FIA TO USE ELECTRONIC SENSORS TO ENFORCE TRACK LIMITS

Formula 1’s governing body has turned to technology to enforce the thorny topic of ‘track limits’ this weekend in Hungary.

Keeping all four wheels on the track has been a controversial topic of late, and Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg acknowledged the problem.

“Charlie Whiting is in a difficult situation,” he is quoted by Speed Week in Budapest.

It emerges that the F1 race director has ordered the installation of electronic sensors on the outside of corners 4 and 11 at the Hungaroring to police drivers who are edging their cars off the track for advantage.

Hulkenberg said: “It’s the same sort of technology we use on the grid to detect a jump start — now it’s being used to put an end to this (track limits) discussion.”

The German driver said he would prefer that barriers were on the outside of corners to really ensure drivers stay on track, “but of course there are safety considerations”.

“Charlie also mentioned last time that there is a compromise between MotoGP and Formula 1, because the organisers want to welcome both championships if possible,” he added.

ENTER MARCHIONNE AS FERRARI CRISIS DEEPENS

Ferrari are in crisis once again, in the aftermath of a first half of the Formula 1 season which failed to deliver expected results, prospects for the second half look grim as the legendary team are unlikely to reel in Mercede, while Red Bull seem to have edged ahead in the pecking order.

The situation has resulted in Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne taking a hands on approach to try halt the decline, a move which is not only making waves but reportedly adding fuel to an already explosive situation that exists at Maranello.

Influential and respected Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, “Marchionne’s increasingly hands-on approach also appears to be the result of the fractious nature of the Ferrari hierarchy, with Marchionne’s relationships with team principal Maurizio Arrivabene and technical director James Allison having broken down.”

“Now, likely to the irritation of Ferrari’s engineers, Marchionne is beginning to personally intervene in the technical and strategic decisions of the Sporting Management team,” the report revealed.

The Italian-Canadian, who earns a whopping $170,000 per day is a hugely successful executive at the helm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, chairman of a number of corporations and of course president of the fabled Scuderia.



However he is very new to the business of Formula 1 and his naivety emerged earlier this year when he announced with confidence that he expected Ferrari to challenge for the F1 world championship and start the season winning in Australia.

Ahead of the first race in Melbourne, Marchionne declared, “2016 should be the year for us to return to the top. Our investments have not been lacking. We want to present ourselves in Australia as the team to beat. We know that our rivals are strong, but we are not afraid of them as we are the most successful team in the history of Formula 1.”

Since then, despite his predictions coming back to haunt him, he has not toned down his rhetoric and headline grabbing demands, which in turn has put the team under intense pressure.

Last month, clearly briefed by someone with inside information, Marchionne said, “The Ferrari SF16-H is new compared to the 2015 edition. Although the design looked great, once it took to the track there were some results that didn’t match up to our expectations.”

In Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen the team have a potent driver line-up, who with a good car at their disposal have the ability to do the business at the sharp end of the grid. But they have struggled and been ill at ease with a car that lacks the firepower to mix it with the pace setters this season.



Marchionne acknowledged this, “Vettel is a pilot with extraordinary abilities, but he has to be given the right car to win. The problem is the machine. It is necessary to give the machine so that Vettel can win – he is ready. The problem is that when he gets a winning car, the whole season is ruined.”

The Gazzetta report added, “A truly embarrassing campaign has almost inevitably led to questioning of character among key members of the Ferrari leadership, and now James Allison would seem to be on the verge of leaving amid mutual acrimony between himself and Marchionne.”

“The problem for Ferrari is precisely the lack of viable candidates capable of replacing Allison. The prospect of convincing Ross Brawn, whose tenure with the team was legendary, to come out of retirement is highly unlikely, and the Cavallino would also struggle to bring in Toro Rosso’s James Key at short notice,” concluded the report.

Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda, one who knows the volatile Ferrari scenario well, summed up the situation at Maranello, “The problem with Ferrari is that they are under pressure. The more Marchionne calls for wins, the more the Italians make mistakes.”





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APPLE LINKED WITH F1 RIGHTS BUYOUT ?

Apple, the iconic American multinational technology company, has been linked with buying Formula 1’s commercial rights.

Potential buyers of the majority stake in the sport currently owned by CVC have been the subject of speculation for some time, but it is the first time Apple, the famous Steve Jobs-founded creator of the iPhone, has been mentioned.

The rumour began to do the rounds this week after the report of an F1 blogger, but the technology media world reacted with scepticism.

‘Apple Insider’ said the blogger was “unable to nail down details, or indeed procure any concrete information beyond hearsay”.

Business Insider added that “There’s no solid evidence to support these rumours at this stage”, adding that buying F1 would be “unusual” for Apple to pay billions for a company in the sporting realm.

But it is suggested that owning F1 would help its so-called ‘Apple Car’ project, whilst control of a global sport like F1 might give Apple a boost with its Apple TV service.

GROUP CLAIMS $150 MILLION CHINESE DEAL AGREED TO IN PRINCIPLE

Organizers for Formula 1 race in Las Vegas approach Tavo Hellmund, say funding no longer an issue

The organizer of the planned Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas has revealed that he “would love” to work with Tavo Hellmund, the racing entrepreneur who resurrected the United States Grand Prix and the Mexican Grand Prix.

The plans for a Las Vegas Grand Prix came to light in 2014 when it was revealed that F1’s track design firm Tilke had visited the city and designed a circuit which incorporates the world-famous 4.2-mile stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard known as the Strip. In March, F1’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said that although the organizers have got a contract, it hasn’t been signed due to a lack of funding.

