Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and More
Nico Rosberg's impressive start to the 2016 Formula One season continued in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit, where the German claimed his second victory of the year and fifth in succession stretching back to the previous campaign.
But despite establishing an early lead in the drivers' standings, Rosberg is refusing to think too far ahead, warning his Mercedes team must remain mindful of the threat posed by Ferrari.
Much like the season-opening race in Australia, Ferrari made Mercedes' job much easier in Bahrain, as Sebastian Vettel suffered an engine failure before the grand prix had even started and Kimi Raikkonen made a substandard getaway from the line.
The 2007 world champion's poor start, however, allowed the Finn to embark upon a heroic recovery drive, and Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has explained why Raikkonen's surge to second place offered a reminder of his qualities.
Stoffel Vandoorne, meanwhile, presented an early indication of his potential to McLaren-Honda in Bahrain, where he deputised for the injured Fernando Alonso.
The reigning GP2 champion became the latest in a long line of drivers to score a point on his grand prix debut, and the Belgian has revealed his satisfaction after maximising what was expected to be a one-off opportunity.
Also making the most of their opportunities are the brand-new Haas team, who claimed a solid points finish for the second straight race.
Romain Grosjean's fifth-place finish means the American outfit currently sit fifth in the constructors' championship, and while team principal Guenther Steiner doubts whether they can hold on to that position, he has set Haas a challenge for the remainder of 2016.
Closing this week's roundup is Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has expressed his frustration with F1's handling of the widely unpopular qualifying format.
Nico Rosberg Warns Mercedes Are Yet to See 'The Real Ferrari' After Bahrain Win
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Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes must remain wary of Ferrari despite claiming his second win of the 2016 season in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
After claiming the lead at the first corner, the German dominated proceedings at the Sakhir circuit to extend his career-best run of consecutive victories to five, which began at last November's Mexican GP.
Following their strategic error at the Australian GP, Ferrari missed another potential opportunity to win in Bahrain, where Sebastian Vettel suffered an engine failure on the formation lap and Kimi Raikkonen made a poor start from fourth on the grid.
However, the 2007 world champion recovered strongly to finish just 10 seconds behind the race winner, and Rosberg has warned Mercedes to avoid complacency in their championship battle with Ferrari.
Per Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, he said:
"I was in control. We were just managing the race, trying to reduce risks, strategy wise, pitstop wise, and bring the race home.
But at same time, Kimi showed good pace in the race. We know that Ferrari are super close, and we need to keep pushing.
They haven't shown what they are able to do yet, that is clear. They have had so many mishaps which has cost them dearly, so we haven't seen the real Ferrari yet. We need to be careful, they are coming at us strong.
"
For the second race in succession, Lewis Hamilton failed to capitalise on pole position, and after colliding with Williams' Valtteri Bottas at the first corner, he could only recover to third by the chequered flag.
But despite establishing a 17-point advantage over his Mercedes team-mate after the first two races of 2016, Rosberg has insisted he is "not rejoicing" in Hamilton's "issues," telling Sky Sports' William Esler the three-time world champion "is going to come back."
Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene Praises Kimi Raikkonen's Bahrain GP Performance
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Maurizio Arrivabene has expressed his delight with Kimi Raikkonen's second-place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix, claiming his performance was reminiscent of the 2007 world champion at his peak.
After retiring from the opening round in Australia, Raikkonen suffered more misfortune at the start of the Sakhir event, losing several positions on the run toward Turn 1.
Despite his poor getaway, the Finn recovered impressively, passing Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas around the outside and finishing just 10 seconds behind Nico Rosberg at the chequered flag in what was arguably his most polished performance since returning to Ferrari at the beginning of 2014.
And Arrivabene feels Raikkonen may have won had it not been for his poor start. Per Autosport's Lawrence Barretto, he said:
"Kimi had a bit of a problem at the start [and] that penalised him quite a lot because he overtook three cars in front of him.
Maybe—and I underline maybe—he compromised the victory of the race.
If you count, it's easy. I'm not inventing anything.
I thought the way that Kimi drove during the race was spectacular.
If you look at the overtake on the outside part of the kerb with Ricciardo, it reminded me of drivers in old times when they were battling and brave so for me it was very good.
"
As reported by Motorsport.com's Pablo Elizalde, Arrivabene suggested Raikkonen's poor start was caused by the driver's finger slipping from the clutch paddle but reiterated that "what he did afterwards was unbelievable."
Despite Raikkonen's strong performance, Ferrari suffered a retirement for the second race in succession after Sebastian Vettel's engine expired on the formation lap, with Arrivabene telling Barretto that a broken "valve or a piece of the injector" was to blame for the failure.
Vettel's retirement, on a day Rosberg claimed a second consecutive win, means the German is already 35 points adrift of the championship lead after two races, but the four-time world champion has insisted he is not concerned by Ferrari's reliability record, per Elizalde in a separate Motorsport.com article.
