Formula 1's Latest Rumours, Talk: McLaren-Honda's Jenson Button, Mercedes, More
With a world title in the bag and victories at circuits as iconic as Spa, Suzuka and Monaco to his name, Jenson Button has achieved almost everything he ever wanted in Formula One.
But the seemingly ultimate goal, a podium finish in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England, continues to elude the 2009 champion.
One of the most popular British drivers in F1 history, Button has never finished higher than fourth at his bogey track and, despite his morale-boosting points finish in the Austrian GP, the 36-year-old has acknowledged his McLaren-Honda team still aren't strong enough for him to realise his dream in 2016.
Provided Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton can avoid crashing into each other for the fourth time in less than two months, Mercedes should be assured of two of the three podium positions this weekend.
Following their latest collision in Austria, both title contenders are set to learn how Mercedes will move on in a pre-race team meeting at Silverstone, with team orders and even one-race suspensions among the options available to team boss Toto Wolff.
With his F1 future still undecided, Felipe Massa also appears to have plenty of options for 2017.
The Brazilian has dropped a number of hints that he could leave Williams at the end of 2016, but he has denied money is a motivating factor behind his desire to postpone his retirement from the pinnacle of motorsport.
Elsewhere, Red Bull have insisted design genius Adrian Newey is genuinely excited about the challenge posed by the upcoming regulation changes, while Dave Ryan has called on Manor to maintain their momentum after Pascal Wehrlein's surprise points finish at the Red Bull Ring.
Here's our latest roundup.
Jenson Button Admits Silverstone Podium 'Would Feel Like a Victory'
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Button has revealed he is desperate to stand on the British GP podium before his F1 career comes to a close, but he has conceded he won't be able to do so this year.
Button has claimed podium finishes at 15 of the 21 circuits on the 2016 calendar but has never finished higher than fourth in the British GP, failing to score a point in half of his previous 16 visits to Silverstone.
The 2009 world champion's return to form in Austria, where he started third and ran as high as second before finishing sixth—his best result since last year's United States GP—has generated much excitement about McLaren-Honda's prospects at the Northamptonshire-based circuit.
But while Button has admitted a top-three finish at his home track is his ultimate ambition at this stage of his career, the 36-year-old has acknowledged his Silverstone struggles are likely to continue, telling the team's official website:
"Finishing on the podium at the British Grand Prix is top of my "to do" list in F1. I’ve achieved pretty much everything else that I set out to do in F1, but I’ve never stood on the podium at Silverstone. I really want to do that and it would feel like a victory if I were to achieve it.
Of course, the result in Austria last week really motivates everybody, and it raises everyone’s expectations, too. It would be lovely to be able to claim that a podium this year might finally be possible, but, being realistic, that won’t be possible this time.
But I head to Silverstone feeling hugely encouraged by our progress, and just what we can achieve as a team when the variable are thrown into the air and all the teams are left to somewhat improvise: we can do great things.
It goes without saying that I’ll be giving it everything at Silverstone this weekend.
"
It is unclear whether Button will have another chance to claim that elusive British GP podium in 2017, with the Frome, England-born driver facing a fight with reserve driver and 2015 GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne for a seat alongside Fernando Alonso next season.
Per Sky Sports, the Belgian acknowledged Button "is still doing great" but revealed his chances of partnering Alonso are "looking positive" after impressing on his F1 debut in April's Bahrain GP.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, Button's performance at the Red Bull Ring has encouraged Honda to fast-track a powertrain improvement to the British GP, with motorsport boss Yusuke Hasegawa revealing an internal-combustion engine upgrade could be introduced at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, Hasegawa told Autosport (h/t Eurosport) Honda "would be happy" to supply a second team but revealed no other outfits are currently interested in competing with Honda power.
He added the major updates set to be implemented "in a couple of races" could be worth up to 0.5 seconds per lap, with Honda set to decide in August whether to take a revolutionary approach to the design of its 2017-specification power unit.
Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg to Learn of Mercedes' Post-Austrian GP Plan
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Hamilton and Rosberg will learn how their Mercedes team intend to move on from their Austrian GP collision in a meeting ahead of this weekend's British GP, it has been reported.
After coming to blows on the opening laps in Spain and Canada, the pair collided for the third time in five races in Austria, where Rosberg appeared to shove his team-mate off the track as Hamilton challenged for the lead on the final lap.
