Kevin Magnussen is set to start the Bahrain GP from the pit lane after failing to stop at a red light for a weight check during FP2.
Such an occurrence, a breach of Article 29.1 of the sporting regulations, is always taken very seriously by the FIA, even if their are mitigating circumstances.
Magnussen was following Dany Kvyat into the pitlane when the red light came on, and apparently there was some confusion over who it was intended for, with the Russian stopping when he was not supposed to.
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Niki Lauda says that Nico Rosberg’s Australian GP victory represents a huge boost to the German as he starts another season long battle with Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg ended last season on a high, but many observers felt he was flattered by Hamilton mentally stepping down a gear after winning the title. By continuing his 2015 form he’s made a point and boosted his confidence.
“He did a poor start in practice I have to say,” said Lauda. “Because Lewis was driving again like always. But in the race he turned it around, so for him it was really good, and for us especially. You need this to have a good start into the season, because it gives him confidence.
“If it had been the other way round, if Lewis would have won, he would have suffered, because he always suffers when Lewis is there. So for him this race was important, to mentally stay strong, and have a good baseline for the next one. It’s good for him and for us, because the more they fight each other the better it is for me!”
Regarding how close they got at the first corner he said: “It’s always close, don’t worry. That’s the way it is.”
Lauda said that the Melbourne race represented a great start to the season for the sport.
“It was an exciting race first of all, I’ve never seen anything like this in the last three years, I have to say. The race was half decided at the start, because the Ferraris did an incredible start, both of them. We screwed up in a way, and we have to find out why. And then the race took its way. I think it was the best start [to the season] ever in F1. What a race we have shown everybody.”
He expects an ongoing challenge from Ferrari: “I’m afraid we’ll see more of this, because Ferrari is quick, there’s no question about it. And it’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to the next one.”
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The 11 F1 teams have agreed to return to the 2015 qualifying system from the next race in Bahrain, following a meeting hosted by the FIA’s Charlie Whiting in Melbourne today.
As previously noted, the FIA has invited the 11 team managers to attend. They were told to represent the views of their teams rather than personal views, and that they could bring their team principals along as well if they so wish. Among those in the meeting were Christian Horner, Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda, Maurzio Arrivabene and Franz Tost.
Bernie Ecclestone was not represented in the meeting, although he had made his views clear to team bosses by phone.
The two most likely scenarios for Bahrain were scrapping the whole system, or the option of a ‘hybrid’ of the old and new systems. The former received unanimous support.
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The fate of the controversial elimination qualifying system is set to be decided by an FIA meeting that started in Melbourne’s race control building at 12pm today, and it could lead to a change as early as the next race in Bahrain.
The FIA has invited the 11 team managers to attend. They have been told to represent the views of their teams rather than personal views, and that they can bring their team principals along as well if they so wish. Bernie Ecclestone is not represented in the meeting, although he has made his views clear to team bosses by phone.
The two most likely scenarios for Bahrain are scrapping the whole system, or the more likely option of a ‘hybrid’ of the old and new systems.
Several weeks ago the same group of team managers agreed a revision to the elimination system that involved Q3 running to a traditional format, with no eliminations and all the drivers able to run at the end, as in the past.
All parties agreed that it was a sensible solution, but FIA President Jean Todt was reluctant to change direction and not allow the full elimination procedure to go through, so it never went back to the F1 Commission in that format. This was despite the rules not having been officially written at that stage, which would have allowed some room for change before they became official.
Any decision taken today has to be agreed by all the teams. It will then go to a vote of the Strategy Group – the six top teams, Ecclestone and Todt – and then onto the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council, for formal ratification.
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Niki Lauda says that F1 has lost all direction – and blames Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt for a situation where changes desired by the teams can easily be blocked.
Lauda says that the new qualifying system was a “big mistake.” He was present at the Strategy Group meeting where the system was first discussed, but only as an observer, as Toto Wolff was the official representative of Mercedes.
