Reform will not get off the ground – McLaren will veto other teams getting Honda engines and 12 million euro cost unachievable due to ‘extras’ not taken into account

Summary:

---

• it was agreed to lower engine prices by €2m for 2017 and to bring the price down to €12m for 2018 (teams were initially promised a price of €10m)
• €12m/year price is misleading, as it does not include all costs the teams will face
  

  ---

• engine package only includes 6 engines and 5 engineers per team; 5 additional engineers required to support the engines, for which manufacturers will charge extra
• fuel and oil are also not included; Petronas, Mobil, Shell, and Total want up to €3m/year; teams have to buy the most recent fuel and oil developments, as they are specific to each engine specification
• extra costs bring total price close to the current price
  

  ---

• FIA want to oblige each manufacturer to supply a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 teams when asked to
• Ron Dennis says he could not vote in favour of such an agreement, as it would mean breaking his contract with Honda
• his contract with Honda states a maximum of 2 teams in 2017 and Dennis has a veto right
• Dennis suggest all existing engine supply contracts should be terminated, which was strongly opposed by Mercedes customers
• Ecclestone, again, threatens to introduce V8s with KERS

auto-motor-und-sport.de

 

Credit to r/Moctecus

 

 

More F1 News

Drivers appear unhappy with the changes to quali

Formula 1’s uncertain situation over its qualifying format took a fresh turn on Wednesday when drivers spoke out against plans to introduce an elimination system in a meeting with F1 race director Charlie Whiting.

As part of a wider plan to consult drivers more about F1’s rules, Whiting summoned those present at the test to a gathering on Wednesday evening.

Behind closed doors in the FIA motorhome, Whiting met with several drivers – including Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez – to discuss a host of matters including the new qualifying session.

The discussions appeared to be quite heated at times and afterwards Perez told Sky that there was clear opposition from drivers about proposals to change qualifying.

“We are obviously not very happy with the new plans they want to implement,” Perez said. “Let’s see if they can change it.

“We felt that it could be very complicated for the fans to understand – it’s complicated for us already.

“We also felt that qualifying is really good at the moment and there is no reason to change that.”

motorsport.com

 

TJ13 - Revised quali will be:

Q1

• 16 minutes
• After 7 minutes, slowest driver eliminated
• Slowest driver eliminated every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag
• 7 drivers eliminated, 15 progress to Q2

Q2

• 16 minutes
• After 7 minutes, slowest driver eliminated
• Slowest driver eliminated every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag
• 7 drivers eliminated, 8 progress to Q3

Q3

• 12 minutes
• 8 drivers battle for pole position

 

#F1 drivers are meeting with the rule makers talking qualifying pic.twitter.com/TkoZEPVngr

— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) March 2, 2016

 

Hamilton: I have nothing to prove against Fernando Alonso

Lewis Hamilton says he would have nothing to prove if he was paired as a team-mate to Fernando Alonso again.

Alonso has revealed that a deal was proposed by his management team two years ago that would have seen the Spaniard and Hamilton swap their seats at Ferrari and Mercedes.

Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s current team-mate at Mercedes, is in the final year of his existing deal with the Silver Arrows while Alonso’s decision to leave Ferrari to return to McLaren has been described as a “terrible mistake” by Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle.

But Hamilton has scoffed at talk in the paddock that Mercedes might consider pairing him with Alonso in a rekindling of the partnership which imploded spectacularly in 2007 when they were team-mates at McLaren.

“I don’t care who I race against,” Hamilton told Sky Sports News HQ. “I’m happy with what we have here. We’ve already raced together in the same car and got a result so it’s not like anything else needs proving.”

Hamilton and Alonso finished 2007 with the same amount of points but the Englishman – then a rookie – was classified ahead.

TJ13 - read yesterdays DN&C for Alonso story

 

‘Clearly a gain’ from Honda update – Eric Boullier

Honda introduced a new specification of engine for the second week of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, with McLaren accumulating 93 laps on Tuesday. The upgrade is closer to the engine the team plans to run at the Australian Grand Prix on March 20.

“There is clearly a gain and it is good to see we have more potential coming,” Boullier said on Wednesday. “It’s still very early days so we need to put more mileage, and there is more experience to be gained on how to use and exploit this. But so far, for sure, more potential.”

espn.co.uk

 

Ricciardo thinks he “will definitely take up” Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s offer to race in a NASCAR

Back in October, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. offered Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo an “open invite” to race for his NASCAR XFINITY team:

@DaleJr @JRMotorsports @Kevin_W25 ok I'm looking at the 2016 calendar ASAP!!! 😜

— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) October 28, 2015

When asked in London last week if he would still be interested in taking Dale Jr. up on his offer, Ricciardo replied: “I would love to,” according to a report on Autoweek.com.

“To be honest, I didn’t get to a point where I asked Christian,” added Ricciardo, referring to the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “If I did it, I would want to do it properly. I would hate to go there and get my ass kicked basically. Then it looks bad on F1 as well. The cars would be so different, I would want to make sure that I tested and got comfortable.

“In the calendar there were some races that I could do which didn’t clash, but the question was when could I do the testing. This is even before asking Red Bull, but just in my mind I was like, ‘When could I test? When could I get to America?’”

foxsports.com

 

Mercedes, Lewis and Max become nominees at Laureus World Sports Awards

Laureus Sports Awards 2016 nomination include Lewis Hamilton (Sportman of the Year), Max Verstappen (Breakthrough) and Mercedes F1 (Team of the Year)

Lewis Hamilton

Secured his second straight Formula One World Championship and his third overall, at the United States Grand Prix, winning the title with three races still remaining. Driving for the dominant Mercedes AMG Petronas team, he won ten Grand Prix during the year, had seven additional podium finishes, 11 pole positions and eight fastest laps. Won the Laureus World Breakthrough Award in 2008.

Max Verstappen

Became youngest ever Formula One driver at 17 years 166 days. Son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, he competes for Toro Rosso and was fourth in both Hungarian and US Grand Prix. He finished 12th in the World Championship with 49 points. Was named F1 Rookie of the Year and Personality of the Year and received the Action of the Year award for his overtaking at Spa.

Mercedes AMG Petronas

 

Won their second straight Constructors’ World Championship, with Lewis Hamilton winning the drivers’ title again. Between them, Hamilton and fellow driver Nico Rosberg won 16 of the 19 Grand Prix. The team is led by principal Toto Wolff, technical director Paddy Lowe and non-executive Chairman Niki Lauda. The team finished with 703 points, with nearest rivals Ferrari on 428.

laureus.com

 

 

Live video from Barcelona via Periscope

F1 fan Mike Lawrence (@hondalover55) is at the test this week and is posting live video via periscope, follow him and catch some footage via this link.

 

Fan of Facebook? Like TJ13 page for extra’s you don’t see on the website

We have a thriving community commenting on posts every day, like the page and join in the conversation.