Latest F1 news in brief – Sunday
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Sergio Perez will stay at Force India Perez staying at Force India
- Raikkonen will cope with fast 2017 cars – trainer
- Current 21-race calendar 'too much' – Alonso
- Kvyat 'not interested' in Gasly rumors
- Ferrari denies tool left in Raikkonen's car
- Alonso echoes Magnussen's 'Halo' fire fears
- Wolff, Lauda could stay together beyond 2017
- Hamilton: Number of engine issues 'odd'
Perez staying at Force India
(GMM) The saga of Sergio Perez's future appears to be ending, with authoritative sources reporting that the Mexican is staying put at Force India.
The 26-year-old had been linked with a potential move to Renault, warning earlier at Sepang that he had set a one-week deadline for certainty.
But now, it seems Perez will definitely be staying at his current Silverstone based team.
"Very soon you will have an official announcement," he said ahead of the Malaysian grand prix.
"I know what I am doing for my future, but I am not in a position yet to confirm it," Perez added.
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| Kimi Raikkonen |
Raikkonen will cope with fast 2017 cars – trainer
(GMM) Kimi Raikkonen's trainer insists the Finn will be ready for the faster cars of 2017.
With Jenson Button's impending retirement, it will be Raikkonen – who turns 37 this month – who is clearly the oldest driver in formula one next year.
New chassis and tyre rules will make the cars several seconds per lap faster next year, so will Raikkonen need to adjust his training programme to be ready?
"We'll see," he told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat at Sepang.
Raikkonen's trainer Mark Arnall, however, does not think the 2017 formula will bother his charge.
"If we were talking about the 100 meter sprint, then being 37 has an impact. But I think going back to faster cars will not change anything for Kimi because he has experienced it before.
"I don't see any reason why it should be difficult for Kimi to drive next year's cars," he added.
"He has never had physical deficiencies, and even now he is in very good condition even though the fitness requirements of the last few years has been lower," Arnall said.
"Of course, we will have to adapt the neck muscles for the higher downforce, but this will have nothing to do with the fact that he is now older."
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Current 21-race calendar 'too much' – Alonso
(GMM) Fernando Alonso thinks the current F1 calendar is at the limit.
There are 21 races this year and there will be 21 again in 2017, but beyond that, the sport's new owner Liberty Media has talked about expanding the calendar to as many as 25 dates.
"I understand and I respect the reasons for wanting to expand further," McLaren-Honda driver Alonso is quoted by Speed Week.
"When I started in F1, we had 16 or 17 grands prix but a lot of testing between the race weekends — we were about as busy as we are today and perhaps even more.
"But the big point is that we travel too much and have too many races back-to-back," he added.
Alonso said the biggest problem with the 21-race calendar is how the races are organized.
"We rush from Europe in early September to Singapore and now we're in Malaysia," he said at Sepang. "In just a few days we will meet again in Japan and then we go off to the other side of the world again.
"And then we're back across the Atlantic to Abu Dhabi. To me, it's just too much," Alonso insisted.
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| Daniil Kvyat |
Kvyat 'not interested' in Gasly rumors
(GMM) Daniil Kvyat says he is not considering the possibility that Pierre Gasly will end his F1 career at the tender age of 22.
The young Russian admits his demotion from Red Bull this year was hard to cope with, but says he now has his mind fully back on track.
"The people who helped me to overcome this difficult period will never be forgotten," he told Brazil's Globo ahead of the Malaysian grand prix.
Kvyat said one of them was Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost, but answered "no" when asked if another was Dr Helmut Marko.
Indeed, while Tost said at Sepang that Kvyat's future is in his own hands and depends on results, the one who really decides will be Marko.
And that decision could mean Kvyat is ejected from F1 altogether, and replaced at Toro Rosso with Red Bull's latest hotshoe, GP2 frontrunner Pierre Gasly.
When asked about Frenchman Gasly, Kvyat said: "I'm not interested in Gasly at all.
"I do my work here at STR, I have a good relationship with Carlos (Sainz) and I don't think about anything else."
Asked if he will be in F1 in 2017, Kvyat answered: "If I deserve it, yes. In my view yes, but my vision is not enough."
Asked if he is afraid that his F1 career could end at the age of 22, he insisted: "I'm not afraid of anything.
