Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and More
Lewis Hamilton has had it easy for much of the 2015 Formula One season, winning nine races and claiming 11 pole positions in the first 15 races.
Most drivers would relish a clean, relatively trouble-free route to glory, but Hamilton is eager to be subjected to a sterner test in 2016.
The Mercedes driver has spoken of his admiration for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, who have formed a formidable partnership across this year, and wants to race against the four-time world champion on a regular basis next season.
As one graduate of McLaren's young-driver program prepares to seal his third world championship at this weekend's United States Grand Prix, another is wondering where to go from here.
Kevin Magnussen's long-awaited departure from the Woking-based team has finally been confirmed, allowing the Dane—the only McLaren driver to stand on a podium since Hamilton's departure at the end of 2012—to pursue alternative opportunities.
Chairman Ron Dennis has paid tribute to the youngster, but his kind words will do little to disguise his shoddy treatment of Magnussen, who discovered his fate in the worst-possible fashion.
One destination for Magnussen could be Lotus, who are on the lookout for a replacement for Romain Grosjean following the news of the Frenchman's switch to Haas for 2016.
Several drivers are in contention for a seat alongside Pastor Maldonado, and Lotus' deputy team principal has revealed—in timely fashion, you might say, now that Magnussen is on the market—that the team have identified their preferred candidate.
Williams, meanwhile, have expressed their disappointment over the changes to the 2016 calendar, claiming the revised date for the Australian GP will wreck their pre-season preparations.
Closing this week's roundup is Nigel Mansell, a Williams legend, who has explained what really happened when he went head-to-head—both on and off the track—with three-time world champion Ayrton Senna in the 1987 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Lewis Hamilton Eager to Go Head-to-Head with Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel
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Lewis Hamilton is relishing the prospect of engaging in direct combat with Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in the 2016 season.
Since the V6 turbo regulations were introduced at the beginning of last year, Mercedes have dominated F1, winning 28 of the last 34 races and claiming two consecutive constructors' championships.
The Silver Arrows' success can be capped at this weekend's United States Grand Prix, where Hamilton can secure his second successive drivers' title and his third in total.
But the British driver, it seems, is getting bored of winning all the time.
For much of this season, Vettel has been the closest challenger to Mercedes, claiming three victories, eight further podium finishes and one pole position, having broken the German manufacturer's 23-race pole streak at September's Singapore GP.
With 224 race wins, 15 drivers' and 16 constructors' crowns, Ferrari are the most successful team in the sport's history, and Vettel, as a four-time world champion, is the most decorated driver on the current grid.
And Hamilton—while acknowledging that team-mate Nico Rosberg, by definition, will again challenge for the title—hopes Vettel and Ferrari will be in a position to fight Mercedes on a weekly basis next season, claiming the extra competition will revitalise F1.
Asked if Vettel could emerge as his chief rival, he told Autosport's Ian Parkes:
"Sebastian is always going to be one of the strongest opponents, but it depends how you look at it.
As a driver from another team he's definitely going to be the strongest opponent, but Nico will come strong next year.
But of course I hope we do have a race with the Ferraris, I think it would be good for the sport.
Hopefully it will be with us being in front, but still a good race.
"
Hamilton has become the second Mercedes driver to encourage Ferrari to catch up after Rosberg, speaking in the FIA press conference following the season-opening Australian GP, said, "It would be good if they can come a bit closer."
With four races of 2015 remaining, however, Rosberg finds himself third in the drivers' standings behind Hamilton and Vettel.
Be careful what you wish for, Lewis...
McLaren-Honda's Ron Dennis Bids Farewell to Kevin Magnussen
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McLaren-Honda have paid tribute to Kevin Magnussen after the team decided to release the Danish youngster from his contract.
After winning the Formula Renault 3.5 championship in 2013, Magnussen was promoted to race alongside Jenson Button for 2014, claiming the team's first podium finish in almost 18 months in his debut grand prix.
As the team regressed into the midfield, however, he was unable to sustain that form as the season progressed and was dropped in favour of Fernando Alonso, who rejoined McLaren from Ferrari, for 2015.
The timing of Alonso's arrival forced Magnussen to settle for a reserve-driver role this season, although he had showcased a desire to return to racing in 2016, telling Autosport's Ben Anderson there was "no way in hell" he would contemplate another year without full-time racing.
Button's recent contract extension, however, coupled with Alonso's desire to see out his three-year contract with the team, has left Magnussen unable to force his way back into contention at McLaren.
And after terminating the 23-year-old's contract, McLaren chairman Ron Dennis—in true if-you-love-someone-let-them-go style—has thanked Magnussen for his contribution to the lost cause, telling the team's official website:
"Kevin has always done a very impressive and professional job for McLaren in the five years since he joined our Young Driver Programme in 2010. ...
He is extremely keen to return to racing next year, and, in keeping with our tradition with our young drivers, we will not stand in the way of his ability to fulfil his ambition and potential.
He is a very talented racing driver, and he deserves to have a Formula 1 career, as Jenson has publicly said.
Evidently, we have no space for him at McLaren-Honda as a race driver next year, but there is no shame in being edged out by two World Champions, Fernando and Jenson. We wish Kevin well, and we will do all we can to help him successfully embark on the next chapter of his racing career.
"
Dennis' comments come after Magnussen told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble that he learned of his sacking through an email from Ron's personal assistant, Justine Bowen, on his birthday.
