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Rumours continue to circulate regarding Fernando Alonso’s future plans, and the consensus is that in the next few days we will learn a bit more about how the 2015 entry list will look.

Alonso has been linked with McLaren and Honda for months, and his name has obvious appeal to the Japanese manufacturer, which sells a lot of motorbikes in Spain.

It’s absolutely imperative that McLaren has a star on board, and with due respect to Jenson Button, the paddock acknowledges that Honda is working from a very short list, headed by Fernando, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel.

Of course the big questions over the weeks have been a) who might be able to make themselves available to join McLaren for 2015, and b) who has faith in the potential of Honda to be competitive from the off. One thing that is not in doubt is the funding available to pay for a big name, which would certainly cushion the blow should Honda not quite be on the pace immediately.

If Alonso is indeed on his way to McLaren, then obviously Ferrari needs to find a superstar with which to replace him – and for the past couple of years Sebastian Vettel has been the name in the frame as the next Ferrari signing.

However a source close to the Italian team tells me that none other than Lewis Hamilton now figures high on Maranello’s wish list, and indeed the Briton might be more easily able to walk away from Mercedes in 2015 than some might believe. He’s certainly less tied down than Vettel.

Of course for Lewis the issue is complicated by the ongoing title battle, but Ferrari would have obvious appeal to Hamilton, perhaps moreso if he secures his second title with Mercedes and can perhaps lose a year or two being a key part of a Maranello revival, thus following in the footsteps of Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher.

Those who think the idea unlikely should remember that exactly two years ago this week the world didn’t believe that Lewis would quit McLaren for Mercedes…

Nico Rosberg may have suffered a disappointing retirement in Singapore, but he was able to find some positives by using the rest of the race as a learning experience.

After he retired he changed out of his overalls, grabbed a headset, and then spent the rest of the race observing from the Mercedes pit wall.

“I just decided rather than going home I’m going to try and see if I can pick up anything that might become useful in the next couple of races,” he said when asked about it by this writer.

“Did I learn anything? Of course. I’ve never watched the other car live in a race, I’ve never watched the pit wall work together during a race this year, there are a lot of insights that I got.”

Meanwhile Rosberg admitted he had mixed feelings watching Hamilton win in Singapore.

“I’m split I two. On the one side I’m pleased that even though one car stopped the team was able to win with the other car, it means a lot to me when the team can have something to cheer for. A lot of the team had a good day, especially one side of the garage. And for the constructors’ it’s important that Red Bull didn’t catch up too many points, it was important to win.

“So that’s one half, on the other half I’m just disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish of course, because I wanted to have a shot at the win too.”

The debate over third cars continues to rumble on, but until it becomes clear that two current teams won’t be on the 2015 grid, it remains an academic exercise.

As is well known should the field fall below 20, which realistically means losing two teams, third cars become a serious possibility under current arrangements.

However in public at least bosses of top teams seem to have little enthusiasm for that prospect, despite the obvious advantage of being able to gainfully employ a third driver.

“It’s a debate with wrong timing, we have to wait and see if there’s a need to run three cars,” said McLaren’s Eric Boullier today. “And then we will see. If at the end one day we are called and asked to help F1 to run three cars, we’ll have to.”

Asked how much notice would be needed he said: “I think the driver is the easiest to get on board. The chassis, logistics, the people around, we would need at least six months notice.”

It’s worth noting that we have already passed that deadline for Australia 2015.

“It depends how many teams there are, to be honest with you,” said Christian Horner. “If there’s not enough teams then we’ll run a third car, if there’s enough teams then we’ll stick with two cars. Hopefully all the teams will be there next year, and a third car won’t be necessary, but should the numbers drop down then of course it’s something that we’d have to consider.”

Meanwhile Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made it clear that he doesn’t think it will be either healthy for F1, or cost effective for the teams – even those who could take a paying third driver.

