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Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner insists that he is still waiting to find out what Renault’s plans are for 2016 and beyond, despite strong suggestions that RBR has already made the first move to end its relationship with the French manufacturer.

Paddock sources have indicated that Red Bull has sent a formal notice of termination to Renault, a move that would seem to indicate that the management is confident that it already has an alternative deal lined up with Mercedes.

The issue is further complicated by the necessity to sort out an alternative supply for Toro Rosso as well.

“All I can tell you is that we’ve got a contract with Renault that goes to the conclusion of 2016, and that’s our situation,” said Horner today. “We’re waiting to hear what Renault’s plans and commitments are longer term, and I guess once we understand that then we’ll be able to make decisions accordingly regarding our future.”

Horner would not elaborate on suggestions that Renault has not met performance clauses in its contract with RBR, and that gives the team a way to get out of the deal.

“The contents of any agreement between the parties are confidential, but as is standard in any competitive contract, or supply contract, there’s obligation from both sides. Those obligations are quite clear between the two parties.”

He insisted that the potential status of Lotus as a works team, when RBR has previously been announced in that role, was not necessarily the key issue.

“Not really. We just want to know what Renault’s commitment is. Whatever they do, they need to have a competitive engine, unless they stop. For us, we just want to understand what the position of Renault is. We’ve enjoyed some very competitive years with Renault, we’ve won eight World Championships together, 50 Grands Prix, and let’s see what the future holds.

“Renault had four teams last year. Lotus left because they didn’t want to be with Renault, and the other team went bust. So we ended up as two teams by default. Renault have run with four teams previously, so the bottom line is the product has got to be competitive, whether it’s one two or four teams.”

Horner acknowledged that the team needs to know sooner rather than later what power unit it will be running next year.

“Of course an engine is an integral part of the car, and as the concept is being born you want the engine to be a part of that. You also have situations like Ross Brawn had in 2009, when he probably didn’t find out until November or December what engine he was going to have for that season. And then of course compromises inevitably have to be made.

“It’s not something that we’ve given a huge amount of thought to at the moment, because we do have an agreement with Renault until the end of next year, and our assumption at the moment is that we will have a Renault engine in the car next year.”

Pirelli believes that Nico Rosberg’s spectacular tyre failure in FP2 at Spa resulted from a cut caused by an external source, and was not due any fault in the tyre itself.

Rosberg was lucky to avoid contact with the barriers after the high-speed failure.

Investigations continued through the night, and the company’s engineers plan to check the track to see if they can identify a kerb or other potential cause of a cut. Pirelli has checked other tyres that were used on Friday, and has not found any indication of further problems.

“We have no evidence of any weakness in the tyre or its structure,” a Pirelli spokesman told this writer. “And we very much think that everything came from a cut coming from an external source. It’s nearly impossible to find from where exactly. We also inspecting the whole track, as has been done some times in the past, to see if there is any kerb or any metal part, or so on.

“We didn’t have any indication either before or during FP2 of something strange. We want to have a final result by tomorrow morning, and we’ll be all night working. But there is no sign of fatigue of the tyre or any special stress or special weakness.”

The spectacular tyre failure for Nico Rosberg in FP2 at Spa has put the spotlight firmly on Pirelli, and the incident came shortly after the FIA warned F1 teams that there will be strict checks to ensure that parameters set by Pirelli are being respected.

Charlie Whiting sent out a Technical Directive after today’s FP1 session in which he underlined that the checks were related to safety.

While there is no suggestion that Rosberg’s Mercedes was running outside any of the prescribed parameters the timing of the TD appeared to imply that Pirelli had faced some concerns after this morning’s FP1 session. There has been controversy at Spa in past years, notably related to cambers.

However, a Pirelli spokesman told this writer that the TD was a result of a routine meeting yesterday, and that nothing untoward was spotted in FP1 today. It’s understood that what was in effect a reminder to follow Pirelli guidelines was a response to the FIA noting some unusually high tyre blanket temperatures in Hungary. Today’s note was a copy of one issued in Budapest in 2013. 

The TD said: “Once again we have been asked by Pirelli, for reasons of safety, to ensure that all tyres are used as laid out in ’15R11SPA Preview,’ circulated to all teams on 28 July, checks on the following parameters will made randomly.”

Whiting went on to clarify that the parameters that will be checked were minimum starting pressure front and rear, maximum negative EOS camber front and rear, left to right swapping of the tyres both front and rear (which was an issue a couple of seasons ago), and respect of the tyre blanket strategies.