“This strategy meeting, Bernie stood up and said, ‘We have to make more excitement in the practice,’” Lauda told Sky F1. “The first in qualifying will have to start from the 10th position, and the 10th guy has to start from first position. Horner said, ‘Yes!’, because he thought he would be 10th and it would give him pole position.
“So it all started. We all laughed, but it was serious. And then Charlie [Whiting] came up with this new system, so to get out of this problem with first and 10th, we were led into this big mistake. And this is the way it happened.
“It was obvious that when we took that decision nobody thought of all the details. But when the team managers got together later, and Charlie, they realised there might be some up and downs.
“The funny thing was once it was voted through then Ferrari was against it, then when the team managers complained that it might not work that well it was voted again, and everybody was for it.
“So this is really wrong, and we should change it quickly, get everybody here together, have a quick discussion about changed for Bahrain. People can make mistakes, this is a big mistake.”
Lauda pulled no punches when it came to the bigger picture: “We lost I think all direction. Now it is very simple. Normally Bernie and the teams stick together because we have contracts with each other to run the business of the sport. But it has changed because Bernie and Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, try to decide things beforehand together. If the teams don’t like it they can vote together against us, or the other way round.
“So the whole system is blocked at the moment, in a situation where everybody is defending his own position, nobody is thinking globally what is the best for the sport, and therefore we make these wrong decisions.”
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Mixed weather conditions made life difficult on Haas F1’s first official day of action in Melbourne, but there were no major dramas for the new team.
The two drivers completed 34 laps, and Esteban Gutierrez finished as high as 11th in FP2, although many other drivers didn’t set flying lap times. Haas boss Guenther Steiner admitted that the team can’t afford to risk a damaged car due to a lack of spare parts.
“The thing we don’t want to take is risk,” said Steiner. “What you can learn, the possibilities to learn are very small so there is no point taking risks. The opportunity is not big enough to take risks.
We will just try to make sure the car is ready for qualifying, and be done with it.
“Because if we damage a car, or do something stupid, we can not go out immediately in Q1. You are done. There is no point taking risks; I think we’ll take less risks tomorrow than we took today – if the weather conditions are similar.”
Steiner said the team has enough parts could get through the weekend if are were no major problems.
“We have got everything before the race. When I say everything, I mean 90 per cent. We cannot have two crashes with the same car, you know. We have at least one of each part, most of them two, so for each car one set, but we cannot take big risks. If we had damage today or tomorrow… The last thing we want is to miss the race. That would be silly to come here in these conditions and take risks. That was the biggest thing today; do not take any risks.”
Steiner said that while it had been a good first day, the lack of running caused by the weather had made life difficult.
“It feels pretty good, but today was one of those days when you are happy to see two cars going out, and you know you have done what you were working a long time on, but then with these weather conditions you get to the evening and you are not happy, because you haven’t done enough. We didn’t get enough data, we didn’t test enough; I still think we are not as well prepared as we could be.
“And I’m not just blaming the weather, you have to blame yourself. There is always something. But then again we have to be honest with ourself – it’s a new team, it’s a new season. Then again, we need to aim high to end up somewhere. If you don’t aim high, you don’t want to be last.
Today the weather was not helping. I don’t want to use it as an excuse, because it sounds like an excuse. But it was not helping.
“If you’re trying to understand the car, and every time you go out there the conditions change, it’s like whatever you learn, is it real? Do I believe it, or not? Because every time the drivers say something different. Is it the car, or is it the weather? It is really inconsistent. Between wind and rain, you cannot have it worse. I hope tomorrow is better. We will try again tomorrow.”
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Aston Martin has agreed a new partnership with Red Bull Racing after months of discussion about a possible involvement in F1.
The news will come as a disappointment to Force India, who had tried for months to pull off a similar deal.
The Aston brand was first associated with RBR last summer, when the option of the team running Mercedes power units in 2016, possibly with Aston branding, was discussed. Mercedes made it clear that such a deal couldn’t happen and Aston’s focus then switched to other teams, notably Williams and Force India.
In December Aston’s director of marketing and communications Simon Sproule told this writer: “We have not made any decision. Also have to figure out what our path forward in sportscar racing is, and where we go with that. We are not looking at F1 in isolation.”
