Formula 1's Latest Rumours, Talk: Red Bull's 2016 Livery, Rio Haryanto and More
Red Bull Racing broke Formula One's long winter silence by unveiling a revised livery at an event in London on Wednesday.
The bolder, striking colour scheme is the sign of a team marking the beginning of a new era and determined to prove that there is indeed life after Sebastian Vettel. But as team principal Christian Horner has warned, that may take some time.
Despite their new look, Red Bull are likely to face the same old problems in 2016 with the team unable to escape their technical partnership with Renault. And Horner believes the four-time world champions are facing a season of two halves as they strive to return to the front of the grid.
With just days remaining until the first of two pre-seasons tests begins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the 2016 grid has been completed after Manor finalised a deal to sign GP2 race winner Rio Haryanto.
Support from the Indonesian government undoubtedly helped Haryanto in his quest to become an F1 driver, and his signing appears to have signalled the end for Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi in the pinnacle of motorsport.
Even with a car powered by the all-conquering Mercedes power unit, Haryanto would do well to replicate the achievements of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. in his rookie season.
The Scuderia Toro Rosso youngsters were among the stars of last season and are expected to become even better in 2016, but Franz Tost has explained why the team must protect Verstappen and Sainz from the dangers of second-season syndrome.
Elsewhere, former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has explained the chain of events that led to Vettel replacing Fernando Alonso at the Prancing Horse at the end of 2014.
The Italian claims that Michael Schumacher urged Ferrari to sign Vettel as long ago as 2009.
And in a week in which a Schumacher shrine was launched in Germany, Sabine Kehm has offered a rare update on the health of the seven-time world champion as he continues his recovery from a 2013 skiing accident.
Red Bull Expecting a 'Season of 2 Halves' in 2016 as New Livery Is Unveiled
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Christian Horner, the Red Bull Racing team principal, has admitted the four-time world champions are likely to make a slow start to the 2016 campaign, but he insists they should not be underestimated.
Having won four consecutive world championships with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013, Red Bull have often struggled since the V6 turbo regulations were introduced two years ago and failed to win a race for the first time in seven years in 2015.
Their unhappiness with engine suppliers Renault saw the team attempt to join forces with Mercedes and Ferrari for 2016, but the rival manufacturers' reluctance left Red Bull with no option but to continue with Renault power units—albeit under the name of TAG Heuer—this season.
Last December, chief technical officer Adrian Newey told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble that he is expecting "an extremely difficult year" for Red Bull in 2016, although team manager Jonathan Wheatley told GPUpdate.net how they were encouraged by the "very positive" gains made by Renault during the off-season.
Speaking at the launch of the team's new-for-2016 livery in London, Horner admitted that while Red Bull will begin the season with modest expectations, they are set to become increasingly competitive as the year progresses.
In a separate Motorsport.com article, he said:
"Most people had written Red Bull off for this year, but we're fighters and we're focused on getting ourselves into a competitive position.
It would be foolhardy to write off a team with the calibre of people Red Bull has. ...
We are hoping we will be in Q3 in Australia. That will be a starting point that we are then building from there.
It feels like a new era for the team, with a sharp new livery that's distinctive and is going to stand out on track.
It's going to be a season of evolution for us. It's probably going to be a season of two halves, the first half is going to be less competitive than the second, but we're expecting to make significant progress during the year.
"
Meanwhile, lead driver Daniel Ricciardo told Sky Sports' William Esler that this year is "a big one" for both himself and Red Bull, admitting they "don't really want to muck around and be running fourth or fifth place in the constructors' (championship) for too much longer."
Rio Haryanto Replaces Will Stevens at Manor to Complete 2016 F1 Grid
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Rio Haryanto will partner Pascal Wehrlein at Manor Racing in the 2016 Formula One season, the team have confirmed.
The 23-year-old had been widely regarded as the favourite to join Manor after being granted £10 million by the Indonesian government to aid his pursuit of a full-time F1 seat, as reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble.