He added that the checks would also be carried out at future events, and until further notice.

Ferrari has confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will stay on for the 2016 season, alongside Sebastian Vettel.

In a typically short statement the team said today: “Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The driver line-up next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel.”

The news ends speculation about changes at the Scuderia, which has focussed mainly on the possibility of Valtteri Bottas replacing his fellow Finn. However the Italian team would have had to buy him out of Williams at considerable expense – and ultimately the management has decided not to follow that course.

“What can I say,” said Raikkonen on the Ferrari website. “For me, to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on. The Scuderia is my family, as I always said, it’s here I want to end my career. I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance. Also, a big thank you goes to all my Ferrari fans, for their continuous support.”

“We believe that extending Kimi’s contract into the next season will provide further stability to the team,” said team boss Maurizio Arrivabene. “This has been our guideline, also considering the very good relationship between Kimi and Seb. On our side, this shows our great confidence in him, and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded.”

Red Bull motor sport boss Helmut Marko says that the company’s immediate plans will not be affected should Renault ultimately decide to buy Lotus.

Marko insisted that RBR is committed to Renault for next year, but acknowledged that beyond that, the future is open.

“It doesn’t affect us,” he told this writer. “We have our contracts [for 2016], and if Renault decides to buy a team or whatever, fine. But 2017 is a different story. We are looking into everything. There’s always a saying, never say never. We’re looking for options.”

Marko played down the possibility of VW/Audi or any other new manufacturer being ready to compete in 2017.

“This power unit is such a complicated thing, you know. It’s not that you say, ‘OK, we do it.’ You have a lead time of three years, and if you make such a decision it’s a heavy financial investment. If I’m on the board of a big car manufacturer, I want to see, ‘Where is F1 going, what are the rules, is there stability?’. There are too many question marks, I would say.”

Meanwhile Marko admitted that the delayed introduction of Renault’s token upgrades has been frustrating.

“It’s disappointing, but unfortunately there’s nothing that we can do. With Daniel [Ricciardo] I’m sure we have to change engines twice, which means 10 places back. Most likely the first one will be in Monza. It’s unfortunately a season that we never had before.”

Marko said that the double podium in Hungary was a boost for the team, and while it showed that the chassis is getting better, he expects the next two races to be particular hard.

“Of course we were lucky with the safety car, but we were unlucky with the start and the two collisions Daniel had, because there was a chance of a win. Both drive a very, very good race and the strategy to use the soft tyre at the end was the right thing.

“It was not a power track, but the updates we are making, they are working, so the whole car is far more together, and the drivers have confidence. We had been on our back foot, and we recovered. To do this just before the summer break was more than important.

“But it will be very different in Monza and Spa. We need rain in Spa to be anywhere near the top. With this deficit on horsepower, it’s just impossible.”

Bernie Ecclestone expects Renault to decide this week on whether or not it will take over the Lotus F1 team and turn it into a full works outfit.

Discussions have been ongoing for some time, and it’s understood that Renault boss Carlos Ghosn will make the final call after reviewing the options. The situation is complicated by the fact that much of the team’s debt represents loans from its shareholders.

Lotus is under severe pressure to resolve its financial issues. In Hungary Pirelli did not release its tyres until just 50 minutes before FP1 after a late payment issue was addressed, and funds transferred.

Some sources suggest that one possible scenario is that Renault could enter as a new team, using the Enstone facility and staff, but not taking over the actual company that began life as Toleman in 1981, and subsequently became Benetton, Renault and finally Lotus.

This could gel with the fact that the FIA deadline for interest in future F1 entries was extended to the end of this week – which rather handily co-incides with the Ghosn decision.

“We’re gradually getting things sorted out,” Ecclestone told this writer. “By this week we’ll know which way we’re going. Hopefully then we’ll know whether Renault are going to take them over, or what’s going to happen.”

Asked if there was a Plan B for Lotus if Renault decided against it he said: “Err, semi. I think we’ve got it more or less under control.”

Ecclestone also confirmed that a Renault takeover would not automatically trigger extra payments based on its past performance and historical record, and that the team would have to earn extra cash. However, he added that as a manufacturer there is potential to earn more based on future results than if the team remains in private hands.

“They’ve got to do what everyone else is doing. They’re buying a team, they’re taking over a team. If you took a team over you’d be entitled, except that they are a manufacturer so we are looking after them a bit differently. Renault would come off better than if a private person did it as they’re a manufacturer.”