Discussions with Force India stalled over the winter, although the team management has indicated until recently that it was hopeful of still doing a deal at some point in the future.
However dialogue between Aston and RBR had continued in the background all along, and the deal has finally been completed. It’s been helped along by the fact that both Aston CEO Andy Palmer and marketing boss Sproule were involved with an earlier RBR partnership when they were working at Infiniti.
An Aston tie-up with Red Bull is no surprise given that Adrian Newey has been involved with a road car project for some time, and it’s logical that the project forms the background to the F1 deal.
The new arrangement also links Aston to another premium brand in RBR sponsor TAG Heuer,, to the mutual benefit of both.
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Canadian GP2 racer Nicholas Latifi has joined Renault Sport F1 team as a test driver.
The team says it will put him through a test programme with a view to him getting a superlicence and taking part in at least one FP1 session this year. Latifi raced in Euro F3 in 2013 and ’14, finishing 15th and 10th in the respective seasons, and last year he competed in Renault 3.5 as well as some GP2 races. This season he is driving for DAMS.
Team boss Frederic Vasseur said: “Nicholas is a fast developing young talent who has competed in a diverse selection of championships in his short career to date. We are excited at the prospect of nurturing him into an F1 ready entity at such a dynamic time for the team.
“As well as contesting the GP2 Series – which is a perfect proving ground for new drivers – Nicholas will go through a programme with us to attain his Super Licence with a view to contesting at least one FP1 session this year. We’re proud to have him on board.”
“Being named test driver for the Renault Sport Formula One Team is something very special – an amazing opportunity. There’s a lot of history behind the Renault name in F1, so to be a part of that, and get the chance to learn from them and gain expertise in a full factory team, is really going to help my development.
“My dream has always been to reach Formula One, and there’s a lot of hard work still to do, but this is another step towards me fulfilling my potential and earning my place on the grid.”
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Williams has confirmed that Paul Di Resta will be its reserve driver this season, and he thus replaces Adrian Sutil.
The Scot last appeared in F1 with Force India in 2013, before returning to Mercedes and the DTM. His ongoing Stuttgart connections probably did no harm when it came to landing the Williams job, although the 29-year-old has yet to drive hybrid V6 car in anger.
Last year Sutil tried the team’s simulator and attended races, but never drove the actual car.
The team says that Di Resta “will spend extensive time with the team at races to ensure he is fully accustomed to the controls and procedures of the Williams Mercedes FW38, should he be required to step into the cockpit during the season. He will also spend time integrating himself into the team with some simulator sessions to ensure he is fully prepared for his role this season.”
In other words as with Sutil last year there are no immediate plans for him to drive the actual car. Sutil never intended to stay on for another year and has been looking at a future in the WEC.
“It will be a busy year combining both driving in DTM with Mercedes AMG, and attending the Formula One Grands Prix in my new reserve driver role,” said Di Resta. I will be giving my full support to both and look forward to the exciting possibilities the year has ahead.”
Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: “Having competed in 58 Formula One races throughout his career Paul’s racing knowledge will be invaluable. We are also confident that given his recent Formula One and current DTM experience Paul will be able to confidently step into the FW38 and assist with our 2016 campaign.”
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The Circuit of the Americas has ended doubts about the 2016 US GP by stating that the race has now been confirmed, having been listed as provisional on the FIA calendar.
There was a question mark over the event due to the reduced funding made available by the Texas Major Events Trust Fund.
However, COTA today used the unusual medium of a press release about a Saturday night Taylor Swift concert to confirm that the fifth F1 event at the venue is going ahead after all.
“We are so happy to confirm F1’s return to COTA as well as Taylor Swift’s headline performance,” said Chairman and CEO Bobby Epstein. “We can’t think of a better way to mark this important five-year milestone for F1 in Austin.
“Since we first hosted this event in 2012, we have gained a lot of knowledge and insight that has allowed us to make significant annual improvements to the event that we are confident will continue to establish the US GP as the stand-out race weekend on F1’s calendar.”
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Adam Cooper F1 