Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Testing Times, Max Verstappen, More
The Formula One teams were in action just days after the Austrian Grand Prix in the second in-season test of 2015.
Nico Rosberg and Pascal Wehrlein ensured Mercedes topped the pile on both days, while there were F1 testing debuts for GP3's Antonio Fuoco at Ferrari and reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann at Toro Rosso.
Though Fuoco ended his day early after contact with the wall at Turn 1, both men gave a good account of themselves—which is more than can be said for Honda.
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier saw his team enjoy a relatively successful test, but he has warned that the Japanese manufacturer's power unit issues will start to affect the team's 2016 chances if they are not fixed soon.
Elsewhere, Christian Horner has claimed both he and Red Bull are in F1 to stay, Max Verstappen has shrugged off another bit of criticism and former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh expects the sport to "crash and burn" unless substantial steps are taken to change its current direction.
Read on for a full roundup of the top stories from the last few days.
Second in-Season Test Concludes at the Red Bull Ring
1 of 5
The second of only two in-season tests took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a familiar face ended up on top of the time sheets.
Nico Rosberg followed up his win in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix with the quickest lap of the test, a time of one minute, 9.113 seconds. Ferrari reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez was second and Valtteri Bottas of Williams third.
All three set their laps on the second day of the test, on which the track was quicker. Wednesday's times were:
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:09.113 | 117 |
| 2 | Esteban Gutierrez | Ferrari | 1:09.931 | 110 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:10.029 | 79 |
| 4 | Marco Wittmann | Toro Rosso | 1:10.103 | 158 |
| 5 | Pascal Wehrlein | Force India | 1:10.253 | 132 |
| 6 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus | 1:10.373 | 110 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:10.718 | 104 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:10.757 | 116 |
| 9 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:10.922 | 138 |
Tuesday's testing was delayed by rain, and the session was extended until 8 p.m. local time. Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein set the fastest time of the day, ahead of Lotus youngster Esteban Ocon and Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen.
The full Tuesday times were:
| 1 | Pascal Wehrlein | Mercedes | 1:11.005 | 67 |
| 2 | Esteban Ocon | Lotus | 1:11.192 | 76 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:11.328 | 97 |
| 4 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari | 1:11.331 | 71 |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:11.509 | 45 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 1:11.757 | 80 |
| 7 | Raffaele Marciello | Sauber | 1:11.826 | 53 |
| 8 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:12.530 | 76 |
| 9 | Susie Wolff | Williams | 1:13.248 | 39 |
Manor did not take part in the test.
All times sourced from the official F1 website.
Martin Whitmarsh Fears for the Future of Formula 1
2 of 5
Former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has spoken of his despair at the current state of Formula One and predicts it will get worse before getting better.
Whitmarsh was removed from his role at McLaren in 2014 after overseeing five title-free seasons. In March 2015, he was appointed CEO of Ben Ainslie Racing—the 2017 America's Cup challenging team also boasting renowned F1 designer Adrian Newey.
Speaking to Reuters' Alan Baldwin at the team's official launch, Whitmarsh said:
"I love Formula One and I love McLaren. I was there 25 years. I am saddened by it. I am staying away as much as I can, and try not to comment on it, but I'm saddened by what's happening in the sport.
I think it [F1] will crash and burn before it gets turned around, in my view. It will do eventually but I'm sad to see it go through the process it's going through.
If you look at the cycle...you had the sport as it was 30 years ago, then the tobacco era which was the big growth spurt and the automotive era when we had at one time seven of the nine largest automotive companies.
Then that went away with the economic crisis and it's diversified but in order to diversify it also has to recognise, which it's struggling with, that it has to be doing it at a slightly different level.
And it's also got to be a bit more equitable in terms of distribution. It is an ongoing argument and unfortunately at the moment it's led itself into a very difficult place.
"
Whitmarsh joined McLaren in 1989, became CEO of the racing division in 2004 and played a prominent role in the now-defunct teams' "union" FOTA.
Founded in an attempt to give the teams a strong and united voice in commercial and sporting negotiations with the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone, Motor Sport Magazine's Nigel Roebuck recounts the group fell apart when Red Bull and Ferrari left after being "bought off" with special deals.
Those deals—and the ones subsequently struck by left-out teams like McLaren, Williams and newcomers Mercedes—are at the root of the sport's most significant current problem. The big teams receive more than their fair share, while the smaller outfits don't get enough to survive.
Unless something changes, those small teams will fail and the sport as we know it will indeed "crash and burn."
And it's impossible to predict what kind of F1 will rise from the ashes.
Max Verstappen Dismisses Pastor Maldonado Criticism
3 of 5
Max Verstappen has brushed off his second dose of criticism from an experienced rival in three races after his battle with Pastor Maldonado in Austria.
The Venezuelan was less than impressed with the manner in which Verstappen defended seventh place toward the end of the race in Spielberg. On a number of occasions, Maldonado went to attack around the outside only for Verstappen to run him out of road at the exit.