Smooth.
Lotus Close to Signing Romain Grosjean Replacement
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Federico Gastaldi, the Lotus deputy team principal, has revealed the team is close to signing a replacement for the outgoing Romain Grosjean.
Grosjean's recently announced departure to the new Haas team, ending his long association with Team Enstone, has forced Lotus to find a new partner for Pastor Maldonado for next season.
The timing of the Frenchman's exit, in a relatively stable driver market, had appeared to leave the team short on options for next season, with no truly outstanding candidate available.
Current reserve driver Jolyon Palmer—who has replaced Grosjean in several practice sessions throughout 2015—McLaren juniors Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne and former Scuderia Toro Rosso racer Jean-Eric Vergne had all been thought to be in contention.
But Gastaldi has claimed the team, still awaiting conformation of Renault's proposed takeover, have identified the chosen one, suggesting an announcement will be made shortly.
He told Autosport's Glenn Freeman:
"We won't be disclosing it before we announce it, but certainly we have been speaking to drivers and we have a pretty good idea who we will have in the car.
The remorseless passing of time means that you always get closer to something in the future, so yes, we are closer to making an announcement.
I would say something will come sooner rather than later.
"
Maldonado, whose contract extension was confirmed in September, has offered his views on Lotus' driver search, telling Autosport's Lawrence Barretto he would prefer a driver "who will help push the team hard to reach a good level quickly" and would "definitely" advocate the signing of "someone with experience."
On his own deal, the Venezuelan told the same source he remained at Lotus after deciding "it's not the time to go to America yet," suggesting he will explore opportunities in IndyCar when his F1 career comes to an end.
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Williams Frustrated by 2016 F1 Calendar Changes
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When the FIA released its revised schedule for the 2016 season at the end September, many F1 enthusiasts would have rejoiced.
The season-opening Australian Grand Prix had initially been set to take place on April 3, but had moved forward a fortnight to March 20. This, in turn, meant pre-season testing had to begin earlier, with the first test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya moving up to February 22.
Although the updated schedule brought with it some frustrations—the new Azerbaijan Grand Prix, for instance, clashed with the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar event—these developments were, for all intents and purposes, a good thing.
The winter break would be shorter and F1 would return to our screens when it should, not at the start of spring.
For the competitors, however, it was the news they dreaded.
Having constructed their plans around an April start, the teams have been left with no option but to reorganise their preparations, which, according to Williams' Rob Smedley, will cost them time and money.
Offering a reminder that F1 is, indeed, a 52-week effort and not a 19-race parade, Smedley has revealed just how much the changes to the calendar will affect the teams, telling Autosport's Lawrence Barretto:
"It has an impact, there's no doubt about that.
But we have rejigged all the plans now, we have sat down and looked at an operational plan to get us from this point to the first day of the first test.
That plan was already done and under way and we've had to redo that. It's just going to be more costly for us.
It won't make a difference to when everyone sees the new car or in what state the new car runs or how it runs in the first test or how it runs in Australia—those plans won't change. ...
It'll just be more costly to us and all the other teams because you have to rejig your manufacturing plans because you don't want to change your design plans.
"
Smedley added that, as a result, the teams will have fewer parts than usual at the first test, presumably placing an even larger emphasis on the second and final test.
Nigel Mansell Recalls Spa '87 Scuffle with Ayrton Senna
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Nigel Mansell has revealed his side of the story regarding one of the most infamous driver scuffles in Formula One history.
In the 1987 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, Mansell lost the lead to Ayrton Senna at the first corner and tracked the then-Lotus driver around much of the opening lap, launching an ambitious overtake around the outside of the Fagnes turn.
With both drivers unwilling to compromise, they met in the middle and made contact, spinning off the circuit and eventually retiring.
That, however, was just the beginning of it, and Mansell has described what happened when he climbed out of his terminally damaged Williams, telling Sky Sports:
"You can't control, really, when you see the red mist because everyone has got a chip inside them called "self-preservation."
When you're on the edge and you know you've almost just lost your life—or you could have just lost your life—because someone's been completely brainless, which is a polite way of (saying) it, and basically putting somebody in a situation where you either back out or you're both going to get killed.
And we had a situation like that and, regardless of how I felt, I got back to the pits and I had a red mist.
I'd never experienced it in my life, actually—I was just, sort of, red, like there's no tomorrow.
And obviously I was then like a great, big bull in a ring and anything I saw was red and I thought, '"Well, I'm going to go and see my friend Ayrton!'
And we had a very good communication, it was interesting! It was very lively, very lively!
And to my amusement—I have to say because I had four people holding me down and then he stood in front of me and he hit me quite a few times—I didn't feel a thing, it was lovely!
I was just sitting there, 'Well, hit me then!' I didn't feel a thing, you know, it's fine!
"
Mansell added that today's drivers could learn much from his altercation with Senna, claiming the FIA race stewards intervene too often and drivers should be encouraged to resolve their differences, telling the same source:
"But the fantastic thing (was) the FIA didn't do anything, no one did anything because there were two, big guys going for a world championship, you know? And we were threatening one another's lives on the track like there was no tomorrow.
And they thought, 'Well you know what, let the drivers sort it out.' And sometimes the drivers need to sort it out, you can't let the officials sort it out for them all the time.
"
They don't make 'em like they used to, eh?
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