for “critical services that substantially benefited Nissan”, including soliciting financing and resolving a business dispute.

The Khaled Juffali Company has issued a statement saying it had received the payments for legitimate business purposes.

Nissan, which has ousted Ghosn as chairman, reiterated that its internal investigation prompted by an informant had uncovered “substantial and convincing evidence of misconduct” and that its investigation was ongoing and expanding in scope.

The case has rattled Nissan’s alliance with French automaker Renault SA, where Ghosn remains chairman and chief executive. He had been pushing for a deeper tie-up, including potentially a full merger at the French government’s urging, despite strong reservations at Nissan.

French Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud reiterated the government’s call for Nissan and Renault to preserve the alliance, seen as crucial for the two to compete long term amid trends such as autonomous driving.

“The most important thing today is that the presumption of innocence is respected and that we look after the Renault-Nissan alliance. There are many jobs at stake,” she told a television news channel.

Ghosn’s arrest has also put Japan’s criminal justice system under international scrutiny and sparked criticism for some of its practices, including keeping suspects in detention for long periods and prohibiting defense lawyers from being present during interrogations that can last eight hours a day.

Ghosn has been held at the Tokyo Detention Center, a spartan facility where small rooms have a toilet in the corner and no heater. His son, Anthony Ghosn, said his father had lost 10 kgs (22 pounds) during his detention, according to France’s weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Otsuru said Ghosn had been moved to a larger room with a western-style bed, but did not say when that had happened.

Nissan’s Representative Director Greg Kelly, who was also arrested on Nov. 19 and has been charged with conspiring to under-report Ghosn’s income, was released on Dec. 25 after posting bail of 70 million yen, or about $640,000, in cash.

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WITH BINOTTO IN CHARGE WHAT NOW FOR FERRARI?

It did not take long for proper Formula 1 news to explode in 2019, Mattia Binotto replacing Maurizio Arrivabene is mega-headline grabbing stuff and tons of news will be generated by this huge development for the sport with many questions to be answered including: What now for Ferrari?

During his four years in charge of Ferrari, Arrivabene came close but no cigar. Last season proved to be his downfall as he made some highly questionable decisions in a campaign that was the Scuderia’s to lose, and they did.

What was Arrivabene thinking at Monza when Kimi was set free when his wingman role was most needed as Seb’s title campaign was starting to wobble? That weekend will have been a good reason enough to sack the guy in charge.

Then, with tensions high between him and Binotto, Maurizio lambasted his team at Suzuka which was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back. Binotto or Arrivabene had to go…

During his tenure as team principal, Ferrari has become the most user-unfriendly team in the paddock and their boss, a marketing man, should have known better than to marginalise media who dared to be critical of the Reds.

Perhaps the reason that most F1 sites are too scared to report what really goes on at 4 Via Abetone Inferiore.

Big credit to Gazzetta dello Sport for persisting with the report, we were one of a few English F1 news outlets running the story. Even in Italy, not everyone saw the signs that the Binotto vs Arrivabene civil war would end in tears for one of them.

The Gazzetta team did a good job to stick to their guns and believe their sources deep inside Maranello, even their media rivals applauded Gazzetta’s reporters for their efforts.

I am predicting there will be a few days for this news to digest and then, of course, we will need to hear from the man himself, Binotto must have a plan and they will need to be aired at some point.

Ferrari president John Elkann has been all but invisible despite trying to mediate the feud before finally accepting that Binotto was the way forward, no doubt a board decision. It would be great to hear from the Agnelli heir who at 42 needs to be seen to be doing more within the team.

With a dysfunctional media department, the Scuderia would do well to provide more soundbites from their big players to avoid speculation and disinformation about the team. They would do well to look at Mercedes to see exactly how it should be done. This is a sport after all, not a perpetual Cold War that Arrivabene’s Ferrari were fighting.

Meanwhile, from wherever he is vacationing, Sebastian Vettel will be watching things with interest. Although he has publically backed Arrivabene, it is known that there have been tensions between the four times F1 world champion and the former Marlboro man.

Arrivabene was a big advocate of Kimi Raikkonen and was keen to retain the Finn for another year, but this took a dive when Nicolas Todt walked in with a deal, signed with Sergio Marchionne, which had Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari for 2019.

The team chief took this on the chin, accepting the change but declaring that Leclerc would learn from Vettel, suggesting a subservient role for the 21-year-old. Talk about shooting himself in the foot!

Leclerc is needed to push Vettel and beat him if possible, there is nowhere to hide. This is Ferrari where drivers have to deliver, their development financed at Sauber. Reeling in the youngster would be the biggest mistake.

