Latest F1 news in brief

Marchionne can apply all the pressure he wants, Arrivabene knows Ferrari is never going to beat the Aldo Costa designed Mercedes

Marchionne pressure causing Ferrari mistakes – Lauda
Q3 a 'small milestone' for McLaren – Alonso
No 'negative pressure' at Renault – Magnussen
No Friday outings for Vandoorne – Boullier
Vettel yet to talk to Ferrari about 2017 teammate
Mission accomplished for Max's father Jos
Sainz denies he 'redeemed' himself in Spain
Vettel miffed by Ferrari qualifying slump
Horner: Engine compromise 'very weak'

Marchionne pressure causing Ferrari mistakes – Lauda
(GMM) Niki Lauda has hit out at the pressure Ferrari's president Sergio Marchionne is putting on the faltering Maranello team.

Heading into the Barcelona round, Ferrari and Fiat chief Marchionne had said he expected the team to immediately end its winning drought in 2016.

But the red cars were actually outpaced in qualifying not just by the normally-dominant Mercedes, but also the charging Red Bulls.

"The fact that Ferrari is so far behind is very surprising," Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman but also a former Ferrari champion, told German television RTL.

"The problem with Ferrari is that they are under pressure — the more Marchionne calls for wins, the more the Italians make mistakes," he added.

Sebastian Vettel, normally Ferrari's lead driver, even trailed teammate Kimi Raikkonen on Saturday, but insisted the pressure is not getting to the team.

"He (Marchionne) talks to us internally, it is not just what is written in the newspapers," the German told the Spanish daily Marca. "So this does not affect us in the way you may think.

"Tomorrow (Sunday) he will come and wish us luck. Yes, he is our president, but also a big fan who wants Ferrari to succeed. We all have ambitious goals and do not need any warnings," Vettel added.

Asked if he can deal with the pressure at Ferrari, the German told Spain's El Pais: "I am always asked about the pressure, but in Red Bull I had Dr Marko who can be quite demanding!

"The pressure I have, I put on myself and it is much greater than anything else coming from outside. Nobody has to tell me to win," Vettel added.

Boss Maurizio Arrivabene, meanwhile, has been the subject of rumors in Barcelona but he also backed Marchionne's right to demand that Ferrari wins.

"I would be worried if a president came to us and said we should go to Russia or Barcelona and finish second. I don't think Enzo Ferrari would have said such things either," he told Italy's Autosprint.

Like Lauda, Alain Prost is another famous former Ferrari driver who knows the pressures of driving for the Scuderia.

"It's never very stable," the Frenchman, working as a pundit for British television in Barcelona, told the Telegraph.

"You can see that today, with the rumors about what is happening."

Alonso in Barcelona

Q3 a 'small milestone' for McLaren – Alonso
(GMM) McLaren-Honda is continuing its slow climb out of the doldrums of 2015.

Saturday in Barcelona was the first time the Anglo-Japanese's collaboration resulted in a mere Q3 result, with Fernando Alonso calling his P10 a "small milestone".

"The next one must be to regularly finish in the points, then the podium," said the Spaniard.

The Woking team says it is doing all it can to produce the best car in the pitlane, as Honda on the other hand works to improve its sub-standard 'power unit'.

"We have the third best chassis behind Mercedes and Red Bull," Alonso told the Spanish press on Saturday.

Indeed, at the end of the long straight, McLaren-Honda are losing 12kph to the fastest cars, but Honda improvements are also in the pipeline.

"In Canada, the first step comes. In Spa, the second," declared Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

Jenson Button, meanwhile, said it is "quite sad" that McLaren sees a mere P10 as reason to feel happy in Spain, but former McLaren champion Alain Prost agrees.

"It is depressing for sure," the F1 legend told London's Telegraph newspaper.

"I would love to see McLaren back at the front. I still think Ron (Dennis) is the right guy. I'm confident about the team but there's a lot to put together.

"They made a big step from last year but they need another one."

Kevin Magnussen

No 'negative pressure' at Renault – Magnussen
(GMM) Even though three young chargers are knocking on the door, Kevin Magnussen sounds secure in his race seat at Renault.

So far in 2016, the Dane and his teammate Jolyon Palmer have each had to sit out a Friday practice session, as Renault promotes its young test drivers Sergey Sirotkin and Esteban Ocon.

And it now emerges that Nicholas Latifi will also get some Friday outings this season.