“I don’t think it’s good for the sport,” he said. “There’s a regulation which says if the grid drops below 20 cars, so 19 cars, then there is a certain mechanism which would trigger certain teams to fill in. Now that’s not the case, and I don’t see the grid dropping below 20 cars, because that would mean two teams disappearing.

“I’m not a big fan of it. A third car means additional costs, the way you can refinance it is not enough, so even for the smaller teams it wouldn’t be a profitable business case to put in a third car, and for the moment I don’t see that coming.

“But obviously if it would ever happen and the grid would get diluted to less than 20 cars, that is a good tool to fill it up, and then obviously the devil lies in the detail. Would you fill it with rookie drivers, which would be very exciting for F1, to give rookie drivers a chance? But we don’t want to harm F1 by the top teams suddenly filing three cars. The midfield teams would really struggle, it would bite them hard, so I’m not very keen on that idea.”

He also gave an interesting insight into the cost: “If you run it properly it’s about £20-25m to run a third car. So even if you have one of the very good pay drivers, it wouldn’t pay.”

Red Bull motor sport boss Helmut Marko has put a little extra pressure on his new protege Max Verstappen by comparing the Dutch youngster with Ayrton Senna.

Verstappen, who only turns 17 next week, is being groomed for some FP1 appearances with Toro Rosso, prior to racing with the team next season.

Speaking to the F1 website Marko called Verstappen “an exceptional talent that come along only once in decades.”

Asked to make a comparison, he said: “Most likely Ayrton Senna. And in such a case you must not look at his age. He has been talking with people who are experts when it comes to the development of youngsters and they all say that [in terms of] his mind he is more like 22 than 16. And regarding his skills behind the steering wheel, he has been racing since he was four years old – professionally. So we expect him to be competitive from the first race. We are not playing the lottery, we know what we are doing. And success proves us right.

“And yes, we work with him intensively. He will do some Friday runs. Not long ago he did a 400kms test in Italy, he’s in the simulator whenever possible, and he’s working on his physique and psychology with top experts. Yes, some things became visible that we will have to address for the 2015 season. Having said that, he is getting the perfect ‘schooling’ before he gets on the grid.”

Max Verstappen had his first proper F1 test at Adria Raceway in Italy today, at the wheel of a 2012 Toro Rosso STR7.

The Dutchman had previously driven a Red Bull demo car in straightline running at Rockingham, and on the streets of Rotterdam, but this was his first proper circuit lappery.

He ran a total of 148 laps, more than enough to fulfil the 300kms superlicence requirement, so if the FIA is happy he will be able to do FP1 sessions later this year.

Describing the test, the team said: “The track was still damp in the morning after overnight rain and Verstappen’s first few runs were done on Intermediate tyres, but conditions improved enough for him to switch to slicks later in the day. He did a mix of short and long runs as well as trying his hand at other features of a race weekend, such as pit stops and start launches.”

“I was looking forward to my first drive in a Formula 1 car on a proper race track and I really enjoyed it,” said Verstappen. “It was a good opportunity to work with Xevi, who will be my race engineer next year, as well as having a chance to get used to all the buttons on the steering wheel. I think it went well and I can’t wait to get back into a Formula 1 car as soon as possible.”

Sporting director Steve Nielsen said: “Max did a very competent job, giving the impression he has been driving a Formula 1 car for quite a while, not like someone on their first day behind the wheel. He made no mistakes all day, seemed confident and once he was told something he remembered it. In general, he coped very well with this first test.”

Race enginee Xevi Pujolar added: “Max started his run on Intermediates and got up to speed, making no mistakes. We worked through various procedures that make up a race weekend. He was very focused and precise and learned quickly, without having to ask many questions. Once we were able to fit slicks, he got used to the car in the dry and built up his speed, while we tried various fuel levels, replicating both qualifying and race trim, doing a mix of short and long runs. For a first day, it was very impressive.”

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that he’s still considering a street race in Greece, despite the troubled economic state of the country.