Stoffel Vandoorne 'Quite Satisfied' After Strong F1 Debut in Bahrain
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Stoffel Vandoorne has declared himself "quite satisfied" with his grand prix debut after claiming a 10th-place finish for McLaren-Honda in Bahrain.
Fernando Alonso's failure to recover from injuries suffered in his Australian Grand Prix crash meant Vandoorne, the team's reserve driver, was chosen to deputise for the two-time world champion at Sakhir.
Despite never driving the MP4-31 car until the Bahrain GP weekend, the 2015 GP2 champion made an assured start to his F1 career, outqualifying team-mate Jenson Button on Saturday before registering McLaren's first point-scoring finish since last November's United States GP.
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier told the team's official website how Vandoorne had enjoyed a "very fine weekend," referring to the Belgian's performance in a chaotic race as "flawlessly mature."
The 24-year-old has almost certainly enhanced his prospects of earning a full-time drive with the team in 2017, and Vandoorne has described his pride after maximising an unexpected opportunity, telling the same source:
"This result was more or less what I expected—I maximised the opportunity and I’m quite satisfied.
The start was a little bit difficult. There was debris left and right—it was pretty hectic in fact—and there was a lot of fighting throughout that opening lap.
Since the beginning of the weekend, I’ve felt very confident in the car, and pretty comfortable that I could do a good job. I’m pleased that I didn’t make any mistakes operationally—I was really focusing on that side of things—and I came away with a point, which was a nice bonus.
This weekend was a big opportunity for me: I made the most of it, I showed what I’m capable of, and now I just need to wait and see what happens next. That’s not for me to decide—so let’s see what the future brings.
"
While Vandoorne—who may yet remain in the car for the next round in China, should Alonso not make a full recovery—made the most of his opportunity, Button was left to rue a missed one after suffering an engine problem after seven laps.
The 2009 world champion told the team's official website how McLaren "made some real progress with the car" in Bahrain and had expected to "have had a good fight" with the drivers who ultimately finished fifth and sixth, suggesting a first double-points finish since Hungary 2015 was possible.
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Haas Aiming for Points in Every Race After Romain Grosjean's Bahrain Exploits
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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes the American outfit are capable of scoring points in each of the remaining 19 races of the 2016 season after Romain Grosjean's fifth-place finish in the Bahrain GP.
A fortnight after Haas became the first brand-new team in 14 years to score points on debut with sixth place in Australia, Grosjean produced another aggressive performance in Sakhir from ninth on the grid to add a further 10 points to his team's tally.
Although Esteban Gutierrez retired for a second race in succession, Haas currently sit fifth in the constructors' standings, just two points behind fourth-place Williams and with more points than Force India, Toro Rosso, McLaren-Honda, Renault, Sauber and Manor combined.
Despite his team's strong start the season, Steiner feels it is fanciful to think the newcomers will be capable of retaining fifth in the championship, but he has challenged Haas to claim points in every race in 2016.
Per F1i.com's Julien Billiotte, he said:
"Fifth is a little too much to ask for but I think we want to try now to get points at every race, that’s the objective. Whether we reach it or not, I don’t know. But for sure, we know the car well enough what it can do given the pace over two races.
I think it is possible to make points. We’ve only had one car finishing the race so far, so if you have two the chances are doubled. We want to try to get points every time. But always targeting fifth would be getting a little bit greedy and we don’t want to be that.
"
Per the same source, Steiner added that Haas—whose development program "will be in the same ballpark as the other teams in the midfield"—are yet to discover the true potential of the VF-16 car, which Grosjean claimed is "probably one of the best" he has ever driven, according to ESPN F1's Nate Saunders.
Toto Wolff Bemoans 'Madness' of F1's Qualifying Saga
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Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has criticised the F1 rulemakers for refusing to revert to the previous qualifying format after the new, elimination-style system failed again at Bahrain Grand Prix.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, the 11 teams met with Bernie Ecclestone and president of the FIA Jean Todt ahead of the Sakhir event in the hope of reverting to the knockout qualifying format, which was used between 2006 and 2015.
Although the teams were unanimously in favour of bringing back the old system, Ecclestone and Todt "vetoed" the proposal, with the pair "pushing for an aggregate type system, whereby a drivers' qualifying time will be based on his two best laps in each session" to be introduced at the next round in China.
Wolff was among the fiercest critics of the elimination-style format, referring to it as "rubbish" despite his drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, securing another front-row lockout for Mercedes, per Sky Sports' Matthew Morlidge.
And the Austrian has expressed his dismay after Ecclestone and Todt refused to agree with the teams, telling Noble: "A simple explanation? Madness. We expressed our opinion. All the teams had the same opinion that we probably need to go back to 2015. But there are various agendas and [this has] proved that it is not an easy one, so I cannot tell you [what will happen]. Last time I told you, I was totally wrong."
Per the same source, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added it was unclear whether the aggregate-style format will be accepted by the teams, but Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene claimed the latest proposal "doesn't sound that bad."
Jenson Button, meanwhile, claimed he would be willing to "give it a go," telling Autosport's Lawrence Barretto that "anything" would be better than the current format.
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