Latest F1 news in brief

McLaren running 'Esso' branding at Sepang
Kobayashi worried about 'submarining' noses
Predicting 2014 winner like 'winning lottery' – Alesi
Bianchi sick, Perez sore
Ecclestone must pay costs but Constantin appeal rejected
Ferrari suffered FIA engine glitch in Melbourne
Engine noise could affect Sepang contract talks
Ecclestone admits engines louder than he thought
Red Bull's fuel flow problems continue in Malaysia

McLaren running 'Esso' branding at Sepang
(GMM) Two weeks ago in Melbourne, McLaren said the prominent 'Mobil' branding on the sidepods of its 2014 car was a one-off.

The British team, yet to sign a replacement for departed title sponsor Vodafone, said the branding was to celebrate the 20-year history of the Mobil sponsorship.

Now in Malaysia, McLaren's black sidepods are featuring the branding of 'Esso', another ExxonMobil brand.

Also new for the MP4-29 at Sepang is a tweaked 'anteater' nose, as team supremo Ron Dennis said McLaren will not give up on winning this season.

"We are not here to be second or third," he is quoted by 20min.ch, adding that McLaren expects to have added half a second of pace to the car since Australia.

Lead driver Jenson Button said in Malaysia: "Out of the box the car was what we expected, a little bit low on downforce, but as long as we keep developing the car as we plan to we should be able to catch Mercedes."

Departed McLaren driver Sergio Perez said he is not surprised the team has bounced back after a dismal 2013 season.

"The development of the 2013 car was given up very early in the season to focus on 2014," the Mexican told F1's official website. "That was McLaren's target — all 2014."

Kobayashi worried about 'submarining' noses
(GMM) Kamui Kobayashi has confirmed he is worried about the safety of this year's low nose designs.

Before the season began, Red Bull designer Adrian Newey expressed concern about the new, low front noses, arguing not only that they are ugly, but they might also be dangerous.

The reduced height minimizes the risk of cars being launched into the air, but "I am concerned the opposite may now happen, that cars now (will) submarine effectively," the Briton had said.

Indeed, alarming images of the crash involving Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Massa at the first corner in Melbourne subsequently emerged, showing the front of Kobayashi's Caterham 'submarining' under the diffuser of Massa's Williams.

"It was a very serious problem," Japanese Kobayashi was quoted in Malaysia by Brazil's Globo, "and it can be very dangerous for drivers.

"I think I was lucky not to be hurt — if it had happened at Monza, the outcome could have been different.

"We need to seriously discuss what happened," he continued, "because the design of the noses was changed just for safety.

"If they are more dangerous, then I think we need to talk again about what we need to change in the regulations."

Predicting 2014 winner like 'winning lottery' – Alesi
(GMM) It is almost impossible to predict the outcome of this year's world championship.

That is the view of former F1 driver Jean Alesi, who thinks the pecking order in the sport's all-new turbo V6 era is not as clear as it currently appears.

"I think it is easier to win the lottery than say who will win this season," the popular Frenchman told L'Equipe sports daily.

Mercedes is undoubtedly the clear title favorite based on winter testing and the results in Australia.

But Alesi insisted: "It will take more than three grands prix to determine which car is the most reliable.

"Today, the engines are playing a more important role than the chassis, when in previous years it was the opposite.

"I feel that for the moment Mercedes has the best engine, but it is very difficult to say more than that.

"For the drivers, I think it will be between Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen, but – again – nothing is certain," Alesi added.

The 49-year-old former Ferrari and Sauber driver is sure, however, that 2014 will be an exciting season.

"Yes, because we see very clearly that no team is really ready today," said Alesi.

"Even Mercedes had the technical problem with Lewis Hamilton after only a few laps in Melbourne. So nothing is certain."

Bianchi sick, Perez sore
(GMM) Jules Bianchi was missing in action at Sepang on Thursday.

Marussia let the Frenchman avoid the Malaysian heat by staying in his hotel, after calling in sick with a throat infection and fever, French television BFMTV and the sports daily L'Equipe reported.

Bianchi was, however, well enough to practice on Friday morning, completing 18 laps.

Meanwhile, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reported that Force India driver Sergio Perez was spotted in the paddock icing his knee.

The Mexican had surgery over the winter, but Perez told correspondent Tobias Bruner he simply tweaked the knee whilst training, adding that it is "not a big issue".

Ecclestone must pay costs but Constantin appeal rejected
(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone's legal woes took a turn for the better this week.

After the German media group Constantin filed an appeal against the recent High Court ruling, a judge on Thursday rejected the application.

Justice Newey said if Constantin "wished to pursue the issue it would have to apply to the court of appeal," the Financial Times reported.

Constantin's lawyer confirmed the company will indeed be "robustly pursuing its appeal", having lost the initial case surrounding the Gerhard Gribkowsky bribery affair.

Meanwhile, F1 business journalist Christian Sylt told us that Constantin was on Thursday also ordered to pay substantial legal costs — $10 million of its own, $10m to the Bambino trust and $2.5m to former advisor Stephen Mullens.

Ecclestone, however, was ordered by Justice Newey to pay half of his own whopping $13 million in legal costs as a result of having given "untruthful evidence" and being an "unreliable" witness.

Ferrari suffered FIA engine glitch in Melbourne
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has denied that Ferrari is yet to 'turn its engine up' in the 2014 season.

Lewis Hamilton, a title favorite with the dominant team Mercedes, downplayed the German squad's superiority when he said at Sepang: "I'm sure Renault have not turned their engine up to max.