Despite that financial boost, however, Haryanto still found himself "approximately 25 per cent" short of the demands set by Manor, according to F1i.com's Philllip van Osten, raising doubts over his F1 prospects.
But Haryanto, who won three races in the GP2 feeder series last season and represented Manor in a test session following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, appears to have finally resolved those issues, with his signing confirmed by the team on Thursday.
Ahead of his F1 debut at the Australian GP next month, Haryanto told Manor's official Facebook page:
"Manor Racing is a team with an exciting vision and ambitious plans. They have produced a great package and I can’t wait to get in the car. Melbourne will be a huge moment for me, my country, supporters and fans and I want to thank everyone who’s been with me since I started in single seaters; 2016 is my chance to reward that faith and represent Asia in F1.
"
Per the same source, team owner Stephen Fitzpatrick referred to his new signing as "tenacious on and off the track," claiming "Rio’s huge following in Indonesia is great for the team and for F1."
With the team running the all-conquering Mercedes engine in 2016, as well as components supplied by Williams, the last remaining seat on the grid had been highly coveted, with three drivers in contention at one stage.
Despite telling Motorsport.com's Pablo Elizalde that he was "100 per cent confident" of retaining his seat for 2016, Will Stevens—who competed in every race for Manor last season—is now likely to "try racing elsewhere, perhaps in America, before seeking again to make it in Formula One," per the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson.
Alexander Rossi, who participated in five grands prix for the team in 2015, recently told Sky Sports News HQ's William Esler how his chances of pipping Haryanto to a full-time Manor seat were "looking positive."
With the 2016 grid now completed, and with Gene Haas telling Sports Business Daily's HJ Mai that his team are likely to share a reserve driver with Ferrari this season, the American's next move is unclear.
Toro Rosso Warn Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr. to Drive Responsibly in 2016
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Team principal Franz Tost believes Scuderia Toro Rosso must encourage Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. to drive with discipline in the 2016 season.
Both drivers established themselves as potential world champions in 2015, claiming a number of surprise results—both in qualifying and racing conditions—and producing several impressive performances along the way.
As such, much is expected of Verstappen (18) and Sainz (21) ahead of their second season in Formula One, but Tost is aware that these pressures could prove to be counterproductive.
The Austrian fears the confidence gained by both drivers may lead them to perform with more flamboyancy than necessary in 2016 and therefore leave themselves vulnerable to more on-track incidents.
And he believes Toro Rosso can play a major role in protecting Verstappen and Sainz from second-season syndrome, per Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble:
"The second year could become more difficult if the drivers are not disciplined enough.
That means if they think [they have] to come now for their second year and show people their real potential, then they will have difficulties because they will have crashes.
Both drivers showed already last year a very high level and they cannot drive much faster. But what they can do, because of their experience, is to get more out of the car during qualifying and also in special conditions during the race.
That does not directly come from driving the car at the limit because they were already at the limit. ...
It is in our hands to support the drivers, and tell the drivers to be careful in the beginning.
They must not over drive the car, especially in testing, and they need to do as many miles as possible to get familiar with the car, its technical aspects and to build up confidence.
"
Per the same source, Tost insisted that Sainz remains "underestimated" despite doing "a very good job" alongside teenager Verstappen, whom he believes has "all the ingredients you need to win races and at the end also the championship."
Meanwhile, Tost told Noble in a separate Motorsport.com article that Toro Rosso will run an interim livery at next week's first pre-season test after facing a race against time to prepare their new STR11 car.
At Red Bull's livery launch, Christian Horner revealed Toro Rosso's switch from Renault to 2015-specification Ferrari engines will be worth as much as 0.8 seconds, per F1i.com's Julien Billiotte.
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Fernando Alonso Had a 'Demotivating' Effect on Ferrari, Claims Di Montezemolo
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Luca di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari president, has revealed how Sebastian Vettel came to replace Fernando Alonso at the end of the 2014, claiming the latter had a "very demotivating" effect on the team prior to his departure.