If Binotto allows Leclerc free reign then the youngster has nothing to fear or lose ahead of his first season with the legendary team. He should be told: “Drive it as fast as you can and bring it home, everything else will sort itself out.”

How Binotto manages the dynamics between the two drivers will be interesting.

Vettel signed off in 2018 with a heartfelt letter to Ferrari staff, declaring his commitment to the team but revealing nothing of these latest developments.

The German admitted to his mistakes during last season’s campaign but has harped on about how they were “missing something” which in driver parlance means: performance, Binotto’s department. As mentioned interesting times…

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Ex-F1 racer Pascal Wehrlein set for Ferrari simulator role

Pascal Wehrlein is set to undertake simulator duties with Ferrari in Formula 1 this season, in the wake of his departure from rivals Mercedes.

Wehrlein started 39 Grands Prix for Manor and Sauber across 2016/17 respectively, taking a best finish of eighth, and was a long-term member of Mercedes’ junior scheme until the end of last year.

Ferrari last season heavily relied on reserve Antonio Giovinazzi and development driver Daniil Kvyat to carry out simulator running at Grand Prix weekends.

Giovinazzi in particular received credit for work undertaken after Friday practice sessions and contributed to set-up work that turned around Sebastian Vettel’s fortunes in Canada, facilitating the German's drive from pole position to victory.

But both Giovinazzi and Kvyat secured full-time Formula 1 seats for 2019 at Sauber and Toro Rosso respectively, leaving junior racer Antonio Fuoco as Ferrari’s most experienced simulator driver.

Wehrlein is therefore set to fill a key role at Ferrari for 2019 and will provide useful back-up to Vettel and new team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Mercedes has reserve Esteban Ocon, ex-Sauber/Haas racer Esteban Gutierrez and former McLaren driver and current HWA Formula E driver Stoffel Vandoorne it can call upon for simulator duties.

Ex-Toro Rosso racer Sebastien Buemi, junior Daniel Ticktum and sportscar driver Jake Dennis carry out the role for fellow front-runners Red Bull.

Wehrlein is to make his Formula E debut in Morocco this weekend after signing a deal to race for Indian marque Mahindra.

His pre-existing Mercedes contract meant he was unable to participate in the opening event in Saudi Arabia last month, but his ties to the German giants expired on December 31.

Wehrlein had been backed by Mercedes since 2013, winning the DTM crown for the manufacturer in 2015, as well as undertaking extensive test and simulator duties throughout his six-year stay.

He finished eighth in last year’s DTM standings, having returned to the category after losing his Sauber Formula 1 drive to Leclerc.

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Brawn: McLaren, Williams declines show F1 has "no mercy"

Williams and McLaren's struggles last season were proof that Formula 1 shows "no mercy" for teams that get things wrong, says sporting chief Ross Brawn.
Despite the two British outfits being amongst the most successful in F1 history, a raft of issues left them battling near the bottom of the grid in 2018 as their rivals stepped up their game.

Brawn, who is F1's managing director of motorsports, reckons that while a title-winning team like Mercedes has benefited from huge stability, staffing reshuffles at McLaren and Williams over recent years contributed to their woes.

"Mercedes still have the same people that I found there in 2007 and that is more than 10 years of stability," Brawn told Motorsport.com. "That's so important.

"I think Williams and McLaren, they went through changes and it always takes a while for those things to settle down. They are great teams with a great history, but unfortunately Formula 1 is not a great respecter of histories. It only respects what's going on track.

"We as Formula 1 very much want those teams to get back into a competitive position because they're great teams and great brands. But Formula 1 has no mercy.

"If you're not doing a first-class job you it's demonstrated every Sunday or every other Sunday. They have capacity to get back into a competitive place, but it's a tough job."

Brawn also believes that a lack of stability at Ferrari, which lost its president Sergio Marchionne in the middle of last year, contributed to its failure to win the world championship again.

"It's nearly always a combination of things, it's never one single thing," added Brawn. "I think there was no doubt with Ferrari, the death of Sergio Marchionne had an impact.

"It was tragic in itself but it also had an impact on the team. For a man of his calibre and standing, it's always going to be a very destabilising situation for a while.

"But I think they will have looked at what they have learnt and Sebastian [Vettel] would look at what he's done. I think there's a strong chance that they will be there fighting [in 2019].

"You have to look at the Ferrari of two or three years ago to realise how much progress they have made. The fact we are talking about them coming close to winning a championship is quite an achievement over where they were two or three years ago.

"It's such a massive challenge to even win in Formula 1. But to win a championship is another level. So, you can talk about every team that doesn't win the championship as having its challenges."