Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and More
Nico Rosberg may be leading the Formula One drivers' standings by a comfortable margin, but after losing the world championship to Lewis Hamilton in 2014 and 2015, the German is taking nothing for granted.
After establishing a 43-point advantage over his Mercedes team-mate with victories in the opening four races, both history and the odds are stacked in his favour, yet Rosberg—at the beginning of the longest season in F1 history—remains convinced Hamilton will bounce back from an unfortunate start to 2016.
Hamilton's chances of defending his crown are likely to depend on the reliability of his W07, which suffered a number of glitches in recent races in China and Russia.
The sheer frequency of the Briton's issues has led to Mercedes being accused of sabotaging the No. 44 car, and ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, the three-time world champion has pleaded with his supporters to stop hounding his team.
Another driver who could encounter car problems in Spain is Max Verstappen, who, after spending his debut season driving for Toro Rosso, will be forced to adapt quickly to a Red Bull chassis and all the demands that come with representing a championship-winning team.
The teenager's sudden promotion to Red Bull has come at the expense of Daniil Kvyat, who has been sent back to the team with whom he began his career two years ago, and Mark Webber has explained why the move didn't come as a surprise.
With arguably the leading chassis on the 2016 grid, Red Bull could be in contention for a podium finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has always been regarded as the true test of a car's balance.
Fernando Alonso is among those who believe Red Bull remain the team to beat in the chassis department, but after claiming his first points of the season in Russia, the two-time world champion is convinced McLaren-Honda are not far behind.
Closing this week's roundup is Renault technical director Nick Chester, who has explained why the Enstone-based team may be set for a performance boost over the coming weeks.
Nico Rosberg Certain Lewis Hamilton Will Continue to Fight for 2016 Title
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Nico Rosberg is convinced Lewis Hamilton will continue to fight for the 2016 drivers' championship, despite the German's commanding position at the summit of the standings.
After winning the final three races of 2015, Rosberg has made a perfect start to the new campaign, establishing a 43-point lead over Hamilton with wins in Australia, Bahrain, China and Russia.
With races in Spain and Monaco—venues where the 30-year-old has tended to perform well throughout his F1 career—up next, Rosberg stands a chance of equalling Sebastian Vettel's record of nine consecutive victories by the end of May.
As noted by Autosport's Lawrence Barretto, drivers who have won each of the opening four grands prix of the season have always gone on to win the title.
But although history is in favour, Rosberg has reiterated his belief that Hamilton—who overturned a 29-point deficit to beat his team-mate to the 2014 title by a margin of 67 points—remains a huge threat.
Per Barretto, Rosberg said:
"They [drivers who won the first four races] didn't have Lewis Hamilton as their team-mate. That's the battle I have.
This is completely not worth talking about yet, at this point in time.
Lewis is driving as strongly as ever, as you have seen in the last few weeks. He will bounce back.
He doesn't have an issue with fighting back with his head, he has always shown that.
I'm sure we'll see more of the battle between us. It's always going to be tough against him.
"
Per the same source, Rosberg dismissed the notion that his four wins have been achieved through good fortune due to Hamilton's reliability problems, and he argued: "Winning F1 races is not like an open goal. I don't think that's a good comparison."
Lewis Hamilton Urges Fans to 'Respect' Mercedes Amid Conspiracy Theories
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Lewis Hamilton has urged his supporters to stop questioning the integrity of his Mercedes team after the Silver Arrows were accused of sabotaging his car at the Russian Grand Prix.
Despite setting two pole positions in the opening four races of 2016, the 31-year-old is without a win since last October after suffering a troubled start to the season.
Poor getaways in Australia and Bahrain were followed by a number of mechanical issues, with Hamilton's car suffering an MGU-H glitch in qualifying in China before the problem repeated itself in Russia.
Forced to start 10th at the Sochi Autodrom having failed to participate in the third segment of qualifying, Hamilton's car was then hit by a water-pressure issue in the race while catching team-mate Nico Rosberg.
In Russia, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff referred to those who suggested the Brackley-based outfit were deliberately harming the Briton's championship chances as lunatics, per Sky Sports, with the team's official website publishing an open letter in an effort to put an end to those suspicions.
And Hamilton, who joined Mercedes from McLaren at the beginning of 2013, has become the latest high-profile figure to defend the team.
In a post on his official Instagram account, he said:
"I want you to know how grateful I am for all of your support. I'd like to ask that you please trust in my team, as I do. This is my family. These guys have been the greatest, hardest working people for me, and that is why I am now 3x World Champion.
Please don't put any more thought into my team doing anything unjust towards me, and understand that it would be in no ones best interest for that to be the case. We've had the best 3 years together, and whilst it's not going to plan right now, all will unfold in its own time.
I trust these guys 1000 per cent and my mechanics are incredible, the best in the business. I respect them so please do the same. They are the guys that are going to make winning this championship possible.
"
Mercedes' decision to swap Hamilton and Rosberg's mechanics at the beginning of 2016 has been viewed as a potential reason behind the drivers' contrasting start to the season.
And in Russia, Hamilton appeared to question the wisdom behind the move, when he told Sky Sports F1's Matthew Morlidge how the team "all of a sudden swapped for no apparent reason."
However, the British driver stressed he had "absolutely every bit of confidence and faith" in his new crew.