The Spaniard won 11 races in Ferrari colours between 2010 and 2014, but he never claimed a third world championship in his five seasons at the Maranello-based outfit—finishing runner-up to Vettel, then of Red Bull, on three separate occasions.
Alonso negotiated his release from his contract ahead of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, with Vettel moving quickly to claim the vacancy and leaving the Spaniard with no option but to join McLaren-Honda for 2015.
As Alonso was restricted to just two points finishes last season, Vettel established himself as Ferrari's new hero by claiming three victories in Malaysia, Hungary and Singapore, where he dominated from pole position.
Despite leaving the team in September 2014, Di Montezmolo played an integral role in one of the most dramatic transfer sagas in modern F1, and he has admitted both Alonso and Ferrari—after several near-misses—felt the need for change in late 2014.
Di Montezmolo told Motor Sport Magazine's Mark Hughes:
"I had the feeling that Fernando had got it into his mind that he could never win with Ferrari, and that if he was in a Mercedes he could win with one hand and this was very demotivating for everyone.
Let me be clear: I believe Alonso is probably the best driver in the world even today—certainly on a Sunday. Maybe not in qualifying, where I think [Lewis] Hamilton and Vettel are maybe faster over one lap, but in the race he is unbelievable—a machine.
But we needed motivation and it made me think what we needed for the future.
"
Last year, Vettel told Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Autosport) how he discussed an eventual move to Ferrari with former team principal Stefano Domenicali as long ago as 2008, when he was participating in his first full season with Scuderia Toro Rosso.
And Di Montezemolo has revealed Vettel made an instant impression when he finally spoke face-to-face with the German in late 2013, telling Hughes:
"Domenicali brought him to my house—and he brought with him as a present some Swiss chocolates. He was very intelligent, very positive and I was convinced he had what we needed as a team. He said Ferrari is my dream, I have a contract but I have options. So I said listen if we can do it, let's try.
"
Per the same source, Di Montezemolo explained that Michael Schumacher, Vettel's boyhood inspiration and the driver to whom he is most often compared, was among the first to encourage Ferrari to sign the former Red Bull driver.
When Di Montezemolo "was trying to convince" Schumacher to race for Ferrari following Felipe Massa's season-ending crash in 2009, the seven-time world champion told him: "The guy you need for the future is Vettel."
Sabine Kehm Hopes Michael Schumacher 'Will One Day Be Back with Us'
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Sabine Kehm, the manager of Michael Schumacher, remains hopeful that the seven-time world champion will make a full recovery from the severe head injuries he suffered in a skiing accident in 2013.
It has been more than two years since Schumacher fell while skiing in an off-piste section at the French resort of Meribel.
Since leaving hospital in September 2014 to continue his recovery at his home in Switzerland, updates surrounding the German's condition have been rare, with the family understandably eager to maintain Schumacher's privacy.
Luca di Montezemolo, a former colleague of Schumacher's at Ferrari, recently caused alarm by telling reporters, "I have news and unfortunately it is not good," when discussing the German's health, per the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson.
But Kehm, speaking at the launch of a Schumacher exhibition in Marburg, Germany—where his wife Corinna and children Mick and Gina Marie were in attendance—has suggested the 47-year-old continues to face a long road to recovery.
According to BBC Sport, she said:
"He is the most successful driver in history and sometimes, on days like this, it is good to be reminded of it.
Of course, Michael is not here and of course we miss him. We know what has happened and cannot change it.
We must accept it and hope with everything we have that, with continued support and patience, he will one day be back with us.
"
Meanwhile, Schumacher's former manager Willi Weber recently urged Kehm to provide an "an honest message about his condition," claiming it would "help the people with whom Michael worked all these years better cope with the situation," per German publication Gala (h/t F1i.com).
Weber had previously told German newspaper Bild (h/t MailOnline) that he had been prevented from visiting Schumacher since the accident.
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