"It's the same with Ferrari. If you look at their apex speed, they have a good car."

According to Spaniard Alonso, however, that's not right. "As far as the electrical side, yes, we are using the full power.

"But in the early laps in Melbourne we had a problem that we were blocked and so it didn't work fully," he is quoted by El Mundo Deportivo.

Alonso is referring to the energy-recovery side of the new 'power unit' that, in the opening phase of a grand prix, is automatically 'blocked' by the FIA.

But the Ferrari-powered cars in Melbourne were without up to 100 horse power for the entire first stint until the pitstop, due to an FIA glitch.

It is also clear that Ferrari's 'power unit' is up to 13 kilograms overweight.

"Yes," Ferrari-powered Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez confirmed to Spain's Marca, "but the positive thing is that this is a new world (in F1) and the possibilities for development are vast."

Alonso has won at Sepang in a Renault, a McLaren and a Ferrari, but he effectively ruled out a repeat of his surprise 2012 win this weekend.

"This is formula one and anything can happen," he is quoted by the EFE news agency, "but I think what we saw in 2012 was once in a lifetime."

Beyond that, he is not willing to talk too much about his 2014 prospects.

"If I say I am happy with fourth place, someone will say that I am no longer hungry for results," said Alonso.

"And if I say that I am not happy, someone will have something to say about that too."

Engine noise could affect Sepang contract talks
(GMM) The actual engines may be quieter, but the controversy about the sport's new turbo V6 engines is making a deafening sound.

Australian race promoter Ron Walker missed the scream of the old V8s so much last weekend he vowed to scour Melbourne's race contract in search of a breach.

An FIA source told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport: "There is nothing in the promoter contracts prescribing a minimal decibel level."

The source also scoffed at Walker's suggestion the issue drove fans away from Albert Park.

"Those who did not come have not yet heard the engines," he exclaimed.

However, it remains a possibility the new low volume of F1 could have contractual consequences.

Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali told the local New Straits Times newspaper that the engines will surely "affect the atmosphere of the race".

"So we'll want to see more of how this issue develops," he added. Malaysia's F1 contract expires after the 2015 race.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel turned up the volume even more when on Friday he crassly described the sound of the 2014 cars as "shit".

"And batteries should be where they belong, in a mobile phone," he is quoted by the German news agency SID.

Red Bull might at least have a solution to the noise problem.

"If we change the turbo blades, it will sound better," team director Dr Helmut Marko said.

Williams' Felipe Massa, however, thinks F1 simply needs to get used to its new guise — again.

"Years ago, when they made the decision to change the engine (for 2014), the first thing everyone said was that the sound will be different," he is quoted by Brazil's Globo.

"Now it's too late. They can try anything, but it's impossible to make them sound like a V8.

"Instead they thought it was the right direction to go with the new technology, so that's how things are now," added Massa.

Ecclestone admits engines louder than he thought
(GMM) Bernie Ecclestone admitted on Friday that F1's new-generation cars are actually louder than he first thought.

The F1 chief executive did not attend any of the pre-season tests or the season opening Australian grand prix, where a big controversy about the milder tones of the turbo V6 engines kicked off.

"It sounds terrible on the TV," Ecclestone told Britain's Sky Sports in the Sepang pitlane during the second practice session on Friday.

He was standing with Ong Beng Seng, the Singaporean magnate who is a leading figure in the city-state's highly-popular night race.

"Mr. Ong was complaining about the noise," Ecclestone revealed, referring to the Singapore grand prix chief.

"We were just saying, I think it's a little louder than we thought. If we could get it up a little bit more than this, then it would be alright," he added.

In the wake of Australian promoter Ron Walker's harsh critique, Ecclestone said on Friday that "all the promoters" are also complaining to him.

"We will have to have a reduction in fees!" Mr. Ong laughed.

More seriously, however, Ong revealed that Ecclestone met with a Singaporean government minister on Thursday, because "We are a city race, and we must have the 'buzz' with the noise."

83-year-old Ecclestone, however, suggested he was somewhat relieved to have actually heard the turbo V6s in action for the first time on Friday.

"People said you couldn't hear anything, (but) it's not true," he said.

Red Bull's fuel flow problems continue in Malaysia
(GMM) The 'fuel flow' saga is continuing in Malaysia.

The Times newspaper reports that, after Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification in Melbourne, Red Bull spent over $130,000 on five brand new FIA-mandated Gill sensors for the Sepang race.

"We are not taking any chances and we have gone out independently and bought sensors so we know that we will have at least one that works properly," a team source said.

Red Bull has appealed Ricciardo's exclusion, and last week at Milton Keynes FIA figures had been invited to inspect the sensors the reigning world champions claim were faulty in Australia.

But the trouble hasn't stopped there.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that, during the first practice session at Sepang, Ricciardo's RB10 once again struck fuel flow sensor problems.

And correspondent Michael Schmidt said the similarly Renault-powered sister team Toro Rosso also had problems getting a signal from the sensors.

A new sensor – costing $26,000 at full calibration – was fitted to Ricciardo's car for second practice.

"So much for saving money," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko bluntly observed.

More serious, however, is the risk of further disqualifications. What will Red Bull do now if, as in Melbourne, the FIA asks the team to reduce the Renault engine's fuel flow?

"I don't know," team boss Christian Horner answered.

"Maybe two sensors should be installed in different places, and the average value should be read in order to reduce the risk of incorrect measurements."