Farid Shidfar, the entrepreneur who is leading the organizers, now says that funding is no longer a roadblock as he has an “agreement in principle” with Chinese investors to provide the $150 million needed to get the race off the grid. He adds that, “Tavo Hellmund and I have spoken in an informal way and I would love to involve him with this. He has managed to pull this kind of thing off before and he definitely knows his stuff. Having said that, I think his efforts are being focused elsewhere, so I think it is going to be up to him to decide if he wants to do another race.”

Hellmund has helped to bring several races to the F1 calendar, most recently the Mexican Grand Prix that returned in November after a 23-year hiatus. It was a resounding success with a reported attendance of 335,850 over the three days of the event.

Hellmund was one of three key figures responsible for the return of the race. The other two were Ecclestone and race promoter Alejandro Soberon, chief executive of CIE, the world’s third-largest live entertainment company.

He would bolster an already-strong team. Richard Cregan, a consultant on the F1 races in Russia and Abu Dhabi, is on board, and Peter Wahl, Tilke managing partner, says, “when I got the chance to visit Las Vegas for the first time in late summer of 2014, I had some imaginations about this extraordinary city situated right in the heart of the Mojave desert. The moment I arrived, it was overwhelmingly clear to me that Las Vegas was an ideal destination for Formula 1 racing. With support from a group of passionate, highly skilled and well-connected individuals, we successfully designed a racetrack which is partly on the Las Vegas Strip and does not impact any resort.”

Since the debut of the Mexican Grand Prix, Hellmund has been linked to a bid for the Manor F1 team and a plan to host a Grand Prix in San Francisco. He says, “I’d be happy to help Farid in any way possible. I have a lot of friends in Vegas, and I think an F1 race there would be fantastic. Plus, it would be good to work with Richard on something as unique as this.”

Wahl adds that “the track definitely has its own character and shall provide drivers high-speed challenges with different sharp corners. Best part, the track is designed to host large numbers of spectators, and I can’t wait to see the first car fire up and race down Las Vegas Boulevard -- no doubt that moment in time will be remembered as the peak of my track-designing career. I believe the Vegas race will become one of the highlights of the F1 calendar.”

He may not have long to wait, as Shidfar says, “There has been discussions of 2018 but it could be as early as 2017. We need roughly 14 months to prepare for this race.”

VILLENEUVE: MOST FORMULA 1 DRIVERS ARE STILL BABIES

Two former grand prix winners are leading the criticism of Formula 1’s new tendency to start any wet race behind the safety car, with outspoken Jacques Villeneuve labeling the current batch of drivers as babies.

The issue has arisen after the British grand prix, where spectators last Sunday were deprived of a normal start from the grid following a pre-race rain shower.

“If it suddenly rains on the highway, a normal driver doesn’t stop driving,” former Ferrari and McLaren driver Gerhard Berger told Auto Bild. “He simply adapts to the situation.”

However, whilst arguing that the Silverstone safety car period went on for too long, many drivers actually back F1’s new approach to wet races.

“What do you expect?” 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve said. “Most of them are still babies. If we want to excite the fans of tomorrow, we need heroes. Idols they can look up to and want to copy.”

“But what they see today are drivers who earn millions but are cowards hiding behind a safety car. What makes a grand prix driver so special is no longer coming through,” Villeneuve added.

The French Canadian also slammed that FIA stewards’ post-race decision to penalise Nico Rosberg for the radio infraction, dropping him from second to third.

“The formula one governing body would annul the result of a football match because a corner flag is found to be five millimetres higher than the rest,” he joked.

LAUDA: LEWIS LIED

In the aftermath of the last lap drama during the Austrian Grand Prix, involving the two Mercedes drivers and main title contenders, it has emerged that Niki Lauda called Lewis Hamilton a liar before the race at Red Bull Ring.

Lauda, recently interviewed by Servus TV, said that Hamilton had made a calculated lie when he claimed before the race in Austria that his relationship with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was better than ever.

But the Mercedes F1 team chairman revealed, “Lewis lied about that. Simple as that. He just said something. He wanted to be the softener in order to have his peace last weekend.”

“He does what he can. The fight gets hotter the longer Nico is in front,” added Lauda, who went on to divulge that Hamilton trashed his drivers’ room in the Mercedes motorhome after he crashed during qualifying for the Grand Prix of Europe in Baku.

“He did it because he crashed,” explained Lauda. “He’ll have to pay for it, you can count on that. He told me I couldn’t come in because he was going to trash everything. This is how it was.”

SAUBER SAVED BY INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS’ RESCUE PLAN

Sauber is reportedly on the cusp of being sold amid a troubled Formula 1 campaign for the financially struggling Swiss team.


Recently we reported that the 300 staff at Hinwil have now been paid for May and June, with everyone’s wages now up-to-date.


“We are in the process of a comprehensive solution,” confirmed team boss and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn, speaking to Blick newspaper.


It is believed that, earlier this week, Sauber staff were told at the team’s Swiss base that their newly-paid salaries are part of a rescue plan for the team.


Auto Motor und Sport claims the plan comes in the form of an international group of investors who will buy a majority stake in Sauber, writing off debts and committing for the future.


The report said the new owners intend to keep Sauber’s existing management throughout a transitional phase.


Team driver Felipe Nasr, who was believed to be losing patience with Sauber and could be looking to take his major backer Banco do Brasil elsewhere, welcomed the news, “I’m still fully committed to the team I’m pretty sure.”


“The situation seems to have got better from what I hear. Getting all the salaries paid gives a boost to everyone back at the factory, at the track. I’m sure we can soon start updating the car,” Nasr added.