Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Red Bull, Ferrari, Felipe Nasr and More
Lewis Hamilton may have won the 2015 Australian Grand Prix for Mercedes, but Red Bull grabbed most of the post-race headlines with a twin-pronged assault on the state of Formula One.
Team principal Christian Horner called for an "equalisation mechanism" to be used to reign in Mercedes, while team adviser Helmut Marko publicly stated the team may quit if F1 is no longer attractive to the company.
The response they received was anything but sympathetic.
On a more positive note, Felipe Nasr scored a brilliant fifth place in the race—ahead of the sole Red Bull. He hopes it will help shake off the "pay driver" tag his sponsor backing brings.
Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen thinks Ferrari are almost capable of taking the fight to Mercedes, and Felipe Massa has made some very strange comments about the engine in the back of his FW37.
Read on for a full roundup of the top stories coming out of the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
Christian Horner Calls for Greater Equality
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Christian Horner has reacted to his team's poor display in the Australian Grand Prix by calling for something to be done to haul back Mercedes.
The Red Bull team principal spent most of last season being unhappy about no longer winning. With his team's engine supplier Renault again struggling, he's made an early start in 2015.
Speaking to press after the race, in which Daniel Ricciardo finished a lowly sixth, Horner said (h/t Sky Sports):
"When we were winning, we were never winning with the advantage that they have. Double diffusers were banned, exhausts were moved, flexible bodywork was prohibited, engine mapping mid-season was changed; anything was done. That wasn’t just unique to Red Bull.
Is it healthy to have a situation? The FIA within the rules have an equalisation mechanism. Perhaps it’s something they need to have a look at.
Mercedes, take nothing away from, they’ve done a super job: they’ve got a good car, a fantastic engine and they’ve got two very good drivers.
The problem is the gap is so big. You end up with three-tier racing and I think that’s not healthy for Formula One.
"
There was little sympathy among the F1 community on Twitter.
""F1 needs equalisation moves says Red Bull's Christian Horner http://t.co/kWKuQrdv3H via @autosport" LOL
— Craig Scarborough (@ScarbsF1) March 15, 2015"
"Perhaps Red Bull should learn from @ManorF1Team's motivation...
— Kate Hewitt (@katehewif1) March 15, 2015"
It's interesting that Horner considers "three-tier racing" unhealthy for F1. If Red Bull really want equality, perhaps they'd like to give up the above-average sums which, per Joe Saward, they receive from the commercial rights holders?
This money could be given to the "third tier," which may then be able to close the gap to the teams ahead.
Or perhaps they could have vetoed Bernie Ecclestone's Strategy Group suggestion, reported by Auto Motor und Sport's Tobias Gruner on Twitter, that second-division customer-car teams should be introduced, running the 2013 Red Bull RB9 chassis with Mecachrome V8 engines?
Red Bull were happy to reap the rewards of Renault's great work toward the end of the V8 era, and together the partnership is capable of returning to the front. Instead of complaining, they need to put their heads down and get on with trying to improve their lot—like Ferrari appear to have done.
But sadly, this doesn't appear to be the Red Bull way—and Horner wasn't the only one coupling his wagon to the "complain train"...
Helmut Marko Reveals Red Bull May Quit Formula 1
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Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has claimed the energy drinks company could leave F1, apparently in response to dissatisfaction with the current regulations.
Speaking to Austrian media in Melbourne (h/t Autosport for English reporting), Marko made the claim and added an attack on the V6 turbo hybrids, saying:
"We will evaluate the situation again [in the summer] as every year and look into costs and revenues. If we are totally dissatisfied we could contemplate an F1 exit.
Yes, the danger is there that Mr Mateschitz loses his passion for F1.
These power units are the wrong solution for F1, and we would say this even if Renault were in the lead. The technical rules are not understandable, much too complicated, and too expensive.
We are governed by an engineers' formula. We wanted cost reduction too, but it is not happening like this. A designer like Adrian Newey is castrated by this engine formula. These rules will kill the sport.
"
We should take what Marko says seriously, but it's by no means a new revelation. As a company, Red Bull's primary purpose is not to go racing—they are in F1 because it currently represents a valuable marketing opportunity for the much larger overall brand.
For a team that exists in this way, one has to assume that it has always been the case that if the sport became commercially unattractive, they would leave. They're not alone here—Mercedes, like any manufacturer team, are the same.
We know from Horner's comments that Red Bull are severely unhappy about not winning and want things to change. Marko's comments go a step further—reminding the world that his team could leave if future negotiations do not go their way.
Is what he said an idle, throwaway comment, or does the team hope to use this as a bargaining tool?