Hamilton went on to win the race, while Rosberg crossed the finish line in fourth after suffering front-wing damage before receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.
Following the chequered flag, team boss Wolff told Sky Sports' Matt Morlidge how the incident was "brainless" and "disrespectful to [the] 1,500 people who work their nuts off to prepare the cars" suggesting Mercedes were left to look "like a bunch of idiots."
Wolff added the team needed to consider "all possible solutions and go as far as implementing the not very popular team orders" in an effort to stop Rosberg and Hamilton, who are separated by just 11 points in the world championship battle, colliding on the track.
As reported by Motorsport.com's Noble, Hamilton and Rosberg will be informed of the team's plans to manage the mounting tensions between the pair ahead of the Silverstone weekend. Noble wrote:
"Although it is understood that a solution has been found that does not involve team orders, it is unclear exactly what that is, nor what Mercedes will tell Hamilton and Rosberg during the meeting.
There are likely to be several options on the table though, which could involve strict orders about how hard they are allowed to race from now, punishments for future contact—or even a final warning that draconian measures will be taken if the situation between them does not improve.
"
Per the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, Mercedes' disciplinary measures could see Rosberg or Hamilton fined or even suspended in the event of a future incident, which could have disastrous consequences for the offending driver's title chances.
Mercedes have been embroiled in another controversy in the buildup to the British GP, with the team denying non-executive chairman Niki Lauda's comments that Hamilton destroyed his room in Mercedes' hospitality unit after his crash in qualifying at the European GP, as reported by Motorsport.com's Pablo Elizalde.
Meanwhile, Wolff and Rosberg's newly appointed adviser, Gerhard Berger, have denied the fallout of the Austrian GP will harm the German's pursuit of a contract extension, per Autosport (h/t Eurosport).
Williams' Felipe Massa Insists Money Not a Factor in Search for 2017 Seat
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Massa has denied money is a motivating factor in his search for a 2017 F1 seat amid mounting speculation that he could leave Williams at the end of this season.
At 35, Massa is among the oldest drivers on the current grid and is currently in his third year alongside Valtteri Bottas at Williams after his eight-season stint with Ferrari came to an end at the beginning of 2014.
Over the European GP weekend, deputy team principal Claire Williams admitted the British outfit are open to altering their lineup in time for 2017, telling Sky Sports' Pete Gill and Craig Slater how the team "are talking to a lot of drivers in the paddock."
Meanwhile, Massa told F1i.com's Chris Medland how "everything is open" concerning his F1 future, hinting he has several "interesting opportunities" for next season.
But the Brazilian, who has claimed 11 victories and 41 podium finishes since making his grand prix debut in 2002, has denied he is eager to remain in F1 for financial reasons and revealed he is holding discussions with rival teams.
He told Brazilian outlet UOL Esporte (h/t Eurosport):
"I have never raced thinking about money.
I have always raced thinking about having fun and getting the results.
I believe that if I see there is a possibility to grow, to do a good job, money won't be the most important thing.
I have made enough money to have a good life—I have made more money than I have ever imagined in my whole career, so there is no doubt this is not a main issue.
[...]
I am talking to other teams, and with Williams as well.
Williams knows my work, and the team's evolution has a lot to do with the job I do inside the team. We cannot forget it.
I have my experience, and I have showed I am a hard worker, back in the factory and on the track.
[2017] is going to be an year with a lot of changes, and my experience will count even more.
"
Via his Motorsport.com column, Massa also shared his thoughts on the collision between Rosberg and Hamilton, who beat him to the world championship by a single point in 2008, on the final lap of last weekend's Austrian GP.
He wrote that "most of the responsibility was down to" Rosberg, who "took a bit too long to turn" into the right-hander of Turn 2, but he denied the German "drove [Hamilton] off the track."
Massa added "it is not easy" for the Mercedes management "to handle situations like this, but he insisted "such a confrontation between two drivers is the main reason that there will be great attention on this championship," predicting the tension between Hamilton and Rosberg "will continue until the last race."
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Red Bull Insist Adrian Newey Is 'Excited' About 2017 Regulation Changes
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted Adrian Newey is enthusiastic about the 2017 regulation changes despite the chief technical officer previously airing his concerns about the new rules.