"I think the plan is that we take turns to sit out," Magnussen, referring to himself and Palmer, told the Danish broadcaster TV2.

"It is what it is. I don't know the reasons exactly but I accept it and hopefully it's for the good of the team.

"Of course it would be more ideal to be sitting in the car myself, but if you get a P2 and 3, you don't lose a huge amount by having missed the first one," he added.

There has been speculation swirling around the future of Palmer in early 2016, but so far all the noises from Renault suggest Magnussen is secure for now.

The 23-year-old agrees: "I am much more comfortable than I ever was.

"I think it's to do with the fact that I have a place where I am having more fun and it's much more relaxed — I don't feel that negative pressure that I felt before."

Magnussen is, of course, referring to his former McLaren adventure.

He explained: "To me it makes a huge difference to know that you have the team behind you, and the people have faith in you.

"I'm taking the chances that I get and trying as hard as I can, but it's just much easier when you enjoy what you do," said Magnussen.

Boullier tells Vandoorne to forget about Friday outings

No Friday outings for Vandoorne – Boullier
(GMM) McLaren-Honda team boss Eric Boullier says there are no plans for Stoffel Vandoorne to be given Friday morning outings in 2016.

Another works team, Renault, is giving Sergey Sirotkin, Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi the chance to drive the F1 car during grand prix weekends this year.

McLaren, meanwhile, has hopeful charger Vandoorne waiting in the wings, but he is keeping his driving wits sharp in 2016 by racing for a Honda-powered team in the Japanese open wheeler series Super Formula.

Asked if the 24-year-old will get a Friday morning outing in F1, McLaren chief Boullier answered: "No, it would be a waste of time.

"Frankly I don't see the point," the Frenchman told the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure. "He can learn enough by doing test days, like next Wednesday here."

Boullier hinted in Barcelona that Vandoorne might be loaned to another team next year, but he also admitted that a race seat at McLaren for 2017 is a possibility.

"Our main objective is to put him in a car," he said.

"McLaren is a possibility and of course he would be welcomed with open arms by the whole team. He really is part of the family now."

That would imply that Jenson Button's place is in doubt, but Boullier at least rejected the theory that while McLaren wants Vandoorne, Honda is in fact insisting that Button keep his place.

"Not at all, who said that?" Boullier quipped.

Asked when a decision about the 2017 lineup will be made, he added: "I will not answer. In fact, I don't know myself."

Vettel will try to keep Raikkonen as his teammate

Vettel yet to talk to Ferrari about 2017 teammate
(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has hinted he will recommend to Ferrari that Kimi Raikkonen is kept on board for another season.

Last year, when the Finn and 2007 world champion's contract was also up for renewal, German Vettel argued strongly that Raikkonen should be retained.

When asked if he has now talked with Ferrari team management about Raikkonen's expiring contract this year, Vettel answered: "Not yet.

"We did it last year because Kimi's contract was ending and the team asked me," he told the Spanish newspaper El Pais in Barcelona.

"I have no influence over it, but it's ok to give my opinion because that means the team trusts me," Vettel added.

"I get on very well with Kimi, he is the coolest and least political teammate I've ever had — we work well together and we both know that the first thing is the team."

Jos Verstappen (L) – mission accomplished

Mission accomplished for Max's father Jos
(GMM) Jos Verstappen is taking a step back from the limelight in the career of his son and F1 teen sensation Max.

44-year-old Jos, known throughout his own F1 racing career as 'The Boss', was an ever-present figure in the garage until this weekend in Barcelona.

What has changed is that Max has stepped up from the junior team to Red Bull's title-winning senior outfit, where Dr Helmut Marko and Christian Horner call the shots.

"He (Jos) probably takes a little bit of a step back but that's fine," Max had said on Friday.

Now, it emerges not only that Jos will be absent from the garage from now on, but that he will also adopt a lower profile in the paddock.

For instance, he has immediately given up a personal column for the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, but it is understood he will continue to co-manage Max's career along with Raymond Vermeulen.

"Jos knows every trick in this business," Toto Wolff, who tried unsuccessfully to sign Max up for Mercedes' development program prior to his 2015 debut, said in Spain.

"His (Max's) rise has been breathtaking. But we never had serious negotiations with him because when it came down to it, Red Bull could offer him a race seat for 2015 and we could not.

"Now everything has happened as Jos imagined."

Indeed, Max's rise to Red Bull is being traced back not only to Daniil Kvyat's awful race weekend in Sochi, but a public chat between Wolff and Jos ahead of the Russian grand prix.