Red Bull 'Harsh' to Replace Daniil Kvyat with Max Verstappen, Argues Mark Webber
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Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has revealed he was "not surprised" the team chose to swap Daniil Kvyat for Max Verstappen ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
After hitting Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel twice on the opening lap of the Russian GP, Kvyat was recently demoted to Toro Rosso, with whom he made his F1 debut in 2014, little more than a year after arriving at Red Bull.
It has been suggested that the brutal treatment of the 22-year-old was a consequence of Red Bull's determination to promote 18-year-old Verstappen, who since arriving on the grid last season has established himself as one of the most exciting talents in a generation, into a race-winning car.
Webber spent five seasons at the Milton Keynes-based outfit alongside Vettel, the most successful graduate of Red Bull's young-driver program, and frequently clashed with motorsport adviser Dr. Helmut Marko.
And while the Australian believes the move is the latest example of Marko's uncompromising attitude toward young drivers.
Per the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, Webber said:
"Yeah it is harsh. It’s a big business. Things move fast. There’s a bit of [Red Bull] getting ahead of the 2017 market a bit, getting everything ready. It will be a complete non-topic in three months as usual in Formula One. In F1 you have nowhere to hide. It’s up to you every session. You’re measured on your own performance. ...
[Marko] just wants performance. He wants the fastest guys in the best scenario as quick as possible. I’m not surprised.
It’s probably on the cards even before Russia. You could feel there was something brewing. He’s had a year there and they don’t believe that he’s done enough. Normally they wait until the end of the year but that doesn’t happen sometimes, particularly with Red Bull. Bang.
Let’s see if Max can break Red Bull records again. Is Max ready? He’s got no choice. He has to be.
"
Although Kvyat is unlikely to remain with Red Bull beyond this season, Marko has insisted the Russian's return to Toro Rosso should not be interpreted as a "demotion," telling German publication Autobild (h/t Motorsport.com) how he "wanted to take him out of the firing line and help his career instead of harming it."
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Fernando Alonso Claims McLaren-Honda Chassis Is Among the Best on 2016 Grid
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Fernando Alonso believes McLaren-Honda's MP4-31 chassis is one of the best cars on the grid after scoring his first points of the season in the Russian Grand Prix.
After enduring their worst season in 35 years in 2015, the team have made a reasonable start to 2016, with Alonso and Jenson Button securing McLaren's first double-points finish since last year's Hungarian GP at the Sochi Autodrom.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, McLaren will introduce a range of upgrades—including a new floor, wings and bodywork—at this weekend's Spanish GP as part of an "aggressive development push" to return to the front of the grid.
Meanwhile, Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa has told Autosport's Lawrence Barretto how the Japanese manufacturer will spend its engine tokens aggressively, preferring to introduce major upgrades on an infrequent basis rather than making regular, relatively small steps forward.
While Alonso has acknowledged Red Bull remain the standard-setters in terms of chassis design, the two-time world champion suspects the MP4-30—the first McLaren car to be fully designed by Peter Prodromou, the former Red Bull head of aerodynamics—is not far behind.
Per Crash.net's Rob Wilkins, he said:
"We are up there with the top teams. Red Bull has a little bit of an advantage right now but after that there is a group of cars that can include McLaren.
Everyone is working hard. We know the situation, we struggled last year and we had a difficult season, but we learned a lot of things and we are putting those things into the car now.
Finally we are seeing the first progress that we can touch with our hands and I am enjoying my racing. We are definitely going in the right direction and I think good times are coming, quite soon.
"
Meanwhile, Button has reiterated his belief that he is driving better than he did when he claimed his solitary world championship in 2009.
He told F1i.com's Chris Medland: "My fitness is better than when I was 29, I understand a Formula 1 car better than when I was 29 and I’ve had more experiences. So I should be a better driver."
Per the same source, Button hinted he may consider a move away from McLaren to prolong his F1 career in 2017, revealing he doesn't know what his "options are yet" and insisting he wants "to be competitive next year...I’d love to do that here and I hope this team is in that situation."
David Croft, the F1 commentator, recently told Sky Sports that Button could join Williams after "very nearly" returning to the Grove-based outfit for 2016.
Renault to Evaluate Upgraded Power Unit at Barcelona in-Season Test
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Nick Chester, the Renault technical director, has revealed the team plan to run their upgraded engine during the in-season test scheduled to take place following next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
Although Renault made considerable improvements to their powertrain last winter, having struggled since the V6 turbo regulations were introduced at the beginning of 2014, the French manufacturer's unit continues to lack the outright power of the leading Mercedes engine.
After failing to score a point in the opening three races of the campaign, managing director Cyril Abiteboul told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble how Renault had decided to place a greater emphasis on this season having initially decided to treat 2016 as a transition year.
And as well as bringing a range of chassis developments to Spain, Chester has confirmed Renault will debut their B-specification engine, which is not expected to race until June's Canadian GP, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
"For the race we have an updated rear wing as well as some updates for the front wing. For the [post-race] test we have a full raft of things to try; new suspension, further aero updates over various areas of the car, some mods to cooling as well as evaluating the B-spec power unit, so we should have a full two days.
We fared decently in relative terms at pre-season testing there and when you look at the qualities required for a handy car around the circuit there are no initial fears from our side. That’s not to say we wouldn’t welcome some more downforce, but there’s potential as we currently stand.
"
In a separate Motorsport.com article, Noble reported Renault are hoping to prepare two versions of the engine to allow customers Red Bull to also sample the engine during the test.
After the Chinese GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested Renault's update could hold the key to their season, telling Noble the four-time world champions could "cause a bit of mischief" for the front-runners if the engine proved to be a success.
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