Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: 'Brake Test' Claims, McLaren, More

Lotus have moved swiftly to deny Max Verstappen's claims that he was brake tested by Romain Grosjean at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Dutchman ran into the back of Grosjean's Lotus on Lap 63 before spearing into the barriers at St. Devote. Blame for the incident, which brought out the safety car and changed the complexion of the entire race, was placed squarely on Verstappen's shoulders by the stewards.

Formula One's youngest ever driver clearly feels differently.

Neither man scored a point, but two teams that look set to join the battle for fifth in the constructors' championship did.

McLaren scored their first points of the year as Jenson Button crossed the line in eighth, while seventh-placed Sergio Perez achieved Force India's best result of the season to date. Both their teams expect to make significant steps forward before the summer break; though deprived of a real battle for the teams' title, we'll at least get a close and competitive tussle for fifth.

Elsewhere, Daniel Ricciardo expects the changes coming in 2017 to benefit the better drivers, Maria de Villota's family are considering legal action over the accident that led to her death and Jacques Villeneuve has expressed a strong viewpoint about using fans' opinions to shape the sport's future.

Read on for a full roundup of the top stories from the last few days.

Lotus Refute Max Verstappen 'Brake Test' Claims

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Lotus have refuted Max Verstappen's claims that Romain Grosjean brake tested him at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Dutchman ran into the back of Grosjean at the start of Lap 63 as he attempted an overtaking move into the first corner. A stewards' investigation found the Toro Rosso man at fault; he was given a grid-drop penalty for the next race and two points on his super licence.

However, Verstappen later took to Instagram and accused Grosjean of "brake testing" him, writing:

"

Was an eventful race last week. Showed good pace during the race with some overtaking in Monaco! After an unlucky pitstop I was charging through the field before I got brake tested and had a hard crash into turn1!

Anyway those things happen and will make me stronger! Next time we will get those points we deserved... Even though we have a penalty. I know what to do for the upcoming races...

"

Responding to this very serious accusation, Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane revealed on Twitter that Grosjean had braked five metres later on the lap of the crash than he had the previous time around.

A second tweet clarified he had not lifted off the throttle early either.

Brake testing is deliberately braking either early or at an unnecessary location in order to cause "problems" for the chasing driver. Such manoeuvres are not accepted in F1 and any driver caught doing it would face a heavy penalty.

Given the speeds involved and the incredible stopping power of an F1 car, he'd also be extremely likely to have a massive crash, especially if he did it at Monaco. Grosjean was very lucky to stay out of the wall—the force of impact would usually have been enough to park him next to Verstappen.

One has to believe no professional driver would risk his own life, that of a rival and those of marshals and spectators to defend any position—even if it was the lead. That Grosjean would risk a massive incident into St. Devote for the sake of 10th is simply unthinkable.

So it's hugely disappointing for Verstappen to accuse the Frenchman of such a move. Hopefully an apology will be winging its way from Faenza to Enstone as we speak.

Maria de Villota's Family May Seek Compensation over Fatal Crash

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The family of Maria de Villota, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a collision with a truck following a straight-line test for Marussia, have indicated they will seek compensation.

The comments came after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded its investigation and decided, per the BBC, that "no enforcement action" would be taken against the team, now known as Manor.

A HSE spokesman revealed "all reasonable lines of enquiry" had been investigated, adding that it was "not appropriate to disclose" whether driver error was to blame.

Following the reporting of the decision, the De Villota family said in a statement (h/t BBC):

"

To date, we are still waiting to see the contents of the report, and therefore the findings of the investigation, which are crucial to learn from.

As soon as we have seen the report we will analyse this in order to evaluate the next legal steps to claim the corresponding civil compensation from those responsible, in order—as Maria herself always wanted—to ensure that accidents of this type never happen again.

"

The incident took place in July 2012. De Villota had signed with the team in the March of the same year, and was driving the MR01 for the first time when the crash occurred. Eyewitness Chris Mann of BBC Cambridge recalls the car "slowed for it to be reversed into the pits, but at the last second it suddenly accelerated again."

He estimated the car was travelling at 30 to 40 miles per hour when it struck the rear of a support truck parked nearby. Though De Villota initially survived despite severe head injuries, she died in October 2013.

The cause of the accident remains unclear, but the Daily Mail's Simon Cass reports a Marussia investigation found the car itself had no faults and was not responsible for the accident.

Jacques Villeneuve Feels Fans Send Formula 1 in the Wrong Direction

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Jacques Villeneuve has criticised the recent efforts to ask fans what they think about the future of Formula One.