Either way, perhaps it doesn't matter. Per Christian Horner's own words at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FIA press conference, Red Bull have "given a parent-company guarantee to be in the sport for the long term, up to a minimum of 2020."
Would they be allowed to just walk away from such a guarantee?
Felipe Nasr Hopes to End "Pay Driver" Jibes
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Felipe Nasr says his fifth-place finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix is enough to prove to the world that he is not a "pay driver."
The Brazilian's exceptional debut display saw him hold off the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo to score 10 points for Sauber. Per The Guardian, he brings somewhere in the region of £10-12 million to the team via his sponsor, Banco do Brasil—but unlike many funded drivers, he has a decent junior record too.
He won the Formula BMW Europe title in 2009, British Formula Three in 2011 and followed up a disappointing debut year in GP2 with fourth and third in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Asked about being called a pay driver after the race, he told media (h/t Autosport):
"I think it's a good answer to put results on track. I don't know where this pay driver thing came from because I've always had people investing in my career, my family never had the money to do it.
What's the difference between being supported by Red Bull paying for your drive, and having sponsors that want to be with you? I don't see where people get this impression that I'm a pay driver.
What's the problem with having a sponsor on my car? It's strange to see people talking about that.
"
Though Nasr says he finds it strange, the "pay driver" label is accurately applied. The reason he is in F1 is because he provides funding—he would not be on the grid without it. By definition, that is what a pay driver is.
However, not all pay drivers are equal. Were F1 a cash-rich playground where no team needed to take on drivers with backing, he may well have secured a seat based on talent alone.
The same cannot be said for some of his rivals.
Being a "pay driver" is not what it used to be, and the label can be shaken off. If Nasr can follow up what he did in Australia with more quality drives, he'll do just that.
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Kimi Raikkonen Believes Ferrari Are Close to Matching Mercedes
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Kimi Raikkonen had a difficult and disappointing race in Melbourne, but he saw enough to believe his Ferrari team are not as far behind Mercedes as it looks.
The Finn was forced to retire on Lap 40 after leaving the pits with a poorly fitted left-rear wheel. However, he set the third-quickest lap of the race and doesn't feel the 34-second gap between winner Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Sebastian Vettel was necessarily representative.
Speaking to press after the race, Raikkonen said (h/t ESPN):
"I'm not very happy right now but I still believe in the race we are not too far away from Mercedes [on pace]. Obviously it depends on the race and what they do, we just had too many things not go our way today.
I am sure we can be up there and fight at the front, so obviously we need to improve in qualifying as they are ahead of us by some margin. Things didn't work out this weekend.
We had the speed for a podium, even with the issues we went through after the start, we could still challenge the Williams at the end of the race, but it didn't happen. I think we had a good car in qualifying, so we should have been higher up.
Even with the damage with the floor from the rear when we got hit, the car was still fast. I strongly believe that we have a good race car, a fast car, I think the gap in the race is much smaller than in qualifying.
"
After a dismal season in 2014, Raikkonen looked a different man in Melbourne. He qualified within half a tenth of a second of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and his race pace, utilising a two-stop strategy, looked strong despite damage sustained at the first corner.
As strong as Mercedes? Not quite.
But he certainly did enough to suggest Ferrari will have two strong, quick drivers banging in the points this season.
Felipe Massa Unsure over Mercedes Engine Parity
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Felipe Massa has questioned whether Williams are receiving the same engine as that used by the works Mercedes team.
Speaking after he was beaten to third by Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix, the Brazilian told press (h/t crash.net):
"We're pushing hard with the engine which I'm sure has some improvements that we can have and are pushing to have, because for sure the difference is too big. So I really hope that we really have the same engine, which I really don't see why we don't have.
Why would Mercedes help Ferrari? So we need to have the best they can give, and we will work on that. On the car we know that every race and whatever points you're not getting, it counts.
For sure we improved massively from the first race to the last race [last year] and the engine improved a lot. If we don't have the same engine—which I cannot say 100 per cent because it's very difficult to say—but if we don't have it then we want to have it because it's not nice that we don't have it.
"
Asking this sort of question privately is one thing, but for Massa to make his "suspicions" public—assuming he isn't joking—is staggering. He made similar comments after qualifying.
Given the costs involved, were Mercedes not giving the same engine to their customers it would be a scandal.
But aside from Massa's comments, there's nothing to suggest this is the case—and speed trap data released by the FIA appears to confirm he is barking up the wrong tree. The two FW37s were the quickest cars on the straights.
Downforce, not horsepower, is the difference between the two teams.
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