"Whether our conversation made a difference, I don't believe that," said Wolff. "I think Max's achievements have spoken for themselves."

Max's obvious talent may have given new teammate Daniel Ricciardo reason to be worried during the qualifying hour on Saturday, but the Australian duly went third fastest, a few tenths ahead of the Dutch teen.

"At the moment I guess he's the hottest young property — at least he's created the most hype and I think today he showed he was very quick," said Ricciardo.

"Today I managed to put in a good lap in Q3 and we'll see how the season progresses but, sure, it's exciting."

Indeed, the press has been hanging on every word uttered by the Verstappens, Ricciardo, Marko, Kvyat and even Carlos Sainz in Barcelona.

"What would you guys (the media) do without Red Bull in formula one?" grinned team boss Horner.

Carlos Sainz Jr.

Sainz Jr. denies he 'redeemed' himself in Spain
(GMM) Carlos Sainz Jr. rejected suggestions he redeemed himself in Barcelona by performing so strongly for Toro Rosso.

The Spaniard qualified a strong eighth at his home circuit on Saturday, five places ahead of his new teammate Daniil Kvyat, who returns from the top squad to Red Bull's junior team.

All the attention, however, has been on Sainz's former teammate this weekend as he stepped up to Red Bull Racing, but Sainz says comparing his eighth with Max Verstappen's impressive fourth is "not fair".

"I am no longer in the comparison with Verstappen," he told the Spanish media. "I think Red Bull is on another planet."

But Sainz said performing so strongly in Spain, and clearly beating Kvyat, was not a type of vindication of his talents after being overlooked in favor of Verstappen.

"I did not need vindicating," the 21-year-old insisted. "I don't think I needed to redeem myself.

"If I had had a bad year and a half and Max was chosen to go up to Red Bull because I didn't do well, then that might be the case, but I have always been fast.

"I have been the same for a long time and I don't think anybody saw something today from me that they had not seen before," Sainz added.

Reality is setting in at Maranello – Vettel knows Ferrari cannot beat the Aldo Costa designed Mercedes

Vettel miffed by Ferrari qualifying slump
Sebastian Vettel was left puzzled by Ferrari's lack of pace during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, as it dropped behind Red Bull.

Vettel finished third in final practice, with Mercedes leading the way, but Ferrari could only claim fifth and sixth on the grid in qualifying.

"It wasn't as good as it was all weekend [up to qualifying], so we need to understand," Vettel explained to reporters after the session.

Vettel was the slower of the Ferrari drivers in qualifying, with Kimi Raikkonen opening up a two-tenth buffer on the final Q3 runs.

"He [Raikkonen] maybe had a bit better feeling in qualifying, as I was struggling throughout. Q1 already wasn't great, whereas this morning was very good, so…

"We were confident that we were trying the right things, but Barcelona is very sensitive to changes, and changes to ambient and track [temperatures].

"I think we didn't get the car to work the way it should and that's why we underperformed – we were just too slow," the four-time World Champion summed up.

Raikkonen pin-pointed the final sector as the main issue for Ferrari.

"It was not an easy day: we did our best, but the result is a bit disappointing," he said.

"We seemed to struggle quite a lot in the last sector and I'm not surprised we were losing a lot of time there.

"Before qualifying we made some changes to my set-up and the car felt better, but it was not easy to get the laps that we wanted and make the handling exactly as we desired."

Christian Horner

Horner: Engine compromise 'very weak'
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has labelled the FIA's amended 2017-20 engine regulations as "very weak" and says more should have been agreed on four key areas.

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council last month ratified tweaks to the regulations which focused on cost and supply price of power units, obligation to supply, performance convergence and sound.

However, Horner hit out at the amendments and does not believe the sport's governing body has made substantial effort.

"It is a little underwhelming," he said.

"It's a very soft agreement between the manufacturers and the FIA.

"It tickles the price, deals a little bit with convergence, the obligation to supply doesn't really apply, so it's a very weak agreement.

"Unfortunately, it's a shame more couldn't be done, but I suppose if you look on the bright side it's better than nothing."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff disagreed with Horner's summation.

"We achieved a major price reduction over two years," he explained.

"We have opened up development scope for others to catch up.

"We have designed an obligation to supply so no team runs out of an engine contract. We have found a mechanism how performance convergence could be triggered.

"Lots of good things, many months of hard work in trying to get everybody on the same page, I think it's a good step forward."