The 1997 world champion told Autosport:

"

It is dangerous to ask the fans what they want, because a lot of modern F1 is what the fans wanted. Obviously it doesn't work. It is knowing what is required which is very intricate. You can't just come up with something in five seconds.

We have a tonne more overtaking than we have ever had, but people are more bored than they ever were.

What we are missing is a special Formula One. Formula One should stop trying to get more fans and concentrate on the fans it already has.

"

Villeneuve was perhaps too busy driving to realise quite how mind-numbingly dull the sport could be in the 2000s; boredom levels in that era were far higher than they are today.

He should also realise that any sport, regardless of how exciting it is, loses fans over time and needs to find new ones to replace them.

But Villeneuve has a point—to a degree—regarding asking fans and making changes based on what they want.

While fans should absolutely be consulted and have their views at least taken into account, only a small number of people inside the sport fully understand the implications of each potential tweak; if the rules and regulations were decided by public referendum, F1 would be a joke.

Much like a country, it cannot be governed entirely by the will of the people.

But then, no one is suggesting that happens. The recent GPDA poll isn't binding; it wasn't published to determine the sport's future, only to get a broad and fairly shallow picture of what different groups of fans want to be watching.

Surely there's no harm or danger in that?

Daniel Ricciardo Expects Future Changes to Help Top Drivers Shine

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Daniel Ricciardo expects the changes being made to F1 in the near future will allow the very best drivers to open up more of a gap over their more average rivals.

One of the most significant changes will see the rear tyres widened by 60 millimetres to 420 millimetres. The increased mechanical grip from a larger contact patch will allow the cars to take corners quicker and add to the physical challenge faced by the drivers.

Speaking of the changes, Ricciardo is quoted by Autosport's Lawrence Barretto saying:

"

Mentally your concentration has to be more in tune so I think you'll see a bigger separation between the top drivers and, let's say, the others. It'll be more rewarding, I think, for the guys who think they can really do it.

Mechanical grip's the big one. It's the best way to go because you could still follow close enough through the high-speed stuff. If it makes the lap times quicker, everything's going to come at you so much quicker.

I think there's a lot of mechanical grip to be found, there's a pretty big chunk. So I think we could gain seconds just through that, and without bolting any more aero on. I think there's quite a bit of room up our sleeves.

"

If Ricciardo is right and they do become more difficult and physical to drive, it'll be a most welcome change.

While an average road car driver would struggle to get around a few corners in a modern F1 car, any skilled professional appears able to drive them close to the limit even with no prior experience.

Nick Yelloly drove for Force India in the recent Barcelona test after making his GP2 debut only days before. He managed a best time of one minute, 27.396 seconds—quicker than either Force India driver managed in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix—and later revealed (h/t GP Update):

"

It was easier than expected. The runs I've done in the simulator have helped quite a lot with my performance and in terms of getting on top of the car really early on.

The biggest change for me was the power steering, just how easy it is compared to the GP2 car physically. I thought it would be harder but I actually find it quite easy, so that was nice.

"

With respect to Yelloly's talent, Formula One shouldn't be like that. The cars should be a handful, requiring experience in the cockpit and high levels of skill to get anything like a decent lap time out of them.

Villeneuve was right about that, at least.

McLaren and Force India Planning Major Upgrades Soon

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Struggling McLaren and late-developing Force India are targeting significant improvements to their competitiveness before the summer break.

McLaren expect to see a boost in just two races' time. Speaking to Spanish newspaper Marca (h/t grandprix.com), racing director Eric Boullier revealed, "There are many new features coming as we continue to move forward. In Austria there will be an improvement that should take us to the next level."

The report added Honda were aiming to use most of their nine upgrade tokens before the Hungarian Grand Prix—the 10th round of the championship.

Force India, meanwhile, are aiming to have a heavily modified version of the VJM08 ready for their "home race" at Silverstone. In an interview with the official F1 website, team principal Vijay Mallya described his team's pre-season difficulties and said:

"

That is why we couldn't start the season with a bang as we'd have liked to, but the good news is that about midway through the season—certainly before Silverstone—we will come up with our real 2015 challenger and hope to be quite competitive.

Checo [Perez] did really well last weekend in Monaco with our old car, so when the new package arrives between Austria and Silverstone I am pretty sure that we will see continuous points finishes at the subsequent races.

"

The two teams were evenly matched in 2014 and spent the year battling over fifth and sixth in the championship.

Should both upgrade packages work as planned, they could be set to do the same again this year—with Toro Rosso and Lotus also in the mix.

Mercedes look to have the constructors' title sewn up already, but the fight around the middle of the standings looks like being a far more interesting and competitive affair.