The proposed race, which would be backed by private funding and run by promoter Dielpis, has been in the planning stages for some time – as far back as 2009 – although little has been heard recently. It might be given the Mediterranean GP name, which has been trademarked by FOM.

“The Greeks are keen,” Ecclestone told CNN. “They want me to go and see the Prime Minister or the mayor. We will have to find out if they have got any money.”

The venue is the Keratsini-Drapetsona municipality, some six miles to the west of Athens. Track architect Athanasios Papatheodorou said: “The Prime Minister himself has supported fully the initiative for organising F1 races and is looking forward to the instruction from the relevant international federations to realise the Dielpis F1 project.

“The greatest benefit for our country would be giving to the world the opportunity to see the most historical port of the Mediterranean sea. And our experience at organising big events, such as the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, is a big credential for us.”

Max Verstappen has had his first F1 outing today at Rockingham – still some 35 days short of his 17th birthday.

The Dutchman drove the Red Bull RB7 demo car, with which he will make his first public appearance at the Rotterdam street event this weekend. The car will be in Toro Rosso rather than Red Bull livery in Holland, and today’s run was mainly to get him familiar with the controls.

Verstappen has to complete 300kms of proper F1 running in order to get a superlicence that will allow him to do FP1 sessions in the current car at the end of the season.

Fernando Alonso is sympathetic towards the plight of Mercedes as the team tries to juggle the interests of both drivers while trying to allow them to put on a show for the public.

The Spaniard agreed that it was difficult for a team to get it right all the time.

“I don’t know exactly the situation, so it’s difficult to talk for another team,” said Alonso. “They’ve been racing fantastically well all through the season and we’ve been saying how good they were fighting and how good the team was letting them fight, Bahrain for example was a fantastic fight and fantastic race that everyone enjoyed.

“Now it’s true that maybe they touched a little bit today and there will be some talks about this. It’s difficult, if one team lets the drivers fight, until they don’t touch, it’s fantastic, when they touch that team are not any more good. It’s a very narrow line to try to make everyone happy. They’re leading the championships, both championships, with big margins, so they are doing something good. Apart from the problems they can have, they are dominating everything. As I said from outside it’s difficult to judge any other team.”

Meanwhile Alonso doesn’t believe that Daniel Ricciardo is potentially in the title fight, despite his run of good results: “I don’t think so. Obviously he’s doing an amazing job, he’s surprising everyone, but the Mercedes advantage – yesterday 2s in front of everybody else, before or later when they finish the race they will keep increasing their advantage. If one of the rest can do [anything], at the moment it’s only Ricciardo. So we’ll see.”

Sebastian Vettel drove an Infiniti road car around Sochi today, and here is a video of his lap.

The German clearly likes the venue, judging by his smile: “It is great to be back in Sochi and the venue has been transformed since I was last here when it was really just a construction site. Having driven the full circuit for the first time in the Infiniti Q50 today, it’s an interesting layout with a good mix of high speed corners and technical sections. It’s going to be a huge challenge in a Formula One car for sure and I’m really looking forward to coming back in October.”

Nico Rosberg has responded via his video blog to the comments of Lewis Hamilton – by not responding.

“Definitely one of the more difficult video blogs today, the Spa race,” he said. “I’ve been told what Lewis said in the press, and the way he has stated his version of the events. All I can say is my view of the events are very different. But the thing is it’s just better that I don’t know give all the details of my opinion and things like that. I hope you respect that. I prefer to just keep it internal, you know.

“We had a very good discussion, an important discussion. When such things occur we must sit down and review them, and that’s what we did, and everybody gave his opinion, and now we need to move forward. There will be another discussion, for sure, because we need to see if we need to change our approach in the future, as we did in Hungary, and we will do that. The good thing is that we really have a great leadership in the team with Paddy and Toto, with the help of Niki, and that really is important in such situations. Therefore I’m confident that as always, we’re going to find back to our way, and then keep on fighting in Monza. On we go.”