F1's technical regulations will be rewritten at the beginning of next season, when changes to the bodywork and wider tyres are expected to make the cars several seconds per lap faster than the current models.
In January, Newey—who has designed championship-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull over the course of his glittering career—told Ahmed Rizvi of UAE publication the National how the new regulations "are actually not that different to what we have now," bemoaning the lack of "really fundamental differences."
Following the unveiling of a Newey-designed Aston Martin road car ahead of the British GP, Horner has revealed Newey—who stood back from his full-time role with Red Bull in 2015—is playing an integral role in the design of the team's new chassis and still devotes much of his time to Red Bull's F1 operation.
According to Autosport (h/t Eurosport), he explained:
"He's excited by the regulation change for '17 so he's splitting his time between the two projects.
Once the Aston Martin project is into a detailed design phase, he tends to stand back at that point.
He's very much about the concept, about the aerodynamics, about the layout of the car.
He's very heavily involved obviously in the '17 car as well. ...
His time during any week or month varies.
It depends on what the priorities are.
He has a tremendously high work rate.
But we have some enormously capable people on the F1 team who have had that little bit of breathing space as well, that have used that to great effect with for example the current car.
"
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, meanwhile, the FIA has suggested Red Bull's "aeroscreen" head-protection concept may yet be implemented in 2018 despite the team recently suspending the development of the device.
With the controversial "halo" device set to be introduced in time for 2017, Noble wrote the FIA will hold a meeting with technical directors over the British GP weekend "to discuss the outcome of [recent] extraction tests, with the governing body currently satisfied that the Halo has passed all the safety requirements."
He added: "A final vote on whether or not the Halo is then introduced will be down to F1's Strategy Group and F1 Commission, with it understood the FIA is reluctant to force it through for now on safety grounds."
Manor Refusing to 'Sit Back' After Pascal Wehrlein's Austrian GP Points Finish
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Manor racing director Dave Ryan has vowed the team will not allow its standards to slip after securing the second points finish in its history at the Austrian GP.
In the team's most competitive outing since they arrived on the grid more than six years ago, Wehrlein qualified 12th at the Red Bull Ring before a strong performance in the race—when he completed a 47-lap stint on soft-compound tyres—to end the team's two-year points drought.
His 10th-place result has seen Manor strike first in their back-of-the-grid battle with Sauber, who are rooted to the bottom of the constructors' standings after failing to score in the opening nine races of 2016.
After finding a "solution" to their long-standing financial problems, as reported by Autosport (h/t Eurosport), Sauber are expected to make substantial progress over the upcoming races, starting at this weekend's British GP, where they will compete with Ferrari's revised turbocharger for the first time.
And Ryan, who previously told Reuters' Alan Baldwin he would be "very disappointed" if Manor fail to finish 10th in the championship in 2016, has challenged his team to treat Wehrlein's points finish as a starting point rather than the realisation of a long-term goal.
He said, per Motorsport.com's Noble:
"Sauber have gone through a bit of a tough time and I am sure they are going to bounce back.
We've got to go to every race with a view to finishing as high up as we can, and at the end of the year the points score will tell its own tale.
We are not going to sit back now: this is only the start for us. We've got to push, and push, and push at every race.
The last three tracks have been pretty good tracks for us, and the next possible few aren't going to be too good for us.
You've got to be competitive everywhere and you have to be in a position to take advantage of any situations that come your way. So we might find it a bit harder in the next few races, but that is life. We have to deal with it and figure out what we have got to to do to sort this out.
Everyone is working very hard and that is fine, but occasionally you need a pat on the back or a result to come your way—and when it does, you go, 'Oh, that is pretty nice, let's push a bit harder and see what happens next.'
It brings everyone together and shows you that everything is possible. That is what we are here for.
We are not here to work unreasonable hours week after week. We are here to go racing, and try to get a good group of guys and a good atmosphere, a competitive car and we want to have a bit of fun as well—that is pretty important. If you get some results and things go your way you can do that.
"
The former McLaren employee also revealed how Manor have "got quite a programme of stuff coming through" in development terms, revealing the team will implement "some good updates" to the Mercedes-powered MRT05 car at Silverstone and over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Sauber's official Twitter account announced the team will miss the post-race two-day test at Silverstone, with the team citing "cost effectiveness" after the introduction of a major aerodynamic upgrade package, featuring new front and rear wings, was delayed.
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