Eventually the Lotus man got by when his rival made a mistake, but speaking to Autosport after the race, Maldonado suggested Verstappen hadn't driven entirely within the rules, saying:
"He was a bit...let's say not aggressive, but he wasn't really respecting the rules.
You must leave some space for the other car and he was not respecting that.
But when I saw him doing this I said I need to be more careful but more aggressive.
He was a bit on the limit a few times but it's OK.
If the stewards don't say anything then I say OK, they allowed us to race and that's great.
"
When the criticism was put to Verstappen by Autosport, the Dutchman responded, "It's quite funny that Pastor said that. It's the only thing I say about it, it's quite funny. I don't take it too seriously. I'm enjoying myself, trying to defend my position and he [Maldonado] would do exactly the same."
It's difficult to argue with that—there was nothing wrong Verstappen's driving in Austria and he was entitled to the lines he took when defending. Other drivers perform the same sort of move on a regular basis—and the stewards didn't see a problem with it.
Even Maldonado appears to suggest it was "OK" in the second part of his comment—so any sort of lasting bad blood between the pair is unlikely.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Christian Horner Says He and Red Bull Will Stay
4 of 5
Christian Horner has denied his job is under threat—and also rubbished reports that Red Bull may be set to quit F1.
Comments made by the team's owner (and owner of the Red Bull company), Dietrich Mateschitz, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix sparked rumours he could be ready to pull the plug. Speaking to Speedweek (h/t BBC Sport for the English translation), Mateschitz warned, "You can't force someone to stay when he wants to leave."
There was also talk, reported by the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, that Horner's job could be under threat.
But speaking on the Red Bull website, Horner firmly rebutted both rumours. He said:
"The situation is quite clear, Dietrich Mateschitz made some comments over the weekend and it's exactly how he feels.
He is frustrated and he is frustrated with the show. He is a fan as well and as a fan he has put a huge amount of investment into the sport over the last few years and he wants to see the sport go back to its glory days and see it have the same appeal and attraction that Formula One has previously enjoyed.
We're working hard to try and help change things and from a team point of view, we want to be in a position where we can be competitive. At the moment we're in a difficult position and hopefully we can turn that around. The intention is to be here and to sort out the issues in the sport and our own competitiveness.
"
On his own future, Horner added, "Unfortunately in Formula One there are always rumours, and this is total rubbish. I'm fully committed to Red Bull and I love what I do. We're working hard and my focus is trying to get the team back to where we were 18 months ago, that is where my focus is."
Despite his young age, Horner has been around motorsport management for a long time. An aspiring racing driver in his youth, he retired from competitive action in 1999 at the age of 25 and took over the running of Arden, which he had founded with his father two years earlier.
The team dominated F3000 in the series' final years before Horner was recruited to head up the new Red Bull team in 2005. He oversaw their transformation from unfancied "fun team" to serious title chasers, culminating in a four-year spell of dominance between 2010 and 2013.
Red Bull have lost their mojo since the introduction of the V6 turbo hybrid engines. Though Horner's near-constant complaining since then hasn't done him or the team any favours, his record to this point is excellent.
There's no reason to replace him unless he's planning on moving on.
Eric Boullier Warns Honda Problems Could Impact McLaren's 2016 Chances
5 of 5
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has admitted that if his team cannot get to the bottom of their current issues with the Honda engine, it will start to affect their chances in 2016.
The team have spent the 2015 season unsuccessfully playing catch-up after a disastrous winter testing season. The Honda power unit remains down on power and unreliable, costing McLaren valuable mileage at almost every race weekend.
Speaking of the future, Boullier is quoted by Autosport, saying:
"I'm not sure it does impact much on next year yet, but soon—very soon—it will.
This year we have missed a lot of track time, especially in winter testing and in the races as well.
Any laps you miss is obviously a deficit—you create your own deficit.
There is some focus maybe to be shifted—sometimes we have to use track time to work on reliability rather than performance.
We are trying to use every opportunity. I don't have any numbers—we are just behind.
We have much more in the machine to deliver in the coming races—but we have to do it in due time.
"
Fernando Alonso is also becoming more realistic about McLaren's 2016 hopes. He is quoted by La Figaro (h/t grandprix.com), "We want to try to score points and get closer to the podium before the end of the season, because next year we want to fight for the championship. It's probably a bit too optimistic a goal but the level of our dream must be high."
The McLaren-Honda partnership was always more likely to succeed in the long-term than the short—no one could really have expected the Japanese manufacturer to produce a Mercedes-challenging engine in their first year.
But even the most pessimistic observers must wonder how—given the enormous resources at their disposal—they've managed to get it so very wrong.
Road-going Hondas are considered the benchmark for reliability. Indeed, Chris Knapman of the Telegraph reported on data in 2013 suggesting they possess the most reliable engines of any common make.
F1 is a totally different area, but it's still hard to see how two divisions of the same company could have such wildly contrasting fortunes.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