The Singapore track has been modified at Turns 11-13

The Singapore GP track has been modified in response to upgrading work to the city’s civic district, and which has prompted changes in the area of Turns 11-13.

It’s hoped that the revised corners will create more overtaking opportunities.

Organisers say that Turn 11 will be “realigned to sit tighter with the left hand side of Fullerton Road for a slightly slower corner speed compared to 2014. The left hand Turn 12 will also be modified slightly so that drivers now enter the left lane of Anderson Bridge.” In addition Turn 13 has been widened.

“It is a fantastic challenge to translate changes to Singapore’s Civic District into improvements to the Marina Bay Street Circuit,” said Engineering Track Manager Jonathan Giesecke. “I expect the modifications from Turns 11 to 13 will enable closer racing and the potential for additional passing opportunities.”

Pirelli is organising a two-day wet weather F1 tyre test at Paul Ricard early next year.

The test will take place on January 25-26 next year, using 2015 cars, and all teams have been invited to participate. The whole two days will be devoted to wet running, using the circuit’s sprinkler system.

Pirelli has been trying for some time to organise a proper wet weather test in the sort of controlled conditions that the French track can provide. As with all official tyre tests, teams would not be allowed to make changes to the cars, or undertake any form of development.

“The plan is to go to Paul Ricard in January,” Pirelli’s Paul Hembery told this writer. “You’ve got to go to a controlled circuit where water is applied on a consistent basis. It’s one of the few places where in January it should be OK in terms of weather.

“You only need one car to do the test we’re doing. We’ve extended it to everyone, if they all want to come, it’s good.”

The test is early enough for Pirelli to have new wet tyres ready for the Australian GP: “It’s for next year. The season starts later, so that helps. If we had the historical start, it would have been too late.”

Hembery hopes that Pirelli will have an opportunity to do more dry weather testing.

“Any testing for us is positive. We’d like to do a lot more, in reality. We’ve been asked to come up with two or three stops per race. This year we’ve been a little bit too close to one. The margins are really small, and when you do the analysis it’s five or 10 seconds is all that’s needed to jump between one strategy or the other, and to get that right without testing is very difficult. So we do need to have a little bit more testing. Really it’s for compounds, it’s not so much for the structure of the tyre.”

Paul Ricard will be a novelty for many F1 drivers, as it has not been used for a group F1 test since May 2008.

Force India is confident that an overnight suspension wishbone modification will allow the team to run in Hungary on Saturday without a repeat of today’s failure.

In FP1 Sergio Perez crashed after suffering an issue with the lower right rear wishbone when he went over a kerb. The team opted not to run Nico Hulkenberg while it conducted an investigation.

The wishbone that failed was of a design that has been used since last season, and while the particular component was of higher mileage – and was thus designated for Friday use – it was still safely within the usual limits. The team will modify the parts that it has at the track after the design team back at the factory came up with a suitable solution.

“It looks like a lower wishbone had a buckle,” CEO Otmar Szafnauer told this writer. “If that’s the case we’ve got to stiffen it. We’ll wrap it with carbon to make it stiffer – we’ve got the capability here on site, and we’ll do the same back at base and test it, and we should be OK for tomorrow.”

Szafnauer conceded that the drivers may have to pay more attention to kerb usage: “We’re not 100% sure, but we think the rumble strips set up a frequency. We should be able to go over the kerbs, but we’ll just be a bit more careful how long we stay on them.”

Meanwhile the team has a lot of mileage to catch up on.

“It’s not ideal. We’ve got to do some of the work we planned on doing in FP2 tomorrow. That puts us on the back foot. The good news is that Sergio was saying the car was good from the off, so hopefully we’ll dial it in and then do some long runs as well.”

Force India didn’t take part in FP2 in Hungary today after Sergio Perez had a heavy crash in the morning session.

The Mexican suffered a right rear suspension failure as he ran over kerbs on a corner exit, which led to a spin into the barrier on the inside. The car then rolled in spectacular fashion after a front wheel caught under the chassis. Perez was unhurt, but as investigations into the failure continued the team opted to keep Nico Hulkenberg in the garage as well.

A team statement said: “Sahara Force India will not take part in this afternoon’s second practice session at the Hungaroring as the team continues to investigate a suspension problem, which caused Sergio Perez to crash this morning. Sergio’s car suffered significant damage to the bodywork, wings and floor and repairs are ongoing.

“As a precaution, the team has chosen not to run Nico Hulkenberg this afternoon. The team will work hard to fully understand the cause of the failure and find a resolution in order to be ready for Saturday’s free practice session.”