"Life is like that — anything can happen. F1 is not school, this is a job. As I said, if I deserve to stay then I will stay, and if not, life is long and there are many other things to do," Kvyat added.
Ferrari denies tool left in Raikkonen's car
(GMM) Ferrari has denied Kimi Raikkonen's claim that a mechanic left a flashlight in the footwell of the Finnish driver's car during practice at Sepang.
According to Germany's Bild newspaper, the Italian team initially put an unscheduled return to the pits for Raikkonen as down to "setup problems".
But Raikkonen later told Finnish television: "The mechanics left a tool in my car. It was a flashlight. I couldn't press the throttle."
Bild claims that the flashlight actually got stuck behind the throttle. Had the tool lodged behind the brake pedal instead, it may have been a safety hazard.
But when Ferrari was asked about the story, a spokesperson insisted: "No! The accelerator was a little too stiff, which is why Kimi had problems."
Alonso echoes Magnussen's 'Halo' fire fears
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has backed Kevin Magnussen's doubts about the safety of the 'Halo' cockpit protection system in the event of fire.
Magnussen suffered a fuel leak and fire in the Sepang pitlane during practice, and because the flames were behind him, he leapt from the car within seconds from the front of the cockpit.
With 'Halo' – the debris-protective cockpit device being tested for a possible introduction in 2018 – Magnussen's escape may have been slowed.
GPDA director Alex Wurz, however, played down Magnussen's fears, but now Alonso has issued some comments that appear to echo the concern about Halo.
"When I tried Halo in Singapore, getting out of the car was slightly uncomfortable," Alonso said.
"It was one of the things that I noticed. It is not clear where to put your feet when you go to jump out.
"With long legs like Jenson it would be easier, but for people like me and Felipe and a few other drivers there will be difficulties," the McLaren driver added.
"So I think it's good that the introduction of this system is delayed, because it is necessary to examine everything and consider all of the possible consequences.
"There may be ways to make the system better and removed quickly, so that we are able to leave the car a little faster," Alonso said.
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| Wolff and Lauda |
Wolff, Lauda could stay together beyond 2017
(GMM) Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda have indicated they aim to keep their working relationship together at Mercedes.
Boss Wolff has been linked with Bernie Ecclestone's job, while F1 legend and team chairman Lauda's contract is also reportedly set to expire at the end of 2017.
Wolff told German television Sky: "We enjoy what we do here, which is the most important thing.
"We have good discussions and we'll see what way it goes," he added.
As for fellow Austrian and 64-year-old Lauda, he suggested that he is also open to inking a new Mercedes contract.
"If I am asked, I would say yes," he said.
Lauda said he often finds himself on the side of the drivers, when Wolff is attempting to manage the difficult relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
"There are times when he (Wolff) wants to have very brutal rules and then I'm the softer one who says 'They are just racing drivers'," he said.
Wolff smiled: "You must not manage them, but they also may not be left alone completely.
"The relationship between them goes in waves: there are obviously uncomfortable moments, after which they are not on very good terms with each other."
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Hamilton: Number of engine issues 'odd'
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton says "something doesn't feel right" after he endured another engine failure during the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, having led away from pole position, held a comfortable lead over the Red Bull drivers when his engine gave up with 15 laps to go.
Hamilton took on multiple new power unit elements at the Belgian Grand Prix, after early-season reliability woes put him on the back foot.
Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, recovered from a first-corner collision to take third, and extend his title advantage over Hamilton to 23 points.
"There's not really much… I've just got to move on," said Hamilton.
"Our guys did a fantastic job this weekend. We did everything we could. I just can't believe that there are eight Mercedes cars and only my engines are the ones that have been going.
"Something doesn't feel right, but there's nothing I can do about it."
Asked if he had turned the engine up, Hamilton responded: "No. It was a brand new engine. I had done one race with it. It was a brand new engine out of the new three that I had.
"It's just odd. [There are] 43 engines in Mercedes and only mine are gone."
Hamilton added that the situation is playing on his mind for the final five races.
"I don't even know if my car is going to make it. These next five races I know we've got it in us, me, my engineers and my mechanics, but who knows what the next engines I have are going to do.
"I'm just going to keep my head down and hope for the best."